Actinic cheilitis: Proposal of a clinical index.

BACKGROUND: Actinic cheilitis is a potentially malignant lesion most commonly found in the lower lip of individuals with chronic exposure to ultraviolet radiation. The aim of this study was to develop and to test a clinical index that can be used to assess the severity of actinic cheilitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The clinical index of actinic cheilitis was applied to 36 patients. An incisional biopsy was obtained to grade oral epithelial dysplasias following the World Health Organization (WHO) and binary systems, and to evaluate their association with clinical characteristics by Fisher's exact test (P<0.05). The accuracy of the index was evaluated based on sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and receiver operating curve. RESULTS: The blurring between the border of the lip and the skin was significantly associated with cases without dysplasia/mild epithelial dysplasia (P=0.041) and with low risk of malignancy (P=0.005). Ulcers and crusts were significantly associated with moderate/severe epithelial dysplasia (P=0.002 and P=0.012, respectively) and high risk of malignancy (P=0.005 and P=0.045, respectively). Erosion showed a significant association only with high-risk cases of malignancy (P=0.024). The cut-off values of the diagnostic test showing the best performance were 10 for the WHO grading system and 11 for the binary system. CONCLUSIONS: The index cut-offs with the highest accuracy were considered indicators for a biopsy. Erosion, ulceration and crusts were associated with more severe oral epithelial dysplasias.

Clinicopathological study of oral focal mucinosis: a retrospective case series.

BACKGROUND: Oral focal mucinosis (OFM) is a rare soft tissue lesion of unknown etiology that exhibits tumor-like growth. It is considered the oral counterpart of cutaneous focal mucinosis or cutaneous myxoid cyst. This is a retrospective study of oral OFM diagnosed over a period of 42 years at an oral pathology service. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Clinical, histopathological and immunohistochemical data were analyzed. Alcian blue staining and S-100 immunohistochemistry were performed. RESULTS: Eleven cases were retrieved (4:1 female-to-male ratio). The mean age was 44 years. The gingiva was the most affected site. The main clinical presentation was sessile or pedunculated lesions of fibrous or hyperplasic appearance, most of them asymptomatic. Positive Alcian blue staining and absence of S-100 protein were observed in all specimens, which supported the histological diagnosis of OFM. Surgical excision was the treatment of choice. CONCLUSIONS: Although rare, this study supports the inclusion of OFM in the differential diagnosis of intraoral myxoid lesions.

Challenges for the WFD second management cycle after the implementation of a regional multi-municipality sanitation system in a coastal lagoon (Ria de Aveiro, Portugal).

In the scope of the first WDF management cycle, a multi-municipality sanitation system with secondary treatment was implemented in 2005 in Ria de Aveiro coastal lagoon, with the treated effluent discharging into the Atlantic Ocean through a submarine outfall. The lagoon water chemical status was evaluated regarding dissolved inorganic nutrients and chlorophyll a before and after 2005. The S. Jacinto outfall has effectively reduced the point source nutrient loads (ammonium and phosphate) into Ria de Aveiro, representing a step forward for the implementation of the WFD, through eutrophication abatement. However, the lagoon remains exposed to non-point nitrogen sources, as a consequence of the current land use and water management, which in a scenario of winter extreme precipitation events, nutrients increase through surface run-off. Besides, in a combined scenario of low freshwater input into the lagoon and favourable oceanic condition, nutrients enter through Ria outer boundary coming from the S. Jacinto outfall. Thus, changes in the system hydrodynamics in the context of global change might pose new challenges regarding the WFD second management cycle involving the second river basin management plan and the first flood risk management plan, foreseeing the 'Good' ecological status in all Ria's Water Bodies.

Effect of high hydrostatic pressure on cashew apple (Anacardium occidentale L.) juice preservation.

High hydrostatic pressure is an alternative to thermal processing to inactivate spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms. Cashew apple juice has a pleasant flavor and is rich in vitamin C. Studies to determine the effect of high pressure on microorganisms in cashew apple juice are still lacking. In this study, the inactivation of natural micropopulation and inoculated Escherichia coli by high pressure was evaluated in fresh cashew apple juice. The microbiological stability of pressure-treated juice was also evaluated. The applied high pressure levels ranged from 250 to 400 MPa for periods of 3 to 7 min. Treatments with 350 MPa for 7 min and 400 MPa for either 3 or 7 min reduced the aerobic mesophilic bacteria count to a level below the detection limit. Pressure treatments were also efficient in inactivating yeast and filamentous fungi. The inoculated E. coli (10(6) CFU/mL) was reduced to below 10 CFU/mL after a pressure treatment of 400 MPa for 3 min. The inactivation of this microorganism followed a 1st-order reaction kinetics. The decimal reduction time (D-value) ranged from 1.21 to 16.43 min, while pressure resistance value (z-value) was 123.46 MPa. Neither natural micropopulation growth nor E. coli repair was observed in postprocessed (400 MPa for 3 min) cashew apple juice kept under refrigerated storage (at 4 degrees C) during 8 wk. The results of this study demonstrated the efficacy of high-pressure treatment for preserving cashew apple juice.

[Benign metastasizing leiomyomas]. / Leiomiomas benignos metastizantes.

Benign metastasizing leiomyomas are rare tumours of the lung. The presenting symptoms are variable and the patients can be asymptomatic till a routine x-ray of the thorax is made (or at necropsies) and a history of uterine myomectomy is discarded. The mitotic rate is low and no cellular atypia is found but these tumours can be multiple, follow venous growth and be cause of breath inadequacy and death. Therapy has not yet been defined and can go from hysterectomy and ovariectomy to hormonal frenation with LH RH agonists. A case a benign metastasizing leiomyomas in a menopausal woman is described. A revision of literature is done.

Differential sensitivities of plant and animal mitochondria to the herbicide paraquat.

Paraquat herbicide is toxic to animals, including humans, via putative toxicity mechanisms associated to microsomal and mitochondrial redox systems. It is also believed to act in plants by generating highly reactive oxygen free radicals from electrons of photosystem I on exposure to light. Paraquat also acts on non-chlorophyllous plant tissues, where mitochondria are candidate targets, as in animal tissues. Therefore, we compared the interaction of paraquat with the mitochondrial bioenergetics of potato tuber, using rat liver mitochondria as a reference. Paraquat depressed succinate-dependent mitochondrial Delta(psi), with simultaneous stimulation of state 4 O2 consumption. It also induced a slow time-dependent effect for respiration of succinate, exogenous NADH, and N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine (TMPD)/ascorbate, which was more pronounced in rat than in potato mitochondria. However, with potato tuber mitochondria, the Delta(psi) promoted by complex-I-dependent respiration is insensitive to this effect, indicating a protection against paraquat radical afforded by complex I redox activity, which was just the reverse of to the findings for rat liver mitochondria. The experimental set up with the tetraphenyl phosphonium (TPP+)-electrode also indicated production of the paraquat radical in mitochondria, also suggesting its accessibility to the outside space. The different activities of protective antioxidant agents can contribute to explain the different sensitivities of both kinds of mitochondria. Values of SOD activity and alpha-tocopherol detected in potato mitochondria were significantly higher than in rat mitochondria, which, in turn, revealed higher values of lipid peroxidation induced by paraquat.

Efeito redutor do uso de corticosteróide do diclofenaco sódico em pacientes com artrite reumatóide / The corticosteroid-sparing effect of sodium diclofenac in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Em um ensaio duplo-cego, estudou-se o efeito redutor do uso de corticosteróide do diclofenaco sódico em 95 pacientes portadores de artrite reumatóide clássica ou definida, segundo critérios da ARA, tratados com doses variáveis de prednisolona, iguais ou superiores a 7,5mg/dia, associada ao diclofenaco sódico 50mg três vezes ao dia, ou a placebo, durante oito semanas. Observou-se melhora em ambos os grupos, segundo todos os parâmetros de eficácia terapêutica. Houve, no entanto, maior reduçäo da severidade da dor ao movimento, da duraçäo da rigidez matinal e da sensibilidade articular no grupo tratado com o diclofenaco (p<0,05). A tolerabilidade foi boa nos dois grupos de tratamento, sendo a maioria dos efeitos colaterais de natureza gastrointestinal. A dose diária de prednisolona pôde ser reduzida em 3mg no grupo tratado com o diclofenaco, permanecendo inalterada no grupo placebo. Essa diferença é estatisticamente significativa (p<0,01)

Isolation of Leptospira from wild forest animals in Amazonian Brazil.

The role of wild, forest animals as reservoirs of Leptospira was investigated in Pará State, north Brazil. 696 animals were examined by culture of kidney tissue; isolates of serovar ballum were made from the rodent Proechimys sp. and the opossum Didelphis marsupialis; leptospires of the serogroups hebdomadis, grippotyphosa and cynopteri were isolated from the armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus, and as yet untyped leptospires were isolated from Proechimys and the procyonid carnivore Nasua nasua. Antibodies to serovars bataviae, butembo, canicola, castellonis, celledoni, grippotyphosa, panama, icterohaemorrhagiae and wolffi were demonstrated among 222 other animals examined by serological methods.