Urban Biodiversity and Climate Change

Urban biodiversity refers to the variety and variability among living organisms found in a city and the ecological systems in which they occur. Overall, urban biodiversity responds to a combination of biogeographic and anthropogenic factors, with a strong influence of the latter. In a rapidly urbanizing world under the pressing threat of climate change, there is a growing interest in understanding how cities benefit from local biodiversity and how these benefits can be under threat due to climate change. This chapter addresses how the combined effects of climate change and urban factors affect urban biodiversity and the practical steps cities are taking to incorporate biodiversity issues in their development agendas

Avaliação do impacto das ações de controle vetorial da doença de Chagas através do inquérito sorológico em Mambaí/Buritinópolis, Goiás Evaluation of the impact of vector control programs through serological testing in Mambaí/Buritinópolis, Goiás State

Em 1999, realizamos a avaliação do impacto das medidas de controle vetorial sobre a transmissão da doença de Chagas nas áreas endêmicas Mambaí e Bruritinópolis (GO). Após o recenseamento populacional foram realizados os inquéritos entomológico das unidades domiciliares e sorológico da população. As amostras de sangue foram coletadas por punção digital, em papel de filtro. O teste sorológico utilizado inicialmente para detectar anticorpos contra Trypanosoma cruzi foi a reação de imunofluorescência indireta (IFI) quantitativa com ponto de corte a diluição 1/20 e, os reagentes realizaram a reação de hemaglutinação indireta (HAI). A prevalência da IFI reagente foi 12,3% (95% IC: 11,5-13,2%). Triatoma infestans não foi encontrado nas habitações. A ausência de infecção de indivíduos menores de 14 anos e a ausência de T. infestans no inquérito entomológico demonstra o sucesso do programa de controle da doença de Chagas nessas áreas, podendo ser considerada interrompida a transmissão vetorial.<br>In 1999, we performed serological and entomological surveys to evaluate the impact of vectorial control measures against transmission of Chagas' disease in the endemic area of Mambaí and Buritinópolis (GO). A census was undertaken of the population, after which the entomological survey was performed regarding the dwelling units and serological evaluation of the human population. Blood samples were collected by digital puncture in filter paper. The first serologic test performed to detect antibodies against Trypanosoma cruzi was the indirect immunofluorescence test (IFI) with 1/20 positive dilution as cut-off point and, positive samples were further evaluated with indirect hemagglutination reaction (HAI). The prevalence of positive IFI reactions was 12.3% (95%CL: 11.5-13.2). Triatoma infestans was not found within the dwellings. The absence of infection among individuals younger than 14 years and, the absence of T. infestans during the last entomological survey demonstrates the success of the control program of Chagas' disease in the studied area where the vectorial transmission can be considered to have been interrupted

Estimating wound age: looking into the future

A critical review is made of the studies on wound healing used for forensic purposes, focusing on the problem of which characteristics indicate that a parameter could be used as evidence in court. A panel analysing the more important information obtained by each marker is given, and a perspective of what might be expected from future research is discussed