Dieta de pichones de cotorra Myiopsitta m. monachus (Aves: Psittacidae) en la Provincia de Buenos Aires

Dieta de pichones de Cotorra Myiopsitta m. monachus (Aves: Psittacidae) en la Provincia de Buenos Aires. El objetivo de este trabajo fue conocer la composición de la dieta aportada por los progenitores a los pichones durante su permanencia en el nido. Se analizaron los buches de 32 pichones de cotorra cuyos nidos fueron sometidos a control químico, procedentes de Gándara, Cañuelas y Villanueva (Provincia de Buenos Aires). Cada buche fue pesado con balanza analítica. Los distintos ítems integrantes de la dieta fueron separados bajo lupa binocular y pesados. La determinación se realizó en base a caracteres morfológicos externos e internos. Se observó que el 99.5% correspondió a componente vegetal, mientras que el componente mineral sólo se encontró representado en un 0.5%. En la fracción vegetal se destacaron cuatro familias siendo Asteracea y Poacea las de mayor porcentaje (96%)

Application of Headspace Solid-Phase Microextraction for Determination of Chloro-Organic Compounds in Sewage Samples

Solid phase microextraction (SPME) has been optimized and applied to the determination of the volatile halogenated compounds (VHCs) and semi-volatile halogenated compounds (SVHCs). Three types of SPME fiber coated with different stationary phases (PDMS–100 μm, CAR/PDMS-75 μm, PDMS/DVB–65 μm) were used to examine their extraction efficiencies for the compounds tested. Experimental parameters such as the selection of SPME coatings, extraction time, and addition of salts were studied. The carboxen-polydimethylsiloxane (CAR/PDMS) fiber appears to be the most suitable for the determination of VHCs. Analytical parameters such as linearity, limit of detection, and precision were also evaluated. Application of ECD detector for the determination of VHCs and SVHCs allows their determination on the low concentration level, ranging from 0.005 to 0.8 μg/L−1. The HS-SPME-GC/ECD procedure gave good analytical precision expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD) (ranged from 5.08% to 8.07%) for a concentration level of 5 μg/L−1 and good linearity (r2 > 0.98) in a wide calibration range. The applied HS-SPME-GC/ECD method was found to be a quick and effective technique for the determination of microtrace amounts of volatile and semi-volatile halogenated compounds in samples containing high amounts of various organic compounds

Occurrence of Different Species of <i>Fusarium</i> from Wheat in Relation to Disease Levels Predicted by a Weather-Based Model in Argentina Pampas Region

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is an important disease throughout many of the world wheat-growing areas that have humid to semi-humid climate. The infection happens mainly during the anthesis of the wheat, when there have been favorable conditions of moisture and temperature. The direct relation of the infection to environmental factors makes possible the formulation of mathematical models that predict the disease. The causal agent of the FHB of the spike of wheat is attributed principally to Fusarium graminearum. High economic losses due yield decrease have been recorded in Argentina. In the present work, 67 isolates of Fusarium spp. were obtained from samples of wheat grains from Pampas region from 15 locations distributed in Buenos Aires, Entre Rios, Santa Fe and Corboba provinces during 2006 and 2007 wheat-growing seasons. The identification of species from monosporic isolates was carried out by morphological characterization and use of species-specific PCR-based assays. Both identification criteria were necessary and complementary for the species determination, since in some cases the molecular identification was not specific. Scanty presence of F. graminearum was observed in 2006 wheat-growing season coinciding with the lack of favorable meteorological conditions for producing FHB infection events. High presence of F. graminearum isolates was observed in 2007 wheat-growing season, in accordance with moderate incidence of the disease according to spatial distribution of FHB incidence values. The aim of this report was to identify the causal agent of the FHB disease by different taxonomic criteria and to relate its occurrence with disease incidence values predicted by a weather-based model in Argentina.Facultad de Ciencias ExactasCentro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones IndustrialesFacultad de Ciencias Naturales y MuseoInstituto de Botánica "Dr. Carlos Spegazzini

Pigmentación de un hongo celulolítico asociado al suelo forestal de Nothofagus pumilio

Fil: Bárcena, Alejandra. Instituto de Fisiología Vegetal (INFIVE). Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Medina, R.. Instituto de Fisiología Vegetal (INFIVE). Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Elíades, Lorena Alejandra. División Instituto Spegazzini. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Cabello, Marta Noemí. División Instituto Spegazzini. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Pancotto, V.A.. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC-CONICET); ArgentinaFil: Arambarri, Angélica Margarita. División Instituto Spegazzini. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Balatti, Pedro Alberto. Instituto de Fisiología Vegetal (INFIVE). Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Saparrat, Mario Carlos Nazareno. Instituto de Fisiología Vegetal (INFIVE). Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; Argentin

Rationale and methods of the multicenter randomised trial of a heart failure management programme among geriatric patients (HF-Geriatrics)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Disease management programmes (DMPs) have been shown to reduce hospital readmissions and mortality in adults with heart failure (HF), but their effectiveness in elderly patients or in those with major comorbidity is unknown. The Multicenter Randomised Trial of a Heart Failure Management Programme among Geriatric Patients (HF-Geriatrics) assesses the effectiveness of a DMP in elderly patients with HF and major comorbidity.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>Clinical trial in 700 patients aged ≥ 75 years admitted with a primary diagnosis of HF in the acute care unit of eight geriatric services in Spain. Each patient should meet at least one of the following comorbidty criteria: Charlson index ≥ 3, dependence in ≥ 2 activities of daily living, treatment with ≥ 5 drugs, active treatment for ≥ 3 diseases, recent emergency hospitalization, severe visual or hearing loss, cognitive impairment, Parkinson's disease, diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), anaemia, or constitutional syndrome. Half of the patients will be randomly assigned to a 1-year DMP led by a case manager and the other half to usual care. The DMP consists of an educational programme for patients and caregivers on the management of HF, COPD (knowledge of the disease, smoking cessation, immunizations, use of inhaled medication, recognition of exacerbations), diabetes (knowledge of the disease, symptoms of hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia, self-adjustment of insulin, foot care) and depression (knowledge of the disease, diagnosis and treatment). It also includes close monitoring of the symptoms of decompensation and optimisation of treatment compliance. The main outcome variables are quality of life, hospital readmissions, and overall mortality during a 12-month follow-up.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The physiological changes, lower life expectancy, comorbidity and low health literacy associated with aging may influence the effectiveness of DMPs in HF. The HF-Geriatrics study will provide direct evidence on the effect of a DMP in elderly patients with HF and high comorbidty, and will reduce the need to extrapolate the results of clinical trials in adults to elderly patients.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>(ClinicalTrials.gov number, <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01076465">NCT01076465</a>).</p

Electrophoretic study of isoelectric point of some iron oxides

7 páginas, 3 figuras, 1 tabla, 15 referencias.[ES]: Se ha medido el punto isoeléctrico (IEP) de la hematites (alfaFe203), goetita (alfa-FeOOOH) y lepidocrocita (gamma-FeOOH) mediante electroforesis de superficie móvil. Se observa la influencia que ejercen la cristalinidad y el grado de hidratación superficial de estos sólidos en sus respectivos IEP. Los valores de IEP encontrados en el presente trabajo son similares a los obtenidos por otros procedimientos descritos en la bibliografía para los mismos compuestos.[EN]: The isoelectric point (IEP) of hematite (alpha-Fe2O3), goethite (alpfa-FeOOH) and lepidocrocite (gamma-FeOOH) has been obtained by moving boundary electrophoresis. Cristallinity and surface hydration degree of these solids gratly influence their IEP. The IEP values found is this paper are very close to those obtained by different procedures reported in the literature for the same compounds.Peer reviewe

The quality of the waters of the Guadiamar river and the Rocina and Partido streams in the proximity of Doñana (SW Spain)

6 páginas, 4 tablas, 7 referencias.The quality of the waters of the Guadiamar river and the El Partido and La Rocina streams are considered and the amounth of the pollutants transported by the Guadiamar river during the dry and rainy weather evaluated. The actual poor quality ofthe Guadiamar river water forbids their use to improve the hydrology status of the Dañana marshes.Peer reviewe

Quality evaluation of the surface waters entering the Donana National Park (SW Spain)

Surficial waters entering the Donana National Park were sampled and analysed for 20 parameters over 12 years at more than 30 sampling sites. Different types of pollution characterize the different water networks entering Donana. The waters entering from the north are little polluted or only polluted by outlets from small villages and/or effluents from industries of transformation of agricultural products. Acid mine-waters with high heavy metal concentrations skirt and enter Donana from the east. Finally waters of marine origin enter Donana from the south. The eastern and northern water networks are very dynamic, and flood Donana frequently. The importance and variation of the pollution carried through the various water networks under different flow conditions are discussed.Peer Reviewe

European multicentre evaluation of the Super Aution SA-4220 urinalysis analyser

A multicentre evaluation of the urine test strip analyser Super Aution-4220 was carried out in six laboratories. The analytical performance of the instrument with regard to imprecision, linearity, detection limit, drift, carry-over and method comparison was studied. Using the Aution stick 8 test strip the pH, glucose, protein, ketones, bilirubin, blood, urobilinogen and leukocyte esterase were analysed. Specific gravity measurements were performed by refractive index method. Within-run and between-run imprecision determined at three levels of analyte were good. No carry-over was observed. Obtained results were linear through all the described analytical range. No significant drift was detected. Method comparison with some quantitative methods was performed and showed a good correlation with most of the analytes. The study of interferences showed minor interferences by common therapeutic drugs with the measurement of some analytes. During the assessment period of about 6 months no breakdown occurred in any laboratory. The Super Aution urine analyser appeared to be a highly automated analyser of urinary test strips. The operation was simple and the maintenance required only a few minutes a day