Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

About: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais is a education organization based out in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 41631 authors who have published 75688 publications receiving 1249905 citations.

Gestational Weight Gain and Prepregnancy Weight Influence Postpartum Weight Retention in a Cohort of Brazilian Women

Abstract: The objective of the study was to test the association between gestational weight gain, reproductive factors, and postpartum weight retention based on a cohort conducted with 405 women aged 18-45 y with follow-up waves at 0.5, 2, 6, and 9 mo postpartum. The outcome variable, postpartum weight retention, was calculated as the difference between the measured weight at each visit minus the prepregnancy weight. We estimated the statistical associations between the outcome variable and potential explanatory covariates of interest by fitting a longitudinal mixed-effects model. Women with gestational weight gain above the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) retained significantly more weight than women with weight gain within or below the recommendations, independently of prepregnancy BMI [weight (kg)/height (m(2))] or body fat at baseline. Women with the highest gestational weight gain and with body fat >/=30 g/100 g at baseline had the highest likelihood of developing maternal obesity. The final longitudinal model showed that 35% of each kilogram of weight gained during pregnancy was retained 9 mo postpartum, even after adjustment for age, prepregnancy BMI, body fat at baseline, and years since first parturition. Each unit of increase in prepregnancy BMI was associated with a decrease of -0.51 kg in postpartum weight retention. In conclusion, gestational weight gain was one of the most important predictors for postpartum weight retention and must be monitored systematically with the aim of preventing postpartum obesity and the diseases that follow.

Primary hyperparathyroidism is associated with abnormal cortical and trabecular microstructure and reduced bone stiffness in postmenopausal women.

Abstract: Typically, in the milder form of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), now seen in most countries, bone density by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and detailed analyses of iliac crest bone biopsies by histomorphometry and micro-computed tomography (µCT) show detrimental effects in cortical bone, whereas the trabecular site (lumbar spine by DXA) and the trabecular compartment (by bone biopsy) appear to be relatively well preserved. Despite these findings, fracture risk at both vertebral and nonvertebral sites is increased in PHPT. Emerging technologies, such as high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HRpQCT), may provide additional insight into microstructural features at sites such as the forearm and tibia that have heretofore not been easily accessible. Using HRpQCT, we determined cortical and trabecular microstructure at the radius and tibia in 51 postmenopausal women with PHPT and 120 controls. Individual trabecula segmentation (ITS) and micro-finite element (µFE) analyses of the HRpQCT images were also performed to further understand how the abnormalities seen by HRpQCT might translate into effects on bone strength. Women with PHPT showed, at both sites, decreased volumetric densities at trabecular and cortical compartments, thinner cortices, and more widely spaced and heterogeneously distributed trabeculae. At the radius, trabeculae were thinner and fewer in PHPT. The radius was affected to a greater extent in the trabecular compartment than the tibia. ITS analyses revealed, at both sites, that plate-like trabeculae were depleted, with a resultant reduction in the plate/rod ratio. Microarchitectural abnormalities were evident by decreased plate-rod and plate-plate junctions at the radius and tibia, and rod-rod junctions at the radius. These trabecular and cortical abnormalities resulted in decreased whole-bone stiffness and trabecular stiffness. These results provide evidence that in PHPT, microstructural abnormalities are pervasive and not limited to the cortical compartment, which may help to account for increased global fracture risk in PHPT.

New Public Spheres in Brazil: Local Democracy and Deliberative Politics

Abstract: Brazilian cities have been the sites of significant experiments in participatory and deliberative governance. Participatory budgeting has to be singled out as one of the most important of these. After the landmark experience in Porto Alegre, participatory budgeting has been expanded to 170 Brazilian cities. Is the expansion of participatory budgeting equivalent to the expansion of the deliberative and distributive characteristics of the Porto Alegre experience? This article argues that the conditions that account for the emergence of participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre are unique to that city’s social or political characteristics. It focuses on the role of existing civil society associations in the emergence of participatory budgeting, as well as in its institutional format. It also shows that the presence of civic associations is linked to the deliberative and distributive results of participatory budgeting and that these conditions may not be present in other participatory budgeting experiences.

Anaerobic sewage treatment: state of the art, constraints and challenges

Abstract: The interest in high-rate anaerobic (pre-)treatment of sewage using UASB reactors is steadily growing since its introduction in the mid-1980s. Today there are hundreds of full-scale plants in operation in various parts of the tropical world, notably in Latin America and India. The main advantage of UASB technology is the very low or even zero energy demand, leading to an up to tenfold drop in operational costs compared to activated sludge. This paper presents a literature review focussing on current design criteria and post-treatment options, alongside discussing the centralized and decentralized approach. The current limitations and constraints regarding temperature, nutrients, pathogen removal, odour nuisance, operational constrictions and methane emissions are also presented and discussed. Further, recent challenges in relation to energy recovery from biogas, sludge and scum are discussed, alongside with advances related to recovery of dissolved methane and sludge management. Finally, the paper provides some outlooks for upcoming developments.