Ten Year Study on Water Flushing Times and Water Quality in Southern Taylor Slough, Everglades National Park, FL

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of wetland restoration on the water balance, flushing time, and water chemistry of southern Taylor Slough, a major water way in Everglades National Park. Water balance and flushing time equations were calculated on a monthly time step from 2001 – 2011. Water chemistry of major ions and nutrients were analyzed and correlated with water flushing times. Results showed that evapotranspiration followed by water volume had the greatest influence on flushing time. The flushing times varied between 3 and 78 days, with longer times observed between October and December, and the shorter times between March and May. Ion concentrations at the coastal areas decreased with increased flushing times. Increased surface water inflow that resulted from restoration projects and water management changes were productive in the rainy season and should result in increased flushing times and decreased ion concentrations in Taylor Slough.

Aleitamento materno: acompanhamento e orientação de gestantes da cidade de Rio Pompas - MG atendidas pela unidade básica de saúde Dr. Romeu Vidal

O aleitamento materno é prática amplamente difundida cujos benefícios vêm sendo estudado ao longo de anos por instituições pertencentes a países em todo o mundo. É tão importante que quando executado pelo período de tempo adequado, de forma exclusiva, não apresenta nenhum alimento que seja tão completo e que apresente tantas vantagens que ultrapassem as questões nutricionais cujas fórmulas infantis atendem de forma bastante satisfatória. Além de alimento, o leite materno apresenta um fator protetor ao recém-nascido e previne doenças crônicas altamente prevalentes em nossa sociedade, além da importância econômica e do desenvolvimento cognitivo comportamental das crianças. O grande incentivo a essa prática por instituições governamentais e não governamentais vêm promovendo um aumento progressivo das taxas de aleitamento materno, porém ainda muito distante do que se espera alcançar. O presente projeto de intervenção visa sedimentar o conhecimento sobre a prática do aleitamento materno entre a equipe de saúde da família e disseminar tal conhecimento junto ao público alvo na tentativa corroborar com o aumento da prática na cidade de Rio Pomba.

Plano de ação para controle da hipertensão arterial e melhora da atenção ao usuário hipertenso do ESF Romeu Vidal, do município de Rio Pomba-MG

Por meio do diagnóstico situacional realizado pela Equipe de Estratégia Saúde da Família Romeu Vidal, no município de Rio Pomba-MG, foram identificados muitos usuários hipertensos com níveis pressóricos elevados e que não realizam controle adequado. Frente aos riscos da hipertensão arterial sistêmica, optamos por intervir nessa situação por meio de ações práticas e teóricas multiprofissionais que atingissem os seguintes nós críticos; falta de informações sobre a hipertensão, falta de planejamento da equipe para lidar com o problema e estilo de vida inadequados dos usuários. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho é elaborar proposta de intervenção voltada para o estímulo ao tratamento antihipertensivo e melhora da atenção direcionada para o usuário hipertenso. Para enfrentamento desse problema, criaremos o grupo Hiperdia, que se reunirá com esses usuários mensalmente para reuniões de orientação, inclusão e cuidado. Além da implantação do Cartão do Hipertenso e o estabelecimento da troca de receitas a cada 3 meses, será feito também reuniões com a equipe para melhora do serviço e atendimento. Assim, com essas ações, esperamos despertar nesse público a importância do autocuidado, e em até 12 meses, fazer com que 90% dos usuários apresentem controle pressórico adequado, saúde e qualidade de vida.

Melhoria da atenção voltada aos pacientes pós - infarto da Unidade Básica de Saúde Enfermeira Isaura Vidal

Esse trabalho propôs um plano de ação para enfrentar as dificuldades dos pacientes que sofreram infarto agudo do miocárdio, residentes na área de abrangência da UBS Enfermeira Isaura Vidal, no município de Rio Pomba, em Minas Gerais. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram organizar ações de atenção à saúde desses pacientes, realizar revisão da literatura relacionada às dificuldades de acompanhamento e de adesão ao tratamento e apresentar proposta de intervenção específica para acompanhamento desses pacientes. Para a intervenção foram estabelecidos os seguintes nós críticos; falta de conhecimento dos pacientes; acolhimento e atenção deficientes a esses pacientes, baixa frequência desses pacientes a unidade e não adesão aos hábitos saudáveis de vida. Devido aos riscos que esse paciente pode sofrer em sua saúde, foi estimulado o autocuidado para que os fatores de risco fossem estabilizados e a saúde destes, protegida. Todas as ações contaram com o apoio de uma equipe multiprofissional da saúde, que se envolveu no sentido de realizar cada uma delas dentro do cronograma estabelecido. Com essas ações, espera-se que dentro de um ano os pacientes que sofreram infarto agudo do miocárdio tenham uma saúde estável, com fatores de risco controlados, frequentes à unidade de saúde, com um estilo de vida saudável, praticando o autocuidado e seguindo corretamente o tratamento proposto.

Rastreamento da neuropatia diabética com monofilamento de nylon dos pacientes da Unidade de Saúde Isaura Vidal Soares: um controle de danos

Introdução: O Programa Saúde da Família Isaura Vidal Soares (PSFII), localizado em Rio Pomba, possui 5000 pacientes adscritos, sendo 157 diabéticos cadastrados. O acompanhamento desses doentes é feito de forma empírica pelos profissionais da unidade e a falta de um protocolo de seguimento dos mesmos resulta na prevenção inadequada de complicações do Diabetes Melitus, como a neuropatia diabética.Justificativa: O rastreamento da neuropatia diabética com o Monofilamento de Nylon é viável à realidade do PSFII. Esta unidade de saúde possui o material e uma profissional enfermeira treinada e capacitada para aplicar o teste.Objetivo: Avaliar a sensibilidade nos membros inferiores dos pacientes diabéticos através do Teste do Monofilamento de Nylon. Identificar a neuropatia em estágio precoce.Diminuir os danos recorrentes do diabetes e Realizar o seguimento dos pacientes diabéticos. Metodologia:Todos os pacientes diabéticos do PSF II serão submetidos ao teste do monofilamento de Nylon. Participarão como agentes sociais o médico e enfermeiro da unidade e, a aplicação do Teste seguirá as orientações do Concenso Internacional sobre Pé Diabético. Plano de Intervenção: Aplicação do teste de rastreio da neuropatia diabética nos pacientes diabéticos adscritos na referida unidade de atenção básica. Conclusão:O Monofilamento de Nylon é padrão-ouro para rastreamento da neuropatia diabética e isso é viável à realidade do PSFII. Essa iniciativa é apenas o início da normatização do acompanhamento dos pacientes diabéticos.

Analysis Of The Dna Fourier Transform-infrared Microspectroscopic Signature Using An All-reflecting Objective.

The Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) signature of dry samples of DNA and DNA-polypeptide complexes, as studied by IR microspectroscopy using a diamond attenuated total reflection (ATR) objective, has revealed important discriminatory characteristics relative to the PO2(-) vibrational stretchings. However, DNA IR marks that provide information on the sample's richness in hydrogen bonds have not been resolved in the spectral profiles obtained with this objective. Here we investigated the performance of an all reflecting objective (ARO) for analysis of the FT-IR signal of hydrogen bonds in DNA samples differing in base richness types (salmon testis vs calf thymus). The results obtained using the ARO indicate prominent band peaks at the spectral region representative of the vibration of nitrogenous base hydrogen bonds and of NH and NH2 groups. The band areas at this spectral region differ in agreement with the DNA base richness type when using the ARO. A peak assigned to adenine was more evident in the AT-rich salmon DNA using either the ARO or the ATR objective. It is concluded that, for the discrimination of DNA IR hydrogen bond vibrations associated with varying base type proportions, the use of an ARO is recommended.

Integrated Proteomics Identified Up-regulated Focal Adhesion-mediated Proteins In Human Squamous Cell Carcinoma In An Orthotopic Murine Model.

Understanding the molecular mechanisms of oral carcinogenesis will yield important advances in diagnostics, prognostics, effective treatment, and outcome of oral cancer. Hence, in this study we have investigated the proteomic and peptidomic profiles by combining an orthotopic murine model of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), mass spectrometry-based proteomics and biological network analysis. Our results indicated the up-regulation of proteins involved in actin cytoskeleton organization and cell-cell junction assembly events and their expression was validated in human OSCC tissues. In addition, the functional relevance of talin-1 in OSCC adhesion, migration and invasion was demonstrated. Taken together, this study identified specific processes deregulated in oral cancer and provided novel refined OSCC-targeting molecules.

Core-valence Correlation Effects On Ir Calculations: The Bf3 And Bcl3 Cases.

The first theoretical results of core-valence correlation effects are presented for the infrared wavenumbers and intensities of the BF3 and BCl3 molecules, using (double- and triple-zeta) Dunning core-valence basis sets at the CCSD(T) level. The results are compared with those calculated in the frozen core approximation with standard Dunning basis sets at the same correlation level and with the experimental values. The general conclusion is that the effect of core-valence correlation is, for infrared wavenumbers and intensities, smaller than the effect of adding augmented diffuse functions to the basis set, e.g., cc-pVTZ to aug-cc-pVTZ. Moreover, the trends observed in the data are mainly related to the augmented functions rather than the core-valence functions added to the basis set. The results obtained here confirm previous studies pointing out the large descrepancy between the theoretical and experimental intensities of the stretching mode for BCl3.

Iis--integrated Interactome System: A Web-based Platform For The Annotation, Analysis And Visualization Of Protein-metabolite-gene-drug Interactions By Integrating A Variety Of Data Sources And Tools.

High-throughput screening of physical, genetic and chemical-genetic interactions brings important perspectives in the Systems Biology field, as the analysis of these interactions provides new insights into protein/gene function, cellular metabolic variations and the validation of therapeutic targets and drug design. However, such analysis depends on a pipeline connecting different tools that can automatically integrate data from diverse sources and result in a more comprehensive dataset that can be properly interpreted. We describe here the Integrated Interactome System (IIS), an integrative platform with a web-based interface for the annotation, analysis and visualization of the interaction profiles of proteins/genes, metabolites and drugs of interest. IIS works in four connected modules: (i) Submission module, which receives raw data derived from Sanger sequencing (e.g. two-hybrid system); (ii) Search module, which enables the user to search for the processed reads to be assembled into contigs/singlets, or for lists of proteins/genes, metabolites and drugs of interest, and add them to the project; (iii) Annotation module, which assigns annotations from several databases for the contigs/singlets or lists of proteins/genes, generating tables with automatic annotation that can be manually curated; and (iv) Interactome module, which maps the contigs/singlets or the uploaded lists to entries in our integrated database, building networks that gather novel identified interactions, protein and metabolite expression/concentration levels, subcellular localization and computed topological metrics, GO biological processes and KEGG pathways enrichment. This module generates a XGMML file that can be imported into Cytoscape or be visualized directly on the web. We have developed IIS by the integration of diverse databases following the need of appropriate tools for a systematic analysis of physical, genetic and chemical-genetic interactions. IIS was validated with yeast two-hybrid, proteomics and metabolomics datasets, but it is also extendable to other datasets. IIS is freely available online at: http://www.lge.ibi.unicamp.br/lnbio/IIS/.

[impact Variables On The Decline In Infant Mortality In The State Of São Paulo, Brazil: 1998-2008].

This is an ecological, analytical and retrospective study comprising the 645 municipalities in the State of São Paulo, the scope of which was to determine the relationship between socioeconomic, demographic variables and the model of care in relation to infant mortality rates in the period from 1998 to 2008. The ratio of average annual change for each indicator per stratum coverage was calculated. Infant mortality was analyzed according to the model for repeated measures over time, adjusted for the following correction variables: the city's population, proportion of Family Health Programs (PSFs) deployed, proportion of Growth Acceleration Programs (PACs) deployed, per capita GDP and SPSRI (São Paulo social responsibility index). The analysis was performed by generalized linear models, considering the gamma distribution. Multiple comparisons were performed with the likelihood ratio with chi-square approximate distribution, considering a significance level of 5%. There was a decrease in infant mortality over the years (p < 0.05), with no significant difference from 2004 to 2008 (p > 0.05). The proportion of PSFs deployed (p < 0.0001) and per capita GDP (p < 0.0001) were significant in the model. The decline of infant mortality in this period was influenced by the growth of per capita GDP and PSFs.

Changes In Liver Cell Dna Methylation Status In Diabetic Mice Affect Its Ft-ir Characteristics.

Lower levels of cytosine methylation have been found in the liver cell DNA from non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice under hyperglycemic conditions. Because the Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) profiles of dry DNA samples are differently affected by DNA base composition, single-stranded form and histone binding, it is expected that the methylation status in the DNA could also affect its FT-IR profile. The DNA FT-IR signatures obtained from the liver cell nuclei of hyperglycemic and normoglycemic NOD mice of the same age were compared. Dried DNA samples were examined in an IR microspectroscope equipped with an all-reflecting objective (ARO) and adequate software. Changes in DNA cytosine methylation levels induced by hyperglycemia in mouse liver cells produced changes in the respective DNA FT-IR profiles, revealing modifications to the vibrational intensities and frequencies of several chemical markers, including νas -CH3 stretching vibrations in the 5-methylcytosine methyl group. A smaller band area reflecting lower energy absorbed in the DNA was found in the hyperglycemic mice and assumed to be related to the lower levels of -CH3 groups. Other spectral differences were found at 1700-1500 cm(-1) and in the fingerprint region, and a slight change in the DNA conformation at the lower DNA methylation levels was suggested for the hyperglycemic mice. The changes that affect cytosine methylation levels certainly affect the DNA-protein interactions and, consequently, gene expression in liver cells from the hyperglycemic NOD mice.

Effect Of Aloe Vera Application On The Content And Molecular Arrangement Of Glycosaminoglycans During Calcaneal Tendon Healing.

Although several treatments for tendon lesions have been proposed, successful tendon repair remains a great challenge for orthopedics, especially considering the high incidence of re-rupture of injured tendons. Our aim was to evaluate the pharmacological potential of Aloe vera on the content and arrangement of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) during tendon healing, which was based on the effectiveness of A. vera on collagen organization previously observed by our group. In rats, a partial calcaneal tendon transection was performed with subsequent topical A. vera application at the injury site. The tendons were treated with A. vera ointment for 7 days and excised on the 7(th) , 14(th) , or 21(st) day post-surgery. Control rats received ointment without A. vera. A higher content of GAGs and a lower amount of dermatan sulfate were detected in the A. vera-treated group on the 14(th) day compared with the control. Also at 14 days post-surgery, a lower dichroic ratio in toluidine blue stained sections was observed in A. vera-treated tendons compared with the control. No differences were observed in the chondroitin-6-sulfate and TGF-β1 levels between the groups, and higher amount of non-collagenous proteins was detected in the A. vera-treated group on the 21(st) day, compared with the control group. No differences were observed in the number of fibroblasts, inflammatory cells and blood vessels between the groups. The application of A. vera during tendon healing modified the arrangement of GAGs and increased the content of GAGs and non-collagenous proteins.

Fluorescence, Aggregation Properties And Ft-ir Microspectroscopy Of Elastin And Collagen Fibers.

Histological and histochemical observations support the hypothesis that collagen fibers can link to elastic fibers. However, the resulting organization of elastin and collagen type complexes and differences between these materials in terms of macromolecular orientation and frequencies of their chemical vibrational groups have not yet been solved. This study aimed to investigate the macromolecular organization of pure elastin, collagen type I and elastin-collagen complexes using polarized light DIC-microscopy. Additionally, differences and similarities between pure elastin and collagen bundles (CB) were investigated by Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) microspectroscopy. Although elastin exhibited a faint birefringence, the elastin-collagen complex aggregates formed in solution exhibited a deep birefringence and formation of an ordered-supramolecular complex typical of collagen chiral structure. The FT-IR study revealed elastin and CB peptide NH groups involved in different types of H-bonding. More energy is absorbed in the vibrational transitions corresponding to CH, CH2 and CH3 groups (probably associated with the hydrophobicity demonstrated by 8-anilino-1-naphtalene sulfonic acid sodium salt [ANS] fluorescence), and to νCN, δNH and ωCH2 groups of elastin compared to CB. It is assumed that the α-helix contribution to the pure elastin amide I profile is 46.8%, whereas that of the B-sheet is 20% and that unordered structures contribute to the remaining percentage. An FT-IR profile library reveals that the elastin signature within the 1360-1189cm(-1) spectral range resembles that of Conex-Toray aramid fibers.

Comparative Study Of Transgenic And Non-transgenic Maize (zea Mays) Flours Commercialized In Brazil, Focussing On Proteomic Analyses.

Genetically modified foods are a major concern around the world due to the lack of information concerning their safety and health effects. This work evaluates differences, at the proteomic level, between two types of crop samples: transgenic (MON810 event with the Cry1Ab gene, which confers resistance to insects) and non-transgenic maize flour commercialized in Brazil. The 2-D DIGE technique revealed 99 differentially expressed spots, which were collected in 2-D PAGE gels and identified via mass spectrometry (nESI-QTOF MS/MS). The abundance of protein differences between the transgenic and non-transgenic samples could arise from genetic modification or as a result of an environmental influence pertaining to the commercial sample. The major functional category of proteins identified was related to disease/defense and, although differences were observed between samples, no toxins or allergenic proteins were found.