Gray Matter Changes in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Disease and Relation to Cognition

Purpose of Review We summarize structural (s)MRI findings of gray matter (GM) atrophy related to cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) in light of new analytical approaches and recent longitudinal studies results. Recent Findings The hippocampus-to-cortex ratio seems to be the best sMRI biomarker to discriminate between various AD subtypes, following the spatial distribution of tau pathology, and predict rate of cognitive decline. PD is clinically far more variable than AD, with heterogeneous underlying brain pathology. Novel multivariate approaches have been used to describe patterns of early subcortical and cortical changes that relate to more malignant courses of PD. New emerging analytical approaches that combine structural MRI data with clinical and other biomarker outcomes hold promise for detecting specific GM changes in the early stages of PD and preclinical AD that may predict mild cognitive impairment and dementia conversion

Treatment of American tegumentary leishmaniasis in special populations : a summary of evidence

We aimed to assess and synthesize the information available in the literature regarding the treatment of American tegumentary leishmaniasis in special populations. We searched MEDLINE (via PubMed), EMBASE, LILACS, SciELO, Scopus, Cochrane Library and mRCT databases to identify clinical trials and observational studies that assessed the pharmacological treatment of the following groups of patients: pregnant women, nursing mothers, children, the elderly, individuals with chronic diseases and individuals with suppressed immune systems. The quality of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) approach. The available evidence suggests that the treatments of choice for each population or disease entity are as follows: nursing mothers and children (meglumine antimoniate or pentamidine), patients with renal disease (amphotericin B or miltefosine), patients with heart disease (amphotericin B, miltefosine or pentamidine), immunosuppressed patients (liposomal amphotericin), the elderly (meglumine antimoniate), pregnant women (amphotericin B) and patients with liver disease (no evidence available). The quality of evidence is low or very low for all groups. Accurate controlled studies are required to fill in the gaps in evidence for treatment in special populations. Post-marketing surveillance programs could also collect relevant information to guide treatment decision-making

Chitosan and alginate biopolymer membranes for remediation of contaminated water with herbicides

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)This study investigated the adsorption behavior of the herbicides diquat, difenzoquat and clomazone on biopolymer membranes prepared with alginate and chitosan (pristine and multi-layer model) for contaminated water remediation applications. Herbicides, at concentrations ranging from 5 mu M to 200 mu M, were adsorbed in either pure alginate, pure chitosan or a bilayer membrane composed of chitosan/alginate. No adsorption of clomazone was observed on any of the membranes, probably due to lack of electrostatic interactions between the herbicide and the membranes. Diquat and difenzoquat were only adsorbed on the alginate and chitosan/alginate membranes, indicating that this adsorption takes place in the alginate layer. At a concentration of 50 mu M, diquat adsorption reaches ca. 95% after 120 min on both the alginate and chitosan/alginate membranes. The adsorption of difenzoquat, at the same concentration, reaches ca. 62% after 120 min on pure alginate membranes and ca. 12% on chitosan/ alginate bilayer membranes. The adsorption isotherms for diquat and difenzoquat were further evaluated using the isotherm models proposed by Langmuir and by Freundlich, where the latter represented the best-fit model. Results indicate that adsorption occurs via coulombic interactions between the herbicides and alginate and is strongly related to the electrostatic charge, partition coefficients and dissociation constants of the herbicides. Biopolymer based membranes present novel systems for the removal of herbicides from contaminated water sources and hold great promise in the field of environmental science and engineering. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.131222227Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação para o Desenvolvimento da UNESP (FUNDUNESP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Análise de correspondência para avaliação dos registros das informações dos recém nascidos de risco

Este estudo teve como objetivo analisar a qualidade das informações dos recém nascidos cadastrados no Programade Vigilância ao Recém Nascido de Risco nos diferentes sistemas de informação. Estudo transversal, quantitativo,analítico. Utilizou-se como fontes de dados da Ficha de Acompanhamento do Recém Nascido, Ficha A e C doSistema de Informação da Atenção Básica e foram avaliados os prontuários de 505 crianças de risco em 23 UnidadesBásicas de Saúde (UBS). Os dados foram analisados pela Análise de Correspondência e Classificação HierárquicaAscendente. Os pontos positivos obtidos se referem à adequação do registro, destacando que a qualidadedos registros das atividades realizadas foi adequada em 30% das UBS, sugerindo treinamento e capacitação dosprofissionais médicos e enfermeiros com encaminhamentos para serviços e programas assistenciais, registroscompletos e visitas domiciliares de rotina