White paper sobre Open Source, Open Access, open Standards e o futuro da catalogação

The discussions on the future of cataloging has received increased attention in the last ten years, mainly due to the impact of rapid development of information and communication technologies in the same period, which has provided access to the Web anytime, anywhere. These discussions revolve around the need for a new bibliographic framework to meet the demand of this new reality in the digital environment, ie how libraries can process, store, deliver, share and integrate their collections (physical, digital or scanned), in current post-PC era? Faced with this question, Open Access, Open Source and Open Standards are three concepts that need to receive greater attention in the field of Library and Information Science, as it is believed to be fundamental elements for the change of paradigm of descriptive representation, currently based conceptually on physical item rather than intellectual work. This paper aims to raise and discuss such issues and instigate information professionals, especially librarians, to think, discuss and propose initiatives for such problems, contributing and sharing ideas and possible solutions, in multidisciplinary teams. At the end is suggested the effective creation of multidisciplinary and inter-institutional study groups on the future of cataloging and its impact on national collections, in order to contribute to the area of descriptive representation in national and international level

Comparison between endoscopic and open surgery in 37 patients with nasopharyngeal angiofibroma

Juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma is a rare benign vascular tumor of the nasopharynx. Although the treatment of choice is surgery, there is no consensus on what is the best approach. Aim: To compare surgical time and intraoperative transfusion requirements in patients undergoing endoscopic surgery versus open / combined and relate the need for transfusion during surgery with the time between embolization and surgery. Material and Methods: Study descriptive, analytical, retrospective study with a quantitative approach developed in the Otorhinolaryngology department of a teaching hospital. Analyzed 37 patients with angiofibroma undergoing surgical treatment. Data obtained from medical records. Analyzed with tests of the Fisher-Freeman-Halton and Games-Howell. Was considered significant if p <0.05. Study design: Historical cohort study with cross-sectional. Results: The endoscopic approach had a shorter operative time (p <0.0001). There is less need for transfusion during surgery when the embolization was performed on the fourth day. Conclusion: This suggests that the period ahead would be ideal to perform the process of embolization and endoscopic surgery by demanding less time would be associated with a lower morbidity. This study, however, failed to show which group of patients according to tumor stage would benefit from specific technical.

Comparison of disc diffusion, Etest and broth microdilution for testing susceptibility of carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa to polymyxins

Abstract Background Considering the increasing use of polymyxins to treat infections due to multidrug resistant Gram-negative in many countries, it is important to evaluate different susceptibility testing methods to this class of antibiotic. Methods Susceptibility of 109 carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa to polymyxins was tested comparing broth microdilution (reference method), disc diffusion, and Etest using the new interpretative breakpoints of Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Results Twenty-nine percent of isolates belonged to endemic clone and thus, these strains were excluded of analysis. Among 78 strains evaluated, only one isolate was resistant to polymyxin B by the reference method (MIC: 8.0 μg/mL). Very major and major error rates of 1.2% and 11.5% were detected comparing polymyxin B disc diffusion with the broth microdilution (reference method). Agreement within 1 twofold dilution between Etest and the broth microdilution were 33% for polymyxin B and 79.5% for colistin. One major error and 48.7% minor errors were found comparing polymyxin B Etest with broth microdilution and only 6.4% minor errors with colistin. The concordance between Etest and the broth microdilution (reference method) was respectively 100% for colistin and 90% for polymyxin B. Conclusion Resistance to polymyxins seems to be rare among hospital carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa isolates over a six-year period. Our results showed, using the new CLSI criteria, that the disc diffusion susceptibility does not report major errors (false-resistant results) for colistin. On the other hand, showed a high frequency of minor errors and 1 very major error for polymyxin B. Etest presented better results for colistin than polymyxin B. Until these results are reproduced with a large number of polymyxins-resistant P. aeruginosa isolates, susceptibility to polymyxins should be confirmed by a reference method.

Effects of photobioreactor configuration, nitrogen source and light intensity on the fed-batch cultivation of Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis. Bioenergetic aspects

Bioenergetic analysis may be applied in order to predict microbial growth yields, based on the Gibbs energy dissipation and mass conservation principles of the overall growth reaction. The bioenergetics of the photoautotrophic growth of the cyanobacterium Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis was investigated in different bioreactor configurations (tubular photobioreactor and open ponds) using different nitrogen sources (nitrate and urea) and under different light intensity conditions to determine the best growing conditions in terms of Gibbs energy dissipation, number of photons to sustain cell growth and phototrophic energy yields distribution in relation to the ATP and NADPH formation, and release of heat. Although an increase in the light intensity increased the Gibbs energy dissipated for cell growth and maintenance with both nitrogen sources, it did not exert any appreciable influence on the moles of photons absorbed by the system to produce one C-mol biomass. On the other hand, both bioenergetic parameters were higher in cultures with nitrate than with urea, likely because of the higher energy requirements needed to reduce the former nitrogen source to ammonia. They appreciably increased also when open ponds were substituted by the tubular photobioreactor, where a more efficient light distribution ensured a remarkably higher cell mass concentration. The estimated percentages of the energy absorbed by the cell showed that, compared with nitrate, the use of urea as nitrogen source allowed the system to address higher energy fractions to ATP production and light fixation by the photosynthetic apparatus, as well as a lower fraction released as heat. The best energy yields values on Gibbs energy necessary for cell growth and maintenance were achieved in up to 4-5 days of cultivation, indicating that it would be the optimum range to maintain cell growth. Thanks to this better bioenergetic situation, urea appears to be a quite promising low-cost, alternative nitrogen source for Arthrospira platensis cultures in photobioreactors. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effect of sodium fluoride preservative and storage temperature on the stability of cocaine in horse blood, sheep vitreous and deer muscle

The in vitro stability of cocaine in horse blood, sheep vitreous humour (VH) and homogenised deer muscle is described. The stability of cocaine in horse blood was of interest because many toxicology laboratories utilise horse blood for the preparation of calibration and check standards and the latter are typically stored during routine use. The storage stability of cocaine in human VH and muscle has not been previously reported. In the absence of blank human VH and muscle, cocaine stability under varying conditions was demonstrated in animal tissues. Blood and VH were stored with and without addition of NaF at room temperature (RT), 4 degrees C and -18 degrees C for 84 days. Muscle homogenates were prepared in water, water/2% NaF, and phosphate buffer (pH 6.0)/2% NaF, and stored for 31 days at RT, 4 degrees C and -18 degrees C. Cocaine stability in human muscle obtained from cocaine positive forensic cases was assessed following storage at -18 degrees C for 13 months. Cocaine and benzoylecgonine (BZE) were extracted using SPE and quantified by GC-MS/MS. Cocaine was stable for 7 days in refrigerated (4 degrees C) horse blood fortified with 1 and 2% NaF. In the absence of NaF, cocaine was not detectable by day 7 in blood stored at RT and 4 degrees C and had declined by 81% following storage at -18 degrees C. At 4 degrees C the rate of cocaine degradation in blood preserved with 2% NaF was significantly slower than with 1% NaF. The stability of cocaine in horse blood appeared to be less than that reported for human blood, probably attributable to the presence of carboxylesterase in horse plasma. Cocaine stored in VH at -18 degrees C was essentially stable for the study period whereas at 4 degrees C concentrations decreased by >50% in preserved and unpreserved VH stored for longer than 14 days. Fluoride did not significantly affect cocaine stability in VH. The stability of cocaine in muscle tissue homogenates significantly exceeded that in blood and VH at every temperature. In preserved and unpreserved samples stored at 4 degrees C and below, cocaine loss did not exceed 2%. The increased stability of cocaine in muscle was attributed to the low initial pH of post-mortem muscle. In tissue from one human case stored for 13 months at -18 degrees C the muscle cocaine concentration declined by only 15% (range: 5-22%). These findings promote the use of human muscle as a toxicological specimen in which cocaine may be detected for longer compared with blood or VH. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Acute heat stress impairs performance parameters and induces mild intestinal enteritis in broiler chickens: Role of acute hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation

Studies on the environmental consequences of stress are relevant for economic and animal welfare reasons. We recently reported that long-term heat stressors (31 +/- 1 degrees C and 36 +/- 1 degrees C for 10 h/d) applied to broiler chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) from d 35 to 42 of life increased serum corticosterone concentrations, decreased performance variables and the macrophage oxidative burst, and produced mild, multifocal acute enteritis. Being cognizant of the relevance of acute heat stress on tropical and subtropical poultry production, we designed the current experiment to analyze, from a neuroimmune perspective, the effects of an acute heat stress (31 +/- 1 degrees C for 10 h on d 35 of life) on serum corticosterone, performance variables, intestinal histology, and peritoneal macrophage activity in chickens. We demonstrated that the acute heat stress increased serum corticosterone concentrations and mortality and decreased food intake, BW gain, and feed conversion (P < 0.05). We did not find changes in the relative weights of the spleen, thymus, and bursa of Fabricius (P > 0.05). Increases in the basal and the Staphylococcus aureus-induced macrophage oxidative bursts and a decrease in the percentage of macrophages performing phagocytosis were also observed. Finally, mild, multifocal acute enteritis, characterized by the increased presence of lymphocytes and plasmocytes within the lamina propria of the jejunum, was also observed. We found that the stress-induced hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation was responsible for the negative effects observed on chicken performance and immune function as well as for the changes in the intestinal mucosa. The data presented here corroborate with those presented in other studies in the field of neuroimmunomodulation and open new avenues for the improvement of broiler chicken welfare and production performance.

The influence of asthma onset and severity on malocclusion prevalence in children and adolescents

OBJECTIVE: The influence of asthma, its severity levels and onset time on malocclusion occurrence were investigated. METHODS: The sample was composed by 176 children/adolescents, of both genders, aged 3 to 15 years, that were divided in two groups. The asthma group (AG) enrolled 88 children/adolescents that were seen at the Breathe Londrina Program. The asthma-free group (AFG) enrolled 88 preschool and school children recruited in 2 public schools. Malocclusion diagnosis was made according to WHO criteria (OMS, 1999). RESULTS: A higher prevalence in malocclusions in asthmatic patients in mixed dentition was observed when compared to controls (p<0.05). On the other hand, these results were not observed for deciduous (p>0.05) and permanent dentition (p>0.05). A significant association was seen between asthma onset time and marked maxillary overjet (p<0.05), and open bite (p<0.05) in the mixed dentition, being both conditions more common among those that have presented the symptoms of asthma prior to 12 months of age. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that the early manifestation of asthma at first year of life can cause dentofacial changes. Therefore, the prompt diagnostic of the illness, as well as the establishment of a proper therapy could improve the symptoms and chronic complications of asthma and also reduce its impact on craniofacial development.

Small-scale landfills: impacts on groundwater and soil

In Brazil, the large quantities of solid waste produced are out of step with public policies, technological developments, and government budgets for the division. In small municipalities, the common lack of technological knowledge and financial conditions for suitable waste disposal has resulted in a large number of illegal dumps. Therefore, small sanitary landfill facilities are working with simplified operations focusing on cost reduction and meeting the economic and technological standards of the city without endangering the environment or public health. Currently, this activity is regulated at a federal level although there is some uncertainty regarding the risk of soil and aquifer contamination as theses facilities do not employ liners. Thus, this work evaluates a small landfill to identify changes in soil and groundwater using geotechnical parameters, monitoring wells, and geophysical tests performed by electrical profiling. It is verified that based on current conditions, no contaminants have migrated via underground water aquifers, and overall no significant changes have occurred in the soil. It is concluded that, despite its simplicity, the method investigated is a viable alternative for the final disposal of municipal solid waste from small cities, especially in developing countries.