Universidade de Pernambuco

About: Universidade de Pernambuco is a education organization based out in Recife, Brazil. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Artificial neural network. The organization has 6147 authors who have published 6948 publications receiving 73648 citations.

Waist circumference measurement sites and their association with visceral and subcutaneous fat and cardiometabolic abnormalities

Abstract: Objectives: To estimate the degree of variability of the waist circumference (WC) when obtained in different anatomical sites and compare the performance of the measurement sites as predictors of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and cardiometabolic abnormalities. Subjects and methods: Cross-sectional study involving 119 individuals with overweight (50.3 ± 12.2 years), in which six WC measurement sites were evaluated (minimal waist, immediately below the lowest rib, midpoint between the lowest rib and the iliac crest, 2 cm above the umbilicus, immediately above the iliac crest, umbilicus level), in addition to the VAT and SAT (quantified by computed tomography) and cardiometabolic parameters. Results: The differences between the measurements ranged from 0.2 ± 2.7 cm to 6.9 ± 6.7 cm for men, and from 0.1 ± 3.7 cm to 10.1 ± 4.3 cm for women. The minimum waist showed significant correlation with VAT (r = 0.70) and with a higher number of cardiometabolic parameters among men. Regarding women, the WC measurement showed high correlation with SAT and moderate correlation with VAT, not being found superiority of one measurement protocol in relation to the others when assessed the correlation with VAT and with cardiometabolic parameters. Conclusions: Greater variability between the measuring sites was observed among women. With respect to men, the minimum waist performed better as a predictor of VAT and cardiometabolic alterations.

Zika virus infection in pregnancy: Establishing a case definition for clinical research on pregnant women with rash in an active transmission setting

Abstract: Defining cases of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is a critical challenge for epidemiological research. Due to ZIKV's overlapping clinical features and potential immunologic cross-reactivity with other flaviviruses and the current lack of an optimal ZIKV-specific diagnostic assay, varying approaches for identifying ZIKV infections have been employed to date. This paper presents the laboratory results and diagnostic criteria developed by the Microcephaly Epidemic Research Group for defining cases of maternal ZIKV infection in a cohort of pregnant women with rash (N = 694) recruited during the declining 2015-2017 epidemic in northeast Brazil. For this investigation, we tested maternal sera for ZIKV by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), Immunoglobulin (Ig) M and IgG3 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), and Plaque Reduction Neutralization Test (PRNT50). Overall, 23.8% of participants tested positive by qRT-PCR during pregnancy (range of detection: 0-72 days after rash onset). However, the inter-assay concordance was lower than expected. Among women with qRT-PCR-confirmed ZIKV and further testing, only 10.1% had positive IgM tests within 90 days of rash, and only 48.5% had ZIKV-specific PRNT50 titers ≥20 within 1 year of rash. Given the complexity of these data, we convened a panel of experts to propose an algorithm for identifying ZIKV infections in pregnancy based on all available lines of evidence. When the diagnostic algorithm was applied to the cohort, 26.9% of participants were classified as having robust evidence of a ZIKV infection during pregnancy, 4.0% as having moderate evidence, 13.3% as having limited evidence of a ZIKV infection but with uncertain timing, and 19.5% as having evidence of an unspecified flavivirus infection before or during pregnancy. Our findings suggest that integrating longitudinal data from nucleic acid and serologic testing may enhance diagnostic sensitivity and underscore the need for an on-going dialogue regarding the optimization of strategies for defining cases of ZIKV in research.

Industrial structure upgrading and the impact of the capital market from 1998 to 2015: A spatial econometric analysis in Chinese regions

Abstract: Using the theoretical framework of spatial econometrics, we estimate the impact of capital markets, i.e., stock markets, medium-and-long term bond markets, and medium-and-long term loan markets, on industrial structure upgrading (ISU) across 31 provinces in China from 1998 to 2015. We apply an explanatory spatial data analysis (ESDA) to detect the presence of spatial dependence and use a spatial Durbin model (SDM) to examine spatial distribution and spatial association. Although our overall estimation results from the 31 provinces indicate a degree of correlation between capital markets and industrial structure upgrading, the magnitude of spatial spillover effects in three sub-markets on ISU differ. We divide the 31 provinces into four economic zones, and explore the impact of three sub-markets on ISU in the eastern zone, central zone, western zone, and northeastern zone. Using our results, we provide policy suggestions that better facilitate ISU in China.

Cardiac Magnetic Resonance-Verified Myocardial Fibrosis in Chagas Disease: Clinical Correlates and Risk Stratification.

Abstract: Background: Chagas disease (CD) is an important cause of heart failure and mortality, mainly in Latin America This study evaluated the morphological and functional characteristics of the heart as well the extent of myocardial fibrosis (MF) in patients with CD by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) The prognostic value of MF evaluated by myocardial-delayed enhancement (MDE) was compared with that via Rassi score Methods: This study assessed 39 patients divided into 2 groups: 28 asymptomatic patients as indeterminate form group (IND); and symptomatic patients as Chagas Heart Disease (CHD) group All patients underwent CMR using the techniques of cine-MRI and MDE, and the amount of MF was compared with the Rassi score Results: Regarding the morphological and functional analysis, significant differences were observed between both groups (p < 0001) Furthermore, there was a strong correlation between the extent of MF and the Rassi score (r = 076) Conclusions: CMR is an important technique for evaluating patients with CD, stressing morphological and functional differences in all clinical presentations The strong correlation with the Rassi score and the extent of MF detected by CMR emphasizes its role in the prognostic stratification of patients with CD Fundamento: A doenca de Chagas (DC) e importante causa de insuficiencia cardiaca e mortalidade, principalmente na America Latina Este estudo avaliou as caracteristicas morfologicas e funcionais do coracao, assim como a extensao da fibrose miocardica (FM) em pacientes com DC atraves de ressonância magnetica cardiaca (RMC) O valor prognostico da FM avaliada por realce tardio miocardico (RTM) foi comparado aquele do escore de Rassi Metodos: Avaliacao de 39 pacientes divididos em 2 grupos: grupo 'forma indeterminada' (IND), 28 pacientes assintomaticos; e grupo 'cardiopatia chagasica' (CC), pacientes sintomaticos Todos os pacientes foram submetidos a RMC com as tecnicas de cine-RM e RTM, sendo a quantidade de FM evidenciada ao exame comparada ao escore de Rassi Resultados: As analises morfologica e funcional mostraram significativas diferencas entre os 2 grupos (p < 0,001) Houve ainda uma forte correlacao entre a extensao da FM e o escore de Rassi (r = 0,76) Conclusoes: A RMC e uma importante tecnica para avaliar pacientes com DC, ressaltando as diferencas morfologicas e funcionais em todas as apresentacoes clinicas A forte correlacao entre o escore de Rassi e a extensao da FM detectada por RMC enfatiza seu papel na estratificacao prognostica de pacientes com DC