The combination of infrared and microwave radiation to quantify trace elements in organic samples by ICP OES.

Sample-decomposition methods using microwave radiation in closed systems have been commonly used in the analysis of inorganic constituents; however, these methods are limited to small amounts of organic samples. This work proposes the combined use of infrared radiation and microwave radiation (IR-MW) to increase the amount of organic samples digested. The determination of Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P and Zn in human-feed samples was accomplished by ICP OES. The results were in agreement with those obtained from conventional decomposition by microwave radiation (closed system). The results obtained using the proposed IR-MW system for standard reference material (whole milk powder, NIST 8435) were also compared. Agreements of 85-100% were obtained for Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Na, P and Zn in the standard reference material. The IR-MW system is simple to implement and cheap because it uses commercially available infrared lamps and allows the use of infrared radiation in the microwave-digestion vessel. Additionally, it is possible to reach better precision in the analysis of the human-feed samples using the IR-MW system. The proposed method also allows total digestion of large sample amounts or samples rich in organic compounds can also be performed in the IR-MW system using small volumes of nitric acid.

Fibrossarcoma e fibro-histiocitoma maligno do pulmao.Consideracoes acerca de quatro casos. / Malignant fibrosarcoma and histiocytoma of the lung: consideration upon 4 cases

Sao descritos aspectos anatomo-clinicos de quatro pacientes com sarcomas primitivos do pulmao (tres casos de fibrossarcoma e um fibro-histiocitoma maligno), dois dos quais foram submetidos a resseccoes cirurgicas em condicoes adequadas o indice mais fidedigno para avaliacao do prognostico nesta neoplasia foi a contagem de mitoses/ 10 campos de grande aumento (CGA), observando-se sobrevida pos-operatoria de quatro anos do paciente que exibia apenas 2 mitoses/10 CGA

Chagas' achalasia treated by a jejunal interposed segment.

Resection of the achalasic area and replacement by a segment of jejunal loop, associated with vagotomy and pyloroplasty, has been performed in 21 patients. The majority of these patients had Chagas' disease, with a dilated esophagus wider than 7 cm. This surgical procedure offered symptomatic relief in 20 of our 21 cases. One patient died, but the death was not necessarily related to the operation. Although disphagia and regurgitation did not disappear entirely in all cases the decrease in severity of these symptoms was such to allow the few symptomatic patients to lead an entirely normal life after the operation.