Continuous use of intermittent bladder catheterization - can social support contribute?

OBJECTIVE: to investigate the factors affecting the adequate continuous use of intermittent catheterization and its relation with social support.METHOD: sectional, descriptive and correlational study involving 49 patients with neuropathic bladder caused by spinal cord injury.RESULTS: almost all (92%) participants continued the intermittent catheterization, but 46.9% made some changes in the technique. The complications (28.6% of the sample) were mainly infection and vesicolithiasis. There were high scores for social support in relation to people that were part of the patient's social support.CONCLUSION: All of them noticed great support from the family, but not from the society in general. The difficulties were related to the lack of equipment and inadequate infrastructure, leading to changes that increased urologic complications

Análise de crescimento de gérbera de vaso conduzida em diferentes substratos

O cultivo e o comércio de gérbera em vaso são recentes e há uma grande demanda quanto à seleção de substratos adequados à sua produção. O presente trabalho foi desenvolvido com o objetivo de avaliar o crescimento de duas cultivares de gérbera de vaso, conduzidas com diferentes substratos. O experimento foi realizado em casa de vegetação entre setembro e novembro de 2008, em Botucatu-SP. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi de blocos ao acaso em esquema fatorial 5x2 (substratos x cultivares) e quatro repetições. Plantas de gérbera, cultivares Cherry e Red, foram avaliadas quinzenalmente (1, 15, 29 e 43 dias após aclimatação (DAA)) quanto à área foliar e a fitomassa seca da parte aérea, as quais foram ajustadas em relação ao tempo com o programa ANACRES para obtenção da razão da área foliar (RAF), taxa de crescimento relativo (TCR) e taxa de assimilação líquida (TAL). As plantas de gérbera apresentaram melhor desenvolvimento quando conduzidas no substrato 4 (30% casca de pinus, 30% C1, 20% fibra de coco granulada, 20% fibra de coco mista). A seleção de substratos adequados ao desenvolvimento de gérbera deve considerar, principalmente, as características químicas e físicas dos mesmos. Para as cultivares estudadas, valores de pH do substrato inferiores a 5,5 e superiores a 7,0 foram inadequados para o desenvolvimento, bem como densidades úmidas superiores a 530 kg m-3.Cultivation and commercialization of potted gerbera are recent issues and there is a great demand for adequate substrates for its production. This work aimed to evaluate the growth of two potted gerbera cultivars (Cherry and Red) grown in different substrates. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse from September to November 2008 at Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil. Experimental design was randomized blocks in a 5x2 factorial arrangement (substrates x cultivars). Gerbera plants leaf area and dry phytomass were evaluated fortnightly (1, 15, 29 and 43 days after acclimation (DAA)). For the leaf area ratio (RAF), relative growth rate (TCR) and net assimilation rate (TAL), the total dry phytomass and leaf area were adjusted in relation to time using the ANACRES program. The gerbera plants had better development in substrate 4 (30% pinus bark, 30% C1, 20% granulated coconut, 20% mixed coconut). The selection of substrates for the development of gerbera plants should consider primarily its physical and chemical attributes. For the studied cultivars, the substrate pH below 5.5 and above 7.0 was unsuitable for development as well as dry densities above 530 kg m-³

Extended genetic analysis of Brazilian isolates of Bacillus cereus and Bacillus thuringiensis

Multiple locus sequence typing (MLST) was undertaken to extend the genetic characterization of 29 isolates of Bacillus cereus and Bacillus thuringiensis previously characterized in terms of presence/absence of sequences encoding virulence factors and via variable number tandem repeat (VNTR). Additional analysis involved polymerase chain reaction for the presence of sequences (be, cytK, inA, pag, lef, cya and cap), encoding putative virulence factors, not investigated in the earlier study. MLST analysis ascribed novel and unique sequence types to each of the isolates. A phylogenetic tree was constructed from a single sequence of 2,838 bp of concatenated loci sequences. The strains were not monophyletic by analysis of any specific housekeeping gene or virulence characteristic. No clear association in relation to source of isolation or to genotypic profile based on the presence or absence of putative virulence genes could be identified. Comparison of VNTR profiling with MLST data suggested a correlation between these two methods of genetic analysis. In common with the majority of previous studies, MLST was unable to provide clarification of the basis for pathogenicity among members of the B. cereus complex. Nevertheless, our application of MLST served to reinforce the notion that B. cereus and B. thuringiensis should be considered as the same species

Ceramide glycosylation and fatty acid hydroxylation influence serological reactivity in Trypanosoma cruzi glycosphingolipids.

Ceramide mono (CMH) or dihexoside (CDH) fractions from Trypanosoma cruzi (Dm28c clone) were identified as glucosyl and lactosylceramides containing non-hydroxylated fatty acids. The di-glycosylated form was much more efficiently recognized by sera from T. cruzi-immunized rabbits, indicating that glycosylation influences antigenicity. Fatty acid hydroxylation was also a determinant of serological reactivity, since an alpha-hydroxylated CMH, only present at the Y clone, was recognized by the hyperimmune sera. In summary, these data indicate that T. cruzi CMHs with non-hydroxylated fatty acids are unable to induce antibody responses in animal hosts, which is reverted by the addition of a sugar residue or an alpha-hydroxyl group

Glycosphingolipids from Magnaporthe grisea cells: expression of a ceramide dihexoside presenting phytosphingosine as the long-chain base.

Magnaporthe grisea is a fungal pathogen that infects rice leaves and causes rice blast, a devastating crop disease. M. grisea produces active elicitors of the hypersensitive response in rice that were previously identified as ceramide monohexosides (CMHs). Using several chromatographic approaches, mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance, we identified ceramide mono- and dihexosides (CDH) in purified lipid extracts from M. grisea cells. As described by other authors, CMH consists of a ceramide moiety containing 9-methyl-4,8-sphingadienine in amidic linkage to 2-hydroxyoctadecenoic or 2-hydroxyhexadecenoic acids and a carbohydrate segment consisting of one residue of glucose. CDHs, however, contain beta-galactose (1-->4)-linked to beta-glucose as sugar units and phytosphingosine as the long-chain base, bound to a C24 alpha-hydroxylated fatty acid. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the occurrence of CDH in a fungal species and illustrates the existence of an alternative path of ceramide glycosylation in fungal cells

Metabolic fingerprinting of Lactobacillus paracasei: the optimal quenching strategy

BACKGROUND: Quenching in cold buffered methanol at −40 °C has long been the preferred method for sub-second inactivation of cell metabolism during metabolic fingerprinting. However, methanol is known to cause intracellular metabolite leakage of microbial cells, making the distinction between intra- and extracellular metabolites in microbial systems challenging. In this paper, we tested three quenching protocols proposed for microbial cultures: fast filtration, cold buffered methanol and cold glycerol saline. RESULTS: Our results clearly showed that cold glycerol saline quenching resulted in the best recovery of intracellular metabolites in Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei (L. paracasei). Membrane integrity assayed by propidium iodide revealed that approximately 10 % of the L. paracasei cell membranes were damaged by contact with the cold buffered methanol solution, whilst cold glycerol saline quenching led to minimal cell damage. Due to the nature of the L. paracasei culture, fast filtration took several minutes, which is far from ideal for metabolites with high intracellular turnover rates. CONCLUSION: The implementation of a reliable, reproducible quenching method is essential within the metabolomics community. Cold glycerol saline prevented leakage of intracellular metabolites, and, thus, allowed more accurate determinations of intracellular metabolite levels

Exceptionally Narrow-Band Quantum Dot Infrared Photodetector

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)InGaAlAs/InGaAs/InGaAlAs/InAs/InP quantum-dot structures have been investigated for the development of infrared photodetectors capable of generating photocurrent peaks exceptionally narrow for sharp wavelength discrimination. Our specially designed structure displays a photocurrent peak at 12 mu m with a full width at half maximum, limited by inhomogeneous broadening, of only 4.5 meV. In agreement with two independent energy level calculations, we attribute this peak to photon absorption between InAs quantum dot bound states, followed by a three step carrier extraction mechanism in which the coupling to the adjacent InGaAs quantum well is a key feature. The possible role played by intraband Auger scattering, multiphoton sequential absorption and tunneling in generating the observed current peak is also addressed.481013601366WPIFWF SFB IR-ONEC NoE SANDIEConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)FINEPCoordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES