Total carbohydrate mobilization and crude protein content of adesmia bicolor (poir.) dc. crop under phosphorus fertilization

En la región árida-semiárida central de Argentina la disponibilidad de biomasa de los pastizales naturales en el periodo de bajas temperaturas es escasa, por lo que es importante lograr una mayor producción de especies forrajeras de crecimiento invernal. Entre estas especies se encuentra Adesmia bicolor (Poir.) DC, leguminosa perenne, de ciclo indefinido, herbácea, con crecimiento clonal, lo que favorece su persistencia bajo pastoreo intensivo, y una elevada capacidad para fijar nitrógeno (N). Existe escasa información respecto al comportamiento de este cultivo bajo fertilización. Por tanto, el objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la producción de biomasa, contenido de proteína bruta y movilización de carbohidratos totales de A. bicolor bajo fertilización con fósforo (P). El ensayo se llevó a cabo en una parcela con A. bicolor en cultivo ya establecido. El diseño empleado fue de bloques completos al azar con tres repeticiones. Los tratamientos aplicados fueron tres dosis de fertilizante fosfatado líquido: Tratamiento I: 0 kg ha-1 (control); Tratamiento II: 50 kg ha-1 y Tratamiento III: 100 kg ha-1. Se realizaron seis muestreos cada 60 días en los que se determinó: biomasa aérea y subterránea, porcentaje de proteína bruta y concentración de carbohidratos totales. Los resultados mostraron que la mayor producción de biomasa se obtuvo con la dosis de 50 kg ha-1, el contenido de proteína bruta en biomasa aérea y subterránea fue similar en todos los tratamientos y el patrón de movilización de carbohidratos no se vio favorecido significativamente por la aplicación de P.In the arid-semi-arid central region of Argentina, biomass availability from natural grasslands in the period of low temperatures is scarce, and therefore achieving a higher production of winter-growing forage species is important. One of these species is Adesmia bicolor (Poir.) DC., a perennial herbaceous legume with an indefinite cycle and clonal growth, which favors its persistence under intensive grazing and high capacity to fix nitrogen (N). There is little information about the behavior of this crop under fertilization. Therefore, the objective of this work was to evaluate biomass production, crude protein content and total carbohydrate mobilization of A. bicolor under phosphorus fertilization. The experiment was carried out in a plot with an already established A. bicolor crop. A randomized complete block design with three replicates was used. The treatments consisted of three doses of liquid phosphate fertilizer: Treatment I: 0 kg ha-1 (control); Treatment II: 50 kg ha-1, and Treatment III: 100 kg ha-1. Six samples were collected every 60 days, and aboveground/ belowground biomass, crude protein and total carbohydrate content were determined. The results showed that Treatment II (50 kg ha-1) recorded the highest level of biomass production of all the treatments, whereas the different fertilizer doses did not affect crude protein content of aboveground/ belowground biomass or carbohydrate mobilization patterns.Fil: Gorjon, Juan. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria. Departamento de Biología Agrícola; ArgentinaFil: Fitzimons, Dámaris. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria. Departamento de Biología Agrícola; ArgentinaFil: Panzitta, Mercedes. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria. Departamento de Biología Agrícola; ArgentinaFil: Pérez, Verónica. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria. Departamento de Biología Agrícola; ArgentinaFil: Malpassi, Rosana Noemí. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria. Departamento de Biología Agrícola; ArgentinaFil: Bianco, Luciana. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria. Departamento de Biología Agrícola; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria. Departamento de Biología Agrícola. Cátedra de Morfología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Novaira, Ana Ines. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria. Departamento de Biología Agrícola; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Química y Física; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Basconsuelo Alcorta, Sara del Carmen. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria. Departamento de Biología Agrícola; Argentin

Variedades y serotipos de Cryptococcus neoformans en pacientes con SIDA y neurocriptococosis en São Paulo, Brasil

HOSP EMILIO RIBAS,São Paulo,BRAZILWeb of Scienc

Clinical aspects of influenza A (H1N1) in HIV-infected individuals in São Paulo during the pandemic of 2009

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical aspects of H1N1 among HIV coinfected patients seen at a reference center for AIDS treatment in São Paulo, Brazil. Design: Observational and prospective cohort study. METHODS: Descriptive study of clinical and laboratory investigation of HIV-infected patients with confirmed diagnosis of influenza A (H1N1) in 2009. We analyzed patients monitored in CRT/DST/AIDS, a specialized service for people living with HIV, located in São Paulo, Brazil. RESULTS: 108 individuals presented with symptoms of H1N1 infection at the CRT DST/AIDS in 2009. Eighteen patients (16.7%) had confirmation of the diagnosis of influenza A. Among the confirmed cases, ten (55.6%) were hospitalized and eight (44.4%) were outpatients. Dyspnea was present in nine patients (50%), hemoptysis in three (16%). Six patients (60%) required therapy with supplemental oxygen. All patients had good clinical outcomes and none died. CONCLUSIONS: In our hospital, the symptoms that led patients to seek medical care were similar to the common flu. Hospital admission and the early introduction of antibiotics associated with oseltamivir may have been the cause of the favorable outcome of our cases

Detection of capsular polysaccharide antigen of Cryptococcus neoformans in patients with AIDS and neurocryptococcosis

Capsular polysaccharide antigen (AgPC) of Cryptococcus neoformans was detected by latex agglutination technique (LA) in cerebrospinal fluid and serum of patients with AIDS during their first central nervous system manifestation of the disease. Direct mycological examination and culture were used as controls. Sensitivity was 100% by LA allowing an early specific treatment of cryptococcosis. Initial titres of AgPC in such patients can be > 1000000 and it appears that when such titres are present in the serum they are related to mortality during treatment. Surviving patients showed positivity of the direct mycological examination and AgPC of C. neoformans in cerebrospinal fluid and sera even after treatment and clinical recovery.Antígeno del polisacárido capsular (Ag PC) de Cryptococcus neoformans fue detectado por la técnica de aglutinación de latex (AL) en LCR y suero de pacientes con Sindrome de Inmunodeficiencia Adquirida (SIDA) y primer episodio de neurocriptococosis, usando como patrón el examen micológico (examen directo y cultivo) de LCR. Se obtuvo una sensibilidad del 100% de AL para detectar AgPC de C. neoformans, el cual por su rápidez permite tratamiento específico precoz. Títulos iniciales de AgPC de la levadura en esos pacientes pueden ser > 1.000.000, pareciendo que cuando esos títulos están presentes en suero, se relacionan con mortalidad durante el tratamiento. En los pacientes que sobrevivieron se observó que el examen micológico directo y AgPC de C. neoformans, en LCR y suero, permanecen positivos aún después de tratamiento y mejoría clínica del paciente.Escola Paulista de Medicina Enfermedades Infecciosas y ParasitariasHospital Emílio RibasHospital Servidor Público Estadual Francisco Morato de OliveiraUNIFESP, EPM, Enfermedades Infecciosas y ParasitariasSciEL

Seroprevalence of Human Herpesvirus 8 Infection in Individuals From Health Care Centers in Mozambique: Potential for Endemic and Epidemic Kaposi`s Sarcoma

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) infection is common in sub-Saharan Africa, but its prevalence in Mozambique is unknown. The seroprevalence of HHV-8 in a cohort of individuals seen at public health centers in Northern (n = 208), Central (n = 226), or Southern (n = 318) Mozambique was examined. All individuals were interviewed to obtain socioeconomic, demographic and clinical data and were tested for serum anti-HHV-8 antibodies using an immunofluorescence assay. The overall frequency of HHV-8 antibodies was 21.4% and, in spite of the diversity of epidemiological characteristics of the tested individuals, did not differ significantly among regions: 18.7%, 24.3% and 21.4% in the North, Center, and South, respectively (chi(2), 2.37; P = 0.305). The variables that were associated significantly with the presence of HHV-8 antibodies were gender, age, level of education, number of siblings and HIV serostatus, but these differed across the regions. In the North, although tested individuals lived under poor socioeconomic conditions, no association between HHV-8 infection and household variables was detected, with the exception of the number of siblings (P = 0.042). In the Central region, HHV-8 infection was associated with gender (P = 0.010), the number of household members (P = 0.031), and the place of attendance (P = 0.021). In the South, HHV-8 infection was associated with the number of siblings (P = 0.023) and HIV status (P = 0.002). The overall prevalence of HHV-8 seropositivity increased with age. These results demonstrate that Mozambique is another country in Africa with endemic HHV-8 infection, and, because of the AIDS epidemic, continued access to antiretroviral treatment is necessary to avert an outbreak of AIDS-Kaposi`s sarcoma. J. Med. Virol. 82:1216-1223, 2010. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Ministerio da Ciencia e Tecnologia/Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (MCT/CNPq), Brasil[490452/2007-8]Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Ministerio da Ciencia e Tecnologia/Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (MCT/CNPq), Brasil[304372/2006-4]Instituto Adolfo Lutz (CTC)[55/06]Instituto Adolfo LutzInternational Health Alliance (Mozambique)International Health Alliance (Mozambique

HIV-1 resistance testing influences treatment decision-making

OBJECTIVE: To investigates how the use of HIV-1 resistance tests influences physician decision-making. METHODS: Ten experienced reference physicians from the Brazilian Network for Drug Resistance each received ten patients' case histories. The selected patients had experienced at least two virological failures. First, reference physicians were asked to empirically select a new regimen for each patient. Second, after genotype report (ViroSeq 2.6) was provided, and physicians were again asked to select a new regimen considering this additional information. Finally, they were asked to select a regimen after receiving a virtual phenotype result (vircoTYPE 3.9.00). RESULTS: In 79% of the cases, physicians changed their empirical choice of regimen after receiving the genotype report, resulting in an increase in the mean number of active drugs from 1.8 to 2.2 (p = 0.0003), while the average number of drugs/regimen remained at 4.0. After receipt of the virtual phenotype report, additional changes were made in 75% of the patient cases, resulting in an increase in the number of active drugs to 2.8 (p < 0.0001), while the average number of drugs/regimen remained at 4.0. After receipt of the genotype report, 48% of the changes were in NRTIs, 29% were in NNRTIs and 60% were in PIs; after consideration of the virtual phenotype, 61%, 10% and 49% of the changes, respectively, were in these categories of drugs. Fourteen percent of the physicians rated the genotype report as "extremely useful", whereas 34% rated the subsequent virtual phenotype report as "extremely useful" (p = 0.0003). CONCLUSIONS: Resistance testing has a significant impact on physicians' choices of antiretroviral salvage therapies, and it promotes the selection of more active drug