Spatial Pattern of Standing Timber Value across the Brazilian Amazon

The Amazon is a globally important system, providing a host of ecosystem services from climate regulation to food sources. It is also home to a quarter of all global diversity. Large swathes of forest are removed each year, and many models have attempted to predict the spatial patterns of this forest loss. The spatial patterns of deforestation are determined largely by the patterns of roads that open access to frontier areas and expansion of the road network in the Amazon is largely determined by profit seeking logging activities. Here we present predictions for the spatial distribution of standing value of timber across the Amazon. We show that the patterns of timber value reflect large-scale ecological gradients, determining the spatial distribution of functional traits of trees which are, in turn, correlated with timber values. We expect that understanding the spatial patterns of timber value across the Amazon will aid predictions of logging movements and thus predictions of potential future road developments. These predictions in turn will be of great use in estimating the spatial patterns of deforestation in this globally important biome

Leishmanicidal compounds of Nectria pseudotrichia, an endophytic fungus isolated from the plant Caesalpinia echinata (Brazilwood)

Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou. Laboratório de Química de Produtos Naturais Bioativos. Belo Horizonte, MG, BrasilFundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou. Laboratório de Genômica Funcional e Proteômica de Leishmania spp. e Trypanosoma cruzi. Belo Horizonte, MG, BrasilFundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou. Laboratório de Química de Produtos Naturais Bioativos. Belo Horizonte, MG, BrasilUniversidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Departamento de Fisiologia e Biofísica. Belo Horizonte, MG, BrasilUniversidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia. Departamento de Química. Jequié, BA, BrasilFundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou. Laboratório de Química de Produtos Naturais Bioativos. Belo Horizonte, MG, BrasilFundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou. Laboratório de Química de Produtos Naturais Bioativos. Belo Horizonte, MG, BrasilUniversidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Departamento de Fisiologia e Biofísica. Belo Horizonte, MG, BrasilUniversidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri. Departamento de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde. Diamantina, MG, BrasilFundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto René Rachou. Laboratório de Química de Produtos Naturais Bioativos. Belo Horizonte, MG, BrasilBACKGROUND: In a screen of extracts from plants and fungi to detect antileishmanial activity, we found that the ethyl acetate extract of the fungus Nectria pseudotrichia, isolated from the tree Caesalpinia echinata (Brazilwood), is a promising source of bioactive compounds. OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to isolate and determine the chemical structures of the compounds responsible for the antileishmanial activity of the organic extract from N. pseudotrichia. METHODS: Compounds were isolated by chromatographic fractionation using semi-preparative high-performance liquid chromatography, and their chemical structures were determined by analytical and spectral data and by comparison with published data. The antileishmanial activity of the isolated compounds was evaluated in intracellular amastigote forms of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis expressing firefly luciferase as reporter gene, and cytotoxicity was determined in Vero and THP-1 mammalian cell lines by MTT assay. FINDINGS: Fractionation of the extract yielded seven compounds: 10-acetyl trichoderonic acid A (1), 6′-acetoxy-piliformic acid (2), 5′,6′-dehydropiliformic acid (3), piliformic acid (4), hydroheptelidic acid (5), xylaric acid D (6), and cytochalasin D (7). Compounds 1, 2 and 3 are reported here for the first time. Compounds 1, 2, and 5 were more active, with IC50 values of 21.4, 28.3, and 24.8 µM, respectively, and showed low toxicity to Vero and THP-1 cells. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: N. pseudotrichia produces secondary metabolites that are more toxic to intracellular amastigote forms of L. (V.) braziliensis than to mammalian cells

Risk factors for perinatal death in two different levels of care: a case–control study

BACKGROUND: According to the World Health Organization, there are over 6.3 million perinatal deaths (PND) a year worldwide. Identifying the factors associated with PND is very helpful in building strategies to improve the care provided to mothers and their babies. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the maternal, gestational and neonatal factors associated with PND at two different levels of care. METHODS: Case–control study including 299 PND cases and 1161 infants that survived the early neonatal period (controls) between 2001–2006 in two hospitals at different care levels (secondary and tertiary) located in southeastern Brazil. Correlations between study variables and PND were evaluated by univariate analysis. PND-related variables were included in a multiple logistic regression model, and independent estimates of PND risk were obtained. RESULTS: Although five-minute Apgar score <7, low birthweight and maternal hemorrhage were associated with PND in the secondary care center, no independent risk factors were identified at this level of care. In the tertiary hospital, PND was positively associated with primiparity, male sex, prematurity, low 5-minute Apgar score, and pregnancy complicated by arterial hypertension or intrauterine infection. CONCLUSIONS: Several risk factors positively associated with PND were indentified in the tertiary, but not in the secondary care level hospital. Since most of the risk factors herein identified are modifiable through effective antenatal and intrapartum care, greater attention should be given to preventive strategies

The burden of antimicrobial resistance in the Americas in 2019: a cross-country systematic analysis

Background Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an urgent global health challenge and a critical threat to modern health care. Quantifying its burden in the WHO Region of the Americas has been elusive—despite the region’s long history of resistance surveillance. This study provides comprehensive estimates of AMR burden in the Americas to assess this growing health threat. Methods We estimated deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) attributable to and associated with AMR for 23 bacterial pathogens and 88 pathogen–drug combinations for countries in the WHO Region of the Americas in 2019. We obtained data from mortality registries, surveillance systems, hospital systems, systematic literature reviews, and other sources, and applied predictive statistical modelling to produce estimates of AMR burden for all countries in the Americas. Five broad components were the backbone of our approach: the number of deaths where infection had a role, the proportion of infectious deaths attributable to a given infectious syndrome, the proportion of infectious syndrome deaths attributable to a given pathogen, the percentage of pathogens resistant to an antibiotic class, and the excess risk of mortality (or duration of an infection) associated with this resistance. We then used these components to estimate the disease burden by applying two counterfactual scenarios: deaths attributable to AMR (compared to an alternative scenario where resistant infections are replaced with susceptible ones), and deaths associated with AMR (compared to an alternative scenario where resistant infections would not occur at all). We generated 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for final estimates as the 25th and 975th ordered values across 1000 posterior draws, and models were cross-validated for out-of-sample predictive validity. Findings We estimated 569,000 deaths (95% UI 406,000–771,000) associated with bacterial AMR and 141,000 deaths (99,900–196,000) attributable to bacterial AMR among the 35 countries in the WHO Region of the Americas in 2019. Lower respiratory and thorax infections, as a syndrome, were responsible for the largest fatal burden of AMR in the region, with 189,000 deaths (149,000–241,000) associated with resistance, followed by bloodstream infections (169,000 deaths [94,200–278,000]) and peritoneal/intra-abdominal infections (118,000 deaths [78,600–168,000]). The six leading pathogens (by order of number of deaths associated with resistance) were Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii. Together, these pathogens were responsible for 452,000 deaths (326,000–608,000) associated with AMR. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus predominated as the leading pathogen–drug combination in 34 countries for deaths attributable to AMR, while aminopenicillin-resistant E. coli was the leading pathogen–drug combination in 15 countries for deaths associated with AMR. Interpretation Given the burden across different countries, infectious syndromes, and pathogen–drug combinations, AMR represents a substantial health threat in the Americas. Countries with low access to antibiotics and basic health-care services often face the largest age-standardised mortality rates associated with and attributable to AMR in the region, implicating specific policy interventions. Evidence from this study can guide mitigation efforts that are tailored to the needs of each country in the region while informing decisions regarding funding and resource allocation. Multisectoral and joint cooperative efforts among countries will be a key to success in tackling AMR in the Americas. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust, and Department of Health and Social Care using UK aid funding managed by the Fleming Fund

Omics-based molecular techniques in oral pathology centred cancer: Prospect and challenges in Africa

: The completion of the human genome project and the accomplished milestones in the human proteome project; as well as the progress made so far in computational bioinformatics and “big data” processing have contributed immensely to individualized/personalized medicine in the developed world.At the dawn of precision medicine, various omics-based therapies and bioengineering can now be applied accurately for the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and risk stratifcation of cancer in a manner that was hitherto not thought possible. The widespread introduction of genomics and other omics-based approaches into the postgraduate training curriculum of diverse medical and dental specialties, including pathology has improved the profciency of practitioners in the use of novel molecular signatures in patient management. In addition, intricate details about disease disparity among diferent human populations are beginning to emerge. This would facilitate the use of tailor-made novel theranostic methods based on emerging molecular evidences