Correlation between water salinity and arterial hypertension

Hypertension is the main risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases. The objective of this study was to evaluate the correlation between cases of hypertension and environmental aspects related to water salinity in the municipality of Arari-Maranhão. The following data were evaluated: 1) secondary data on cases of hypertension reported from 2002 to 2012 registered in the Hiperdia Program of the Department of Informatics of SUS (DATASUS), in the municipality of Arari-Maranhão; 2) a temporal series of climatic data and river water quality measured by the physicochemical parameters and the water flow of the Mearim River; and 3) the statistical correlation between the indicators of water quality and the cases of hypertension of the study sample. The results revealed a seasonality in cases of hypertension in the municipality of Arari. This variation was inversely related to the precipitation and the salinity of the river water. Thus, decreased precipitation resulted in increase driver salinity and, consequently, increased consumption of salt by the population, increasing the number of cases of hypertension. The correlation between cases of hypertension and precipitation or salinity was significant and negative. These results revealed a significant correlation between cases of hypertension, water quality, and climatic factors

Detecting spatiotemporal variability in the physicochemical properties of water in the Lower Mearim using remote sensing data

Natural or anthropogenic chemical compounds of different origins often accumulate in estuarine regions. These compounds may alter the water quality. Therefore, It is important to constantly monitor the quality of estuarine regions. A combination of remote sensing and traditional sampling can lead to a better monitoring program for water quality parameters. The objective of this work is to assess the spatiotemporal variability of the physicochemical properties of water in the lower region of the Mearim River and estimate water quality parameters via remote sensing. Samples were collected at 16 points, from Baixo Arari to the mouth of the watershed, using a multiparameter meter and Landsat 8 satellite images. The physicochemical parameters of the water had high salinity levels, between 2.30 and 20.10 parts per trillion; a high total dissolved solids content, between 2.77 and 19.70 g/L; and minimum dissolved oxygen values. Estimating the physicochemical properties of the water via remote sensing proved feasible, particularly in the dry season when there is less cloud cover

Entre a poeira e o silêncio: sobre exposições e construções da memória no Museu do Ceará (1932-1997)

This article discusses some manners to construct the meanings of the past into Museu do Ceará's exhibitions between 1932 and 1997. Based on issues of Social History of Memory, the meanings of dust and silence are highlighted in a way that the past is configured in the space of the exhibitions. The artifacts are treated taking into account underlying values and expectations that guide, in certain circumstances, connections and separations between past and present

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortiu (INICC) report, data summary of 43 countries for 2007-2012. Device-associated module

We report the results of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2007-December 2012 in 503 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. During the 6-year study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) U.S. National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care–associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 605,310 patients hospitalized in the INICC's ICUs for an aggregate of 3,338,396 days. Although device utilization in the INICC's ICUs was similar to that reported from ICUs in the U.S. in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals: the pooled rate of central line–associated bloodstream infection in the INICC's ICUs, 4.9 per 1,000 central line days, is nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.9 per 1,000 central line days reported from comparable U.S. ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher (16.8 vs 1.1 per 1,000 ventilator days) as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (5.5 vs 1.3 per 1,000 catheter days). Frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (42.8% vs 10%) and imipenem (42.4% vs 26.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (71.2% vs 28.8%) and imipenem (19.6% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC's ICUs compared with the ICUs of the CDC's NHSN