The concomitant infections of Canine distemper virus (CDV), Canine adenovirus A types 1 (CAdV-1) and 2 (CAdV-2), Canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2), and Toxoplasma gondii are described in a 43-day-old mixed-breed puppy. Clinically, there were convulsions and blindness with spontaneous death; 14 siblings of this puppy, born to a 10-month-old dam, which was seropositive (titer: 1,024) for T. gondii, also died. Necropsy revealed unilateral corneal edema (blue eye), depletion of intestinal lymphoid tissue, non-collapsible lungs, congestion of meningeal vessels, and a pale area in the myocardium. Histopathology demonstrated necrotizing myocarditis associated with intralesional apicomplexan protozoa; necrotizing and chronic hepatitis associated with rare intranuclear inclusion bodies within hepatocytes; necrotizing bronchitis and bronchiolitis; interstitial pneumonia associated with eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies within epithelial cells; atrophy and fusion of intestinal villi with cryptal necrosis; and white matter demyelination of the cerebrum and cerebellum associated with intranuclear inclusion bodies within astrocytes. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified the partial fragments (bp) of the CDV N gene (290 bp), CPV-2c VP2 capsid protein gene (583 bp), and CAdV-1 (508 bp) and CAdV-2 (1,030 bp) E gene from urine and tissue samples. The PCR assays demonstrated that the apicomplexan protozoa observed within several organs contained DNA specific for T. gondii; genotyping revealed T. gondii type III. The findings support the characterization of concomitant infections of CDV, CAdV-1, CAdV-2, CPV-2, and T. gondii in this puppy. Further, seroreactivity to T. gondii of the dam in association with the systemic disease observed in the puppy described herein is suggestive of congenital toxoplasmosis.

Canine parvovirus (CPV) is a fast-evolving single-stranded DNA virus that causes one of the most significant infectious diseases of dogs. Although the virus dispersed over long distances in the past, current populations are considered to be spatially confined and with only a few instances of migration between specific localities. It is unclear whether these dynamics occur in South America where global studies have not been performed. The aim of this study is to analyze the patterns of genetic variability in South American CPV populations and explore their evolutionary relationships with global strains. Genomic sequences of sixty-three strains from South America and Europe were generated and analyzed using a phylodynamic approach. All the obtained strains belong to the CPV-2a lineage and associate with global strains in four monophyletic groups or clades. European and South American strains from all the countries here analyzed are representative of a widely distributed clade (Eur-I) that emerged in Southern Europe during 1990–98 to later spread to South America in the early 2000s. The emergence and spread of the Eur-I clade were correlated with a significant rise in the CPV effective population size in Europe and South America. The Asia-I clade includes strains from Asia and Uruguay. This clade originated in Asia during the late 1980s and evolved locally before spreading to South America during 2009–10. The third clade (Eur-II) comprises strains from Italy, Brazil, and Ecuador. This clade appears in South America as a consequence of an early introduction from Italy to Ecuador in the middle 1980s and has experienced extensive local genetic differentiation. Some strains from Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil constitute an exclusive South American clade (SA-I) that emerged in Argentina in the 1990s. These results indicate that the current epidemiological scenario is a consequence of inter- and intracontinental migrations of strains with different geographic and temporal origins that set the conditions for competition and local differentiation of CPV populations. The coexistence and interaction of highly divergent strains are the main responsible for the drastic epidemiological changes observed in South America in the last two decades. This highlights the threat of invasion from external sources and the importance of whole-genome resolution to robustly infer the origin and spread of new CPV variants. From a taxonomic standpoint, the findings herein show that the classification system that uses a single amino acid to identify variants (2a, 2b, and 2c) within the CPV-2a lineage does not reflect phylogenetic relationships and is not suitable to analyze CPV evolution. In this regard, the identification of clades or sublineages within circulating CPV strains is the first step towards a genetic and evolutionary classification of the virus.

I PALAVRAS-CHAVE:-Educação em Saúde -Representações Sociais -Promoção de Saúde. RESUMO KEYWORDS:-Health Education -Social Representations -Health Promotion. ABSTRACT The sociological relevance of social representations of the health-disease process lies in the fact that they underlie the various participants' practices and attitudes, as well as the relations they establish with their social context and the health events that affect them. This study focused on social representations of the health-disease process among health workers in the Family

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The introduction of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into polymer matrixes has been an important tool to alter and improve some properties in polymer nanocomposites, including biodegradable polymers such as poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV). In this work, PHBV nanocomposites with 0.05, 0.50, 1.00, 1.50 and 2.00 wt % of MWCNTs were produced by solvent casting. MWCNT morphology and structure were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was observed that MWCNTs have a considerable amount of amorphous carbon (AC) onto their surface and a wide distribution of the tube diameter. MWCNTs act as the nucleating agent in the PHBV matrix, as verified by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that thermal stability was not significantly affected. The nanofiller dispersion into the PHBV matrix was not effective for concentrations from 1 wt % according to the micrographs obtained in scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The contact angle was changed with the introduction of MWCNTs, turning the nanocomposites hydrophobic and improving the mechanical tensile properties of the PHBV matrix.

Gynecological cytology has some inaccurate morphological categorization and poor interobserver reproducibility especially for glandular lesions. Liquid-based cytology (LBC) preparations are presumed to reduce artifacts that interfere in diagnosis performance, but its value to correctly identify glandular alterations has not been sufficiently reported. The objective of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance and interobserver agreement of LBC and conventional Pap smear to identify histologically confirmed glandular lesions according to five cytologists. Sensitivity ranged from 55.8 to 73.1% and 32.7 to 48.1% for Pap smear and LBC, respectively. Specificity ranged from 66.1 to 87.1% and 69.4 to 94.4%, respectively. In general, agreement between pairs of cytologists was poor with j-values around 0.45. In conclusion, relying entirely on cervical cytology to rule out glandular lesions may be risky. The use of HPV DNA test alone or combined to screening glandular lesions may contribute to minimize the limitations of both conventional and LBC preparations to diagnose glandular abnormalities. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2008;36:270-274. ' 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Key Words: liquid-based cytology; adenocarcinoma; DNACitoliq As a subjective method, cytopathological diagnostic can generate some uncertainty for precise morphological categorization of cervical lesions and poor interobserver reproducibility.1 These shortcomings are magnified when the lesions are located in the endocervical canal, most often not visualized by colposcopy. Recently, a web-based format was used to compare the performance of experienced cytotechnologists and pathologists to classify cervical cytology images.2 Using histological diagnosis as the gold standard, the performance of both types of readers was far better in identifying high-grade squamous lesions than it was for high-grade glandular lesions.Cytological differentiation of adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) from atypical glandular cells (AGC) or from invasive adenocarcinoma (AdenoCa) may pose a real diagnostic challenge. Additionally, poor reproducibility among 167 Italian laboratories for glandular lesions has been recently demonstrated. 3 The crude agreement between all pairs of laboratories was 49.43%. j-Values were 0.46, 0.21, 0.34, 0.36, and 0.32 for negative, AGC/AIS, AdenoCa, Squamous plus Glandular lesions, and all reporting categories, respectively. In a study where histological follow-up was available for 395 smears reported as glandular abnormalities, the overall positive predictive value (PPV) was 72.66% for either significant glandular or squamous pathology (at least low-grade cervical glandular intraepithelial neoplasia or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia [CIN] 2 on follow up biopsy), and 55.70% for significant glandular pathology