Aspectos do uso territorial por onça parda (Puma concolor), através de monitoramento via satélite, na região do Parque Estadual da Serra do Brigadeiro, MG / Aspects of territorial use of the Cougar (Puma concolor), by satelite monitoring, in the Parque Estadual da Serra do Brigadeiro, MG

Objetivou-se com o presente estudo monitorar o comportamento do uso territorial de um macho de onça parda, capturado no Parque Estadual da Serra do Brigadeiro (PESB), por meio da telemetria, usando colar de GPS via Satélite Globalstar. O monitoramento de doze meses resultou na transmissão via satélite de 328 localizações, as quais sugerem que a área utilizada por esse felino seja de aproximadamente 610km2, sendo esta a maior área já descrita para a espécie. Foi possível observar que apenas 20% das localizações ocorreram dentro da área do PESB. O comportamento territorial observado neste trabalho mostra a vulnerabilidade do animal a ações antrópicas, como a caça, atropelamentos e o contato com patógenos entre animais silvestres e domésticos. Observou-se também que duas rodovias configuram barreiras artificiais para o deslocamento do animal, possivelmente impedindo o fluxo gênico entre o PESB e dois outros importantes parques. Com os dados levantados é possível a sugestão de ações de manejo, como a criação de uma conectividade efetiva entre o PESB, o Parque Estadual do Rio Doce e o Parque Nacional do Caparaó, o que poderia contribuir para o intercâmbio genético entre as populações e, dessa forma, favorecer a conservação não somente da onça parda.

We aimed to study the territorial behavior of a male cougar, captured in the Parque Estadual da Serra do Brigadeiro (PESB), using a GPS collar and the Globalstar Satellite. Monitoring the animal for nine months we obtained 328 locations. The data suggest that the area used by this feline is approximately 610km2, the largest area described for this specie. It was also possible to observe that only 20% of the locations of the animal occurred within the PESB area. The territorial behavior observed in this study shows the vulnerability of the animal to human activities such as hunting, road kill and contact with pathogens from domestic animals. It was also observed that two roads constitute artificial barriers for animal movement, possibly preventing gene flow between the PESB and two other parks. The creation of an effective connectivity between the PESB, the Parque Estadual do Rio Doce and the Parque Nacional do Caparaó is critical to ensure genetic exchange between the animal populations and thereby promote their conservation.

[A cross-sectional survey on childhood immunization coverage and reasons of non-compliance in Lazio Region, Italy (2007)]. / Indagine campionaria sulle coperture vaccinali in età pe- diatrica e sui motivi di mancata vaccinazione nella regione Lazio (2007).

During 2007, Laziosanità conducted a cross-sectional survey on childhood immunization coverage in Lazio Region. The survey, implemented in collaboration with the 12 LHUs of the Region, aimed at assessing immunization coverage among children, with 24 months of age or older, at regional and district level. In addition, the survey assessed reliability of the routine surveillance system and immunization records at peripheral level. Finally, delay in immunization schedule, and major reasons for non-compliance, as reported by the mothers, were analyzed. The survey results allowed to identify weakness in the routine surveillance system, low coverage levels for specific LHUs, and strategies for improvement of immunization coverage.

Tuberculosis incidence, hospitalisation prevalence and mortality in Lazio, Italy, 1997-2003.

SETTING: Lazio region (5.15 million, including Rome, 2.8 million), Italy. OBJECTIVE: To monitor pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) epidemiology from 1997 to 2003. DESIGN: We used data from the mandatory National Infectious Diseases Surveillance system, the regional Hospital Information System and the regional Mortality Register. The number of prevalent pulmonary TB cases hospitalised was determined by linking notifications and hospitalisations. To estimate incidence, we excluded all cases with previous TB hospitalisations since 1995, and those reported as a secondary diagnosis in the Hospital Information System. Mortality rates were ascertained from mortality records reporting TB as the principal cause of death. RESULTS: The record linkage identified 4885 incident cases, 9010 hospital prevalent cases and 217 deaths. Incidence decreased from 15/100000 in 1997 to 11 in 2003, and consistent decreases were also observed in hospitalisation prevalence and mortality (P for trend <0.0005, <0.0005 and =0.063, respectively). The number of AIDS-related TB cases dropped from 85 to 49 (P < 0.0005). The number of incident cases in non-Italians increased significantly, from 171 to 267 (P < 0.0005). Notification underreporting was estimated at 39%. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a decreasing trend, TB incidence is still over 10/100000 in Lazio region. Targeted interventions for immigrant populations are essential for controlling TB.

Cluster of measles cases in the Roma/Sinti population, Italy, June-September 2006.

Three clusters of measles cases occurred between June and September 2006, in the Roma/Sinti populations in three different Italian regions: the Bolzano-South Tyrol in northern Italy; Lazio in central Italy; and the island of Sardinia in the southwest.

[Dynamics of interdisciplinary around a health care network: simultaneous programme design and evaluation planning]. / Dynamique interdisciplinaire autour d'un réseau de soins: evaluer et construire en même temps.

This article reports on the evaluation experience of a multiple sclerosis care network in the Midi-Pyrénées region (MIPSEP). It shows how an evaluation team composed of public health doctors and sociologists progressively and naturally evolved from having a purely external observation role towards having a collaborative role actively working with the network's members and partners. A qualitative method was chosen for the data collection through interviews with the network's actors, and the frameworks for reference were constituted from official texts which defined the networks and their missions. Coming from a curative and healing culture, the network's actors were concerned primarily about how to organise themselves in order to better respond to the needs expressed by the patients. The various professional backgrounds and cultures, faced with different perspectives from innovation and confronted with the related difficulties, participated in a collective expertise exercise and collaborated in the construction process. This example supports an open, qualitative, evolutionary evaluation approach which is done in close proximity to the field and work on the ground. The study is timely given the current explosion of debate on evaluation methods. With a great deal of exchange and reflection on suitable tools and indicators as well as the respective roles of researchers, care givers and decision-makers, the results of this study advocate to favour multidisciplinary approaches, including opening up this process to funders and planning authorities rather than over-theorising about it, which only serves to enclose and paralyse a process that, on the contrary, should aim to be more inclusive. This could be a useful way to decompartmentalise and break down existing barriers within the health system.

Congenital disorder of glycosylation Ic in patients of Indian origin.

Congenital disorder of glycosylation type Ic (CDG-Ic) is caused by mutations in ALG6, encoding an alpha 1,3-glucosyltransferase. The most frequent mutation found in this gene (C998T resulting in an A333V substitution) has until now been found only in patients of European origin. Here we describe the first occurrence of this CDG-Ic mutation in patients of Indian origin. Of three Indian patients described in this study, patient 1 was homozygous and patient 2 heterozygous for the A333V mutation. In patient 2 we also found a new mutation, IVS3+2_3insT, just 3bp away from the previously described IVS3+5G>A substitution; both mutations resulted in exon 3 skipping. We screened a panel of >350 genomic DNA samples from an ethnically diverse American population to determine the frequency of the A333V mutation. None of the samples carried this mutation, indicating the frequency of patients carrying this homozygous mutation should be <1 in 5x10(5). The discovery of the common CDG-Ic mutation A333V in an Indian population raises questions as to its ethnic origin.

[Relationship of average level and variability of blood pressure with the geometry of the left ventricle in systemic hypertension]. / Relação do nível médio e variabilidade da pressão arterial com a geometria do ventrículo esquerdo na hipertensão arterial sistêmica.

PURPOSE: To study the relation between the average level and variability of blood pressure (VBP) obtained by ambulatory monitoring (AMBP) and the geometric pattern (GP) of the left ventricle (LV) obtained by echocardiography (ECHO) in patients with hypertension (Hy) METHODS: AMBP and ECHO were performed in 37 patients with Hy, divided into three groups: group A--11 women using antihypertensive therapy (AH); group B--15 men using AH and group C--7 male and 4 female without AH. The GP of LV was obtained by ECHO based on mass index (MI) and relative thickness of the wall (RTW). Mean systolic (MSBP) and diastolic (MDBP) were analyzed during daytime (DT) and nighttime (NT) periods. VBP was defined by mean standard deviation (SD) of mean pressures considered. RESULTS: In G-A, there was a significant association between the MI and both VBP and MSBP (r = 0.65 and p < 0.005, r = 0.61, and p < 0.005, respectively), and MSBP and VBP during the DP (r = 0.64 and p < 0.005, r = 0.75, and p < 0.005). In G-B, there was a relation between the LVRTW (r = 0.55 and p < 0.005), and MSBP during the DP (r = 0.65 and p < 0.005). In G-C, there was a significant association (p < 0.005) between the MI and the MDBP in the DP and with the MSBP in the NP (r valueS ranged from 0.51 to 0.66). There was also a significant relation (p < 0.005) between the LVRTW and the SD of all variables in both DP and NP (r ranged from 0.47 to 0.78 and mean diastolic in the wakeful period (r = 0.42 to 0.78) and MDBP in the DP (r = 0.42 and p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Both the increase in VBP and the mean BP are involved in the changes of LVGP in Hy.

Brain dysfunction in an adolescent with the neuromuscular form of hexosaminidase deficiency.

A 14-year-old girl of Ashkenazi Jewish background is described who has severe deficiency of hexosaminidase A. She presented with slowly progressive motor neuron degeneration and was found to have subtle deficiencies on neuropsychological testing, abnormal cortical evoked potentials and structural abnormalities of the cerebellum on CT scan. This patient extends the reported clinical findings for adolescents and suggests the possibility of similar abnormalities in others with neuromuscular deterioration.

'Idiopathic' neonatal cerebral infarction.

Neonatal cerebral infarction is infrequently reported in the living newborn and is usually associated with perinatal risk factors, trauma, and asphyxia. This report describes two cases of full-term newborns with no predisposing problems who had unequivocal left cerebral infarctions associated with seizures in the first 24 hours of life. Radiological studies suggested an embolic cause in one case.

Implante de resina acrilica no seio frontal. / Implant with acrylic resin in the frontal sinus

Respostas teciduais locais a um implante acrilico substituindo a parede anterior do seio frontal foram estudadas experimentalmente no seio frontal do cao. Quando colocado sem agressao ao restante do seio, o acrilico permaneceu por 6 meses no local, embora o ducto nasofrontal tenha se mantidido permeavel. Apos curetagem do seio, entretanto, ocorreu extrusao da protese.Quando, apos a curetagem, a cavidade foi obliterada com a resina acrilica, o implante permaneceou no local sem levar a alteracao macroscopica ou histologica importante

Failure of daily lumbar punctures to prevent the development of hydrocephalus following intraventricular hemorrhage.

A prospective study of 48 infants with periventricular-intraventricular hemorrhage was carried out to evaluate the role of daily lumbar punctures, instituted from the time of diagnosis of the hemorrhage, in prevention of posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus and improvement in immediate outcome. The data lead to the following conclusions: (1) minor hemorrhage (Grade I) is associated with minimal risk of death or hydrocephalus; (2) moderate hemorrhage (Grade II) is associated with low risk of death and intermediate risk of hydrocephalus, and serial lumbar punctures do not reduce these risks; and (3) severe hemorrhage (Grade III) is associated with high risks of death or hydrocephalus or both, and serial lumbar punctures also do not reduce these risks.

Porencephaly from periventricular intracerebral hemorrhage in a premature infant.

In two thirds of the premature infants who survived large periventricular intracerebral hemorrhage, a porencephalic cyst developed at the site of parenchymal hemorrhage. The porencephaly seems to develop as a result of local parenchymal destruction by the hemorrhage itself. These cysts can occur in the absence of posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus or increased intracranial pressure. Three of four infants who were observed for at least five months had lateralized motor deficit that corresponded to the cyst.

Acquired aphasia with convulsive disorder: course and prognosis.

Acquired aphasia with convulsive disorder is an unusual condition in childhood, characterized by loss of language function associated with a paroxysmal electroencephalogram. To determine the course and outcome of this disorder, we evaluated nine patients 10 to 28 years after the onset of aphasia. Four patients had recovered fully, one had mild language dysfunction, and four had moderate language disability. Four of the five patients with the best outcome had decreased visuoperceptive function as measured by the Revised Benton Visual Retention Test (RBVRT), whereas the three tested patients with moderate language dysfunction had normal RBVRT scores.

Effects of taurine on seizures and growth hormone release in epileptic patients.

Oral taurine at doses of 375 to 8,000 mg/day (16 to 150 mg/kg/day) was administered to six patients with mixed seizure disorders refractory to standard anticonvulsant treatment. No improvement in seizure control was observed. During taurine tolerance testing, a substantial rise in plasma growth hormone concentration was noted in four of the six patients. Mean baseline concentrations of 3.0 +/- 2.3 and 1.3 +/- 0.9 ng/mL were increased to mean peak concentrations of 17.1 +/- 2.4 (P less than .005) and 20.4 +/- 5.1 ng/mL (P less than .025), respectively. Cerebrospinal fluid homovanillic acid (HVA) concentration was also noted to be higher in two of three patients two weeks after initiation of tauerine. Initial HVA concentrations of 20.3 and 28.2 ng/mL increased to 37.2 and 54.2 ng/mL, respectively. The possible effect of taurine on central dopaminergic mechanisms is discussed.