Vertebral osteomyelitis (VO) is a worldwide emerging disease that affects broilers. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and aetiology of VO in broilers in a highly productive broiler region. For this, 608 broilers with locomotory problems were analysed from 18 farms. Clinical signs were recorded, necropsy was performed and samples were collected from vertebral bodies with gross changes for molecular and histopathological analysis and for bacterial isolation. From broilers with locomotory changes, 5.1% (31/608) had VO and, of these, 93.5% were 40 days old or older and 89.7% were males. The birds with VO presented varying degrees of limited mobility and this was related to the level of compression to the spinal cord. Bacterial species of the genus Enterococcus (DNA detected in 53.6%) were the aetiological agents involved in most VO cases. Enterococcus faecalis was detected most frequently (35.7%), but Enterococcus hirae was also present in some lesions (7.1%). Escherichia coli was detected in 35.7% of vertebral lesions and co-infection with E. faecalis was confirmed in 7.1% cases. Staphylococcus aureus was involved in 14.3% of the cases, being 7.1% in co-infection with Enterococcus spp. or E. hirae. Our study has indicated that, in Brazil, VO in broilers may not be caused by a single infectious agent and has a lower frequency than recently reported in other countries. This study suggests that there are geographical differences between Brazil and other countries concerning the frequency and aetiology of VO.

Vertebral osteomyelitis (VO) is a worldwide emerging disease that affects broilers. Recently, the isolation of Enterococcus faecalis in cases of the disease has been described. This study aimed at determining the genetic diversity and antimicrobial resistance profile of 12 E. faecalis strains isolated from broilers with VO. Strains were isolated from nine flocks from six farms in a high-density poultry production area in Southeast Brazil and were evaluated using multilocus sequence typing and phylogenetic analysis. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests and PCR were performed to detect antimicrobial resistance genes. E. faecalis isolates belonged to different sequence types (ST), six of which (ST49, ST100, ST116, ST202, ST249, and ST300) have been previously described. Strains ST708 and ST709 were newly identified in this study. Strain ST49 was most frequently isolated (50% of the flocks) from the analysed VO cases. No phylogenetic or phylogeographic relationship was found among the strains. The VO isolated E. faecalis strains showed highest resistance to aminoglycosides, mainly gentamicin (40%), but were highly susceptible to vancomycin (10%). Aminoglycoside resistance genes were detected in seven E. faecalis strains, and AAC6'-APH2″ genes were most frequently detected. The results showed that E. faecalis strains isolated from recently reported VO cases were highly diverse genetically. The diversity of genotypes in circulation in the analysed flocks, without apparent relationship among them, raises questions on aetiopathogenesis of the disease in broilers and evolutionary aspects of E. faecalis.

Social media technologies were introduced among the modern society and are part of its routine in many waysknowledge acquisition and sharing, interpersonal relationships, media diffusionsometimes complementing and even substituting tools that were specifically designed for similar activities. This research compares social media sites and institutional communication channels by confronting elements that construe perceived usefulness and system satisfaction. It has been shown that students see more usefulness in social media technologies when performing academic activities than in information systems provided by their university, mainly due to the ease of use of the former technology. Thus it is expected to contribute to students and education institutions in order to attain the better use of available IT tools.

As ferramentas de mídia social possibilitam a criação de ambientes colaborativos, comunidades virtuais e mecanismos de interação, como bate-papos e registro de comentários. Algumas organizações públicas estão se apropriando dessas ferramentas para ampliar suas formas de participação, inclusive desenvolvendo plataformas próprias. Mas como uma mídia social promove engajamento nos usuários de uma comunidade inserida nela? Assim, para estudo dessa questão foi selecionada a plataforma Participa.br, que foi disponibilizada pelo governo federal brasileiro em 2013, cujo intuito é oferecer meios para que cidadãos interajam entre si e participem do processo de desenvolvimento de políticas públicas. O objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar o uso de uma mídia social do governo, a partir de uma de suas comunidades, para verificar de que maneira esta promoveu engajamento. Empregou-se a netnografia, como estratégia de pesquisa, sobre um único caso. Ela se refere à observação e análise em profundidade de interações em uma rede social. Além disso, para a triangulação e contextualização dos dados resultantes da análise das interações, foram realizadas entrevistas com alguns dos usuários participantes das discussões na comunidade, a fim de conhecer suas percepções sobre a plataforma e de sua participação; e análise de documentos e notícias sobre a comunidade e a plataforma. Obteve-se, então, a dinâmica de participação e engajamento de uma comunidade de usuários, algumas evidências de engajamento civil, alguns dos atributos do processo de engajamento e as características que indicassem a presença de senso de comunidade entre os usuários participantes. Por fim, foram verificados quais e como os blocos funcionais, característicos da plataforma, influenciaram o engajamento dos participantes da comunidade estudada.Palavras-chave: Mídia social. Engajamento e participação civil. Processo de engajamento do usuário. Setor público. Netnografia.

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