Bleomycin sensitivity in patients with familial and sporadic polyposis: a pilot study

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

Análise dos fatores de risco para gagueira em crianças disfluentes sem recorrência familial

OBJETIVO: analisar os fatores gênero, idade, tipo de surgimento da gagueira, tempo de duração e tipologia das disfluências, fatores estressantes físicos e emocionais, e fatores comunicativos e qualitativos associados em crianças disfluentes sem recorrência familial do distúrbio. MÉTODO: participaram 43 crianças com alto risco para a gagueira de ambos os gêneros. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio do Protocolo de Risco para a Gagueira do Desenvolvimento - PRGD. RESULTADOS: a razão masculino/feminino foi de 3,3:1. A única diferença estatisticamente significante dos fatores de risco analisados nos gêneros masculino e feminino foi a maior ocorrência de fatores comunicativos associados no gênero masculino (p=0,003). Houve uma semelhança dos achados entre os meninos e as meninas: quanto ao tempo de duração das disfluências a maioria apresentou mais de 12 meses de duração, a tipologia gaga foi a mais freqüente, a presença de fatores estressantes emocionais ocorreu na maior parte das crianças, e finalmente os fatores qualitativos associados, como taxa de elocução aumentada, tensão visível e incoordenação pneumo-fono-articulatória estiveram presentes em grande parte da amostra. CONCLUSÃO: os resultados desta investigação permitiram concluir que nos casos de crianças com alto risco para a gagueira isolada ocorreu a interação de inúmeros fatores, sugerindo que o distúrbio é multifatorial. Também foi possível concluir que a interação de alguns fatores como gênero masculino, tipologia gaga manifestada por mais de 12 meses, com início persistente, na presença de fatores qualitativos e comunicativos associados pode representar risco maior para o desenvolvimento da gagueira persistente.

Screening and confirmation of PAHs in vegetable oil samples by use of supercritical fluid extraction in conjunction with liquid chromatography and fluorimetric detection

A fast, simple, non-destructive method for the direct screening of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in vegetable oil samples is proposed. The method uses a supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) system coupled on-line with a fluorimetric detector to determine PAHs. This special assembly avoids the main problems encountered in the determination of PAHs in complex matrices such as vegetable oils. PAHs are selectively extracted by using silica gel in the thimble and cleaned up by passage through a C18 column. Interferences are preferentially retained by the silica gel during the SFE process while PAHs are adsorbed in the C18 column and the remainder of the matrix is sent to waste. Finally, the C18 column is purged to remove residual CO2 gas and adsorbed PAHs are recovered by desorption with a solvent. The extracts from positive samples are subsequently analyzed by liquid chromatography (LC) with fluorescence detection. The proposed method allows the confirmation of vegetable oil safety and hence provides a new tool for consumer protection. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Screening of supports for the immobilization of pectinmethylesterase from acerola (Malpighia glabra L)

A partially purified extract of pectinmethylesterase (PME) from acerola fruit was immobilized on various supports: glass, celite, chrysotile, agarose, concanavalin A Sepharose 4B, egg shell, polyacrylamide and gelatin. In addition, reticulation with glutaraldehyde was assessed, as well as the use of gelatin in the presence of celite, glass and silica. The highest immobilization yields were obtained when the pectinmethylesterase was immobilized in concanavalin A Sepharose 4B (81.7%) and in gelatin-water (78.0%). (C) 2004 Society of Chemical Industry.

Screening and HPLC methods for carotenoids in sweetpotato, cassava and maize for plant breeding trials

Analytical methods for sweetpotato, cassava and maize were developed. In orange and salmon-fleshed sweetpotatoes, (all-E)-beta-carotene predominated and results of spectrophotometric screening and HPLC quantification did not differ significantly. In yellow-fleshed sweetpotato and cassava, however, spectrophotometric screening overestimated the HPLC values because of the presence of several minor carotenoids. Aside from (all-E)-beta-carotene, Z-isomers were present in cassava in appreciable amounts. For both crops, extraction with acetone or tetrahydrofuran: methanol. (1: 1), using a mortar and pestle or a Polytron homogenizer, gave equivalent results. Rehydration of dry maize at room temperature for 30 min or at 85 degrees C for 5, 10 or 15 min gave equivalent results. Concentrations obtained with the C18 and C30 columns did not differ significantly for zeaxanthin, lutein, beta-cryptoxanthin and beta-carotene in the all-E-configuration, but their Z-isomers were difficult to locate in the chromatogram obtained with the C30 column. Extraction with tetrahydrofuran:methanol (1:1) gave significantly lower results for zeaxanthin and lutein. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Screening Brazilian automotive gasoline quality through quantification of saturated hydrocarbons and anhydrous ethanol by gas chromatography and exploratory data analysis

In this paper a set of Brazilian commercial gasoline representative samples from São Paulo State, selected by HCA, plus six samples obtained directly from refineries were analysed by a high-sensitive gas chromatographic (GC) method ASTM D6733. The levels of saturated hydrocarbons and anhydrous ethanol obtained by GC were correlated with the quality obtained from Brazilian Government Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP) specifications through exploratory analysis (HCA and PCA). This correlation showed that the GC method, together with HCA and PCA, could be employed as a screening technique to determine compliance with the prescribed legal standards of Brazilian gasoline.

Screening and characterization of mutations in isoniazid-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates obtained in Brazil

We investigated mutations in the genes katG, inhA (regulatory and structural regions), and kasA and the oxyR-ahpC intergenic region of 97 isoniazid (INH)-resistant and 60 INH-susceptible Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates obtained in two states in Brazil: São Paulo and Parana. PCR-single-strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) was evaluated for screening mutations in regions of prevalence, including codons 315 and 463 of katG, the regulatory region and codons 16 and 94 of inhA, kasA, and the oxyR-ahpC intergenic region. DNA sequencing of PCR amplicons was performed for all isolates with altered PCR-SSCP profiles. Mutations in katG were found in 83 (85.6%) of the 97 INH-resistant isolates, including mutations in codon 315 that occurred in 60 (61.9%) of the INH-resistant isolates and 23 previously unreported katG mutations. Mutations in the inhA promoter region occurred in 25 (25.8%) of the INH-resistant isolates; 6.2% of the isolates had inhA structural gene mutations, and 10.3% had mutations in the oxyR-ahpC intergenic region (one, nucleotide -48, previously unreported). Polymorphisms in the kasA gene occurred in both INH-resistant and INH-susceptible isolates. The most frequent polymorphism encoded a G(269)A substitution. Although KatG(315) substitutions are predominant, novel mutations also appear to be responsible for INH resistance in the two states in Brazil. Since ca. 90.7% of the INH-resistant isolates had mutations identified by SSCP electrophoresis, this method may be a useful genotypic screen for INH resistance.

Screening Brazilian C gasoline quality: Application of the SIMCA chemometric method to gas chromatographic data

A total of 2400 samples of commercial Brazilian C gasoline were collected over a 6-month period from different gas stations in the São Paulo state, Brazil, and analysed with respect to 12 physicochemical parameters according to regulation 309 of the Brazilian Government Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP). The percentages (v/v) of hydrocarbons (olefins, aromatics and saturated) were also determined. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was employed to select 150 representative samples that exhibited least similarity on the basis of their physicochemical parameters and hydrocarbon compositions. The chromatographic profiles of the selected samples were measured by gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection and analysed using soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA) method in order to create a classification scheme to identify conform gasolines according to ANP 309 regulation. Following the optimisation of the SIMCA algorithm, it was possible to classify correctly 96% of the commercial gasoline samples present in the training set of 100. In order to check the quality of the model, an external group of 50 gasoline samples (the prediction set) were analysed and the developed SIMCA model classified 94% of these correctly. The developed chemometric method is recommended for screening commercial gasoline quality and detection of potential adulteration. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) detection and typing by PCR: a contribution to diagnostic screening of EBV-positive Burkitt's lymphoma

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)