[Argentine Consensus of the Diagnosis and Treatment of Hereditary Angioedema].

Objectives: Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare disease. During the last years, many studies and advances have been developed with the aim of better understanding the pathophysiology, as well as optimizing patient management. Several international working groups have attempted to clarify and standardize the care of HAE communicated as guidelines and consensus recommendations.

Remote biochemical verification of tobacco use: Reducing costs and improving methodological rigor with mailed oral cotinine swabs.

Introduction: Multi-site tobacco cessation trials could benefit from remote biochemical verification for tobacco use without invasive, time-consuming, or expensive collection processes. To the authors' knowledge, there have been no previous studies examining the predictive validity of oral fluid swabs for the detection of cotinine levels with samples collected off-site and mailed for on-site interpretation.

Methods: Tobacco users were recruited through an online survey and participants who met the initial eligibility criteria were invited to take part.

Environmental assessment of the area surrounding Dam Rio Verde - Parana/Brazil. An overview of environmental geomorphology.

This paper presents a brief essay on the situation in which the environment of the dam of the Rio Verde Basin-Parana, from the vision of environmental geomorphology. The area is located between the cities of Campo Magro and Campo Largo, Paraná plateau in the first part of theAlto Iguaçu basin. This study aims to raise the concepts relating to environmental geomorphology, to identify the anthropogenic impacts caused in the reservoir areas, identify the environmental compartments found around the dam and characterize the geologic and physiographic region.

The function of FGF signaling in the lens placode.

Previous studies suggested that FGF signaling is important for lens formation. However, the times at which FGFs act to promote lens formation, the FGFs that are involved, the cells that secrete them and the mechanisms by which FGF signaling may promote lens formation are not known. We found that transcripts encoding several FGF ligands and the four classical FGF receptors are detectable in the lens-forming ectoderm at the time of lens induction.

[Epidemiological profile of Haemophilus influenzae B meningitis in Regional Health Board of Piracicaba--São Paulo-Brazil].

The objective of the present study was to characterize the population affected by Hib meningitis from 1992 to 2001, in the Regional Health Board of Piracicaba (São Paulo-Brazil) in terms of variables regarding demographics and the health-disease process. Data were collected from disease notification reports, and arranged using the SINAN Data Program. It was observed there was a peak in the incidence of meningitis in 1994 and a peak of deaths in 1999, before the vaccine had been introduced.

The function of VEGF-A in lens development: formation of the hyaloid capillary network and protection against transient nuclear cataracts.

A network of capillaries branches from the hyaloid vascular system and surrounds the mammalian lens throughout much of its embryonic development. These vessels are presumed to be important for the growth and maturation of the lens, although the lenses of non-mammalian vertebrates have no comparable vessels. Over expression of VEGF-A in the lens increases the extent of these capillaries, but it is not known whether VEGF-A from the lens is necessary for their formation or survival.

['Magdalena fevers': medicine and society in the construction of a Colombian medical notion, 1859-1886].

In this article, I explore the theoretical, social and ideological bases of the emergence and consolidation of the Colombian medical notion of the 'Magdalena fevers'. Firstly I show how, in the late 1850s, the emerging Colombian body of medical doctors elaborated peculiar notions on fevers by articulating the European medical theories (i.e.

[Occurrence of accidents caused by Lonomia obliqua Walker, in the State of Paraná between 1989 and 2001].

The present article aimed to show the distribution of accidents involving the caterpillar Lonomia obliqua, Walker, 1855, in the State of Paraná between 1989 and 2001. The data were obtained from the Environmental Health Department of Paraná. The information collected was mapped using the Arcview program, and maps of the seasonal occurrence of accidents were generated.

Signaling through FGF receptor-2 is required for lens cell survival and for withdrawal from the cell cycle during lens fiber cell differentiation.

Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) play important roles in many aspects of development, including lens development. The lens is derived from the surface ectoderm and consists of an anterior layer of epithelial cells and elongated, terminally differentiated fiber cells that form the bulk of the tissue. FGF signaling has been implicated in lens induction, proliferation, and differentiation.

Expression and regulation of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-crystallins in mammalian lens epithelial cells.

Purpose: In the mammalian lens, the expression of the beta- and gamma-crystallin families is thought to be limited to fiber cells. However, several studies detected these proteins or their mRNAs in human lens epithelial cells. To resolve this apparent discrepancy, 14 crystallin mRNAs were examined and the expression and subcellular distribution of selected crystallin proteins in lens epithelial cells determined.

Endothelial cell-astrocyte interactions and TGF beta are required for induction of blood-neural barrier properties.

We sought to establish a blood-neural barrier (BNB) model of astrocyte contact with endothelial cells (EC) to test the hypothesis that transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta) promotes an EC barrier-phenotype. Astrocyte-EC contact induced BNB properties in EC. Transendothelial resistance was augmented by direct contact between astrocytes-EC, but not by astrocyte-conditioned medium or astrocyte-EC coculture conditioned medium.

Cyclic peptide alkaloids from the bark of Discaria americana.

The isolation and structure determination of cyclic peptide alkaloids, discarine-M and discarine-N, along with seven known cyclic peptide alkaloids, adouetine-Y', franganine, frangulanine, discarines-A, -B, -C, and -D from the root bark of Discaria americana are described. Structures were determined spectroscopically, especially using 2D NMR spectroscopic analysis. The crude methanol extract, the basic ether extract, and the alkaloids 6 and 7 also weakly inhibited growth of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria.

Vascular endothelial growth factor expression and signaling in the lens.

Purpose: Previous studies have identified sequences encoding vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A and one of the VEGF receptors (VEGFR2, Flk-1, KDR) in lens fiber cells. The current study was undertaken to determine the distribution of VEGF-A protein in the lens, whether signaling through VEGF receptors occurs in lens cells, the pattern of VEGF-A expression during lens development, and the effect of hypoxia on VEGF-A expression.

Methods: VEGF-A and VEGFR2 were localized using immunocytochemistry.