Resumo Este artigo analisa as formas jurídicas de controle de trabalhadores livres no Brasil durante a década de 1830. Esta pesquisa explora o modo de contratação de imigrantes internacionais destinados para construir uma estrada em Minas Gerais em direção à capital do Império. Os arranjos de trabalho foram estabelecidos com intermediação direta de empresa privada de colonização, especializada no recrutamento e imigração de trabalhadores estrangeiros. Com apoio financeiro e político do governo, oito colonos artífices foram engajados no serviço de obras públicas, tendo como base os instrumentos coercitivos previstos na Lei de Locação de Serviços de 1837. O artigo enfatiza os interesses e conflitos envoltos na experiência de imigrantes livres na conjuntura de incerteza de continuidade do tráfico negreiro nos anos de 1830.

Abstract This article analyzes the legal forms of control of free workers in Brazil during the 1830s. This research explores the way of contracting international immigrants destined to build a road from Minas Gerais towards the capital of the Empire. The preparations of this work were established with direct intermediation of a private colonization company, specialized in the recruitment and immigration of foreign workers. With financial and political support from the Minas Gerais government, eight skilled settlers were engaged in the public works service, based on the coercive instruments provided for in the Lei de Locação de Serviços (Service Leasing Act) of 1837. The article emphasizes the interests and conflicts involved in the experience of free migrants regarding the uncertainty of the slave trade continuity in the 1830s.

Abstract INTRODUCTION Mutations in the propeller domain of the Plasmodium falciparum kelch13 (k13) gene are associated with artemisinin resistance. METHODS: We developed a PCR protocol to sequence the pfk13 gene and determined its sequence in a batch of 50 samples collected from 2003 to 2016 in Brazil. RESULTS: We identified 1 K189T substitution located outside the propeller domain of the PfK13 protein in 36% of samples. CONCLUSIONS: Although the sample size is relatively small, these results suggest that P. falciparum artemisinin-resistant mutants do not exist in Brazil, thereby supporting the continuation of current treatment programs based on artemisinin-based combination therapy.

ABSTRACT In the present work, different Brazilian biomes aiming to identify and select cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase-producer bacteria are explored. This enzyme is responsible for converting starch to cyclodextrin, which are interesting molecules to carry other substances of economic interest applied by textile, pharmaceutical, food, and other industries. Based on the enzymatic index, 12 bacteria were selected and evaluated, considering their capacity to produce the enzyme in culture media containing different starch sources. It was observed that the highest yields were presented by the bacteria when grown in cornstarch. These bacteria were also characterized by sequencing of the 16S rRNA region and were classified as Bacillus, Paenibacillus, Gracilibacillus and Solibacillus.

Introdução: A colite microscópica (CM) é uma doença inflamatória do intestino com etiologia desconhecida. A má-absorção de ácidos biliares (AB) encontra-se descrita em doentes com CM. O Recetor Farnesoid X (FXR) é o principal recetor dos AB; mecanismos mediados pelo FXR previnem o efeito nocivo da acumulação dos AB, preservando a integridade da barreira epitelial intestinal e impedindo inflamação. Objetivos: Avaliar a expressão do FXR em doentes com CM. Métodos: Foram obtidas amostras em parafina do ileon terminal, cólon direito e esquerdo de doentes com CM e controlos emparelhados; foi realizada imunohistoquímica para FXR e a sua expressão nuclear quantificada de forma semi-quantitativa. Resultados: Foram estudadas 169 amostras de 35 doentes com CM e 31 controlos. A expressão de FXR nos doentes com CM foi significativamente inferior à dos controlos no cólon direito (expressão FXR moderada-intensa: 21.1% versus 64.3%; p = 0.003) e esquerdo (expressão FXR moderada-intensa: 8.3% versus 38.7%; p = 0.027). Não observámos diferenças significativas na expressão do FXR no ileon em doentes com CM em comparação com controlos (expressão moderada- intensa em 76.9 versus 90.0%; p = 0.5). Não se verificaram diferenças na expressão FXR entre os dois tipos de CM. Não se encontrou associação entre o grau de infiltração linfocítica ou a espessura da banda de colagénio e a expressão de FXR. Conclusões: os doentes com CM apresentaram uma expressão significativamente reduzida do FXR no cólon; isto pode tornar as células epiteliais mais suscetíveis aos efeitos deletérios dos AB, contribuindo para a patogénese da doença e a sintomatologia da CM.

Introduction: Microscopic colitis (MC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease with unclear etiology. Bile acid (BA) malabsorption has been described in MC patients. Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) is the main BA receptor; FXR-mediated mechanisms prevent the noxious effects of BA accumulation, preserving the integrity of the intestinal epithelial barrier and preventing intestinal inflammation. Aim: Our aim was to describe the expression of FXR in patients with MC. Methods: Archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples from the terminal ileum, right and left colon were obtained from patients with MC and matched controls. Immunohistochemistry was performed and nuclear FXR expression scored in a semi-quantitative way. Results: 169 formalin-fixed paraffinembedded samples from 35 patients with MC and 31 controls were retrieved. There was a significant reduction of FXR expression in patients with MC versus controls both in the right colon (moderate-strong FXR expression: 21.1 vs. 64.3%; p = 0.003) and left colon (moderate-strong FXR expression: 8.3 vs. 38.7%; p = 0.027). No significant differences in FXR expression were observed in the ileum of patients with MC (moderate-strong FXR expression: 76.9 vs. 90.9%; p = 0.5). We found no difference in FXR expression between the two types of MC. No association between the degree of lymphocyte infiltration or the thickness of collagen band and FXR expression was found. Conclusions: Patients with MC present a significantly lower expression of FXR in the colon. This could render colonic epithelial cells more susceptible to the deleterious effects of BA, contributing to disease pathogenesis and symptoms in MC.

ABSTRACTINTRODUCTION:The mosquito Aedes aegypti has evolved resistance to pyrethroid insecticides. The present study evaluated Ae. aegypti from Goiânia for the resistant phenotype and for mutations associated with resistance.METHODS:Insecticide dose-response bioassays were conducted on mosquitoes descended from field-collected eggs, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to genotype 90 individuals at sites implicated in pyrethroid resistance.RESULTS:All mosquito populations displayed high levels of resistance to deltamethrin, as well as high frequencies of the 1016Ile kdr and 1534Cys kdrmutations.CONCLUSIONS:Aedes aegypti populations in the Goiânia area are highly resistant to deltamethrin, presumably due to high frequencies of kdr(knockdown-resistance) mutations.

A população nas prisões está a aumentar na maioria dos países do mundo e tem sido relacionada com algumas das taxas mais elevadas de tuberculose (TB) registradas em toda a população humana. Os surtos de tuberculose nas prisões são há muito, do conhecimento geral mas a aplicação de diretrizes específicas tem sido incompleta e heterogénea devido a diversos obstáculos específicos que têm sido levantados. O risco infeccioso dos presos, a falta de condições estruturais, o estilo de vida da prisão, o impacto da estratificação hierárquica não oficial dos presos, a descontinuação e disarticulação terapêutica entre as instituições de cuidados médicos foram alguns dos problemas encontrados. O controlo eficaz da TB em ambiente prisional exigirá uma atenção renovada e uma mais elevada consciencialização política conducente a reformas significativas ao nível do parque prisional.

Prison population is rising in the majority of the countries in the world, and has been related to some of the highest tuberculosis (TB) rates ever registered in any human population. Prison outbreaks have been known to occur but the implementation of specific guidelines was always incomplete and heterogeneous due to specific obstacles posed. Inmates' infectious risk, lack of structural conditions, prison's lifestyle, impact of inmate nonofficial hierarchical stratification, therapeutic discontinuation and disarticulation between healthcare institutions were some of the encountered problems. Managing prison TB effectively will demand a renewed attention and a higher political awareness to major reforms in prisons.

The global emergence of Plasmodium vivax strains resistant to chloroquine (CQ) since the late 1980s is complicating the current international efforts for malaria control and elimination. Furthermore, CQ-resistant vivax malaria has already reached an alarming prevalence in Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea. More recently, in vivo studies have documented CQ-resistant P. vivax infections in Guyana, Peru and Brazil. Here, we summarise the available data on CQ resistance across P. vivax-endemic areas of Latin America by combining published in vivo and in vitro studies. We also review the current knowledge regarding the molecular mechanisms of CQ resistance in P. vivax and the prospects for developing and standardising reliable molecular markers of drug resistance. Finally, we discuss how the Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network, an international collaborative effort involving malaria experts from all continents, might contribute to the current regional efforts to map CQ-resistant vivax malaria in South America.

Numerosas formas de evidência experimental obtidas nos últimos 37 anos demonstraram inequivocamente que a medula oblongata contém os principais circuitos responsáveis pela geração e manutenção do tono vasomotor e a regulação da pressão arterial. A visão atual que possuímos destes circuitos deriva em grande parte dos estudos de Pedro Guertzenstein, um estudante e mais tarde Professor de Fisiologia da UNIFESP e seus colaboradores. Nesta revisão nós sumarizamos os seus principais resultados assim como a nossa colaboração para uma melhor compreensão da regulação da pressão arterial em condições normais e patológicas.

Several forms of experimental evidence gathered in the last 37 years have unequivocally established that the medulla oblongata harbors the main neural circuits responsible for generating the vasomotor tone and regulating arterial blood pressure. Our current understanding of this circuitry derives mainly from the studies of Pedro Guertzenstein, a former student who became Professor of Physiology at UNIFESP later, and his colleagues. In this review, we have summarized the main findings as well as our collaboration to a further understanding of the ventrolateral medulla and the control of arterial blood pressure under normal and pathological conditions.

Foram analisadas a freqüência e distribuição de mutações nos genes dihidrofolato redutase e dihidropteroato sintetase do Plasmodium falciparum, usando a metodologia de reação em cadeia da polimerase e polimorfismos de hidrólise por enzimas de restrição, em amostras de sangue infectado proveniente de crianças moçambicanas, residentes em Maputo. A análise foi feita antes e 7 dias após o tratamento com sulfadoxina-pirimetamina (S/P). Os resultados mostraram a ocorrência de mutações pontuais nos genes estudados e a presença de combinações de três alelos em dhfr (51Ile, 59Arg e 108Asn) e do quintúplo mutante (dhfr 51Ile, 59Arg, 108Asn e dhps 437Gly, 540Glu), ambas situações associadas à falha terapêutica no sétimo dia após tratamento com S/P. Esses achados mostram a importância de se estudar a resistência à S/P em Moçambique, e como os marcadores moleculares de resistência aos antimaláricos podem fornecer dados importantes para a política nacional de controlo da malária.

The frequency and distribution of mutations in Plasmodium falciparum, dihydrofolate reductase and dihydropteroate synthase genes were analyzed, using the polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism methodology, in infected blood samples from Mozambican children living in Maputo, before and seven days after treatment with sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine (S/P). The results showed the occurrence of point mutations in the genes studied and the presence of combinations of three alleles in dhfr (51Ile, 59Arg and 108Asn) and "quintuple" mutant (dhfr 51Ile, 59Arg, 108Asn and dhps 437Gly, 540Glu). Both of these situations were associated with seven-day therapeutic failure, following treatment with S/P. These findings show the importance of studying S/P resistance in Mozambique, and how molecular markers for antimalarial resistance can provide important data for national malaria control policy.