(1) Background: Celiac disease (CD) is a common autoimmune disorder. The manifestations of the disease and the obligatory life-long gluten-free diet (GFD) are associated with the impairment of patients’ quality of life. Therefore, the present study aimed to translate, culturally adapt and validate a celiac disease quality of life (CD-QoL) questionnaire and apply it to a representative number of Brazilian CD patients. (2) Methods: A cross-cultural Brazilian-Portuguese version of the CD-QoL was developed according to revised international guidelines. The questionnaire was administered to 450 celiac patients. The reliability, reproducibility and validity were studied. (3) Results: The Brazilian CD-QoL questionnaire presents valid measures of reproducibility and internal consistency. Early diagnosis is related to higher scores of Brazilian CD-QoL social, sub- and total scale. There was a positive correlation between higher education level and higher QoL. Individuals with partners tend to have a better emotional subscale of QoL. CD-patients who follow a strict GFD have highest QoL scale values. Men scored higher than women on the CD-QoL. All results were statistically significant except for the gastrointestinal subscale. (4) Conclusions: Brazilian CD-QoL allows comparative research between different celiac populations in the world. QoL research will help in the development of effective strategies to improve Brazilian celiac patients’ quality of life.

Misiones, Argentina, contains the largest remaining tract of Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest ecoregion; however, ~50% of native forest is unprotected and located in a mosaic of plantations, agriculture, and pastures. Existing protected areas are becoming increasingly isolated due to ongoing habitat modification. These factors, combined with lower than expected regional carnivore densities, emphasize the need to understand the effect of fragmentation on animal movement and connectivity between protected areas. Using detection dogs and genetic analyses of scat, we collected data on jaguars (Panthera onca), pumas (Puma concolor), ocelots (Leopardus pardalis), oncillas (Leopardus tigrinus), and bush dogs (Speothos venaticus) across habitats that varied in vegetation, disturbance, human proximity, and protective status. With MaxEnt we evaluated habitat use, habitat suitability, and potential species richness for the five carnivores across northern-central Misiones, Argentina. Through a multifaceted cost analysis that included unique requirements of each carnivore and varying degrees of overlap among them, we determined the optimal location for primary/secondary corridors that would link the northern-central zones of the Green Corridor in Misiones and identified areas within these corridors needing priority management. A secondary analysis, comparing these multispecies corridors with the jaguar’s unique requirements, demonstrated that this multispecies approach balanced the preferences of all five species and effectively captured areas required by this highly restricted and endangered carnivore. We emphasize the potential importance of expanding beyond a single umbrella or focal species when developing biological corridors that aim to capture the varied ecological requirements of coexisting species and ecological processes across the landscape. Detection dogs and genetic analyses of scat allow data on multiple species to be collected efficiently across multiple habitat types independent of the degree of legal protection. These data used with multifocal GIS analyses balance the varying degree of overlap and unique properties among them allowing for comprehensive conservation strategies to be developed relatively rapidly. Our comprehensive approach serves as a model to other regions faced with habitat loss and lack of data. The five carnivores focused on in our study have wide ranges, so the results from this study can be expanded and combined with surrounding countries, with analyses at the species or community level.

The bush dog (Speothos venaticus), a small and rarely seen canid from Central and South America, has proven extremely challenging to locate and study in the wild, making the development of species-specific and comprehensive carnivore conservation strategies difficult. From May to August 2011, a detection-dog-handler team located 34 scats from bush dogs in the northern (n ¼ 26) and central (n ¼ 8) zones of Misiones, Argentina. We identified 22 unique genotypes (14 northern and 8 central) and assigned sex to 100% of the genotyped scats. Only half of the scats were located inside 7 protected areas (4 northern and 3 central); the remaining half were located in 4 sites outside of protected areas (3 northern and 1 central). Results suggest low but significant differentiation between zones for bush dogs (F ST ¼ 0.049, P ¼ 0.010). Bush dogs demonstrated high habitat-use flexibility and a close association with altered habitat; however, altered habitat may not be optimal for the species because of the potential for lower prey densities and risk of exposure to life threatening diseases by domestic dogs. The effectiveness of noninvasive techniques (detection dogs, genetic analyses of scat, Geographic Information System technology) in studying the ecology of bush dogs not only opens the door for additional studies of a species that has proven difficult to study with standard survey techniques, but also provides an alternative approach that conservationists can use independent of habitat type and presence of humans. Ó 2014 The Wildlife Society.

Background. Celiac disease (CD) is a genetically determined immune-mediated disorder in which gluten immunogenic peptides are presented to CD4 T cells by HLA-DQ2.5, DQ8, DQ2.2, and their combinations. Our aim is to establish a risk gradient for celiac disease based on HLA-DQ profile in a brazilian representative population and the relevance of DQ2.2 in celiac disease development. Materials and Methods. 237 celiac patients and 237 controls (both groups with 164 females and 73 males) were included. All samples were tested for the presence of predisposing HLA-DQ alleles using the PCR-SSP method. Results were considered significant when p < 0.05. Disease risk was expressed as 1 : N for each HLA-DQ category described at this study. Results. DQ2.5 and/or DQ8 were detected in 224 celiac patients (94.5%) and 84 controls (35.4%). Eight celiac patients (3.4%) and 38 controls (16%) disclosed only DQ2.2. Even though DQ2.2 (β2/β2 or β2/x) showed a low CD risk of 1 : 251 and 1 : 550, respectively, the genotype DQ2.5/DQ2.2 (β2/β2) showed high CD risk of 1 : 10 (p < 0.0001). The disease risk gradient ranged from 1 : 3014 to 1 : 7. Conclusion. Our study allowed the determination of a risk gradient for celiac disease development in at-risk population, showing that DQ2.2 variant was relevant when associated with DQ2.5.

This cross-sectional study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, validate, and apply a Celiac Disease Quality of Life (CD-QoL) questionnaire to a representative sample of Argentina’s celiac population. A previously developed and validated questionnaire (Celiac Disease Questionnaire: CDQ) was chosen as a tool for assessing the health-related quality of Life (HRQoL) of adult celiac patients in Argentina. Therefore, the study was performed in four stages: (a) translation and re-translation of the CDQ to Argentinian-Spanish language; (b) cultural adaptation and semantic evaluation; based on the Delphi method (c) validation of the CDQ by applying it to a representative sample of Argentinian celiac patients; (d) statistical analysis of the data. The result of stages (a) and (b) was a translated and culturally adapted an Argentinian-Spanish version of the CDQ, which was generated after reaching consensus between the corresponding four (phase a) and 10 (phase b) professionals involved in the different phases of this process. Among them, we can cite bilingual healthcare professionals with extensive experience in research and celiac disease, celiac patients, gastroenterologists, general practitioners, dieticians, and psychologists. The resulting CDQ proved to be an appropriate measuring tool to assess the HRQoL of Argentinian celiac patients confirmed by a good fit in the confirmatory factor validity analysis (RMSEA < 0.001 and χ2 = 267.325, df = 313, p = 0.971) and high values of internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha > 0.7). A total of 191 participants accessed the questionnaire, and 171 individuals from 20 out of 23 Argentinian states completed the questionnaire. There was no correlation between higher educational level nor marital status with QoL. Individuals on a strict gluten-free diet (GFD) and those who do not take antidepressants showed higher QoL. Male gender also presented better HRQoL. There was no correlation between differences in HRQoL and age of the respondent, age at diagnosis, symptoms at diagnosis, or having other chronic diseases. However, a significantly higher score of HRQoL was reported among those individuals who disclosed having knowledge of CD related national regulations and benefits. This study highlights the importance of maintaining current public health regulations that support chronic disease patients, such as celiac patients.