Survey of Anisakis sp. and Hysterothylacium sp. in sardines and anchovies from the North Adriatic Sea.

The occurrence of larval Anisakidae and Raphidascarididae in anchovies and sardines from the North Adriatic Sea has been estimated. Anisakis pegreffii and Hysterothylacium aduncum were reported, with low prevalence values. In brief, a total amount of 7650 fish specimens collected between September 2011 and 2012 were analysed using three different inspection analyses: a visual inspection of the coelomic cavity, an examination of the viscera exploiting the positive hydro-tropism of the larvae (modified Baermann technique) and enzymatic digestion of muscular tissue pools. Low level of infestation was reported for Anisakis sp. in both in anchovies and sardines, while higher values were reported for Hysterothylacium sp. Subsamples of nematodes collected were characterized at species level using the molecular diagnostic key based on ITS nuclear ribosomal region, and A. pegreffii and H. aduncum were identified. The low prevalence of Anisakis sp. in sardines and anchovies from the North Adriatic Sea could be related to the peculiar distribution of cetaceans and carnivorous zooplankton in the investigated region and could be used as a potential tag to define oily fishes from this specific fishing area as at low-risk for anisakiasis.

Organochlorine contaminants in tissues of common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus from the northeastern part of the Adriatic Sea.

Levels of 24 organochlorine compounds, including toxic mono-ortho PCB congeners, were determined in the organs and tissues (blubber, kidney, lung, muscle, liver, heart) of 13 common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) stranded between 2000 and 2005 in the northern part of the Croatian territorial waters of the Adriatic Sea. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were found at higher concentrations in comparison with organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in all of the analyzed tissues. Sums of six indicator congeners (Σ6PCB) constituted around 50% of the total PCB amount, while PCB-153 and PCB-138 were found to have the highest concentrations. Among the seven investigated OCPs, p,p'-DDE was found at the highest concentrations. In blubber, mean values of 22,048 and 11,310ngg(-1) wet weight were determined for ΣPCB and ΣDDT, respectively. Much lower concentrations were found in muscle samples, followed by similar concentrations in kidneys, liver and heart, while the lowest levels of organochlorine contaminants were found in lungs. The results indicate that p,p'-DDT is still being introduced in the Mediterranean region. PCB concentrations are among the highest found in this region and toxicological assessments indicate that the health of this specie is at high risk.

Epidermal diseases in bottlenose dolphins: impacts of natural and anthropogenic factors.

Experimental studies have highlighted the potential influence of contaminants on marine mammal immune function and anthropogenic contaminants are commonly believed to influence the development of diseases observed in the wild. However, estimates of the impact of contaminants on wild populations are constrained by uncertainty over natural variation in disease patterns under different environmental conditions. We used photographic techniques to compare levels of epidermal disease in ten coastal populations of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) exposed to a wide range of natural and anthropogenic conditions. Epidermal lesions were common in all populations (affecting > 60% of individuals), but both the prevalence and severity of 15 lesion categories varied between populations. No relationships were found between epidermal disease and contaminant levels across the four populations for which toxicological data were available. In contrast, there were highly significant linear relationships with oceanographic variables. In particular, populations from areas of low water temperature and low salinity exhibited higher lesion prevalence and severity. Such conditions may impact on epidermal integrity or produce more general physiological stress, potentially making animals more vulnerable to natural infections or anthropogenic factors. These results show that variations in natural environmental factors must be accounted for when investigating the importance of anthropogenic impacts on disease in wild marine mammals.

[Process of communication in learning groups: a multiprofessional experience]. / Processo de comunicação em grupos de aprendizagem: uma experiência multiprofissional.

A multiprofessional experience carried out during a pedagogic course for health professionals, most of them dentists, to act on the in-service formation of middle level personnel is reported. The course was developed in group, and its task was to learn the problem posing pedagogy. The study was analyzed according to the Pichon-Rivière's theoretical framework. Data analysis has evidenced the close relationship among operativeness and the explicitness of the human relations ghosts, learning difficulties and communication disorders, evidencing the interdependence among communication and learning.

[Relationship between university and health services. Building work situations]. / A relação universidade e serviços de saúde--construindo possibilidades de trabalho.

The present study aims at reporting the experience of construction of an interinstitutional relationship: university and health services, pointing out the possibilities and difficulties of the process.

[A program of adult health promotion by health care workers]. / Um programa sobre promoção da saúde do adulto para trabalhadores em saúde.

The purpose of this work is to evaluate an alternative methodology of education in adult health care undertaken with health care workers. The evaluation was made by the directional question: what did the Adult Health Course mean to you? The analysis consisted of detecting in the responses, the affirmatives that were respective and grouping them in seven categories: 01. Learning new things. 02. Learning to orient people who goes to the basic Health Unit. 03. Interaction with colleagues. 04. Feeling professionally appraned. 05. Worrisome with sons. 06. Improving way of life. 07. Suggestions. The results refers to the presuppositions presented in the introduction of the article, as well as, with the Epidemiologic Model proposed by BLUM.

Spread and diversity of human populations in Bahia, Brazil.

PIP: Data from surnames and racial subgroups were obtained in 60 localities to reconstruct the history of population spread and mixing over the state of Bahia, Brazil. Using the historically significant location of Cachoeira and Sao Felix as central points, the sampled localities were distributed along 7 main paved roads. 20% of the elementary school children were selected, but only the surnames of 12,872 boys were used in the analysis. The following parameters were estimated for each of the localities: black phenotype index (BPI), which is the proportion of 3 racial classifications determined by gene frequency analysis; black cultural index (BCI) determined by the frequency of devotional surnames; and indian cultural index (ICI) determined by the frequency of animal-plant surnames; and the isolated frequency of the surname Santos. The results of regression analysis indicate a negative association between BPI and BCI and the distance from Cachoeira-Sao Felix. Although not significant, ICI increases slightly with increased distance from Cachoeira-Sao Felix. The isolated frequency of the surname Santos is associated with the BCI but does not decrease significantly with distance from Cachoeira-Sao Felix. Construction of a map characterizing each of the 60 localities by its most representative racial admixture confirms the analysis and reveals the spread of blacks toward 4 cardinal points. A review of the historical background of the state explains the migration of blacks as related to the needs for slave labor during the development of gold mining and cocoa and sugar cultivation. The higher concentrations of indian admixtures farther from Cachoeira-Sao Felix reflects their retreat to survive the incoming foreign settlers. Given the strong link between the observed diversity in the population and major historical events, it is suggested that historical reconstruction of a population be an initial step before undertaking sampling for gene frequency analysis.^ieng

Genetic and anthropological studies in the island of Itaparica, Bahia, Brazil.

The ongoing racial admixture was studied in the island of Itaparica off the coast of the State of Bahia, in Brazil. The following gene frequencies were observed: Hb S = 0.039; Hb C = 0.022; PGD C = 0.024; Gd A = 0.217 and Gd A = 0.052, among 293 mixed school children whose black phenotype index (medium mulatto + dark mulatto + black/total) was 0.457. Data on racial groups, obtained from 898 death certificates of three periods (1889-1890, 1934-1937 and 1975-1980) showed that in about 90 years (three generations) the proportion of mulattoes had doubled, the whites had decreased to one third, and the blacks showed no variation. Changes in the frequencies of surnames within the whites over the same 90 years indicated a growing proportion of individuals with black ancestry flowing into the white group. Higher reproductive rates among the more negroid individuals is probably the leading force directing the racial admixture in the island.