Emergency Care for Children and Adolescents after Sexual Violence, in Brazil’s Capital, Brasilia

Objective: Sexual violence affects women of all ages but, more commonly, children and adolescents. This study aimed to identify the extent to which services are being provided at the hospitals responsible for the emergency care of children and adolescents who have suffered sexual violence and to determine whether there is any difference in the provision of such services as a function of the victim’s age. Method: This cross-sectional study investigated differences in the care received by female children and adolescents who are victims of sexual violence in a capital city, comparing the treatment given to girls under 15 with that given to adolescents of 15 to 19 years of age. The data were extracted from the State Department of Health database between 01/01/2012 and 31/12/2016. Results: Children under 15 were much less likely to receive prophylaxis against HIV, sexually transmitted infections and hepatitis B, with the number of adolescent girls treated adequately corresponding to between twice and almost three times the number of children treated prophylactically. Only 10% of girls under 15 received emergency contraception. Conclusion: The lack of standard care established by the Ministry of Health highlights the need for urgent debates both locally and probably throughout the country, as the situation may be similar in other regions of the country.

Smoking and Health-Related Quality of Life(SF-36).A Population-Based Study in Campinas,SP,Brazil

Introduction: Smoking persists as a global and relevant health problem being one of the major risk factors to non-communicable diseases and early death. Studies on the association between smoking and health related quality of life (HRQL) are scarce in Brazil and Latin America. The aim of this study was to analyze the HRQL according to smoking status on adults aged 20 to 59 years, living in Campinas, Brazil. Method: It is a population-based cross-sectional study, carried out with data from the Campinas Health Survey developed in 2008/2009. The dependent variables were the eight scales and the two components—physical (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) of the instrument SF-36, version 2. Means and confidence intervals of the SF-36 scale scores and components were estimated according to smoking (never smokers, former smokers, current smokers) and nicotine dependence (mild, moderate, heavy). Results: The sample comprised 957 individuals (mean age of 37.5 years). Comparing with never smokers, smokers had lower score means in all SF-36 scales, except in physical functioning and role-physical;among the former smokers, lower scores were observed in vitality and mental health. A reduction of the MCS score was observed among smokers and former smokers among men;but in the female population, this reduction was observed only in smokers compared with never smokers. According to the nicotine dependence, it was observed an increasing reduction in MCS scores from mild, to moderate and heavy smokers. Conclusion: Smoking is significantly and negatively associated with HRQL in the studied population. The results point out the importance of the strategic policies against smoking, to reduce morbidity and premature death, but also to increase the quality of life and well-being. It is also important to consider the mental health dimension, since that best mental health can be relevant to promote healthier behaviors.

Commodities Boom and the Structure of Sino-Brazilian Trade: A Study of the Period 2000-2021

The present study aims to analyze the growing Sino-Brazilian trade relationship and how China has contributed to the commodity price boom in the recent period.Throughout the article,it was possible to identify that the export and import agenda between countries differs in terms of number of products and technological intensity,so that imported products are capital intensive,while exported products are predominantly commodities.The text is divided into two main sections,firstly addressing the literature review on the commodities boom and highlighting the“China effect”.The second section analyzes trade between the countries,so that the trade relationship has followed an increasing trajectory since 2003.As of 2009,China has become Brazil’s main trading partner,surpassing historical partners such as the United States and Argentina.

Possible Uses for Silymarin in Human Health: Systematic Review

Silymarin, from the fruit of Silybum marianum, is known for its hepatoprotective action. The aim of this study was to review the mechanisms of action of the silymarin phytocomplex to expand the possibilities for its application in human health. The search for published articles was carried out on the CAPES Journals Portal platform, which covers worldwide scientific databases. Publications from 2010 to 2022 were included. Of the 311 articles retrieved, 21 were included. The articles discuss the diversity of silymarin’s applications and the possibility of optimizing its bioavailability using drug delivery systems. Silymarin shows promise in numerous diseases, such as liver, kidney, cardiovascular, respiratory and others. Its antiviral action has been demonstrated in studies and silymarin has the potential to be used as a complementary therapy in the treatment of many diseases, with the expectation that, in the future, it will be used in therapeutic protocols for exclusive use.

Sarcopenia and Anemia Are Predictors of Poor Prognostic in Cervical Cancer Patients

Objective: Evaluate pretreatment sarcopenia and anemia as prognostic factors in women undergoing treatment for cervical cancer (CC) with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). Methods: 151 women with CC were analysed in this cohort study. Pretreatment computed tomography (CT) images were analysed to assess skeletal muscle index (SMI). Hazard ratios (HR) and multivariate Cox proportional HR were used to analyse association between low SMI, age, body mass index (BMI), haemoglobin levels, histological type, and International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage with PFS and OS. Results: A total of 151 patients were included, 53 (35.1%) presented pretreatment sarcopenia;51 (34%) stage I/II and 100 (66%) stage III/IV. Among those patients in advanced stage (III/IV) 37 (70%) (p = 0.28) were sarcopenic at the beginning of treatment. Sarcopenia was associated with worse progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in our cohort [HR 0.97 (p = 0.01)] [HR 0.73 (p = 0.001)], as well as anemia [HR 0.73 (p = 0.001)] [HR 0.78 (p = 0.001)]. Linear regression models indicated that despite showing no association with age, neutrophil or platelet counts, sarcopenia was associated with pretreatment anemia levels (p = 0.01). After a multivariate analysis, only haemoglobin (anemia) and complete CCRT remained associated with PFS and OS. Sarcopenia and anemia were associated with worse PFS and OS in FIGO stage I/II. Conclusion: Pretreatment sarcopenia was significantly associated with low haemoglobin levels. Anemia and incomplete CCRT were independently associated with poor prognosis in women with CC. Pretreatment sarcopenia, as low SMI, was a predictor of poor prognostic in early stages of CC.

Use of SFC in Extraction of Adaptogens from Brazilian Plants

Bioactive substances found in plants are very interesting because of their importance in medicine and foods. Species of Pfaffia genre is common in Brazil, the largest center of collection of this species. Statistics report that 11,000 tons of roots and other plants were exported in 2011. Due to the large market demand, a growth of 10% per year is estimated. One of the promising areas of study involves the supercritical fluid extraction of active compounds present in plants. The current goal is to reduce dependence on foreign markets. The extraction of bioactive compound known as Beta-Ecdysone has been studied. Statistics show that profits of exports coming from the raw material is almost ten times smaller than the extract itself. Considering this fact, we emphasize the importance of an alternative method of industrial extraction in Brazil using supercritical technology, which proves to be environmentally safe.

The role of green manure nitrogen use by corn and sugarcane crops in Brazil

Three assays were developed from April 3, 1995 to October 10, 2005. The work with corn was conducted in a greenhouse, using velvet bean (Mucuna aterrima) and sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea) as green manure with 15N labeling of either shoots or roots, in two soils with contrasting textural classes. The mineralization of N from legume plants incorporated into the two soils was investigated too. This work included two green manures: velvet bean and sunn hemp, and the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) residues. Nitrogen from the velvet bean accounted for a greater proportion of the soil inorganic N;shoots were responsible for most of N accumulated. Common bean residues caused immobilization of inorganic N. The leguminous species added were intensively and promptly mineralized, preserving the soil native nitrogen. One hundred days after emergence of the corn, velvet bean provided higher accumulation of nitrogen in the soil, higher absorption by corn plants and accumulation in the aerial part. The green manure decomposition was more intense in the medium textured soil. In this soil, highest nitrogen losses were also observed. The sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) was cultivated for five years in the field and was harvested three times;15N recovery was evaluated in the first two harvests. The combination of inorganic fertilizer and green manure resulted in higher sugarcane yields than either N source applied separately;however, in the second cutting the yields were higher where sunn hemp was used than in plots with ammonium sulfate. The recovery of N by the first two consecutive harvests accounted for 19% to 21% of the N applied as sunn hemp and 46% to 49% of the N applied as ammonium sulfate. Very little inorganic N was present in the 0-40 cm soil layer with both N sources.

Quantification of Flavonoids in Brazilian Orange Peels and Industrial Orange Juice Processing Wastes

The flavonoid content in orange peels of different Brazilian citrus varieties such as bahia, lima, lima-of-persian, morcote, pera, ponkan, seleta, cravo, kinkan and pomelo was assessed. Industry processing juice wastes such as bagasse, bagasse residues, animal feeding bagasse, pulp WEUE and CORE-wash were also analyzed. The HPLC analysis indicates that the most abundant flavonoids found in these Brazilian citrus peels are hesperidin and naringin. The solvents used are selective for flavonoid extraction, and depending on their polarity, glycoside or aglycone flavonoids are extracted. The use of multivariate analysis shows that DMSO is the best solvent to extract glycosides flavanones while hexane displays high selectivity in the extraction of polymethoxylated flavones. The flavonoids present in the orange wastes, obtained at different stages of the industrial processing, are qualitative and quantitatively different. The identification and quantification of the flavonoid composition in each Brazilian citrus variety were evaluated and allowed the selection of the best solvent for the extraction of each specific class of flavonoids. These compounds were found to be more abundant in the fruit peels than in their juices, revealing their great industrial potential. The residual portion of the processing juices is also rich in flavonoids, depending on the processing step.

An Application of Decision Trees Algorithm to Project Hourly Electricity Spot Price as Support for Decision Making on Electricity Trading in Brazil

Estimating the price of a financial asset or any tradable product is a complex task that depends on the availability of a reasonable amount of data samples. In the Brazilian electricity market environment, where spot prices are centrally calculated by computational models, the projection of hourly energy prices at the spot market is essential for decision-making, and with the particularities of this sector, this task becomes even more complex due to the stochastic behavior of some variables, such as the inflow to hydroelectric power plants and the correlation between variables that affect electricity generation, traditional statistical techniques of time series forecasting present an additional complexity when one tries to project scenarios of spot prices on different time horizons. To address these complexities of traditional forecasting methods, this study presents a new approach based on Machine Learning methodology applied to the electricity spot prices forecasting process. The model’s Learning Base is obtained from public information provided by the Brazilian official computational models: NEWAVE, DECOMP, and DESSEM. The application of the methodology to real cases, using back-testing with actual information from the Brazilian electricity sector demonstrates that the research is promising, as the adherence of the projections with the realized values is significant.

Land Use Capability and the Sustainable Scale: An Overview of Agriculture in São Paulo State, Brazil

Establishing a sustainable scale in natural resources management enables effective economic and ecological policies and guarantees the long-term sustainability of economic production. In agriculture, land evaluations determine the land use sustainable scales, that is, those that avoid land degradation and allow the provision of food, wood, energy, and ecosystem services over time. The paper assessed São Paulo State’s agricultural sustainability by analyzing the current land use adequacy to the land use capability map that follows FAO 1976 “guide for land evaluation” and was applied to São Paulo by the State Agricultural Secretariat. Results indicate inefficiencies in land use at the state level, where more than one-third of agricultural lands do not satisfy technical land capability indications. According to technical land use capability, more than 4.5 million hectares are being underused (economic inefficiency) and another 2.2 million hectares are being overused (environmental inefficiency). Pasturelands represent the most unsustainable land use, where 3.7 million hectares are allocated in high quality lands with high agricultural production potential, and another 0.7 million hectares are allocated in lands with very low quality for agriculture, most of than area degraded. To achieve sustainability, lands with high agricultural production potential should be used to improve agriculture and food production and, on the other hand, lands with very low agricultural production potential should be used for wood production, agroforestry, ecotourism and natural ecosystems conservation. Our results provide a framework for improving land use policies in São Paulo State and highlight an opportunity to achieve land use sustainability.

Mental Functioning of Workers with Cancer Diagnosis by Brazilian Version of the Work Role Functioning Questionnaire—WRFQ-Br

Aim: To evaluate data related to mental work functioning of workers with cancer diagnosis in radiotherapy in a private service in the city of Campinas, State of São Paulo, Brazil. Method: It consists in a cross-sectional, observational and analytical study with comparison between cancer patients and healthy people, using the Brazilian version of the Work Role Functioning Questionnaire (WRFQ-Br). Descriptive and statistical analysis is performed by the Mann-Whitney test. Results: There was a significant difference between the groups in the evaluation of mental demand;however, the population diagnosed with malignant neoplasm submitted to radiotherapy had unexpected higher scores, reflecting lower mental exigency. Conclusions: The observed context may occur due to extensive support of family, government and interdisciplinary team of health care for individuals diagnosed with cancer. This data provide support for new research studies related to the importance of the work to promote mental health, considering aspects related to social interaction and productivity as the support system members. The importance of disseminating these results and limitation is based in the necessity of investments to improve research and actions to promote the permanence and early return to work for cancer survivors in Brazil and Latin America.

Analysis of the Risks of Development Injury Related to Surgical Positioning in a University Hospital of the State of Goiás/Brazil: An Observational-Epidemiological Study

Introduction: The perioperative nurse plays an important role throughout the surgical period, especially in the context of predicting the risks to which patients are exposed when entering a surgical center. These can be skin, muscle, tendon, and even burn injuries from the scalpel or chemicals. Objective: The aim of this study was to verify the degree of risk for the development of injuries resulting from surgical positioning in patients of a university hospital. Methods: This is cross-sectional, exploratory research with a quantitative approach conducted with 70 surgical patients in a Municipal University Hospital with data collection through a socioeconomic and health questionnaire and the Risk Assessment Scale for Development of Surgical Positioning Injuries (SISP). Statistical analyses included simple descriptive evaluation, correlations of variables using the Chi-square test and Pearson’s coefficient with a significance level of 5%. Results: The results found pointed to a population mainly composed of women (60%), married, with an average age of 49 years, with hypertension and high-risk scores to develop injuries due to surgical positioning. There was also a positive and significant correlation between having hypertension and having a higher risk of developing lesions, with R2 = 96.4% and p < 0.05. Conclusion: The results reinforce the need to implement protocols and the acquisition of materials aimed at reducing the risk of injuries related to surgical positioning in order to improve the quality of care offered and thus minimize the harm to users.

Prevalence of Frailty Syndrome in the Elderly and Associated Factors in Brazil

This paper aims to identify the prevalence of frailty syndrome and its association with demographic, economic, health, psychological and functional variables in Brazilian population. The study was cross-sectional and composed of 385 elderly aged from 65 years, an average age of 73.92 years. A multivariate Poisson regression was used to check for conditions associated with frailty and to determine the prevalence (α = 0.05). The prevalence of frailty was 8.7% and pre-frailty of 50.4%. The frail and pre-frail older adults showed larger and increasing prevalence ratios for marital status, difficulty performing instrumental activities of daily living, old age, involuntary loss of feces, depression and negative affections. These results can guide the establishment of preventive measures and the development of intervention strategies aimed at minimizing the adverse effects of frailty in elderly people.

Analyzing Brazilian Driver’s License Authenticity by Easy Ambient Sonic-Spray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

Fast and unequivocal methods of questioned document analysis are essential in forensic science. Here, a desorption/ionization technique, EASI-MS, was assessed for its ability to investigate questioned driver’s licenses (DL). Two suspects DL, displaying the same personal data in the proper fields (name and ID numbers), but with different individual photos, showing similar impressions on microscopic analysis, and authentic standards documents specimens were used as test cases. Profiles from authentic DL surface were dominated by a set of few minor ions, mainly from the plasticizers bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate and dibutylphthalate. The seized suspect counterfeit DL on points from personal data and photo were, however, dominated by abundant diagnostic ions of m/z 463, 507, 551, 595, 639, 683, which confirmed counterfeiting. Surfynol® and Nonoxynol-9®, which are common constituents of inkjet printing, were detected in the counterfeiting areas by high-accuracy EASI(+)-FT-ICR MS. The EASI-MS technique is shown therefore to offer an attractive tool for forensic investigation of questioned documents.

Multiomic investigation of Sugarcane mosaic virus resistance in sugarcane

Sugarcane mosaic virus(SCMV)is the main etiological agent of sugarcane mosaic disease,which affects sugarcane and other grass crops.Despite the extensive characterization of quantitative trait loci controlling resistance to SCMV in maize,the genetic basis of this trait in sugarcane is largely unexplored.Here,a genome-wide association study was performed and machine learning coupled with feature selection was used for genomic prediction of resistance to SCMV in a diverse sugarcane panel.Nine single-nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)explained up to 29.9%of the observed phenotypic variance and a 73-SNP set predicted resistance with high accuracy,precision,recall,and F1 scores(the harmonic mean of precision and recall).Both marker sets were validated in additional sugarcane genotypes,in which the SNPs explained up to 23.6%of the phenotypic variation and predicted resistance with a maximum accuracy of 69.1%.Synteny analyses suggested that the gene responsible for the majority of SCMV resistance in maize is absent in sugarcane,explaining why this major resistance source has not been identified in this crop.Finally,using sugarcane RNA-Seq data,markers associated with resistance to SCMV were annotated,and a gene coexpression network was constructed to identify the predicted biological processes involved in resistance.This network allowed the identification of candidate resistance genes and confirmed the involvement of stress responses,photosynthesis,and the regulation of transcription and translation in resistance to SCMV.These results provide a practical marker-assisted breeding approach for sugarcane and identify target genes for future studies of SCMV resistance.

Medical School Students’ Knowledge of Pain and Palliative Care: An Observational Study

Background: Pain and palliative care are a reality in daily routines of medical treatment. However, the theoretical-practical curricula of traditional medical school course still unsatisfactorily contemplate pain management, as well as the palliative care approach. Objective: To assess the knowledge of medical students about pain and palliative care, as well as to identify their perception of teaching these topics during hospitalization. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study, with a descriptive and exploratory approach, data collection for which was carried out between August and November 2020. The target population was medical students, who responded to an online survey of a quantitative, anonymous and follow-up nature. The survey study variables concerned knowledge about pain management and palliative care. Results: An expressive majority of academics showed difficulty in understanding the pathophysiology of pain related to prescribing drugs for pain management purposes, and all of them believe that it is necessary to acquire more knowledge about pain treatment. In parallel, only 9.3% report having received sufficient information regarding palliative care during medical school. Conclusion: The results suggest a certain lack of knowledge and insecurity among medical school students with respect to pain management and care for patients receiving palliative care. The didactical approach to this theme is still deficient in the medical curriculum and requires immediate improvement and new proposals that address the training of these professionals in a more specific and effective way.