Impaired decision-making and time perception in individuals with stroke: Behavioral and neural correlates.

Several studies have demonstrated that stroke subjects present impairment of functions related to decision-making and timing, involving the information processing in the neural circuits of the cerebellum in association with the prefrontal cortex. This review is aimed to identify the gaps, and demonstrate a better understanding of decision-making and timing functions in the patients with stroke. Electronic literature database was searched and the findings of relevant studies were used to explore the mechanisms of decision-making and timing in patients with stroke, as well as the circuit connections in timing mediated by prefrontal cortex and cerebellum. A literature review was conducted with 65 studies that synthesized findings on decision-making and time perception in individuals with stroke. Types of neurobiological modalities in this study included: Relationships among decision-making, time perception, related cognitive aspects (such as discrimination tasks, verbal estimation, bisection tasks, time production and motor reproduction), and motor control. We demonstrate that the timing processes are important for the performance in cognitive tasks and that the cerebellum and prefrontal cortex are involved in decision-making and time perception. In the context, the decision-making is impaired in stroke patients has a great impact on executive functions, and this seems to be important in determining neurobiological aspects relevant to the time interval interpretation.

Integrating road traffic externalities through a sustainability indicator.

Road traffic poses negative externalities on society and represents a key challenge in sustainable transportation. However, the existing literature about the assessment of traffic externalities drawn on a common measure is scarce. This paper develops a sustainability indicator that integrates traffic-related externalities as means of traffic congestion, noise, greenhouse gases (GHG) and nitrogen oxides emissions, health impacts and road crash related costs, and adjusted to local contexts of vulnerability. Traffic, road crashes, acoustic and vehicle dynamic data were collected from one real-world intercity corridor pair comprising three alternative routes. The site-specific operations were characterized using a modeling platform of traffic, emissions, noise and air quality. A specific methodology is applied for each road traffic externality and translated in a single factor - external cost. The results indicated that road crashes presented the largest share in the partly rural/urban route while GHG emissions had the highest contribution in external costs for the highway routes. Also, the distribution of external cost component varied according to the type of road, mostly due to different levels of exposed inhabitants. This paper offers a line of research that produced a method for decision-makers with a reliable and flexible cost analysis aimed at reducing the negative impacts of road traffic. It also encourages the design of eco-traffic management policies considering the perspective of drivers, commuters and population.

The use of tritium content as an indicator of the groundwater contamination by sanitary landfills leachates in the region of Belo Horizonte City, Brazil.

Tritium content in the leachate of sanitary landfills, in concentrations well above those observed in global precipitation, can be used as a tracer for the evaluation of the contamination of groundwater in piezometers of the landfills and in neighbouring tubular wells. This possibility was first investigated in Brazil for sanitary landfills in the region of Belo Horizonte City. Tritium levels together with the content of metals present in water and the measurement of soil electrical conductivity, proved to be valuable for these studies and also as a tracer for hydrodynamic studies of the surface water in the Ressaca creek.

Development of a technique for using 99mTc as an adsorbable tracer for hydrodynamic studies of fine sediments in suspension.

Labelling of fine sediment (phi < 62.5 microm) with 99mTc was achieved through laboratory experiments described in a previous work (Proceedings of an International Symposium on Isotope Techniques in Water Resources Development and Management. IAEA-SM-361/13, Vienna, Proceedings of the XIIIth Brazilian Symposium on Water Resources. Brazilian Association for Water Resources (ABRH), Belo Horizonte, paper 176, CD-rom (in Portuguese)). Comparative studies of the hydrodynamic behaviour of the labelled and unlabelled sediment, in order to validate the application of the labelled sediment in field studies, were further performed by means of sedimentation tests using the Andreasen pipette technique, and are presented here. Labelling without flocculation, which promotes the same sedimentation behaviour of the labelled and the natural sediment was only achieved using small quantities of SnCl2 dissolved in proportionately small volumes of HCI (0.3%), in the reduction of a 99mTcO4- eluted from a 99Mo generator.

Caracterização nutricional das folhas de Moringa oleifera (MOL) para frangos de corte / Chemical and nutritional characterization of moringa oleifera leaves for broilers

Objetivou-se determinar os valores energéticos e nutricionais das folhas de Moringa oleifera (MOL) para frangos de corte. Utilizaram-se 90 pintos machos, Cobb-500, com 14 dias de idade, distribuídos em delineamento inteiramente ao acaso, com cinco tratamentos e seis repetições de três aves. Os tratamentos consistiram de: uma dieta referência e quatro dietas com substituição de 10%, 20%, 30% e 40% da dieta referência pelas folhas de MOL. O período experimental teve duração de oito dias, utilizando-se a metodologia de coleta total de excretas. Foram determinados os valores de energia metabolizável aparente (EMA), aparente corrigida para o nitrogênio (EMAn), coeficiente de metabolizabilidade aparente da matéria seca (CMAMS), da proteína bruta (CMAPB) e da energia bruta (CMAEB). Os resultados obtidos foram submetidos à análise de variância e à análise de regressão a 5% de probabilidade. Houve efeito quadrático das variáveis à medida que a moringa era adicionada à ração referência. Na derivação das equações de regressão, o nível que proporcionou os melhores valores de EMA, EMAn e CMEB foi de 37,7% de substituição. O farelo de folhas MOL apresentou médias de 3140kcal/kg de EMA, 2845kcal/kg de EMAn, 76,92% de CMAEB, 76,63% de CMAMS e 73,42% de CMAPB.(AU)

This study aimed to determine the energy and nutritional value of the leaves of Moringa oleifera (MOL) for broilers. We used 90 male chicks, Cobb-500, with 14 days of age in a completely randomized design with five treatments and six repetitions of three birds. The treatments were: reference diet and 4 diets with substitution of 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% of the diet by reference sheet MOL. The trial lasted eight days, using the method of total excreta collection. The apparent metabolizable energy (AME), apparent corrected for nitrogen (AMEn), apparent metabolizable coefficient of dry matter (AMCDM), crude protein (AMCCP) and gross energy (AMCGE). The results were submitted to analysis of variance and regression analysis at 5% probability. There was a quadratic effect of the variables as the moringa was added to the reference diet. In the derivation of the regression equations the level that provided the best values of AME, AMEn, AMCGE was 37.7% substitution. The leaves meal MOL presented average 3140kcal / kg of AME, 2845kcal / kg AMEn, 76.92% of AMCGE, 76.63% of AMCDM and 73.42% of AMCCP.(AU)

Composição do óleo essencial de quatro espécies do gênero Plectranthus / Essential oil composition of four Plectranthus species

O gênero Plectranthus é considerado um dos mais ricos em óleos essenciais dentro da família Lamiaceae, compreendendo muitas espécies com propriedades medicinais. Algumas destas são conhecidas popularmente como boldo, as quais possuem semelhanças taxonômicas e diversas sinonímias, possuindo ações anti-dispépticas, analgésicas e digestivas. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar quantitativa e qualitativamente os óleos essenciais presentes nas folhas das espécies P. amboinicus, P. barbatus, P. grandis e P. neochilus. A extração do óleo foi realizada por hidrodestilação, utilizando pentano como solvente extrator, repetida por três vezes para cada uma das espécies. A análise dos componentes dos óleos essenciais das quatro espécies de Plectranthus, através da CG/EM, permitiu identificar 14 componentes químicos, sendo a maioria sesquiterpenos. O trans-cariofileno se apresentou em elevada concentração nos óleos estudados. Alguns componentes químicos demonstraram ser específicos para cada espécie e outros apresentaram ocorrência comum a todas as quatro, possibilitando a diferenciação das mesmas em dois grupos, um formado por P. amboinicus e P. neochilus e o outro por P. grandis e P. barbatus. Conclui-se que as quatro espécies de boldo apresentam diferenças significativas quanto ao teor e à constituição química do óleo essencial.

Plectranthus has been considered one of the richest genera in essential oils within the Lamiaceae family, which includes several species with medicinal properties. Some of them are commonly known as boldo and present taxonomic similarities and several synonymies, with antidyspeptic, analgesic and digestive actions. The aim of this study was to evaluate quantitatively and qualitatively the essential oils from P. amboinicus, P. barbatus, P. grandis and P. neochilus leaves. The oil was extracted by hydrodistillation using pentane as extracting solvent and was repeated three times for each species. The analysis of essential oil components by GC/MS in the four Plectranthus species identified 14 chemical components, mostly sesquiterpenes. High concentration of trans-caryophyllene was found in the studied oils. Some chemical components were specific for each species and other components had common occurrence in all four species, allowing their differentiation into two groups, one composed of P. amboinicus and P. neochilus and another one by P. grandis and P. barbatus. In conclusion, the four boldo species had significant differences as to essential oil yield and chemical composition.