The impact of saline and water stress on the agronomic performance of beet crops.

Excessive salts in irrigation water and water stress have a negative impact on the productive yield of agricultural crops. In this regard, the objective was to evaluate the effect of combined saline and water stress on the agronomic performance of the beet crop. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse located at the Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira, in Redenção, Ceará. The experimental design used was completely randomized with split-plots arrangement. The main plots were formed by the electrical conductivities of the irrigation water (0.8, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, and 6.0 dS m-1), while the irrigation depths of 50 and 100% of the crop evapotranspiration (ETc) were the subplots, with 6 replications. Saline stress negatively affected growth, biomass, tuber root length, and productivity, while increasing the soluble solids of the beet crop. Excessive salts in the irrigation water caused reductions in physiological indices of the beet crop, although with less severity under the 100% ETc.

Nutritional assessment associated with length of inpatients' hospital stay.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the nutritional status of patients on hospital admission, identify the length of hospital stay and identify the parameters of nutritional assessment that are most closely related with the length of stay (LOS). METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 278 hospitalized patients evaluated patients' nutritional status in the 48 hours after admission and their LOS after discharge. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters, related to nutrition status were analyzed, such as: weight, height, arm circumference (AC), waist circumference (WC), triceps skinfold thickness (TST), mild arm muscle circumference (MAMC), albumin (Alb) and hemoglobin (HB). Body mass index (BMI) was used to classify the nutritional status. All the nutritional factors except type of disease, gender and age were associated with LOS. The chi-square, Student-t, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and binary logistic multivariate tests were used in the statistical analyses. RESULTS: The majority of patients was male (53%), elderly (56%) and had neoplasm (19.4%). Undernutrition was higher in the elderly (p < 0.05) and neoplasm patients (p < 0.05), overweight or obese patients were more likely to suffer from cardiovascular diseases (p = 0.001). Average LOS was 14.7 days (± 12.5), longer in neoplasm patients (p < 0.05) and in elderly ones (p < 0.05), and also was 3 times longer in males (p < 0.0001). Among the nutritional parameters, patients with AC under 25 cm had higher LOS (p < 0.05), but only in women could it be considered a marker, increasing LOS 2.8 times. BMI less than 20 kg/m(2) increased LOS 2.1 times, and biochemical data (Alb and HB) do not contribute. In the multivariate analyses, male gender and TST depletion were the significant factors, which together best explained the lengths of hospital stay. CONCLUSION: LOS was associated with disease, gender, age and nutritional status. We can highlight two anthropometric analyses: first, AC can be used in women as a marker of longer LOS and second TST is the best overall predictor of longer hospital stay.

Lutzomyia aldafalcaoae sp. n. a new species of Phlebotominae (Diptera: Psychodidae) from Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

A new sand fly species, Lutzomia aldafalcaoae is described from males collected in Vila Trindade, an urban district in Aquidauana county, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, in October 1996. Taxonomic remarks and a description of the new species is presented.