Search

Temnocephala axenos Monticelli, 1898 was described based on specimens from an unidentified host collected in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Information about type locality was imprecise and the host was later identified as Aegla laevis (Latreille, 1818). However, it is known that A. laevis is not present on the eastern side of the Andes. Also, only histological preparations from one specimen studied by Monticelli are currently available in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, but it showed none of the taxonomic characters needed for the characterization of the species. Although the updated description of the species based on Uruguayan specimens, neither the author nor the several previous studies about the species showed a search for the type material, a resolution for the misidentification of the type host or the imprecise type locality due to the subsequent geographical division of the municipality cited in the description. The Uruguayan specimens were not even geographically close to the type locality and a neotype was not designed to validate the species' taxonomic status again. Specimens from Santa Catarina and Paraná States, Brazil, were studied, as well as restudied Argentinean specimens. The new data were compared with the update description of the species. The historical background and the discussion about geographical origins and hosts of the species, as well as a designation of a neotype, allow comparative material of the type locality and type host to exist, eliminating doubts about the identification of T. axenos.

Purpose: to evaluate associations between parental exposure to pesticides and births with congenital defects in São Francisco Valley, as well as the demographic profile and the defects found., Methods: in this case-control study, each case (newborns with congenital defects) had two controls (healthy newborns). The subjects were born in the city of Petrolina, in São Francisco Valley, in 2009. The sample consisted of 42 cases and 84 controls. Data were gathered by a structured questionnaire adapted from Latin-American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations (ECLAMC), with the addition of questions related to exposure to pesticides, analysis of the medical records and contact with the hospital's pediatrician. The χ2 test was performed with a significance level of 5% to identify the variables with the greatest differences between case and control groups. Odds Ratio (OR) for the sample was calculated, as well as the OR obtained by logistic regression analysis, and finally, multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed., Results: there was a greater exposure to pesticides during pregnancy in infants with congenital defects compared to healthy subjects. Increased risk was observed when at least one parent was exposed to pesticides (adjusted OR = 1.3; 95%CI = 0.4 - 3.9). The sociodemographic variables associated with congenital defects were: low school level, low weight, prematurity, young parents, chronic diseases, and physical factors. Multiple malformations and defects of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems were more frequently found., Conclusions: the present study suggests an association between exposure to pesticides and the occurrence of congenital defects, although the data were not significant.