Avaliação do incremento em volume de madeira de Quassia amara L.- Simaroubaceae, em cultivo agroecológico no trópico úmido da Costa Rica.

Quassia amara é arbusto de 3 a 6 metros de altura, tendo sido retirado indiscriminadamente das florestas para extrair do caule as quassinas usadas na indústria farmacêutica e como inseticida em agricultura orgânica. Não se tem muita informação técnica acerca do crescimento desta espécie para subsidiar estratégias de manejo sustentado. Este trabalho tem como objetivo avaliar o crescimento de Q. amara L. em cultivo agroecológico na Costa Rica. O trabalho consistiu em realizar avaliações do desenvolvimento de indivíduos de Q. amara em parcelas permanentes de medições, instaladas em meio às plantações desta espécie em consórcio com essências arbóreas. Foram efetuadas medições de diâmetro do caule a 10 cm do solo e altura total. Foi observado que em função das taxas de crescimento vegetal e incrementos médio e corrente anuais (IMA e ICA), mesmo após cinco anos de plantio, a madeira de Quassia amara para extração de quassinas não está pronta para colheita

Impact of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium multidimensional approach on central line-associated bloodstream infection rates in adult intensive care units in eight cities in India

SummaryObjectiveTo evaluate the impact of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) multidimensional infection control approach on central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates in eight cities of India.MethodsThis was a prospective, before-and-after cohort study of 35650 patients hospitalized in 16 adult intensive care units of 11 hospitals. During the baseline period, outcome surveillance of CLABSI was performed, applying the definitions of the CDC/NHSN (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Healthcare Safety Network). During the intervention, the INICC approach was implemented, which included a bundle of interventions, education, outcome surveillance, process surveillance, feedback on CLABSI rates and consequences, and performance feedback. Random effects Poisson regression was used for clustering of CLABSI rates across time periods.ResultsDuring the baseline period, 9472 central line (CL)-days and 61 CLABSIs were recorded; during the intervention period, 80898 CL-days and 404 CLABSIs were recorded. The baseline rate was 6.4 CLABSIs per 1000 CL-days, which was reduced to 3.9 CLABSIs per 1000 CL-days in the second year and maintained for 36 months of follow-up, accounting for a 53% CLABSI rate reduction (incidence rate ratio 0.47, 95% confidence interval 0.31–0.70; p=0.0001).ConclusionsImplementing the six components of the INICC approach simultaneously was associated with a significant reduction in the CLABSI rate in India, which remained stable during 36 months of follow-up

Thermomechanical erosion modelling of Baydaratskaya Bay, Russia with COSMOS

Rapid coastal erosion threatens Arctic coastal infrastructure, including communities and industrial installations. Erosion of permafrost depends on numerous processes, including thermal and mechanical behaviour of frozen and unfrozen soil, nearshore hydrodynamics, atmospheric forcing, and the presence of sea ice. The quantification and numerical modelling of these processes is essential to predicting Arctic coastal erosion. This paper presents a case study of Baydaratskaya Bay, Russia, using the COSMOS numerical model to predict thermal-mechanical erosion. In particular, this study focuses on thermoabrasional rather than thermodenudational processes. A field dataset of onshore thermal and mechanical soil characteristics was supplemented by sources from the literature to serve as input for the model. A detailed sensitivity analysis has been conducted to determine the influence of key parameters on coastal erosion rates at the study site. This case study highlights the need for expanded data collection on Arctic coastlines and provides direction for future investigations

Intravitreal bevacizumab in diabetic retinopathy. Recommendations from the Pan-American Collaborative Retina Study Group (PACORES): The 2016 knobloch lecture

The advent of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) medications has revolutionized the treatment of diabetic eye diseases. Herein, we report the outcomes of clinical studies carried out by the Pan-American Collaborative Retina Study Group (PACORES), with a specific focus on the efficacy of intravitreal bevacizumab in the management of diabetic macular edema and proliferative diabetic retinopathy. We will also discuss the use of intravitreal bevaci-zumab as a preoperative, adjuvant therapy before vitrectomy for prolif-erative diabetic retinopathy. Copyright © 2017 by Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology