Infection control practices among a cohort of Brazilian dentists

Objective: To evaluate infection control practices among dentists in private and public practice. Design: Survey and cross-sectional analysis. Setting: Sertaozinho city, Brazil. Participants: All dentists who were currently working at the study city, and agreed to participate, resulting in a study population of 135 dentists. Methods: Participants were personally interviewed and variables were submitted to X(2) or Fisher`s exact test. Results: Hand washing before and after each patient was reported by 86.7% of dentists, but private practitioners used liquid soap and paper towels more often than their public colleagues (p<0.001). Most of the study population (97.8%) used gloves routinely during clinical sessions, but 8.2% reused them. Dry-heat was the main method employed for sterilisation of heat-stable devices by 80.0% of dentists, but adequate temperature and time of exposure was accomplished by only 32.1% of public and 70.0% of private professionals (p<0.001). Heat-sensitive devices were disinfected with an adequate substance by 60.0% of both affiliation dentists (p=0.908). Conclusions: There is a large gap between infection control recommendations and practices observed among the study population, and the situation is worse in public services. To reverse that situation, infection control issues must be openly debated by professional associations, dental schools and health authorities.

Characterization of a chromium-rich tannery waste and its potential use in ceramics

Leather industries which promote hide stabilization by the conventional chrome-tanning process are a major source of pollution because of the resultant chromium-rich wastes. In this work, an extensive characterization of such a chromium-rich waste sludge is presented, regarding its chemical composition (XRF), crystalline phase contents (XRD), organic carbon content (TOC), thermal behavior by thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), as well as its stability under chemical attack (the concentration of important ions in the leachates being determined by capillary electrophoresis) and when submitted to temperatures as high as 1100 degrees C, in air. The material showed the tendency to produce some undesirable, and previously non-detected hexavalent chromium when exposed to high temperatures, but after washing off the soluble salts and the elimination of the organic matter by firing, the resultant material was succesfully tested as a ceramic pigment in a conventional glaze composition usually employed in the ceramic the industry. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.

Keyhole sign: how specific is it for the diagnosis of posterior urethral valves?

Objectives Posterior urethral valves (PUV) are the most common cause of renal impairment in boys during early childhood. Although antenatal suspicion of this pathology has become quite common in recent years, prenatal diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of different ultrasound criteria currently used to diagnose PUV. Methods We reviewed the antenatal and postnatal files of 54 male patients referred to our center from 2000 to 2006 after detection of fetal bilateral hydronephrosis. The following ultrasound criteria were evaluated in relation to the postnatal diagnosis of P U V: amniotic fluid volume, bladder wall thickness, bladder dilatation and the presence of the `keyhole sign`. Results Forty-two fetuses (77.8%) were suspected to have PUV on prenatal examination. Out of these, 29 (69.0%) had PUV confirmed postnatally. The sensitivity and specificity of the antenatal diagnosis of PUV were 94% and 43%, respectively. Increased bladder wall thickness and bladder dilatation were highly associated with the diagnosis of PUV (P < 0.001). However, a thick-walled bladder was observed in 39.1% and a dilated bladder in 47.8% of the infants with a postnatal diagnosis other than PUV. The presence of the keyhole sign was not found to predict a diagnosis of PUV (P = 0.27). Conclusion In this series the use of classical prenatal ultrasound signs to diagnose PUV showed high sensitivity but low specificity. The best diagnostic indicators were increased bladder wall thickness and dilatation of the bladder. The keyhole sign was not found to be a reliable predictor of PUV. Copyright (C) 2009 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Histologic Study of Urethral Extracellular Matrix and Collagen From Aging and Long-Term Alloxan-induced Diabetic Male Rats

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the histological alterations of extracellular matrix in long-term alloxan-induced diabetes and aging urethras of male rats with descriptions of total connective tissue, muscle layer and collagen types I and III relative amounts. METHODS Histologic evaluations were performed in 3 animal groups: group 1, 8 weeks old; group 2, 44 weeks old; and group 3, 44 weeks old with alloxan-induced diabetes. The muscle layer thickness, extracellular matrix fibrosis, and collagen were quantified on digital images of the urethral samples. RESULTS A higher total thickness and muscle layer thickness and higher connective tissue and collagen content were observed in the urethras of group 3. No changes in the collagen type III/I ratio were found in the urethra of groups 2 and 3. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that the morphologic alterations of the urethra should also be considered in long-term studies of diabetic lower urinary tract dysfunction. These morphologic alterations due to diabetes differ from the changes induced by aging itself and could represent a final stage in decompensate urethras. Further studies are necessary to establish the real influence of the urethral morphologic changes on lower urinary tract diabetes dysfunction. UROLOGY 77: 510.e6-510.e11, 2011. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc.

Hypertrophy and neuron loss: structural changes in sheep SCG induced by unilateral sympathectomy

Recently, superior cervical ganglionectomy has been performed to investigate a variety of scientific topics from regulation of intraocular pressure to suppression of lingual tumour growth. Despite these recent advances in our understanding of the functional mechanisms underlying superior cervical ganglion (SCG) growth and development after surgical ablation, there still exists a need for information concerning the quantitative nature of the relationships between the removed SCG and its remaining contralateral ganglion and between the remaining SCG and its modified innervation territory. To this end, using design-based stereological methods, we have investigated the structural changes induced by unilateral ganglionectomy in sheep at three distinct timepoints (2, 7 and 12 weeks) after surgery. The effects of time, and lateral (left-right) differences, were examined by two-way analyses of variance and paired t-tests. Following removal of the left SCG, the main findings were: (i) the remaining right SCG was bigger at shorter survival times, i.e. 74% at 2 weeks, 55% at 7 weeks and no increase by 12 weeks, (ii) by 7 weeks after surgery, the right SCG contained fewer neurons (no decrease at 2 weeks, 6% fewer by 7 weeks and 17% fewer by 12 weeks) and (iii) by 7 weeks, right SCG neurons were also larger and the magnitude of this increase grew substantially with time (no rise at 2 weeks, 77% by 7 weeks and 215% by 12 weeks). Interaction effects between time and ganglionectomy-induced changes were significant for SCG volume and mean perikaryal volume. These findings show that unilateral superior cervical ganglionectomy has profound effects on the contralateral ganglion. For future investigations, it would be interesting to examine the interaction between SCGs and their innervation targets after ganglionectomy. Is the ganglionectomy-induced imbalance between the sizes of innervation territories the milieu in which morphoquantitative changes, particularly changes in perikaryal volume and neuron number, occur? Mechanistically, how would those changes arise? Are there any grounds for believing in a ganglionectomy-triggered SCG cross-innervation and neuroplasticity? (C) 2011 ISDN. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Trypsin Treatment on the Inactivation of Bovine Herpesvirus Type 1 on In Vitro Produced Pre-implantation Embryos

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of trypsin treatment on the inactivation of bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BoHV-1) on in vitro produced by fertilization and artificially infected bovine embryos. Bovine embryos on day 7 were exposed with 10 mu l of BoHV-1, Los Angeles strain 10(7.5) TCID. These embryos and control embryos were divided in two groups: submitted to the sequential washes or to the trypsin treatment according to the International Embryo Transfer Society (IETS) guidelines. The embryos and the last washing drop of each group were used as inoculum to infect Madin Darby bovine kidney (MDBK) cells and submitted to nested PCR reaction using the primer that encodes the gene conserved region of virus glycoprotein gB. The data have shown that the control embryos and their last washing drop were negative. The exposed embryos that were treated with trypsin have shown positive results on the n-PCR and MDBK culture, and their last washing drop were negative. Our data have demonstrated that the trypsin treatment was not able to eliminate the BHV-1 of the embryos, suggesting an interaction between virus and embryo.

GAPD and tubulin are suitable internal controls for qPCR analysis of oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines

The selection of housekeeping genes is critical for gene expression studies. To address this issue, four candidate housekeeping genes, including several commonly used ones, were investigated in oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. A simple quantitative RT-PCR approach was employed by comparing relative expression of the four candidate genes within two cancerous cell tines (HN6 and HN31) and one noncancerous cell tine (HaCaT) treated or not with EGF and TGF-beta 1. Data were analyzed using ANOVA followed by the NormFinder software program. On this basis, stability of the candidate housekeeping genes was ranked and non statistical differences were found using ANOVA test. On the other hand, the NormFinder was able to show that GAPD and TUBB presented the less variable results, representing appropriated housekeeping genes for the samples and conditions anatyzed. In conclusion, this study suggests that the GAPD and the TUBB represent adequate normalizers for gene profiting studies in OSCC cell. tines, covering, respectively, high and low expression levels genes. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evidence for three tumor suppressor loci on chromosome 9p involved in melanoma development

Cytogenetic and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) studies have long indicated the presence of a tumor suppressor gene (TSG) on 90 involved in the development of melanoma, Although LOH at 90 has been reported in approximately 60% of melanoma tumors, only 5-10% of these tumors have been shown to carry CDKN2A mutations, raising the possibility that another TSG involved in melanoma maps to chromosome 90. To investigate this possibility, a panel of 37 melanomas derived from 35 individuals was analyzed for CDKN2A mutations hy single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and sequencing. The melanoma samples were then typed for 15 markers that map to 9p13-24 to investigate LOH trends in this region. In those tumors demonstrating retention of heterozygosity at markers flanking CDKN2A and LOH on one or both sides of the gene, multiplex microsatellite PCR was performed to rule out homozygous deletion of the region encompassing CDKN2A. CDKN2A mutations were found in tumors from 5 patients [5 (14%) of 35], 4 of which demonstrated LOH across the entire region examined. The remaining tumor with no observed LOH carried two point mutations, one on each allele, Although LOH was identified at one or more markers in 22 (59%) of 37 melanoma tumors corresponding to 20 (57%) of 35 individuals, only 11 tumors from 9 individuals [9 (26%) of 35] demonstrated LOH at D9S942 and D9S1748, the markers closest to CDKN2A. Of the remaining 11 tumors with LOH, 9 demonstrated LOH at two or more contiguous markers either centromeric and/or telomeric to CDKN2A while retaining heterozygosity at several markers adjacent to CDKN2A. Multiplex PCR revealed one tumor carried a homozygous deletion extending from D9S1748 to the IFN-alpha locus. In the remaining eight tumors, multiplex PCR demonstrated that the observed heterozygosity was not attributable to homozygous deletion and stromal contamination at D9S1748, D9S942, or D9S974, as measured by comparative amplification strengths, which indicates that retention of heterozygosity with flanking LOH does not always indicate a homozygous deletion, This report supports the conclusions of previous studies that at least two TSGs involved in melanoma development in addition to CDKN2A may reside on chromosome 9p.

Measurement of energy expenditure of daily tasks among mothers of young children

There is currently some debate about whether the energy expenditure of domestic tasks is sufficient to confer health benefits. The aim of this study was therefore to measure the energy cost of five activities commonly undertaken by mothers of young children. Seven women with at least one child younger than five years of age spent 15 minutes in each of the following activities: sitting quietly, vacuum cleaning, washing windows, walking at moderate pace (approx 5km/hour), walking with a stroller and grocery shopping in a super-market. Each of the six 'trials' was completed on the same day, in random order. A carefully calibrated portable gas analyser was used to measure oxygen uptake during each activity, and data were converted to units of energy expenditure (METS). Vacuum cleaning, washing windows and walking with and without a stroller were found to be 'moderate intensity activities' (3 to 6 METs), but supermarket shopping did not reach this criterion. The MET values for these activities were similar to those reported in the Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al., 2000). However, the energy expenditures of walking, both with and without a stroller, were higher than those reported in the Compendium. The findings suggest that some of the tasks associated with domestic caring duties are conducted at an intensity which is sufficient to confer some health benefit. Such benefits will only accrue however if the daily duration of these activities is sufficient to meet current guidelines.

The development and application of a novel safety-catch linker for BOC-based assembly of libraries of cyclic peptides

Cyclic peptides are appealing targets in the drug-discovery process. Unfortunately, there currently exist no robust solid-phase strategies that allow the synthesis of large arrays of discrete cyclic peptides. Existing strategies are complicated, when synthesizing large libraries, by the extensive workup that is required to extract the cyclic product from the deprotection/cleavage mixture. To overcome this, we have developed a new safety-catch linker. The safety-catch concept described here involves the use of a protected catechol derivative in which one of the hydroxyls is masked with a benzyl group during peptide synthesis, thus making the linker deactivated to aminolysis. This masked derivative of the linker allows BOC solid-phase peptide assembly of the linear precursor. Prior to cyclization, the linker is activated and the linear peptide deprotected using conditions commonly employed (TFMSA), resulting in deprotected peptide attached to the activated form of the linker. Scavengers and deprotection adducts are removed by simple washing and filtration. Upon neutralization of the N-terminal amine, cyclization with concomitant cleavage from the resin yields the cyclic peptide in DMF solution. Workup is simple solvent removal. To exemplify this strategy, several cyclic peptides were synthesized targeted toward the somatostatin and integrin receptors. From this initial study and to show the strength of this method, we were able to synthesize a cyclic-peptide library containing over 400 members. This linker technology provides a new solid-phase avenue to access large arrays of cyclic peptides.

Irritative symptoms after colposuspension: Are they due to distortion or overelevation of the anterior vaginal wall and trigone?

Symptoms of bladder irritability are common after incontinence surgery but their cause is unknown. This study tests the hypothesis that irritative symptoms after colposuspension are due to distortion of the trigone. As part of longitudinal follow-up studies, 175 women were examined 6 months to 12 years after either an open or a laparoscopic Burch colposuspension. The main outcome measures were symptoms of bladder irritability (frequency, nocturia and urge incontinence) and ultrasound findings (bladder neck position at rest and on Valsalva, the presence of a colposuspension ridge, ridge depth and ridge distance, and trigonal angle). Two positive associations between ultrasound parameters and symptoms of bladder irritability were observed: urge incontinence was more likely in the presence of bladder neck funneling, and women with nocturia had a higher trigonal angle. Increased distortion of the trigone was associated with a reduced incidence of urge incontinence in the subgroup of patients after laparoscopic colposuspension. The data presented in this study do not support the hypothesis that symptoms of bladder irritability are due to trigonal distortion or overelevation.

The influence of posture on perineal ultrasound imaging parameters

A prospective clinical study was carried out to evaluate the influence of posture on perineal ultrasound imaging parameters. One hundred and thirty-two consecutive women presenting with symptoms of lower urinary tract dysfunction were examined by multichannel videourodynamics and perineal ultrasound, both supine and standing. Ultrasound included color Doppler imaging when available, i.e. in a subgroup of 99 patients. The position of the bladder neck at rest was higher in the supine position (P

Translabial color Doppler urodynamics

Color Doppler ultrasound is a new method for documenting fluid leakage in the setting of video-urodynamic testing. In order to compare color Doppler ultrasound with traditional fluoroscopic imaging we performed a prospective blinded comparative clinical study. Fifty-two consecutive patients undergoing urodynamic investigations for symptoms of incontinence or prolapse were examined using fluoroscopy and translabial color Doppler ultrasound to document stress leakage. The investigators were blinded to each other's results. Both tests were performed at maximum bladder capacity and with an indwelling 5 Fr microtransducer catheter, in both the supine and the erect positions. Equivalent results for both methods were obtained in 48 out of 52 patients (Cohen's kappa = 0.82). It was therefore concluded that translabial color Doppler ultrasound imaging can reliably demonstrate leakage through the female urethra on Valsalva maneuver or coughing.