Intubação traqueal e o paciente com o estômago cheio

A aspiração pulmonar do conteúdo gástrico, apesar de pouco frequente, exige cuidados especiais para sua prevenção. A depressão da consciência durante a anestesia predispõe os pacientes a esta grave complicação pela diminuição na função do esfíncter esofágico e dos reflexos protetores das vias aéreas. Guias de jejum pré-operatório elaborados recentemente sugerem períodos menores de jejum, principalmente para líquidos, permitindo mais conforto aos pacientes e menor risco de hipoglicemia e desidratação, sem aumentar a incidência de aspiração pulmonar perioperatória. O uso rotineiro de agentes que diminuem a acidez e volume gástrico parece estar indicado apenas para pacientes de risco. A intubação traqueal após indução anestésica por meio da técnica de sequência rápida está indicada naqueles pacientes, com risco de aspiração gástrica, em que não há suspeita de intubação traqueal difícil. A indicação correta da técnica, sua aplicação criteriosa e a utilização racional das drogas disponíveis podem promover condições excelentes de intubação, com curto período de latência, rápido retorno da consciência e da respiração espontânea, caso haja falha na intubação traqueal.O presente artigo tem como objetivo discutir os métodos atualmente utilizados para controlar o volume e o pH do conteúdo gástrico, proteger as vias aéreas durante as manobras de intubação e reduzir o refluxo gastroesofágico.

Relação entre perdas dentárias e queixas de mastigação, deglutição e fala em indivíduos adultos

OBJETIVO: investigar se as perdas dentárias em indivíduos adultos apresentam relação com as queixas de fala, mastigação e deglutição. MÉTODOS: participaram deste estudo 50 indivíduos adultos, trabalhadores de uma Avícola, do município de Bariri (SP), com faixa etária entre 18 e 52 anos. Os participantes selecionados foram submetidos à avaliação odontológica por um cirurgião-dentista e à entrevista fonoaudiológica, por duas fonoaudiólogas, em um consultório do município que mantém contrato de prestação de serviço com a Avícola. Para análise dos resultados, foram comparados os indivíduos com e sem perda dos elementos dentários, denominados de grupo experimental (GE) e grupo controle (GC), respectivamente, a partir da aplicação do teste Qui-Quadrado. RESULTADOS: os resultados revelaram maior ocorrência de mastigação unilateral no GE. Queixas quanto à dificuldade e dor na mastigação estiveram presentes apenas no GE, com diferença estatisticamente significante entre os grupos (p<0,05). O tempo de deglutição mostrou-se inadequado para a maioria dos indivíduos em ambos os grupos. A maioria dos indivíduos do GC mencionou utilizar algum tipo de líquido para facilitar a deglutição. Nenhum indivíduo mencionou queixas de fala. CONCLUSÃO: os achados revelaram que a ausência de elementos dentários em indivíduos adultos apresentou relação apenas entre dificuldade e dor durante a mastigação.

Test of the adiabatic nucleation model in SeTe and GeSnSe glasses

Se1-yTey and Ge1-ySnySe2.5 glasses, with compositions Y less than or equal to 0.5 and Y less than or equal to 0.6 respectively, are investigated. These glasses show a glass transition temperature (T-g) above the stability limit, indicated by the Adiabatic Nucleation Model (ANM). This effect has to be so because, other-wise, when cooled, these undercooled liquids would crystallize by generalized nucleation near the stability limit and no T-g could be observed. This shows that Se1-yTey glasses for Y < 0.5 are structurally stable. Limiting cases are pure Te and Se50Te50, which have T'(g)'s on the stability limit. Pure amorphous Te has to be obtained by fast quenching techniques, where the effective (fast quenching) T-g(*) is higher and Se50Te50 tends to crystallize easily. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Real-time optical monitoring of the dip coating process

A significant part of film production by the coating industry is based on wet bench processes, where better understanding of their temporal dynamics could facilitate control and optimization. In this work, in situ laser interferometry is applied to study properties of flowing liquids and quantitatively monitor the dip coating batch process. Two oil standards Newtonian, non-volatile, with constant refractive indices and distinct flow properties - were measured under several withdrawing speeds. The dynamics of film physical thickness then depends on time as t(-1/2), and flow characterization becomes possible with high precision (linear slope uncertainty of +/-0.04%). Resulting kinematic viscosities for OP60 and OP400 are 1,17 +/- 0,03. St and 9,9 +/- 0,2 St, respectively. These results agree with nominal values, as provided by the manufacturer. For more complex films (a multi-component sol-gel Zirconyl Chloride aqueous solution) with a varying refractive index, through a direct polarimetric measurement, allowing also determination of the temporal evolution of physical thickness (uncertainty of +/- 0,007 microns) is also determined during dip coating.

C-H center dot center dot center dot O and N-H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bonds in liquid amides investigated by Monte Carlo simulation

Monte Carlo simulations of liquid formamide, N-methylformamide (MF), and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) have been performed in the isothermal and isobaric ensemble at 298 K and 1 atm, aiming to investigate the C-H ... O and N-H ... O hydrogen bonds. The interaction energy was calculated using the classical 6-12 Lennard-Jones pairwise potential plus a Coulomb term on a rigid six-site molecular model with the potential parameters being optimized in this work. Theoretical values obtained for heat of vaporization and liquid densities are in good agreement with the experimental data. The radial distribution function [RDF, g(r)] obtained compare well with R-X diffraction data available. The RDF and molecular mechanics (MM2) minimization show that the C-H ... O interaction has a significant role in the structure of the three liquids. These results are supported by ab initio calculations. This Interaction is particularly important in the structure of MF. The intensity of the N-H ... O hydrogen bond is greater in the MF than formamide. This could explain some anomalous properties verified in MF. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Sensitivity of ant (Cephalotes) colonies and individuals to antibiotics implies feeding symbiosis with gut microorganisms

Ants in the tribe Cephalotini are exceptional in that they maintain microorganisms in their digestive tract. To understand what these microorganisms mean to the ants, we observed the feeding habits of Cephalotes pusillus and Cephalotes atratus, finding that in nature they feed on extrafloral nectars, homopteran secretions, and bird droppings. Feeding the antibiotic kanamycin to colonies of C. pusillus in the laboratory kills them. Ants desiccate or starve rather than feed on liquids to which the antibiotics gentamycin and netilmycin have been added, but feed and survive on liquids containing nystatin, penicillin, and ampicillin. We identified over 10 microorganisms from the intestine of C. pusillus with different antibiotic-resistance patterns. The bacteria are from the genera Corynebacterium, Brevibacterium, Sphingobacterium, Ochrobactrum, Myroides, Brevundimonas, Alcaligenes, Stenotrophomonas, Moraxella, and Pseudomonas. We hypothesize that the microorganisms provide nutrients to the ants by synthesizing amino acids from carbohydrates and nitrates. We do not know whether the ants collect the bacteria from the environment, but they transmit them to their young. They culture them in their digestive tract, eventually feeding on them.

Effect of rinsing with water immediately after APF gel application on enamel demineralization in situ

This double-blind crossover in situ study evaluated the effect of rinsing with water immediately after the application of acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF) on enamel demineralization. APF application was followed by: no rinsing or consuming of liquids or solids for the next 30 min; immediately washing with water jet or drinking of a glass of water. All treatments showed a statistically significant decrease in enamel mineral loss compared to the control (p < 0.05), but the differences among treatments were not significant (p > 0.05). The data suggest that the recommendation of asking patients to refrain from drinking water following professional APF application does not seem to have an influence on the anticaries effect of fluoride. Copyright (C) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Comparison of hexamethyidisilazane and critical point drying treatments for SEM analysis of anaerobic biofilms and granular sludge

We present a fast procedure for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis in which hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) solvent, instead of the critical point drying, is used to remove liquids from a microbiological specimen. The results indicate that the HMDS solvent is suitable for drying samples of anaerobic cells for examination by SEM and does not cause cell structure disruption.

Utilization of peritoneal dialysis in the acute setting

Peritoneal dialysis (PD), although classically described and utilized in the treatment of patients with end-stage renal disease, can also be utilized in the acute setting in different clinical situations. Recent studies showed that, in patients with acute renal failure, it is possible to obtain reasonable dialysis doses with adequate metabolic and etectrolytic control and tow incidence of complications by utilizing continuous PD through a cycler at high volume. In patients with congestive heart failure without end-stage renal disease, PD is capable of promoting clinical improvement with slow removal of liquids, becoming an attractive alternative for situations of rapidly or slowly worsening cardiac function. In patients submitted to chronic hemodialysis but who have vascular access difficulties, PD can also be utilized as a bridge, thereby avoiding the use of central venous catheters, which can be associated with infectious complications such as bacterial endocarditis. New studies must be realized showing other indications for PD.

Thermal characterization of an ultrasonic density-measurement cell

An ultrasonic density-measurement cell is experimentally characterized as a function of temperature. The measurement of propagation velocity and density of several liquids is performed in the 15 degrees C-40 degrees C temperature range. Results are compared to the tabulated values in the case of distilled water, showing an accuracy of 0.07% for the propagation velocity. The cell was tested with distilled water, alcohol, and homogenized milk, and density values are compared to those obtained with a pycnometer, showing 0.2% accuracy in density measurement for stabilized temperature and 0.4% accuracy under thermal gradient conditions.

The characteristics of a test liquid formulation for use in evaluating the performance of handling and metering systems

Injection metering systems are an important option for the development of pesticide application equipment, with advantages relating to minimising the need for disposal of unused pesticide, improving the ease of cleaning and optimising the accuracy of chemical application. For all injection systems, characteristics such as the steady-state accuracy of delivered dose, dose stability and the time response for dose step changes are related to the ability of the system to operate with different chemical formulations. A system designed to inject liquids should be able to accommodate changes in viscosity and density. The aim of this study was to develop a methodology for testing chemical injection systems using liquids with different viscosities. The experimental arrangement simulating applications with injection metering systems used dye and salt solutions as tracers. Tests were conducted to analyse the influence of salt on the characteristics of the water and a viscous solution. Results showed that the salt interfered with the dye stability in the water solution. In tests with a viscous test liquid, the salt was introduced at different steps during the mixing process, providing four different liquids to be analysed in terms of viscosity, density and pH. Some differences in liquid characteristics were found which could influence the performance of the injection systems.

Recent advances in electronic tongues

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

Impedance e-tongue instrument for rapid liquid assessment

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

Design, construction, and performance of a real-time holographic refractometry prototype for liquid analysis

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Chronic consumption of fructose rich soft drinks alters tissue lipids of rats

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