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This work aimed to investigate the prevalence of Staphylococcus in wild birds seized in illegal trade and their antimicrobial resistance patterns. Cloacal samples were obtained from 109 wild birds apprehended in the street markets in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Staphylococcus spp. were phenotypically and genotypically identified, and resistance profile was evaluated according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines and by polymerase chain reaction of mecA and blaZ genes. Staphylococcus was detected in 45·9% (50/109) of the cloacal swab samples, and 39 (78·0%) isolates were resistant to one or more of the nine antimicrobials tested and were also positive to mecA (12/39) or blaZ genes (14/39). High percentage of resistance was detected to ampicillin, oxacillin, cefoxitin, clindamycin and tetracycline, with the absence of resistance to vancomycin. Wild birds captured and submitted to captive stress conditions of illegal trade market of Brazil may have an important role as reservoirs of Staphylococcus spp. and its antimicrobial resistance mechanisms. The significance of this study is revealed by the zoonotic and pathogenic potential of staphylococci and that impact to public health and requires monitoring polices of wild birds health in tropical areas. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The isolation of Staphylococcus species that are not commonly isolated from wild bird faeces, the relatively high proportion of strains showing degrees of resistance to ß-lactamics, lincosamides and tetracycline, and also the presence of mecA and blaZ genes that has been associated with multidrug phenotype reveal its public health relevance and zoonotic potential. Consequently, this represents an important route to transmission of this pathogen and its antimicrobial resistance mechanisms throughout national and international frontiers fostered by the illegal trade of wild animals and close contact with humans.

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AIMS: To perform a microbiological survey regarding the presence, prevalence and characterization of Aeromonas sp. and Vibrio sp. in debilitated wrecked marine birds recovered from the centre-north coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. METHODS AND RESULTS: Swabs obtained from 116 alive and debilitated wrecked marine birds, comprising 19 species, from the study area were evaluated by biochemical methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests and pathogenicity gene screening were performed for bacterial strains of public health importance. Vibrio sp. and Aeromonas sp. were identified, as well as certain pathogenic genes and resistance to selected antimicrobials. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that the identified bacteria, mainly Vibrio sp., are fairly prevalent and widespread among several species of seabirds and highlights the importance of migratory birds in bacterial dispersion. In addition, it demonstrates the importance of the bacterial strains regarding their pathogenic potential. Therefore, seabirds can act as bacterial reservoirs, and their monitoring is of the utmost importance in a public health context. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The study comprehensively evaluates the importance of seabirds as bacteria of public health importance reservoirs, since birds comprising several pathogenic bacterial species were evaluated.

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Marine debris such as plastic fragments and fishing gears are accumulating in the ocean at alarming rates. This study assesses the incidence of debris in the gastrointestinal tracts of seabirds feeding at different depths and found stranded along the Brazilian coast in the period 2010-2013. More than half (55%) of the species analysed, corresponding to 16% of the total number of individuals, presented plastic particles in their gastrointestinal tracts. The incidence of debris was higher in birds feeding predominantly at intermediate (3-6m) and deep (20-100m) waters than those feeding at surface (<2m). These results suggest that studying the presence of debris in organisms mainly feeding at the ocean surface provides a limited view about the risks that this form of pollution has on marine life and highlight the ubiquitous and three-dimensional distribution of plastic in the oceans.

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There have been few studies on Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus). In 2008, these penguins washed ashore along the Brazilian coast in unusually high numbers, some reaching as far as northeast Brazil. As Magellanic penguins show little sexual dimorphism, sex determination by morphological features is not accurate. Here, we tested a molecular procedure for sexing specimens of S. magellanicus washed ashore along the coasts of Sergipe, Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul in 2008, comparing the sex ratio between these localities. Tissue samples were collected from 135 dead, beached specimens. We carried out total genomic DNA extraction and CHD-Z/CHD-W gene amplification by PCR using P2 and P8 primers. Amplicons were separated by 12% acrylamide gel electrophoresis. We found a greater proportion of females (70%). Sex could be determined because females have two intronic regions of CHD gene of different size in the sex chromosomes, visualized as two bands on the gel (380 and 400 bp approximately), while males have only one (400 bp). Therefore, this method proved to be effective and sensitive for sex determination of S. magellanicus individuals. Data on sex ratios are useful for understanding the dynamics and ecology of Magellanic penguin populations.

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Serum samples from 288 cetaceans representing 25 species and originating from 11 different countries were collected between 1995 and 1999 and examined for the presence of dolphin morbillivirus (DMV)-specific antibodies by an indirect ELISA (iELISA) (N = 267) or a plaque reduction assay (N = 21). A total of 35 odontocetes were seropositive: three harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) and a common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) from the Northeastern (NE) Atlantic, a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) from Kent (England), three striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba), two Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus) and a bottlenose dolphin from the Mediterranean Sea, one common dolphin from the Southwest (SW) Indian Ocean, three Fraser's dolphins (Lagenodelphis hosei) from the SW Atlantic, 18 long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) and a bottlenose dolphin from the SW Pacific as well as a captive bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) originally from Taiwan. The presence of morbillivirus antibodies in 17 of these animals was further examined in other iELISAs and virus neutralization tests. Our results indicate that DMV infects cetaceans worldwide. This is the first report of DMV-seropositive animals from the SW Indian, SW Atlantic and West Pacific Oceans. Prevalence of DMV-seropositives was 85.7% in 21 pilot whales from the SW Pacific and both sexually mature and immature individuals were infected. This indicates that DMV is endemic in these animals. The same situation may occur among Fraser's dolphins from the SW Atlantic. The prevalence of DMV-seropositives was 5.26% and 5.36% in 19 common dolphins and 56 harbour porpoise from the NE Atlantic, respectively, and 18.75% in 16 striped dolphins from the Mediterranean. Prevalence varied significantly with sexual maturity in harbour porpoises and striped dolphins; all DMV-seropositives being mature animals. The prevalence of seropositive harbour porpoise and striped dolphins appeared to have decreased since previous studies. These data suggest that DMV is not endemic within these populations, that they are losing their humoral immunity against the virus and that they may be vulnerable to new epidemics.

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We carried out brain tomography of 27 patients with schizophrenia and 17 normal control subjects. DSM-IV criteria were used for diagnosis. The parameters studied were: brain volume, lateral and third ventricles, brain surface and brain indexes. Previously the patients were evaluated with the following clinical scales: Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF) and the GRAFFAR scale to evaluate cultural and socioeconomical levels. We detected an increase in the right and left lateral ventricles: brain ratios, an increase in the width of Sylvian fissures and in the third ventricle index. We did not find differences that could be related to sex or to a familial history of mental disease. No differences were observed in the group receiving medication when compared with the group of untreated patients.

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Foi pesquisada a incidencia de toxoplasmose-infeccao em 109 individuos habitantes autoctones de comunidade em semi-isolamento geografico e cultural de ilhas do litoral sul do Estado de Sao Paulo, estimadas em 500 pessoas. Foram reagentes 34 soros (31,2%) com titulos iguais ou superiores a 1:16, pela tecnica de imunofluorescencia indireta; 11,7% dos soros examinados apresentaram titulos iguais ou superiores a 1:1.024. Nao houve associacao entre a prevalencia de positividade e a faixa etaria ou sexo dos examinados

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Foram estudados, em pacientes portadores de variadas formas clinico-histopatologicas de hepatite B, diferentes aspectos da imunidade mediada por celulas e anticorpos. Discutiu-se a participacao imunopatologica dos elementos pesquisados. Foi demonstrada a presenca de depressao imunecelular nas formas cronicas, persistente e ativa, e sua provavel importancia na patogenese da lesao hepatocelular

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Female rats received 1.25 mg/kg body weight of N-2-cyano-ethylamphetamine. HCl (Fenproporex chlorhydrate) by oral route, once daily from the 5th to the 21st day of pregnancy, and compared to untreated pregnant rats, showed an increased total lipid content in maternal blood and fetal hearts; liver and heart have had total lipids decrease, while in placenta and fetal livers they were not observed significant differences.

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