Avaliação dos mecanismos de aderência entre argamassa colante e substrato não poroso

A resistência de aderência de um sistema de revestimento cerâmico é uma das mais importantes propriedades deste tipo de acabamento. O conhecimento das propriedades dos substratos e argamassas, e a capacidade de bem avaliar a interação entre os elementos são preceitos básicos para construírem-se revestimentos duráveis. Nesse sentido, o aperfeiçoamento dos modelos que descrevem os mecanismos de aderência, objetos de estudo deste trabalho, são essenciais, principalmente devido a diferenças nas características dos materiais relativas à porosidade, verificadas tanto em substratos como nas placas. O planejamento experimental consistiu no assentamento de um revestimento cerâmico externo utilizando-se a técnica de piso sobre piso, ensaios de resistência de aderência, aquisição de imagens em MEV dos pisos retirados do campo de testes e caracterização das argamassas colantes de estudo. Os resultados mostraram uma relação entre a resistência de aderência e a extensão de contato entre a argamassa e o substrato, indicando que o mecanismo de aderência para o assentamento de placas sobre substratos não porosos está diretamente relacionado com a extensão do contato entre os materiais, resultando em um modelo de aderência para o caso de revestimento cerâmico em substrato pouco poroso

chroniques de l'enfant: approche pratique et donnees epidemiologiques. [Chronic arthroses in children: practical approach and epidemiological data]

Osteo-articular symptoms are frequent in pediatrics, but chronic arthritis is rare in childhood. Arthritis may be difficult to recognize in children and there is a large differential diagnosis including infectious and neoplastic diseases. Even if juvenile arthritis has often a favourable course, significant functional damage may occur. The diagnosis and the follow-up of chronic arthritis should be performed in collaboration with a specialized consultation in pediatric rheumatology, in order to allow access to multidisciplinary medical care and help to increase the clinical and epidemiological knowledge in these rare diseases. A study is starting this fall aimed at collecting epidemiological datas on childhood arthritis in the french part of Switzerland

Overexpression of Plasmodium falciparum M1 Aminopeptidase Promotes an Increase in Intracellular Proteolysis and Modifies the Asexual Erythrocytic Cycle Development

Plasmodium falciparum, the most virulent of the human malaria parasite, is responsible for high mortality rates worldwide. We studied the M1 alanyl-aminopeptidase of this protozoan (PfA-M1), which is involved in the final stages of hemoglobin cleavage, an essential process for parasite survival. Aiming to help in the rational development of drugs against this target, we developed a new strain of P. falciparum overexpressing PfA-M1 without the signal peptide (overPfA-M1). The overPfA-M1 parasites showed a 2.5-fold increase in proteolytic activity toward the fluorogenic substrate alanyl-7-amido-4-methylcoumarin, in relation to the wild-type group. Inhibition studies showed that overPfA-M1 presented a lower sensitivity against the metalloaminopeptidase inhibitor bestatin and to other recombinant PfA-M1 inhibitors, in comparison with the wild-type strain, indicating that PfA-M1 is a target for the in vitro antimalarial activity of these compounds. Moreover, overPfA-M1 parasites present a decreased in vitro growth, showing a reduced number of merozoites per schizont, and also a decrease in the iRBC area occupied by the parasite in trophozoite and schizont forms when compared to the controls. Interestingly, the transgenic parasite displays an increase in the aminopeptidase activity toward Met-, Ala-, Leu- and Arg-7-amido-4-methylcoumarin. We also investigated the potential role of calmodulin and cysteine proteases in PfA-M1 activity. Taken together, our data show that the overexpression of PfA-M1 in the parasite cytosol can be a suitable tool for the screening of antimalarials in specific high-throughput assays and may be used for the identification of intracellular molecular partners that modulate their activity in P. falciparum

Postoperative pain and short-term complications after two elective sterilization techniques: ovariohysterectomy or ovariectomy in cats

Abstract Background Surgical sterilization of cats is one of the most commonly performed procedures in veterinary practice and it can be accomplished by two different techniques: ovariohysterectomy (OVH) or ovariectomy (OVE). Although there is an apparent preference for OVH in United States and Canada, OVE seems to be the standard of care in many European countries due to its advantages, such as a smaller surgical incision and potentially less complications associated with surgical manipulation of the uterus. The aim of this randomized, blind, prospective study was to compare postoperative pain and short-term complications in cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy or ovariectomy. Methods Twenty female cats were randomly assigned into two groups (OVH, n = 10 and OVE, n = 10). Pain was assessed prior to surgery (baseline) and 1, 2, 4, 8 12 and 24 h after the procedure using pain and sedation scales, physiologic parameters and blood glucose levels. Short-term complications were evaluated in the early postoperative period and reassessed at day 7 and day 10. Results Changes in cardiovascular parameters were not clinically relevant, however cats in OVH group had higher heart rates at T1 h compared with baseline (p = 0.0184). Blood glucose levels in OVH group were also higher at T1 h compared with baseline (p = 0.0135) and with OVE group (p = 0.0218). Surgical time was higher in OVH group (p = 0.0115). Even though no significant differences in pain scores were observed between groups or time points, cats in OVH group had greater need for rescue analgesia compared with OVE (2/10 and 0/10, respectively). Complications were not observed in any cat during surgery, at days 7 and 10 postoperatively or at discharge. Conclusions Both surgical techniques promoted similar intensity of postoperative pain in cats and there were no short-term complications throughout the study’s evaluation period. Therefore, both techniques may be indicated for surgical sterilization of cats, according to the surgeon’s preference and expertise. Cats that underwent ovariectomy did not require rescue analgesia and surgical time was shorter in that group