Flebotomíneo em fragmentos de Mata Atlântica na Região Metropolitana do Recife, PE

An investigation was conducted into the distribution of sandfly fauna in 4 fragments of Atlantic forest in the Metropolitan Area of Recife. It consisted of the capture adult insects using CDC light traps. A total of 1,173 specimens were distributed in 11 species of Lutzomyia: Lutzomyia evandroi, Lutzomyia choti, Lutzomyia walkeri, Lutzomyia umbratilis, Lutzomyia brasiliensis, Lutzomyia sordellii, Lutzomyia claustrei, Lutzomyia wellcomei, Lutzomyia fluviatilis, Lutzomyia furcata e Lutzomyia aragaoi

Splash!: a prospective birth cohort study of the impact of environmental, social and family-level influences on child oral health and obesity related risk factors and outcomes

Background: Dental caries (decay) is the most prevalent disease of childhood. It is often left untreated and can impact negatively on general health, and physical, developmental, social and learning outcomes. Similar to other health issues, the greatest burden of dental caries is seen in those of low socio-economic position. In addition, a number of diet-related risk factors for dental caries are shared risk factors for the development of childhood obesity. These include high and frequent consumption of refined carbohydrates (predominately sugars), and soft drinks and other sweetened beverages, and low intake of (fluoridated) water. The prevalence of childhood obesity is also at a concerning level in most countries and there is an opportunity to determine interventions for addressing both of these largely preventable conditions through sustainable and equitable solutions. This study aims to prospectively examine the impact of drink choices on child obesity risk and oral health status.Methods/Design: This is a two-stage study using a mixed methods research approach. The first stage involves qualitative interviews of a sub-sample of recruited parents to develop an understanding of the processes involved in drink choice, and inform the development of the Discrete Choice Experiment analysis and the measurement instruments to be used in the second stage. The second stage involves the establishment of a prospective birth cohort of 500 children from disadvantaged communities in rural and regional Victoria, Australia (with and without water fluoridation). This longitudinal design allows measurement of changes in the child&rsquo;s diet over time, exposure to fluoride sources including water, dental caries progression, and the risk of childhood obesity.Discussion: This research will provide a unique contribution to integrated health, education and social policy and program directions, by providing clearer policy relevant evidence on strategies to counter social and environmental factors which predispose infants and children to poor health, wellbeing and social outcomes; and evidence-based strategies to promote health and prevent disease through the adoption of healthier lifestyles and diet. Further, given the absence of evidence on the processes and effectiveness of contemporary policy implementation, such as community water fluoridation in rural and regional communities it&rsquo;s approach and findings will be extremelyinformative.<br /

Pectinolytic complex production by Aspergillus niger URM 4645 using yellow passion fruit peels in solid state fermentation

The activities of endo-polygalacturonase (endo-PG), exo-polygalacturonase (exo-PG), pectin lyase (PL), and pectin methylesterase (PE), produced by Aspergillus niger URM 4645, were studied in solid state fermentation (SSF) using yellow passion fruit peels as substrate. The effect of substrate amount, initial moisture content, and temperature on pectinase production was studied using a full factorial design (2³). Maximum endo-PG, exo-PG, PL, and PE activities were 31.35, 7.98, 551,299.39, and 447.93 U g−1 dry substrate, respectively. Optimum activities of the four enzymes were obtained with 5.0 g of the substrate and an initial moisture content of 30% at 34°C with 96 h of fermentation. Optimum endo-PG activity was found at pH 7.5 at an optimum temperature of 40°C; exo-PG and PL at pH 7.0 at an optimum temperature of 80°C; and PE at pH 3.5 at an optimum temperature of 30°C. Endo-PG was stable at pH 7.0 to 8.0 at 40°C, and exo-PG and PL at pH 6.0 to 8.0 and 6.0 to 7.5, respectively at 60 to 70°C. PE was stable at pH 3.5 to 5.0 at 30 to 60°C. The enzyme production optimization clearly demonstrated the impact of process parameters on the yield of pectinolytic enzymes. Keywords: Aspergillus niger, residue, pectinolytic activities, solid state fermentation, characterization.African Journal of Biotechnology, Vol 13(31) 3313-332

Amoxicillin / Clavulanic Acid and Cefotaxime Resistance in Salmonella Minnesota and Salmonella Heidelberg from Broiler Chickens

This study investigated the resistance of various Salmonella strains to beta-lactam antibiotics. Salmonella Minnesota (36 strains) and Salmonella Heidelberg (24 strains) were isolated from broiler chickens and carcasses by the Disk Diffusion Test and resistance genes blaCTX-M-8, blaACC-1 and blaCMY-2 were detected by PCR. Of the 60 strains tested, 80% were resistant to at least one antibiotic. Specifically, 66.7% were resistant to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and 75% were resistant to cefotaxime. Among the amoxicillin/clavulanic acid resistant strains, the blaCMY-2 gene was detected in 40%, blaACC-1 in 37.5% and blaCTX-M-8 in 7.5%. Among the cefotaxime resistant strains, we detected the genes blaCTX-M-8 in 13.3%, blaACC-1 in 33.3%, and blaCMY-2 in 31.1%. The presence of cefotaxime- and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid-resistant Salmonella in poultry, and the prevalence of extended spectrum betalactamases and AmpC-betalactamases in these strains are of huge concern to public health and economy