DNA damage after acute and chronic treatment with malathion in rats.

Malathion is an insecticide widely used in agriculture and in public health programs that when used indiscriminately in large amounts can cause environmental pollution and risk to human health. However, it is possible that during the metabolism of malathion, reactive oxygen species can be generated, and malathion may produce oxidative stress in intoxicated rats that can be responsible for alterations in DNA molecules related in some studies. As a result, the present study aimed to investigate the DNA damage of cerebral tissue and peripheral blood in rats after acute and chronic malathion exposure.

Contribution of education, occupation and cognitively stimulating activities to the formation of cognitive reserve.

The cognitive reserve (CR) concept posits that there is individual variability in processing task demands and coping with neurodegenerative diseases. This variability can be attributed to the protective effects derived from continuous cognitive stimulation throughout life, including formal education, engagement in cognitively stimulating activities and occupation. These can result in protection against age-related cognitive decline and reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Evaluation of genetic damage in a Brazilian population occupationally exposed to pesticides and its correlation with polymorphisms in metabolizing genes.

Cytogenetic damage in individuals occupationally exposed to pesticides has received the attention of investigators in several countries, but no definitive conclusions can yet be made. The present study aimed at assessing if prolonged exposure to complex mixtures of pesticides leads to an increase in cytogenetic damage. Vineyard workers exposed to pesticides in Caxias do Sul (Brazil) were evaluated using the micronucleus (MN) test in binucleated lymphocytes and the comet assay in peripheral leukocytes.

Accuracy of store-and-forward diagnosis in leprosy.

Telemedicine might increase the speed of diagnosis for leprosy and reduce the development of disabilities. We compared the accuracy of diagnosis made by telemedicine with that made by in-person examination. The cases were patients with suspected leprosy at eight public health clinics in outlying areas of the city of São Paulo.

Gene expression profile analysis of primary glioblastomas and non-neoplastic brain tissue: identification of potential target genes by oligonucleotide microarray and real-time quantitative PCR.

The prognosis of glioblastomas is still extremely poor and the discovery of novel molecular therapeutic targets can be important to optimize treatment strategies. Gene expression analyses comparing normal and neoplastic tissues have been used to identify genes associated with tumorigenesis and potential therapeutic targets. We have used this approach to identify differentially expressed genes between primary glioblastomas and non-neoplastic brain tissues.

Guanidinoacetate decreases antioxidant defenses and total protein sulfhydryl content in striatum of rats.

Guanidinoacetate methyltransferase (GAMT) deficiency is an inherited neurometabolic disorder biochemically characterized by tissue accumulation of guanidinoacetate (GAA) and depletion of creatine. Affected patients present epilepsy and mental retardation whose pathogeny is unclear. In the present study we investigated the in vitro and in vivo (intrastriatal administration) effects of GAA on some oxidative stress parameters in rat striatum.

The influence of glutathione modulators on the course of Leishmania major infection in susceptible and resistant mice.

Glutathione (GSH) has an important dual role in parasite-host relationship in Leishmania major infection. Our previous studies showed that both antioxidant systems, glutathione and trypanothione/trypanothione reductase, participate in the protection of Leishmania against the toxic effect of nitrogen-derived reactive species. On the other hand, GSH also is very important to the modulation of the effective immune response, inducting NO production and leishmanicidal activity of macrophages.

Prognostic impact of cancer/testis antigen expression in advanced stage multiple myeloma patients.

This study aims to analyze the expression of 14 cancer/testis (CT) antigens in multiple myeloma (MM) to identify possible prognostic markers and therapeutic targets. The expression of MAGEA1, MAGEA2, MAGEA3/6, MAGEA4, MAGEA10, MAGEA12, BAGE1, MAGEC1/CT7, the GAGE family, LAGE-1, PRAME, NY-ESO-1, SPA17 and SSX1 was studied by RT-PCR in 15 normal tissues, a pool of 10 normal bone marrow samples, 3 normal tonsils and bone marrow aspirates from 6 normal donors, 3 monoclonal gammopathies of undetermined significance (MGUS), 5 solitary plasmacytomas, 39 MM samples (95% advanced stage) and the MM cell line U266. MAGEC1/CT7 was expressed in bone marrow aspirates from one MGUS and one plasmacytoma.

Secular trends of new leprosy cases diagnosed in Brazil during 1987-2006.

Objective: To analyze trends in occurrence of new leprosy cases in Brazil in the light of changes in public health policy during the period 1987-2006.

Material And Methods: Study of secular trends in New case detection rate (NCDR), viz. for leprosy in Brazil between 1987 and 2006.

Motor neuron disease associated with non-fluent rapidly progressive aphasia: case report and review of the literature.

The superimposed clinical features of motor neuron disease (MND) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) comprise a rare neurological overlap syndrome that represents a diagnostic challenge to neurologists. Currently, FTLD-MND is considered a distinct entity and its clinicopathological basis has recently been reviewed. Our aim is to present a patient with MND and non-fluent rapidly progressive aphasia with clinical, imaging and histopathological correlation, as well as a brief review of the literature.

The 'uncanny', the sacred and the narcissism of culture: the development of the ego and the progress of civilization.

The report by a member of the Brazilian parliament that the rejection of physical deformity is natural and instinctive, and the Muslim reaction to the publication in the Western press of cartoons considered to be offensive to their religion, serve as an introduction to the examination of conflicts in human relations. The two episodes may be classified as representing the sense of the 'uncanny', attributed by Freud to the narcissism that remained from primitive cultures, in which the shadow cast by the body and the mirrored reflection of the latter probably generated the idea of soul-which would be the narcissistic phenomenon causing the illusion of immortality. The presence of this illusion as a support for the beliefs of present-day civilized peoples makes clear the inopportune influence of primitive mental states in areas where more developed ones should prevail.

[Neuropsychological assessment in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy].

We investigated the patient cognition with temporal lobe epilepsy that presented or no mesial injury in magnetic resonance exam. We used classics and ecological neuropsychological tests to indicate possible functional alterations, and to compare results between ecological and traditional instruments. Thirty-four people match in age and study year were separate in three groups: 12 patients with mesial injury; 12 without injury and 10 health people.

Transmission of Hansen's disease and unscreened household contacts.

Introduction: Leprosy household contact investigation has been recommended as an epidemiological surveillance strategy for more than 50 years.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to estimate the yield that could be achieved in case detection if four contacts could be examined for every case found.

Methods: For the estimation of the number of cases not detected (lost) and yield per contact investigation in Mato Grosso, the incidence rates and yield calculations from a cohort study conducted in Rio de Janeiro by Matos et al (1999) were applied to data from the state of Mato Grosso.

[Diagnosis of metastases in patients with papillary thyroid cancer by the measurement of thyroglobulin in fine needle aspirate].

The widespread use of neck ultrasonography (US) during the follow-up of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) has led to the discovery of small cervical lymph nodes (LN). Although US has a high sensitivity for diagnosing LN, fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNA) and measurement of thyroglobulin in fine needle aspirates (FNA-Tg) have proven to be invaluable tools. The aim of this study is to determine the sensitivity of the combined use of neck US, FNA biopsy and FNA-Tg for diagnosis of cervical lymph nodes.

[Dengue: sero-epidemiological survey and virological surveillance in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil].

The epidemiology of dengue in the municipality of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, was studied in 1998 using a randomized sero-epidemiological survey. Epidemiological surveillance data from 1996-2003 were also analyzed, with an emphasis on virological surveillance. 1,260 individuals participated in the survey and had blood samples drawn by finger stick on filter paper.

Dreaming as a primordial state of the mind: the clinical relevance of structural faults in the body ego as revealed in dreaming.

The therapeutic action of psychoanalysis, attributed for many years to the interpretation of the repressed libido, has shifted its focus to object relationships. Some modern analysts maintain that the primary factor of psychic change is the new model of object relationship provided by analysis, and do not consider significant the knowledge of episodes comprising implicit memories, whose irrecoverable nature is demonstrated by neuroscience. Nevertheless, the author proposes that the knowledge of specific archaic events, useless as their interpretation may be, offers a glimpse of the make-up of the mind, contributing to the improvement of the empathy indispensable for inducing changes in the patient.

Radioiodine treatment in autoimmune hyperthyroidism: analysis of outcomes in relation to dosage.

Background: Controversy exists regarding the optimal dose of radioiodine ((131)I) therapy in autoimmune hyperthyroidism (i.e., Graves' Disease).

Physical interaction of two cancer-testis antigens, MAGE-C1 (CT7) and NY-ESO-1 (CT6).

Cancer/testis (CT) antigens are the protein products of germ line-associated genes that are activated in a wide variety of tumors and can elicit autologous cellular and humoral immune responses. CT antigens can be divided between those that are encoded on the X chromosome (CT-X antigens) and those that are not (non-X CT antigens). Among the CT-X antigens, the melanoma antigen gene (MAGE) family, defined by a shared MAGE homology domain (MHD), is the largest.

Diagnosis of suspicious thyroid nodules using four protein biomarkers.

Purpose: Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology, a standard method for thyroid nodule diagnosis, cannot distinguish between benign follicular thyroid adenoma (FTA) and malignant follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC). Previously, using expression profiling, we found that a combination of transcript expression levels from DDIT3, ARG2, C1orf24, and ITM1 distinguished between FTA and FTC. The goal of this study was to determine if antibody markers used alone or in combination could accurately distinguish between a wider variety of benign and malignant thyroid lesions in fixed sections and FNA samples.

Diphyllobothriasis, Brazil.

Cases of human diphyllobothriasis have been reported worldwide. Only 1 case in Brazil was diagnosed by our institution from January 1998 to December 2003. By comparison, 18 cases were diagnosed from March 2004 to January 2005.

Beliefs and practices of Black South African traditional healers regarding hearing impairment.

The study investigated beliefs and practices of Black South African traditional healers regarding hearing impairment. Fifteen Black South African traditional healers were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. An exploratory-descriptive research design incorporating a mixed qualitative/quantitative method was employed and data were collected via individual interviews.

Affect and the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis.

In connection with controversial IJP articles by Stern et al. and Fonagy on the interpretation of the repressed and the recovery of past memories, the author maintains that the affect that is inherent in positive transference is at the heart of therapeutic action. Points of view put forward in the controversy (based on neurobiological knowledge) are related to Freudian metapsychology, as well as to their precursors whose scope was necessarily limited by a lack of access to more recent scientific discoveries.

Is the Val16Ala manganese superoxide dismutase polymorphism associated with the aging process?

Oxidative stress has been related to aging. Recent evidences suggest that a genetic dimorphism that encodes for either alanine or valine in superoxide dismutase (SOD2) is involved with oxidative stress. However, the current literature is still controversial, and the potential role of the Ala16Val polymorphism in human aging needs to be established.

[Anthropophilic activity of Aedes aegypti and of Aedes albopictus in area under control and surveillance].

Objective: To describe the hematophagous activity of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus in an area under control and surveillance.

Comparison of genetic damage in Brazilian footwear-workers exposed to solvent-based or water-based adhesive.

Research has shown that workers employed in footwear manufacture are at increased risk of some cancers, the strongest evidence being for nasal cancer and leukemia. Footwear-workers are routinely exposed to complex mixtures of solvents in degreasers, cleaners, primers, and adhesives used in the production process as toluene, n-hexane, acetone, and possibly dust particles, additives in shoe materials and degradation products of materials. The recognition of the potential health-hazards of solvent-based adhesives (SBAs) has lead to the development of adhesives with no organic solvents, the water-based adhesives (WBA).