Overview of the taxonomy and of the major secondary metabolites and their biological activities related to human health of the Laurencia complex (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) from Brazil

In Brazil, the Laurencia complex is represented by twenty taxa: Laurencia s.s. with twelve species, Palisada with four species (including Chondrophycus furcatus now that the proposal of its transference to Palisada is in process), and Osmundea and Yuzurua with two species each. The majority of the Brazilian species of the Laurencia complex have been phylogenetically analyzed by 54 rbcL sequences, including five other Rhodomelacean species as outgroups. The analysis showed that the Laurencia complex is monophyletic with high posterior probability value. The complex was separated into five clades, corresponding to the genera: Chondrophycus, Laurencia, Osmundea, Palisada, and Yuzurua. A bibliographical survey of the terpenoids produced by Brazilian species showed that only six species of Laurencia and five of Palisada (including C. furcatcus) have been submitted to chemical analysis with 48 terpenoids (47 sesquiterpenes and one triterpene) isolated. No diterpenes were found. Of the total, 23 sesquiterpenes belong to the bisabolane class and eighteen to the chamigrene type, whose biochemical precursor is bisabolane, two are derived from lauranes and four are triquinols. Despite the considerable number of known terpenes and their ecological and pharmacological importance, few experimental biological studies have been performed. In this review, only bioactivities related to human health were considered.

An overview of the Amazonian Aerosol Characterization Experiment 2008 (AMAZE-08)

The Amazon Basin provides an excellent environment for studying the sources, transformations, and properties of natural aerosol particles and the resulting links between biological processes and climate. With this framework in mind, the Amazonian Aerosol Characterization Experiment (AMAZE-08), carried out from 7 February to 14 March 2008 during the wet season in the central Amazon Basin, sought to understand the formation, transformations, and cloud-forming properties of fine-and coarse-mode biogenic aerosol particles, especially as related to their effects on cloud activation and regional climate. Special foci included (1) the production mechanisms of secondary organic components at a pristine continental site, including the factors regulating their temporal variability, and (2) predicting and understanding the cloud-forming properties of biogenic particles at such a site. In this overview paper, the field site and the instrumentation employed during the campaign are introduced. Observations and findings are reported, including the large-scale context for the campaign, especially as provided by satellite observations. New findings presented include: (i) a particle number-diameter distribution from 10 nm to 10 mu m that is representative of the pristine tropical rain forest and recommended for model use; (ii) the absence of substantial quantities of primary biological particles in the submicron mode as evidenced by mass spectral characterization; (iii) the large-scale production of secondary organic material; (iv) insights into the chemical and physical properties of the particles as revealed by thermodenuder-induced changes in the particle number-diameter distributions and mass spectra; and (v) comparisons of ground-based predictions and satellite-based observations of hydrometeor phase in clouds. A main finding of AMAZE-08 is the dominance of secondary organic material as particle components. The results presented here provide mechanistic insight and quantitative parameters that can serve to increase the accuracy of models of the formation, transformations, and cloud-forming properties of biogenic natural aerosol particles, especially as related to their effects on cloud activation and regional climate.

Generic drugs in Brazil: historical overview and legislation

The Brazilian generic drugs policy was implemented in 1999 with the aim of stimulating competition in the market, improve the quality of drugs and improve the access of the population to drug treatment. The process of implementing this policy allowed the introduction and discussion of concepts that had never before been used in the context of drug registration in Brazil: bioavailability, bioequivalence, pharmaceutical equivalence, generic drugs, biopharmaceutical classification system, biowaiver. The present article provides definitions for these concepts in the context of Brazilian legislation as well as a historical and chronological description of the implementation of the generic drugs policy in Brazil, including a list of current generic drug legislation. This article contributes to the understanding of the Brazilian generic drugs policy and facilitates the search for information concerning the legal requirements for registration of drugs in Brazil.

EEG-based Brain-Computer Interfaces: An Overview of Basic Concepts and Clinical Applications in Neurorehabilitation

Some patients are no longer able to communicate effectively or even interact with the outside world in ways that most of us take for granted. In the most severe cases, tetraplegic or post-stroke patients are literally `locked in` their bodies, unable to exert any motor control after, for example, a spinal cord injury or a brainstem stroke, requiring alternative methods of communication and control. But we suggest that, in the near future, their brains may offer them a way out. Non-invasive electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain-computer interfaces (BCD can be characterized by the technique used to measure brain activity and by the way that different brain signals are translated into commands that control an effector (e.g., controlling a computer cursor for word processing and accessing the internet). This review focuses on the basic concepts of EEG-based BC!, the main advances in communication, motor control restoration and the down-regulation of cortical activity, and the mirror neuron system (MNS) in the context of BCI. The latter appears to be relevant for clinical applications in the coming years, particularly for severely limited patients. Hypothetically, MNS could provide a robust way to map neural activity to behavior, representing the high-level information about goals and intentions of these patients. Non-invasive EEG-based BCIs allow brain-derived communication in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and motor control restoration in patients after spinal cord injury and stroke. Epilepsy and attention deficit and hyperactive disorder patients were able to down-regulate their cortical activity. Given the rapid progression of EEG-based BCI research over the last few years and the swift ascent of computer processing speeds and signal analysis techniques, we suggest that emerging ideas (e.g., MNS in the context of BC!) related to clinical neuro-rehabilitation of severely limited patients will generate viable clinical applications in the near future.

PROWESS-SHOCK TRIAL: A PROTOCOL OVERVIEW AND PERSPECTIVES

Sepsis remains a challenge for intensive care physicians, as it keeps up with high mortality rate in spite of the high costs associated with its treatment. Several studies indicate that the infusion of Drotrecogin-alpha activated (DrotAA) reduce mortality in patients at high risk of death when administered early and secured the appropriate initial treatment of sepsis as recommended by Surviving Sepsis Campaign. Europe and United States of America differ regarding the criteria of high risk of death in sepsis, two or more organ dysfunctions and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation 25 or more, respectively. In addition to varied definitions of high risk of death for inclusion of patients in sepsis studies, the possibility of bleeding related to drug use and intrinsic limitations related to study design led the Company to develop a new randomized, multinational, placebo-controlled, double-blind study to assess the effectiveness of drug in patients with septic shock in adults.

Helminthic Diseases in the Abdomen: An Epidemiologic and Radiologic Overview

Helminthic diseases have a worldwide distribution. They affect billions of people in endemic areas and can result in serious clinical complications. Some parasites have a human gastrointestinal life cycle with resultant abdominal manifestations. However, the symptoms of helminthic diseases are usually nonspecific. Radiologic imaging, along with the identification of risk factors, may help narrow the differential diagnosis. To avoid diagnostic delays, radiologists should be familiar with the geographic distribution, transmission cycle, and characteristic and atypical manifestations of common helminthic diseases at abdominal imaging with radiography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasonography. Awareness of the clinical, epidemiologic, and pathogenic characteristics of these diseases also may be helpful for narrowing the diagnosis when imaging features are nonspecific. (c) RSNA, 2010 . radiographics.rsna.org

An overview of the immunopathology of human paracoccidioidomycosis

We review here the advances in the understanding of the immunopathology of human paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM). Its investigation must take in account the intriguing natural history of the mycosis and its agent, providing clues to the mechanisms that lead to development of disease (unbalanced host-parasite relationship?) or to the clinically silent, chronic carrier state (balanced host-parasite relationship?), in exposed people living in endemic areas. Although the literature on this subject has progressed notably, the overall picture of what are the mechanisms of susceptibility or resistance continues to be fragmentary. Major advances were seen in the description of both the cytokines/chemokines associated to the different outcomes of the host-parasite interaction, and the fungus-monocyte/macrophage interaction, and cytokines released thereof by these cells. However, relatively few studies have attempted to modify, even in vitro, the patients` unbalanced immune reactivity. Consequently, the benefits of this improved knowledge did not yet reach clinical practice. Fortunately, the previous notion of the immune system as having two nearly independent arms, the innate and adaptive immunities, leaving a large gap between them, is now being overcome. Immunologists are now trying to dissect the connections between these two arms. This will certainly lead to more productive results. Current investigations should address the innate immunity events that trigger the IL-12/IFN-gamma axis and confer protection against PCM in those individuals living in endemic areas, who have been infected, but did not develop the mycosis.

A Comparative Cytogenetic Analysis of 2 Bothriuridae Species and Overview of the Chromosome Data of Scorpiones

The order Scorpiones is one of the most cytogenetically interesting groups within Arachnida by virtue of the combination of chromosome singularities found in the 59 species analyzed so far. In this work, mitotic and meiotic chromosomes of 2 species of the family Bothriuridae were detailed. This family occupies a basal position within the superfamily Scorpionoidea. Furthermore, review of the cytogenetic data of all previously studied scorpions is presented. Light microscopy chromosome analysis showed that Bothriurus araguayae and Bothriurus rochensis possess low diploid numbers compared with those of species belonging to closely related families. Gonadal cells examined under light and in transmission electron microscopy revealed, for the first time, that the Bothriuridae species possess typical monocentric chromosomes, and male meiosis presented chromosomes with synaptic and achiasmatic behavior. Moreover, in the sample of B. araguayae studied, heterozygous translocations were verified. The use of techniques to highlight specific chromosomal regions also revealed additional differences between the 2 Bothriurus species. The results herein recorded and the overview elaborated using the available cytogenetic information of Scorpiones elucidated current understanding regarding the processes of chromosome evolution that have occurred in Bothriuridae and in Scorpiones as a whole.

The Rondonian-San Ignacio Province in the SW Amazonian Craton: An overview

The Rondonian-San Ignacio Province (1.56-1.30 Ga) is a composite orogen created through successive accretion of arcs, ocean basin closure and final oblique microcontinent-continent collision. The effects of the collision are well preserved mostly in the Paragua Terrane (Bolivia and Mato Grosso regions) and in the Alto Guapore Belt and the Rio Negro-Juruena Province (Rondonia region), considering that the province was affected by later collision-related deformation and metamorphism during the Sunsas Orogeny (1.25-1.00 Ga). The Rondonian-San Ignacio Province comprises: (1) the Jauru Terrane (1.78-1.42 Ga) that hosts Paleoproterozoic basement (1.78-1.72 Ga), and the Cachoeirinha (1.56-1.52 Ga) and the Santa Helena (1.48-1.42 Ga) accretionary orogens, both developed in an Andean-type magmatic arc; (2) the Paragua Terrane (1.74-1.32 Ga) that hosts pre-San Ignacio units (>1640 Ma: Chiquitania Gneiss Complex, San Ignacio Schist Group and Lomas Manechis Granulitic Complex) and the Pensamiento Granitoid Complex (1.37-1.34 Ga) developed in an Andean-type magmatic arc; (3) the Rio Alegre Terrane (1.51-1.38 Ga) that includes units generated in a mid-ocean ridge and an intra-oceanic magmatic arc environments; and (4) the Alto Guapore Belt (<1.42-1.34 Ga) that hosts units developed in passive marginal basin and intra-oceanic arc settings. The collisional stage (1.34-1.32 Ga) is characterized by deformation, high-grade metamorphism, and partial melting during the metamorphic peak, which affected primarily the Chiquitania Gneiss Complex and Lomas Manechis Granulitic Complex in the Paragua Terrane, and the Colorado Complex and the Nova Mamore Metamorphic Suite in the Alto Guapore Belt. The Paragua Block is here considered as a crustal fragment probably displaced from its Rio Negro-Juruena crustal counterpart between 1.50 and 1.40 Ga. This period is characterized by extensive A-type and intra-plate granite magmatism represented by the Rio Crespo Intrusive Suite (ca. 1.50 Ga), Santo Antonio Intrusive Suite (1.40-1.36 Ga), and the Teotonio Intrusive Suite (1.38 Ga). Magmatism of these types also occur at the end of the Rondonian-San Ignacio Orogeny, and are represented by the Alto Candeias Intrusive Suite (1.34-1.36 Ga), and the Sao Lourenco-Caripunas Intrusive Suite (1.31-1.30 Ga). The cratonization of the province occurred between 1.30 and 1.25 Ga. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.