Modeling of Phenoxy Acid Herbicide Mineralization and Growth of Microbial Degraders in 15 Soils Monitored by Quantitative Real-Time PCR of the Functional tfdA Gene

Mineralization potentials, rates, and kinetics of the three phenoxy acid (PA) herbicides, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid (MCPA), and 2-(4-chloro-2-methylphenoxy)propanoic acid (MCPP), were investigated and compared in 15 soils collected from five continents. The mineralization patterns were fitted by zero/linear or exponential growth forms of the three-half-order models and by logarithmic (log), first-order, or zero-order kinetic models. Prior and subsequent to the mineralization event, tfdA genes were quantified using real-time PCR to estimate the genetic potential for degrading PA in the soils. In 25 of the 45 mineralization scenarios, ∼60% mineralization was observed within 118 days. Elevated concentrations of tfdA in the range 1 × 10(5) to 5 × 10(7) gene copies g(−1) of soil were observed in soils where mineralization could be described by using growth-linked kinetic models. A clear trend was observed that the mineralization rates of the three PAs occurred in the order 2,4-D > MCPA > MCPP, and a correlation was observed between rapid mineralization and soils exposed to PA previously. Finally, for 2,4-D mineralization, all seven mineralization patterns which were best fitted by the exponential model yielded a higher tfdA gene potential after mineralization had occurred than the three mineralization patterns best fitted by the Lin model

Pediatria no século 21: uma especialidade em perigo Pediatrics in the 21st century: a specialty in danger

OBJETIVO: Revisar a literatura sobre trabalho médico, formas de remuneração, avanço tecnológico e sua influência na Pediatria. FONTES DE DADOS: Artigos publicados em inglês e português nas bases de dados Medline, Lilacs e SciELO no período de 1990 a 2007. Foram utilizadas as palavras-chave"Puericultura","Pediatria","trabalho médico","honorários médicos","mercado de trabalho" e"desenvolvimento tecnológico". SÍNTESE DOS DADOS: Diante do estado atual de avanço tecnológico em todas as áreas do conhecimento, especialmente na Medicina, é necessário resgatar o papel do pediatra apesar das mudanças nas relações de trabalho, formas de remuneração, formação cada vez mais especializada e condições de trabalho aviltantes. Se, de um lado, as novas tecnologias são benéficas para a Medicina, para o médico e para o paciente, do outro o atendimento médico do clínico, principalmente do pediatra, não está sendo devidamente valorizado. CONCLUSÕES: É preciso que a classe pediátrica assuma a responsabilidade pela situação na qual essa especialidade se encontra, pois o pediatra se submete a condições de trabalho indignas do ponto de vista pessoal e social, obrigado à quantidade em detrimento da qualidade, tornando-se suscetível ao erro médico<br>OBJECTIVE: To review the literature about medical work, payment for medical labor, technological advances and its influence in Pediatrics. DATA SOURCES: Articles from 1990 to 2007 in English and Portuguese were retrieved in the Medline, Lilacs and SciELO databases using the following key-words:"well baby clinic","Pediatrics","physician working conditions","medical fees","labor market" and"technological development". DATA SYNTHESIS: Considering the technological advance in all areas of knowledge, especially in Medicine, and despite changes in work relationships, forms of payment, higher levels of specialization and improper working conditions, the role of pediatricians must be recovered. New technologies are beneficial for Medicine, physicians and patients; on the other hand, clinical care offered by pediatrician, is not properly valued. These facts discourage the Pediatrics practice, which has an undisputed relevance for Brazilian society. CONCLUSIONS: It is necessary that pediatricians fight against their current situation, since they are submitted to improper personal and social conditions at work, forced to focus on quantity over quality, and becoming susceptible to medical error

Early onset of industrial-era warming across the oceans and continents

The evolution of industrial-era warming across the continents and oceans provides a context for future climate change and is important for determining climate sensitivity and the processes that control regional warming. Here we use post-ad 1500 palaeoclimate records to show that sustained industrial-era warming of the tropical oceans first developed during the mid-nineteenth century and was nearly synchronous with Northern Hemisphere continental warming. The early onset of sustained, significant warming in palaeoclimate records and model simulations suggests that greenhouse forcing of industrial-era warming commenced as early as the mid-nineteenth century and included an enhanced equatorial ocean response mechanism. The development of Southern Hemisphere warming is delayed in reconstructions, but this apparent delay is not reproduced in climate simulations. Our findings imply that instrumental records are too short to comprehensively assess anthropogenic climate change and that, in some regions, about 180 years of industrial-era warming has already caused surface temperatures to emerge above pre-industrial values, even when taking natural variability into account