Brazilian Spotted Fever Mortality Profile: 2018 to 2022

Background: Spotted Fever (SF) is an acute febrile zoonosis of variable severity that typically occurs in an endemic manner with worldwide distribution. Considering that SF is a disease of significant public health importance, this study aims to identify the mortality profile due to SF in Brazil from 2018 to 2022. Methods: Quantitative and descriptive cross-sectional approach. Data were collected from Brazilian Spotted Fever (BSF) cases registered in the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN-DATASUS) across all regions of Brazil. The data collected includes information on the following variables: year of symptom, evolution, sex, race, environment of infection, region of notification, and age group. Subsequently, the data was entered into Microsoft Excel to create tables and graphs. The chi-square test was then applied to statistically analyze the associations between qualitative variables. A modified Poisson regression model with robust variance was constructed to analyze the age group data and determine which categories had different probabilities of death. The results show the estimates obtained for prevalence ratios, as well as their respective confidence intervals and p-values. The statistical software SAS version 9.4 was used to perform the analysis and a significance level of 5% was considered. Results: From 2018 to 2022, a total of 1126 cases of BSF were reported. Out of these cases, 59.3% (668) were cured, 32.4% (364) resulted in death, 1.1% (13) died from other causes and 7.2% (81) had no recorded outcome. Regarding the region with the highest death rate, the Southeast region led with 99.45% (362) of cases, followed by the Northeast region with 0.45% (2). As for the age group, the majority (63.7%) fell between the ages of 20 and 59 years old. In terms of race/color, 52.7% of the population identified as white. Regarding the contamination environment, 39.3% were in leisure areas. The outcome of death by BSF showed statistically significant associations with sex (p-value = 0.03) and age group (p-value = 0.003). Conclusion: The profile of deaths from Brazilian Spotted Fever primarily affects individuals from the Southeast region of the country, particularly men, and whites aged 20 years or older being contaminated mainly in leisure environments. This study provides a detailed understanding of the pattern of BSP-related deaths, providing crucial information for public health authorities. These insights provide valuable support for formulating informed policies and effective BSP control and prevention strategies.

Investigating the Effect of Relative Width on Momentum Transfer between Main Channel and Floodplain in Rough Rectangular Compound Channel Sunder Varius Relative Depth Condition

Compound section is referred to a section the surface of which is made of several sub-sections with different flow characteristics. The difference in the hydraulic and geometry characteristics causes a complexity in flow hydraulic and creates an interaction between the main channel and floodplains, resulting in an apparent shear stress and a transverse momentum transfer. The amount of such a stress plays an important role in many river engineering measures [1]. Due to the flow complexity, the common approximate analytical methods are not enough to identify the flow profile. The FLOW3D Software with its great features in three-dimensional analysis of flow field is used as a tool to investigate the shear stress in a direct symmetrical compound rectangular channel. After the simulation of models, it is found that an increase in the relative width and relative depth parameters decreases the percentage of apparent shear stress and an increase in the relative roughness causes it to be increased [2].

Thoracic aorta thickness and histological changes with aging: an experimental rat model

The three main components of the media layer of the aorta are elastic fibers,collagen fibers and smooth muscle cells(SMC).[1]This layer’s elastic properties are major determinants of its biomechanics in health and disease states.[2,3]Age-related changes in such elastic properties are associated with altered hemodynamic parameters,such as systolic hypertension,[4,5]and end-organ damage,[6,7]and are thought to result from changes of its main components.

Chimney Height, a Determining Factor in the Dispersion of Pollutants and Their Concentration

This work proposes a way of modelling two-dimensional complex meshes using elliptic equations, which the computational grid coincides with the problem geometry, making computational processing more suitable. A multiblock technique was used in order to achieve a better representation of the problem domain. In this way, numerical simulations of the movement and dispersion of pollutant emissions in the atmosphere are presented in the generated domains, using the Navier-Stokes pollutant transport equations. The curvilinear coordinates and the finite difference method are used for the discretization. The model was verified in two tests. In the first test, three cases were proposed, with geometries containing a chimney followed by an obstacle, using different chimney heights, and the obstacle height was fixed. The test aims to verify the vortices appearance, in the blocks, to obtain agreement with as presented in the literature. In the second test, the geometry is described by a chimney and an obstacle that represents one of the mountains in the valley. The performed tests made possible to verify that the height of the chimney can be considered a determining factor to describe the dispersion of pollutants, as well as their concentration in the proximity of industrial areas.