Cuantificación fisicoquímica en gorro turco [Melocactus zehntneri (Britton & Rose) Luetzelburg - Cactaceae] / Quantificação Fitoquímica da coroa-de-frade [Melocactus zehntneri (Britton & Rose) Luetzelburg - Cactaceae] / Quantification Physicochemical in Melon Cactus [Melocactus zehntneri (Britton & Rose) Luetzelburg - Cactaceae]

RESUMO No Nordeste do Brasil é bastante comum e variado o uso da coroa-de-frade (Melocactus spp.). Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi realizar diversas análises em cladódios de coroa-de-frade [Melocactus zehntneri (Britton & Rose) Luetzelburg], para que possamos compreender as razões estes usos. Os cladódios foram coletados na cidade de Campina Grande e levados ao Laboratório de Engenharia de Alimentos da Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, onde foram feitas as seguintes análises: peso, altura, diâmetro, cor, umidade, acidez, pH, ácido ascórbico, carotenoides, flavonoides e compostos fenólicos, tanto na epiderme quanto no parênquima aquífero. Os resultados mostraram que a epiderme tem uma acidez elevada e mais ácido ascórbico, e um pH mais baixo em comparação com o parênquima aquífero. O conteúdo de carotenoides, flavonoides e compostos fenólicos, foram diferentes nas partes estudadas. A epiderme apresentou sempre maiores quantidades de carotenoides, flavonoides e compostos fenólicos em relação ao parênquima aquífero, nas três plantas estudadas, indicando que a maior parte da defesa da planta acontece neste tecido. Mais estudos são necessários com técnicas mais precisas, para identificar os componentes bioativos desta espécie.

ABSTRACT In Northeast Brazil, the use of melon cactus (Melocactus spp.) is quite common and varied. Thus, the present study aimed to perform various analyzes in cladodes of melon cactus [Melocactus zehntneri (Britton & Rose) Luetzelburg], to understand the reasons for the use of this species. The cladodes were collected in the city of Campina Grande and taken to the Food Engineering Laboratory of the Federal University of Campina Grande, where we performed the following analyses: mass, height, diameter, color, moisture, acidity, pH, ascorbic acid, carotenoids, flavonoids and phenolic compounds, both in the epidermis and in the aquifer parenchyma. The results showed that the epidermis has a higher acidity, ascorbic acid content and lower pH compared to the aquifer parenchyma. The contents of carotenoids, flavonoids and phenolic compounds, were different from the both parts analyzed. The epidermis always had greater quantities of carotenoids, flavonoids and phenolic compounds than the aquifer parenchyma for the three plants, showing that most of the plant defense takes place in this tissue. Further studies, with more accurate techniques, are needed to identify the bioactive components of this species.

Predição de modelos sobre a cinética de secagem de folhas de Ziziphus joazeiro Mart / Prediction models in the kinetics of drying leaves of Ziziphus joazeiro Mart

RESUMO: Esta pesquisa objetivou estudar, experimentalmente, a cinética de secagem de folhas de juazeiro (Ziziphus joazeiro Mart.) sob camada delgada em estufa com circulação forçada de ar utilizando temperaturas de 40, 50 e 60 ºC e velocidade do ar de 0,5, 1,0 e 1,5 m.s-1 conforme planejamento fatorial (22 + 3) e posterior ajuste das equações matemáticas aos dados experimentais, verificando assim aquele que melhor representa o fenômeno de secagem. Foi determinado o teor de água inicial das folhas utilizando o método padrão da estufa, em triplicatas. Para cada tratamento de secagem foram utilizados em torno de 150 g de folhas. Para o ajuste utilizou-se análise de regressão não linear, pelo método Quasi-Newton, por meio do programa computacional Statistica 5.0®, em que os valores dos parâmetros das equações foram estimados em função da temperatura e da velocidade do ar de secagem. A equação que melhor representou o processo de secagem do juazeiro para a faixa de temperatura de 40 a 60 ºC foi a de Midilli. Os resultados mostraram que com o acréscimo da temperatura ocorre maior redução no tempo de secagem.

ABSTRACT: This research aimed to study experimentally the kinetics of drying leaves of Ziziphus joazeiro Mart. in thin layer in an oven with forced air using the temperatures of 40, 50 and 60 ºC and the air velocity of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 m s-1 according to the factorial design (22 + 3) and subsequent adjustment of the experimental data in different models, and we select the one that best represents the phenomenon of drying. We determined the initial water content of the leaves by the standard oven method, in triplicates. For each drying treatment, we used approximately 150g of leaves. For adjustment, we used the non-linear regression analysis, through the Quasi-Newton method, using the software Statistica 5.0 ®, in which the parameter values of the equations were determined for the temperature and velocity of the drying air. The equation that best represented the drying process of the Ziziphus joazeiro Mart. for the temperature range of 40-60 ºC was the Midilli equation. The results showed that there is a greater reduction in drying time with increasing temperature.

Sensory-specific anomic aphasia following left occipital lesions: data from free oral descriptions of concrete word meanings.

The present study investigated hierarchical lexical semantic structure in oral descriptions of concrete word meanings produced by a subject (ZZ) diagnosed with anomic aphasia due to left occipital lesions. The focus of the analysis was production of a) nouns at different levels of semantic specificity (e.g., "robin"-"bird"-"animal") and b) words describing sensory or motor experiences (e.g., "blue," "soft," "fly"). Results show that in contrast to healthy and aphasic controls, who produced words at all levels of specificity and mainly vision-related sensory information, ZZ produced almost exclusively nouns at the most non-specific levels and words associated with sound and movement.

Treatment of human chronic fascioliasis with triclabendazole: drug efficacy and serologic response.

Between November 1990 and March 1992, 24 asymptomatic individuals in Chile with chronic hepatic fascioliasis confirmed by the presence of Fasciola hepatica eggs in feces were treated with a single oral dose of triclabendazole (10 mg/kg of body weight) after an overnight fast. Nineteen (79.2%) of 24 patients were egg-negative two months after treatment. Three of five cases with F. hepatica in feces after the first treatment were retreated and parasitologic cure was achieved. Tolerance to the drug was excellent; none of the patients had either secondary symptoms or important alterations in levels of aspartate and amino transferases, alkaline phosphatase, or bilirubin during or after treatment. Mild eosinophilia, present in 70% of the cases, persisted at least until 60 days after treatment. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was highly effective in diagnosis and post-treatment monitoring. Before treatment, 20 (83.3%) of 24 confirmed cases had positive test results. The test results became negative by the second month of treatment in 40% of the cured cases. This percentage increased progressively, reaching 91.3% at 12 months after therapy. In the five cases in which treatment failed, the ELISA results remained positive until the end of the follow-up period (six months). In three of these cases who accepted a second round of therapy with triclabendazole six months after the first treatment, the ELISA results became negative in all three six months after parasitologic cure and remained negative until the end of the period. Due to its efficacy, excellent tolerance, and ease of administration (a single oral dose), triclabendazole appears to be the drug of choice for chronic human fascioliasis.

[Treatment of chronic human Chagas disease with itraconazole and allopurinol. Preliminary report]. / Tratamiento de la enfermedad de Chagas humana crónica con itraconazol y alopurinol. Informe preliminar.

The aim of this work was to assess the efficacy of itraconazole and allopurinol in chronic Chagas disease. Two hundred two subjects (137 infected, 59 with Chagas cardiopathy and 6 with non chagasic cardiopathy) were randomly assigned to be treated with itraconazole (87 subjects receiving 6 mg/kg/day for 120 days), allopurinol (68 subjects receiving 8.5 mg/kg/day for 60 days) or placebo (47 subjects during 60 days). Medications were well tolerated. Indirect hemagglutination test was modified in 5 subjects (3.2%) after treatment. Initially positive xenodiagnosis became negative in 34 of 36 subjects (94.4%) treated with itraconazole and 8 of 10 subjects (80%) treated with allopurinol. Initially normal EKG was not modified in 100% of patients receiving placebo, 84.9% receiving itraconazole and 86.7% receiving allopurinol. Initially abnormal EKG became normal in 10 of 31 subjects (32%) receiving itraconazole, 8 of 20 (40%) receiving allopurinol and none of 8 receiving placebo. It is concluded that xenodiagnosis and EKG improvements indicate that itraconazole and allopurinol have a role in the treatment of chronic Chagas disease. A 36 months follow up of these patients will help to confirm this conclusion.

[Efficacy of Chagas' disease vector control demonstrated through human infection]. / Eficacia del control del vector de la enfermedad de Chagas demonstrada a través de la infección humana.

The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of Chagas disease vector control in Chile, using human disease as an index. After a twelve years control program using insecticides, dwelling infection in the IV region fell from 49 to 4%. In Combarbalá (a community of the IV region) the infection rate, detected by indirect hemagglutination, immunofluorescence and ELISA tests, decreased from 21.8% in 1986 to 8.2% in 1992 in primary school students (p < 0.001) and from 7.5 to 5% in high school students. Besides the vector control program, no other important epidemiological changes occurred in this period, excepting some ecological changes.

[Prevalence of fascioliasis in humans, horses, pigs, and wild rabbits in 3 Chilean provinces]. / Prevalencia de fascioliasis en humanos, caballos, cerdos y conejos silvestres, en tres provincias de Chile.

This study sought to estimate for the first time the prevalence of fascioliasis among the rural population in the Chilean provinces of Curico, Talca, and Linares, while also determining the disease's prevalence among horses and wild rabbits in Curico and Talca and among pigs in Talca. From January 1986 to December 1990 a randomly selected sample of 5,861 persons in the three provinces was given intradermal, complement-fixation, double-diffusion, and immunoelectrophoresis tests to detect antibody to Fasciola hepatica. In addition, the ELISA test was used in Talca and Linares. Fecal specimens from horses and pigs were inspected for eggs, and the liver and bile ducts of rabbits were examined histopathologically. The overall prevalence of infection among the human subjects was 0.70%, with rates of 0.6% in Curico, 0.75% in Talca, and 0.71% in Linares. The prevalences of infection in horses, rabbits, and pigs were 13.5%, 6.1%, and 20.6%, respectively. It is estimated that some 2,000 people are infected in the study area. It is recommended that rabbits be taken into account in all control programs for this zoonosis.

[Fascioliasis in populations of rural areas with high prevalence of animal infection]. / Fascioliasis en población rural de áreas con alta prevalencia de infección animal.

Between January 1986 and December 1990 the prevalence of F. hepatica infection was studied in 5861 rural inhabitants of the provinces of Curico, Talca and Linares, VII Region, an hyperendemic zone of animal fascioliasis. Every one was screened by intradermal (IDR), complement fixation (CF), double diffusion (DD) counterelectrophoresis (CIEF), immunoelectrophoresis (IEP) and enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) tests. 366/1881 (9.3%) had positive IDR; 61 (1.04%) positive CF; 14 (0.24%) positive DD and 105/3838 (2.73%) positive ELISA and thus considered under suspicion to be infected. F. hepatica eggs were searched in stool in 241 of these persons. 37 cases were thus confirmed. Another 4 individuals with positive immunobiological tests and absence of the parasite eggs in stools were confirmed by duodenal intubation. 21 of the confirmed cases (51.2%) had less than 15 years of age. Women were more frequently infected than men (73.2% vs 26.8%). The 41 cases represent 0.7% of the surveyed population predicting 2000 cases among the total rural population of these provinces (300,000 persons). These results indicate that human fascioliasis is an important problem in the zone, perhaps much higher if family contacts of the index cases and symptomatic persons are included.