Publications by authors named "P R Firmino"

Hydrochlorothiazide (HTZ) is a thiazide-type diuretic drug approved by the FDA in 1959 for treatment of hypertension and peripheral edema and has been used since. HTZ exhibits low solubility and low permeability, leading to variable oral bioavailability and limited intestinal drug permeability. For this reason, several attempts to improve HTZ physicochemical properties have been made during the past decades.

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Chikungunya fever (CHIKF) is an acute viral disease caused by the chikungunya virus (CHIKV) transmitted by mosquitoes. The acute phase presents with limited symptoms and low mortality, but approximately half of cases progress to more chronic illness with persistent and disabling joint symptoms. To better characterize the burden of chronic disease, we analyzed the relationship between pain intensity, the Disease Activity Index by DAS28-ESR, rheumatoid factor (RF) positivity, sex, and age in a retrospective cohort of 133 patients with chikungunya arthritis (CHIKA).

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This work investigated the operational and microbiological aspects of the decolorization of the azo dye Reactive Black 5 in acidogenic reactors followed by aerobic granular sludge (AGS) reactors, evaluating the effect of the acidogenic hydraulic retention time (HRT) (3, 2, and 1 h), effluent recirculation in the AGS reactor (50 mL min), dye concentration (50 and 100 mg L), and the redox mediator sodium anthraquinone-2-disulfonate (AQS) (50 μM). The acidogenic reactors were mainly responsible for the dye decolorization, with AQS significantly improving its efficiency and enabling the use of a shorter HRT (2 h). The recirculation effect was not so evident, probably masked by the adaptation of the acidogenic microbiota.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study focused on the external morphology of collared peccary embryos and fetuses to improve understanding of gestational development for assisted reproduction technologies.
  • A total of 22 animals were examined at various gestational ages (25-145 days post-copulation), allowing researchers to document key developmental stages and anatomical features.
  • Results indicated significant changes across three gestational phases, from early curvature and initial organ formation to full organ development and notable changes in skin and dental features, contributing to comparative anatomy knowledge for better reproductive management.
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The Cerrado biome is the world's largest and most diversified tropical savanna. Despite its diversity, there remains a paucity of scientific discussion and evidence about the medicinal use of Cerrado plants. One of the greatest challenges is the complexity of secondary metabolites, such as flavonoids, present in those plants and their extraction, purification, and characterization, which involves a wide range of approaches, tools, and techniques.

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