Specialized care for people with AIDS in the state of Ceara, Brazil

OBJECTIVE To analyze if the distribution of specialized care services for HIV/AIDS is associated with AIDS rates. METHODS Ecological study, for which the distribution of 10 specialized care services in the Ceara state, Northeastern Brazil, was obtained, and the mean rates of the disease were estimated per mesoregion. We evaluated 7,896 individuals who had been diagnosed with AIDS, were aged 13 years or older, lived in Ceara, and had been informed of their condition between 2001 and 2011. Maps were constructed to verify the relationship between the distribution of AIDS cases and institutionalized support networks in the 2001-2006 and 2007-2011 periods. BoxMap and LisaMap were used for data analysis. The Voronoi diagram was applied for the distribution of the studied services. RESULTS Specialized care services concentrated in AIDS clusters in the metropolitan area. The Noroeste Cearense and west of the Sertoes Cearenses had high AIDS rates, but a low number of specialized care services over time. Two of these services were implemented where clusters of the disease exist in the second period. The application of the Voronoi diagram showed that the specialized care services located outside the metropolitan area covered a large territory. We identified one polygon that had no services. CONCLUSIONS The scenario of AIDS cases spread away from major urban areas demands the creation of social support services in areas other than the capital and the metropolitan area of the state; this can reduce access barriers to these institutions. It is necessary to create specialized care services for HIV/AIDS in the Noroeste Cearense and north of Jaguaribe.

Phase diagram and complex patterns in the modeling of the bromate-oxalic acid-Ce-acetone oscillating reaction

Simulations have been carried out on the bromate - oxalic acid - Ce(IV) - acetone oscillating reaction, under flow conditions, using Field and Boyd's model (J. Phys. Chem. 1985, 89, 3707). Many different complex dynamic behaviors were found, including simple periodic oscillations, complex periodic oscillations, quasiperiodicity and chaos. Some of these complex oscillations can be understood as belonging to a Farey sequence. The many different behaviors were systematized in a phase diagram which shows that some regions of complex patterns were nested with one inside the other. The existence of almost all known dynamic behavior for this system allows the suggestion that it can be used as a model for some very complex phenomena that occur in biological systems.

Mineralogical and geochemical influences on sediment color of Amazon wetlands analyzed by visible spectrophotometry

Based on sedimentological and geochemical data, this work relates spectrophotometric measurements with sediment composition and its application in palaeoecological studies of Amazon wetlands. The CIELAB values are directly related to mineralogical and chemical composition, mostly involving quartz, iron oxyhydroxides and sulfides (e.g. pyrite), and total organic carbon. Total organic carbon contents between 0.4-1%, 1-2%, 3-5% and 15-40% were related to L* (lightness) data of 27, 26-15, 7-10 and 7 or less, respectively. The CIELAB values of a deposit in Marabá, Pará, were proportional to variations in quartz and total organic carbon contents, but changes in zones of similar color, mainly in the +a* (red) and +b* (yellow) values of deposits in Calçoene, Amapá and Soure, Pará, indicate a close relationship between total organic carbon content and iron oxyhydroxides and sulfides. Furthermore, the Q7/4 diagram (ratio between the % re?ectance value at 700 nm to that at 400 nm, coupled with L*) indicated iron-rich sediments in the bioturbated mud facies of the Amapá deposit, bioturbated mud and bioturbated sand facies of Soure deposit, and cross-laminated sand and massive sand facies of the Marabá core. Also, organic-rich sediments were found in the bioturbated mud facies of the Amapá deposit, lenticular heterolithic and bioturbated mud facies of the Soure deposit, and laminated mud and peat facies of the Marabá deposit. At the Marabá site, the data suggest an autochthonous influence with peat formation. The coastal wetland sites at Marajó and Amapá represent the development of a typical tidal flat setting with sulfide and iron oxyhydroxides formation during alternated flooding and drying.

Nota prévia sôbre a meiose de Corizus (Liorhyssus) hyalinus (Fabr.) (Hemiptera-Corizidae)

The main facts presented in this paper may be summarized as follows: 1) Corizus (Liorhyssus) hyalinus (Fabr.) has primary spermatocytes provided with 6 autosomal tetrads, one pair of microchromosomes and one sex chromosome. 2) The two microchromosomes present in this species sometimes appear at the primary metaphase as an unequal pair of minute elements. In the secondary spermatocytes the unique microchromosome present may be in the limit of visibility or entirely invisible. This invisibility may be partly due to a loss of colourability. 3) The sex chromosome divides transversely in the first division of the spermatocyte, passing undivided to one pole in the second one. In the latter it becomes fusiform in the beginning of anaphase revealing in this manner its dicentricity. In late anaphase it finishes by passing to one pole leaving in the other pole one of its kinetochores sometimes accompanied by a chromosomal fragment. 4) All the chromosomes divide transversely in both divisions, a diagram being enclosed to elucidate the question. 5) Spermatogonial chromosomes are provided with one kinetochore at each end, being curved toward the poles since the most beginning anaphase. 6) The following hypothesis is presented as an essay to explain the origin of microchromosomes: Since microchromosomes parallel sex chromosomes in most respects, as for instances in heteropycnosis and pairing modus, it seems highly probable that they originate from sex chromosomes. One may suppose that the ancestral form of a given species had a sex chromosome which used to lose a small centric fragment when it divided during meiosis. This fragment might well be at first an unstable one. Later, to compensate the effects of such a deficiency a mechanism arose through evolution which produced two useful results : a) the establishment of the fragment as a permanent structure of the cell nucleus and b) the acquirement by the sex chromosome of the faculty of passing to one pole without losing any of its ends.

Estudo sôbre a variação da produção leiteira na raça holandesa malhada de preto

The authors studied the effects of calving time, season and time elapsed after calving on milk production of the Holstein Friesian Breed of the "Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz" (Piracicaba, Brasil), 180 lactation periods of 300 days were studied, with 15 calvings in each month. Statistical analysis of the data proved : 1. That calving in May, June, July or August, that is, in the driest months, the cows give a milk production 17,3% larger than calving in December, January, February, March or April. August is the best month for calving, and February is the worst. 2. Spring is the most favorable, and Autumn the most unfavorable season for milk production. 3. The decrease of milk production during the lactation period depends largely on calving time. But, on the whole, linear regression can be used as a good aproximation, with a correlation coefficient r = - 0,9926 and a monthly decrease, per month elapsed after calving, of 8,06 percent of the general mean. 4. Diagram 1 shows the effects of calving month on milk production. The limits of 5%, 1% and l%o of probabilities are given there.

Distribuição geográfica da fauna e flora da Baía de Guanabara

The author studied, the horizontal and vertical distribution of most common part of the flora and fauna of the bay of Guanabara at Rio de Janeiro. In this paper the eulittoral, poly, meso and oligohaline regions were localised and studied; and the first chart of its distribution was presented (fig. 2). The salinity of superficial waters was established through determinations based on 30 trips inside the buy for collecting biological materials. Some often 409 determinations which were previous reported together with the present ones served for the eleboration of a salinity map of the bay of Guanabara (fig. 1). This map of fig. 2 shows the geographic locations of the water regions. EULITTORAL WATER REGIME — Fig. 3 shows the diagram scheme of fauna and flora of this regime. Sea water salinity 34/1.000, density mean 1.027, transparent greenish waters, sea coast with moderate bursting waves. Limpid sea shore with white sand, gneiss with the big barnacle Tetraclita squamosa var. stalactifera (Lam. Pilsbry. Vertical distributions: barna¬cles layers with a green region in which are present the oyster Ostrea pa-rasitica L., the barnacles Tetraclita, Chthamalus, Balanus tintinnabulum var. tintinnabulum (L.) e var. antillensis Pilsbry in connection with several mollusca and the sea beatle Isopoda Lygia sp. Covered by water and exposed to air by the tidal ritms, there is a stratum of brown animals that is the layer of mussels Mytilus perna L., with others brown and chestnut animals : the Crustacea Pachygrapsus, the little crab Porcellana sp., the stone crab Me-nippe nodifrons Stimpson, the sea stars Echinaster brasiliensis (Mull. & Tr.), Astropecten sp. and the sea anemones Actinia sp. Underneath and never visible there is a subtidal region with green tubular algae of genus Codium and amidst its bunches the sea urchin Lycthchinus variegatus (Agass.) walks and more deeply there are numerous sand-dollars Encope emarginata (Leske). The microplancton of this regime is Ceratiumplancton. POLYHALINE WATER REGIMB — Water almost sea water, but directly influenced by continental lands, with rock salts dissolved and in suspension. Salinity: 33 to 32/1.000. This waters endure the actions of the popular nicknamed «water of the hill» (as the waters of mesohaline and oligohaline regimes), becoming suddenly reddish during several hours. That pheno¬menon returns several times in the year and come with great mortality of fishes. In these waters, according to Dr. J. G. FARIA there are species of Protozoa : Peridinea, the Glenoidinium trochoideum St., followed by its satellites which he thinks that they are able to secret toxical substances which can slaughter some species of fishes. In these «waters of the hill» was found a species of Copepoda the Charlesia darwini. In August 1946 the west shore of the Guanabara was plenty of killed fishes occupying a area of 8 feet large by 3 nautical miles of lenght. The enclosure for catching fishes in the rivers mouthes presents in these periods mass dead fishes. The phenomenon of «waters of the hill» appears with the first rains after a period of long dryness. MESOHALINE WATER REGIME — Fig. 4 shows the the diagramm scheme. Salt or brackish water from 30 to 17/1.000 salinity, sometimes until 10/1.000. Turbid waters with mud in suspension, chestnut, claveyous waters; shore dirty black mud without waving bursting; the waters are warmer and shorner than those of the polihaline regime. Mangrove shore with the mangrove trees : Rhizophora mangle L., Avicennia sp., Laguncularia sp., and the »cotton tree of sea» Hibiscus sp. Fauna: the great land crab «guaimú» Cardisoma guanhumi Latr., ashore in dry firm land. There is the real land crab Ucides cordatus (L.) in wetting mud and in neigh¬ bourhood of the burrows of the fiddler-crabs of genus Uca. On stones and in the roots of the Rhizophora inhabits the brightly colored mangrove-tree-crab («aratu» Portuguese nickname) Goniopsis cruentata (Latreille) and the sparingly the big oyster Ostrea rhizophorae Guild. Lower is the region of barnacles Balanus amphitrite var. communis Darwin and var. niveus Darwin; Balanus tintinnabulum var. tintinnabulum (L.) doesn't grow in this brackish water; lower is the region of Pelecipoda with prepollency of Venus and Cytherea shell-fishes and the Panopeus mud crab; there are the sea lettuce Ulva and the Gastreropod Cerithium. The Paguridae Clibanarius which lives in the empty shells of Gasteropod molluscs, and the sessile ascidians Tethium plicatum (Lesuer) appears in some seasons. In the bottom there is a black argillous mud where the «one landed shrimps» Alpheus sp. is hidden. OLIGOHALINE WATER REGIME — The salinity is lower than 10/1.000. average 8/1.000. There are no barnacles and no sea-beetles Isopods of genus Lygia; on the hay of the shore there are several graminea. This brackish water pervades by mouthes of rivers and penetrates until about 3 kilometers river above. While there is some salt dissolved in water, there are some mud crabs of the genus Uca, Sesarma, Metasesarma and Chasmagnatus. The presence of floating green plants coming from the rivers in the waters of a region indicated the oligohaline waters, with low salt content because when the average of NaCl increases above 8/1.000 these plants die and become rusty colored.

In vitro Comparison of Disk Diffusion and Agar Dilution Antibiotic Susceptibility Test Methods for Neisseria gonorrhoeae

At present, most Neisseria gonorrhoeae testing is done with ß-lactamase and agar dilution tests with common therapeutic agents. Generally, in bacteriological diagnosis laboratories in Argentina, study of antibiotic susceptibility of N.gonorrhoeae is based on ß-lactamase determination and agar dilution method with common therapeutic agents. The National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) has recently described a disk diffusion test that produces results comparable to the reference agar dilution method for antibiotic susceptibility of N.gonorrhoeae, using a dispersion diagram for analyzing the correlation between both techniques. We obtained 57 gonococcal isolates from patients attending a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases in Tucumán, Argentina. Antibiotic susceptibility tests using agar dilution and disk diffusion techniques were compared. The established NCCLS interpretive criteria for both susceptibility methods appeared to be applicable to domestic gonococcal strains. The correlation between the MIC's and the zones of inhibition was studied for penicillin, ampicillin, cefoxitin, spectinomycin, cefotaxime, cephaloridine, cephalexin, tetracycline, norfloxacin and kanamycin. Dispersion diagrams showed a high correlation between both methods.

Radarsat backscattering from an agricultural scene

Orbital remote sensing in the microwave electromagnetic region has been presented as an important tool for agriculture monitoring. The satellite systems in operation have almost all-weather capability and high spatial resolution, which are features appropriated for agriculture. However, for full exploration of these data, an understanding of the relationships between the characteristics of each system and agricultural targets is necessary. This paper describes the behavior of backscattering coefficient (sigma°) derived from calibrated data of Radarsat images from an agricultural area. It is shown that in a dispersion diagram of sigma° there are three main regions in which most of the fields can be classified. The first one is characterized by low backscattering values, with pastures and bare soils; the second one has intermediate backscattering coefficients and comprises well grown crops mainly; and a third one, with high backscattering coefficients, in which there are fields with strong structures causing a kind of double bounce effect. The results of this research indicate that the use of Radarsat images is optimized when a multitemporal analysis is done making the best use of the agricultural calendar and of the dynamics of different cultures.

Geração e controle das cores luz primárias em vidros para dispositivos "full color"

We are working in a new multi-doped glassy material to generate simultaneously the three primary light color (by addition) of the visible spectrum, with the control of the intensity of each one, allowing the simulation of any color: a full-color generator device. Tm+3, Tb+3 and Eu+3 ions were used (0.01 to 5,0 mol%) as blue, green and red narrow line emitters. A wide color gamut was obtained under ultraviolet excitation by varying the material composition. The chromaticity diagram is covered, including the white simulation.

Organo-gel de heptano: diagrama de fases e aplicações sintéticas

The phase diagram formation of microemulsion-based gels composed of an anionic surfactant aerosol-OT sodium bis (2-ethylhexyl)-sulphosuccinate), water, gelatin and an organic solvent is presented for heptane. The stability of this organo- gel, when an enzyme is immobilized is discussed in terms of its reutilization in various esters synthesis.

Microemulsões: estrutura e aplicações como sistema de liberação de fármacos

Depending on formula composition, microemulsions may be used as a vehicle for drug administration. In this work the main applicable parameters used in the development of pharmaceutical microemulsions (ME) are analyzed. The conceptual description of the system, theoretical parameters related to formation of internal phases and some aspects of ME stability are described. The pseudo ternary phase diagram is used to characterize ME boundaries and to describe different structures in several regions of the diagram. Some applications of ME as drug delivery systems for different administration routes are also analyzed. ME offer advantages as drug delivery systems, because they favor drug absorption, being in most cases faster and more efficient than other methods in delivering the same amount of drug.

Vivianite and siderite in lateritic iron crust: an example of bioreduction

Lateritic iron crust (LIC) samples from Padauari (AM) were analysed by XRD, optical microscopy and SEM-EDS. The equilibrium of iron minerals (IM) was studied using Eh-pH diagram. It was shown that the minerals of the LIC are goethite (alpha-FeOOH), vivianite [Fe3(PO4)2.8H2O] and siderite (FeCO3). Carbonate grains are a solid solution of FeCO3-MnCO3. The LIC presents textures and structures of dissolution of IM. The siderite and vivianite are stable from Eh =-0.3 to 0.0 V and pH=5.0-7.5. These results indicate that vivianite and siderite are products of bioreduction through biogenic dissolution of IM, the new conditions of ecosystems of the Amazon region.

Diagramas de Ellingham e de Van't Hoff: algumas considerações

The main subject of this article is to show the parallelism betwen the Ellingham and Van't Hoff diagrams. The first one is a graphic representation of the changes in the standard Gibbs free energy (deltarGtheta) as a function of T and was introduced by Ellingham in 1944, in order to study metallurgic processes involving oxides and sulphides. On the other hand, the Van't Hoff diagram is a representation of the function ln K versus (1/T). The equivalence between both diagrams is easily demonstrated, making simple mathematical manipulations. In order to show the parallelism between both diagrams, they are presented briefly and two examples are discussed. The comparison of the both diagrams surely will be helpful to students and teachers in their learning and teaching activities, and will certainly enrich important aspects of chemical thermodynamics.

Uma introdução à espectroscopia atômica: II - o espectro do sódio

The present article is devoted to Chemistry or Physics undergraduate students, given their difficulty to understand fundamental concepts and technical language used in atomic spectroscopy and quantum mechanics. An easy approach is shown in the treatment of the emission spectrum of the sodium atom without any involved calculations. In a previous article, the hydrogen spectrum was considered and the energy degeneracy of the angular momentum quantum number was observed. For the sodium spectrum, due to the valence electron penetration into internal shells, a breakdown of this degeneracy occurs and a dependence of this penetration on the angular momentum quantum number is observed. The eigenvalues are determined introducing the quantum defect correction (Rydberg correction) in the denominator of the Balmer equation, and the energy diagram is obtained. The intensity ratio for the observed doublets is explained by introducing new wave functions, containing the magnetic quantum number of the total angular momentum.

Estudo de liberação e permeação in vitro do diclofenaco de dietilamônio em microemulsão gel-like

The goal of this study was to produce and characterize a new microemulsion gel-like carrier system (MEG) by using the pseudo-ternary phase-diagram concept. The diclofenac diethylamine (DDA) was incorporated in the MEG and its in vitro release and permeation profiles were performed using Franz-type diffusion cells. The results revealed that the commercial DDA emulgel provided significantly higher Kp of DDA (2.2-fold) as compared to the MEG. Similar data were obtained in the permeation studies in which DDA Kp 4.7-fold higher. Therefore, MEG presents higher potential as a topical delivery system for DDA when compared to the commercial DDA emulgel.