Caries, gender and socio-economic change in the Xavante Indians from Central Brazil

Background: The oral health conditions of indigenous peoples in Amazonia are closely associated with ecological and dietary changes related to interaction with non-Indians. Aim: The study investigated the incidence of caries in an indigenous community from Central Brazil focusing on gender differences. Subjects and methods: The research was conducted among the Xavante Indians and was based on longitudinal data collected in two surveys (1999 and 2004). The study included 128 individuals, 63 (49.2%) males and 65 (50.8%) females, divided in four age brackets (6-12, 13-19, 20-34, 35-60 years of age). The DMFT (decayed, missing and filled teeth) index and incidences (difference between 1999 and 2004) were calculated for each individual. The proportion of incidence was also calculated. Differences in caries risk between gender and age brackets were compared by parametric and non-parametric tests. Results: There were statistically significant differences in relation to caries incidence between age brackets and gender. The greatest incidence was observed in the 20-34 age bracket, which presented 3.30 new decayed teeth, twice the risk of the 6-12 age bracket (p0.01), chosen as reference. While females in most age groups did not show higher risk for caries when compared to males, there was a 4.04-fold risk in the 20-34 age bracket (p0.01). Conclusion: It is concluded that factors related to the social functions of each sex (gender issues) and differential access to information, health services, and education may help to understand the differences observed in the incidence of caries.

Habitat use by the South-American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus) in south-eastern Brazil

Habitat use affects food intake, reproductive fitness and body temperature control in reptiles. Habitat use depends on both the characteristics of the animal and the environmental heterogeneity. In this study we investigated habitat use in a population of the South-American rattlesnake, Crotalus durissus, in a cerrado (the Brazilian savanna) remnant, in south-eastern Brazil. In general, snakes appeared to be thermal generalists. However, they showed substrate temperature preferences in the rainy season, when they selected colder substrates during the day and warmer substrates at night. Individuals were predominantly active on the surface and more frequently found under bushes. Furthermore, in general, the principal component analysis results indicate that rattlesnakes are generalists regarding the microhabitat variables examined in this study. These habitat characteristics, associated with a low thermal selectivity, indicate that rattlesnakes are able to colonize deforested areas where shade occurrence and vegetation cover are similar to those in the cerrado.

A new microteiid lizard of the genus Acratosaura (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) from Serra do Sincora, State of Bahia, Brazil

A new species of the genus Acratosaura is described on the basis of two specimens obtained at the ""campos rupestres"" (rocky meadows) near Mucuge municipality, state of Bahia, Brazil. Acratosaura spinosa sp. nov., has ear openings and eyelids, pentadactyl limbs lacking a claw on first toe, a single frontonasal, prefrontals, frontoparietals, parietals, interparietals, occipitals, no collar fold, three pairs of genials, three supraoculars and three superciliaries and is further characterized by presenting 28-31 rows of strongly keeled, lanceolate and imbricate dorsal scales, sides of the neck with keeled scales, striate temporal scales, four longitudinal and 17-18 transverse rows of smooth ventral scales, 28-30 scales around the body, 14 and 19-20 infradigital lamellae under finger IV and toe IV, respectively, 13 total preanal and femoral pores in male, absent in female. The new species differs strikingly in color pattern from its only congener A. mentalis. The two species occur sympatricaly in the high altitude open habitats near the type locality.

New species of the bee genus Augochlorodes Moure (Hymenoptera, Apidae s. I., Halictinae)

Five new species of the bee genus Augochlorodes from Brazil are described and the type species, A. turrifaciens Moure, 1958, is redescribed. The new species are: A. clementis sp. nov. (from the states of Parana, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul), A. incomitatus sp. nov. (Rio Grande do Sul), A. politus sp. nov. (Parana), A. rostratus sp. nov. (Rio Grande do Sul) and A. vachali sp. nov. (Parana, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo). A discriminant function analysis using head measurements is presented to help distinguish the species. An identification key for the species is provided.

Metformin reduces the stimulatory effect of obesity on in vivo Walker-256 tumor development and increases the area of tumor necrosis

Aims: The objective of this study was to analyze the influence of obesity and insulin resistance on tumor development and, in turn, the effect of insulin sensitizing agents. Main methods: Male offspring of Wistar rats received monosodium glutamate (400 mg/kg) (obese) or saline (control) from the second to sixth day after birth. Sixteen-week-old control and obese rats received 5 x 10(5) Walker-256 tumor cells, subcutaneously injected into the right flank. Some of the obese and control rats received concomitant treatment with metformin (300 mg/kg) by gavage. At the 18th week, obesity was characterized. The percentage of rats that developed tumors, the tumor relative weight and the percentage of cachexia incidence were analyzed. The tumor tissue was evaluated histologically by means of hematoxylin and eosin staining. Key findings: Metformin did not correct the insulin resistance in obese rats. The tumor development was significantly higher in the obese group, whereas metformin treatment reduced it. After pathological analysis, we observed that the tumor tissues were similar in all groups except for adipocytes, which were found in greater quantity in the obese and metformin-treated obese groups. The area of tumor necrosis was higher in the group treated with metformin when compared with the untreated one. Significance: Metformin reduced Walker-256 tumor development but not cachexia in obese rats. The reduction occurred independently of the correction of insulin resistance. Metformin increased the area of necrosis in tumor tissues, which may have contributed to the reduced tumor development. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A computational study of some rheological influences on the ""splashing experiment""

In various attempts to relate the behaviour of highly-elastic liquids in complex flows to their rheometrical behaviour, obvious candidates for study have been the variation of shear viscosity with shear rate, the two normal stress differences N(1) and N(2), especially N(1), the extensional viscosity, and the dynamic moduli G` and G ``. In this paper, we shall confine attention to `constant-viscosity` Boger fluids, and, accordingly, we shall limit attention to N(1), eta(E), G` and G ``. We shall concentrate on the ""splashing"" problem (particularly that which arises when a liquid drop falls onto the free surface of the same liquid). Modern numerical techniques are employed to provide the theoretical predictions. We show that high eta(E) can certainly reduce the height of the so-called Worthington jet, thus confirming earlier suggestions, but other rheometrical influences (steady and transient) can also have a role to play and the overall picture may not be as clear as it was once envisaged. We argue that this is due in the main to the fact that splashing is a manifestly unsteady flow. To confirm this proposition, we obtain numerical simulations for the linear Jeffreys model. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

MATERIALS EDUCATION AND INNOVATION: GLOBALIZATION OPENS NEW FRONTIERS, OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

In this paper we consider evolutionary pressures that will influence materials education and its role in the present scenario of Globalization: Challenges, Opportunities and needs. The main evolutionary pressures are related to some major control variables: increase of global population, new emerging technologies such as nanotechnology, alternative energies related to climate change, multimedia convergence in global communications, health, hunger, economic asymmetries and violence. Of course, many other factors could be identified, but this paper considers these as an adequate minimum basis for strategic considerations related to current materials education planning for the 21st century. In conclusion, we propose an International Network Program for Materials Education Strategy, thinking globally but acting regionally.