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Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical

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2015

Diagnosis of Pneumocystis pneumonia: evaluation of four serologic biomarkers

This study aimed to assess the usefulness of (1–3)-β-d-glucan (BG), Krebs von den Lungen-6 antigen (KL-6), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and S-adenosyl methionine (SAM) as serologic biomarkers in the diagnosis of PCP.
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The 13th International Workshops on Opportunistic Protists (IWOP13)

The 13th International Workshops on Opportunistic Protists (IWOP-13) was held November 13-15, 2014 in Seville, Spain. The objectives of the IWOP meetings are to: (1) serve as a forum for exchange of new information among active researchers concerning the basic biology, molecular genetics, immunology, biochemistry, pathogenesis, drug development, therapy, and epidemiology of these immunodeficiency-associated pathogenic eukaryotic microorganisms that are seen in patients with AIDS and; (2) to foster the entry of new and young investigators into these underserved research areas.
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Urban Planning and Health Inequities: Looking in a Small-Scale in a City of Cape Verde

The lack of high-quality data to support evidence-based policies continues to be a concern in African cities, which present marked social, economic and cultural disparities that may differently impact the health of the groups living in different urban contexts. This study explores three urban units—formal, transition and informal—of the capital of Cape Verde, in terms of overweight/obesity, cardiometabolic risk, physical activity and other aspects related to the urban environment.
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Pharmaceutical services cost analysis using time-driven activity based costing in a sample of Portuguese community pharmacies

Pharmacists have experienced an expansion of their role in the last decades, developing the scope of
services offered. One challenge that pharmacists face when obtaining payment from patients is establishing a price for the service that is sufficient to support it, and is perceived as a good value by the patient. However, little research has been conducted on the costs of pharmaceutical services (PS) in Portugal. To accurately calculate costs it is important to use a costing methodology that supports itself on real-world data. This study describes the development and application of a Time-driven Activity Based Costing (TDABC) model in a sample of pharmacies in Portugal, with the objective of calculating the cost of the PS provided.
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Yeast Biogeography and the Effects of Species Recognition Approaches: The Case Study of Widespread Basidiomycetous Species from Birch Forests in Russia

Understanding diversity and distribution patterns of fungi, including yeasts, ultimately depends on accuracy of species recognition. However, different approaches to yeast species recognition often result in different entities or operational taxonomic units. We studied the effects of using different yeast species recognition approaches, namely morphological species recognition (MSR) and phylogenetic species recognition (PSR), on the distribution patterns of widespread basidiomycetous yeasts.
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Molecular characterisation of Cryptosporidium (Apicomplexa) in children and cattle in Romania

To investigate the transmission of species of Cryptosporidium Tyzzer, 1907 in Timis County, Romania, 48 isolates of Cryptosporidium coccidia from 11 children, 29 calves and eight pigs were characterised by molecular analysis of two loci (SSU rRNA and 60-kDa glycoprotein gene).
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Assisting consumers in self-medication: reflections on the role of support staff in community pharmacy

Community pharmacies are often the first port of call for consumers with minor illness. In Portugal assisting self-medication in this setting—by supplying non-prescription medicines (NPM) or assessing symptoms—involves pharmacists and support staff (technicians and assistants). There is a paucity of research on support staff roles. This paper, which is part of a larger study, reports the perceived roles of pharmacy staff in assisting consumers in self-medication.
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Chagas disease in the State of Amazonas: history, epidemiological evolution, risks of endemicity and future perspectives

Chagas disease (CD) is a parasitic infection that originated in the Americas and is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. In the last few years, the disease has spread to countries in North America, Asia and Europe due to the migration of Latin Americans. In the Brazilian Amazon, CD has an endemic transmission, especially in the Rio Negro region, where an occupational hazard was described for piaçaveiros (piassaba gatherers).
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Discovery and Characterization of Auxiliary Proteins Encoded by Type 3 Simian T-Cell Lymphotropic Viruses

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) and HTLV-2 encode auxiliary proteins that play important roles in viral replication, viral latency, and immune escape. The presence of auxiliary protein-encoding open reading frames (ORFs) in HTLV-3, the latest HTLV to be discovered, is unknown. Simian T-cell lymphotropic virus type 3 (STLV-3) is almost identical to HTLV-3. Given the lack of HTLV-3-infected cell lines, we took advantage of STLV-3-infected cells and of an STLV-3 molecular clone to search for the presence of auxiliary transcripts.
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