Floristic composition of a conservation area in the Federal District of Brazil

Cerradão vegetation shares many species with savanna and forest areas and is one of the most vulnerable phytophysiognomies in the Cerrado (Brazilian savanna) biome. The floristic composition of the Cerradão Biological Reserve was examined between September/2007 and November/2008. A total of 282 species distributed among 194 genera and 75 families were encountered, demonstrating proportions of 0.91 herbaceous species and 0.54 shrub species for each tree species. Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Rubiaceae, Poaceae, Myrtaceae, Malpighiaceae, and Melastomataceae were the most species-rich families. Fully 72.3% of the species of this dystrophic cerradão were shared by cerrado and forest vegetations, while 60.43% were shared by other cerradão sites, although the largest proportion of species (91%) were shared with cerrado sensu stricto. No species was found to be exclusive to this cerradão site, but approximately 95% of all species were native to the Cerrado biome.

Human group C rotavirus in children with diarrhea in the Federal District, Brazil

Group C rotaviruses are fastidious in their in vitro cell culture requirements. Recent serosurveys indicate that antibody to group C rotavirus is present in 3-45% of the human population in certain geographic locations, suggesting that rotavirus group C infection is more prevalent than previously believed and that the low rate of detection of these agents is probably due to the lack of sensitive diagnostic assays. From March to December 1994, 406 fecal specimens were collected from children under five years of age who were outpatients at the emergency services of nine public hospitals in Brasília, Federal District, Brazil. In addition to the samples from children, one public outpatient unit requested virological investigation of a stool sample from an HIV-seropositive adult male with diarrhea of sudden onset. All samples were analyzed by enzyme immunoassay for group A rotavirus and adenovirus (EIARA) and by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). One hundred and seven (26%) were positive for group A rotavirus. Four samples from children and the sample from the HIV-seropositive patient, although negative by EIARA, showed a group C rotavirus profile by PAGE and were positive for rotavirus by electron microscopy. Using specific VP6 and VP7 primers for group C rotavirus, a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed and products were detected by agarose gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining. These products were confirmed to be specific for group C rotavirus by using digoxigenin-oligonucleotide probes, Southern hybridization and chemiluminescent detection. The five positive group C rotavirus samples were detected in August (3 samples) and September (2 samples). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of group C rotavirus detected in the Federal District, Brazil and in an HIV-seropositive patient with acute gastroenteritis.

A time series analysis of meteorological factors and hospital outpatient admissions for cardiovascular disease in the Northern district of Guizhou Province, China

Findings on the effects of weather on health, especially the effects of ambient temperature on overall morbidity, remain inconsistent. We conducted a time series study to examine the acute effects of meteorological factors (mainly air temperature) on daily hospital outpatient admissions for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Zunyi City, China, from January 1, 2007 to November 30, 2009. We used the generalized additive model with penalized splines to analyze hospital outpatient admissions, climatic parameters, and covariate data. Results show that, in Zunyi, air temperature was associated with hospital outpatient admission for CVD. When air temperature was less than 10°C, hospital outpatient admissions for CVD increased 1.07-fold with each increase of 1°C, and when air temperature was more than 10°C, an increase in air temperature by 1°C was associated with a 0.99-fold decrease in hospital outpatient admissions for CVD over the previous year. Our analyses provided statistically significant evidence that in China meteorological factors have adverse effects on the health of the general population. Further research with consistent methodology is needed to clarify the magnitude of these effects and to show which populations and individuals are vulnerable.