Moscas (Diptera, streblidae) Ectoparasitas de Morcegos (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) neotropicais, no Município de Juiz de Fora - Minas Gerais

The aim of this work was to make a quantitative and qualitative study of the dipterans of Streblidae family, parasitizing bats, and also evaluate their associations with host’s sex, reproductive condition, weight and height. The bats were collected at 18 collection sites, distributed in urban and rural areas at Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, during May of 2005 to August 2007. The collections were carried out with mist-nets opened at evening and closed at midnight. Were caught 341 bats, from ten species, where 132 individuals supported 303 flies from 12 species of Streblidae. Those species of bats, Carollia perspicillata had the greatest richiness of dipterans, Glossophaga soricina the greatest diversity and Platyrrhinus lineatus has the greatest dominance. The most prevalent dipteran caught was Paratrichobius longicrus with, 56,25% of prevalence. The most mean intensity was of Paratrichobiu longicrus with 6,50±3,55 parasitizing Glossophaga soricina and the most mean abundance were found to Trichobius furmani 1,47±1,88 on Desmodus rotundus. The sexual relationship of dipterans showed that the percent of males was bigger in five of eight species of the collected bats, two of them showed equal sexual reason and at three of them, the females were more representative. Two species of bat (Artibeus lituratus e Desmodus rotundus) had their parasite load analyzed to the different reproductive stages of males and females, the choice of these two species due that their have different alimentary habits. For the males, the biggest prevalence of dipterans was at reproductive stage with scrotal testes. At the females, the biggest prevalence was at milky for Artibeus lituratus and pregnant for Desmodus rotundus. Was reported the first record in Minas Gerais of Trichobius furmani, Paraeuctenodes similis e Trichobius dugesioides dugesioides. In Brazil, some relationships host/parasite was reported for the first time on: Carollia perspicillata having as most prevalent dipteran Trichobius tiptoni, and also been parasitized by Trichobius furmani; Megistopoda proxima parasitizing Platyrrhinus lineatus, Trichobius tiptoni parasitizing Artibeus lituratus and Trichobius tiptoni and also Megistopoda aranea parasitizing Glossophaga soricina. This work contributed for the increase of dipterans Streblidae richness at Minas Gerais state and also for an increase of knowledge about the relationship between host/parasite.O presente trabalho teve como objetivo o estudo quantitativo e qualitativo das espécies de dípteros da família Streblidae, parasitando morcegos, e suas associações ao sexo, condição reprodutiva, tamanho e peso dos hospedeiros. Os morcegos foram capturados em 18 pontos de coleta, distribuídos em áreas urbanas e rurais, no município de Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, no período de maio de 2005 a agosto de 2007. As coletas foram realizadas com auxílio de redes de neblina abertas ao anoitecer e fechadas meia noite. Foram capturados 341 morcegos, de dez espécies, sendo que 132 indivíduos abrigavam 303 moscas de 12 espécies de estreblideos. Das dez espécies de morcegos coletados Carollia perspicillata teve maior riqueza de dípteros, Glossophaga soricina a maior diversidade e a maior dominância ocorreu em Platyrrhinus lineatus. Dos dípteros coletados, o mais prevalente foi Paratrichobius longicrus com, 56,25% sobre Platyrrhinus lineatus, o com maior intensidade média foi Paratrichobius longicrus, com 6,50±3,55 sobre Glossophaga soricina e o com maior abundância média foi Trichobius furmani 1,47±1,88 sobre Desmodus rotundus. Na razão sexual de dípteros coletados a percentagem de machos foi maior em cinco das oito espécies de morcegos coletados, em duas espécies de morcegos a razão sexual foi igual e em três espécies de morcegos a percentagem maior foi de fêmeas. Duas espécies de morcegos (Artibeus lituratus e Desmodus rotundus) tiveram sua carga parasitária analisada para os diferentes estágios reprodutivos de fêmeas e machos; Nos machos a prevalência de dípteros foi maior no estágio reprodutivo com testículos escrotados. Nas fêmeas a maior prevalência foi em lactantes para Artibeus lituratus e grávidas para Desmodus rotundus. Foram relatadas Trichobius furmani, Paraeuctenodes similis e Trichobius dugesioides dugesioides como primeiro registro para Minas Gerais. No Brasil, relações parasito/hospedeiro foram relatadas pela primeira vez no presente estudo: Carollia perspicillata tendo como díptero mais prevalente Trichobius tiptoni e também sendo parasitada por Trichobius furmani, Megistopoda proxima parasitando Platyrrhinus lineatus, Trichobius tiptoni parasitando Artibeus lituratus, Trichobius tiptoni e Megistopoda aranea parasitando Glossophaga soricina. Este trabalho contribui para o aumento da riqueza de dípteros Streblidae no estado de Minas Gerais e para um maior conhecimento da relação parasito/hospedeiro

Observational evidence of intensified nocturnal urban heat island during heatwaves in European cities

A heatwave (HW) is a large-scale meteorological event characterised by persistent and extremely high-temperature condition. At the local scale, the urban heat island (UHI) is another thermal-related phenomenon defined as an urban area warmer than its surrounding regions due to different surfaces’ capabilities to absorb and store heat. However, the assessment about the effect produced on UHI by HW events is not homogeneous. Indeed, regarding the capability of HWs to influence the urban-rural temperature difference, several studies report different conclusions describing both an exacerbation and a reduction of UHI during HW events. In this context, the present study analyses in situ long records of temperature measurements (20 years) to provide observational shreds of evidence of UHI modification under HW conditions. We examine data from the European Climate Assessment & Dataset and World Meteorological Organization computing the UHI index (UHII) to quantify the UHI effect intensity in 37 European cities during the last 20 summers. The results show an UHII intensification for 28 of the 32 cities affected by positive UHI during extremely high temperatures at night, while substantial variations are not observed during the daytime. The time evolution of UHI during a HW highlights that a more significant and persistent urban-rural temperature gradient explains the UHI intensification. Finally, the relationship between the large and local-scale temperature phenomena reveals that continental high-temperature periods are often associated with prominent temperature differences between small-scale urban and rural environments, assessing the impact of large-scale features on thermal stress at the local scale

Orbital space-occupying lesions: an 11-year study of cases with histopathologic analysis seen at Hospital das Clínicas of FMUSP

OBJETIVO: Estudar a incidência das lesões expansivas orbitárias submetidas à biópsia em uma casuística de 11 anos no Hospital das Clínicas da FMUSP, e avaliar quais as principais especialidades envolvidas no diagnóstico e no tratamento de tais afecções. CASUÍSTICA E MÉTODOS: Solicitou-se ao setor de arquivos do hospital todos os casos de tumores e lesões de órbita submetidas à biópsia no período de 1993 a 2004. Dos 924 prontuários obtidos, 115 foram separados após análise dos dados segundo os resultados histopatológicos obtidos. Outros 111 pacientes foram obtidos por meio dos arquivos pessoais da patologista encarregada da Oftalmologia no Departamento de Patologia, dos quais 45 pacientes foram excluídos por coincidirem com a fonte anterior. Os dados foram contabilizados e comparados com os de outros serviços. RESULTADOS: Das 181 lesões orbitárias estudadas, 70% eram primárias, 23% eram secundárias, 6% consistiam de metástases e linfomas e 1% não foi classificada. Em relação à especialidade responsável diretamente pelo paciente, 72,37% dos pacientes foram assistidos por oftalmologistas, 14,36% por cirurgiões de cabeça e pescoço, 6,62% por neurocirurgiões e 6,62% por outros setores do hospital. CONCLUSÕES: As afecções orbitárias são atendidas em sua maioria pelos oftalmologistas especializados em tal área, e ao se incluir nesta casuística outras especialidades, nota-se um aumento no número de casos de lesões tumorais secundárias quando comparada ao de outros trabalhos realizados em serviços no exterior. Há necessidade de criar-se um registro confiável dos casos de lesões expansivas orbitárias nos serviços especializados brasileiros, e confirma-se o caráter multidisciplinar do objeto deste estudo.PURPOSE: To report the incidence of orbital space-occupying lesions in an 11-year interval study of patients examined at the Hospital das Clínicas of FMUSP, and to evaluate which are the main specialties involved in the diagnosis and treatment of such conditions. METHODS: All cases of orbital space-occupying lesions in the period from 1993 to 2004 were revised. Of 924 obtained medical records, 155 were selected after histopathological analysis. Another 111 cases were gathered from the personal archives of a pathologist responsible for Ophthalmic Histopathology, from which 45 cases were excluded because they had already been included in the first source analysis. The data were analyzed and compared with the results from other institutions. RESULTS: Of the studied 181 orbital space-occupying lesions, 70% were primary, 23% secondary, 6% metastatic and lymphomas, and 1% was not classified. The most common specialties involved ophthalmologists in 72.37% of all 181 cases, head and neck surgeons in 14.36%, neurosurgeons in 6.62%, and others in 6.62%. CONCLUSIONS: The orbital mass lesions were treated mostly by an expert ophthalmologist. When other specialties were included, there was a modest increase in secondary tumor incidence when the final result was compared with previous studies on this subject. Our findings indicate that the creation of a trustworthy register of all orbital space-occupying lesions in Brazilian specialized services is necessary. The multidisciplinary character of the orbital mass lesions is corroborated by this review

Gurutz-bidea

Dialecto : texto en euskera central -- guipuzcoanoS. XX -- Periodo : último euskera modernoEuskalkia : erdialdekoa -- gipuzkeraXX. md. -- Aroa : azken euskara modernoaDigitalización. Vitoria-Gasteiz : Fundación Sancho el Sabio, 2008Rústic

Improvement in accuracy of diagnosis of carotid artery stenosis with duplex ultrasound scanning with combined use of linear array 7.5 MHz and convex array 3.5 MHz probes: validation versus 489 arteriographic procedures1 1Competition of interest: none.Published online Mar 6, 2003.

AbstractObjective: Validity of a method to improve the accuracy of carotid artery duplex scanning was tested in comparison with arteriography.Study Design: In 489 patients who had not previously undergone arteriography, 978 carotid arteries were examined with duplex ultrasound scanning. In method A, a linear array 7.5 MHz transducer with pulsed-wave 4.7 MHz Doppler scanning was used. For the diagnosis and grading of carotid stenosis, peak systolic and end-diastolic velocity of the Doppler waves were recorded. Method B consisted of complete ultrasound imaging and color-flow mapping with a convex array 3.5 MHz transducer with pulsed-wave 2.8 MHz Doppler scanning in all patients who had previously undergone method A. Further velocity measurements were performed at the sites of stenosis. The results of methods A and B were compared with data from neurologic assessment and arteriographic studies.Results: Method B showed significantly higher diagnostic agreement with arteriography than did method A (K 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.87–0.93 vs 0.79–0.85; P < .05), and the number of mistakes in grading stenosis was significantly lower (primarily because of decreased overestimation) in patients with internal carotid kinking (>60 degrees of angulation) (P < .05), distal stenosis (>20 mm from bifurcation) (P < .01), or wide acoustic shadowing (>1 cm) (P < .01) and in those without these conditions (P < .05). Compared with arteriography, diagnostic accuracy with the new method proved higher for carotid stenoses 50% or greater, 60% or greater, 70% or greater, and 80% or greater; no statistically significant difference was found for carotid stenosis 96% or greater or for carotid occlusion. Compared with data from neurologic assessment and arteriography, method B proved more accurate than method A in designating patients for carotid endarterectomy (P = .014).Conclusions: The new method significantly improved diagnostic reliability of duplex ultrasound scanning, especially in carotid arteries with kinking, distal stenosis, or wide acoustic shadowing (32.2% of all arteries studied). In clinical practice, we suggest additional use of a lower frequency transducer in cases in which these three conditions are found or suspected at first scanning

Activité alimentaire et utilisation de l’espace dans une population naturalisée de Myiopsitta monachus dans une zone urbaine méditerranéenne

We studied a naturalized population of monk parakeet breeding in an urban park in Rome, by collecting data on the diurnal and feeding activity, space use (e.g, roosting preferences, flight height) and behavioural traits (e.g., cluster size). Consideration on the potential ecological impact of the species is also made. The diurnal activity of parakeets did not differ between morning and afternoon. Most individuals were observed in flight 6-10 m from the ground, and when at roost, parakeets preferred perch es higher than 5 m. The clusters sighted on ground were significantly larger in size than those observed on roosts, while cluster size was not linked to flight height. For this species, the observed roost preference indicates that the availability of perches on high trees seems to be an important factor for habitat selection: standing on trees may increase the chances to identify trophic resources, reduce the risk of predation when at rest, and prevent overheating from high summer temperatures during the day. Regarding to feeding habits, at our study site the monk parakeet fed on different plant species both on the trees and at the ground level (e.g., Fabaceae, Ulmaceae, Poaceae, Rosaceae), showing a clear preference towards some plant species, irrespective to their abundance, and with Scolymus hispanicus (Asteraceae) as the most exploited species by farNous avons étudié une population naturalisée de la perruche Myiopsitta monachus dans un parc urbain de Rome en recueillant des données sur les activités diurnes et de recherche de nourriture, de même que l'utilisation de l'espace (e.g. préférences pour les reposoirs, hauteur de vol) et les traits comportementaux (e.g. taille des regroupements). L'impact écologique potentiel de l'espèce a également été pris en considération. L'activité diurne des perruches ne montre aucune différence entre le matin et l'après-midi. La plupart des individus volent 6-10 m au-dessus du sol et, aux reposoirs ils préfèrent des perchoirs situés à plus de 5 m de hauteur. Les groupes étaient significativement plus grands au sol que dans les reposoirs tandis que leur taille n'était pas liée à la hauteur de vol. Les préférences observées quant aux reposoirs indiquent que la disponibilité de perchoirs dans de hauts arbres est, pour cette espèce, un facteur important du choix de l'habitat: une remise dans les arbres peut accroître les chances d'identifier des sources de nourriture, réduire les risques de prédation au repos et protéger des fortes chaleurs quand les températures diurnes estivales sont très élevées. En matière d'habitudes alimentaires, dans notre site d'étude, cette perruche se nourrissait de diverses espèces végétales tant sur les arbres qu'au sol (e.g. Fabacées, Ulmacées, Poacées, Rosacées), montrant une nette préférence pour quelques espèces quelle que soit leur abondance, Scolymus hispanicus (Astéracées) étant de loin la plus exploitée

A review of metabolomic profiling in rheumatoid arthritis : bringing new insights in disease pathogenesis, treatment and comorbidities

Metabolomic analysis provides a wealth of information that can be predictive of distinctive phenotypes of pathogenic processes and has been applied to better understand disease development. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease with the establishment of chronic synovial inflammation that affects joints and peripheral tissues such as skeletal muscle and bone. There is a lack of useful disease biomarkers to track disease activity, drug response and follow-up in RA. In this review, we describe potential metabolic biomarkers that might be helpful in the study of RA pathogenesis, drug response and risk of comorbidities. TMAO (choline and trimethylamine oxide) and TCA (tricarboxylic acid) cycle products have been suggested to modulate metabolic profiles during the early stages of RA and are present systemically, which is a relevant characteristic for biomarkers. Moreover, the analysis of lipids such as cholesterol, FFAs and PUFAs may provide important information before disease onset to predict disease activity and treatment response. Regarding therapeutics, TNF inhibitors may increase the levels of tryptophan, valine, lysine, creatinine and alanine, whereas JAK/STAT inhibitors may modulate exclusively fatty acids. These observations indicate that different disease modifying antirheumatic drugs have specific metabolic profiles and can reveal differences between responders and non-responders. In terms of comorbidities, physical impairment represented by higher fatigue scores and muscle wasting has been associated with an increase in urea cycle, FFAs, tocopherols and BCAAs. In conclusion, synovial fluid, blood and urine samples from RA patients seem to provide critical information about the metabolic profile related to drug response, disease activity and comorbidities