Screening method for the rapid detection of diethylene glycol in beer based on chemometrics and portable near-infrared spectroscopy.

A recent case of contamination of some batches of a Brazilian beer brand with diethylene glycol (DEG) had great repercussion, resulting in at least seven deaths. In this article, a direct method was developed for the rapid detection of DEG in beer samples based on portable near-infrared spectroscopy combined with partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). The discriminant model was built with 100 uncontaminated beer samples and 100 samples containing DEG in a concentration range between 10 and 1000 mg L, totalizing 200 samples of different brands and styles.

Experimental results and integrated modeling of bacterial growth on an insoluble hydrophobic substrate (phenanthrene).

Metabolism of a low-solubility substrate is limited by dissolution and availability and can hardly be determined. We developed a numerical model for simultaneously calculating dissolution kinetics of such substrates and their metabolism and microbial growth (Monod kinetics with decay) and tested it with three aerobic phenanthrene (PHE) degraders: Novosphingobium pentaromativorans US6-1, Sphingomonas sp. EPA505, and Sphingobium yanoikuyae B1.

Results of patch-tests from Santa Casa de Belo Horizonte Dermatology Clinic, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, from 2003 to 2010.

This Dermatology Clinic tests referred patients who have suspected allergic contact dermatitis. The patch-test results (1406 patients) from July 1(st), 2003 to June 30(th), 2010 will be reported and compared to the data from the Brazilian Contact Dermatitis Study Group (GBEDC). A standardized patch test (30 allergens) was used in all of these patients.

A labor and delivery service unit model for a multihospital health maintenance organization.

Number of deliveries is no longer a relevant measurement for allocation of nursing resources in labor and delivery. A service unit model, which reflected the nursing effort to care for labor and delivery patients and the variability and unpredictability of these patients' needs, was designed for a major multihospital system. The development of the Labor and Delivery Service Unit Model for the Northern California Region of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program is described.