Implementation impact assessment of Uber System on mortality from traffic injuries in Brazilian capitals.

The rapid expansion of Uber System and e-hailing apps has been transforming the logistics network and urban mobility around the world. The present work aims at evaluating the impact of Uber System on the traffic injury mortality (TI) in implementation in Brazilian capitals. A quasi-experimental design of interrupted time series was used. The monthly mortality rates for TI standardized by age were analised. The date of availability of Uber app, specific to each capital, was considered as the start date. Data from the Brazilian Mortality Information System and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics were used. For the data analysis from interrupted time series design, ARIMA with transfer function were fitted. In 95,6% (n=25) of Brazilian capitals, there was no impact of Uber System implementation, twelve months after the start of its activities, on mortality from traffic injuries. A reduction in mortality from this cause was observed after the System was implemented in Belo Horizonte e Rio de Janeiro. The impact was progressive and continuous on TI mortality in both. More studies are needed to establish the factors associated with the inequalities observed in the impact of the Uber System implementation between different locations and the heterogeneity of effects.

Identification of quantitative trait loci governing subgynoecy in cucumber.

KEY MESSAGE: QTL-seq analysis identified three major QTLs conferring subgynoecy in cucumbers. Furthermore, sequence and expression analyses predicted candidate genes controlling subgynoecy. The cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is a typical monoecious having individual male and female flowers, and sex differentiation is an important developmental process that directly affects its fruit yield. Subgynoecy represents a sex form with a high degree of femaleness and would have alternative use as gynoecy under limited resource conditions. Recently, many studies have been reported that QTL-seq, which integrates the advantages of bulked segregant analysis and high-throughput whole-genome resequencing, can be a rapid and cost-effective way of mapping QTLs. Segregation analysis in the F2 and BC1 populations derived from a cross between subgynoecious LOSUAS and monoecious BMB suggested the quantitative nature of subgynoecy in cucumbers. Both genome-wide SNP profiling of subgynoecious and monoecious bulks constructed from F2 and BC1 plants consistently identified three significant genomic regions, one on chromosome 3 (sg3.1) and another two on short and long arms of chromosome 1 (sg1.1 and sg1.2). Classical QTL analysis using the F2 confirmed sg3.1 (R2 = 42%), sg1.1 (R2 = 29%) and sg1.2 (R2 = 18%) as major QTLs. These results revealed the unique genetic inheritance of subgynoecious line LOSUAS through two distinct major QTLs, sg3.1 and sg1.1, which mainly increase degree of femaleness, while another QTL, sg1.2, contributes to decrease it. This study demonstrated that QTL-seq allows rapid and powerful detection of QTLs using preliminary generation mapping populations such as F2 or BC1 population and further that the identified QTLs could be useful for molecular breeding of cucumber lines with high yield potential.

Identifying multimorbidity clusters among Brazilian older adults using network analysis: Findings and perspectives.

In aging populations, multimorbidity (MM) is a significant challenge for health systems, however there are scarce evidence available in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, particularly in Brazil. A national cross-sectional study was conducted with 11,177 Brazilian older adults to evaluate the occurrence of MM and related clusters in Brazilians aged ≥ 60 years old. MM was assessed by a list of 16 physical and mental morbidities and it was defined considering ≥ 2 morbidities. The frequencies of MM and its associated factors were analyzed. After this initial approach, a network analysis was performed to verify the occurrence of clusters of MM and the network of interactions between coexisting morbidities. The occurrence of MM was 58.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 57.0-60.2). Hypertension (50.6%) was the most frequent morbidity and it was present all combinations of morbidities. Network analysis has demonstrated 4 MM clusters: 1) cardiometabolic; 2) respiratory + cancer; 3) musculoskeletal; and 4) a mixed mental illness + other diseases. Depression was the most central morbidity in the model according to nodes' centrality measures (strength, closeness, and betweenness) followed by heart disease, and low back pain. Similarity in male and female networks was observed with a conformation of four clusters of MM and cancer as an isolated morbidity. The prevalence of MM in the older Brazilians was high, especially in female sex and persons living in the South region of Brazil. Use of network analysis could be an important tool for identifying MM clusters and address the appropriate health care, research, and medical education for older adults in Brazil.

Image-Based Machine Learning Characterizes Root Nodule in Soybean Exposed to Silicon.

Silicon promotes nodule formation in legume roots which is crucial for nitrogen fixation. However, it is very time-consuming and laborious to count the number of nodules and to measure nodule size manually, which led nodule characterization not to be study as much as other agronomical characters. Thus, the current study incorporated various techniques including machine learning to determine the number and size of root nodules and identify various root phenotypes from root images that may be associated with nodule formation with and without silicon treatment. Among those techniques, the machine learning for characterizing nodule is the first attempt, which enabled us to find high correlations among root phenotypes including root length, number of forks, and average link angles, and nodule characters such as number of nodules and nodule size with silicon treatments. The methods here could greatly accelerate further investigation such as delineating the optimal concentration of silicon for nodule formation.

The opening of phenome-assisted selection era in the early seedling stage.

Faster and more efficient breeding cycle is not an option to deal with unpredictable and fast global climate changes. Phenomics for collecting huge number of individuals in accurate manner could be an answer to solve this problem. We collected image data to measure plant height and manual data for shoot length to be compared. QTLs clustered of plant height and shoot length were detected in 2-week old seedlings, which was consistent with many other reports using various genetic resources in matured stage. Further, these traits are highly correlated with yield by pleiotropism or tight linkage of those traits. It implies the "phenome-assisted selection" can be applied for yield trait in rice in the very early stage to shorten the breeding cycle significantly in fast but low-cost manner.

Sustainable Agriculture by Increasing Nitrogen Fertilizer Efficiency Using Low-Resolution Camera Mounted on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

Nitrogen use efficiency in modern agriculture is very low. It means that a lot of synthetic chemicals are wasted rather than utilized by crops. This can cause more problems where the soil surface is thin and rocky like Jeju Island in the Republic of Korea. This is because overly used nitrogen fertilizer can be washed into the underground water and pollute it. Thus, it would be important to monitor the nitrogen deficiency of crops in the field to provide the right amount of nitrogen in a timely manner so that nitrogen waste can be limited. To achieve this, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was used to monitor chlorophyll content, which is tightly associated with nitrogen content in the buckwheat field. The NDVI was calculated with the data obtained by a low-resolution camera mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle. The results showed that the NDVI can estimate the chlorophyll content of buckwheat. These simple but clear results imply that precision agriculture could be achieved even with a low-resolution camera in a cost-effective manner to reduce the pollution of underground water.

A genome-wide association study identified loci for yield component traits in sugarcane (Saccharum spp.).

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) has a complex genome with variable ploidy and frequent aneuploidy, which hampers the understanding of phenotype and genotype relations. Despite this complexity, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) may be used to identify favorable alleles for target traits in core collections and then assist breeders in better managing crosses and selecting superior genotypes in breeding populations. Therefore, in the present study, we used a diversity panel of sugarcane, called the Brazilian Panel of Sugarcane Genotypes (BPSG), with the following objectives: (i) estimate, through a mixed model, the adjusted means and genetic parameters of the five yield traits evaluated over two harvest years; (ii) detect population structure, linkage disequilibrium (LD) and genetic diversity using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers; (iii) perform GWAS analysis to identify marker-trait associations (MTAs); and iv) annotate the sequences giving rise to SSR markers that had fragments associated with target traits to search for putative candidate genes. The phenotypic data analysis showed that the broad-sense heritability values were above 0.48 and 0.49 for the first and second harvests, respectively. The set of 100 SSR markers produced 1,483 fragments, of which 99.5% were polymorphic. These SSR fragments were useful to estimate the most likely number of subpopulations, found to be four, and the LD in BPSG, which was stronger in the first 15 cM and present to a large extension (65 cM). Genetic diversity analysis showed that, in general, the clustering of accessions within the subpopulations was in accordance with the pedigree information. GWAS performed through a multilocus mixed model revealed 23 MTAs, six, three, seven, four and three for soluble solid content, stalk height, stalk number, stalk weight and cane yield traits, respectively. These MTAs may be validated in other populations to support sugarcane breeding programs with introgression of favorable alleles and marker-assisted selection.

Selection for silage yield and composition did not affect genomic diversity within the Wisconsin Quality Synthetic maize population.

Maize silage is forage of high quality and yield, and represents the second most important use of maize in the United States. The Wisconsin Quality Synthetic (WQS) maize population has undergone five cycles of recurrent selection for silage yield and composition, resulting in a genetically improved population. The application of high-density molecular markers allows breeders and geneticists to identify important loci through association analysis and selection mapping, as well as to monitor changes in the distribution of genetic diversity across the genome. The objectives of this study were to identify loci controlling variation for maize silage traits through association analysis and the assessment of selection signatures and to describe changes in the genomic distribution of gene diversity through selection and genetic drift in the WQS recurrent selection program. We failed to find any significant marker-trait associations using the historical phenotypic data from WQS breeding trials combined with 17,719 high-quality, informative single nucleotide polymorphisms. Likewise, no strong genomic signatures were left by selection on silage yield and quality in the WQS despite genetic gain for these traits. These results could be due to the genetic complexity underlying these traits, or the role of selection on standing genetic variation. Variation in loss of diversity through drift was observed across the genome. Some large regions experienced much greater loss in diversity than what is expected, suggesting limited recombination combined with small populations in recurrent selection programs could easily lead to fixation of large swaths of the genome.

Atenção primária na saúde suplementar: compreendendo os atributos essenciais em uma operadora de plano de saúde da região sudeste do Brasil / Primary care in supplementary health: understanding the essential attributes in a health plan operator in the southeastern region of Brazil

A atenção primária à saúde pode ser compreendida como primeiro nível de atenção em um sistema de saúde. O conceito de atenção primária foi evoluindo ao longo do tempo e o desenvolvimento das práticas assistenciais foi adquirindo características específicas nos sistemas de saúde implantadas. Os estudos atuais mostram que a atenção primária deve orientar o modelo assistencial nos sistemas de saúde e deve ser pautada nos atributos essenciais de Starfield: acesso, longitudinalidade, coordenação, integralidade. Estudos recentes apontam que uma atenção primária forte e resolutiva é capaz de resolver cerca de 75% dos problemas de saúde da população. No Brasil, a Atenção Primária à Saúde foi implementada, inicialmente, no Sistema Único de Saúde, a partir de 1994. Observa-se que, durante os anos, importantes evoluções foram experimentadas no modelo adotado no Sistema Único de Saúde. No setor privado a preocupação com essa temática é relativamente recente. Em uma operadora de plano de saúde localizada em um município da região sudeste, algumas foram as práticas relacionadas aos cuidados primários de atenção à saúde desenvolvidas ao longo dos últimos anos, porém a adoção da APS de forma explícita ocorreu apenas em 2013. O objetivo desse trabalho é compreender as experiências de cuidados primários em uma operadora de plano de saúde a partir dos atributos essenciais, sob a ótica de clientes, cooperados e colaboradores. Trata-se de um estudo qualitativo, de abordagem exploratória do tipo estudo de caso. O método de coleta de dados foi a entrevista com utilização de roteiro semiestruturado. Os participantes foram clientes, colaboradores e cooperados da operadora em estudo. Utilizou-se da técnica de análise de conteúdo proposta por Bardin (2016) para tratamento dos dados. Cada atributo foi considerado uma categoria de análise e, além disso, considerou-se questões específicas do modelo e aspectos gerais para contribuir com as discussões. Os resultados evidenciam que os atributos da APS estão presentes na operadora em estudo e são percebidos de forma diferente pelos grupos entrevistados. As respostas foram divididas em aspectos positivos, negativos, neutros e ausentes. A categoria que os clientes mais conseguem perceber e trazer em seus discursos é o acesso e a que menos aparece é a longitudinalidade. Em algumas categorias é possível notar uma quantidade importante de ausências de respostas, o que demonstra a baixa percepção dos atributos pelos entrevistados. De maneira geral, os atributos precisam ser desenvolvidos para que que a APS passe a entregar os resultados esperados no contexto da saúde suplementar. Foi proposto o Relatório Técnico de Ações de Fortalecimento da Atenção Primária à Saúde, como produto técnico do mestrado em Gestão de Serviços de Saúde, para contribuir com a implementação e a melhoria da atenção primária no sistema de saúde, especialmente nas operadoras de planos de saúde.

Primary health care can be understood as the first level of care in a health system. The concept of primary care has evolved over time and the development of care practices has acquired specific characteristics in the operating health systems. Nowadays studies say primary health care should guide the care model in health systems and should be based on the essential attributes of Starfield: access, longitudinality, coordination, integrality. Recent studies suggest a strong and resolute primary care is capable of solving about 75% of the population's health problems. In Brazil, Primary Health Care was initially implemented in the Unified Health System, starting in 1994. It is observed that, over the years, important developments have been experienced in the model adopted in the Unified Health System. In the private sector, the concern with this theme is recent. In a health plan operator located in a city in the southeastern region, some practices related to primary health care have been developed over the past few years, however the adoption of PHC explicitly occurred only in 2013. The objective of this work is to understand the experiences of primary care in a health plan operator according to the essential attributes, from the perspective of customers, members and employees. This is a qualitative study, with an exploratory approach: a case study. The method of data collection was the interview using a semi-structured script. Participants were customers, employees and members of the operator under study. The content analysis technique proposed by Bardin (2016) was used for data treatment. Each attribute was considered a category of analysis and, in addition, specific model points and general aspects were considered to contribute to the discussions. The results show that the attributes of PHC are present in the health plan operator under study and are perceived differently by the interviewed groups. The responses were divided into positive, negative, neutral and absent aspects. The category that clients are most able to perceive and bring in their speeches is access and the one that appears least is longitudinality. In some categories, it is possible to notice an important number of missing answers, which demonstrates the low perception of attributes by the interviewees. In general, the attributes need to be developed so that PHC starts to deliver the expected results in the context of supplementary health. The Technical Report on Actions to Strengthen Primary Health Care was proposed, as a technical product of the Master in Health Services Management, to contribute to the implementation and improvement of primary care in the health system, especially in health plan operators.