Plant growth promoting bacteria in Brachiaria brizantha.

Brachiaria brizantha is considered one of the preferred fodders among farmers for having high forage yield and large production of root mass. The association of beneficial bacteria with these grasses can be very valuable in the recovery of the pasture areas with nutritional deficiency. With the aim of studying this possibility, we carried out the sampling of soil and roots of B.

Effectiveness of implant surface decontamination using a high-pressure sodium bicarbonate protocol: an in vitro study.

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of a high-pressure sodium bicarbonate spray protocol to decontaminate implant surfaces intentionally inoculated with bacteria.

Materials And Methods: Twenty commercially pure titanium implants, 10 with machined surfaces and 10 with rough surfaces, were inoculated with Streptococcus sanguis and then submitted to a decontamination protocol using a high-pressure sodium bicarbonate spray device for 1 minute under aseptic conditions.

Results: After the application of the decontamination protocol, all bacterial cells were removed from the tested implants, regardless of surface roughness.

An in vitro model to evaluate the accuracy of guided surgery systems.

Purpose: An in vitro model was developed and tested to evaluate the precision of guided implant systems. The accuracy of dental implants placed with a flapless technique was analyzed using a stereolithographic template in vitro. Differences between the virtual and actual positions of the implants were measured.

Hormonal secretion and quality of life in Nelson syndrome and Cushing disease after long acting repeatable octreotide: a short series and update.

Clinical management of persistent adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) excess in Nelson syndrome (NS) and Cushing disease (CD) remains a challenge. Somatostatin and its analogs as octreotide decrease ACTH secretion through somatostatin receptors of pituitary cells. To our knowledge, there are no reports on the effect of long-acting repeatable octreotide (oct-lar) on hormonal secretion and quality of life in patients with NS and CD who failed conventional therapy.

The effect of paramagnetic contrast in choline peak in patients with glioblastoma multiforme might not be significant.

Background And Purpose: (1)H-MR spectroscopy is a useful tool in brain tumor evaluation. A critical point in obtaining representative spectra is the correct voxel positioning, which can be more accurate after Gd administration. Some experimental data suggested that Gd could cause Cho signal loss.

Maternal fetal transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi: a problem of public health little studied in Mexico.

The first case of neonatal Chagas was reported in Mexico in 1998, but there have been no studies since then. Therefore, we investigated the rates of congenital infection of Trypanosoma cruzi by examining the seroprevalence among 1448 pregnant women in Oaxaca, Jalisco and Mexico City. We performed ELISAs to screen for recombinant and total antigens in mothers, and examined the frequency of congenital T.

Tracheobronchial Polyflex stents for the management of benign refractory hypopharyngeal strictures.

Aim: To describe a modified technique for placement of a tracheobronchial self-expanding plastic stent (SEPS) in patients with benign refractory hypopharyngeal strictures in order to improve dysphagia and allow stricture remodeling.

Methods: A case series of four consecutive patients with complex hypopharyngeal strictures after combined therapy for laryngeal cancer, previously submitted to multiple sessions of dilation without lasting improvement, is presented. All patients underwent placement of a small diameter and unflared tracheobronchial SEPS.

Brava and autologous fat transfer is a safe and effective breast augmentation alternative: results of a 6-year, 81-patient, prospective multicenter study.

Background: Breast augmentation by autologous fat transfer is an appealing alternative in need of scientific validation.

Methods: In a prospective multicenter study, 81 women (age range, 17 to 63 years) wore the Brava device, a bra-like vacuum-based external tissue expander, for 4 weeks and then underwent autologous fat injection using 10 to 14 needle puncture sites into each breast in a three-dimensional fanning pattern (average, 277 ml volume injected per breast). Patients resumed Brava wear within 24 hours for 7 or more days.

Decreased Toll-interacting protein and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ are associated with increased expression of Toll-like receptors in colon carcinogenesis.

Background: Animal data suggest that Toll-like receptors (TLR) may play an important role in colon carcinogenesis. Studies in humans to support that hypothesis are scarce.

Aim: To evaluate the expression of TLR2, TLR4 and TLR5, and the expression of several other related molecules, in different human colonic lesions.

Changes caused by hydrocephalus, induced by kaolin, in the corpus callosum of adult dogs.

Purpose: To analyze the ventricular enlargement and myelination of the corpus callosum in adult dogs after four and eight weeks of kaolin-induction of hydrocephalus.

Methods: 36 dogs were randomly divided into 3 groups: 1 - without hydrocephalus, 2 - kaolin-induction of hydrocephalus until the fourth week, and 3 - kaolin-induction of hydrocephalus until the eighth week. Ventricular ratios and volumes were calculated using magnetic resonance images, and myelination of the corpus callosum were histologically evaluated using solocromo-cianin stain.

Granuloma faciale with subglottic eosinophilic angiocentric fibrosis: case report and review of the literature.

Granuloma faciale (GF) is an uncommon inflammatory dermatosis that usually presents on the face as reddish brown or violaceous papules and nodules that may coalesce into plaques. Eosinophilic angiocentric fibrosis (EAF) is a rare fibrosing condition that shares many histologic characteristics with GF and is regarded by some authors as a mucosal counterpart of GF. We present a case of GF with concurrent EAF in a subglottic location with excellent response to an intralesional corticosteroid on the GF lesion, CO2 laser on the EAF lesion, and oral dapsone treatment.

Opportunistic and other infections in HIV-infected children in Latin America compared to a similar cohort in the United States.

Opportunistic and other infections have declined since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in developed countries but few studies have addressed the impact of HAART in HIV-infected children from developing countries. This study examines the prevalence and incidence of opportunistic and other infections in Latin America during the HAART era. Vertically HIV-infected children enrolled in a cohort study between 2002 and 2007 were followed for the occurrence of 29 targeted infections.

On the extraction of topologically correct thickness measurements using Khalimsky's cubic complex.

The extraction of thickness measurements from shapes with spherical topology has been an active area of research in medical imaging. Measuring the thickness of structures from automatic probabilistic ume (PV) effects and the limited resolution of medical images. Also, the complexity of certain shapes, like the highly convoluted and PV ments.

Maternal and neonatal immediate effects of sequential delivery.

Objective: To evaluate the immediate maternal and neonatal outcomes associated with sequential instrumental delivery (vacuum plus forceps) compared with the use of one instrument only (forceps or vacuum).

Study Design: A longitudinal observational study was carried out, including all instrumental deliveries performed in term singleton pregnancies, in vertex presentation, at station level 0 or +1. According to the type of the instruments, the deliveries were divided in three groups: the vacuum group, the forceps group and the sequential group.

Extensive percutaneous aponeurotomy and lipografting: a new treatment for Dupuytren disease.

Background: Surgical resection of Dupuytren contracture is fraught with morbidity and prolonged recovery. This article introduces a novel minimally invasive alternative for Dupuytren disease and its outcome.

Methods: The procedure consists of an extensive percutaneous aponeurotomy that completely disintegrates the cord and separates it from the dermis.

Isolation, selection and characterization of root-associated growth promoting bacteria in Brazil Pine (Araucaria angustifolia).

Araucaria angustifolia, a unique species of this genus that occurs naturally in Brazil, has a high socio-economic and environmental value and is critically endangered of extinction, since it has been submitted to intense predatory exploitation during the last century. Root-associated bacteria from A. angustifolia were isolated, selected and characterized for their biotechnological potential of growth promotion and biocontrol of plant pathogenic fungi.

Nonlinear estimation of neural processing time from BOLD signal with application to decision-making.

The extraction of information about neural activity timing from BOLD signal is a challenging task as the shape of the BOLD curve does not directly reflect the temporal characteristics of electrical activity of neurons. In this work, we introduce the concept of neural processing time (NPT) as a parameter of the biophysical model of the hemodynamic response function (HRF). Through this new concept we aim to infer more accurately the duration of neuronal response from the highly nonlinear BOLD effect.

The importance of the suspended solids parameter on the quantitative analysis of di-n-butyl phthalate in a wastewater treatment system.

The present study has investigated the influence of the filtration step of the liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) on the quantitative analysis of di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) in the wastewater treatment system of the University of Caxias do Sul (WWTS-UCS). During five months, five wastewater samples from the inflow and outflow points were collected and submitted to LLE with and without the filtration step. The organic extracts were analyzed by Gas Chromatography with Flame Ionization Detection (GC/FID).

Dosage-dependent shift in the spore community of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi following application of tannery sludge.

The controlled disposal of tannery sludge in agricultural soils is a viable alternative for recycling such waste; however, the impact of this practice on the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) communities is not well understood. We studied the effects of low-chromium tannery sludge amendment in soils on AMF spore density, species richness and diversity, and root colonization levels. Sludge was applied at four doses to an agricultural field in Rolândia, Paraná state, Brazil.

Upper blepharoplasty with or without resection of the orbicularis oculi muscle: a randomized double-blind left-right study.

Purpose: To compare the aesthetic outcomes of the upper blepharoplasty with or without resection of the preseptal orbicularis oculi muscle.

Methods: An interventional randomized double-blind left-right study was conducted in 15 consecutive patients with dermatochalasis of the upper eyelid. One side was randomly chosen for resection of the preseptal orbicularis oculi muscle (group 1).

[The impasses of unconditional poverty: the experience of Collective Ombudsman in the Leopoldina region, Rio de Janeiro (RJ, Brazil)].

The experience of Collective Ombudsman developed in the Leopoldina region, city of Rio de Janeiro, enlarges the traditional vision of health vigilance and consists in organizing a system of qualitative evaluation of the sanitary vigilance able to identify the health problems of the population and the methods utilized in the attempt to overcome these problems. Health professionals, religious and community leaders congregated in monthly forums to present and discuss living conditions perceived in the communities in which they carry on their activities. From the point of view of the social dimensions involved in the health-illness processes, this work aims to discuss the way that poverty compromises the popular classes' health, especially for the mental health and the "diffuse suffering".

IL-15 induces CD8+ T cells to acquire functional NK receptors capable of modulating cytotoxicity and cytokine secretion.

During the last years several authors have described a small population of CD8+ T cells expressing NK receptors (NKRs). Although their origin remains largely unknown, we have recently demonstrated that IL-15 is capable of inducing NKR expression in purified human CD8+CD56- T cells. In this study we show that IL-15-driven NKR induction in CD8+ T cells was linked with CD56 de novo acquisition, consistent with an effector-memory phenotype, increased anti-apoptotic levels, high granzyme B/perforin expression and with the ability of displaying in vitro NK-like cytotoxicity.

Wavelet correlation between subjects: a time-scale data driven analysis for brain mapping using fMRI.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) based on BOLD signal has been used to indirectly measure the local neural activity induced by cognitive tasks or stimulation. Most fMRI data analysis is carried out using the general linear model (GLM), a statistical approach which predicts the changes in the observed BOLD response based on an expected hemodynamic response function (HRF). In cases when the task is cognitively complex or in cases of diseases, variations in shape and/or delay may reduce the reliability of results.

Profile of autoantibodies against phosphorylcholine and cross-reactivity to oxidation-specific neoantigens in selective IgA deficiency with or without autoimmune diseases.

Immunoglobulin A deficiency (IgAD) is considered the most common form of primary immunodeficiency. The majority of IgA-deficient individuals are considered asymptomatic, even though IgAD has been associated with an increased frequency of recurrent infections, allergy, and autoimmune diseases. In this study we evaluate the Natural autoantibodies (NatAbs) reactivity to phosphorylcholine (PC) and to some pro-inflammatory molecules in IgAD with or without autoimmune disorders.