Contamination profile for staphylococci and its enterotoxins and monitorization of the conditions of hygiene in a 'coalho' cheese production line

This research aimed to evaluate the contamination by staphylococci and its enterotoxins as well as to monitor the Conditions of hygiene from a coalho cheese production like, using ATP bioluminescence assay. Staphylococcus sp. population varied from < ICFU mL(-1), in pasteurized milk to 1.5 x 10(7)CFU mL(-1) in raw milk, whereas coagulase-positive staphylococci count ranged from < ICFU mL(-1), in pasteurized milk to 5.0 x 10(6)CFU mL(-1) in raw milk. Coagulase-positive staphylococci were detected in 100% (25/25) of the row milk samples and in 8% (2/25) of cheese samples. Twelve Staphylococcus species were identified within the selected 68 isolates, being nine negative and three positive for coagulase. Raw milk samples showed a high rate of coagulase-positive, being S. aureus the most common, whereas other product samples and equipment sulfates, pieces of furniture, utensils and manipulator gloves samples presented a high frequency of coagulase-negative and low frequency of coagulase-positive. Staphylococcal enterotoxin was detected in 20% of the raw milk samples and therefore in pasteurized milk, curd and cheese. ATP measurement permitted to assess the effectiveness. of the surfaces cleaning, being considered adequate in 62.1% (36/95), "alert state" in 23.2% (22/95) and inadequate in 14.7% (14/95) of surfaces evaluated. Detection of staphylococci species with enterotoxigenic potential as well as enterotoxin presence reveal dissemination of contamination at the "coalho" Cheese production title, possibly due inappropriate Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) from the initial milking step until the final cheese production.3851431143

Impact of Vitamin D Supplementation on Arterial Vasomotion, Stiffness and Endothelial Biomarkers in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

Background: Cardiovascular events are frequent and vascular endothelial function is abnormal in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We demonstrated endothelial dysfunction with vitamin D deficiency in CKD patients; however the impact of cholecalciferol supplementation on vascular stiffness and vasomotor function, endothelial and bone biomarkers in CKD patients with low 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] is unknown, which this study investigated. Methods: We assessed non-diabetic patients with CKD stage 3/4, age 17–80 years and serum 25(OH)D ,75 nmol/L. Brachial artery Flow Mediated Dilation (FMD), Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV), Augmentation Index (AI) and circulating blood biomarkers were evaluated at baseline and at 16 weeks. Oral 300,000 units cholecalciferol was administered at baseline and 8-weeks. Results: Clinical characteristics of 26 patients were: age 50614 (mean61SD) years, eGFR 41611 ml/min/1.73 m2, males 73%, dyslipidaemia 36%, smokers 23% and hypertensives 87%. At 16-week serum 25(OH)D and calcium increased (43616 to 84629 nmol/L, p,0.001 and 2.3760.09 to 2.4260.09 mmol/L; p = 0.004, respectively) and parathyroid hormone decreased (10.868.6 to 7.464.4; p = 0.001). FMD improved from 3.163.3% to 6.163.7%, p = 0.001. Endothelial biomarker concentrations decreased: E-Selectin from 566662123 to 525662058 pg/mL; p = 0.032, ICAM-1, 3.4560.01 to 3.1061.04 ng/mL; p = 0.038 and VCAM-1, 54633 to 42633 ng/mL; p = 0.006. eGFR, BP, PWV, AI, hsCRP, von Willebrand factor and Fibroblast Growth Factor-23, remained unchanged. Conclusion: This study demonstrates for the first time improvement of endothelial vasomotor and secretory functions with vitamin D in CKD patients without significant adverse effects on arterial stiffness, serum calcium or FGF-23. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0200571

Genetic polymorphisms and coronary artery disease in the portuguese population: the GENEMACOR Study

PosterMultiple studies have showed an association between genetic polymorphisms and the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). Initially, studies focused mainly in variants acting in pathophysiological axis of CAD or its risk factors. Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) revealed other genes that, besides having an unknown mechanism, are statistically significant. The importance of these in the development of CAD in the Portuguese population is unknown. Objective: Analyze the genetic polymorphisms associated with the development of CAD in a Portuguese population. Methods: We performed a case-control study with 1321 consecutive coronary patients (mean age 53.4 ± 8.1 years, 78.8% male) and 1148 controls (adjusted for age and sex) selected from GENEMACOR Study, an ongoing study designed to analyze the genetic profile of a Portuguese population. We evaluated, in both groups, 29 genetic variants previously associated with CAD: ACE I/D, AGT235 M/T, ATIR A/C, MTHFR C/T and 1298 A/C, PON192 Q/R and 55 L/M,LPA T/C, APO E, Locus 9p21.3 (rs1333049), CDKN2B (rs4977574), GJA4 C/T, PCSK9 A/G, TAS2R50 A/G, KIF6 C/T, IGF2BP2 G/T, ADAMTS7 A/G, MC4R T/C, PPARG Pro12 Ala, ZNF259 C/G, SMAD3 C/T, MIA3 C/A, MTHFD1L A/G, SLC30A8 C/T, TCF7L2 C/T, HNF4 C/G, FTO A/C and ADIPOQ C/G. Allele and genotypic frequencies of individuals with and without CAD were compared and the strength of association was expressed by the OR as well as by CI 95%. Results: The variants rs4340 (ACE I/D), rs266729 (ADIPOQ C/G), rs458560 (PON55 L/M), rs429358 (APOE2), LPA T/C, rs1333049 (locus 9p21.3) and rs4977574 (CDKN2B A/G) were significantly associated with CAD (p<0.05) (Table). Conclusions: In our population, the genetic polymorphisms significantly related to CAD were: ACE, associated with hypertension; ADIPOQ, associated with obesity; PON55, associated with oxidation; APOE and LPA, associated with dyslipidemia and finally the locus 9p21.3 with a unclear mechanism so far.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Imaging of Repaired Rotator Cuff

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects of different PEEP levels on respiratory mechanics and oxygenation after coronary artery bypass grafting Efeitos de diferentes níveis de PEEP na mecânica respiratória e oxigenação após revascularização do miocárdio

Effects of different PEEP levels on respiratory mechanics and oxygenation after coronary artery bypass grafting Revista Brasileira de Cirurgia Cardiovascular/Brazilian Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery, vol. 28, núm. 3, julio-septiembre, 2013, pp. 380-385 Sociedade Brasileira de Cirurgia Cardiovascular São José do Rio Preto, Brasil Rev Bras Cir Cardiovasc 2013;28(3):380-

Clinical oxidative stress during leprosy multidrug therapy:impact of dapsone oxidation

This study aims to assess the oxidative stress in leprosy patients under multidrug therapy (MDT; dapsone, clofazimine and rifampicin), evaluating the nitric oxide (NO) concentration, catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, glutathione (GSH) levels, total antioxidant capacity, lipid peroxidation, and methemoglobin formation. For this, we analyzed 23 leprosy patients and 20 healthy individuals from the Amazon region, Brazil, aged between 20 and 45 years. Blood sampling enabled the evaluation of leprosy patients prior to starting multidrug therapy (called MDT 0) and until the third month of multidrug therapy (MDT 3). With regard to dapsone (DDS) plasma levels, we showed that there was no statistical difference in drug plasma levels between multibacillary (0.518±0.029 μg/mL) and paucibacillary (0.662±0.123 μg/mL) patients. The methemoglobin levels and numbers of Heinz bodies were significantly enhanced after the third MDTsupervised dose, but this treatment did not significantly change the lipid peroxidation and NO levels in these leprosy patients. In addition, CAT activity was significantly reduced in MDT-treated leprosy patients, while GSH content was increased in these patients. However, SOD and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity levels were similar in patients with and without treatment. These data suggest that MDT can reduce the activity of some antioxidant enzyme and influence ROS accumulation, which may induce hematological changes, such as methemoglobinemia in patients with leprosy. We also explored some redox mechanisms associated with DDS and its main oxidative metabolite DDS-NHOH and we explored the possible binding of DDS to the active site of CYP2C19 with the aid of molecular modeling software

Substrate-borne vibrations disrupt the mating behaviors of the neotropical brown stink bug, Euschistus heros: implications for pest management.

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Importance of highly selective LC–MS/MS analysis for the accurate quantification of tamoxifen and its metabolites: focus on endoxifen and 4-hydroxytamoxifen

The antiestrogenic effect of tamoxifen is mainly attributable to the active metabolites endoxifen and 4-hydroxytamoxifen. This effect is assumed to be concentration-dependent and therefore quantitative analysis of tamoxifen and metabolites for clinical studies and therapeutic drug monitoring is increasing. We investigated the large discrepancies in reported mean endoxifen and 4-hydroxytamoxifen concentrations. Two published LC–MS/MS methods are used to analyse a set of 75 serum samples from patients treated with tamoxifen. The method from Teunissen et al. (J Chrom B, 879:1677–1685, 2011) separates endoxifen and 4-hydroxytamoxifen from other tamoxifen metabolites with similar masses and fragmentation patterns. The second method, published by Gjerde et al. (J Chrom A, 1082:6–14, 2005) however lacks selectivity, resulting in a factor 2–3 overestimation of the endoxifen and 4-hydroxytamoxifen levels, respectively. We emphasize the use of highly selective LC–MS/MS methods for the quantification of tamoxifen and its metabolites in biological samples

The Effect of a ΔK280 Mutation on the Unfolded State of a Microtubule-Binding Repeat in Tau

Tau is a natively unfolded protein that forms intracellular aggregates in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. To decipher the mechanism underlying the formation of tau aggregates, we developed a novel approach for constructing models of natively unfolded proteins. The method, energy-minima mapping and weighting (EMW), samples local energy minima of subsequences within a natively unfolded protein and then constructs ensembles from these energetically favorable conformations that are consistent with a given set of experimental data. A unique feature of the method is that it does not strive to generate a single ensemble that represents the unfolded state. Instead we construct a number of candidate ensembles, each of which agrees with a given set of experimental constraints, and focus our analysis on local structural features that are present in all of the independently generated ensembles. Using EMW we generated ensembles that are consistent with chemical shift measurements obtained on tau constructs. Thirty models were constructed for the second microtubule binding repeat (MTBR2) in wild-type (WT) tau and a ΔK280 mutant, which is found in some forms of frontotemporal dementia. By focusing on structural features that are preserved across all ensembles, we find that the aggregation-initiating sequence, PHF6*, prefers an extended conformation in both the WT and ΔK280 sequences. In addition, we find that residue K280 can adopt a loop/turn conformation in WT MTBR2 and that deletion of this residue, which can adopt nonextended states, leads to an increase in locally extended conformations near the C-terminus of PHF6*. As an increased preference for extended states near the C-terminus of PHF6* may facilitate the propagation of β-structure downstream from PHF6*, these results explain how a deletion at position 280 can promote the formation of tau aggregates