Entomological characterization and natural infection of anophelines in an area of the Atlantic Forest with autochthonous malaria cases in mountainous region of Espírito Santo State, Brazil

No Espírito Santo, os casos de malária autóctone estão distribuídos na região serrana próximo aos fragmentos de Mata Atlântica. Uma vez que alguns aspectos da doença são obscuros, a detecção das possíveis espécies de vetores pode auxiliar na elucidação de incertezas epidemiológicas. Estudos entomológicos e de infecção natural foram realizados com anofelinos (Diptera: Culicidae) capturados no município de Santa Tereza, ES. Capturas mensais foram realizadas de março de 2004 a fevereiro de 2006. Armadilhas CDC-CO2 foram utilizadas do crepúsculo (18:00h) ao amanhecer (6:00h), para capturar anofelinos nos seguintes habitats: próximo ao domicílio e área aberta (solo), margem e interior da mata (solo e copa). Armadilhas Shannon também foram utilizadas nos mesmos locais que as de CDC-CO2. Capturou-se o total de 2.290 anofelinos distribuídos em 10 espécies. A maior frequência relativa foi de Anopheles (Kerteszia) cruzii Dyar & Knab / A.(K.) homunculus Komp, sendo a maioria capturada em CDC-CO2 instalada na copa da mata. A principal espécie capturada em armadilha Shannon foi A.(Nyssorhynchus) strodei Root. O maior número de anofelinos foi capturado entre julho e setembro das 18:00h às 22:00h. Provavelmente A.(K.) cruzii é responsável pela transmissão da malária dentro ou próximo aos fragmentos de Mata Atlântica. Entretanto, a participação de outras espécies não pode ser ignorada, visto que 53 por cento da amostragem foi constituída pelo subgênero Nyssorhynchus. A detecção de Plasmodium vivax no tórax de A. cruzii, A. parvus (Chagas) e A. galvaoi Causey, Deane & Deane por meio de PCR reforça esse argumento

Tendência da mortalidade relacionada à doença de Chagas, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil, 1985 a 2006: estudo usando causas múltiplas de morte

OBJETIVO: Estudar a tendência da mortalidade relacionada à doença de Chagas informada em qualquer linha ou parte do atestado médico da declaração de óbito.MÉTODOS: Os dados provieram dos bancos de causas múltiplas de morte da Fundação Sistema Estadual de Análise de Dados de São Paulo (SEADE) entre 1985 e 2006. As causas de morte foram caracterizadas como básicas, associadas (não-básicas) e total de suas menções.RESULTADOS: No período de 22 anos, ocorreram 40 002 óbitos relacionados à doença de Chagas, dos quais 34 917 (87,29%) como causa básica e 5 085 (12,71%) como causa associada. Foi observado um declínio de 56,07% do coeficiente de mortalidade pela causa básica e estabilidade pela causa associada. O número de óbitos foi 44,5% maior entre os homens em relação às mulheres. O fato de 83,5% dos óbitos terem ocorrido a partir dos 45 anos de idade revela um efeito de coorte. As principais causas associadas da doença de Chagas como causa básica foram as complicações diretas do comprometimento cardíaco, como transtornos da condução, arritmias e insuficiência cardíaca. Para a doença de Chagas como causa associada, foram identificadas como causas básicas as doenças isquêmicas do coração, as doenças cerebrovasculares e as neoplasias.CONCLUSÕES: Para o total de suas menções, verificou-se uma queda do coeficiente de mortalidade de 51,34%, ao passo que a queda no número de óbitos foi de apenas 5,91%, tendo sido menor entre as mulheres, com um deslocamento das mortes para as idades mais avançadas. A metodologia das causas múltiplas de morte contribuiu para ampliar o conhecimento da história natural da doença de Chagas

Impact of chronic disease on quality of life among the elderly in the state of São Paulo, Brazil: a population-based study

Determinar el impacto de las enfermedades crónicas y el número de enfermedades en los diversos aspectos de la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud (HRQOL) en adultos mayores de São Paulo, Brasil. MÉTODOS: Se empleó la encuesta de salud SF-36® para evaluar el impacto de las enfermedades crónicas de mayor prevalencia sobre la HRQOL. Se realizó un estudio poblacional transversal con un muestreo por conglomerados estratificado en dos etapas. Se obtuvieron los datos de una encuesta multicéntrica sobre la salud aplicada mediante entrevistas en hogares de varios municipios del estado de São Paulo. Se evaluaron siete enfermedades -artritis, dolor de espalda, depresión/ansiedad, diabetes, hipertensión arterial, osteoporosis y accidentes cerebrovasculares- y sus efectos sobre la calidad de vida. RESULTADOS: De los 1 958 adultos mayores de 60 años o más, 13,6% informaron no padecer ninguna de las enfermedades, mientras 45,7% presentaron tres enfermedades crónicas o más. La presencia de cualquiera de las siete enfermedades crónicas estudiadas influyó significativamente en la puntuación de casi todas las escalas de la SF-36®. La HRQOL alcanzó valores inferiores cuando la persona tenía depresión/ansiedad, osteoporosis o había sufrido un accidente cerebrovascular. A mayor número de enfermedades, mayores eran los efectos negativos en las dimensiones de la SF-36®. La presencia de tres enfermedades o más afectó significativamente la HRQOL en todas las áreas. Las escalas más afectadas por las enfermedades fueron dolor físico, salud general y vitalidad. CONCLUSIONES: Se encontró una alta prevalencia de enfermedades crónicas en la población de adultos mayores; la magnitud del efecto sobre la HRQOL dependió del tipo de enfermedad. Estos resultados destacan la importancia de prevenir y controlar las enfermedades crónicas para reducir la comorbilidad y disminuir su impacto sobre la HRQOL en los adultos mayores

Detection of a new mumps virus genotype during parotitis epidemic of 2006-2007 in the State of São Paulo, Brazil

Nucleotide sequence analyses of the SH gene of 18 mumps virus isolates collected in the 2006-2007 parotitis epidemic in the state of São Paulo identified a new genotype, designated genotype M. This new designation fulfills all the parameters required to define a new mumps virus genotype. The parameters were established by an expert panel in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2005. This information will enhance the mumps virus surveillance program both at the national and global levels

Potential vectors and hosts of rickettsia spp: epidemiological studies in the Vale do Paraíba, state of Rio de Janeiro/Brazil

FAPESP, CNPq, CAPES

Investigation of measles IgM-seropositive cases of febrile rash illnesses in the absence of documented measles virus transmission, State of São Paulo, Brazil, 2000-2004

Introdução: Revisar os casos de doenças febris exantemáticas com IgM reagente contra o sarampo, no estado de São Paulo, Brasil, durante os cinco anos seguidos a interrupção da transmissão do vírus do sarampo. Métodos: Nós revisamos 463 casos de doenças febris exantemáticas com IgM reagente contra o sarampo, no estado de São Paulo, Brasil, de 2000 a 2004. Indivíduos vacinados contra o sarampo 56 dias antes da coleta de amostra foram considerados expostos à vacina. Soros da fase aguda e de convalescença foram testados para a evidência de infecção de sarampo, rubéola, parvovírus B19 e herpes vírus 6. Na ausência de soroconversão para imunoglobulina G contra o sarampo, casos com IgM reagente contra o sarampo foram considerados falsos positivos em pessoas com evidência de outras infecções virais. Resultados: Entre as 463 pessoas com doenças febris exantemáticas que testaram positivo para anticorpos IgM contra o sarampo durante o período, 297 (64 por cento) pessoas foram classificadas como expostas à vacina. Entre os 166 casos não expostos à vacina, 109 (66 por cento) foram considerados falsos positivos baseado na ausência de soroconversão, dos quais 21 (13 por cento) tiveram evidência de infecção por vírus da rubéola, 49 (30 por cento) parvovírus B19 e 28 (17 por cento) infecção por herpes vírus humano 6. Conclusões: Após a interrupção da transmissão do vírus do sarampo é necessária exaustiva investigação dos casos com IgM reagente contra o sarampo, especialmente dos casos não expostos à vacina. Testes laboratoriais para etiologias das doenças febris exantemáticas ajudam na interpretação destes casos

Contaminated sites and brownfield management State of art in Brazil and in Germany

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to briefly present aspects of public brownfield management policies from Brazilian and German points of view. Design methodology approach - The data collection method combined literature and documental research. The bibliography included Brazilian and German literature about brownfield management. The documental research includes Brazilian and German legislation and official documents published by CETESB, the Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Furthermore, publications of German governmental research institutions have been integrated in the paper. Findings - In Brazil, despite the lack of a federal public policy, the State of São Paulo has approved specific rules to deal with contaminated sites. Topics that could be targets of scientific studies have been identified. Experiences in Germany show that it is essential to have political will and cooperation between the different political levels and technical disciplines. Partnerships between German and Brazilian universities would be welcome as there is a wide range of opportunities for academic post-graduation studies and research focusing on human resources capacitation in environmental management. Originality value - The paper makes an original contribution of exploring an area (brownfield management) that is at the forefront of discussion in academe and industry

Aging and fluctuation-dissipation ratio in a nonequilibrium q-state lattice model

A generalized version of the nonequilibrium linear Glauber model with q states in d dimensions is introduced and analyzed. The model is fully symmetric, its dynamics being invariant under all permutations of the q states. Exact expressions for the two-time autocorrelation and response functions on a d-dimensional lattice are obtained. In the stationary regime, the fluctuation-dissipation theorem holds, while in the transient the aging is observed with the fluctuation-dissipation ratio leading to the value predicted for the linear Glauber model.

No evidence for an association between the-36A > C phospholamban gene polymorphism and a worse prognosis in heart failure

Background: In Brazil, heart failure leads to approximately 25,000 deaths per year. Abnormal calcium handling is a hallmark of heart failure and changes in genes encoding for proteins involved in the re-uptake of calcium might harbor mutations leading to inherited cardiomyopathies. Phospholamban (PLN) plays a prime role in cardiac contractility and relaxation and mutations in the gene encoding PLN have been associated with dilated cardiomyopathy. In this study, our objective was to determine the presence of the -36A>C alteration in PLN gene in a Brazilian population of individuals with HF and to test whether this alteration is associated with heart failure or with a worse prognosis of patients with HF. Methods: We genotyped a cohort of 881 patients with HF and 1259 individuals from a cohort of individuals from the general population for the alteration -36A>C in the PLN gene. Allele and genotype frequencies were compared between groups (patients and control). In addition, frequencies or mean values of different phenotypes associated with cardiovascular disease were compared between genotypic groups. Finally, patients were prospectively followed-up for death incidence and genotypes for the -36A>C were compared regarding mortality incidence in HF patients. Results: No significant association was found between the study polymorphism and HF in our population. In addition, no association between PLN -36A>C polymorphism and demographic, clinical and functional characteristics and mortality incidence in this sample of HF patients was observed. Conclusion: Our data do not support a role for the PLN -36A>C alteration in modulating the heart failure phenotype, including its clinical course, in humans.

Risk optimization of a steel frame communications tower subject to tornado winds

The structural engineering community in Brazil faces new challenges with the recent occurrence of high intensity tornados. Satellite surveillance data shows that the area covering the south-east of Brazil, Uruguay and some of Argentina is one of the world most tornado-prone areas, second only to the infamous tornado alley in central United States. The design of structures subject to tornado winds is a typical example of decision making in the presence of uncertainty. Structural design involves finding a good balance between the competing goals of safety and economy. This paper presents a methodology to find the optimum balance between these goals in the presence of uncertainty. In this paper, reliability-based risk optimization is used to find the optimal safety coefficient that minimizes the total expected cost of a steel frame communications tower, subject to extreme storm and tornado wind loads. The technique is not new, but it is applied to a practical problem of increasing interest to Brazilian structural engineers. The problem is formulated in the partial safety factor format used in current design codes, with all additional partial factor introduced to serve as optimization variable. The expected cost of failure (or risk) is defined as the product of a. limit state exceedance probability by a limit state exceedance cost. These costs include costs of repairing, rebuilding, and paying compensation for injury and loss of life. The total expected failure cost is the sum of individual expected costs over all failure modes. The steel frame communications, tower subject of this study has become very common in Brazil due to increasing mobile phone coverage. The study shows that optimum reliability is strongly dependent on the cost (or consequences) of failure. Since failure consequences depend oil actual tower location, it turn,,; out that different optimum designs should be used in different locations. Failure consequences are also different for the different parties involved in the design, construction and operation of the tower. Hence, it is important that risk is well understood by the parties involved, so that proper contracts call be made. The investigation shows that when non-structural terms dominate design costs (e.g, in residential or office buildings) it is not too costly to over-design; this observation is in agreement with the observed practice for non-optimized structural systems. In this situation, is much easier to loose money by under-design. When by under-design. When structural material cost is a significant part of design cost (e.g. concrete dam or bridge), one is likely to lose significantmoney by over-design. In this situation, a cost-risk-benefit optimization analysis is highly recommended. Finally, the study also shows that under time-varying loads like tornados, the optimum reliability is strongly dependent on the selected design life.

Importance of considering a material micro-failure criterion in the numerical modelling of the shot peening process applied to parabolic leaf springs

Shot peening is a cold-working mechanical process in which a shot stream is propelled against a component surface. Its purpose is to introduce compressive residual stresses on component surfaces for increasing the fatigue resistance. This process is widely applied in springs due to the cyclical loads requirements. This paper presents a numerical modelling of shot peening process using the finite element method. The results are compared with experimental measurements of the residual stresses, obtained by the X-rays diffraction technique, in leaf springs submitted to this process. Furthermore, the results are compared with empirical and numerical correlations developed by other authors.

Bioassay guided purification of the antimicrobial fraction of a Brazilian propolis from Bahia state

Background: Brazilian propolis type 6 (Atlantic forest, Bahia) is distinct from the other types of propolis especially due to absence of flavonoids and presence of other non-polar, long chain compounds, but presenting good in vitro and in vivo antimicrobial activity. Several authors have suggested that fatty acids found in this propolis might be responsible for its antimicrobial activity; however, so far no evidence concerning this finding has been reported in the literature. The goals of this study were to evaluate the antibacterial activity of the main pure fatty acids in the ethanolic extract and fractions and elucidate the chemical nature of the bioactive compounds isolated from Brazilian propolis type 6. Methods: Brazilian propolis type 6 ethanolic extract (EEP), hexane fraction (H-Fr), major fatty acids, and isolated sub-fractions were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), high resolution gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (HRGC-FID), and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Three sub-fractions of H-Fr were obtained through preparative HPLC. Antimicrobial activity of EEP, H-Fr, sub-fractions, and fatty acids were tested against Staphyloccus aureus ATCC 25923 and Streptococcus mutans Ingbritt 1600 using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). Results: EEP and H-Fr inhibited the growth of the microorganisms tested; nevertheless, no antimicrobial activity was found for the major fatty acids. The three sub-fractions (1, 2, and 3) were isolated from H-Fr by preparative HPLC and only sub-fraction 1 showed antimicrobial activity. Conclusion: a) The major fatty acids tested were not responsible for the antimicrobial activity of propolis type 6; b) Sub-fraction 1, belonging to the benzophenone class, was responsible for the antimicrobial activity observed in the present study. The identification of the bioactive compound will improve the development of more efficient uses of this natural product.

State-of-the-Art and Future Directions for Green Human Resource Management: Introduction to the Special Issue

The topic of environmental sustainability is generating increased concern among business executives, governments, consumers, and management scholars. As these stakeholders struggle with the challenges and opportunities presented by an array of environmental issues, HRM scholars and practitioners alike have been relatively slow to engage in the ongoing discussions and debates. Through this special issue on Green FIRM, we seek to stimulate the field of HRM to expand its role in the pursuit of environmentally sustainable business. In this introduction to the special issue, we first provide an overview of the articles that appear in the special issue. Next we present a detailed discussion of research questions that arise from a consideration of several functional HRM practices, including performance management; training, development, and learning; compensation and rewards; and organizational culture. We conclude by describing opportunities for research at the intersection of strategic HRM and environmental management. If pursued with vigor, research addressing this extensive agenda could begin to establish a healthy field of Green FIRM scholarship.

Trap-nesting bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in forest fragments of the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil

We studied the community ecology of trap-nesting bees in two forest fragments of the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, during two years, utilizing bamboo canes and tubes made of black cardboard as trap nests. The traps were inspected once a month with an otoscope. One hundred and fifteen nests were obtained at Estacao Ecologica de Paulo de Faria, Paulo de Faria (EEPF). These included nine species belonging to five genera and two families. At Santa Cecilia Farm (SCF), 12 species belonging to seven genera and three families built 392 nests. Natural enemies reared from nests of both areas included Hymenoptera, Diptera and Coleoptera. Species richness was similar between the areas but the communities differed considerably in species composition. The higher diversity found at EEPF was due to more even distribution of the species. No difference was observed between the numbers of nests built in each year in each area. Although the species richness was lower in the cool/dry season of both years at SCF, and in the first year at EEPF, the nesting frequencies did not differ between seasons for both the overall community but for each of the most abundant species. No annual fluctuation in the frequencies of nesting was observed. As temperature and precipitation were not found to be significantly different between the two years of study in each area, we concluded that climatic stability resulted in population stability.

Bee communities (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) of the "Cerrado" ecosystem in Sao Paulo State, Brazil

Five surveys of the bee communities in four "Cerrado" ecosystem reserves in Sao Paulo State were compared for species richness and similarity. These areas are fragment vegetation reser-reserves located in the Cerrado Corumbata Reserve (Corumbata), Jata Ecological Park (Luiz Antonio), Cajuru (Cajuru), and Vassununga State Park - ""Gleba de Cerrado de Pe-de-Gigante"" (Santa Rita do Passa Quatro). The methodology consisted of capturing bees foraging on flowers along transects, though with small differences between surveys. These ""cerrado"" areas have a large number of species of native bees, which are important pollinators in several Brazilian ecosystems. The community of bees varied among these different fragments. Based on 500 individuals (standardized by rarefaction), Cajuru, Corumbata 1 and Corumbata 2 were the areas with highest species richness, and Jata and Pe-de-Gigante had the lowest species richness in the bee communities. The bee faunas of Corumbata 2 and Pe-de-Gigante had the highest similarity, forming a group with the bee fauna of Cajuru. The bee faunas of Corumbata 1 and Jata were isolated from this group. We found that the bee species richness and similarity found in these ""cerrado"" areas cannot be explained by general factors such as the size of the fragment, the species richness of plants and the distance between the areas. Therefore, we suppose that local factors that differ among areas, such as interactions between populations, and competition and interference from surrounding areas influence and determine bee species richness and similarity in these reserves.