Wound Healing and Anti-Inflammatory Effect in Animal Models of Calendula officinalis L. Growing in Brazil

Calendula officinalis is an annual herb from Mediterranean origin which is popularly used in wound healing and as an anti-inflammatory agent. In this study, the ethanolic extract, the dichloromethane, and hexanic fractions of the flowers from plants growing in Brazil were produced. The angiogenic activity of the extract and fractions was evaluated through the chorioallantoic membrane and cutaneous wounds in rat models. The healing activity of the extract was evaluated by the same cutaneous wounds model through macroscopic, morphometric, histopathologic, and immunohistochemical analysis. The antibacterial activity of the extract and fractions was also evaluated. This experimental study revealed that C. officinalis presented anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities as well as angiogenic and fibroplastic properties acting in a positive way on the inflammatory and proliferative phases of the healing process

Measurement of the solar 8B neutrino rate with a liquid scintillator target and 3 MeV energy threshold in the Borexino detector

We report the measurement of electron neutrino elastic scattering from 8B solar neutrinos with 3 MeV energy threshold by the Borexino detector in Gran Sasso (Italy). The rate of solar neutrino-induced electron scattering events above this energy in Borexino is 0.217 +- 0.038 (stat) +- 0.008 (syst) cpd/100 t, which corresponds to the equivalent unoscillated flux of (2.4 +- 0.4 (stat) +- 0.1 (syst))x10^6 cm^-2 s^-1, in good agreement with measurements from SNO and SuperKamiokaNDE. Assuming the 8B neutrino flux predicted by the high metallicity Standard Solar Model, the average 8B neutrino survival probability above 3 MeV is measured to be 0.29+-0.10. The survival probabilities for 7Be and 8B neutrinos as measured by Borexino differ by 1.9 sigma. These results are consistent with the prediction of the MSW-LMA solution of a transition in the solar electron neutrino survival probability between the low energy vacuum-driven and the high-energy matter-enhanced solar neutrino oscillation regimes.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, 6 table

The first Acanthamoeba keratitis case in the Midwest region of Brazil: diagnosis, genotyping of the parasite and disease outcome

We report an Acanthamoeba keratitis case associated with the use of contact lens in a 28-year-old female from Brasília, Brazil. Samples from corneal scraping and contact lens case were used for culture establishment, PCR amplification, and partial sequencing (fragments of ~400kb) of small subunit rDNA; both culture and PCR were positive. The sequence analyses of the cornea and of isolates from the contact lens case showed similarity with the T4 genotype. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of T4 Acanthamoeba keratitis case from the Midwest region of Brazil

Data Warehouse to support the operation management in interstate road transport passenger companies

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Tecnologia, Departamento de Engenharia Civil e Ambiental, 2006.OO transporte rodoviário interestadual de passageiros representa importante componente na integração e no desenvolvimento da economia nacional. Nas últimas décadas, fatores como o aumento da competitividade intermodal e a expansão do transporte irregular, incentivaram a busca por eficiência na operação dos serviços por parte das empresas operadoras. Uma das alternativas para o aumento da eficiência é a gestão da operação com o apoio de sistemas de informação baseados em Data Warehouse. Esses sistemas constituem fonte de informações estratégicas, gerando diferencial competitivo para as empresas. Nesse contexto, esta dissertação tem como objetivo desenvolver um Data Warehouse para apoio a gestão da operação em empresas operadoras do Transporte Rodoviário Interestadual de Passageiros. Especificamente, o modelo proposto é desenvolvido a partir da proposta de um Sistema Informações Gerenciais, utilizando tecnologia Data Warehouse e ferramenta OLAP para análise de dados. O Data Mart (Data Warehouse departamental) tem por escopo a gerência de operações, sendo que o mesmo foi concebido com o objetivo principal de proporcionar amplo espectro de consultas ad hoc utilizando ferramenta OLAP, tendo como base as informações consolidadas a partir dos dados extraídos das marcações do tacógrafo. Esse sistema foi aplicado em estudo de caso envolvendo uma empresa operadora do Transporte Rodoviário Interestadual de Passageiros, e pode-se concluir que apresentou grande capacidade na constituição do diagnóstico dos procedimentos da operação e apoio adequado ao processo decisório. _______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTThe interstate passenger road transport represents an important component in the development and integration of the national economy. In the last decades, factors like the increase of intermodal competitiveness and the expansion of irregular transport has motivated the companies to pursue higher efficiency at their operation services. One of the alternatives to increase efficiency is to manage the operation by using information systems based on Data Warehouse. This kind of system constitutes a source of strategic information, generating a competitive advantage for the companies. In this context, this statement has as its objective to develop a Data Warehouse model to support the operation management in interstate road transport passenger companies. The proposed model is developed specifically based on the proposal of a management information system, using Data Warehouse technology and OLAP tools for data analysis. The scope of the Data Mart (Data Warehouse departmental) is the operations management, although it was developed with the main objective of providing a wide range of ad-hoc consultations, using OLAP tools, having as a base the consolidate information provided by the data extracted from the Tacograph (speed governor). This system was applied in a case study involving a passenger road transport company and it can be concluded that it was very efficient in forming a diagnosis of the operational procedures and adequate support in the decision-making process