RESUMO
LAY ABSTRACT: Parents of autistic children and health professionals who work with autistic children in Brazil had positive views about introducing Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy as a therapy for autistic children in Brazil. The parents and clinicians also mentioned some difficulties about using Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy in Brazil. We made adaptations to Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy to address these difficulties. Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy is a therapy to support the development of social and communication skills for autistic children aged 2-10 years. The therapy is conducted with the autistic child's parent. Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy has not been used in Brazil before. There are few therapy options available for autistic children in Brazil and we believed that Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy may be useful. We asked three groups of people in Brazil about their views of Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy, after explaining how the therapy works. Group 1 included 18 parents of autistic children aged 2-10 years. Group 2 included 20 health professionals such as psychologists who work with autistic children. Group 3 included 15 parents of autistic children aged 2-7 years who received the Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy. We learned that parents and clinicians felt that Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy would be a beneficial therapy for autistic children in Brazil. We also found out about the challenges of using Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy in Brazil. We used these findings to make small cultural adaptations to Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy to make it more suitable for Brazil.
Assuntos
Transtorno do Espectro Autista , Transtorno Autístico , Humanos , Criança , Transtorno Autístico/terapia , Estudos de Viabilidade , Brasil , Transtorno do Espectro Autista/terapia , Comunicação , PaisRESUMO
Exposure to adverse environments are risk factors for neurodevelopmental problems in childhood. Children exposed to such environments may benefit from interventions that target social communication abilities, since these are protective factors for healthy neurodevelopment. This randomized controlled trial will test the efficacy of Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy (PACT) in improving social communication development in young children at risk for neurodevelopmental difficulties living in poverty in Brazil. Participants will be 160 children aged 2-4 years with lower-than-average social communication abilities and their primary caregivers. Child-caregiver dyads will be recruited from public childhood education centers in impoverished urban regions of the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Lower-than-average social communication abilities will be defined by standard scores (≤84) on the socialization and/or communication domains of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Child-caregiver dyads will be randomized to receive 12 sessions of the PACT intervention (n = 80) or 5 months of community support as usual plus psychoeducation (n = 80). The primary outcome (parent-child interaction) and secondary outcomes (parent-reported social communication abilities and neurophysiological activity during a live social interaction) will be measured pre- and postintervention. This study may lead to new interventions for vulnerable young children in Brazil and better understanding of the neural mechanisms of PACT.
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Transtorno Autístico , Comunicação , Brasil , Criança , Comportamento Infantil , Pré-Escolar , Humanos , Relações Pais-Filho , Ensaios Clínicos Controlados Aleatórios como AssuntoRESUMO
The Convention on Biological Diversity's post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework will probably include a goal to stabilize and restore the status of species. Its delivery would be facilitated by making the actions required to halt and reverse species loss spatially explicit. Here, we develop a species threat abatement and restoration (STAR) metric that is scalable across species, threats and geographies. STAR quantifies the contributions that abating threats and restoring habitats in specific places offer towards reducing extinction risk. While every nation can contribute towards halting biodiversity loss, Indonesia, Colombia, Mexico, Madagascar and Brazil combined have stewardship over 31% of total STAR values for terrestrial amphibians, birds and mammals. Among actions, sustainable crop production and forestry dominate, contributing 41% of total STAR values for these taxonomic groups. Key Biodiversity Areas cover 9% of the terrestrial surface but capture 47% of STAR values. STAR could support governmental and non-state actors in quantifying their contributions to meeting science-based species targets within the framework.
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Conservação dos Recursos Naturais , Animais , Brasil , Colômbia , Indonésia , Madagáscar , MéxicoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: PGF2α is essential for the induction of the corpus luteum regression which in turn reduces progesterone production. Early growth response (EGR) proteins are Cys2-His2-type zinc-finger transcription factor that are strongly linked to cellular proliferation, survival and apoptosis. Rapid elevation of EGR1 was observed after luteolytic dose of PGF2α. EGR1 is involved in the transactivation of many genes, including TGFß1, which plays an important role during luteal regression. METHODS: The current study was conducted in buffalo luteal cells with the aim to better understand the role of EGR1 in transactivation of TGFß1 during PGF2α induced luteal regression. Luteal cells from mid stage corpus luteum of buffalo were cultured and treated with different doses of PGF2α for different time durations. Relative expression of mRNAs encoding for enzymes within the progesterone biosynthetic pathway (3ßHSD, CYP11A1 and StAR); Caspase 3; AKT were analyzed to confirm the occurrence of luteolytic event. To determine if EGR1 is involved in the PGF2α induced luteal regression via induction of TGFß1 expression, we knocked out the EGR1 gene by using CRISPR/Cas9. RESULT: The present experiment determined whether EGR1 protein expression in luteal cells was responsive to PGF2α treatment. Quantification of EGR1 and TGFß1 mRNA showed significant up regulation in luteal cells of buffalo at 12 h post PGF2α induction. In order to validate the role of PGF2α on stimulating the expression of TGFß1 by an EGR1 dependent mechanism we knocked out EGR1. The EGR1 ablated luteal cells were stimulated with PGF2α and it was observed that EGR1 KO did not modulate the PGF2α induced expression of TGFß1. In PGF2α treated EGR1 KO luteal cell, the mRNA expression of Caspase 3 was significantly increased compared to PGF2α treated wild type luteal cells maintained for 12 h. We also studied the influence of EGR1 on steroidogenesis. The EGR1 KO luteal cells with PGF2α treatment showed no substantial difference either in the progesterone concentration or in StAR mRNA expression with PGF2α-treated wild type luteal cells. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that EGR1 signaling is not the only factor which plays a role in the regulation of PGF2α induced TGFß1 signaling for luteolysis.
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Búfalos , Repetições Palindrômicas Curtas Agrupadas e Regularmente Espaçadas , Corpo Lúteo/fisiologia , Dinoprosta , Proteína 1 de Resposta de Crescimento Precoce/fisiologia , Luteólise , Animais , Células Cultivadas , Corpo Lúteo/citologia , Dinoprosta/farmacologia , Feminino , Regulação da Expressão Gênica , Transdução de Sinais , Fator de Crescimento Transformador beta1/fisiologiaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: PGF2α is essential for the induction of the corpus luteum regression which in turn reduces progesterone production. Early growth response (EGR) proteins are Cys2-His2-type zinc-finger transcription factor that are strongly linked to cellular proliferation, survival and apoptosis. Rapid elevation of EGR1 was observed after luteolytic dose of PGF2α. EGR1 is involved in the transactivation of many genes, including TGFß1, which plays an important role during luteal regression. METHODS: The current study was conducted in buffalo luteal cells with the aim to better understand the role of EGR1 in transactivation of TGFß1 during PGF2α induced luteal regression. Luteal cells from mid stage corpus luteum of buffalo were cultured and treated with different doses of PGF2α for different time durations. Relative expression of mRNAs encoding for enzymes within the progesterone biosynthetic pathway (3ßHSD, CYP11A1 and StAR); Caspase 3; AKT were analyzed to confirm the occurrence of luteolytic event. To determine if EGR1 is involved in the PGF2α induced luteal regression via induction of TGFß1 expression, we knocked out the EGR1 gene by using CRISPR/Cas9. RESULT: The present experiment determined whether EGR1 protein expression in luteal cells was responsive to PGF2α treatment. Quantification of EGR1 and TGFß1 mRNA showed significant up regulation in luteal cells of buffalo at 12 h post PGF2α induction. In order to validate the role of PGF2α on stimulating the expression of TGFß1 by an EGR1 dependent mechanism we knocked out EGR1. The EGR1 ablated luteal cells were stimulated with PGF2α and it was observed that EGR1 KO did not modulate the PGF2α induced expression of TGFß1. In PGF2α treated EGR1 KO luteal cell, the mRNA expression of Caspase 3 was significantly increased compared to PGF2α treated wild type luteal cells maintained for 12 h. We also studied the influence of EGR1 on steroidogenesis. The EGR1 KO luteal cells with PGF2α treatment showed no substantial difference either in the progesterone concentration or in StAR mRNA expression with PGF2α-treated wild type luteal cells. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that EGR1 signaling is not the only factor which plays a role in the regulation of PGF2α induced TGFß1 signaling for luteolysis.
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Animais , Feminino , Búfalos , Dinoprosta/farmacologia , Corpo Lúteo/fisiologia , Luteólise , Proteína 1 de Resposta de Crescimento Precoce/fisiologia , Repetições Palindrômicas Curtas Agrupadas e Regularmente Espaçadas , Transdução de Sinais , Células Cultivadas , Regulação da Expressão Gênica , Corpo Lúteo/citologia , Fator de Crescimento Transformador beta1/fisiologiaRESUMO
The not-for-profit organization La LIGA Nacional Contra el Cáncer, with its hospital Instituto de Cancerología (INCAN), is responsible for cancer treatment of much of the indigent population in Guatemala, a country with a population of 16 million. Annually, approximately 70% of patients at INCAN are seen in late stages of cancer, which places a great strain on the hospital's limited resources. Private clinics account for 75% of radiation therapy centers in Guatemala and have considerable resources. However, private facilities are fee-based, which creates a barrier for low-income patients; this is an especially significant problem in Guatemala, which has the highest income inequalities and poverty rates in Latin America. This article describes a project on the transition from cobalt to a Halcyon radiation therapy system at INCAN through a partnership with the US Agency for International Development's Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (USAID/ASHA), Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL), industry partner Varian Medical Systems, and the US National Nuclear Security Administration to provide access to state-of-the-art radiation therapy technology while increasing the overall treatment capacity for the underserved population of Guatemala.
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Radioisótopos de Cobalto/uso terapêutico , Indústrias , Colaboração Intersetorial , Radioterapia de Intensidade Modulada/estatística & dados numéricos , Universidades , Guatemala , Humanos , Controle Social Formal , Estados UnidosRESUMO
Consumption of globally traded agricultural commodities like soy and palm oil is one of the primary causes of deforestation and biodiversity loss in some of the world's most species-rich ecosystems. However, the complexity of global supply chains has confounded efforts to reduce impacts. Companies and governments with sustainability commitments struggle to understand their own sourcing patterns, while the activities of more unscrupulous actors are conveniently masked by the opacity of global trade. We combine state-of-the-art material flow, economic trade, and biodiversity impact models to produce an innovative approach for understanding the impacts of trade on biodiversity loss and the roles of remote markets and actors. We do this for the production of soy in the Brazilian Cerrado, home to more than 5% of the world´s species. Distinct sourcing patterns of consumer countries and trading companies result in substantially different impacts on endemic species. Connections between individual buyers and specific hot spots explain the disproportionate impacts of some actors on endemic species and individual threatened species, such as the particular impact of European Union consumers on the recent habitat losses for the iconic giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla). In making these linkages explicit, our approach enables commodity buyers and investors to target their efforts much more closely to improve the sustainability of their supply chains in their sourcing regions while also transforming our ability to monitor the impact of such commitments over time.
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Agricultura , Biodiversidade , Comércio , Glycine max , Modelos Teóricos , Animais , Brasil , InternacionalidadeRESUMO
Despite recent advances, the evidence base supporting early intervention for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains relatively sparse. The International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) recently sponsored a Special Interest Group (SIG) on Implementing and Evaluating Community-Based Early Intervention. Across three meetings, in 2015, 2016, and 2017, conveners of this SIG engaged >200 members to identify knowledge gaps and research priorities for moving the field forward. Here, we summarize the perspectives that emerged from group discussion at the SIG meetings as represented by scholars working actively in the field. Despite encouraging progress, critical gaps and research priorities were identified across all the stages of intervention development and testing from conceptualization to community implementation. Key issues include the need for (a) formal theories to guide early intervention development, evaluation, and implementation; and alignment of intervention goals with scientific knowledge and societal changes that have occurred in the decades since interventions were originally developed; (b) increased focus on feasibility of treatment procedures and alignment with stakeholder values during pilot evaluations; (c) use of research designs that allow for comparisons of different interventions and formats, analyses of active ingredients of treatment, and identification of moderators and mediators of outcome; (d) use of community-partnered participatory research to guide adaptation of intervention models to community settings; (e) inclusion of constructs related to implementation processes and outcomes in treatment trials and; (f) an iterative approach to the progression of knowledge from intervention development to implementation. Autism Res 2018, 11: 16-23. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: In this article, we summarize the themes discussed at the INSAR Special Interest Group (SIG) on Implementing and Evaluating Community-Based Early Intervention. Priorities for moving the field forward identified in the SIG included the need for (a) formal theories to guide the development and evaluation of interventions, (b) pilot evaluations that investigate feasibility and acceptability of interventions, (c) methodologies that allow us to determine for whom different interventions bring most benefit and why this is so, (d) strategies to include community members and other stakeholders in the process of developing and evaluating interventions, and (e) understanding of factors that make interventions more likely to be adopted and successfully implemented in the real world.
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Transtorno do Espectro Autista/terapia , Intervenção Educacional Precoce/métodos , Desenvolvimento de Programas/métodos , Avaliação de Programas e Projetos de Saúde/métodos , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Humanos , PesquisaRESUMO
Satellite tracking of 27 whale sharks in the eastern tropical Pacific, examined in relation to environmental data, indicates preferential occupancy of thermo-biological frontal systems. In these systems, thermal gradients are caused by wind-forced circulation and mixing, and biological gradients are caused by associated nutrient enrichment and enhanced primary productivity. Two of the frontal systems result from upwelling, driven by divergence in the current systems along the equator and the west coast of South America; the third results from wind jet dynamics off Central America. All whale sharks were tagged near Darwin Island, Galápagos, within the equatorial Pacific upwelling system. Occupancy of frontal habitat is pronounced in synoptic patterns of shark locations in relation to serpentine, temporally varying thermal fronts across a zonal expanse > 4000 km. 80% of shark positions in northern equatorial upwelling habitat and 100% of positions in eastern boundary upwelling habitat were located within the upwelling front. Analysis of equatorial shark locations relative to thermal gradients reveals occupancy of a transition point in environmental stability. Equatorial subsurface tag data show residence in shallow, warm (>22°C) water 94% of the time. Surface zonal current speeds for all equatorial tracking explain only 16% of the variance in shark zonal movement speeds, indicating that passive drifting is not a primary determinant of movement patterns. Movement from equatorial to eastern boundary frontal zones occurred during boreal winter, when equatorial upwelling weakens seasonally. Off Peru sharks tracked upwelling frontal positions within ~100-350 km from the coast. Off Central America, the largest tagged shark (12.8 m TL) occupied an oceanic front along the periphery of the Panama wind jet. Seasonal movement from waning equatorial upwelling to productive eastern boundary habitat is consistent with underlying trophic dynamics. Persistent shallow residence in thermo-biological frontal zones suggests the role of physical-biological interactions that concentrate food resources.
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Migração Animal , Tubarões , Animais , Sistemas de Informação Geográfica , Oceano Pacífico , Peru , Imagens de Satélites , Tubarões/fisiologia , Temperatura , VentoRESUMO
The life history of the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), including its reproductive ecology, still remains largely unknown. Here, we present results from the first whale shark population study around Darwin Island, Galapagos Marine Reserve. Following a diversified approach we characterized seasonal occurrence, population structure and size, and described habitat use of whale sharks based on fine scale movements around the island. Whale shark presence at Darwin Island was negatively correlated with Sea Surface Temperature (SST), with highest abundance corresponding to a cool season between July and December over six years of monitoring. From 2011 to 2013 we photo-identified 82 whale sharks ranging from 4 to 13.1 m Total Length (TL). Size distribution was bimodal, with a great majority (91.5%) of adult female individuals averaging 11.35 m±0.12 m (TL±SE), all but one showing signs of a potential pregnancy. Population dynamics models for apparently pregnant sharks estimated the presence of 3.76±0.90 (mean ± SE) sharks in the study area per day with an individual residence time of 2.09±0.51 (mean ± SE) days. Movement patterns analysis of four apparently pregnant individuals tracked with acoustic tags at Darwin Island revealed an intense use of Darwin's Arch, where no feeding or specific behavior has been recorded, together with periodic excursions around the island's vicinity. Sharks showed a preference for intermediate depths (20-30 m) with occasional dives mostly to mid-water, remaining the majority of their time at water temperatures between 24-25°C. All of our results point to Darwin Island as an important stopover in a migration, possibly with reproductive purposes, rather than an aggregation site. Current studies carried out in this area to investigate regional scale movement patterns may provide essential information about possible pupping grounds for this enigmatic species.