Análise citogenética de células-tronco derivadas do subendotélio da veia umbilical humana

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known as a population of multi-potential cells able to proliferate and differentiate into multiple mesodermal tissues including bone, cartilage, muscle, ligament, tendon, fat and stroma. Several applications of the study of EC can be emphasized the therapeutic techniques such as guided bone regeneration by implantation of EC in the affected site, without the need for bone grafts, using titanium as a vehicle. The process of cryopreservation is essential for the maintenance of cell cultures, since the cell line is frozen, it can be maintained in liquid nitrogen for an indefinite period and then thawed for therapeutic or experimental purposes. The aim of this study was to isolate a population of MSCs derived from the subendothelium of the umbilical vein human (MSCs-SUVH) to assess cytogenetic analysis by the possibility of appearance of chromosomal changes in two different situations: MSCs-SUVH regarding the process of cryopreservation and MSCs-SUVH grown on the surface of titanium. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that, this cell population was positive for the markers CD29, CD73 and CD90, but there was no expression of hematopoietic lineage markers, such as CD14, CD34 and CD45 and demonstrated capacity for osteogenic differentiation. The chromosomes obtained from the primary culture of MSCs-SUVH were analyzed by GTW banding technique, and results are described as guidelines to ISCN 2005. There was not the emergence of clonal chromosomal changes in the MSCs-SUVH in different situations analyzed. However one of the strings presented a balanced paracentric inversion, probably a cytogenetic constitutional alterations, which was present before and after the experimental situations that the MSCs-SUVH was submitted

caracterização in situ e estrutura genética de populações de Gossypium mustelinum

Gossypium mustelinum Miers ex Watt is the only cotton species native from Brazil. It is endemic of the semi-arid region from North-east of the country, where it occur near from resilient water sources. The threats to the in situ conservation of the populations are caused by human interference in its habitat, mainly by excessive cattle graze and deforestation. Establish efficient strategies of in situ conservation depend on the accomplishment of a diagnosis of how the specie is found in its natural environment, and the knowledge about the genetic structure of the populations. The objectives of this work were i) to determine the in situ conditions of two populations present in rivers from basin of Rio Paraguaçu at the Bahia State, ii) to evaluate the structure and genetic variability presented in both populations, iii) to establish in situ and ex situ conservation strategies. It were realized collection in november 2007, when was realized in situ characterization of G. mustelinum. SSR markers were used for analyze 218 genotypes deriving from two populations of the G. mustelinum, localized at Tocó river and the Capivara river. The allelic frequencies, the heterozigosity and the F statics were estimated. All the plants were classified as wild and natives, and there was no evidence of the use the plants or its parts. The populations showed different conservation conditions in situ. Few plantlets were found in sites with excessive cattle feed, an indication that the damages in young plants should be high enough to compromise the renovation of the populations. On the other hand, populations were well preserved when the anthropic damages was low or inexistent. The 14 SSR primer pairs amplified 17 loci with a medium number of 5 alleles per locus (a total of 85 alleles). The high level of endogamy estimated (FIS=0,808) and the low observed heterozygosity (H0=0,093) were indicatives that the populations reproduce mainly by selfing, geitonogamy and crosses between related individuals. The genetic diversity was high (HE=0,482) and the differentiation between the populations was very high (FST=0,328). At least two sites from both populations of G. mustelinum must be preserved to achieve suitable in situ conservation. Actions that preserve the gallery forest and keep the cattle away should implemented, and could be as simple as erecting a fence. It is not possible anticipated if the in situ preservation will be possible. Therefore collections and ex situ preservation of representative specimens are essential to conserve the genetic diversity of native G. mustelinum

Caracterização genética e in situ de Gossypium barbadense na região norte do Brasil

Brazil has been considered one of the diversity centers of Gossypium barbadense species. It is believed that a relatively big erosion genetic process occurs with the species, due to economic, cultural and agricultural problems. A local diagnostic about species situation is the first step for reducing the diversity loss and establishing conservation strategies in situ. This research aimed the identification of the presence of Gossypium populations, characterization, determination of the main risks and collection of the accesses to store in germoplam banks, in Para and Amapa States. Expeditions were conducted in November 2004. An interview was carried out with the plant proprietor for characterizing in situ of G. barbadense species and of the environment where the plants were inserted. On hundred seventy nine plants in 22 municipal districts were collected in Para State and 117 plants in nine municipal districts in Amapa State. The majority of plants belong to G. barbadense species (98% in Amapa and 94% in Para). Plants occur in back yards, beside roads and spontaneously. That ones from back yards were more abundant (97% in Amapa and 95% in Para) and maintained as medicinal plants as the principal reason. Plants in natural environments in both states evaluated were not found, therefore, the creation of reserves and the application of others conventional methods of maintenance in situ are not applicable. The plant proprietors do not use to store or process seeds. Seed storage was reported as a practice by only 1% of the plant proprietors from Para and 11% from Amapa. The most plants collected were from two to three years of age (58% in Amapa and 93% in Para). As conclusions G. barbadense is the species most spread in the two studied states and are found in back yards. In Amapa State the botanical variety barbadense or Quebradinho is predominant, whereas in Para State the predominant variety is brasiliense or Rim-de-boi. Adequate conservation of thestudied species must be carried out in germoplasm collections maintained ex situ

Caracterização da resistência do algodoeiro a Ramularia areola e variabilidade molecular do patógeno

This research was conducted with the aim to study the genetic and pathogenic structure of Ramularia areola isolates collected in Brazil and to characterize the resistance response in cotton plants to ramularia spot. The genetic variability of 28 isolates of R. areola was studied using RAPD markers. The pathogenicity evaluation was realized by the inoculation of 6 isolates on cotton varieties Guazuncho-2 (Gossypium hirsutum) and VH8-4602 (Gossypium barbadense). The inheritance of disease resistance was studied using an artificially inoculated population of F2 individuals derived from the intercross of Guazuncho-2 (susceptible variety) end VH8-4602 (resistant variety), and also the parents and F1 individuals. Molecular polymorphism between the G. hisutum varieties DeltaOpal (suscetible) and CNPA CO-11612 (resistant) was estimated by 118 SSR and 24 AFLP markers. The parental genotypes Guazuncho-2 and VH8-4602 were selected for mapping, and then Recombinant Inbred Lines (RIL´s) derived from this crossing were evaluated with SSR 12 markers. The analysis of population structure of R. areola revealed that the three subpopulations were genetically simillar (Gst=0.18), and the isolates from Goiás and Minas Gerais were more similar to each other (0,92). This probability can be related to the relatively high gene flow among the three subpopulations (Nm=2.20). The isolates R. areola 9.1, from Minas Gerais State and 8.1 and 8.3 from Goiás State were the most aggressive ones to the susceptible variety Guazuncho-2. The variety VH8-4602 presented high level of resistance to ramularia spot. No differential interaction was observed between the pathogens and the analyzed varieties, and the resistance was classified as horizontal. The quantification of disease by number of necrotic lesions and number of spores in individual plants of F1 and F2 generations from the crossing between the varieties Guazuncho-2 and VH8-4602 presented continuous distribution, suggesting polygenic resistance. The resistance is probabilly recessive, since necrotic lesions and sporulation were observed on F1 plants. The molecular polymorphism between DeltaOpal e CNPA CO-11612 lineages was low (6%), then would be difficult to accomplish molecular mapping of disease resistance using this intercross. With the genotyping of the RIL s it was verified that 25% of the markers segregated in the proportions proposed by Mendel s Law and 75% of the studied markers presented segregation distortion in favor to the parental G. hirsutum. Both the low genetic variability of the pathogen and the number of resistance genes suggest that durable genetic resitance may be achieved

Avaliação da genotoxicidade das águas sueprficiais da Barragem Engenheiro Armando Ribeiro Gonçalves, Assu/RN

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico

Desenvolvimento de sistemas farmacêuticos emulsionados para veiculação gênica

Broadly speaking, the concept of gene therapy involves the transfer of a genetic material into a cell, tissue, or organ in order to cure a disease or at least improve the clinical status of a patient. Making it simple, gene therapy consists in the insertion of functional genes into cells containing defective genes by substituting, complementing or inhibiting them. The achievement of a foreigner DNA expression into a population of cells requires its transfer to the target. Therefore, it is a key issue to create systems able to transfer and protect the DNA until it reaches the target, the vectors. The disadvantages related to the use of viral vectors have encouraged efforts to develop emulsions as non-viral vectors. In fact, they are easily produced, present controllable stability and enable transfection. The aim of this work was to develop an emulsion for gene therapy and evaluate its ability to compact nucleic acids by the development of a complex with the plasmid pIRES2-EGFP. The first step was to determine the Hydrophilic Lipophilic Balance (HLB) of the Captex® 355 (oily internal phase of the emulsion) through long and short term stability assays. Based on the results, emulsions composed of Captex® 355, Tween 20® and Span 60® with 10.7 HLB were produced by three different methods: phase inversion, spontaneous emulsification and sonication. The results showed that the lowest diameter and best stability of the emulsions were achieved by the sonication method. The cationic emulsions were made by adding DOTAP to the basic emulsion. Its association with pIRES2-EGFP was evaluated by electrophoresis. Several rates of emulsion and DNA were evaluated and the results showed that 100% of the complex was formed when the rate DOTAP/DNA(nmol/µg) was 130. In conclusion, the overall results show the ability of the proposed emulsion to compact pIRES2-EGFP, which is a requirement to a successful transfection. Therefore, such formulation may be considered a promising candidate for gene therapy

Impacto do Programa de Saúde da Família sobre indicadores de saúde bucal na população de Natal -RN

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the Family Health Program (FHP) on a number of oral health indicators in the population of Natal, Brazil. The study is characterized as a quasi-random community intervention trial. The intervention is represented by the implementation of an Oral Health Team (OHT) in the FHP prior to the study. A total of 15 sectors covered by the FHP with OHT were randomly drawn and paired with another 15 sectors, based on socioeconomic criteria, not covered by the teams. A few sectors were lost over the course of the study, resulting in a final number of 22 sectors, 11 covered and 11 not covered. We divided the non-covered areas into two conditions, one in which we considered areas that had some type of assistance program such as the Community Agents Program (CAP), FHP without OHT, BHU (Basic Health Unit) or no assistance, and the other, in which we considered areas that had only BHU or no assistance. Community Health Agents (CHAs) and Dental Office Assistants (DOAs) applied a questionnaire-interview to the most qualified individual of the household and the data obtained per household were transformed into the individual data of 7186 persons. The results show no statistical difference between the oral health outcomes analyzed in the areas covered by OHT in the FHP and in non-covered areas that have some type of assistance program, with a number of indicators showing better conditions in the non-covered areas. When we considered the association between covered and non-covered areas under the second condition, we found a statistical difference in the coverage indicators. Better conditions were found in covered areas for indicators such as I have not been to the dentist in the last year with p < 0.001 and OR of 1.64 and I had no access to dental care with p < 0.001 and OR of 2.22. However, the results show no impact of FHP with OHT on preventive action indicators under both non-covered conditions. This can be clearly seen when we analyze the toothache variable, which showed no significant difference between covered and non-covered areas. This variable is one of the most sensitive when assessing oral health programs, with p of 0.430 under condition 1 and p of 0.038 under condition 2, with CI = 0.70-0.90. In the analysis of health indicators in children where the proportion of deaths in children under age 1, the rate of hospitalization for ARI (Acute Respiratory Infections) in those under age 5 and the proportion of individuals born underweight were considered, a better condition was found in all the outcomes for areas with FHP. Therefore, we can conclude that oral health in the FHP has little effect on oral health indicators, even though the strategy improves the general health conditions of the population, as, for example child health

Avaliação genética da eficiência reprodutiva em vacas pardo-suíças por meio da análise de sobrevivência

Among the traits of economic importance to dairy cattle livestock those related to sexual precocity and longevity of the herd are essential to the success of the activity, because the stayability time of a cow in a herd is determined by their productive and reproductive lives. In Brazil, there are few studies about the reproductive efficiency of Swiss-Brown cows and no study was found using the methodology of survival analysis applied to this breed. Thus, in the first chapter of this study, the age at first calving from Swiss-Brown heifers was analyzed as the time until the event by the nonparametric method of Kaplan-Meier and the gamma shared frailty model, under the survival analysis methodology. Survival and hazard rate curves associated with this event were estimated and identified the influence of covariates on such time. The mean and median times at the first calving were 987.77 and 1,003 days, respectively, and significant covariates by the Log-Rank test, through Kaplan-Meier analysis, were birth season, calving year, sire (cow s father) and calving season. In the analysis by frailty model, the breeding values and the frailties of the sires (fathers) for the calving were predicted modeling the risk function of each cow as a function of the birth season as fixed covariate and sire as random covariate. The frailty followed the gamma distribution. Sires with high and positive breeding values possess high frailties, what means shorter survival time of their daughters to the event, i.e., reduction in the age at first calving of them. The second chapter aimed to evaluate the longevity of dairy cows using the nonparametric Kaplan-Meier and the Cox and Weibull proportional hazards models. It were simulated 10,000 records of the longevity trait from Brown-Swiss cows involving their respective times until the occurrence of five consecutive calvings (event), considered here as typical of a long-lived cow. The covariates considered in the database were age at first calving, herd and sire (cow s father). All covariates had influence on the longevity of cows by Log-Rank and Wilcoxon tests. The mean and median times to the occurrence of the event were 2,436.285 and 2,437 days, respectively. Sires that have higher breeding values also have a greater risk of that their daughters reach the five consecutive calvings until 84 months

Políticas públicas para a terceira idade: uma avaliação do Programa Idoso Cidadão da Prefeitura Municipal de Mossoró/RN

Nos últimos anos, o tema velhice tem despertado mais a atenção de diversos setores da sociedade. O resultado disso é o aumento de reportagens, artigos, monografias, dissertações e teses sobre ele.O Brasil está caminhando para se tornar a sexta população de idosos no mundo, fruto do grande avanço tecnológico, intensificado na segunda metade do século XX, facilitando as conquistas da medicina, da saúde e da genética. Vale salientar que essa problemática está inserida em um contexto social, político e econômico específico, que é o da resignificação do poder local. É nessa conjuntura que situamos o presente trabalho, que é um estudo sobre a avaliação de políticas públicas. Nesse sentido, procuramos analisar a efetividade do Programa Idoso Cidadão, da Prefeitura Municipal de Mossoró. O quadro de referência teórico-metodológico situa-se na revisão da literatura sobre terceira idade, poder local e avaliação de políticas públicas, observação assistemática; e entrevista semi-estruturada com os gestores, os profissionais envolvidos e particularmente com os usuários do Programa, tendo como meta averiguar como esses agentes percebem a implementação e os resultados do Programa. Com este tratamento conceitual foi possível apreender as condições em que se deu o estudo sobre a efetividade do referido programa para o processo de inclusão dos idosos na sociedade. O Programa Idoso Cidadão é, sem dúvida, um avanço no trabalho com os idosos e na inclusão destes na sociedade. É um espaço para a construção da cidadania, embora apresente muitas limitações, principalmente na área física e no quadro profissional. Constatou-se que, de modo geral, o Programa atende às necessidades básicas de sua clientela. Portanto podemos dizer que a avaliação da efetividade dessa política de atendimento ao idoso se mostrou eficaz, uma vez que podemos perceber o quanto o programa é importante para a vida de seus usuários, promovendo a elevação de sua auto-estima e de sua aceitação como categoria social

Caracterização genética e evolução dos vírus dengue no Estado do Rio Grande do Norte

Dengue is considered as the most important arthropod-borne viral disease throughout the world due to the high number of people at risk to be infected, mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of the planet. The etiologic agent is Dengue Virus (DENV), it is a single positive-stranded RNA virus of the family Flavivirus, genus Flaviviridae. Four serotypes are known, DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4. One of the most important characteristic of these viruses is the genetic variability, which demands phylogenetic and evolutionary studies to understand key aspects like: epidemiology, virulence, migration patterns and antigenic characteristics. The objective of this study is the genetic characterization of dengue viruses circulating in the state of Rio Grande does Norte from January 2010 to December 2012. The complete E gene (1485 pb) of DENV1, 2 e 4 from Brazilian (Rio Grande do Norte) patients was sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using MEGA 5.2 software, Tamura-Nei model and Neighbor-Joining trees were inferred for the datasets. In Brazil, there is just one DENV-1 genotype (genotype V), one DENV-2 genotype (Asian/American) and two DENV-4 genotypes (genotypes I and II). Brazilian strains of DENV-1 are subdivided in two different lineages (BR-I and BR-II), the Brazilian strains of DENV-2 are subdivided in four lineages (BRI-IV) and genotype II of DENV-4 is subdivided in three Brazilian lineages (BRI-III). The viruses isolated in RN belong to lineage BR-II (DENV-1), BR-IV (DENV-2) and BR-III (DENV-4).The Caribbean and near Latin American countries are the main source of these viruses to Brazil. Amino acids substitutions were detected in three domains of E protein, this makes clear the necessity of studies that associate epidemiological and molecular data to better understand the effects of these mutations. This is the first study about genetic characterization and evolution of Dengue viruses in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Diretrizes para conservação da espécie Mimosa Caesalpiniifolia Benth., Macaíba-RN

About 40% of the earth is occupied by tropical and subtropical forests, including 42% of dry forests, where there is Caatinga Bioma, contemplating tree forests and shrubs, with xerophytic characteristics. Study and conservations of Caatinga biologic diversity is one of the greatest challenges of Brazilian science because those are, proportionally, the less studied among natural areas, with most of the scientific effort centered in very few points around the main cities in the area and also because it is the less protected natural Brazilian area. The environmental degradation is constantly increasing and has its rhythm accelerated by the men appropriation to meet or not their own needs. Therefore, species conservation should be based in three principles: the use of natural resources by present generation, waste prevention and use of the natural resources to benefit the majority of the citizens. Among the strategies to species conservation, we can mention the ex situ conservation , in which the conservation of genetic resources may be realized outside of the natural environment in which the species occur, and in situ conservation , or, in other words, in the places where the species occur. In ex situ conservation, the germplasm collections are maintained in the field and/or in laboratories (conservation chambers), and this mainly conserves intraspecific diversity (genetic variance), the ex situ collections are continuously enriched by collection activities, introduction and germplasm interchange; the in situ conservation preserving ecosystems and habitats, maintaining and recovering native population of species of interest. So, the objective of this paper is the search for strategies to the conservation of Mimosa caesalpiniifolia B. (sabiá) using instruments of environmental perception and plant biotechnology, as mechanisms of in situ and ex situ conservation. To environmental perception, were realized open, semi-structured and qualitative interviews. The questions included socioeconomic data and knowledge of Sabiá specie. To plant biotechnology, Sabiá seed collection were realized in different location to formation of a germplasm bank. The specie micropropagation was made from nodal segment of plants from the matrizeiro. About the knowledge of rural populations and the use of Sabiá plant, some preferences occurred from speeches that the plant possesses a firm wood, not attacked by termites, legalized for exploration by the Brazilian environmental organ (IBAMA), and is a native specie. This research found the rural population has knowledge about Sabiá specie and the natural resources are exhausting. The proposal that the rural community brought was the donation of the Sabiá specie seeding initiating on the rain season, in which the seeding would be plated between the lots, in individual plantations. To the formation of a matrix bank, plant biothecnology brought answers favorable to Sabiá specie seeding, with the formation of multiple shoots

Avaliação do potencial mutagênico da água do açude de Lucrécia (RN- Brasil): um enfoque na relação saúde e ambiente

The water quality of many reservoirs in the world has been reduced due to percolation of contaminants to water, which can have natural or anthropogenic origin, increasing the level of genotoxic compounds in aquatic ecosystems. This fact has contributed to the reduction of environmental quality, and commitment the health of living beings that inhabit these ecosystems, including the human population. In this backdrop of reduced water quality, is the Lucrecia dam, which is a major surface water reservoirs by volume of semi-arid region of Rio Grande do Norte, and that has shown contamination by heavy metals, cyanobacteria toxic and the natural presence of Radon. The population that use this source has been showing high rates of cancer, popularly associated with the consumption of this water, with a prevalence about three times higher compared to the whole state of Rio Grande do Norte. Based on this, the present study aimed to evaluate the mutagenic potencial of surface water from the Lucrecia dam, using the Micronucleus Test in Tradescantia pallida (Trad-MN) and in human peripheral blood lymphocytes (CBMN) assay, as well as identify the concentrations of some heavy metals in this water. Water samples were collected on a dry season and a rainy season, in two distinct points. Moreover, in order to bring a completely view about the relationship of man-health-environment in this local, through the knowledge of knowing / acting environmental from residents of Lucrecia, and the use and perceptions they have about the dam of your city, a study of Environmental Perception was carried out with local residents. The results obtained for the both micronucleus test, showed significant results for the three points analyzed. The strongest mutagenic effect was observed in the dry season for both assays. Chemical analyses detected an increase of heavy metal levels in different points and season above the maximum allowed by legislation. Regarding the study of Environmental Perception with local residents, it was observed the knowledge of the environment that the residents have, as well as the strong ties and perceptions with the dam of the city. Thus, the combination of these two aspects (the genetic toxicity tests conducted in the dam together with analysis of environmental perception with the residents of Lucrecia) allowed to draw a more complete diagnosis on the local situation

Análise da estrutura genética populacional da piraúna (cephalopholis fulva: serranidae) ao longo da costa e ilhas oceânicas brasileiras

Brazil has about 8,500 km of coastline and on this scale, fishing is a historically important source of animal protein for human consumption. The national fishing background shows a growth of marine fishery production until 1985 and within this period it was recorded a steady decline. From the year 2003 fishing statistics aim to some "recovery" of the total fisheries production, which probably is related to a change in industry practice. The target of commercial fishing became smaller species with low commercial value, but very abundants. The coney, Cephalopholis fulva (Serranidae), is one of these species that have been suffering a greater fishing pressure in recent years. In order to provide data about the current situation of the genetic diversity of these populations, several molecular markers have been being used for this purpose. The prior knowledge of genetic variability is crucial for management and biodiversity conservation. To this end, the control region sequences (dloop) of mtDNA from Cephalopholis fulva (Serranidae) from five geographical points of the coast of Brazil (Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Bahia and Espírito Santo) and the Archipelago of Fernando de Noronha (FN) were sequenced and their genetic diversity analyzed. The FST values were very low (0.0246 to 0.000), indicating high gene flow between the sampled spots. The indices h and indicate a secondary contact between previously allopatric lineages differentiated or large and stable populations with long evolutionary history. Tests of Tajima and Fu showed expansion for all populations. In contrast, the mismatch distribution and SSD indicated expansion just for coastal populations. Unlike other species of the Atlantic which have been deeply affected by events on later Pleistocene, the population-genetic patterns of C. fulva may be related to recent events occurred approximately 130,000 years ago. Moreover, the data presented by geographical samples of the specie C. fulva showed high genetic diversity, also indicating the absence of deleterious effects of over-exploitation on this specie, as well as evidence of complete panmixia between all sampled populations

Prevalência de talassemia alfa+ (deleção -3.7) na população adulta do estado do Rio Grande do Norte

Alpha thalassemia, the most common monogenic disorder in the world, is characterized by deletions of one (+-thalassemia) or both alpha genes (0-thalassemia) located on human chromosome 16 (16p13.3). The most common case of +-thalassemia is a deletion of 3.7 kb of DNA (-3.7 deletion). It is most prevalent in African and Middle East regions. In the few studies carried out in Brazilian population -3.7 deletion was the most common deletion, mainly in African descendants. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of +- thalassemia (deletion 3.7kb) in adult population from Rio Grande do Norte. We obtained blood samples from 713 unrelated individuals of both genders, aged between 18 and 59 years old. All individuals were born in Rio Grande do Norte. The hematological indices were obtained in an automatic cell counter (Micros 60, ABX Diagnostics). The hemoglobin measurement (A2 and Fetal hemoglobin) and the profile confirmation were carried out by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methodology. Genomic DNA was obtained from peripheral blood leukocytes using Illustra Blood GenomicPrep Mini Spin kit and -3.7 deletion was investigated by PCR. Among the 713 individuals studied, 80 (11,2%) presented +- thalassemia: 79 (11,1%) were heterozygous and 1 (0,1%) homozygous for the -3.7 deletion. Considering the ethnic group, negroes showed the greatest prevalence of +-thalassemia (12,5%), followed by mulattoes (12,3%) and caucasian (9,6%). Statistical comparison of hematological parameters between normal individuals and heterozygous to +-thalassemia showed significant differences in RBC (p<0,001), MCV (p<0,001), MCH (p<0,001), Hb A2 (p=0,007) as well as female hemoglobin concentration (p=0,003). This is one of the first studies to research +-thalassemia in general population of Rio Grande do Norte state and these results attest the importance of investigation of this condition to define the etiology of microcytosis and hypochromia.

Distribuição socioespacial dos fatores dinâmicos da população na Região Metropolitana de Natal

The Metropolitan Region of Natal, like other metropolitan regions in Brazil, was marked by intense and rapid urbanization of the country occurred only in the second half of the twentieth century, coinciding with the process of consolidation of the industry in the country, resulting in serious urban social problems, such as the increase in slums, lack of infrastructure and this increase in violence in urban centers. When enters the reality of the metropolitan region, assessing the impacts of restructuring productive in the context of globalization, analyzing how the socio-economic factors influencing the dynamic of the population, whose configuration was shown to be contradictory according to social class busy. Accordingly, we studied the demographic configuration of the Metropolitan Region of Natal, analyzing their spatial distribution and their socio-demographic differences in light of building a type socio-space, which cuts the metropolitan space in homogeneous areas