The presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in wastewater produced interest in its use for sentinel surveillance at a community level and as a complementary approach to syndromic surveillance. With this work, we set the foundations for wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) in Portugal by monitoring the trends of SARS-CoV-2 RNA circulation in the community, on a nationwide perspective during different epidemiological phases of the pandemic. The Charité assays (E_Sarbecco, RdRP, and N_Sarbecco) were applied to monitor, over 32-weeks (April to December 2020), the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 RNA at the inlet of five wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), which together serve more than two million people in Portugal. Raw wastewater from three Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reference hospitals was also analyzed during this period. In total, more than 600 samples were tested. For the first weeks, detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA was sporadic, with concentrations varying from 10 3 to 10 5 genome copies per liter (GC/L). Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA increased steeply by the end of May into late June, mainly in Lisboa e Vale do Tejo region (LVT), during the reopening phase. After the summer, with the reopening of schools in mid-September and return to partial face-to-face work, a pronounced increase of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater was detected. In the LVT area, SARS-CoV-2 RNA load agreed with reported trends in hotspots of infection. Synchrony between trends of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in raw wastewater and daily new COVID-19 cases highlights the value of WBE as a surveillance tool, particularly after the phasing out of the epidemiological curve and when hotspots of disease re-emerge in the population which might be difficult to spot based solely on syndromic surveillance and contact tracing. This is the first study crossing several epidemiological stages highlighting the long-term use of WBE for SARS-CoV-2.

BackgroundAdverse drug reactions are harmful and involuntary responses to drugs that occur at doses normally used for a given condition. Among them are Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis, both rare and potentially fatal conditions.ObjectivesTo analyze the epidemiological and clinical characteristics related to patients diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis in public hospitals in the Federal District - Brazil.MethodsRetrospective, cross-sectional and descriptive study, in which data were collected referring to patients hospitalized in the public healthcare system of the Federal District from 1999 to 2014. Results: Between 1999 and 2014, 86 cases of hospitalized patients with diagnosis of Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis in the Federal District were reported. The majority of patients were women; the most affected age group was 0 to 10 years. Patients older than 60 years (elderly) represent 6.98% of the cases. Most patients admitted to the referral hospital were discharged. However, occurrence of deaths exceeded that of discharge in elderly patients.Limitations of the studyThere is fragility in the registry of hospitalization of patients, both in the hospital information system and in the medical records of the reference hospital.ConclusionThere is a need for greater production and better dissemination of information on the incidence of adverse drug reactions.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA has been extensively detected in raw wastewater in studies exploring wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) for early warning purposes. Nonetheless, only a few limited studies investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in treated wastewaters to determine the potential health risks across the water cycle. The detection of SARS-CoV-2 has been done mostly by RT-qPCR and ddPCR, which only provides information on the presence of nucleic acids rather than information on potential infectivity. In this study, we set to develop and evaluate the use of viability RT-qPCR for the selective discrimination and surveillance of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in secondary-treated wastewater. Enzymatic (nuclease) and viability dye (Reagent D) pretreatments were applied to infer infectivity through RT-qPCR using porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) as a CoV surrogate. Infectivity tests were first performed on PEDV purified RNA, then on infectious and heat-inactivated PEDV, and finally on heat inactivated PEDV spiked in concentrated secondary-treated wastewater. The two viability RT-qPCR methods were then applied to 27 secondary-treated wastewater samples positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA at the outlet of five large urban wastewater treatment plants in Portugal. Reagent D pretreatment showed similar behavior to cell culture for heat-inactivated PEDV and both viability RT-qPCR methods performed comparably to VERO E6 cell culture for SARS-CoV-2 present in secondary-treated wastewater, eliminating completely the RT-qPCR signal. Our study demonstrated the lack of infectious SARS-CoV-2 viral particles on secondary-treated wastewater through the application of two pretreatment methods for the rapid inference of infectivity through RT-qPCR, showing their potential application in environmental screening. This study addressed a knowledge gap on the public health risks of SARS-CoV-2 across the water cycle.

The use of femoral nerve block can reduce the level of pain and the need for additional analgesia. There are less adverse systemic events associated with this and the procedure itself does not offer greater risks. More studies are required for further conclusions.

Background: Approximately 2–4% of individuals worldwide with diabetes mellitus have foot ulcers. This study aims to assess the factors affecting the outcomes of severe foot ulcers in diabetic individuals. Methods: An analytical prospective cohort study was conducted from March 1st, 2015, to March 1st, 2017. A total of 34 individuals was selected. The study included patients with foot ulcers below the ankle who were at risk of amputation. All tests used a <5% level of significance and confidence interval of 95%. A Pearson’s chi-squared test and binary multiple regression were performed to assess the factors related to healing. Results: Only 11.7% of the individuals required amputation; ulcers classified as 2/B according to the University of Texas Diabetic Foot Ulcer Classification System healed before the 1/B ulcers. Neuropathic ulcers were the most prevalent (58.8%); 61.8% healed after 1 year. Most of the individuals were overweight, 47.1% had reduced glomerular filtration rates, and 78.8% had glycated hemoglobin >7%. Body mass index and osteomyelitis were the two significant variables in logistic regression. Conclusions: In this study, osteomyelitis was the main complication related to the risk of amputation, and elevated body mass index and osteomyelitis were the significant factors that induced a slower healing time.

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) for severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a powerful tool to complement syndromic surveillance. Although detection of SARS-CoV-2 in raw wastewater may be prompted with good recoveries during periods of high community prevalence, in the early stages of population outbreaks concentration procedures are required to overcome low viral concentrations. Several methods have become available for the recovery of SARS-CoV-2 from raw wastewater, generally involving filtration. However, these methods are limited to small sample volumes, possibly missing the early stages of virus circulation, and restrained applicability across different water matrices. The aim of this study was thus to evaluate the performance of three methods enabling the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 from large volumes of wastewater: i) hollow fiber filtration using the inuvai R180, with an enhanced elution protocol and polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation; ii) PEG precipitation; and iii) skimmed milk flocculation. The performance of the three approaches was evaluated in wastewater from multiple wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) with distinct singularities, according to: i) effective volume; ii) percentage of recovery; iii) extraction efficiency; iv) inhibitory effect; and v) the limits of detection and quantification. The inuvai R180 system had the best performance, with detection of spiked control across all samples, with average recovery percentages of 68% for porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), with low variability. Mean recoveries for PEG precipitation and skimmed milk flocculation were 9% and 14%, respectively. The inuvai R180 enables the scalability of volumes without negative impact on the costs, time for analysis, and recovery/inhibition. Moreover, hollow fiber ultrafilters favor the concentration of different microbial taxonomic groups. Such combined features make this technology attractive for usage in environmental waters monitoring.

Introduction: Although international health research involves some benefits for the host countries, such as access to innovative treatments, the research itself may not be aligned with their communities' actual health needs.Objective: To map the global landscape of clinical trials run in Latin American and Caribbean countries and discuss the addressing of local health needs in the agenda of international clinical trials.Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional overview and used data referent to studies registered between 01/01/2014 and 12/31/2014 in the World Health Organization's (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP).Results: Non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and asthma—studies which were financed mainly by industries—were the conditions investigated most in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean. The neglected diseases, on the other hand, such as Chagas disease, and dengue, made up 1% of the total number of studies. Hospitals and nonprofit nongovernmental organizations prioritize resources for investigating new drugs for neglected diseases, such as Chagas disease and dengue.Conclusion: The international multicenter clinical trials for investigating new drugs are aligned with the health needs of the region of Latin America and the Caribbean, when one considers the burden resulting from the non-communicable diseases in this region. However, the transmissible diseases, such as tuberculosis and AIDS, and the neglected diseases, such as Chagas disease and dengue, which have an important impact on public health in this region, continue to arouse little interest among the institutions which finance the clinical trials.

Nowadays, the competitiveness of the textile industry and the consumers' interest have been increasing the demand for innovative and functional textiles. Allied to this, sustainable developments are playing an increasingly important role in the textile industry. Such concerns led to a new development strategy based on the valorization of bio-based wastes and by-products of different industries, inserting this in the circular economy paradigm. These bio-based wastes and by-products come from several industries, as the agri-food industry. These resources present an enormous potential for valorization in the textile finish due to their intrinsic properties (antimicrobial, prebiotic, antioxidant activity, among others). This chapter will review the latest innovation and textile product development through different by-products and wastes, their main properties and characteristics and the advantages that they offer to the textile industry.