Avaliação quali-quantitativa da arborização em praças de Bagé, rio grande do Sul / Quali-quantitative evaluation of ten-square afforestationin Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul

A manutenção da arborização urbana é responsabilidade governamental, contudo toda a Sociedade é corresponsável no cuidado ao bem público. No município de Bagé/RS, diferentes instituições têm realizado uma série de ações em prol do patrimônio arbóreo. Neste contexto, o objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar a arborização de praças centrais em Bagé. Através do inventário arbóreo por amostragem, avaliou-se todos os indivíduos de porte arbustivo-arbóreo com DAP ≥ 3 cm, através de identificação botânica, medidas dendrometrias e estado fitossanitário. Amostrou-se 1058 indivíduos, pertencentes a 67 espécies, sendo que dez espécies representam 67,16% das árvores. As espécies mais frequentes foram Ligustrum lucidum (11,44%) e Melia azedarach (9,83%). A altura total, diâmetro do caule, profundidade e largura da copa apresentaram ampla distribuição, sendo relacionada com o padrão arquitetural e idade. Grande parte dos indivíduos analisados apresentou bom estado fitossanitário (73,76%) e médio estado (20,37%), com apenas 2,94% das árvores em estado ruim e 2,94% em péssimas condições. Como medidas de manejo sugeriu-se principalmente a realização de podas adequadas quando necessário e retirada de erva-de-passarinho. Apesar do bom estado fitossanitário, observou-se homogeneidade das espécies plantadas, com predominância de espécies exóticas (61,19%), sugerindo-se a incorporação gradual de espécies nativas em plantios futuros

AVALIAÇÃO DE SAÚDE DE CRIANÇAS DE CENTRO DE EDUCAÇÃO INFANTIL

A família constitui-se a primeira socialização da criança, onde aprenderá o processo de desenvolvimento cognitivo, sensorial, motor e afetivo, e a segunda é a escola. Com a Constituição Federal do Brasil, a creche passou a ser definida como direito da criança, um dever do Estado e uma opção da família, pois geralmente os pais das crianças trabalham o dia todo. Desde então, uma parcela considerável da população infantil de 4 meses a 6 anos de idade tem frequentado as creches. Crianças nessa faixa etária deveriam receber atendimento de Puericultura nas Unidades Básicas de Saúde, com o propósito de acompanhar o crescimento e desenvolvimento, observar a cobertura vacinal e prevenir as doenças que acometem as crianças, como a diarréia e as infecções respiratória. Entretanto, as crianças da creche não  tem recebido esse cuidado regularmente. Diante desta problemática, acadêmicos de enfermagem e medicina oportunizaram acesso às práticas básicas de saúde comunitária para estas crianças. Realizaram ações de avaliação do desenvolvimento infantil e de prevenção dos agravos à saúde para crianças da creche Irmã Scheila. Constatou-se problemas como higiene inadequada, baixo peso, cáries, vacinas atrasadas, exame fonoaudiológico não realizado, deformidade óssea, hérnia umbilical e atraso no desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor. As intervenções realizadas com as famílias foram de cunho educativo, realizou-se reuniões individuais e em grupo. Conclui-se que as ações preconizadas pela Puericultura são fundamentais para a promoção da saúde infantil, não podendo ser negligenciada nenhuma criança

Abnormal accumulation of autophagic vesicles correlates with axonal and synaptic pathology in young Alzheimer’s mice hippocampus

Dystrophic neurites associated with amyloid plaques precede neuronal death and manifest early in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In this work we have characterized the plaque-associated neuritic pathology in the hippocampus of young (4- to 6-month-old) PS1M146L/APP751SL mice model, as the initial degenerative process underlying functional disturbance prior to neuronal loss. Neuritic plaques accounted for almost all fibrillar deposits and an axonal origin of the dystrophies was demonstrated. The early induction of autophagy pathology was evidenced by increased protein levels of the autophagosome marker LC3 that was localized in the axonal dystrophies, and by electron microscopic identification of numerous autophagic vesicles filling and causing the axonal swellings. Early neuritic cytoskeletal defects determined by the presence of phosphorylated tau (AT8-positive) and actin–cofilin rods along with decreased levels of kinesin-1 and dynein motor proteins could be responsible for this extensive vesicle accumulation within dystrophic neurites. Although microsomal Aβ oligomers were identified, the presence of A11-immunopositive Aβ plaques also suggested a direct role of plaque-associated Aβ oligomers in defective axonal transport and disease progression. Most importantly, presynaptic terminals morphologically disrupted by abnormal autophagic vesicle buildup were identified ultrastructurally and further supported by synaptosome isolation. Finally, these early abnormalities in axonal and presynaptic structures might represent the morphological substrate of hippocampal dysfunction preceding synaptic and neuronal loss and could significantly contribute to AD pathology in the preclinical stages

The effects of early social environments on the behavioral development of pigs and raccoons

In this dissertation I tested the hypothesis that early social environments could affect behavioral development in two species, domestic swine ( Sus scrofa domesticus) and wild raccoons (Procyon lotor). Allowing two or more litters of pigs in production systems to co-mingle during the lactation period, as it occurs in nature, improves responses to social and non-social challenges after weaning. In chapter 2, I examined the effect of co-mingling litters on piglet growth, ear injuries, suckling behavior and responses to behavioral tests before weaning. Thirty sows and their respective litters were housed in standard farrowing crates until day 13 after birth. On day 13, the partition between two neighboring pens was removed for 20 litters allowing piglets to interact (forming 10 co-mingled litters). The remaining 10 litters served as controls. Weight gain, ear injuries, suckling behavior data were collected before and after co-mingling. The results suggest that co-mingling litters during lactation affects the development of piglets’ social behavior before weaning, as indicated by responses to the social challenge. In chapter 3, I investigated how increasing the frequency of co-mingling affected piglets’ growth, ear injuries and social behavior before and after weaning. Fifty-six sows and their litters were assigned to one of three treatments: control (CM0), co-mingling once (CM1) and co-mingling twice (CM2). Piglets in the CM0 treatment were raised in standard farrowing crates from birth until weaning (n=16 litters), CM1 piglets were allowed to comingle with one unfamiliar litter from day 10 until weaning (n =16 litters) and CM2 piglets were allowed to co-mingle with one unfamiliar litter from day 10 until day 14, and with another unfamiliar litter from day 14 until weaning on day 18 (n=16 litters). There were no treatment differences in weight gained and ear injury scores throughout the experiment. Following mixing at weaning, piglet behavior was recorded for a 48-hour period. The CM2 piglets spent a higher proportion of observations performing belly nosing than CM0 piglets (P= 0.05), CM0 spent a higher percentage of the observations engaged in aggressive interactions (P\u3c0.05). During a social challenge, CM2 piglets spent more time in proximity to one another, had shorter latencies to first aggressive interaction, and spent a lower percentage of time engaged in fights and more time in bullying than CM0 piglets (P\u3c0.05). Although co-mingling treatments did not differ from one another, increasing the frequency of co-mingling from once to twice increased the difference from control significantly for some variables. Increasing the frequency of co-mingling altered the development of social behavior in piglets. In a final experiment, reported in Chapter 4, a similar concept was investigated for the first time in raccoons under wildlife rehabilitation conditions. The purpose of this experiment was to determine how early social environments providing different levels of social complexity affected the pre- and post-weaning behavior and growth of raccoons. At 7 weeks of age, 24 orphaned raccoons were assigned to one of three social environments: littermate pairs (LM, n=4, 8 raccoons), non-littermate pairs (NL, n=4, 8 raccoons) or housed singly with a stuffed animal (S, n=8, 8 raccoons). S cubs spent a smaller proportion of the observation time interacting with the stuffed animal than LM and NL cubs spent interacting with their cagemates during the first two weeks of the pre-weaning period (all comparisons P\u3c0.05). However, during the second week, S cubs spent more time resting in physical contact with the stuffed animal than LM (P\u3c 0.05) and NL (P=0.07) with their cagemates. NL spent more time engaging in activities alone than LM (P \u3c0.05). At 12 weeks of age weaning was completed and one cub from each treatment were mixed in outdoor pens (8 pens of 3 animals). Behavioral responses of individual animals to the novel pens were collected prior to mixing. When introduced to the novel pens, S cubs vocalized more and investigated the wall of the pens less than individuals from the LM and NL treatments (all comparisons P\u3c 0.05). Group responses to an unfamiliar human were recorded. S cubs spent less time exposed to the unfamiliar human than LM (P\u3c0.05) and NL (P=0.08), and spent less time investigating the human than LM (P\u3c0.05) and NL (P\u3c0.05). Increasing social complexity before weaning altered raccoons’ responses to social and non-social challenges after weaning. The hypothesis that early social environments would affect behavioral development in domestic swine and wild raccoons was supported by the results of all the experiments described in this dissertation. Further studies on other welfare indicators are needed in order to assess the overall welfare of these species in captivity and make decisions about adopting the social environments investigated in this dissertation. (Abstract shortened by UMI.

Hematologic reference values of Vinaceous-breasted Amazon (Amazona vinacea)

ABSTRACT Avian hematologic reference intervals are useful tools to evaluate body homeostasis and diagnose diseases. However, there are few species-specific reference intervals published. The present study reports Vinaceous-breasted Amazon ( Amazona vinacea ) hematologic reference values obtained during the health status evaluation of release candidates as part of this species reintroduction efforts at the Araucárias National Park. Parameters reported are erythrogram (erythrocytes, hemoglobin, packed cell volume, mean cell volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration and mean corpuscular hemoglobin), Red Cell Distribution Width (RDW), white cells total and differential (heterophiles, lymphocytes, basophils, eosinophils and monocytes), thrombocytes and total plasma protein. For the first time results on RDW and thrombocytes were described and a larger sample size were provided for all parameters analyzed. Intervals demonstrated in the present study showed significant differences from those considered normal in other parrot species and consequently have contributed to bring valuable information to base actions for the conservation of this endangered species of great biological value

Affluence does not influence breast cancer outcomes in African American women

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of race and socioeconomic status on breast tumor clinicopathological features and survival outcomes. This study used breast cancer data from the Washington D.C. Cancer Registry (2000–2010). Logistic regression and survival analysis assessed the association between race, socioeconomic (SES) variables, clinicopathological variables, recurrence-free survival and overall survival. African American (AA) breast cancer patients had an increased risk for stage III, ER-, and PR- breast cancer compared with White and Hispanic breast cancer patients. Additionally, D.C. geographical areas of lower socioeconomic status had higher incidences of stage III and stage IV breast cancer. A nested analysis demonstrated that AAs with higher median incomes compared with AAs with lower incomes revealed no differences for clinicopathological variables, nor were differences found between overall and recurrence-free survival. This study suggests that the biology of breast cancer in AAs could be driving breast cancer disparities