Effect of different storage media on the regenerative potential of autogenous bone grafts: a histomorphometrical analysis in rabbits.

The success of autogenous bone graft is related to the graft cell viability. In bone-grafting procedures, harvested grafts are often maintained in extraoral media while the recipient site is prepared. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vivo the effect of storage media over autogenous bone grafts during the transsurgical time.

An evaluation of factors associated with taking and responding positive to the tuberculin skin test in individuals with HIV/AIDS.

Background: The tuberculin skin test (TST) is still the standard test for detecting latent infection by M tuberculosis (LTBI). Given that the Brazilian Health Ministry recommends that the treatment of latent tuberculosis (LTBI) should be guided by the TST results, the present study sets out to describe the coverage of administering the TST in people living with HIV at two referral health centers in the city of Recife, where TST is offered to all patients. In addition, factors associated with the non-application of the test and with positive TST results were also analyzed.

Degeneration of penicillin production in ethanol-limited chemostat cultivations of Penicillium chrysogenum: A systems biology approach.

Background: In microbial production of non-catabolic products such as antibiotics a loss of production capacity upon long-term cultivation (for example chemostat), a phenomenon called strain degeneration, is often observed. In this study a systems biology approach, monitoring changes from gene to produced flux, was used to study degeneration of penicillin production in a high producing Penicillium chrysogenum strain during prolonged ethanol-limited chemostat cultivations.

Results: During these cultivations, the biomass specific penicillin production rate decreased more than 10-fold in less than 22 generations.

Leishmanicidal effect of Spiranthera odoratíssima (Rutaceae) and its isolated alkaloid skimmianine occurs by a nitric oxide dependent mechanism.

Leishmaniasis is one of the neglected diseases. High cost, systemic toxicity, and diminished efficacy due to development of resistance by the parasites has a negative impact on the current treatment options. Thus, the search for a new, effective and safer anti-leishmanial drug becomes of paramount importance.

Highly debilitating natural Trypanosoma vivax infections in Brazilian calves: epidemiology, pathology, and probable transplacental transmission.

Clinical, epidemiological, and pathological aspects of trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma vivax in calves were reported for the first time in northeast Brazil. Clinical and epidemiological data, packed cell volumes (PCV), and parasitemia were assessed in 150 calves in May 2009 (rainy season-survey 1) and in 153 calves in November 2009 (dry season-survey 2) in three farms (A, B, and C). Prevalence of T.

Association of Trypanosoma vivax in extracellular sites with central nervous system lesions and changes in cerebrospinal fluid in experimentally infected goats.

Changes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and anatomical and histopathological central nervous system (CNS) lesions were evaluated, and the presence of Trypanosoma vivax in CNS tissues was investigated through PCR. Twelve adult male goats were divided into three groups (G): G1, infected with T. vivax and evaluated during the acute phase; G2, infected goats evaluated during the chronic phase; and G3, consisting of non-infected goats.

Systems dynamic model to forecast salinity load to the Colorado River due to urbanization within the Las Vegas Valley.

This study evaluates the impact of urban growth in the Las Vegas Valley (LVV), Nevada, USA on salinity of the Colorado River. In the past thirty eight years the LVV population has grown from 273,288 (1970) to 1,986,146 (2008). The wastewater effluents and runoff from the valley are diverted back to the Colorado River through the Las Vegas Wash (LVW).

Evaluating the impact of water conservation on fate of outdoor water use: a study in an arid region.

In this research, the impact of several water conservation policies and return flow credits on the fate of water used outdoors in an arid region is evaluated using system dynamics modeling approach. Return flow credits is a strategy where flow credits are obtained for treated wastewater returned to a water body, allowing for the withdrawal of additional water equal to the amount returned as treated wastewater. In the return credit strategy, treated wastewater becomes a resource.

Absolute configuration and selective trypanocidal activity of gaudichaudianic acid enantiomers.

Gaudichaudianic acid, a prenylated chromene isolated from Piper gaudichaudianum, has been described as a potent trypanocidal compound against the Y-strain of Trypanosoma cruzi. We herein describe its isolation as a racemic mixture followed by enantiomeric resolution using chiral HPLC and determination of the absolute configuration of the enantiomers as (+)-S and (-)-R by means of a combination of electronic and vibrational circular dichroism using density functional theory calculations. Investigation of the EtOAc extract of the roots, stems, and leaves from both adult specimens and seedlings of P.

Chromium removal from ion-exchange waste brines with calcium polysulfide.

Chromium removal from ion-exchange (IX) brines presents a serious challenge to the water industry. Although chromium removal with calcium polysulfide (CaS(5)) from drinking waters has been investigated somewhat, its removal from ion-exchange brines has not been evaluated to date. In this study, a Central Composite Design as well as experimental coagulation tests were performed to investigate the influence of pH, CaS(5)/Cr(VI) molar ratio, alkalinity, and ionic strength in the removal of chromium from IX brines.

Communication structure of cortical networks.

Large-scale cortical networks exhibit characteristic topological properties that shape communication between brain regions and global cortical dynamics. Analysis of complex networks allows the description of connectedness, distance, clustering, and centrality that reveal different aspects of how the network's nodes communicate. Here, we focus on a novel analysis of complex walks in a series of mammalian cortical networks that model potential dynamics of information flow between individual brain regions.

Lipid-like sulfoxides and amine oxides as inhibitors of mast cell activation.

The drug miltefosine is a prototypic lipid-like compound thought to modulate membrane environments and thereby indirectly prevent receptor-mediated signaling events. In addition to its primary therapeutic indications in cancer and leishmaniasis, miltefosine has also been shown to block immunoglobulin E receptor-dependent mast cell activation. Miltefosine and other alkylphospholipids that are active in mast cell degranulation assays contain a positively charged nitrogen and a phosphate group that are important for activity.

Structure elucidation and absolute stereochemistry of isomeric monoterpene chromane esters.

Six novel monoterpene chromane esters were isolated from the aerial parts of Peperomia obtusifolia (Piperaceae) using chiral chromatography. This is the first time that chiral chromane esters of this kind, ones with a tethered chiral terpene, have been isolated in nature. Due to their structural features, it is not currently possible to assess directly their absolute stereochemistry using any of the standard classical approaches, such as X-ray crystallography, NMR, optical rotation, or electronic circular dichroism (ECD).

Surface complexation modeling of the removal of arsenic from ion-exchange waste brines with ferric chloride.

Brine disposal is a serious challenge of arsenic (V) removal from drinking water using ion-exchange (IX). Although arsenic removal with ferric chloride (FeCl(3)) from drinking waters is well documented, the application of FeCl(3) to remove arsenic (V) from brines has not been thoroughly investigated. In contrast to drinking water, IX brines contain high ionic strength, high alkalinity, and high arsenic concentrations; these factors are known to influence arsenic removal by FeCl(3).

Gastroprotective activity of α-terpineol in two experimental models of gastric ulcer in rats.

Background And The Purpose Of The Study: Several plant essential oils, as well as terpenes present in essential oils, have shown gastroprotective activity. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the gastroprotective activity of α-terpineol, a monoterpene alcohol which is present in essential oils of various plants.

Methods: The gastroprotective activity of α-terpineol was evaluated in rats by assessing the changes in ethanol and indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer scores and on gastric secretory volume and total acidity in pylorus-ligated rats.

Clinical and pathological effects of Calotropis procera exposure in sheep and rats.

This study aimed to describe the toxic effects resulting from the administration of Calotropis procera (Aiton) W. T. Aiton latex to rats and C.

Knowledge acquisition by networks of interacting agents in the presence of observation errors.

In this work we investigate knowledge acquisition as performed by multiple agents interacting as they infer, under the presence of observation errors, respective models of a complex system. We focus the specific case in which, at each time step, each agent takes into account its current observation as well as the average of the models of its neighbors. The agents are connected by a network of interaction of Erdos-Rényi or Barabási-Albert type.

[Prevalence of Burnout Syndrome and sociodemographic and work factors of elementary education teachers of the City of João Pessoa].

The Burnout Syndrome has been considered a public health issue because of the physical and mental health implications on workers, with clear effect on the quality of life at work. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of the Burnout syndrome in elementary school teachers in the city of João Pessoa, PB, and its relationship with sociodemographic and labor variables. Results showed that 33.

Towards a two-dimensional proteomic reference map of Bradyrhizobium japonicum CPAC 15: spotlighting "hypothetical proteins".

The economic and ecological importance of the symbiosis of soybean with Bradyrhizobium japonicum strains is significant in several countries, particularly Brazil; however, up to now, only one complete and a draft genome for this species are available. In this study, we have obtained a proteomic reference map of B. japonicum strain CPAC 15 (=SEMIA 5079) - used in commercial inoculants for application to soybean crops in Brazil - grown under in vitro conditions.

Pathological effects of Cryptostegia venusta toxicity in goats and rats.

Here, we aimed to determine the toxicity of Cryptostegia venusta in goats and rats. We orally administered a single 60 g dose of shredded C. venusta leaves per kilogram of body weight to three goats.

Computational methodologies for compound database searching that utilize experimental protein-ligand interaction information.

Ligand- and target structure-based methods are widely used in virtual screening, but there is currently no methodology available that fully integrates these different approaches. Herein, we provide an overview of various attempts that have been made to combine ligand- and structure-based computational screening methods. We then review different types of approaches that utilize protein-ligand interaction information for database screening and filtering.

Bovine anorganic bone graft associated with platelet-rich plasma: histologic analysis in rabbit calvaria.

Autogenous bone tissue has regeneration potential; however, this capacity may not be sufficient in larger bone defects. The aim of this study is to histologically evaluate anorganic bovine bone grafts (GenOx Inorg) with or without platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Two bone lesions were created in calvaria of 12 rabbits.

Impact of periodontal disease on quality of life.

Objective: To determine the impact of periodontal disease on quality of life using the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) 14, simplified version.

Method And Materials: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving a convenience sample of 401 patients of both sexes aged 19 to 71 years. After diagnoses of periodontal condition, the patients voluntarily completed a form to collect the OHIP-14, as well as socioeconomic and demographic data.

Rationalization of the performance and target dependence of similarity searching incorporating protein-ligand interaction information.

Interacting fragments (IFs) derived from protein-ligand complex crystal structures have previously been utilized to complement conventional two-dimensional (2D) similarity searching. In many instances, the (indirect) incorporation of three-dimensional (3D) interaction information through the use of IFs has further improved the search performance of fingerprints of unmodified ligands. However, for a number of targets, changes in the relative performance of conventional fingerprints and IF-based representations have also been observed, and reasons for these effects have thus far remained elusive.

Retraining due to illness ant its implications in nursing management.

There is currently an increased interest in workers health. Retraining due to illness is the topic of this study. The objective of this qualitative study was to understand how individuals cope with job retraining in a public hospital, utilizing interviews to understand how nursing professionals coped with the retraining process, which were then analyzed using Content Analysis as proposed by Bardin.