Gastroprotective and ulcer healing effects of essential oil from Hyptis spicigera Lam. (Lamiaceae)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

New thought experiment to test the generalized second law of thermodynamics

We propose an extension of the original thought experiment proposed by Geroch, which sparked much of the actual debate and interest on black hole thermodynamics, and show that the generalized second law of thermodynamics is in compliance with it.

Essential oils from medicinal and aromatic plants: A review of the gastroprotective and ulcer-healing activities

Gastric ulcer is an excoriated area of the gastric mucosa. It is among the predominant gastrointestinal chronic diseases. The essential oils represent an important part of the traditional pharmacopoeia in many countries and have been successfully used for gastroprotection and ulcer healing. Thus, this review presents the experimental activity of essential oils traditionally used in the gastric ulcer prevention and treatment, considering their families, part of the plant studied, bioassays, and their mechanisms of gastroprotection and ulcer healing, with the aim of stimulating novel studies in the search for a new phytomedicine to treat gastric diseases. © 2012 The Authors Fundamental and Clinical Pharmacology © 2012 Société Française de Pharmacologie et de Thérapeutique.

A revision of the genus Pulaeus Den Heyer, with descriptions of a new genus and four new Brazilian species (Acari: Prostigmata: Cunaxidae)

A new genus, Lupaeus gen. nov., is created to contain part of the described species in the genus Pulaeus Den Heyer. A key to the genera of the tribe Pulaeini, to which these two genera belong, and one auxiliary key to the species of Brazil and South Africa, are provided. Four new species, viz. Pulaeus myrtaceus sp. nov., P. quadrisolenidius sp. nov., Lupaeus lectus sp. nov. and L. lobidorsalis sp. nov. are described and figured. P. martini Den Heyer, 1981 is designated as type species for the new genus. New nomenclatural combinations are reported.

Description of a new species and complementary description of a known species of Iphiseiodes de Leon (Acari: Phytoseiidae)

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

Synthesis of 4-aminoquinoline analogues and their platinum(II) complexes as new antileishmanial and antitubercular agents

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

Controlled transscleral drug delivery formulations to the eye: establishing new concepts and paradigms in ocular anti-inflammatory therapeutics and antibacterial prophylaxis

Importance of the field: The use of topical agents poses unique and challenging hurdles for drug delivery. Topical steroids effectively control ocular inflammation, but are associated with the well-recognized dilemma of patient compliance. Although administration of topical antimicrobials as prophylaxis is acceptable among ophthalmologists, this common practice has no sound evidence base Developing a new antimicrobial agent or delivery strategy with enhanced penetration by considering the anatomical and physiological constraints exerted by the barriers of the eye is not a commonly perceived strategy. Exploiting the permeability of the sclera, subconjunctival routes may offer a promising alternative for enhanced drug delivery and tissue targeting.Area covered in this review: Ocular drug delivery strategies were reviewed for ocular inflammation and infections clinically adopted for newer class of antimicrobials, which use a multipronged approach to limit risks of endophthalmitis.What the reader will gain: The analysis substantiates a new transscleral drug delivery therapeutic approach for cataract surgery.Take home message: A new anti-inflammatory and anti-infective paradigm that frees the patient from the nuisance of topical therapeutics is introduced, opening a large investigative avenue for future improved therapies.

Paracoccidioidomycosis of external genitalia: report of six new cases and review of the literature

BACKGROUND: Paracoccidioidomycosis is a systemic mycosis of dermatological interest due to the frequency of cutaneous and mucosal lesions. The involvement of the external genitalia is extremely rare and few cases have been reported.OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence of external genitalia lesions in paracoccidioidomycosis patients, identify clinical characteristics and compare with what is observed in the specific literature.METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study, with focus on paracoccidioiodomycosis patients with external genitalia lesions. The demographic and clinical aspects of cases were compared with what has been reported so far on LILACS, SciELO e MEDLINE data bases.RESULTS: Data of 483 cases of paracoccidioidomycosis were studied in a 42-year period. Six (1.2%) patients showed specific lesions on external genitalia. Five patients were male with mean age of 47.2 years and all of them presented with the chronic multifocal clinical form. Only one, a 15-year-old female patient was observed who showed a subacute clinical form, juvenile type.CONCLUSIONS: Compromise of the genitourinary tract among paracoccidioidomycosis patients is rare and even rarer when only the external genitalia are considered. As observed in the classical picture of paracoccidioidomycosis patients, the male gender and the chronic multifocal clinical form prevailed in the present study.

A new short and simple health-related quality of life measurement for paediatric rheumatic diseases: initial validation in juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Objective. To develop and validate a new short and simple measure of health-related quality of life (HRQL) in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).Methods. The Paediatric Rheumatology Quality of Life Scale (PRQL) is a 10-item questionnaire that explores HRQL in two domains: physical health (PhH) and psychosocial health (PsH). Validation of the parent proxy report and child self-report versions of the instrument was accomplished by evaluating 472 JIA patients and similar to 800 healthy children. Validation analyses included assessment of feasibility, face and content validity; construct and discriminative ability; internal structure and consistency; test-retest reliability; responsiveness to clinical change; and minimal clinically important difference.Results. The PRQL was found to be feasible and to possess both face and content validity. The PRQL score correlated in the predicted range with most of the other JIA outcome measures, thereby demonstrating good construct validity, and discriminated well between different levels of disease severity. Assessment of internal structure (factor analysis) revealed that the PhH and PsH subscales identify two unambiguously separated domains. The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.86. The intraclass correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability was 0.91. The PRQL revealed fair responsiveness, with a standardized response mean of 0.67 in improved patients. Overall, the PRQL appeared to be more able to capture physical HRQL than psychosocial HRQL.Conclusion. The PRQL was found to possess good measurement properties and is, therefore, a valid instrument for the assessment of HRQL in children with JIA. This tool is primarily proposed for use in standard clinical care.

A new species and a new record of Pyxine (Physciaceae) with norstictic acid from São Paulo State, Brazil

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

A new genus and two new species of Stevardiinae (Characiformes: Characidae) with a hypothesis on their relationships based on morphological and histological data

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

Abarema cochliacarpos: Gastroprotective and ulcer-healing activities

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Squamata, Elapidae, Micrurus surinamensis (Cuvier, 1817): new records and distribution map in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, with notes on diet and activity period.

We report six new records of M. surinamensis and present the map of distribution with known records for this species of semiaquatic coral snake in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Annelida, Hirudinida, Stibarobdella moorei (Oka, 1910): new distribution and host records.

The present report is the northernmost capture of the piscicolid leech Stibarobdella moorei in the western South Atlantic Ocean. This is also the first time S. moorei is found associated to a batoid fish in the Brazilian coast, the eyespot skate Atlantoraja cyclophora. Stibarobdella moorei was found fixed in the dorsal side of a male eyespot skate, caught by bottom trawl around of the São Paulo coast, southeastern Brazil. A brief description of the morphology of the parasite and a discussion on the taxonomic status of the S. moorei are presented.