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Submitted by Vitor Silverio Rodrigues (vitorsrodrigues@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2014-05-27T11:29:38Z No. of bitstreams: 0 Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-27T11:29:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2013-06-01 Influenza exacts a heavy burden on the elderly, a segment of the population that is estimated to experience rapid growth in the near future. In the past decade most developed and several developing countries have recommended influenza vaccination for those > 65 years of age. The World Health Organization (WHO) set a goal of 75% influenza vaccination coverage among the elderly by 2010, but it was not achieved. In 2011, the Technical Advisory Group at the Pan American Health Organization, Regional Office of WHO for the Americas, reiterated the influenza vaccine recommendation for older adults. Relatively little information has been compiled on the immunological aspect of aging or on reducing its impact, information particularly relevant for clinicians and gerontologist with firsthand experience confronting its effects. To fill this data gap, in 2012 the Americas Health Foundation (Washington, D.C., United States) and the nonprofit, Fighting Infectious Diseases in Emerging Countries (Miami, Florida, United States), convened a panel of Latin American clinicians and gerontologists with expertise in influenza to discuss key issues and develop a consensus statement. The major recommendations were to improve influenza surveillance throughout Latin America so that its impact can be quantified; and to conduct laboratory confirmation of influenza for all patients who have flu-like symptoms and are frail, immunosuppressed, have comorbidities, are respiratory compromised, or have been admitted to a hospital. The panel also noted that: since evidence for antivirals in the elderly is unclear, their use should be handled on a case-by-case basis; despite decreased immunological response, influenza vaccination in older adults is still crucial; indirect immunization strategies should be encouraged; and traditional infection control measures are essential in long-term care facilities. Fighting Infectious Diseases in Emerging Countries (FIDEC) University of Miami, Miami, FL Sección Infectología Centro de Educación Médica e Investigaciones Clínicas (CEMIC), Buenos Aires Departamento de Infectología Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Mexico City Centro Médico de Caracas and Centro Médico Trinidad, Caracas Departamento de Enfermedades Infecciosas Escuela de Medicina de la Pontíficia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Botucatu Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Botucatu

This paper is a report, on the diatoms and dinoflagellate cysts identified in a sediment core and a water sample recovered from Rookery Bay, a subtropical estuarine system located on the west coast of Florida. Eighty-eight diatom taxa representing 48 genera, many of which have been rarely observed, and 14 dinoflagellate cyst genera with 20 taxa were identified in Rookery Bay. All taxa are briefly annotated and documented by light micrographs. The most common diatom taxa in the surface sediment sample are Amphicocconeis disculoides, Chaetoceros resting spores, Cyclotella litoralis, Cymatosira belgica, Neodelphineis pelagica, Paralia sulcata, and Pleurosigma rhombeum. The most abundant dinoflagellate cyst taxa in the surface sample include Brigantedinium spp., Lingulodinium machaerophomm, Polyspheridium zoharyi, Spiniferites bentorii, and Spinifrites ramosus. Copyright 2007 College of Arts and Sciences.

In the present study, structural xeromorphic features in modern and subfossil Quercus laurifolia leaves from southern Florida were quantified to reconstruct past precipitation changes in sensitive terrestrial settings. Absolute cell numbers/mm2, quantified as epidermal cell density (ED) have been analyzed on leaves from herbarium collections as well as the leaves accumulated during the past 125 years in peat deposits. The results reveal a common principal correlation between the measured ED and winter precipitation (November through March, NDJFM: Herbarium r = - 0.74; peat profiles FAK98 r = - 0.72, FAK02 r = - 0.53) providing a measure of seasonal drought stress. In Florida, the amount of winter precipitation depends on El Niñ o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) activity, where El Niñ o years produce wet and cold winters, while La Niñ a winters are dry and warm. The negative correlation between cell numbers and winter precipitation has the potential to record precipitation variability from subfossil leaves on near-annual to decadal time scales. In subtropical, terrestrial environments, where traditional paleo-proxies are limited, systematic analysis of leaf morphological characteristics can provide important information on precipitation changes through time. © 2010 Botanical Society of America.