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A study conducted by an international team of researchers with FAPESP's support shows that infection by chikungunya virus can produce even more severe manifestations than the typical symptoms of the disease, such as acute fever, headache, rash, and intense joint and muscle pain. The analysis was performed by 38 researchers affiliated with the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), the University of São Paulo (USP) and the Ministry of Health in Brazil, and with Imperial College [...]

Researchers based in Brazil and the United States have completed the first-ever mapping exercise to profile the toxins produced by tube-dwelling anemones, or cerianthids, a family of marine animals belonging to the same phylum (Cnidaria) as sea anemones, jellyfish and corals. The analysis revealed that the toxins that can act on the nervous system, cardiovascular system, and cell walls, among other functions, paving the way to the discovery of novel medications. “Tube anemones and sea [...]

Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have discovered that the muscle regeneration promoted by aerobic exercise is mediated by changes in oxygen consumption by satellite cells, also known as skeletal muscle stem cells. The discovery is expected to be used to help people recover from injury and combat the loss of muscle mass associated with aging. Previous research showed that weight lifting and other kinds of strength training increase the number of satellite cells. [...]

Genetic factors that reduce the placenta's capacity to protect the fetus from the zika virus are described by Brazilian researchers in an article published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. According to the authors, the findings help explain why only some babies whose mothers are infected by zika virus during pregnancy are born with some kind of anomaly. Since the 2015 epidemic at least 3,500 babies have suffered from zika congenital syndrome, which includes microcephaly, [...]

Secondary forests play an important part in carbon capture because they tend to absorb a larger amount of carbon than they lose to the atmosphere. However, the size and average age of these often abandoned areas where vegetation grows back were unknown until now. In a study recently published in the journal Scientific Data, a group led by two researchers at Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) quantified these variables and found that the estimated carbon uptake by [...]

Some dreams are so vivid that they can be recalled as if they were movies, full of connections and with a beginning, middle and end. Others in contrast resemble WhatsApp GIFs, or at best a script for a video clip à la TikTok, often with powerful or meaningful images, but lacking that complex storylike structure. These analogies regarding different kinds of dream report or dream narrative were provided by Natalia Mota, a neuroscientist affiliated with the Federal University of Rio Grande [...]

Scientists affiliated with the Center for Research on Inflammatory Diseases (CRID http://crid.fmrp.usp.br), hosted by the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil, have discovered that an enzyme involved in key metabolic processes also plays a role in immune cell differentiation and hence in the development of autoimmune diseases. The finding could contribute to the future development of new treatments and more cost-effective and resolutive medications for this kind of disease. The study [...]

The probability that an obese person will develop severe COVID-19 is high regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, and the presence of co-morbidities such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart or lung disease, according to a study by Brazilian researchers published in Obesity Research & Clinical Practice. The systematic review and meta-analysis of relevant data in the scientific literature focus on nine clinical studies, which in aggregate reported the evolution of 6,577 COVID-19 patients [...]

By José Tadeu Arantes | Agência FAPESP – The most widely used model to describe the epidemic evolution of a disease over time is called SIR, short for susceptible (S), infected (I), and removed (R). A susceptible person can be infected, and the infected person will eventually be removed owing to either immunization or death. The number of people in each class varies, whereas the total population, given by the sum of individuals in all three classes, is considered constant in [...]