HORMONAL AND METABOLIC STUDY OF A CASE OF ADIPOSIS-DOLOROSA (DERCUMS DISEASE)

A case of a 43-year-old nonobese woman with adiposis dolorosa (Dercum's disease) is reported. Muscle glucose uptake and oxidation before and after ingestion of 75 g of glucose were similar to control group values, although a greater insulin release (16,578 vs 6,242 +/- 1,136 muU/3 h) occurred simultaneously. In vitro studies of abdominal normal and painful subcutaneous adipose tissue of the patient revealed lower responsiveness to norepinephrine and lack of response to the antilipolytic effect of insulin in the painful adipose tissue (0.98 vs 1.43 muM FFA/10(6) cells at 5.0 muM of norepinephrine). The disease was not correlated with the HLA system and there were no alterations in hormonal secretion at the pituitary, adrenal, gonadal, and thyroid levels. These findings indicate the presence of peripheral insulin resistance in this patient with adiposis dolorosa.

Role of oxygen vacancies in the magnetic and dielectric properties of the high-dielectric-constant system CaCu3Ti4O12: An electron-spin resonance study

We report experiments of electron spin resonance (ESR) of Cu2+ in polycrystalline samples of CaCu3Ti4O12 post-annealed in different atmospheres. After being synthesized by solid state reaction, pellets of CaCu3Ti4O12 were annealed for 24 h at 1000 degrees C under air, Ar or O-2. Our temperature dependent ESR data revealed for all samples nearly temperature independent g value (2.15(1)) and linewidth for T > T-N approximate to 25 K. However, the values of ESR linewidth are strongly affected by the oxygen content in the sample. For instance, argon post-annealed samples show a much larger linewidth than the O-2 or air post-annealed samples. We attribute this broadening to an increase of the dipolar homogeneous broadening of the Cu2+ ESR lines due to the presence of oxygen vacancies which induce an S=1/2 spin inside the TiO6 octahedra. Correlation between a systematic dependence of the ESR linewidth on the oxygen content and the high dielectric constant of these materials is addressed. Also, ESR, magnetic susceptibility, and specific heat data for a single crystal of CaCu3Ti4O12 and for polycrystals of CdCu3Ti4O12 are reported.

The use of glucan as immunostimulant in the treatment of paracoccidioidomycosis

A group of 10 patients, nine of them seriously infected with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis (G1), received glucan (beta-1,3 polyglucose) as an immunostimulant intravenously once a week for one month, followed by monthly doses (10 mg) over an ii-month period, together with a specific anti-fungal agent as an immunostimulant. A second group of eight moderately infected patients (G2) was treated with only the anti-fungal agent. Among the patients in G1, there was only one case of relapse compared with five in G2. Values for the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) showed a significant difference (P < 0.01) post-treatment in G1 patients, when compared with the pretreatment levels. There was also a significant reduction (P < 0.001) in the level of serum antibodies to P. brasiliensis in the G1 patients in post-treatment examinations. The phytohemagglutinin (PHA) skin test showed a positive reaction among the patients in G1 (P < 0.01) post-treatment and there was a tendency towards an increase in the number of CD4+ T lymphocytes in both groups after treatment. The serum level of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) proved to be significantly higher (P < 0.02) in the G1 patients during treatment. In the G1 patients, the correlation between ESR and TNF tended to be negative whereas that between ESR and serum antibodies was positive. The present results indicate that the patients who received glucan, in spite of being more seriously ill, had a stronger and more favorable response to therapy.

CD34 EXPRESSION IN STROMAL TUMORS OF THE GASTROINTESTINAL-TRACT

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are mesenchymal tumors that may exhibit varied morphologic appearances (spindle, epithelioid) and biologic potentials. Given the continuing controversy regarding the type of cell differentiation present in these tumors (muscle versus nerve sheath versus null), we evaluated a set of GISTs, most of which had been previously examined for the presence of smooth muscle differentiation, for expression of CD34, a 115 kDa cell-surface progenitor cell marker also recently identified in a subset of mesenchymal tumors. Using antibody My 10 in deparaffinized, formalin-fixed tissue after pretreatment with microwave energy, we found that 46 of 57, or 81%, of GISTs were CD34+; this fraction of CD34+ tumors exceeded the fraction of these same GISTs found to show muscle actin (72%) expression. In addition, a consistently higher fraction of the tumor cell population was CD34+ than was muscle actin positive. These findings suggest that CD34 is a very sensitive marker for the identification of GISTs. CD34 is normally expressed by endothelial as well as perivascular cells, perhaps related to, but distinct from, vascular smooth muscle cells. While the nature of these latter cells is uncertain, the expression of CD34 in such a large fraction of GISTs may provide evidence of a unique differentiation pathway in these tumors.

Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus isolates in milk and the milking environment from small-scale dairy farms of São Paulo, Brazil, using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis

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

Corrosion behaviour of thermal sprayed nitinol coatings

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Strong infrared spectral broadening in low-loss As-S chalcogenide suspended core microstructured optical fibers

We report the fabrication and characterization of the first guiding chalcogenide As(2)S(3) microstructured optical fibers (MOFs) with a suspended core. At 1.55 mu m, the measured losses are approximately 0.7 dB/m or 0.35 dB/m according to the MOF core size. The fibers have been designed to present a zero dispersion wavelength (ZDW) around 2 mu m. By pumping the fibers at 1.55 mu m, strong spectral broadenings are obtained in both 1.8 and 45-m-long fibers by using a picosecond fiber laser. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

O uso das pregas cutâneas e da circunferência muscular do braço no diagnóstico de desnutrição energético-protéica em pacientes adultos: estudo crítico.

The use of anthropometric measurements of triceps (TSF) and subscapular skinfolds (SSF) and mid-upper arm muscle circumference (MAMC) was examined as far as the diagnosis of energy-protein malnutrition (EPM) is concerned. The study was undertaken in five groups of patients (n = 231): arterial hypertension (AH, n = 63), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, n = 17), hemodialyzed chronic renal failure (CRF, n = 19), critically ill patients with an acute event (CA, n = 42) and critically ill patients with chronic diseases (CCD, n = 90). The results were compared to those obtained in a group of healthy individuals (control group, n = 102). The control group and the group of patients were allocated in subgroups according to sex and age (less than 50 and more than 50 years). It was expected that significant differences would be found for the anthropometric values between the control subgroups and the COPD, the CRF and the CCD subgroups of patients. For the skinfold thicknesses (TSF and SSF), significant differences were found between CRF, CCD subgroups and the control subgroups under fifty years of age; however, the differences were not significant when the subgroups over fifty were analyzed. Concerning the MAMC, significant differences were found: 1 degree) between the CRF subgroups (males and females) and the control subgroups under fifty years of age; 2 degrees) between the CCD male subgroups (younger and older subgroups) and the respective control subgroups and 3 degrees) between the COPD and the control subgroups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Efeitos do tratamento oral com sulfato de vanadila em ratos diabeticos jovens

This work intends to evaluate the effects of oral vanadyl treatment (VOSO 4, 1 mg/mL) in young streptozotocin-diabetic rats during 19 and 29 days. In several times of treatment the rats were monitored to determine body weight, food and water intakes, glycemia, and the urinary excretion of glucose and urea. The animals were killed in the 19(th) and 29(th) days, and the glycemia level was determined again, as well as the weight of pancreas, muscles (Soleus and Extensor digitorum longus - EDL) and adipose tissues (epididymal and retroperitoneal). The results showed that the treatment of young diabetic rats with VOSO 4 promotes the reduction of hyperglycemia (p < 0.01), food (p < 0.01) and water intakes (p < 0.05) and body weight (p < 0.05). Neither the tissues and pancreas weights nor the urinary urea level of the treatment group varied in comparison to the control group. In conclusion, the vanadyl treatment in the studied period is able to reduce the main metabolic alterations often found in diabetes. These data are very useful and important for the future experiments to verify the effects of vanadyl sulfate on muscle protein metabolism in diabetic rats.