The emerging role of magnetic resonance imaging and multidetector computed tomography in the diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy

Magnetic resonance imaging and multidetector computed tomography are new imaging methods that have much to offer clinicians caring for patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. In this article we briefly describe the clinical, pathophysiological and histological aspects of dilated cardiomyopathy. Then we discuss in detail the use of both imaging methods for measurement of chamber size, global and regional function, for myocardial tissue characterisation, including myocardial viability assessment, and determination of arrhythmogenic substrate, and their emerging role in cardiac resynchronisation therapy

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1,2,3,4,5,6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world’s most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth's most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1-6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth's 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world's most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees

A teorização sobre processo de trabalho em saúde como instrumental para análise do trabalho no Programa Saúde da Família Theoretical review of the work process in health care used to analyze work in the Family Health Program in Brazil

O objetivo desta revisão bibliográfica foi destacar a utilidade da teorização sobre o processo de trabalho em saúde para analisar a realidade cotidiana do Programa Saúde da Família (PSF). Desde 1994, o PSF vem rapidamente expandindo a cobertura em saúde da população brasileira e conseqüentemente sua força de trabalho. Assim demanda atenção, responsabilização e contribuições de várias naturezas, de atores e instituições. Trata-se de um trabalho do setor de serviços que ocorre em uma conjuntura neoliberal. Compartilha características de outros trabalhos do setor de serviços, como a burocratização, a influência da divisão parcelar do trabalho e as dificuldades do trabalho em equipe, além da pouca consideração da subjetividade de usuários e trabalhadores. Destacam-se condições do trabalho das equipes de saúde da família, alternativas para revitalização do trabalho em saúde e enfrentamento de condições alienantes do processo de trabalho. Finalmente, ratifica-se a visão da condição dialética do processo de trabalho em saúde no PSF, com suas possibilidades de sucesso, concebido e funcionando permeado por contradições e dificuldades.<br>This literature review focused on the work process in health care, particularly issues linked to the Family Health Program. Since 1994, the Program has rapidly expanded health coverage for the Brazilian population, and as a result the Program's work force has also increased. The Program thus requires attention, allocation of responsibilities, and contributions of various types by stakeholders and institutions. The work occurs in the services sector, within a neoliberal scenario. Work in health care shares some characteristics with other occupations in the services sector, such as bureaucratization, the influence of capitalist division of labor, and difficulties in teamwork, in addition to little regard for the subjectivity of health system clients and workers. The study particularly focuses on work conditions of family health teams in Brazil, including strategies for revitalizing health care work and coping with alienating conditions in the work process. Finally, the study reiterates the dialectic condition of the work process in health care under the Family Health Program, with its possibilities for success, conceived and functioning in the midst of contradictions and difficulties