EXPERIMENTAL INFECTION WITH Toxocara cati IN PIGS: MIGRATORY PATTERN AND PATHOLOGICAL RESPONSE IN EARLY PHASE

Experimental inoculations of approximately 100,000 infective Toxocara cati larval eggs were done in twelve pigs. The T. cati eggs used for inoculation were collected from cat's feces. Another group of three pigs served as an uninfected control. Groups of infected pigs were euthanized at seven, 14, 21, and 28 days post-inoculation (dpi). Tissue samples were taken for digestion and histopathology changes in early phase. The number of larvae recovered from the lungs peaked at seven and 14 dpi and were also present at 21, and 28 dpi. Larvae of T. cati were present in the lymph nodes of the small and large intestine at seven, 14, and 28 dpi and at seven, 14, 21, and 28 dpi respectively. In other studied tissues, no larvae or less than one larva per gram was detected. The pathological response observed in the liver and lungs at seven and 14 dpi, showed white spots on the liver surface and areas of consolidation were observed in the lungs. The lungs showed an inflammatory reaction with larvae in center at 28 dpi. In the liver we observed periportal and perilobular hepatitis. The lymph nodes of the intestines displayed eosinophil lymphadenitis with reactive centers containing parasitic forms in some of them. The granulomatous reaction was not observed in any tissues. The role of the other examined tissues had less significance. The relevance of this parasite as an etiological agent that leads to disease in paratenic hosts is evident.

Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha-Induced Drug Eruptions: One Patient, More Than a Pattern

Background: Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) antagonists are effective in treating several immune-inflammatory diseases, including psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease. The paradoxical and unpredictable induction of psoriasis and psoriasiform skin lesions is a recognized adverse event, although of unclear aetiology. However, histological analysis of these eruptions remains insufficient, yet suggesting that some might constitute a new pattern of adverse drug reaction, rather than true psoriasis. Case report: The authors report the case of a 43-year-old woman with severe recalcitrant Crohn disease who started treatment with infliximab. There was also a personal history of mild plaque psoriasis without clinical expression for the past eight years. She developed a heterogeneous cutaneous eruption of psoriasiform morphology with pustules and crusts after the third infliximab infusion. The histopathological diagnosis was of a Sweet-like dermatosis. The patient was successfully treated with cyclosporine in association with both topical corticosteroid and vitamin D3 analogue. Three weeks after switching to adalimumab a new psoriasiform eruption was observed, histologically compatible with a psoriasiform drug eruption. Despite this, and considering the beneficial effect on the inflammatory bowel disease, it was decided to maintain treatment with adalimumab and to treat through with topicals, with progressive control of skin disease. Discussion: Not much is known about the pathogenesis of psoriasiform eruptions induced by biological therapies, but genetic predisposition and Koebner phenomenon may contribute to it. Histopathology can add new facets to the comprehension of psoriasiform reactions. In fact, histopathologic patterns of such skin lesions appear to be varied, in a clear asymmetry with clinical findings. Conclusion: The sequential identification in the same patient of two clinical and histopathologic patterns of drug reaction to TNFα antagonists is rare. Additionally, to the authors’ knowledge, there is only one other description in literature of a TNFα antagonist-induced Sweet-like dermatosis, emphasizing the singularity of this case report.

MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION AND ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE PATTERN OF SEVEN CLINICAL ISOLATES OF Nocardia spp. IN BRAZIL

Nocardia is a ubiquitous microorganism related to pyogranulomatous infection, which is difficult to treat in humans and animals. The occurrence of the disease is on the rise in many countries due to an increase in immunosuppressive diseases and treatments. This report of cases from Brazil presents the genotypic characterization and the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern using the disk-diffusion method and inhibitory minimal concentration with E-test® strips. In summary, this report focuses on infections in young adult men, of which three cases were cutaneous, two pulmonary, one neurological and one systemic. The pulmonary, neurological and systemic cases were attributed to immunosuppressive diseases or treatments. Sequencing analysis of the 16S rRNA segments (1491 bp) identified four isolates of Nocardia farcinica, two isolates of Nocardia nova and one isolate of Nocardia asiatica. N. farcinica was involved in two cutaneous, one systemic and other pulmonary cases; N. nova was involved in one neurological and one pulmonary case; and Nocardia asiatica in one cutaneous case. The disk-diffusion antimicrobial susceptibility test showed that the most effective antimicrobials were amikacin (100%), amoxicillin/clavulanate (100%), cephalexin (100%) and ceftiofur (100%), while isolates had presented most resistance to gentamicin (43%), sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (43%) and ampicillin (29%). However, on the inhibitory minimal concentration test (MIC test), only one of the four isolates of Nocardia farcinica was resistant to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim.

Effects of Spatial Pattern of GreenSpace on Land Surface Temperature: A case study on Oasis City Aksu, northwest China

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies.

Evolutive pattern of schistosomiasis and life-span of S. mansoni in patients living in non-endemic area in Brazil

Out of 2484 patients harboring S. mansoni seen in Rio de Janeiro, 1197 had been living permanently out of endemic area frorn one to 30 years, without any possibility of reinfection; 90.1% of these 1197 patients were first seen with, hepato-intestinal schistosomiasis and only 9.9% with hepatosplenic form. 55% of thern still had S. mansoni active infection 6 years or more after they had left the endemic area and 26.5% remained infected for more than 10 years. The patients with intestinal or hepato-intestinal schistosomiasis did not develop the most severe form whether they had been treated or not, and the hepatosplenic patients had a long time to deteriorate.

Regulatory Cells, Cytokine Pattern and Clinical Risk Factors for Asthma in Infants and Young Children with Recurrent Wheeze

Several risk factors for asthma have been identified in infants and young children with recurrent wheeze. However, published literature has reported contradictory findings regarding the underlying immunological mechanisms. OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to assess and compare the immunological status during the first 2 years in steroid-naive young children with >or= three episodes of physician-confirmed wheeze (n=50), with and without clinical risk factors for developing subsequent asthma (i.e. parental asthma or a personal history of eczema and/or two of the following: wheezing without colds, a personal history of allergic rhinitis and peripheral blood eosinophilia >4%), with age-matched healthy controls (n=30). METHODS: Peripheral blood CD4(+)CD25(+) and CD4(+)CD25(high) T cells and their cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4), GITR and Foxp3 expression were analysed by flow cytometry. Cytokine (IFN-gamma, TGF-beta and IL-10), CTLA-4 and Foxp3 mRNA expression were evaluated (real-time PCR) after peripheral blood mononuclear cell stimulation with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) (24 h) and house dust mite (HDM) extracts (7th day). RESULTS: Flow cytometry results showed a significant reduction in the absolute number of CD4(+)CD25(high) and the absolute and percentage numbers of CD4(+)CD25(+)CTLA-4(+) in wheezy children compared with healthy controls. Wheezy children at a high risk of developing asthma had a significantly lower absolute number of CD4(+)CD25(+) (P=0.01) and CD4(+)CD25(high) (P=0.04), compared with those at a low risk. After PMA stimulation, CTLA-4 (P=0.03) and Foxp3 (P=0.02) expression was diminished in wheezy children compared with the healthy children. After HDM stimulation, CTLA-4 (P=0.03) and IFN-gamma (P=0.04) expression was diminished in wheezy children compared with healthy children. High-risk children had lower expression of IFN-gamma (P=0.03) compared with low-risk and healthy children and lower expression of CTLA-4 (P=0.01) compared with healthy children. CONCLUSIONS: Although our findings suggest that some immunological parameters are impaired in children with recurrent wheeze, particularly with a high risk for asthma, further studies are needed in order to assess their potential as surrogate predictor factors for asthma in early life.

Pattern of acquisition of rotavirus antibody in children followed up from birth to the age of three years

Nine hundred and forty-eight serum samples from 83 children living in Belem, Brazil, collected'within their first three years of life, were testedfor the presence of group- specific rotavirus-antibody by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) blocking-test. Passively transferred maternal antibody lasted about two and half months; subsequentely, low levels of rotavirus antibody started to appear at seven months, reaching a peak at eleven months of age. From one year onwards positivity gradually increased, reaching highest values at 34 months of life. Individual responses were examined in sera from 61 children who were followed up since birth to three years of age: 38 (62,3%) ofthem developed a long-term immunity following first infection; eleven (18.0%) children developed a short-term immunity after first infection by rotavirus; seven (11.5%) had no antibody response within their first three years of life; and 5 (8.2%) showed positive antibody response from birth to three years old.

Software for pattern recognition of the larvae of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus

Software for pattern recognition of the larvae of mosquitoes Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, biological vectors of dengue and yellow fever, has been developed. Rapid field identification of larva using a digital camera linked to a laptop computer equipped with this software may greatly help prevention campaigns.

Epidemiological pattern of leprosy in an endemic area of North-East Brazil, 1996-2005: the supporting role of a Nongovernmental Organization

In an endemic area of North-East Brazil (the town of Picos, State of Piauí), a nongovernmental organization (NGO) supported the activity against leprosy in connection with governmental health organizations and local agents. The indicators of leprosy elimination were compared over time (within Picos) and across space (Picos versus Piauí). The case detection rate, above 8 per 10,000 people in the last two years of observation, increased over time in Picos (p=0.010). This finding could be due to active detection activities rather than expanding endemicity, as suggested by the reduction in leprosy in children (p=0.053) and the decrease in the proportion of new cases with grade 2 disability (p<0.001). These indicators showed a more favorable time trend in the city than in the State, suggesting that NGO activity was supportive in the battle towards leprosy control.

Breaking the Pattern and Creating New Paths – Feminist Mizrahi Women Artists in Israel

This article addresses the work of Mizrahi women artists, i.e., Israeli-Jewish women of Asian or African ethnic origin, using the artist Vered Nissim as a case study. Nissim seeks to affirm the politics of identity and recognition, as well as feminism in order to create a paradigm shift with regards to the local regime of cultural representations in the Israeli art scene. Endeavouring to find ways of undermining the rigid imbalances between different social groups, she calls for a comprehensive reform of the status quo through artistic activism. Nissim employs a style, content, and medium that disrupts the accepted social order, using humour and irony as unique weapons with which she takes liberties with conventional moral, social, and economic values. Placing issues of race, class and gender at the centre of her work, she seeks to undermine and problematize essentialist attitudes, highlighting the political intersections of different identity categories as the critical analysis of intersectionality unfolds.

Task clustering on ETL systems – A pattern-oriented approach

Usually, data warehousing populating processes are data-oriented workflows composed by dozens of granular tasks that are responsible for the integration of data coming from different data sources. Specific subset of these tasks can be grouped on a collection together with their relationships in order to form higher- level constructs. Increasing task granularity allows for the generalization of processes, simplifying their views and providing methods to carry out expertise to new applications. Well-proven practices can be used to describe general solutions that use basic skeletons configured and instantiated according to a set of specific integration requirements. Patterns can be applied to ETL processes aiming to simplify not only a possible conceptual representation but also to reduce the gap that often exists between two design perspectives. In this paper, we demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of an ETL pattern-based approach using task clustering, analyzing a real world ETL scenario through the definitions of two commonly used clusters of tasks: a data lookup cluster and a data conciliation and integration cluster.

Postharvest changes and respiratory pattern of bacuri fruit (Platonia insignis Mart.) at different maturity stages during ambient storage

Bacuri (Platonia insignis, Mart.) is one of the most important among Amazonian fruits. However, little is known about its postharvest physiology, such as maturity stages, changes during ambient storage, and respiratory pattern. Fruits were harvested at three maturity stages based on epicarp colour: dark green, light green, and turning (50% yellow), in order to determine colour modification and respiratory pattern during ambient storage (25.2 ºC, 75.1 % RH). Fruit of all maturity stages showed, after three days of harvest, a non-climacteric respiratory pattern, with turning fruit presenting the highest CO2 production rate until the fourth storage day (177.63 mg.CO2.kg-1.h-1). Yellowing increased throughout storage as related to lightness, chromaticity, and hue angle reductions. Turning fruit can be stored at ambient conditions for up to 10 days without any loss in marketability.

Geographic pattern of genetic diversity in natural populations of Rosewood (Aniba rosaeodora), in the Central Amazonia

Rosewood (Aniba rosaeodora Ducke, Lauraceae) is an Amazonian evergreen tree and a source of the purest linalool, the main component of its essential oil, which is very valuable in the international perfumery market. After decades of over-exploitation it is currently considered as threatened. We evaluated the genetic diversity and its distribution in four populations in Central Amazonia. Thirty-five reliable RAPD markers were generated, of which 32 were polymorphic (91.4%). Variation was higher within the populations (76.5%; p < 0.0001) and geographic distribution contributed to population differentiation (23.4%; p < 0.0001). The Amazon River had a small influence on gene flow (3.3%; p < 0.0001), but we identified evidence of gene flow across the river. There were significant differences in marker frequencies (p < 0.05), in agreement with the low gene flow (Nm = 2.02). The correlation between genetic distance and gene flow was - 0.95 (p = 0.06) and between geographic distance and gene flow was -0.78 (p = 0.12). There was a geographic cline of variability across an East-West axis, influenced as well by the Amazon River, suggesting the river could be a barrier to gene flow. Although threatened, these Rosewood populations retain high diversity, with the highest levels in the Manaus population, which has been protected for over 42 years in a Reserve.

Synthesis, antiangiogenesis evaluation and molecular docking studies of 1-Aryl-3-[(thieno[3,2-b]pyridin-7-ylthio)phenyl]ureas: Discovery of a new substitution pattern for type II VEGFR-2 Tyr kinase inhibitors

The synthesis and biological evaluation of novel 1-aryl-3-[2-, 3- or 4-(thieno[3,2-b]pyridin-7-ylthio)phenyl]ureas 3, 4 and 5 as VEGFR-2 tyrosine kinase inhibitors, are reported. The 1-aryl-3-[3-(thieno[3,2-b]pyridin-7-ylthio)phenyl]ureas 4a-4h, with the arylurea in the meta position to the thioether, showed the lowest IC50 values in enzymatic assays (10-206 nM), the most potent compounds 4d-4h (IC50 10-28 nM) bearing hydrophobic groups (Me, F, CF3 and Cl) in the terminal phenyl ring. A convincing rationalization was achieved for the highest potent compounds 4 as type II VEGFR-2 inhibitors, based on the simultaneous presence of: (1) the thioether linker and (2) the arylurea moiety in the meta position. For compounds 4, significant inhibition of Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs) proliferation (BrdU assay), migration (wound-healing assay) and tube formation were observed at low concentrations. These compounds have also shown to increase apoptosis using the TUNEL assay. Immunostaining for total and phosphorylated (active) VEGFR-2 was performed by Western blotting. The phosphorylation of the receptor was significantly inhibited at 1.0 and 2.5 microM for the most promising compounds. Altogether, these findings point to an antiangiogenic effect in HUVECs.