Testes de Controle de Qualidade em Sistema de Processamento Computadorizado FUJI

Computed Radiography (CR) is a term used to describe the system that electronically records a radiographic image. CR systems use receivers or IP (imaging plate) to capture the analog signals and then allow the readers to do the image processing and converted into digital information. With the increasing expansion of the CR for medical diagnostics it is necessary that these systems receive the same type of monitoring related to Quality Control and Acceptance to the conventional processing systems. The current legislation fails to specify the parameters and procedures to be tested, allowing that somehow, some equipment is not fully able to use in clinical routine. In this project we used the standard AAPM Report Number 93, which is already fully established outside the country and displays all test parameters in CR. From there were chosen three types of tests that were performed in a satisfactory sampling of IP´s. With this procedure it was possible to establish which of those IP's should be out of use, which reveals the important purpose of the study, demonstrating the need for Quality Control Testing and Acceptance in Computerized Radiography as soon as possible are included in the legislation regulator in the country

Controle de Qualidade em Raios X Odontológico Periapical

The purpose of this work is to provide quality control requirements and security in dental x-rays in order to obtain good quality image which allows the correct diagnosis, which reduces the dose to the patient, mainly due to the repetition of tests, and decreasing cost. The requirements apply to related activities to quality control and procedures using ionizing radiation for diagnostic imaging in dentistry by evaluating a minimum set of parameters to be tested or verified. Quality control follows the Ordinance No. 453 of the Ministry of Health of 06.01.1998, SS Resolution No. 625 of 12.14.1994 and Resolution No. 64 of the Health Surveillance Center – Department of Health of Sao Paulo and National Health Surveillance Agency – Ministry of Health of Brazil. This study was conducted in the city of Marilia, Sao Paulo, along with the Company P&R Consulting and Medical Physics, in a dental clinic of the University UNIMAR in the x-ray equipment used on that site. The physical parameters of the device were tested with the aid of ionization chambers to measure rates of radiation, electrometer to measure rates of time, kV and doses, radiographic films and positioning devices. Finally, this work demonstrates the need and importance of quality control, which one ensures the proper use of x-ray machines, maintaining efficiency and at the same time it reduces the risks to the patient, to the dentist and to the general public

Densitometria óssea de cães SRD utilizando radiação gama

A proposta desse trabalho surgiu da possibilidade de unir metodologias eficientes para estabelecer valores mais precisos de densitometria óssea. A densidade óssea é um parâmetro biofísico de grande importância experimental e clínica, que permite avaliar o processo de mineralização óssea. O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar a densidade óssea e o coeficiente de atenuação de massa da radiação gama com o radioisótopo 241Am com fotopico de 59,6 keV em rádios de cães SRD (Sem Raça Definida). Conclui-se a que a densidade média das amostras foi de 1,91 g/cm³ com um desvio padrão de 0,0599. Para o coeficiente de atenuação de massa, o valor médio foi de 0,241 cm2/g, com desvio padrão de 0,0151. Para ambos os parâmetros o coeficiente de variação foi pequeno implicando em uma baixa dispersão. Isso também demonstra que os métodos aplicados foram eficientes e de fácil aplicabilidade

Estudo teórico da contribuição à dose de partículas secundárias geradas por Prótons de energias entre 100 e 200 MeV num Phantom de osso cortical

In proton therapy, the deposition of secondary particles energy originated by nuclear inelastic process (n, 2H, 3H, 3He and α) has a contribution in the total dose that deserves to be discussed. In calculations of plans implemented for routine treatment, the paid dose is calculated whereas the proton loses energy by ionization and or coulomb excitement. The contribution of inelastic processes associated with nuclear reactions is not considered. There are only estimates for pure materials or simple composition (water, for example), because of the difficulty of processing targets consisting of different materials. For this project, we use the Monte Carlo method employing the code MCNPX v2.50 (Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended) to present results of the contribution to the total dose of secondary particles. In this work, it was implemented a cylindrical phantom composed by cortical bone, for proton beams between 100 and 200 MeV. With the results obtained, it was possible to generate graphics to analyze: the dose deposition relation with and without nuclear interaction, the multiplicity and percentage of deposited dose for each secondary particle and a radial dispersion of neutrons in the material

Avaliação da proliferação celular na próstata de gerbilos vasectomizados, após indução química pela injeção intraperitoneal do carcinógeno N-metil-N-nitrosuréia (MNU)

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the country. Due to this factor, the interest of showing what relationship exists between vasectomy surgery and the incidence of prostate carcinoma has started. Some epidemiological studies showed an increased risk of prostate cancer in vasectomized men (Emard et al., 2001). On the other hand other authors have argued that there is no correlation (Patel et al., 2005) and there are those who said that vasectomy is linked to reduced risk of prostate cancer (Ross, 1983). Faced with an analysis of published works, such discussion remains today. The vasectomy, or deferentectomia, is a contraceptive male method, which is the section of the vas deferens of man by preventing the sperm from being expelled along with the seminal fluid during ejaculation, and is one of the most simple, economical, uncomplicated post- operative. This study aims to evaluate the process of cell proliferation and to evaluate immuno-histochemically the expression of specific markers of PCNA (Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen) and Ki-67, in the prostate of the gerbil after chemical induction by intraperitoneal injection of the carcinogen N-methyl -N-nitrosourea (MNU), because the regulation of the functional balance between cell proliferation and apoptosis is associated with hyperplasia and prostatic carcinoma. The experimental procedure was performed at the Laboratory of the Department of Anatomy, along with collecting the data for later analysis

Avaliação de parâmetros farmacêuticos em comprimidos matriciais empregando a técnica de Biosusceptometria AC

Oral administration is widely accepted route for drug delivery and solid dosage forms are commonly employed. The variation of absorption profiles along the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and the ability to target drugs by adequate dosage forms to distinct sites is the challenge in the pharmaceutical development of solid dosage forms. AC Biosusceptometry (ACB) is a technique that deserves consideration due to its features, accuracy of results and versatility. The purpose of this work was to evaluate, by employing the AC Biosusceptometer, the rate of swelling of systems matrices consisting of hydrophilic polymer (hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose) and magnetic material. Matrices tablets were evaluated in vitro to a more detailed analysis of kinetics of swelling, in addition to the study and application of mathematical models to correlate the magnetic area variation and the water uptake. All the procedures for qualitative and quantitative analysis of digital signals as well as the magnetic images processing were performed in MatLab® (Mathworks Inc.). ACB technique proved to be useful towards estimating the swelling properties of hydrophilic matrices in vitro, showing a promising capacity for further analyses involving dissolution test and in vivo studies, supporting their innovative potential pharmaceutical applications

Estudos estruturais com a importina-α e Sequências de Localização Nuclear (NLS) de proteínas envolvidas no metabolismo de Neurospora crassa

Proteínas que apresentam atividades no núcleo e possuem sequência de localização nuclear (NLS) tem seu deslocamento dependente do heterodímero importina-α/β. A importina- (ImpA) é responsável pelo reconhecimento inicial do substrato a ser importado através da interação com os NLS. Os sinais são caracterizados por apresentar um ou mais grupos de aminoácidos básicos, denominados como sequências monopartidas e bipartidas. O fungo Neurospora crassa vem sendo utilizado há mais de 70 anos como organismo modelo em estudos de expressão gênica, desenvolvimento e diferenciação celular, ritmo circadiano, defesa do genoma, bem como outros aspectos da biologia de eucariotos. A presença de um grande número de genes no genoma de N. crassa ainda com funções desconhecidas aponta este organismo como um promissor modelo para o estudo de novos mecanismos genéticos e bioquímicos ainda não identificados. Considerando a importância do metabolismo do glicogênio para os organismos, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo o estudo estrutural de complexos de ImpA com peptídeos NLSs (NCM e NCB) de proteínas envolvidas no metabolismo de glicogênio do fungo N. crassa, utilizando técnicas de cristalografia de proteínas. Monocristais dos complexos ImpA-NCM e ImpA-NCB foram obtidos para a coleta dos dados de difração de raios-X, resultando em dois conjuntos de dados à 2,1Å e 2,45Å de resolução, respectivamente. Após elucidação da estrutura da ImpA, mapas de densidade eletrônica gerados revelaram uma densidade eletrônica no sítio principal de reconhecimento de NLS da ImpA de ambas estruturas, possibilitando modelagem dos peptídeos. Em uma comparação do mapa de densidade eletrônica obtido de ambos complexos com um mapa de uma estrutura nativa de ImpA (70-529) coletada à 2,0Å de resolução, a qual usualmente apresenta um peptídeo “contaminante” no sitio de ligação... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo)

Análise de algoritmos computacionais utilizados em sistemas de planejamento de braquiterapia de alta taxa de dose: estudo comparativo com o Código MCNP-5C

In radiotherapy, computational systems are used for radiation dose determination in the treatment’s volume and radiometric parameters quality analysis of equipment and field irradiated. Due to the increasing technological advancement, several research has been performed in brachytherapy for different computational algorithms development which may be incorporated to treatment planning systems, providing greater accuracy and confidence in the dose calculation. Informatics and information technology fields undergo constant updating and refinement, allowing the use Monte Carlo Method to simulate brachytherapy source dose distribution. The methodology formalization employed to dosimetric analysis is based mainly in the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) studies, by Task Group nº 43 (TG-43) and protocols aimed at dosimetry of these radiation sources types. This work aims to analyze the feasibility of using the MCNP-5C (Monte Carlo N-Particle) code to obtain radiometric parameters of brachytherapy sources and so to study the radiation dose variation in the treatment planning. Simulations were performed for the radiation dose variation in the source plan and determined the dosimetric parameters required by TG-43 formalism for the characterization of the two high dose rate iridium-192 sources. The calculated values were compared with the presents in the literature, which were obtained with different Monte Carlo simulations codes. The results showed excellent consistency with the compared codes, enhancing MCNP-5C code the capacity and viability in the sources dosimetry employed in HDR brachytherapy. The method employed may suggest a possible incorporation of this code in the treatment planning systems provided by manufactures together with the equipment, since besides reducing acquisition cost, it can also make the used computational routines more comprehensive, facilitating the brachytherapy ...

Preparo (calibração e tratamento) de Dosímetros Termoluminescetes de Flureto de Lítio (TLD-LiF)

A Dosímetria Termoluminescente (TLD) é uma ferramenta extremamente versátil para a avaliação da dose absorvida por tecidos humanos, devido à interação dos mesmos com a radiação ionizante. As características termoluminescentes (TL) do fluoreto de lítio (LiF) foram estudadas extensivamente primeiramente por apresentar número atômico muito próximo ao do tecido humano e, portanto, conseguir quantificar com fidelidade a radiação recebida na ordem de μGy (micro Gray) a kGy (kilo Gray) . Foram abordados os princípios físicos envolvido no procedimento de calibração e tratamento dos dosímetros (total de 224 pastilhas), os quais foram separados, após tratamento, em 75 grupos. Este trabalho foi de suma importância na aplicação dos conceitos físicos abordados durante a formação da graduação no curso de Bacharelado em Física Médica, e pode auxiliar em projetos, em andamento, junto ao grupo de pesquisa de Física Aplicada ao Radiodiagnóstico

Estudo da contribuição do espalhamento nuclear não elástico na trajetória mais provável de prótons em alvo homogêneo composto de água

The Therapy with proton beam has shown more e ective than Radiotherapy for oncology treatment. However, to its planning use photon beam Computing Tomography that not considers the fundamentals di erences the interaction with the matter between X-rays and Protons. Nowadays, there is a great e ort to develop Tomography with proton beam. In this way it is necessary to know the most likely trajectory of proton beam to image reconstruction. In this work was realized calculus of the most likely trajectory of proton beam in homogeneous target compound with water that was considered the inelastic nuclear interaction. Other calculus was the analytical calculation of lateral de ection of proton beam. In the calculation were utilized programs that use Monte Carlo Method: SRIM 2006 (Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter ), MCNPX (Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended) v2.50. And to analytical calculation was employed the software Wolfram Mathematica v7.0. We obtained how di erent nuclear reaction models modify the trajectory of proton beam and the comparative between analytical and Monte Carlo method

Um Modelo Espacial para a Resposta Imunológica Adaptativa da Hepatite B

This paper proposed a two-dimensional spatial model to describe the adaptive immune response for viral hepatitis B. This model considered six populations: healthy hepatocytes T, infected hepatocytes Y , hepatitis B virus V , innate immune system I, active immune system X and memory cells, X. First, a compartmental model was constructed and its equilibrium solutions and also the threshold values related to the stability of each solution were obtained. Using this model, we was able to reproduce the different trends observed for the disease, which are: individuals that eliminate the infection without forming immune response, patients with acute and chronic carriers. By including dispersion of defense cells of the immune system and virus (spatial model), we analyze two situations: homogeneous model, in which the model parameters are the same at all points of the network, and heterogeneous model, which characterizes cells more permeable and less permeable to virus invasion. For the two spatial models (homogeneous and heterogeneous) the times relatead to the viral erradication and/or virus invasion and persistence becoming smaller in relation to the compartmental model. The results also showed that for the set of values used in the simulations and if the two diffusion rates are different from zero, the model is sensitive to variations in the rate of viral spread and not dependent on the dispersion of memory cells. Finally, the heterogeneous model when compared to the homogeneous model shows that the infection can be spatially limited depending on the type of the cell involved in the infection process

Análise Isotópica de Carbono-13 e Nitrogênio-15 da Ipomoea violacea para Determinação de sua Origem Geográfica

Along the Earth globe we can find many types of psychoactive plants. Among them is the Ipomoea violacea, popularly known as Morning Glory. There are ergotalkaloids producer associated-fungus in its leaves and seeds. One of these alkaloids that can be found is the ergine (or LSA), a homologous substance of the lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). There are many discussions around the world about the inclusion of LSA in the list of controlled substances. In Brazil, this was recently prohibited. One of the most important point of view in the study of isotopic composition of 13C and 15N of this plant is the fact that there is a total alkaloid variation in function of its geographic origin like was verified in 1960’s, besides to aggregate knowledge about it. This work was made to verify if the isotopic ratio can be used as a tool in tracing this illegal Brazilian plant. We could conclude that this plant presents a C3 photosynthetic pathway, its parts has different isotopic carbon and nitrogen composition and that stable isotope analysis can be successfully used as a tool to detect its geographic origin

Implementação do algoritmo de Newman para identificação de comunidades em placas gráficas

Communities are present on physical, chemical and biological systems and their identification is fundamental for the comprehension of the behavior of these systems. Recently, available data related to complex networks have grown exponentially, demanding more computational power. The Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) is a cost effective alternative suitable for this purpose. We investigate the convenience of this for network science by proposing a GPU based implementation of Newman community detection algorithm. We showed that the processing time of matrix multiplications of GPUs grow slower than CPUs in relation to the matrix size. It was proven, thus, that GPU processing power is a viable solution for community dentification simulation that demand high computational power. Our implementation was tested on an integrated biological network for the bacterium Escherichia coli

Análise de processos biofarmacêuticos em comprimidos magnéticos empregando a Biosuceptometria AC

Ao administrar um fármaco, devem ser considerados fatores como a forma farmacêutica apropriada, a via de administração com maior eficiência e o que será mais bem aceita pelo paciente. Formas farmacêuticas sólidas (FFS), tais como comprimidos, representam a principal escolha, pois são fáceis de preparar, armazenar, transportar e são bem aceitas pelos pacientes. Porém, a absorção dos fármacos administrados em comprimidos depende do processo de desintegração, ou seja, um processo tempo-dependente que ocorre sob a ação de um desintegrante que promove a fragmentação da forma farmacêutica em partículas passíveis de serem dissolvidas e absorvidas. Para uma liberação efetiva do ativo, uns dos critérios relacionados à formulação como a escolha dos excipientes e o tipo de revestimento devem ser considerados. O revestimento com polímeros é utilizado para melhorar a estabilidade do fármaco, mascarar sabor ou para promover a liberação em locais específicos de acordo com a variação do pH. A técnica considerada como “padrão ouro” para monitorar FFS no trato gastrintestinal do homem é a cintilografia, entretanto, métodos alternativos com base na detecção de campo magnético merecem destaque. A técnica de Biosusceptometria de Corrente Alternada (BAC) tem evoluído, apresentando como vantagem ser um método não-invasivo e livre de radiação ionizante. A BAC utiliza bobinas de indução para registrar a variação temporal do fluxo magnético a partir da resposta de um material magnético ingerido, aplicando-se um campo magnético alternado no meio biológico. O objetivo deste estudo é empregar a BAC para avaliar in vitro a influência de três diferentes polímeros de revestimento em diversos parâmetros farmacotécnicos e no processo de desintegração de comprimidos

Avaliação do Efeito Fotodinâmico sobre o Crescimento in vitro de Pythium insidiosum

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) is a therapeutic method which employs a photosensitizer and light to cause cellular death. The chemical compounds have low or none toxicity for hosts cells. Under the incidence of light, in an appropriated wavelength, these chemical compounds produce reactive oxygen which affects the biomolecules of the target-cells. The specific illumination of the affected area increases the selectivity of the therapy, since the photodynamic process occurs only in the irradiated area. Pythiosis, for instance, is a life-threatening emerging disease caused by a fungus-like organism called Pythium insidiosum. The disease occurs in man and other animals, being mostly observed in horses. Human pythiosis may present as ophthalmic, cutaneous-subcutaneous and systemic forms of lesions. Due to the fact that P. insidiosum is not a true fungus, it is refractory to most antifungal drugs and the treatment of the disease is difficult. Extensive surgery procedures, such as limb amputation, are the treatment of choice, however relapses may occur frequently. Although not totally effective, the use of immunotherapy associated to surgery have shown some results. Considering that pythiosis is an emerging disease few explored in its etiological and therapeutic aspects, which are limited and few effective, it is of great importance to encourage the development of researches for new strategies of treatment. In this sense, it was evaluated the effect of PDT on in vitro growth of the pathogen employing two chemical compounds as photosensitizer, porphyrin and chlorine, at different concentrations in combination with several energetic dosages. Porphyrin showed inhibition of growth at 25mg/mL with 100J/cm2 of energetic dosage and chlorine showed similar results employing low concentrations (0,7, 1,0 and 1,3mg/mL) with 70J/cm2 of energetic dosage... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)