Distribution of populations of broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris, Daudin 1802, Alligatoridae) in the São Francisco River basin, Brazil

We surveyed populations of the broad-snouted caiman, Caiman latirostris, throughout the São Francisco River basin, from Três Marias reservoir, State of Minas Gerais, to the river delta, at the boarder of Sergipe and Alagoas states. We registered the occurrence of crocodilians in 61% of all surveyed localities (n = 64), in which the presence of C. latirostris was confirmed in 44% of the surveyed sites. Caimans occurred in both lentic and lotic habitats, although there was a preference for small dams, oxbow lakes and wetlands. Despite the hunting pressure and human impact on natural habitats, our results indicate that the populations of C. latirostris in the São Francisco basin are not fragmented

Perinatal outcomes associated with low birth weight in a historical cohort

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To identify perinatal outcomes associated with low birth weight (LBW).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A retrospective cohort study in a tertiary maternity hospital. Analysis of the database on 43,499 liveborn infants delivered between 1986 and 2004 with low (n = 6,477) and normal (n = 37,467) birth weight. Outcomes associated with LBW were identified through crude and adjusted risk ratio (RR) and 95%CI with bivariate and multivariate analysis. The main outcomes were: onset of labor, mode of delivery, indication for cesarean section; amniotic fluid, fetal heart rate pattern, Apgar score, somatic gestational age, gender and congenital malformation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>LBW infants showed more frequently signs of perinatal compromise such as abnormal amniotic fluid volume (especially olygohydramnios), nonreassuring patterns of fetal heart rate, malformation, lower Apgar scores and lower gestational age at birth. They were associated with a greater risk of labor induction and cesarean delivery, but lower risk of forceps.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There was a clear association between LBW and unfavorable perinatal outcomes.</p

A randomized controlled trial to evaluate self-determination theory for exercise adherence and weight control: rationale and intervention description

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Research on the motivational model proposed by Self-Determination Theory (SDT) provides theoretically sound insights into reasons why people adopt and maintain exercise and other health behaviors, and allows for a meaningful analysis of the motivational processes involved in behavioral self-regulation. Although obesity is notoriously difficult to reverse and its recidivism is high, adopting and maintaining a physically active lifestyle is arguably the most effective strategy to counteract it in the long-term. The purposes of this study are twofold: i) to describe a 3-year randomized controlled trial (RCT) aimed at testing a novel obesity treatment program based on SDT, and ii) to present the rationale behind SDT's utility in facilitating and explaining health behavior change, especially physical activity/exercise, during obesity treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Study design, recruitment, inclusion criteria, measurements, and a detailed description of the intervention (general format, goals for the participants, intervention curriculum, and main SDT strategies) are presented. The intervention consists of a 1-year group behavioral program for overweight and moderately obese women, aged 25 to 50 (and pre-menopausal), recruited from the community at large through media advertisement. Participants in the intervention group meet weekly or bi-weekly with a multidisciplinary intervention team (30 2 h sessions in total), and go through a program covering most topics considered critical for successful weight control. These topics and especially their delivery were adapted to comply with SDT and Motivational Interviewing guidelines. Comparison group receive a general health education curriculum. After the program, all subjects are follow-up for a period of 2 years.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Results from this RCT will contribute to a better understanding of how motivational characteristics, particularly those related to physical activity/exercise behavioral self-regulation, influence treatment success, while exploring the utility of Self-Determination Theory for promoting health behavior change in the context of obesity.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p><b>Clinical Trials Gov. Identifier </b>NCT00513084</p

Study of intrinsic risk factors for falls in institutionalized elderly people

Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo identificar a presença de fatores intrínsecos que predispõem a quedas em idosos moradores em instituições de longa permanência na cidade de Goiânia (GO). Trata-se de estudo descritivo transversal realizado em seis instituições de longa permanência para idosos existentes na cidade de Goiânia. A amostra da investigação constou de 95 idosos que atenderam aos critérios de inclusão e exclusão. Utilizou-se um questionário contendo dados clínicos relacionados às condições de saúde-doença; dados cognitivos; avaliação da capacidade para as atividades básicas de vida diária e avaliação do equilíbrio e marcha. Os idosos avaliados, no geral, apresentam vários fatores de risco, apontados pela literatura, para quedas, tais como: relato de dificuldade motora em membros inferiores (90%), déficit visual (81,1%), uso de três ou mais medicamentos (59,7%), suspeita de depressão (37,9%), falta de equilíbrio em apoio unipodal (37,9%) e altura do passo anormalmente diminuída (32,6%). As informações obtidas nos permitem apontar condições determinantes que aumentam a possibilidade dos eventos queda acontecerem na amostra estudada, sinalizando à necessidade de que estratégias de promoção de saúde, prevenção de agravos e reabilitação devam ser tomadas. _________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTThe objective of this research was to identify intrinsic risk factors that predispose elderly people living in long-term institutions in the city of Goiânia (GO) to falls. The present descriptive transversal study was carried out in six long-term institutions for seniors in the city of Goiânia. The investigated sample consisted of 95 elderly that fitted the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A questionnaire was used for collecting clinical data related to health-disease conditions; cognitive data; capacity to develop basic daily life activities and equilibrium and gait. In general terms, as pointed out the literature, the examined elderly presented different fall risk factors such as: motor difficulty in lower limbs (90%), visual deficit (81,1%), use of 3 or more kinds of medicines (59,7%), suspected depression (37,9%), lack of equilibrium/unstable unipodal support (37,9%) abnormally decreased height in step (32,6%). The obtained data allow us to set indicators for the increase in falls among the studied sample, demonstrating the need for creating strategies for health promotion, prevention of injuries and rehabilitation

Are ant assemblages of Brazilian veredas characterised by location or habitat type?

Wetland areas in the Brazilian Cerrado, known as “veredas”, represent ecosystems formed on sandy soils with high concentrations of peat, and are responsible for the recharge of aquiferous reservoirs. They are currently under threat by various human activities, most notably the clearing of vegetation for Eucalyptus plantations. Despite their ecological importance and high conservation value, little is known about the actual effects of human disturbance on the animal community. To assess how habitat within different veredas, and plantations surrounding them affect ant assemblages, we selected four independent vereda locations, two being impacted by Eucalyptus monoculture (one younger and one mature plantation) and two controls, where the wetland was surrounded by cerrado vegetation. Ant sampling was conducted in May 2010 (dry season) using three complementary methods, namely baits, pitfall traps, and hand collection, in the wetland and in the surrounding habitats. A total of 7,575 ants were sampled, belonging to seven subfamilies, 32 genera and 124 species.Ant species richness and abundance did not differ between vereda locations, but did between the habitats. When impacted by the monoculture, ant species richness and abundance decreased in wetlands, but were less affected in the cerrado habitat. Ant species composition differed between the three habitats and between vereda locations. Eucalyptus plantations had an ant species composition defined by high dominance of Pheidole sp. and Solenopsis invicta, while natural habitats were defined by Camponotus and Crematogaster species. Atta sexdens was strictly confined to native habitats of non-impacted “veredas”. Eucalyptus monocultures require high quantities of water in the early stages, which may have caused a decrease in groundwater level in the wetland, allowing hypogeic ants such as Labidus praedator to colonise this habitat

New genetic loci implicated in fasting glucose homeostasis and their impact on type 2 diabetes risk.

Levels of circulating glucose are tightly regulated. To identify new loci influencing glycemic traits, we performed meta-analyses of 21 genome-wide association studies informative for fasting glucose, fasting insulin and indices of beta-cell function (HOMA-B) and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in up to 46,186 nondiabetic participants. Follow-up of 25 loci in up to 76,558 additional subjects identified 16 loci associated with fasting glucose and HOMA-B and two loci associated with fasting insulin and HOMA-IR. These include nine loci newly associated with fasting glucose (in or near ADCY5, MADD, ADRA2A, CRY2, FADS1, GLIS3, SLC2A2, PROX1 and C2CD4B) and one influencing fasting insulin and HOMA-IR (near IGF1). We also demonstrated association of ADCY5, PROX1, GCK, GCKR and DGKB-TMEM195 with type 2 diabetes. Within these loci, likely biological candidate genes influence signal transduction, cell proliferation, development, glucose-sensing and circadian regulation. Our results demonstrate that genetic studies of glycemic traits can identify type 2 diabetes risk loci, as well as loci containing gene variants that are associated with a modest elevation in glucose levels but are not associated with overt diabetes

Measurement of the cross-section of high transverse momentum vector bosons reconstructed as single jets and studies of jet substructure in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a measurement of the cross-section for high transverse momentum W and Z bosons produced in pp collisions and decaying to all-hadronic final states. The data used in the analysis were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV;{\rm Te}{\rm V}$and correspond to an integrated luminosity of$4.6\;{\rm f}{{{\rm b}}^{-1}}$. The measurement is performed by reconstructing the boosted W or Z bosons in single jets. The reconstructed jet mass is used to identify the W and Z bosons, and a jet substructure method based on energy cluster information in the jet centre-of-mass frame is used to suppress the large multi-jet background. The cross-section for events with a hadronically decaying W or Z boson, with transverse momentum${{p}_{{\rm T}}}\gt 320\;{\rm Ge}{\rm V}$and pseudorapidity$|\eta |\lt 1.9$, is measured to be${{\sigma }_{W+Z}}=8.5\pm 1.7$ pb and is compared to next-to-leading-order calculations. The selected events are further used to study jet grooming techniques

Search for direct pair production of the top squark in all-hadronic final states in proton-proton collisions at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for direct pair production of the scalar partner to the top quark using an integrated luminosity of 20.1fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at √s = 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC are reported. The top squark is assumed to decay via t˜→tχ˜01 or t˜→ bχ˜±1 →bW(∗)χ˜01 , where χ˜01 (χ˜±1 ) denotes the lightest neutralino (chargino) in supersymmetric models. The search targets a fully-hadronic final state in events with four or more jets and large missing transverse momentum. No significant excess over the Standard Model background prediction is observed, and exclusion limits are reported in terms of the top squark and neutralino masses and as a function of the branching fraction of t˜ → tχ˜01 . For a branching fraction of 100%, top squark masses in the range 270–645 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 30 GeV. For a branching fraction of 50% to either t˜ → tχ˜01 or t˜ → bχ˜±1 , and assuming the χ˜±1 mass to be twice the χ˜01 mass, top squark masses in the range 250–550 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 60 GeV

Search for pair-produced long-lived neutral particles decaying to jets in the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter in ppcollisions at √s=8TeV

The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is used to search for the decay of a scalar boson to a pair of long-lived particles, neutral under the Standard Model gauge group, in 20.3fb−1of data collected in proton–proton collisions at √s=8TeV. This search is sensitive to long-lived particles that decay to Standard Model particles producing jets at the outer edge of the ATLAS electromagnetic calorimeter or inside the hadronic calorimeter. No significant excess of events is observed. Limits are reported on the product of the scalar boson production cross section times branching ratio into long-lived neutral particles as a function of the proper lifetime of the particles. Limits are reported for boson masses from 100 GeVto 900 GeV, and a long-lived neutral particle mass from 10 GeVto 150 GeV