Co-infecção pelo vírus da hepatite G em pacientes infectados pelo Leihsmania chagasi

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

Adsorção de Pb(II) utilizando adsorvente composto por montmorilonita e dolomita

The destructive impact of improper disposal of heavy metals in the environment increases as a direct result of population explosion, urbanization and industrial expansion and technological developments. Argil are potential materials for adsorption of inorganic and the pelletization of it is required for use in adsorptive columns of fixed bed. The low cost and the possibility of regeneration makes these materials attractive for use in the purification process, capable of removing inorganic compounds in contaminated aquatic environments. In this work was made pellets of a mixture of dolomite and montmorillonite by wet agglomeration, in different percentages. The removal of Pb (II) was investigated through experimental studies, and was modeled by kinetic models and isotherms of adsorption. The materials were characterized using the techniques of XRD, TG / DTA, FT-IR, and surface area by BET method. The results showed the adsorption efficiency of the contaminant by the composite material studied in synthetic solution. The study found that the adsorption follows the Langmuir model, and the kinetics of adsorption follows the model of pseudosecond order

Ocorrência da infecção por Toxoplasma gondii e avaliação da imunização em caprinos do sertão do cabugi, Rio Grande do Norte

Toxoplasmosis is one zoonosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii protozoan. Goats, amongst the production animals, are one of the species most susceptible to this parasite, being one them main involved agents in ovine and goat abortions, determining great economic losses and implications for public health, since the presence it parasite in the products of goat origin, consist in one of the main sources of infection for the man. In this study 244 blood samples in 8 farms situated in 4 cities from the Sertão do Cabugi region, Rio Grande do Norte State, northeast of Brazil and, tested by ELISA assay. The results had shown a prevalence of 47.13% for anti- T. gondii antibodies and a significant association between positivity and variable evaluated as age, locality and property. The IgG avidity assay evaluated in 115 positive samples was carried to discriminate acute and chronic infection. Twelve samples (10.4%) had presented antibodies of low avidity while 103 (89.6%) presented high avidity antibodies; indicating that most of the animals was precocious exposure to the parasite. Significant difference was verified only for the variable sex. We also evaluate the capacity of recombinant adenoviruses codifying SAG1, SAG2, SAG3 and CMV in inducing activation of specific immune response in goat. These 109 animals received 109 pfu of the AdSAG1, AdSAG2, AdSAG3, AdCMV or PBS in vaccine protocol with 3 immunizations. Serum samples of the each animal, before and after mmunization, had been submitted to the ELISA. The results demonstrate that the immunizations had induced the production of IgG antibodies specific against T. gondii proteins

Imunoglobulina e e eosinófilos em crianças de área tropical, infectadas por ascaris lumbricoides

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte

Perfil de imunoglobulinas e correlação de autoanticorpos com a ocorrência de diversas formas clínicas em pacientes chagásicos crônicos

Introdução: O dano miocárdico na doença de Chagas resulta tanto da ação parasitária quanto da resposta imune do hospedeiro humano. O mimetismo molecular entre proteínas do Trypanosoma cruzi e vários antígenos do hospedeiro tem sido amplamente descrito gerando células T CD8+ e anticorpos autorreativos. Entretanto, a geração dos autoanticorpos e seu papel na imunopatogenia da doença de Chagas ainda não têm sido elucidados, o que nos levou, neste trabalho, a avaliar a produção de imunoglobulina G total (IgGt) e seus isotipos anti-T. cruzi, proteínas cardíacas e sua possível associação com as diferentes formas clínicas da doença de Chagas. Métodos: A produção de IgGt e isotipos foi mensurada pelo método de ELISA no soro de pacientes com as formas clínicas indeterminada (IND, n=72), cardíaca (CARD, n=47) e digestiva/cardio-digestiva (DIG/CARD-DIG, n=12) da doença de Chagas, usando como antígenos as formas epimastigota e tripomastigota do T. cruzi e proteínas cardíacas humana (miosina e troponina T). As amostras de indivíduos não infectados saudáveis (CONT, n= 30) e pacientes com cardiomiopatia isquêmica (ISCH, n=15) foram usadas como controle. Os títulos de autoanticorpos foram correlacionados com parâmetros da função cardíaca obtidos por exames eletrocardiográficos, radiográficos e ecocardiográficos. Resultados: Neste estudo foram incluídos 131 indivíduos sem diferença significativa relativa à idade ou sexo. Destes, 55% foram classificados como IND, 35,9% CARD e 9,1% DIG/CARD-DIG. Os títulos de IgGt foram mais elevados em pacientes com as formas clínicas IND, CARD e DIG/CARD-DIG do que em indivíduos CONT e ISCH usando os antígenos as formas tripomastigotas e epimastigotas do T. cruzi e, proteínas cardíacas humanas. Os pacientes com formas clínicas CARD e DIG/CARD-DIG mostraram a produção mais elevada de IgG total dirigida contra antígenos de tripomastigota e epimastigota do que os IND. Os grupos de pacientes IND e CARD apresentaram uma similar produção de IgG total específica direcionada à miosina e troponina T, e mais elevada do que em indivíduos CONT e ISCH. Há uma correlação negativa entre a produção de anticorpos anti-proteínas cardíacas com a fração de ejeção do ventrículo esquerdo (FEVE) em pacientes chagásicos crônicos. Os pacientes foram agrupados em baixo e alto produtores de autoanticorpos e comparados com a fração de ejeção demonstrando que em pacientes alto produtores de anti-troponina T (p=0.042) e miosina (p=0.013) a FEVE foi mais baixa do que os baixo produtores. A maioria dos pacientes chagásicos produz simultaneamente autoanticorpos direcionados à ambas proteínas cardíacas (r=0.9508, p=0.0001). Conclusões: Estes resultados indicam que os autoanticorpos anti- troponina T e miosina cardíaca parecem induzir redução FEVE e deve ser associado com o desenvolvimento de cardiomiopatia chagásica

Ectoparasitos associados a aves de um fragmento de Floresta Estacional Decidual no Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil

This study to aimed investigate the community of ectoparasites associated with birds in the Mata do Olho D água, in the municipality of Macaíba, Rio Grande do Norte (RN), Brazil, its structure and the ambiental and hosts influential variables on it, and to verify microhabitats preferences by species of chewing lice and feather mites. We examined 172 individuals belonging to 38 species of Passeriformes and non-Passeriformes. 12 new geographic records are reported and 11 host-parasite associations not yet known for chewing lice and feather mites species. Significant relationship was found between the abundance of chewing lice and the variables total length (r = 0.29, p <0.05) and exposed culmen (r = 0.38, p <0.05) of the hosts. A principal component (PC1) accounted for 90.1% of the hosts morphological variation was significantly influential on the abundance of chewing lice (p <0.05), indicating that the morphological characteristics of the hosts may be positively influencing the abundance of these ectoparasites. Significantly higher frequency of individuals with high loads of chewing lice was detected during the dry period (x ² = 8.5, p <0.05), corroborating studies that propose that birds of arid environments suffer as much pressure as those of parasitic humid environments. Analyses of null models of co-occurrence and niche overlap showed a high degree of structure in the feather mites and chewing lice assemblies, when compared with other groups, and preferences in the use of microhabitats by taxa identified. These results corroborate ecological theories in host-parasite systems, contribute to the knowledge of ectoparasites associated with neotropical birds, and the need for experimental studies, as well as further deepening the biology of these arthropods

Estudo da qualidade de serviço de uma aplicação VoIP em ambientes wireless com handoff

This work deals with experimental studies about VoIP conections into WiFi 802.11b networks with handoff. Indoor and outdoor network experiments are realised to take measurements for the QoS parameters delay, throughput, jitter and packt loss. The performance parameters are obtained through the use of software tools Ekiga, Iperf and Wimanager that assure, respectvely, VoIP conection simulation, trafic network generator and metric parameters acquisition for, throughput, jitter and packt loss. The avarage delay is obtained from the measured throughput and the concept of packt virtual transmition time. The experimental data are validated based on de QoS level for each metric parameter accepted as adequated by the specialized literature

Ativação local da rota da quinurenina por moduladores inflamatórios durante a meningite bacteriana.

Activation of the kynurenine (KYN) pathway (KP) by modulators of immune system has been observed during several neurological diseases. Here we assessed the association of chemo-/cytokine levels with the concentration of KP metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma samples from patients with bacterial meningitis (BM). All samples were collected from 42 patients diagnosed with acute bacterial meningitis (ABM), aseptic meningitis, tuberculous meningitis and patients without infection neurological disorders. CSF and plasma concentration of metabolites from the KP was assessed by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and cytokines and chemokines by Bio-plex 200 suspension array system. Concentrations of the KP metabolites KYN and kynurenic acid (KYNA) were significantly higher in CSF of patients with ABM compared to other groups. Tryptophan (TRP), anthranilic acid (AA), 3-hydroxykynurenine (3HK) and 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid (3HAA) did not show statistical significance, although some of them presented a good accumulation during ABM. The expression of TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-1beta, IFN-gamma, IL-10, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), MIP-1alpha, MIP-1beta, MCP-1 and G-CSF was about 100-fold higher in CSF from ABM patients than other infected groups. In all CSF and plasma samples, the concentration of IL-2, IL-12(p70), IL-4, IL-8 and GM-CSF was not significant. ABM still showed significant concentrations of IL-6, IL-10, IL-1Ra and MCP-1 in plasma samples. Based on the comparison of KP metabolites concentrations between plasma and CSF samples we conclude that the activation of the tryptophan pathway upon BM occurs within the brain. This increase in KP metabolites is most due to activation of the KP by molecules as IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha in response to infection.

Análise imuno-histoquímica das proteínas VEGF e HIF-1α na doença periodontal

Periodontal disease is a complex inflammatory and infectious condition that immune host, front of the microbial aggressions, can lead to disease progression, resulting in tissue destruction. The tissue damage induces the release of regulatory molecules, which protective roles and / or destructive, including proteins VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor vascular) and HIF-1 α (hypoxia-induced factor α -1). Thus, this study investigated, quantitatively and comparatively, the immunohistochemical expression of VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) and HIF-1 α (hypoxia induced factor 1-α), proteins involved in inflammation, angiogenesis and hypoxia, in human gingival tissues. Therefore, 75 samples of gingival tissues were examined. Thirty samples were chronic periodontitis, 30 with chronic gingivitis and 15 healthy gingival. After sections analysis, positives and negatives inflammatory and endothelial cells in the connective tissue were counted and converted into percentage. Data were statistically analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis test and Spearman correlation. The results showed that both proteins marked. It was observed higher immunoreactivity for HIF-1 α at chronic gingivitis and periodontitis specimens compared to healthy sites, however, no statistically significant differences were observed among them (p>0.05). The VEGF immunostaining showed similarity among the cases of periodontitis, gingivitis and healthy gingiva. Moderate and positive correlation statistically significant differences were verified for the expressions of VEGF and HIF-1α in gingival health (r = 0,529, p = 0.04). Thus, it can be conclude that possibly the route of HIF-1 α, is activated in periodontal disease may have involvement of the protein in pathogenesis and progression of disease, and that activation of VEGF, can be in addition to being triggered transcription by HIF-1 α may be also influenced by other additional factors such as the action of periodontal microorganisms endotoxins

Valor prognóstico de células TCD8+ E natural killer em carcinoma epidermóide oral e orofaringeano tratado com radioterapia e quimioterapia

The most common malignant neoplasm of the oral cavity and oropharynx are squamous cell carcinoma. Injuries to the same stage and subjected to the same treatment protocol have sometimes different evolutionary courses. The scope of this study was to investigate, through a retrospective cohort, associations between the number of CD8 + T cells and natural killer, identified immunohistochemically in the inflammatory infiltrate in a series of cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma and orofaringeano, and the level of tumor response to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, overall survival and relapse-free survival of patients. We identified 54 patients with unresectable disease were treated exclusively with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The median follow-up was 22 months. The sample was characterized by the predominance of male subjects, median age 60 years, all were smokers. The most frequent site was the tongue and 81.5% were in stage IV. Patients with disease in the oral cavity had a worse response to treatment (p = 0.006), worse relapse-free survival (p = 0.007), worse overall survival (p = 0.007). The advanced T stage was shown a negative prognostic factor (p= 0.006) for the clinical treatment response made. Immunohistochemistry was performed to select CD8 + cells (anti-CD8) and NK cells (anti-CD57). Lymphocytes positive and negative markings were counted using the program ImageJ ®. Two groups were created for each marking evaluated: Group I patients with more than 50% cells positive, Group II: less than 50% of labeled cells. For CD8 + cells detected in 38 (70.3%) of Group I were CD8 + and 16 (29.7%) Group II CD8 +. For NK cells, 26 (48.15%) Group I NK and 28 (51.85%) Group II NK. Regarding the clinical response to treatment, we observed that 39% of patients achieved a complete response and 25.9% remained without recurrence at the end of follow-up. These results were better in Group I CD8 + (p = 0.2). Identified that 72.2% of patients progressed to death, this finding had no association with the immunohistochemical data. There was no statistically significant differences between the number of CD8 + and NK cells and the ability of tumor response to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, or with overall survival and relapse-free survival of patients. However, especially in relation to a learned response, we found that this group of patients with advanced disease have a low count of CD8 + T cells active. Believing in the role that the immune response plays in the local fight against neoplastic cells, however, our results do not support the use of quantitative analysis of CD8 + T cells and NK cells as a prognostic factors for oral squamous cell carcinoma and oropharynx

Imunoexpressão de fatores reguladores da osteoclastogênese na doença periodontal em humanos e sua relação com os parâmetros clínicos

Periodontal disease is an infection initiated by oral periodontal pathogens that trigger an immune response culminating in tissue destruction. This destruction is mediated by the host by inducing the production and activation of lytic enzymes, cytokines and the stimulation of osteoclastogenesis. The aim of this study was to compare the immunohistochemical expression of factors involved in bone resorption, RANKL (Ligand Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor kappa B), OPG (Osteoprotegerin) and TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor alpha) between the gingival healthy, gingivitis and chronic periodontitis and correlate them with clinical parameters. The sample consisted of 83 cases and 12 clinically healthy gums, 42 gingivitis and 29 periodontitis, from 74 adolescent and adult patients with a mean age of 35 years, without systemic changes and non-smokers, predominantly female and race brown. There was no statistically significant difference for the expression of anti-RANKL (p = 0.581) and RANKL / OPG ratio (p = 0.334) when comparing the three conditions, but the anti-OPG and anti-TNF-α showed statistically significant between the types of injury (p = 0.001 and p <0.001, respectively), showing greatest expression in periodontitis. In cases of periodontitis, the variable clinical attachment loss (PIC) was statistically significant and positive correlation, respectively, with immunostaining of anti-RANKL (p = 0.002, p = 0.001 and r = 0.642), anti-OPG (p = 0.018, p = 0.014 and r = 0.451), anti-TNF-α (p = 0.032, p = 0.014 and r = 0.453) and the percentage ratio of RANKL / OPG (p = 0.018, p = 0.002 and r = 0.544). The tooth mobility (MB) showed a statistically significant difference only with immunohistochemical anti-RANKL (p = 0.026), and probing depth (PD) was positively correlated with anti-RANKL (p = 0.028 and r = 0.409), both in cases of periodontitis. Only in cases of gingivitis TNF-α was positively correlated with RANKL (p = 0.012 and r = 0.384) and the RANKL / OPG ratio (p = 0.027 and r = 0.341). Given these results, we conclude that the greatest expression of TNF-α in periodontitis demonstrates a relationship with the progression and severity of periodontal disease and the correlation between all antibodies and clinical attachment loss demonstrates their involvement in periodontal bone resorption

Atividade biológica de células-tronco da polpa de dentes decíduos humanos submetidas à criopreservação

Dental pulp stem cells have been widely investigated because of their ability to differentiate into both dental and non-dental cells, with potential use in therapies involving tissue engineering. The technique of cell cryopreservation represents a viable alternative for the conservation of these cells, since it stops reversibly, in a controlled manner, all of cell biological functions in an ultra low temperature. The present study aimed to evaluate, using in vitro experiments, the influence of a cryopreservation protocol on the biologic acti vity of stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED). Cells obtained from the pulp of three deciduous teeth on end-stage exfoliation or with indicated extraction were expanded in α-MEM culture medium supplemented with antibiotics and 15% fetal bovine serum. At second subculture (P2), a group of cells were submitted to cryopreservation for 30 days in 10% DMSO diluted in fetal bovine serum, at -80º C, while the remind cells continued under normal conditions of cell culture. Cell proliferation was evaluated in both groups (not cryopreserved or cryopreserved) by Trypan blue stain essay at intervals of 24, 48 and 72h after plating. Cell cycle analysis of SHEDs submitted or not to the cryopreservation protocol was performed in the same intervals. Events related to cell death were studied by Annexyn V and PI expression under flow cytometry at the intervals of 24 and 72h. The presence of nuclear morphological changes was evaluated by DAPI staining at 72h interval. It was observed that both groups exhibited an upward cell proliferation curve, without considerable changes in cell viability throughout the experiment. The distribution of cell in the cell cycle phasis was consistent with cell proliferation in both groups. There were no nuclear morphological damages in the end range of the experiment. therefore, it is concluded that the proposed cryopreservation protocol is efficient for storing the studied cell type, allowing its use in future experimental studies

Avaliação sistemática de abordagens de derivação de produto

Product derivation tools are responsible for automating the development process of software product lines. The configuration knowledge, which is responsible for mapping the problem space to the solution space, plays a fundamental role on product derivation approaches. Each product derivation approach adopts different strategies and techniques to manage the existing variabilities in code assets. There is a lack of empirical studies to analyze these different approaches. This dissertation has the aim of comparing systematically automatic product derivation approaches through of the development of two different empirical studies. The studies are analyzed under two perspectives: (i) qualitative that analyzes the characteristics of approaches using specific criteria; and (ii) quantitative that quantifies specific properties of product derivation artifacts produced for the different approaches. A set of criteria and metrics are also being proposed with the aim of providing support to the qualitative and quantitative analysis. Two software product lines from the web and mobile application domains are targets of our study

Avaliação da contribuição de desenvolvedores para projetos de software usando mineração de repositórios de software e mineração de processos

Software Repository Mining (MSR) is a research area that analyses software repositories in order to derive relevant information for the research and practice of software engineering. The main goal of repository mining is to extract static information from repositories (e.g. code repository or change requisition system) into valuable information providing a way to support the decision making of software projects. On the other hand, another research area called Process Mining (PM) aims to find the characteristics of the underlying process of business organizations, supporting the process improvement and documentation. Recent works have been doing several analyses through MSR and PM techniques: (i) to investigate the evolution of software projects; (ii) to understand the real underlying process of a project; and (iii) create defect prediction models. However, few research works have been focusing on analyzing the contributions of software developers by means of MSR and PM techniques. In this context, this dissertation proposes the development of two empirical studies of assessment of the contribution of software developers to an open-source and a commercial project using those techniques. The contributions of developers are assessed through three different perspectives: (i) buggy commits; (ii) the size of commits; and (iii) the most important bugs. For the opensource project 12.827 commits and 8.410 bugs have been analyzed while 4.663 commits and 1.898 bugs have been analyzed for the commercial project. Our results indicate that, for the open source project, the developers classified as core developers have contributed with more buggy commits (although they have contributed with the majority of commits), more code to the project (commit size) and more important bugs solved while the results could not indicate differences with statistical significance between developer groups for the commercial project

Análise imuno-histoquímica de proteínas relacionadas às respostas Th1, Th2 e Th17 na doença periodontal

Periodontal disease is an inflammatory condition of infectious nature characterized by destruction of protecting and supporting dental tissues. It happens as a response produced by the host when attacked by microorganisms. Several factors are involved in this process. Among them, cytokines are key regulatory molecules in this immune response, playing a role either protective and/or destructive in lesion progression. Thus, this study investigated the immunohistochemical expression of IFN- , GATA-3, IL-17, IL-23, IL-6 and TGF- in gingival tissues of humans, in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the participation of Th1, Th2 and Th17 immune responses in the development of periodontal disease processes. To this end, eighty-two samples of gingival tissues were divided into three groups: Group 1 = 15 (samples of healthy gum tissue as controls), Group 2 = 36 (samples with chronic gingivitis) and Group 3 = 31 (samples with chronic periodontitis). All cases were submitted to morphological analysis from sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin and then subjected to staining by immunohistochemistry using the streptavidin-biotin method. Results showed positive labeling for all proteins. Nonetheless, we observed a greater expression of Th1 cytokines and Th17 cells in group 3. We found statistically significant difference between TGF- expression and the clinical condition of the samples (p=0.02). We conclude that Th1 and Th17 responses may act synergistically in the destructive process of periodontal tissue, overlapping the Th2 response that was also present in these tissues