Determination of cocaine in brazilian paper currency by capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

The presence of illicit drugs such as cocaine and marijuana in US paper currency is very well demonstrated. However, there is no published study describing the presence of cocaine and/or other illicit drugs in Brazilian paper currency. In this study, Brazilian banknotes were collected from nine cities, extracted and analyzed by capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, in order to investigate the presence of cocaine. Bills were extracted with deionized water followed by ethyl acetate. Results showed that 93% of the bills presented cocaine in a concentration range of 2.38-275.10 µg/bill.

Implantação de uma nova disciplina à luz das diretrizes curriculares no curso de graduação em medicina da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro

Este estudo teve por objetivo realizar, com base numa pesquisa qualiquantitativa, a primeira análise do processo de implantação da Disciplina de Medicina Integral I (DMI I): "Conceitos e Práticas em Medicina: Introdução à Promoção e à Educação em Saúde". Elaborada com base nas Diretrizes Curriculares que regem o ensino médico, essa disciplina foi integrada à grade curricular da Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro em 2002. O estudo foi sistematizado a partir de um corte transversal no segundo semestre letivo de 2004 com a participação de 75 estudantes (80% do total de estudantes do primeiro ano de medicina). Os dados foram coletados em dois momentos do curso: inicial (pré-avaliação) e final (pós-avaliação). As questões abordadas nas avaliações consideraram as seguintes temáticas, todas presentes no curso: a crise atual da medicina e estratégias para sua superação; o papel do médico e os fatores influentes no processo de saúde-adoecimento. A média da pontuação na pré-avaliação foi de 3,7 e, na realizada ao final do curso, de 7,8. Na aplicação do teste "t-Student" para dados pareados, encontrou-se o índice p < 0,05. A análise comparativa dos dados pré e pós possibilita averiguar que o conteúdo programático trabalhado na DMI I foi apreendido pelos estudantes em níveis satisfatórios, sinalizando indicadores adequados para a análise de uma nova disciplina no processo de reformulação curricular.

Tumor raro em mediastino: hamartoma

In the present paper we report a case of mediastinal tumor which we believe has never been reported. Since surgical treatment, the patient presented good evolution. We discuss the presentation, differential diagnosis and therapy. Finally, we stress the importance of the pathologic findings.

Fibroma de Vulva (Molluscum Pendulum): Relato de Caso

É apresentado um caso de fibroma de vulva, modalidade molluscum pendulum, em uma jovem de 20 anos. O tumor desenvolveu-se após a menarca com evolução lenta e progressiva. Ao exame físico, observou-se volumosa massa pediculada, indolor, com inserção no terço superior do grande lábio esquerdo, de consistência elástica, com diâmetro maior em sua parte distal de 12 cm por 23 cm de comprimento. Como tratamento, optou-se pela exérese pela base do pedículo, sob anestesia local. O tumor apresentou o peso de 950 g. Complementa-se com revisão de literatura.

Sistemas de graduação para carcinoma de mama: estudo comparativo da concordância cito-histológica

OBJETIVOS: avaliar a concordância das classificações citológicas de graduação tumoral e nuclear nos esfregaços de punção aspirativa por agulha fina (PAAF) de carcinoma de mama com os métodos utilizados nos espécimes histológicos e compará-los para identificar aqueles que apresentam melhores resultados. MÉTODOS: a avaliação da concordância cito-histológica foi realizada em estudo retrospectivo de 50 casos de PAAF de carcinoma ductal invasivo de mama, confirmados histologicamente, aplicando-se de forma comparativa cinco sistemas de graduação. As classificações foram separadas segundo critérios de graduação tumoral (critérios nucleares e arquiteturais - sistemas de Mouriquand e de Guilford) e nuclear (sistemas de Black modificado por Fisher - BM, de Black simplificado - BS e de Hunt). As classificações utilizadas na histologia foram os sistemas de graduação de Scarff-Bloom-Richardson modificado por Elston (SBR modificado), para avaliação tumoral, e os de BM, para avaliação nuclear. RESULTADOS: os sistemas de graduação citológica que apresentaram maior concordância foram os sistemas de BM (K=0,358) e BS (K=0,302), baseados em critérios nucleares (anisonucleose, tamanho, mitose e cromatina). Dentre os sistemas de graduação citológica que apresentam critérios nucleares e arquiteturais, a classificação de Guilford demonstrou maior concordância (K=0,260), possivelmente pelo número maior de variáveis utilizadas, possibilitando menor margem de erro. CONCLUSÃO: no presente estudo, estes métodos mostraram-se regulares como sistemas de graduação citológica.

Induction of immune response in broiler chickens immunized with recombinant FliC and challenged by Salmonella Typhimurium

The study examined (1) the immune response in broiler chickens after oral immunization with recombinant flagellin (rFliC) from Salmonella Typhimurium conjugated with sodium alginate microparticles, and the immune response enhancement in association with recombinant cholera toxin B subunit protein (rCTB) and pool of Lactobacillus spp. (PL). The immune responses were evaluated by dosage of IgY serum and IgA from intestinal fluid and immunostaining of CD8+ T lymphocytes in the cecum. The immunized animals were challenged with Salmonella Typhimurium (ST) 21 days after treatment. In all immunized groups, a significant increase (p<0.05) was observed in IgA levels (μg/mL), especially three weeks after immunization. The serum IgY levels (μg/mL) were little affected by the treatments and differed significantly among groups only in the second post-immunization week (p<0.05). After the challenge, the number of CD8+ T cells differed significantly between the treatments and negative control. Retrieval of Salmonella Typhimurium was not detected at 48 hours after the challenge in T2 (rFliC+rCTb), T3 (rFliC+PL) and T4 (rFliC+rCTB PL). The rFliC administered orally with or without rCTB and Lactobacillus spp. produces significant induction of humoral immune response, and the immunized chickens were more effective in eliminating Salmonella after challenge.

Avaliação dos efeitos de 5-hidroxitriptofano em-hidroxibenzilhidrazine associados a Lactobacillus spp. na morfometria intestinal e imunomarcação de serotonina em frangos de corte desafiados com Salmonella Enteridis

Resumo As células enterocromafins são um dos componentes da mucosa intestinal que liberam serotonina para o lúmen, promovendo atividades secretórias e crescimento celular de vários tecidos, incluindo vilosidades intestinais. O presente estudo avaliou as influências do 5-hidroxitriptofano (5HTP) e do m-hidroxibenzilhidrazine (NSD1015), associados a Lactobacillus spp., sobre o peso corporal e o desenvolvimento das vilosidades intestinais na porção proximal do duodeno de frangos de corte desafiados com Salmonella Enteritidis. Verificou-se também se a presença de Lactobacillus spp. e Salmonella Enteritidis influenciaram a imunomarcação de serotonina no duodeno e, para isso, o estudo foi dividido em dois experimentos, com e sem desafio por S. Enteritidis. No Experimento 1, em aves sem desafio, os pesos corporais não diferiram significantemente (p>0,05) e, no Experimento 2, aves com desafio, os tratamentos com o precursor isolado e associado a Lactobacillus spp. determinaram maior peso corporal das aves. Nos dois experimentos, as aves tratadas com 5HTP apresentaram aumento na densidade e altura das vilosidades no duodeno, sugerindo a atuação de 5HTP como um agente trófico. A administração de Lactobacillus spp. também determinou altura maior de vilosidades duodenais. Quanto a imunomarcação de serotonina, as aves tratadas com Lactobacillus spp. no Experimento 1 e as aves tratadas com Lactobacillus spp. e desafiadas com S. Enteritidis no Experimento 2, apresentaram valores superiores aos demais tratamentos, sugerindo que a presença destas bactérias promove maior liberação de serotonina para o duodeno, porém o mecanismo exato de como este processo ocorre necessita ser mais elucidado.

Austria e Ungaria

Kartalla myös: Alla libraria de l'insegna del S. Marco Donato Bertelli domenego

Africa ex magnae orbis terrae descriptione

Kartta kuuluu A. E. Nordenskiöldin kokoelmaan

The calcium-modulated proteins, S100A1 and S100B, as potential regulators of the dynamics of type III intermediate filaments

The Ca2+-modulated, dimeric proteins of the EF-hand (helix-loop-helix) type, S100A1 and S100B, that have been shown to inhibit microtubule (MT) protein assembly and to promote MT disassembly, interact with the type III intermediate filament (IF) subunits, desmin and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), with a stoichiometry of 2 mol of IF subunit/mol of S100A1 or S100B dimer and an affinity of 0.5-1.0 µM in the presence of a few micromolar concentrations of Ca2+. Binding of S100A1 and S100B results in inhibition of desmin and GFAP assemblies into IFs and stimulation of the disassembly of preformed desmin and GFAP IFs. S100A1 and S100B interact with a stretch of residues in the N-terminal (head) domain of desmin and GFAP, thereby blocking the head-to-tail process of IF elongation. The C-terminal extension of S100A1 (and, likely, S100B) represents a critical part of the site that recognizes desmin and GFAP. S100B is localized to IFs within cells, suggesting that it might have a role in remodeling IFs upon elevation of cytosolic Ca2+ concentration by avoiding excess IF assembly and/or promoting IF disassembly in vivo. S100A1, that is not localized to IFs, might also play a role in the regulation of IF dynamics by binding to and sequestering unassembled IF subunits. Together, these observations suggest that S100A1 and S100B may be regarded as Ca2+-dependent regulators of the state of assembly of two important elements of the cytoskeleton, IFs and MTs, and, potentially, of MT- and IF-based activities.

Analysis of five streptokinase formulations using the euglobulin lysis test and the plasminogen activation assay

Streptokinase, a 47-kDa protein isolated and secreted by most group A, C and G ß-hemolytic streptococci, interacts with and activates human protein plasminogen to form an active complex capable of converting other plasminogen molecules to plasmin. Our objective was to compare five streptokinase formulations commercially available in Brazil in terms of their activity in the in vitro tests of euglobulin clot formation and of the hydrolysis of the plasmin-specific substrate S-2251™. Euglobulin lysis time was determined using a 96-well microtiter plate. Initially, human thrombin (10 IU/ml) and streptokinase were placed in individual wells, clot formation was initiated by the addition of plasma euglobulin, and turbidity was measured at 340 nm every 30 s. In the second assay, plasminogen activation was measured using the plasmin-specific substrate S-2251™. Streptase™ was used as the reference formulation because it presented the strongest fibrinolytic activity in the euglobulin lysis test. The Unitinase™ and Solustrep™ formulations were the weakest, showing about 50% activity compared to the reference formulation. All streptokinases tested activated plasminogen but significant differences were observed. In terms of total S-2251™ activity per vial, Streptase™ (75.7 ± 5.0 units) and Streptonase™ (94.7 ± 4.6 units) had the highest activity, while Unitinase™ (31.0 ± 2.4 units) and Strek™ (32.9 ± 3.3 units) had the weakest activity. Solustrep™ (53.3 ± 2.7 units) presented intermediate activity. The variations among the different formulations for both euglobulin lysis test and chromogenic substrate hydrolysis correlated with the SDS-PAGE densitometric results for the amount of 47-kDa protein. These data show that the commercially available clinical streptokinase formulations vary significantly in their in vitro activity. Whether these differences have clinical implications needs to be investigated.

Comparison of the diagnosis of malaria by microscopy, immunochromatography and PCR in endemic areas of Venezuela

Whole blood samples (N = 295) were obtained from different locations in Amazonas and Sucre States, in Venezuela. Malaria was diagnosed by microscopy, OptiMAL™ and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), with Plasmodium vivax, P. falciparum, and P. malariae being detected when possible. We identified 93 infections, 66 of which were caused by P. vivax, 26 by P. falciparum, and 1 was a mixed infection. No infection caused by P. malariae was detected. The sensitivity and specificity of each diagnostic method were high: 95.7 and 97.9% for microscopy, 87.0 and 97.9% for OptiMAL, and 98.0 and 100% for PCR, respectively. Most samples (72.2%) showed more than 5000 parasites/µL blood. The sensitivity of the diagnosis by microscopy and OptiMAL decreased with lower parasitemia. All samples showing disagreement among the methods were reevaluated, but the first result was used for the calculations. Parasites were detected in the 6 false-negative samples by microscopy after the second examination. The mixed infection was only detected by PCR, while the other methods diagnosed it as P. falciparum (microscopy) or P. vivax (OptiMAL) infection. Most of the false results obtained with the OptiMAL strip were related to the P. falciparum-specific band, including 3 species misdiagnoses, which could be related to the test itself or to genetic variation of the Venezuelan strains. The use of the microscopic method for malaria detection is recommended for its low cost but is very difficult to implement in large scale, population-based studies; thus, we report here more efficient methods suitable for this purpose.

Phytohemagglutinin improves the development and ultrastructure of in vitro-cultured goat (Capra hircus) preantral follicles

The objective this study was to determine the effect of phytohemagglutinin (PHA) on survival, growth and gene expression in caprine secondary follicles culturedin vitro. Secondary follicles (∼0.2 mm) were isolated from the cortex of caprine ovaries and cultured individually for 6 days in α-MEM+ supplemented with PHA (0, 1, 10, 50, 100, or 200 µg/mL). After 6 days of culture, follicle diameter and survival, antrum formation, ultrastructure and expression of mRNA for FSH receptors (FSH-R), proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and neuronal nitric oxide synthase were determined. All treatments maintained follicular survival [α-MEM+ (94.59%); 1 µg/mL PHA (96.43%); 10 µg/mL PHA (84.85%); 50 µg/mL PHA (85.29%); 100 µg/mL PHA (88.57%), and 200 µg/mL PHA (87.50)], but the presence of 10 µg/mL PHA in the culture medium increased the antrum formation rate (21.21%) when compared with control (5.41%, P < 0.05) and ensured the maintenance of oocyte and granulosa cell ultrastructures after 6 days of culture. The expression of mRNA for FSH-R (2.7 ± 0.1) and PCNA (4.4 ± 0.2) was also significantly increased in follicles cultured with 10 µg/mL PHA in relation to those cultured in α-MEM+ (1.0 ± 0.1). In conclusion, supplementation of culture medium with 10 µg/mL PHA maintains the follicular viability and ultrastructure, and promotes the formation of antral cavity after 6 days of culture in vitro.

Presença dos ácidos benzóico e sórbico em vinhos e sidras produzidos no Brasil

O objetivo do presente trabalho foi a determinação dos níveis de ácido benzóico e ácido sórbico em uma variedade de vinhos e sidras brasileiros, de modo a comparar os valores com os máximos permitidos pela legislação. Um total de 49 amostras (sendo 35 vinhos tintos, 11 vinhos brancos e 3 sidras), disponíveis comercialmente, foram analisadas por CLAE com detector de arranjo de diodos. Apesar do uso de ácido benzóico em vinhos e sidras não ser permitido, esse conservador foi detectado em 3 amostras: 1 vinho e 2 sidras em níveis de 295,6, 424,7 e 608,4 mg.L-1, respectivamente. O ácido sórbico foi detectado em 49% das amostras analisadas com níveis variando de 91,0 a 309,5 mg.L-1. Considerando apenas as amostras nas quais o ácido sórbico foi detectado, o valor médio encontrado foi de 171,2 mg.L-1. Em seis amostras de vinho tinto os níveis de ácido sórbico estavam acima do permitido pela legislação brasileira. Os resultados encontrados no presente trabalho mostram que em algumas amostras, os níveis dos ácidos benzóico e sórbico nos vinhos e sidras analisados, assim como a rotulagem desses produtos não estão de acordo com a legislação vigente no Brasil.

Evaluation of quality of butter from different provenance

Butter samples were evaluated for free fatty acids, peroxide value, cholesterol, and fatty acid composition focusing on the trans isomer and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Sixty six samples were analyzed. Thirty six were collected in Brazil, eighteen in France, and twelve in Argentina. Samples were evaluated by free fatty acids, peroxide value, total lipid, cholesterol and fatty acid composition. The free fatty acid content varied from 0.16 to 0.46 g.100 g-1 and the peroxides value levels from 0.35 to 1.80 meq.kg-1. The cholesterol content varied from 192.8 to 226.3 g.100 g-1 and the total lipid content varied from 81.8 to 86.8 g.100 g-1. The levels of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids varied from 43.86 to 52.74, from 21.65 to 23.34, and from 2.11 to 2.89 g.100 g-1, respectively. The conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content varied from 0.56 to 0.86 g.100 g-1 and the levels of total trans isomer varied from 2.18 to 3.81 g.100 g-1.