Seawater carbonate chemistry and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus body length and gene expression pattern changes during experiments, 2011

Extensive use of fossil fuels is leading to increasing CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere and causes changes in the carbonate chemistry of the oceans which represents a major sink for anthropogenic CO2. As a result, the oceans' surface pH is expected to decrease by ca. 0.4 units by the year 2100, a major change with potentially negative consequences for some marine species. Because of their carbonate skeleton, sea urchins and their larval stages are regarded as likely to be one of the more sensitive taxa. In order to investigate sensitivity of pre-feeding (2 days post-fertilization) and feeding (4 and 7 days post-fertilization) pluteus larvae, we raised Strongylocentrotus purpuratus embryos in control (pH 8.1 and pCO2 41 Pa e.g. 399 µatm) and CO2 acidified seawater with pH of 7.7 (pCO2 134 Pa e.g. 1318 µatm) and investigated growth, calcification and survival. At three time points (day 2, day 4 and day 7 post-fertilization), we measured the expression of 26 representative genes important for metabolism, calcification and ion regulation using RT-qPCR. After one week of development, we observed a significant difference in growth. Maximum differences in size were detected at day 4 (ca. 10 % reduction in body length). A comparison of gene expression patterns using PCA and ANOSIM clearly distinguished between the different age groups (Two way ANOSIM: Global R = 1) while acidification effects were less pronounced (Global R = 0.518). Significant differences in gene expression patterns (ANOSIM R = 0.938, SIMPER: 4.3% difference) were also detected at day 4 leading to the hypothesis that differences between CO2 treatments could reflect patterns of expression seen in control experiments of a younger larva and thus a developmental artifact rather than a direct CO2 effect. We found an up regulation of metabolic genes (between 10 to 20% in ATP-synthase, citrate synthase, pyruvate kinase and thiolase at day 4) and down regulation of calcification related genes (between 23 and 36% in msp130, SM30B, SM50 at day 4). Ion regulation was mainly impacted by up regulation of Na+/K+-ATPase at day 4 (15%) and down regulation of NHE3 at day 4 (45%). We conclude that in studies in which a stressor induces an alteration in the speed of development, it is crucial to employ experimental designs with a high time resolution in order to correct for developmental artifacts. This helps prevent misinterpretation of stressor effects on organism physiology.

Drying kinetics, biochemical and functional properties of products in convective drying of anchovy (Engraulis Anchoita) fillets

The aim of this work was to study the convective drying of anchovy (Engraulis anchoita) fillets and to evaluate the final product characteristics through its biochemical and functional properties. The drying temperatures were of 50, 60 and 70°C, and the fillet samples were dried with the skins down (with air flow one or the two sides) and skins up (with air flow one side). The drying experimental data were analyzed by Henderson–Pabis model, which showed a good fit (R2 > 0.99 and REQM < 0.05). The moisture effective diffusivity values ranged from 4.1 10–10 to 8.6 10–10 m2 s−1 with the skin down and 2.2 10–10 to 5.5 10–10 m2 s−1 with the skin up, and the activation energy values were 32.2 and 38.4 kJ mol−1, respectively. The product characteristics were significantly affected (p < 0.05) by drying operation conditions. The lower change was in drying at 60°C with air flow for two sides of the samples and skin up. In this condition, the product showed solubility 22.3%; in vitro digestibility 87.4%; contents of available lysine and methionine 7.21 and 2.64 g 100 g−1, respectively; TBA value 1.16 mgMDA kg−1; specific antioxidant activity was 1.91 mMDPPH g−1 min−1, and variation total color was 10.72.

Study of tRNA modifying enzymes and codon usage bias in cancer

Recent evidences indicate that tRNA modifications and tRNA modifying enzymes may play important roles in complex human diseases such as cancer, neurological disorders and mitochondrial-linked diseases. We postulate that expression deregulation of tRNA modifying enzymes affects the level of tRNA modifications and, consequently, their function and the translation efficiency of their tRNA corresponding codons. Due to the degeneracy of the genetic code, most amino acids are encoded by two to six synonymous codons. This degeneracy and the biased usage of synonymous codons cause alterations that can span from protein folding to enhanced translation efficiency of a select gene group. In this work, we focused on cancer and performed a meta-analysis study to compare microarray gene expression profiles, reported by previous studies and evaluate the codon usage of different types of cancer where tRNA modifying enzymes were found de-regulated. A total of 36 different tRNA modifying enzymes were found de-regulated in most cancer datasets analyzed. The codon usage analysis revealed a preference for codons ending in AU for the up-regulated genes, while the down-regulated genes show a preference for GC ending codons. Furthermore, a PCA biplot analysis showed this same tendency. We also analyzed the codon usage of the datasets where the CTU2 tRNA modifying enzyme was found deregulated as this enzyme affects the wobble position (position 34) of specific tRNAs. Our data points to a distinct codon usage pattern between up and downregulated genes in cancer, which might be caused by the deregulation of specific tRNA modifying enzymes. This codon usage bias may augment the transcription and translation efficiency of some genes that otherwise, in a normal situation, would be translated less efficiently.

Transcriptome, carbohydrate, and phytohormone analysis of Petunia hybrida reveals a complex disturbance of plant functional integrity under mild chilling stress

Cultivation of chilling-tolerant ornamental crops at lower temperature could reduce the energy demands of heated greenhouses. To provide a better understanding of how sub-optimal temperatures (12 degrees C vs. 16 degrees C) affect growth of the sensitive Petunia hybrida cultivar 'SweetSunshine Williams', the transcriptome, carbohydrate metabolism, and phytohormone homeostasis were monitored in aerial plant parts over 4 weeks by use of a microarray, enzymatic assays and GC-MS/MS. The data revealed three consecutive phases of chilling response. The first days were marked by a strong accumulation of sugars, particularly in source leaves, preferential up-regulation of genes in the same tissue and down-regulation of several genes in the shoot apex, especially those involved in the abiotic stress response. The midterm phase featured a partial normalization of carbohydrate levels and gene expression. After 3 weeks of chilling exposure, a new stabilized balance was established. Reduced hexose levels in the shoot apex, reduced ratios of sugar levels between the apex and source leaves and a higher apical sucrose/hexose ratio, associated with decreased activity and expression of cell wall invertase, indicate that prolonged chilling induced sugar accumulation in source leaves at the expense of reduced sugar transport to and reduced sucrose utilization in the shoot. This was associated with reduced levels of indole-3-acetic acid and abscisic acid in the apex and high numbers of differentially, particularly up-regulated genes, especially in the source leaves, including those regulating histones, ethylene action, transcription factors, and a jasmonate-ZIM-domain protein. Transcripts of one Jumonji C domain containing protein and one expansin accumulated in source leaves throughout the chilling period. The results reveal a dynamic and complex disturbance of plant function in response to mild chilling, opening new perspectives for the comparative analysis of differently tolerant cultivars.

Characterization of water-soluble organic compounds in bioaerosols by liquid chromatography and fluorescence spectroscopy

In the last decades, the effects of the air pollution have been increasing, especially in the case of the human health diseases. In order to overcome this problem, scientists have been studying the components of the air. As a part of water-soluble organic compounds, amino acids are present in the atmospheric environment as components of diverse living organisms which can be responsible for spreading diseases through the air. Liquid chromatography is one technique capable of distinguish the different amino acids from each other. In this work, aiming at separating the amino acids found in the aerosols samples collected in Aveiro, the ability of four columns (Mixed-Mode WAX-1, Mixed-Mode HILIC-1, Luna HILIC and Luna C18) to separate four amino acids (aspartic acid, lysine, glycine and tryptophan) and the way the interaction of the stationary phases of the columns with the analytes is influenced by organic solvent concentration and presence/concentration of the buffer, are being assessed. In the Mixed-Mode WAX-1 column, the chromatograms of the distinct amino acids revealed the separation was not efficient, since the retention times were very similar. In the case of lysine, in the elution with 80% (V/V) MeOH, the peaks appeared during the volume void. In the Mixed-Mode HILIC-1 column, the variation of the organic solvent concentration did not affect the elution of the four studied amino acids. Considering the Luna HILIC column, the retention times of the amino acids were too close to each other to ensure a separation among each other. Lastly, the Luna C18 column revealed to be useful to separate amino acids in a gradient mode, being the variation of the mobile phase composition in the organic solvent concentration (ACN). Luna C18 was the column used to separate the amino acids in the real samples and the mobile phase had acidified water and ACN. The gradient consisted in the following program: 0 – 2 min: 5% (V/V) ACN, 2 – 8 min: 5 – 2 % (V/V) ACN, 8 – 16 min: 2% (V/V) ACN, 16 – 20 min: 2 – 20 % (V/V) ACN, 20 – 35 min: 20 – 35 % (V/V) ACN. The aerosols samples were collected by using three passive samplers placed in two different locations in Aveiro and each sampler had two filters - one faced up and the other faced down. After the sampling, the water-soluble organic compounds was extracted by dissolution in ultra-pure water, sonication bath and filtration. The resulting filtered solutions were diluted in acidified water for the chromatographic separation. The results from liquid chromatography revealed the presence of the amino acids, although it was not possible to identify each one of them individually. The chromatograms and the fluorescence spectra showed the existence of some patterns: the samples that correspond to the up filters had more intense peaks and signals, revealing that the up filters collected more organic matter.

Antiplatelet therapy and clinical outcomes in cardiovascular diseases

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is a leading cause of death in the world. Despite effective treatment regimens for ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and ischaemic stroke, mortality and recurrence rates remain high. Antiplatelet therapy is on effective treatment and reduces the risk of recurrent heart attack and stroke. Nevertheless, there are patients who stopped or interrupted their antiplatelet therapy for certain reasons or some patients may be resistant or poor responders to antiplatelet therapy. Furthermore, there is evidence of rebound effect in platelet activity after antiplatelet cessation and this may associate with increased risk of cardiovascular event. This thesis is divided into five main chapters (chapters 3 to 7) which attempt to provide data to help resolve the uncertainty. Chapter 1 highlights the background of cardiovascular diseases and the global burden of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The metabolism of platelets, antiplatelet therapy and current antiplatelet therapy guidelines are described, followed by discussion of the risk of cardiovascular event and changes in antiplatelet therapy. Chapter 2 describes the data source from Virtual International Stroke Trial Archive (VISTA) and National Health Service Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) Safe Haven, followed by definition of outcome measures. In chapter 3, Virtual International Stroke Trial Archive (VISTA) data was examined to test whether continue with the same antiplatelet therapy or changing to a new antiplatelet regimen reduces the risk of subsequent events in patients who experience a stroke whilst taking antiplatelet therapy. The findings indicate that subjects who switch to a new antiplatelet regimen after stroke did not have a lower early recurrence rate than subjects who continued with the same antiplatelet therapy. Observations on bleeding complications were similar in both groups. However, changing antiplatelet regimen after stroke was associated with more favourable functional outcome across a full scale modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 90 days. In chapter 4, association between early or later initiation of antiplatelet with a recurrent ischaemic stroke and bleeding complications was assessed using VISTA data. The findings indicate that there was no association between a recurrent ischaemic stroke and timing of initiation of antiplatelet drug after stroke. However, early initiation was associated with increased risk of bleeding. In terms of functional outcomes, this study demonstrated that the mid-time and late initiation of antiplatelet therapy after acute stroke are associated with better functional outcomes compared with early initiation. In chapter 5, a nested case-control study was performed to explore the rate of antiplatelet cessation and interruption in a sample of patients with recent ischaemic stroke and to assess the risk of cardiovascular events associated with cessation and interruption of antiplatelet. It was found that there was no increased risk of cardiovascular event among patients who had early cessation or interrupted/stopped antiplatelet therapy within 90 days following acute ischaemic stroke. In chapter 6, the incidence and predictors of cardiovascular events after DAPT cessation were evaluated. The incidence of cardiovascular event while taking DAPT and following discontinuation of DAPT was 15.7% and 16.7% respectively. This study found that increasing age was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular event, whereas, revascularization-treated patients and longer duration of DAPT, were each associated with a decreased risk. The duration of DAPT six months and less was associated a significantly higher risk for cardiovascular event. In chapter 7, an untargeted metabolomics analysis was performed while on DAPT (aspirin plus ticagrelor) and once they stopped ticagrelor to identify metabolite changes associated with cardiovascular events after stopping DAPT. Ten ACS patients were recruited in this study and data were analysed for seven patients. Three hundred eleven putative metabolites were identified. This study found 16 putative metabolites significantly altered following ticagrelor cessation. Of these, seven metabolites were from lipid pathway and down-regulated some up to 3-fold. On the other hand, adenosine, from nucleotide metabolism was upregulated up to 2.6-fold. It concluded that there are changes in numerous pathways following DAPT discontinuation and whether these changes differ in patients who have cardiovascular event after stopping DAPT warrant further investigation. In chapter 8, a summary of the findings of this thesis are presented as well as the future directions of research in this area.

Mechanisms Predisposing Penile Fracture And Long-term Outcomes On Erectile And Voiding Functions.

Purpose. To determine the mechanisms predisposing penile fracture as well as the rate of long-term penile deformity and erectile and voiding functions. Methods. All fractures were repaired on an emergency basis via subcoronal incision and absorbable suture with simultaneous repair of eventual urethral lesion. Patients' status before fracture and voiding and erectile functions at long term were assessed by periodic follow-up and phone call. Detailed history included cause, symptoms, and single-question self-report of erectile and voiding functions. Results. Among the 44 suspicious cases, 42 (95.4%) were confirmed, mean age was 34.5 years (range: 18-60), mean follow-up 59.3 months (range 9-155). Half presented the classical triad of audible crack, detumescence, and pain. Heterosexual intercourse was the most common cause (28 patients, 66.7%), followed by penile manipulation (6 patients, 14.3%), and homosexual intercourse (4 patients, 9.5%). Woman on top was the most common heterosexual position (n = 14, 50%), followed by doggy style (n = 8, 28.6%). Four patients (9.5%) maintained the cause unclear. Six (14.3%) patients had urethral injury and two (4.8%) had erectile dysfunction, treated by penile prosthesis and PDE-5i. No patient showed urethral fistula, voiding deterioration, penile nodule/curve or pain. Conclusions. Woman on top was the potentially riskiest sexual position (50%). Immediate surgical treatment warrants long-term very low morbidity.

What Is The Best Indication For Single-incision Ophira Mini Sling? Insights From A 2-year Follow-up International Multicentric Study.

The Ophira Mini Sling System involves anchoring a midurethral, low-tension tape to the obturator internus muscles bilaterally at the level of the tendinous arc. Success rates in different subsets of patients are still to be defined. This work aims to identify which factors influence the 2-year outcomes of this treatment. Analysis was based on data from a multicenter study. Endpoints for analysis included objective measurements: 1-h pad-weight (PWT), and cough stress test (CST), and questionnaires: International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF) and Urinary Distress Inventory (UDI)-6. A logistic regression analysis evaluated possible risk factors for failure. In all, 124 female patients with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) underwent treatment with the Ophira procedure. All patients completed 1 year of follow-up, and 95 complied with the 2-year evaluation. Longitudinal analysis showed no significant differences between results at 1 and 2 years. The 2-year overall objective results were 81 (85.3%) patients dry, six (6.3%) improved, and eight (8.4%) incontinent. A multivariate analysis revealed that previous anti-incontinence surgery was the only factor that significantly influenced surgical outcomes. Two years after treatment, women with previous failed surgeries had an odds ratio (OR) for treatment failure (based on PWT) of 4.0 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02-15.57). The Ophira procedure is an effective option for SUI treatment, with durable good results. Previous surgeries were identified as the only significant risk factor, though previously operated patients showed an acceptable success rate.

Long-term Results Of Anderson-hynes Pyeloplasty In Children: How Long Follow-up Is Necessary?

Purpose After a successful pyeloplasty at 3 to 6 months, the question remains whether children need a long follow-up. Methods The medical charts of patients with long-term follow-up (> 5 years), who underwent dismembered pyeloplasty for uretero-pelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) from May 1998 to May 2007, excluding those with bilateral UPJO, solitary kidney, associated vesicoureteral reflux or other abnormalities, and inconclusive renogram due to poor renal function, were retrospectively reviewed. Ultrasonography, differential renal function (DRF, DMSA), and renal drainage on diuretic renography (diethylene-triamine-pentaacetate technetium-99 or DTPA-Tc99) were performed at 3 and 6 months every year. Results Complete data were available for 28 consecutive patients (28 renal unities) with 2 months to 12 years (mean age, 2.4 years) at surgery, of whom 21 (75%) were boys, 17 diagnosed prenatally (61%) and 18 unities (64.3%) were left, with median follow-up of 10.7 years. Images were graded according to the Society for Fetal Urology grading system: Grade III in 11 (49%) and grade IV in 17 (61%). All cases presented > 10% DRF (DMSA) and obstructed DTPA-Tc99. The T1/2 (the half-time of drainage) less than 20 minutes at 3 months was found in 21 cases (75%) and less than 25 minutes in 7 cases (25%). Renal function and patency were maintained during follow-up for all units with 8% maximum fluctuation of DRF. One index case (3.6%) of renal function deterioration presented DRF fluctuation > 8% at 3 months (from 23 to 32%) and progressive hydronephrosis and indeterminate DTPA at 6 months. Conclusions Satisfactory diuretic renogram at 3 to 6 months after pyeloplasty with maintained renal function and stable hydronephrosis suggests no need for further follow-up and indicates no functional loss with time. More than 8% DRF fluctuation might be a significant cutoff for further intervention aiming nephron preservation.

Morphological Aspects And Cox-2 Expression After Exposure To 780-nm Laser Therapy In Injured Skeletal Muscle: An In Vivo Study.

The effectiveness of low-level laser therapy in muscle regeneration is still not well known. To investigate the effects of laser irradiation during muscle healing. For this purpose, 63 rats were distributed to 3 groups: non-irradiated control group (CG); group irradiated at 10 J/cm(2) (G10); and group irradiated at 50 J/cm(2) (G50). Each group was divided into 3 different subgroups (n=7), and on days 7, 14 and 21 post-injury the rats were sacrificed. Seven days post-surgery, the CG showed destroyed zones and extensive myofibrillar degeneration. For both treated groups, the necrosis area was smaller compared to the CG. On day 14 post-injury, treated groups demonstrated better tissue organization, with newly formed muscle fibers compared to the CG. On the 21(st) day, the irradiated groups showed similar patterns of tissue repair, with improved muscle structure at the site of the injury, resembling uninjured muscle tissue organization. Regarding collagen deposition, the G10 showed an increase in collagen synthesis. In the last period evaluated, both treated groups showed statistically higher values in comparison with the CG. Furthermore, laser irradiation at 10 J/cm(2) produced a down-regulation of cyclooxygenase 2 (Cox-2) immunoexpression on day 7 post-injury. Moreover, Cox-2 immunoexpression was decreased in both treated groups on day 14. Laser therapy at both fluencies stimulated muscle repair through the formation of new muscle fiber, increase in collagen synthesis, and down-regulation of Cox-2 expression.

Eccentric Exercise Leads To Glial Activation But Not Apoptosis In Mice Spinal Cords.

The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of 3 overtraining (OT) protocols on the glial activation and apoptosis in the spinal cords of mice. Rodents were divided into control (C; sedentary mice), overtrained by downhill running (OTR/down), overtrained by uphill running (OTR/up) and overtrained by running without inclination (OTR). The incremental load test, ambulation test, exhaustive test and functional behavioural assessment were used as performance evaluation parameters. 36 h after the exhaustive test, the dorsal and ventral parts of the lumbar spinal cord (L4-L6) were dissected for subsequent protein analysis by immunoblotting. The OT protocols led to similar responses of some performance parameters. The ventral glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) protein levels were diminished in the OTR/up and OTR compared to CT and OTR/down groups. The ventral ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba-1), and the dorsal GFAP and Iba-1 protein levels were increased in the OTR/down compared to the other groups. The ratio between the cleaved capase-3/caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-9/caspase-9 measured in the spinal cord were not sensitive to the OT protocols. In summary, the OTR/down activated the glial cells in the motor (i. e. Iba-1) and sensory (i. e. GFAP and Iba-1) neurons without leading to apoptosis.

Pain Intensity And Cervical Range Of Motion In Women With Myofascial Pain Treated With Acupuncture And Electroacupuncture: A Double-blinded, Randomized Clinical Trial.

Acupuncture stimulates points on the body, influencing the perception of myofascial pain or altering physiologic functions. The aim was to evaluate the effect of electroacupuncture (EAC) and acupuncture (AC) for myofascial pain of the upper trapezius and cervical range of motion, using SHAM acupuncture as control. Sixty women presenting at least one trigger point at the upper trapezius and local or referred pain for more than six months were randomized into EAC, AC, and SHAM groups. Eight sessions were scheduled and a follow-up was conducted after 28 days. The Visual Analog Scale assessed the intensity of local and general pain. A fleximeter assessed cervical movements. Data were analyzed using paired t or Wilcoxon's tests, ANOVA or Friedman or Kruskal-Wallis tests and Pearson's correlation (α=0.05). There was reduction in general pain in the EAC and AC groups after eight sessions (P<0.001). A significant decrease in pain intensity occurred for the right trapezius in all groups and for the left trapezius in the EAC and AC groups. Intergroup comparisons showed improvement in general pain in the EAC and AC groups and in local pain intensity in the EAC group (P<0.05), which showed an increase in left rotation (P=0.049). The AC group showed increases in inclination (P=0.005) sustained until follow-up and rotation to the right (P=0.032). EAC and AC were effective in reducing the pain intensity compared with SHAM. EAC was better than AC for local pain relief. These treatments can assist in increasing cervical range of motion, albeit subtly.

Síndrome de Down e Moyamoya: estudo através de metanálise

We present a clinic-epidemiological study of two patients and meta-analysis (period 1977-2000 ) of the co-morbidity of the Down syndrome (DS) and moyamoya syndrome (MMS). Among the 42 patients listed in this survey, meta-analysis permitted to find the highest number of publications by researchers from Japan and United States, followed by Brazil and Italy; prevalence of cerebrovascular disease in suckling and pre school children; first symptomatology was hemiparesis (78.6%), speech disorders (26.2%); ischemic infarction (76.2%); recurring ischemic episodes (62%); bilateral impairment (83.3%). This analysis led to the conclusion that in the clinic-neurological investigation of DS patients with acute hemiparesis episodes, MMS should be included as the most probable diagnosis.

The impact of spatial data redundancy on SOLAP query performance

Geographic Data Warehouses (GDW) are one of the main technologies used in decision-making processes and spatial analysis, and the literature proposes several conceptual and logical data models for GDW. However, little effort has been focused on studying how spatial data redundancy affects SOLAP (Spatial On-Line Analytical Processing) query performance over GDW. In this paper, we investigate this issue. Firstly, we compare redundant and non-redundant GDW schemas and conclude that redundancy is related to high performance losses. We also analyze the issue of indexing, aiming at improving SOLAP query performance on a redundant GDW. Comparisons of the SB-index approach, the star-join aided by R-tree and the star-join aided by GiST indicate that the SB-index significantly improves the elapsed time in query processing from 25% up to 99% with regard to SOLAP queries defined over the spatial predicates of intersection, enclosure and containment and applied to roll-up and drill-down operations. We also investigate the impact of the increase in data volume on the performance. The increase did not impair the performance of the SB-index, which highly improved the elapsed time in query processing. Performance tests also show that the SB-index is far more compact than the star-join, requiring only a small fraction of at most 0.20% of the volume. Moreover, we propose a specific enhancement of the SB-index to deal with spatial data redundancy. This enhancement improved performance from 80 to 91% for redundant GDW schemas.

Hidrodinâmica e transporte de material particulado em suspensão sazonal em um estuário dominado por maré: Estuário de Caravelas (BA)

O objetivo do presente estudo é caracterizar a hidrodinâmica e o transporte de material particulado em suspensão (MPS) no estuário de Caravelas sob diferentes condições de maré e vazão fluvial. Foram realizadas quatro campanhas hidrográficas durante ciclos completos de maré, sendo em condições de maré de sizígia e quadratura, e durante os períodos seco e chuvoso. Dados de nível de água, velocidade e direção de correntes, salinidade, temperatura e turbidez foram obtidos em uma estação fixa próxima da desembocadura do estuário. A partir destes dados foram obtidos os transportes residuais de MPS e calculado os mecanismos de transporte. As maiores concentrações médias de material particulado em suspensão ocorreram em condições de sizígia. Em condições de maré de quadraturao transporte resultante de MPS foi com sentido estuário acima, porém de pequena intensidade. Em condições de sizígia o estuário é caracterizado por correntes mais intensas e assimétricas, com dominância de vazante. Durante a condição de sizígia o estuário pode atuar como importador ou exportador de MPS. O estuário do rio Caravelas foi classificado como bem misturado e fracamente estratificado. A hidrografia e o balanço sedimentar são principalmente modulados pela altura da marée o aporte de água doce é irrelevante.