RESUMO Analisamos as violências cometidas por grupos armados contra religiosos de matriz africana na Região Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro (RMRJ). A partir de um levantamento realizado na mídia, percebeu-se que, em menos de 15 anos, esses conflitos deixaram de ser um problema das relações de proximidade e passaram a envolver confrontos pela hegemonia armada sobre espaços populares, controlados por traficantes e/ou milicianos, que se apresentam como membros de igrejas pentecostais. Evidencia-se que a governança criminal operada pelos “traficrentes” e “milicrentes” misturam imperativos comerciais, teológicos e doutrinários com um projeto político de nação que impacta diretamente os modos de vida das populações, em especial os afrorreligiosos.

ABSTRACT In this article we analyze acts of violence inflicted by armed groups on members of Afro-Brazilian religions in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro. Based on a media content survey, it was found that in less than 15 years these conflicts ceased to derive from proximity relations and evolved to confrontations over armed hegemony of popular spaces, controlled by drug traffickers and/or militia, who present themselves as members of Pentecostal churches. The criminal governance operated by “traficrentes” and “milicrentes” combines commercial, theological, and doctrinal imperatives with a political project of nation that directly impacts peoples’ ways of life, especially the followers of Afro-Brazilian religions.

The zoonotic potential to cause human and/or animal infections among multidrug-resistant extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli from avian origin was investigated. Twenty-seven extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli isolates containing the increased survival gene (iss) were obtained from the livers of healthy and diseased poultry carcasses at two slaughterhouses in Salvador, northeastern Brazil. The antimicrobial resistance-susceptibility profiles were conducted with antibiotics of avian and/or human use by the standardized disc-diffusion method. Antimicrobial resistance was higher for levofloxacin (51.8%), amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (70.4%), ampicillin (81.5%), cefalotin (88.8%), tetracycline (100%) and streptomycin (100%). The minimum inhibitory concentrations above the resistance breakpoints of doxycycline, neomycin, oxytetracycline and enrofloxacin reached, respectively, 88.0%, 100%, 75% and 91.7% of the isolates. Strains with high and low antimicrobial resistance were i.p. administered to Swiss mice, and histopathological examination was carried out seven days after infection. Resistance to goat and human serum complement was also evaluated. The results show that Swiss mice challenged with strain 2B (resistant to 11 antimicrobials) provoked a severe degeneration of hepatocytes besides lymphocytic infiltration in the liver, whereas the spleen showed areas of degeneration of the white and red pulp. Conversely, the spleen and liver of mice challenged with strain 4A (resistant to two antimicrobials) were morphologically preserved. In addition, complement resistance to goat and human serum was high for strain 2B and low for strain 4A. Our data show that multidrug resistance and pathogenesis can be correlated in extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli strains obtained from apparently healthy poultry carcasses, increasing the risk for human public healthy.

This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of hepatitis E antibodies (anti-HEV) among individuals exposed to swine in the rural areas of the state of Mato Grosso (MT) in Brazil. The study included 310 participants who had an average age of 39 years. Fifty-one per cent of the participants were female and 26 (8.4%) were anti-HEV-positive. Concomitantly, we studied 101 blood donors from the urban area of the state capital who had never lived in a rural area or handled swine. Four per cent (4%) of these individuals were anti-HEV-positive (p = 0.206). When we compared the anti-HEV-positive participants who had been exposed to swine with the anti-HEV-negative participants, we noticed associations between the presence of anti-HEV and increased age, a history of blood transfusions and contact with other farm animals. However, after a multivariate analysis was performed, this association was not confirmed. Finally, the ratio of anti-HEV-positive individuals who had been exposed to swine in rural MT was similar to that found in previous studies in Brazil. This prevalence did not characterise this type of exposure as a risk factor for HEV infection in this region.

RESUMO As florestas semidecíduas na Bahia mostram-se bastante fragmentadas e têm sido pouco estudadas em relação à florística e à fitogeografia. Estas florestas estão situadas principalmente no semi-árido e isoladas da Mata Atlântica costeira por extensas áreas de caatinga. Este trabalho apresenta o levantamento florístico de um fragmento de floresta semidecídua na Serra da Fazenda Retiro (SFR), localizada no município de Feira de Santana, Bahia, com o objetivo principal de avaliar a sua posição fitogeográfica em relação às caatingas e à Mata Atlântica. Foram amostradas 173 espécies incluídas em 143 gêneros e 59 famílias. Myrtaceae foi a família que apresentou o maior número de espécies (15 spp.), seguida por Euphorbiaceae (13), Leguminosae (12), Malvaceae (7), Orchidaceae (7) e Rubiaceae (7). Além disso, foram coletadas três novas espécies dos gêneros Neomarica (Iridaceae), Pseudobombax (Malvaceae) e Solanum (Solanaceae). As análises de agrupamento pelo método UPGMA e de composição de espécies da SFR mostram que a área, apesar de estar situada dentro do Bioma Caatinga, apresenta uma maior relação florística com as florestas semidecíduas do Domínio da Floresta Atlântica.

ABSTRACT The semideciduous forests of Bahia occur as highly fragmented areas and have only received a little attention from floristic and phytogeographical studies. These areas are mainly situated within the semi-arid region and isolated from the Coastal Atlantic Forest by the surrounding dry vegetation of the caatinga domain. This paper presents a floristic survey of a semideciduous forest fragment at Serra da Fazenda Retiro (SFR), Feira de Santana, Bahia State, in order to assess its phytogeographical relationships in comparison to caatinga vegetation and Atlantic Forest. The survey identified 173 species belonging to 143 genera and 59 families. Myrtaceae presented the highest species number (15 spp.), followed by Euphorbiaceae (13), Leguminosae (12), Malvaceae (7), Orchidaceae (7), and Rubiaceae (7). Additionally, three new species of the genera Neomarica (Iridaceae), Pseudobombax (Malvaceae), and Solanum (Solanaceae) were sampled. In spite of the studied area being located within the circumscription of the Caatinga Biome, analysis of similarity (UPGMA) and of the SFR species composition showed that it is more floristically related to semideciduous forest of the Atlantic Forest domain rather than to caatinga vegetation.