Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome: clinical and biochemical findings in Brazilian patients

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Mutagenic Activity of Glycoallkaloids from Solanum palinacanthum Dunal (Solanaceae) in the Brazilian cerrado

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Gregório de Matos: do barroco à antropofagia

The exponential figure of Gregório de Matos e Guerra has been subject of many theoretical discussions through the years, since his apparition in a public place, in the 19th century, and even more, during the 20th century, when he was salvaged by the modernist vanguard. As a result, there are yet two antagonist points of view linked to Gregório de Matos, on one side, there some researchers who defend him, on the other, some of them attack him. The first ones say this poet from Bahia was the first literary voice in Brazil, from the Baroque basis, while the last ones say he is a merely plagiarist of the Spanish poets from the 17th century, without a real contribution to the development of Brazilian Literature. With this in mind, this thesis follows the perspective this poet is an anthropophagus-baroque, devouring cultures, with an active participation in the process of our cultural and literary identity. For that reason, it was made a literature review about the biography of this poet trying to break romantic descriptions, emphasizing some scientific facts that can contribute to present the baroque profile of this poet. In this sense, it was discussed the History of Literature focused on this creole poet, mainly based on the historians point of view about the Gregorian poetry in the formation of Brazilian Literature scenery. In the defense of the hypothesis that Gregório de Matos was our first anthropophagus, this work aims to analyze how his poetry reveals the intrinsic characteristics of Baroque and Anthropophagy, focusing its carnivalesque aspect, showing to the world, with a satiric tone, the idiosyncrasies of human life. In this way, analyzing this corpus in Spanish is the strength of this thesis because, besides it is previously unpublished, it contributes to the comprehension of the anthropophagy as a theoretical mechanism that explains the process of formation of our cultural literary identity. Then, we have Augusto de Campos (1968; 1978; 1984; 1986; 1988), Haroldo de Campos (1976; 2010a; 2010b; 2011), Severo Sarduy ([1988?]), Oswald de Andrade (1945; 1978; 2006), Mikhail Bakhtin (2010), Octavio Paz (1979), Segismundo Spina (1980; 1995; 2008), Afrânio Coutinho (1986a; 1986b; 1994), Affonso Ávila (1994; 1997; 2004; 2008), among others, to constitute this theoretical scenery. The Gregorian poetry, in this way, have contributed to the formation of baroque-anthropophagic scenery in Brazilian boundaries, with a special attention to the transition of time, because he is not only from the 17th century, established by the historiography, but his work is present nowadays due to the contemporaneously of his themes, centered to the eternal doubts of baroque man

A esfera como metáfora: representações do futebol no campo da literatura (leituras do tema no conto de ficção)

Football, understood as a phenomenon of sports practice and nearly universal coverage, can also be seen as a game whose operation circumvents the cultural universe of people who practice it. Much more than just a sport, so this game is a cultural phenomenon par excellence, bearing a communicational and aesthetic dimension whose occurrence has been spotted in various fields of scientific and cultural. Therefore, it is as game and as a phenomenon of culture, we intend to focus on football here as an object of study. Our aim is to investigate the sport in Brazil taking the Literature and Journalism as privileged instances of their representation in the media. Thus, the central idea of this research is to show when and how football has become a recurrent theme in Brazilian literature, starting with its journalistic approach until we get an overview of the aesthetic representation of the game, Literature as the main focus of attention and taking the genre of fiction story as material fact of their representation. With this approach, we intend to develop an overall view, overview of the literature about football in our country and at the same time, particularize this vision in some representative authors of it, like the writer-journalist Mario Filho (the historian, essayist on the modernization of chronic specific theme), José Lins do Rego (writer passionate about the game), Nelson Rodrigues (the esthetician that elevated the sport to the status of art by chronic), Lima Barreto (who along with Antonio de Alcantara Machado pioneered the formalized within the fiction) and the storytellers of the topic itself. In the end, we intend to infer the results of evaluations and reviews of books and authors listed, we have examined a wide sense, but also vertical (and which were focused on a socio-historical perspective and critical-aesthetic) within the assumption that seems be a homology between the way football practice amongst us will historically winning characteristics as to form a Brazilian school of football, and how our writers, journalists will be addressing the topic, which also would focus on creating a "Brazilian way" of telling literary football. The proof of this hypothesis operational work together with the development of historiography and the necessity arising from it, creating a "Guide to Reading football theme in fictional tale of Brazil" shut the focal perspective of this study

Intermediate reactive oxygen and nitrogen from macrophages induced by Brazilian lichens

The activity of ten compounds isolated from Brazilian lichen over the release of hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide was evaluated in the culture of peritoneal macrophage cells from mice. Salazinic, secalonic A and fumarprotocetraric acids were the compounds that induced the greatest release of H2O2, whereas 12R-usnic and diffractaic acids induced the release of NO. These results indicate that lichen products have potential immunological modulating activities. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of thermal pasteurization and concentration on carotenoid composition of Brazilian Valencia orange juice

Changes in carotenoid pigment content of Brazilian Valencia orange juices due to thermal pasteurization and concentration were studied. Total carotenoid pigment content loss was not significant after thermal pasteurization and concentration. However, thermal effects on carotenoid pigment contents, especially violaxanthin and lutein, were clearly observed and significant (P < 0.05). Pasteurization reduced the content of violaxanthin by 38% and lutein by 20%. The concentration process resulted in loss of lutein (17%). With the loss of lutein, beta-cryptoxanthin became the major carotenoid in the pasteurized and concentrated juices. The provitarnin A content of the juice (beta-carotene, alpha-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin) and the amount of zeaxanthin, which are considered to be active against age-related macular degeneration and cataracts, did not significantly decrease after pasteurization and concentration. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abnormalities in apolipoprotein and lipid levels in an HIV-infected Brazilian population under different treatment profiles: the relevance of apolipoprotein E genotypes and immunological status

HIV infection is associated with disturbances in lipid metabolism due to a host's response mechanism and the current antiretroviral therapy. The pathological appearance and progression of atherosclerosis is dependent on the presence of injurious agents in the vascular endothelium and variations in different subsets of candidate genes. Therefore, the Hha I polymorphism in the apolipoprotein E gene was evaluated in addition to triglycerides, total cholesterol, very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), LDL, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and apolipoprotein (apo) Al, B and E levels in 86 Brazilian HIV-infected patients and 29 healthy controls. The allele frequency for apoE in the HIV-infected group and controls was in agreement with data on the Brazilian population. Dyslipidemia was observed in the HIV group and verified by increased levels of triglycerides, VLDL and apoE, and decreased levels of HDL and apoAl. The greatest abnormalities in these biochemical variables were shown in the HIV-infected individuals whose immune function was more compromised. The effect of the genetic variation at the APOE gene on biochemical variables was more pronounced in the HIV-infected individuals who carried the apoE2/3 genotype. The highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)-receiving group presented increased levels of total cholesterol and apoE. Dyslipidemia was a predictable consequence of HIV infection and the protease inhibitors intensified the increase in apoE values.

TNFa-e microsatellite, HLA-DRB1 and-DQB1 alleles and haplotypes in Brazilian patients presenting recently diagnosed type 1 diabetes mellitus

TNF microsatellite and HLA class II polymorphisms were studied in 28 recently diagnosed Brazilian patients presenting type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and in 120 healthy controls. TNFa-e and HLA-DRB1/DQB1 alleles were identified using sets of sequence-specific primers. Compared to controls, the DRB1* 03 and DQBI*02 allele groups, TNFa1 allele, and the TNFa4-b5-c1-d4-e3 and TNFa10-b5-c1-d4-e3 haplotypes were overrepresented in patients. TNF microsatellite together with HLA polymorphisms is associated with type 1 diabetes in Brazilian patients, corroborating the participation of the MHC genes in disease susceptibility.

Major carotenoid composition of Brazilian Valencia orange juice: Identification and quantification by HPLC

The carotenoid composition of Brazilian Valencia orange juice was determined by open column chromatography (OCC) and high-performance liquid chromatography. Carotenoid pigments were extracted using acetone and saponified using 10% methanolic potassium hydroxide. Sixteen pigments were isolated by OCC and identified as alpha-carotene, zeta-carotene, beta-carotene, alpha-cryptoxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein-5,6-epoxide, violaxanthin, lutein, antheraxanthin, zeaxanthin, luteoxanthin A, luteoxanthin B, mutatoxanthin A, mutatoxanthin B, auroxanthin B and trollichrome B. Thirteen carotenoid pigments were separated using a ternary gradient (acetonitrile-methanol-ethyl acetate) elution on a C-18 reversed-phase column. Among these, violaxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin, zeta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and beta-carotene were quantified. The total carotenoid content was 12 +/- 6.7 mg/1, and the major carotenoids were lutein (23%), beta-cryptoxanthin (21%), and zeaxanthin (20%). 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of Factor VIII polymorphic markers as a means for carrier detection in Brazilian families with haemophilia A

Haemophilia A is an X-linked, recessively inherited bleeding disorder of varying severity, which results from the deficiency of procoagulant factor VIII f(8). Linkage diagnosis using polymorphic markers in the f8 gene is widely used to detect carriers. The objective of this study was to verify the informativeness of three polymorphic markers in the Brazilian population, to evaluate the usefulness of such markers in carrier detection procedures. Sixty-three unrelated healthy volunteers and 10 haemophilic families were studied. Two microsatellite repeats and one HindIII RFLP markers were used. Carrier and non-carrier status could be determined in 80% of females investigated. Intron 13 markers presented the highest heterozygosity rate (79%) followed by intron 22 (68%) and intron 19 (57%). When all three markers were used together, linkage analysis informativeness increased significantly. We conclude that these markers are suitable for carrier detection in the Brazilian population and we recommend their use in combination to maximize diagnostic efficiency.

Comparison of resazurin microtiter assay performance and BACTEC MGIT 960 in the susceptibility testing of Brazilian clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to four first-line drugs

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

CCR5 genotype and plasma ß-chemokine concentration of Brazilian HIV-infected individuals

The 32-bp deletion in the HIV-1 co-receptor CCR5 confers a high degree of resistance to HIV-1 infection in homozygous individuals for the deleted allele and partial protection against HIV-1 during disease progression in heterozygotes. Natural ligands for CCR5, MIP-1alpha, MIP-1ß and RANTES, have been shown to inhibit HIV replication in CD4+ T cells. In the present study, we examined the CCR5 genotype by PCR and the plasma levels of RANTES and MIP-1alpha by ELISA among blood donors (N = 26) and among HIV-1-infected individuals (N = 129). The control group consisted of healthy adult volunteers and HIV-1-infected subjects were an asymptomatic and heterogeneous group of individuals with regard to immunologic and virologic markers of HIV-1 disease. The frequency of the CCR5 mutant allele (delta32ccr5) in this population was 0.032; however, no delta32ccr5 homozygote was detected. These results could be related to the intense ethnic admixture of the Brazilian population. There was no correlation between circulating ß-chemokines (MIP-1alpha, RANTES) and viral load in HIV-infected individuals. RANTES concentrations in plasma samples from HIV+ patients carrying the homozygous CCR5 allele (CCR5/CCR5) (28.23 ng/ml) were higher than in the control samples (16.07 ng/ml; P<0.05); however, this HIV+ patient group (mean 26.23 pg/ml) had significantly lower concentrations of MIP-1alpha than those observed in control samples (mean 31.20 pg/ml; P<0.05). Both HIV-1-infected and uninfected individuals heterozygous for the delta32ccr5 allele had significantly lower concentrations of circulating RANTES (mean 16.07 and 6.11 ng/ml, respectively) than CCR5/CCR5 individuals (mean 28.23 and 16.07 ng/ml, respectively; P<0.05). These findings suggest that the CCR5 allele and ß-chemokine production may affect the immunopathogenesis of HIV-1.

Cytogenetic characterization of the strongly electric Amazonian eel, Electrophorus electricus (Teleostei, Gymnotiformes), from the Brazilian rivers Amazon and Araguaia

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