Molecular typing and antifungal susceptibility of clinical sequential isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans from São Paulo State, Brazil

The antifungal susceptibility profiles and the genetic variability of 83 sequential clinical isolates of Cryptococcus neoformans, including four Cryptococcus gattii isolates, obtained from 38 São Paulo AIDS patients with cryptococcal meningitis were assessed by electrophoretic karyotyping and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. The majority of the Cryptococcus neoformans isolates were highly susceptible to amphotericin B and fluconazole. Twenty percent of the minimum inhibitory concentration values for amphotericin B varied from 0.5 to 1 mu g mL(-1). For fluconazole, 22% occurred in the range 8-16 mu g mL(-1). Sequential isolates from nine patients showed a trend towards lower susceptibility to fluconazole, flucytosine, itraconazole and amphotericin B. The results of molecular typing by electrophoretic karyotyping and RAPD analysis showed the presence of 22 electrophoretic karyotypes (EK) and 15 RAPD profiles that were highly correlated. Our results provided evidence for the occurrence of genetic changes in some strains associated with microevolution during the course of infection. We also observed both microevolution and simultaneous coinfection with two distinct Cryptococcus neoformans strains in one patient. In some patients, we found changed EK- and RAPD patterns in association with increased MIC values.

Radial Plasma Dynamic in Sequential Pinches

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Treatment of PVC using an alternative low energy ion bombardment procedure

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

Orbit determination using GPS including perturbations due to geopotential coefficients of high degree and order and solar radiation pressure

The main target here is to determine the orbit of an artificial satellite, using signals of the GPS constellation and least squares algorithms implemented through sequential Givens rotations as a method of estimation, with the aim of improving the performance of the orbit estimation process and, at the same time, minimizing the computational procedure cost. Geopotential perturbations up to high order and direct solar radiation pressure were taken into account. It was also considered the position of the GPS antenna on the satellite body that, lately, consists of the influence of the satellite attitude motion in the orbit determination process. An application has been done, using real data from the Topex/Poseidon satellite, whose ephemeris is available at Internet. The best accuracy obtained in position was smaller than 5 meters for short period (2 hours) and smaller than 28 meters for long period (24 hours) orbit determination. In both cases, the perturbations mentioned before were taken into consideration and the analysis occurred without selective availability on the signals measurements.

Efficient procedure to evaluate electromagnetic transients on three-phase transmission lines

This paper presents a hybrid way mixing time and frequency domain for transmission lines modelling. The proposed methodology handles steady fundamental signal mixed with fast and slow transients, including impulsive and oscillatory behaviour. A transmission line model is developed based on lumped elements representation and state-space techniques. The proposed methodology represents an easy and practical procedure to model a three-phase transmission line directly in time domain, without the explicit use of inverse transforms. The proposed methodology takes into account the frequency-dependent parameters of the line, considering the soil and skin effects. In order to include this effect in the state matrices, a fitting method is applied. Furthermore the accuracy of proposed the developed model is verified, in frequency domain, by a simple methodology based on line distributed parameters and transfer function related to the input/output signals of the lumped parameters representation. In addition, this article proposes the use of a fast and robust analytic integration procedure to solve the state equations, enabling transient and steady-state simulations. The results are compared with those obtained by the commercial software Microtran (EMTP), taking into account a three-phase transmission line, typical in the Brazilian transmission system.

EVALUATION of HEAVY METAL AVAILABILITY IN CONTAMINATED SEDIMENTS FROM THE ILHA SOLTEIRA HYDROELECTRIC DAM on THE PARANA RIVER AT ILHA SOLTEIRA, SP, BRAZIL

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

Relação entre habilidades auditivas e fonológicas em crianças com dislexia do desenvolvimento

A dislexia do desenvolvimento, dificuldade específica de leitura, é caracterizada pela dificuldade em realizar a decodificação fono-grafêmica e percepção de fonemas acusticamente semelhantes. Este estudo teve como objetivo caracterizar o desempenho de crianças com dislexia quanto às habilidades auditivas e de consciência fonológica, correlacionando-as. Participaram deste estudo crianças com dislexia e com bom desempenho escolar, submetidas a avaliações audiológica, do processamento auditivo e das habilidades fonológicas. Os resultados indicaram diferença estatisticamente significante entre as habilidades auditivas de seqüência para sons verbais, mensagem competitiva ipsi e contra-lateral, dicótico de dígitos e dissílabos alternados e ainda nos subtestes de síntese, segmentação, manipulação e transposição. Os achados deste estudo evidenciaram correlação entre provas de memória auditiva e manipulação silábica e fonêmica e associação entre habilidades auditivas e fonológicas, sugerindo que os processos auditivos interferem diretamente na percepção de aspectos acústicos, temporais e seqüenciais dos sons para formação de uma representação fonológica estável.

Desempenho de escolares com dislexia do desenvolvimento em tarefas fonológicas e silábicas

OBJETIVO: caracterizar o desempenho em tarefas fonológicas e silábicas de escolares com dislexia do desenvolvimento e comparar estes achados com o desempenho de discentes com bom desempenho escolar. MÉTODOS: participaram do estudo 26 alunos de oito a 12 anos de idade, de ambos os sexos, de 2ª. a 4ª. séries do Ensino Fundamental municipal na cidade de Marilia-SP, divididas em GI: composto por 13 escolares com dislexia atendidos no Centro de Estudos da Educação e Saúde - CEES/UNESP e GII: composto por 13 alunos com bom desempenho acadêmico, pareados segundo sexo, idade e escolaridade com o GI. Como procedimento foi utilizada a Prova de Consciência Fonológica - Instrumento de Avaliação Seqüencial - CONFIAS. Os resultados foram analisados estatisticamente pelo Teste Mann-Whitney (comparação entre os grupos) e Teste dos Postos Sinalizados-Wilcoxon (comparação entre as variáveis). RESULTADOS: os resultados evidenciaram diferença estatisticamente significante, sugerindo melhor desempenho do GII em relação ao GI quanto às tarefas fonêmicas e silábicas. O GI apresentou diferença estatisticamente significativa nas tarefas silábicas e fonêmicas, com melhor desempenho nas primeiras. Entre os escolares do GII não houve grande diferença estatística entre tarefas silábicas, apenas entre tarefas fonêmicas. CONCLUSÃO: o estudo concluiu que escolares com dislexia do desenvolvimento apresentam dificuldades quanto à identificação de rima e produção de palavras com o som dado, apontando para um déficit em acessar os códigos e as representações fonológicas.

Typing class I HLA-A gene using a nested PCR-RFLP procedure

In order to detect several new HLA-A class I alleles that have been described since 1998, the original PCR-RFLP method developed to identify the 78 alleles recognized at that time at high resolution level was adapted by us for low and medium resolution levels using a nested PCR-RFLP approach. The results obtained from blood samples of 23 subjects using both the PCR-RFLP method and a commercial kit (MicroSSP1A®, One Lambda Inc.) showed an agreement higher than 95%. The PCR-RFLP adapted method was effective in low and medium resolution histocompatibility evaluations.

Mitochondrial Alterations in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Pediatric Case Description of Three Submitted Sequential Biopsies

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a clinical-pathological syndrome that encompasses a wide spectrum of morphologic alterations, ranging from simple hepatic steatosis to a more severe stage, known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The purpose of this clinical report was to contribute to the understanding of mitochondrial alterations in NAFLD. The child (13-month-old) underwent initial biopsy in the year 2000 and was diagnosed with diffuse macro and microvesicular steatosis. Two additional biopsies were performed in 2001 and 2004. A high percentage of microvesicular steatosis was observed in the biopsies performed in 2000 and 2001. Mitochondrial size was slightly increased in the biopsy performed in the year 2000, significantly increased in 2001 and decreased in 2004. The presence of "mitochondrial hypertrophy" in the hepatocytes of an asymptomatic pediatric patient whose disease presentation was typical of NAFLD, excluding other pathological processes, allowed us to suspect that such a defect was considered the primary mitochondrial disorder.

Analytical procedure based on slurry sampling for determining selenium in organic vegetable samples by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

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

Sequential IL-23 and IL-17 and increased Mmp8 and Mmp14 expression characterize the progression of an experimental model of periodontal disease in type 1 diabetes

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

Angiotensin II, progesterone, and prostaglandins are sequential steps in the pathway to bovine oocyte nuclear maturation

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Microdilution procedure for antifungal susceptibility testing of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis to amphotericin B and itraconazole

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