Brazil Archives

Antimicrobial stewardship programmes: Remote consultations can help reduce antibiotic resistance

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The researchers examined the impact of remote consultations with an infectious disease physician.

The increased use of antibiotic therapy to treat infectious diseases is driving up antimicrobial resistance as well as economic and healthcare costs. Antimicrobial stewardship programmes are crucial to monitor and evaluate medication use. Valéria Cassettari, Newton Novato, and Maria Helena Flesch Onuchic at NotreDame Intermédica Advanced Outpatient Clinic in São Paulo, Brazil, explored the impact of remote consultations with an […]

Accounting for biogeographical ignorance within biodiversity modelling

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Researchers have developed the first Maps of Biogeographical Ignorance (MoBIs) that account for uncertainty in big-data biodiversity analysis, allowing for better informed decision making for conservation purposes

Biodiversity data can be analysed to predict species distribution at various scales of time and space. However, survey completeness and temporal decay in data quality introduce uncertainty into biodiversity models. Researchers Joaquín Hortal, Juliana Stropp (National Museum of Natural Sciences, Spain), Richard Ladle (University of Porto, Portugal), and Geiziane Tessarolo (State University of Goiás, Brazil), among others, are constructing the […]

Novel insights into parasite dynamics for leishmaniasis treatment

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Dr Maria Fernanda Laranjeira da Silva has researched the pathogens behind leishmania in an attempt to better determine the therapeutic aims for treatment of this neglected tropical disease

Neglected tropical diseases such as leishmaniasis have a huge impact on global health but are under-researched and under-funded. Treatment and diagnostic techniques remain expensive and difficult to implement in remote areas. Dr Maria Fernanda Laranjeira-Silva of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, has been conducting research into potential new therapeutic targets, focusing on exploiting the parasite’s need to appropriate the […]

Saving sweet oranges: Catching plant diseases before they act

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Dealing with pests and disease is often the bane of a farmer’s life. Anything that causes plant damage or death has huge economic implications and many plant diseases are highly transmissible. However, disease can only be treated when it is detected, and that often means waiting for symptoms to appear. Dr Maria Fatima das Graças Fernandes da Silva at the […]

Measuring an ecosystem’s response to climate change through sun induced fluorescence (SIF) in the Caatinga bioregion

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Climate change is increasing global temperatures and the regularity and severity of droughts. Researchers are continually looking for innovative ways of measuring these effects on global ecosystems. The detection of chlorophyll fluorescence is one way of examining plants’ responses to environmental changes. Dr Edgard Bontempo and his team of researchers from FUNCATE and INPE aim to detect fluorescence through remote […]

How different are you and your significant other from a spider couple?

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There is a famous statement in pop culture that says ‘sex sells’. And it is true. Sex services, like prostitution and pornography, have long been recognised as some of the most lucrative businesses available. The fact that they achieve such a successful income, despite carrying a social view of being highly dishonourable and disrespectful, just highlights our imminent desire to […]

Improving the management of heart failure with telemedicine

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Guaranteeing timely and good quality healthcare for all can be challenging. In countries like Denmark or Brazil, where health administration is fragmented, with federal authorities managing hospitals while municipalities manage primary care, the management of patients is very complicated. After developing a cross-sector collaboration model in Denmark, Dr Helena Dominguez, cardiologist in Bispebjerg-Frederiksberg Hospital and Associate Professor at the University […]

The soybean trap: Challenges and risks for Brazilian producers

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The growth in the international soybean market has attracted thousands of new farmers as well as foreign capital investments. The highly connected and globalised food commodities market heats up this new agribusiness landscape making soybean producers vulnerable to financial risks whilst tying them into a cycle of investment and debt. Dr Ramon Bicudo and Professor Emilio F. Moran, both from […]

Earth’s magnetic field and its changes through time

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Complex convection currents in the Earth’s core create a vast magnetic field around the Earth, protecting us from the charged solar particles that emanate from the Sun. However, the Earth’s magnetic field has not always been quite the same. Earth’s rocks provide a record of geomagnetic reversals and variations through time in the geomagnetic field. Dr Daniel Franco and his […]

Infectious bronchitis virus affects energy production

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Professor Tereza Cristina Cardoso, São Paulo State University, is a qualified veterinarian and her research explores infectious diseases in animals. Her latest work investigates how infectious bronchitis virus affects energy production by macrophage cells. Her research demonstrates that this occurs through disruption of mitochondrial respiration processes, which may have implications for how virus infections in poultry are prevented and treated. […]