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The legality of wood products often depends on their origin, creating a need for forensic tools that verify claims of provenance for wood products. The neotropical tree species Cedrela odorata (Spanish cedar) is economically valuable for its wood and faces threats of overexploitation. We developed a 140 SNP assay for geographic localization of C. odorata specimens. Target capture and short-read sequencing of 46 C. odorata specimens allowed us to identify 140 spatially informative SNPs that differentiate C. odorata specimens by latitude, temperature, and precipitation. We assessed the broad applicability of these SNPs on 356 specimens from eight Cedrela species, three tissue types, and a range of DNA mass inputs. Origin prediction error was evaluated with discrete and continuous spatial assignment methods focusing on C. odorata specimens. Discrete classification with random forests readily differentiated specimens originating in Central America versus South America (5.8% error), while uncertainty increased as specimens were divided into smaller regions. Continuous spatial prediction with SPASIBA showed a median prediction error of 188.7 km. Our results demonstrate that array SNPs and resulting genotypes accurately validate C. odorata geographic origin at the continental scale and show promise for country-level verification, but that finer-scale assignment likely requires denser spatial sampling. Our study underscores the important role of herbaria for developing genomic resources, and joins a growing list of studies that highlight the role of genomic tools for conservation of threatened species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity and overweight strongly contribute to increasing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and are becoming a worldwide health issue. The prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically in Latin America. Child obesity is a major issue. Fast food is strongly suspected of contributing to this epidemic of obesity, although there is a lack of evidence. We studied the correlation between the number of McDonald restaurants and overweight and obesity prevalence by region stratified by gender and age. Data on prevalences were obtained within national studies conducted by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Three age sub-groups were analyzed: 5 to 9-year-olds, 10 to 19-year-olds and over 19-year-olds. There was a very strong positive correlation between overweight rates and the number of McDonald restaurants for both males and females between 5 and 9 years old (R2 respectively = 0.92 and 0.84) and a strong positive correlation for females between 10 and 19 years old (R2 = 0.68). There was a very strong positive correlation between obesity rates and the number of McDonald restaurants for males between 5 and 9 years old (R2 = 0.95). This positive correlation was strong for both males and females between 10 and 19 years old (R2 respectively = 0.77 and 0.63). Other correlations were not significant. A strong correlation between the prevalence of overweight and obesity and the number of McDonald restaurants was found for Brazilian children and was most important within the group of youngest children. These results should be taken into consideration by education and prevention campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the existing 276 international river basins, the increase in water variability projected by most climate change scenarios may present serious challenges to riparian states. This research maps the institutional resilience to water variability in transboundary basins and combines it with both historic and projected variability regimes, with the objective of identifying areas at potential risk of future hydropolitical tension. To do so, it combs existing international treaties for sources of institutional resilience and considers the coefficient of variation of runoff as a measure of past and future water variability. The study finds significant gaps in both the number of people and area covered by institutional stipulations to deal with variability in South America and Asia. At present, high potential risk for hydropolitical tensions associated with water variability is identified in 24 transboundary basins and seems to be concentrated mainly in northern and sub-Saharan Africa. By 2050, areas at greatest potential risk are more spatially dispersed and can be found in 61 international basins, and some of the potentially large impacts of climate change are projected to occur away from those areas currently under scrutiny. Understanding when and where to target capacity-building in transboundary river basins for greater resilience to change is critical. This study represents a step toward facilitating these efforts and informing further qualitative and quantitative research into the relationship between climate change, hydrological variability regimes, and institutional capacity for accommodating variability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: Primary objective of this study was to find a statistical link between the most worldwide comorbidities affecting the elderly population (hypertension, diabetes, osteoarthrosis, osteoporosis and depression) and recurrent episodes of BPPV. Secondary objective was defining possible "groups of risk" for people suffering recurrent positional vertigo related to the presence of a well documented comorbidity., Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional, multicenter, spontaneous, non-pharmacological study. The data of 1092 patients suffering BPPV evaluated in 11 different Departments of Otolaryngology, Otoneurology and Neurology, referring Centers for positional vertigo evaluation, were retrospectively collected., Results: Regarding evaluated comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes, osteoarthrosis, osteoporosis and depression), data analysis showed the presence of at least one comorbid disorder in 216 subjects (19.8%) and 2 or more in 408 subjects (37.4%). Moreover there was a statistical significant difference between the number of comorbidities and the number of recurrences, otherwise said as comorbidity disorders increased the number of relapses increased too., Conclusion: The presence of a systemic disease may worsen the status of the posterior labyrinth causing a more frequent otolith detachment. This condition increases the risk for patients suffering BPPV to have recurrent episodes, even if correctly managed by repositioning maneuvers. The combination of two or more of aforementioned comorbidities further increases the risk of relapsing BPPV, worsened by the presence of osteoporosis. On the basis of this results it was possible to define "groups of risk" useful for predicting BPPV recurrence in patients with one or more comorbidity., (Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.)