A Bayesian Analysis of Spectral ARMA Model

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Use of fibrin glue derived from snake venom in testicular biopsy of rams

Sequelae due to testicular biopsy such as hemorrhage, adhesion and fibrosis may be limiting factors to the use of this surgical procedure. Fibrin glue (FG) derived from snake venom was used to minimize these sequelae, as well as to evaluate its healing property in tunica vaginalis and scrotal skin of rams. Applicability of fibrin glue derived from snake venom was tested in different tissues of other animals such as in sciatic nerve and colon of rats and skin of rabbits. In the present study, 30 healthy adult rams were used. They were divided into 3 groups of 10 animals each as follows: G1: fibrin glue group (application of fibrin glue on puncture sites and skin incisions after bilateral testicular biopsy with a Tru-Cut needle); G2: swab/nylon group (hemostasis by compression with a swab on puncture sites and skin suturing with nylon after biopsy) and G3: control group (the animals were not subjected either to biopsy or to surgery). On the 20th day after biopsy, the presence of adhesion strands between the sites of skin incision and testicle was evaluated by palpation Adhesion strands were found in three testicles (15%) in G1 and in two testicles (10%) in G2. One hundred days after biopsy, orchiectomy was carried out and the material collected was assessed for subcutaneous (SC) and/or tunica vaginalis adhesions. G3 did not present any abnormality. Groups G1 and G2 presented four testicles each (20%) with adhesion between the tunics at biopsy site. On the other hand, subcutaneous adhesions were found once (5%) in G1 and three times (15%) in G2. Fibrin glue showed to be of easy application, required short postoperative monitoring, presented fast and good-quality healing property and tended to reduce formation of subcutaneous adhesion.

Investigacao clinica da disfagia orofaringea

The accurate investigation of the oropharyngeal dysphagia demands a systematic sequence of physical examinations. The aim of the present work is to propose a practical rule to facilitate the clinical investigation and the management of dysphagic patients. After a detailed anamnesis, an endoscopic examination is carried out and several manouvers to observe the oral, pharyngeal and laryngeal functions are performed by the patient. Following, a second endoscopy is performed during swallows of several consistencies of food, to verify the impairment of the laryngeal and or pharyngeal activities. The elevation of the laryngeal cartilage is also evaluated.

Agonistic behavior of Nasutitermes sp. (Isoptera: Termitidae)

The possible existence of agonistic, intraspecific behavior, and polycalic nests was investigated for Nasutitermes sp. Aggressive tests among soldiers, workers and between soldiers and workers of different nests were carried out, and later, injury percentage was analyzed from the results of such tests. Agonistic behavior was observed in the majority of the experiments performed between individuals from different colonies. In the light of such results, it was assumed that polycalism does not exist among the nests of this species.

Simulation of active control using fuzzy logic applied to a pulse combustor

This work analyzes an active fuzzy logic control system in a Rijke type pulse combustor. During the system development, a study of the existing types of control for pulse combustion was carried out and a simulation model was implemented to be used with the package Matlab and Simulink. Blocks which were not available in the simulator library were developed. A fuzzy controller was developed and its membership functions and inference rules were established. The obtained simulation showed that fuzzy logic is viable in the control of combustion instabilities. The obtained results indicated that the control system responded to pulses in an efficient and desirable way. It was verified that the system needed approximately 0.2 s to increase the tube internal pressure from 30 to 90 mbar, with an assumed total delay of 2 ms. The effects of delay variation were studied. Convergence was always obtained and general performance was not affected by the delay. The controller sends a pressure signal in phase with the Rijke tube internal pressure signal, through the speakers, when an increase the oscillations pressure amplitude is desired. On the other hand, when a decrease of the tube internal pressure amplitude is desired, the controller sends a signal 180° out of phase.

Adesão de protozoários ̀a superfície de dispositivos intra-uterinos

Intrauterine devices (IUD) have been used by approximately hundred million of women in the world. IUD are unprescribed to women who have pelvic inflammation disease predisposition which is caused in general by non-treated sexually transmitted diseases (STD). Trichomoniasis, one of the most important vaginal infections, is caused by a flagellated protozoan, Trichomonas vaginalis, transmitted by sexual contact and also asyntomatic women are able to transmit it. The objective of this work was verify by scanning microscopy the adhesion of this protozoan on plastic and metalic IUD surfaces. IUD fragments were added in Diamond medium containing T. vaginalis and after 3 days at 37°C incubation, they were taken out and treated as necessary for scanning microscopy. The analysis showed showed the adhesion of the protozoans on plastic and metalic IUD surfaces. Even though the IUD were not yet directly associated with high incidence of the inflammation pelvic disease, it would become an infection reservoir of potencial pathogenic organisms.

Compreendendo o significado da gestação para grávidas diabéticas.

This qualitative study intends to understand the meaning of pregnancy for diabetic women. Semi-structured interviews were carried out and data were analyzed by means of the Collective Subject Discourse, identifying the following central ideas: happiness about a desired pregnancy, preoccupation with pregnancy and renouncement, my pregnancy was planned, I had other plans, I feel what pregnant women feel, I had many problems during pregnancy, a child was everything that he wanted, he didn't feel the same emotions as a woman, I am controlling, doing everything the doctor says, I am trying to follow a diet, but it is hard. These central ideas demonstrate that, among the diabetic pregnant women, planning and wanting the pregnancy and counting on the support of the family and/or companion were also essential for the treatment to be faced naturally and for the pregnancy to be experienced in a pleasant way.

O limiar de esforço percebido (LEP) corresponde à potência crítica e a um indicador de máximo estado estável de consumo de oxigěnio

The perceived exertion has been a target of several investigations, many times with association with objective physiological indicators in exercise. Recently, the identification of the perceived exertion threshold (PET) was proposed in the water running, which presented no difference in relation to the critical velocity. Theoretically, both parameters would be indicators of the maximum steady state of variables such as V̇O2 and blood lactate. The objective of this work was to verify the coincidence between PET, critical power (PCrit) and an indicator of maximum V̇O2 steady state (PCrit') in cycle ergometer. Eight male participants were submitted to progressive effort test in order to determine V̇O2peak (46.7 ± 8.5 ml/kg/min) and to four rectangular tests until exhaustion for the estimation of the critical power model parameters, PET and PCrit'. The hyperbolic relation between mechanical power and time spent for the V̇O2peak to be reached in each test was used for the PCrit' estimation, considered as the asymptote in the power axis, and the portion of the anaerobic work capacity (CTAnaer) depleted up to the establishment of the V̇O2peak (CTAnaer'). In order to identify PET, the straight lines angular coefficients of the perceived exertion in time (ordinate) and the powers used (abscissa) were adjusted to a linear function that provided a point in the power axis in which the perceived exertion would be kept indefinitely stable. The parameters PCrit and CTAnaer were estimated by means of the power-time non-linear equation. In order to compare the estimations of PET, PCrit and PCrit', the analysis of variance ANOVA for repeated measurements was employed, and the associations were established through the Pearson correlation. CTAnaer and CTAnaer' were compared through the t test. PET (180 W ± 61 W), PCrit (174 W ± 43 W) and PCrit' (176 W ± 48 W) were not significantly different and the correlations were of 0.92-0.98. CTAnaer' (14,080 ± 5,219 J) was lower than CTAnaer (22,093 ± 9,042 J). One concludes that the PET predicts the intensity of PCrit and PCrit' with accuracy.

Validation of UV spectrophotometric method for determination of lomefloxacin in pharmaceutical dosage form

A simple and reproducible method was developed for the assay of lomefloxacin in tablets. The excipients in the commercial tablet preparation did not interfere with the assay. Beer's law is obeyed in the range 2.0-9.0 μg.mL-1 at λmax 280 nm. The molar absorptivity was calculated. Six triplicate analyses of solutions containing six different concentrations of the examined drug were carried out and gave a mean correlation coefficient 0.9997. The proposed method was applied to the determination of the examined drug in coated tablet and the results demonstrated that the method is equally accurate, precise and reproducible as the official methods.

Interação de Paracoccidioides brasiliensis com células endoteliais

Paracoccidioidomycosis has a variety of clinical manifestations and Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, the causative agent, may infect many tissues, most importantly the lungs. Migration of pathogenic yeasts to the endothelial cell layer is considered a prerequisite for multiple organ invasion and dissemination of the fungus. In this study of the adhesion of P. brasiliensis to endothelial cells in vitro, we investigated whether this adhesion could represent a mechanism of dissemination. To this end, as well as using conventional optical microscopy, an alternative in vivo technique was developed, to detect the presence of fungal cells in umbilical cords embedded in paraffin wax. An experiment on the migration of P. brasiliensis through an endothelial cell monolayer was carried out, and the migration of yeast cells was greater, and took less time, in control wells with no cells. The fungus crossed the monolayer, but, compared to control wells, the migration-rate was about 30% lower. This shows that the monolayer only partially blocked migration of the fungus. In these experiments, we had great difficulty finding P. brasiliensis adhered to the cell monolayer, when it was examined at different times, suggesting that migration of the fungus across the endothelial layer is very fast, and cannot normally be observed in cell culture in vitro. Thus, P. brasiliensis can cross the endothelium rapidly and probably invades deeper tissue.

Use of skin graft punch graft type for the healing of leg ulcers in treated Hansen's disease patients

Hansen's disease is an infectious illness caused by Mycobacterium leprae. It affects preferentially the skin and the peripheral nervous system leading to incapacities, such as leg ulcers, which happens due to the direct action of the bacillus on the organs or its indirect action on the peripheral nervous system. Leg ulcers can occur by two physiopathologic processes. There are many treatments for general leg ulcers, which include the ones caused by Hansen's disease sequels. Among them, surgical treatment shows to be effective when using skin graft, which can be performed by several techniques. Considering the low number of techniques known for treating leg ulcers in Hansen's disease sequels, the aims of this work were to standardize alternative techniques, to detect the main bacteria found in ulcer secretion cultures, to analyze the patients profile and the ulcers, to describe the histophatologies found, and to correlate these data with those of literature from all over the world. Skin graft punch type was carried out and analyzed; males had a mean age of 59.4 years old and females, 54.2 years old. Patients were 73.6% male and 26.3% female. Lepromatous type was present in 89.4% patients and tuberculoid type was seen in 10.5% of them. Associated systemic diseases were observed in 26.3% patients. Mean time of ulcers evolution was 11.6 years in male and 12.8 years in women. The average diameter of ulcers in the pre-treatment period was 8.5 X 9.5 cm in male and 10.2 X 6.8 cm in women. After the graft, their average diameters were 3.2 X 2.7 cm in male and 5.1 X 5.6 cm in women. Statistical analysis showed that there was no significant correlation between the ulcer diameter and its reduction or not in the post-surgery period (p=0.269732). The mean age of patients whose ulcers diameter did not change or reduced by only 20% was 63.5 years. Using the Spearman's coefficient, it was possible to observe that there was no significant correlation between the patients' age and the ulcers diameter reduction after the skin graft (p=0.222531). Evolution time of ulcers that did not present any satisfactory result in the post-surgery period was 12.1 years. The Spearman's coefficient showed that there was no significant correlation between the ulcers evolution time and the ulcers diameter reduction in the post-surgery period (p=0.191655). Cultures presented 50% of cases with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Statistical analysis showed there is no correlation between the bacterial types found and the ulcer evolution in the post-surgery period (p=0.697531). The average of the ulcers diameter reduction was 42.4%, and in 26.3% of the patients the lesions disappeared after the skin graft.

A biodiversidade bentônica em lagoa marginal ao rio Paranapanema na zona de sua desembocadura, na represa de Jurumirim

Coqueiral lake is a marginal lake located at the southeast São Paulo State, in the mouth zone of the Paranapanema river into Jurumirim Reservoir and it has high connectivity with the Paranapaneina river. This work aimed to verify the benthic biodiversity in areas of the lake bottom. 18 sampling sites in the lake were selected, including shallow and deep areas. The samples were taken every three months during one year. Physical and chemical water variables (level, transparency, dissolved oxygen, pH, and electric conductivity) were analyzed. Sediment samples were picked up in triplicate for fauna and abiotic factors analysis (granulometric composition and sediment organic content), using Petersen dredge. The material was sorted out and analyzed under stereoscopic microscope. Counting and identification of the organisms were accomplished and diversity, relative abundance, taxonomic richness and dominance index were calculated. The analysis revealed a fauna with low species diversity and, with Chironomidae and Ephemeroptera dominance. Ephemeroptera, Campsurus, dominated in the hottest period and with low lake depth. Organisms' distribution had as main factors depth, transparency, pH, and water temperature. In the comparison between shallow and deep areas, a small density of organism in the deep regions was observed.

Does the thickness of the resin cement affect the bond strength of a fiber post to the root dentin?

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of cement thickness on the bond strength of a fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) post system to the root dentin. Eighteen single-rooted human teeth were decoronated (length: 16 mm), the canals were prepared, and the specimens were randomly allocated to 2 groups (n = 9): group 1 (low cement thickness), in which size 3 FRC posts were cemented using adhesive plus resin cement; and group 2 (high cement thickness), in which size 1 FRC posts were cemented as in group 1. Specimens were sectioned, producing 5 samples (thickness: 1.5 mm). For cement thickness evaluation, photographs of the samples were taken using an optical microscope, and the images were analyzed. Each sample was tested in push-out, and data were statistically analyzed. Bond strengths of groups 1 and 2 did not show significant differences (P = .558), but the cement thicknesses for these groups were significantly different (P < .0001). The increase in cement thickness did not significantly affect the bond strength (r2 = 0.1389, P = .936). Increased cement thickness surrounding the FRC post did not impair the bond strength.

Optical excitation of charge carriers from intra-bandgap states in Ce-doped SnO2 thin films

Optical excitation of Ce3+-doped SnO2 thin films, obtained by the sol-gel-dip-coating technique, is carried out and the effects on electrical transport are evaluated. Samples are doped with O. lat% of Ce, just above the saturation limit. The excitation is done with an intensity-controlled halogen-tungsten lamp through an interference filter, yielding an excitation wavelength of 513nm, 9 nm wide (width at half intensity peak). Irradiation at low temperature (25K) yields a conductivity increase much lower than above bandgap light. Such a behavior assures the ionization of intra-bandgap defect levels, since the filter does not allow excitation of electron-hole pairs, what would happen only in the UV range (below about 350nm). The decay of intra-bandgap excited levels in the range 250-320 K is recorded, leading to a temperature dependent behavior related to a thermally excited capture cross section for the dominating defect level. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Estatística de levantamentos epidemiológicos sobre cárie dentária, publicados no brasil e no exterior, de 1960 a 2001

The epidemiological surveys are important to the deployment, implementation and evaluation of projects and health actions in a community. The planning, goals, samples, team training/calibration, carrying out and publication of results are extremely important in the epidemiological surveys. Thus, the care with the sample and statistical analysis is fundamental for the results to be consistent and trustworthy in order to be able to be inferred for all the population. The aims of this study is to investigate the statistical methodology used in papers on dental caries epidemiological surveys published from 1960 to 2001. A bibliographical survey was carried out in BBO, MEDLINE and SCIELO databases. The papers found were analyzed with regards to the statistical methodology applied in the whole study, from the sampling to the tabling of data. Most studies (72.6%) only presented the number of elements that composed the sample, without explaining the planning involved in obtaining it.