ABSTRACT
So far, no conclusive evidence of a ground-state contact ion-pair containing a hydrocarbon carbocation has been given in the gas phase. Due to the very high stability of the 1,2:4,5-dibenzotropylium (or dibenzo[a,d]tropylium) carbocation, we suggest (supported by DFT and MP2 calculations) the formation of a contact ion pair between this carbocation and chloride, occurring during the reaction between 1,2:4,5-dibenzotropyl (also named dibenzo[a,d]tropyl or dibenzo[a,d]cycloheptenyl) radical and chlorine atom at very low temperatures, through the harpoon mechanism. This is the first modeling study to find computational evidence for the possibility of a gas-phase contact ion pair (containing a hydrocarbon carbocation) formed in the ground state. Identification of this metastable species can be carried out by trapping it in He nanodroplets, along with infrared laser spectroscopy routinely coupled with this technique.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Although Lactobacillus casei Shirota (LcS) can benefit the immune status, the effects of LcS in the immune/inflammatory responses of marathon runners has never been evaluated. Therefore, here we evaluated the effect of daily ingestion of fermented milk containing or not LcS in the systemic and upper airway immune/inflammatory responses before and after a marathon. METHODS: Forty-two male marathon runners ingested a fermented milk containing 40 billion of LcS/day (LcS group, n = 20) or placebo (unfermented milk, n = 22) during 30 days pre-marathon. Immune/inflammatory parameters in nasal mucosa and serum, as well as concentrations of secretory IgA (SIgA) and antimicrobial peptides in saliva, were evaluated before and after fermented milk ingestion, immediately, 72 h, and 14 d post-marathon. RESULTS: Higher proinflammatory cytokine levels in serum and nasal mucosa, and also lower salivary levels of SIgA and antimicrobial peptides, were found immediately post-marathon in the placebo group compared to other time points and to LcS group. In opposite, higher anti-inflammatory levels and reduced neutrophil infiltration on nasal mucosa were found in the LcS group compared to other time points and to the placebo group. CONCLUSION: For the first time, it is shown that LcS is able to modulate the systemic and airways immune responses post-marathon.
Subject(s)
Inflammation/prevention & control , Lacticaseibacillus casei/classification , Respiratory System/immunology , Running , Adult , Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides/chemistry , Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides/metabolism , Cultured Milk Products , Cytokines/genetics , Cytokines/metabolism , Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects , Humans , Immunoglobulin A/chemistry , Male , Middle Aged , Saliva/chemistryABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Severe disease attributable to Plasmodium vivax infection is already well described worldwide; however, autopsies in these patients are scarce. METHODS: From 1996 to 2010, 19 patient deaths with a clinical diagnosis of P. vivax infection occurred in a tertiary care center in the Brazilian Amazon. Seventeen of these 19 deaths were fully autopsied. Clinical charts, macroscopic autopsy reports, and stored paraffinized tissue blocks were retrieved. Nested polymerase chain reaction was performed in paraffinized samples of spleen and lung to confirm P. vivax monoinfection. Immunohistofluorescence was used to detect P. vivax parasitized red blood cells (RBCs). RESULTS: Of 17 autopsies, 13 revealed that death could be attributed to P. vivax infection; in the remaining 4, acute diseases other than malaria were found to be the cause of death. The primary complication in patients in which malaria contributed to death was acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and pulmonary edema associated with the accumulation of neutrophils in the interalveolar space (6 cases). Spleen rupture (3 cases) and multiorgan dysfunction syndrome (3 cases) were the second most common complications. One child evolving with coma was also characterized, but no parasite was detected in the brain tissue. In one patient who developed ARDS and presented negative peripheral parasitemia by the time of death, scattered parasitized red blood cells were seen inside pulmonary capillaries, suggesting some sequestration in the lung. CONCLUSIONS: In 13 of 17 deceased patients, P. vivax infection was the plausible cause of death. However, more studies are needed to understand pathogenesis related to severe disease.
Subject(s)
Malaria, Vivax/pathology , Plasmodium vivax/isolation & purification , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Autopsy , Child , Female , Histocytochemistry , Humans , Infant , Malaria, Vivax/diagnosis , Male , Middle Aged , Pulmonary Edema/parasitology , Respiratory Distress Syndrome/parasitology , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
OBJETIVO: Analisar a variabilidade interobservadores no diagnóstico de lesões precursoras do câncer anal no cenário mais comum de um serviço constituído por patologistas sem experiência prévia no diagnóstico destas lesões. MÉTODOS: Quinhentas e duas lâminas histopatológicas com espécimes anais retirados de 372 pacientes HIV-positivos e HIV-negativos foram analisadas no Departamento de Patologia da Fundação de Medicina Tropical do Amazonas por três patologistas com ampla experiência no diagnóstico de doenças tropicais e infecciosas, mas sem experiência prévia importante no diagnóstico de lesões precursoras do câncer anal. As leituras individuais de cada patologista foram comparadas com a que se seguiu a diagnóstico de consenso em microscópio de ótica compartilhada. Os diagnósticos individuais foram confrontados com os de consenso mediante análise da estatística kappa. RESULTADOS: A concordância absoluta entre cada diagnóstico individual e o de consenso correspondente foi ruim (kappa=-0,002). Considerando os resultados apenas positivos ou negativos para lesões intraepiteliais escamosas anais, obteve-se concordância regular entre os observadores (kappa=0,35), enquanto que a concordância foi moderada quando os resultados histopatológicos foram considerados positivos ou negativos para lesão intraepitelial de alto grau ou câncer (kappa=0,52). CONCLUSÃO: A variabilidade interobservadores no diagnóstico histopatológico do câncer anal e de suas lesões precursoras entre patologistas sem grande experiência na área, apesar de experts em outras, é tal que os diagnósticos neste campo e neste cenário comum devem sempre ser de consenso.
OBJECTIVE: To assess interobserver variability in the diagnosis of anal cancer precursor lesions in the usual scenario of a service consisting of pathologists without previous experience in the diagnosis of these lesions. METHODS: Five hundred and two anal specimens taken from 372 HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients were analyzed at the Pathology Department of the Tropical Medicine Foundation of Amazonas by three pathologists with extensive experience in the diagnosis of infectious and tropical diseases, but without significant prior experience in the diagnosis of anal cancer precursor lesions. The individual readings of each pathologist were compared to the one following the consensus diagnosis in shared optical microscope by kappa statistics. RESULTS: The absolute agreement between each individual diagnosis and corresponding consensus was poor (kappa = -0.002). Considering only the positive or negative results for anal squamous intraepithelial lesions, we obtained a fair agreement between observers (kappa = 0.35), while the agreement was moderate when the histopathological findings were considered positive or negative for high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion or cancer (kappa = 0.52). CONCLUSION: The interobserver variability in histopathologic diagnosis of anal cancer and its precursor lesions among pathologists with little experience in the area is such that the diagnoses in this field and this scenario should always be a consensus.
Subject(s)
Humans , Anus Neoplasms/epidemiology , Anus Neoplasms/pathology , Early Detection of Cancer/statistics & numerical data , Precancerous Conditions/epidemiology , Precancerous Conditions/pathology , Observer VariationABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To assess interobserver variability in the diagnosis of anal cancer precursor lesions in the usual scenario of a service consisting of pathologists without previous experience in the diagnosis of these lesions. METHODS: Five hundred and two anal specimens taken from 372 HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients were analyzed at the Pathology Department of the Tropical Medicine Foundation of Amazonas by three pathologists with extensive experience in the diagnosis of infectious and tropical diseases, but without significant prior experience in the diagnosis of anal cancer precursor lesions. The individual readings of each pathologist were compared to the one following the consensus diagnosis in shared optical microscope by kappa statistics. RESULTS: The absolute agreement between each individual diagnosis and corresponding consensus was poor (kappa = -0.002). Considering only the positive or negative results for anal squamous intraepithelial lesions, we obtained a fair agreement between observers (kappa = 0.35), while the agreement was moderate when the histopathological findings were considered positive or negative for high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion or cancer (kappa = 0.52). CONCLUSION: The interobserver variability in histopathologic diagnosis of anal cancer and its precursor lesions among pathologists with little experience in the area is such that the diagnoses in this field and this scenario should always be a consensus.
Subject(s)
Anus Neoplasms/epidemiology , Anus Neoplasms/pathology , Early Detection of Cancer/statistics & numerical data , Precancerous Conditions/epidemiology , Precancerous Conditions/pathology , Humans , Observer VariationABSTRACT
In the humid tropics, on the edges of the Amazon forest, the technological challenges to establishing and maintaining productive and sustainable agricultural systems have yet to be overcome. The groups involved in agriculture in the north of Brazil still engage in the practice of slash and burn in order to prepare and fertilize the soil. This produces negative effects for the local and global environment, without the counter-effect of providing social benefits to rural communities. Whether this process continues is of fundamental importance to many countries because it means that slash and burn agriculture is advancing on the Amazon rainforest, with a negative effect on every dimension of national policy. Beyond social political problems the biggest challenge for researchers in the field of tropical agriculture is to offer technological alternatives that can sustain agriculture in soils derived from sedimentary rocks that have been subjected to a high degree of weathering. In this article patented information is also discussed. Experiments undertaken in this region recommend taking advantage of the rapid growth of plants in the tropics. We aimed at proposing a suitable alternative system for a sustainable soil management in the particular conditions of humid tropics, named as "no-till in alley cropping using tree leguminous mulch." This system offers the advantages of: bringing together, in the same space and at the same time, the processes of cultivation and the regeneration of soil fertility.
Subject(s)
Agriculture/legislation & jurisprudence , Conservation of Natural Resources , Forestry/legislation & jurisprudence , Patents as Topic , Soil/standards , Brazil , Environment , Tropical ClimateABSTRACT
Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby in citrus and mango crops in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, is recorded. Samples of 2003 and 2004 from several counties were identified and deposited in the Insect Collection of the Laboratório de Entomologia of the Núcleo de Biotecnologia Agronômica, Universidade Estadual do Maranhão.
Subject(s)
Hemiptera , Animals , BrazilABSTRACT
Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby é registrada no Maranhão em citros e mangueira. As amostras foram coletadas em 2003 e 2004, em vários municípios, e foram depositadas na coleção de insetos do Laboratório de Entomologia do Núcleo de Biotecnologia Agronômica da Universidade Estadual do Maranhão.
Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby in citrus and mango crops in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, is recorded. Samples of 2003 and 2004 from several counties were identified and deposited in the Insect Collection of the Laboratório de Entomologia of the Núcleo de Biotecnologia Agronômica, Universidade Estadual do Maranhão.
Subject(s)
Animals , Hemiptera , BrazilABSTRACT
The histological findings of fulminant hepatic failure were correlated to the demographic, clinical, biochemical and virological features in children and adolescents, native to the Amazonas State in Northern Brazil. 96.2% had evidence of infection by primary hepatotrophic viruses. Histological analysis revealed three distinct patterns of fulminant hepatic failure.
Subject(s)
Liver Failure/pathology , Adolescent , Brazil , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Liver Failure/virology , Male , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
As características histológicas da insuficiência hepática fulminante foram correlacionadas com os achados demográficos, clínicos, bioquímicos e virológicos, em crianças e adolescentes nativos do Estado do Amazonas no Norte do Brasil. 96,2 por cento tinham evidência de infecçäo primária pelos vírus hepatotrópicos primários. A análise histológica revelou três padröes histopatológicos distintos de insuficiência hepática fulminante.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Child, Preschool , Child , Humans , Male , Female , Liver Failure , Brazil , Liver Failure , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
A peritonite bacteriana espontânea (PBE) é uma freqüente e grave complicaçäo da ascite de portadores de cirrose hepática. Este trabalho apresenta um estudo comparativo sobre a sensibilidade de três diferentes métodos de cultura para o isolamento de bactérias em pacientes com ascite neutrofílica. Foram estudados 32 pacientes portadores de ascite neurotrofílica detectada dentro de 24h de admissäo hospitalar. O líquido colhido através de paracentese foi levado ao laboratório em frasco estéril para semeadura ou inoculado à beira do leito em frascos de hemocultura convencional (Hemobacâ) e em Bactec Ped Plusâ. Dos 32 pacientes, 43,75 por cento apresentaram cultura positiva. A inoculaçäo à beira do leito quer em Bactec Ped Plus (37,5 por cento) quer em Hemobac (37,4 por cento) apresentou maior positividade que a cultura convencional (25 por cento), além de maior rapidez na identificaçäo do crescimento bacteriano. Elevado nível de concordância foi observado para a inoculaçäo em Bactec Ped Plus e em Hemobac.
