Abundance and Distribution Patterns of Thunnus albacares in Isla del Coco National Park through Predictive Habitat Suitability Models

Information on the distribution and habitat preferences of ecologically and commercially important species is essential for their management and protection. This is especially important as climate change, pollution, and overfishing change the structure and functioning of pelagic ecosystems. In this study, we used Bayesian hierarchical spatial-temporal models to map the Essential Fish Habitats of the Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in the waters around Isla del Coco National Park, Pacific Costa Rica, based on independent underwater observations from 1993 to 2013. We assessed if observed changes in the distribution and abundance of this species are related with habitat characteristics, fishing intensity or more extreme climatic events, including the El Niño Southern Oscillation, and changes on the average sea surface temperature. Yellowfin tuna showed a decreasing abundance trend in the sampled period, whereas higher abundances were found in shallow and warmer waters, with high concentration of chlorophyll-a, and in surrounding seamounts. In addition, El Niño Southern Oscillation events did not seem to affect Yellowfin tuna distribution and abundance. Understanding the habitat preferences of this species, using approaches as the one developed here, may help design integrated programs for more efficient management of vulnerable species.Marine Stewardship Council/[]/MSC/LondresUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR

Genetic, phenotypic and environmental correlations in two cicles of selection in the "Dentado Composto" corn

O presente trabalho visou determinar os coeficientes de correlação genética, fenotípica e ambiental entre os caracteres: altura de planta (AP), altura de espiga (AE), número de espiga por planta (NE), número de espiga mal empalhada (NEME), danos causados por Spodoptera frugiperda (SF), danos causados por Héliothis zea (HZ) a peso de grãos (PG). O material estudado corresponde a dois ciclos de seleção entre e dentro de famílias de meios irmãos no milho Dentado Composto, visando resistência às referidas pragas e alta produção de grãos. Foram consideradas infestações naturais das pragas. Os experimentos foram conduzidos na Empresa Pernambucana de Pesquisa Agropecuária - IPA. Não foi observada associação entre AP a SF nem entre AE a HZ. O caráter PG correlacionou-se negativamente com SF e HZ; todavia, no I ciclo a correlação genética PG x SF foi positiva e baixa (r = 0,27**). O caráter SF apresentou correlação genética negativa com HZ; essa associação foi de menor magnitude no II ciclo. Houve um aumento no número de correlações genéticas superiores às ambientais no II ciclo.The objective of this study was to determine the genetic, phenotypic and environmental correlation coefficients among the following traits: plant height (PH), ear height (EH), ear number per plant (EN), ear number with husk problems (ENHP), Spodoptera frugiperda damage (SF), Heliothis zea damage (HZ) and grain yield (GY). Data were collected from two cycles of selection among and within hal-sib families in "Dentado Composto" corn, assessing SF and HZ damages and high grain yield. Natural infestation of these insect pests was considered. The experiments were conducted in the experimental field of IPA. No correlation was observed between PH and SF nor between EH and HZ. The GY character was negatively correlated with HZ and SF; however in the first cycle, the genetic correlation between GY x SF was positive and lower (r = 0,027**). The character SF showed negative and significative genetic correlations with HZ; this association was lower in the second cycle. There was an increase in the number of genetic correlations higher than the environmental in the second cycle

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