Food habits of Oligoryzomys longicaudatus (Rodentia) in a steppe–forest transitional area of Argentinean Patagonia

We described the spatial and seasonal variation of feeding habits of Oligoryzomys longicaudatus in four environments of the steppe-forest transition zone of Argentinean Patagonia. Composition of fecal pellets collected from live-trap captures was determined with microhistological techniques using an identification key of representative plants of our study areas. Fruits and seeds constituted 57.2% of O. longicaudatus diets, followed by foliage (26.8%) and arthropods (16.0%). Fruits and seeds, foliage parts, and arthropods were primarily found in individuals from shrublands, forests, and peridomestic areas, whereas foliage predominated in pastures. Similarity index revealed differences between pastures and the other environments. Diet in shrubland showed differences among seasons, but not among years. Fruits of Rosa spp. constituted the main food consumed in shrubland, forest and peridomestic environments mainly in autumn and winter, whereas in spring and summer high proportions of arthropods and other items were eaten. Thus, O. longicaudatus could be described as frugivorous in this region, explained by an opportunistic behavior and the spatial variation of available resources.Describimos la variación espacial y temporal de los hábitos alimentarios de Oligoryzomys longicaudatus en cuatro ambientes de una área de transición bosque-estepa en la Patagonia argentina. La composición de las heces de los roedores, colectadas en las trampas de captura viva, fue determinada con técnicas microhistológicas, utilizando una clave de identificación de plantas representativas en las áreas de estudio. Los frutos y las semillas constituyeron el 57,2% de la dieta de O. longicaudatus, seguidas por partes vegetativas (26,8%) y artrópodos (16%). En las heces de individuos capturados en matorrales, bosques y hábitats peridomésticos se encontraron principalmente frutas y semillas, partes vegetativas y artrópodos, mientras que las partes vegetativas predominaron en las de pastizales. Los índices de similitud revelaron esas diferencias entre las dietas en los pastizales y en el resto de los hábitats. La dieta de los individuos capturados en matorrales mostró leves diferencias entre estaciones, pero no entre años. Los frutos de la Rosa spp. constituyeron el principal alimento, fundamentalmente en otoño e invierno, mientras que en primavera y verano consumieron altos porcentajes de artrópodos y otros ítems. Así, O. longicaudatus podría ser descripto como frugívoro en esta región, lo que se explica por un comportamiento oportunista y la variación espacial del recurso disponible.EEA BarilocheFil: Polop, Francisco. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físico-Químicas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Sepulveda, Lorena. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Laboratorio de Microhistología; ArgentinaFil: Pelliza Sbriller, Alicia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Laboratorio de Microhistología; ArgentinaFil: Polop, Jaime. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físico-Químicas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Provensal, M. Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físico-Químicas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias Naturales; Argentin

Metodologia para a elaboração da lista básica dos periódicos nacionais em ciências agrícolas e estudo da dispersão da literatura agrícola brasileira

O estabelecimento da lista básica (core list) baseou-se nos periódicos indexados na Bibliografia Brasileira de Ciências Agrícolas de 1969 e 1972/73. Acrescentaram-se outros periódicos que foram considerados de nível científico ou técnico-científico. Foram elaboradas duas listas básicas: a primeira, dos periódicos que produzem artigos de nível científico, e a segunda, dos periódicos que publicam artigos de nível científico, técnico-científico, de extensão ou de divulgação. Essas listas relacionam os títulos de periódicos brasileiros na área da Agricultura que deverão ser incluídos nos sistemas AGRIS e AGRINTER, respectivamente. O estudo foi completado com uma avaliação dos periódicos no que diz respeito ao número de artigos publicados por ano. A aplicação da lei de Bradford indica que com um total de títulos de periódicos que não ultrapasse 400, serão obtidos anualmente, de 3.500 a 4.000 artigos

Risaralda: competitividad y desarrollo regional. Generación de un lenguaje común entre actores

Risaralda convive con procesos de globalización con los cuales cada vez se tienen menos barreras y, por tanto, estar preparados para competir en este escenario es un imperativo para la región. La búsqueda de la competitividad es uno de los caminos posibles. El mejoramiento de los niveles de competitividad de la región no es solo tarea del sector empresarial sino que implica un trabajo en la sociedad en todos los niveles dirigentes. Uno de los mecanismos que permiten su mejoramiento es el desarrollo de estudios de futuro y, dentro de ellos, el uso de la prospectiva como herramienta. En este contexto es importante definir los principales retos del departamento de Risaralda en materia de competitividad y las acciones que se deben emprender por parte de los actores de desarrollo regional

Generacion de electricidad: ¿Una oportunidad de negocio para la comercial Becerra Limitada?

83 p.El actual problema energético que atraviesa el país ha impulsado a los industriales a estudiar la posibilidad de desarrollar centrales de autogeneración con los recursos que tienen disponibles. Esta es la razón que sirve de base a nuestra memoria, puesto que la producción de energía utilizando residuos madereros permitirá diversificar la cartera de negocios de la empresa Comercial Becerra Limitada. Para incentivar las inversiones y diversificar la matriz energética, el gobierno ha impulsado una serie de iniciativas. Entre ellas se cuentan las modificaciones a la ley eléctrica, vigente desde 1982, con la promulgación de las “leyes cortas I y II”. En el aspecto medioambiental, la biomasa muestra una clara posibilidad de aumentar su participación en la matriz energética nacional porque implica la producción energética sustentable y amigable con el medio ambiente. Los residuos madereros disponibles en la Región del Maule, permiten llevar a cabo proyectos de generación eléctrica en forma sustentable, pero es necesario generar relaciones de largo plazo con los aserraderos productores de residuos. Considerando una tasa de descuento del 10% real anual, el VAN y la TIR asociados a este proyecto son de US$ 211.648 y 10,70% respectivamente, lo que permite concluir que para Comercial Becerra Limitada es una oportunidad de negocio. Sin embargo, es necesario profundizar el estudio técnico que contemple balances de energía y rendimiento de los equipos, puesto que éstas variables tienen efectos directos en los resultados económicos

Socialización diplomado de profundización en farmacovigilancia

Este trabajo se centra en mostrar los componentes esenciales de la fármacovigilancia y el papel que juega a la hora de iniciar un tratamiento farmacológico. Se inicia con su objetivo de asegurar la calidad y seguridad de los medicamentos e incentivar el buen uso de estos, mediante una herramienta primordial que son los reportes de los eventos adversos y la implementación de un programa, el cual debe detallar el proceso paso a paso en caso de detectar o sospechar de una posible reacción adversa. Se incluye además la participación del regente y como su aporte permite que esta se mejore con el tiempo y se ofrezca más seguridad en las farmacoterapias, también se ve el impacto en las diferentes actividades que se realizan en el proceso farmacéutico. Por último puntualizamos en las distintas maneras en cómo se mide la efectividad de un tratamiento, desde el punto de vista de costo y beneficio.This work focuses on showing the essential components of pharmacovigilance and the role it plays when initiating drug treatment. It begins with its objective of ensuring the quality and safety of medications and encouraging their proper use, through a primary tool that is the reports of adverse events and the implementation of a program, which must detail the process step by step in case of detecting or suspecting a possible adverse reaction. The participation of the regent is also included and as their contribution allows it to improve over time and offer more safety in pharmacotherapies, the impact on the different activities carried out in the pharmaceutical process is also seen. Finally, we point out the different ways in how the effectiveness of a treatment is measured, from the point of view of cost and benefit

Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome and health-related quality of life in adults aged 18 to 30 years in a Colombian University: an electronic survey

Q2Artículo original1-9Comunindad de la Pontificia Universidad JaverianaBackground We estimated the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and its impact on patient-reported health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in a university-based population aged between 18 and 30 years in Bogotá, Colombia. Methods The study had a cross-sectional design. Students, faculty, and staff aged 18-30 years of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia were randomly selected and invited to complete an electronic survey containing the Rome III IBS diagnostic cuestionnaire and an IBS-specific HR-QOL instrument (IBS-QOL). Results A total of 1082 individuals participated in this study. The prevalence of IBS was 24.0% (95% CI 21.3-26.6%). IBS-constipation was the most common subtype (41.9%; 95% CI 35.5-48.4%). The overall IBS-QOL score indicated HR-QOL impairment (72.1/100). IBS-unsubtyped patients had the highest overall HR-QOL (constipation: 70.6; diarrhea: 67.2; mixed: 67.0; unsubtyped: 77.8; P=0.003). IBS non-consulters had higher IBS-QOL “Food Avoidance” scores than IBS consulters (60.3 vs. 45.5; P=0.002). Conclusion IBS is a prevalent disorder in a university-based population aged 18-30 years and has a significant impact on HR-QOL. IBS-unsubtyped subjects had the highest HR-QOL compared to other subtypes. Food avoidance appears to be a key factor in seeking consultation

Delaying the International Spread of Pandemic Influenza

BACKGROUND: The recent emergence of hypervirulent subtypes of avian influenza has underlined the potentially devastating effects of pandemic influenza. Were such a virus to acquire the ability to spread efficiently between humans, control would almost certainly be hampered by limited vaccine supplies unless global spread could be substantially delayed. Moreover, the large increases that have occurred in international air travel might be expected to lead to more rapid global dissemination than in previous pandemics. METHODS AND FINDINGS: To evaluate the potential of local control measures and travel restrictions to impede global dissemination, we developed stochastic models of the international spread of influenza based on extensions of coupled epidemic transmission models. These models have been shown to be capable of accurately forecasting local and global spread of epidemic and pandemic influenza. We show that under most scenarios restrictions on air travel are likely to be of surprisingly little value in delaying epidemics, unless almost all travel ceases very soon after epidemics are detected. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to reduce local transmission of influenza are likely to be more effective at reducing the rate of global spread and less vulnerable to implementation delays than air travel restrictions. Nevertheless, under the most plausible scenarios, achievable delays are small compared with the time needed to accumulate substantial vaccine stocks

Amplified Genes May Be Overexpressed, Unchanged, or Downregulated in Cervical Cancer Cell Lines

Several copy number-altered regions (CNAs) have been identified in the genome of cervical cancer, notably, amplifications of 3q and 5p. However, the contribution of copy-number alterations to cervical carcinogenesis is unresolved because genome-wide there exists a lack of correlation between copy-number alterations and gene expression. In this study, we investigated whether CNAs in the cell lines CaLo, CaSki, HeLa, and SiHa were associated with changes in gene expression. On average, 19.2% of the cell-line genomes had CNAs. However, only 2.4% comprised minimal recurrent regions (MRRs) common to all the cell lines. Whereas 3q had limited common gains (13%), 5p was entirely duplicated recurrently. Genome-wide, only 15.6% of genes located in CNAs changed gene expression; in contrast, the rate in MRRs was up to 3 times this. Chr 5p was confirmed entirely amplified by FISH; however, maximum 33.5% of the explored genes in 5p were deregulated. In 3q, this rate was 13.4%. Even in 3q26, which had 5 MRRs and 38.7% recurrently gained SNPs, the rate was only 15.1%. Interestingly, up to 19% of deregulated genes in 5p and 73% in 3q26 were downregulated, suggesting additional factors were involved in gene repression. The deregulated genes in 3q and 5p occurred in clusters, suggesting local chromatin factors may also influence gene expression. In regions amplified discontinuously, downregulated genes increased steadily as the number of amplified SNPs increased (p<0.01, Spearman's correlation). Therefore, partial gene amplification may function in silencing gene expression. Additional genes in 1q, 3q and 5p could be involved in cervical carcinogenesis, specifically in apoptosis. These include PARP1 in 1q, TNFSF10 and ECT2 in 3q and CLPTM1L, AHRR, PDCD6, and DAP in 5p. Overall, gene expression and copy-number profiles reveal factors other than gene dosage, like epigenetic or chromatin domains, may influence gene expression within the entirely amplified genome segments

Cabbage and fermented vegetables : From death rate heterogeneity in countries to candidates for mitigation strategies of severe COVID-19

Large differences in COVID-19 death rates exist between countries and between regions of the same country. Some very low death rate countries such as Eastern Asia, Central Europe, or the Balkans have a common feature of eating large quantities of fermented foods. Although biases exist when examining ecological studies, fermented vegetables or cabbage have been associated with low death rates in European countries. SARS-CoV-2 binds to its receptor, the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). As a result of SARS-CoV-2 binding, ACE2 downregulation enhances the angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AT(1)R) axis associated with oxidative stress. This leads to insulin resistance as well as lung and endothelial damage, two severe outcomes of COVID-19. The nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) is the most potent antioxidant in humans and can block in particular the AT(1)R axis. Cabbage contains precursors of sulforaphane, the most active natural activator of Nrf2. Fermented vegetables contain many lactobacilli, which are also potent Nrf2 activators. Three examples are: kimchi in Korea, westernized foods, and the slum paradox. It is proposed that fermented cabbage is a proof-of-concept of dietary manipulations that may enhance Nrf2-associated antioxidant effects, helpful in mitigating COVID-19 severity.Peer reviewe