Sequential histopathology at the Rhipicephalus sanguineus tick feeding site on dogs and guinea pigs

The tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus is a very common parasite of dogs worldwide. Dogs seem unable to acquire resistance against this tick species, whereas guinea pigs demonstrate a very strong resistance following primary infestation. We studied the inflammatory reaction at the R. sanguineus tick feeding site on dogs and guinea pigs during primary and tertiary infestations at different time intervals after attachment. Biopsies were collected after 4, 24, 48 and 96 hours. Changes that were found in all experimental groups included a cone of cement around the mouthparts of the tick, epidermal hyperplasia, edema and inflammatory cell infiltration in the dermis directly underneath the tick attachment site. Dogs reacted to ticks mainly with neutrophils, particularly after repeated exposure. Mast cells and mononuclear leukocytes were also present. Guinea pigs reacted to R. sanguineus mainly with mononuclear cells, eosinophils and basophils. These cells were particularly numerous after repeated exposure to R. sanguineus. Our results suggest that basophils and eosinophils are involved in resistance of guinea pigs to R. sanguineus and that neutrophils in dogs have little effect against this tick species.

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)

Granulocytic sarcoma of the small intestine with CBF beta/MYH11 fusion gene: report of an aleukaemic case and review of the literature

Granulocytic sarcomas (GS) are rare extramedullary tumours composed of immature myeloid cells. Inversion of chromosome 16 [inv(16)] is a cytogenetic marker for M4Eo subtype of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). The possibility of an association between the development of granulocytic sarcoma of the small intestine (GSSI) and the M4Eo subtype of AML was suggested in nine previous case reports.Here we report an aleukaemic case of GSSI with inv(16) and its molecular equivalent, the CBFbeta/MYH11 fusion gene, detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), that after treatment with conventional AML chemotherapy followed by autologous bone marrow transplantation, achieved complete haematological and molecular remission on bone marrow examination. After chemotherapy, a thickened ileum wall positive for CBFbeta/MYH11 on tumour mass samples was still observed on computed tomography (CT) studies, raising the question of residual GS representing a reservoir of malignant cells. This case demonstrates the critical need of multidisciplinary diagnosis and follow-up of this entity combining immunopathologic, cytogenetic and molecular studies, reinforcing the potentiality of risk-adapted therapy strategies, as it is increasingly claimed for patients with overt AML. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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.

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)

Cytogenetic characterization of Eurysternus caribaeus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): evidence of sex-autosome fusion and diploid number reduction prior to species dispersion

Mitotic and meiotic chromosomes of several populations of Eurysternus caribaeus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) were analysed through conventional staining, C-banding, base-specific fluorochromes, silver nitrate staining and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). All specimens showed 2n = 8 in their karyotypes, with a neo-XY sex system (Y is a submetacentric and X a metacentric) and three pairs of submetacentric autosomes. The analysis of constitutive heterochromatin (CH) revealed small blocks located in the centromeric region of all chromosomes which do not present positive staining under the fluorochromes CMA3 and DAPI. Silver nitrate staining revealed that the nucleolar organizer region (NORs) is associated with the sex chromosomes. The FISH technique revealed that rDNA sites in the X and Y are different in size. Data from different populations indicate that the diploid number reduction (2n = 8) observed in E. caribaeus is established and presumably has preceded the dispersion of this species. Moreover, this reduction occasioned the translocation of rDNA sites to the sex chromosomes, X and Y, an uncommon pattern in Scarabaeidae that was observed for the first time by the FISH in this work.

Preliminary Fusion Testing Between Whole Young Colonies of Coptotermes gestroi (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Optimization Strategies Based on Sequential Quadratic Programming Applied for a Fermentation Process for Butanol Production

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

Expression and purification of human respiratory syncytial virus recombinant fusion protein

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

Integrable hierarchy for multidimensional Toda equations and topological-anti-topological fusion

The negative symmetry flows are incorporated into the Riemann-Hilbert problem for the homogeneous A(m)-hierarchy and its (gl) over cap (m + 1, C) extension.A loop group automorphism of order two is used to define a sub-hierarchy of (gl) over cap (m + 1, C) hierarchy containing only the odd symmetry flows. The positive and negative flows of the +/-1 grade coincide with equations of the multidimensional Toda model and of topological-anti-topological fusion. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Robust CERN LHC Higgs boson search in weak boson fusion

We demonstrate that a CERN LHC Higgs boson search in weak boson fusion production with subsequent decay to weak boson pairs is robust against extensions of the standard model or minimal supersymmetric standard model involving a large number of Higgs doublets. We also show that the transverse mass distribution provides unambiguous discrimination of a continuum Higgs signal from the standard model.