Evaluating quality of life in mercury intoxicated people in urban-industrial environments through short-form 36 application

Context and objective: Records of contact with mercury (Hg) exist for more than 3500 years and several problems related to the use of this element can be noticed. Considering inexistence of current reports about it, quality of life perception evaluation was studied in people chronically intoxicated by mercury in an industrial environment. Design and setting: This is a cross-sectional descriptive observational study. Information from 47 urban-industrial workers from lamps manufacturing in São Paulo, clinically diagnosed as intoxicated by mercury and currently followed by the Occupational Health Service of Faculdade de Medicine da Universidade de São Paulo, with average age of 41.7 years old, was considered. Methods: SF36 questionnaire application was performed, with inferences tested by χ-square proof, by Spearman linear correlation and Mann-Whitney non-parametric test, adopting p < 0.05 as significant level. Results: In the eight domains, observed medians are 40% for physical functioning; 0 for physical function; 30% for body pain; 30% for general health; 22.2% for vitality; 50% for social functioning; 0 for emotional role and 36% for mental health. Correlation between age and SF36 domains does not reveal statistical significance, except for physical functioning, indicating that lower scores presented by older people in this domain are not followed by changes on other ones. Conclusions: Values obtained in people chronically intoxicated by mercury are actually lower, in the motor and mental scope components. Some instruments domains are higher for men than for women. Older ages are inversely associated to good performance in physical function domain. © Copyright Moreira Jr. Editora. Todos os direitos reservados.

A human retrieval study of plasma-sprayed hydroxyapatite-coated plateau root form implants after 2 months to 13 years in function

Calcium phosphate-based bioactive ceramics in various physical and chemical formulations have been extensively utilized as biomaterials for bone regeneration/conduction. However, the determination of their in vivo temporal behavior from the short to long term in humans has been a challenge due to the lack of physical reference for morphologic and morphometric evaluation. The present study evaluated bone morphology and morphometry (bone-to-implant contact [BIC]) around plasma-sprayed hydroxyapatite (PSHA)-coated endosseous implants that were retrieved due to prosthetic reasons while successfully in function at the posterior region of the jaws from as early as 2 months to ~13 years after a 6-month healing period after placement. Bone morphology was evaluated by light microscopy, and BIC was determined using computer software. Irrespective of the time in vivo, lamellar bone was observed in close contact with the implant PSHA-coated surface and between plateaus. BIC ranged from ~35-95%, was highly directional, and Haversian-like osteonic morphology between plateaus was observed for most implants. The PSHA coating was present with little variation in thickness between the samples retrieved regardless of time in vivo. © 2010 by Begell House, Inc.

Organized crime as a serious form of violation of human rights: the Protocol to Prevent, Supress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children

Includes bibliography

An examination of the Chile-Mexico agreement: a viable form of integration?

Includes bibliography

In search of another form of development

Includes bibliography

The transnational corporations and Latin America's present form of economic growth

Includes bibliography

Clinical and molecular study of a new form of hereditary myotonia in Murrah water buffalo

Hereditary myotonia caused by mutations in CLCN1 has been previously described in humans, goats, dogs, mice and horses. The goal of this study was to characterize the clinical, morphological and genetic features of hereditary myotonia in Murrah buffalo. Clinical and laboratory evaluations were performed on affected and normal animals. CLCN1 cDNA and the relevant genomic region from normal and affected animals were sequenced. The affected animals exhibited muscle hypertrophy and stiffness. Myotonic discharges were observed during EMG, and dystrophic changes were not present in skeletal muscle biopsies; the last 43 nucleotides of exon-3 of the CLCN1 mRNA were deleted. Cloning of the genomic fragment revealed that the exclusion of this exonic sequence was caused by aberrant splicing, which was associated with the presence of a synonymous SNP in exon-3 (c.396C>T). The mutant allele triggered the efficient use of an ectopic 5' splice donor site located at nucleotides 90-91 of exon-3. The predicted impact of this aberrant splicing event is the alteration of the CLCN1 translational reading frame, which results in the incorporation of 24 unrelated amino acids followed by a premature stop codon. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ideas of four-fermion operators in electromagnetic form factor calculations

Four-fermion operators have been used in the past to link the quark-exchange processes in the interaction of hadrons with the effective meson-exchange amplitudes. In this paper, we apply the similar idea of a Fierz rearrangement to the self-energy and electromagnetic processes and focus on the electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon and the electron. We explain the motivation of using four-fermion operators and discuss the advantage of this method in computing electromagnetic processes. © 2013 American Physical Society.

Environmental ageing studies of chemically modified micro and nanofibril phenol formaldehyde composites

Cellulose micro and nano fibrils were extracted from banana macro fibres and chemically modified using sodium hydroxide, formic acid, 3-methacryloxy propyltrimethoxy silane. These untreated and chemically treated fibrils were incorporated into PF resin and the specimens were prepared. The composites were subjected to long-term water ageing, thermal ageing soil burial and outdoor weathering. The mechanical properties are reduced under all ageing conditions. The present study investigates the effects of different types of ageing on macro fibre, microfibril and nanofibril reinforced PF composites. The effect of chemical modifications of fibres on the degradability of the composites at different environments also has been analysed. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Low tungsten content of nanostructured material supported on carbon for the degradation of phenol

A comparative study using different mass proportions of WO3/C (1%, 5%, 10% and 15%) for H2O2 electrogeneration and subsequent phenol degradation was performed. To include the influence of the carbon substrate and the preparation methods, all synthesis parameters were evaluated. The WO3/C materials were prepared by a modified polymeric precursor method (PPM) and the sol-gel method (SGM) on Vulcan XC 72R and Printex L6 carbon supports, verifying the most efficient metal/carbon proportion. The materials were physically characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. The XRD and the XPS techniques identified just one phase containing WO3 and elevated oxygen concentration on carbon with the presence of WO3. The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), studied by the rotating ring-disk electrode technique, showed that WO3/C material with the lowest tungsten content (1% WO3/C), supported on Vulcan XC 72R and prepared by SGM, was the most promising electrocatalyst for H2O2 electrogeneration. This material was then analyzed using a gas diffusion electrode (GDE) and 585mgL-1 of H2O2 was produced in acid media. This GDE was employed as a working electrode in an electrochemical cell to promote phenol degradation by an advanced oxidative process. The most efficient method applied was the photo-electro-Fenton; this method allowed for 65% degradation and 11% mineralization of phenol during a 2-h period. Following 12h of exhaustive electrolysis using the photo-electro-Fenton method, the total degradation of phenol was observed after 4h and the mineralization of phenol approached 75% after 12h. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

A Combined Study of the Pion's Static Properties and form Factors

We study consistently the pion's static observables and the elastic and γ* γ → π0 transition form factors within a light-front model. Consistency requires that all calculations are performed within a given model with the same and single adjusted length or mass-scale parameter of the associated pion bound-state wave function. Our results agree well with all extent data including recent Belle data on the γ* γ → π0 form factor at large q2, yet the BaBar data on this transition form factor resists a sensible comparison. We relax the initial constraint on the bound-state wave function and show the BaBar data can partially be accommodated. This, however, comes at the cost of a hard elastic form factor not in agreement with experiment. Moreover, the pion charge radius is about 40 % smaller than its experimentally determined value. It is argued that a decreasing charge radius produces an ever harder form factor with a bound-state amplitude difficultly reconcilable with soft QCD. We also discuss why vector dominance type models for the photon-quark vertex, based on analyticity and crossing symmetry, are unlikely to reproduce the litigious transition form factor data. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Wien.

Poliuretana contendo corante azóico e espaçador tipo bis-carbonato como material para fabricação de filmes nanoestruturados

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

DECREASING PREVALENCE OF THE ACUTE/SUBACUTE CLINICAL FORM OF PARACOCCIDIOIDOMYCOSIS IN MATO GROSSO DO SUL STATE, BRAZIL

Com o objetivo de avaliar o comportamento da paracoccidioidomicose nas últimas três décadas, dados clínicos e epidemiológicos de 595 pacientes atendidos dentre 1980 a 2009 no Hospital da Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul foram estudados. Sexo, faixa etária, forma clínica, associação com tuberculose ou AIDS e mortalidade foram comparados por década em que a doença foi diagnosticada. Observou-se, nas três décadas do estudo, uma redução do percentual de mulheres, de pacientes do grupo de 20 a 39 anos, assim como de casos com a forma aguda/subaguda. Estas alterações estão intimamente relacionadas e podem ser analisadas simultaneamente. Houve aumento de casos de coinfecção com AIDS da primeira para segunda década, coincidindo com o surgimento da epidemia, e manteve-se estável durante a década seguinte. Não houve alteração da taxa de coinfecção com tuberculose, que no geral foi de 6,9% o que reforça a importância desta comorbidade. A taxa geral de mortalidade foi de 6,7% e também não variou entre as décadas estudadas. A manutenção da taxa de óbitos chama a atenção para a relevância dessa doença negligenciada.

Development and validation of a microbiological assay by turbidimetry to determine the potency of cefazolin sodium in the lyophilized powder form

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