Potencialidades hídricas superficiais de Fernando de Noronha, PE, e alternativas para incremento da oferta.

A disponibilidade de recursos hídricos para usos múltiplos, com ênfase no abastecimento público, é questão da mais alta relevância e depende de aspectos edáficos, hidrológicos, ambientais e de gestão. Avaliou-se o potencial hídrico de bacias hidrográficas da Ilha de Fernando de Noronha, com vistas a dar suporte à gestão da água no arquipélago; para isto se delimitaram e caracterizaram cinco bacias representativas e se estimou a precipitação efetiva através do método da Curva Número. Adicionalmente, foram investigadas as características de infiltração dos principais solos do arquipélago. Verifica-se que, em geral, as bacias hidrográficas têm limitada infiltrabilidade e elevado potencial de escoamento, constatando-se o potencial de incremento de oferta de água superficial superior a 90%, desde que se contemple a utilização racional das principais bacias existentes. Dentre os solos analisados, os Cambissolos Háplicos Vertissólicos e os Vertissolos são os solos de menor infiltrabilidade e, portanto, de maior contribuição à macrodrenagem do arquipélago. Sugere-se a utilização das bacias estudadas no abastecimento doméstico da Ilha, de modo a incrementar a disponibilidade de água no local

SOIL-LANDSCAPE RELATIONSHIP IN A WATERSHED LOCATED ON PLEISTOCENIC TERRACES AND FLUVIO-LAGUNARIAN SEDIMENTS IN MUNICIPALITY OF RECIFE, BRAZIL

ABSTRACT In the Prata watershed there are units corresponding to the Pleistocene Terraces and the Fluvium-Lagoon Sediments. This watershed is inserted almost entirely in the area of plateaus (Tabuleiros) with altitudes of 10 to 100 meters, and in areas with altitudes of 2 to 10 meters in the area of floodplains and fluvio-lagoon terraces. The present work aimed to characterize and classify soils in the Brazilian Soil Classification System - SiBCS and correlate them with the IUSS Working Group WRB-FAO (in parentheses), besides evidence some soil-landscape relations, that occur in Pleistocene terraces and fluvium-lagoon sediments in the Prata watershed, located in the ecological reserve of Dois Irmãos State Park in Recife – PE, Brazil. Soil samples were used to perform physical, chemical and mineralogical analysis in laboratory. Watershed delimitation, Digital Elevation Model (DEM), slope map, soil map and slope x soil map were obtained and studied. The soils are quite acidic and have a very low natural fertility, with the Latossolos (Ferralsols) predominating in the landscape. The silt and clay fractions of the studied Argissolos (Acrisols) and Latossolos (Ferralsols) presented quartz and kaolinite as the main component. In the profile of Neossolo Quartzarênico (Arenosols) only quartz was identified as a component of the silt and clay fractions. The kaolinitic mineralogy of the clay fraction is consistent with the environment of its formation, that is, hot and humid. There is no relationship between the colors of soils and their exposure to the sun on the slopes where they occur. The occurrence of a sandy and whitish horizon between the litter and the A horizon, is not foreseen in the norms and criteria adopted in the Brazilian Soil Classification System - SiBCS

Interference with Hemozoin Formation Represents an Important Mechanism of Schistosomicidal Action of Antimalarial Quinoline Methanols

Heme is an essential molecule to most living organisms, but once in a free state it exerts toxic effects. Blood-feeding organisms evolved efficient ways to detoxify free heme derived from hemoglobin digestion. A key mechanism present in some hematophagous organisms consists of the crystallization of heme into a pigment named hemozoin. Schistosoma mansoni is one of the etiologic agents of human schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease that affects over 200 million people in tropical and subtropical areas. Hemozoin formation represents the main heme detoxification pathway in S. mansoni. Here, we report that the antimalarial quinoline methanols quinine and quinidine exert schistosomicidal effects notably due to their capacity to interfere with hemozoin formation. When quinine or quinidine were administered intraperitoneally during seven days to S. mansoni-infected mice (75 mg/kg/day), both worm and eggs burden were significantly reduced. Interestingly, hemozoin content in female worms was drastically affected after treatment with either compound. We also found that quinine caused important changes in the cellular organization of worm gastrodermis and increased expression of genes related to musculature, protein synthesis and repair mechanisms. Together, our results indicate that interference with hemozoin formation is a valid chemotherapeutic target for development of new schistosomicidal agents