In situ conservation of crop wild relatives

Poster presented at 13. Meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) held in FAO, Rome (Italy), 18-22 Feb 200

Practice of Contemporary Dance Promotes Stochastic Postural Control in Aging

As society ages and the frequency of falls increases, counteracting gait and posture decline is a challenging issue for countries of the developed world. Previous studies have shown that exercise and hazard management help to improve balance and/or decrease the risks for falling in normal aging. Motor activity based on motor-skill learning, particularly dance, can also benefit balance and decreases falls with age. Recent studies have suggested that older dancers have better balance, posture, or gait than non-dancers. Additionally, clinical or laboratory measures have shown improvements in some aspects of balance after dance interventions in elderly trainees. This study examined the impact of contemporary dance (CD) and of fall prevention (FP) programs on postural control of older adults. Posturography of quiet upright stance was performed in 41 participants aged 59–86 years before and after 4.4-month training in either CD or FP once a week. Though classical statistic scores failed to show any effect, dynamic analyses of the center-of-pressure displacements revealed significant changes after training. Specifically, practice of CD enhanced the critical time interval in diffusion analysis, and reduced recurrence and mathematical stability in recurrence quantification analysis, whereas practice of FP induced or tended to induce the reverse patterns. Such effects were obtained only in the eyes open condition. We suggest that CD training based on motor improvisation favored stochastic posture inducing plasticity in motor control, while FP training based on more stereotyped behaviors did not

Practice of Contemporary Dance Improves Cognitive Flexibility in Aging

As society ages and frequency of dementia increases exponentially, counteracting cognitive aging decline is a challenging issue for countries of the developed world. Previous studies have suggested that physical fitness based on cardiovascular and strength training helps to improve attentional control in normal aging. However, how motor activity based on motor-skill learning can also benefit attentional control with age has been hitherto a neglected issue. This study examined the impact of contemporary dance (CD) improvisation on attentional control of older adults, as compared to two other motor training programs, fall prevention and Tai Chi Chuan. Participants performed setting, suppressing, and switching attention tasks before and after 5.7-month training in either CD or fall prevention or Tai Chi Chuan. Results indicated that CD improved switching but not setting or suppressing attention. In contrast, neither fall prevention nor Tai Chi Chuan showed any effect. We suggest that CD improvisation works as a training for change, inducing plasticity in flexible attention

Anatomía caulinar y foliar de tres especies de plantas acuáticas

The aerenchyma is a tissue of conduction that facilitates the transportation of gases, for example oxygen. in its structure it is very efficient and produces buoyancy in many organs be keeping firmness in plants with a reduced number of cells. Most aquatic plants develop constitutive aerenchyma in their roots, stems, petioles and leaves. In general aerenchyma occurs in response to hypoxia. Therefore, the limits of adaptation in these plants, based on the presence of aerenchyma, may vary according to the type of specie. It may be present in some organs and not present in others.The main purpose of this research was the identification of aerenchyma in: Salvinia auriculata, Eichhornia crassipes from the Botanical Garden and Nymphaea caerulea from the Universidad Autónoma de Honduras lagoon. Petiole, peduncle and leaves samples were taken of the three species. Lysigenous aerenchyma and cell inclusions as sclereids were found in Nymphaea caerulea; schizogeny aerenchyma with styloids inclusions were found in Eichhornia crassipes. However, in Salvinia auriculata reduced schizogeny aerenchyma can be observed without cell inclusions.Revista Portal de Ciencias, No. 8, June 2015: 31-44El aerénquima es un tejido de conducción que facilita el transporte de gases como el oxígeno. Estructuralmente es un tejido muy eficiente, ya que permite la flotación de determinados órganos y mantiene la firmeza de la planta con una cantidad mínima de células.La mayoría de plantas acuáticas forman aerénquima constitutivo en sus raíces, tallos, pecíolos y hojas; pero en general se forma en respuesta a la hipoxia. Por lo tanto, los límites de adaptación entre estos tipos de plantas, basados en la presencia de aerénquima, pueden variar de acuerdo a las especies; siendo visibles en algunos órganos y no presentes en otros.El objetivo principal del presente trabajo es la identificación de aerénquima en las especies: Salvinia auriculata, Eichhornia crassipes, en el jardín botánico, y Nymphaea caerulea en la laguna de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras. Para lograrlo se colectaron muestras de pecíolo, pedúnculo y hoja de las tres especies.En Nymphaea caerulea se encontró aerénquima de tipo lisígeno, con inclusiones celulares en forma de esclereidas. En el caso de Eichhornia crassipes se observó un aerénquima esquizógeno, con presencia de estiloides. Sin embargo, en Salvinia auriculata se observa un reducido aerénquima esquizógeno y la ausencia de inclusiones celulares.Revista Portal de Ciencias, No. 8, junio 2015: 31-4

Pupillary Light Reflexes are Associated with Autonomic Dysfunction in Bolivian Diabetics But Not Chagas Disease Patients

Autonomic dysfunction is common in Chagas disease and diabetes. Patients with either condition complicated by cardiac autonomic dysfunction face increased mortality, but no clinical predictors of autonomic dysfunction exist. Pupillary light reflexes (PLRs) may identify such patients early, allowing for intensified treatment. To evaluate the significance of PLRs, adults were recruited from the outpatient endocrine, cardiology, and surgical clinics at a Bolivian teaching hospital. After testing for Chagas disease and diabetes, participants completed conventional autonomic testing (CAT) evaluating their cardiovascular responses to Valsalva, deep breathing, and orthostatic changes. PLRs were measured using specially designed goggles, then CAT and PLRs were compared as measures of autonomic dysfunction. This study analyzed 163 adults, including 96 with Chagas disease, 35 patients with diabetes, and 32 controls. PLRs were not significantly different between Chagas disease patients and controls. Patients with diabetes had longer latency to onset of pupil constriction, slower maximum constriction velocities, and smaller orthostatic ratios than nonpatients with diabetes. PLRs correlated poorly with CAT results. A PLR-based clinical risk score demonstrated a 2.27-fold increased likelihood of diabetes complicated by autonomic dysfunction compared with the combination of blood tests, CAT, and PLRs (sensitivity 87.9%, specificity 61.3%). PLRs represent a promising tool for evaluating subclinical neuropathy in patients with diabetes without symptomatic autonomic dysfunction. Pupillometry does not have a role in the evaluation of Chagas disease patients

The Boom of cohabitation in Colombia and in the Andean Region : social and spatial patterns

In this chapter we use census microdata to document the rise in cohabitation in Colombia and in the Andean countries of Ecuador, Bolivia, Perú and Venezuela over the last four decades. We use multilevel logistic regression models to examine the effect of individual and contextual variables on cohabitation. We show the individual and contextual effects of social stratification, ethnicity and religion on cohabitation. Cohabitation levels follow a negative gradient with education and vary according to ethnic background. The Bolivian, Ecuadorian and Peruvian censuses reveal that the two largest ethnic groups (i.e. the Quechua and Aymara) have, controlling for other characteristics, the lowest incidence of cohabitation. By contrast, Afro-American populations show the highest levels of cohabitation. The joint use of individual- and contextual-level explanatory variables is sufficient to account for the majority of Bolivia's internal diversity regarding cohabitation, but not sufficient to account for the internal diversity identified in Colombia, Peru or Ecuador. Even after controls, residence in the Andes mountain areas continues to be a factor associated with lower levels of cohabitation. This invites further investigations on how the institutionalization of marriage occurred in the Andes

Chagas Cardiomyopathy in the Context of the Chronic Disease Transition

Latin America is undergoing a transition from disease patterns characteristic of developing countries with high rates of infectious disease and premature deaths to a pattern more like industrialized countries, in which chronic conditions such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes are more common. Many rural residents with Chagas disease have now migrated to cities, taken on new habits and may suffer from both types of disease. We studied heart disease among 394 adults seen by cardiologists in a public hospital in the city of Santa Cruz, Bolivia; 64% were infected with T. cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease. Both T. cruzi infected and uninfected patients had a high rate of hypertension (64%) and overweight (67%), with no difference by infection status. Nearly 60% of symptomatic congestive heart failure was due to Chagas disease; mortality was also higher for infected than uninfected patients. Males and older patients had more severe Chagas heart disease. Chagas heart disease remains an important cause of congestive heart failure in this hospital population, but often occurs in patients who also have obesity, hypertension and/or other cardiac risk factors