Classification of varieties of pasteurella pestis strains isolated in the interior of the state of Pernambuco-Brazil

Studies were made on the biochemical behavior of 100 strains of P.pestis isolated in Northeastern Brazil with regard to production of nitrous acid, reduction of nitrates to nitrltes, and aciáification of glycerol. Results showed that 98 strains can be classified as "orientalis variety", while the remaining two could not be included in any of the existing "varieties".

Paracoccidioidomycosis in the state of Maranhão, Brazil: geographical and clinical aspects

INTRODUCTION: The study aimed to show the situation of paracoccidioidomycosis in the state of Maranhão, Brazil. METHODS: This study is a descriptive case series developed in two stages. First, a survey of cases originating from the state of Maranhão at the Instituto de Doenças Tropicais Natan Portela, Piauí (IDTNP) from 1997 to 2007, and second, the clinical description of 29 cases diagnosed in the Centro de Referências em Doenças Infecciosas e Parasitárias, Maranhão (CREDIP) from 2004 to 2010. RESULTS: Two hundred and sixteen cases have been cataloged at the IDTNP. West, east, and central regions of the state of Maranhão recorded 90.3% of cases proving to be important areas for study. The western region, with a prevalence of 10.8/100,000 inhabitants, has a significantly higher proportion of cases than the northern, southern, and eastern regions (p < 0.05). The occurrence was higher in men with 89.3% of cases, and the male-to-female ratio was 8.4:1. The majority of patients were older than 20 years, lived in rural areas, and had farming or soil management as main occupation (73.8%). At CREDIP, 29 cases were diagnosed, of which 26 (89.6%) had multifocal manifestations. Mucous tissues were involved more (75.8%) frequently, followed by lymph nodes, skin, and lungs with 65.5%, 39% and 37.9 %, respectively. The diagnosis was made by combining direct examination, culture, and histopathology. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows the geographical distribution and the epidemiological and clinical aspects of paracoccidioidomycosis, revealing the significance of the disease to the state of Maranhão.

Malaria in the State of Amazonas: a typical Brazilian tropical disease influenced by waves of economic development

In Brazil, more than 99% of malaria cases are reported in the Amazon, and the State of Amazonas accounts for 40% of this total. However, the accumulated experience and challenges in controlling malaria in this region in recent decades have not been reported. Throughout the first economic cycle during the rubber boom (1879 to 1912), malaria was recorded in the entire state, with the highest incidence in the villages near the Madeira River in the Southern part of the State of Amazonas. In the 1970s, during the second economic development cycle, the economy turned to the industrial sector and demanded a large labor force, resulting in a large migratory influx to the capital Manaus. Over time, a gradual increase in malaria transmission was observed in peri-urban areas. In the 1990s, the stimulation of agroforestry, particularly fish farming, led to the formation of permanent Anopheline breeding sites and increased malaria in settlements. The estimation of environmental impacts and the planning of measures to mitigate them, as seen in the construction of the Coari-Manaus gas pipeline, proved effective. Considering the changes occurred since the Amsterdam Conference in 1992, disease control has been based on early diagnosis and treatment, but the development of parasites that are resistant to major antimalarial drugs in Brazilian Amazon has posed a new challenge. Despite the decreased lethality and the gradual decrease in the number of malaria cases, disease elimination, which should be associated with government programs for economic development in the region, continues to be a challenge.

New pteridophyte records for the territory of Amapá, Brazil.

Eighteen Pteridophyte taxa in 15 genera are reported as new for the Territory of Amapá, Brazil. The collections area a result of a recent Projeto Flora Amazônica/Programa Flora expedition to that region, and update previous lists of taxa for Amapá.In 1975, Tryon and Conant publised a checklist of the ferns of the Brazilian Amazônia reporting 84 taxa for the Territory of Amapá. The paucity of records for Amapá reflects, at least in part, the amount of botanical exploration. The most complete list of taxa occurring in the Territory is an unpublished list of collection compiled by J. M. Pires. This compilation reports 118 taxas for the Territory of Amapá. The following list is intended to update both the Pires compilation an the Tryon and Conant checklist for the Territor. These records are the result of a Projeto Flora Amazônica/Programa Flora expedition to the region in the latter part of 1979. Species were included in this list is not reportes in the compilation of colections for Amapá, or listed as specifically occurrin in Amapá in the monographs and revisions consulted for listed as specifically occurring in Amapá in the monograohs and revisions consulted for identification (Evans, 1969; Kramer, 1957, 1978; de la Sota, 1960; Lellinger, 1972; Maxon & Morton, 1938; Scamman, 1960, Smith, 1971; Tryon, 1941, 1964).This list reports 18 taxa in 15 genera, increasing the number of taxa in Amapá from the 118 listed by Pires to 136. Most of the taxa reported here might have been predicted to occur in Amapá on the basis of their distribution records for surrounding regions.Each species is followed by a collection number. The collection number is that of D. F. Austin, C. E. Nauman, R. S. Secco, C. Rosario, and M. R. Santos except for four collections in which R. S. Secco was absent and B. V. Rabelo was present, and these are indicated after the collection number. Specimens are deposited in the herbaria of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém, Brazil and the United States. The family system is essentially that used by Tyron and Conant.

Quantifying the legacy of the Chinese Neolithic on the maternal genetic heritage of Taiwan and Island Southeast Asia

There has been a long-standing debate concerning the extent to which the spread of Neolithic ceramics and Malay-Polynesian languages in Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) were coupled to an agriculturally driven demic dispersal out of Taiwan 4000 years ago (4 ka). We previously addressed this question using founder analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control-region sequences to identify major lineage clusters most likely to have dispersed from Taiwan into ISEA, proposing that the dispersal had a relatively minor impact on the extant genetic structure of ISEA, and that the role of agriculture in the expansion of the Austronesian languages was therefore likely to have been correspondingly minor. Here we test these conclusions by sequencing whole mtDNAs from across Taiwan and ISEA, using their higher chronological precision to resolve the overall proportion that participated in the "out-of-Taiwan" mid-Holocene dispersal as opposed to earlier, postglacial expansions in the Early Holocene. We show that, in total, about 20 % of mtDNA lineages in the modern ISEA pool result from the "out-of-Taiwan" dispersal, with most of the remainder signifying earlier processes, mainly due to sea-level rises after the Last Glacial Maximum. Notably, we show that every one of these founder clusters previously entered Taiwan from China, 6-7 ka, where rice-farming originated, and remained distinct from the indigenous Taiwanese population until after the subsequent dispersal into ISEA.

The larva of the frog leptodactylus hylaedactylus (Leptodactylidae) [by] W. Ronald Heyer and Philip A. Silverstone.

v.51:no.11(1969)

The University of Kansas science bulletin.

v.48:no.1-13 (1968-1969)

Urban spatial structure and suburbanisation. The case of the Barcelona Metropolitan

The metropolitan spatial structure displays various patterns, sometimes monocentricity and sometimes multicentricity, which seems much more complicated than the exponential density function used in classic works such as Clark (1961), Muth (1969) or Mills (1973) among others, can effectively represent. It seems that a more flexible density function,such as cubic spline function (Anderson (1982), Zheng (1991), etc.) to describe the density-accessibility relationship is needed. Also, accessibility, the fundamental determinant of density variations, is only partly captured by the inclusion of distance to the city centre as an explanatory variable. Steen (1986) has proposed to correct that miss-especification by including an additional gradient for distance to the nearest transportation axis. In identifying the determinants of urban spatial structure in the context of inter-urban systems, some of the variables proposed by Muth (1969), Mills (1973) and Alperovich (1983) such as city age or population, make no sense in the case of a single urban system. All three criticism to the exponential density function and its determinants apply for the Barcelona Metropolitan Region, a polycentric conurbation structured on well defined transportation axes.

The finding of eggs of Diphyllobothrium in human coprolites (4.100-1.950 BC) from Northern Chile

Twenty six coprolites from an archaeological site in the province of Iquique, northern Chile, were examined for parasites. Coprolites were found in two excavation units, I and II (Tiliviche site), dated respectively at 5,900 B.C. to 4,110 B.C. and 4,110 B.C. to 1,950 B.C., and identified as of human origin. Only at the unit II coprolites containing helminth eggs identified as Diphyllobothrium pacificum were found. The presence of this tapeworm, a parasite of the American Sea Lion, in human coprolites, points to a diet which included marine fishes and provides information on the antiquity of infection by Diphyllobothrium pacificum. It is interesting to note that Baer (1969) suggests the presence of this tapeworm in pre-Columbian populations when diagnosing the first human cases in today's population in Peru.

A rapid method for testing in vivo the susceptibility of different strains of Trypanosoma cruzi to active chemotherapeutic agents

A method is described which permits to determine in vivo an in a short period of time (4-6 hours) the sensitivity of T. cruzo strains to known active chemotherapeutic agents. By using resistant- and sensitive T. cruzi stains a fairly good correlation was observed between the results obtained with this rapid method (which detects activity against the circulating blood forms) and those obtained with long-term schedules which involve drug adminstration for at least 20 consecutive days and a prolonged period of assessment. This method may be used to characterize susceptibility to active drugs used clinically, provide infomation on the specific action against circulating trypomastigotes and screen active compounds. Differences in the natural susceptibility of Trypanosoma cruzi strains to active drugs have been already reported using different criteria, mostly demanding long-term study of the animal (Hauschka, 1949; Bock, Gonnert &amp; Haberkorn, 1969; Brener, Costa &amp; Chiari, 1976; Andrade &amp; Figueira, 1977; Schlemper, 1982). In this paper we report a method which detects in 4-6 hours the effect of drugs on bloodstream forms in mice with established T. cruzi infections. The results obtained with this method show a fairly good correlation with those obtained by prolonged treatment schedules used to assess the action of drugs in experimental Chagas' disease and may be used to study the sensitivity of T. cruzi strains to active drugs.

The Impact of Information Provision on Agglomeration Bonus Performance: An Experimental Study on Local Networks

The Agglomeration Bonus (AB) is a mechanism to induce adjacent landowners to spatially coordinate their land use for the delivery of ecosystem services from farmland. This paper uses laboratory experiments to explore the performance of the AB in achieving the socially optimal land management configuration in a local network environment where the information available to subjects varies. The AB poses a coordination problem between two Nash equilibria: a Pareto dominant and a risk dominant equilibrium. The experiments indicate that if subjects are informed about both their direct and indirect neighbors’ actions, they are more likely to coordinate on the Pareto dominant equilibrium relative to the case where subjects have information about their direct neighbors’ action only. However, the extra information can only delay – and not prevent – the transition to the socially inferior risk dominant Nash equilibrium. In the long run, the AB mechanism may only be partially effective in enhancing delivery of ecosystem services on farming landscapes featuring local networks.

Propositions pratiques d'utilisation des ultrasons quantitatifs osseux dans le management de l'ostéoporose [Practical proposals for the use of quantitative bone ultrasound in the management of osteoporosis]

As an emerging alternative to DXA, there is a growing interest in the use of quantitative ultrasound (QUS) measurements for the non invasive assessment of fracture risk in the management of osteoporosis. While the potential of QUS in the management of osteoporosis have been highly recognized by the scientific community and granted by the majority of the international bone disease organizations, it becomes important to develop strategies how to use ultrasound clinically. Our paper is highlighting Swiss operational clinical propositions for 2 QUS devices sold in Switzerland, on how to use the QUS in the management of osteoporosis.

The effect of anticoagulant pharmacotherapy on fracture healing.

BACKGROUND: There is in vitro and in vivo evidence that anticoagulants impair normal bone metabolism, and it is widely believed that this may impair fracture healing. However, there are only a few heterogeneous in vivo animal studies confirming this and the mechanisms are not fully understood. OBJECTIVE: To review the literature concerning the effects of anticoagulants on fracture healing, and to present current understanding of the mechanisms involved by reviewing in vivo studies of bone biology and in vitro studies of bone cells. METHODS: A systematic search of Medline and other databases was combined with manual searching of bibliographies of key papers to identify relevant studies in the English and German languages. CONCLUSION: There is strong evidence that warfarin, heparin and aspirin retard fracture healing. The preferential use of low molecular weight heparins is advocated to minimise this. Fondaparinux has not shown any impairment in vitro. Further studies of fondaparinux, the timing of anticoagulation therapy and the mechanisms of action of these agents are of paramount importance.

The role of basalt replenishment in the generation of basaltic andesites of the ongoing activity at Arenal volcano, Costa Rica: evidence from clinopyroxene and spinel

The bulk composition of magma erupted from Volcan Arenal has remained nearly constant (SiO2 = 53.6-54.9 wt%; MgO = 5.0-4.5 wt%) during almost 30 years of continuous activity (1969-1996). None the less, clinopyroxene (cpx) phenocrysts and their spinel inclusions record a much more complex open-system evolution in which steady-state production of the erupted basaltic andesitic magma is linked to episodic injections of basalt into Arenal's magma conduit/reservoir system. High-resolution major element zoning profiles (electron microprobe) on a large number of phenocrysts (&gt;14,000 analyses), tied to back-scattered electron (BSE) images, have been used to assess the compositional characteristics of the magmatic end members as well as the timing and dynamics of magma replenishment events. No two cpx phenocrysts have exactly the same zoning profile. The vast majority of our analyses record the crystallization of cpx (Cr2O3 &lt; 0.12 wt%; Mg# = 65-79; Al/Ti = 2-7) from a liquid comparable to or more evolved than erupted magma compositions. However, half of all cpx grains are cored by high-Cr cpx (Cr2O3 = 0.2-0.72 wt%) or contain similar basaltic compositions as abrupt growth bands in phenocrysts with and without high-Cr cores; phenocrysts with high-Cr cpx occur throughout the ongoing activity. In a few cases, high-Cr cpx occurs very near the outer margin of the grain without an apparent growth hiatus, particularly in 1968/69 and 1992/93. The main conclusions are: (1) all basaltic andesitic lavas erupted at Arenal during the ongoing activity that began in July, 1968, are the products of magma mixing, (2) clinopyroxenes record multiple replenishment events of basaltic magma in contrast to the near constancy of erupted bulk compositions, (3) some phenocrysts preserve records of multiple interactions with basaltic magmas requiring magmatic processes to operate on time-scales shorter than residence times of some phenocrysts, (4) multiple occurrences of clinopyroxene with high-Cr rims suggest that basalt replenishment events have occurred with sub-decadal frequency and may predate eruption by months or less. From this we infer that Arenal volcano is underlain by a continuously active, small-volume magmatic reservoir maintained in quasi-steady state by basalt recharge over several decades. The monotony of erupting Arenal magmas implies that fractionation, recharge, ascent, and eruption are well balanced in order for magmas to be essentially uniform while containing phenocrysts with vastly different growth histories at the time of eruption.