AimsTo determine the incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis in Colombian newborns from 19 hospital or maternal child health services from seven different cities of five natural geographic regions (Caribbean, Central, Andean, Amazonia and Eastern).Materials and MethodsWe collected 15,333 samples from umbilical cord blood between the period of March 2009 to May 2010 in 19 different hospitals and maternal-child health services from seven different cities. We applied an IgM ELISA assay (Vircell, Spain) to determine the frequency of IgM anti Toxoplasma. The results in blood cord samples were confirmed either by western blot and repeated ELISA IgM assay. In a sub-sample of 1,613 children that were negative by the anti-Toxoplasma IgM assay, the frequency of specific anti-Toxoplasma IgA by the ISAGA assay was determined. All children with positive samples by IgM, IgA, clinical diagnosis or treatment during pregnancy were recalled for confirmatory tests after day 10 of life.Results61 positive samples for specific IgM (0.39%) and 9 positives for IgA (0.5%) were found. 143 questionnaires were positive for a clinical diagnosis or treatment for toxoplasmosis during pregnancy. 109 out of the 218 children that had some of the criteria for postnatal confirmatory tests were followed. Congenital toxoplasmosis infection was confirmed in 15 children: 7 were symptomatic, and three of them died before the first month of life (20% of lethality). A significant correlation was found between a high incidence of markers for congenital toxoplasmosis and higher mean annual rainfall for the city.ConclusionsIncidence for congenital toxoplasmosis is significantly different between hospitals or maternal child health services from different cities in Colombia. Mean annual rainfall was correlated with incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis.

Resumen: La alimentación es parte fundamental de la subsistencia de las poblaciones humanas. La subsistencia se puede definir como todos los recursos que los seres humanos necesitan para satisfacer sus necesidades. La alimentación se considera tradicional cuando conserva pautas culturales que se han transmitido de generación en generación (formas de preparación y consumo), aunque se hayan incorporado nuevos productos haciendo la comida más variada. El estudio de las plantas utilizadas como alimento por las poblaciones antiguas se hace a través de materiales botánicos que se recuperan de los sedimentos de excavaciones arqueológicas. Dichos materiales son: macroscópicos (semillas, frutos y madera carbonizada) y microscópicos (polen, fitolitos y gránulos de almidón). El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar algunas hipótesis respecto al uso prehispánico de los recursos (como alimento) en la cuenca de México, a través de la comparación de los datos arqueológicos con la información de los documentos del siglo xvi. Para ello se seleccionó un conjunto de plantas que son recurrentes en los contextos domésticos en los diferentes periodos de la época prehispánica (Posclásico: Otumba, Xaltocan, Tlatelolco e Iztapalapa; Epiclásico: Michpilco y Xico; Clásico: Tetitla, Yayahuala y Oztoyahualco; y Formativo: Terremote-Tlaltenco, Cuanalan y Temamatla), cuya presencia sugiere una tradición de uso a través del tiempo.

This article examines changes in ritual practices during the Epiclassic period in central Mexico. It presents data recovered from recent excavations of a shrine discovered in Lake Xaltocan in the northern Basin of Mexico. Pottery and AMS dates place the construction and use of the shrine in the Epiclassic period. The shrine was first built during or soon after the collapse of the Teotihuacan state. With the decline of Teotihuacan and the emergence of competing centers, ritual practitioners began human sacrifice: the remains of over 30 individuals were documented, including 13 complete severed crania. This practice suggests conflict as the political landscape became decentralized. Despite how broader processes may have affected behavior, the shrine, ritual practice was fundamentally local. We present archaeobotanical evidence of offerings of food, incense, and flowers that elucidates the microlevel nature of ritual at the shrine.

Low concentrations of I2 induce severe changes in the luminescence of MIL-53(Al)-TDC. These results postulate fluorescent MIL-53(Al)-TDC as an efficient I2 detector (potentially for radioactive I2), using a simple fluorimetric test.