Sex, Digital Devices, Social Media, and Social Isolation: A Study on Sexual Behavioral During COVID -19 Pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused social and economic damages. People have adapted to a new reality of physical distance. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to assess the use of digital devices and social media, focusing on psychosocial and demographic factors of people´s sexual behavior during the pandemic. METHODS: A total of 1,357 Brazilian adults participated in a cross-sectional online survey. They were recruited through social media to obtain information regarding sexual behavior and the use of digital devices and social media. RESULTS: Digital devices and social media were used by 38.8% of the participants. Among the group that used technological devices, most claimed to have changed their sexual behavior, with 76.9% consuming more sexual content through movies or series. CONCLUSION: In a smaller group, technological resources appeared as an alternative for safer sex, reducing the risks of COVID-19 transmission.

Studies of selective adsorption, desorption and reuse of chemically altered biomass produced from aquatic macrophytes for treatment of metal-containing wastewater.

The aquatic macrophytes Salvinia sp. and Pistia stratiotes have a natural capacity to adsorb various elements, including heavy metals. This capacity was enhanced with a chemical treatment using NaOH alkaline solution for Salvinia sp. and a mixture of both Salvinia sp. and Pistia stratiotes at a proportion of 1:1, whose respective biosorbents were called SSOH and MBOH. Adsorption tests were done in a ternary system containing the metals copper, lead and manganese; the parameters considered were: starting concentration, kinetics, pH and temperature. The adsorption isotherms for SSOH had a maximum adsorptive capacity of 50.20, 53.85 and 14.68 mg g-1 for Cu, Pb and Mn, respectively; for MBOH, maximum values were 44.62, 35.17 and 15.74 mg g-1 for Cu, Pb and Mn, respectively. The metals displayed different behaviors with pH variation. The results also showed an adsorption preference of Cu > Pb > Mn for SSOH. Desorption and readsorption studies were also carried out, showing 100% desorption and increased adsorption capacity in readsorption tests. Surface area and porosity analysis with the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method indicate that after chemical modification, MBOH and SSOH biomasses had their surface increased in comparison to SS, with values of 165.5657 (MBOH), 157.4392 (SSOH) and 78.9432 m2 g-1 (SS).

Pb(II) adsorption by biomass from chemically modified aquatic macrophytes, Salvinia sp. and Pistia stratiotes.

This study used two biosorbents obtained from the aquatic plants Salvinia sp. and Pistia stratiotes to establish a sustainable and alternative treatment for industrial wastewater and other water bodies that contain Pb(II). The biosorbent named Salvinia with NaOH (SOH) was obtained from Salvinia sp., and Salvinia and Pistia mixture with NaOH (SPOH) was obtained from a mixture of the two plants in a 1:1 ratio. The biosorbents were characterized by zeta potential, infrared (IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy and Boehm titration. The results of Boehm titration and IR analysis indicated the presence of basic functional groups, whereas those of SEM analysis indicated that the biosorbents have a structure conducive to adsorption. Batch adsorption experiments were performed to observe the effects of pH, contact time, initial lead concentration and temperature on the metal removal process. The results revealed that the biosorbents efficiently removed Pb(II) from aqueous solutions, with a maximum observed adsorption capacity (saturation limits, qmax) of 202 mg g(-1) and 210.1 mg g(-1) for SPOH and SOH, respectively. The Freundlich, Langmuir and Dubinin-Radushkevich models were applied to the data; these biosorbent studies did not satisfactorily adjust to either of the models, but the information obtained helped us understand the adsorption mechanism.

Individual and collective empowerment and associated factors among Brazilian adults: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The empowerment embedded in the health area is defined as a process that can facilitate control over the determinants of health of individuals and population as a way to improve health. The aim of this study was to verify the association between individual and collective empowerment with sociodemographic conditions, lifestyle, health conditions and quality of life. METHOD: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted with 1150 individuals (aged 35 to 44 years). The empowerment was determined by questions from the Integrated Questionnaire for the Measurement of Social Capital (IQ-MSC). The quality of life was measured using the WHOQOL (World Health Organization Quality of Life-Bref). Lifestyle and health conditions were obtained by adapted questions from the Fantastic Lifestyle Questionnaire The DMFT Index was incorporated in the health conditions questions. Logistic regression or multinomial regression was performed. RESULTS: The practice of physical activity was related to individual (OR: 2.70) and collective (OR: 1.57) empowerment. Regarding individual empowerment, people with higher education level (5-11 years - OR: 3.46 and ≥12 years - OR: 4.41), who felt more able to deal with stress (OR:3.76), who presented a high score on quality of life (psychological domain) (OR:1.23) and that smoked (OR:1.49) were more likely to feel able to make decisions and participate in community activities. The increase in the DMFT Index represented less chance of individuals to feel more able to make decisions (OR: 0.96). Regarding the collective empowerment, being religious (catholic) (OR: 1.82), do not drink or drink just a little (OR: 1.66 and 2.28, respectively), and increased score of overall quality of life (OR: 1.08) were more likely to report that people cooperate to solve a problem in their community. CONCLUSION: The two approaches to empowerment, the individual and collective are connected, and the physical activity showed to be a good strategy for the empowerment construction.

Topical Tofacitinib as Effective Therapy in Patients with Plaque Psoriasis Responsive to Systemic Drugs but with Resistant Nail Psoriasis.

Introduction: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease that may also involve nails. Unfortunately, topical treatments available are limited and often responsible for side effects and/or lack of compliance due to the necessary prolonged use to see results. Intralesional treatment instead is often unwanted or unaccepted by patients. Lack of efficacy is, moreover, always a possible outcome. Novel modalities for the therapy of nail psoriasis are thus needed and always welcomed. Case Presentation: We then aimed to develop a topical 2% tofacitinib formulation expected to facilitate nail penetration and use in patients with recalcitrant forms of nail psoriasis unwilling to accept other routes of administration of treatment besides the topical one. Conclusion: These preliminary data, despite the use in 3 patients only, suggest a potential use of topical tofacitinib 2% for nail psoriasis. Further studies on bigger groups are however necessary to confirm the present encouraging results and establish the effectiveness and safety also in more severe cases or in the pediatric population.

Emulsified oil separation by bioadsorption: a sustainable proposal.

Oil emulsions are very stable, so both the treatment and the recovery of marine oil spills require expensive technologies, sometimes inefficient. Thus, studies of alternative methods for the treatment of oily effluents and phytoremediation are very important for sustainable development. The objective of this study was to use a chemically modified biomass of Salvinia sp. (SOH), for the removal of oil from oil-in-water emulsions. Initially, a chemical modification was carried out to remove interferences and to increase the adsorption capacity of the biomass. Physicochemical characterization tests were performed to understand the structure of the adsorbent produced as well as to verify changes going on the surface of the material. Adsorption tests were done, such as concentration variation, time, temperature and pH. The maximum adsorption capacity (qmax) of SOH was obtained in 15 min and was 574.86 mg g-1 in oil-in-salt water emulsion and 525.92 mg g-1, for oil-in-water emulsion. The isotherm model that best fitted was Freundlich model and for the kinetic model, the best fit was obtained with the intraparticle diffusion model. Thermodynamic studies indicate that SOH has physisorption, and the process is spontaneous and reversible.

Topical Tofacitinib: A Janus Kinase Inhibitor for the Treatment of Vitiligo in an Adolescent Patient.

Vitiligo is an autoimmune skin disease presenting with areas of depigmentation. Recent reports suggest that Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors may be an effective therapy. In this case report, we show our experience with an adolescent patient with a long history of generalized and refractory vitiligo, for which treatment with topical tofacitinib, a JAK inhibitor, associated with phototherapy for 9 months, resulted in near complete repigmentation.

Atopic dermatitis: Tofacitinib, an option for refractory disease.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common skin disease, associated with high burden impact in quality of live, in moderate-severe disease severity. Several targeted drugs are under development for AD. Here, we present a patient with refractory disease to systemic traditional immunosuppressive drugs, treated successfully with oral tofacitinib, with complete response.

Reactivity of Horse Sera to Antigens Derived From Sarcocystis falcatula-Like and Sarcocystis neurona.

Sarcocystis neurona and Sarcocystis falcatula are protozoan parasites endemic to the Americas. The former is the major cause of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, and the latter is associated with pulmonary sarcocystosis in birds. The opossum Didelphis virginiana is the definitive host of these parasites in North America. Four Didelphis species are found in Brazil, and in most reports in this country, Sarcocystis species shed by opossums have been classified as S. falcatula-like. It is unknown whether reports on S. neurona-seropositive horses in Brazil are also derived from exposure of horses to S. falcatula-like. The aim of this study was to test the sera reactivity of 409 horses in Brazil using antigens derived from a Brazilian strain of S. falcatula-like (Sarco-BA1) and from a North American strain of S. neurona (SN138). Samples were examined by immunofluorescent antibody tests (IFATs) at start dilutions of 1:20, and a selected number of samples was tested by Western blot (WB). Sera from 43/409 (10.5%) horses were reactive to S. falcatula-like and 70 of 409 (17.1%) were reactive to S. neurona antigen; sera from 25 animals (6.1%) were positive for both parasites by IFAT. A poor agreement was observed between the two employed IFATs (κ = 0.364), indicating that horses were exposed to more than one Sarcocystis species. Horse sera evaluated by WB consisted of four sera reactive to S. falcatula-like by IFAT, six sera positive to S. neurona by IFAT, two sera that tested negative to both parasites by IFAT, and a negative control horse serum from New Zealand. Proteins in the range of 16 and 30 kDa were recognized by part of IFAT-positive sera using both antigen preparations. We concluded that Brazilian horses are exposed to distinct Sarcocystis species that generate different serological responses in exposed animals. Antigens in the range of 16 and 30 kDa are probably homologous in the two parasites. Exposure of the tested horses to other Sarcocystis species, such as Sarcocystis lindsayi, Sarcocystis speeri, and Sarcocystis fayeri, or Sarcocystis bertrami cannot be excluded in the current study.

Effects of early interventions focused on the family in the development of children born preterm and/or at social risk: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To verify whether early intervention focused on the family improves the cognitive, motor, and language development of children born preterm and/or at social risk in the first 3 years of life. SOURCE OF DATA: Meta-analysis of clinical trials published between 2008 and 2018, in the following databases: CINAHL, MEDLINE - PubMed, MEDLINE - BVS, LILACS - BVS, IBECS - BVS, PEDro and Cochrane Reviews. Experimental studies on early interventions focused on the family, whose target groups were children born preterm and/or at social risk, with assessment of cognitive and/or motor and/or language development up to 3 years were included. The studies were rated using the PEDro Scale. DATA SYNTHESIS: Twelve studies were included from a total of 3378 articles. Early intervention focused on the family contributed to the development of the cognitive (Standardized Mean Difference - SMD=0.48, 95% CI: 0.34-0.61) and motor (SMD=0.76, 95% CI: 0.55-0.96) domains of preterm infants. Regarding cognitive development, performance improvement was observed at 12, 24 and 36 months, while in the motor domain, the effect was observed only at 12 months in preterm infants. There was no benefit of the intervention in the cognitive, motor, and language outcomes of children with the social risk factor associated to biological risk. CONCLUSION: Early intervention focused on the family has a positive effect on the cognition of preterm infants. The effect on motor development was lower, possibly due to the emphasis on interventions in family-child interaction. The effect of interventions on the development of children at social risk and on the language domain was inconclusive, due to the scarcity of studies in the area.

Treatment of Male-Pattern Alopecia with Platelet-Rich Plasma.

BACKGROUND: Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) affects up to 80% of men and 50% of women throughout their lifetime, causing significant discomfort. Minoxidil, finasteride, and low-level laser light therapy are the only Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments for AGA, and they have shown positive results in randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses. However, their efficacy is limited, and new therapies are needed. Injection of platelet-rich plasma (PRP), a minimally invasive technique, has been described by several authors as a promising treatment for AGA. Although many studies report beneficial effects of PRP on AGA, there is no standardized practice for PRP preparation and administration or a standard method to evaluate results. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of manually prepared PRP in the treatment of male AGA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We treated 20 male patients with AGA with 3 monthly injections of PRP and analyzed results by TrichoScan®. RESULTS: In this study, there was no statistically significant improvement in hair count or proportion of anagen hairs. CONCLUSIONS: This lack of response could be related to any of the variables during PRP preparation described above and also to the limited number of patients in the study.

An excellent response to tofacitinib in a Brazilian adolescent patient with alopecia areata: A case report and a review of the literature.

Alopecia areata is a common autoimmune disease, with a negative impact in health-related quality of life, especially when affecting children and adolescents. Current medical therapies, mainly for severe disease, are not effective. There are no FDA (Food and Drug Administration)- or ANVISA (Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária)-approved therapy for children with alopecia areata. JAK inhibitors are emerging as a promising therapy.

Use of Salvinia sp on the adsorption of hexavalent chromium.

The remotion of hexavalent chromium in the form of chromate in aqueous solution was done using the aquatic plant Salvinia sp as biosorbent. The chemical modification of the Salvinia surface was performed by organosolv adapted method. The untreated Salvinia and the modified were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, Boehm titration, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive system, point of zero charge, surface area analysis, and porosity. Batch adsorption experiments were performed to observe the effects of pH, contact time, initial concentration, and temperature on the metal removal process. The characterization results show the chemistry modifically changed the modified Salvinia structure compared with untreated Salvinia. The adsorption test results showed the maximum adsorption capacity of 26.03 mg g-1. The kinetic equilibrium was reached in about 3 h, and the better temperature and pH were 298 K and 7, respectively. The adsorption and kinetic models were Freundlich and pseud-second order, respectively. This study showed the Salvinia sp after the chemical treatment can be used with biosorbent for hexavalent chromate in the form of chromate, being a natural material with low cost and plentiful in the environment.

Development of Cystoisospora felis in Cell Culture and in vitro Formation of Monozoic Tissue Cysts.

Cystoisospora felis is a coccidian parasite commonly found in feces of domestic cats. Infection in cats occurs by ingestion of sporulated oocysts or consumption of rodents infected by the parasite. Scarce information is available about extraintestinal stages of C. felis in naturally infected intermediate hosts, as well as in cell culture. The aim of the current work was to investigate the development of C. felis in Vero cells (African green monkey kidney) and MDCK cells (Madin-Darby canine kidney). Cell monolayers were inoculated with mechanically released sporozoites of C. felis, and parasite growth was daily examined using light microscopy. After cell invasion, only parasitophorous vacuoles containing a single zoite were observed. Five days post-inoculation with sporozoites, unstained cell monolayers were evaluated by differential interference contrast (DIC), and also by Romanovsky stain using conventional light microscopy. Single zoites, each surrounded by a cyst wall, were observed by both methods. Multiplication by endodyogeny did not occur in any cell monolayer. Treatment of encysted parasites with HCl-pepsin for 15 min led to dissolution of the cyst wall and release of intact and motile zoites. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of in vitro production of monozoic tissue cysts of C. felis. As kittens commonly shed C. felis in their feces, oocysts are easily available for in vitro production of monozoic tissue cysts of the parasite. Development of C. felis in cell culture may be employed as a model on tissue cyst formation of Cystoisospora spp. and closely related coccidia.

Adsorption of indigo carmine on Pistia stratiotes dry biomass chemically modified.

Pistia stratiotes is a common aquatic plant of the northern region of the state of Rio de Janeiro, and its use as adsorbent material was studied in the present work. The preparation process included washing, drying, grinding, and acid activation. The sorption potential for removal of the indigo carmine dye from aqueous solutions was tested under various conditions, such as initial concentration, contact time, and temperature. The tests showed that the obtained biosorbent showed good performance for dye removal with a maximum capacity of 41.2 mg/g. The kinetic studies revealed that the pseudo-second-order equation provided the best fit of the experimental data. The Freundlich isotherm provided the best fit of the experimental sorption data for the system under study. The results obtained show that Pistia stratiotes has great potential to be used as biosorbent for the removal of dyes from aqueous solutions.

Diagnosis of paratuberculosis in a dairy herd native to Brazil.

Paratuberculosis (PTB) in Brazil has previously only been reported in imported animals and is officially considered as an exotic disease. A dairy herd, which had no imported animals, presented clinically suspect animals and was investigated for paratuberculosis using faecal culture, histopathology, indirect ELISA and the agar gel immunodiffusion test. Infection with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) was confirmed by culture of faeces from five cows with clinical symptoms of PTB and in 7/24 randomly selected asymptomatic cows from the same herd. Two cows with clinical symptoms were necropsied and their tissues were positive for Map by culture and histopathology. Twelve asymptomatic, randomly selected cows were positive on ELISA. The results confirmed the presence of PTB in this dairy herd and for the first time demonstrated the disease in a herd of native-bred cattle in Brazil.

Recovery of nail dystrophy potential new therapeutic indication of tofacitinib.

Nail dystrophy is a heterogeneous skin condition and in some subtypes, is associated with autoimmune diseases in particular psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. In this report, we show that tofacitinib, a novel therapy for rheumatoid arthritis, appears to be beneficial in patients with nail disease refractory to other conventional modes of therapy.

A report of mycobacteriosis caused by Mycobacterium marinum in bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana).

The occurrence of mycobacteriosis caused by Mycobacterium marinum in a commercial breeding farm of bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is described. Ten animals presented skin lesions on the head and extremities. These and 38 other asymptomatic adult animals from various tanks were killed and at necropsy disseminated granulomatous lesions were observed in the 10 clinically affected animals and in 16 (42.1%) of the asymptomatic frogs. Acid-fast bacilli were observed in all smears of the 10 symptomatic frogs and in all but one from the 16 asymptomatic animals with visceral lesions. Ten samples from the 25 positive animals were randomly selected for culture which yielded four isolates of fast-growing (<7 days) mycobacteria. Those purified isolates were characterised by biochemical traditional means as M. marinum. Identification of the strains was confirmed using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) restriction enzyme analysis assay. It is suggested that M. marinum is an important agent of granulomatous disease in bullfrogs and that infected animals, even when asymptomatic, could act as reservoirs spreading the disease and contaminating other frogs in the farm.

Remarkable Improvement of Nail Changes in Alopecia Areata Universalis with 10 Months of Treatment with Tofacitinib: A Case Report.

Alopecia areata (AA) is a chronic, autoimmune disease. The main symptom is massive hair loss, localized or diffuse, in the scalp and the whole body. However, nails may also be involved, and brittleness, fragility and pitting can be signs of nail dystrophy in AA patients. Here, we report the case of a male patient with AA refractory to various treatments, including oral, topical and intralesional corticosteroids, immunosuppressants, cyclosporin and PUVA (oxoralen plus ultraviolet light), all interrupted due to side effects. The patient's nails had erythematous blotches (striated lunulae) with regular and superficial pitting as well as fragility (trachyonychia), and he could no longer play the guitar because of these symptoms. With patient consent, we introduced tofacitinib (5 mg twice daily), which resulted in remarkable improvements not only regarding hair regrowth but also nail changes, with function recovery within 10 months.