Dynamical and statistical properties of a rotating oval billiard

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

A Critical Review of Properties of Darunavir and Analytical Methods for Its Determination

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

Biocompatibility studies of natural rubber latex from different tree clones and collection methods

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Reliability of marginal microleakage assessment by visual and digital methods

The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability of visual and digital methods to assess marginal microleakage in vitro. Materials and Methods: Typical Class V preparations were made in bovine teeth and filled with composite resin. After dye penetration (0.5% basic fuchsin), teeth were sectioned and the 53 obtained fragments were assessed according to visual (stereomicroscope) and digital methods (Image Tool Software ® -ITS) (University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio Dental School, USA). Two calibrated examiners (A and B) evaluated dye penetration, by means of a stereomicroscope with ×20 magnification (scores), and by the ITS (millimeters). The intra- and inter-examiner agreement was estimated according to Kappa statistics (κ), and intraclass correlation coefficient (ρ). Results: In relation to the visual method, the intra-examiner agreement was almost perfect (κA = 0.87) and substantial (κB = 0.76), respectively to the examiner A and B. The inter-examiner agreement showed an almost perfect reliability (κ = 0.84). For the digital method, the intra-examiner agreement was almost perfect for both examiners and equal to ρ = 0.99, and so was the inter-examiner agreement value. Conclusion: Visual (stereomicroscope) and digital methods (ITS) showed high levels of intra- and inter-examiner reproducibility when marginal microleakage was assessed.

Metacommunity organisation, spatial extent and dispersal in aquatic systems: patterns, processes and prospects

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

The effect of power-ultrasound on the pretreatment of acidified aqueous solutions of banana flower-stalk: Structural, chemical and statistical analysis

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Characteristics, complexation and analytical methods of darunavir

What is it? Darunavir is a protease inhibitor used in the treatment of HIV infection. It is an important drug of therapy cocktail for patients infected with the virus. On the market there are darunavir ethanolate tablets of 75, 150, 300, 400, 600 and 800mg, because this is the most stable form. It is commercialized by Janssen-Cilag with the name PrezistaTM. Why we started? This drug has low water solubility and poor bioavailability, therefore requires administration in doses relatively high to the success of the therapeutic effect. The complexation of drugs by using cyclodextrin is welcome in this respect to improve the solubility and hence increase the dissolution rate of poorly soluble drugs. A monograph about this compound has not been described, thus it is an extremely important quality control of darunavir to demonstrate its effectiveness and safety. What we did? Some existing analytical techniques have been discussed in this manuscript, focusing on bioanalytical and pharmaceutical quality control applications. What we found? This review showed the published analytical methods reported for the determination of darunavir and discuss about its characteristics and complexation with cyclodextrin.

Doxycycline hyclate: a review of properties, applications and analytical methods

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

Staphylococcal enterotoxins: molecular aspects and detection methods

Members of the Staphylococcus genus, especially Staphylococcus aureus, are the most common pathogens found in hospitals and in community-acquired infections. Some of their pathogenicity is associated with enzyme and toxin production. Until recently, S. aureus was the most studied species in the genus; however, in last few years, the rise of infections caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci has pointed out the need for further studies on virulence factors that have not yet been completely elucidated so as to better characterize the pathogenic potential of this group of microorganisms. Several staphylococcal species produce enterotoxins, a family of related proteins responsible for many diseases, such as the toxic-shock syndrome, septicemia and food poisoning. To this date, 23 different enterotoxin types have been identified besides toxic-shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1), and they can be divided into five phylogenetic groups. The mechanism of action of these toxins includes superantigen activity and emetic properties, which can lead to biological effects of infection. Various methods can detect genes that encode enterotoxins and their production. Molecular methods are the most frequently used at present. This review article has the objective to describe aspects related to the classification, structure and regulation of enterotoxins and toxic-shock syndrome toxin-1 detection methods.

Microbiological quality and safety of minimally processed vegetables marketed in Campinas, SP-Brazil, as assessed by traditional and alternative methods

In this study, a total of 172 samples of minimally processed vegetables (MPV) were collected from supermarkets in the city of Campinas, Brazil. The MPV were analyzed using traditional and/or alternative methods for total aerobic mesophilic bacteria, total coliforms, Escherichia coil, coagulase positive staphylococci, Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes. All the MPV analyzed presented populations of aerobic mesophilic microorganisms and total coliforms were >4 log(10) CFU/g and 1.0-3.4 log(10) CFU/g, respectively. E. coil was enumerated in only 10 samples out of 172 collected, while none of the 172 samples of MPV presented contamination by coagulase positive Staphylococcus (<10(1) CFU/g). Among the four methods used for detection of Salmonella in MPV (Vidas, 1,2 Test, Reveal, and Traditional), when Reveal was used a total of 29 positive samples were reported. For L monocytogenes, the four methods tested (Vidas, Vip, Reveal, and traditional) performed similarly. The presence of Salmonella and L monocytogenes in MPV was confirmed in one (watercress) and two samples (watercress and escarole), respectively. In conclusion, it has been observed that the microbiological quality of MPV commercialized in Campinas is generally satisfactory. Besides, the choice of microbiological method should be based not only on resource and time issues, but also on parameters such as sensitivity and specificity for the specific foods under ahalysis. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Surveillance using serological and molecular methods for the detection of infectious agents in captive Brazilian neotropic and exotic felids

The aim of the current study was to investigate the exposure of captive wild felids to various infectious pathogens using serological and molecular methods. One hundred and fifty-nine neotropic felids and 51 exotic felids from 28 captive settings in Brazil were tested. While antibodies against Feline parvovirus and Feline coronavirus (FCoV), Feline calicivirus and Bartonella spp. were frequently detected by serologic tests, antibodies against Felid herpesvirus 1 or infection with hemotropic mycoplasmas were less prevalent. Serologic evidence of exposure to Ehrlichia spp., Feline immunodeficiency virus, and Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) was detected rarely, and infections with FeLV, Ehrlichia spp., and Cytauxzoon spp. were found infrequently. The detected Bartonella sequence was molecularly similar to B. koehlerae and B. henselae; for Cytauxzoon, the sequence resembled those from domestic cats. No Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Theileria spp. infections were detected. The positive test results varied significantly among different facilities and species. Additionally, FCoV seropositivity was more prevalent in captivity than in free-ranging populations. Results suggest that testing is appropriate prior to relocation of felids.

Performance of fluorescence-based and conventional methods of occlusal caries detection in primary molars - an in vitro study

International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry 2012; 22: 459466 Aim. This in vitro study aimed to test the performance of fluorescence-based methods in detecting occlusal caries lesions in primary molars compared to conventional methods. Design. Two examiners assessed 113 sites on 77 occlusal surfaces of primary molars using three fluorescence devices: DIAGNOdent (LF), DIAGNOdent pen (LFpen), and fluorescence camera (VistaProof-FC). Visual inspection (ICDAS) and radiographic methods were also evaluated. One examiner repeated the evaluations after one month. As reference standard method, the lesion depth was determined after sectioning and evaluation in stereomicroscope. The area under the ROC curve (Az), sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the methods were calculated at enamel (D1) and dentine caries (D3) lesions thresholds. The intra and interexaminer reproducibility were calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and kappa statistics. Results. At D1, visual inspection presented higher sensitivities (0.970.99) but lower specificities (0.180.25). At D3, all the methods demonstrated similar performance (Az values around 0.90). Visual and radiographic methods showed a slightly higher specificity (values higher than 0.96) than the fluorescence based ones (values around 0.88). In general, all methods presented high reproducibility (ICC higher than 0.79). Conclusions. Although fluorescence-based and conventional methods present similar performance in detecting occlusal caries lesions in primary teeth, visual inspection alone seems to be sufficient to be used in clinical practice.

Definite integrals and operational methods

An operational method, already employed to formulate a generalization of the Ramanujan master theorem, is applied to the evaluation of integrals of various types. This technique provides a very flexible and powerful tool yielding new results encompassing different aspects of the special function theory. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Investigation of the Goias Alkaline Province, Central Brazil: Application of gravity and magnetic methods

We investigate the strong magnetic and gravity anomalies of the Goias Alkaline Province (GAP), a region of Late Cretaceous alkaline magmatism along the northern border of the Parana Basin, Brazil. The alkaline complexes (eight of which are present in outcrops, two others inferred from magnetic signals) are characterized by a series of small intrusions forming almost circular magnetic and gravimetric anomalies varying from -4000 to +6000 nT and from -10 to +40 mGal, respectively. We used the Aneuler method and Analytical Signal Amplitude to obtain depth and geometry for mapped sources from the magnetic anomaly data. These results were used as the reference models in the 3D gravity inversion. The 3D inversion results show that the alkaline intrusions have depths of 10-12 km. The intrusions in the northern GAP follow two alignments and have different sizes. In the anomaly magnetic map, dominant guidelines correlate strongly with the extensional regimes that correlate with the rise of alkaline magmatism. The emplacement of these intrusions marks mechanical discontinuities and zones of weakness in the upper crust. According to the 3D inversion results, those intrusions are located within the upper crust (from the surface to 18 km depth) and have spheres as the preferable geometry. Such spherical shapes are more consistent with magmatic chambers instead of plug intrusions. The Registro do Araguaia anomaly (similar to 15 by 25 km) has a particular magnetic signature that indicates that the top is deeper than 1500 m. North of this circular anomaly are lineaments with structural indices indicating contacts on their edges and dikes/sills in the interiors. Results of 3D inversion of magnetic and gravity data suggest that the Registro do Araguaia is the largest body in the area, reaching 18 km depth and indicating a circular layered structure. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.