Effect of Mouriri pusa tannins and flavonoids on prevention and treatment against experimental gastric ulcer

Aim of the study: Mouriri pusa, popularly known as manapuca or jaboticaba do mato, is a plant from Brazilian cerrado that has been found to be commonly used in the treatment of gastrointestinal disturbs in its native region. The present work was carried out to investigate the effect of tannins (TF) and flavonoids (FF) fractions from Mouriri pusa leaves methanolic extract on the prevention and cicatrisation process of gastric ulcers, and also evaluate possible toxic effects.Materials and methods: The following protocols were taken in rats: acute assay, in which ulcers were induced by oral ethanol after pre-treatment with the fractions; and 14 days treatment assay, in which ulcers were treated for 14 days after induction by local injection of acetic acid.Results: In the acute model, treatment with either, TF (25 mg/kg) or FF (50 mg/kg), was able to reduce lesion area, showing gastroprotective effect. In addition, FF proved itself anti-inflammatory by reducing COX-2 levels. In acetic acid model, both fractions exhibited larger ulcers' regenerative mucosa, indicating cicatrisation enhancement. FF group also showed augmented cell proliferation, anti-inflammatory action and enhanced angiogenesis as well as increased mucus secretion. Moreover, concerning the toxicity parameters analyzed, no alteration in the fractions groups was observed.Conclusions: Tannins and flavonoids from Mouriri pusa provide beneficial effects against gastric ulcers with relative safety. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dental fluorosis: Exposure, prevention and management

Dental fluorosis is a developmental disturbance of dental enamel, caused by successive exposures to high concentrations of fluoride during tooth development, leading to enamel with lower mineral content and increased porosity. The severity of dental fluorosis depends on when and for how long the overexposure to fluoride occurs, the individual response, weight, degree of physical activity, nutritional factors and bone growth. The risk period for esthetic changes in permanent teeth is between 20 and 30 months of age. The recommended level for daily fluoride intake is 0.05 - 0.07 mg F/Kg/day, which is considered of great help in preventing dental caries, acting in remineralization. A daily intake above this safe level leads to an increased risk of dental fluorosis. Currently recommended procedures for diagnosis of fluorosis should discriminate between symmetrical and asymmetrical and/or discrete patterns of opaque defects. Fluorosis can be prevented by having an adequate knowledge of the fluoride sources, knowing how to manage this issue and therefore, avoid overexposure.

Urban Traffic Control and Monitoring - An Approach for the Brazilian Intelligent Cities Project

This paper describes an urban traffic control system which aims at contributing to a more efficient traffic management system in the cities of Brazil. It uses fuzzy sets, case-based reasoning, and genetic algorithms to handle dynamic and unpredictable traffic scenarios, as well as uncertain, incomplete, and inconsistent information. The system is composed by one supervisor and several controller agents, which cooperate with each other to improve the system's results through Artificial Intelligence Techniques.

CPITN: time and cost estimates for periodontal prevention and treatment procedures.

The aim of this study was to estimate the necessary time and cost for periodontal prevention and treatment in a working population from sugar and alcohol refineries in Araraquara, SP, Brazil. A stratified sample of 528 employees aged 18-64 from administrative, industrial and agricultural staffs was examined by one examiner, previously trained, according to the community periodontal index of treatment needs (CPITN). The time required for procedures and the cost was extrapolated to the total worker population. The results showed that the estimated time required for periodontal prevention/treatment was 4527 hours. Of this time, 1783 hours were required for oral hygiene instruction, 2531 for scaling, 151 for surgery and 62 for maintenance. The cost would be US $17,655 for hiring a dentist for 8 hours/day to provide oral hygiene instruction, scaling, surgery and maintenance. However, the cost would be US $9,028 for hiring a dentist for 4 hours/day to provide surgery and maintenance and a dental hygienist for 8 hours/day to provide scaling and oral hygiene instruction. Taking into account epidemiologic, technical and economic aspects, the decision relating to manpower should be this second option.

Serial superficial digital flexor tendon biopsies for diagnosing and monitoring collagenase-induced tendonitis in horses

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

Development and application of an electronic tongue for detection and monitoring of nitrate, nitrite and ammonium levels in waters

This work presents the first study and development of an electronic tongue analysis system for the monitoring of nitrogen stable species: nitrate, nitrite and ammonium in water. The electronic tongue was composed of an array of 15 potentiometric poly(vinyl chloride) membrane sensors sensitive to cations and anions plus an artificial neural network (ANN) response model. The building of the ANN model was performed in a medium containing sodium, potassium, and chloride as interfering ions, thus simulating real environmental samples. The correlation coefficient in the cross-validation of nitrate, nitrite and ammonium was satisfactory in the three cases with values higher than 0.92. Finally, the utility of the proposed system is shown in the monitoring of the photoelectrocatalytic treatment of nitrate. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Retinoids for prevention and treatment of actinic keratosis

Actinic keratosis is a common cause of dermatological consultations and it presents a strong association with squamous cell carcinoma. Many substances are used for treatment and prevention, such as retinoids. Nevertheless, many studies on retinoids emphasize their application in treating and preventing non melanoma skin cancers. In this article, we reviewed studies about systemic and topical retinoids used with immunocompetent patients and organ transplant recipients with actinic keratosis, as primary or secondary outcomes. The majority of these papers pointed to a reduction in actinic keratosis count after treatment with retinoids. However, studies need to be better-defined in order to address the lack of a standardized dose, the absence of control groups, the low number of patients and short follow-up periods. Blind, randomized and controlled clinical trials with adequate sample sizes, specifically focused on actinic keratosis, are needed to clarify the real benefit of topical and/or oral retinoids. Comparison of efficacy and safety between oral and topical retinoids in the prevention and treatment of non-melanoma skin cancers and actinic keratosis is an essential pre requisite to establish new strategies to control these conditions.

Cultivation of PCV2 in swine testicle cells using the shell vial technique and monitoring of viral replication by qPCR and RT-qPCR

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

Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy for prevention and treatment of dental caries: a critical review

Introduction: Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy studies regarding dental caries have been present more frequently in the literature. However, photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy depends on the adjustment of variables such as the type of light source and, photosensitisers target microorganism; this makes it difficult to draw meaningful comparisons. The purpose of this paper was to provide a critical review related to this coadjuvant approach in the prevention and treatment of dental caries. Materials and Methods: A database search was made via Medline/PubMed (keywords: photodynamic therapy and dental caries) and 33 articles were found. Results: Twelve articles were included after using the filter tool, being excluded reviews and manuscripts reporting works not related to the studied area. Conclusion: The manuscripts showed that photodynamic therapy presents optimal results against dental caries, even though better understanding of photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy and its components are necessary before the clinical application of this alternative modality in the dental practice.

Biological therapy for the prevention and treatment of postoperative endoscopic recurrence in Crohn's disease: time for acceptance?

In most patients, postoperative endoscopic recurrence (PER) occurs 1 year after abdominal resection for Crohn’s disease (CD). Preventing PER is essential for disease control, as most patients develop further clinical and surgical recurrences. Conventional therapy with nitroimidazoles, aminosalicylates, and immunomodulators have limited efficacy for preventing PER. Initial trials with biological therapy (infliximab and adalimumab) showed promising results in preventing PER, and the efficacy of these drugs seems higher than that with conventional therapy. The aim of this review is to outline the results of studies that used infliximab or adalimumab for preventing and treating PER in CD patients. Data with both agents are available, and a few, small prospective trials have shown the efficacy of these drugs in patients with a high risk for recurrence. We believe that, in 2013, biological agents will be better accepted for the prevention PER in CD patients, in addition to the already existing data. Larger trials are still underway, and their results will certainly determine the role of these agents in PER, which develops after bowel resection for CD.

Measurement of fats, oil and grease by spectro-photometry and its application on different sites at São Paulo State, Brazil

This investigation was carried out within the Parana sedimentary basin, Brazil, involved the sampling of effluents and groundwater from monitoring stations situated at different sites at São Paulo State, and was realized with the purpose of evaluating the presence of fats, oil and grease (FOG) in different matrices. Several tests were realized with very distinct materials (cooking oil, butter, margarine, pig fat, vacuum pump oil) in order to properly calibrate the spectrophotometric system. Each matrix was dissolved with 1,1,1-trichloroethane and from the stock solutions it was prepared working standards from different dilutions. The data obtained were plotted on absorbance vs. concentration graph that yielded a successful calibration curve when a mineral oil for vacuum pump was utilized in the experiments at a wavelength corresponding to 410 mn. The results obtained for the analyzed samples were compared with the limiting value established by the São Paulo State legislation on the prevention and pollution control of the environment that was established in 8(th) September 1976 by Rule No. 8468.

Analysis of floristic composition and structure as an aid to monitoring protected areas of dense rain forest in southeastern Brazil

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

Forum: social network for the surveillance and prevention of workplace accidents

In 2008, academic researchers and public service officials created a university extension studies platform based on online and on-site meetings denominated "Work-Related Accidents Forum: Analysis, Prevention, and Other Relevant Aspects. Its aim was to help public agents and social partners to propagate a systemic approach that would be helpful in the surveillance and prevention of work-related accidents. This article describes and analyses such a platform. Online access is free and structured to: support dissemination of updated concepts; support on-site meetings and capacity to build educational activities; and keep a permanent space for debate among the registered participants. The desired result is the propagation of a social-technical-systemic view of work-related accidents that replaces the current traditional view that emphasizes human error and results in blaming the victims. The Forum uses an educational approach known as permanent health education, which is based on the experience and needs of workers and encourages debate among participants. The forum adopts a problematizing pedagogy that starts from the requirements and experiences of the social actors and stimulates support and discussions among them in line with an ongoing health educational approach. The current challenge is to turn the platform into a social networking website in order to broaden its links with society.