This article presents a synthesis of the report collectively elaborated in the meeting on Ethics in Qualitative Health Research, which took place in Guarujá, São Paulo State, from August 28 to 30, in ...2006. The meeting was organized by the Ethical Committee of the Municipal Health Office of São Paulo, supported by the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), sponsored by UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO and stressed the need to review the Brazilian guidelines for the analysis of the ethical aspects of qualitative health research.
Objective: To investigate insulin metabolism and its modifications induced by the administration of flutamide, a specific antiandrogen compound, in women with idiopathic hirsutism (IH) and in ...nonobese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
Design: Prospective, randomized trial.
Setting: Endocrinological Centre of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Caligari, Caligari, Italy.
Patient(s): Thirty-two women with normal body mass index participated in the study: 11 with clinical and hormonal features of PCOS and 21 age- and weight-matched normally cycling women with IH (n = 11) and without IH (n = 10, controls).
Intervention(s): Each subject with PCOS or IH was assigned randomly to receive either flutamide tablets (250 mg twice a day) or placebo for ≥5 months. Twelve subjects (6 with PCOS, 6 with IH) received flutamide and 10 (5 with PCOS, 5 with IH) received placebo. All subjects ingested 75 g of glucose and then underwent an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), 3–7 days after spontaneous or medroxyprogesterone acetate (5 mg daily for 5 days)–induced menses. In women with PCOS or IH, the OGTT was repeated at the fourth month of treatment.
Main Outcome Measure(s): Fasting and OGTT-stimulated levels of glucose, insulin, and C peptide.
Result(s): Both fasting and OGTT-stimulated levels of insulin and C peptide were significantly higher in women with PCOS and in those with IH than in controls. Placebo did not modify parameters of glucose metabolism. Flutamide was capable of significantly blunting fasting and OGTT-stimulated secretion of insulin only in women with IH.
Conclusion(s): Hyperinsulinemia exists in women with IH as well as in nonobese women with PCOS. Treatment with flutamide can completely reverse hyperinsulinemia only in women with IH, which suggests that the efficacy of the drug is dependent on peripheral androgen hyperactivity.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
It is well known that certain actions of androgen are mediated through
in situ
brain aromatization to estrogen. This study was undertaken to investigate seasonally the androgen utilization in the ...neural target tissues of the female frog,
Rana esculenta
, through a quantification of aromatase activity and estrogen receptors (ER). Aromatase activity was detected in the microsomal fraction of the brain and co-localization with ER was only in the cytoplasmatic area. Western analysis of aromatase revealed one immunoreactive band with a molecular weight of approximately 56 kDa. ER were present seasonally in both the cytosol and the nuclear brain extracts. Data on aromatase enzyme activity and relative levels of aromatase protein are discussed and more detail on the mechanisms involved in frog brain regulating estrogen synthesis supposed. Further studies are in progress to cloning the sex steroid-synthesizing enzyme CYP19 in the neural target tissues of
Rana esculenta
.
This study aims at assessing the potential of the NASA's Cyclone GNSS (CyGNSS) data for observing SM and forest biomass. As reference values for the comparison, global datasets of Vegetation Optical ...Depth (VOD) and SM derived from NASA's Soil Moisture Active and Passive mission SMAP have been considered. The results of the sensitivity analysis suggested exploiting the CyGNSS capabilities in estimating VOD and SM by setting-up prototype retrieval algorithms based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANN).
ABSTRACT
Transferable quinolone resistance has not previously been reported in Argentina. Here we describe three complex class 1 integrons harboring the novel allele
qnrB10
in a unique region ...downstream of
orf513
, one of them also containing
aac
(
6
′)-
Ib
-
cr
within the variable region of integrons. The three arrays differed from
bla
CTX-M-2
-bearing integrons, which are broadly distributed in Argentina.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) entry is mediated not only by the CD4 receptor, but also by interaction with closely related molecules that act as membrane coreceptors. We have analyzed mRNA ...expression and/or cell membrane exposition of the coreceptors most widely used by diverse HIV-1 strains (CXCR4, CCR5, and CCR3) on purified hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) induced in liquid suspension culture to unilineage differentiation/maturation through the erythroid (E), granulocytic (G), megakaryocytic (Mk), and monocytic (Mo) lineages. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and cytofluorimetric analysis showed the presence of both CXCR4 and CCR5 in quiescent HPCs, but failed to detect CCR3-specific transcripts. Chemokine expression in HPC progenies showed that CXCR4 receptor is detected on the majority of MKs from early to late stages of maturation, whereas it is moderately decreased in the Mo lineage. In the G pathway, two distinct cell populations, CXCR4+ and CXCR4−, were observed: morphological analysis of the sorted populations showed that the CXCR4+ cells were largely eosinophils and the CXCR4− were granulocytes of the neutrophilic series. Furthermore, in the E pathway, CXCR4 was almost completely absent. CCR5 expression is restricted to Mo cultures, ie, ≈30% to 80% cells throughout all monocytopoietic differentiation/maturation stages. Finally, CCR3 mRNA is always absent in all the unilineage cultures. Evaluation of CD4 expression by flow cytometry on both quiescent HPCs and differentiating unilineage precursors showed that the CD4 receptor is present on ≈15% of the starting CD34+ HPC population, highly expressed in the Mo lineage up to 80% at terminal maturation, present on 20% to 30% of maturing Mks, and not detectable in either the E or G lineage. Expression of CD4 receptor together with CXCR4 and/or CCR5 coreceptor in the four lineages correlates with hematopoietic precursor susceptibility to T-lymphotropic and macrophage (M)-tropic HIV strains infection: (1) CD4− G and E cells were resistant to both M-tropic and T-lymphotropic strains; (2) HPC-derived Mks were susceptible to T-tropic, but resistant to M-tropic, infection; (3) Mo differentiating cells efficiently replicate both HIV strains. Furthermore, we showed that the CXCR4 and CCR5 ligands (stromal-derived factor 1 and macrophage-inflammatory protein-1 MIP-1, MIP-1β and RANTES, respectively) inhibit HIV replication in both maturing Mo and Mk cells. Taken together, our data show a lineage-specific modulation of chemokine receptor/coreceptor during hematopoietic cell differentiation and extend previous observations on the relationship between the expression of HIV receptor/coreceptors, susceptibility, and chemokine-mediated resistance to HIV infection.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
497.
Lists of suggested fruit varieties for year 2004. Apricot [Prunus armeniaca L.; Italy Pellegrino, S. (Consorzio di Ricerca e Sperimentazione per l´Ortofrutticoltura Piemontese (CReSO), Cuneo (Italy)); Capocasa, F. (Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona (Italy). Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali e delle Produzioni Vegetali); Mennone, C. (Agenzia Lucana di Sviluppo e di Innovazione in Agricoltura (ALSIA), Matera (Italy). Azienda Agricola Sperimentale Dimostrativa Pantanello) ...
L'Informatore agrario,
(4-10 Jun 2004), Volume:
60
Journal Article
Fluoroquinolone resistance is a growing problem that has only recently emerged in S. agalactiae. Between 2005- 2007, WHONET - Argentina network evaluated levofloxacin susceptibility in 1128 clinical ...S. agalactiae isolates, 10 (0,9%) of which proved to be resistant . Nine of them had come from 5 hospitals (in Buenos Aires City and 4 Argentinean provinces) and recovered from urine (n = 7) and vaginal screening cultures (n = 2). Three strains were also resistant to macrolides, lincosamides and B streptogramins due to the ermA gene. All nine fluoroquinolone-resistant isolates bore the same two mutations, Ser79Phe in ParC and Ser81Leu in GyrA proteins. Genetic relationships were analyzed by ApaI-PFGE and two clones were determined, A (n = 6) and B (n = 3). To our knowledge, these are the first fluoroquinolone-resistant S. agalactiae isolates detected in Latin America.La resistencia a fluorquinolonas es un problema creciente y recientemente ha emergido en aislamientos de S. agalactiae. Entre los años 2005-2007 la Red WHONET - Argentina evaluó la sensibilidad a levofloxacina en 1128 aislamientos clínicos de S. agalactiae. Se detectaron 10 cepas resistentes (0,9%). Nueve de estos aislamientos fueron derivados de 5 hospitales (4 de provincias, 1 de Ciudad de Buenos Aires) y habían sido recuperados de muestras de orina (n = 7) y de cultivos vaginales (n = 2) en evaluaciones de tamizaje. Tres de estos aislamientos también fueron resistentes a macrólidos, lincosamidas y estreptograminas B, y presentaban el gen ermA. Los nueve aislamientos contenían las mismas dos mutaciones, Ser79Phe en la proteína ParC y Ser81Leu en la proteína GyrA. La relación genética fue analizada mediante ApaI-PFGE y se determinó la presencia de dos clones, A (n = 6) y B (n = 3). Estos representarían los primeros aislamientos de S. agalactiae con resistencia a fluoroquinolonas detectados en América Latina.
The Brazilian guidelines on ethics in human research are made up of 11 resolutions of the National Health Council (CNS). The Resolution 196/96 was the oldest one until June 2013, when the Resolution ...466/12 was enforced, and was applied to human research in all areas. Researchers from social and human sciences are facing difficulties to have their projects approved by the system made up of the Committees on Ethics in Research (CEP) and the National Commission on Ethics in Research (CONEP), even when these projects have no ethical problems. The key question is that the Resolution 196/96, and Resolution 466/12, considers only the biomedical research and does not dialogue with other research traditions. However, because its scope is all human research, this system based on this resolution asks inadequate questions, that show the lack of knowledge about qualitative research - which is very popular among social and human research. Considering that Resolution 466/12 kept the same logic of Resolution 196/96, this paper discusses the historical roots of Resolution 196/96, presents some difficulties that researchers have been facing with CONEP-CEPs system and points out the inadequacy of the research definition and the procedures established by the Brazilian guidelines to the ethical revision of qualitative research. Specific guidelines for social sciences and humanities are necessary, as well as the permanent qualification of the CEP and CONEP members. Although the Resolution 466/12, enforced in June 13, 2013, does not move in this direction, it opens the possibility to have specific resolution to socials and human sciences that, if in addition to permanent capacity building of members of the system CEP/CONEP, can improve this situation.
Summary
De novo expression of costimulatory molecules in tumours generally increases their immunogenicity, but does not always induce a protective response against the parental tumour. This issue was ...addressed in the mouse Sp6 hybridoma model, comparing different immunization routes (subcutaneous, intraperitoneal and intravenous) and doses (0·5 × 106 and 5 × 106 cells) of Sp6 cells expressing de novo B7‐1 (Sp6/B7). The results can be summarized as follows. First, de novo expression of B7‐1 rendered Sp6 immunogenic, as it significantly reduced the tumour incidence to ≤15% with all delivery routes and doses tested, whereas wild‐type Sp6 was invariably tumorigenic (100% tumour incidence). Second, long‐lasting protection against wild‐type Sp6 was mainly achieved when immunization with Sp6/B7 was subcutaneous: a dose of 0·5 × 106 Sp6/B7 cells elicited protection that was confined to sites in the same anatomical quarter as the immunizing injection. Repeated injections of the same dose extended protection against wild‐type Sp6 to other anatomical districts, as well as a single injection of a 10‐fold higher dose (5 × 106 cells). Finally, Sp6‐specific cytotoxic T‐lymphocyte activity was detected in draining lymph nodes, and the splenic expansion of Sp6‐specific cytotoxic T‐lymphocyte precursors quantitatively correlated with the dose of antigen. We conclude that activation of a protective immune response against Sp6 depends on the local environment where the immunogenic form of the ‘whole tumour cell antigen’ is delivered. The antigen dose regulates the anatomical extent of the protective response.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
PDF
