Desenvolvimento de uma formulação cólon específica visando o tratamento da colite ulcerativa

Micro and nanoparticulate systems as drug delivery carriers have achieved successful therapeutic use by enhancing efficacy and reducing toxicity of potent drugs. The improvement of pharmaceutical grade polymers has allowed the development of such therapeutic systems. Microencapsulation is a process in which very thin coatings of inert natural or synthetic polymeric materials are deposited around microsized particles of solids or around droplets. Products thus formed are known as microparticles. Xylan is a natural polymer abundantly found in nature. It is the most common hemicellulose, representing more than 60% of the polysaccharides existing in the cell walls of corn cobs, and is normally degraded by the bacterial enzymes present in the colon of the human body. Therefore, this polymer is an eligible material to produce colon-specific drug carriers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the technological potential of xylan for the development of colon delivery systems for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases. First, coacervation was evaluated as a feasible method to produce xylan microcapsules. Afterwards, interfacial cross-linking polymerization was studied as a method to produce microcapsules with hydrophilic core. Additionally, magnetic xylan-coated microcapsules were prepared in order to investigate the ability of producing gastroresistant systems. Besides, the influence of the external phase composition on the production and mean diameter of microcapsules produced by interfacial cross-linking polymerization was investigated. Also, technological properties of xylan were determined in order to predict its possible application in other pharmaceutical dosage forms

Determinação da idade dental de crianças brasileiras nordestinas: novos valores de conversão de maturidade dental para população específica

Since Demirjian's system of estimating dental maturity was first described, many researchers from different countries have tested its accuracy among diverse populations. Some of these studies have pointed out a need to determine population-specific standards. In Brazil, the Northeast region is the one that most suffers the negative impact of exodus, specially related to the increase of abandoned children in the cities. The aim of this study was to test the accuracy of Demirjian's system for assessing the dental maturity of northeastern Brazilian children, so as to present a scale for maturity score conversion into dental age developed specifically for this population. This could be used for forensic, anthropological and legal matters, and also as a model for other countries attempting to formulate their own conversion scales. Panoramic radiographs of 1,491 children (821 females and 670 males), aged 7 to 13 years, from Ceará state, northeast Brazil, were assessed by a single observer to determine dental age (DA) according to Demirjian's system. The mean percentage of intra-observer agreement was 86.6%, with a mean Cohen's Kappa coefficient of 0.67 (substantial agreement). The DA was compared by paired t-test to subjects' chronological age (CA). The differences between CA and DA in all age groups were statistically significant (p<0.0001), demonstrating a great advancement in DA among Brazilians. Scatter plots were drawn for both genders, and the data were fitted to a growth curve, y = 100/ (1 + e-a(x b)). Graphs corresponding to the 50th percentile curves were produced. A table with new values for the conversion of maturity score into dental age for northeastern Brazilian children is presented. The great advancement in DA, as obtained by Demirjian's system in this population, justified the determination of specific scores for dental maturity assessment

Iga total e específica para bactérias enteropatogênicas no colostro e leite de mães da zona rural da Paraíba

Trata-se de um coorte prospectivo com amostras de leite de 28 mães da zona rural da Paraíba, durante diferentes dias de amamentação exclusiva, com objetivo de avaliar através do ensaio imunoenzimático a presença de imunoglobulina A secretora (sIgA) total e específica contra antígenos de Escherichia coli enteropatogênica (EPEC) e Shigella flexneri. A reatividade dos anticorpos foi analisada pelo Western blot . Os resultados mostram presença da sIgA em todas as amostras, com medianas no colostro de 8,092 g/L(4,546-17,252) e leite de 0,695g/L (0,020-2,830). As medianas nos títulos de colostro de IgA anti-EPEC foi 41 (1-659) e anti-Shigella flexneri de 18 (1-4727) enquanto no leite anti-EPEC foi de 8 (1-288) e anti-Shigella flexneri de 6 (1-450). Houve grandes variações entre as mães e entre os dias de amamentação. No Western blot os anticorpos sIgA reagiram com proteínas de EPEC e Shigella flexneri, destacando-se a fração antigênica de 94kDa, correspondente a intimina. Os resultados mostram que a presença de sIgA total e de anticorpos IgA contra EPEC e Shigella flexneri no colostro e leite de mães residentes em zona rural, com precárias condições sócioeconômica e sanitárias, não diferem de estudos realizados com populações de área urbana e reforçam a importância do leite materno na defesa contra infecções entéricas. Apesar da ausência na literatura de estudos avaliando o perfil de anticorpos sIgA no leite de mães residentes em zona rural do Brasil, os resultados demonstraram que a presença de sIgA total e de anticorpos IgA contra EPEC e Shigella flexneri no colostro e leite de mães residentes em zona rural, com precárias condições sócio-econômica e sanitárias, não diferem de estudos realizados com populações de área urbana e reforçam a importância do leite materno na defesa contra infecções entéricas

Micropartículas poliméricas à base de xilana e Eudragit® S-100 contendo mesalazina visando à liberação cólon-específica

Colon-specific drug delivery systems have attracted increasing attention from the pharmaceutical industry due to their ability of treating intestinal bowel diseases (IBD), which represent a public health problem in several countries. In spite of being considered a quite effective molecule for the treatment of IBD, mesalazine (5-ASA) is rapidly absorbed in the upper gastrointestinal tract and its systemic absorption leads to risks of adverse effects. The aim of this work was to develop a microparticulate system based on xylan and Eudragit® S- 100 (ES100) for colon-specific delivery of 5-ASA and evaluate the interaction between the polymers present in the systems. Additionaly, the physicochemical and rheological properties of xylan were also evaluated. Initially, xylan was extracted from corn cobs and characterized regarding the yield and rheological properties. Afterwards, 10 formulations were prepared in different xylan and ES100 weight ratios by spray-drying the polymer solutions in 0.6N NaOH and phosphate buffer pH 7.4. In addition, 3 formulations consisting of xylan microcapsules were produced by interfacial cross-linking polymerization and coated by ES100 by means of spray-drying in different polymer weight ratios of xylan and ES100. The microparticles were characterized regarding yield, morphology, homogeneity, visual aspect, crystallinity and thermal behavior. The polymer interaction was investigated by infrared spectroscopy. The extracted xylan was presented as a very fine and yellowish powder, with mean particle size smaller than 40μm. Regarding the rheological properties of xylan, they demonstrated that this polymer has a poor flow, low density and high cohesiveness. The microparticles obtained were shown to be spherical and aggregates could not be observed. They were found to present amorphous structure and have a very high thermal stability. The yield varied according to the polymer ratios. Moreover, it was confirmed that the interaction between xylan and ES100 occurs only by means of physical aggregation

Influência da competição intra-específica entre fêmeas e da ausência de hospedeiro no parasitismo de Telenomus remus Nixon (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae) sobre ovos de Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae)

A competição intraespecífica e a ausência de hospedeiros podem comprometer o sucesso de programas de controle biológico. Assim, este trabalho objetivou avaliar o efeito de diferentes densidades de fêmeas (1, 3, 6 e 9 fêmeas/ 100 ovos) e da ausência de hospedeiro no parasitismo de Telenomus remus Nixon (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae) em ovos de Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae). Observou-se aumento no parasitismo de ovos de S. frugiperda por T. remus a partir da densidade 3 fêmeas/ 100 ovos tanto em condições de laboratório (18%) quanto em campo (32%), embora o parasitismo causado por densidades maiores que 1 fêmea/100 ovos não foi significativamente diferente. Todavia, isso não causou superparasitismo. Por outro lado, o número de fêmeas produzidas na progênie diminuiu (39%) com a maior densidade de fêmeas sob condições de laboratório. Contudo, não verificou-se diferença significativa sob condições de campo. Mesmo após 9 dias de ausência de hospedeiro não houve redução nos índices de parasitismo, permanecendo em torno de 95 ovos parasitados/fêmea/dia. Todavia, no décimo dia pode-se observar redução (40%) no número médio de ovos parasitados. Desse modo, a liberação de três fêmeas por 100 ovos é adequada para se obter elevados níveis de parasitismo.

O estágio supervisionado como contexto de formação docente específica para educação infantil: o que dizem os formandos sobre suas aprendizagens?

Kindergarten teachers training gains the spotlight with the passing of Law number 9.394/96 (Guidelines and Basis Law) that defines this segment as the initial step of basic education, with pedagogical function. In this spectrum, the discussion about teacher training unravels to ensure social quality to education as well as the teacher s specificities towards child singularities. Adding to that, the growing propagation of Pedagogy in an undergraduate level, given that such course has been continually transformed by the National Curriculum Guidelines for Pedagogy (2006), highlighting the addition of curriculum components that are specific to upbringing. The complex debate circa kindergarten teachers training has advancements and hardships that need to be unveiled in order to improve both formation and social quality of education in the 0- 5 years old range. This investigation inserts itself in said context and aims to analyze which knowledge, specific to kindergarten teaching are constructed, according to undergraduate trainees, in Pedagogy s supervised internship. The study was conducted alongside the discipline: Supervised Internship in Child Education ministered by the Advanced Campus of Rio Grande do Norte s State University s in the municipality of Patu-RN (CAP-UERN-Patu) and was conducted through 2012 by accompanying four undergraduate interns. We first assumed that the development of teaching knowledge is a complex process of appropriation of cultural-social practices and is symbolically mediated by interactions that occur in the formation context, and the supervised internship can be understood as a space for the articulation and enlargement of theoretical and practical knowledge, directly related to the specificities of child education. The theoretical-methodological foundation was based upon the historiccultural approach of L. S. Vygotsky and M. Bakhtin s dialogism on human sciences research, as well as his postulates on learning and developmental processes, conceived as both essentially social and discursive. The investigation approached the principles of the qualitative perspective and to the construction and analysis of data, involved documental analysis and, specially, semi-structured interviews, both individual and collective, whose fundamental premise was the production-comprehension of meanings in a dialogical perspective. The participants texts/speeches produced a synthesis that points to the occurrence, within the supervised internship at CAP/UERN, of internalization/appropriation processes and, as such, of formulation of meanings that are pertinent to child education: child, childhood, kindergarten and teacher signification and this stage s specific teaching knowledge. It stood out that the internship, alongside other curriculum components, is, in fact, one of the primeval formation environment for the teachers, in which the interns interact with their colleagues, supervisor professor, collaborator professor, and of course, the children to construct their erudition. Such interactions allow the undergraduate interns to develop attitudes and procedures to reflect on what they know, what they ve done and what they can achieve. We have concluded that the undergraduate internship can constitute itself as an articulatorconsolidator environment in the future teacher s formation process and, since well oriented, can provide the effective initiation, not only to the practice, but to the praxis as a movement of non dissociability between theory and practice

Síntese e caracterização de aluminofosfato impregnado com molibdênio/zinco visando a dessulfurização por adsorção

Discussions about pollution caused by vehicles emission are old and have been developed along the years. The search for cleaner technologies and frequent weather alterations have been inducing industries and government organizations to impose limits much more rigorous to the contaminant content in fuels, which have an direct impact in atmospheric emissions. Nowadays, the quality of fuels, in relation to the sulfur content, is carried out through the process of hydrodesulfurization. Adsorption processes also represent an interesting alternative route to the removal of sulfur content. Both processes are simpler and operate to atmospheric temperatures and pressures. This work studies the synthesis and characterization of aluminophosphate impregnate with zinc, molybdenum or both, and its application in the sulfur removal from the gasoline through the adsorption process, using a pattern gasoline containing isooctane and thiophene. The adsorbents were characterized by x-ray diffraction, differential thermal analysis (DTG), x-ray fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The specific area, volume and pore diameter were determined by BET (Brunauer- Emmet-Teller) and the t-plot method. The sulfur was quantified by elementary analysis using ANTEK 9000 NS. The adsorption process was evaluated as function of the temperature variation and initial sulfur content through the adsorption isotherm and its thermodynamic parameters. The parameters of entropy (ΔS), enthalpy variation (ΔH) and free Gibbs energy (ΔG) were calculated through the graph ln(Kd) versus 1/T. Langmuir, Freundlich and Langmuir-Freundlich models were adjusted to the experimental data, and the last one had presented better results. The thermodynamic tests were accomplished in different temperatures, such as 30, 40 and 50ºC, where it was concluded the adsorption process is spontaneous and exothermic. The kinetic of adsorption was studied by 24 h and it showed that the capability adsorption to the adsorbents studied respect the following order: MoZnPO > MoPO > ZnPO > AlPO. The maximum adsorption capacity was 4.91 mg/g for MoZnPO with an adsorption efficiency of 49%.

Amplificação gênica alelo-específica na caracterização das hemoglobinas S, C e D e as interações entre elas e talassemias beta

INTRODUÇÃO: As hemoglobinopatias resultam de alterações hereditárias, sendo prevalentes em muitas regiões do mundo, mas atingem a população brasileira de forma significativa. Elas são decorrentes de alterações em genes estruturais responsáveis pelo aparecimento das hemoglobinas variantes e/ou em genes reguladores, resultando nas talassemias. A identificação dessas patologias tem sido rotineiramente realizada por procedimentos eletroforéticos, contudo nossa experiência laboratorial evidencia que as mesmas nem sempre apresentam resoluções suficientes para a correta caracterização da mutação. CASUÍSTICAS E MÉTODOS: O propósito deste trabalho foi estabelecer uma metodologia válida para a caracterização das hemoglobinas S, C e D em homozigose ou heterozigose, e suas possíveis interações, baseada na amplificação gênica alelo-específica (PCR-AE) com a utilização de primers sense, antisense e primers que se acoplam na posição do alelo mutante e na respectiva posição do alelo normal. RESULTADOS E DISCUSSÃO: Os resultados evidenciaram a validade dessa metodologia na caracterização das mutações, sendo esse procedimento de fácil realização, reprodutível e possível de ser aplicado em um significativo número de amostras.

CALV3 - Uma linguagem específica de domínio para segurança em sistemas corporativos: um estudo de caso sistemático na indústria

The academic community and software industry have shown, in recent years, substantial interest in approaches and technologies related to the area of model-driven development (MDD). At the same time, continues the relentless pursuit of industry for technologies to raise productivity and quality in the development of software products. This work aims to explore those two statements, through an experiment carried by using MDD technology and evaluation of its use on solving an actual problem under the security context of enterprise systems. By building and using a tool, a visual DSL denominated CALV3, inspired by the software factory approach: a synergy between software product line, domainspecific languages and MDD, we evaluate the gains in abstraction and productivity through a systematic case study conducted in a development team. The results and lessons learned from the evaluation of this tool within industry are the main contributions of this work

LWiSSy: uma linguagem específica de domínio para modelagem de sistemas de redes de sensores e atuadores sem fio

The field of Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks (WSAN) is fast increasing and has attracted the interest of both the research community and the industry because of several factors, such as the applicability of such networks in different application domains (aviation, civil engineering, medicine, and others). Moreover, advances in wireless communication and the reduction of hardware components size also contributed for a fast spread of these networks. However, there are still several challenges and open issues that need to be tackled in order to achieve the full potential of WSAN usage. The development of WSAN systems is one of the most relevant of these challenges considering the number of variables involved in this process. Currently, a broad range of WSAN platforms and low level programming languages are available to build WSAN systems. Thus, developers need to deal with details of different sensor platforms and low-level programming abstractions of sensor operational systems on one hand, and they also need to have specific (high level) knowledge about the distinct application domains, on the other hand. Therefore, in order to decouple the handling of these two different levels of knowledge, making easier the development process of WSAN systems, we propose LWiSSy (Domain Language for Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks Systems), a domain specific language (DSL) for WSAN. The use of DSLs raises the abstraction level during the programming of systems and modularizes the system building in several steps. Thus, LWiSSy allows the domain experts to directly contribute in the development of WSANs without having knowledge on low level sensor platforms, and network experts to program sensor nodes to meet application requirements without having specific knowledge on the application domain. Additionally, LWiSSy enables the system decomposition in different levels of abstraction according to structural and behavioral features and granularities (network, node group and single node level programming)

Avaliação da Gravidade Específica e de Outras Medidas Corporais e da Carcaça para Estimar a Composição Corporal de Novilhos Nelore

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Variação da massa específica da madeira de Eucalyptus grandis aos 8 anos de idade em função de diferentes níveis de produtividade

It were analyzed Eucalyptus grandis trees of 8 years old in the forest group of Duraflora S/A, with different annual increments based on volume, to the related studies of specific gravity values based on productivity indexes. The methodology used in analysis of specific gravity was the gamma-ray attenuation technique of Americium-241. The Eucalyptus grandis showed a specific gravity decreasing with the increasing of parcel productivity. For a gain of 3,5 m3 in productivity there was a decreasing of 1% in specific gravity. Nevertheless, it was not observed correlation between specific gravity and basal area in a same parcel. The present work stands out too, some of the difficulties found with relation to wood specific gravity determinations and emphasize the importance of take samples in the form of full rounded plates in three or four relative positions in the tree.

Epidemiologia de candidíase hospitalar: Importância da identificação específica

Nosocomial infections with Candida species are recognized as a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in both seriously ill immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients. Infections with Candida albicans and non-albicans Candida species have become a significant cause of infection in humans. Several of the more commonly Candida spp isolates are less susceptible to the antifungal drugs currentlly applied in clinical treatment, a factor that means significant difficulties for effective treatment. The modern mycology laboratory has an important role to play in several aspects relating to these organisms, including therapy, detection, identification and epidemiological analysis. In this study, we have provided an initial comparison of differences in species distribution among Candida isolates from four general hospitals of São Paulo,SP. Overall, 40 isolates of C. albicans, C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis were isolated respectively in 35%, 50% and 15%, revealed a tendency of higher frequency of non-albicans species. The species distribution in patients with candidemia showed that the most commonly species were C. parapsilosis (45,4%), followed by C. albicans (36,4%) and C. tropicalis (18,2%); thus, we have an increase of non-albicans species. The three different species were include in 6, 3, and 4 different biotypes, respectively C. albicans, C. parapsilosis e C. tropicalis. This study emphasizes the importance of periodic evaluation of Candida species distribution especially in centers caring for patients at risk.

Comparação de métodos de determinação da gravidade específica de ovos de poedeiras comerciais

The objective of this work was to compare the results of measuring the specific gravity (SG) of laying hen eggs by using a weighing apparatus and the saline flotation method (SFM). Two hundred eggs from two genetic lines were distributed randomly into two groups of 50 eggs per genetic line and were submitted to two different sequences of SG measurement. Not significant differences were found between the two methods. The weighing apparatus measured the SG of the eggs accurately as the SFM.

Autoridad específica, endoso, apoyo y otras acciones solicitadas al CDCC en conexión con el programa de trabajo del Secretariado = Specific authority, endorsement, support and other action requested from CDCC in connection with the Secretariat's work programme

Sugiere algunos puntos para ser considerados en la implementacion del programa de trabajo del CDCC.