ABSTRACT. We evaluated various sieving methods to estimate particle size (PS) and geometric standard deviation (GSD) of ground corn. The corn had been previously divided in six fractions and each one ground in a hammermill (1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5- or 12-mm sieves). The stacked sieving method, with prior drying at 105ºC without agitators was the reference. We evaluated eight sieving methods, distributed in a factorial design (2 x 2 x 2 x 6), consisting of the following treatments: i) with and without agitators (two 25-mm rubber spheres), ii) with and without previous drying, iii) with a nest of test sieves set in a stacked or reverse, and iv) employing six ground corn degrees, totaling 48 treatments (four replicates). There was a linear increase in PS estimation for methods without drying and stacking and quadratic increases for the others. Reverse, drying, and agitator methodologies gave better sieving of corn, and consequently gave the lowest PS and highest GSD. The results were more pronounced for high-intensity grinding (hammermill sieve with small apertures) in which the differences between the reference method with the drying and reverse methods were up to 210 µm. Reverse sieving combined with agitators allowed the greatest passage of corn particles through the test sieves and promoted better characterization of ground corn.

Há escassez relativa de experiências com plantas medicinais e de orientações para confecção de materiais didáticos sobre elas na Atenção Primária à Saúde (APS). Uma equipe interinstitucional (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina e Secretaria Municipal de Saúde de Florianópolis) produziu um guia de plantas medicinais em Florianópolis, SC. O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar essa experiência e o guia, que é voltado para profissionais da APS e que valorizou saberes científicos, populares e profissionais, evitando uma abordagem colonizadora do tema. Após alguns tópicos introdutórios, o guia apresenta 38 plantas medicinais comumente usadas em Florianópolis (nomes científicos e populares; partes usadas; fotos; características botânicas; uso popular; informações científicas; uso clínico; modo de usar; reações adversas e contraindicações; plantas na gestação; toxicidade; glossário; e referências). Espera-se contribuir para a construção de outros guias adaptados aos contextos locais e para a valorização do uso de plantas medicinais na APS.

Experiences with medicinal plants and guidance for producing educational resources about these plants for use in primary health care (PHC) are relatively scarce. A team from the Santa Catarina Federal University and Florianópolis City Council Department of Health produced the “Guide to Medicinal Plants in Florianópolis”. This article presents this experience and the guide, which is aimed at PHC professionals and values scientific, traditional and professional knowledge, avoiding a colonizing approach to the topic. After presenting some introductory topics, the guide describes 38 medicinal plants commonly used in Florianópolis (scientific and common names, parts used, photo, botanical characteristics, common uses, scientific information, clinical use, adverse reactions and contraindications, plants during pregnancy, toxicity, glossary and references). It is hoped this guide will contribute to the production of other guides adapted to local contexts and recognition of the value of medicinal plants in PHC.

Hay una escasez relativa de experiencias con plantas medicinales y de orientaciones para la confección de materiales didácticos sobre ellas en la atención primaria de la salud (APS). Un equipo interinstitucional (Universidad Federal de Santa Catarina y Secretaría Municipal de Salud de Florianópolis) produjo una guía de plantas medicinales en Florianópolis, estado de Santa Catarina. El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar esa experiencia y la guía, dirigida a los profesionales de la APS y que valorizó saberes científicos populares y profesionales, evitando un abordaje colonizador del tema. Después de algunos tópicos de introducción, la guía presenta 38 plantas medicinales comúnmente utilizadas en Florianópolis (nombres científicos y populares, partes usadas, foto, características botánicas, uso popular, informaciones científicas, uso clínico, modo de usar, reacciones adversas y contraindicaciones, plantas en la gestación, toxicidad, glosario y referencias). Se espera contribuir para la construcción de otras guías adaptadas a los contextos locales y para la valorización del uso de plantas medicinales en la APS.

Há escassez relativa de experiências com plantas medicinais e de orientações para confecção de materiais didáticos sobre elas na Atenção Primária à Saúde (APS). Uma equipe interinstitucional (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina e Secretaria Municipal de Saúde de Florianópolis) produziu um guia de plantas medicinais em Florianópolis, SC. O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar essa experiência e o guia, que é voltado para profissionais da APS e que valorizou saberes científicos, populares e profissionais, evitando uma abordagem colonizadora do tema. Após alguns tópicos introdutórios, o guia apresenta 38 plantas medicinais comumente usadas em Florianópolis (nomes científicos e populares; partes usadas; fotos; características botânicas; uso popular; informações científicas; uso clínico; modo de usar; reações adversas e contraindicações; plantas na gestação; toxicidade; glossário; e referências). Espera-se contribuir para a construção de outros guias adaptados aos contextos locais e para a valorização do uso de plantas medicinais na APS.

Experiences with medicinal plants and guidance for producing educational resources about these plants for use in primary health care (PHC) are relatively scarce. A team from the Santa Catarina Federal University and Florianópolis City Council Department of Health produced the “Guide to Medicinal Plants in Florianópolis”. This article presents this experience and the guide, which is aimed at PHC professionals and values scientific, traditional and professional knowledge, avoiding a colonizing approach to the topic. After presenting some introductory topics, the guide describes 38 medicinal plants commonly used in Florianópolis (scientific and common names, parts used, photo, botanical characteristics, common uses, scientific information, clinical use, adverse reactions and contraindications, plants during pregnancy, toxicity, glossary and references). It is hoped this guide will contribute to the production of other guides adapted to local contexts and recognition of the value of medicinal plants in PHC.

Hay una escasez relativa de experiencias con plantas medicinales y de orientaciones para la confección de materiales didácticos sobre ellas en la atención primaria de la salud (APS). Un equipo interinstitucional (Universidad Federal de Santa Catarina y Secretaría Municipal de Salud de Florianópolis) produjo una guía de plantas medicinales en Florianópolis, estado de Santa Catarina. El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar esa experiencia y la guía, dirigida a los profesionales de la APS y que valorizó saberes científicos populares y profesionales, evitando un abordaje colonizador del tema. Después de algunos tópicos de introducción, la guía presenta 38 plantas medicinales comúnmente utilizadas en Florianópolis (nombres científicos y populares, partes usadas, foto, características botánicas, uso popular, informaciones científicas, uso clínico, modo de usar, reacciones adversas y contraindicaciones, plantas en la gestación, toxicidad, glosario y referencias). Se espera contribuir para la construcción de otras guías adaptadas a los contextos locales y para la valorización del uso de plantas medicinales en la APS.

RESUMO Cerca de ¼ dos adultos têm hipertensão arterial, que é o fator de risco isolado mais importante para morte (incluídas as mortes por cardiopatia e acidente vascular cerebral). Existem políticas eficazes que poderiam facilitar escolhas pessoais saudáveis para evitar a elevação da pressão arterial e, se plenamente implementadas, podem prevenir a ocorrência da hipertensão arterial. É fácil rastrear e tratar a hipertensão, MAS somente cerca de 50% dos adultos hipertensos estão cientes de sua condição, e apenas cerca de 1 em cada 7 é tratado adequadamente. A prevenção e controle da hipertensão é o principal mecanismo de prevenção e controle das doenças não transmissíveis e um modelo para outros riscos de doenças não transmissíveis. Tratamentos eficazes com mudanças de estilo de vida e medicamentos poderiam prevenir e controlar a hipertensão arterial na maioria das pessoas se aplicados sistematicamente à população; as intervenções simples são viáveis em todos os ambientes e podem melhorar a atenção primária. É necessária a ação continuada e urgente a fim de obter mudanças efetivas nas políticas públicas e no sistema de saúde para prevenir e controlar a hipertensão arterial.

RESUMEN Cerca de una cuarta parte de los adultos tienen hipertensión, el principal factor de riesgo de muerte (inclusive la causada por cardiopatía y accidente cerebrovascular). Existen políticas eficaces que podrían ayudar a las personas a elegir opciones saludables para prevenir el aumento de la presión arterial; si se las aplicara plenamente, se podría evitar en gran medida el desarrollo de hipertensión. La hipertensión es fácil de detectar y tratar, PERO solo alrededor de 50% de los adultos que presentan dicha afección son conscientes de su situación y solamente 1 de cada 7 de ellos recibe el tratamiento adecuado. La prevención y el control de la hipertensión es el mecanismo principal para prevenir y controlar las enfermedades no transmisibles y un modelo para evitar otros riesgos de presentar dichas enfermedades. La adopción de un modo de vida saludable y el tratamiento farmacológico efectivo podrían prevenir y controlar la hipertensión en la mayoría de las personas si se implementaran de manera sistemática en la población; en todos los entornos es posible aplicar intervenciones sencillas, que pueden usarse para mejorar la atención primaria. Es urgente adoptar medidas sostenidas para introducir cambios eficaces en las políticas públicas y los sistemas de salud pública con miras a prevenir y controlar la hipertensión.

ABSTRACT About 1/4th of adults have high blood pressure which is the single most important risk for death (including heart disease and stroke). There are effective policies that could facilitate people making healthy choices to prevent raised blood pressure, and if fully implemented, could largely prevent hypertension from occurring. Hypertension is easy to screen and treat for BUT only about 50% of adults with hypertension are aware of their condition and only about 1 in 7 is adequately treated. Preventing and controlling high blood pressure is the major mechanism for NCD prevention and control and a model for other NCD risks. Effective lifestyle and drug treatments could prevent and control hypertension in most individuals if systematically applied to the population, simple interventions are feasible in all settings, and can be used to enhance primary care. Urgent sustained action is needed is needed for effective public policies and health system changes to prevent and control hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Skill-mix imbalance is a global concern for primary healthcare in low-income countries. In Rwanda, primary healthcare facilities (health centres, HCs) are predominantly led by nurses. They have to diagnose a multitude of health complaints. Whether they feel capable of undertaking this responsibility has yet to be explored. AIM: This study explored how healthcare providers (HPs) at Rwandan HCs perceived their capability in the diagnostic practice. SETTING: Rural and urban HCs in Muhanga district, Rwanda. METHOD: Qualitative, semi-structured interviews with nurses and clinical officers, and observations of consultations were made. Findings were analysed thematically. RESULTS: Rwandan HPs were confident in their competences to perform diagnostic procedures although nurses felt that the responsibilities lay beyond their professional training. Clinical officers believed that their professional training prepared them to function competently and autonomously in the diagnostic practice, although all HPs experienced a high dependency on medical history taking, physical examination and laboratory tests for reaching a diagnosis. Resource constraints (time, rooms and laboratory tests) were seen as a barrier to perform diagnostic tasks optimally, and HPs experienced in-service training and supervision as insufficient. They increased their diagnostic competences through work experience, self-learning and supportive peer collaboration. CONCLUSION: Clinical officers perceived themselves as capable in the diagnostic practice. Nurses may compensate for insufficient school training through in-service learning opportunities and feel capable in the diagnostic practice. Formative mentorship schemes and tailored education may prove valuable, but further research on how to improve HPs' diagnostic capability in Rwanda's primary healthcare sector is needed.

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) occur widely in the uppermost millimeters of the soil in arid and semi-arid systems. Worldwide they cover large terrestrial areas and play a major role in the global terrestrial carbon and nitrogen cycles. However, knowledge of the microbial decomposer foodwebs within biocrusts is particularly scarce. Heterotrophic protists in soil are predominantly bacterivores, and because of their high biomass compared with other soil fauna and fast turnover rates, protists are considered an important factor for soil nutrient cycling and energy fluxes. Thus, knowledge of their biodiversity, abundance and functional roles is important to understand soil ecosystem functions. We investigated the diversity and abundance of heterotrophic soil protists in different types of biocrusts from the Succulent Karoo, South Africa. With an overall diversity of 23 distinct morphotypes, soil protist biodiversity was shown to be high. The most abundant groups were Spumella-like chrysomonads, gliding bodonids, glissomonads and heteroloboseans. Protist abundance was highly variable among samples. The abundance and diversity did not differ significantly among different types of biocrusts, indicating that microscale differences, but not macroscopic soil crust builders (e.g. cyanobacteria, lichens and bryophytes), have a major impact on the protist community.

Las gráficas de micromapas enlazados (LM por sus siglas en inglés) han sido usados en Estados Unidos desde su introducción en 1996 como una forma efectiva de presentar resúmenes estadísticos asociados con unidades espaciales regionales. Sin embargo, las gráficas LM son difíciles de crear por no expertos. La introducción al paquete R micromap ha simplificado la contrucción de gráficos LM para regiones geográficas arbitrarias al facilitar el uso de Sistemas de Información Geográficos (GIS por sus siglas en inglés) como la base para los mapas. En este artículo, se presentan gráficos LM para los países de Suramérica. Sin embargo, las representaciones espaciales están a menudo no disponibles para los gráficos LM, incluso después de simplificaciones automatizadas de los límites de las regiones. Un problema comón es que regiones geográficamente pequeñas a menuso no son visibles en los gráficos LM. Entonces, se hace necesario ampliar estas regiones pequeñas y mostrarlas por fuera del mapa principal. Se introducen algunas guías algoritmicas de cómo considerar regiones pequeñas en los gráficos LM de Suramérica. Adicionalmente, se dan recomendaciones de cómo incluir áreas que se encuentran lejanas de la principal región geográfica en los graficos LM.

Linked micromap (LM) plots have been in use in the United States of America (USA) since their introduction in 1996 as an effective way to display statistical summaries associated with regional spatial units. However, LM plots were always hard to create by non--experts. The introduction of the {\it micromap} R package has simplified the construction of LM plots for arbitrary geographic regions by facilitating the use of external Geographic Information System (GIS) features (such as shapefiles) as the basis for the maps. In this article, we will introduce LM plots for countries from South America. However, spatial representations of features are often not immediately suitable for LM plots, even after some automated simplification of the boundaries of the map regions. A common problem is that relatively small geographic regions are often not visible when plotted in LM plots. Thus, it is necessary to enlarge small regions and display them on the outside of the main map. We introduce some algorithmic guidelines on how small regions can be addressed in LM plots for South America. Moreover, we will provide recommendations how to include areas into LM plots that are far away from the main geographic region.

Background and Objective: Adequate concentrations of leptin, cortisol, and insulin are important for a suitable metabolism and development during adolescence. These hormones jointly with glucose play a major role in fat metabolism and development of childhood obesity. Our main objective was to quantify biomarkers as leptin, cortisol, insulin and glucose status in European adolescents to contribute to establish reference ranges. Methods: A representative sample of 927 adolescents (45% males, 14.9±1.2 years for the overall population) from ten European cities of the HELENA study was used to obtain fasting blood samples for these biomarkers. The percentile distributions were computed by sex and age and percentiles were associated with BMI classification. Results: Serum leptin concentration in adolescents varied significantly according to BMI, sex and age (all p<0.001). Cortisol presented a tendency to increase with age, both for females and males, while insulin and glucose were stable with age. Leptin and insulin were highest in obese adolescents (p<0.001), whilst cortisol and glucose did not vary with BMI. Percentiles 5, 25, 50, 75 and 95, for hormones values were, respectively: 1.27, 4.06, 11.54, 26.70 and 65.33 ng/ml for leptin; 5.00, 8.11, 11.14, 15.00 and 24.51 μg/dl for cortisol and 3.65, 6.15, 8.52, 11.90 and 20.53 μlU/ml for insulin. Conclusions: In adolescents, leptin, cortisol, insulin and glucose concentrations are differently affected by age, sex and BMI. Establishment of reference ranges (percentiles) of these biomarkers would be of great interest when pediatricians have to assess the trend of an adolescent to develop obesity years after.

Objetivo: Concentraciones adecuadas de leptina, cortisol e insulina son importantes para un metabolismo normal durante la adolescencia, puesto que valores alterados de estas hormonas, junto con la glucosa, se asocian con el desarrollo de la obesidad infantil. Nuestro principal objetivo fue cuantificar estos marcadores en adolescentes europeos con el fin de establecer rangos de referencia. Métodos: Muestras de sangre procedentes de 927 adolescentes en ayunas (14,9 ± 1,2 años, 45% varones, estudio HELENA), fueron analizadas para cuantificar la leptina, cortisol, insulina y glucosa. Las distribuciones de percentiles se determinaron teniendo en cuenta el sexo y la edad. También se estudió la asociación entre percentiles y la clasificación del IMC. Resultados: La concentración de leptina en suero variaba significativamente con el IMC, el sexo y la edad (todos p<0,001). El cortisol presentó una tendencia a aumentar con la edad, tanto para varones como mujeres, mientras que la insulina y la glucosa eran estables con la edad. La leptina y la insulina fueron más altas en los adolescentes obesos (p <0,001), mientras que el cortisol y glucosa no variaron con el IMC. Los percentiles 5, 25, 50, 75 y 95, para los valores de hormonas fueron, respectivamente: 1.27, 4.06, 11.54, 26.70 y 65.33 ng/ml para la leptina; 5.00, 8.11, 11.14, 15.00 y 24.51 μg/dl para el cortisol y 3.65, 6.15, 8.52, 11.90 y 20.53 μlU/ml de insulina. Conclusiones: En los adolescentes, las concentraciones de referencia de leptina, cortisol, insulina y glucosa se ven afectados de manera diferente según la edad, el sexo y el IMC.

Na América do Norte, o Numerical Fish Surrogate (NFS) é utilizado no projeto de sistemas de transposição de juvenis de salmão em seus deslocamentos dos habitats de desova e desenvolvimento inicial para o de adultos, no oceano. O NFS é estruturado em três módulos interconectados: 1) um modelo computacional de dinâmica de fluidos (CFD) que descreve o complexo escoamento acima da barragem em uma escala suficientemente apropriada para analisar, entender e prever os movimentos dos peixes, 2) um modelo de rastreamento de partículas que interpola informações hidráulicas dos nós da malha do modelo computacional para localizações múltiplas relevantes ao peixe em migração, 3) um modelo comportamental que simula o conhecimento e o comportamento de cada peixe em resposta à dinâmica do escoamento predita pelo modelo computacional. Esses três módulos juntos criam uma realidade virtual onde peixes virtuais exibem um comportamento realístico de aproximação da barragem e podem ser contados de uma forma similar a do mundo real. Uma vez calibrado e validado com medições do movimento dos peixes e dados de passagem, o NFS pode predizer acuradamente a proporção de passagem de peixes, com suficiente precisão para permitir que engenheiros selecionem uma alternativa ótima dentre as várias opções estruturais e operacionais. Embora as espécies de peixes Sul Americanas sejam diferentes das espécies da América do Norte, é provável que a arquitetura computacional básica e os métodos numéricos do NFS possam ser usados para a conservação de peixes na América do Sul. Consequentemente, o grande investimento feito na criação do NFS não precisa ser repetido na América do Sul. Contudo, seu uso na América do Sul exigirá que a resposta comportamental dessa fauna aos sinais hidrodinâmicos seja descrita, codificada e testada antes que o NFS possa ser usado na conservação de peixes pelo seu emprego na projeção de sistemas de transposição eficientes. Nesse contexto, o presente trabalho identifica estudos que poderiam ser utilizados para descrever o comportamento migratório de peixes da América do Sul com um nível de detalhamento suficiente para que possa ser utilizado no desenvolvimento, calibração e validação de uma versão sul-americana do NFS.

In North America, the Numerical Fish Surrogate (NFS) is used to design fish bypass systems for emigrating juvenile salmon as they migrate from hatchery outfalls and rearing habitats to adult habitat in the oceans. The NFS is constructed of three linked modules: 1) a computational fluid dynamics model describes the complex flow fields upstream of dams at a scale sufficiently resolved to analyze, understand and forecast fish movement, 2) a particle tracking model interpolates hydraulic information from the fixed nodes of the computational fluid model mesh to multiple locations relevant to migrating fish, and 3) a behavior model simulates the cognition and behavior of individual fish in response to the fluid dynamics predicted by the computational fluid dynamics model. These three modules together create a virtual reality where virtual fish exhibit realistic dam approach behaviors and can be counted at dam exits in ways similar to the real world. Once calibrated and validated with measured fish movement and passage data, the NFS can accurately predict fish passage proportions with sufficient precision to allow engineers to select one optimum alternative from among many competing structural or operational bypass alternatives. Although South American fish species are different from North American species, it is likely that the basic computational architecture and numerical methods of the NFS can be used for fish conservation in South America. Consequently, the extensive investment made in the creation of the NFS need not be duplicated in South America. However, its use in South America will require that the behavioral response of the continent's unique fishes to hydrodynamic cues must be described, codified and tested before the NFS can be used to conserve fishes by helping design efficient South American bypass systems. To this end, we identify studies that could be used to describe the movement behavior of South American fishes of sufficient detail that they could be used to develop, calibrate and validate a South American version of the NFS.