Multi-element contamination in soils from major mining areas in Northeastern of Brazil.

Mining has become one of the main factors in the global biogeochemical cycle of potentially toxic elements. Therefore, it is considered one of the anthropogenic activities with the greatest negative impact on the environment. These impacts are maximized in semiarid regions, where mining activities can lead to soil degradation and decrease in land productivity. This study aimed to assess the level of contamination in natural, urban, and agricultural soils of three important mining areas, where approximately 80,000 people live, and pollution levels have never been determined before. For this purpose, soil samples were collected around iron, uranium, and vanadium mines, as well as in the main human settlements of the region. The concentrations of 34 elements were determined by instrumental neutron analysis activation (INAA) and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) techniques. Pollution indices (CF, EF, mCd, PLI, and REEP) revealed that there is a moderate to heavy level of pollution for 89% of the analyzed elements. Additionally, an extreme contamination level was observed in 78% of the samples, for at least one element. Statistical analyses were performed to identify patterns in the distribution and common sources of pollution. The results suggest that the concentrations for Al, Ba, Hf, Na, Pb, Rb, REE, Ta, Th, U, Zn, and Zr are associated with geogenic causes. However, the influence of anthropogenic sources such as agriculture and mining on the accumulation of these elements in soils should not be disregarded. In contrast, the contents of As, Br, Cd, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, K, Mn, Ni, Sc, Ti, and V reflect the direct impact of anthropogenic sources.

La selección de la silla de ruedas y la satisfacción de indivíduos con lesión medular / The selection of the wheelchair and the satisfaction of individuals with spinal cord injury with your device

Objetivos. Evaluar la satisfacción de individuos con lesión de la médula espinal con su silla de ruedas, tanto como para conocer los aspectos relevantes en el proceso de selección y adquisición de este dispositivo. Material y métodos. Se trata de un estudio de evaluación. Se invitó a participar en el estudio 25 individuos parapléjicos o tetrapléjicos por lesión de la médula espinal, usuarios de silla de ruedas, que realizan la terapia física en el ambulatorio de fisioterapia da Universidad Estatal de Londrina. Todos aceptaron participar siendo sometidos a una entrevista para aplicación de un cuestionario hecho por los autores de este estudio, con preguntas referentes al proceso de selección y adquisición de la silla de ruedas, así como a la satisfacción con su equipo. Resultados. En el proceso de selección y adquisición de la silla de ruedas, la mayor parte de las personas hizo referencia al peso (52%) y a la manejabilidad (32%). La mayoría (66,4%) de los pacientes mostró estar totalmente satisfecho con su equipo. Los aspectos en los cuales hubo mayor predominancia de satisfacción total o parcial fueron: durabilidad (84%) y la facilidad para montar y desmontar la silla (96%). Conclusión. La satisfacción del usuario con su equipo es un factor importante que debe ser considerado en el proceso de rehabilitación del individuo con lesión de la médula espinal (AU)

Objective. Evaluate the spinal cord injuried individuals’ with their wheelchair, and identify the relevant points of the selection and acquiring process of the equipament. Materials and methods. This is an evaluation study. Twenty-five spinal cord injuried individuals with paraplegia or quadriplegia, who use wheelchair for mobility and receive physical therapy treatment at the Physiotherapy's Ambulatory of the Londrina State University, were invited to participate in this study. All them agreed to participate and underwent an interview for administering a questionnaire made by the authors of this study, with questions about the selection and acquisition of the wheelchair, as well as satisfaction with their device. Results. At the time of choosing and acquiring the wheelchair, the aspects taken into consideration of most of the individuals were weight (52%) and praticity (32%). The majority (66.4%) of patients were totally satisfied with their wheelchair. The aspects in which there was greater prevalence of total or partial satisfaction were: durability (84%) and praticity for mounting and dismounting the device (96%). Conclusion. User satisfaction with his wheelchair is an important factor to be considered in the rehabilitation process of individuals with spinal cord injury (AU)

Perfil nutricional de indivíduos participantes de um plano de condicionamento físico em empresa privada / Nutritional profile of individuals attending physical conditioning at a private company

Atualmente, já se tem muito claro o conceito de que os riscos de doenças como diabete, aterosclerose e hipertensäo arterial, entre outras, aumentam quando há excesso de peso, elevando consequentemente, os riscos de doença coronária. A Associaçäo Philips de Seguridade Social desenvolveu um Projeto de Qualidade de Vida, que inclui um programa de condicionamento físico e orientaçäo nutricional destinado aos funcionários que apresentam alguns dos fatores de risco mencionados. Foram avaliados 161 indivíos por meio de medidas antropométricas, como peso, altura, pregas cutâneas e circunferência muscular do braço. De acodo com os resultados, pode-se concluir que existe maior númeor de obesos entre os homens do que entre as mulheres; esse fato poderia ser justificado pela faixa etária mais alta em que os homens se encontrava. Contudo, apesar de obesos, sua proporçäo de massa muscular esquelética ainda se mantém em padröes normais, ou seja a obesidade nos homens caracteriza-se por acréscimo de tecido adipoo sem ocorrer diminuiçäo de massa magra; nas mulheres, esse compartimento apresenta-se mais depletado, ao contrário da massa de gordura que se encontra aumentada, apesar da manutençäo do peso corpóreo total em níveis mais próximos aos ideais. Isso determina que, para haver normalizaçäo dos compartimentos de gordura corpórea, os programas de exercícios físicos destinados às mulheres devem ser mais intensos e prolongados do que para os homens.