Escherichia coli phylogenetic group determination and its application in the identification of the major animal source of fecal contamination

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

A new species of Galendromus (Acari : Phytoseiidae): A case of intraspecific variation and redefinition of carinulatus species group

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Parasitoses em lactentes de 0-12 meses atendidos na Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu - São Paulo

Infestation by protozoa and/or helminths is considered to be extremely rare in infants. We therefore reviewed the records of all infants up to 12 mth of age attending the Paediatric Department from January 1973 to June 1977, in order to assess the frequency of stool examinations for parasites within this age group, the percentage of positive results in these examinations, and some personal characteristics which propitiated parasitic infestation. Some characteristics of the investigated infants were compared to those of a representative sample of the total number of infants attending during the same period. Stool examinations were realized in 11.8% of the 1,162 attending patients and of those, 15.3% were positive. The proportion of positive cases became 24.0% when the infants in whom there was a history of parasites being passed were included. Ascaris lumbricoides and Giardia lamblia were the parasites most frequently found, respectively in 42.8% and 37.1% of the positive cases. The only detected difference between the control group and the group of infants who had parasitologic examinations was the presence of diarrhea, significantly more frequent in the investigated group. The proportion of positive cases was significantly greater in girls, in infants older than 6 mth and when diarrhea was present for up to 15 days, than in boys, in infants up to 6 mth of age and in chronic diarrhea, respectively. Our results show that parasites were investigated in only a small percentage of infants under 1 yr of age, but that in this age group already, parasitic infestation does occur with a certain frequency. As investigated cases were selected, mainly due to the presence of diarrhea, the real prevalence of parasitism in infants under 1 yr of age was impossible to evaluate.

Some remarks on the conformal group

It is shown that the local isomorphism between the conformal group of Minkowski spacetime and the group SO(4,2) makes sense only if one eliminates from SO(4,2) one of the Sitter boosts contained in it. © 1992.

Sulfur and carbon isotopes in scapolite-bearing granulites of the São José do Rio Pardo area, Brazil

Sulfur and carbon isotope compositions of ten scapolites from granulite-facies rocks of the São José do Rio Pardo area, Guaxupé Complex, Brazil, were measured. Scapolite is the primary and major rock-forming mineral in these rocks (up to 40 volume %). The isotopic composition of the sulfate and carbonate group in the scapolite structure has δ34S values of +1.0‰ to +6.7‰, and δ13C values of -14.3‰ to -6.3‰, respectively. The sulfur isotope data may be related to an upper mantle (external) or lower crustal (internal) source for the sulfur, whereas the carbon appears to have been derived from an internal source. Thus, the carbon and sulfur isotope data can be explained without invoking an external (mantle) source. © 1993.

Prevalência de Demodex folliculorum e Demodex brevis em uma amostra da população de Botucatu, São Paulo, Brasil.

A survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of D. folliculorum and D. brevis for the first time in Brazil. In this study, association between the presence of mites and host factors (age, sex and race) were analysed. Samples were obtained from 100 individuals submitted to a facial cleaning in an aesthetic clinic in Botucatu city. All the samples were mounted in Berlese's medium and examined by dark-field phase microscopy. From 100 studied individuals, 72 were positive, among the positive cases, 51% showed D. folliculorum, 2% showed D. brevis and 19% both species. The parasite distribution in relation to sex was not taken in account because the sex ratio favoured females (90%). According to age, prevalence was high in all age groups. The factors influencing this distribution could be due. 1. the examination of extensive skin areas, 2. the group examined composed of individuals in treatment in an anaesthetic clinic could be more infested than a normal population, 3. the fact that in tropics, the prevalence is often high in all ages.

Epidemiologia e quadro clínico do botulismo epizoótico dos bovinos no Estado de São Paulo

In order to investigate epidemiological and clinical aspects of beef cattle mortalities caused by botulism, a syndrome popularly known as doença da vaca caída, studies were carried out in 32 naturally affected 4 to 9 year old cows, 27 belonging to the Nellore breed and 5 to crossbred Nellore, all from 27 farms located in municipalities near Botucatu, State of São Paulo. The epidemiological and clinical features were based, respectively, on the farm and herd managements, and on the general physical examination of the cows. Mouse bioassay and complement microfixation tests were performed to detect the presence of botulinum toxins in liver samples. The results showed that the disease occurs in beef cattle of range breeding systems, reared under inadequate mineral nutrition and deficient health management. Pregnant and milking cows represented the group at risk, and the incidence was higher during the rainy season (December to March), with morbidity and mortality rates of 3,2 ± 3,6%. Clinical examination revealed cows with no alterations of vital signs, behavior, visual and auditory acuities and skin sensation; but revealed ruminal hypomotility, anorexia, dehydration, flaccid para or tetraparesis with permanent recumbency, and a paretic or paralytic tongue. The diagnosis of botulism, involving type C and D toxins, was consistent with the epidemiological and clinical findings.

Bacillus thuringiensis development from 1971 to 1996: Cases of a research group in Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Effects of SO(10) D terms on SUSY signals at the Fermilab Tevatron

We study signals for the production of superparticles at the Fermilab Tevatron in supergravity scenarios based on the grand unified group SO(10). The breaking of this group introduces extra contributions to the masses of all scalars, described by a single new parameter. We find that varying this parameter can considerably change the size of various expected signals studied in the literature, with different numbers of jets and/or charged leptons in the final state. The ratios of these signals can thus serve as a diagnostic to detect or constrain deviations from the much-studied scenario where all scalar masses are universal at the GUT scale. Moreover, under favorable circumstances some of these signals, and/or new signals involving hard b jets, should be observable at the next run of the Fermilab Tevatron collider even if the average scalar mass lies well above the gluino mass. ©2000 The American Physical Society.

The Bauru Group: A continental Cretaceous unit in Brazil - Concepts based on micropaleontological, oxygen isotope and stratigraphical data

The integration of outcrop and subsurface information, including micropaleontological data, facies and sequence stratigraphic studies, and oxygen isotope analysis, allow us to present a new stratigraphic model for the Cretaceous continental deposits of the Bauru Group, Brazil. Thirty-eight fossil taxa were recovered from these deposits, including 29 species of ostracodes and 9 species of charophytes. Seven of these ostracode species and three subspecies are new and formally described here. The associations of Chara barbosai - Ilyocypris cf. riograndensis, found in the Adamantina Formation, and Amblyochara sp. - Neuquenocypris minor mineira nov. subsp., found in the Marília Formation. Ponte Alta Member, represent two distinct groups that are respectively Turonian-Santonian and Maastrichtian (probably Late Maastrichtian) in age. Therefore, a hiatus, encompassing more than 11 Ma, separates those two formations. From bottom to top, four depositional cycles were recognized in the Bauru Group in western São Paulo: cycles 1 and 2 belong to Caiuá Formation (fluvio-lacustrine and lacustrine deposits in the Presidente Prudente region), cycle 3 to the Santo Anastácio and lower Adamantina Formation (respectively fluvial and lacustrine deposits), and cycle 4 to the upper Adamantina Formation (fluvio-lacustrine facies). An erosional unconformity separates the Caiuá and Santo Anastácio Formations (between cycles 2 and 3). The Marília Formation is a distinct unit from the underlying succession; it does not occur in western São Paulo, but is found in restricted areas of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Goiás States. During the deposition of the Bauru Group (Aptian? to Maastrichtian) the climate was hot and arid-semiarid. Shallow lakes underwent fluctuations in expansion (wet phases) and contraction (dry phases), as well as variations in salinity. During the deposition of the Adamantina Formation (Turonian-Santonian) there were long, dry periods that caused segmentation of large lakes (due to topographic irregularities in the basaltic substrate) and sometimes exposures of the lake floors; when flooded these lake floors were colonized by extensive meadows of single species of charophytes. Small ephemeral ponds, that were hydrochemically unstable and colonized by multiple species of charophytes, were the depositional sites for the marls and mudstones of Ponte Alta Member (Maastrichtian, Late Maastrichtian?). Our micropaleontological age control, combined with the Late Cretaceous ages of volcanic ashes found in the southeastern Brazil coastal basins, and the stratigraphic position of analcimites from the Jaboticabal-SP region, suggest a Late Coniacian-Santonian age for important magmatic events occurred in the interior of Brazil (north-central São Paulo State, Triângulo Mineiro, and southwestern Goiás State).

Mortalidade por causas externas no Município de São José do Rio Preto, no período de 1996-1998

Introduction: An epidemiological study of the mortality rates by injuries in São José do Rio Preto, State of São Paulo, Brazil, has been carried out. The period considered is 1996-1998. Objectives: To show injuries mortality rates in São José do Rio Preto-SP in 1996-98. Methods: The study was based on official data from the Mortality Information Service of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, and in a survey based on data from medical forensic examiners (IML). Software Epinfo6.0 and Tabwin was utilized for data analises. Results: The results were compared to values obtained in the literature for the other cities of São Paulo and Brazil. In the case of São José do Rio Preto, was observed a decrease in the number of deaths associated with external causes in the period, but particularly in deaths due to traffic accidents with motor vehicles an increase in cases of pedestrians killed by hit-and-run drivers, that is much larger than the corresponding values for Brazil and for the State of São Paulo. The study showed increase in rates of homicides, mainly in the 15 to 39 years age group. Conclusion: This result suggests that is important to start programs to reduce the number of deaths by injuries, as well as the necessity of monitoring locally all these data.

Retorno de nutrientes ao solo via deposição de serapilheira de quatro espécies leguminosas arbóreas na região de Botucatu - São Paulo, Brasil

The annual litter fall production and the concentrations of macronutrients of four leguminous tree species were evaluated. The experiment was installed in a distrophic red yellow latosol (Oxisol), derivative of the Bauru sandstone group. The studied species were: Leucaena leucocephala. Acacia melanoxylon, L. diversifolia and Mimosa scabrella. The experimental design was randomized blocks, with four treatments (species) and four replications. The litter fall was collected in boxes measuring 50×50×10 cm, two boxes by treatment in each block. The material was collected monthly and dried, weighed and chemically analyzed. The litter fall deposition occurred in the following order: M. scabrella (7,051 kg ha -1 ano -1), A. melanoxylon (2,789 kg ha -1 ano -1), L. diversifolia (1,576 kg ha -1 ano -1) and L. leucocephala (1,389 kg ha -1 ano -1). The content of nutrients obeyed the following order: N>Ca>K>Mg>P>S, with the exception of L. leucocephala that presented a bigger content of S in relation to the P.

Serological profile of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in apparently healthy dogs of the city of Botucatu, São Paulo state, Brazil

Toxoplasmosis is a zoonosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii, a coccidian protozoan of worldwide distribution. The seroprevalence in canine population can be an alternative for measuring T. gondii urban spreading. A total of 780 blood samples from dogs were collected, during the yearly anti-rabies campaign, carried out by the Department of Veterinary Hygiene and Public Health, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry (FMVZ), São Paulo State University, UNESP, together with the county health authorities, in August 1999. Using Indirect Fluorescent Antibody Test (IFAT) for detecting antibodies anti-T. gondii in the sera samples, we observed that 258 dogs (33.1%) were positive. The associations between the serological results and the epidemiological variables were studied. Statistically significant differences were not found regarding sex (32.2% male and 34.3% female reactors). Dogs without a defined breed showed seropositivity statistically higher than the pedigreed group. The occurrence of infection was considered higher with age.

Environmental parameters and antimicrobial susceptibility of enterobacteriaceae isolated from estuarine waters of São Vicente, São Paulo State, Brazil

Diseases transmitted by water consists a serious public health problem and enterobacteria are the main group of microorganisms responsible for outbreaks in humans. Such pathogenic bacteria proliferate in water polluted by domestic and industrial sewage and reach the population through seawater contact. The aim of the present work was to study environmental parameters as well as to identify Enterobacteriaceae species and their antimicrobial susceptibility in water samples collected from the estuarine area of São Vicente city (São Paulo State, Brazil). Strains were identified by using traditional biochemical tests described in literature and antimicrobial susceptibility tests were carried out using the disk diffusion method. Out of 26 samples, Escherichia coli was the most frequent species (40.1%), followed by Citrobacter, Enterobacter and Klebsiella. The most effective drugs against the tested microorganisms were gentamycin, netilmicin, ciprofloxacin and cefepime. Since these bacteria are commonly found in seashore contaminated by sewage effluents, it can be concluded that estuarine waters of São Vicente are polluted and potentially capable of causing diseases and spreading pathogenic bacteria to human communities.