The global change impacts on forest natural resources in Central Rif Mountains in northern Morocco: extensive exploration and planning perspective

As mudanças globais, incluindo a transformação social, ambiental e económica, constituemuma grande desvantagem para o desenvolvimento sustentável da área de montanha do RifCentral, Marrocos. A degradação acelerada dos recursos florestais nesta área demonstraque há uma interação dinâmica entre a biosfera e os grupos comunitários.Estas interações, em constante mudança, entre as necessidades quotidianas e as limitadascapacidades do ambiente natural dão origem a meios que têm vindo a ser desenvolvidos,construídos ou, em geral, alterados ou degradados. Os dados disponíveis, estatísticoscartográficos, de levantamentos de campo e visitas mostraram uma regressão dassuperficies florestais a favor de novos tipos de agricultura ilegal, apesar dos programasnacionais e internacionais de desenvolvimento estabelecidos desde a década de 1960.The global changes including social, environment and economic transformation constitute amajor handicap to the sustainable development of the Moroccan Central Rif mountainsarea. The accelerated degradation of the forest resources in this area demonstrates thatthere is a dynamic interaction between the biosphere and community groups.These ever-changing interactions between the need to live and the limited of naturalenvironment skills, give rise to environments that have been developed, built or, in general,altered or degraded. The available statistical data, cartography, field surveys and visits have shown a regression of forest superficies in the profits of the new types of illegal farming,despite the national and international development programs had established since the1960s

Dynamics of Dengue epidemics using optimal control

We present an application of optimal control theory to Dengue epidemics. This epidemiologic disease is an important theme in tropical countries due to the growing number of infected individuals. The dynamic model is described by a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations, that depend on the dynamic of the Dengue mosquito, the number of infected individuals, and the people's motivation to combat the mosquito. The cost functional depends not only on the costs of medical treatment of the infected people but also on the costs related to educational and sanitary campaigns. Two approaches to solve the problem are considered: one using optimal control theory, another one by discretizing first the problem and then solving it with nonlinear programming. The results obtained with OC-ODE and IPOPT solvers are given and discussed. We observe that with current computational tools it is easy to obtain, in an efficient way, better solutions to Dengue problems, leading to a decrease of infected mosquitoes and individuals in less time and with lower costs.Comment: Submitted to Mathematical and Computer Modelling 25/Oct/2009; accepted for publication, after revision, 22/June/201

“Bone-shot fracture” – An unusual iliac wing fracture caused by a projectile of autologous bone fragment. A case report

Case: A young adult male sustained a high-energy crash suffering multiple injuries including a comminuted right femoral shaft fracture and an ipsilateral iliac wing fracture. The iliac fracture was caused by a femoral fragment which was projected and pierced the iliac wing. The patient underwent surgery with retrieval of the femoral fragment and fixation of the iliac and femoral fractures. The lesions healed uneventfully. Conclusion: This is the first reported case of an iliac fracture caused by a projectile of autologous bone. High-energy trauma may present unusual or never seen injury patterns to the trauma surgeon

Quantum gas distributions prescribed by factorization hypothesis of probability

Nonextensive quantum gas distributions are investigated on the basis of the factorization hypothesis of compound probability required by thermodynamic equilibrium. It is shown that the formalisms of Tsallis nonextensive statistical mechanics with normalized average give distribution functions for standard bosons and fermions obeying Pauli principle. The formalism with unnormalized average leads to a intermediate quantum distribution comparable to that of fractional exclusion statistics, with Fermi surface at T=0 depending on the parameter $q$.Comment: 5 pages, no figure, RevTeX, to be published in Chaos, Solitons & Fractals (2002

High yielding synthesis of N-ethyl dehydroamino acids

Recently we reported the use of a sequence of alkylation and dehydration methodologies to obtain N-ethyl-α, β-dehydroamino acid derivatives. The application of this N-alkylation procedure to several methyl esters of β, β-dibromo and β--bromo, β-substituted dehydroamino acids protected with standard amine protecting groups was subsequently reported. The corresponding N-ethyl, β-bromo dehydroamino acid derivatives were obtained in fair to high yields and some were used as substrates in Suzuki cross coupling reactions to give N-ethyl, β, β-disubstituted dehydroalanine derivatives. Herein, we further explore N-ethylation of β-halo dehydroamino acid derivatives using triethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate as alkylating agent but substituting N,N-diisopropylethylamine for potassium tert-butoxide as auxiliary base. In these conditions, for all β-halo dehydroamino acid derivatives, reactions were complete and the N-ethylated derivative could be isolated in high yield. This method was also applied for N-ethylation of non-halogenated dehydroamino acids. Again, with all compounds the reactions were complete and the N-ethyl dehydroamino acid derivatives could be isolated in high yields. Some of these N-ethyl dehydroamino acid methyl ester derivatives were converted in high yields to their corresponding acids and coupled to an amino acid methyl ester to give N-ethyl dehydrodipeptide derivatives in good yields. Thus, this method constitutes a general procedure for high yielding synthesis of N-ethylated dehydroamino acids, which can be further applied in peptide synthesis.Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)-Portugal and Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) for financial support to Chemistry Centre of University of Minho. The NMR spectrometer Bruker Avance II+ 400 is part of the National NMR Network and was purchased in the framework of the National Program for Scientific Re-equipment; contract REDE/1517/RMN/2005, with funds from POCI 2010, FEDER and FCT

Oxidative Stress in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Perspectives

The incidence and prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases (ND) increase with life expectancy. This paper reviews the role of oxidative stress (OS) in ND and pharmacological attempts to fight against reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced neurodegeneration. Several mechanisms involved in ROS generation in neurodegeneration have been proposed. Recent articles about molecular pathways involved in ROS generation were reviewed. The progress in the development of neuroprotective therapies has been hampered because it is difficult to define targets for treatment and determine what should be considered as neuroprotective. Therefore, the attention was focused on researches about pharmacological targets that could protect neurons against OS. Since it is necessary to look for genes as the ultimate controllers of all biological processes, this paper also tried to identify gerontogenes involved in OS and neurodegeneration. Since neurons depend on glial cells to survive, recent articles about the functioning of these cells in aging and ND were also reviewed. Finally, clinical trials testing potential neuroprotective agents were critically reviewed. Although several potential drugs have been screened in in vitro and in vivo models of ND, these results were not translated in benefit of patients, and disappointing results were obtained in the majority of clinical trials

History of Anxiety, Panic Attacks or Depression and Analysis of the Impact on Quality of Life in Medical Students.

Alta competição por resultados, muitas horas de estudo, carga horária acadêmica elevada, entre outros motivos, são apontadas como causa do elevado índice de ansiedade, pânico e depressão nos estudantes de Medicina. Avalia-se o impacto do histórico diagnosticado pelo médico dessas patologias na qualidade de vida dos estudantes de Medicina por meio de pesquisa transversal com aplicação do questionário da Organização Mundial da Saúde para avaliação da qualidade de vida – formato curto (WHOQOL-BREF), acrescido de um questionário com perguntas relacionadas a histórico de ansiedade, síndrome do pânico ou depressão anterior, religião e onde residem seus familiares em 405 alunos de Medicina da cidade de São Paulo, Brasil. Nos resultados, os alunos com histórico prévio de ansiedade, pânico ou depressão (34,57%) obtiveram pior índice de qualidade de vida demonstrado nos domínios físico, psicológico, relação social e ambiental, quando comparados ao grupo sem histórico prévio de depressão (p < 0,005). Alunos que relatam ter religião têm melhor qualidade de vida, com índices superiores no domínio psicológico (p < 0,005). Estudantes cujas famílias residem em outras cidades têm histórico mais elevado de ansiedade, síndrome do pânico ou depressão (teste exato de Fisher = 0.014). Conclusão: neste trabalho, história de ansiedade, pânico ou depressão e alunos sem religião apresentam piores índices de qualidade de vida e devem ser monitorados por programas especiais para melhorar o bem-estar, com ênfase para os alunos provenientes de outras cidades.High competition for results, too many study hours, courses with a huge hours total,  among other reasons, are pointed out as causes for the high rate of anxiety and depression in medical students. This work aims to evaluate the impact of previous doctor-diagnosed history of anxiety, panic syndrome or depression on quality of life of medical students and religion through a cross-section study with application of the World Health Organization questionnaire to assess quality of life in its short format (WHOQOL-BREF), plus a questionnaire with questions related to the history of previous anxiety, panic syndrome or depression, religion and where their families reside in 405 medical students from São Paulo, Brazil. The results showed that students with prior history of anxiety, panic syndrome or depression diagnosed by doctors (34.57%) had lower quality of life, an index demonstrated in the four domains: physical, psychological, social and environmental, when compared to the group without prior history of depression (p <0.005). Students who have religion have better quality of life with higher rates in the psychological domain (p <0.005). Students whose families live in other cities have a higher history of depression (Fisher exact test = 0.014). Conclusion: students who have a history of diagnosed anxiety, panic syndrome or depression and have no religion show the worst indices of quality of life and should be monitored by support programmes during medical school, with emphasis on students whose families live in other cities. Special programmes to improve the well-being should be studied and implemented

Geographical and socioeconomic inequalities in women and children’s nutritional status in Pakistan in 2011: an analysis of data from a nationally representative survey

Background Pakistan has one of the highest levels of child and maternal undernutrition worldwide, but little information about geographical and socioeconomic inequalities is available. We aimed to analyse anthropometric indicators for childhood and maternal nutrition at a district level in Pakistan and assess the association of nutritional status with food security and maternal and household socioeconomic factors. Methods We used data from the 2011 Pakistan National Nutrition Survey, which included anthropometric measurements for 33 638 children younger than 5 years and 24 826 women of childbearing age. We estimated the prevalences of stunting, wasting, and underweight among children and of underweight, overweight, and obesity in women for all 143 districts of Pakistan using a Bayesian spatial technique. We used a mixed-eff ect linear model to analyse the association of nutritional status with individual and household sociodemographic factors and food security. Findings Stunting prevalence in Pakistan’s districts ranged between 22% (95% credible interval 19–26) and 76% (69–83); the lowest fi gures for wasting and underweight were both less than 2·5% and the highest were 42% (34–50) for wasting and 54% (49–59) for underweight. In 106 districts, more women were overweight than were underweight; in 49 of these districts more women were obese than were underweight. Children were better nourished if their mothers were taller or had higher weight, if they lived in wealthier households, and if their mothers had 10 or more years of education. Severe food insecurity was associated with worse nutritional outcomes for both children and women. Interpretation We noted large social and geographical inequalities in child and maternal nutrition in Pakistan, masked by national and provincial averages. Pakistan is also beginning to face the concurrent challenge of high burden of childhood undernutrition and overweight and obesity among women of reproductive age. Planning, implementation, and evaluation of programmes for food and nutrition should be based on district-level needs and outcomes

Avaliações agrometeorológicas para subsidiar estratégias de decisão em cultivos de soja no município de Paragominas, Pará.

Editado por Adilson de Oliveira Junior, Odilon Ferreira Saraiva, Regina Maria Villas Bôas de Campos Leite