Adhesion of Acanthamoeba on Scleral Contact Lenses According to Lens Shape.

Purpose: To investigate the adhesion of Acanthamoeba to scleral contact lens (ScCL) surface according to lens shape. Methods: Two strains of A. polyphaga (CDC:V062 and ATCC 30461) and one clinical Acanthamoeba isolate, were inoculated onto five contact lens (CL): one first-generation silicone hydrogel (SHCL; lotrafilcon B; adhesion control) containing plasma surface treatment; two ScCL (fluorosilicone acrylate) one containing surface treatment composed of plasma and the other containing plasma with Hydra-PEG, and two CL designed with a flat shape having the same material and surface treatments of the ScCL. Trophozoites that adhered to the lens's surfaces were counted by inverted optical light microscopy. Possible alterations of the lens surface that could predispose amoeba adhesion and Acanthamoeba attached to these lens surfaces were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results: All strains revealed greater adhesion to the ScCL when compared with the flat lenses (P < 0.001). The clinical isolate and the ATCC 30461 had a higher adhesion (P < 0.001) when compared with the CDC:V062. A rough texture was observed on the surface of the lenses that have been examined by SEM. Also, SEM revealed that the isolates had a rounded appearance on the surface of the ScCL in contrast with an elongated appearance on the surface of the silicone hydrogel. Conclusions: The findings revealed that the curved shape of the ScCL favors amoeba adhesion.

The impact of injury control research centers: Advancing the field of injury and violence prevention.

INTRODUCTION: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) funds Injury Control Research Centers (ICRCs). These centers study injury and violence prevention through three core areas: (1) Research conducts cutting-edge, multidisciplinary research in the injury and violence prevention field; (2) Outreach translates injury and violence prevention research into action; and (3) Training educates and trains the next generation of injury and violence prevention professionals. We examined ICRC work from 2012 to 2019 to determine whether they fulfilled their goal of furthering injury and violence prevention research and practice. METHODS: We created a database of core area accomplishments reported through annual and interim progress reports. These reports track core area accomplishments by injury and violence prevention topic area, publications, partnerships, and trainings. RESULTS: From 2012 to 2019, ten ICRCs from two funding cycles received approximately $49 million. ICRCs reported 703 research, 1,432 outreach, and 660 training accomplishments. There were also 342 accomplishments contributing to a special tool or resource. These accomplishments focused on preventing traumatic brain injury, suicide, adverse childhood experiences, and transportation safety. ICRCs produced over 3,500 peer-reviewed publications. ICRCs reported over 3,600 accomplishments partnered with academic institutions, public health agencies, healthcare, and non-profit organizations. ICRCs created resources for audiences such as students, law enforcement, and policy makers. ICRCs trained 3,131 students and faculty. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: ICRCs are the hubs of modern research and practice in the injury and violence prevention field. They successfully bring together stakeholders from disparate disciplines, perspectives, and agencies to join forces and tackle critical public health problems. CONCLUSION: ICRCs are an integral component of NCIPC's, CDC's and the Department of Health and Human Service's missions to protect and enhance the health of Americans. Research covered NCIPC research priorities over the funding period, furthering injury and violence prevention research and working as a foundation to practice and policy. Outreach and partnerships with an array of organizations put research into action. Trainings educated the new generation of injury and violence prevention professionals.

Heavy metals and health risk assessment of Brazilian artisanal cheeses.

Dairy products stand out as a food matrix susceptible to the contamination of heavy metals via cattle feed and environmental or processing conditions. Specifically, in the case of cheese, the concentrations can be further increased depending on the production process. The artisanal cheese market has been standing out, especially in Brazil, due to cultural and gastronomic reasons. Eight types of Brazilian artisanal cheese were analyzed for metal concentrations (chromium, copper, cadmium, lead, arsenic, and mercury, n = 80, 10 samples of each cheese) using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Based on the results, a health risk assessment was carried out, based on the determination of estimated daily intake, target hazard quotient (THQ), and hazard index (HI). Variable concentrations were observed between the types of cheese, but in all cases the THQ and HI values were less than 1, indicating an absence of potential risk in the consumption of artisanal cheeses in relation to the intake of heavy metals.

Removal of mercury by silica-supported ionic liquids: Efficiency and ecotoxicological assessment.

Anthropogenic impacts have affected the coastal environment and contributed to its contamination. Mercury (Hg) is widespread in nature and has been shown to be toxic in even the smallest amounts, negatively affecting not only the marine ecosystem but also the entire trophic chain due to its biomagnification. Mercury ranks third on the Agency for Toxic Substances and Diseases Registry (ATSDR) priority list and it is therefore imperative to develop more effective methods than those currently available to avoid the persistence of this contaminant in aquatic ecosystems. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of six different silica-supported ionic liquids (SIL) in removing Hg from contaminated saline water, under realistic conditions ([Hg] = 50 µg/L), and to ecotoxicologically evaluate the safety of the SIL-remedied water, using as test model the marine macroalga Ulva lactuca. The results revealed that SIL [Si][C3C1im][SCN] (250 mg/L) was the most effective in removing Hg from solution, with a efficiency up to 99 % in just 6 h, that enable to obtain < 1 µg/L Hg (European guideline in drinking water). U. lactuca exposed to either the SIL and/or the remedied water showed no significant changes in relative growth rate and chlorophyll a and b levels, compared to the control condition. Biomarker analysis (LPO, GSH, GSSG, SOD, GPx, CAT and GRed) also showed no significant changes in the biochemical performance of U. lactuca. Therefore, it could be assumed that water treatment with SIL or its presence in an aqueous environment does not pose toxicity levels that could inhibit the metabolism or cause cell damage to U. lactuca.

Chironomus calligraphus Goeldi, 1905 (Diptera: Chironomidae) Larvae: Feeding Habits, Growth, and Maturation.

Chironomus calligraphus Goeldi, 1905 has a flexible life cycle with several generations per year, which can be modified by the quality and type of food. To categorize the functional feeding group of the species, food preference was evaluated in larval instars III and IV, through laboratory experiments and gut content analysis. To evaluate the influence of the type of food on the duration of the life cycle growth and maturation, experiments were carried out. Instar III preferred conditioned leaves and animal food, while instar IV preferred algae and fine particulate organic matter. Gut contents of instar IV collected from streams showed increased consumption of fine particulate organic matter than other items. All these observations allowed us to assign the species to the gatherer collector group. The duration of the life cycle varied between the different types of foods, being the conditioned leaves, animal food, and algae the items that caused a greater growth in the larvae and a faster passage to the pupal instar. Our results suggest that the opportunistic feeding behavior of C. calligraphus allows it to use several different foods, but the quality of the foods influences the length of the life cycle and this contributes to its plasticity.

Cocktail effects of emerging contaminants on zebrafish: Nanoplastics and the pharmaceutical diphenhydramine.

Nanoplastics (NPLs) became ubiquitous in the environment, from the air we breathe to the food we eat. One of the main concerns about the NPLs risks is their role as carrier of other environmental contaminants, potentially increasing their uptake, bioaccumulation and toxicity to the organisms. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to understand how the presence of polystyrene NPLs (∅ 44 nm) will influence the toxicity (synergism, additivity or antagonism) of the antihistamine diphenhydramine (DPH), towards zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos, when in dual mixtures. After 96 hours (h) exposure, at the organismal level, NPLs (0.015 or 1.5 mg/L) + DPH (10 mg/L) induced embryo mortality (90%) and malformations (100%) and decreased hatching (80%) and heartbeat rates (60%). After 120 h exposure, NPLs (0.015 or 1.5 mg/L) + DPH (0.01 mg/L) decreased larvae swimming distance (30-40%). At the biochemical level, increased glutathione S-transferases (55-122%) and cholinesterase (182-343%) activities were found after 96 h exposure to NPLs (0.015 or 1.5 mg/L) + DPH (0.01 mg/L). However, catalase (CAT) activity remained similar to the control group in the mixtures, inhibiting the effects detected after the exposure to 1.5 mg/L NPLs alone (increased 230% of CAT activity). In general, the effects of dual combination - NPLs + DPH (even at concentrations as low as 10 µg/L of DPH) - were more harmful than the correspondent individual exposures, showing the synergistic interactions of the dual mixture and answering to the main question of this work. The obtained results, namely the altered toxicity patterns of NPLs + DPH compared with the individual exposures, show the importance of an environmental risk assessment considering NPLs as a co-contaminant due to the potential NPLs role as vector for other contaminants.

Recovery of palladium from a low grade palladium solution by anionic-ion exchange: kinetics, equilibrium, and metal competition.

Petroleum spent catalysts may contain a significant amount of palladium (Pd) together with other major [aluminum (Al), nickel (Ni), and molybdenum (Mo)] and minor [iron (Fe), lead (Pb), and vanadium (V)] elements. Due to the high intrinsic value of Pd and its scarcity in natural ores, its recovery is highly desired. For this purpose, the ability of a strong basic anionic- resin, Purogold™ A194 resin, to remove Pd from the solution was assessed. Data from kinetic and equilibrium studies, performed under batch mode in 1 mol/L of NaCl and 1 mol/L of HNO3 at (21 ± 1) °C, revealed that the removal of Pd fits well a pseudo-second-order kinetic model [constant rate value, k2, of (0.062 ± 0.010) g/(mmol.min)] and a Langmuir isotherm [maximum sorption capacity of (0.80 ± 0.02) mmol/g with an affinity of resin binding sites towards Pd, KL, of (0.18 ± 0.02) L/mmol], respectively. The sorption of other metals (Al, Fe, Pb, Mo, Ni, and V) that may be present in spent catalyst leachates was tested under similar experimental conditions [CM = 2.5 mmol/L, 1 mol/L of NaCl and 1 mol/L of HNO3 at (21 ± 1) °C)] and the resin showed little affinity towards each one of these metals. Also, simultaneous multi-element batch experiments with Pd and the major components (M = Al, Ni, and Mo ions) ([M]/[Pd] molar ratios between 3.4 and 52 were used) pointed out that the resin is highly selective towards Pd suggesting that the resin can be used in the selective recovery of Pd from petroleum spent catalyst leachates.

Assessment of diphenhydramine toxicity - Is its mode of action conserved between human and zebrafish?

The main aim of the study is to evaluate the effects of the pharmaceutical diphenhydramine (DPH) on embryo-larvae Danio rerio across distinct levels of organization - individual and subcellular - and correlate those effects with the DPH mode of action (MoA) assessed by in silico analysis. An embryos heartbeat rate reduction was observed at 10 mg/L DPH, but 0.001 to 10 mg/L did not significantly affect the zebrafish survival, hatching and morphology. Larvae swimming distance decreased (hypoactivity) at 1 and 10 mg/L DPH. Moreover, the straightforward movements decrease and the increase in the zigzag movements or movements with direction changes, shown an erratic swimming behavior. Energy budgets decreased for lipid (0.01 mg/L DPH) and carbohydrate (10 mg/L DPH) contents. Cholinesterase (neural function) and glutathione S-transferase (Phase II biotransformation/antioxidant processes) increased their activities at 10 mg/L DPH, where a decrease in the total glutathione content (antioxidant system) was observed. DNA damage was found at 0.01 and 10 mg/L DPH. However, a DNA repair occurred after subsequent 72 h in clean media. The in silico study revealed a relevant conservation between human and zebrafish DPH target molecules. These data provide a valuable ecotoxicological information about the DPH effects and MoA to non-target organisms.

Long-Distance Counter Calling in Maned Wolves: Friends or Foes?

Maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus) are monogamous and display biparental care for their young, although adults rarely spend time in close proximity. To better understand vocal interactions of maned wolves over long-distances, we passively recorded >10 months of audio data in the species' natural habitat and analyzed manual recordings of captive animals, covering the reproductive and non-reproductive seasons. In the natural habitat recordings, we found that maned wolves engage in vocal exchanges (termed interactive sequences) more often during the mating season, suggesting the existence of a partner attraction/reunion/guarding function, and also during the initial parental care period, suggesting communication among caregivers. We analyzed 21 interactive sequences, which were the only instances in which we could distinguish individuals, and found that the individuals interacting differed significantly in their roar-bark parameters, including duration, which also differed between males and females in captivity (male vocalizations were, on average, 0.124 s longer). We also found that interactive sequences in captive animals, involving two or more participants, almost always involved both sexes. These results suggest that acoustic interacting maned wolves are most likely male−female dyads.

Multivariable optimization of activated carbon production from microwave pyrolysis of brewery wastes - Application in the removal of antibiotics from water.

This study aimed at optimizing the one-step chemical activation and microwave pyrolysis of an agro-industrial waste to obtain a microporous activated carbon (AC) with superior textural and adsorptive properties by a fast, low-reagent and low-energy process. Spent brewery grains were used as precursor, and the antibiotics sulfamethoxazole (SMX), trimethoprim (TMP) and ciprofloxacin (CIP) were considered as target adsorbates. A fractional factorial design was applied to evaluate the effect of the main factors affecting the preparation of AC (activating agent, activating agent:precursor ratio, pyrolysis temperature and residence time) on relevant responses. Under optimized conditions (K2CO3 activation, pyrolysis at 800 °C during 20 min and a K2CO3:precursor ratio of 1:2), a microporous AC with specific surface area of 1405 m2 g-1 and large adsorption of target antibiotics (82-94%) was obtained and selected for further studies. Equilibrium times up to 60 min and maximum Langmuir adsorption capacities of 859 µmol g-1 (SMX), 790 µmol g-1 (TMP) and 621 µmol g-1 (CIP) were obtained. The excellent textural and adsorptive properties of the selected material were achieved with a very fast pyrolysis and low load of activating agent, highlighting the importance of optimization studies to decrease the environmental and economic impact of waste-based AC.

Producing Magnetic Nanocomposites from Paper Sludge for the Adsorptive Removal of Pharmaceuticals from Water-A Fractional Factorial Design.

In view of a simple after-use separation, the potentiality of producing magnetic activated carbon (MAC) by intercalation of ferromagnetic metal oxide nanoparticles in the framework of a powder activated carbon (PAC) produced from primary paper sludge was explored in this work. The synthesis conditions to produce cost effective and efficient MACs for the adsorptive removal of pharmaceuticals (amoxicillin, carbamazepine, and diclofenac) from aqueous media were evaluated. For this purpose, a fractional factorial design (FFD) was applied to assess the effect of the most significant variables (Fe3+ to Fe2+ salts ratio, PAC to iron salts ratio, temperature, and pH), on the following responses concerning the resulting MACs: Specific surface area (SBET), saturation magnetization (Ms), and adsorption percentage of amoxicillin, carbamazepine, and diclofenac. The statistical analysis revealed that the PAC to iron salts mass ratio was the main factor affecting the considered responses. A quadratic linear regression model A = f(SBET, Ms) was adjusted to the FFD data, allowing to differentiate four of the eighteen MACs produced. These MACs were distinguished by being easily recovered from aqueous phase using a permanent magnet (Ms of 22-27 emu g-1), and their high SBET (741-795 m2 g-1) were responsible for individual adsorption percentages ranging between 61% and 84% using small MAC doses (35 mg L-1).

In situ functionalization of a cellulosic-based activated carbon with magnetic iron oxides for the removal of carbamazepine from wastewater.

The main goal of this work was to produce an easily recoverable waste-based magnetic activated carbon (MAC) for an efficient removal of the antiepileptic pharmaceutical carbamazepine (CBZ) from wastewater. For this purpose, the synthesis procedure was optimized and a material (MAC4) providing immediate recuperation from solution, remarkable adsorptive performance and relevant properties (specific surface area of 551 m2 g-1 and saturation magnetization of 39.84 emu g-1) was selected for further CBZ kinetic and equilibrium adsorption studies. MAC4 presented fast CBZ adsorption rates and short equilibrium times (< 30-45 min) in both ultrapure water and wastewater. Equilibrium studies showed that MAC4 attained maximum adsorption capacities (qm) of 68 ± 4 mg g-1 in ultrapure water and 60 ± 3 mg g-1 in wastewater, suggesting no significant interference of the aqueous matrix in the adsorption process. Overall, this work provides evidence of potential application of a waste-based MAC in the tertiary treatment of wastewaters. Graphical abstract.

Optimizing microwave-assisted production of waste-based activated carbons for the removal of antibiotics from water.

This work aimed at the microwave-assisted production of activated carbon (AC) from primary paper mill sludge (PS) for the adsorption of antibiotics from water. Production conditions, namely pyrolysis temperature, pyrolysis time and activating agent (KOH):PS ratio, were optimized as a function of product yield, specific surface area (SBET), total organic carbon (TOC) content and adsorptive removal percentage of two target antibiotics (amoxicillin (AMX) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX)). Under the optimized conditions (pyrolysis at 800 °C during 20 min and a KOH:PS ratio of 1:5), a microporous AC (MW800-20-1:5, with SBET = 1196 m2 g-1, TOC = 56.2% and removal of AMX and SMX = 85% and 72%, respectively) was produced and selected for further kinetic and equilibrium adsorption studies. The obtained results were properly described by the Elovich reaction-based kinetic model and the Langmuir equilibrium isotherm, with maximum adsorption capacities of 204 ± 5 mg g-1 and 217 ± 8 mg g-1 for AMX and SMX, respectively. Considering the satisfactory comparison of these results with the performance of commercial and alternative AC produced by conventional pyrolysis, this work demonstrated the feasibility of the microwave-assisted production of environmentally and energetically sustainable waste-based AC to be applied in the efficient removal of antibiotics from water.

Use of ecosystem health indicators for assessing anthropogenic impacts on freshwaters in Argentina: a review.

Indicators of ecosystem health are effective tools to assess freshwater ecosystem impairment. However, they are scarcely used as a monitoring tool by local environmental agencies in Argentina. Here, we review the literature to analyze the use of ecosystem health indicators in freshwaters from Argentina. We found 91 scientific articles relating to the use of ecological indices to assess the impact of different environmental stressors in aquatic environments published between 1996 and 2019. We generated Google Earth map where we deployed the sampling sites and type of indices reported by each article. As biological indices were the most used, we also surveyed bioindication experts to gather information on their application. We found that most studies were concentrated mainly in Pampas (34%), Dry Chaco (20%), Espinal (12%), and Patagonian Steppe (10%) ecoregions. Biological indices (mainly with invertebrates) were more used than geomorphological or physico-chemical indices. Indices resulted useful to evaluate the impact of stressors in 63% of cases, being land use the most studied stressor. However, sampling design varied greatly among studies, making their comparison difficult. The information compiled here could help to the design of monitoring protocols, the adoption of regional indices, and the creation of a national inventory of ecosystem health status, which are mandatory to propose well-grounded conservation and management policies for freshwaters in Argentina.

Recent advances on the development and application of magnetic activated carbon and char for the removal of pharmaceutical compounds from waters: A review.

The adsorption of pharmaceutical substances using carbonaceous materials, such as activated carbon (AC), biochar (BC) and hydrochar (HC), has received substantial attention by researchers working on water treatment, due to the simplicity, low-cost and high performance of this process. In order to widen the potentiality of these carbonaceous materials and to overcome some of their limitations, particularly the inefficient separation of powdered formulations from treated water, the incorporation of magnetic nanoparticles has been explored. The recovery of magnetic carbon materials (MCM) from the treated water can be attained by applying an external magnetic field, avoiding inefficient and costly filtration and centrifugation processes, typically applied in the case of non-magnetic carbonaceous adsorbents. In the last ten years, some work has been devoted to the preparation of MCM specifically from AC (MCACM), biochar (MCBCM) and hydrochar (MCHCM). This review aims to present the different aspects of using MCM in water treatment, namely in the removal of pharmaceutical compounds. The synthesis routes used to produce MCM, their physical, morphologic and chemical features, and their application in the removal of these micro-organic contaminants from water will be assessed. The advantages and disadvantages of using MCM in water treatment, and their comparative performance with the carbonaceous non-magnetic precursors will be also discussed in this review.

Investigating the Binding Heterogeneity of Trace Metal Cations With SiO2 Nanoparticles Using Full Wave Analysis of Stripping Chronopotentiometry at Scanned Deposition Potential.

Silica oxides nano- and microparticles, as well as silica-based materials, are very abundant in nature and industrial processes. Trace metal cation binding with these bulk materials is generally not considered significant in speciation studies in environmental systems. Nonetheless, this might change for nanoparticulate systems as observed in a previous study of Pb(II) with a very small SiO2 particle (7.5 nm diameter). Besides, metal binding by those nanoparticles is surprisingly characterized by a heterogeneity that increases with the decrease of metal-to-particle ratio. Therefore, it is interesting to extend this study to investigate different trace metals and the influence of the nanoparticle size on the cation binding heterogeneity. Consequently, the Cd(II), Pb(II), and Zn(II) binding by two different sized SiO2 nanoparticles (Ludox LS30 and TM40) in aqueous dispersion was studied for a range of pH and ionic strength conditions, using the combination of the electroanalytical techniques Scanned Stripping ChronoPotentiometry and Absence of Gradients and Nernstian Equilibrium Stripping. The coupling of these techniques provides the free metal concentration in the bulk (AGNES) and information of the free and complex concentration at the electrode surface for each Stripping Chronopotentiometry at Scanned deposition Potential (SSCP). A recent mathematical treatment allows the reconstruction of a portion of the metal to ligand binding isotherm with the included heterogeneity information using the full SSCP wave analysis. In this work, we observed that the Zn(II) binding is homogeneous, Cd(II) is slightly heterogeneous, and Pb(II) is moderately heterogeneous, whereas the results obtained with the 7.5 nm diameter nanoparticle are slightly more heterogeneous than those obtained with the one of 17 nm. These findings suggest that the Zn(II) binding is electrostatic in nature, and for both Cd(II) and Pb(II), there should be a significant chemical binding contribution.

Evaluation of Eosin-Methylene Blue as a Photosensitizer for Larval Control of Aedes aegypti by a Photodynamic Process.

Aedes aegypti (Ae. aegypti) is a competent vector for transmitting important viral diseases such as yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. Several strategies have been applied to avoid Ae. aegypti proliferation by using environmental management, biological, and chemical approaches. However, the development of new methods for effective control of the insect vector population is still needed. Photodynamic control is an alternative way to control the vector population by using a physical approach based on the larval phototoxicity of a photosensitizer. In this context, the present study evaluated the use of eosin-methylene blue (EMB) as a new photosensitizer for photodynamic control of Ae. aegypti larval populations. The photodynamic assays were performed submitting Ae. aegypti third-instar larvae to different EMB concentrations (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 5.0, 10.0, 50.0, and 100.0 µg mL-1) in combination of three different light doses (24.3, 48.6, and 97.2 J cm-2) under either white-light radiation from RGB LEDs or sunlight. The results demonstrated that EMB presented a rapid internalization into the larvae and was phototoxic. The photodynamic action induced 100% of larval mortality after about 40 min of sunlight irradiation even using low EMB concentration (0.5 µg mL-1). The findings reveal EMB as an effective photoactive compound to control larval populations of Ae. aegypti by photodynamic process induced by either sunlight or white-light from RGB LEDs.

Análise da participação dos gestores municipais de saúde nas reuniões da comissão intergestora da V região de saúde de Pernambuco nos anos de 2016 e 2017 / Analysis of the participation of municipal health managers in the meetings of the intergovernmental commission of the 5th health region of Pernambuco in the years 2016 and 2017

O artigo discorre sobre a Comissão Intergestora Regional (CIR) da V Região de Saúde de Pernambuco e a participação dos gestores municipais de saúde nesse espaço. É uma pesquisa de cunho quantitativo que utilizou, para coleta de dados, os documentos oficiais das reuniões da CIR, pautas e atas de frequência e reunião, do período de janeiro de 2016 a dezembro de 2017. Tais documentos foram analisados de acordo com o método de Bardin, e por fim dividido em duas categorias: frequências dos gestores municipais de saúde nas reuniões da CIR e; quantidades de pactuação realizadas nas reuniões. Os dados adquiridos revelaram que o período de agosto a outubro do ano de 2016 não atingiu o mínimo de participação dos gestores nas reuniões da CIR para pactuar propostas. Porém, em 2017, todas a reuniões realizadas obtiveram mais de 50% da frequência dos gestores municipais, por conseguinte o percentual de aprovação das pactuações foi maior que o ano anterior, mesmo com esta mudança, municípios próximos da sede continuaram com baixa frequência ao contrário de municípios distantes, com mais de 90km da sede, mostrando que a distância não é fator impeditivo para a frequência dos gestores nas reuniões. Vale salientar que devido a existência de um quórum mínimo de 11 municípios para aprovação das pactuações, a ausência dos gestores não afeta apenas o seu município, mas prejudica diretamente as pactuações que beneficiam os outros municípios, e consequentemente o fortalecimento da regional a qual faz parte. (AU)

The article discusses the Regional Interactive Commission (CIR) of the V Health Region of Pernambuco and the participation of municipal health managers in this area. It is a quantitative research that used, for data collection, the official documents of the meetings of the CIR, schedules and minutes of attendance and meeting, from January 2016 to December 2017. These documents were analyzed according to the Bardin method, and finally divided in two categories: frequencies of the municipal health managers in the meetings of the CIR and; agreed upon at the meetings. The acquired data revealed that the period from August to October of 2016 did not reach the minimum participation of the managers in the meetings of the CIR to negotiate proposals. However, in 2017, all the meetings held obtained more than 50% of the frequency of the municipal managers, therefore the approval percentage of the agreements was higher than the previous year, even with this change, municipalities near the headquarters continued with low frequency, unlike municipalities distant, with more than 90km from headquarters, showing that distance is not a factor preventing attendance of managers in meetings. It is worth mentioning that due to the existence of a minimum quorum of 11 municipalities to approve pacts, the absence of managers does not only affect their municipality, but directly affects the agreements that benefit the other municipalities, and consequently the strengthening of the regional one that makes part. (AU)

Medicolegal Death Scene Investigations After Natural Disaster- and Weather-Related Events: A Review of the Literature.

BACKGROUND: The number of disaster-related deaths recorded by vital statistics departments often differs from that reported by other agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-National Weather Service storm database and the American Red Cross. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched an effort to improve disaster-related death scene investigation reporting practices to make data more comparable across jurisdictions, improve accuracy of reporting disaster-related deaths, and enhance identification of risk and protective factors. We conducted a literature review to examine how death scene data are collected and how such data are used to determine disaster relatedness. METHODS: Two analysts conducted a parallel search using Google and Google Scholar. We reviewed published peer-reviewed articles and unpublished documents including relevant forms, protocols, and worksheets from coroners, medical examiners, and death scene investigators. RESULTS: We identified 177 documents: 32 published peer-reviewed articles and 145 other documents (grey literature). Published articles suggested no consistent approach for attributing deaths to a disaster. Researchers generally depended on death certificates to identify disaster-related deaths; several studies also drew on supplemental sources, including medical examiner, coroner, and active surveillance reports. CONCLUSIONS: These results highlight the critical importance of consistent, accurate data collection during a death investigation. Review of the grey literature found variation in use of death scene data collection tools, indicating the potential for widespread inconsistency in data captured for routine reporting and public health surveillance. Findings from this review will be used to develop guidelines and tools for capturing disaster-related death investigation data.

Multi-element determination of metals and metalloids in waters and wastewaters, at trace concentration level, using electroanalytical stripping methods with environmentally friendly mercury free-electrodes: A review.

Nowadays, water is no longer regarded as an inexhaustible resource and the excessive release and proliferation of toxic metal(loid)s into aquatic environments has become a critical issue. Therefore, fast, accurate, simple, selective, sensitive and portable methodologies to detect multiple elements in natural waters is of paramount importance. Electrochemical stripping analysis is an efficient tool for trace metal(loid)s determinations and bring new prospects for answering the current environmental concerns. This review presents a survey of the advancements made between 2003 and 2016 on the development and application of non-toxic mercury free electrodes on the simultaneous analysis of metals and metalloids in waters and wastewaters by means of electroanalytical stripping techniques. The advantages, limitations, improvements and real applications of these "green" sensors are discussed from a critical point of view.