Rhabdomyosarcoma of the Oral Tissues : two new cases and literature review

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a malignant soft tissue neoplasm consisting of cells derived from the primitive mesenchyme that exhibit a profound tendency to myogenesis. About 35% of RMS arises in the head and neck, being classified as parameningeal and non-orbital non-parameningeal forms. Parameningeal tumors carry the worst prognosis. The use of contemporary, multi-agent chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery has made treatment of the disseminated disease possible, and has significantly improved overall survival from 25% in 1970 to 70% in 1991. Here, we present the management of two cases of orofacial RMS in adolescents: an 18-year-old, white female that had a 9-month history of a nodule in the left buccal mucosa, and a 19-year-old, white male who had been aware of a nodule in the left, posterior maxillary ridge with progressive growth for 4 months. Before final diagnosis, both cases were previously treated as inflammatory lesions. Their clinicopathological aspects, treatment, and poor survival as a consequence of delays in diagnosis are discussed

Survey and analysis of microsatellites from transcript sequences in Phytophthora species: frequency, distribution, and potential as markers for the genus

BACKGROUND: Members of the genus Phytophthora are notorious pathogens with world-wide distribution. The most devastating species include P. infestans, P. ramorum and P. sojae. In order to develop molecular methods for routinely characterizing their populations and to gain a better insight into the organization and evolution of their genomes, we used an in silico approach to survey and compare simple sequence repeats (SSRs) in transcript sequences from these three species. We compared the occurrence, relative abundance, relative density and cross-species transferability of the SSRs in these oomycetes. RESULTS: The number of SSRs in oomycetes transcribed sequences is low and long SSRs are rare. The in silico transferability of SSRs among the Phytophthora species was analyzed for all sets generated, and primers were selected on the basis of similarity as possible candidates for transferability to other Phytophthora species. Sequences encoding putative pathogenicity factors from all three Phytophthora species were also surveyed for presence of SSRs. However, no correlation between gene function and SSR abundance was observed. The SSR survey results, and the primer pairs designed for all SSRs from the three species, were deposited in a public database. CONCLUSION: In all cases the most common SSRs were trinucleotide repeat units with low repeat numbers. A proportion (7.5%) of primers could be transferred with 90% similarity between at least two species of Phytophthora. This information represents a valuable source of molecular markers for use in population genetics, genetic mapping and strain fingerprinting studies of oomycetes, and illustrates how genomic databases can be exploited to generate data-mining filters for SSRs before experimental validation

Desenvolvimento e acúmulo de macronutrientes em plantas de milho biofertilizadas com manipueira.

Objetivou-se, neste estudo, avaliar o desenvolvimento vegetativo e o acúmulo de macronutrientes em plantas de milho submetidas às doses de manipueira. O experimento foi conduzido em ambiente protegido no período de março a maio de 2011. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado em esquema fatorial 2 (tipos de solo: franco-arenoso e franco-argiloso) × 4 (doses de manipueira: 0; 11,2; 22,4 e 44,8 m3 ha-1), com oito repetições. As variáveis analisadas foram: altura das plantas, diâmetro de colmos, número de folhas, matéria fresca e matéria seca da parte aérea das plantas e teores de N, P, K, Ca e Mg no tecido foliar. O aumento das doses de manipueira elevou o conteúdo de massa fresca, o teor de nitrogênio e potássio da parte aérea das plantas, mas diminuiu a altura das plantas e o teor de magnésio na parte aérea das plantas. Os acréscimos de matéria seca e de cálcio na parte aérea das plantas foram maiores no solo franco-arenoso

Rhizopus arrhizus ucp1295 como fonte econômica para produção de biopolímeros funcionais quitina e quitosana utilizando substratos renováveis / Rhizopus arrhizus ucp1295 as economic source for production of functional biopolymers chitin and chitosan using renewable substrates

Neste trabalho foi investigada a produção de quitina e quitosana por Rhizopus arrhizus UCP 1295 isolado do solo da Caatinga do Estado de Pernambuco, Brasil, utilizando o efluente industrial de doces e milhocina como substratos de baixo custo, considerando a versatilidade de aplicação das biomoléculas. O micro-organismo foi cultivado em diferentes concentrações dos substratos efluente da indústria de doces e milhocina (CSL) em diferentes valores de pH, de acordo com um planejamento fatorial completo 23. Após 96 h de fermentação, a biomassa produzida foi liofilizada e submetida ao tratamento com álcali- ácido-. Os polissacarídeos extraídos foram caracterizados por espectroscopia por transformada de Fourier (FTIR) na região do infravermelho. A maior produção de biomassa (14,11 g/L) foi obtida na condição 6 (8% de efluente industrial de doces, 5% de milhocina e pH 5), enquanto os maiores rendimentos de quitina (169,3 mg/g) e quitosana (239,1 mg/g) foram obtidos em meio contendo 4% de efluente da indústria de doces, sem milhocina, nas condições 3 (pH 7) e 1 (pH 5), respectivamente. A quitina apresentou grau de acetilação de 71,4% e a quitosana de 86,0%, de desacetilação, respectivamente. Além disso, foi demonstrado que o efluente industrial de balas e milhocina são substratos renováveis e alternativos na formulação de novos meios de produção de quitina e quitosana. A versatilidade das biomoléculas deve-se as suas propriedades bioquímicas únicas, como biocompatibilidade, biodegradabilidade, não toxicidade, capacidade de formar filmes e aplicações industriais promissoras

Episiotomy healing assessment: Redness, Oedema, Ecchymosis, Discharge, Approximation (REEDA) scale reliability

OBJECTIVE: to analyse the Redness, Oedema, Ecchymosis, Discharge, Approximation (REEDA) scale reliability when evaluating perineal healing after a normal delivery with a right mediolateral episiotomy.METHOD: observational study based on data from a clinical trial conducted with 54 randomly selected women, who had their perineal healing assessed at four time points, from 6 hours to 10 days after delivery, by nurses trained in the use of this scale. The kappa coefficient was used in the reliability analysis of the REEDA scale.RESULTS: the results indicate good agreement in the evaluation of the discharge item (0.75< Kappa ≥0.88), marginal and good agreement in the first three assessments of oedema (0.16< Kappa ≥0.46), marginal agreement in the evaluation of ecchymosis (0.25< Kappa ≥0.42) and good agreement regarding redness (0.46< Kappa ≥0.66). For the item coaptation, the agreement decreased from excellent in the first assessment to good in the last assessment. In the fourth evaluation, the assessment of all items displayed excellent or good agreement among the evaluators.CONCLUSION: the difference in the scores among the evaluators when applying the scale indicates that this tool must be improved to allow an accurate assessment of the episiotomy healing process

Recomendaciones para fomentar la calidad en prácticas educativas mediadas por tecnologías digitales

En estos momentos de cambio que estamos viviendo, la preservación de la calidad de la Educación es un imperativo para facilitar la consecución de los resultados de aprendizaje esperados por la comunidad educativa y la sociedad. Desde RedUnete (Red Universitaria para la Educación con Tecnología), contribuimos en la mejora de los procesos de preservación y Aseguramiento de la calidad de la Educación, en particular cuando es mediada por la tecnología, y por ello hemos elaborado este documento de recomendaciones con la colaboración del Ministerio de Educación Nacional y de otras entidades y redes, que esperamos sea de utilidad para la educación superior de Colombia.Introducción. La calidad en las prácticas educativas mediadas por tecnologías. Pertinencia de las tecnologías digitales para enriquecer los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje. Transformación digital de la oferta académica desde la integración asertiva de las tecnologías. Referencia