Assessment of Autonomic Function by Phase Rectification of RRInterval Histogram Analysis in Chagas Disease

Background:In chronic Chagas disease (ChD), impairment of cardiac autonomic function bears prognostic implications. Phase‑rectification of RR-interval series isolates the sympathetic, acceleration phase (AC) and parasympathetic, deceleration phase (DC) influences on cardiac autonomic modulation.Objective:This study investigated heart rate variability (HRV) as a function of RR-interval to assess autonomic function in healthy and ChD subjects.Methods:Control (n = 20) and ChD (n = 20) groups were studied. All underwent 60-min head-up tilt table test under ECG recording. Histogram of RR-interval series was calculated, with 100 ms class, ranging from 600–1100 ms. In each class, mean RR-intervals (MNN) and root-mean-squared difference (RMSNN) of consecutive normal RR-intervals that suited a particular class were calculated. Average of all RMSNN values in each class was analyzed as function of MNN, in the whole series (RMSNNT), and in AC (RMSNNAC) and DC (RMSNNDC) phases. Slopes of linear regression lines were compared between groups using Student t-test. Correlation coefficients were tested before comparisons. RMSNN was log-transformed. (α < 0.05).Results:Correlation coefficient was significant in all regressions (p < 0.05). In the control group, RMSNNT, RMSNNAC, and RMSNNDCsignificantly increased linearly with MNN (p < 0.05). In ChD, only RMSNNAC showed significant increase as a function of MNN, whereas RMSNNT and RMSNNDC did not.Conclusion:HRV increases in proportion with the RR-interval in healthy subjects. This behavior is lost in ChD, particularly in the DC phase, indicating cardiac vagal incompetence.

Lognormal abundance distribution of woody species in a cerrado fragment (São Carlos, southeastern Brazil)

The lognormal distribution model is frequently found in communities, especially those which are rich in species and influenced by many environmental factors, as those of the cerrado. We tested the hypothesis that the abundance distribution of woody plant species in a cerrado fragment fits the lognormal model. We placed 20 lines in a cerrado fragment and sampled, with the point-quarter method, 800 individuals with stem perimeter equal or larger than 3 cm. We plotted the abundance-class histogram of the species, verified its normality with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and estimated the expected number of woody species for this community. Of the 63 obtained species, Anadenanthera falcata (with 185 species), Eriotheca gracilipes (43), Stryphnodendron obovatum (37), and Miconia albicans (36) were the most abundant ones. Twelve species were represented by only one individual. We did not reject the null hypotheses that the distribution of woody component species was normal and, thus, their abundances fitted the lognormal model. Therefore, with our work, we can predict that cerrado plant communities fit the lognormal model. If this pattern is maintained in other cerrado communities, there would be implications for the conservation of this vegetation type, because rare species are susceptible of extinction, and implications to their structure, because the dominant species may act as keystone species.

Associação e distribuição das espécies de peixes na laguna de Marapendi, Rio de Janeiro, no período de março de 1985 a fevereiro de 1987

From March 1985 to February 1987 montly cast net and beach seine sambles were collected at the Marapendi lagoon, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to describe its ichthyofauna and analyze associations between species and their distribution in areas with different salinity regimes. A stratified random sampling design was used and the lagoon diveided in four areas (1-4) according to salinity gradient. The "Bravais-Pearson" correlation index was utilized to analyze the similarity between species and between areas and also group them according to the UPGMA method. According to the results eight species groups were established. The majority of the species were wuryhaline, having a marine origin and were distributed in areas 1, 2 and 3 (high salinity areas). The formation of smaller groups with species of fresh water origin, which occurred in areas 2, 3 and 4 is also discussed.

Physiographic and floristic gradients across topography in transitional seasonally dry evergreen forests of southeast Pará, Brazil

Seasonally dry evergreen forests in southeast Pará, Brazil are transitional between taller closed forests of the interior Amazon Basin and woodland savannas (cerrados) of Brazil's south-central plains. We describe abiotic and biotic gradients in this region near the frontier town of Redenção where forest structure and composition grade subtly across barely undulating topography. Annual precipitation averaged 1859 mm between 1995-2001, with nearly zero rainfall during the dry season months of June August. Annual vertical migrations of deep-soil water caused by seasonal rainfall underlie edaphic and floristic differences between high- and low-ground terrain. Low-ground soils are hydromorphic, shaped by perching water tables during the wet season, pale gray, brown, or white in color, with coarse texture, low moisture retention during the dry season, and relatively high macro-nutrient status in the surface horizons. Forest canopies on low ground are highly irregular, especially along seasonal streams, while overstory community composition differs demonstrably from that on high ground. High-ground soils are dystrophic, well-drained through the wet season, brown or red-yellow in color, with finer texture, higher moisture retention, and low macro-nutrient status in the surface horizons compared to low-ground soils. Forest canopies are, on average, taller, more regular, and more closed on high ground. Low-ground areas can be envisioned as energy and nutrient sinks, where, because of hydrologic cycles, canopy disturbance likely occurs more frequently than at high-ground positions if not necessarily at larger scales.

Dial behavioral responses of Metamysidopsis elongata atlantica (Crustacea, Mysida) to gradients of salinity and temperature

Metamysidopsis atlantica elongata (Bascescu, 1968) is a common mysid in the surf zone of sandy beaches from the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, where it is frequently recorded forming dense aggregations. Trough laboratory trials, behavioral responses to salinity (10, 20, 25, 28, 30, 40 e 45), temperature (10, 15, 20, 30±1ºC) and light (yes/no) were tested using adult males, adult females and juveniles. Although there was no response to temperature, the species showed clear response to salinity and light. In the presence of light, organisms remained in the bottom of the aquaria, but moved to surface when bottom salinities were increased. In the absence of light, adults moved to the surface. However, juveniles moved down to or remained on the bottom, maybe as a response to avoid adult predation.

Practices in primary health care oriented toward the harmful consumption of drugs

Objective To analyze the practices of primary care focused on the harmful consumption of drugs. Method This is a qualitative study, developed with a dialectical-critical approach. Data collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews with 10 employees of a basic health unit (UBS). Results The demands are not accepted, and if they go beyond the barriers shaped by the historical absence of health care practices for drug users and moralistic and preconceived ideologies, they are not reinterpreted as health needs; practices that meet these demands and go beyond the barriers are poor; the functionalist approach, which explains drug use as a disease and considers drug users as deviants, supports the few existing practices. Conclusion primary health care is mistakenly focused on addiction; it lacks structural elements of the production process in health and internal dynamics of the working processes that would foster the development of collective practices.

Object-oriented Programming Applied to the Development of Structural Analysis and Optimization Software

This paper presents the development of a two-dimensional interactive software environment for structural analysis and optimization based on object-oriented programming using the C++ language. The main feature of the software is the effective integration of several computational tools into graphical user interfaces implemented in the Windows-98 and Windows-NT operating systems. The interfaces simplify data specification in the simulation and optimization of two-dimensional linear elastic problems. NURBS have been used in the software modules to represent geometric and graphical data. Extensions to the analysis of three-dimensional problems have been implemented and are also discussed in this paper.

Assessment of tidal volume and thoracoabdominal motion using volume and flow-oriented incentive spirometers in healthy subjects

The objective of the present study was to evaluate incentive spirometers using volume- (Coach and Voldyne) and flow-oriented (Triflo II and Respirex) devices. Sixteen healthy subjects, 24 ± 4 years, 62 ± 12 kg, were studied. Respiratory variables were obtained by respiratory inductive plethysmography, with subjects in a semi-reclined position (45º). Tidal volume, respiratory frequency, minute ventilation, inspiratory duty cycle, mean inspiratory flow, and thoracoabdominal motion were measured. Statistical analysis was performed with Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, t-test and ANOVA. Comparison between the Coach and Voldyne devices showed that larger values of tidal volume (1035 ± 268 vs 947 ± 268 ml, P = 0.02) and minute ventilation (9.07 ± 3.61 vs 7.49 ± 2.58 l/min, P = 0.01) were reached with Voldyne, whereas no significant differences in respiratory frequency were observed (7.85 ± 1.24 vs 8.57 ± 1.89 bpm). Comparison between flow-oriented devices showed larger values of inspiratory duty cycle and lower mean inspiratory flow with Triflo II (0.35 ± 0.05 vs 0.32 ± 0.05 ml/s, P = 0.00, and 531 ± 137 vs 606 ± 167 ml/s, P = 0.00, respectively). Abdominal motion was larger (P < 0.05) during the use of volume-oriented devices compared to flow-oriented devices (52 ± 11% for Coach and 50 ± 9% for Voldyne; 43 ± 13% for Triflo II and 44 ± 14% for Respirex). We observed that significantly higher tidal volume associated with low respiratory frequency was reached with Voldyne, and that there was a larger abdominal displacement with volume-oriented devices.

Using different satellite imagery and classification techniques to assess the contribution of trees outside forests in the municipality of Maringá, Brazil

Forest cover of the Maringá municipality, located in northern Parana State, was mapped in this study. Mapping was carried out by using high-resolution HRC sensor imagery and medium resolution CCD sensor imagery from the CBERS satellite. Images were georeferenced and forest vegetation patches (TOFs - trees outside forests) were classified using two methods of digital classification: reflectance-based or the digital number of each pixel, and object-oriented. The areas of each polygon were calculated, which allowed each polygon to be segregated into size classes. Thematic maps were built from the resulting polygon size classes and summary statistics generated from each size class for each area. It was found that most forest fragments in Maringá were smaller than 500 m². There was also a difference of 58.44% in the amount of vegetation between the high-resolution imagery and medium resolution imagery due to the distinct spatial resolution of the sensors. It was concluded that high-resolution geotechnology is essential to provide reliable information on urban greens and forest cover under highly human-perturbed landscapes.

Assessment of a consultation-liaison psychiatry and psychology health care program

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relevance of subjective criteria adopted by a psychiatry and psychology consultation-liaison service, and their suitability in the evaluation of case registries and objective results. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted and all supervisors of the university hospital service were interviewed. Routinely collected case registries were also reviewed. Standardized assessment with content analysis for each category was carried out. RESULTS: The results showed distortions in the adopted service focus (doctor-patient relationship) and consultant requests. This focus is more on consulting physician-oriented interventions than on patients. DISCUSSION: Evaluation of the relevance of service criteria could help promoting quality assessment of the services provided, mainly when objective criteria have not yet been established to assure their suitability.

Comparative studies of Yersinia pestis outer membrane isolation techniques and their potential use in plague epidemiology

In the present study three techniques for obtaining outer membrane enriched fractions from Yersinia pestis were evaluated. The techniques analysed were: differential solubilization of the cytoplasmic membrane with Sarkosyl or Triton X-100, and centrifugation in sucrose density gradients. The sodium dodecyl-sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of outer membrane isolated by the different methods resulted in similar protein patterns. The measurement of NADH-dehydrogenase and succinate dehydrogenase (inner membrane enzymes) indicated that the outer membrane preparations obtained by the three methods were pure enough for analytical studies. In addition, preliminary evidences on the potential use of outer membrane proteins for the identification of geographic variants of Y. pestis wild isolates are presented.

THE FIRST CASE OF Angiostrongylus cantonensis EOSINOPHILIC MENINGITIS DIAGNOSED IN THE CITY OF SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL

Introduction: Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a natural parasite found in lung arteries of rats, which in humans may cause eosinophilic meningitis. Objective: To report the first case of eosinophilic meningitis caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Case report: A male patient, 11 years old, living in the southern area of São Paulo, was admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Department with ongoing headaches for three days, but no fever or any other complaint. The presence of snails and rodents was reported in the peridomicile. The child was awake, lucid, oriented; muscular strength preserved, isochoric, photo reagent pupils and terminal nuchal rigidity - Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) = 15. The laboratory tests showed a mild leukocytosis with 1736 eosinophils/mm3 and the CSF analysis disclosed 160 leukocytes/mm3 with 36% of eosinophils. The bacterial culture was negative. Computed Cerebral Tomography showed no alterations. The RT-PCR assay for detecting Angiostrongylus cantonensis larvae and DNA was negative. ELISA antibodies for IgG anti-A. cantonensis was negative in serum and undetermined in CSF and samples collected five days after the onset of symptoms. Seroconversion was observed in the sample collected 135 days later. Conclusion: the epidemiological and clinical data, the CSF alterations with eosinophilia and the seroconversion strongly suggest Angiostrongylus cantonensis eosinophilic meningitis.

High prevalence of HTLV-1 and 2 viruses in pregnant women in São Luis, state of Maranhão, Brazil

INTRODUCTION: Human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is endemic in the Caribbean, Japan, South America and regions of Africa. HTLV-2 is present in Native American populations and associated with IV drug use in Europe and North America. In Brazil, it is estimated that 1.5 million people are infected with HTLV-1/2. The study objective was to determine HTLV-1/2 prevalence in pregnant women in the prenatal care from three public services in São Luis, State of Maranhão, Brazil, and to counsel seropositive women to reduce viral transmission. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from February to December 2008; women with age of 18 to 45 years, with low risk for sexually transmitted disease (STD) were invited to participate. Blood samples were collected in filter paper, and HTLV-1/2 immunoenzymatic test (ELISA) was performed as a screening test. Women with reactive results were submitted to peripheral venous blood collection for ELISA repetition, followed by Western blot (WB) and real-time PCR to confirm and discriminate the infection between virus types 1 and 2. RESULTS: Of the 2,044 women tested, seven (0.3%) were ELISA reactive and confirmed positive (four were HTLV-1, and three were HTLV-2). All positive women were oriented not to breastfeed their newborns. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the virus is present in high prevalence in that population. Further studies covering other segments of the population are necessary to better characterize the presence of HTLV-1/2 in Maranhão and to elicit measures to prevent its spread.

Multi-temporal analysis of radiometric changes in satellite images of forest edges to infer selective-logging areas in the Amazon forest

Radiometric changes observed in multi-temporal optical satellite images have an important role in efforts to characterize selective-logging areas. The aim of this study was to analyze the multi-temporal behavior of spectral-mixture responses in satellite images in simulated selective-logging areas in the Amazon forest, considering red/near-infrared spectral relationships. Forest edges were used to infer the selective-logging infrastructure using differently oriented edges in the transition between forest and deforested areas in satellite images. TM/Landsat-5 images acquired at three dates with different solar-illumination geometries were used in this analysis. The method assumed that the radiometric responses between forest with selective-logging effects and forest edges in contact with recent clear-cuts are related. The spatial frequency attributes of red/near infrared bands for edge areas were analyzed. Analysis of dispersion diagrams showed two groups of pixels that represent selective-logging areas. The attributes for size and radiometric distance representing these two groups were related to solar-elevation angle. The results suggest that detection of timber exploitation areas is limited because of the complexity of the selective-logging radiometric response. Thus, the accuracy of detecting selective logging can be influenced by the solar-elevation angle at the time of image acquisition. We conclude that images with lower solar-elevation angles are less reliable for delineation of selecting logging.

Similar understorey structure in spite of edaphic and floristic dissimilarity in Amazonian forests

Forest structure determines light availability for understorey plants. The structure of lowland Amazonian forests is known to vary over long edaphic gradients, but whether more subtle edaphic variation also affects forest structure has not beenresolved. In western Amazonia, the majority of non-flooded forests grow on soils derived either from relatively fertile sediments of the Pebas Formation or from poorer sediments of the Nauta Formation. The objective of this study was to compare structure and light availability in the understorey of forests growing on these two geological formations. We measured canopy openness and tree stem densities in three size classes in northeastern Peru in a total of 275 study points in old-growth terra firme forests representing the two geological formations. We also documented variation in floristic composition (ferns, lycophytes and the palm Iriartea deltoidea) and used Landsat TM satellite image information to model the forest structural and floristic features over a larger area. The floristic compositions of forests on the two formations were clearly different, and this could also be modelled with the satellite imagery. In contrast, the field observations of forest structure gave only a weak indication that forests on the Nauta Formation might be denser than those on the Pebas Formation. The modelling of forest structural features with satellite imagery did not support this result. Our results indicate that the structure of forest understorey varies much less than floristic composition does over the studied edaphic difference.