Endoparasite community structure of an anuran assemblage in the Caatinga, Northeastern Neotropical Region.

Amphibians are a widespread Chordata taxon and are important for maintaining the balance of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Brazil has a rich amphibian fauna; however, little is known about the role of their ecology and phylogenetic relationships during the assembly processes of associated endoparasite communities. Herein, we describe an endoparasite community in an anuran assemblage in the Caatinga, a unique biome of dry forests in north-eastern Brazil. We studied endoparasite diversity, as well as the effects of body length, body mass, body volume and sex on parasite abundance. We also investigated the influence of ecological and historical factors and anuran microhabitat use on endoparasite composition. We analysed individuals from 13 anuran species distributed across five families: Odontophrynidae (Proceratophrys cristiceps); Leptodactylidae (Leptodactylus fuscus, Leptodactylus vastus, Leptodactylus macrosternum, Leptodactylus troglodytes and Physalaemus cuvieri); Hylidae (Pithecopus gonzagai, Scinax x-signatus, Boana raniceps and Dendropsophus nanus); Bufonidae (Rhinella diptycha and Rhinella granulosa); and Microhylidae (Dermatonotus muelleri). We found nine species of endoparasites, including seven nematodes (Aplectana membranosa, Cosmocerca sp., Oswaldocruzia mazzai, Raillietnema spectans, Rhabdias fuelleborni, Schrankiana sp. and Physaloptera sp.), one species of Trematoda (Glypthelmins pseudium) and one non-identified cestode. There was no significant relationship between endoparasite abundance and host body length, body mass, body volume and sex. A phylogenetic principal component analysis showed that ecological factors had a greater influence on endoparasite assemblage than historical factors. Similarly, our results showed that ecological factors had a greater influence on anuran microhabitat use compared to historical factors, which contributed to the generalist characteristics presented by most of the sampled endoparasite species.

Parasitic Infection Patterns in Coleodactylus Meridionalis (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae) from Atlantic Forest Fragments, Northeast of The Neotropical Region.

Studies that seek to understand which factors influence the patterns of infection in the lizard Coleodactylus meridionalis are non-existent. In this way, we recorded the infection rates for these lizards from three different sized fragments of the Atlantic rainforest and investigated if there is influence of the size, mass and sex of the host regarding the endoparasite abundance. In addition, we investigated if there were possible associations between the host's diet and parasitism, by calculating the diet niche breadth (based on the prey number of pooled stomachs) for each host population and comparing the diet between fragments and sexes (from the three sampled fragments). We collected 38 lizards across the three sampled forest fragments. We only found parasites in the lizards sampled from the smallest of the three forest fragments which included: Physaloptera lutzi, Haplometroides odhneri and Oligacanthorhynchus sp. For this population, lizards with greater length and body mass have a greater endoparasite abundance. In addition, based on the results obtained in our study, the diet of the lizards varies in food composition between sampled populations. Finally, knowing that among the infected lizards there is no sexual dimorphism in relation to size and body mass and that the stomach sampling for this population is insufficient to calculate the indexes related to the food niche; we used the number of prey lizards from all populations, thus we were able to associate the fact that female lizards have a greater endoparasite abundance due to variations in food composition between sexes.

Description of the Egg and Larva of Raillietiella Mottae (Pentastomida: Raillietiellidae).

In the current study, the structural characteristics of the egg and larva of the pentastomid Raillietiella mottae (Almeida, Freire, & Lopes 2008), are described and compared with those of other pentastomids. The eggs and larvae were obtained from lizards Phyllopezus periosus (Rodrigues 1986) and Phyllopezus pollicaris (Spix 1825) which were collected in the environmental protection area of Cachoeira de Missão Velha, Ceará state, northeastern Brazil (7° 13' S; 39° 08' W). Following collection, the specimens were transported to the Laboratorio de Zoologia (LZ-URCA) and deposited in terrariums to obtain the feces, which were collected and analyzed for the presence of pentastomid eggs. The eggs found were typical of the genus Raillietiella, differing from those of other genera due to the lack of an outer fl exible membrane. The larva had two pairs of limbs, each with a pair of terminal hooks. The limbs were unsegmented, ventrally curved, and supported by conical muscle structures with visible segmentation. The tail was bifurcate, and each section had a terminal bristle. Information on egg and larval morphology can be useful in the identification of genera and species. The current study provides a description of the eggs and embryos of a Pentastomida species from the Neotropical Region.

The impact of glycemic variability on length of stay and mortality in diabetic patients admitted with community-acquired pneumonia or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

AIM: To investigate the influence of glycemic variability (GV) on length of stay and in-hospital mortality in non-critical diabetic patients. METHODS: A observation retrospective study was performed. Diabetic patients admitted between January and June 2016 with the diagnosis of community-acquire pneumonia (CAP) and/or acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were enrolled and glycemic control (persistent hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, mean glucose level (MGL) and respective standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV)) were evaluated. Primary outcomes were length of stay and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: Data from 242 patients were analyzed. Fifty-eight percent of the patients were male, with a median age of 77 years (min-max, 29-98). Patients had on average 2.1 glucose readings-day and the MGL was 193.3 mg/dl (min-max, 84.3-436.6). Hypoglycemia was documented in 13.4% of the patients and 55.4% had persistent hyperglycemia. The median length of hospital stay was 10 days (min-max, 1-66) and in-hospital mortality was 7.4%. We found a significant higher in-hospital mortality in older patients, with history of cancer and with nosocomial infections. We did not find any correlation between MGL, SD, CV, hypoglycemia or persist hyperglycemia and in-hospital mortality. A longer length of stay was observed in patients with heavy alcohol consumption and nosocomial infections. The length of stay was negatively correlated with the mean glucose level (r2-0.147; p < 0.05) and positively correlated with the coefficient of variation (p 0.162; p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study confirmed the negative impact of the glycemic variability in the outcomes of diabetic patients admitted with CAP or acute exacerbation of COPD.

Specific caspase pathways are activated in the two stages of cerebral infarction.

Necrosis and apoptosis have been initially identified as two exclusive pathways for cell death. In acute brain lesions, such as focal ischemia, this binary scheme is challenged by demonstrations of mixed morphological and biochemical characteristics of both apoptosis and necrosis in single cells. The resulting difficulty in defining the nature of cell death that is triggered by severe insults has dramatically impeded the development of therapeutic strategies. We show that in the early stages of cerebral infarction, neurons of the so-called "necrotic" core display a number of morphological, physiological, and biochemical features of early apoptosis, which include cytoplasmic and nuclear condensations and specific caspase activation cascades. Early activation cascades involve the death receptor pathway linked to caspase-8 and the caspase-1 pathway. They are not associated with alterations of mitochondrial respiration or activation of caspase-9. In contrast, pathways that are activated during the secondary expansion of the lesion in the penumbral area include caspase-9. In agreement with its downstream position in both mitochondria-dependent and -independent pathways, activation of caspase-3 displays a biphasic time course. We suggest that apoptosis is the first commitment to death after acute cerebral ischemia and that the final morphological features observed results from abortion of the process because of severe energy depletion in the core. In contrast, energy-dependent caspase activation cascades are observed in the penumbra in which apoptosis can fully develop because of residual blood supply.

Avaliaçäo ponderal de gestantes atendidas na Maternidade-Escola da UFRJ e sua relaçäo com o peso ao nascer / Ponderal evaluation of pregnant womens assisted at UFRJ Maternity-School and relationship with birth weigth

O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar o ganho ponderal durante a gestaçäo de 38 mulheres na faixa etária de 19 a 40 anos, atendidas na Maternidade-Escola da UFRJ e relacioná-lo com o peso dos recém-natos. Com base no registro dos prontuários foram obtidas as seguintes informaçöes:início e frequência a serviços de pré-natal, altura, peso pré-gestacional, ganho ponderal na gestaçäo, idade gestacional e peso ao nascer de recém-natos. Os resultados demonstraram que 36,8 por cento das gestantes iniciaram seu pré-natal no 1º trimestre da gestaçäo e 63,15 por cento no 2º trimestre. A classificaçäo do peso segundo o Índice de Massa Corporal (IMC) foi considerado normal em 68,42 por cento das gestantes, baixo peso em 18,42 por cento;sobrepeso em 7,90 por cento e obesidade em 5,26 por cento. Com relaçäo ao ganho ponderal a amostra foi subdividida em quatro grupos e os resultados demonstraram que 15,80 por cento das mäes apresentaram ganho inferior a 7,0 kg (Grupo I), 34,2 por cento apresentaram ganho de 7,5 a 11 kg (Grupo II) e em 0 por cento o ganho foi superior a 11 kg (Grupo III). Também 34 por cento encontravam-se com baixo peso, segundo critério de Rosso. Com relaçäo ao peso do recém-nato, observou-se que 97 por cento nasceram com peso superior a 2.500g. Os que nasceram com peso inferior (2,6 por cento da amostra) as respectivas mäes obtiveram um ganho ponderal na gestaçäo menor do que 7 kg. Conclui-se que para uma adequada avaliaçäo durante a assistência pré-natal, deve-se utilizar além da curva de Rosso, também o peso pré-gestacional como mais um parâmetro para a determinaçäo de grupos de risco e desta forma poder fazer a intervençäo nutricional adequada o mais precoce possível

[Primary hyperaldosteronism. A report of 2 clinical cases]. / Hiperaldosteronismo primário. Apresentação de dois casos clínicos.

We describe two clinical cases of primary hyperaldosteronism caused by adrenal adenoma (Conn's syndrome) with very different forms of clinical presentation. Some theoretical considerations about diagnosis and treatment of the disease are made.

Near retinoscopy in accommodative esotropia.

We tested whether near retinoscopy, a noncycloplegic retinoscopic technique, was applicable to the optic correction of patients with accommodative esodeviations. We performed a study in 17 patients with accommodative esotropia to compare the refractive values obtained by near retinoscopy and by cycloplegia, as measured by two examiners. The interobserver variability was the same for the two techniques for the refractive values of the horizontal and vertical meridia and spherical equivalent. For the astigmatism, there was greater variability for near retinoscopy. The correlation between the two methods was good, but the variability of the differences was high. We recommend that near retinoscopy should be employed only as a noninvasive method for screening refractive errors in children.