Prevalencia de anticuerpos antifosfolípidos en pacientes con conectivopatías

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies in patients with connective tissue diseases. Design: Descriptive transversal study. Setting: Dos de Mayo Hospital and Institute of Clinical Research, San Marcos University, Lima, Peru. Participants: Patients with diagnosis of collagen disease and healthy subjects. Interventions: In 100 patients with collagen disease and 50 healthy subjects, all from Metropolitan Lima and attended between January and November 2008, fibrinogen, prothrombin time, partial activated thromboplastin time, anticardiolipin antibody and lupus anticoagulant were determined. Main outcome measures: Presence of anticardiolipin antibodies and lupus anticoagulant. Results: Patients with collagen diseases presented antiphospholipid antibodies in 17%, lupus anticoagulant in 13%, and IgG anticardiolipin in 4%. Individualizing connective tissue diseases, in 70 patients with systemic erythematous lupus 10 were positive for lupus anticoagulant and 3 had IgG anticardiolipin; of 30 patients with rheumatoid arthritis three were positive to lupus anticoagulant and one presented IgG anticardiolipin. In the group of 50 healthy individuals, only one was positive for lupus anticoagulant. Conclusions: The prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies in patients with connective tissue was 17%. The most frequent connective tissue disease studied was lupus erythematosus and the most frequent antiphospholipid antibody found was lupus anticoagulant.Objetivos: Determinar la prevalencia de anticuerpos antifosfolípidos en pacientes con conectivopatías. Diseño: Estudio descriptivo transversal. Institución: Hospital Dos de Mayo e Instituto de Investigaciones Clínicas de la UNMSM, Lima, Perú. Participantes: Pacientes con diagnóstico de colagenopatía y sujetos sanos. Intervenciones: En 100 pacientes con diagnóstico de colagenopatía y 50 sujetos sanos, todos provenientes de Lima Metropolitana y atendidos entre enero y noviembre de 2008, se determinó fibrinógeno, tiempo de protrombina, tiempo parcial de tromboplastina activada, anticuerpos anticardiolipina y anticoagulante lúpico. Principales medidas de resultados: Presencia de anticuerpos anticardiolipina y anticoagulante lúpico. Resultados: Los pacientes con conectivopatías presentaron anticuerpos antifosfolípidos en 17%, anticoagulante lúpico en 13% y anticardiolipina IgG 4%. Al dividir el grupo por conectivopatías, en los 70 pacientes con lupus eritematoso sistémico 10 resultaron positivos para anticoagulante lúpico y 3 tuvieron anticardiolipina IgG; de los 30 pacientes con artritis reumatoide, 3 tuvieron anticoagulante lúpico positivo y 1 presentó anticardiolipina IgG. En el grupo de 50 personas sanas, solo se encontró un caso positivo para anticoagulante lúpico. Conclusiones: La prevalencia de anticuerpos antifosfolípidos en pacientes con conectivopatías fue 17%. La conectivopatía estudiada más frecuente fue el lupus eritematoso sistémico. El anticuerpo antifosfolípido más frecuente fue el anticoagulante lúpico

Effects of Brazil's political crisis on the science needed for biodiversity conservation

The effects of Brazil’s political crisis on science funding necessary for biodiversity conservation are likely to be global. Brazil is not only the world’s most biodiverse nation, it is responsible for the greater part of the Amazon forest, which regulates the climate and provides rain to much of southern South America. Brazil was a world leader in satellite monitoring of land-use change, in-situ biodiversity monitoring, reduction in tropical-forest deforestation, protection of indigenous lands, and a model for other developing nations. Coordinated public responses will be necessary to prevent special-interest groups from using the political crisis to weaken science funding, environmental legislation and law enforcement. Keywords: Brazil, biodiversity, climate change, governance, fundin

Python programs to apply regularized derivatives in the magnetic tilt derivative and gradient intensity data processing: A graphical procedure to choose the regularization parameter

The Tikhonov regularization parameter is a key parameter controlling the smoothness degree and oscillations of a regularized unknown solution. Usual methods to determine a proper parameter (L-curve or the discrepancy principle, for example) are not readily applicable to the evaluation of regularized derivatives, since this formulation does not make explicit a set of model parameters that are necessary to implement these methods. We develop a procedure for the determination of the regularization parameter based on the graphical construction of a characteristic “staircase” function associated with the L2-norm of the regularized derivatives for a set of trial regularization parameters. This function is independent of model parameters and presents a smooth and monotonic variation. The regularization parameters at the upper step (low values) of the ''staircase'' function provide equivalent results to the non-regularized derivative, the parameters at the lower step (high values) leading to over-smoothed derivatives. For the evaluated data sets, the proper regularization parameter is located in the slope connecting these two flat end-members of the staircase curve, thus balancing noise amplification against the amplitude loss in the transformed fields. A set of Python programs are presented to evaluate the regularization procedure in a well-known synthetic model composed of multiple (bulk and elongated) magnetic sources. This numerical approach also is applied in gridded aeromagnetic data covering high-grade metamorphic terrains of the Anápolis-Itauçu Complex in the Brasília Fold Belt central portion of Tocantins Province, central Brazil, characterized by multiple magnetic lineaments with different directions and intersections which are associated with shear zones, geologic faults, and intrusive bodies. The results obtained from the regularization procedure show efficiency in improving the maps of filtered fields, better tracking the continuity of magnetic lineaments and general geological trends. The results from the application in the Brasília Fold Belt enhance the importance and broader coverage of the Pirineus Zone of High Strain

Kefiran-based films: fundamental concepts, formulation strategies and properties

Concerns about plastic pollution have driven research into novel bio-derived and biodegradable polymers with improved properties. Among the various classes of biopolymers studied, kefiran films only have gained emphasis in recent years. Its film-forming ability and outstanding biological activities illustrate its potential for active packaging applications. However, despite recent advances, the key challenge is still associated with obtaining high water vapor barrier and better mechanical properties. In that fashion, this review highlights for the first time the cutting-edge advances in the preparation, characterization and enhancement of the packaging performance of kefiran-based films. The fundamental concepts of the biopolymer production and chemical analysis are previously outlined to direct the reader to the structure-property relationship. In addition, this research critically discusses the current challenges and prospects toward better material properties246CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESSem informaçãoSem informaçã

Thermal degradation kinetics of total anthocyanins in açaí pulp and transient processing simulations

The aim of this study was to investigate the thermal degradation of açaí pulp anthocyanins in experimental level and to simulate its degradation in a tubular pasteurizer starting from the transient regime. Thermal degradation was experimentally performed at 60, 70, 80, and 90 °C, in which samples were collected throughout 90 min. Anthocyanin concentration was determined using the differential pH method. The first-order kinetic model with low activation energy (42.8 kJ mol−1) and the thermodynamic parameters obtained (∆H > 0, ∆G > 0, and ∆S < 0) confirmed the high thermal stability of anthocyanin in açaí pulp. For the simulations, the mass and energy balances took into consideration a transient regime and also variation of anthocyanin concentration with the tube length. The finite difference method was used to solve the partial derivates. Were evaluated the effects of flow rate, solid content, heat exchange temperature, and tube length and diameter ratio. Our finds indicated that even considering the critical processing conditions, the losses of anthocyanins do not reach 1%, confirming its high thermal stability2CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESSem informaçãoSem informaçã

Prevalencia de anticuerpos antifosfolípidos en pacientes con conectivopatías

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies in patients with connective tissue diseases. Design: Descriptive transversal study. Setting: Dos de Mayo Hospital and Institute of Clinical Research, San Marcos University, Lima, Peru. Participants: Patients with diagnosis of collagen disease and healthy subjects. Interventions: In 100 patients with collagen disease and 50 healthy subjects, all from Metropolitan Lima and attended between January and November 2008, fibrinogen, prothrombin time, partial activated thromboplastin time, anticardiolipin antibody and lupus anticoagulant were determined. Main outcome measures: Presence of anticardiolipin antibodies and lupus anticoagulant. Results: Patients with collagen diseases presented antiphospholipid antibodies in 17%, lupus anticoagulant in 13%, and IgG anticardiolipin in 4%. Individualizing connective tissue diseases, in 70 patients with systemic erythematous lupus 10 were positive for lupus anticoagulant and 3 had IgG anticardiolipin; of 30 patients with rheumatoid arthritis three were positive to lupus anticoagulant and one presented IgG anticardiolipin. In the group of 50 healthy individuals, only one was positive for lupus anticoagulant. Conclusions: The prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies in patients with connective tissue was 17%. The most frequent connective tissue disease studied was lupus erythematosus and the most frequent antiphospholipid antibody found was lupus anticoagulant.Objetivos: Determinar la prevalencia de anticuerpos antifosfolípidos en pacientes con conectivopatías. Diseño: Estudio descriptivo transversal. Institución: Hospital Dos de Mayo e Instituto de Investigaciones Clínicas de la UNMSM, Lima, Perú. Participantes: Pacientes con diagnóstico de colagenopatía y sujetos sanos. Intervenciones: En 100 pacientes con diagnóstico de colagenopatía y 50 sujetos sanos, todos provenientes de Lima Metropolitana y atendidos entre enero y noviembre de 2008, se determinó fibrinógeno, tiempo de protrombina, tiempo parcial de tromboplastina activada, anticuerpos anticardiolipina y anticoagulante lúpico. Principales medidas de resultados: Presencia de anticuerpos anticardiolipina y anticoagulante lúpico. Resultados: Los pacientes con conectivopatías presentaron anticuerpos antifosfolípidos en 17%, anticoagulante lúpico en 13% y anticardiolipina IgG 4%. Al dividir el grupo por conectivopatías, en los 70 pacientes con lupus eritematoso sistémico 10 resultaron positivos para anticoagulante lúpico y 3 tuvieron anticardiolipina IgG; de los 30 pacientes con artritis reumatoide, 3 tuvieron anticoagulante lúpico positivo y 1 presentó anticardiolipina IgG. En el grupo de 50 personas sanas, solo se encontró un caso positivo para anticoagulante lúpico. Conclusiones: La prevalencia de anticuerpos antifosfolípidos en pacientes con conectivopatías fue 17%. La conectivopatía estudiada más frecuente fue el lupus eritematoso sistémico. El anticuerpo antifosfolípido más frecuente fue el anticoagulante lúpico

Adsorption Process of Methyl Orange Dye onto Zinc Hydroxide Nitrate: Kinetic and Thermodynamic Studies

Zinc hydroxide nitrate (ZHN) was used as an anionic adsorbent for the removal of methyl orange (MO) dye from aqueous solutions. ZHN was characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques. Investigations were carried out to see how the adsorption of MO was affected by factors such as initial MO concentration, contact time and temperature. Adsorption isotherms were analyzed using the Langmuir and Freundlich equations, with the first one being the better result for the equilibrium data. Adsorption kinetics was studied through applying pseudo-first and pseudo-second-order kinetic models, and the experimental data were better fitted to the pseudo-second-order model. The activation energy was determined using the Arrhenius equation to be 105.45 kJ mol−1, revealing the chemical nature of the adsorption process. The thermodynamic parameters were also determined, showing the adsorption of MO onto ZHN to be a non-spontaneous and exothermic process. The experimental results showed ZHN as a potential adsorbent with adsorption capacity for removing anionic dyes from water medium

Morphological, thermal and mechanical properties of polyamide and ethylene vinyl alcohol multilayer flexible packaging after high-pressure processing

The effect of high-pressure processing on the morphological surface, thermal and mechanical properties of three PA and EVOH based multilayer flexible packaging materials were evaluated. LDPE/PA/LDPE, LDPE/EVOH/ LDPE and PET/LDPE/PA/EVOH/PA/LDPE packaging samples were processed under three different conditions (600 MPa/25 degrees C/10 min, 600 MPa/90 degrees C/10 min and 0.1 MPa/90 degrees C/10 min) and an unprocessed sample was used as control. The LDPE/PA/LDPE and LDPE/EVOH/LDPE samples showed good thermal stability and no surface defects after processing, because of the greater thickness of the external material, the film withstood the compression and decompression of the processing, consequently resulting in the protection of the other layers. The PET/LDPE/PA/EVOH/PA/LDPE sample showed a significant increase in the T-m of PET, LDPE and PA after processing at 600 MPa/90 degrees C/10 min. Regarding the mechanical properties, reductions in the tensile strength of the PET/LDPE/PA/EVOH/PA/LDPE sample were observed after processing at 600 MPa/90 degrees C/10 min. In addition, a significant reduction in heat seal strength was observed in the three materials after processing at 600 MPa, but these values are accepted in practice. Therefore, in terms of morphological, thermal and mechanical properties, LDPE/PA/LDPE and LDPE/EVOH/LDPE materials are recommended for the processing conditions of this study, whereas PET/LDPE/PA/EVOH/LDPE materials require further evaluation of other functional properties276CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPSem informaçãoSem informação#2018/05588–