A mediated moderation study to explain the negative relationship between job insecurity and employee supportive voice

Double degree

Puerperal brain cryptococcoma in an HIV-negative woman successfully treated with fluconazole: a case report

Cryptococcus spp. cerebral abscesses are uncommon in immunocompetent subjects. The recommended induction treatment is the administration of amphotericin B plus flucytosine combined with resection for lesions ≥3cm. In this paper, we describe an HIV-negative woman diagnosed with a large cryptococcoma in the immediate postpartum period. The lesion was not resected, and due to amphotericin B intolerance, she received an extended course of fluconazole monotherapy. There was no disease recurrence during the 4 years of follow-up. The abrupt onset of her symptoms following delivery suggests that she developed a postpartum immune reconstitution syndrome. This case also demonstrates that in specific situations fluconazole monotherapy can be attempted in immunocompetent patients with cryptococcoma.

Are celebrities mediators for negative spillover? An empirical study

The aim of this research is to investigate if a celebrity can be a mediator between two brands so that a negative event happening to one brand can spill over to a completely unrelated brand, which shares with the first brand only the celebrity endorser. Even though celebrity endorsement is a popular marketing strategy and celebrities often endorse multiple brands, so far there has not been any systematic study on this topic. Drawing on Associative Network Theory and the Meaning Transfer Model as theoretical framework, this research finds out that negative publicity about a brand can spill over and thereby not only hurt consumers’ attitude toward the celebrity endorser but also toward a second brand that is endorsed by the same celebrity. An unexpected finding is that celebrities can act as a protective shield for brands by weakening the direct impact of negative publicity.

Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic target attainment of intravenous β-lactam regimens against Gram-negative bacteria isolated in a Brazilian teaching hospital

ABSTRACTINTRODUCTION: Monte Carlo simulations have been used for selecting optimal antibiotic regimens for treatment of bacterial infections. The aim of this study was to assess the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic target attainment of intravenous β-lactam regimens commonly used to treat bloodstream infections (BSIs) caused by Gram-negative rod-shaped organisms in a Brazilian teaching hospital.METHODS: In total, 5,000 patients were included in the Monte Carlo simulations of distinct antimicrobial regimens to estimate the likelihood of achieving free drug concentrations above the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC; fT > MIC) for the requisite periods to clear distinct target organisms. Microbiological data were obtained from blood culture isolates harvested in our hospital from 2008 to 2010.RESULTS: In total, 614 bacterial isolates, including Escherichia coli, Enterobacterspp., Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, were analyzed Piperacillin/tazobactam failed to achieve a cumulative fraction of response (CFR) > 90% for any of the isolates. While standard dosing (short infusion) of β-lactams achieved target attainment for BSIs caused by E. coliand Enterobacterspp., pharmacodynamic target attainment against K. pneumoniaeisolates was only achieved with ceftazidime and meropenem (prolonged infusion). Lastly, only prolonged infusion of high-dose meropenem approached an ideal CFR against P. aeruginosa; however, no antimicrobial regimen achieved an ideal CFR against A. baumannii.CONCLUSIONS:These data reinforce the use of prolonged infusions of high-dose β-lactam antimicrobials as a reasonable strategy for the treatment of BSIs caused by multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacteria in Brazil.

Experience with the first Internet-based course at the Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo

PURPOSE: The Internet expands the range and flexibility of teaching options and enhances the ability to process the ever-increasing volume of medical knowledge. The aim of this study is to describe and discuss our experience with transforming a traditional medical training course into an Internet-based course. METHOD: Sixty-nine students were enrolled for a one-month course. They answered pre- and post-course questionnaires and took a multiple-choice test to evaluate the acquired knowledge. RESULTS: Students reported that the primary value for them of this Internet-based course was that they could choose the time of their class attendance (67%). The vast majority (94%) had a private computer and were used to visiting the Internet (75%) before the course. During the course, visits were mainly during the weekends (35%) and on the last week before the test (29%). Thirty-one percent reported that they could learn by reading only from the computer screen, without the necessity of printed material. Students were satisfied with this teaching method as evidenced by the 89% who reported enjoying the experience and the 88% who said they would enroll for another course via the Internet. The most positive aspect was freedom of scheduling, and the most negative was the lack of personal contact with the teacher. From the 80 multiple-choice questions, the mean of correct answers was 45.5, and of incorrect, 34.5. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that students can successfully learn with distance learning. It provides useful information for developing other Internet-based courses. The importance of this new tool for education in a large country like Brazil seems clear.

Guarda prisional: força de segurança ou agente responsabilizador?

A permanently changing occidental society framework, simultaneously, to a world Globalization and a market liberalization, requires to know how important and which role the agents plays, in Estates representation, to guarantee their own intern security. Portugal is an example of that since has been integrated in European and world politics that allowed the borders opening, with all the negative consequences of that kind of measures. In way to struggle with those debilities emerge, in our Juridical Order, several security forces such as Prison Guards Corporation, whose contribute to intern security seems undefined and confuse, being urgent legislation in way to describe and clearly define their goals and functions. We begin with a brief history view to understand the evolution, focusing on the present moment, correlate several laws in way to clarify their juridical situation. Using a own critical sense, it draws attention to legislation lack problem in opposition to the conclusion that, Prison Guards Corporation is a security force with specialized expertise in matter and territory fields. Their activity occurs, generally, in penitentiaries where people see themselves without their freedom, legally determinated and confined to places as other individuals with deviant behaviors that deserve society refutation, establishing a separation period having rehabilitation as a goal – it is called general and special prevention. Penitentiaries specificities requires specially police force because penitentiaries are places where tensions are often, both between inmates and against employees, above all prison guards, the first to struggle inmates daily frustrations. In way that institutions achieve their purpose, it is necessary that citizens respect all the rules, although, to their efficacy is necessary to inflict punishment to those who did not respect the rules. Furthermore, it will be indispensable to act immediately in situations as impeding runaway helping, illegally standing in jail and to avoid violent acts against personal and patrimonial belongings. Juridical Order has a few security tools that are available to administration, in which is included coercive methods, that as damaging to citizens in whom they are use, are restricted, unavoidably, to inflexible control rules. Concluding, Prison Guards and Penitentiaries General Direction last goal is to give back recovered inmates to society, in a way to conduct their lives responsibly, without committing crimes.

Triple negative breast cancer: nanosolutions for a big challenge

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a particular immunopathological subtype of breast cancer that lacks expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER/PR) and amplification of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) gene. Characterized by aggressive and metastatic phenotypes and high rates of relapse, TNBC is the only breast cancer subgroup still lacking effective therapeutic options, thus presenting the worst prognosis. The development of targeted therapies, as well as early diagnosis methods, is vital to ensure an adequate and timely therapeutic intervention in patients with TNBC. This review intends to discuss potentially emerging approaches for the diagnosis and treatment of TNBC patients, with a special focus on nano-based solutions that actively target these particular tumors.

Evidence for inter- and intra-species biofilm formation variability among a small group of coagulase-negative staphylococci

Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are common bacterial colonisers of the human skin. They are often involved in nosocomial infections due to biofilm formation in indwelling medical devices. While biofilm formation has been extensively studied in Staphylococcus epidermidis, little is known regarding other CoNS species. Here, biofilms from six different CoNS species were characterised in terms of biofilm composition and architecture. Interestingly, the ability to form a thick biofilm was not associated with any particular species, and high variability on biofilm accumulation was found within the same species. Cell viability assays also revealed different proportions of live and dead cells within biofilms formed by different species, although this parameter was particularly similar at the intra-species level. On the other hand, biofilm disruption assays demonstrated important inter- and intra-species differences regarding extracellular matrix composition. Lastly, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) experiments confirmed this variability, highlighting important differences and common features of CoNS biofilms. We hypothesised that the biofilm formation heterogeneity observed was rather associated with biofilm matrix composition than with cells themselves. Additionally, our results indicate that polysaccharides, DNA and proteins are fundamental pieces in the process of CoNS biofilm formation.

Attachment style impacts behavior and early oculomotor response to positive, but not negative, pictures

The present study investigated whether oculomotor behavior is influenced by attachment styles. The Relationship Scales Questionnaire was used to assess attachment styles of forty-eight voluntary university students and to classify them into attachment groups (secure, preoccupied, fearful, and dismissing). Eye-tracking was recorded while participants engaged in a 3-seconds free visual exploration of stimuli presenting either a positive or a negative picture together with a neutral picture, all depicting social interactions. The task consisted in identifying whether the two pictures depicted the same emotion. Results showed that the processing of negative pictures was impermeable to attachment style, while the processing of positive pictures was significantly influenced by individual differences in insecure attachment. The groups highly avoidant regarding to attachment (dismissing and fearful) showed reduced accuracy, suggesting a higher threshold for recognizing positive emotions compared to the secure group. The groups with higher attachment anxiety (preoccupied and fearful) showed differences in automatic capture of attention, in particular an increased delay preceding the first fixation to a picture of positive emotional valence. Despite lenient statistical thresholds induced by the limited sample size of some groups (p < 0.05 uncorrected for multiple comparisons), the current findings suggest that the processing of positive emotions is affected by attachment styles. These results are discussed within a broader evolutionary framework.

Local non-negative initial data scalar characterization of the Kerr solution

For any vacuum initial data set, we define a local, non-negative scalar quantity which vanishes at every point of the data hypersurface if and only if the data are Kerr initial data. Our scalar quantity only depends on the quantities used to construct the vacuum initial data set which are the Riemannian metric defined on the initial data hypersurface and a symmetric tensor which plays the role of the second fundamental form of the embedded initial data hypersurface. The dependency is algorithmic in the sense that given the initial data one can compute the scalar quantity by algebraic and differential manipulations, being thus suitable for an implementation in a numerical code. The scalar could also be useful in studies of the non-linear stability of the Kerr solution because it serves to measure the deviation of a vacuum initial data set from the Kerr initial data in a local and algorithmic way.

Structural and enzymatic characterization of ABgp46, a novel phage endolysin with broad anti-Gram-negative bacterial activity

The present study demonstrates the antibacterial potential of a phage endolysin against Gram-negative pathogens, particularly against multidrug resistant strains of Acinetobacter baumannii. We have cloned, heterologously expressed and characterized a novel endolysin (ABgp46) from Acinetobacter phage vb_AbaP_CEB1 and tested its antibacterial activity against several multidrug-resistant A. baumannii strains. LC-MS revealed that ABgp46 is an N-acetylmuramidase, that is also active over a broad pH range (4.0-10.0) and temperatures up to 50°C. Interestingly, ABgp46 has intrinsic and specific anti-A. baumannii activity, reducing multidrug resistant strains by up to 2 logs within 2 hours. By combining ABgp46 with several organic acids that act as outer membrane permeabilizing agents, it is possible to increase and broaden antibacterial activity to include other Gram-negative bacterial pathogens. In the presence of citric and malic acid, ABgp46 reduces A. baumannii below the detection limit (> 5 log) and more than 4 logs P. aeruginosa and Salmonella Typhimurium strains. Overall, this globular endolysin exhibits a broad and high activity against Gram-negative pathogens, that can be enhanced in presence of citric and malic acid, and be used in human and veterinary medicine.

Novel strategies to combat gram-negative bacterial pathogens using bacteriophage proteins

Dissertação de mestrado em Bioengenharia

Activity of carvacrol against Coagulase-negative Staphylococci biofilm related infections

Dissertação de mestrado em Bioengenharia

Negative Correlation Between of Light Ions Content and Radon Concentration: Particularity of Tbilisi City Air Pollution, or Norm for the Urbanized Locality?

In Tbilisi according to the data of the complex monitoring of light ions concentration, radon and sub-micron aerosols the effect of feedback of intensity of ionizing radiation with the light ions content in atmosphere is discovered.

A internação forçada do toxicodependente : uma perspectiva brasileira, sob um contraste lusitano, acerca da proporcionalidade da medida em face da dignidade da pessoa humana

A presente dissertação busca abordar a questão da restrição ao direito fundamental de liberdade da pessoa toxicodependente no Brasil, consistente, precisamente, na internação forçada para o tratamento de sua saúde e/ou para a segurança pública, sob o olhar do princípio constitucional da dignidade da pessoa humana em suas dimensões positiva, que exige uma obrigação de fazer por parte do Estado, e negativa, que cobra deste uma postura omissiva de proteção, em torno de um mesmo indivíduo; sem se olvidar do interesse público na execução da medida. Para tanto, ao longo do trabalho, a legislação brasileira atinente ao tema é posta em comparação com a sua correspondente portuguesa e, à luz, basicamente, das doutrinas desses países, são examinados direitos afetos à liberdade individual e ao direito social à saúde, sob a costura do apontado princípio estruturante das respectivas Constituições, de modo a permitir a visualização do amparo da medida restritiva no texto maior brasileiro e, ao final, uma análise crítica à ponderação de bens (direitos) realizada pelo legislador ordinário, com possíveis soluções para a sua aplicação em concreto, quando da análise da proporcionalidade da intervenção da liberdade pelo Poder Judiciário.