Industrial Solid Waste Strategies and Policies for the South Region of Rio de Janeiro State

Inventariam-se os resíduos produzidos nessa região do Estado do Rio de Janeiro e estabelecem-se linhas para a sua gestã

CARATkids questionnaire development process

Introdução: A asma e a rinite alérgica (ARA) são doenças inflamatórias crónicas das vias aéreas que frequentemente coexistem. O questionário para avaliação do controlo da asma e da rinite alérgica (CARAT) encontra‑se validado para o adulto. O objectivo foi desenvolver o questionário CARATkids para crianças entre os 4 e os 12 anos de idade, com o diagnóstico médico de ARA. Este trabalho pretende descrever o processo do desenvolvimento do questionário. Métodos: O desenvolvimento do questionário foi estruturado em três fases: 1) revisão da literatura sobre questionários pediátricos existentes; 2) realização de reuniões de consenso que permitiu a criação de uma versão preliminar do CARATkids, com duas versões (crianças e pais), composto por 17 itens. Para as crianças, as perguntas foram acompanhadas por ilustrações para cada questão, com formato de resposta dicotómica (sim / não). Para os pais o questionário manteve o formato de CARAT17, com questões com 4 pontos de Likert e outras questões com opção de resposta com escala dicotómica; 3) realização de um estudo transversal através de entrevistas cognitivas efectuadas a 29 crianças e respectivos pais. Resultados: Foram incluídas 29 crianças (11 do sexo feminino) e respectivos pais. A mediana de idades (P25‑P75) foi de 8 (6‑10) anos. As crianças com 4 a 5 anos não sabiam ler o questionário; com 6‑8 eram capazes de ler / compreender as perguntas, embora referindo dificuldades para algumas expressões. As crianças com mais de 9 anos consideraram o questionário muito simples e claro. O grau de concordância entre as crianças e seus pais foi de 61%, tendo ambos considerado as ilustrações muito claras e esclarecedoras quanto aos conceitos subjacentes. Os pais concordaram que a versão destinada aos pais estava muito completa, considerando a versão da criança muito clara e adequada. Consideraram ainda a escala dicotómica como mais apropriada para crianças, em comparação com a escala de Likert do questionário aplicado aos pais. As expressões identificadas como de difícil entendimento foram alteradas. Conclusão: O questionário CARATkids é o primeiro que avalia o controlo da asma e da rinite na criança. Os testes cognitivos demonstraram a sua aplicabilidade dos 6 aos 12 anos de idade.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Development Process and Cognitive Testing of CARATkids - Control of Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma Test for Children

Background: Allergic rhinitis and asthma (ARA) are chronic inflammatory diseases of the airways that often coexist in children. The only tool to assess the ARA control, the Control of Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma Test (CARAT) is to be used by adults. We aimed to develop the Pediatric version of Control of Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma Test (CARATkids) and to test its comprehensibility in children with 4 to 12 years of age. Methods: The questionnaire development included a literature review of pediatric questionnaires on asthma and/or rhinitis control and two consensus meetings of a multidisciplinary group. Cognitive testing was carried out in a cross-sectional qualitative study using cognitive interviews. Results: Four questionnaires to assess asthma and none to assess rhinitis control in children were identified. The multidisciplinary group produced a questionnaire version for children with 17 questions with illustrations and dichotomous (yes/no) response format. The version for caregivers had 4-points and dichotomous scales. Twenty-nine children, 4 to 12 years old, and their caregivers were interviewed. Only children over 6 years old could adequately answer the questionnaire. A few words/expressions were not fully understood by children of 6 to 8 years old. The drawings illustrating the questions were considered helpful by children and caregivers. Caregivers considered the questionnaire complete and clear and preferred dichotomous over the 4-points scales. The proportion of agreement between children and their caregivers was 61%. The words/expressions that were difficult to understand were amended. Conclusion: CARATkids, the first questionnaire to assess a child’s asthma and rhinitis control was developed and its content validity was assured. Cognitive testing showed that CARATKids is well-understood by children 6 to 12 years old. The questionnaire’s measurement properties can now be assessed in a validation study

Spatial antibunching of photons with parametric down-conversion

The theoretical framework behind a recent experiment by Nogueira et. al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86}, 4009 (2001)] of spatial antibunching in a two-photon state generated by collinear type II parametric down-conversion and a birefringent double-slit is presented. The fourth-order quantum correlation function is evaluated and shown to violate the classical Schwarz-type inequality, ensuring that the field does not have a classical analog. We expect these results to be useful in the rapidly growing fields of quantum imaging and quantum information.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Minor changes made, accepted for publication in PR

Liver proteomics unravel the metabolic pathways related to feed efficiency in beef cattle

Improving nutrient utilization efficiency is essential for livestock, given the current scenario of increasing demand for animal protein and sustainable resource use. In this context, understanding the biology of feed efficiency (FE) in beef cattle allows the development of markers for identification and selection of best animals for animal production. Thus, 98 young Nellore bulls were evaluated for FE and at the end of the experiment liver samples from six High Feed Efficient (HFE) and six Low Feed Efficient (LFE) animals were collected for protein extraction, digestion and analysis by HPLC-MS/MS. Data were analyzed for differential abundant proteins (DAPs), protein networks, and functional enrichment. Serum endotoxin was also quantified. We found 42 DAPs and 3 protein networks significantly related to FE. The main pathways associated with FE were: microbial metabolism; biosynthesis of fatty acids, amino acids and vitamins; glycolysis/gluconeogenesis; xenobiotic metabolism and; antigen processing and presentation. Serum endotoxins were significantly higher in LFE animals supporting the results. Therefore, the findings presented here confirmed the altered hepatic metabolism and pronounced hepatic inflammation in LFE animals supporting that the increased bacterial load is at least in part responsible for the hepatic lesions and inflammation in LFE animals9COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPsem informação[2014/12492-8; 2014/07566-2; 2014/02493-7; 2014/04937-

Novel FGFR1 mutations in Kallmann syndrome and normosmic idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism: evidence for the involvement of an alternatively spliced isoform

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) mutations and their predicted functional consequences in patients with idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Multicentric. PATIENT(S): Fifty unrelated patients with IHH (21 with Kallmann syndrome and 29 with normosmic IHH). INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Patients were screened for mutations in FGFR1. The functional consequences of mutations were predicted by in silico structural and conservation analysis. RESULT(S): Heterozygous FGFR1 mutations were identified in six (12%) kindreds. These consisted of frameshift mutations (p.Pro33-Alafs*17 and p.Tyr654*) and missense mutations in the signal peptide (p.Trp4Cys), in the D1 extracellular domain (p.Ser96Cys) and in the cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase domain (p.Met719Val). A missense mutation was identified in the alternatively spliced exon 8A (p.Ala353Thr) that exclusively affects the D3 extracellular domain of FGFR1 isoform IIIb. Structure-based and sequence-based prediction methods and the absence of these variants in 200 normal controls were all consistent with a critical role for the mutations in the activity of the receptor. Oligogenic inheritance (FGFR1/CHD7/PROKR2) was found in one patient. CONCLUSION(S): Two FGFR1 isoforms, IIIb and IIIc, result from alternative splicing of exons 8A and 8B, respectively. Loss-of-function of isoform IIIc is a cause of IHH, whereas isoform IIIb is thought to be redundant. Ours is the first report of normosmic IHH associated with a mutation in the alternatively spliced exon 8A and suggests that this disorder can be caused by defects in either of the two alternatively spliced FGFR1 isoform

Hyperhomocysteinemia in Renal Transplantation: Preliminary Results

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality after renal transplantation (RT).[1] and [2] The excess risk of CVD in RT is due in part to a higher prevalence of established atherosclerotic risk factors, including hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, obesity, and physical inactivity.[1] and [2] However, some renal-related risk factors like immunosuppressive medication and residual renal insufficiency also contribute to this excess CVD risk and may complicate the management of dyslipidemia and hypertension in this population.[1] and [2] Accordingly, there is a compelling need to identify and safely manage other putative CVD risk factors among RT patients. Elevated plasma homocysteine is emerging as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease in general populations.[3] and 4 R Clarke, L Daly and K Robinson et al., N Engl J Med 324 (1991), p. 1149. View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (1372)[4] Some studies have demonstrated that hyperhomocysteinemia is present in patients with impaired renal function and is associated with CVD.[5], [6] and [7] Only a small number of studies are available on the prevalence and determinants of hyperhomocysteinemia in renal transplant recipients.[8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14] and [15] We undertook this study to 1. estimate the prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia in renal transplant recipients; 2. examine the relationships between plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) and its metabolic determinants vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and folic acid; and 3. identify other determinants of tHcy

Uso de marcadores RAPD no estudo de variabilidade em clones de Coffea canephora Var. conillon.

Avaliou-se quatro repetições de 12 clones que apresentaram variabilidade de reação à H. vastatrix. Oito indivíduos dos clones 03 e 07 foram analisados quando inoculados com as raças I, II, III e XIII. Selecionou-se também, cinco clones que apresentaram reação uniforme quando inoculados com quatro raças do patógeno, totalizando 76 indivíduos. Pelo método de agrupamento de Tocher, os 76 indivíduos formaram 16 grupos. As quatro repetições de cada clone formaram grupos distintos, entretanto, o indivíduo 21, correspondente à repetição I do clone 104-A, formou isoladamente o grupo 16, mostrando-se divergente dos demais. Os clones 104-A e 104-B formaram um grupo, e os clones 110-A e 110-B, outro grupo, indicando que são muito próximos geneticamente. Os primers utilizados não foram capazes de detectar diferenças entre os clones quando se considera o ciclo de maturação, da mesma forma que não foi possível observar diferenças intraclones. Por meio de marcadores RAPD, não foi possível detectar diferenças intraclones da variedade Conillon que apresentaram instabilidade de reações a H. vastatrix. Da mesma forma, não foi possível diferenciar clones de diferentes ciclos de maturação. A técnica de RAPD foi eficaz no estudo de variabilidade genética em C. canephora