Studies indicate that exercise might delay human biological aging, but the effects of long-term exercise on T cell function are not well known. We tested the hypothesis that moderate or intense exercise lifestyle may attenuate the effects of aging on the telomere length and the survival and composition of T cell subpopulations. Elderly (65-85 years) with intense training lifestyle (IT, n = 15), moderate training lifestyle (MT, n = 16), and who never trained (NT, n = 15) were studied. Although the three groups presented the ageassociated contraction of the TCD4 + /TCD8 + naïve compartments and expansion of the memory compartments, both training modalities were associated with lower proportion of terminally differentiated (CD45RA + CCR7 neg ) TCD4 + and TCD8 + cells, although among the latter cells, the reduction reached statistical significance only with IT. MT was associated with higher proportion of central memory TCD4 + cells, while IT was associated with higher proportion of effector memory TCD8 + cells. However, both training lifestyles were unable to modify the proportion of senescent (CD28 neg ) TCD8 + cells. Telomeres were longer in T cells in both training groups; with IT, telomere length increased mainly in TCD8 + cells, whereas with MT, a modest increase in telomere length was observed in both TCD8 + and TCD4 + cells. Reduced commitment to apoptosis of resting T cells, as assessed by caspase-3 and Bcl-2 expression, was seen predominantly with IT.

Wheat is one of the main sources of calories and protein of the world's population and therefore the pathogens that cause rust diseases of the crop are a real threat to food security. Besides the continuous evolution of rust pathogens which repeatedly results in overcoming the resistance of commercial varieties throughout the world, plant breeders are also now challenged by the impacts of global climatic changes. Agricultural practices will need to keep pace with the intensification of sustainable food production in order to face the challenge of feeding a world population estimated to reach about nine billion by 2050. Contemporary wheat breeding has increasingly focused on the future, culminating in the emergence of a global partnership for breeding new wheat varieties with resistance to rust pathogens. Plant breeding now employs a wide range of both long-established and frontier technologies aimed at achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals of ending hunger and extreme poverty (MDG1), while concurrently promoting environmental sustainability (MDG7) through global partnerships for development (MDG8).

The pathogens associated with ants at the teaching hospital of the Federal University of the Triângulo Mineiro, in Uberaba, MG, were studied. Three species of ants were identified: Tapinoma melanocephalum, Pheidole sp and Paratrechina longicornis. The principal microorganisms found were Staphylococcus sp, Gram-positive bacilli, Pseudomonas sp and Micrococcus sp. The results from the collections were analyzed according to the number of colonies and the different microorganisms isolated, using Student's t test. The statistical analysis showed that there was a significant difference only with regard to Staphylococcus sp. (p=0.005). It is possible that ants and pathogenic agents have mutualistic associations, and that analysis of such relationships may lead to new pest control strategies, with an emphasis not only on the insects but also especially on which agent is associated with these insect species.

Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii are the etiologic agents of cryptococcosis, a life-threatening disease in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent hosts. Antifungal resistance has been evaluated using different methods, breakpoints, and sizes of test populations and it is an emerging as a significant issue worldwide. A total of 176 (95 clinical and 81 environmental) C. neoformans and eight clinical C. gattii isolates were evaluated to determine the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute method. A total of 10.5% of the C. neoformans clinical isolates were resistant to amphotericin B (AMB), and 6.2% of the environmental isolates were resistant to fluconazole (FLZ). Environmental and clinical isolates presented epidemiologic cut-off values (ECVs) of 64 and 16 to FLZ and 1 and 2 to AMB, respectively. All of the C. gattii isolates showed high susceptibility to most drugs evaluated. Clinical isolates had lower susceptibility than environmental isolates to AMB and itraconazole whereas environmental isolates had lower susceptibility than the clinical isolates to FLZ, voriconazole, and ketoconazole. However, no difference was found in the susceptibility of the two species. The MICs and ECVs to antifungals can help to select the best therapeutic option for tracking epidemiological resistance among clinical and environmental isolates of Cryptococcus spp. around the world.