Fecal pollution in water from storm sewers and adjacent seashores in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

A study on the distribution patterns of enteropathogenic bacteria polluting the shoreline in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, was carried out based on 72 samples obtained from three storm sewers and adjoining beach locations, Praia do Meio (PM), Areia Preta (AP) and Ponta Negra (PN). From each location, 12 water samples were taken and analyzed for fecal coliforms (FC) and Escherichia coli. In AP, two (16.7%) of the seawater samples and five (41.7%) of the storm sewer samples yielded values above 1.1 × 107 FC/100 ml, whereas only one (8.3%) of the samples from PM reached this level. There was no correlation (p > 0.05) between rainfall indeces and FC values. A total of 64 E. coli isolates were obtained: 37 from the storm sewer samples and 27 from the seawater samples. Of these isolates, four (O143, two O112ac, and O124) were enteroinvasive and two (O111 and O125) were enteropathogenic. Resistance to antibiotics and to heavy metals was also analyzed. Almost 36% of the E. coli strains isolated were resistant to more than one antibiotic. All strains were resistant to zinc and copper at the highest concentration tested (250 μg/ml), and several (23.4%) were resistant to mercury at 50 μg/ml. Our results agreed with previous reports that antibiotic resistance is commonly associated with heavy-metal resistance in pathogens. [Int Microbiol 2004; 7(3):213–218

No longer locally extinct? Tracing the origins of a lion (Panthera leo) living in Gabon

Lions (Panthera leo) are of particular conservation concern due to evidence of recent, widespread population declines in what has hitherto been seen as a common species, robust to anthropogenic disturbance. Here we use non-invasive methods to recover complete mitochondrial genomes from single hair samples collected in the field in order to explore the identity of the Gabonese Plateaux Batéké lion. Comparison of the mitogenomes against a comprehensive dataset of African lion sequences that includes relevant geographically proximate lion populations from both contemporary and ancient sources, enabled us to identify the Plateaux Batéké lion as a close maternal relative to now extirpated populations found in Gabon and nearby Congo during the twentieth century, and to extant populations of Southern Africa. Our study demonstrates the relevance of ancient DNA methods to field conservation work, and the ability of trace field samples to provide copious genetic information about free-ranging animals.Acknowledgements We thank the laboratory technicians of the Centre for GeoGenetics and the staff of the Danish National High-Throughput DNA Sequencing Centre for technical assistance. This project received funding from the European Union�s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no. FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF-298820, and ERC Consolidator Grant 681396 � Extinction Genomics. Fieldwork in Gabon was funded by Panthera and The Aspinall Foundation. We thank the Staff at Projet Protection Gorilles Gabon and the Gabonese National Park Agency for their assistance in fieldwork. Thanks also to Tony King for helpful comments on the manuscript. Permission to collect and export the samples was granted by the respective Ministries of the Environment (Eaux et Forets) in Gabon and Congo, and by Gabon�s National Park Agency (ANPN).Scopu

Thermostatistics of deformed bosons and fermions

Based on the q-deformed oscillator algebra, we study the behavior of the mean occupation number and its analogies with intermediate statistics and we obtain an expression in terms of an infinite continued fraction, thus clarifying successive approximations. In this framework, we study the thermostatistics of q-deformed bosons and fermions and show that thermodynamics can be built on the formalism of q-calculus. The entire structure of thermodynamics is preserved if ordinary derivatives are replaced by the use of an appropriate Jackson derivative and q-integral. Moreover, we derive the most important thermodynamic functions and we study the q-boson and q-fermion ideal gas in the thermodynamic limit.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

Ânus anterior: está ou não associado com a constipação crônica na criança?

OBJECTIVE: To study the association between the anterior anus, measured through anal position index, and the presence of longstanding chronic constipation in children.MATERIALS AND METHODS: 195 pediatric patients of the outpatient unit at HCPA were analyzed (ages: from 10 days to 9 years and 10 months; sex: 94 girls and 101boys). Children were considered constipated when presenting a period of more than 3 days without bowel movements and large and hard, or pelletlike, stools. Anterior anus was identified by anal indexes lower than the average minus the standard deviation of the control group of children without constipation; that is < 0.40 for boys, and < 0.24 for girls.RESULTS: Chronic constipation was diagnosed in 58 of the 195 children (29.7%; 28.7% of boys, and 30.9% of girls). There was no significant difference in relation tosex, constipation, or regarding the presence of anterior anus. Fifty-eight children (39.4%) with constipation had anterior anus, whereas 60.6% of children without constipation had anterior anus. There was no significant correlation between anterior position of anus and chronic constipation.CONCLUSION: There was no correlation between chronic constipation and anterior anus among the analyzed children.OBJETIVO: Estudar a associação entre o deslocamento ventral do ânus, através da medida do índice ânus-genital, e a presença de constipação crônica em crianças.MATERIAL E MÉTODOS: Foram estudadas 195 crianças atendidas no ambulatório de gastroenterologia pediátrica do HCPA, com idades entre 10 dias e 9 anos e 10 meses, 94 meninas e 101 meninos. Foram consideradas constipadas as crianças que não evacuavam há mais de 3 dias e que apresentavam fezes disquézicas ou cibalosas. Ânus anteriorizado fois definido como IAG menor do que um desvio-padrãodaquele obtido da média das crianças controles não constipadas (IAG < 0,40 em meninos e < 0,24 em meninas).RESULTADOS: Foram identificadas 58/195 crianças (29,7%) com constipação crônica (28,7% em meninos e 30,9% em meninas). Não houve diferença estatisticamente significativa em relação ao sexo (30,9%) ou quanto à presença do ânus anterior. Entre as 58 crianças constipadas, 39,4% apresentavam ânus anteriorizado, enquanto que dentre as não constipadas 60,6% o apresentavam. Não houve correlação estatisticamente significativa entre a presença de ânus anteriorizado e constipação, ou entre constipação e as medidas do IAG.CONCLUSÃO: Não houve relação entre constipação e a posição anteriorizada do ânus nas crianças estudada