Analysis of susceptibility profile of Pseudomonas spp. and prevalence of bacterial samples from the surfaces of dental consulting-rooms

The aim of this research was to evaluate the susceptibility profile of Pseudomonas spp. and the prevalence of bacterial samples isolated from horizontal surfaces surrounding wash-basins used by dentists in several adjoined consulting-rooms, at points next to and at a distance from the basin, before and after surgical procedures. Our results showed a high percentage of Gram-positive cocci and Gram-negative bacilli; 34.66% were Staphylococcus spp. and 30.12% were non-fermentative Gram-negative bacilli among which Pseudomonas spp. (40.90%) was the commonest genus. Analysis of the susceptibility profile of Pseudomonas spp. isolates by determining the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 14 antibiotics showed a great variation among the strains and high rates of resistance to cefazolin, ceftazidime and aztreonan. Of the 14 antibiotics tested, 59.03% were found to be active against all the environmental isolates. Strains were resistant to aztreonan (62.82%), while susceptibility to third generation cephalosporins was variable.

Insertion of the superior head of the lateral pterigoid muscle in the human fetuses

The lateral pterygoid muscle, more specifically its superior head, as we know, is closely related to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Particularly in children, in contrast with what was observed in adults, these joints have been rarely studied, by the anatomic functional aspect, little knowing about its functions in the embryonic and fetal periods. We used, in this work, 12 fetuses ranging in age from 16 to 39 weeks of intrauterine life, where we observed that the superior head of the lateral pterygoid muscle is inserted in the disc and in the articular capsule, in all age groups studied, and also, that the fibers and the thickness of the articular disc is, as well as the articular capsule suffer modifications in accordance with the period of development. © 2007 Sociedad Chilena de Anatom•br>.

Dispersal of the delayed action insecticide sulfluramid in colonies of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Toxic baits are the most used control method for leaf-cutting ants due to their high effectiveness and because they are considered the safest for humans. Taking into account that the importance of leaf-cutting ants as pests, knowing the process by which dispersal and worker contamination is achieved becomes essential to understand several aspects about the functioning of a bait-borne AI (active ingredient) used in toxic baits. It has been established that an effective toxic bait should have a delayed- action AI, but its dispersion among the different sizes of workers is unknown. Workers of different sizes are involved in quite different tasks such foraging, cultivation of symbiotic macrofungus or control of deleterious microfungi. Therefore, we prepared a toxic bait containing the delayed-action AI sulfluramid and a dye (Rhodamine B) as an AI tracer in order to study dispersal and contamination in colonies, evaluated at different periods and in relation to different workers' sizes. Both field and laboratory colonies were evaluated. The great level of contamination, about 50% at 24 hours, in all sizes of workers demonstrates that worker contact with toxic bait is intense within this period. The distribution in field and laboratory colonies was similar. This contamination pattern is probably enough to cause the colony to die because of contamination of smaller workers, leading to the loss of control of the aggressive microfungi, which can quickly overgrow the symbiotic fungus culture. The dispersal dynamics of AI in leaf-cutting ant workers is important for investigations on the mode of action of this insecticide in the colony, and as a reference in future studies, such as those attempting to reduce the concentration of AIs in baits to reduce their environmental impact, or for facilitation of new AI screening.

False alarms in damage detection approaches

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) denotes a system with the ability to detect and interpret adverse changes in structures in order to improve reliability and reduce life-cycle costs. The greatest challenge for designing a SHM system is knowing what changes to look for and how to classify them. Different approaches for SHM have been proposed for damage identification, each one with advantages and drawbacks. This paper presents a methodology for improvement in vibration signal analysis using statistics information involving the probability density. Generally, the presence of noises in input and output signals results in false alarms, then, it is important that the methodology can minimize this problem. In this paper, the proposed approach is experimentally tested in a flexible plate using a piezoelectric (PZT) actuator to provide the disturbance.

The Brazilian architecture in wood and the confrontations with the questions of the environment

Two discussions are imposed to the designers of wood constructions. The first one deals with the technical knowledge to project and execute buildings; the second one is concerned with the preservation of the environment, use of the wood in a sustainable way. The work presents the tendencies of the wood used in the Brazilian habitation architecture characterizing the used woods; how the construction technical solutions have developed and discusses about the necessity of using the wood in a conscious way, knowing its origin and control, sustainable use of the forests resources. It focalizes, mainly, the search of the designers to harmonize the use of the wood and the preservation of the forest biodiversity, when it deals with the native forest.

Buffalo milk production in brazil and colombia: Genotype by environment interaction

The objective of this study was to determine whether there is a genotype by environment interaction (GxE) for dairy buffaloes in Brazil and Colombia. The (co)variance components were estimated by using a bi-trait repeatability animal model with the REML method. Each trait consisted in the milk yield obtained in both countries. Contemporary group (herd, year and season of parity) and age at parity (linear and quadratic covariate) fixed effects, along with the additive genetic, permanent environment, and the residual random effects were included in the model. Genetic, permanent environmental and residual variance and heritabilities were different for both countries. The genetic correlations for milk yield between Brazil and Colombia were low (between 0.10 and 0.13), indicating a GxE interaction between both countries. Knowing that this interaction influences the genetic progress of buffalo populations in Brazil and Colombia, we recommend choosing sires tested in the country they will be used, along with conducting joint genetic evaluations that consider GxE interaction effects.

Evaluation of water amount in hydrated ethanol fuel by gamma-ray attenuation technique

In this work, is presented an alternative and non conventional technique for evaluate the water amount present in the hydrated ethanol used as automotive fuel. The standard technique used in this kind of measure is the use of densimeter. The proposal of this work is based on the measure of the linear attenuation coefficient of hydrated ethanol, using the gamma-ray attenuation technique. The water amount, in volume, can be determined knowing the linear attenuation coefficient of hydrated ethanol. Samples of hydrated ethanol, collected at fuel stations, located in Sorocaba, SP, Brazil, were analyzed and the results showed the feasibility of the technique. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.

Limitations of trust management schemes in VANET and countermeasures

Vehicular networks ensure that the information received from any vehicle is promptly and correctly propagated to nearby vehicles, to prevent accidents. A crucial point is how to trust the information transmitted, when the neighboring vehicles are rapidly changing and moving in and out of range. Current trust management schemes for vehicular networks establish trust by voting on the decision received by several nodes, which might not be required for practical scenarios. It might just be enough to check the validity of incoming information. Due to the ephemeral nature of vehicular networks, reputation schemes for mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) cannot be applied to vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET). We point out several limitations of trust management schemes for VANET. In particular, we identify the problem of information cascading and oversampling, which commonly arise in social networks. Oversampling is a situation in which a node observing two or more nodes, takes into consideration both their opinions equally without knowing that they might have influenced each other in decision making. We show that simple voting for decision making, leads to oversampling and gives incorrect results. We propose an algorithm to overcome this problem in VANET. This is the first paper which discusses the concept of cascading effect and oversampling effects to ad hoc networks. © 2011 IEEE.

Unusually rapid growth of brown tumour in the mandible after parathyroidectomy associated with the presence of a supernumerary parathyroid gland

The aim of this study is to report the case of a quick growing brown tumour in the jaw after a parathyroidectomy due to the presence of a rare fifth parathyroid gland. The patient had chronic renal disease and the diagnosis was tertiary hyperparathyroidism. Thirty days after the parathyroidectomy, the patient returned with a significant increase in the tumour size. The suspicion of a supernumerary gland was confirmed by parathyroid scintigraphy. The treatment of brown tumour is dependent on the treatment of the hyperparathyroidism. However, curettage should be considered if a large lesion is disturbing mastication. In conclusion, this case should attract the attention of general practitioner dentists, since they may be the first professionals who have contact with the patient with a brown tumour in the jaws. Likewise, this case emphasises the importance of knowing the type of hyperparathyroidism involved to allow for effective treatment planning. © 2011 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery.

Development of a simplified transmission line model directly in the phase domain

A transmission line digital model is developed direct in the phase and time domains. The successive modal transformations considered in the three-phase representation are simplified and then the proposed model can be easily applied to several operation condition based only on the previous knowing of the line parameters, without a thorough theoretical knowledge of modal analysis. The proposed model is also developed based on lumped elements, providing a complete current and voltage profile at any point of the transmission system. This model makes possible the modeling of non-linear power devices and electromagnetic phenomena along the transmission line using simple electric circuit components, representing a great advantage when compared to several models based on distributed parameters and inverse transforms. In addition, an efficient integration method is proposed to solve the system of differential equations resulted from the line modeling by lumped elements, thereby making possible simulations of transient and steady state using a wide and constant integration step. © 2012 IEEE.

Effect of Various Thickening Agents on the Rheological Properties of Oil-in-Water Emulsions Containing Nonionic Emulsifier

The knowledge of rheological characteristics can indicate the emulsions properties, thus, nowadays rheology is used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries, even to study the influence of rheological additives on them. Ten emulsions were prepared with 5% and 10% of nonionic emulsifier. Two of them were used as controls while in the others were added thickening agents. Rheological analyses were performed. The results showed that all emulsions are non-Newtonian, thixotropics and viscoelastics fluids. The thickening agents could modify the rheological characteristics of the emulsions and knowing the influence of them is easy to adopt one to reach the desirable performance. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Potentially inappropriate medications used by the elderly: Prevalence and risk factors in Brazilian care homes

Abstract. Background: The use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) among the elderly is a serious public health problem because it is intrinsically linked to increased morbidity and mortality, causing high costs to public health systems. This study's objective was to verify the prevalence of and the factors associated with the use of PIMs by elderly Brazilians in institutional settings. Methods. We performed a transversal study, by consulting the case files of elderly people living in Long Term Care for the Elderly (LTC) in towns in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, as well as structured interviews with the nurses responsible for them.We identified PIMs using the list of recently updated Beers criteria developed by a group of specialists from the American Geriatrics Society (AGS), who reviewed the criteria based on studies with high scientific evidence levels. We defined the factors studied to evaluate the association with PIM use prior to the statistical analyses, which were the chi-square test and multiple logistic regression. Results: Among the elderly who used drugs daily, 82.6% were taking at least one PIM, with antipsychotics (26.5%) and analgesics (15.1%) being the most commonly used. Out of all the medications used, 32.4% were PIMs, with 29.7% of these being PIMs that the elderly should avoid independent of their condition, 1.1% being inappropriate medication for older adults with certain illnesses or syndromes, and 1.6% being medications that older adults should use with caution. In the multivariate analysis, the factors associated with PIM use were: polypharmacy (p = 0.0187), cerebrovascular disease (p = 0.0036), psychiatric disorders (p < 0.0001) and dependency (p = 0.0404). Conclusions: The results of this study showed a high prevalence of PIM use in institutionalized elderly Brazilian patients. and the associated factors were polypharmacy, psychiatric disorders, cerebrovascular diseases and dependency. © 2013 Lima et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Micropropagação da figueira (Ficus carica L.): estabelecimento, multiplicação e enraizamento in vitro

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

Produção in vitro de embriões de bovinos da raça Nelore oriundos de ovócitos de ovários com e sem corpo lúteo

Comparou-se a produção de embriões a partir de ovócitos oriundos de ovários com e sem corpo lúteo de vacas da raça Nelore, em relação à qualidade e quantidade de ovócitos obtidos, embriões produzidos, taxa de prenhez e proporção dos sexos. Foram realizadas aspirações foliculares dos dois ovários de 219 vacas em 250 seções, igualmente distribuídas em cinco grupos, sendo G1=fêmeas gestantes; G2=não gestantes, com CL e submetidas a tratamento hormonal com progestágeno+BE+PGF2∝; G3=não gestantes, sem CL e com o mesmo tratamento de G2; G4=não gestantes, com presença de CL e sem tratamento; G5=não gestantes, sem presença de CL e sem tratamento. Os resultados foram avaliados pela análise de variância (ANOVA) e aplicado o Teste de Tukey para comparação entre médias, a 5% de significância, pelo programa SISVAR. Já para comparação de proporção de sexos dentro e entre os grupos, foi utilizado o teste de comparação múltipla de proporções. O G4 produziu maior média de ovócitos totais aspirados que G2 e G3. Comparando-se os três grupos que apresentavam CL (G1, G2, G4), o G4 foi superior a G1 e G2 em ovócitos totais, no ovário com e sem CL. Em ovócitos viáveis, G2 foi superior a G1 no ovário com CL. Os ovócitos obtidos de ovários com CL é que resultaram em melhores índices de produção de embriões. As vacas gestantes produziram melhor nos ovários sem CL, com mais ovócitos viáveis (p<0,05) e iguais em embriões (p>0,05), em relação ao ovário com CL. As taxas de prenhez e proporção dos sexos foram semelhantes entre os grupos (p>0,05). A concentração de progesterona (P4) foi diferente entre os grupos, mas não influenciou as variáveis analisadas. A utilização do tratamento hormonal não melhorou os resultados de nenhuma variável. Portanto, o melhor critério de escolha de doadoras Nelore para programas de Produção in vitro (PIV) de embriões é o conhecimento individual de cada animal ao longo das seções de aspiração folicular.

Prevalence and risk factors associated with wheezing in the first year of life

Objective: to investigate the prevalence and risk factors associated with wheezing in infants in the first year of life.Methods: this was a cross-sectional study, in which a validated questionnaire (Estudio Internacional de Sibilancias en Lactantes - International Study of Wheezing in Infants - EISL) was applied to parents of infants aged between 12 and 15 months treated in 26 of 85 primary health care units in the period between 2006 and 2007. The dependent variable, wheezing, was defined using the following standards: occasional (up to two episodes of wheezing) and recurrent (three or more episodes of wheezing). The independent variables were shown using frequency distribution to compare the groups. Measures of association were based on odds ratio (OR) with a confidence interval of 95% (95% CI), using bivariate analysis, followed by multivariate analysis (adjusted OR [aOR]).Results: a total of 1,029 (37.7%) infants had wheezing episodes in the first 12 months of life; of these, 16.2% had recurrent wheezing. Risk factors for wheezing were family history of asthma (OR = 2.12; 95% CI: 1.76-2.54) and six or more episodes of colds (OR = 2.38; 95% CI: 1.91-2.97) and pneumonia (OR = 3.02; 95% CI: 2.43-3.76). For recurrent wheezing, risk factors were: familial asthma (aOR = 1.73; 95% CI: 1.22-2.46); early onset wheezing (aOR = 1.83; 95% CI: 1.75-3.75); nocturnal symptoms (aOR = 2.56; 95% CI: 1.75-3.75), and more than six colds (aOR = 2.07; 95% CI 1.43-.00).Conclusion: the main risk factors associated with wheezing in Fortaleza were respiratory infections and family history of asthma. Knowing the risk factors for this disease should be a priority for public health, in order to develop control and treatment strategies. (C) 2013 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.