Value of renal cortical thickness as a predictor of renal function impairment in chronic renal disease patients

Objective: To determine the presence of linear relationship between renal cortical thickness, bipolar length, and parenchymal thickness in chronic kidney disease patients presenting with different estimated glomerular filtration rates (GFRs) and to assess the reproducibility of these measurements using ultrasonography. Materials and Methods: Ultrasonography was performed in 54 chronic renal failure patients. The scans were performed by two independent and blinded radiologists. The estimated GFR was calculated using the Cockcroft-Gault equation. Interobserver agreement was calculated and a linear correlation coefficient (r) was determined in order to establish the relationship between the different renal measurements and estimated GFR. Results: The correlation between GFR and measurements of renal cortical thickness, bipolar length, and parenchymal thickness was, respectively, moderate (r = 0.478; p < 0.001), poor (r = 0.380; p = 0.004), and poor (r = 0.277; p = 0.116). The interobserver agreement was considered excellent (0.754) for measurements of cortical thickness and bipolar length (0.833), and satisfactory for parenchymal thickness (0.523). Conclusion: The interobserver reproducibility for renal measurements obtained was good. A moderate correlation was observed between estimated GFR and cortical thickness, but bipolar length and parenchymal thickness were poorly correlated.

Incubation period of Hemileia vastatrix in coffee plants in Brazil simulated under climate change

Risk analysis of climate change on plant diseases has great importance for agriculture since it allows the evaluation of management strategies to minimize future damages. This work aimed to simulate future scenarios of coffee rust (Hemileia vastatrix) epidemics by elaborating geographic distribution maps using a model that estimates the pathogen incubation period and the output from three General Circulation Models (CSIRO-Mk3.0, INM-CM3.0, and MIROC3.2.medres). The climatological normal from 1961-1990 was compared with that of the decades 2020s, 2050s and 2080s using scenarios A2 and B1 from the IPCC. Maps were prepared with a spatial resolution of 0.5 × 0.5 degrees of latitude and longitude for ten producing states in Brazil. The climate variables used were maximum and minimum monthly temperatures. The maps obtained in scenario A2 showed a tendency towards a reduction in the incubation period when future scenarios are compared with the climatological normal from 1961-1990. A reduction in the period was also observed in scenario B1, although smaller than that in scenario A2.

An analysis of the risk of cocoa moniliasis occurrence in Brazil as the result of climate change

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential risk of moniliasis occurrence and the impacts of climate change on this disease in the coming decades, should this pathogen be introduced in Brazil. To this end, climate favorability maps were devised for the occurrence of moniliasis, both for the present and future time. The future scenarios (A2 and B2) focused on the decades of 2020, 2050 and 2080. These scenarios were obtained from six global climate models (GCMs) made available by the third assessment report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Currently, there are large areas with favorable climate conditions for moniliasis in Brazil, especially in regions at high risk of introduction of that pathogen. Considering the global warming scenarios provided by the IPCC, the potential risk of moniliasis occurrence in Brazil will be reduced. This decrease is predicted for both future scenarios, but will occur more sharply in scenario A2. However, there will still be areas with favorable climate conditions for the development of the disease, particularly in Brazil's main producing regions. Moreover, pathogen and host alike may undergo alterations due to climate change, which will affect the extent of their impacts on this pathosystem.

Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW): Guia para Intervenções de Mudança de Comportamento

RESUMO Trata-se da resenha da obra The behaviour change wheel: a guide to designing interventions, de Michie, Atkins e West, publicada no Reino Unido pela Silverback Publishing em 2014.

Climate risk in maize crop in the northeastern of Brazil based on climate change scenarios

This study evaluates the impacts of climate change on the agricultural zoning of climatic risk in maize crop cultivated in the Northeastern of Brazil, based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. The water balance model, combined with geospatial technologies, was used to identify areas of the study region where the crops could suffer yield restrictions due to climate change. The data used in the study were the time series of rainfall with at least 30 years of daily data, crop coefficients, potential evapotranspiration and duration of the crop cycle. The scenarios of the increasing of air temperature used in the simulations were of 1.5ºC, 3ºC and 5ºC. The sowing date of maize crop from January to March appears to be less affected by warming scenarios than the sowing in November and December or April and May.