ABSTRACT Objectives: To evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on clinical and surgical practice, educational activities, health and lifestyle behavior of Brazilian urology residents. Materials and Methods: A web-based survey was sent to 468 Brazilian urology residents from postgraduate years (PGY) 3 to 5 to collect data on clinical practice and training after 4 months of COVID-19. We also assessed health-related and behavior changes, rate of infection by SARS-CoV-2, deployment to the front line of COVID-19, residents’ concerns, and access to personal protective equipment (PPE). Results: Massive reductions in elective and emergency patient consultations, diagnostic procedures and surgeries were reported across the country, affecting PGY 3 to 5 alike. Most in-person educational activities were abolished. The median damage to the urological training expected for 2020 was 6.0 [3.4 – 7.7], on a scale from 0 to 10, with senior residents estimating a greater damage (P< 0.001). Educational interventions developed included online case-based discussions, subspeciality conferences and lectures, and grand rounds. Most senior residents favored extending residency to compensate for training loss and most younger residents favored no additional training (p< 0.001). Modifications in health and lifestyle included weight gain (43.8%), reduced physical activity (68.6%), increased alcoholic intake (44.9%) and cigarette consumption (53.6%), worsening of sexual life (25.2%) and feelings of sadness or depression (48,2%). Almost half were summoned to work on the COVID-19 front-line and 24.4% had COVID-19. Most residents had inadequate training to deal with COVID-19 patients and most reported a shortage of PPE. Residents’ concerns included the risk of contaminating family members, being away from residency program, developing severe COVID-19 and overloading colleagues. Conclusions: COVID-19 had a massive impact in Brazilian urology residents´ training, health and lifestyle behavior, which may reflect what happened in other medical specialties. Studies should confirm these findings to help developing strategies to mitigate residents’ losses.

ABSTRACT Objectives To evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on clinical practice, income, health and lifestyle behavior of Brazilian urologists during the month of April 2020. Materials and Methods A 39-question, web-based survey was sent to all urologist members of the Brazilian Society of Urology. We assessed socio-demographic, professional, health and behavior parameters. The primary goal was to evaluate changes in urologists’ clinical practice and income after two months of COVID-19. We also looked at geographical differences based on the incidence rates of COVID-19 in different states. Results Among 766 urologists who completed the survey, a reduction ≥ 50% of patient visits, elective and emergency surgeries was reported by 83.2%, 89.6% and 54.8%, respectively. An income reduction of ≥ 50% was reported by 54.3%. Measures to reduce costs were implemented by most. Video consultations were performed by 38.7%. Modifications in health and lifestyle included weight gain (32.9%), reduced physical activity (60.0%), increased alcoholic intake (39.9%) and reduced sexual activity (34.9%). Finally, 13.5% of Brazilian urologists were infected with SARS-CoV-2 and about one third required hospitalization. Urologists from the highest COVID-19 incidence states were at a higher risk to have a reduction of patient visits and non-essential surgeries (OR=2.95, 95% CI 1.86 – 4.75; p< 0.0001) and of being infected with SARS-CoV-2 (OR=4.36 95%CI 1.74-10.54, p=0.012). Conclusions COVID-19 produced massive disturbances in Brazilian urologists’ practice, with major reductions in patient visits and surgical procedures. Distressing consequences were also observed on physicians’ income, health and personal lives. These findings are probably applicable to other medical specialties.

Determination of Se by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) can be difficult due to spectral interferences; however, these interferences can be eliminated by using collision-reaction interface (CRI) technology. A simple and fast procedure for determination of total Se concentration in bovine semen by ICP-MS after sample solubilization with diluted formic acid is here proposed. Formic acid caused an increase of up to 50% in selenium net signals and the maximum gain was obtained at 10% v v-1 formic acid solution. The optimized nebulizer gas flow rates were 1.05 and 0.95 L min-1, and radio frequency applied power were 1.3 and 1.4 kW without and with CRI, respectively. Microwave-assisted acid digestion was also implemented in the preparation of semen sample for comparison of results. No statistical differences between these sample preparation strategies at 95% confidence level (t-test) were observed for 76Se+, 77Se+, 78Se+ and 82Se+ without using CRI and 82Se+ with CRI.

Inorganic elements present in pharmaceutical products were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS), employing microwave acid digestion as a sample preparation method. The most abundant isotopes, 75As+, 65Cu+, 52Cr+, 58Ni+, 208Pb+, and 51V+, were determined in acyclovir ointment and its constituents. Elemental impurities in the pharmaceutical samples were determined using an inductively coupled plasma-universal cell technology-mass spectrometer (ICP-UCT-MS) operated in kinetic energy discrimination (KED) and standard mode. The accuracy of the method was assessed by means of addition and recovery experiments. Except for Cr, spiked recoveries of the elements added to the samples before microwave acid digestion (MW-AD) step were between 95.1 and 126%, and after MW-AD step ranged from 85.6 to 132%. Limits of detection (LOD) obtained by proposed method is in agreement to those required by the U.S. Pharmacopeia Convention (USP), showing that the ICP-MS technique is well suited for quantification of these elements. The LOD's (ng L-1) for 51V+, 52Cr+, 58Ni+, 65Cu+, 75As+ and 208Pb+ in 1% v v-1 HNO3 medium were: 2.2, 81.3, 91.9, 6.9, 0.2 and 3.1, respectively. The concentration of the analytes in these samples presented a wide range, varying from 2.3 ± 0.8 µg kg-1 for As to 3446 ± 47 µg kg-1 for Cr.

Cianobactérias estão amplamente distribuídas no ambiente e podem ser uma alternativa eficaz e econômica para a remoção de corantes de efluentes de indústrias têxteis. O presente trabalho investigou o potencial de seis linhagens de cianobactérias de descolorir onze tipos de corantes têxteis. A absorção máxima de cada corante foi verificada usando um espectrofotômetro. Espectrometria de massas foi utilizada na verificação da degradação e possível remoção de corantes pelas cianobactérias. Os resultados mostraram que todas as linhagens avaliadas foram capazes de remover indigo, amarelo palanil, amarelo indantreno, azul indantreno, azul dispersol, vermelho indantreno e vermelho dispersol em mais de 50%. O isolado brasileiro Phormidium sp. CENA135 foi capaz de descolorir e remover completamente o índigo azul BANN 30. Este estudo confirmou a capacidade das cianobactérias de descolorir e, possivelmente, degradar corantes têxteis estruturalmente diferentes, sugerindo a possibilidade de sua aplicação em estudos de biorremediação.

Cyanobacteria are widely distributed in the environment and may be an effective and economic alternative for removing dyes from textile industry effluents. The present work investigated the potential of six cyanobacterial strains in decolorizing eleven types of textile dyes. The maximum absorbance of each dye was verified using a spectrophotometer. Mass spectrometry was used to verify the removal and possible degradation of dyes by the cyanobacteria. The results showed that all of the evaluated cyanobacteria were able to remove indigo, palanil yellow, indanthrene yellow, indanthrene blue, dispersol blue, indanthrene red and dispersol red by more than 50%. The Brazilian isolate Phormidium sp. CENA135 was able to decolorize and completely remove indigo blue BANN 30. This study confirmed the capacity of cyanobacteria to decolorize and possibly to structurally degrade different textile dyes, suggesting the possibility of their application in bioremediation studies.

Foram avaliados dois métodos diferentes de preparo de amostras de carnes baseados na solubilização em meios alcalino ou ácido. O objetivo deste estudo foi determinar os teores de Na e K após solubilização com hidróxido de tetrametilamônio (TMAH) temperatura ambiente, e com ácido fórmico e aquecimento em bloco de digestão a 50 ºC por cerca de 2 h. A solubilização alcalina se apresentou como uma metodologia simples e robusta e a melhor alternativa frente aos procedimentos de mineralização convencional, permitindo a solubilização completa das amostras usando pequenas quantidades de TMAH. O método foi validado empregando-se materiais de referência certificada assim como pela comparação com método de digestão convencional com ácido nítrico. Os limites de detecção obtidos foram de 0,8 e 2,0 mg g-1 para Na e K, respectivamente, e se mostraram adequados para o objetivo das análises.

Two different sample preparation methods were evaluated for meat samples employing the solubilization in alkaline or acidic media. The aim of this study was to determine Na and K levels after sample solubilization with tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) at room temperature, and with formic acid and heating in a digester block at 50 ºC for ca. 2 h. The alkaline solubilization showed to be a simple and robust method and the better alternative in relation to the mineralization conventional procedures, allowing the complete solubilization of the samples even when small quantities of TMAH were used. The method was validated by using certified reference material as well as by comparing with samples digested with nitric acid. The limits of detection obtained were 0.8 and 2.0 μg g-1 for Na and K, respectively, and showed to be adequate for the analysis purposes.