Modulation of humoral immune response to oral BCG vaccination by Mycobacterium bovis BCG Moreau Rio de Janeiro (RDJ) in healthy adults

BACKGROUND: Oral administration of BCG was the route initially used by Calmette and Guérin, but was replaced by intradermal administration in virtually all countries after the Lubeck accident. However, Brazil continued to administer oral BCG Moreau RDJ, which was maintained until the mid-1970s when it was substituted by the intradermal route. Although BCG vaccination has been used in humans since 1921, little is known of the induced immune response. The aim of this study was to analyse immunological responses after oral vaccination with M. bovis BCG Moreau RDJ. METHODS: This study in healthy volunteers has measured cellular and humoral aspects of the immunological response to oral M. bovis BCG Moreau RDJ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. T-cell trafficking and Th(1 )and Th(2 )cytokine responses are described, as well as isotype-specific antibody production using novel techniques. RESULTS: Oral immunisation has no adverse effects. We have shown that there are cellular and humoral immunological responses after oral immunisation. Oral revaccination does not induce a positive skin test in responsive individuals and multiple booster orally was able to induce modulation in humoral immunological responses (switch from IgG to IgA) in previously immunised subjects and incapable of inducing tolerance. In contrast, the cellular immune response does not differ between vaccinated individuals with positive and negative skin test reactions. CONCLUSION: All subjects, including those who did not respond to the skin test at study commencement, were capable of mounting humoral and cellular immune response to the antigens tested

Testicular tumors in children and adolescents

OBJECTIVE: To perform a comparative assessment of the clinical and epidemiological aspects of testicular tumors in childhood and adolescence. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of medical records of patients with testicular or paratesticular neoplasms. Patients under 10 years were classified as children and patients between 10 and 20 were classified as adolescents. The obtained results were compared through the two-sample test for proportions: non-parametric Mann-Whitney test and log-rank test. RESULTS: 60 patients were admitted in the period from January 1992 to July 2009: 34 children and 26 adolescents with testicular or paratesticular neoplasms. The main manifestations were testicular tumor and scrotal pain. Pain complaints were more common in adolescents (p = 0.006), who presented a mean time from disease onset to diagnosis of 4.9 months, longer than children, who presented a period of 2.3 months from disease onset to diagnosis (p = 0.01). Histological types were as follows: germ cell tumors in 32/60 (53%), rhabdomyosarcomas (RMSs) in 23/60 (38.3%), and other in 5/60 (8.3%). Adolescents presented a higher incidence of RMSs, lymph node metastases (p = 0.003) and distant metastases (p = 0.035). Differences in survival rates among the studied patients were not statistically significant, the only indicative being that survival in RMS cases is longer for children (p = 0.072). CONCLUSIONS: Compared to children, adolescents with testicular tumor presented longer time from disease onset to diagnosis, aggressive histological type and advanced illness at diagnosis, despite the small sample analyzed.OBJETIVO: Avaliar comparativamente aspectos clínicos e epidemiológicos dos tumores de testículo na infância e adolescência. MÉTODOS: Análise retrospectiva dos prontuários de pacientes com neoplasias de testículo ou paratesticulares. Foram classificados como crianças os menores de 10 anos e como adolescentes os pacientes entre 10 e 20 anos. Os resultados obtidos foram comparados por meio do teste para duas proporções: teste não paramétrico de Mann-Whitney e teste de log-rank. RESULTADOS: No período de janeiro de 1992 a julho de 2009, foram admitidos 60 pacientes: 34 crianças e 26 adolescentes com neoplasias de testículo ou paratesticulares. As principais manifestações foram tumor e dor na bolsa escrotal. A queixa de dor foi mais comum em adolescentes (p = 0,006). Estes apresentaram tempo médio de história de 4,9 meses, mais prolongado do que crianças, com 2,3 meses (p = 0,01). Os tipos histológicos encontrados foram: tumores de células germinativas em 32/60 (53%), rabdomiossarcomas (RMSs) em 23/60 (38,3%) e outros em 5/60 (8,3%). Os adolescentes apresentaram maior frequência de RMSs, metástases em linfonodos (p = 0,003) e a distância (p = 0,035). As diferenças na sobrevida dos pacientes estudados não foram estatisticamente significantes, havendo apenas indicativo de que a sobrevida, nos casos de RMS, é maior nas crianças (p = 0,072). CONCLUSÕES: Os adolescentes com tumor testicular apresentaram maior tempo de história, tipo histológico agressivo e doença avançada ao diagnóstico quando comparados às crianças, a despeito da pequena amostra.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação Científica (PIBIC)Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)UNIFESPUNIFESPSciEL

The enthalpies of dissociation of the N-O bonds in two quinoxaline derivatives

The present work reports the first experimental thermochemical study of mono-N-oxides derived from quinoxaline, namely, 3-methoxycarbonyl-2-methyl-quinoxaline N-oxide and 3-ethoxycarbonyl-2-methyl-quinoxaline N-oxide. The values of the enthalpies of formation, in the condensed state, and of the enthalpies of sublimation, derived from static bomb calorimetry and Calvet microcalorimetry measurements, respectively, are combined to derive the standard molar enthalpies of formation in the gaseous phase for these two compounds. From the latter values, the first and second N-O bond dissociation enthalpies for the corresponding di-N-oxides have been obtained. The gas-phase experimental results are also compared with calculated data obtained with a density functional theory approach. Copyright (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

A proactive approach to the conservation of historic and cultural Heritage: The HeritageCare methodology

Presently, no systematic policy for the preventive conservation of the built cultural heritage exists in South-West Europe. Current approaches for inspection, diagnosis, monitoring and reactive conservation are normally intermittent, unplanned, expensive and lack methodical strategy. The available financial resources are scarce and are mostly addressed to listed buildings. Besides, owners and stakeholders often reveal reluctance to invest in preventive conservation and maintenance programs. In view of these considerations, and driven by the principle “prevention is better than cure”, the HeritageCare project has developed a system for the preventive conservation and maintenance of the built heritage. The main aim of this paper is to briefly describe the methodology, including its three levels of service, and present the main results of the implementation and validation of the service level 1 on a case study belonging to the Portuguese architectural heritage.This work was carried out within the scope of the project HeritageCare (SOE1/P5/P0258), co-funded by the Interreg-Sudoe/FEDER program and included in the research activities of the ISISE Research Centre, also financed by FEDER funds through the Competitiveness Factors Operational Program – COMPETE and by national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007633. Authors would like to express their gratitude to the Centre for Computer Graphics, HeritageCare partner, for the development of the platform (and supporting database) and the mobile application, outputs of the project HeritageCare. Authors would like to express their gratitude to the Santa Maria de la Real Foundation, HeritageCare partner, for the placement of the monitoring system at the Ducal Palace, Guimarães, Portugal

Draft genome sequence of Burkholderia ambifaria RZ2MS16, a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium isolated from guarana, a tropical plant

Burkholderia ambifaria strain RZ2MS16 was isolated from the rhizosphere of Amazon guarana in Brazil. This bacterium exhibits a remarkable capacity to promote the growth of corn and soybean. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of RZ2MS16 and some genes related to multiple traits involved in plant growth promotion

Thermal performance of steel and fibre reinforced concrete composite floor

In general, steel and concrete composite floors tend to present a reduced functional performance (considering thermal and acoustic conditions), due to their low mass and to the high conductivity of the steel elements. By in-cluding components with high thermal insulation capacity in these structur-al systems, it is possible to maintain the structure lightness and not com-promise the thermal performance. Within this work, the analysis is dedicated to a composite floor in which a fibre reinforced concrete (FRC) slab is asso-ciated with a concrete filled “U” type steel profile. The fibre reinforcement avoids the use of conventional reinforcement, with significant savings in term of fabrication time. Filler blocks are inserted, composed by thermal in-sulation material (EPS), between the “U” shaped steel profiles, which act as formwork during the casting phase and, after the concrete hardening, con-tributing to improve the system´s thermal performance. This system was evaluated through numerical assessment. The analysis enabled to determine the thermal transmittance (U value) and to identify the critical zones in terms of thermal insulation efficiency. The performance of the proposed so-lution was also compared to other flooring solutions. According to the re-sults obtained, the proposed composite floor presents a better thermal behav-iour than other more traditional flooring systems.ANI - Agencia Nacional de InovaçãoThis work was developed within the research project NORTE-01-0247-FEDER-033690-PreSlabTec, involving the companies CiviTest and Serralharia Cunha, and the research institute ISISE, at the University of Minho

HIV knowledge and its correlation with the Undetectable = Untransmittable slogan in Brazil

Knowledge about HIV transmission and prevention is a necessary step for adopting preventive behaviors. We assessed HIV knowledge and its correlation with the perceived accuracy of the “Undetectable = Untransmittable” (U=U) slogan in an online sample with 401 adult Brazilians. Overall, 28% of participants showed high HIV knowledge level. The perceived accuracy of the U=U slogan significantly correlated with HIV knowledge. Younger participants, those reporting lower income or lower education, or who had never tested for HIV showed poorer HIV knowledge. Filling gaps of knowledge among specific populations is urgent in order to increase preventive behaviors and decrease HIV stigma

The impact of exercise training on liver transplanted familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) patients

Liver transplantation is nowadays the only effective answer to adjourn the outcome of functional limitations associated with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP), a neurodegenerative disease characterized by sensory and motor polyneuropathies. Nevertheless, there is a detrimental impact associated with the after-surgery period on the fragile physical condition of these patients. Exercise training has been proven to be effective on reconditioning patients after transplantation. However, the effects of exercise training in liver transplanted FAP patients have not been scrutinized yet

Using participatory mapping to Foster Community-Based disaster risk reduction in Forest Fire-Prone Areas: the case of Monchique in Portugal

Local knowledge and communities’ active role in disaster risk areas are recognized in the literature as key conditions to better understand risks, enhance adaptive capacities and foster local resilience. A participatory action research project in forest fire-prone areas in Monchique, Portugal, is aligned with the literature and adopts participatory mapping as a method that can bring evidence to the importance of local knowledge and communities’ agency. In the BRIDGE Project, different types of knowledge are integrated, triggering local/collective agency and fostering a forest fire community-based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR) approach. An innovation laboratory (InnoLab) provides the space for dialogue and knowledge sharing for different actors that manage forest territories. In the InnoLab, participatory mapping is used as a method to engage landowners where risk factors and local vulnerabilities were identified. Their active engagement enabled a collective perception in the assessment of vulnerability and led to the identification of strategic measures for risk reduction. This paper shares the process and outcomes of this participatory mapping, highlighting the benefits of a community approach and the importance of local knowledge and practices as recognized in the literature. It also reveals how the active role of local stakeholders can help drive a CBDRR process.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio