Immunosuppression-induced Zika virus reactivation causes brain inflammation and behavioral deficits in mice.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a neurotropic flavivirus that can persist in several tissues. The late consequences of ZIKV persistence and whether new rounds of active replication can occur, remain unaddressed. Here, we investigated whether neonatally ZIKV-infected mice are susceptible to viral reactivation in adulthood. We found that when ZIKV-infected mice are treated with immunosuppressant drugs, they present increased susceptibility to chemically induced seizures. Levels of subgenomic flavivirus RNAs (sfRNAs) were increased, relative to the amounts of genomic RNAs, in the brains of mice following immunosuppression and were associated with changes in cytokine expression. We investigated the impact of immunosuppression on the testicles and found that ZIKV genomic RNA levels are increased in mice following immunosuppression, which also caused significant testicular damage. These findings suggest that ZIKV can establish new rounds of active replication long after acute stages of disease, so exposed patients should be monitored to ensure complete viral eradication.

Soybean sorting based on protein content using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate performance of an energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (XRF) sensor to classify soybean based on protein content. The hypothesis was that sulfur signals and other XRF spectral features can be used as proxies to infer soybean protein content. Sample preparation and equipment settings to optimize detection of S and other specific emission lines were tested for this application. A logistic regression model for classifying soybean as high- or low-protein was developed based on XRF spectra and protein contents. Additionally, the model was validated with an independent set of samples. Global accuracies of the method were 0.83 (training set) and 0.81 (test set) and the corresponding kappa indices were 0.66 and 0.61, respectively. These numbers indicated satisfactory performance of the sensor, suggesting that XRF spectral features can be applied for screening protein content in soybean.

Perfil clínico-epidemiológico de pacientes diagnosticados com câncer renal em hospital de alta complexidade / Clinical-epidemiological profile of patients diagnosed with kidney cancer in a high complexity hospital

RESUMO Os carcinomas de células renais (CCRs) são o sétimo tipo histológico de câncer mais comum no mundo ocidental e vêm apresentando uma tendência mantida de aumento em sua prevalência. O presente estudo teve por objetivo analisar dados clínicos, demográficos e anatomopatológicos, a partir de prontuários de pacientes diagnosticados com câncer renal, em um centro de referência de oncologia do norte gaúcho. Métodos: Trata-se de pesquisa transversal, realizada com 105 pacientes submetidos a nefrectomias, no período de janeiro de 2013 a setembro de 2018. Resultados: A nefrectomia radical foi realizada em 84,5% de amostras e o anatomopatológico indicou o carcinoma de células claras em 74,1%. Em relação ao sexo, a maioria foi do sexo masculino 64,10% e a idade média foi de 59.9 anos (DP+-11,5), variando de 31 a 81 anos. Quanto aos sintomas, 18% apresentaram a hematúria, em 13,5% dor em flanco, em 10% dor abdominal, e 6,8% dor lombar. Conclusões: O estudo mostrou que o padrão clinico-epidemiológico da neoplasia no hospital estudado está em concordância com a literatura. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Neoplasias renais, perfil de saúde, neoplasias por tipo histológico

Renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) are the seventh most common histological type of cancer in the Western world and have been showing a sustained upward trend in their prevalence. This study aimed to analyze clinical, demographic and anatomopathological data from medical records of patients diagnosed with kidney cancer, in an oncology reference center in the north of Rio Grande do Sul. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, carried out with 105 patients undergoing nephrectomies, from January 2013 to September 2018. Results: Radical nephrectomy was performed in 84.5% of samples and the pathological examination indicated clear cell carcinoma in 74.1%. Regarding gender, the majority were male 64.10% and the mean age was 59.9 years (SD+-11.5), ranging from 31 to 81 years. As for symptoms, 18% had hematuria, 13.5% had flank pain, 10% had abdominal pain, and 6.8% had low back pain. Conclusions: The study showed that the clinical-epidemiological pattern of RCC in the studied hospital is in agreement with the literature. KEYWORDS: Kidney neoplasms, health profile, neoplasms by histological type