Biotin-avidin sandwich elisa with specific human isotypes IgG1 and IgG4 for Culicidae mosquito blood meal identification from an epizootic yellow fever area in Brazil

With a view toward investigating the feeding behavior of Culicidae mosquitoes from an area of epizootic yellow fever transmission in the municipalities of Garruchos and Santo Antônio das Missões, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, specimens were collected by aspiration from September 2005 to April 2007. The engorged females were submitted to blood meal identification by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A total of 142 blood-engorged samples were examined for human or monkey blood through species-specific IgG. Additional tests for specificity utilizing isotypes IgG1 and IgG4 of human monoclonal antibodies showed that only anti-human IgG1 was effective in recognizing blood meals of human origin. The results indicated a significant difference (p = 0.027) in detection patterns in samples of Haemagogus leucocelaenus recorded from human blood meals at Santo Antônio das Missões, which suggests some degree of exposure, since it was an area where epizootic outbreaks have been reported.PAHO Pan American Health Organization - Secretary of Health Surveillance, Brazilian Ministry of Healt

Enteral Nutrition in Preterm Infants: Update of the National Consensus Document

Na presente actualização da recomendação sobre nutrição entérica no recém-nascido pré-termo, da Secção de Neonatologia da Sociedade Portuguesa de Pediatria, é dada especial relevância às necessidades nutricionais do recém-nascido pré-termo, aspetos particulares da nutrição entérica durante o internamento na unidade neonatal, nomeadamente em relação ao momento de iniciar a nutrição entérica, como progredir, modo de administração, especificidades do leite humano pré-termo, sua fortificação, nutrição em situações particulares e nutrição após alta hospitalar. É incluída informação sobre a composição das fórmulas especiais, fortificante e suplemento proteico do leite humano comercializados em Portugal

The fate of steroid estrogens: Partitioning during wastewater treatment and onto river sediments

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.The partitioning of steroid estrogens in wastewater treatment and receiving waters is likely to influence their discharge to, and persistence in, the environment. This study investigated the partitioning behaviour of steroid estrogens in both laboratory and field studies. Partitioning onto activated sludge from laboratory-scale Husmann units was rapid with equilibrium achieved after 1 h. Sorption isotherms and Kd values decreased in the order 17α-ethinyl estradiol > 17α-estradiol > estrone > estriol without a sorption limit being achieved (1/n >1). Samples from a wastewater treatment works indicated no accumulation of steroid estrogens in solids from primary or secondary biological treatment, however, a range of steroid estrogens were identified in sediment samples from the River Thames. This would indicate that partitioning in the environment may play a role in the long-term fate of estrogens, with an indication that they will be recalcitrant in anaerobic conditions.EPSR

EGFR/erB-1, HER2/erB-2, CK7, LP34, Ki67 and P53 expression in preneoplastic lesions of bronchial epithelium: an immunohistochemical and genetic study

A prognostic interpretation of preneoplastic lesions would have impact in bronchial carcinoma early diagnosis and through the study of Erb-B family receptors as they have an important role in lung carcinogenesis. The existence of drugs as tyrosine kinase inhibitors stressed the importance of studying gene alterations for selected chemoprevention schemes and characterization of carcinogenesis. Bronchial preneoplastic lesions were characterized by immunohistochemistry using the antibodies LP34 (high weigh molecular cytokeratin), CK7, chromogranin A, Ki67, p53, C-erbB-2 and EGFR. HER2 and EGFR gene copy number was also evaluated by fluorescent in situ hybridization in those lesions. The expected results defined the origin cell for basal cell hyperplasia and squamous metaplasia as adaptative lesions and dysplasia. By known experiences and published data, beyond the stem cell, the spectral evolution of bronchial preneoplastic lesions was demonstrated by characterizing basal cells (LP34) and their neoplastic potentiality. Dysplasias showed a higher expression of EGFR, Ki67 and p53 with a stepwise increase with the gravity of the respective grading. C-erbB-2 immunohistochemical overexpression was a rare event in preneoplastic lesions. Polysomy was the main mechanism for EGFR and HER2/neu higher gene copy number and together with increased proliferation index (Ki67) will account to preview bronchial carcinogenesis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Snoring in Portuguese primary school children

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of snoring and its potential associations with sleep problems, such as daytime symptoms, medical conditions, school performance, and behavioral disturbances in Portuguese children attending primary school. METHODS: A previously validated questionnaire was sent to the parents of 1381 children attending primary schools in a parish of Coimbra, Portugal. To assess behavioral disturbances, the Portuguese version of Rutter's Children's Behavior Questionnaire for completion by teachers was used. RESULTS: Of the 988 questionnaires returned (71.5%), complete information concerning snoring was obtained for 976 children (496 girls and 480 boys; mean age: 8.1 +/- 1.5 years). Loud snoring during sleep was reported as frequent or constantly present (LSn) in 84 children (8.6%), as occasionally present in 299 children (30.6%), and as never present (NSn) by 593 children (60.8%). The LSn and NSn groups did not differ with respect to age, gender, sleep duration, time to fall asleep, frequency of night wakings, bedwetting, daytime tiredness, and school achievement. However, LSn was significantly associated with increased bedtime problems (fears and struggles), increased need for comforting activities to fall asleep, behaviors suggestive of parasomnias (sleep talking, teeth grinding, and night terrors), increased daytime sleepiness and irritability, and behavioral disturbances. Children in the LSn group were also more likely to report recurrent medical problems particularly those involving infections of the respiratory tract. CONCLUSIONS: Snoring is a common symptom in Portuguese children that is associated with behavioral daytime and sleep time disturbances. Children with loud snoring may benefit from early evaluation and intervention

A novel multivariate STeady-state index during general ANesthesia (STAN)

The assessment of the adequacy of general anesthesia for surgery, namely the nociception/anti-nociception balance, has received wide attention from the scientific community. Monitoring systems based on the frontal EEG/EMG, or autonomic state reactions (e.g. heart rate and blood pressure) have been developed aiming to objectively assess this balance. In this study a new multivariate indicator of patients' steady-state during anesthesia (STAN) is proposed, based on wavelet analysis of signals linked to noxious activation. A clinical protocol was designed to analyze precise noxious stimuli (laryngoscopy/intubation, tetanic, and incision), under three different analgesic doses; patients were randomized to receive either remifentanil 2.0, 3.0 or 4.0 ng/ml. ECG, PPG, BP, BIS, EMG and [Formula: see text] were continuously recorded. ECG, PPG and BP were processed to extract beat-to-beat information, and [Formula: see text] curve used to estimate the respiration rate. A combined steady-state index based on wavelet analysis of these variables, was applied and compared between the three study groups and stimuli (Wilcoxon signed ranks, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests). Following institutional approval and signing the informed consent thirty four patients were enrolled in this study (3 excluded due to signal loss during data collection). The BIS index of the EEG, frontal EMG, heart rate, BP, and PPG wave amplitude changed in response to different noxious stimuli. Laryngoscopy/intubation was the stimulus with the more pronounced response [Formula: see text]. These variables were used in the construction of the combined index STAN; STAN responded adequately to noxious stimuli, with a more pronounced response to laryngoscopy/intubation (18.5-43.1 %, [Formula: see text]), and the attenuation provided by the analgesic, detecting steady-state periods in the different physiological signals analyzed (approximately 50 % of the total study time). A new multivariate approach for the assessment of the patient steady-state during general anesthesia was developed. The proposed wavelet based multivariate index responds adequately to different noxious stimuli, and attenuation provided by the analgesic in a dose-dependent manner for each stimulus analyzed in this study.The first author was supported by a scholarship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT SFRH/BD/35879/2007). The authors would also like to acknowledge the support of UISPA—System Integration and Process Automation Unit—Part of the LAETA (Associated Laboratory of Energy, Transports and Aeronautics) a I&D Unit of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Portugal. FCT support under project PEst-OE/EME/LA0022/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Influence of P53 on the radiotherapy response of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide, and it has a poor prognosis and few therapeutic options. Radiotherapy is one of the most effective forms of cancer treatment, and P53 protein is one of the key molecules determining how a cell responds to radiotherapy. The aim of this study was to determine the therapeutic efficacy of iodine-131 in three human HCC cell lines

“A Good Death” - Palliative Surgery in Trisomy 18

A trissomia 18 caracteriza-se por múltiplas anomalias, incluindo doença cardíaca em 60 a 90% dos casos e elevada mortalidade. O mau prognóstico global, conduz habitualmente a uma politica de “cuidados mínimos” mas, paliar, é também nestas situações, um imperativo ético. Descreve-se o caso de uma recém-nascida sem diagnóstico pré natal, mas com confirmação por cariotipo, com cardiopatia, que condicionou insuficiência cardíaca congestiva e angústia respiratória crescente, inviabilizando alta hospitalar, como era desejo da família. Após consenso entre os pais e o corpo clínico responsável, foi decidida intervenção cirúrgica cardíaca paliativa, que possibilitou melhoria clínica e alta para o domicílio. Os autores defendem que a cirurgia cardíaca pode ser uma atitude a considerar em casos de trissomia 18, pois pode aliviar o sofrimento

Characterization of growth and metabolism of the haloalkaliphile Natronomonas pharaonis

Natronomonas pharaonis is an archaeon adapted to two extreme conditions: high salt concentration and alkaline pH. It has become one of the model organisms for the study of extremophilic life. Here, we present a genome-scale, manually curated metabolic reconstruction for the microorganism. The reconstruction itself represents a knowledge base of the haloalkaliphile's metabolism and, as such, would greatly assist further investigations on archaeal pathways. In addition, we experimentally determined several parameters relevant to growth, including a characterization of the biomass composition and a quantification of carbon and oxygen consumption. Using the metabolic reconstruction and the experimental data, we formulated a constraints-based model which we used to analyze the behavior of the archaeon when grown on a single carbon source. Results of the analysis include the finding that Natronomonas pharaonis, when grown aerobically on acetate, uses a carbon to oxygen consumption ratio that is theoretically near-optimal with respect to growth and energy production. This supports the hypothesis that, under simple conditions, the microorganism optimizes its metabolism with respect to the two objectives. We also found that the archaeon has a very low carbon efficiency of only about 35%. This inefficiency is probably due to a very low P/O ratio as well as to the other difficulties posed by its extreme environment

Interactions of Escherichia coli strains of non-EPEC serogroups that carry eae and lack the EAF and stx gene sequences with undifferentiated and differentiated intestinal human Caco-2 cells

Escherichia coli strains of non-EPEC serotypes that carry eae and lack the EAF and the Shiga toxin (sts) gene sequences have been found in acute diarrhea. Both the cell association and the cell entry of these strains in human intestinal epithelial cells were studied as a function of cell differentiation and polarization. the eae+/EAF-/stx- non-EPEC E. coli strains invaded undifferentiated Caco-2 cells more efficiently than differentiated cells. in contrast, prototype EPEC strain E2348/69 did not show significative differences from invasion rates of undifferentiated and differentiated cells. the uptake of these strains was greatly enhanced by pretreatment of differentiated Caco-2 cells with EGTA. These results suggest that the eae+/EAF-/stx-non-EPEC E. coli invasion of intestinal cells may be dependent on receptors expressed on the surface of undifferentiated cells and the basolateral pole of differentiated cells. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. on behalf of the Federation of European Microbiological Societies.Univ Estado Rio de Janeiro, Fac Ciencias Med, Dept Microbiol & Imunol, BR-20551030 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Microbiol Imunol & Parasitol, BR-04023062 São Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro, Ctr Ciencias Saude, Inst Microbiol, BR-21941590 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Microbiol Imunol & Parasitol, BR-04023062 São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc