University of São Paulo

About: University of São Paulo is a education organization based out in São Paulo, Brazil. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 136513 authors who have published 272320 publications receiving 5127869 citations. The organization is also known as: USP & Universidade de São Paulo.

A estratégia PICO para a construção da pergunta de pesquisa e busca de evidências

Abstract: Pratica baseada em evidencias e a utilizacao da melhor evidencia cientifica para subsidiar a tomada de decisao clinica. Identificar a melhor evidencia requer adequada construcao da pergunta de pesquisa e de revisao da literatura e este artigo descreve o uso da estrategia PICO para a construcao da pergunta de pesquisa e busca bibliografica.

The role of saliva in tick feeding.

Abstract: When attempting to feed on their hosts, ticks face the problem of host hemostasis (the vertebrate mechanisms that prevent blood loss), inflammation (that can produce itching or pain and thus initiate defensive behavior on their hosts) and adaptive immunity (by way of both cellular and humoral responses). Against these barriers, ticks evolved a complex and sophisticated pharmacological armamentarium, consisting of bioactive lipids and proteins, to assist blood feeding. Recent progress in transcriptome research has uncovered that hard ticks have hundreds of different proteins expressed in their salivary glands, the majority of which have no known function, and include many novel protein families (e.g., their primary structure is unique to ticks). This review will address the vertebrate mechanisms of these barriers as a guide to identify the possible targets of these large numbers of known salivary proteins with unknown function. We additionally provide a supplemental Table that catalogues over 3,500 putative salivary proteins from various tick species, which might assist the scientific community in the process of functional identification of these unique proteins. This supplemental file is accessble fromhttp://exon.niaid.nih.gov/transcriptome/tick_review/Sup-Table-1.xls.gz.

Therapy of tuberculosis in mice by DNA vaccination.

Abstract: Mycobacterium tuberculosis continues to kill about 3 million people every year, more than any other single infectious agent This is attributed primarily to an inadequate immune response towards infecting bacteria, which suffer growth inhibition rather than death and subsequently multiply catastrophically Although the bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is widely used, it has major limitations as a preventative measure In addition, effective treatment requires that patients take large doses of antibacterial drug combinations for at least 6 months after diagnosis, which is difficult to achieve in many parts of the world and is further restricted by the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of M tuberculosis In these circumstances, immunotherapy to boost the efficiency of the immune system in infected patients could be a valuable adjunct to antibacterial chemotherapy Here we show in mice that DNA vaccines, initially designed to prevent infection, can also have a pronounced therapeutic action In heavily infected mice, DNA vaccinations can switch the immune response from one that is relatively inefficient and gives bacterial stasis to one that kills bacteria Application of such immunotherapy in conjunction with conventional chemotherapeutic antibacterial drugs might result in faster or more certain cure of the disease in humans

Damming the rivers of the Amazon basin

Abstract: More than a hundred hydropower dams have already been built in the Amazon basin and numerous proposals for further dam constructions are under consideration. The accumulated negative environmental effects of existing dams and proposed dams, if constructed, will trigger massive hydrophysical and biotic disturbances that will affect the Amazon basin's floodplains, estuary and sediment plume. We introduce a Dam Environmental Vulnerability Index to quantify the current and potential impacts of dams in the basin. The scale of foreseeable environmental degradation indicates the need for collective action among nations and states to avoid cumulative, far-reaching impacts. We suggest institutional innovations to assess and avoid the likely impoverishment of Amazon rivers.