Nocardia asteroides peritonitis during continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

This paper reports a case of peritonitis by Nocardia asteroides during continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis in a man who had systemic lupus erythematous and chronic renal failure. Diagnosis was established by microscopic examination (Gram and Kinyoun) and culture of centrifuged dialysis fluid and the patient was treated with Trimethoprin-Sulfamethoxazole by intraperitoneal route.

Implementação de um sistema de gestão municipal com recurso a sistemas de informação geográfica

Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Civil na Área de Especialização em Vias de Comunicação e Transportes

Determinantes do sucesso das iniciativas empresariais apoiadas pelo microcrédito

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada ao Instituto de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Contabilidade e Finanças sob orientação de: Amélia Ferreira da Silva “Esta versão contém as críticas e sugestões dos elementos do júri”

Join The Moment Transitários, S.A: relatório de estágio no departamento de operações

Apresentado ao Instituto de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Empreendedorismo e Internacionalização, sob orientação da Doutora Maria Clara Pinto Ribeiro

O E-commerce e a internacionalização. O caso Bilua e-commerce

Relatório de Estágio apresentado ao Instituto de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Marketing Digital, sob orientação do Mestre Especialista António Silva Vieira

Balanced Scorecard

Mestrado Em Engenharia Mecânica - Ramo Gestão Industrial

Natural killer cell activity in experimental paracoccidioidomycosis of the Syrian hamster

The study evaluated the activity of NK cells during the course of experimental infection of hamsters with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. Eigthy hamsters were infected with P. brasiliensis by intratesticular route and sacrificed at 24h, 48h, 96h, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 11 weeks of infection and compared to 40 noninfected hamsters employed as controls. These animals were submitted to the study of NK cytotoxic activity by a single-cell assay and humoral immune response by immunodiffusion and ELISA tests. The production of macrophage migration inhibitory factor in the presence of Phyto-hemagglutinin and P. brasiliensis antigen and histopathology of the lesions were evaluated at 1, 4, 8 and 11 weeks of infection. The infected animals displayed significantly high levels of NK activity during the four weeks of infection that decreased from the 8th week on when compared to controls. This impairment of NK activity was associated with depression of cell-mediated immune response and with increase in the extension of the histopathologic lesions. There was an inverse correlation between NK cell activity and specific antibody levels. The results suggest that after initial activation, NK cells were unable to control the fungus dissemination. The impairment of NK activity in the late stages of the infection might be related to immunoregulatory disturbances associated with paracoccidioidomycosis.

Cyclophosphamide effect on paracoccidioidomycosis in the rat

Paracoccidioidomycosis is an endemic fungal disease widely distributed throughout Latin America. The potent immunosuppressor cyclophosphamide (CY) has been used to modulate host immune response to Paracoccidioides brasiliensis in an experimental model. Inbred male Buffalo/Sim rats weighing 250-300 g were inoculated with 5 x 10(6) P. brasiliensis cells of the yeast phase form by intracardiac route. One group of animals was treated with 20 mg/kg body weight at days +4, +5, +6, +7, +11 and +12 post-infection (pi.), while a control group was infected alone. No mortality was recorded in either group. Treated rats presented: a) a decrease in granuloma size, which contained less fungal cells; b) a lack of specific antibodies up to 35 days pi., and c) a significant increase in the footpad swelling test (DTH) against paracoccidioidin. Splenic cell transfer from CY-treated P. brasiliensis-infected donors to recipients infected alone led to a significant increase in DTH response in the latter versus untreated infected controls. Likewise, in treated infected recipients transferred with untreated infected donor spleen cells, footpad swelling proved greater than in controls. Thus, it would seem that each successive suppressor T lymphocyte subset belonging to the respective cascade may be sensitive to repeated CY doses administered up to 12 days pi.. Alternatively, such CY schedule may induce the appearance of a T cell population capable of amplifying DTH response.

Interferon gamma increases survival in urine experimental cryptococcosis

Systemic disease by Cryptococcus neoformans (C. neoformans) is a common opportunistic infection in immunodeficient patients. Cellular immunity seems to be the most important determinant of resistance. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of recombinant rat interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) in murine cryptococcosis (Balb/c mice infected by IP route with the Rivas strain of C. neoformans), evaluating survival time, macroscopic and microscopic examination of the organs, and massive seeding of brain homogenate. IFN-gamma treatment, at a daily dose of 10,000 IU, did not modify significantly these variables when mice were challenged with a high inoculum (10(7) yeasts) and treatment was delayed to 5 days after infection (median survival 21 days in control mice vs. 23 days in IFN-treated). Another set of experiments suggested that IFN-gamma treatment, at a dose of 10,000 IU/day, begun at the moment of infection could be useful (it prolonged survival from 20 to 28 days, although the difference did not achieve statistical signification). When used simultaneously with infection by 3.5 x 10(5) yeasts, IFN-gamma at 10,000 IU/day for 15 days significantly prolonged survival of mice (p = 0.004). These results suggest that, depending on the experimental conditions, IFN-gamma can improve survival of mice infected with a lethal dose of C. neoformans.

Basidiomycosis: a review of the literature

The basidiomycosis, fungal infections provoked by basidiomycetes or agaric fungi have been recorded at growing frequencies in the medical literature, especially after the advent of AIDS in 1991. The basidiospores of these fungi, scattered in the atmosphere and transported by winds or air currents, reach the maxillary sinuses through the nasal route, most of the times causing signs and symptoms of chronic sinusitis. Basidiomycetes have also been isolated from sputum, especially Schizophyllum commune. Lesions of the buccal mucosa, brain abscesses, onychomycosis and endocarditis have been described, with a growing interest in this type of deep mycosis on the part of mycologists and infectologists. The present paper reports descriptions of mycetism as well as infectious processes caused by basidiomycetes, such as Schizophyllum commune, Ustilago maydis (= Ustilago zeae) and Coprinus cinereus

Evaluation of the schistosomicidal efficacy of liposome - Entrapped Oxamniquine

Oxamniquine (OXA) was sucessfully encapsulated in small unilamellar vesicles using a pH gradient method. This procedure led to a high drug encapsulation efficiency (> 85%) at a drug to lipid molar ratio of 1/10. Moreover, these liposomes were found to retain encapsulated OXA efficciently under dialysis conditions at 37º C. Liposome-entrapped OXA (LOXA), OXA, and empty liposomes were tested against Schistosoma mansoni in a murine model. LOXA produced a significant reduction of the worm burden compared to the other preparations, when inoculated by subcutaneous route (s.c.) with 10 mg OXA/kg animal one day before the infection, and 3, 7, and 14 days after. However, LOXA was not effective when given 7 days before, or 35 days after infections. OXA, in the free form, was effective in relation to the untreated group, only when administered 3 days after the infection. Maximum effect of LOXA, with 97% reduction of the parasite number, was observed when the preparation was given s.c.one day before the infection. On the other hand, LOXA inoculated intraperitoneally one day before the infection didn’t show any reduction of the parasite count. It can be concluded that LOXA is more effective than OXA for the treatment of experimental schistosomiasis, particularly when administered subcutaneously at a time close to the infection

VERTICAL TRANSMISSION OF HTLV-I/II: A review

The vertical transmission of the human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) occurs predominantly through breast-feeding. Since some bottle-fed children born to carrier mothers still remain seropositive with a frequency that varies from 3.3% to 12.8%, an alternative pathway of vertical transmission must be considered. The prevalence rate of vertical transmission observed in Japan varied from 15% to 25% in different surveys. In Brazil there is no evaluation of this form of transmission until now. However, it is known that in Salvador, Bahia, 0.7% to 0.88% of pregnant women of low socio-economic class are HTLV-I carriers. Furthermore the occurrence of many cases of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma and of four cases of infective dermatitis in Salvador, diseases directly linked to the vertical transmission of HTLV-I, indicates the importance of this route of infection among us. Through prenatal screening for HTLV-I and the refraining from breast-feeding a reduction of ~ 80% of vertical transmission has been observed in Japan. We suggest that in Brazil serologic screening for HTLV-I infection must be done for selected groups in the prenatal care: pregnant women from endemic areas, Japanese immigrants or Japanese descendents, intravenous drug users (IDU) or women whose partners are IDU, human immunodeficiency virus carriers, pregnant women with promiscuous sexual behavior and pregnant women that have received blood transfusions in areas where blood donors screening is not performed. There are in the literature few reports demonstrating the vertical transmission of HTLV-II.

Increased natural killer activity does not prevent progression of experimental Kala-azar

Kala-azar is the visceral form of leishmaniasis and it is caused by intracellular parasites from the complex Leishmania donovani. Golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) infected with Leishmania donovani develop a disease very similar to human Kala-azar. There is conspicuous hipergammaglobulinaemia and their T cells do not respond to stimulation with parasite antigens. We used this experimental model to evaluate the natural killer (NK) activity during the initial phase of the disease. Outbred hamsters infected by intravenous route with 5.106 amastigotes of L. donovani 1S showed a concurrent increase in the spleen weight and in the spleen cell number. Using the single cell assay we detected a significant increase in the percentage of NK effector cells on the 4th day of infection. Imprints from spleen and liver showed at days 14 and 28 a significant increase in the parasite burden . These results show that the increased NK activity in the beginning of the infection was not able to restrain the progression of the disease in this experimental model.

Neural mechanisms of stimulus generalization in auditory fear conditioning

Dissertation presented to obtain the Ph.D degree in Neuroscience Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Universidade Nova de Lisboa

Sistema de apoio ao utilizador de transportes públicos

Nos dias de hoje usar o transporte público para nos deslocarmos de uma determinada origem para um determinado destino é uma realidade na vida da maioria das pessoas. Muitas destas deslocações fazem parte da rotina diária do cidadão, que depende destes transportes para as suas atividades do dia-a-dia. Nos últimos anos, o número de cidadãos que usa os transportes públicos como meio de deslocação tem vindo a aumentar consideravelmente. Contudo, a maioria dos operadores de transportes públicos pecam pela falta de pontualidade dos seus serviços, e pela falta de informação disponível ao cidadão acerca dos horários dos mesmos em tempo real. Tendo este problema em conta, foi desenvolvida uma solução capaz de realizar uma previsão do tempo de chegada de um transporte público, ao longo de todo o seu serviço. Previsão essa que é atualizada ao longo do percurso de forma a reduzir a margem de erro da informação apresentada. Com esta informação o cidadão pode planear melhor o seu dia e decidir qual é a melhor altura para se deslocar para a paragem, evitando ao máximo a perda de tempo à espera do seu transporte público. A solução final foi desenvolvida com a ajuda da empresa BEWARE e teve como objetivo a criação de uma aplicação web capaz de apresentar os tempos de espera dos autocarros em diferentes tipos de vista, bem como o acompanhamento do mesmo ao longo do percurso. Toda a informação utilizada na aplicação web foi criada por dois serviços de apoio que efetuam o controlo do autocarro ao longo do percurso, bem como os cálculos da previsão dos tempos de espera. O projeto foi dividido em quatro constituintes que foram repetidas durante o desenvolvimento da solução. A primeira constou na análise do problema, no levantamento e definição dos requisitos. A segunda incluiu o desenvolvimento de um algoritmo capaz de validar a posição do autocarro ao longo do seu percurso, detetando a paragem onde este se encontra e a hora de chegada à mesma. A terceira abrangeu o desenvolvimento de um algoritmo capaz de prever o tempo de chegada de um autocarro às paragens definidas na sua rota, recorrendo ao histórico de viagens realizadas anteriormente. A quarta consistiu no desenvolvimento da aplicação web, implementando todas as funcionalidades necessárias para que a aplicação consiga realizar o acompanhamento do autocarro no percurso, a consulta dos tempos de chegada e da previsão dos tempos às paragens seguintes recorrendo a três tipos de vistas diferentes, e a possibilidade de agendar notificações de forma a receber no email as previsões dos tempos de chegada nos dias e horas mais significativos para o utilizador.