Vascular effects and electrolyte homeostasis of the natriuretic peptide isolated from Crotalus oreganus abyssus (North American Grand Canyon rattlesnake) venom

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

AMERICAN VISCERAL LEISHMANIASIS: DISEASE CONTROL STRATEGIES IN DRACENA MICROREGION IN ALTA PAULISTA, SP, BRAZIL

Despite measures adopted to control American visceral leishmaniasis (AVL), the disease is spreading in a fast and worrying way throughout western São Paulo state. The aim of this work was to study the variables involved in the disease cycle as well as the effectiveness of controlling measures. The study was carried out in the microregion of Dracena, which is composed of twelve cities and belongs to Alta Paulista, a region of western São Paulo. The necessary data were provided by the Superintendence for Endemic Disease Control and Adolfo Lutz Institute, Regional Laboratory of Presidente Prudente. From August 2005 to January 2008, the following factors were observed: detection of phlebotomine sandflies in the cities and periods in which dogs or humans were diagnosed; number of human deaths; prevalence of suspected dogs tested by serology; percentage of euthanasia in suspected dogs; a possible correlation between positive dogs and cases of the disease in humans; and the disease prevalence among municipalities from the studied region. It was verified that, despite the strategies adopted in Dracena microregion to control AVL, the disease continues to rise. Thus, some procedures of the AVL Monitoring and Control

DEVELOPMENT of MICROSATELLITE MARKERS FOR PIMENTA PSEUDOCARYOPHYLLUS (MYRTACEAE), A WILD SOUTH AMERICAN SPECIES

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Comparison of clinical features and drug therapies among European and Latin American patients with juvenile dermatomyositis

ObjectiveTo compare the demographic features, presenting manifestations, diagnostic investigations, disease course, and drug therapies of children with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) followed in Europe and Latin America.MethodsPatients were inception cohorts seen between 1980 and 2004 in 27 paediatric rheumatology centres. The following information was collected through the review of patient charts: sex; age at disease onset; date of disease onset and diagnosis; onset type; presenting clinical features; diagnostic investigations; course type; and medications received during disease course.ResultsFour hundred and ninety patients (65.5% females, mean onset age 7.0 years, mean disease duration 7.7 years) were included. Disease presentation was acute or insidious in 57.1% and 42.9% of the patients, respectively. The course type was monophasic in 41.3% of patients and chronic polycyclic or continuous in 58.6% of patients. The more common presenting manifestations were muscle weakness (84.9%), Gottron's papules (72.9%), heliotrope rash (62%), and malar rash (56.7%). Overall, the demographic and clinical features of the 2 continental cohorts were comparable. European patients received more frequently high-dose intravenous methylprednisolone, cyclosporine, cyclophosphamide, and azathioprine, while methotrexate and antimalarials medications were used more commonly by Latin American physicians.ConclusionThe demographic and clinical characteristics of JDM are similar in European and Latin American patients. We found, however, several differences in the use of medications between European and Latin American paediatric rheumatologists.

Self-fertility and polyembryony in South American yellow trumpet trees (Handroanthus chrysotrichus and H. ochraceus, Bignoniaceae): a histological study of postpollination events

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

The reproductive biology of Cybistax antisyphilitica (Bignoniaceae), a characteristic tree of the South American savannah-like "Cerrado" vegetation

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Horizontal distribution of megalopae of Brachyura (Crustacea, Decapoda) in a South American tropical estuary

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A GEP-ISFG collaborative study on the optimization of an X-STR decaplex: data on 15 Iberian and Latin American populations

In a collaborative work carried out by the Spanish and Portuguese ISFG Working Group (GEP-ISFG), a polymerase chain reaction multiplex was optimized in order to type ten X-chromosome short tandem repeats (STRs) in a single reaction, including: DXS8378, DXS9902, DXS7132, DXS9898, DXS6809, DXS6789, DXS7133, GATA172D05, GATA31E08, and DXS7423. Using this X-decaplex, each 17 of the participating laboratories typed a population sample of approximately 200 unrelated individuals (100 males and 100 females). In this work, we report the allele frequencies for the ten X-STRs in 15 samples from Argentina (Buenos Aires, CA(3)rdoba, Rio Negro, Entre Rios, and Misiones), Brazil (SA o pound Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Parana, and Mato Grosso do Sul), Colombia (Antioquia), Costa Rica, Portugal (Northern and Central regions), and Spain (Galicia and Cantabria). Gene diversities were calculated for the ten markers in each population and all values were above 56%. The average diversity per locus varied between 66%, for DXS7133, and 82%, for DXS6809. For this set of STRs, a high discrimination power was obtained in all populations, both in males (a parts per thousand yen1 in 5 A- 10(5)) and females (a parts per thousand yen1 in 3 A- 10(9)), as well as high mean exclusion chance in father/daughter duos (a parts per thousand yen99.953%) and in father/mother/daughter trios (a parts per thousand yen99.999%). Genetic distance analysis showed no significant differences between northern and central Portugal or between the two Spanish samples from Galicia and Cantabria. Inside Brazil, significant differences were found between Rio de Janeiro and the other three populations, as well as between SA o pound Paulo and Parana. For the five Argentinean samples, significant distances were only observed when comparing Misiones with Entre Rios and with Rio Negro, the only two samples that do not differ significantly from Costa Rica. Antioquia differed from all other samples, except the one from Rio Negro.

Morphological and anatomical observations about Mariliasuchus amarali and Notosuchus terrestris (Mesoeucrocodylia) and their relationships with other South American notosuchians.

The phylogenetic relationship of the notosuchians Mariliasuchus amarali (Campanian; Bauru Group) and Notosuchus terrestris (Santonian; Neuquen Group) is revised. Morpho-anatomical evaluation of Mariliasuchus in the current bibliography indicate close relationship with Notosuchus, while cladistic analysis either related Mariliasuchus to Candidodon itapecuruense (Albian/eo-Cenomanian; Sao Luis-Grajau Basin), as part of the phylotaxon Candidodontidae, or to Comahuesuchus brachybuccalis (Santonian; Neuquen Group). Comparative study of specimens shows similarities on the palate, choanae, dentition, retroarticular process, and other structures from Mariliasuchus and Notosuchus supporting the original classification as a Notosuchidae. Preliminary phylogenetic analysis sets these taxa as sister-groups. Reevaluation of a previously published phylogenetic analysis from other authors provides further support for the Mariliasuchus + Notosuchus clade. The current work indicates that Mariliasuchus is a Notosuchidae, refuting its allocation as a Candidodontidae. The influence of character construction and the definition of Notosuchia are discussed.