Foscarnet-induced penile ulceration

Foscarnet is used to treat infections with herpes viruses, including drug-resistant cytomegalovirus (CMV) and infections with herpes viruses 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2). There are some reports of intravenous foscarnet-induced penile and vulvar ulceration. The authors report a case of severe penile ulcers after the initiation of intravenous foscarnet therap

Cutaneous manifestations of antiphospholipid syndrome: a review of the clinical features, diagnosis and management

Antiphospholipid syndrome is a relatively recent systemic autoimmune disorder defined by thrombotic events and/or obstetric complications in the presence of persistent elevated antiphospholipid antibodies. It is characterized by a wide spectrum of clinical presentations and virtually any organ system or tissue may be affected by the consequences of vascular occlusion. Diagnosis is sometimes difficult and although classification criteria have been published and revised there remain ongoing issues regarding nomenclature, expanding clinical features, laboratory tests and management and much still has to be done. Cutaneous manifestations are common and frequently the first sign of the disease. Although extremely diverse it’s important to know which dermatological findings should prompt consideration of antiphospholipid syndrome and the appropriate management for those patients. Much has been debated about when to consider antiphospholipid syndrome and consensus still does not exist, however in spite of being a diagnostic challenge clinicians should know when to look for antiphospholipid antibodies since an early diagnosis is important to prevent further and serious complications. In this article we focus on the cutaneous features that should raise suspicion on the presence of antiphospholipid syndrome and on the complex management of such patients. Many other dermatological signs related to this syndrome have been described in the literature but only occasionally and without consistency or statistic impact and therefore will not be considered hereO síndrome antifosfolipidico é uma patologia auto-imune relativamente recente definida por eventos trombóticos e/ou complicações obstétricas na presença de anticorpos antifosfolípido elevados persistentes. Caracteriza-se por um vasto leque de apresentações clínicas e virtualmente qualquer sistema orgânico ou tecido pode ser afectado por oclusão vascular. O diagnóstico é por vezes difícil e, apesar de critérios de classificação terem sido publicados e revistos, muitas dúvidas persistem relativamente à nomenclatura, características clínicas, testes laboratoriais e abordagem destes doentes. As manifestações cutâneas são comuns e, frequentemente, o primeiro sinal da doença. Apesar da grande variabilidade, é importante reconhecer os achados dermatológicos que devem levantar a suspeita de um síndrome antifosfolipidico, assim como a abordagem adequada destes doentes. Muito tem sido debatido sobre quando considerar o diagnóstico desta entidade, não havendo ainda consenso neste assunto; no entanto, apesar de ser um desafio diagnóstico, é importante saber quando investigar a presença de anticorpos antifosfolípidos, uma vez que um diagnóstico precoce é crucial para prevenir complicações futuras graves. No presente artigo os autores descrevem as manifestações dermatológicas que devem fazer considerar o diagnóstico com enfoque na abordagem complexa destes doentes. Têm sido descritas na literatura muitas outras alterações cutâneas relacionadas com esta entidade, no entanto, apenas de forma ocasional e sem consistência ou impacto estatístico, pelo que não serão consideradas

Vesico-bullous subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus – An uncommon entity successfully treated with dapsone and hydroxychloroquine

Vesico-bullous subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus is an uncommon and severe presentation. The authors report an exuberant case of vesico-bullous subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus successfully treated with dapsone and hydroxychloroquin

Penile Kaposi sarcoma: A case of complete resolution with highly active antiretroviral therapy alone

Kaposi sarcoma remains an important cause of morbidity in HIV-infected patients. Regardless of the recent pharmacological progress, treatment of this malignancy is still disappointing. We report the case of a patient with Kaposi sarcoma in an unusual localization, the penis, which completely resolved with highly active antiretroviral therapy alon

Rate-flexible optical CDMA networks based on coherent modulation formats

In this paper, we propose, design, and assess the performance of optical coherent access networks based on optical code-division multiple-access (OCDMA) based on three distinct coherent modulation formats, namely, BPSK, QPSK, and 16-QAM. We design a flexible network architecture based on these coherent modulation formats to provide either single data rate transmissions or multiple data rate transmissions. In this way, the network supports users with the same transmission rate, or group of users transmitting at different data rates. We derive new close-form analytical expressions for both single and multiple rate use cases to assess the performance of the coherent OCDMA network. Results shown that the multi-rate data traffic from the users can coexist almost transparently in terms of network performance. The flexible OCDMA network might be a prospective alternative for implementing coherent systems for different service provision according to traffic demand requirements while supporting with high capacity, security, and simultaneous numbers of subscribers. Keywords: BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM, coherent network, BER, OCDM

Pellagra as the initial presentation of Crohn disease

Pellagra is a nutritional disease caused by the deficiency of niacin. We describe a case of pellagra as the initial presentation of Crohn disease, which has been rarely described in the literature

Comercialização e uso de produtos inseticidas para controle da mosca-dos-chifres em Aquidauana, MS.

A mosca-dos-chifres é considerada um sério problema econômico à pecuária devido aos prejuízos causados à produção e gastos com controle. Este estudo objetivou conhecer o perfil da comercialização e uso dos produtos inseticidas para controle da mosca-dos-chifres no município de Aquidauana, MS. De nov/1999 a nov/2000, informações foram obtidas em estabelecimentos agropecuários na cidade de Aquidauana e em entrevistas com produtores rurais e gerentes de fazendas. Um total de 29 produtos indicados para o controle da mosca foram encontrados nos estabelecimentos, pertencentes aos grupos dos piretróides (58,6%), organofosforados (3,4%), fenil pirazoles (3,4%), lactonas macrocíclicas (3,4%) e associações entre inseticidas (31,0%). A cipermetrina foi o princípio ativo mais comum, presente em 69,0% dos produtos (incluindo associações). Informações obtidas em 212 propriedades evidenciaram uma ampla utilização de produtos piretróides, empregados rotineiramente em 89,6% das propriedades, a maioria dos quais à base de cipermetrina (69,8%) e deltametrina (48,1%). A utilização de produtos de outras classes inseticidas é mínima. O domínio dos produtos piretróides, em termos de comercialização e uso no município de Aquidauana, explica os crescentes problemas de controle da mosca-dos-chifres e o desenvolvimento de resistência a inseticidas desta classe.bitstream/item/37420/1/BP32.pd

Development of methodologies for virus detection in soybean and wheat seeds.

Seeds that contain large amounts of oil, starch, fibers and phenols are the most difficult tissues for RNA extraction. Currently, there are some reports of virus detection in seeds using commercial kits for RNA extraction. However, individual seeds were used, which may not be always suitable for analyses that deal with large amounts of seeds. Sangha [1] described a simple, quick and efficient protocol for RNA extraction and downstream applications in a group of seeds of jatropha (Jatropha curcas), mustard (Brassica sp.) and rice (Oryza sativa). We tested this protocol for soybean (Glycine max), maize (Zea mays), wheat (Triticum aestivum) and triticale (×Triticosecale) seeds and further reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR)/quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) in order to have a faster and more practical method for virus detection from seeds than the traditional scheme of seed planting and subsequent Elisa/RT-PCR from leaves. The essential points in the method are: • Some modifications in the protocol [1] were done in order to increase performance: Wheat and triticale seeds are incubated with water prior to maceration. An amount of 1.2 g of dry soybean seeds is used to maceration. • RT-PCR is used for detection of Wheat streak mosaic virus from wheat seeds and RT-qPCR for detection of Soybean mosaic virus from soybean seeds. • The method may be tested for other viruses, however, pre-validation will be needed