The technology used to sequence the first infections by SARS-CoV-2 at record speed has been successfully tested as a technique to monitor viruses transmitted by mosquitoes, such as dengue, zika, chikungunya and yellow fever.
Center for Metropolitan Studies
Researchers from the University of São Paulo are producing maps that show areas of the city of São Paulo with the highest concentration of air pollutants; the results of the studies were presented in the United States during FAPESP Week Illinois.
The shift from a decelerating expansion regime (in the radiation- and matter-dominated era) to an accelerating expansion regime (in the dark energy-dominated era) resembles a thermodynamic phase transition, according to an article in Results in Physics by scientists affiliated with São Paulo State University.
Center for Research and Development of Functional Materials
Sodium niobate is a type of ceramic with properties of interest to green chemistry; scientists from the Center for the Development of Functional Materials and collaborators have developed a new strategy for obtaining it.
The new member of the Pasteur Network, which comprises 33 laboratories in 25 countries, is being equipped with the support of FAPESP, which is also funding several young researchers associated with the institute.
An agreement to this end was signed in Belém in the Brazilian Amazon during the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron and Laurent Linguet, President of the University of French Guiana. The aim is to foster international cooperation that furthers the development of the Amazon region.
In Brazil, researchers analyzed data for 8,384 clinical appointments that took place in a two-year period at Hospital de Base in São José do Rio Preto (São Paulo state) and found the situation to be similar to those in publicly-funded psychiatric outpatient clinics elsewhere in the country. The results, reported in Frontiers in Psychiatry, list the most common mental health problems and most frequently prescribed drugs.
Center for Research and Development of Functional Materials
Zinc oxide nanoparticles with varying morphologies were tested against microorganisms isolated from patients. The results are reported in the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering.
Food Research Center
The health benefits of the so-called “sofrito” were observed in experiments with rats conducted by scientists from the Food Research Center and collaborators. The effect may be linked to a compound identified in the animals’ livers called butanediol.
Experiments conducted at Butantan Institute in São Paulo used phage display to screen 12,000 proteins found in Schistosoma mansoni, the worm that causes the disease. The method deployed bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, to identify key parasite peptides.
The Brasillinois program, which will be launched this month during FAPESP Week Illinois in the United States, aims to promote student and faculty mobility and foster connections in areas such as climate and sustainability, medicine, public health, and social inclusion.
