Diagnóstico de manejo del riego por pivote central en el departamento de León

En Nicaragua, ha sido introducido masivamente el sistema de riego por pivote Central. Inquietudes expresadas por MIDINRA y productores, acerca de la falta de conocimiento sobre la forma de regar, particularmente con los pivotes centrales, han motivado la elaboración del presente diagnóstico. Se efectuó a nivel de Departamento de León, una primera aproximación, Abarcándose todas las unidades existentes. La constatación de campo tradujo que en los sectores agropecuarios privados, mixtos y militares no se llevan registros de manejo del riego que permitan su estudio, pero, las dificultades de anotación y pláticas con los productores permiten inferir que están siendo mal manejados, obvian por completo las practicas adecuadas de irrigación (Dosis, Frecuencia….) En el sector estatal (a nivel de empresas agrícolas) se llevan registro s de datos; La recopilación y procesamiento mediante simulaciones de Balance Hídrico que sub estiman y sobre –estiman el riego, permiten determinar que las dosis utilizadas no van acorde con las necesidades hídricas de los cultivos de Maíz, sorgo y soya. Más importante Aún, las frecuencias de riego son muy elevadas permiten deducirse que los suelos se mantienen casi continuamente saturados, con las consecuentes problemas agronómico. Se ha pretendido regar de forma que se satisfagan las necesidades de los cultivos: sin embargo, estos niveles han sido rebasados, no siguiéndose un criterio definido de la evolución de dichas necesidades, en base a la fenología del vegetal. Las recomendaciones son prácticas y funcionales: su desarrollo se puede lograr, adaptándolo a las necesidades de cada zona geográfica y con la ayuda de instituciones agropecuaria con conocimiento en el ramo.

Influencia de diferentes cultivos antecedentes y métodos de control de malezas sobre la cenosis: el crecimiento, desarrollo y rendimiento del algodonero (Gossypium hirsutum L.) var. CEA H-373

Durante el ciclo agrícola 1988 -1989 en el centro experimental del Algodón Ubicado en la localidad de Posooltega, Chinandega se realizó un estudio con el propósito de determinar la influencia de diferentes cultivos antecedentes y métodos de control de malezas a la dinámica de las malezas y al crecimiento, desarrollo y rendimiento del cultivo del algodonero; utilizando la variedad CEA H 373.. se utilizo el diseño de parcelas divididas en bloques al azar con cuatro repeticiones y nueve tratamientos los cuales corresponden a las combinaciones de tres antecesores con tres métodos de control de malezas: se usaron los cultivos antecesores Soya sin inoculación (al), Soya inoculada (a2), Ajonjolì (a3) y los métodos de control Fluometuron 1425 cc de i.a./ha mas una limpia (b1), 2, limpia (b2) y limpias repetidas(b3). No se encontraron diferentes significativas en la influencia de los cultivos antecesores Soya sin inoculación (a1), se exibe una menor abundancia total de malezas, menor cobertura y menor biomasa permitiendo al cultivo un mejor comportamiento en su crecimiento y desarrollo. Contrario a esto el cultivo antecesor Soya sin inoculada (a2) manifestó el menor rendimiento, mayor cobertura y una abundancia total y biomasa de malezas superadas tan solo ligeramente por la originada en la influencia del cultivo antecesor Ajonjolí (a3). No hubo diferencias sustanciales en la diversidad de malezas por efecto de los diferentes cultivos procedentes como de los métodos de control de malezas. Se logró de terminar que hubo diferencias significativas en el rendimiento del algodonero en los métodos de control de malezas resultando los métodos de control químico (b1) y limpias periódicas (b3) los de mejor comportamiento. Con las limpias periódicas (b3) se produce la menor abundancia total de malezas menor a cobertura y menor biomasa. Opuesto a estos resultados, el método de una sola limpia (b2) origino la mayor abundancia total, y mayor cobertura de malezas. Al mismo tiempo este mismo método (b2) presento los menores valores para las variables de rendimientos de algodonero. Finalmente el rendimiento del algodonero se vio influenciado negativamente en 31.19 y 21.17 por la biomasa y abundancia de las malezas respectivamente.

Evaluación de tres raciones en la alimentación de cerdos en crecimiento

Con el objeto de evaluar la efectividad y economía de tres raciones, una formulada con base proteica comercial y sorgo rojo y las otras dos con ingredientes producidos en la finca; de estudiar la influencia del sexo, en las ganancias de peso y de estudiar la influencia de las raciones de iniciación en las raciones de crecimiento, se hizo un experimento con 18 cerdos de nueve semanas de edad. Estos fueron distribuidos en tres tratamientos de seis cerdos con tres hembras y tres machos cada uno, de tal manera que en cada tratamiento habían un macho y una hembra que procedían de cada uno de tres lotes de un experimento previo de iniciación. Los cerdos que mejor respondieron, fueron los que se alimentaron con la ración formulada con fuente proteica comercial (Ración C), dando una ganancia de peso promedio por cerdo de 36.97 kilogramos. Los cerdos alimentados con la ración en que se uso como fuente proteica, harina de soya y harina de carne (Ración A), alcanzaron una ganancia en peso promedio por cerdo de 18.83 kilogramos, mientras que los de la ración en que se utilizo como fuente proteica harina de semilla de algodón y harina de carne, lograron 9.62 kilogramos. La eficiencia de conversión de los cerdos alimentados con la ración "C", fue la mejor con 3.24, dando los cerdos de la ración "A" 4.13 y los de la ración "B" 6.26. El análisis estadístico mostró que habían diferencias altamente significativas entre las raciones, siendo la mejor, la que estaba constituida por sorgo rojo y base proteica comercial (Ración C). El análisis estadístico mostró que habían diferencias altamente significativas entre los lotes de cerdos que provenían del experimento de iniciación. El lote que fue alimentado con la ración comercial, obtuvo mayor peso promedio. El sexo no afecto significativamente la ganancia de peso. El análisis estadístico demostró que habían diferencias altamente significativas en la combinación de factores (tratamiento X lote), a favor de dar ración comercial tanto en periodo de iniciación como de crecimiento.

Proceedings of the Second PICES Workshop on the Okhotsk Sea and Adjacent Areas [Nemuro, Japan, November 9-12, 1998]

Table of Contents [pdf, 0.01 Mb] Preface [pdf, 0.01 Mb] Masaaki Aota Long-term tendencies of sea ice concentration and air temperature in the Okhotsk Sea coast of Hokkaido [pdf, 0.05 Mb] Hajime Ito & Miki Yoshioka Geography of the seasonally ice covered seas [pdf, 0.5 Mb] George V. Shevchenko & Victor F. Putov On wind and tide induced sea-ice drift on the northeastern shelf of Sakhalin Island (analysis of radar data) [pdf, 0.96 Mb] Boris S. Dyakov, A.A. Nikitin, L. S. Muktepavel & T.A. Shatilina Variability of the Japan and Okhotsk Seas ice cover depending on geopotential field H500 over the Far-Eastern region [pdf, 0.10 Mb] Aleksandr G. Petrov & Nikolay A. Rykov Intermediate cold layer and ice cover in the Sea of Okhotsk [pdf, 0.37 Mb] Vladimir Ponomarev, Olga Trusenkova, Elena Ustinova & Dmitry Kaplunenko Interannual variations of oceanographic and meteorological characteristics in the Sea of Okhotsk [pdf, 0.16 Mb] George V. Shevchenko & Akie Kato Seasonal and interannual changes of atmospheric pressure, air and water temperature in the area of the Kuril Ridge [pdf, 0.13 Mb] George V. Shevchenko & Vladimir Yu. Saveliev Spatial variability of the wind field in the area of the Kuril Islands [pdf, 0.15 Mb] Alexander L. Figurkin & Igor A. Zhigalov Seasonal variability and specifity of the oceanological conditions in the northern Okhotsk Sea in 1997 [pdf, 1.04 Mb] Igor A. Zhabin Ventilation of the upper portion of the intermediate water in the Okhotsk Sea [pdf, 0.80 Mb] Vladimir A. Luchin & Alexander L. Figurkin Oceanographic conditions over the Kashevarov Bank [pdf, 0.61 Mb] Toshiyuki Awaji, Tomohiro Nakamura, Takaki Hatayama, Kazunori Akimoto & Takatoshi Takizawa Tidal exchange through the Kuril Straits [pdf, 2.01 Mb] Tomohiro Nakamura, Toshiyuki Awaji, Takaki Hatayama, Kazunori Akimoto, Takatoshi Takizawa & Masao Fukasawa Vertical mixing induced by tidally generated internal waves in the Kuril Straits [pdf, 0.83 Mb] Katsuro Katsumata & Ichiro Yasuda Water exchange between the Okhotsk Sea and the North Pacific Ocean estimated by simple models [pdf, 0.97 Mb] Konstantin A. Rogachev Oyashio west path culmination as the consequence of a rapid thermohaline transition in the Pacific Subarctic [pdf, 0.22 Mb] Yasuhiro Kawasaki On the year-to-year change in subarctic water characteristics around the Kuril Islands [pdf, 0.39 Mb] Alexander L. Figurkin & Evgeniy E. Ovsyannikov Influence of oceanological conditions of the West Kamchatka shelf waters on spawning grounds and on pollock egg distribution [pdf, 0.97 Mb] Igor E. Kochergin & Alexander A. Bogdanovsky Transport and turbulence characteristics for the northeastern Sakhalin shelf conditions [pdf, 0.08 Mb] Igor E. Kochergin, Alexander A. Bogdanovsky, Valentina D. Budaeva, Vyacheslav G. Makarov, Vasily F. Mishukov, S.N. Ovsienko, Victor F. Putov, L.A. Reitsema, J.W. Sciallabba, O.O. Sergucheva & P.V. Yarosh Modeling of oil spills for the shelf conditions of northeastern Sakhalin [pdf, 0.32 Mb] Valentina D. Budaeva & Vyacheslav G. Makarov A peculiar water regime of currents in the area of eastern Sakhalin shelf [pdf, 0.66 Mb] Nikolay A. Rykov The oceanographic databases on the Sakhalin shelf [pdf, 0.27 Mb] Akifumi Nakata, Iori Tanaka, Hiroki Yagi, Tomomi Watanabe, Gennady A. Kantakov & Andrew D. Samatov Formation of high-density water (over 26.8 sigma-t) near the La Perouse Strait (the Soya Strait) [pdf, 0.09 Mb] Minoru Odamaki & Kouji Iwamoto Currents and tidal observations by Hydrographic Department of Maritime Safety Agency, off the Okhotsk coast of Hokkaido [pdf, 0.16 Mb] Yasushi Fukamachi, Genta Mizuta, Kay I. Ohshima, Motoyo Itoh, Masaaki Wakatsuchi & Masaaki Aota Mooring measurements off Shiretoko Peninsula, Hokkaido in 1997-1998 [pdf, 0.19 Mb] Mikhail A. Danchenkov, David Aubrey & Stephen C. Riser Oceanographic features of the La Perouse Strait [pdf, 0.91 Mb] Iori Tanaka & Akifumi Nakata Results of direct current measurements in the La Perouse Strait (the Soya Strait), 1995-1998 [pdf, 0.06 Mb] Gennady A. Kantakov & George V. Shevchenko In situ observations of Tsushima and West-Sakhalin currents near La Perouse (Soya) Strait [pdf, 0.79 Mb] Irina Y. Bragina Geographical and biological characteristics of the net zooplankton in the southwestern part of the Sea of Okhotsk during 1987-1996 [pdf, 0.27 Mb] List of corresponding authors [pdf, 0.01 Mb] (Document pdf contains 193 pages)

Preliminary studies of the dual role of cotton-seed cake as fish feed and fish pond fertilizer in aquaculture

Many locally available fish feeds have been tried in fish culture. These include guinea corn, soya bean, groundnut cake and rice bran. Cotton seed cake has been successfully used as a fishpond organic fertilizer at Ado-Ekiti Government fish farm. Three fishponds stocked respectively with common carps, Heterotis, Tilapia spp., Clarias lazera and Heterobranchus were fed with cotton seed cake. Carps, Tilapia and Heterotis increased rapidly in weight and length while the catifishes did not grow

An investigation of the effect of replacing fish meal with soyabean meal, groundnut cake and blood meal at varied proportion on growth and food utilization of the Clarias anguillaris fingerlings fed in outdoor hapas

Fingerlings of Clarias anguillaris obtained from a homogenous source through induce breeding and each with a mean weight of 2.8g were stocked in ten hapas each measuring 1.0x1.0m in outdoor concrete tank and were fed for eight (8) weeks. Results shows that the best growth rate was recorded among fingerlings fed fish meal as the only protein source (TD5) while DT2 containing soya bean, groundnut cake (40%), blood meal as the protein sources came next. The growth rate of fingerlings fed DT2 (40 % groundnut cake, 10% soyabean meal and 10% blood meal) was higher than those fed DT4 containing 10% fish meal but lower than those fed DT5 which has fish meal as its sole source of protein (53.0%). Analysis of various growth parameters like SGR, FCR and PER. shows that DT5 was the overall best diet but there was no significant statistical difference in weight gained by fish fed the five diets (P <0.05)

Additional income generating activities for fishermen wives in Kainji Lake basin

The quest for food security and poverty alleviation among rural fisherfolks is imperative in the context of rural development. Rural fishermen and women do not only partake in fishing and related activities in order to make ends meet but also seek more sustainable ways of absorbing shocks and reducing their vulnerability to unforeseen economics conditions. These they do through diversification of their efforts to such activities that enables them have good leverage over poverty and food scarcity. It is in this context that Nigerian-German Technical Co-operation (GTZ) sought to assist the fisherfolks to help themselves by training the fishermen wives on knowledge and skill acquisition in Soya bean processing and utilization as a means of generating additional income for the household in Kainji Lake basin. This work was therefore carried out in order to make an objective investigation into the impact of this training on the economy of the fisherfolks. Sixty respondents, who constitute fishermen wives, were randomly selected from twelve fishing villages in the basin. 76.7% of those interviewed affirmed that the project has increased their income while others agreed that it has actually reduced their expenditure on food while increasing food supply and variety for the household

Effects of different types of feeds on growth and production of tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon at Bagerhat region, Bangladesh

An experiment was carried out in farmers' gher (shrimp farm) at Bagerhat sadar upazilla, Bagerhat to ascertain the effects of three different types of feeds on the production and economics of brackishwater shrimp, Penaeus monodon for a period of 120 days. There were three treatments such as T1 (BFRI dough feed containing of 30% fish meal, 10% protein conc., 10% soya meal, 15% mustard oil cake, 18% rice bran, 5% maize, 10% wheat flour, 1% oyster shell powder and 1% vitamin premix), T2 (Commercial diet Saudi-Bangla grower) and T3 (Saudi-Bangla special feed). Each treatment had two replicates and the stocking of shrimp in each gher was 3 nos/m². Water quality parameters did not differ significantly among the treatments except water depth. Average production and net return of shrimp in different treatments varied from 404.0 to 509.0 kg/ha and Tk. 56,493.99-Tk. 84,209.60, respectively. T2 showed significantly (p<0.05) the highest production and economic return. The result of the study implied that T2 is more suitable and economically viable than that of other treatments for shrimp farming.

钮子瓜和袋花忍冬的化学成分研究

钮子瓜（Zehneria maysorensis Arn.）是一种常用的中草药，其性味苦、凉，主要功效为清热利湿、散风止痛，主治膀胱炎、头痛。体外活性筛选实验表明，袋花忍冬（Lonicera saccata Rehd.）95%乙醇提取物的乙酸乙酯部分对血管紧张素转化酶显示较强的抑制活性。为明确钮子瓜的药用物质基础和袋花忍冬中具有ACE抑制活性的成分，首次对两个植物的成分进行了研究。 1. 从钮子瓜95%乙醇提取物中主要通过色谱方法首次分离了14个化合物，通过波谱方法鉴定为(2S,3S,4R,10E)-2-[(2R)-2-羟基二十四烷酰基氨基]-10-十八烷-1,3,4-三醇（1）、(2S,3S,4R)-2-二十四烷酰基氨基-十八烷-1,3,4-三醇 （2）、胡萝卜苷（3）、swertish （4）、苯甲酸（5）、水杨酸（6）、loliolide （7）、胸腺嘧啶（8）、尿嘧啶（9）、(23Z)-9,19-环阿尔廷-23-烯-3β,25-二醇（10）、(20S,22E,24R)-5α,8α-表二氧-麦角甾-6,22-二烯-3β-醇（11）、十六烷酸 1-甘油酯（12）、大豆脑苷Ⅰ（13）和(22E,24S)-24-甲基-5α-胆甾-7,22-二烯-3β,5α,6β-三醇（14）。其中化合物4为一黄酮碳苷，具有旋转异构现象，有止痛作用；化合物6具有抗炎、镇痛、减热的活性，它们可能是钮子瓜药用物质基础的一部分。 2. 从袋花忍冬95%乙醇提取物中首次分离并鉴定了16个已知化合物：胡萝卜苷（3）、(20S,22E,24R)-5α,8α-表二氧-麦角甾-6,22-二烯-3β-醇（11）、十六烷酸 1-甘油酯（12）、E-p-coumaryl behenate (15)、谷甾醇（16）、2,6-dihydroxyhumula-3(12), 7(13),9(E)-triene (17)、环阿尔廷-25-烯-3β,24ξ-二醇 (18)、二十四烷酸 (19)、2,4-二羟基-3,6-二甲基苯甲酸甲酯 (20)、乌苏酸 (21)、柚皮素 (22)、木犀草素 (23)、柏双黄酮（24）咖啡酸 (25)、洋芹素（26）和木犀草素-7-O-β-D-葡萄糖苷 (27)。其中木犀草素（23）和咖啡酸（25）含量较高，它们为抑制ACE活性的成分。 3．综述了黄酮碳苷的旋转异构现象。 Zehneria maysorensis is a folk medicine for the treatment of cystitis and headache. The ethyl acetate soluble fraction of the 95% ethanol extract of Lonicera saccata showed obvious ACE inhibitory activity in vitro. To reveal their active constitutents, they were subjected to chemically study. From the 95% ethanol extract of the whole plants of Zehneria maysroensis fourteen compounds were isolated for the first time. On the basis of spectral data and/or by comparison with authentic samples, they were characterized to be (2S,3S,4R,10E)-2-[(2R)-2-hydroxytetracosanoylamino]-10-octadecene-1,3,4-triol (1), (2S,3S,4R)-2-tetracosanoylamino-1,3,4-octadecanetriol (2), daucosterol (3), swertish (4), benzoic acid (5), salicylic acid (6), loliolide (7), thymine (8), uracil (9), (23Z)-9,19-cycloart-23-ene-3β,25-diol (10), (20S,22E,24R)-5α,8α-epidioxy-ergosta- 6,22-diene-3β-ol (11), 2,3-dihydroxypropyl hexadecoate (12), soya-cerebroside (13) and (22E,24S)-24-methyl-5α-cholesta-7,22-diene-3β,5α,6β-triol (14). Compound 4, a C-glycosylflavone, showed a very interesting rotational isomerism. Compounds 4 and 6 may be the active constituents of Zehneria maysorensis considering their sedative and anti-inflammation activity, respectively. From the whole plants of Lonicera saccata, sixteen compounds were isolated for the first time. On the basis of spectral data and/or by comparison with authentic samples, they were identified to be daucosterol (3), (20S,22E,24R)-5α,8α-epidioxy- ergosta-6,22-diene-3β-ol (11), 2,3-dihydroxypropyl hexadecoate (12), E-p-coumaryl behenate (15), β-sitosterol (16), 2,6-dihydroxyhumula-3(12),7(13),9(E)-triene (17), cycloart-25-ene-3β,24ξ-diol (18), tetracosanoic acid (19), methyl 2,4-dihydroxy- 3,6-dimethylbenzoate (20), ursolic acid (21), naringenin (22), luteolin (23), cupressuflavone (24), caffeic acid (25), apigenin (26) and luteolin-7-O-β-D- glucopyranoside (27). Luteolin (23) and caffeic acid (25) were the ACE inhibitory active constituents. Rotational isomerism for C-glycosylflavonoid was reviewed.

Principales restricciones asociadas a la performance del mercado avícola en Colombia : pertubaciones en la transacción : sector primario - alimentos balanceados

Durante la última década el sector avícola colombiano ha evolucionado de manera favorable, sin embargo, aún no alcanza los niveles de competitividad suficientes como para llegar a rivalizar con los grandes oferentes internacionales como Estados Unidos, China y Brasil que concentran el 50 por ciento de la producción mundial; esto, debido principalmente a problemas internos de competitividad, entre ellos, la alta dependencia que tiene la industria de los alimentos balanceados sobre la materia prima importada (Maíz y Soya), que sumado a la continua volatilidad del mercado granario y las continuas fluctuaciones del tipo de cambio influyen directamente sobre el precio de los bienes finales de la cadena. Esta fuerte dependencia del componente importado, se genera por la debilidad actual que presenta el sector productivo de soya y maíz, resultado de los bajos niveles de tecnificación en cultivos y tecnología, contrastando con la industria de alimentos balanceados, quien cuenta con una alta inversión en activos específicos de tipo físico como las tecnologías de punta aplicadas a sus procesos y de tipo temporal por los altos rendimientos en su producción, aspecto que limita a la producción nacional, obligando a los productores de alimentos balanceados a importar de Argentina y Estados Unidos la mayoría de sus materias primas para satisfacer su demanda de materia prima, en este sentido, también se ha observado que ante la crisis mundial de alimentos estos países han modificado los precios del mercado y por ende se han visto diezmados los márgenes de utilidad de los productores avícolas colombianos. Aunado a lo anterior, se observan problemas de competitividad en la cadena avícola, representados en la ausencia de coordinación vertical entre todos sus eslabones, puesto que cada eslabón trabaja de manera independiente buscando fortalecerse a sí mismo, aumentando el oportunismo, el poder de mercado y por ende diezmando las capacidades del eslabón anterior. De otro lado; se observa una deficiencia en la formación de capital social y un mercado de tipo oligopólico, que retrasan el desarrollo del sector. A través del desarrollo de este trabajo se pretende describir el funcionamiento del eslabón primario y el eslabón producción alimentos balanceados, como principales generadores de conflicto en la cadena avícola colombiana, para hacerlo se describirá a la cadena, y se realiza un análisis estructural discreto, sumado a un análisis de las transacciones encontradas en cada uno de los eslabones

Culture-bound technological solutions: An artificial theoretic insight

Sometimes, technological solutions to practical problems are devised that conspicuously take into account the constraints to which a given culture is subjecting the particular task or the manner in which it is carried out. The culture may be a professional culture (e.g., the practice of law), or an ethnic-cum-professional culture (e.g., dance in given ethnic cultures from South-East Asia), or, again, a denominational culture prescribing an orthopraxy impinging on everyday life through, for example, prescribed abstinence from given categories of workday activities, or dietary laws. Massimo Negrotti's Theory of the artificial is a convenient framework for discussing some of these techniques. We discuss a few examples, but focus on the contrast of two that are taken from the same cultural background, namely, technological applications in compliance with Jewish Law orthopraxy. •Soya-, mycoprotein- or otherwise derived meat surrogates are an example ofnaturoid; they emulate the flavours and olfactory properties, as well as the texture and the outer and inner appearance, of the meat product (its kind, cut, form) they set out to emulate (including amenability to cooking in the usual manner for the model), while satisfying cultural dietary prohibitions. •In contrast, the Sabbath Notebook, a writing surrogate we describe in this paper, is atechnoid: it emulates a technique (writing to store alphanumeric information), while satisfying the prohibition of writing at particular times of the liturgical calendar (the Sabbath and the major holidays).

Effects of intrahippocampal NAC(61-95) injections on memory in the rat and attenuation with vitamin E

Parkinson's disease (PD)-related dementia affects approximately 40% of PD patients and the severity of this dementia correlates significantly with the density of Lewy body (LB) deposition in the PD brain. Aggregated alpha-synuclein protein is the major component of LB's and the non-amyloid component (NAC) region of alpha-synuclein, residues 61-95, is essential for the aggregation and toxicity of this protein. The current study evaluated the effect of pre-aggregated NAC(61-95) injected into the CA3 area of the dorsal hippocampus of the brain on memory in the rat. Previous research has suggested that oxidative stress processes may play a role in the neuropathology of PD, therefore the effect of treatment with vitamin E, an antioxidant, was also evaluated. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained in two-lever operant chambers under an alternating-lever cyclic-ratio (ALCR) schedule of food reinforcement. When responding showed no trends, subjects were divided into four groups. Two groups were injected bilaterally into the dorsal hippocampus with aggregated NAC(61-95) (5 mu l suspension), and two groups were injected bilaterally into the dorsal hippocampus with sterile water (5 mu l). Subgroups were treated with either vitamin E (150 mg/kg in Soya oil) or vehicle (Soya oil) daily. Injection of NAC(61-95) induced memory deficits and vitamin E treatment alleviated these. In addition, NAC(61-95) injections induced activated astrocytes and chronic treatment with vitamin E reduced the numbers of activated astrocytes. These results suggest that aggregated NAC(61-95) and associated oxidative stress, may play a role in the pathogenesis of cognitive deficits seen in PD-induced dementia. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Short-term consumption of phytoestrogen-rich foods in humans alters dietary macro- and micronutrient intake

The aim of this study was to determine bow nutrient intake is affected by a short-term phytoestrogen-rich diet. Ten healthy volunteers consumed 100 g soya chunks, 150 g lentils, and 250 g kidney beans daily for 3 days. Urine was collected during the 2 days before, 3 intervention days, and 2 days after the intervention and analyzed for phytoestrogen status. Subjects filled in food diaries throughout the study period. Urinary daidzein, but not equol and enterolactone, levels increased during the 7-day period. There was no change in energy, protein, sugar, or total fat intake, but an increase in carbohydrate, fiber, and starch intake. There was a change in the distribution of fat intake with a fall in saturated fat and cholesterol intake. Iron intake significantly increased, although vitamin B-12 fell significantly. The long-term effects of this diet and the associated health benefits of these changes require further study. (C) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A pilot study to evaluate aflatoxin exposure in a rural Ugandan population

Objectives: The fungal metabolite aflatoxin is a common contaminant of foodstuffs, especially when stored in damp conditions. In humans, high levels can result in acute hepatic necrosis and death, while chronic exposure is carcinogenic. We conducted a pilot study nested within an existing population cohort (the General Population Cohort), to assess exposure to aflatoxin, among people living in rural south-western Uganda. Methods: Sera from 100 adults and 96 children under 3 years of age (85 male, 111 female) were tested for aflatoxin-albumin adduct (AF-alb), using an ELISA assay. Socio-demographic and dietary data were obtained for all participants; HIV serostatus was available for 90 adults and liver function tests (LFTs) for 99. Results: Every adult and all but four children had detectable AF-alb adduct, including five babies reported to be exclusively breastfed. Levels ranged from 0 to 237.7 pg/mg albumin and did not differ significantly between men and women, by age or by HIV serostatus; 25% had levels above 15.1 pg/mg albumin. There was evidence of heterogeneity between villages (P = 0.003); those closest to trading centres had higher levels. Adults who consumed more Matooke (bananas) had lower levels of AF-alb adduct (P = 0.02) than adults who did not, possibly because their diet contained fewer aflatoxin-contaminated foods such as posho (made from maize). Children who consumed soya, which is not grown locally, had levels of AF-alb adduct that were almost twice as high as those who did not eat soya (P = 0.04). Conclusions: Exposure to aflatoxin is ubiquitous among the rural Ugandans studied, with a significant number of people having relatively high levels. Sources of exposure need to be better understood to instigate practical and sustainable interventions. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Valuing water in irrigated agriculture and fisheries in a reservoir of Sri Lanka

Dissertação de Mestrado, Gestão da Água e da Costa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2007