BACKGROUND Malaria and Tuberculosis (TB) are important causes of morbidity and mortality in Africa. Malaria prevention reduces mortality among HIV patients, pregnant women and children, but its role in TB patients is not clear. In the TB National Reference Center in Guinea-Bissau, admitted patients are in severe clinical conditions and mortality during the rainy season is high. We performed a t...

This study was carried out to determine heart rate (HR) values, including diurnal, seasonal, and sex patterns, in the African giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus, Waterhouse). HR was measured using stethoscope in grip-restrained African giant rats of either sex (103 bucks and 98 does), live-trapped from a tropical Savannah, and caged individually in the laboratory during the harmattan (cold-dry), h...

Meru, Kenya has watersheds which are shared by wildlife, humans and domesticated animals. These surface waters can be contaminated by the waterborne pathogen Cryptosporidium. To quantify the seasonality and prevalence of Cryptosporidium in Meru regional surface waters, we used a calcium carbonate flocculation (CCF) and sucrose floatation method, and a filtration and immunomagnetic bead separati...

The objective of this work was to evaluate the nutritional parameters of young bulls supplemented with different ratios of protein: carbohydrate on tropical pastures from 4 until 18 months old. Fifty-five non-castrated beef calves (138.3±3.4 kg, 90 to 150 d of age) were used. The calves (young bulls) were subjected to a 430-d experimental period encompassing 4 seasons. The treatments were as fo...

Phlebotomine sandflies are the vectors for the protozoan parasites that cause leishmaniasis. The present study investigated the species composition of sandfly fauna in the rural district of Taquaruçú, municipality of Palmas, state of Tocantins, Brazil and compared the diversity of species among intradomicile, peridomicile and forest environments during the dry and rainy seasons. Sandflies were ...

Seasonal variation in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content and atherogenicity index (AI) of retail dairy products (whole milk, butter, and prato, a soft yellow cheese) from Brazil was investigated. CLA content of dairy products ranged from 0.55 to 1.53 g CLA/100 g fatty acids and was on average 25% higher during the rainy season compared to the dry season. Dairy products from the rainy season...

Tissue distribution patterns of organochlorine pesticides in bovine carcasses varied significantly among seasons, geographic locations and tissues. The highest concentrations of Σ-DDT during the dry season were detected in lungs from Paso de Ovejas (2,834.90μg/kg lipid) and, during the rainy season, Lindane and Σ-HCH in muscle and lung samples from Paso de Ovejas (995.80 and 1,690.10μg/kg lipid...

Modified Bellani plate atmometer has been offered as an alternative and simpler technique to combination-based equations to estimate evapotranspiration ~ET! rate from green grass surface. However, there is a lack of information on its’ accuracy in humid climates. The evaporation rate sEAd from one type of atmometer marketed under the brand name ETgage® ~or ETG! with a Number 30 green canvas cov...