AVALIAÇÃO DA RELAÇÃO DA QUALIDADE MICROBIOLOGICA DA AGUA DE CONSUMO NO MUNICIPIO DE SANTA CECÍLIA E DOENÇAS VEICULADAS POR AGUA CONTAMINADA

O presente estudo avaliou a relação entre a qualidade microbiológica da água da rede de abastecimento para o consumo humano do município de Santa Cecília e as doenças veiculadas por eventual contaminação. Foram analisadas vinte amostras de água, coletadas diretamente da rede de distribuição em cinco bairros com diferentes condições sócio-econômicas, em períodos alternados. Estas amostras foram coletadas em trabalho conjunto com a Vigilância Sanitária sendo após, encaminhadas para análise de cloro residual, pH, características organolépticas, físico-químicas e microbiológicas. No período da primeira coleta foram registrados, 80 casos de diarréia. As primeiras amostras de água coletadas no presente estudo foram na segunda semana do mês sendo que a amostra do Bairro Vila Nova apresentou contaminação significativa por E.coli com presença em 100 mL, período no qual foi registrado o maior número de casos de diarréia (26). Na segunda coleta, o número de casos de diarréia foi de 222, sendo a maioria na primeira semana deste (79). As amostras apresentaram coliformes totais em 100 mL de amostra no Bairro Vila Nova, exatamente na semana em que foi registrado o maior número de doentes por diarréia. No terceiro ponto de coleta para estudo, foram registrados 136 casos de diarréia. As amostras coletadas neste mês foram na segunda semana, sendo que nos Bairros Vila Nova e Guilherme Rauen, as mesmas apresentaram coliformes totais em 100 mL de amostra, e nesta foram registrados 37 casos, embora na terceira e quarta semanas, este número de casos foi semelhante. Nas últimas coletas para estudo, foram notificados 79 casos. As coletas de água para análise deste intervalo foram na terceira semana, a qual teve um maior número de casos (27), sendo detectada presença de coliformes totais em 100 mL de amostra no Bairro Guilherme Rauen. Embora os dados aqui apresentados demonstrem ser possível a relação de um maior número de casos em períodos onde foram detectados coliformes fecais e ou totais, para afirmar a relação entre o aparecimento de coliformes e doenças diarréicas veiculadas pela água em determinados períodos, é necessário obter mais dados e estudos como coleta nos diversos pontos semana a semana, estabelecimento do bairro onde ocorreu a notificação da diarréia, e se possível, a causa da mesma (veiculada por água, alimentos ou outras causas). O que pode ser realizado com este estudo é repassar aos setores de Vigilância Sanitária e Epidemiológica estes dados obtidos e a sua discussão, a fim de determinar estratégias para melhorar a obtenção de estatísticas, pois isto auxilia enormemente no conhecimento dos locais de maior ocorrência de doenças e estabelecimento de suas causas

An Endothelial Storage Granule for Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator

In previous studies we have shown that, after stimulation by a receptor ligand such as thrombin, tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) and von Willebrand factor (vWf) will be acutely released from human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). However, the mechanisms involved in the secretion of these two proteins differ in some respects, suggesting that the two proteins may be stored in different secretory granules

Accurate reference gas mixtures containing tritiated molecules: Their production and raman‐based analysis

Highly accurate, quantitative analyses of mixtures of hydrogen isotopologues—both the stable species, H$_{2}$, D$_{2}$2, and HD, and the radioactive species, T$_{2}$, HT, and DT—are of great importance in fields as diverse as deuterium–tritium fusion, neutrino mass measurements using tritium β-decay, or for photonuclear experiments in which hydrogen–deuterium targets are used. In this publication we describe a production, handling, and analysis facility capable of fabricating well-defined gas samples, which may contain any of the stable and radioactive hydrogen isotopologues, with sub-percent accuracy for the relative species concentrations. The production is based on precise manometric gas mixing of H$_{2}$, D$_{2}$, and T$_{2}$. The heteronuclear isotopologues HD, HT, and DT are generated via controlled, in-line catalytic reaction or by β-induced self-equilibration, respectively. The analysis was carried out using an in-line intensity- and wavelength-calibrated Raman spectroscopy system. This allows for continuous monitoring of the composition of the circulating gas during the self-equilibration or catalytic evolution phases. During all procedures, effects, such as exchange reactions with wall materials, were considered with care. Together with measurement statistics, these and other systematic effects were included in the determination of composition uncertainties of the generated reference gas samples. Measurement and calibration accuracy at the level of 1% was achieved

Hippocampal vascularization patterns exert local and distant effects on brain structure but not vascular pathology in old age

The hippocampus within the medial temporal lobe is highly vulnerable to age-related pathology such as vascular disease. We examined hippocampal vascularization patterns by harnessing the ultra-high resolution of 7 Tesla magnetic resonance angiography. Dual-supply hemispheres with a contribution of the anterior choroidal artery to hippocampal blood supply were distinguished from single-supply ones with a sole dependence on the posterior cerebral artery. A recent study indicated that a dual vascular supply is related to preserved cognition and structural hippocampal integrity in old age and vascular disease. Here, we examined the regional specificity of these structural benefits at the level of medial temporal lobe sub-regions and hemispheres. In a cross-sectional study with an older cohort of 17 patients with cerebral small vessel disease (70.7 ±  9.0 years, 35.5% female) and 27 controls (71.1 ±  8.2 years, 44.4% female), we demonstrate that differences in grey matter volumes related to the hippocampal vascularization pattern were specifically observed in the anterior hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. These regions were especially bigger in dual-supply hemispheres, but also seemed to benefit from a contralateral dual supply. We further show that total grey matter volumes were greater in people with at least one dual-supply hemisphere, indicating that the hippocampal vascularization pattern has more far-reaching structural implications beyond the medial temporal lobe. A mediation analysis identified total grey matter as a mediator of differences in global cognition. However, our analyses on multiple neuroimaging markers for cerebral small vessel disease did not reveal any evidence that an augmented hippocampal vascularization conveys resistance nor resilience against vascular pathology. We propose that an augmented hippocampal vascularization might contribute to maintaining structural integrity in the brain and preserving cognition despite age-related degeneration. As such, the binary hippocampal vascularization pattern could have major implications for brain structure and function in ageing and dementia independent of vascular pathology, while presenting a simple framework with potential applicability to the clinical setting

A New Method of Generating Exact Inflationary Solutions

The mechanism of the initial inflation of the universe is based on gravitationally coupled scalar fields $\phi$. Various scenarios are distinguished by the choice of an {\it effective self--interaction potential} $U(\phi)$ which simulates a {\it temporarily} non--vanishing {\em cosmological term}. Using the Hubble expansion parameter $H$ as a new ``time" coordinate, we can formally derive the {\it general} Robertson--Walker metric for a {\em spatially flat} cosmos. Our new method provides a classification of allowed inflationary potentials and is broad enough to embody all known {\it exact} solutions involving one scalar field as special cases. Moreover, we present new inflationary and deflationary exact solutions and can easily predict the influence of the form of $U(\phi)$ on density perturbations.Comment: 32 pages, REVTeX, 9 postscript figures (or hardcopy) available upon request, Cologne-thp-1994-H

Neutral tritium gas reduction in the KATRIN differential pumping sections

The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino experiment (KATRIN) aims to measure the effective electron anti-neutrino mass with an unprecedented sensitivity of $0.2\,\mathrm{eV}/\mathrm{c}^2$, using $\beta$-electrons from tritium decay. The electrons are guided magnetically by a system of superconducting magnets through a vacuum beamline from the windowless gaseous tritium source through differential and cryogenic pumping sections to a high resolution spectrometer and a segmented silicon pin detector. At the same time tritium gas has to be prevented from entering the spectrometer. Therefore, the pumping sections have to reduce the tritium flow by more than 14 orders of magnitude. This paper describes the measurement of the reduction factor of the differential pumping section performed with high purity tritium gas during the first measurement campaigns of the KATRIN experiment. The reduction factor results are compared with previously performed simulations, as well as the stringent requirements of the KATRIN experiment.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Vacuu

Monitoring of the operating parameters of the KATRIN Windowless Gaseous Tritium Source

The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment will measure the absolute mass scale of neutrinos with a sensitivity of \m_{\nu} = 200 meV/c$^2$ by high-precision spectroscopy close to the tritium beta-decay endpoint at 18.6 keV. Its Windowless Gaseous Tritium Source (WGTS) is a beta-decay source of high intensity ($10^{11}$/s) and stability, where high-purity molecular tritium at 30 K is circulated in a closed loop with a yearly throughput of 10 kg. To limit systematic effects the column density of the source has to be stabilised at the 0.1% level. This requires extensive sensor instrumentation and dedicated control and monitoring systems for parameters such as the beam tube temperature, injection pressure, gas composition and others. Here we give an overview of these systems including a dedicated Laser-Raman system as well as several beta-decay activity monitors. We also report on results of the WGTS demonstrator and other large-scale test experiments giving proof-of-principle that all parameters relevant to the systematics can be controlled and monitored on the 0.1% level or better. As a result of these works, the WGTS systematics can be controlled within stringent margins, enabling the KATRIN experiment to explore the neutrino mass scale with the design sensitivity.Comment: 32 pages, 13 figures. modification to title, typos correcte