ABSTRACT Agrosilvopastoral systems have been used as sustainable production models that can promote soil organic carbon (SOC) storage. However, there are no simulation studies with the Century model to estimate the SOC accumulation capacity in the long term, analyzing the effects of management and climate change in integrated crop-livestock-forest (ICLF) systems. This study aimed to simulate soil C dynamics in two chronosequences of land-use composed of native vegetation (NV), degraded pasture (DPA) and ICLF system in the Cerrado of Minas Gerais, in addition to designing future scenarios to verify the potential of SOC accumulation through climate change. The results showed that the Century model reliably simulated the SOC stocks in the two chronosequences evaluated. The model predicted an increase in SOC stocks at two sites by converting the DPA system (46.04 and 42.38 Mg ha-1) into ICLF systems (54.94 and 51.71 Mg ha-1). The Century also predicted that a 20 mm decrease in rainfall and a 2 °C increase in temperature in the tropical regions studied could reduce the SOC stocks more expressively in degraded pastures, while agroforestry systems could show a smaller reduction in SOC stocks. In addition, the results showed that replacing degraded pastures into agrosilvopastoral systems, especially in clayey soils, contributes to increasing SOC stocks. Thus, agroforestry systems are potentially viable to maintain the sustainability of agriculture in the face of climate change.

Oral transmission of Chagas disease has been increasing in Latin American countries. The present study aimed to investigate changes in hepatic function, coagulation factor levels and parasite load in human acute Chagas disease (ACD) secondary to oral Trypanosoma cruzi transmission. Clinical and epidemiological findings of 102 infected individuals attended in the State of Pará from October 2013 to February 2016 were included. The most common symptoms were fever (98%), asthenia (83.3%), face and limb edema (80.4%), headache (74.5%) and myalgia (72.5%). The hepatic enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) of 30 ACD patients were higher compared with controls, and this increase was independent of the treatment with benznidazole. Moreover, ACD individuals had higher plasma levels of activated protein C and lower levels of factor VII of the coagulation cascade. Patients with the highest parasite load had also the most increased transaminase levels. Also, ALT and AST were associated moderately (r = 0.429) and strongly (r = 0.595) with parasite load respectively. In conclusion, the present study raises the possibility that a disturbance in coagulation and hepatic function may be linked to human ACD.

ABSTRACT Nineteen genotypes of bananas and plantains were analysed in order to differentiate the subgroups and/or groups of consumption or industrial use. Genotypes of banana and plantain from different genomic groups and in three ripening stages (2, 5 and 7) were studied in relation to physical and physicochemical characteristics, including bioactive compounds. Furthermore, with the obtained data analysed by multivariate statistical analyses (Principal Component Analysis) it was possible to relate all analysed characteristic profile of samples with the different genotype. The three ripening stages were differentiate by total soluble solids, titratable acidity, chrome (C*) and the carotenoids contents. ‘Ney Poovan’ contain high total soluble solid content and pulp-to-peel ratio, an interesting result for the promotion of this genotype for in natura consumption. ‘Ney Poovan’, ‘Ouro da Mata’, ‘Pelipita’ and ‘Tiparot’ are sources of antioxidant compounds. The genotypes ‘Pelipita’ and ‘Samurá B’ are promising for the industrial use, mainly for the processing of banana chips, for both green and ripe fruit.

The disappearance of lytic, protective antibodies (Abs) from the serum of patients with Chagas disease is accepted as a reliable indicator of parasitological cure. The efficiency of a chemiluminescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on a purified, trypomastigote-derived glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored mucin antigen for the serologic detection of lytic Abs against Trypanosoma cruzi was evaluated in a nonendemic setting using a panel of 92 positive and 58 negative human sera. The technique proved to be highly sensitive {100%; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 96-100} and specific (98.3%; 95% CI = 90.7-99.7), with a kappa score of 0.99. Therefore, this assay can be used to detect active T. cruzi infection and to monitor trypanosomicidal treatment.