Relevance to Home Blood Pressure Monitoring Protocol of Blood Pressure Measurements Taken Before First- Morning Micturition and in the Afternoon

Background: The importance of measuring blood pressure before morning micturition and in the afternoon, while working, is yet to be established in relation to the accuracy of home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM). Objective: To compare two HBPM protocols, considering 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (wakefulness ABPM) as gold-standard and measurements taken before morning micturition (BM) and in the afternoon (AM), for the best diagnosis of systemic arterial hypertension (SAH), and their association with prognostic markers. Methods: After undergoing 24-hour wakefulness ABPM, 158 participants (84 women) were randomized for 3- or 5-day HBPM. Two variations of the 3-day protocol were considered: with measurements taken before morning micturition and in the afternoon (BM+AM); and with post-morning-micturition and evening measurements (PM+EM). All patients underwent echocardiography (for left ventricular hypertrophy - LVH) and urinary albumin measurement (for microalbuminuria - MAU). Result: Kappa statistic for the diagnosis of SAH between wakefulness-ABPM and standard 3-day HBPM, 3-day HBPM (BM+AM) and (PM+EM), and 5-day HBPM were 0.660, 0.638, 0.348 and 0.387, respectively. The values of sensitivity of (BM+AM) versus (PM+EM) were 82.6% × 71%, respectively, and of specificity, 84.8% × 74%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 69.1% × 40% and 92.2% × 91.2%, respectively. The comparisons of intraclass correlations for the diagnosis of LVH and MAU between (BM+AM) and (PM+EM) were 0.782 × 0.474 and 0.511 × 0.276, respectively. Conclusions: The 3 day-HBPM protocol including measurements taken before morning micturition and during work in the afternoon showed the best agreement with SAH diagnosis and the best association with prognostic markers.

The presence of Helicobacter pylori in the liver depends on the Th1, Th17 and Treg cytokine profile of the patient

The hypothesis that Helicobactermight be a risk factor for human liver diseases has arisen after the detection of Helicobacter DNA in hepatic tissue of patients with hepatobiliary diseases. Nevertheless, no explanation that justifies the presence of the bacterium in the human liver has been proposed. We evaluated the presence of Helicobacterin the liver of patients with hepatic diseases of different aetiologies. We prospectively evaluated 147 patients (106 with primary hepatic diseases and 41 with hepatic metastatic tumours) and 20 liver donors as controls. Helicobacter species were investigated in the liver by culture and specific 16S rDNA nested-polymerase chain reaction followed by sequencing. Serum and hepatic levels of representative cytokines of T regulatory cell, T helper (Th)1 and Th17 cell lineages were determined using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The data were evaluated using logistic models. Detection of Helicobacter pylori DNA in the liver was independently associated with hepatitis B virus/hepatitis C virus, pancreatic carcinoma and a cytokine pattern characterised by high interleukin (IL)-10, low/absent interferon-γ and decreased IL-17A concentrations (p < 10-3). The bacterial DNA was never detected in the liver of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis and autoimmune hepatitis that are associated with Th1/Th17 polarisation. H. pylori may be observed in the liver of patients with certain hepatic and pancreatic diseases, but this might depend on the patient cytokine profile.

Phenology of Spalangia endius Walker (Hymenoptera, Pteromalidae) in pupae of Musca domestica Linnaeus (Diptera, Muscidae) under laboratory conditions

This work describes the phenology of Spalangia endius Walker in pupae of Musca domestica Linnaeus under laboratory conditions. In order to understand the developmental cycle of Spalangia endius under laboratory conditions, 360 Musca domestica pupae aged from 24 to 48 hours were exposed to 15 S. endius pairs for a period of 24 hours at 26 ± 2ºC. These pupae were kept in a BOD incubator at the same temperature, with a relative humidity of <70%, and 12 hours photophase. Fifteen hymenopteran specimens were dissected daily to evaluate their stage and development time. The phenology concluded that S. endius had a development cycle of 19 days with an incubation period of 24 hours. The development of the larvae of S. endius occurred in the subsequent eight days, during which a series of morphological alterations were observed. The pre-pupal stage occurred on the tenth day, where the movement ceased and elimination of the meconium started. The pupal stage occurred from the 11th to the 19th day, with emergence of males first, followed by female emergence approximately 24 hours later. These results allowed the evaluation of aspects of the detailed bionomics of the development of S. endius in order to record and program production of this parasitoid, thus optimizing its utilization as a biological control agent.

Modelo de distribuição de água e de potencial matricial no solo sob gotejamento com extração de água por raízes

A maior dificuldade em descrever e estimar a distribuição de água no bulbo molhado sob gotejamento reside na extração de água pelo sistema radicular, que é mais complexa devido à geometria de fluxo tridimensional. Os modelos existentes são, na maioria, unidimensionais ou multidimensionais de acessibilidade limitada. Este trabalho propõe um modelo semi-analítico para distribuição bidimensional de umidade ou de potencial no bulbo molhado, através da superposição da solução analítica de Warrick, para ponto-fonte em condições de regime não-permanente, com um modelo paramétrico de extração de água pelas raízes, considerando o balanço de água num volume unitário do solo. O modelo foi ajustado com sucesso a dados experimentais para a cultura do milho num solo franco-siltoso. Simulações de distribuição de água no bulbo molhado mostraram que o modelo permite estimar ou descrever a dinâmica de água do solo no bulbo molhado em qualquer tempo ao longo do ciclo de irrigação, o que pode contribuir significativamente na avaliação do manejo da irrigação, no estudo de posicionamento de sensores de umidade ou de potencial matricial, e em estudos relacionados à atividade das raízes no bulbo molhado.

Avaliação de parâmetros hidráulicos para modelos de distribuição de água no solo sob gotejamento

As soluções analíticas de distribuição de água para ponto fonte e regime de fluxo não- permanente são dependentes de parâmetros de solos considerados constantes em suas deduções. Erros na determinação desses parâmetros implicam insucesso dessas soluções. Este trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar o comportamento dos parâmetros alfada equação de Gardner k(h) = Ks ealfah e o parâmetro de linearização k = dK(teta)/dteta em diferentes posições do bulbo molhado, considerando os processos de infiltração isolado e seguido de redistribuição de água, à semelhança de um ciclo de irrigação. Dados de potencial matricial foram coletados em diversas posições do bulbo molhado em duas situações:(i) início da irrigação até atingir regime permanente em todo o bulbo molhado (infiltração); e (ii) durante dois ciclos de irrigação envolvendo infiltração e redistribuição de água. Os resultados mostraram que os parâmetros alfa e k variaram nas posições do bulbo molhado em relação ao gotejador, de acordo com o regime de umidade a que tais posições estiveram sujeitas. A obtenção desses parâmetros pelo método inverso requer testes que considerem as fases de infiltração e redistribuição em pelo menos dois ciclos de irrigação.

Calibração da Reflectometria no Domínio do Tempo (TDR) para a estimativa da concentração da solução no solo

A Reflectometria no Domínio do Tempo (TDR) é um método confiável para medidas in situ da umidade e da concentração da solução no mesmo volume de solo. Entretanto, a interpretação precisa da medida de condutividade elétrica do solo (e umidade do solo) pode requerer uma curva de calibração específica. O objetivo principal deste ensaio foi estabelecer um procedimento de calibração para usar a TDR no cálculo de concentrações de nitrato de potássio (KNO3) em solução do solo. Uma equação que relaciona a condutividade elétrica medida pela TDR e a concentração de KNO3 foram encontradas viabilizando o uso da técnica da TDR na estimativa da umidade e da concentração da solução do solo para o manejo eficiente da fertirrigação.

The challenge of vector development in gene therapy

Gene therapy is the treatment of diseases based on the transfer of genetic information. Agents that carry or deliver DNA to target cells are called vectors (Latin vector: carrier, deliverer). Ideally, a vector should accommodate an unlimited amount of inserted DNA, lack the ability of autonomous replication of its own DNA, be easily manufactured, and be available in concentrated form. Secondly, it should have the ability to target specific cell types or to limit its gene expression to specific cell types, and to achieve sustained gene expression in the long term or in a controlled fashion. Finally, it should not be toxic or immunogenic. Such a vector does not exist and none of the DNA delivery systems so far available for in vivo gene transfer is perfect with respect to any of these points. Gene therapy and the means to promote it depend heavily on the development and improvement of new gene vector systems.