Analysis of vaginal lactobacilli from healthy and infected Brazilian women

Culture-dependent PCR-amplified rRNA gene restriction analysis and culture-independent (PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) methodologies were used to examine vaginal lactobacilli from Brazilian women who were healthy or had been diagnosed with vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) or bacterial vaginosis. Only Lactobacillus crispatus was detected accordingly by both methods, and H2O2-producing lactobacilli were not associated with protection against VVC.

CTX-M-producing Klebsiella spp. in a Brazilian hospital: what has changed in 6 years?

CTX-M-encoding genes from Klebsiella spp. strains isolated in 2000 and 2006 were characterized as well as their genetic environment. CTX-M-2 variants were predominant in Klebsiella pneumoniae strains, which showed a greater variability in bla(CTX-M) genes, integrons, and plasmids in 2006 when compared to strains collected in 2000. CTX-M-9-producing Klebsiella oxytoca was identified in 2000 as clonal dissemination. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Screening of plant extracts from the Brazilian Cerrado for their in vitro trypanocidal activity

In this study we report the screening of the in vitro trypanocidal activity of 20 extracts obtained from 10 different plant species growing in the Brazilian Cerrado: Aspidosperma macrocarpum Mart. (Apocynaceae), Aegiphila sellowiano Cham. (Verbenaceae), Byrsonima intermedia Juss. (Malpighiaceae), Cyperus rotundus L. (Cyperaceae), Leandra lacunosa Cogn. (Melastomataceae), Miconia ligustroides (DC.) Naudin. (Melastomataceae), Miconia sellowiana Naudin.(Melastomataceae),Myrcia variabilis Mart.ex DC. (Myrtaceae), Solanum lycocarpum St. Hil. (Solanaceae), and Tibouchina stenocarpa Cogn. (Melastomataceae). The most active extracts were submitted to phytochemical analyses. High-resolution gas chromatography analysis of the n-hexane extract of T. stenocarpa (IC(50) = 23.6 mu g/mL), the most active extract amongst all the tested samples, allowed the identification of beta-amyrin, alpha-amyrin, lupeol, friedelin, beta-friedelanol, campesterol, stigmasterol, and beta-sitosterol. Oleanolic and ursolic acids were isolated from the methylene chloride extract of T stenocarpa (IC(50) = 51.5 mu g/mL), while ursolic acid was isolated from the methylene chloride extract of M. variabilis (IC(50)=38.4 mu g/mL). Solasonine and solamargine were identified as major compounds by mass spectrometry analysis in the hydroalcoholic extract of the fruits of S. lycocarpum (IC(50)=57.1 mu g/mL).The results showed that the trypanocidal activity may be related to the major compounds identified in the crude active extracts.

Nosocomial outbreak by imipenem-resistant metallo-beta-lactamase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in an adult intensive care unit in a Brazilian teaching hospital

Objective: To describe an outbreak of imipenem-resistant metallo-beta-lactamase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa, enzyme type bla, by horizontal transmission in patients admitted to a mixed adult ICU. Methods: A case-control study was carried out, including 47 patients (cases) and 122 patients (control) admitted to the mixed ICU of a university hospital in Minas Gerais. Brazil from November 2003 to July 2005. The infection site, risk factors, mortality, antibiotic susceptibility, metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) production, enzyme type, and clonal diversity were analyzed, Results: A temporal/spatial relationship was detected in most patients (94%), overall mortality was 55.3%, and pneumonia was the predominant infection (85%). The majority of isolates (95%) were resistant to imipenem and other antibiotics, except for polymyxin, and showed MBL production (76.7%). Only bla SPM-1 (33%) was identified in the 15 specimens analyzed. In addition, 4 clones were identified, with a predominance of clone A (61.5%) and B (23.1%). On multivariate analysis, advanced age, mechanical ventilation, tracheostomy, and previous imipenem use were significant risk factors for imipenem-resistant P. aeruginosa infection. Conclusions: Clonal dissemination of MBL-producing P. aeruginosa strains with a spatial/temporal relationship disclosed problems in the practice of hospital infection control, low adherence to hand hygiene, and empirical antibiotic use. (C) 2008 Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.

Accelerated Stability and Moisturizing Capacity of Emulsions Presenting Lamellar Gel Phase Obtained from Brazilian Natural Raw Material

Oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions containing gel phase were developed with cupuassu and/or cocoa butter from Brazilian ecosystem. They were subjected to storage advanced stability tests (SAST) and to in vivo corneometry evaluation. The evaluated emulsions showed great performance in the evaluated conditions considering that no significant variation was observed. The moisturizing potential was advantageous even without the moisturizing active. The formulation was considered a good cosmetic moisturizing cream and a promise as a drug carrier.

The Protective Role of Lychnophora ericoides Mart. (Brazilian Arnica) in 1,2-Dimethylhydrazine-Induced Experimental Colon Carcinogenesis

Aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and colon rectal mucosal epithelial cell proliferation have been shown to be increased in patients with colon cancer and have been largely used for early detection of factors that influence colorectal carcinogenesis in rats. Fifty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups. The groups G1 to G4 were given 4 injections of the carcinogen 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH). The G2 group received Lychnophora ericoides (LE) extracts for 6 wk. The groups G3 and G4 received LE for 4 wk and 2 wk, respectively, at the postinitiation and initiation phases of colonic carcinogenesis. The group G5 was the control. Forty-two days after the first injections of DMH for the neoplasic induction, we observed a statistically significant decrease in the number of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and an attenuation of the increase in cell proliferation induced by DMH in all the LE-treated groups. Thus, we concluded that Lychnophora ericoides extracts were effective against the development of cancer. These data suggest that LE has a protective influence on the process of colon carcinogenesis, suppressing both the initiation and the promotion of colonic carcinogenesis.

Thesis summary: Standardized dried extracts of Brazilian medicinal plants: Assessment of technical and economic feasibility of spouted bed drying

This study is an integral part of a research project which seeks the establishment of protocols for the production of standardized herbal dried extracts emphasizing the spouted bed drying. This thesis was conducted at faculty of Pharmaceutical Science of Ribeiro Preto/University of So Paulo, Brazil, under supervision of Prof. Dr. Wanderley Pereira Oliveira*, defended on September 28, 2007.

Fluoride ingestion from food items and dentifrice in 2-6-year-old Brazilian children living in a fluoridated area using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the fluoride intake of 2-6-year-old Brazilian children using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) which also estimated fluoride intake from dentifrice. Methods: The FFQ was previously validated through application to 78 2-6-year-old Brazilian children and then administered to 379 children residing in an optimally fluoridated community in Brazil (Bauru, State of Sao Paulo). The FFQ was applied to the parents and used to estimate the food intake of the children. The constituents of the diet were divided into solids, water and other beverages. The fluoride content of the diet items was analyzed with the fluoride electrode. The questionnaire also estimated fluoride intake from dentifrice. Results: The average (+/- SD) fluoride intake from solids, water, other beverages and dentifrice was 0.008 +/- 0.005; 0.011 +/- 0.004; 0.009 +/- 0.014 and 0.036 +/- 0.028 mg F/kg body weight/day, respectively, totalizing 0.064 +/- 0.035 mg F/kg body weight/day. The dentifrice and the diet contributed with 56.3% and 43.7% of the daily fluoride intake, respectively. Among the children evaluated, 31.2% are estimated to have risk to develop dental fluorosis (intake > 0.07 mg F/kg body weight/day). Conclusions: The dentifrice was the main source of fluoride intake by the children evaluated. However, the fluoride concentration in food items also significantly contributed to the daily ingestion by 2-6-year-old children. The questionnaire used seems to be a promising alternative to duplicate diet to estimate the fluoride intake at this age range and may have potential to be used in broad epidemiological surveys.

The Ethics and Citizenship Program: a Brazilian experience in moral education

This article describes the Ethics and Citizenship Program, a moral education project developed by the Brazilian government to promote education in ethics and citizenship in Brazilian fundamental and middle schools through four key themes: ethics, democratic coexistence, human rights and social inclusion. Some findings from a research project that investigated whether such a program did in fact promote the ethical and citizenship awareness of participating students are outlined. As an introduction to the paper`s main concerns, the Brazilian socioeconomic context is characterised, followed by a description of the historical background of moral education in Brazil.

Intellectuals in a Network A New Generation Faces the Challenges of Development

Brazilian social thought draws on the inspiration of past masters the common denominator of whose work is probably a deep humanism. Confronting the challenges of a fluid, ever-changing reality is now a matter of survival. The idea of climate change has made the environment, long relegated to second place, a matter of much wider interest and concern. The other great problem is poverty, and here, while there have been undeniable advances, much remains to be done. The main challenge is producing forms of social organization that will allow ordinary citizens to have an impact on what really matters. Developing policy in these areas has engaged the efforts of a wide range of experts from a variety of fields. Whereas university-educated intellectuals once formed an intelligentsia, today they are engaged in practical politics and much more often function as agents who link social actors together than as mere elaborators of theories.

On the threshold of forgetting: Amnesiac identities and the Brazilian capital

Centuries after Locke asserted the importance of memory to identity, Freudian psychology argued that what was forgotten was of equal importance as to what was remembered. The closing decades of the nineteenth century saw a rising interest in the nature of forgetting, resulting in a reassessment and newfound distrust of the long revered faculty of memory. The relationship between memory and identity was inverted, seeing forgetting also become a means for forging identity. This newfound distrust of memory manifested in the writings of Nietzsche who in 1874 called for society to learn to feel unhistorically and distance itself from the past - in what was essentially tantamount to a cultural forgetting. Following the Nietzschean call, the architecture of Modernism was also compelled by the need to 'overcome' the limits imposed by history. This paper examines notions of identity through the shifting boundaries of remembering and forgetting, with particular reference to the construction of Brazilian identity through the ‘repression’ of history and memory in the design of the Brazilian capital. Designed as a forward-looking modernist utopia, transcending the limits imposed by the country's colonial heritage, the design for Brasilia exploited the anti-historicist agenda of modernism to emancipate the country from cultural and political associations with the Portuguese Empire. This paper examines the relationship between place, memory and forgetting through a discussion of the design for Brasilia.