Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) seroprevalences were determined in two isolated Amazon Amerindian tribes, according to age, gender and familial aggregation. Plasma and serum samples obtained from 982 Amazon Amerindians (664 Tiriyó and 318 Waiampi) were tested for antibodies against lytic and latent HHV-8 antigens by using 'in-house' immunofluorescence assays. Overall, HHV-8 seroprevalence was 56?8 % (57?4 % in the Tiriyó tribe and 55?7 % in the Waiampi tribe). Seroprevalence was independent of gender and increased linearly with age: it was 35?0 % among children aged 2-9 years, 51?4 % in adolescents (10-19 years), 72?9 % in adults and 82?3 % in adults aged >50 years. Interestingly, 44?4 % of children under 2 years of age were HHV-8-seropositive. No significant differences in seroprevalence between tribes and age groups were detected. It is concluded that HHV-8 is hyperendemic in Brazilian Amazon Amerindians, with vertical and horizontal transmission during childhood, familial transmission and sexual contact in adulthood contributing to this high prevalence in these isolated populations.

Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) causes Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and lymphoproliferative disorders in both HIV-infected and uninfected patients. HHV-8 has a worldwide occurrence but infection rates vary according to a combination of geographic and behavioral risks. The main transmission route seems to be sexual, nevertheless, nasal secretions, saliva, blood, and organ graft have been proposed. HHV-8 was postulated as a new infectious agent for screening in blood donors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of antibodies against HHV-8 antigens in blood donors of South America. Serum samples from 2,470 blood donors from Argentina, Brazil, and Chile corresponding to five geographic regions were studied by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). Seroprevalence rate was 3.7% (92/2,470; 95% CI 2.9-4.5) in the entire blood donor population distributed as follows: Argentina, 4.0% (Buenos Aires city, 4.3%; Bahia Blanca, 2.4%; and Córdoba, 4.0%), Campinas (Brazil), 2.8%; and Santiago de Chile, 3.0%. There was no difference (P>0.05) between men and women or age related, except in Brazil where positive cases were 30-49-year-old males. The present study, which includes different geographical areas of multiple countries from South America, has not been done before. The results show similar prevalence rates among the studied zones corresponding to low-prevalence regions. South America is a large sub-continent with a wide spectrum of population and geographical characteristics, thus, more HHV-8 prevalence studies should be necessary to establish possible regional differences.

In this work the biological effects of two w/o/w multiple emulsions composed of the soybean oil (EHS) or medium-chain triglycerides (ETCM), containing insulin, were studied. The release mechanism of insulin from multiple emulsions proposed in our previous in-vitro investigations was confirmed by subcutaneous administration. This mechanism is the swelling-breakdown phenomenon which occurs when the emulsions are diluted under hypo-osmotic condition. The biological effect after oral administration, evaluated in two experimental protocols, single administration in normal and diabetic rats and short-term treatment in diabetic rats, shows that in diabetic rats small amounts of biologically active insulin were absorbed from these emulsions. In these experiments no significant difference between EHS and ETCM was found.

A major issue in the study of dissociation concerns the cross-cultural validity of definitions and measurements used to identify and classify dissociative disorders. There is also extensive debate on the etiological factors underlying dissociative experiences. Cross-cultural research is essential to elucidate these issues, particularly regarding evidence obtained from countries in which the study of dissociation is still in its infancy. The aim of this article was to discuss Brazilian research on the topic of dissociation, highlighting its contributions for the understanding of dissociative experiences in nonclinical populations and for the validity and relevance of dissociative disorders in the contexts of psychiatry, psychology, and psychotherapy. We also consider the ways in which dissociative experiences are assimilated by Brazilian culture and religious expressions, and the implications of Brazilian studies for the sociocultural investigation of dissociation. We conclude by addressing the limitations of these studies and potential areas for future research.

BackgroundThis study evaluates the success of graduate students in psychiatry in an emerging country, in terms of the quantity and quality of their publication productivity (given by the number of papers and impact factors of the journals in which they publish). We investigated to what extent student proficiency in English and the scientific capabilities of academic advisors predict that success.MethodsOur sample comprised 43 master’s and doctoral students in psychiatry (n = 28 and n = 15, respectively) at the University of São Paulo School of Medicine, in São Paulo, Brazil. We collected information about their knowledge of English and the ways in which they wrote their articles to be submitted to periodicals published in English. Multiple regression analyses were carried out in order to investigate the influence English proficiency, h-index of supervisors and use of language editing assistance had on the number and impact of student publications.ResultsAlthough 60% of students scored ≥80 (out of 100) on English tests given at admission to the graduate program, 93.09% of the sample used some form of external editing assistance to produce their papers in English. The variables “number of publications” and “impact factor of journals” were significantly related to each other (r = 0.550, p < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis revealed that the impact factor of periodicals where students published their articles as first authors correlated significantly not only with student proficiency in English at admission (p = 0.035), but also with the degree of language editing assistance (p = 0.050) and the h-index of the academic advisor (p = 0.050).ConclusionsAlbeit relevant, knowledge of English was not the key factor for the publication success of the graduate students evaluated. Other variables (h-index of the advisor and third-party language editing assistance) appear to be also important predictors of success in publication.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1472-6920-14-238) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The article assesses the work of Celso Furtado (1920-2004) in the 1970s, when the author promotes an ambitious attempt to redefine the field of development economics. Furtado's works have recently been revisited by several authors, including in the field of history of economic thought. The text is devoted to explore how the author challenges development theory's perceived failure to explain the reality of underdeveloped nations in the late 1970s by expanding the scope of analysis and giving culture a pivotal role in the dynamics of development and underdevelopment. This theoretical movement happens at the time in which development economics begins to drift out of the mainstream of economic theory. Hence, unlike the concept of underdevelopment introduced in the 1950s, the discussion of creativity and dependence encounters an adverse intellectual landscape, even though it represents one of the author's most original contributions.

Little is known about human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) distribution in Brazil. We used indirect immunofluorescence serological assays to determine HHV-8 seroprevalence in two Amerindian tribes from the Amazon region, and blood donors and Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) patients from the Campinas/SP (Southeastern region). Anti-HHV-8 antibodies were detected in 56.8% of the Amerindians (558/982), in all ages (0-81 years old) and both sexes. In these populations, high prevalence in children younger than 2 years old (44.4%) and children from 2 to 9 years old (35.0%) suggests non-sexual routes of HHV-8 transmission, through vertical transmission or contact to contaminated secretions. HHV-8 seroprevalence in blood donors from Campinas/SP was low (2.8%) and all positive cases were male (9/319) in the fourth and fifth decades of life. Curiously, these individuals were negative to routine serological tests applied in blood banks. Every KS patient assessed in our study was male, with average age of 37 years (27 to 79 years) and anti-HHV-8 positive assays in all cases.In order to determine HHV-8 molecular prevalence, we analyzed DNA from three Amerindian tribes from the Amazon region, KS patients from Campinas/SP and HIV patients from Salvador/BA (Northeastern region). We used Nested-PCR to amplify HHV-8 ORF-26 region by molecular screening. Every ORF-26 amplified sample was also amplified to hypervariable ORF-K1 region for HHV-8 genotyping. We analyzed 384 DNA samples from Amerindian tribes and detected HHV-8 sequences in 3.8% (13/384). KS patients had all DNA samples from skin biopsies and 45.5% from peripheral blood (PBMC) amplified. DNA samples from 148 HIV positive patients were analyzed and HHV-8 sequences were detected in 4% of cases (6/148). Almost all positive DNA samples were amplified to ORF-K1 and determined HHV-8 subtypes.Molecular techniques for amplification and sequencing of two fragments (VR1 and VR2) from ORF-K1 region made possible to build up phylogenetic trees and determine HHV-8 main viral subtypes (A, B, C, D and E) and its variants. Patients with KS from Campinas had subtypes A, B and C detected, with greater frequency of subtype C. Subtypes A and E were detected in Amazon Amerindians. This study is the first to perform genotyping in samples of HIV positive patients from Salvador, detecting subtype B and an unclassified subtype. Thus, it was possible to determine that HHV-8 subtypes A, B, C and E are present in Brazilian populations. As Brazil is a large country with variable population, culture and different geographical characteristics, more HHV-8 epidemiological studies are necessary to establish possible regional differences. This study was supported by grants from the Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (CNPq) and Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa na Bahia (FAPESB).

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