Immunological and parasitological parameters in Schistosoma mansoni-infected mice treated with crude extract from the leaves of Mentha x piperita L.

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

Serological and infection statuses of dogs from a visceral leishmaniasis-endemic area

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

Modelo experimental de conjuntivite alérgica: efeito do tratamento farmacológico com a proteína anti-inflamatória galectina - 1

Pós-graduação em Genética - IBILCE

Exigências ambientais europeias: novos desafios competitivos para o complexo eletrônico brasileiro

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the implications of the european environmental requirements for electronic equipment on brazilian electronic industry sector. These deter-minations deal with elimination of hazardous substances and management of electronic products waste and have reached not only the electronic sector companies in international level, but brazilian electronic sector as well. Most brazilian companies of the electronic sector are getting complied with the requirement that restricts the use of hazardous substances. The main consequences of this process are technological innovations and changes on contractual relationships among companies. Foreign companies branches are more advanced than local ones in terms of timing of compliance to the new requirements and technological perfor-mance, showing an alignment with headquarter strategies. Not being complied with these requirements avoid companies to achieve commercial benefits and open space for questions about policies Brazil must take.

O efeito do fim do Acordo sobre Têxteis e Vestuários para a indústria brasileira: uma análise a partir da fronteira de produção estocástica

This article investigates the productivity and production function of thirteen large Brazilian textile and clothing companies before and after the end of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (AVT) that abolished import quotas in 2005. For this purpose, we estimate the stochastic production frontier in panel data between 1997 and 2008 and simultaneously an explanatory equation for the (in)efficiency of firms, as proposed by Battese and Coelli (1995). The results indicated that more efficient firms are the oldest. The total factor productivity of firms tended to fall, even after the end of quotas, increasing productivity only from 2007. Overall, firms from Santa Catarina were more efficient than those of other states.

Políticas Industriais e de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação na Irlanda: ênfase em setores de alta tecnologia e comparação com o Brasil

From a theoretical foundation favorable to industrial policies, this paper intends to show the main policies followed by Ireland since the 1950s, with a special emphasis on those directed to Science, Technology and Innovation (S,T&I), FDI and high tech sectors, like software and biotechnology. We compare these policies with those used in Brazil, in a similar period, in order to have some hints for virtual transformations of current Brazilian policies. We conclude that the compromise of the State with the direction of the development and the continu-ity of industrial policies is very important to a solid building of comparative advantages in technologically dynamic sectors.

Beneficial effect of annexin A1 in a model of experimental allergic conjunctivitis

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

Analysis of generalized interictal discharges using quantitative EEG

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

Stem cell factor: a hemopoietic cytokine with important targets in asthma

We review evidence that Stem Cell Factor (SCF) plays an important role in the pathophysiology of asthma. SCF is produced by a wide variety of cells present in asthmatic lung, including mast cells and eosinophils. Its receptor, c-kit, is broadly expressed on mature mast cells and eosinophils. SCF promotes recruitment of mast cell progenitors into tissues, as well as their local maturation and activation. It also promotes eosinophil survival, maturation and functional activation. SCF enhances IgE-dependent release of mediators from mast cells, including histamine, leukotrienes, cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-5, GM-CSF) and chemokines (RANTES/CCL5, MCP-1/CCL2, TARC/CCL17 e MDC/CCL22); it is required for IL-4 production in mast cells. SCF, acting in concert with IgE, also upregulates the expression and function of CC chemokine receptors in mast cells. Structural and resident airway cells express increased levels of SCF in the bronchus of asthmatic patients. In a murine model of asthma, allergen exposure increased production of SCF by epithelial cells and alveolar macrophages, which was transient and paralleled by histamine release. SCF induced long-lived airway hyperreactivity, which was prevented by local neutralization of SCF, as well as by inhibitors of the production or activity of cysteinyl-leukotrienes. Together, these observations suggest that SCF has an important role in asthma.

Investigation of the cingulate cortex in idiopathic generalized epilepsy

Studies using quantitative neuroimaging have shown subtle abnormalities in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE). These findings have several locations, but the midline parasagittal structures are most commonly implicated. The cingulate cortex is related and may be involved. The objective of the current investigation was to perform a comprehensive analysis of the cingulate cortex using multiple quantitative structural neuroimaging techniques. Thirty-two patients (18 women, 30 ± 10 years) and 36 controls (18 women, 32 ± 11 years) were imaged by 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A volumetric three-dimensional (3D) sequence was acquired and used for this investigation. Regions-of-interest were selected and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analyses compared the cingulate cortex of the two groups using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM8) and VBM8 software. Cortical analyses of the cingulate gyrus was performed using Freesurfer. Images were submitted to automatic processing using built-in routines and recommendations. Structural parameters were extracted for individual analyses, and comparisons between groups were restricted to the cingulate gyrus. Finally, shape analyses was performed on the anterior rostral, anterior caudal, posterior, and isthmus cingulate using spherical harmonic description (SPHARM). VBM analyses of cingulate gyrus showed areas of gray matter atrophy, mainly in the anterior cingulate gyrus (972 mm(3) ) and the isthmus (168 mm(3) ). Individual analyses of the cingulate cortex were similar between patients with IGE and controls. Surface-based comparisons revealed abnormalities located mainly in the posterior cingulate cortex (718.12 mm(2) ). Shape analyses demonstrated a predominance of anterior and posterior cingulate abnormalities. This study suggests that patients with IGE have structural abnormalities in the cingulate gyrus mainly localized at the anterior and posterior portions. This finding is subtle and variable among patients.

Presença de candida e de anticorpos anti-candida na cavidade bucal de pacientes com periodontite crônica do adulto

The presence of Candida and the production of histolytic enzyms by the isolated samples were observed in the saliva and gingival fluid in adult chronic periodontitis patients and health ones. It was also verified the quantity of antibodies against Candida (IgG, IgA, IgM and IgE) in the saliva and sera of the same patients through ELISA technique. Yeasts of the genus Candida mainly C. albicans were isolated from saliva in higher number from adult chronic periodontitis patients in relation to the controle with statistically significant difference. The meon of the quantity of isolated Candida (UFC/ml) were higher for periodontítis patients, although this difference was not statistically significative. Samples of Candida isolated from both groups produced hystolytic enzymes (hyaluronidase, condroitin sulfatase, proteinase, phospholipase) that are considered patogenicity factors in periodontol diseases. Only one sample of each group (C albicans) didn't produce the four analysed enzymes. The antibodies levels against Candida (IgG, IgM and IgA in saliva, IgG and IgA in sera and IgG and IgM in gingival Fluid), were statistically higher in adult chronic periodontitis patients in relation to periodontically health individuals, suggesting humoral immune response by periodontitis patients to the yeasts of the genus Candida

Análise quantitativa das descargas epileptiformes generalizadas e da neuroimagem de pacientes com epilepsia generalizada idiopática

Pós-graduação em Fisiopatologia em Clínica Médica - FMB