Search

The family Planorbidae comprises freshwater gastropods with planispiral, spiral and limpet-shaped shells. Subfamily Planorbinae sensu stricto, has a richness of almost 300 species, with some of the main genera being Biomphalaria Preston, 1910 and Drepanotrema Fischer & Crosse, 1880. Some Biomphalaria species are of concern to human health as they are intermediate hosts of blood flukes in Latin America. In Argentina, the family Planorbidae is represented by 15 species in four genera. In Northern Argentina (NOA region), records of the family are scarce, and most of them are a result of occasional collecting. We provide an updated checklist of Planorbinae in NOA resulting from fieldwork, material in malacological collections, and data in the literature. Nine species occur in the area: four species of Biomphalaria and five of Drepanotrema. Among Biomphalaria species, we recorded Biomphalaria straminea (Dunker, 1848), which is considered a natural host of the blood fluke Schistostoma mansoni Sambon, 1907, for first time in Salta province; the known geographic distribution of B. straminea is extended in the country.

Introduction: High sensitivity troponin T (hsTnT) is a strong predictor of adverse outcome during SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, its determinants remain partially unknown. We aimed to assess the relationship between severity of inflammatory response/coagulation abnormalities and hsTnT in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). We then explored the relevance of these pathways in defining mortality and complications risk and the potential effects of the treatments to attenuate such risk.Methods: In this single-center, prospective, observational study we enrolled 266 consecutive patients hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. Primary endpoint was in-hospital COVID-19 mortality. Results: hsTnT, even after adjustment for confounders, was associated with mortality. D-dimer and CRP presented stronger associations with hsTnT than PaO2. Changes of hsTnT, D-dimer and CRP were related but only D-dimer was associated with mortality. Moreover, low molecular weight heparin showed attenuation of the mortality in the whole population, particularly in subjects with higher hsTnT.Conclusions: D-dimer possessed a strong relationship with hsTnT and mortality. Anticoagulation treatment showed greater benefits with regard to mortality. These findings suggest a major role of SARS-CoV-2 coagulopathy in hsTnT elevation and its related mortality in COVID-19. A better understanding of the mechanisms related to COVID-19 might pave the way to therapy tailoring in these high-risk individuals.

Nearly 1.8 billion people use pit latrines for basic sanitation, and approximately 600 million kg of feces and 2.1 billion kg of urine are deposited in pit latrines every day. Due to lack of access to mechanized emptying services, or challenges such as the presence of trash in pits, most latrines are emptied by hand. Alternatively, “fishing” (removal of trash using manual tools) is used prior to mechanical emptying. Both approaches are time consuming and expose workers to pathogens. To develop a safer method of emptying pit latrines, we explored mechanized trash exclusion, allowing the removal of fecal sludge in the presence of trash. Three exclusion mechanisms: screening, deflecting, and clearing, were investigated. The effects of varying design features, such as the diameter of screen holes, length of screen pipe, auger characteristics, level of negative pressure (vacuum setting), and rotational speeds, were evaluated in pits with varying solids concentrations. Continuous prototyping and testing showed that a combination of the screening and clearing mechanisms was most efficient in excluding trash in wet pits (less than 12% solids) and allowed a maximum flow rate of between 3 to 4.5 L s−1. The resulting product, called the Flexcrevator + Excluder, is a vacuum system that excludes trash and was field-tested in pit latrines in Kisumu, Kenya. While there are remaining challenges for the current design such as pumping thick fecal sludge and dealing with fibrous material encountered in the field, trash exclusion can provide an efficient and safe emptying solution for a wide range of pit latrines.

The online support of IBM SPSS proposes that users alter the syntax when performing post-hoc analyses for interaction effects of ANOVA tests. Other authors also suggest altering the syntax when performing GEE analyses. This being done, the number of possible comparisons (k value) is also altered, therefore influencing the results from statistical tests that k is a component of the formula, such as repeated measures-ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc of ANOVA and GEE. This alteration also exacerbates type I error, producing erroneous results and conferring potential misinterpretations of data. Reasoning from this, the purpose of this paper is to report the misuse and improper handling of syntax for ANOVAs and GEE post-hoc analyses in SPSS and to illustrate its consequences on statistical results and data interpretation.

High sensitivity troponin T (hsTnT) is a strong predictor of adverse outcome during SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, its determinants remain partially unknown. We aimed to assess the relationship between severity of inflammatory response/coagulation abnormalities and hsTnT in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). We then explored the relevance of these pathways in defining mortality and complications risk and the potential effects of the treatments to attenuate such risk. In this single-center, prospective, observational study we enrolled 266 consecutive patients hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. Primary endpoint was in-hospital COVID-19 mortality. hsTnT, even after adjustment for confounders, was associated with mortality. D-dimer and CRP presented stronger associations with hsTnT than PaO2. Changes of hsTnT, D-dimer and CRP were related; but only D-dimer was associated with mortality. Moreover, low molecular weight heparin showed attenuation of the mortality in the whole population, particularly in subjects with higher hsTnT. D-dimer possessed a strong relationship with hsTnT and mortality. Anticoagulation treatment showed greater benefits with regard to mortality. These findings suggest a major role of SARS-CoV-2 coagulopathy in hsTnT elevation and its related mortality in COVID-19. A better understanding of the mechanisms related to COVID-19 might pave the way to therapy tailoring in these high-risk individuals. © 2021, The Author(s).

Accurate risk stratification in COVID-19 patients consists a major clinical need to guide therapeutic strategies. We sought to evaluate the prognostic role of estimated pulse wave velocity (ePWV), a marker of arterial stiffness which reflects overall arterial integrity and aging, in risk stratification of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. This retrospective, longitudinal cohort study, analyzed a total population of 1671 subjects consisting of 737 hospitalized COVID-19 patients consecutively recruited from two tertiary centers (Newcastle cohort: n = 471 and Pisa cohort: n = 266) and a non-COVID control cohort (n = 934). Arterial stiffness was calculated using validated formulae for ePWV. ePWV progressively increased across the control group, COVID-19 survivors and deceased patients (adjusted mean increase per group 1.89 m/s, P p P P

In 1994, the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean approved the Regional Programme of Action for Women, whose guidelines remain in force thanks to a decision approved at the ninth Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean (Mexico City, 2004), thereby reaffirming their commitment to the goals prescribed for equitable participation by women in economic activities. The present article sets out to analyse the progress and evolution of women’s participation in production and business activities in South America, considering the situation of female employment, its evolution over the past decade and its differences from male employment. The article also analyses men’s and women’s time use, women’s share of employment in jobs with higher average earnings (executive positions) and women’s empowerment and economic autonomy (female entrepreneurs).

En 1994, los paises de America Latina y el Caribe aprobaron el Programa de Accion Regional para las Mujeres, cuyas directrices se mantienen vigentes por decision aprobada en la novena Conferencia Regional sobre la Mujer de America Latina y el Caribe (Ciudad de Mexico, 2004), y consolidaron asi su compromiso de cumplir los objetivos establecidos en materia de participacion equitativa de la mujer en las actividades economicas. La finalidad del presente articulo es analizar el progreso y la evolucion de la insercion femenina en el ambito productivo y empresarial en America del Sur, considerando el panorama laboral femenino, su evolucion en la ultima decada y sus diferencias con respecto al panorama laboral masculino. Asimismo, se analizan el uso que hombres y mujeres hacen del tiempo, la participacion de la mujer en empleos con un mayor ingreso medio (cargos directivos) y el empoderamiento y la autonomia economica de las mujeres (empresarias).

Oleaginous microorganisms pose a number of technical advantages when compared to first generation oil crops, but a common drawback to their utilization is often linked to the high operational costs involved in media preparation, using mostly industrial-grade sugars as carbon sources. Considering the abundance of by-products generated by the sugarcane industry, the combined use of molasses and vinasse is suggested in this work as culture medium for the fungal strain Mucor circinelloides URM 4182. Results demonstrate that a 3:1 vol% medium (vinasse to diluted molasses ratio) with minor supplementation of organic nitrogen can provide values within the range of 5 g L−1 of oil-rich biomass with 25 wt% of lipids. The microbial oil was then analyzed in terms of fatty acid profile, demonstrating a favorable composition for biodiesel production, and was subjected to simultaneous esterification and transesterification assays using ethanol and heterogeneous catalyst (H3PMo/Al2O3) in a pressurized reactor, demonstrating satisfactory conversions (>95%). The purified ethyl esters possessed viscosity and density values within the regulating standards and lack of triacylglycerols, suggesting a potential biodiesel production system that could be coupled within sugarcane ethanol facilities.