Hearing Preservation And Cochlear Implants According To Inner Ear Approach: Multicentric Evaluation.

Electroacoustic stimulation is an excellent option for people with residual hearing in the low frequencies, who obtain insufficient benefit with hearing aids. To be effective, the subject's residual hearing should be preserved during cochlear implant surgery. To evaluate the hearing preservation in patients that underwent implant placement and to compare the results in accordance with the approach to the inner ear. 19 subjects underwent a soft surgical technique, and the electrode MED-EL FLEX™ EAS, designed to be atraumatic, was used. We evaluated pre- and postoperative tonal audiometric tests with an average of 18.4 months after implantation, to measure the rate of hearing preservation. 17 patients had total or partial preservation of residual hearing; 5 had total hearing preservation and two individuals had no preservation of hearing. The insertion of the electrode occurred through a cochleostomy in 3 patients, and in 2 of these there was no hearing preservation; the other 16 patients experienced electrode insertion through a round window approach. All patients benefited from the cochlear implant, even those who are only using electrical stimulation. The hearing preservation occurred in 89.4% of cases. There was no significant difference between the forms of inner ear approach.

Metal Ions Bound To The Human Milk Immunoglobulin A: Metalloproteomic Approach.

The presence of calcium, iron, and zinc bound to human milk secretory IgA (sIgA) was investigated. The sIgA components were first separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and then identified by electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (ESI MS MS). The metal ions were detected by flame atomic absorption spectrometry after acid mineralization of the spots. The results showed eight protein spots corresponding to the IgA heavy chain constant region. Another spot was identified as the transmembrane secretory component. Calcium was bound to both the transmembrane component and the heavy chain constant region, while zinc was bound to the heavy chain constant region and iron was not bound with the identified proteins. The association of a metal ion with a protein is important for a number of reasons, and therefore, the findings of the present study may lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms of action and of additional roles that sIgA and its components play in human milk.

Didanosine-loaded Chitosan Microspheres Optimized By Surface-response Methodology: A Modified Maximum Likelihood Classification" Approach Formulation For Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors."

Didanosine-loaded chitosan microspheres were developed applying a surface-response methodology and using a modified Maximum Likelihood Classification. The operational conditions were optimized with the aim of maintaining the active form of didanosine (ddI), which is sensitive to acid pH, and to develop a modified and mucoadhesive formulation. The loading of the drug within the chitosan microspheres was carried out by ionotropic gelation technique with sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP) as cross-linking agent and magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2) to assure the stability of ddI. The optimization conditions were set using a surface-response methodology and applying the Maximum Likelihood Classification, where the initial chitosan concentration, TPP and ddI concentration were set as the independent variables. The maximum ddI-loaded in microspheres (i.e. 1433mg of ddI/g chitosan), was obtained with 2% (w/v) chitosan and 10% TPP. The microspheres depicted an average diameter of 11.42μm and ddI was gradually released during 2h in simulated enteric fluid.

Key Participants Of The Tumor Microenvironment Of The Prostate: An Approach Of The Structural Dynamic Of Cellular Elements And Extracellular Matrix Components During Epithelial-stromal Transition.

Cancer is a multistep process that begins with the transformation of normal epithelial cells and continues with tumor growth, stromal invasion and metastasis. The remodeling of the peritumoral environment is decisive for the onset of tumor invasiveness. This event is dependent on epithelial-stromal interactions, degradation of extracellular matrix components and reorganization of fibrillar components. Our research group has studied in a new proposed rodent model the participation of cellular and molecular components in the prostate microenvironment that contributes to cancer progression. Our group adopted the gerbil Meriones unguiculatus as an alternative experimental model for prostate cancer study. This model has presented significant responses to hormonal treatments and to development of spontaneous and induced neoplasias. The data obtained indicate reorganization of type I collagen fibers and reticular fibers, synthesis of new components such as tenascin and proteoglycans, degradation of basement membrane components and elastic fibers and increased expression of metalloproteinases. Fibroblasts that border the region, apparently participate in the stromal reaction. The roles of each of these events, as well as some signaling molecules, participants of neoplastic progression and factors that promote genetic reprogramming during epithelial-stromal transition are also discussed.

Modeling The Effects Of Temperature And Ph On The Resistance Of Alicyclobacillus Acidoterrestris In Conventional Heat-treated Fruit Beverages Through A Meta-analysis Approach.

In this work, all publicly-accessible published findings on Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris heat resistance in fruit beverages as affected by temperature and pH were compiled. Then, study characteristics (protocols, fruit and variety, °Brix, pH, temperature, heating medium, culture medium, inactivation method, strains, etc.) were extracted from the primary studies, and some of them incorporated to a meta-analysis mixed-effects linear model based on the basic Bigelow equation describing the heat resistance parameters of this bacterium. The model estimated mean D* values (time needed for one log reduction at a temperature of 95 °C and a pH of 3.5) of Alicyclobacillus in beverages of different fruits, two different concentration types, with and without bacteriocins, and with and without clarification. The zT (temperature change needed to cause one log reduction in D-values) estimated by the meta-analysis model were compared to those ('observed' zT values) reported in the primary studies, and in all cases they were within the confidence intervals of the model. The model was capable of predicting the heat resistance parameters of Alicyclobacillus in fruit beverages beyond the types available in the meta-analytical data. It is expected that the compilation of the thermal resistance of Alicyclobacillus in fruit beverages, carried out in this study, will be of utility to food quality managers in the determination or validation of the lethality of their current heat treatment processes.

Surgical treatment of patients with cervical spinal cord injury by anterior approach using bone graft

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Is size structure a good measure of future trends of plant populations? an empirical approach using five woody species from the Cerrado (Brazilian savanna)

Size distributions in woody plant populations have been used to assess their regeneration status, assuming that size structures with reverse-J shapes represent stable populations. We present an empirical approach of this issue using five woody species from the Cerrado. Considering count data for all plants of these five species over a 12-year period, we analyzed size distribution by: a) plotting frequency distributions and their adjustment to the negative exponential curve and b) calculating the Gini coefficient. To look for a relationship between size structure and future trends, we considered the size structures from the first census year. We analyzed changes in number over time and performed a simple population viability analysis, which gives the mean population growth rate, its variance and the probability of extinction in a given time period. Frequency distributions and the Gini coefficient were not able to predict future trends in population numbers. We recommend that managers should not use measures of size structure as a basis for management decisions without applying more appropriate demographic studies.

Implante coclear em crianças: a visão dos pais

The objective of this study was to analyze the point of view of parents in relation to the cochlear implant, their level of information concerning the implant, its risks and benefits, and their expectations towards their children's future. Ten parents of deaf children candidate for the cochlear implant at Unicamp's Clinical Hospital were interviewed. Based on a qualitative approach, a content analysis showed that the majority of parents seek the cure for deafness, and consequently, the acquisition of speech with the cochlear implant. For these families, the cochlear implant is seen both as the solution to their children's deafness and as a path for a better future. It has been evidenced that during the acquisition of knowledge about the implant, parents experienced anxiety and anguish when faced with the risks and benefits of the procedure, and the need to choose between performing and not performing the cochlear implant.

O ensino de línguas para crianças no contexto educacional brasileiro: breves reflexões e possíveis provisões

This article aims at discussing about the foreign language teaching to young learners, taking the principles of the Sociocultural Theory (Vygotksy, 1978) and of the Communicative Approach (Almeida Filho, 1993, 2005) related to Primary English teaching (Cameron, 2001; Brewster, Ellis & Girard, 2002) as a theoretical references. Considerations about the importance of language learning in childhood will be made, as well as about the role of the grammar, oral language and mother tongue in the process. Likewise, the importance of Teacher Education will be briefly approached. This work is ended with the discussion about some possible procedures in the language teaching processes followed by a brief presentation of possible guidelines based on the bakhtinian notion of discourse genres.

A dança no projeto "Arte, educação e cidadania" : um relato de experiencia

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Watsu : um caminho para a unidade

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Epilepsia e atividade fisica : um estudo em crianças e adolescentes epileticos

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Production and body composition traits of broilers in relation to breast weight evaluated by path analysis

Breast weight has great economic importance in poultry industry, and may be associated with other variables. This work aimed to estimate phenotypic correlations between performance (live body weight at 7 and 28 days, and at slaughter, and depth of the breast muscle measured by ultrasonography), carcass (eviscerated body weight and leg weight) and body composition (heart, liver and abdominal fat weight) traits in a broiler line, and quantify the direct and indirect influence of these traits on breast weight. Path analysis was used by expanding the matrix of partial correlation in coefficients which give the direct influence of one trait on another, regardless the effect of the other traits. The simultaneous maintenance of live body weight at slaughter and eviscerated body weight in the matrix of correlations might be harmful for statistical analysis involving systems of normal equations, like path analysis, due to the observed multicollinearity. The live body weight at slaughter and the depth of the breast muscle as measured by ultrasonography directly affected breast weight and were identified as the most responsible factors for the magnitude of the correlation coefficients obtained between the studied traits and breast weight. Individual pre-selection for these traits could favor an increased breast weight in the future reproducer candidates of this line if the broilers' environmental conditions and housing are maintained, since the live body weight at slaughter and the depth of breast muscle measured by ultrasonography were directly related to breast weight.

A multi-screening approach for marine-derived fungal metabolites and the isolation of cyclodepsipeptides from Beauveria felina

Extracts obtained from 57 marine-derived fungal strains were analyzed by HPLC-PDA, TLC and ¹H NMR. The analyses showed that the growth conditions affected the chemical profile of crude extracts. Furthermore, the majority of fungal strains which produced either bioactive of chemically distinctive crude extracts have been isolated from sediments or marine algae. The chemical investigation of the antimycobacterial and cytotoxic crude extract obtained from two strains of the fungus Beauveria felina have yielded cyclodepsipeptides related to destruxins. The present approach constitutes a valuable tool for the selection of fungal strains that produce chemically interesting or biologically active secondary metabolites.