Frailty syndrome in institutionalized elderly: prevalence and associated factors

To investigate the prevalence and the factors associated with frailty syndrome in institutionalized elderly, residents in the city of Recife/PE, a descriptive, cross-sectional, quantitative study was performed in nine public or philanthropic Homes for the Aged, between January and May 2013. We included 214 seniors, assuming as independent variables, the sociodemographic and health conditions, self-reported or obtained from elderly records, and the degree of elderly fragility, as dependent variable, assessed by Edmonton Fragility Scale. The mean age equaled to 76.42 ± 0.66 years (95%CI 75.12 – 77.71). We found a predominance of females (69.6%), unmarried (53.7%), with study time ranging from one to four years (54.4%). More frequently they referred perception of income (86.4%) up to one minimum salary (73.4%) and the residence time was less than a year to 29.4% of elderly. Regarding cognition, 79.4% of respondents were disapproved by significant errors. The frailty syndrome was identified in 70.1% of the elderly. All factors included in elderly frailty scale reached statistical significance, associated with increased frailty prevalence, as well as education, with a prevalence equal to 3.0 (95%CI 1.3 – 6.6) for its absence, and 2.5 (95%CI 1.2 – 5.3), for a four-year study. The absence of personal income increased at twice the prevalence (95%CI 1.0 – 4.0). In multivariate analysis, the factors that most contributed to the prevalence were impaired cognition, functional independence, self-evaluation of health, frequency of social support, perceived weight loss and feeling of sadness/depression.</p

Síndrome da fragilidade e fatores associados em idosos residentes em instituições de longa permanência

RESUMO Estudo descritivo em instituições de longa permanência para investigar a prevalência de fragilidade e de fatores associados em idosos institucionalizados e sua associação com variáveis sociodemográficas e condições de saúde. Foram investigados 214 idosos, a maioria do sexo feminino (69,6%), estado civil solteiro (53,7%), escolaridade de um ano (54,4%) e renda de até um salário mínimo (73,4%). Quanto à cognição, 79,4% foram reprovados por erros significativos. A síndrome de fragilidade foi identificada em 70,1% dos idosos. Todos os fatores incluídos na escala de fragilidade alcançaram significância estatística. Na análise multivariada, os fatores que mais contribuem para a fragilidade são: cognição, independência funcional, autoavaliação de saúde, frequência de suporte social, percepção de perda de peso e depressão

Geriatric oncology: concepts, trends and challenges

In Brazil, the elderly population presents the fastest growing segment in proportional terms and according to World Health Organization, the global impact of cancer more than doubled in 30 years. National estimates of 2010, which will be also valid for 2011, show the occurrence of 489,270 new cases. Although the link between cancer and senectude be complex and fundamental questions remain unanswered, it is expected that these indicators will increase even more with the progressive aging of the population. In this context, it is necessary to develop an interaction between oncology and geriatrics, in order to promote the evaluation of elderly patients with cancer individually, in its multiple dimensions, focusing on their comorbidities, functional status, level of dependence and the physiological factors related to senescence that limit treatment to develop the best therapeutic regimen for each patient in an interdisciplinary way, ensuring equal access to quality care.</p

NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES: a data set on carnivore distribution in the Neotropics

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non-detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer-reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non-detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio-temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large-scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data

NEOTROPICAL XENARTHRANS: a data set of occurrence of xenarthran species in the Neotropics

Xenarthrans—anteaters, sloths, and armadillos—have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, 10 anteaters, and 6 sloths. Our data set includes the families Chlamyphoridae (13), Dasypodidae (7), Myrmecophagidae (3), Bradypodidae (4), and Megalonychidae (2). We have no occurrence data on Dasypus pilosus (Dasypodidae). Regarding Cyclopedidae, until recently, only one species was recognized, but new genetic studies have revealed that the group is represented by seven species. In this data paper, we compiled a total of 42,528 records of 31 species, represented by occurrence and quantitative data, totaling 24,847 unique georeferenced records. The geographic range is from the southern United States, Mexico, and Caribbean countries at the northern portion of the Neotropics, to the austral distribution in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Regarding anteaters, Myrmecophaga tridactyla has the most records (n = 5,941), and Cyclopes sp. have the fewest (n = 240). The armadillo species with the most data is Dasypus novemcinctus (n = 11,588), and the fewest data are recorded for Calyptophractus retusus (n = 33). With regard to sloth species, Bradypus variegatus has the most records (n = 962), and Bradypus pygmaeus has the fewest (n = 12). Our main objective with Neotropical Xenarthrans is to make occurrence and quantitative data available to facilitate more ecological research, particularly if we integrate the xenarthran data with other data sets of Neotropical Series that will become available very soon (i.e., Neotropical Carnivores, Neotropical Invasive Mammals, and Neotropical Hunters and Dogs). Therefore, studies on trophic cascades, hunting pressure, habitat loss, fragmentation effects, species invasion, and climate change effects will be possible with the Neotropical Xenarthrans data set. Please cite this data paper when using its data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using these data

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved