Implicações nutricionais no tratamento e recuperação de pacientes adultos com diarréia crônica.

The nutritional assessment by 24 hour-dietary recall, anthropometry and blood-components measurements was undertaken in 23 adult patients, 17 males and 6 females suffering of chronic diarrhea from pancreatitis (30%), inflammatory bowel disease (22%), short intestine syndrome (9%) and unknown diarrhea (35%). The nutritional assessment was done at the entry and repeated at the discharge of the hospitalization that averaged 35 days, during which the patients received specific medical treatment along with obstipating diets. The hospitalization resulted in overall improvement of the patients either clinically by reducing their defecation rate or nutritionally by increasing their protein-energy intake and the values of anthropometry and blood components (albumin, free-tryptophan and lymphocytes). When the patients where divided into two groups based on their fecal-fat output one could note the better nutritional response of the group showing steatorrhea than the non-steatorrhea group, with the serum albumin and the arm-muscle circumference being discriminatory between groups. However even in the better recovered patients the indicative values of a satisfactory nutritional status were not accomplished. Thus, these data suggest that besides the overall nutritional improvement seen in the studied chronic diarrhea patients the full-nutrition recovering would demand either or both a longer hospitalization and/or an early-aggressive nutritional support.

Recuperação de povoamento de Eucalyptus urophylla com aplicações de nitrogênio, potássio e calcário dolomítico

A plantation of Eucalyptus urophylla, established in 1984 on a Quartzpsamment Soil, at Altinopolis, São Paulo State, presented in 1989 an medium increment of the cylindrical volume of the trees of 13.97 m 3/ha/year and also showed deficiency symptoms of potassium, calcium and magnesium. At 4.33 years after planting were applied two doses of nitrogen (0 and 10 g/tree of N), potassium (0 and 20 g/tree of K 2O) and of dolomitic lime (0 and 500 g/tree), combined in a randomized block design arranged in a factorial way (2 × 2 × 2), with four replications, in order to study the recuperation of the tree growth rate. Evaluations of the trees growth were performed at 4.33, 5.67, 6.75 and at 7.58 years when cutting the plantation was done. The soil fertility and leaf concentrations of N, K, Ca and Mg were analyzed before and after the application of the treatments. The accumulation and distribution of biomass and of these nutrients in the tree components and in the litter, and the economic studies referring to the volumes of wood were also evaluated 7.58 years after planting. Potassium fertilization increased the mass of potassium in stemwood, stembark, foliage, fruits and litter, but the increase was greater in foliage and in the stembark. Liming increased the mass of magnesium in stemwood, stembark, foliage and litter, but the increase was greater in the litter. There was no isolated effect of nitrogen fertilization. The growth rate of trees was recovered with the potassium application, which increased the mean annual increment (MAI) of cylindrical volume from 13.85 m 3/ha/year without fertilizer to 16.82 m 3/ha/year. At 7.58 years after planting, there was observed an effect of the N x K x dolomitic lime interaction in the wood production. In the absence of nitrogen and dolomitic lime, the application of potassium increased the real volume of 43% and there was a gain of US$ 86.79/ha.

Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) on Wild Marsh-Deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) from Southeast Brazil: Infestations before and after Habitat Loss

The lake from Porto-Primavera hydroelectric power station inundated an area of 2,200 km2 at the border of São Paulo and Mato-Grosso do Sul States, Brazil. Infestations by ticks were evaluated on 135 marsh deer, Blastocerus dichotomus (Illiger), captured before and after inundation. Ticks were collected for identification, and infestation level of animals was assessed by scoring. Deer were divided into four groups according to capture location and temporal relation to the inundation. Groups 1, 2, and 3 were captured before inundation. Group 4 was captured after inundation. Four tick species were found: Amblyomma cajennense (F.), Amblyomma triste Koch, Anocentor nitens (Neumann), and Boophilus microplus (Canestrini). Groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 had 30, 45, 100, and 96%, respectively, of animals carrying B. microplus ticks. A. triste was observed on 16, 22, 22, and 88% of animals from groups 1,2,3, and 4, respectively. A. nitens and A. cajennense were observed only on group 4, on 32 and 16% of the animals, respectively. Groups 1 and 2 had only 4.8 and 6.1% of animals with high infestation levels, respectively, and no ticks on 46.8% and 45.5% of the animals, respectively. Conversely, groups 3 and 4 lacked noninfested animals and had high infestation levels on 77.8 and 50% of deer, respectively. Marsh area shrinkage was blamed for higher infestation levels on deer from groups 3 and 4. The widespread presence of A. triste on marsh deer, a Neotropical tick species, raises the possibility of a natural host-parasite relationship.

Habitat, distribuição e aspectos adaptativos de peixes da microbacia do ribeirão Grande, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil

The ichthyofauna of ribeirão Grande microbasin that runs through one of the few remaining fragments of Atlantic Forest (in Mantiqueira mountain range, Valley of Paraíba) was studied. Fish samples were obtained with an electric fishing powered by a maximum capacity generator of 155 V and 60-Hz alterning current, gill-nets and traps. In three collecting days, during July/2001, October/2001, January/2002 and April/2002, 2865 fishes were sampled. These fishes belonged to 12 families, 23 genera and 37 species. The species were more abundant between the piedmont and the plain of the Valley of Paraíba. The Characidium, Trichomycterus genera and the Imparfinis minutus species presented only one ovary or testis and no swim bladder. The ecological significance of morphological features in stream mountain fishes was used to predict the niche adaptation for those conditions, towards K-strategy.

The influence of fruit morphology and habitat structure on ant-seed interactions: A study with artificial fruits

Artificial fruits designed to simulate lipid-rich non-myrecochorous diaspores were used to test for the effect of fruit morphology and habitat structure on ant-seed interactions in an Atlantic Forest site in SE Brazil. The outcome of the interaction (i.e., if the fruit was removed, cleaned by ants on the spot or had no interaction with ants) and the time of ant response were the investigated variables. Models simulating drupes and arilate diaspores were used to test for morphological effects and four habitat attributes (litter depth, number of logs, number of trees, and percentage of bromeliad coverage on the forest floor), likely to be correlated with the ant diversity and abundance in the study site, were measured to test for the effect of habitat structure. The proportion of fruits removed or cleaned did not differ between the two morphological models. Sites in which fruits were cleaned had more trees than those in which no interaction occurred. This may be a result of the foraging behavior of arboreal ants that frequently descend to the forest floor to exploit fleshy diaspores. Sites in which model removal occurred had lower litter depth than both those in which models were cleaned and those in which no interaction occurred. A negative correlation was observed between litter depth and ant response time. Accumulation of leaf litter at a given point may have constrained the movements of large ants in general, and ponerine ants (that are important seed removers) in particular. We conclude that that local pattern in litter depth and tree density influence the frequency and outcome of interactions between ants and non-myrmecochorous, fleshy diaspores.

Feeding habits and habitat use in Bothrops pubescens (Viperidae, Crotalinae) from southern Brazil

Bothrops pubescens is a member of the neuwiedi complex that occurs in southern Brazil and Uruguay. We studied the ecology of B. pubescens from a field site (at Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil) and based on preserved specimens from the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. In Santa Maria, individuals were collected during visual encounter surveys (VES), in pitfall traps with drift fences and during incidental encounters. Most snakes found in the field were on the ground, mainly on leaf litter, in mosaics of light and shadow or in completely shaded areas. In disturbed areas, snakes were usually associated with country houses and agricultural fields. Snakes were found much more frequently in forests and forest edges than in open habitats. The diet of B. pubescens comprised small mammals (56.2% of individual prey found), anurans (21.2%), lizards (7.5%), snakes (7.5%), birds (5.0%), and centipedes (2.5%). Prey predator mass ratios ranged from 0.002-0.627, and larger snakes tended to consume larger prey. Bothrops pubescens seems to be able to survive in disturbed areas, mainly those close to forests, and this ability may be facilitated by its generalized feeding habits. Copyright 2005 Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.

Resistência à penetração de um solo em recuperação sob sistemas agrosilvopastoris

In the Research and Teaching Farm of the State University of São Paulo (UNESP) - Campus of Ilha Solteira, located in Selviria, in Mato Grosso do Sul State, a study was conducted with the objective of investigating the resistance to penetration of a highly degraded soil due to construction of a Hydroelectric Power Plant. The experimental design was a completely randomized, with five treatments and five replications. The treatments were constituted of the following uses and managements: area in advanced state of degradation; area under regeneration cultivated 13 years with Pinus; area under regeneration cultivated 11 years with green manure and pasture; degraded area with natural regeneration; and area with natural vegetation (savanna). The system where the area was under regeneration with Pinus cultivation and the niches with natural regeneration were the closest to natural condition (savanna). Except for the natural area (savanna), all others presented a higher resistance to penetration in the layer of 0.20-0.40 m, which represents serious limitations for growth of plant roots.

Distribution and habitat use of Sordellina punctata (Serpentes, Colubridae), with a new record from State of São Paulo, Brazil

Sordellina punctata occurs throughout south and southeastern Brazil in the Atlantic Forest domain (states of São Paulo, Paraná and Santa Catarina). Records from the states of Rio de Janeiro and Mato Grosso do Sul are questionable. A new record from southwestern São Paulo extends its distribution west and northward, probably indicating a wider range in the past. Habitat use in S. punctata implies that it may be more associated with wetlands and other saturated areas than truly aquatics ones.

Panorama da inserçao internacional da América Latina e Caribe 2009-2010: Crise originada no centro e recuperação impulsionada pelas economias emergentes. Documento informativo

Incluye Bibliografía

Habitat heterogeneity and use of physical and acoustic space in anuran communities in Southeastern Brazil

Habitat heterogeneity and use of physical and acoustic space in anuran communities in Southeastern Brazil. We intended to verify if structural and physiognomical characteristics of water bodies influence on the degree of overlap among calling sites of 23 anurans species, if anuran species use different calling sites in different water bodies, and if there is some relationship between the degree of advertisement call (based on seven call features) and calling site differentiation. Then, we determined calling sites (based in four variables) and recorded the advertisement call for anuran species that occurred in 10 water bodies of northwestern São Paulo State. We also determined the environmental heterogeneity (based in four environmental descriptors) for each water body. Males of most species used similar calling sites in each water body, probably because of the high uniformity of the environment, as a consequence of agricultural impacts on edge vegetation of the studied ponds. Most species (18 out of 19 species) called from different sites in the ponds where they occurred, which can be associated with differences in horizontal and vertical distribution of vegetation in the studied ponds. From the 19 species analyzed, only males of Pseudopaludicola aff. saltica called in sites with the same characteristics in different ponds. Advertisement call of Hylidae species was more similar to each other than were Leiuperidae and Leptodactylidae among themselves. The aquatic/terrestrial anurans (Bufonidae, Leiuperidae, Leptodactylidae and Microhylidae) occupied similar calling sites but presented quite distinct advertisement calls, while Hylidae species presented an inverse pattern: a high similarity on advertisement call features but used different calling sites, which indicates a niche complementarity between physical (calling site use) and acoustic (advertisement call) space use. © 2008 Departamento de Ciências Biológicas.

Análise de séries temporais de coordenadas estimadas com gps: Uma proposta metodológica para detecção, remoção e recuperação de efeitos sazonais

GPS active networks are more and more used in geodetic surveying and scientific experiments, as water vapor monitoring in the atmosphere and lithosphere plate movement. Among the methods of GPS positioning, Precise Point Positioning (PPP) has provided very good results. A characteristic of PPP is related to the modeling and / or estimation of the errors involved in this method. The accuracy obtained for the coordinates can reach few millimeters. Seasonal effects can affect such accuracy if they are not consistent treated during the data processing. Coordinates time series analyses have been realized using Fourier or Harmonics spectral analyses, wavelets, least squares estimation among others. An approach is presented in this paper aiming to investigate the seasonal effects included in the stations coordinates time series. Experiments were carried out using data from stations Manaus (NAUS) and Fortaleza (BRFT) which belong to the Brazilian Continuous GPS Network (RBMC). The coordinates of these stations were estimated daily using PPP and were analyzed through wavelets for identification of the periods of the seasonal effects (annual and semi-annual) in each time series. These effects were removed by means of a filtering process applied in the series via the least squares adjustment (LSQ) of a periodic function. The results showed that the combination of these two mathematical tools, wavelets and LSQ, is an interesting and efficient technique for removal of seasonal effects in time series.

Avaliação comparada do uso de linguagens de indexação em catálogos de bibliotecas universitárias para recuperação por assunto

A comparative evaluation was made of the use of natural language versus two specialized indexing languages, aiming to demonstrate the influence of the availability of indexing languages on the functioning of information retrieval systems. The study was conducted within the ambit of the construction of search strategies by subject in online university library catalogs. The precision ratio was calculated to determine the accuracy of each indexing language in subjectbased information retrieval. From the comparative evaluation of the use of indexing languages, it was concluded that the term specificity required by the user during retrieval was more satisfactory when the query was made through controlled languages, whose availability and simplicity is also an indispensable requisite.

Urban poverty and habitat precariousness in the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

Bait and habitat preferences, and temporal variability of social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) attracted to vertebrate carrion

In addition to feeding on carrion tissues and fluids, social wasps can also prey on immature and adult carrion flies, thereby reducing their populations and retarding the decomposition process of carcasses. In this study, we report on the occurrence and behavior of social wasps attracted to vertebrate carrion. The collections were made monthly from September 2006 to October 2007 in three environments (rural, urban, and forest) in six municipalities of southeast Brazil, using baited bottle traps. We collected Agelaia pallipes (Olivier, 1791) (n = 143), Agelaia vicina (Saussure, 1854) (n = 106), Agelaia multipicta (Haliday, 1836) (n = 18), and Polybia paulista Ihering, 1896 (n = 3). The wasps were observed feeding directly on the baits and preying on adult insects collected in the traps. Bait and habitat associations, temporal variability of social wasps, and possible forensic implications of their actions are discussed. © 2011 Entomological Society of America.

First telemetry study of bush dogs: Home range, activity and habitat selection

Context The bush dog (Speothos venaticus) is difficult to observe, capture, and study. To date, indirect evidence and opportunistic field observations have been the primary sources of information about the species' ecology. Field data are urgently needed to clarify the species' ecological requirements, behaviour and movement patterns. Aims The present study uses 13 months of telemetry data from a group of bush dogs to begin to address questions about area requirements, habitat preferences and movement patterns of this difficult-to-study species. Methods We tracked a group of bush dogs (two adults, one juvenile, four young) in an area of intact and altered Cerrado (woodlandsavanna biome) in eastern Mato Grosso, Brazil (Nova Xavantina District). Key results The group had a total home range of 140km2 (fixed kernel 95%), with smaller seasonal 'subareas' (areas used for 12 months before moving to another area, with repetition of some areas over time) and demonstrated a preference for native habitats. Conclusions The bush dog's home range is greater than that of other canids of the same size, even correcting for group size. Patterns of seasonal movement are also different from what has been observed in other South American canids. Implications From our observations in the Brazilian savanna, bush dogs need large tracks of native habitat for their long-term persistence. Although the present study is based on a single pack, it is highly relevant for bush dog conservation because it provides novel information on the species' spatial requirements and habitat preferences. © 2012 CSIRO.