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Ivermectin and albendazole are used in annual mass drug administration (MDA) for the lymphatic filariasis elimination programmes in African countries co-endemic for onchocerciasis, but have additional impact on soil transmitted helminths and the ectoparasitic mite which causes scabies. Assessing these collateral impacts at scale is difficult due to the insensitivity of available parasite detection techniques.The numbers of cases diagnosed with intestinal helminths and scabies and who received prescriptions for treatment were evaluated in 50 health centres in Zanzibar. Records were examined from 2000, prior to the initiation of MDA to 2005, after six rounds of MDA for lymphatic filariasis had taken place.Health centre records showed a consistent decline in the number of cases of intestinal helminths and scabies diagnosed by community health workers in Zanzibar and the number of prescriptions issued across five age groups. A 90-98% decline in soil transmitted helminths and 68-98% decline in scabies infections were recorded. Poisson regression models aggregated to both the island-level and district-level indicated that the decline was statistically significant.The described method of examining health centre records has the potential for use on a large scale, despite limitations, as a rapid method to evaluate the impacts resulting from both lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis MDA. This would result in a reduction in the need for parasitological evaluations to determine prevalence and intensity.

O presente artigo tem por objetivo analisar se os recursos arrecadados por meio da CIDE COMBUSTÍVEL no Brasil, podem revelar-se como um campo fértil para o financiamento de projetos e programas voltados à recuperação de Áreas de Preservação Permanente, como forma de cumprir com a finalidade constitucional e legal para a qual tal tributo foi criado e, ao mesmo tempo, contribuir para a mitigação do estado de caos ambiental instalado. Nesse intuito, são investigados o conceito de extrafiscalidade; a tributação e a intervenção do Estado na economia; a existência de um estado de caos ambiental instalado e a necessidade de sua mitigação; a importância das Áreas de Preservação Permanente para a mitigação do caos ambiental; e a CIDE COMBUSTÍVEL como instrumento de mitigação das externalidades negativas produzidas pelo setor econômico de produção de petróleo e seus derivados. Para a obtenção dos resultados almejados pela pesquisa, o método de abordagem a ser seguido será o empírico-dialético, utilizando-se das pesquisas bibliográfica e legislativa, tendo como sistema de referência uma combinação da Teoria da Complexidade de Edgar Morin com o Law and Economics de Richard A. Posner. Em conclusão, aponta-se que a adequada destinação dos recursos da CIDE COMBUSTÍVEL para o financiamento de projetos e programas de recuperação de Áreas de Preservação Permanente, poderia redundar no cumprimento da finalidade ambiental do tributo, tornando sua exigência legal, além de contribuir para um dos objetivos do novo Código Florestal brasileiro, qual seja recuperar as Áreas de Preservação Permanente em todo o território nacional.

Background Results from 2 cohort studies in Scotland established in the 1940s and 1950s (Aberdeen and Motherwell) suggested that a high protein diet during pregnancy might adversely influence offspring blood pressure at adult age. Our objective was to examine this association in the Danish Fetal Origins Cohort (DaFO88). Methods and Results This was a prospective birth cohort of 965 women who gave birth in 1988–1989 in Aarhus, Denmark, and whose offspring (n=434) participated in a clinical examination ≈20 years later. Macronutrient intake was assessed in gestational week 30. Multivariable adjusted linear regression was used to examine the relation between higher maternal protein intake, at the expense of carbohydrates, and offspring blood pressure (isocaloric substitution). Main analyses were adjusted for mother's age during pregnancy, prepregnancy body mass index, parity, smoking during pregnancy, educational level, and offspring's sex. The mean total energy intake was 8.7 MJ/day (SD 2.3 MJ/day). The mean energy from carbohydrate, fat, and protein intake was 51, 31, and 16 of total energy, respectively. The results showed that after adjustment, higher maternal protein intake was associated with slightly higher offspring diastolic blood pressure (highest compared with the lowest quintile of protein intake: ∆=2.4 mm Hg; 95% CI 0.4–4.4; P=0.03 for trend). Similar differences, although not significant, were found for systolic blood pressure (∆=2.6 mm Hg; 95% CI −0.0 to 5.3; P=0.08 for trend). Conclusions Higher maternal dietary protein intake at the expense of carbohydrates was associated with a modest increase in offspring blood pressure in young adulthood. Danish Council for Strategic Research University of Iceland Research Fund Peer Reviewed

The implementation of Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) on healthcare courses in Higher Education Institutions has been explored in a number of studies. This paper presents research into the experience of PAL on a BSc Speech & Language Therapy (SLT) programme. The research was conducted by final year undergraduate SLT students to form the basis for their final dissertations. The focus for their research was on the effects of PAL on academic and professional development for both mentees and mentors on the same course. Data were generated from standard PAL evaluations and focus groups. Findings indicate that mentees benefit from PAL in terms of their university experience and learning. Mentors benefited from opportunities to develop and practice skills for their future employment. Engagement with PAL is attributed to its structured yet informal nature and the enthusiasm of the mentors. However, the collaborative nature of PAL takes time to develop, impacting on the behaviours of both mentees and mentors. Overall PAL offers mentees and mentors opportunities which enhance their academic learning and professional development.

La presente comunicación tiene por objeto la exposición de una serie de aldeas localizadas en el sur de la Comunidad de Madrid, todas ellas en torno al curso de un arroyo de mediano o pequeño cauce. Se aportan datos referidos a los yacimientos de Buzanca en Ciempozuelos, el yacimiento de La Recomba de Leganés, el de Arroyo Prado Viejo en Torrejón de la Calzada y el de Ermita de Santiago, en Valdemoro.

INTRODUCTION: The Thyofanate Methyl is a pesticide and fungicide used in agriculture [1-2]. Our aim was therefore to assess the effects of toxicity and teratogenicity of acute doses of thiophanate methyl on embryonic development of Danio rerio[3]. METHODS: Embryos were exposed to different thyofanate metil concentrations, from 1µg/L to 10mg/L, for 144 hours at 28°C and were observed every 24 h for mortality and sublethal effects. The expression of MyoD, myogenin and myf5 genes was observed by in situ hybridization[4-5]. The 6 days larvae were labeled with anti-acetylated tubulin antibody, colored by diaminobenzidine (DAB) [6]. RESULTS and CONCLUSIONS: Survival and early development of the embryos were not obviously influenced by Thyofanate Methyl concentrations below 10mg/L, but at this concentration the embryos displayed alterations in neural development included weak tactile responses, loss of equilibrium and inability to swim. These treated embryos showed also: 1) an alteration of the spatial distribution of transcripts of MyoD and Myf-5 and myogenin signal was absent. 2) the localization of acetylated tubulin showed the breakage and the disorganization of the lateral line. Therefore, thiophanate-methyl at a concentration of 10 mg /L alters both skeletal muscle differentiaiton that the peripheral nervous system axogenesis. Our studies suggest that the negative effects of T.M. on vertebrate embryogenesis are substantial, therefore the T.M. is a possible contaminant of agriculture areas.

[1] Hekla volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in Iceland. The most recent eruption occurred from 26 February to 8 March 2000 when about 0.19 km3 of magma was erupted. We present deformation data from multitemporal analyses of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images acquired between 1993 and 2008, focusing on pixels with low-phase variance (using persistent scatterer and small baseline approaches). Prior to and after the 2000 eruption, we find a broad area of inflation around the volcano (radius about 20 km), with satellite line-of-sight (LOS) shortening of up to 5 mm/yr. We interpret this signal as the result of pressure increase in a deep-seated magma chamber, which we model as a spherical source at 14–20 km depth increasing in volume by 0.003–0.02 km3/yr. Within a ∼6 km radius of the summit of the volcano, a LOS lengthening is superimposed on the broad inflation signal, which correlates partly with recent lava flows. We interpret this signal as the result of thermally contracting lava flows, combined with viscoelastic yielding due to the load of the volcano and its lavas. Coeruptive deflation during the 2000 eruption was similar to the cumulative inflation from 1993 to 2000 and is consistent with a spherical magma chamber at 14–18 km depth that decreases in volume by 0.04–0.08 km3. Interferograms spanning the 2000 eruption show a local coeruptive deformation signal near the eruptive fissure. This is consistent with a dike opening from the surface to depths up to 5.8 km with a volume of 0.005–0.006 km3.

A new polarizable potential for describing the interaction between acetonitrile molecules is introduced. The electrostatic interaction is described using a single center multipole expansion (SCME) as in the original rigid SCME potential for H2O [Wikfeldt et al, PCCP 15, 2013 (16542)]. The electrostatic interaction includes multipole moments from dipole to hexadecapole, as well as anisotropic dipole-dipole, dipole-quadrupole and quadrupole-quadrupole polarizability tensors. The SCME model is free of point charges. The non-electrostatic part is described in a pair-wise fashion using a Born-Mayer repulsion potential together with damped dispersion interaction. The potential function is parametrized to fit the interaction energy of small (CH3CN)n, n=2-6, clusters calculated using the PBE0 hybrid functional with the many-body dispersion energy method (MBD@rsSCS). The parametrized potential function was then validated by calculating the α-phase of acetonitrile crystal, and the results found to agree well with PBE0-MBD@rSCS results, both for the cohesive energy and the bulk modulus.