Use of water quality index to evaluate the influence of anthropogenic contamination on groundwater chemistry of a shallow aquifer, Loures valley, Lisbon, Portugal

A significant industrial development, associated with a demographic expansion, occurred during the last decades of the XX century, in Loures valley, a region located in the vicinities of Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal. This was accompanied with an important modification of land use and occupation patterns, mainly the decrease of the agricultural land. One of the main consequences was the deterioration of the groundwater chemistry observed in the shallow aquifer associated to Trancão river, a subsidiary of Tagus river. Factorial Correspondence Analysis has been used to build a water quality index, for evaluating the impact of the anthropogenic factors on groundwater of the shallow aquifer. By analysing the kriged maps of the values of the index, it was possible to identify the areas more sensitive to the anthropogenic impact

Spirulina does not decrease muscle damage nor oxdidative stress in cycling athletes with adequate nutritional status

The objective of this study was to assess the effect of Spirulina maxima on oxidative stress and muscle damage in cycling athletes subjected to high volume and intensity of training. Eighteen male athletes were randomly divided into an experimental group (n=11) with age 27.8±3.5 and placebo (n=7) with age 34.3±2.3 in a double-blind fashion. They carried out a protocol of Spirulina dietary supplementation (7.5 g/day) of placebo for four weeks and maintained their trainings during this period. A nutritional anamnesis was performed and blood tests were done to determine pre and post levels of creatine kinase (CK), lactic dehydrogenase (LHD), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA). The supplemented and placebo groups performed the same volume training, has adequate macronutrients and antioxidant vitamins ingestion before study, as well as initial CK, LDH, SOD and MDA levels. Supplementation did not promote a significant alteration in CK levels on supplemented group (158.4±16.3 for 140.0±16.6 U/l, p>0.05), LDH (420±13.2 for 394.9±27.9 UI/l, p>0.05), MDA (2.8±0.2 for 2.9±0.4 nmol/ml, p>0.05), nor an increase in the SOD (7.3±0.6 for 7.0±0.6 U/mg Hb, p>0.05). We conclude that administration of Spirulina does not interfere in the magnitude of muscle damage nor in antioxidant status of cycling athletes that practice intense training

Spatio-temporal stochastic modelling of alluvium soils contaminated by heavy metals

A significant industrial development, associated with a demographic expansion, occurred during the last decades of the XX century, in Loures valley, a region located in the vicinities of Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal. This was accompanied with an important modification of land use and occupation patterns, mainly the decrease of the agricultural land (Silva et al, 2008). The input of heavy metals in soils of alluvium environment shows high variability in both space and time domains, hence the estimation of the measured elements (Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, V e Zn) should account for either dimension. Furthermore, it is also a non-stationary process, because spatial variability depends strongly on the distance to pollution sources and the amount of precipitation. The variability in time is dependent on the amount of rainfall recorded. Indeed it is a topographically flat area with altitude near zero causing thus a concentration of pollutants, not its leaching. Thus the soils pollution is more pronounced during the wet seasons than during the dry seasons. The methodology presented herein deals with the application of kriging with external drift as an interpolation procedure (Wackernagel, H., 1995) for the measured heavy metals elements, in a generalised space-time domain. The definition of an auxiliary variable is based on the description of the processes involved (R.Figueira et al, 2000). Kriging with such an external drift yields better estimates of metals concentration at ground level than ordinary kriging does, and such an enhanced performance can be checked out from the cross-validation results as well as from an observation of the corresponding, estimated maps

Estresse oxidativo e aumento da apoptose em neutrófilos de cães com azotemia pré-renal

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo testar a hipótese de que, à semelhança do que ocorre na uremia, cães com azotemia pré-renal sofrem estresse oxidativo, o qual está relacionado com alterações do metabolismo oxidativo e apoptose dos neutrófilos. Para tal, foi determinada a peroxidação lipídica pela quantificação do malondialdeído (MDA) e o status antioxidante total do plasma de 15 cães normais e 10 com azotemia pré-renal, correlacionando-os com a produção de superóxido e o índice apoptótico dos neutrófilos. As determinações do MDA e do status antioxidante total foram estabelecidas empregando-se um conjunto de reagentes comerciais. Por meio de citometria de fluxo capilar, a produção de superóxido e a apoptose de neutrófilos isolados de sangue periférico foram determinadas utilizando-se a sonda hidroetidina e o sistema anexina V-PE, respectivamente. Cães azotêmicos (26,29±5,32g/L) apresentaram menor concentração (p=0,0264) do antioxidante albumina em relação ao grupo-controle (30,36±3,29g/L) e também uma menor (p=0,0027) capacidade antioxidante total (2,36±0,32 versus 2,73±0,24mmol/L), enquanto não houve alteração da peroxidação lipídica plasmática e da produção de superóxido neutrofílica. Concluiu-se que, à semelhança do que ocorre na uremia, condições azotêmicas pré-renais no cão causam estresse oxidativo e aceleração da apoptose dos neutrófilos.This study aims to test the hypothesis that, similarly to what occurs in uremia, dogs with prerenal azotemia suffer oxidative stress associated with changes in oxidative metabolism and apoptosis in neutrophils. For this purpose, fifteen normal dogs and ten with prerenal azotemia had lipid peroxidation determined by quantifying the malondialdehyde (MDA) and had plasma total antioxidant status evaluated, correlating them with the superoxide production and apoptotic index of neutrophils. MDA and plasma total antioxidant status were determined using commercial reagents. Using capillary flow cytometry, superoxide production and apoptosis were determined from isolated neutrophils of peripheral blood using the hydrithidine and Annexin V-PE probe system, respectively. Azotemic dogs (26.29±5.32g/L) had a lower concentration (p=0.0264) of the plasma antioxidant albumin than the control group (30.36±3.29g/L) and also had lower (p=0.0027) total antioxidant status (2.36±0.32 versus 2.73±0.24mmol/L), while no alterations were observed in plasma lipid peroxidation and superoxide production. It was concluded that, similarly to what occurs in uremia, prerenal azotemia causes oxidative stress and acceleration of neutrophil apoptosis in dogs.UNESP Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária de AraçatubaUNESP Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária de Araçatub