Administración del agua en América Latina y el Caribe en el umbral del siglo XXI

Incluye Bibliografía

The nematode community in the Atlantic rainforest lizard Enyalius perditus Jackson, from south-eastern Brazil

Studies focusing on communities of helminths from Brazilian lizards are increasing, but there are many blanks in the knowledge of parasitic fauna of wild fauna. This lack of knowledge hampers understanding of ecological and parasitological aspects of involved species. Moreover, the majority of research has focused on parasitic fauna of lizards from families Tropiduridae and Scincidae. Only a few studies have looked at lizards from the family Leiosauridae, including some species of Enyalius. This study presents data on the gastrointestinal parasite fauna of Enyalius perditus and their relationships with ecological aspects of hosts in a disturbed Atlantic rainforest area in the state of Minas Gerais, south-eastern Brazil. Two nematode species, Oswaldocruzia burseyi [(Molineidae) and Strongyluris oscari (Heterakidae) were found. Nematode species showed an aggregated distribution in this host population, with O. burseyi being more aggregated than S. oscari. The present study extends the range of occurrence of O. burseyi to the Brazilian continental area. © 2011 Cambridge University Press.

Fatigue and rapid hamstring/quadriceps force capacity in professional soccer players

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of fatigue induced by an exhaustive laboratory-based soccer-specific exercise on different hamstrings/quadriceps (H:Q) ratios of soccer players. Twenty-two male professional soccer players (23·1 ± 3·4 year) performed maximal eccentric (ecc) and concentric (con) contractions for knee extensors (KE) and flexors (KF) at 60° s-1 and 180° s-1 to assess conventional (Hcon:Qcon) and functional (Hecc:Qcon) ratios. Additionally, they performed maximal voluntary isometric contraction for KE and KF, from which the maximal muscle strength, rate of force development (RFD) and RFD H:Q strength ratio (RFDH:Q) were extracted. Thereafter, subjects were performed an exhaustive laboratory-based soccer-specific exercise and a posttest similar to the pretest. There was significant reduction in Hcon:Qcon (0·60 ± 0·06 versus 0·58 ± 0·06, P<0·05) and in Hecc:Qcon (1·29 ± 0·2 versus 1·16 ± 0·2, P<0·01) after the soccer-specific exercise. However, no significant difference between Pre and Post exercise conditions was found for RFDH:Q at 0-50 (0·53 ± 0·23 versus 0·57 ± 0·24, P>0·05) and 0-100 ms (0·53 ± 0·17 versus 0·55 ± 0·17, P>0·05). In conclusion, H:Q strength ratios based on peak force values are more affected by fatigue than RFDH:Q obtained during early contraction phase. Thus, fatigue induced by soccer-specific intermittent protocol seems not reduce the potential for knee joint stabilization during the initial phase of voluntary muscle contraction. copy; 2012 Scandinavian Society of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine.

Life mode of in situ Conularia in a Middle Devonian epibole

Exceptionally abundant specimens of Conularia aff. desiderata Hall occur in multiple marine obrution deposits, in a single sixth-order parasequence composed of argillaceous and silty very fine sandstone, in the Otsego Member of the Mount Marion Formation (Middle Devonian, Givetian) in eastern New York State, USA. Associated fossils consist mostly of rhynchonelliform brachiopods but also include bivalve molluscs, orthoconic nautiloids, linguliform brachiopods and gastropods. Many of the brachiopods, bivalve molluscs and conulariids have been buried in situ. Conulariids buried in situ are oriented with their aperture facing obliquely upward and with their long axis inclined at up to 87degree to bedding. Most specimens are solitary, but some occur in V-like pairs or in radial clusters consisting of three specimens, with the component specimens being about equally long or (less frequently) substantially different in length. The compacted apical end of Conularia buried in situ generally rests upon argillaceous sandstone. With one possible exception, none of the examined specimens terminates in a schott (apical wall), and internal schotts appear to be absent. The apical ends of specimens in V-like pairs and radial clusters show no direct evidence of interconnection of their periderms. The apical, middle or apertural region of some inclined specimens abuts or is in close lateral proximity to a recumbent conulariid or to one or more spiriferid brachiopods, some of which have been buried in their original life orientation. The azimuthal bearings of Conularia and nautiloid long axes and the directions in which conulariids open are nonrandom, with conulariids being preferentially aligned between 350 and 50degree and with their apertural end facing north-east, and nautiloids being preferentially aligned between 30 and 70degree. Otsego Member Conularia were erect or semi-erect, epifaunal or partially infaunal animals, the apical end of which rested upon very fine bottom sediment. The origin of V-like pairs and radial clusters remains enigmatic, but it is probable that production of schotts was not a regular feature of this animal's life history. Finally, conulariids and associated fauna were occasionally smothered by distal storm deposits, under the influence of relatively weak bottom currents. © The Palaeontological Association.

A new microcontrolled structural health monitoring system based on the electromechanical impedance principle

This article presents a new method to detect damage in structures based on the electromechanical impedance principle. The system follows the variations in the output voltage of piezoelectric transducers and does not compute the impedance itself. The proposed system is portable, autonomous, versatile, and could efficiently replace commercial instruments in different structural health monitoring applications. The identification of damage is performed by simply comparing the variations of root mean square voltage from response signals of piezoelectric transducers, such as lead zirconate titanate patches bonded to the structure, obtained for different frequencies of the excitation signal. The proposed system is not limited by the sampling rate of analog-to-digital converters, dispenses Fourier transform algorithms, and does not require a computer for processing, operating autonomously. A low-cost prototype based on microcontroller and digital synthesizer was built, and experiments were carried out on an aluminum structure and excellent results have been obtained. © The Author(s) 2012.

Dietary, anthropometric, and biochemical determinants of uric acid in free-living adults

Background: High plasma uric acid (UA) is a prerequisite for gout and is also associated with the metabolic syndrome and its components and consequently risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Hence, the management of UA serum concentrations would be essential for the treatment and/or prevention of human diseases and, to that end, it is necessary to know what the main factors that control the uricemia increase. The aim of this study was to evaluate the main factors associated with higher uricemia values analyzing diet, body composition and biochemical markers. Methods. 415 both gender individuals aged 21 to 82 years who participated in a lifestyle modification project were studied. Anthropometric evaluation consisted of weight and height measurements with later BMI estimation. Waist circumference was also measured. The muscle mass (Muscle Mass Index - MMI) and fat percentage were measured by bioimpedance. Dietary intake was estimated by 24-hour recalls with later quantification of the servings on the Brazilian food pyramid and the Healthy Eating Index. Uric acid, glucose, triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol, urea, creatinine, gamma-GT, albumin and calcium and HDL-c were quantified in serum by the dry-chemistry method. LDL-c was estimated by the Friedewald equation and ultrasensitive C-reactive protein (CRP) by the immunochemiluminiscence method. Statistical analysis was performed by the SAS software package, version 9.1. Linear regression (odds ratio) was performed with a 95% confidence interval (CI) in order to observe the odds ratio for presenting UA above the last quartile (♂UA > 6.5 mg/dL and ♀ UA > 5 mg/dL). The level of significance adopted was lower than 5%. Results: Individuals with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m§ssup§2§esup§ OR = 2.28(1.13-4.6) and lower MMI OR = 13.4 (5.21-34.56) showed greater chances of high UA levels even after all adjustments (gender, age, CRP, gamma-gt, LDL, creatinine, urea, albumin, HDL-c, TG, arterial hypertension and glucose). As regards biochemical markers, higher triglycerides OR = 2.76 (1.55-4.90), US-CRP OR = 2.77 (1.07-7.21) and urea OR = 2.53 (1.19-5.41) were associated with greater chances of high UA (adjusted for gender, age, BMI, waist circumference, MMI, glomerular filtration rate, and MS). No association was found between diet and UA. Conclusions: The main factors associated with UA increase were altered BMI (overweight and obesity), muscle hypotrophy (MMI), higher levels of urea, triglycerides, and CRP. No dietary components were found among uricemia predictors. © 2013 de Oliveira et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Fecal progestins during pregnancy and postpartum periods of captive red brocket deer (Mazama americana)

This study aimed to validate the enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for fecal progestin quantification of the species Mazama americana, define its excretion profile during periods of gestation and postpartum and determine the gestation period and resumption of postpartum ovarian activity in this species in captivity Fecal samples were collected twice a week during gestation and every day in the postpartum period, and analyzed using EIA The mean concentrations (±SEM) of fecal progestins during gestation were 2180.0 ± 299.1 ng/g in early pregnancy (week 1-11), 3271.4 ± 406.9 ng/g in middle pregnancy (week 12-22) and 5592.0 ± 1125.8 ng/g in late pregnancy (week 23-32) The gestation period determined for the species was 220.9 ± 1.2 days The concentration of progestins reached its peak prior to parturition and returned to baseline levels in 4 ± 0.31 days after parturition In the postpartum period, the mean concentrations of fecal progestins were 1564.2 ± 182.6 ng/g in the interval between parturition and resumption of ovarian activity, 469.8 ± 24.5 ng/g in the inter-luteal phase and 2401.7 ± 318.5 ng/g during the luteal phase, such that the postpartum period and the luteal phase differed from the inter-luteal phase Fecal progestin profiling permitted the detection of ovulation 26.9 ± 3.4 days after parturition in all the hinds studied and estimation of the mean duration of the estrous cycle, 21.3 ± 1.1 days Analysis established that concentrations of progestins above 3038.76 ng/g diagnosed pregnancy, a value determined from the week 12 of gestation Moreover, the quantification of fecal progestins by EIA proved to be an important tool for noninvasive endocrine monitoring and to obtain reproductive data on the species M americana in captivity © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Metabolic syndrome risk factors in overweight, obese, and extremely obese brazilian adolescents

Background: Obesity in infancy and adolescence has acquired epidemic dimensions worldwide and is considered a risk factor for a number of disorders that can manifest at an early age, such as Metabolic Syndrome (MS). In this study, we evaluated overweight, obese, and extremely obese adolescents for the presence of MS, and studied the prevalence of single factors of the syndrome in this population. Methods. A total of 321 adolescents (174 females and 147 males) aged 10 to 16 years, attending the Adolescent Outpatient Clinic of Botucatu School of Medicine, Brazil, between April 2009 and April 2011 were enrolled in this study. Adolescents underwent anthropometric evaluation (weight, height, and abdominal circumference) and Body Mass Index (BMI) was estimated according to age and gender, following Disease Control and Prevention Centers recommendations (CDC, 2000). Blood pressure was measured and individuals with BMI ≥ 85§ssup§th§esup§ percentile were submitted to laboratory evaluation for Total Cholesterol, HDL and LDL Cholesterol, Triglycerides, Fasting Insulinemia, and Fasting Glycemia to identify MS factors, according to the criteria suggested by the International Diabetes Federation. Insulin resistance was calculated by HOMA-IR, Quicki, and Fasting Glycemia/Fasting Insulinemia (FGI). Results and discussion. Of the 321 adolescents, 95 (29.6%) were overweight, 129 (40.2%) were obese, and 97 (30.2%) were extremely obese. Around 18% were diagnosed with MS. The most prevalent risk factors were abdominal circumference ≥90§ssup§th§esup§ percentile (55%), HDL < 40 mg/dL (35.5%), High Pressure ≥130/85 mm/Hg (21%), Triglycerides ≥150 mg/dL (18.5%), and Fasting Glycemia ≥100 mg/dL (2%). Insulin resistance was observed in 65% of the adolescents. Conclusion: An increased prevalence of overweight and obesity, together with cardiometabolic risk factors such as dyslipidemia and abnormal blood pressure, were observed in adolescents, contributing to the onset of metabolic syndrome at younger ages. Risk factors for MS were more prevalent in females. © 2013 Rizzo et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Helminths of lizards from the municipality of Aripuanã in the southern Amazon region of Brazil

Ninety-five specimens from 13 species of lizard collected during a herpetofaunal monitoring programme of the Faxinal II power plant, municipality of Aripuanã, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil (southern Amazon region) were examined for helminths. A total of 21 helminth species (16 Nematoda, 1 Cestoda and 4 Trematoda) were recovered, with an overall prevalence of 67.37%. Seventeen new host records and seven new locality records are reported. A low number of specialists and core helminth species were found. Lizard body size was positively correlated with both the total number of helminth species and individuals. Active foragers exhibited higher helminth diversity. However, sit-and-wait foragers, especially Plica plica, had similar diversity values as active foragers and harboured more helminth species. The degree of similarity in helminth fauna was higher among closely related host species. Copyright © 2011 Cambridge University Press.

The usable leftover one-dimensional cutting stock problem-a priority-in-use heuristic

We consider a one-dimensional cutting stock problem in which the material not used in the cutting patterns, if large enough, is kept for use in the future. Moreover, it is assumed that leftovers should not remain in stock for a long time, hence, such leftovers have priority-in-use compared to standard objects (objects bought by the industry) in stock. A heuristic procedure is proposed for this problem, and its performance is analyzed by solving randomly generated dynamic instances where successive problems are solved in a time horizon. For each period, new demands arise and a new problem is solved on the basis of the information about the stock of the previous periods (remaining standard objects in the stock) and usable leftovers generated during those previous periods. The computational experiments show that the solutions presented by the proposed heuristic are better than the solutions obtained by other heuristics from the literature. © 2012 The Authors. International Transactions in Operational Research © 2012 International Federation of Operational Research Societies.

Extensive impact of saturated fatty acids on metabolic and cardiovascular profile in rats with diet-induced obesity: A canonical analysis

Background: Although hypercaloric interventions are associated with nutritional, endocrine, metabolic, and cardiovascular disorders in obesity experiments, a rational distinction between the effects of excess adiposity and the individual roles of dietary macronutrients in relation to these disturbances has not previously been studied. This investigation analyzed the correlation between ingested macronutrients (including sucrose and saturated and unsaturated fatty acids) plus body adiposity and metabolic, hormonal, and cardiovascular effects in rats with diet-induced obesity. Methods: Normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats were submitted to Control (CD; 3.2 Kcal/g) and Hypercaloric (HD; 4.6 Kcal/g) diets for 20 weeks followed by nutritional evaluation involving body weight and adiposity measurement. Metabolic and hormonal parameters included glycemia, insulin, insulin resistance, and leptin. Cardiovascular analysis included systolic blood pressure profile, echocardiography, morphometric study of myocardial morphology, and myosin heavy chain (MHC) protein expression. Canonical correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationships between dietary macronutrients plus adiposity and metabolic, hormonal, and cardiovascular parameters. Results: Although final group body weights did not differ, HD presented higher adiposity than CD. Diet induced hyperglycemia while insulin and leptin levels remained unchanged. In a cardiovascular context, systolic blood pressure increased with time only in HD. Additionally, in vivo echocardiography revealed cardiac hypertrophy and improved systolic performance in HD compared to CD; and while cardiomyocyte size was unchanged by diet, nuclear volume and collagen interstitial fraction both increased in HD. Also HD exhibited higher relative β-MHC content and β/α-MHC ratio than their Control counterparts. Importantly, body adiposity was weakly associated with cardiovascular effects, as saturated fatty acid intake was directly associated with most cardiac remodeling measurements while unsaturated lipid consumption was inversely correlated with these effects. Conclusion: Hypercaloric diet was associated with glycemic metabolism and systolic blood pressure disorders and cardiac remodeling. These effects directly and inversely correlated with saturated and unsaturated lipid consumption, respectively. © 2013 Oliveira Junior et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Mini Nutritional Assessment predicts gait status and mortality 6 months after hip fracture.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), the Nutritional Risk Screening (NRS) 2002 and the American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status Score (ASA) as predictors of gait status and mortality 6 months after hip fracture. A total of eighty-eight consecutive patients over the age of 65 years with hip fracture admitted to an orthopaedic unit were prospectively evaluated. Within the first 72 h of admission, each patient's characteristics were recorded, and the MNA, the NRS 2002 and the ASA were performed. Gait status and mortality were evaluated 6 months after hip fracture. Of the total patients, two were excluded because of pathological fractures. The remaining eighty-six patients (aged 80·2 (sd 7·3) years) were studied. Among these patients 76·7 % were female, 69·8 % walked with or without support and 12·8 % died 6 months after the fracture. In a multivariate analysis, only the MNA was associated with gait status 6 months after hip fracture (OR 0·773, 95 % CI 0·663, 0·901; P= 0·001). In the Cox regression model, only the MNA was associated with mortality 6 months after hip fracture (hazard ratio 0·869, 95 % CI 0·757, 0·998; P= 0·04). In conclusion, the MNA best predicts gait status and mortality 6 months after hip fracture. These results suggest that the MNA should be included in the clinical stratification of patients with hip fracture to identify and treat malnutrition in order to improve the outcomes.

Dimerization of aurein 1.2: Effects in structure, antimicrobial activity and aggregation of Cândida albicans cells

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a promising solution to face the antibiotic-resistant problem because they display little or no resistance effects. Dimeric analogues of select AMPs have shown pharmacotechnical advantages, making these molecules promising candidates for the development of novel antibiotic agents. Here, we evaluate the effects of dimerization on the structure and biological activity of the AMP aurein 1.2 (AU). AU and the C- and N-terminal dimers, (AU)2K and E(AU)2, respectively, were synthesized by solid-phase peptide synthesis. Circular dichroism spectra indicated that E(AU)2 has a coiled coil structure in water while (AU)2K has an α-helix structure. In contrast, AU displayed typical spectra for disordered structures. In LPC micelles, all peptides acquired a high amount of α-helix structure. Hemolytic and vesicle permeabilization assays showed that AU has a concentration dependence activity, while this effect was less pronounced for dimeric versions, suggesting that dimerization may change the mechanism of action of AU. Notably, the antimicrobial activity against bacteria and yeast decreased with dimerization. However, dimeric peptides promoted the aggregation of C. albicans. The ability to aggregate yeast cells makes dimeric versions of AU attractive candidates to inhibit the adhesion of C. albicans to biological targets and medical devices, preventing disease caused by this fungus. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Wien.

Infection patterns of Paradollfusnema amphisbaenia (Nematoda: Cosmocercidae) in a population of Amphisbaena wuchereri (Squamata: Amphisbaenidae) from Minas Gerais state, south-eastern Brazil, and its relations with host size, sex and fat body mass

Specimens (n= 41) of the amphisbaenid Amphisbaena wuchereri taken from a population in Minas Gerais state, south-eastern Brazil, were examined for gastrointestinal parasites. A single nematode species was found, Paradollfusnema amphisbaenia. This was a new host record for this nematode species. This parasite was encountered in the large intestine (prevalence of 100%), in the stomach (prevalence of 2%) and in the small intestine (prevalence of 7.3%). The intensity of infection ranged from 1 to 457 individual parasites per host and was positively correlated with body size of both male and female amphisbaenians. The discrepancy index (D) indicated that P. amphisbaenia tended to an even distribution in this host population. The nematode, which did not affect fat body mass, induced inflammatory infiltrations in the small intestine, indicating that the parasites might injure the host's organs. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012.

The helminth community of Geophagus proximus (Perciformes: Cichlidae) from a tributary of the Paraná River, Ilha Solteira Reservoir, São Paulo State, Brazil

This study aimed to evaluate the helminth parasites of Geophagus proximus from the São José dos Dourados River, a tributary of Paraná River, Ilha Solteira Reservoir, São Paulo State, Brazil. From May 2006 to May 2007, 116 G. proximus specimens were examined and seven different taxa of helminth were collected and identified: proteocephalidean plerocercoids (Cestoda); metacercariae of Austrodiplostomum compactum, Clinostomum heluans and Clinostomum sp. (Trematoda); and Raphidascaris (Sprentascaris) hypostomi, and larvae of Raphidascaris sp. and Contracaecum sp. (Nematoda). All parasites presented the typical aggregated pattern of distribution, as well as the presence of a high number of larval stages, an absence of influence of the host sex and seasonality upon community parameters, as well as a correlation between species richness and host body weight. Moreover, with the exception of A. compactum metacercariae, all helminths found in this study are reported for the first time in G. proximus. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012.