ABSTRACT The Panama Aging Research Initiative is a cohort study of 423 adults aged ≥65 years recruited from an outpatient geriatric department of Panama’s largest public hospital, the Social Security Fund’s Dr Arnulfo Arias Madrid Hospital Complex (Complejo Hospitalario Dr Arnulfo Arias Madrid de la Caja de Seguro Social). The study provides the first reports of modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors of cognitive impairment and dementia, as well as various health conditions common among older adults in Panama, including chronic illnesses, polypharmacy and rates of comorbidity. The initial study, conducted September 2012–May 2016, included a clinical interview; physical assessments of body mass index and handgrip strength; and cognitive testing, plus non-fasting blood draws for measurements of genetic (Apolipoprotein E genotype) and blood-based biological markers. Information was collected regarding limitations in activities of daily living, symptoms of depression and fall incidents. A subsample of participants provided cerebrospinal fluid to measure proteins related to Alzheimer’s disease; another subsample underwent ultrasonography and electroencephalography. This report describes the general study design and highlights lessons learned and future directions. In particular, drawing on lessons learned from this clinical research, a community-based prospective cohort study is currently under way among older adults in Panama to validate a blood-based biomarker profile for detecting mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as risk factors for cognitive decline.

RESUMO: Objetivou-se demonstrar e correlacionar os possíveis métodos de avaliação neonatal de filhotes de cães nascidos de cesarianas eletivas com a utilização de anestesia inalatória, apontando suas vantagens e desvantagens e propor a dosagem de lactato sanguíneo como prática auxiliar. Após a cesariana eletiva em quatro cadelas submetidas ao protocolo anestésico composto de morfina, propofol e sevofluorano, foram avaliados 30 neonatos com exames de sangue do cordão umbilical para dosagem de lactato e gases sanguíneos, avaliação neurológica e cardiorrespiratória realizadas no nascimento e aos 10 minutos de vida. Os animais apresentaram acidose respiratória com acidemia ao nascimento, associados a altos valores de lactato sanguíneo (4,89±1,39mmol/L). Ocorreu depressão neurológica e cardiorrespiratória no nascimento, com recuperação após 10 minutos, sem complicações nos primeiros 30 dias. Pode-se concluir que os métodos de avaliação neonatal utilizados são seguros quando interpretados adequadamente e os efeitos da anestesia nos neonatos foram transitórios. O lactato do sangue umbilical pode ser opção na avaliação desses pacientes.

ABSTRACT: This study aimed to demonstrate and to correlate possible methods for neonatal assessment in dogs born by elective cesarean surgery using inhalation anesthesia, enhancing its advantages and disadvantages as well as proposing lactate measurement as an adjunctive method of evaluation. After elective cesarean surgery of four bitches subjected to morphine premedication followed by propofol induction and sevoflurane anesthesia, 30 neonates were evaluated through blood sampling from the umbilical cord for lactate measurement and blood gas analyses, as well as neurological and cardiorespiratory assessment at birth and at 10 minutes of age. The neonates presented respiratory acidosis and acidemia at birth related to blood lactate values (4.98±1.39mmol/L). Neurological and cardiorespiratory depressions were present at birth with recovery at 10 minutes and no complications were observed during the first 30 days of life. The methods for neonatal assessment used in this study are safe when appropriately interpreted and the effects of general anesthesia on neonates were transient. Blood lactate obtained from the umbilical cord can be an option for the evaluation of these patients.

The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of DNA of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) in ticks that feed on horses used for animal traction in rural Jataizinho, Parana, Brazil. Between February and June 2008, a total of 224 ticks was collected of which 75% were identified as Dermacentor nitens and 25% as Amblyomma cajenense. To amplify B. burgdorferi s.l. DNA, the intergenic space region (ISR) between the 5S (rrf) 23S (rrl) rRNA genes was used as targets for nested-PCR. Two ticks of the D. nitens species were positive for B. burgdorferi s.l. Both species showed a fragment of 184 bp, but the sequencing revealed 99.9% homology with the B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.) strain B31. These results showed, for the first time, the presence of spirochete DNA infecting ticks that parasitize horses used for animal traction, in the rural municipality mentioned. In conclusion, this study opens up promising prospects for determining the infection rate of B. burgdorferi s.s. genospecies or other species in the equine population, as well as the impact of the infection rate on Lyme disease in the state of Parana.

O gênero Bocoa Aubl. (Leguminosae - Papilionoideae), está representado na Amazônia brasileira pelas espécies Bocoa alterna (Benth.) Cowan, B. racemulosa (Huber) Cowan e B. viridiflora (Ducke) Cowan. Botões florais adultos foram coletados de amostras depositadas nos herbários MG e INPA, e acetolisados para posterior preparo de lâminas. Com o objetivo de analisar a morfologia polínica, os grãos de pólen foram medidos, descritos e fotomicrografados. Os grãos de pólen das espécies estudadas são 3-colporados, variam de pequenos a médios, de subprolatos a prolatos, o amb de subtriangular a triangular e a superfície de punctada a microrreticulada. Os grãos de pólen das espécies analisadas são homogêneos, tratando-se, portanto, de um gênero estenopalino. Foi elaborada uma chave de identificação, com base nos caracteres polínicos, a fim de separar as espécies.

The genus Bocoa Aubl. (Leguminosae - Papilionoideae) is represented in Brazilian Amazon for species Bocoa alterna (Benth.) Cowan, B. racemulosa (Huber) Cowan and B. viridiflora (Ducke) Cowan. With the objetive to analyse the pollinic morphology, adults flower-buds were colleted to the MG and INPA herbarium, and submited to acetolisis and slides preparations. The pollens grains were measured, described, and photomicrographed. The pollen grains are 3-colporate, vary from small to medium size, subprolate to prolate, amb subtriangular to triangular, and surface punctate to microreticulate.The pollen grains of the species analysed were homogeneous, so it is a stenopalynous genus. A key based in polinic caracters was elaborate to separate the species.

O presente trabalho descreve a emergência de cepas mucoides do complexo B. cepacia em um paciente com Fibrose Cística dentro de um acompanhamento bacteriológico prospectivo de nove anos. Os dados clínicos sugerem a associação entre o isolamento do morfotipo mucoide e a deterioração clínica do paciente. Apesar da variação fenotípica, os testes moleculares mostraram que o paciente manteve-se cronicamente infectado por cepas de mesma origem clonal.

Mucoid Burkholderia cepacia morphotype emerged within a nine year follow-up of a cystic fibrosis patient. Clinical data suggested a linkage between the mucoid phenotype isolation and the deterioration of the patient's condition. Despite of the phenotypic variation, molecular typing showed that the patient was chronically infected with B. cepacia complex isolates belonging to a same genetic clone.