Apolipoprotein E4 influences growth and cognitive responses to micronutrient supplementation in shantytown children from northeast Brazil

OBJECTIVE: Apolipoprotein E4 may benefit children during early periods of life when the body is challenged by infection and nutritional decline. We examined whether apolipoprotein E4 affects intestinal barrier function, improving short-term growth and long-term cognitive outcomes in Brazilian shantytown children. METHODS: A total of 213 Brazilian shantytown children with below-median height-for-age z-scores (HAZ) received 200,000 IU of retinol (every four months), zinc (40 mg twice weekly), or both for one year, with half of each group receiving glutamine supplementation for 10 days. Height-for-age z-scores, weight-for-age z-scores, weight-forheight z-scores, and lactulose:mannitol ratios were assessed during the initial four months of treatment. An average of four years (range 1.4-6.6) later, the children underwent cognitive testing to evaluate non-verbal intelligence, coding, verbal fluency, verbal learning, and delayed verbal learning. Apolipoprotein E4 carriage was determined by PCR analysis for 144 children. RESULTS: Thirty-seven children were apolipoprotein E4(+), with an allele frequency of 13.9%. Significant associations were found for vitamin A and glutamine with intestinal barrier function. Apolipoprotein E4(+) children receiving glutamine presented significant positive Pearson correlations between the change in height-for-age z-scores over four months and delayed verbal learning, along with correlated changes over the same period in weight-for-age z-scores and weight-for-height z-scores associated with non-verbal intelligence quotients. There was a significant correlation between vitamin A supplementation of apolipoprotein E4(+) children and improved delta lactulose/mannitol. Apolipoprotein E4(-) children, regardless of intervention, exhibited negative Pearson correlations between the change in lactulose-to-mannitol ratio over four months and verbal learning and non-verbal intelligence. CONCLUSIONS: During development, apolipoprotein E4 may function concomitantly with gut-tropic nutrients to benefit immediate nutritional status, which can translate into better long-term cognitive outcomes

Apolipoprotein E4 influences growth and cognitive responses to micronutrient supplementation in shantytown children from northeast Brazil

OBJECTIVE: Apolipoprotein E4 may benefit children during early periods of life when the body is challenged by infection and nutritional decline. We examined whether apolipoprotein E4 affects intestinal barrier function, improving short-term growth and long-term cognitive outcomes in Brazilian shantytown children. METHODS: A total of 213 Brazilian shantytown children with below-median height-for-age z-scores (HAZ) received 200,000 IU of retinol (every four months), zinc (40 mg twice weekly), or both for one year, with half of each group receiving glutamine supplementation for 10 days. Height-for-age z-scores, weight-for-age z-scores, weight-forheight z-scores, and lactulose:mannitol ratios were assessed during the initial four months of treatment. An average of four years (range 1.4-6.6) later, the children underwent cognitive testing to evaluate non-verbal intelligence, coding, verbal fluency, verbal learning, and delayed verbal learning. Apolipoprotein E4 carriage was determined by PCR analysis for 144 children. RESULTS: Thirty-seven children were apolipoprotein E4(+), with an allele frequency of 13.9%. Significant associations were found for vitamin A and glutamine with intestinal barrier function. Apolipoprotein E4(+) children receiving glutamine presented significant positive Pearson correlations between the change in height-for-age z-scores over four months and delayed verbal learning, along with correlated changes over the same period in weight-for-age z-scores and weight-for-height z-scores associated with non-verbal intelligence quotients. There was a significant correlation between vitamin A supplementation of apolipoprotein E4(+) children and improved delta lactulose/mannitol. Apolipoprotein E4(-) children, regardless of intervention, exhibited negative Pearson correlations between the change in lactulose-to-mannitol ratio over four months and verbal learning and non-verbal intelligence. CONCLUSIONS: During development, apolipoprotein E4 may function concomitantly with gut-tropic nutrients to benefit immediate nutritional status, which can translate into better long-term cognitive outcomes

ATLANTIC EPIPHYTES: a data set of vascular and non-vascular epiphyte plants and lichens from the Atlantic Forest

Epiphytes are hyper-diverse and one of the frequently undervalued life forms in plant surveys and biodiversity inventories. Epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, have high endemism and radiated recently in the Pliocene. We aimed to (1) compile an extensive Atlantic Forest data set on vascular, non-vascular plants (including hemiepiphytes), and lichen epiphyte species occurrence and abundance; (2) describe the epiphyte distribution in the Atlantic Forest, in order to indicate future sampling efforts. Our work presents the first epiphyte data set with information on abundance and occurrence of epiphyte phorophyte species. All data compiled here come from three main sources provided by the authors: published sources (comprising peer-reviewed articles, books, and theses), unpublished data, and herbarium data. We compiled a data set composed of 2,095 species, from 89,270 holo/hemiepiphyte records, in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, recorded from 1824 to early 2018. Most of the records were from qualitative data (occurrence only, 88%), well distributed throughout the Atlantic Forest. For quantitative records, the most common sampling method was individual trees (71%), followed by plot sampling (19%), and transect sampling (10%). Angiosperms (81%) were the most frequently registered group, and Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae were the families with the greatest number of records (27,272 and 21,945, respectively). Ferns and Lycophytes presented fewer records than Angiosperms, and Polypodiaceae were the most recorded family, and more concentrated in the Southern and Southeastern regions. Data on non-vascular plants and lichens were scarce, with a few disjunct records concentrated in the Northeastern region of the Atlantic Forest. For all non-vascular plant records, Lejeuneaceae, a family of liverworts, was the most recorded family. We hope that our effort to organize scattered epiphyte data help advance the knowledge of epiphyte ecology, as well as our understanding of macroecological and biogeographical patterns in the Atlantic Forest. No copyright restrictions are associated with the data set. Please cite this Ecology Data Paper if the data are used in publication and teaching events. © 2019 The Authors. Ecology © 2019 The Ecological Society of Americ

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Seleção de prioridades para programas de saúde, nutrição e alimentação: um exemplo no estado da Bahia Selection of priorities for health and nutrition programs: an example in the state of Bahia

OBJETIVOS: entre 1996 e 1998 foram implantadas três políticas públicas na área de saúde materno-infantil: Programa de Redução da Mortalidade Infantil (PRMI), Programa Comunidade Solidária (PCS) e Incentivo de Combate às Carências Nutricionais (ICCN). Este estudo teve como objetivo comparar a metodologia empregada para selecionar os municípios prioritários nestas três políticas públicas. MÉTODOS: os índices e indicadores estatísticos, bem como as bases de dados que deram origem aos mesmos, as suas variáveis independentes e dependentes e a modelagem estatística, foram analisados a partir de sua descrição nas publicações oficiais. Foi usado como exemplo o estado da Bahia e a construção da base cartográfica ocorreu pela digitalização do contorno dos municípios, diretamente na tela do programa Epi-Map. RESULTADOS: pode-se observar que parâmetros distintos e diferentes bases de dados foram empregados para a construção dos três diferentes índices analisados. Como resultado final dentre os 111 municípios selecionados pelo PRMI, os 96 escolhidos pelo PCS e os 100 considerados prioritários dentro do ICCN, verificou-se que houve superposição em apenas 28. CONCLUSÕES: no caso destas três políticas públicas, implantadas quase simultaneamente no estado da Bahia, envolvendo um volume considerável de recursos, em menos do que 28% dos casos ocorreu o que se pode chamar de focalização e convergência, elementos considerados essenciais para a otimização do investimento dos recursos públicos em políticas sociais.<br>OBJECTIVES: between 1996 and 1998 three public policies in the area of maternal and child health were implemented: Program to Reduce Infant Mortality (PRIM), Community Solidarity Program (CSP) and Incentive to Combat Nutritional Deficiencies (ICND). The objective of this study was to compare the methodology used to select priorities and to choose municipalities for these three public policies. METHODS: the indexes and statistical indicators, as well as the databases from which they originated, the independent and dependent variables and statistical models employed were analyzed, based on the description available in official publications. The state of Bahia was chosen as an example, and the construction of the cartographic database was performed directly on the screen, with the software Epi-Map. RESULTS: one could observe that different parameters and distinct databases were used to construct each one of the indexes analyzed. As a final result, there was an agreement in only 28 of the 111 municipalities chosen by PRIM, the 96 selected by CSP and the 100 considered priorities by the ICND. CONCLUSIONS: in the case of these three social programs, implemented almost simultaneously in the state of Bahia, involved considerable investments of funds, focusing and targeting, which are key elements for the optimization of public spending in social policies, occurred in only less than 28% of the cases

The Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) as a candidate sentinel of Atlantic Ocean health

Introduction\ud Seabirds have been historically used to monitor environmental contamination. The aim of the present study was to test the suitability of a species belonging to the Procellariiformes group, the Manx shearwater, Puffinus puffinus, as a sentinel of environmental health, by determining contaminant levels (trace metals and organochlorine compounds) from carcass tissues and by isolating Vibrio spp. and Aeromonas spp. from live specimens. To this end, 35 Puffinus puffinus carcasses wrecked on the north-central coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and two carcasses recovered in Aracruz, on the coast of the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, were sampled, and fragments of muscle and hepatic tissues were collected for contaminant analyses. Swabs from eleven birds found alive at the north-central coast of Rio de Janeiro were collected for isolation of the aforementioned bacteria.\ud \ud \ud Results\ud The average concentration in dry weight (dw) of the trace metals were: mercury 7.19 mg kg-1(liver) and 1.23 mg kg-1 (muscle); selenium 34.66 mg kg-1 (liver) and 7.98 mg kg-1 (muscle); cadmium 22.33 mg kg-1 (liver) and 1.11 mg kg-1 (muscle); and lead, 0.1 mg kg--1 (liver) and 0.16 mg kg-1 (muscle). Organochlorine compounds were detected in all specimens, and hexachlorbiphenyls, heptachlorbiphenyls and DDTs presented the highest levels. Regarding microbiological contamination, bacteria from the Vibrio genus were isolated from 91% of the analyzed specimens. Vibrio harveyi was the predominant species. Bacteria from the Aeromonas genus were isolated from 18% of the specimens. Aeromonas sobria was the only identified species.\ud \ud \ud Conclusions\ud The results indicate that Puffinus puffinus seems to be a competent ocean health sentinel. Therefore, the monitoring of contaminant levels and the isolation of public health interest bacteria should proceed in order to consolidate this species importance as a sentinel.CAPES (Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel