Physical and chemical quality, biodiversity, and thermodynamic prediction of adhesion of bacterial isolates from a water purification system: a case study

The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of water purification system and identify the bacteria this system, predict bacterial adherence according to the hydrophobicity of these microorganisms and of the polypropylene distribution loop for purified water. The assessment of drinking water that supplies the purification system allowed good-quality physical, chemical, and microbiological specifications. The physicochemical specifications of the distributed purified water were approved, but the heterotrophic bacteria count was higher than allowed (>;2 log CFU mL-1).The sanitation of the storage tank with chlorine decreased the number of bacteria adhered to the surface (4.34 cycles log). By sequencing of the 16SrDNA genes, six species of bacteria were identified. The contact angle was determined and polypropylene surface and all bacteria were considered to be hydrophilic, and adhesion was thermodynamically unfavorable. This case study showed the importance of monitoring the water quality in the purified water systems and the importance of sanitization with chemical agents. The count of heterotrophic bacteria on the polypropylene surface was consistent with the predicted thermodynamics results because the number of adhered cells reached approximate values of 5 log CFU cm-2

Opfermitverantwortung beim Betrug

Isolation of the peptide fraction P1-RPC-C18 by reverse-phase chromatography in a C4-column (RPC-C4) and mass spectrometry profile showing the peptide ions. (PDF 66 kb

Face recognition in Service robotics: Analysis of the padding effect according to people age / Reconhecimento facial em robótica de serviço: análise do efeito de preenchimento de acordo com a idade das pessoas

Service robots usually perform repetitive tasks such as collecting garbage, cleaning the house, among others. This kind of robot needs different skills to perform its daily tasks, being people´s recognition a critical skill. One of the techniques used to improve face recognition is padding. The padding technique increases, by a given scale factor, the bounding box of a detected face. In previous work, we had presented a comparative analysis of the influence of the padding in the algorithm used for face recognition. This paper extends the previous analysis by considering the effect of various padding scale factors among different life stages (i.e., toddler, children, teenager, adult, senior, and golden oldie). The result of this analysis shows that increasing the bounding box of detected faces is less efficient for middle-aged people than for younger and elderly people

Incontinentia pigmenti presenting as hypodontia in a 3-year-old girl: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Incontinentia pigmenti or Bloch-Sulzberger syndrome is a rare X-linked dominant disease that mainly affects the skin, eyes, hair, central nervous system and teeth. The disease is predominant among women. Although dermatologic manifestations are among the most important aspects for the diagnosis of the syndrome, they are less damaging to the patient and do not require treatment. However, oral involvement characterized by hypodontia of deciduous and permanent teeth is important for the diagnosis and treatment of the patient.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a 3-year-old girl with ophthalmologic and neurologic disturbances, cutaneous manifestations and hypodontia. Since the patient did not present more damaging manifestations such as neurologic and/or ophthalmologic problems, her most severe complications were related to dental anomalies. The importance of integrated dental treatment, which combines pediatric dentistry, orthodontics and conventional prosthesis, is emphasized.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Hypodontia is a frequent finding in incontinentia pigmenti, and dentists should be aware of this condition in order to help with the diagnosis.</p

DESENVOLVIMENTO DE BISCOITOS ENRIQUECIDOS COM FARINHA DE MAÇÃ E AVEIA

As fibras alimentares são reconhecidas por serem benéficas na prevenção e tratamento de diversas afecções, sendo consideradas alimento funcional. O objetivo do estudo foi elaborar e avaliar a aceitação de biscoitos produzidos com farinha de maçã e farelo de aveia. A farinha de maçã foi produzida por liofilização. Foi realizada análise química da maçã Fuji (Malus domestica) in natura e da farinha de maçã para comparação dos teores de umidade e Atividade de água em balança de infravermelho Radwag MAC 50/1® e do determinador de Atividade de água AquaLab 4TE da DecagonDevices®, respectivamente.  As amostras do produto foram submetidas à análise sensorial por 62 julgadores não treinados que responderam ao teste de aceitação, por escala hedônica verbal de nove pontos avaliando os atributos aroma, sabor, textura e impressão global e ao teste de intenção de compra. Foi realizada análise de variância de dois fatores (atributo e julgador) e a interação deste para cada atributo. Foi aplicado posteriormente o teste de Tukey, para as comparações das médias dos atributos, ao nível de 5% de significância. A farinha de maçã indicou76% de umidade e 0,35% de Atividade de água a uma temperatura de 25ºC, mostrando-se abaixo do limite máximo de umidade estipulado pela ANVISA. Na análise sensorial, houve aceitação dos julgadores para os quatro atributos avaliados e 74,8% dos participantes demonstraram intenção de compra dos biscoitos. O biscoito de maça enriquecido com farinha de aveia obteve uma boa aceitação e intenção de compra

Comparison of exfoliative pap stain and AgNOR counts of the tongue in smokers and nonsmokers

Objective To compare exfoliative cytology from the oral mucosa of smokers and nonsmokers, with emphasis on proliferative activity. Methods Exfoliative cytology specimens were obtained from clinical normal mucosa from the lateral border of the tongue in 30 nonsmokers and 30 smokers ranging in age from 40 to 70 years of age, who were seen at the Heart Institute's Patient Center and the Smoking Cessation Program of the University Hospital, University of São Paulo Medical School (InCor-HCFMUSP). The cytologic specimens were evaluated by Papanicolaou staining and AgNOR quantification in order to evaluate the presence of cytological alterations suggestive of inflammation, dysplasia, keratinization, and proliferative activity of epithelial cells. Results Only Papanicolaou Class I and Class II smears were observed. Inflammatory alterations were found in 90% of smokers and in 87% of nonsmokers. The number of AgNORs/nucleus differed significantly between smokers and nonsmokers (3.372 ± 0.375 versus 2.732 ± 0.236). Conclusions Within the limitations of this research, the results indicate higher proliferative activity in smoking patients compared to nonsmoking patients, even in the absence of clinical lesions. © The Author(s) 2008

Physical and chemical quality, biodiversity, and thermodynamic prediction of adhesion of bacterial isolates from a water purification system: a case study

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of water purification system and identify the bacteria this system, predict bacterial adherence according to the hydrophobicity of these microorganisms and of the polypropylene distribution loop for purified water. The assessment of drinking water that supplies the purification system allowed good-quality physical, chemical, and microbiological specifications. The physicochemical specifications of the distributed purified water were approved, but the heterotrophic bacteria count was higher than allowed (>2 log CFU mL-1).The sanitation of the storage tank with chlorine decreased the number of bacteria adhered to the surface (4.34 cycles log). By sequencing of the 16SrDNA genes, six species of bacteria were identified. The contact angle was determined and polypropylene surface and all bacteria were considered to be hydrophilic, and adhesion was thermodynamically unfavorable. This case study showed the importance of monitoring the water quality in the purified water systems and the importance of sanitization with chemical agents. The count of heterotrophic bacteria on the polypropylene surface was consistent with the predicted thermodynamics results because the number of adhered cells reached approximate values of 5 log CFU cm-2