[Evaluation of antiparasitic activity of allopurinol, against Trypanosoma cruzi, in experimental system using infected triatomines]. / Avaliação da atividade antiparasitária do alopurinol, referente ao Trypanosoma cruzi, em sistema experimental que utiliza triatomíneos infectados.

The antiparasitic activity of allopurinol, against Trypanosoma cruzi, was evaluated by a procedure using infected triatomines. This methodology indicated that the drug was unable to eliminate the protozoa in the digestive tract of the insects. Therefore, further knowledge to improve our understanding of allopurinol in the context of the etiologic treatment of infection by T. cruzi was not acquired. Despite this finding the drug continues to be used, even though its performance appears to be full of divergences and contradictions.

[Evaluation of orientation and serological support centers in the Brazilian Northeast]. / Avaliação dos Centros de Orientação e Apoio Sorológico/CTA/Coas da Região Nordeste do Brasil.

This article presents the results of an evaluation of Orientation and Serological Support Centers, or Anonymous HIV Testing Centers, in the Northeast of Brazil. Methodological triangulation was used to evaluate these health programs and services, including qualitative and quantitative methodology and pointing to the insufficiency of single-discipline reasoning to encompass phenomena in social organizations. The article also shows results from this triangulation experience, seeking to combine Social Sciences and Epidemiology. It describes the structure and dynamics of these services, analyzes the relationships, perceptions, and representations of the actors, presents a self-evaluation by the professionals, expounds on some quantitative results, and discusses some limits and problems, as well as proposals to overcome them.

Ionic strength dependence of localized contact formation between membranes: nonlinear theory and experiment.

Erythrocyte membrane surface or suspending phase properties can be experimentally modified to give either spatially periodic local contacts or continuous contact along the seams of interacting membranes. Here, for cells suspended in a solution of the uncharged polysaccharide dextran, the average lateral separation between localized contacts in spatially periodic seams at eight ionic strengths, decreasing from 0.15 to 0.065, increased from 0.65 to 3.4 micrometers. The interacting membranes and intermembrane aqueous layer were modeled as a fluid film, submitted to a disjoining pressure, responding to a displacement perturbation either through wave growth resulting in spatially periodic contacts or in perturbation decay, to give a plane continuous film. Measured changes of lateral contact separations with ionic strength change were quantitatively consistent with analytical predictions of linear theory for an instability mechanism dependent on the membrane bending modulus. Introduction of a nonlinear approach established the consequences of the changing interaction potential experienced by different parts of the membrane as the disturbance grew. Numerical solutions of the full nonlinear governing equations correctly identified the ionic strength at which the bifurcation from continuous seam to a stationary periodic contact pattern occurred and showed a decrease in lateral contact and wave crest separation with increasing ionic strength. The nonlinear approach has the potential to recognize the role of nonspecific interactions in initiating the localized approach of membranes, and then incorporate the contribution of specific molecular interactions, of too short a range to influence the beginning of perturbation growth. This new approach can be applied to other biological processes such as neural cell adhesion, phagocytosis, and the acrosome reaction.

[Evaluation of the eventual activity of cyclosporin A in preventing the transmission, by blood transfusion, of Trypanosoma cruzi infection]. / Avaliação da eventual atividade da ciclosporina A no sentido de prevenir a transmissão, por transfusão de sangue, da infeccão pelo Trypanosoma cruzi.

Cyclosporin A has activity "in vitro" against trypomastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi. We tried to evaluate, in an "in vitro" model, using variable concentrations in whole blood contaminated with known numbers of parasites and injecting this blood after a two hour incubation period in mice if it was possible to prevent infection. In this model the drug, in the concentrations used, was unable to prevent infection.

[Violence in the city of Rio de Janeiro: areas of risk and mortality trends among adolescents 10-19 years of age]. / Violência no Município do Rio de Janeiro: áreas de risco e tendências da mortalidade entre adolescentes de 10 a 19 anos.

This study presents data on general mortality and mortality from external causes (traffic accidents and homicides) among adolescents 10 to 19 years of age in Rio de Janeiro Municipality, Brazil, from 1980 to 1994. The purpose of the study was to describe and put into context mortality from external causes and to identify areas of the Municipality where the risk of these occurrences is highest. The study also sought to identify trends and seasonal patterns of this mortality and to place violence within the ambit of public health through application of the epidemiologic surveillance approach. Information on mortality was extracted from death certificates provided by the State Health Secretariat of Rio de Janeiro. A total of 20,224 death certificates were studied. The populations used as the denominators for determining rates were estimated from the censuses of 1980 and 1991. For purposes of the analysis; the Municipality was divided into eight programmatic areas, each composed of diverse neighboring districts. A time series analysis was done for traffic accidents and homicides. The results showed that external causes were the leading causes of death in the 10-19 age group, and that during the study period deaths from these causes had increased, especially among males. The results also revealed that mortality was heterogeneously distributed in areas of the Municipality that differed socioeconomically. The study points to the need for better integration of the health sector with other sectors and institutions and for a restructuring of the health system with regard to epidemiologic surveillance of violence.

[Mortality due to violence: application of exploratory analysis techniques in a metropolitan area of southeastern Brazil, 1979-1987]. / Mortalidade por violências: aplicação de técnicas de análise exploratória em área metropolitana da região sudeste do Brasil, 1979-1987.

An exploratory analysis of gross death rates due to external reasons was carried out in the area of the "Baixada Fluminense", and in the Rio de Janeiro city, covering the 1979-1987 period. The main goal was to verify mortality trends in the area and period of time specified, in an attempt to investigate a premiss according to which violence rates have been increasing. Results obtained have shown that death rates presented tendency to a non-linear increase throughout this period. A decrease was observed from 1979 to 1983, followed by an increase, since 1984, on to a higher level.

[Concealed and revealed violence: an epidemiological study of mortality from external causes in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro]. / Violência velada e revelada: estudo epidemiológico da mortalidade por causas externas em Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro.

This paper is part of an interdisciplinary study dealing with violence and the health process in the city of Duque de Caxias, State of Rio de Janeiro. This process expresses structural violence in addition to that related to resistance and deliquency, the outcomes of which are present in the area's overall mortality. This is an analysis of recorded data on mortality form external causes in the period 1979-1987, as well as a critical analysis of information gathered from death certificates for the year 1987. Mortality from external causes in the area studied is shown according to its magnitude and importance in relation to the major causes of death in the city, using absolute numbers, ratios, crude and standardized coefficients, rates, and years of life potentially lost, which are classified by groups of specific external causes, sex, and age. The analysis gives a socio-economic and demographic profile of the victims. The findings are discussed in the light of the sociological and historical knowledge on the social dynamics of Duque de Caxias. As a conclusion, this paper suggests a few actions that are badly needed for providing support to the victims of violence.

[Violence for all]. / Violência para todos.

This paper investigates the problem of social violence based on the situation for mortality from external causes in Brazil, particularly in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Mortality data from the Brazilian Ministry of Health (consolidated by the Department of Epidemiology of the National School of Public Health in the period 1980-1988) are used in this study. Proportional mortality and mortality rates from external causes are given according to sex, age, specific groups of external causes, types of homicides, and traffic accidents. Despite being basically a descriptive study, this paper also studies homicides as the most significant cause of death in the configuration of violence in Brazil today.

Developmental regulation of the Aspergillus nidulans trpC gene.

We have cloned the trifunctional trpC gene from Aspergillus nidulans by hybrid phage lambda complementation of an Escherichia coli trpC mutant lacking phosphoribosylanthranilate isomerase activity. Four different phages sharing a 4.3-kilobase region were obtained. Plasmid subclones containing this region also complemented the E. coli trpC mutant. We determined that a 1.8-kilobase DNA fragment was minimally required for complementation. The fragment hybridized with two poly(A)+ RNAs, 3.0 and 3.2 kilobases in length. We infer that these transcripts are Aspergillus trpC mRNAs and that the entire Aspergillus trpC gene is not required for complementation in E. coli. Levels of both trpC transcripts in poly(A)+ RNA are regulated by growth medium composition. They were highest when cells were grown in minimal medium containing nitrate as the nitrogen source and lowest when cells were grown in medium containing yeast extract. The concentrations of the transcripts are also regulated during conidiophore development. Conidiating cultures grown on medium containing yeast extract had significantly higher levels of both transcripts than did hyphae grown in minimal medium containing nitrate. Levels of the transcripts in mature spores were equivalent to those found in hyphae grown in minimal medium containing nitrate. Results from nutritional experiments with an A. nidulans trpC mutant suggest that developmental regulation of trpC mRNA levels may be related to a high requirement for tryptophan or a compound derived from tryptophan during conidiation.