HELLP Syndrome a Severe Form of Preeclampsia: a Comparative Study of Clinical and Laboratorial Parameters

The objective of this study was to compare clinical, laboratorial, maternal and perinatal results between HELLP Syndrome and severe Preeclampsia. An observational study comparing women with HELLP Syndrome (n=71) to women with severe preeclampsia (n=253) was done. The authors analyzed the early course of the pathologies and the outcomes in both groups. HELLP syndrome occurred in 28% of all the cases and was more frequent at gestational age before 32 weeks (n=39 – 55%) than severe preeclampsia (n=108 - 42%), with more newborns weighting less than 1500g (27 – 38.6% vs 65 – 25.6%; p=0.036). Thrombocytopenia below 100 000/μL (aOR, 2.14; 95% CI, 1.49 – 3.06) and LDH>1 000 UI/L (aOR: 5.17; 95% CI 2.19 – 12.16) were risk factors for HELLP. Maternal morbidity (eclampsia, abruptio placentae, and acute renal failure) was similar in both cohorts; eight stillbirths (6 in severe preeclampsia and 2 in HELLP Syndrome) occurred. There were no maternal deaths. In conclusion, in this study the authors confirmed that HELLP Syndrome is a severe form of preeclampsia with an earlier presentation in pregnancy, worst laboratorial findings and more prematurity rates

Description of two Enterococcus strains isolated from traditional Peruvian artisanal-produced cheeses with a bacteriocin-like inhibitory activity

The aim of this work was to isolate and to characterize strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with bacteriocin-like inhibitory activity from 27 traditional cheeses artisanal-produced obtained from different Peruvian regions. Twenty Gram+ and catalasenegative strains among 2,277 isolates exhibited bacteriocin-like inhibitory activity against Listeria monocytogenes CWBIB2232 as target strain. No change in inhibitory activity was observed after organic acid neutralization and treatment with catalase of the cell-free supernatant (CFS). The proteinic nature of the antimicrobial activity was confirmed for the twenty LAB strains by proteolytic digestion of the CFS. Two strains, CWBI-B1431 and CWBI-B1430, with the best antimicrobial activity were selected for further researches. These strains were taxonomically identified by phenotypic and genotypic analyses as Enterococcus mundtii (CWBI-B1431) and Enterococcus faecium (CWBI-B1430). The two strains were sensitive to vancomycin (MIC 2 μg.ml-1) and showed absence of haemolysis

Environmental education in secondary schools in the region of Ribeirão Preto (SP, Brazil): how teachers' views of the environment determine their teaching and some reflections on chemistry teachers' higher education

During short courses, 95 secondary school teachers from 49 state schools and 421 students from the Ribeirão Preto region (in Sao Paulo state, Brazil, with a population of 530,000) were asked to fill in different questionnaires. The points raised in the teacher's questionnaire were used as a guide to establish a continuous dialogue during the short courses. Most of the schools claimed to have some kind of environmental education (EE). Based on the questionnaires and dialogues we analyzed how the teachers' perceptions on EE reflect on the views secondary students hold about their own responsibility for preserving the environment. The role of universities in the preparation of chemistry teachers capable of effectively approaching EE is also discussed

Dust and Gas as Seeds for Metal-Poor Star Formation

I address the issue of dust and gas as seeds for metal-poor star formation by reviewing what we know about star formation in nearby dwarf galaxies and its relationship to the gas and dust. I (try to) speculate on the extent to which processes in nearby galaxies mimic star formation in the early universe.Comment: To be published in "Low Metallicity Star Formation: From the First Stars to Dwarf Galaxies," Proceedings of IAU Symposium No. 255, eds. L.K. Hunt, S. Madden, & R. Schneider (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ Press

Biological protein precipitation: a green process for the extraction of cucumisin from melon (Cucumis melo L. inodorus) by-products

Cucumisin (CUC) from industrial melon by-products was separated for the first time through biological precipitation using carrageenan (CRG). This approach could represent a cost-effective and environmentally friendly process for the industries, avoiding the use of expensive equipment and toxic salts or solvents, such as butanol and ethanol. In this study, biological precipitation of proteins from melon by-products using CRG was studied and compared with conventional precipitation with ammonium sulphate. Different methods were applied for the identification and characterization of isolated proteins, including SDS-PAGE gel, FPLC and proteolytic activity assays. The isolated CUC confirmed a molecular weight of 68 kDa and showed highly stable proteolytic (PA) and milk-clotting (MCA) activities in a wide range of CaCl2 (20 to 60 mM), pH (5 to 7) and temperatures (30 to 85 ºC). Melon peel extract demonstrated to possess significant PA (4.24 U/mg protein) and MCA (191.50 MCU/mg protein), but such values were increased by ammonium sulphate precipitation (1.60 and 2.06-folds, respectively), and specially a noticeable increment was observed by biological precipitation with 2.11 and 17.65-folds, respectively, demonstrating the capability to be an effective strategy to isolate and purify CUC, allowing a yield of 0.17 g CUC/100 g of by-products and keeping its biological properties.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fruit peels as sources of bioactive compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties

Recently, a major interest in searching for phytochemicals with nutritional and pharmaceutical purposes has arisen. In this regard, it is known that polyphenols present antioxidant properties as well as an inhibitory effect against some kinds of microorganisms. The aim of this study was to obtain aqueous-ethanolic extracts from peels of avocado, cocoa bean, coconut and cactus pear by ultrasound-assisted extraction. The extracts were characterized in terms of phenolics (Folin-Ciocalteu reagent), antioxidant potential (ferric reducing/antioxidant power assay), radical-scavenging ability (2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radical assay), and antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella dysenteriae and Candida albicans (disk diffusion test). The results revealed that the avocado peel extract had the highest phenol content (36.5 mg EAG g-1 dry weight), the highest antioxidant activity (141.2 mME Trolox g-1 dry weight) and the lowest IC50 value (59 ppm). Furthermore, avocado and coconut peels demonstrated an inhibitory effect against the tested microorganisms. Highlights Bioactive compounds from fruit by-products were obtained by ultrasound-assisted extraction. A positive correlation between phenolics and antioxidant activity was observed. Extracts with higher antioxidant activity were more active against the tested microorganisms. Fruit by-products could represent an important source of compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.Recently, a major interest in searching for phytochemicals with nutritional and pharmaceutical purposes has arisen. In this regard, it is known that polyphenols present antioxidant properties as well as an inhibitory effect against some kinds of microorganisms. The aim of this study was to obtain aqueous-ethanolic extracts from peels of avocado, cocoa bean, coconut and cactus pear by ultrasound-assisted extraction. The extracts were characterized in terms of phenolics (Folin-Ciocalteu reagent), antioxidant potential (ferric reducing/antioxidant power assay), radical-scavenging ability (2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radical assay), and antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella dysenteriae and Candida albicans (disk diffusion test). The results revealed that the avocado peel extract had the highest phenol content (36.5 mg EAG g-1 dry weight), the highest antioxidant activity (141.2 mME Trolox g-1 dry weight) and the lowest IC50 value (59 ppm). Furthermore, avocado and coconut peels demonstrated an inhibitory effect against the tested microorganisms. Highlights Bioactive compounds from fruit by-products were obtained by ultrasound-assisted extraction. A positive correlation between phenolics and antioxidant activity was observed. Extracts with higher antioxidant activity were more active against the tested microorganisms. Fruit by-products could represent an important source of compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties

Impact of simulated in vitro gastrointestinal digestion on bioactive compounds, bioactivity and cytotoxicity of melon (Cucumis melo L. inodorus) peel juice powder

The objectives of this research work were to evaluate the effect of in vitro gastrointestinal digestion (GIT) on melon peel juice (MPJ) powder from fruit processing industry by-products, considering (i) the recovery and accessibility indexes, (ii) the changes on antioxidant activity, and (iii) the prebiotic effect. Throughout exposition to GIT conditions a decrease on the total phenolic content (TPC = 65.31%) and antioxidant activity by ABTS = 39.77% and DPPH = 45.91% were observed. However, these both parameters exhibited stable accessibility, accounting with 81.89%, 76.55%, and 54.07% for TPC, ABTS and DPPH, respectively. After gastrointestinal digestion, the non-absorbed fraction exhibited a positive impact on the growth of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus strains, possibly associated with the high content of simple sugar (glucose and fructose). This fraction also showed to be safe on Caco-2 intestinal cells. These findings suggest that MPJ might be used as a potential food functional ingredient.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Determining R-parity violating parameters from neutrino and LHC data

In supersymmetric models neutrino data can be explained by R-parity violating operators which violate lepton number by one unit. The so called bilinear model can account for the observed neutrino data and predicts at the same time several decay properties of the lightest supersymmetric particle. In this paper we discuss the expected precision to determine these parameters by combining neutrino and LHC data and discuss the most important observables. We show that one can expect a rather accurate determination of the underlying R-parity parameters assuming mSUGRA relations between the R-parity conserving ones and discuss briefly also the general MSSM as well as the expected accuracies in case of a prospective e+ e- linear collider. An important observation is that several parameters can only be determined up to relative signs or more generally relative phases.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figure

The HI Companions of HII Galaxies and Low Surface Brightness Dwarf Galaxies

I study the VLA HI survey of HII galaxies by Taylor et al. (1995, ApJS, 99, 427; 1996, ApJS, 102, 189) and the VLA HI survey of low surface brightness (LSB) dwarf galaxies by Taylor et al. (1996, ApJS, in press) to investigate the role of galaxy interactions in triggering the bursts of massive star formation seen in HII galaxies. I find that the companion rate for HII galaxies is more than twice that of LSB dwarfs (p[HII] = 0.57 p[LSB] = 0.24). I examine the completeness of the companion samples detected by the two surveys, finding that because they were observed in identical fashions, there are no relative biases to cause one sample or the other to have more companions. Thus I conclude that the difference in the number of HI rich companions is genuine, and signifies a difference in the local, small scale environments between the two types of galaxy. I search through published galaxy catalogs to study the large scale environments of the two samples, finding that at large separations, the two samples exist in very similar environments on average. The difference in companion rates between HII galaxies and LSB dwarfs supports the idea that the bursts of star formation are triggered by galaxy interactions.Comment: 24 pages, 6 PostScript figures. This paper has been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa