Desarrollo gonadico invernal y desove primaveral, de la almeja amarilla Mesodesma mactroides (Bivalvia: Mesodesmatidae) en las playas de Santa Teresita

La almeja amarilla Mesodesma mactroides (Reeve, 1854) es un bivalvo de vida libre habitante de la zona intermareal de las playas del Atlántico sur. Su distribución se extiende desde San Pablo (S23°31, W46°37) en Brasil hasta Monte Hermoso (S38°59, W61°15) en Argentina. El ciclo reproductivo de la almeja amarilla fue determinado en las playas de Santa Teresita (S36°32, W56°41) desde diciembre de 2004 hasta diciembre de 2006. El desarrollo gonadal fue determinado utilizando cortes histológicos (N=576). Se determino el índice gonadosomatico como: CI=100WV/(Wt-WV), donde WV es el peso húmedo de la gónada (pie inclusive), Wt es el peso húmedo de las viseras total, también el numero y diámetro de los ovocitos. Los mismos están maduros cuando su diámetro supera los 37 µm (SE 0.87) con un máximo de 64.86 en el mes de septiembre del 2006. M. mactroides alcanza la primera madurez 16.36 mm de longitud (anterior-posterior). La proporción de sexos es 1:1, no se han registrado hermafroditas ni parasitismo. Durante todos los meses muestreados se encontraron individuos tanto activos como inactivos. Los estadios de maduración más avanzada se registraron en los meses de agosto-octubre, seguidos por los eventos de evacuación total y parcial en los meses de noviembre-diciembre. Sin embargo no hubo un periodo en el ciclo invierno-primavera donde se haya registrado inactividad total. La temperatura de superficie del agua es un factor importante en el inicio del periodo de evacuación. El índice (CI) soporta el resultado del estudio histológico, mostrando una correlación positiva entre la temperatura y la actividad en la reproducción, mas especialmente en los eventos de evacuación. Sin embargo, las pruebas que proporcionan los estudios histológicos son necesarias, ya que condiciones ambientales desfavorables como la falta de alimento y por ende desnutrición, producen de la misma forma un impacto en las condiciones de las almejas. El póster discute si el reclutamiento futuro se acopla con el evento reproductivo, y puede entonces ser predicho por monitoreo gonadal

Congenital anomalies in low- and middle-income countries: the unborn child of global surgery.

Surgically correctable congenital anomalies cause a substantial burden of global morbidity and mortality. These anomalies disproportionately affect children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to sociocultural, economic, and structural factors that limit the accessibility and quality of pediatric surgery. While data from LMICs are sparse, available evidence suggests that the true human and financial cost of congenital anomalies is grossly underestimated and that pediatric surgery is a cost-effective intervention with the potential to avert significant premature mortality and lifelong disability

Development and validation of a simple questionnaire for the identification of hereditary breast cancer in primary care

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Breast cancer is a significant public health problem worldwide and the development of tools to identify individuals at-risk for hereditary breast cancer syndromes, where specific interventions can be proposed to reduce risk, has become increasingly relevant. A previous study in Southern Brazil has shown that a family history suggestive of these syndromes may be prevalent at the primary care level. Development of a simple and sensitive instrument, easily applicable in primary care units, would be particularly helpful in underserved communities in which identification and referral of high-risk individuals is difficult.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A simple 7-question instrument about family history of breast, ovarian and colorectal cancer, FHS-7, was developed to screen for individuals with an increased risk for hereditary breast cancer syndromes. FHS-7 was applied to 9218 women during routine visits to primary care units in Southern Brazil. Two consecutive samples of 885 women and 910 women who answered positively to at least one question and negatively to all questions were included, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values were determined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 885 women reporting a positive family history, 211 (23.8%; CI95%: 21.5–26.2) had a pedigree suggestive of a hereditary breast and/or breast and colorectal cancer syndrome. Using as cut point one positive answer, the sensitivity and specificity of the instrument were 87.6% and 56.4%, respectively. Concordance between answers in two different applications was given by a intra-class correlation (ICC) of 0.84 for at least one positive answer. Temporal stability of the instrument was adequate (ICC = 0.65).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A simple instrument for the identification of the most common hereditary breast cancer syndrome phenotypes, showing good specificity and temporal stability was developed and could be used as a screening tool in primary care to refer at-risk individuals for genetic evaluations.</p

Individual growth and somatic production in Adelomelon brasiliana (Gastropoda; Volutidae) off Argentina

Growth, age and somatic production of the benthic predator Adelomelon brasiliana were studied at the southern limit of its distribution on the South American Atlantic shelf. Stable oxygen isotope ratios confirmed annual formation of internal shell growth marks. Modal shell length of the population was 140 mm, while modal shell-free wet mass was 255 g. A logistics growth function (SLoo=186.28 mm, K=0.185, t0=4.601) fitted 131 pairs of size-at-age data (25 shells) best. A. brasiliana is a very long-lived species, reaching up to 20 years of age. The maximum individual somatic production of 46 g shell-free wet mass year1 is attained at 145 mm shell length, which corresponds to about 12 years of age