Changes in maerl-associated macroalgal community dynamics as evidence of anthropogenic pressure.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Maerl-associated communities have received considerable attention due to their uniqueness, biodiversity and functional importance. Although the impacts of human activities are well documented for maerl-associated macrofauna, the spatio-temporal variations of macroalgae have comparatively been neglected, and the drivers that influence their dynamics are poorly known. We investigate the links between maerl-associated macroalgal communities, anthropogenic pressures and environmental conditions, and hypothesize that sites under human pressure would exhibit different dynamics when compared to reference sites. METHODS: To better understand community variation through space and time, four subtidal maerl beds under different pressures were consistently monitored over one year in the bay of Brest, Brittany, France. Both macroalgae community monitoring and environmental data were acquired through field sampling and available models. KEY RESULTS: Higher macroalgal biomass was observed within eutrophic sites, especially in summer (more than ten times higher than in the Unimpacted site), caused by free-living forms of opportunistic red macroalgae. The Dredged site also exhibited distinct macroalgal communities during summer from the Unimpacted site. Nutrient concentrations and seasonality proved to be key factors affecting the macroalgal community composition, although dredging and its effects on granulometry also had a strong influence. Over the long term, fewer than half of the species identified during historical surveys were found, indicating major temporal changes. CONCLUSIONS: Human pressures have strong impacts on maerl-associated macroalgal communities. Nutrient concentrations and dredging pressure appear as the main anthropogenic factors shaping maerl-associated macroalgal communities. Additionally, our results suggest historical changes in maerl-associated macroalgal communities over 25 years in response to changes in local human pressure management. This study suggests that maerl-associated macroalgal communities could be used as indicators of anthropogenically driven changes in this habitat.

Quantifying maerl (rhodolith) habitat complexity along an environmental gradient at regional scale in the Northeast Atlantic.

Maerl beds are ecologically important marine biogenic habitats founded on a few species of free-living coralline algae that aggregate and form highly complex rhodoliths. The high biodiversity found in these habitats have been mainly justified by the structural complexity that they provide. However, few attempts to quantify this complexity have been made. Maerl species distribution, density, rhodolith growth forms, and shapes vary with environmental conditions. Hydrodynamics and depth have been shown to drive morphology. Using species-specific metrics such as sphericity and branching density, as well as diameter and fractal dimension at the rhodolith level, and maerl density at the habitat level, we quantified the habitat complexity within ten maerl beds at a regional scale (along ∼400 km of the coastline of Brittany in Western France). Using both long-term monitoring data and environmental models, we investigated how maerl habitat complexity varies among beds and which environmental conditions drive those differences. The effects of currents, exposure to wind-generated waves, temperature and sediment granulometry were evaluated. We confirmed variations in complexity in maerl beds at the habitat and rhodolith levels at local and regional scales, which might have ecological and conservational implications for their associated biodiversity. The analysed environmental conditions drive around a third of the variance in habitat complexity. Sediment granulometry is the main driver of maerl habitat complexity in Brittany, while the isolated effects of depth and hydrodynamics accounted for less than 5% of the variability each. Our results have important implications for paleoecology, and we suggest that maerl facies should be interpreted carefully. Our study provides a first attempt at explicitly quantifying maerl habitat complexity, and further contributes to the understanding of this fundamental ecological question.

Healthcare Workers Bioresource: Study outline and baseline characteristics of a prospective healthcare worker cohort to study immune protection and pathogenesis in COVID-19.

Background: Most biomedical research has focused on sampling COVID-19 patients presenting to hospital with advanced disease, with less focus on the asymptomatic or paucisymptomatic. We established a bioresource with serial sampling of health care workers (HCWs) designed to obtain samples before and during mainly mild disease, with follow-up sampling to evaluate the quality and duration of immune memory. Methods: We conducted a prospective study on HCWs from three hospital sites in London, initially at a single centre (recruited just prior to first peak community transmission in London), but then extended to multiple sites 3 weeks later (recruitment still ongoing, target n=1,000). Asymptomatic participants attending work complete a health questionnaire, and provide a nasal swab (for SARS-CoV-2 RNA by RT-PCR tests) and blood samples (mononuclear cells, serum, plasma, RNA and DNA are biobanked) at 16 weekly study visits, and at 6 and 12 months. Results: Preliminary baseline results for the first 731 HCWs (400 single-centre, 331 multicentre extension) are presented. Mean age was 38±11 years; 67% are female, 31% nurses, 20% doctors, and 19% work in intensive care units. COVID-19-associated risk factors were: 37% black, Asian or minority ethnicities; 18% smokers; 13% obesity; 11% asthma; 7% hypertension and 2% diabetes mellitus. At baseline, 41% reported symptoms in the preceding 2 weeks. Preliminary test results from the initial cohort (n=400) are available: PCR at baseline for SARS-CoV-2 was positive in 28 of 396 (7.1%, 95% CI 4.9-10.0%) and 15 of 385 (3.9%, 2.4-6.3%) had circulating IgG antibodies. Conclusions: This COVID-19 bioresource established just before the peak of infections in the UK will provide longitudinal assessments of incident infection and immune responses in HCWs through the natural time course of disease and convalescence. The samples and data from this bioresource are available to academic collaborators by application  https://covid-consortium.com/application-for-samples/.

Características Clínicolaboratoriais da Criptococose em Pacientes Admitidos em Pronto Socorro Hospital das Clínicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Referência Terciária do Sistema Único de Saúde: Análise Retrospectiva desde 2000 a 2013 / Clinical Laboratory Characteristics of Cryptococcosis in Patients Admitted to the Emergency Room Hospital das Clínicas, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Tertiary Reference of the Unified Health System: Retrospective Analysis from 2000 to 2013

A criptococose é uma micose sistêmica, de ocorrência relativamente rara, potencialmente grave, geralmente oportunista e de elevada frequência em pacientes imunossuprimidos, com amplo espectro de acometimento de órgãos, tropismo especial para o sistema nervoso central (SNC), evolução subaguda ou crônica, e manifestações clínicas variadas. Este estudo descritivo, retrospectivo, observacional, transversal, objetivou descrever os dados demográficos, clínicos, comorbidades, sintomas ou sinais, e o prognóstico de pacientes com neurocriptococose, atendidos e internados no Hospital das Clínicas (HC) da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais desde 2000 até 2013. O HC é unidade universitária, pública e geral, de nível terciário e quaternário, com 450 leitos de internação, integrado ao Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), com clientela universalizada, cerca de 40% do total proveniente do interior do estado de Minas Gerais, predominando da região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte, aberto à transferência de pacientes de todo o território mineiro, com área de abrangência de população de mais de cinco milhões de pessoas, de todas as faixas etárias e todas as especialidades médicas, encaminhados pela intensidade de sua expressão clínica, especialmente em situação crítica, o que torna sua casuísticade máxima gravidade. Os pacientes foram internados a partir do Pronto Socorro do HC que admite, em média, 80 pacientes com urgência clínicas por dia, incluindo obstétricas, e excluídas aquelas devido à acidente ou violência de qualquer natureza. Foram analisados 40 pacientes com neurocriptococose o que significou 0,13% de toda demanda de admissão de urgência para o período estudado, cerca de 603.000 pessoas, isto é 12% da população referida, e associou-se à letalidade de 25%; com frequência da distribuição de acordo com o gênero em 2:1, entre homens e mulheres, respectivamente; e nas faixas etárias entre 20-40, 40-60 e mais de 60 anos de idade, de 36%, 42%, e 22%, respectivamente, sendo a proporção entre 20 a 60 e mais de 60 de aproximadamente, 2:1. A neurocriptococose associou-se em mais de 50% dos pacientes com a: SIDA (57,5%); internação prévia (52,5%) relacionada à quimio e corticoterapia, transplante, cirurgias para ressecção de neoplasias; e, em menos de 20% com doença cardiovascular hipertensiva sistêmica (17,5%), cirurgia prévia (15%) e tuberculose (5%). A sintomatologia isolada presente em pelo menos 40% dos pacientes foi: cefaleia (70%), astenia (50%), febre (45%), vômitos (40%); entretanto, em até um terço deles constituiu-se de: emagrecimento (30%), tontura (30%), dor abdominal (27,5%), convulsão (22,5%). As anormalidades mais e menos especificamente indicadoras de acometimento do SNC foram cefaleia; e, vômito, tontura e convulsão,respectivamente. As alterações do exame neurológico foram relacionadas aos distúrbios da consciência (35%), lesão focal (30%), alteração da marcha (25%) e distúrbio do comportamento (15%). A concomitância de cefaléia, convulsão e vômitos foi anotada em 5% dos pacientes; enquanto de cefaléia e convulsão em 22,5%. Foi observada, à admissão hospitalar, em 40%, dos pacientes a associação de cefaléia e vômito; mas todos os pacientes com vômito e também os com lesão focal apresentavam cefaleia. A presença de cefaleia não foi descrita em 35% dos pacientes com alteração da consciência à admissão hospitalar. O diagnóstico presuntivo de neurocriptococose deve ser realizado, independentemente da sintomatologia clínica neurológica, o que realça a percepção geral do paciente, incluindo epidemiologia, história familiar, história prévia, manifestações clínicas, presença de imunossupressão, para surpreender a criptococose, e iniciar a terapêutica o mais apidamente possível para que possa ser reduzida sua letalidade. A limitação deste estudo relaciona-se ao fato de ter sido retrospectivo, em que o controle dos dados registrados é muito limitada, sendo impossível corrigir a ausência de dados registrados. (AU)

Cryptococcosis is a systemic, relatively rare, potentially severe, often opportunistic and systemic mycosis in immunosuppressed patients with a broad spectrum of organ involvement, a special central nervous system (CNS) tropism, subacute or chronic clinical manifestations. This descriptive, retrospective, observational, cross-sectional study aimed to describe the demographic, clinical, comorbidities, symptoms or signs, and the prognosis of patients with neurocryptococcosis, attended and hospitalized at the Hospital das Clínicas (HC) of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais since 2000 until 2013. The HC is a university unit, public and general, tertiary and quaternary level, with 450 beds of hospitalization, integrated into the Unified Health System (SUS), with a universalized clientele, about 40% of the total coming from the interior of the state of Minas Gerais, predominating in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, which is open to the transfer of patients from all over Minas Gerais, with an area of population of more than five million people, of all age groups and all medical specialties. intensity of its clinical expression, especially in a critical situation, which makes its series of age.The patients were hospitalized from the HC Emergency Room, which admitted, on average, 80 urgently needed clinics per day, including obstetrics, and excluded due to accidents or violence of any kind. We analyzed 40 patients with neurocryptococcosis, which represented 0.13% of all urgent admission demands for the period studied, about 603,000 people, ie 12% of the referred population, and was associated with a 25% lethality; with frequency of distribution according to gender in 2: 1, between men and women, respectively; and in the age groups between 20-40, 40-60 and over 60 years of age, of 36%, 42%, and 22% respectively, the ratio being between 20 to 60 and more than 60 of approximately 2: 1. Neurocryptococcosis was associated in more than 50% of patients with: AIDS (57.5%); previous hospitalization (52.5%) related to chemo and corticoid therapy, transplantation, surgeries for resection of neoplasias; and in less than 20% with systemic hypertensive cardiovascular disease (17.5%), previous surgery (15%) and tuberculosis (5%). The isolated symptoms present in at least 40% of the patients were: headache (70%), asthenia (50%), fever (45%), vomiting (40%); (30%), dizziness (30%), abdominal pain (27.5%), and seizure (22.5%). The most and least specific abnormalities of CNS involvement were headache; and, vomiting, dizziness and convulsion, respectively. Changes in neurological examination were related to disturbances of consciousness (35%), focal lesion (30%), gait alteration (25%) and behavior disorder (15%). The concomitance of headache, convulsion and vomiting was noted in 5% of the patients; while headache and seizure in 22.5%. The association of headache and vomiting was observed in 40% of patients; but all patients with vomiting and those with focal lesion also had headache. The presence of headache was not described in 35% of patients with altered consciousness at hospital admission. The presumptive diagnosis of neurocryptococcosis should be performed independently of the clinical neurological symptomatology, which highlights the general perception of the patient, including epidemiology, family history, previous history, clinical manifestations, presence of immunosuppression, to start cryptococcosis, and initiate therapy. as soon as possible so that their lethality can be reduced. The limitation of this study is the fact that it was retrospective, in which the control of the recorded data is very limited, and it is impossible to correct the absence of recorded data. (AU)

Paracoccidioidomicose (doença de Lutz-Splendore-Almeida): manifestações clínicas / Paracoccidioidomycosis disease (Lutz-Splendore-Almeida): clinical manifestations

A paracoccidioidomicose possui clínica polimórfica, com manifestações localizadas em pele e mucosas até comprometimento de vários órgãos e sistemas, potencialmente capaz de provocar sequelas graves e morte. Deve ser incluída no diagnóstico diferencial das doenças granulomatosas, em áreas endêmicas, como ocorre no Brasil, para que seja reconhecida com precocidade, tratada convenientemente e evitada sua evolução para sequelas e morte prematura.

Paracoccidioidomycosis has polymorphic clinical features with lesions located in the skin and mucous membranes, as well as involvement of various organs and systems, as is potentially capable of causing death and serious sequelae. It should be included in the differential diagnosis of granulomatous diseases in endemic areas, including Brazil, so that it is recognized early, for more convenient treatment as to prevent progression with sequelae or premature death.

Paracoccidioidomicose (doença de Lutz-SPLENDORE-almeida): tratamento, duração do tratamento, recidiva, reação paradoxal, prognóstico, profilaxia / Paracoccidioidomycosis (Lutz-Splendore-Almeida disease): treatment, duration of treatment, recurrence, paradoxical reaction, prognosis, prophylaxis

A paracoccidioidomicose, apesar de ser a micose profunda mais importante da América Latina, ainda possui muitas lacunas quanto à sua abordagem, especialmente em relação à duração de seu tratamento, controle de cura e profilaxia. Na dependência da sua gravidade podem ser usadas em seu tratamento: sulfas, azólicos (itraconazol e o cetoconazol)e anfotericina. O prognóstico depende da sua gravidade, do tempo para estabelecer o diagnóstico e da terapêutica instituída. Nas formas leves é bom; e nas formas moderadas e graves, em que há risco do desenvolvimento de sequelas e de morte, é reservado.

Paracoccidioidomycosis, despite being the most important deep mycosis in Latin America, still has many blindspots in terms of its approach, especially in relation to duration of treatment, cure control and prophylaxis. Depending on severity, the following can be used in the treatment: sulfonamides, azoles (itraconazole and ketoconazole), and amphotericin. The prognosis depends on severity, time between onset and diagnosis, and therapy instituted. In mild forms, prognosis is good; in moderate and severe forms, for which there is risk of developing sequelae and death, it is guarded.

Paracoccidioidomicose (doença de Lutz-Splendore-Almeida): propedêutica complementar, diagnóstico diferencial, controle de cura / Paracoccidioidomycosis disease (Lutz-Splendore-Almeida disease): Additional workup, differential diagnosis, cure control

O diagnóstico da paracoccidioidomicose requer a presença de dados epidemiológicos e de algumas manifestações clínicas mais típicas, entretanto, depende da propedêutica complementar que ainda requer métodos intervencionistas, o diagnóstico diferencial com patologias de grande relevância como tuberculose e linfomas, e o controle de cura.Nesta atualização são discutidos os avanços nessas várias áreas que inclui a propedêutica complementar, o diagnóstico diferencial e o controle de cura, apontando para as perspectivas de desenvolvimento que poderão ajudar a definir melhor a sua abordagem.

The diagnosis of paracoccidioidomycosis requires epidemiological data to be available and for the presence of some more typical clinical manifestations.It requires complementary investigation with interventional methods, differential diagnosis of pathologies of great importance such as tuberculosis and lymphomas, and cure control. This update discussesthe advances in these various areas, which include complementary investigation, differential diagnosis and cure control, pointing to development prospects that may help better define the best approach to this disease.

Polaciúria incapacitante para a vida usual. Relato de tuberculose da bexiga. A tuberculose permanece no rol do diagnóstico diferencial da maioria das doenças / Incapacitating pollakiuria affecting daily life. A case report of tuberculosis of the bladder. Tuberculosis remains on the list of the differential diagnoses for most diseases

A tuberculose (TB) é dos mais graves problemas de saúde humano e associa-se a pobreza, incipiência do sistema de saúde, deficiência de gestão que dificulta a diminuição de doenças de determinismo social, epidemia do vírus da imunodeficiência humana e imunodeficiência adquirida e multirresistência do M. tuberculosis. O acometimento extrapulmonar ocorre em 15% dos casos de TB e pode evoluir com amesma sintomatologia geral do acometimento pulmonar, com variações na dependência de sua localização e gravidade. Este relato apresenta paciente com hematúria e polaciúria incapacitante para a vida social, associada inicialmente à neoplasia, e determinada pela TB geniturinária, com diagnóstico após histopatologia de espécime clínico obtido da bexiga, em que o tempo longo para o diagnóstico foi determinante para grave sequela. Objetiva alertar para a TB como doença permanente no Brasil ea necessidade de ser considerada sempre como diagnóstico diferencial de doenças pulmonares ou extrapulmonares.

Tuberculosis (TB) is among the most serious human health concerns and is associated with poverty, limited availability of health care services and bad management, all of which negatively affect the possibility of reducing socially-determined diseases, such as HIV/AIDS epidemics and multidrug resistant M. tuberculosis. Extrapulmonary involvement occurs in 15% of TB cases and can develop with the same overall symptomatology of exclusively pulmonary involvement, with smaller variations depending on location and severity. This report presents a patient with hematuria and pollakiuria with incapacitating effects on social life, initially thought of as a malignancy and later identified as genitourinary TB. Diagnosis was based on histopathology of clinical specimens from the bladder. Time elapsed between onset and diagnosis led to considerable sequelae. This report aims at raising awareness of TB as a permanent concern in Brazil and of the need to always considered it as a differential diagnosis of pulmonary or extrapulmonary disease.