Measurement of melatonin in body fluids: Standards, protocols and procedures

Background and Purpose: The circadian rhythm of melatonin in saliva or plasma, or of the melatonin metabolite 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (a6MTs) in urine, is a defining feature of suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) function, the body's endogenous oscillatory pacemaker. The primary objective of this review is to ascertain the clinical benefits and limitations of current methodologies employed for detection and quantification of melatonin in biological fluids and tissues. Data Identification: A search of the English-language literature (Medline) and a systematic review of published articles were carried out. Study Selection: Articles that specified both the methodology for quantifying melatonin and indicated the clinical purpose were chosen for inclusion in the review. Data Extraction: The authors critically evaluated the methodological issues associated with various tools and techniques (e.g. standards, protocols, and procedures). Results of Data Synthesis: Melatonin measurements are useful for evaluating problems related to the onset or offset of sleep and for assessing phase delays or advances of rhythms in entrained individuals. They have also become an important tool for psychiatric diagnosis, their use being recommended for phase typing in patients suffering from sleep and mood disorders. Additionally, there has been a continuous interest in the use of melatonin as a marker for neoplasms of the pineal region. Melatonin decreases such as found with aging are or post pinealectomy can cause alterations in the sleep/wake cycle. The development of sensitive and selective methods for the precise detection of melatonin in tissues and fluids has increasingly been shown to have direct relevance for clinical decision making. Conclusions: Due to melatonin's low concentration, as well as the coexistence of numerous other compounds in the blood, the routine determination of melatonin has been an analytical challenge. The available evidence indicates however that these challenges can be overcome and consequently that evaluation of melatonin's presence and activity can be an accessible and useful tool for clinical diagnosis. © Springer-Verlag 2010.

Convergência digital de objetos de aprendizagem Scorm

Pós-graduação em Ciência da Computação - IBILCE

Modelos conceituais de dados como parte do processo da catalogação: perspectiva de uso dos FRBR no desenvolvimento de catálogos bibliográficos digitais

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Scan for MARC: princípios sintáticos e semânticos de registros bibliográficos aplicados à conversão de dados analógicos para o formato MARC 21 bibliográfico

Pós-graduação em Ciência da Informação - FFC

Outlining precision boundaries among areas with different variability standards using magnetic susceptibility and geomorphic surfaces

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Sintaxe e semântica de registros bibliográficos: princípios para a conversão de registros analógicos para o formato MARC21 bibliográfico: Scan for MARC

The research presents as its central theme the study of the bibliographic record conversion process. The object of study is framed by an understanding of analogic bibliographic record conversion to the Bibliograhpic MARC21 format, based on a syntactic and semantic analysis of records described according to descriptive metadata structure standards and content standards. The objective of this research the objective is to develop a theoretical-conceptual model of syntactic and semantic of bibliographic records, from Linguistic studies of Saussure and Hjelmslev of manifestations of human language, which subsidizes the development of a computacional interpreter, focused to the conversion of bibliographic records to MARC21 Bibliographic Format, which can be confirmed both the semantic value of the informational resource represented as the reliability of the representation. Given the aforementioned objectives, the methodological trajectory of the research is based on the qualitative approach, of an exploratory, descriptive and experimental nature, and with recourse to the literature. Contributions on the theoretical plane can be envisaged regarding the development of questions inherent to the syntactic and semantic aspects of bibliographic records, and by involving, at the same time, interdisciplinarity between Information Science, Computer Science and Linguistics. Contributions to the practical field are identified by the fact the study covers the development of the Scan for MARC, a computational interpreter that can be adopted by any institution that wishes to use the conversion procedure for bibliographic record databases to the MARC21 Bibliographic Format from description and visualization schemes of bibliographic records (AACR2r and ISBD), an aspect of the research which is considered innovative.