Direct PCR on Tissue Samples To Detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex: an Alternative to the Bacteriological Culture.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an ongoing issue in several countries within the European Union. Microbiological culture is the official confirmation technique for the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) members in bovine tissues, but several methodological issues, such as moderate sensitivity and long incubation times, require the development of more sensitive and rapid techniques. This study evaluates the analytical and diagnostic performance, comparative to culture, of a real-time PCR targeting the MTBC-specific IS6110 transposon using a panel of bovine tissue samples sourced from the Spanish bTB eradication campaign. Robustness and repeatability were evaluated in an interlaboratory trial between European Union National Reference Laboratories. The limit of detection with 95% confidence was established at 65 fg/reaction of purified genomic equivalents. Diagnostic sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) were, respectively, 96.45% and 93.66%, and the overall agreement (κ) was 0.88. Cross-reactivity was detected against two mycobacterial isolates identified as Mycobacterium marinum and "Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis," and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analysis of the latter isolate revealed an IS6110-like sequence with 83% identity. An identical IS-like element was found in other Mycobacterium avium complex species in the NCBI nucleotide and WGS databases. Despite this finding, this methodology is considered a valuable alternative to culture, and the strategy of use should be defined depending on the control or eradication programs.

Bothrops alternatus snake venom induces apoptosis of skeletal muscle cells in a rabbit model / O veneno da serpente Bothrops alternatus induz apoptose nas células musculares de coelhos

Este estudo objetiva reportar a ocorrência de apoptose in vivo induzida pelo veneno da serpente Bothrops alternatus em células musculares esqueléticas. Cinco coelhos machos, adultos, receberam 150µg/kg de veneno no músculo vasto lateral, enquanto outros cinco animais receberam 0,1% de BSA diluído em PBS no mesmo local. Após 12 horas, os animais foram eutanasiados, e amostras do local de inoculação foram coletadas para análise histopatológica. Foram evidenciadas necrose e hemorragia nas células musculares. Além disso, a análise imuno-histoquímica para identificação de caspase-3 ativada revelou marcações granulares e agregadas no citoplasma das células musculares, compatíveis com o processo de apoptose. Este é o primeiro relato que confirma o veneno de B. alternatus como causador de apoptose in vivo em células musculares esqueléticas.(AU)

Effects of low-intensity electrical stimulation and adipose derived stem cells transplantation on the time-domain analysis-based electromyographic signals in dogs with SCI.

INTRODUCTION: The application of low-intensity electrical stimulation (LIES) to neural tissue increases neurochemical factors responsible for regeneration as nerve growth factor. Stem cell (SC) therapy for patients with Spinal cord injury (SCI) promote some increase functional improvement. OBJECTIVE: Investigate the electromyographic response in paraplegic dogs undergoing LIES and SC transplantation. METHODS: 27 dogs paraplegics with SCI were divided into three groups with different types of therapy. GADSC: two SC transplants (n = 9); GLIES: LIES (n = 8); GCOMB: two SC transplants and LIES (n = 10). Adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) were transplanted by lumbar puncture in the amount of 1.2 × 106 cells/50 µL. Acupuncture needles positioned in the interspinous space were used for stimulation. The electrical stimulation was applied with a mean voltage ∼30 mV and four consecutive modulated frequencies (5 Hz, 10 Hz, 15 Hz and 20 Hz) within 5 min each. The patients motor performance was evaluated before (Pre) the procedure and after 30 (Post30) and 60 (Post60) days, from electromyography root mean square (EMGRMS) registered with subcutaneous electrodes in the vastus lateralis muscle, while the animals were in quadrupedal position. RESULTS: All three groups showed a significant intra-group increase of EMGRMS (Pre vs. Post30 or Pre vs. Post60). However, there were no statistically significant differences between Post30 and Post60. The inter-group test (GADSC X GLIES X GCOMB) did not present significance when compared the instants Pre (p = 0.34), Post30 (p = 0.78) and Post60 (p = 0.64). CONCLUSION: Some dogs recovered motor activity, expressed by the EMGRMS, in all groups, in pre vs. post (30 or 60 days) comparisons.

Use of EDTA in the treatment of local tissue damage caused by the Bothrops alternatus venom / Utilização do EDTA no tratamento da lesão tecidual local causado pelo veneno de Bothrops alternatus

Twelve adult rabbits were distributed in three groups and received on the femoral biceps region, via intradermal injection (ID), 25µg of Bothrops alternatus venom dissolved in NaCl 0.9% and diluted in 0.25mL of phosphate buffered saline (PBS). Thirty minutes later, the group G1 received 0.25mL of phosphate buffered saline (PBS) ID while to G2 and G3 25mg of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) dissolved in 0.25mL of PBS were administered via intramuscular (IM) and intravenous (IV) injection, respectively. Evaluations included local lesion and blood profile of all animals, before (time zero) and at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 18 and 24h after venom administration. All animal treated with PBS (G1) and EDTA IV (G3) presented increase of nociceptive stimuli at the site of inoculation of the venom, followed by moderate edema that persisted for 24h. Animals treated with IM EDTA (G2) only manifested increase of nociceptive stimuli at the site of injection 1h after treatment with discrete local edema between 12 and 24h. In relation to the local hemorrhagic halo no differences were found amongst the studied groups. Blood profile revealed significant decrease of segmented neutrophils in all groups. There was also increase in triglycerides and decrease in total protein and albumin in all groups. The local lesion was not altered by the treatments.(AU)

Doze coelhos adultos, distribuídos em três grupos, receberam, na região de bíceps femoral, por via intradérmica (ID), 25µg de veneno de Bothrops alternatus, dissolvidos em NaCl 09%, diluído em 0,25mL de tampão salina fosfato (PBS). Trinta minutos após o desafio, o grupo G1 recebeu 0,25mL de (PBS) ID, e os grupos G2 e G3 receberam 25mg de ácido etilenodiamino tetra-acético (EDTA), dissolvidos em mL de PBS por via intramuscular (IM) e intravenosa (IV), respectivamente. Foram avaliados lesão local e perfil sanguíneo de todos os animais, antes - tempo zero, e à uma, às duas, três, quatro, cinco, seis, 12, 18 e 24 horas após a injeção do veneno. Tanto os animais tratados com PBS (G1) como os animais tratados com EDTA IV (G3) apresentaram aumento do estímulo nociceptivo no local da administração do veneno, seguido por moderado edema, que perdurou por 24h. Os animais tratados com EDTA IM (G2) somente manifestaram aumento do estímulo nociceptivo local uma hora após tratamento e discreto edema local entre 12 e 24 horas. Em relação ao halo hemorrágico, não houve diferença entre os três grupos estudados. No perfil hematológico, observou-se diminuição significativa dos neutrófilos segmentados nos três grupos estudados. Da mesma forma, houve aumento dos triglicerídeos e diminuição da proteína total e albumina em todos os grupos. Conclui-se que a lesão local não foi alterada pelos tratamentos.(AU)

The effect of sequential information on consumers' willingness to pay for credence food attributes.

The use of experimental methods to determine consumers' willingness to pay for "quality" food has been gaining importance in scientific research. In most of the empirical literature on this issue the experimental design starts with blind tasting, after which information is introduced. It is assumed that this approach allows consumers to elicit the real value that they attach to each of the features added through specific information. In this paper, the starting hypothesis is that this technique overestimates the weight of the features introduced by information in consumers' willingness to pay when compared to a real market situation, in which consumers are confronted with all the information at once. The data obtained through contingent valuation in an in-store setting was used to estimate a hedonic model aiming at assessing consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for the feature "geographical origin of the variety" of pears and apples in different information scenarios: i) blind tasting followed by extrinsic information and ii) full information provided at once. The results show that, in fact, features are more valued when gradually added to background information than when consumers receive all the information from the beginning.

Challenges in the rabbit haemorrhagic disease 2 (RHDV2) molecular diagnosis of vaccinated rabbits.

Molecular methods are fundamental tools for the diagnosis of viral infections. While interpretation of results is straightforward for unvaccinated animals, where positivity represents ongoing or past infections, the presence of vaccine virus in the tissues of recently vaccinated animals may mislead diagnosis. In this study, we investigated the interference of RHDV2 vaccination in the results of a RT-qPCR for RHDV2 detection, and possible associations between mean Cq values of five animal groups differing in age, vaccination status and origin (domestic/wild). Viral sequences from vaccinated rabbits that died of RHDV2 infection (n=14) were compared with the sequences from the commercial vaccines used in those animals. Group Cq means were compared through Independent t-test and One-way ANOVA. We proved that RHDV2 vaccine-RNA is not detected by the RT-qPCR as early as 15days post-vaccination, an important fact in assisting results interpretation for diagnosis. Cq values of vaccinated and non-vaccinated infected domestic adults showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.05), demonstrating that vaccination-induced immunity reduces viral loads and delays disease progression. Contrarily, in vaccinated young rabbits higher viral loads were registered compared to non-vaccinated kittens. No significant variation (p=0.3824) was observed between viral loads of non-vaccinated domestic and wild RHDV2-victimised rabbits. Although the reduced number of vaccinated young animals analysed hampered a robust statistical analysis, this occurrence suggests that passively acquired maternal antibodies may inhibit the active immune response to vaccination, delaying protection and favouring disease progression. Our finding emphasises the importance of adapting kitten RHDV2 vaccination schedules to circumvent this interference phenomenon.

Neuro-genetic system for optimization of GMI samples sensitivity.

Magnetic sensors are largely used in several engineering areas. Among them, magnetic sensors based on the Giant Magnetoimpedance (GMI) effect are a new family of magnetic sensing devices that have a huge potential for applications involving measurements of ultra-weak magnetic fields. The sensitivity of magnetometers is directly associated with the sensitivity of their sensing elements. The GMI effect is characterized by a large variation of the impedance (magnitude and phase) of a ferromagnetic sample, when subjected to a magnetic field. Recent studies have shown that phase-based GMI magnetometers have the potential to increase the sensitivity by about 100 times. The sensitivity of GMI samples depends on several parameters, such as sample length, external magnetic field, DC level and frequency of the excitation current. However, this dependency is yet to be sufficiently well-modeled in quantitative terms. So, the search for the set of parameters that optimizes the samples sensitivity is usually empirical and very time consuming. This paper deals with this problem by proposing a new neuro-genetic system aimed at maximizing the impedance phase sensitivity of GMI samples. A Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) Neural Network is used to model the impedance phase and a Genetic Algorithm uses the information provided by the neural network to determine which set of parameters maximizes the impedance phase sensitivity. The results obtained with a data set composed of four different GMI sample lengths demonstrate that the neuro-genetic system is able to correctly and automatically determine the set of conditioning parameters responsible for maximizing their phase sensitivities.

Cow-specific risk factors for clinical mastitis in Brazilian dairy cattle.

Information related to mastitis risk factors is useful for the design and implementation of clinical mastitis (CM) control programs. The first objective of our study was to model the risk of CM under Brazilian conditions, using cow-specific risk factors. Our second objective was to explore which risk factors were associated with the occurrence of the most common pathogens involved in Brazilian CM infections. The analyses were based on 65 months of data from 9,789 dairy cows and 12,464 CM cases. Cow-specific risk factors that could easily be measured in standard Brazilian dairy farms were used in the statistical analyses, which included logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression. The first month of lactation, high somatic cell count, rainy season and history of clinical mastitis cases were factors associated with CM for both primiparous and multiparous cows. In addition, parity and breed were also associated risk factors for multiparous cows. Of all CM cases, 54% showed positive bacteriological culturing results from which 57% were classified as environmental pathogens, with a large percentage of coliforms (35%). Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (16%), Streptococcus uberis (9%), Streptococcus agalactiae (7%) and other Streptococci (9%) were also common pathogens. Among the pathogens analyzed, the association of cow-specific risk factors, such as Zebu breed (OR=5.84, 95%CI 3.77-10.77) and accumulated history of SCC (1.76, 95%CI 1.37-2.27), was different for CM caused by Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus and S. agalactiae in comparison to CM caused by coliforms. Our results suggest that CM control programs in Brazil should specially consider the recent history of clinical mastitis cases and the beginning of the lactations, mainly during the rainy season as important risk factor for mastitis.

Efeitos da ingestão de cafeína durante a gestação e a lactação sobre a pele de ratas e de filhotes e sua relação com as concentrações séricas do cortisol materno / Effects of caffeine intake during pregnancy and lactation on the skin of rats and offspring and their relationship to maternal serum concentrations of cortisol

O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar os efeitos da ingestão materna de diferentes doses de cafeína durante a gestação e a lactação, na pele de ratas-mães e filhotes, bem como sua relação com as concentrações séricas do cortisol materno. Vinte e quatro ratas Wistar adultas foram distribuídas em quatro grupos, representados pelo controle e tratados, com cafeína nas doses de 25, 50 e 100mg/kg. Os grupos tratados receberam cafeína por sonda orogástrica durante toda a gestação e a lactação. O controle recebeu água destilada como placebo. Foram avaliados e quantificados os diferentes tipos de folículos pilosos e a espessura da epiderme. A técnica de imuno-histoquímica, com o uso do anticorpo anti-CDC47, foi utilizada para avaliar a proliferação celular da epiderme e dos folículos pilosos das mães. Na mãe, também foram mensurados os níveis séricos de cortisol pela técnica da quimioluminescência. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância com comparação das médias pelos testes Kruskal-Wallis e SNK. Nos grupos tratados com cafeína nas doses de 25 e 50mg/kg, tanto as mães quanto seus filhotes apresentaram hipotricose e/ou alopecia focal. Apesar de a frequência de alterações macroscópicas das mães ter sido superior a dos filhotes, nestes as lesões, quando presentes, foram difusas. A análise histológica demonstrou calcinose de folículos pilosos nas mães e nos filhotes. Mas a morfometria somente revelou diferença significativa no número de folículos pilosos das mães, bem como redução significativa da proliferação celular dos folículos pilosos do grupo tratado com 50mg/kg de cafeína. Os níveis de cortisol materno somente foram significativamente elevados no grupo tratado com 100mg/kg de cafeína. Conclui-se que a cafeína ingerida pelas ratas gestantes e lactantes pode causar lesões cutâneas tanto nas mães quanto nos filhotes, caracterizadas por hipotricose e/ou alopecia, independentemente dos níveis séricos do cortisol materno.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy and lactation on the skin of rats and their offspring, as well as their relationship to maternal serum levels of cortisol. 24 adult Wistar rats were equally divided into four groups represented by the control and treated with caffeine at doses of 25, 50 and 100mg/kg. The groups received caffeine by orogastric tube during the entire pregnancy and lactation. The control received distilled water as placebo. Different types of hair follicles and the thickness of the epidermis were assessed and quantified. Immunohystochemistry technique using antibody anti-CDC47 was used to evaluate cellular proliferation of the epidermis and hair follicles of the mothers. Also in the mothers, serum levels of cortisol were measured by the chemiluminescence technique. Data were submitted to analysis of variance comparing mediums by Kruskall Wallis Test and SNK. In groups treated with caffeine 25 and 50mg/kg, both mothers and their puppies had focal alopecia and/or hypotrichosis. Despite the higher frequency of macroscopic changes on the mothers, these lesions were diffuse when present on the puppies. Histological analysis showed calcinosis of hair follicles in the mothers and their puppies. But morphometry revealed significant difference in the number of hair follicles from mothers, as well as a significant reduction of cell proliferation of hair follicles in the group treated with 50mg/kg of caffeine. Maternal cortisol levels were significantly elevated in the group treated with 100mg/kg of caffeine. It is concluded that caffeine intake by pregnant and lactating rats can cause skin lesions in both the mothers and their offspring, characterized by alopecia and/or hypotrichosis, regardless of serum levels of maternal cortisol.

Coexistence of tuberculosis and mammary carcinoma in a goat.

Synchronic occurrence of tuberculosis mastitis and mammary cancer is rare in humans and, to the best of our knowledge, not reported in domestic animals. Here, we present a case of a female adult goat of Serrana breed with simultaneous occurrence of a granulomatous mastitis, due to Mycobacterium caprae, and a mammary carcinoma. Both pathological conditions are rare in goats and should be included in differential diagnosis of mammary lesions.

Feasibility, safety and outcomes of playing Kinect Adventures!™ for people with Parkinson's disease: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the feasibility, safety and outcomes of playing Microsoft Kinect Adventures™ for people with Parkinson's disease in order to guide the design of a randomised clinical trial. DESIGN: Single-group, blinded trial. SETTING: Rehabilitation Center of São Camilo University, Brazil. PARTICIPANTS: Seven patients (six males, one female) with Parkinson's disease (Hoehn and Yahr Stages 2 and 3). INTERVENTIONS: Fourteen 60-minute sessions, three times per week, playing four games of Kinect Adventures! MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The feasibility and safety outcomes were patients' game performance and adverse events, respectively. The clinical outcomes were the 6-minute walk test, Balance Evaluation System Test, Dynamic Gait Index and Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39). RESULTS: Patients' scores for the four games showed improvement. The mean [standard deviation (SD)] scores in the first and last sessions of the Space Pop game were 151 (36) and 198 (29), respectively [mean (SD) difference 47 (7), 95% confidence interval 15 to 79]. There were no adverse events. Improvements were also seen in the 6-minute walk test, Balance Evaluation System Test, Dynamic Gait Index and PDQ-39 following training. CONCLUSION: Kinect-based training was safe and feasible for people with Parkinson's disease (Hoehn and Yahr Stages 2 and 3). Patients improved their scores for all four games. No serious adverse events occurred during training with Kinect Adventures!, which promoted improvement in activities (balance and gait), body functions (cardiopulmonary aptitude) and participation (quality of life).

Randomized controlled trial comparing photodynamic therapy based on methylene blue dye and fluconazole for toenail onychomycosis.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a medical modality that uses a combination of visible light and a photosensitive compound in the presence of oxygen. It is widely used to treat non-melanoma skin cancer; other indications are being investigated, especially onychomycosis. Eighty patients with toenail onychomycosis were enrolled and completed this randomized, parallel, placebo-controlled study. For 24 weeks, 40 patients (Group A) were treated with one placebo capsule per week and sessions of 2% methylene blue aqueous solution irradiated with light emission diode device (MBLED/PDT) with 18 J/cm(2) ; and another 40 patients (Group B) were treated with 300 mg oral fluconazole per week and sessions of placebo PDT (haematoxylin-diluted 1 : 10). The use of MBLED/PDT consisted of sessions with an interval of 15 days between each session for 6 months. Microbiological and clinical cure was assessed at 1 and 12 months posttreatment. Group A (MBLED/PDT) patients showed a significant response (p < 0.002) compared with Group B (fluconazole), especially in patients who required nail abrasion (p < 0.001). The MBLED/PDT is safe, effective, and well tolerated; it promotes a favorable outcome with good patient adherence and may be considered as a practical and feasible treatment option for toenail onychomycosis.

An overview of chemical straightening of human hair: technical aspects, potential risks to hair fibre and health and legal issues.

Personal image, as it relates to external beauty, has attracted much attention from the cosmetic industry, and capillary aesthetics is a leader in consumption in this area. There is a great diversity of products targeting both the treatment and beautification of hair. Among them, hair straighteners stand out with a high demand by costumers aiming at beauty, social acceptance and ease of daily hair maintenance. However, this kind of treatment affects the chemical structure of keratin and of the hair fibre, bringing up some safety concerns. Moreover, the development of hair is a dynamic and cyclic process, where the duration of growth cycles depends not only on where hair grows, but also on issues such as the individual's age, dietary habits and hormonal factors. Thus, although hair fibres are composed of dead epidermal cells, when they emerge from the scalp, there is a huge variation in natural wave and the response to hair cosmetics. Although it is possible to give the hair a cosmetically favourable appearance through the use of cosmetic products, for good results in any hair treatment, it is essential to understand the mechanisms of the process. Important information, such as the composition and structure of the hair fibres, and the composition of products and techniques available for hair straightening, must be taken into account so that the straightening process can be designed appropriately, avoiding undesirable side effects for hair fibre and for health. This review aims to address the morphology, chemical composition and molecular structure of hair fibres, as well as the products and techniques used for chemical hair relaxing, their potential risk to hair fibre and to health and the legal aspects of their use.

Assessment of surface hardness of acrylic resins submitted to accelerated artificial aging.

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the influence of accelerated artificial aging (AAA) on the surface hardness of acrylic resins. METHODS: The following three commercial brands of acrylic resins were tested: Vipi Flash (autopolymerized resin), Vipi Wave (microwave heat-polymerized resin) and Vipi Cril (conventional heat-polymerized resin). To perform the tests, 21 test specimens (65x10x3 mm) were made, 7 for each resin. Three surface hardness readings were performed for each test specimen, before and after AAA, and the means were submitted to the following tests: Kolmogorov-Smirnov (P>0.05), Levene Statistic, Two-way ANOVA, Tukey Post Hoc (P<0.05) with the SPSS Statistical Software 17.0. RESULTS: The analysis of the factors showed significant differences in the hardness values (P<0.05). Before aging, the autopolymerized acrylic resin Vipi Flash showed lower hardness values when compared with the heat-polymerized resin Vipi Cril (P=0.001). After aging, the 3 materials showed similar performance when compared among them. The Vipi Cril was the only one affected by AAA and showed lower hardness values after this procedure (Pp=0.003). CONCLUSION: It may be concluded that accelerated artificial aging influenced surface hardness of heat-polymerized acrylic resin Vipi Cril.

Association between the presence of a partially erupted mandibular third molar and the existence of caries in the distal of the second molars.

The objective of this study was to verify, using periapical radiographs, whether a partially erupted mandibular third molar is a factor in the presence of dental caries on the distal surface of the adjacent second molar. Two-forty six high quality periapical radiographs were selected, each showing a partially erupted mandibular third molar. The variables analyzed were: tooth number; gender; age; radiographic presence of caries on the distal surface of the adjacent molar; Pell and Gregory classification; Winter classification; angulation and distance between the second and mandibular third molar. The examiners were previously calibrated to collect data (kappa statistics from 0.87 to 1.0). The prevalence rate of caries on the distal surface of the second molar was 13.4%. In the logistical multivariate regression analysis, the angulation (OR=8.5; IC95%: 1.7-43.8; p=0.011) and the gender (OR=3.3; IC95%: 1.4-7.7; p=0.005) remained statistically significant after an age adjustment was made. The results indicate that the presence of a partially erupted mandibular third molar with an angulation of 31 degrees or more, is a risk factor for caries on the distal surface of the mandibular second molars.

Restriction modification (RM) tests associated to additional molecular markers for screening prevalent MRSA clones in Brazil.

In this study, we associated the restriction modification (RM) tests to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection of molecular markers (SCCmec III, seh, agr II-SCCmec IV, and lukSF) for revealing the main methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clones circulating in Brazil. This simple and rapid approach allowed a precise classification of the MRSA analyzed when compared with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) data.

Esthetic smile rehabilitation through autogenous bonding of dental fragment: a case report.

Autogenous tooth fragment bonding offers advantages over restorations with composite resins and porcelain, including better esthetics, greater durability, reestablishment of the natural function of the dental element and short execution time. A case is presented of a 14-year-old male patient who suffered an oblique crown fracture of the permanent right maxillary central incisor (11) due to a traumatic fall. The clinical examination revealed pulp exposure with no invasion of the biological space. Due to the extension of the fracture, endodontic treatment and the placement of an intra-root esthetic pin was needed. The tooth was restored using the autogenous fragment bonding method. Excellent esthetic and functional results were observed after two years of follow up.

Manchester triage in acute pulmonary embolism: can it unmask the grand impersonator?

BACKGROUND: Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is associated with high mortality risk. Early diagnosis is difficult because of non-specific clinical presentation and delay in imaging confirmation. Manchester Triage (MT) prioritises patients on the basis of illness severity and potentially recognises those with higher mortality risk. No studies of the role and impact of MT on rapid PE diagnosis and in-hospital mortality (IHM) have been carried out. OBJECTIVE: To assess the appropriateness of MT in this set of patients presenting acutely to the emergency department (ED), and to determine whether it assists in a rapid diagnosis, acts as a protective triage tool and affects short-term mortality. METHODS: Single-centre retrospective study of 176 consecutive patients with PE, assessed by MT in the ED between January 2006 and October 2010 (mean age 70.5±15.7 years, 38.6% men). The primary outcome measure was all-cause IHM. RESULTS: IHM was seen in 30 (17%) patients. More than half of the patients with PE (54%) were classified as target time for first medical observation (MOb) ≤10 min. 73.3% of IHM occurred in this group (p=0.020) with several increased markers of illness severity. MOb ≤10 min was not associated with faster PE imaging confirmation. The average door-to-diagnosis time (PEDx) was 26.8±36.8 h and PEDx >17.0 h was associated with higher IHM (p=0.017). On multivariate analysis, thrombolysis and MOb ≤10 min were included in an IHM predictor model. CONCLUSION: MT has high sensitivity in identifying patients with PE at risk. Those patients assigned as MOb ≤10 min have increased markers of illness severity and higher IHM. MT acts as a protective system in this challenging set and should be used as a patient's first assessment, aiding the emergency medical team to recognise those in need of urgent assessment and treatment.

Esthetic-functional recovery of permanent posterior tooth using autogenous biological restoration.

Occlusal morphology and difficult access for cleaning permanent molars result in the buildup of bacterial plaque and the development of caries. One method known as biological restoration was carried out. This technique known as biological restoration, has as main restorative material a fragment obtained from a duly donated extracted human tooth. This case report describes the restoration of an extensively decayed molar through the bonding of a fragment obtained from a third molar extracted from the patient himself. Biological restoration is a low-cost option that offers satisfactory aesthetic, morphological and functional results.The morphological/functional reestablishment of posterior teeth can be obtained through biological restoration, which allows the recovery of properties inherent to the dental structure, offers satisfactory aesthetic results and low cost.

Composto homeopático reduz a liberação de ânion superóxido pelas células mononucleares de ema (Rhea americana) / Homeopathic compound reduces the release of superoxide anion by mononuclear cells of rhea (Rhea americana)

The action of the "Stress Factor Ostrich (Arenales - Fauna and Flora)" was tested in the release of superoxide anion by cells in the peripheral blood of rhea (Rhea americana). Sixteen samples of 0.5mL of venous blood were collected through the jugular vein in the morning and placed in heparinized tubes. The leukocytes were separated into polymorphonuclear (PMN) and mononuclear (MN). The production of superoxide anion by phagocytes of peripheral blood was determined using the chromogen ferricytochrome C. There was a reduction of superoxide by MN cells in the presence of "Stress Factor Ostrich" indicating a positive influence of product against oxidative stress. Furthermore, future researches, such as the evaluation of other reactive oxygen intermediates and antioxidant enzymes, researches.