Preparations of sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles, obtained according to the method of Eletr and Inesi (Biochim. Biophys. Acta (1972) 282, 174), contained both Mg2(+)-ATPase and Ca2+, Mg2(+)-ATPase ...activity. The two enzymes were solubilized by a mixture of digitonin and lysophosphatidylcholine and separated on a DEAE-cellulose column eluted with a discontinuous gradient of NaCl. The Mg2(+)-ATPase activity was eluted with 0.43 M NaCl. The Ca2+,Mg2(+)-ATPase was obtained by increasing the NaCl concentration of the elution medium to 0.40 M. The fraction eluted with 0.043 M NaCl was insensitive to micromolar concentrations of calcium, resistant to oligomycin, ouabain, orthovanadate and thiocyanate, and was inhibited by low concentrations of Triton X-100. The enzyme showed a single apparent Km for MgATP in the range of 0.2 mM and a Vm of 2.9 mumol Pi.min-1.mg-1 protein. Activity was maximal over a broad peak between pH 6.0-8.0. Hydrolysis of ATP was unaffected by dimethylsulfoxide concentrations up to 20% (v/v) and was inhibited at higher concentrations. The enzyme was not phosphorylated by either 32Pi or gamma-32PATP at significant levels when compared with the Ca2+,Mg2(+)-ATPase in an EGTA-containing medium. The kinetic pattern of the Mg2(+)-ATPase was distinctly different from that of the Ca2+,Mg2(+)-ATPase under the same conditions. The fraction eluted from the DEAE-cellulose column was subjected to electrophoresis under non-denaturing conditions. Only one band with Mg2(+)-ATPase activity was detected. The Mg2(+)-ATPase migrated much slower than the Ca2+,Mg2(+)-ATPase under non-denaturing conditions, whereas both enzymes had a molecular mass of 105 kDa on SDS gel electrophoresis.
Slow release formulations of hexabutyldistannoxane (TBTO) and pentachlorophenol (PCP) were tested for the control of Biomphalaria tenagophila in 52 urban sites in Rio de Janeiro. TBTO acted faster ...and lasted longer than PCP and at 15 g/m(2) it eliminated snails from 76% of the treated sites for 1 year. Water pollution and rate of flow had no significant influence on the molluscicidal properties of either compound, but alkalinity lowered the activity of TBTO. Failure to control snail populations was due mainly to human interference and to the non-treatment of adjacent breeding sites that were temporarily dry and therefore overlooked.
All deaths of children under one year of age and residing in the Pau da Lima Health District, in the city of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, during the year 1991 were investigated through home visits and ...analysis of patient files. The study measured effectiveness of health services by verifying potentially avoidable deaths and the level of medical care these children received. More than half of the total of 47 deaths were related to causes considered amenable to prompt action by health services; 10 (21.3%) of the deaths occurred at home or in public (outside of health care facilities). Loss of information occurred in 36 (76.6%) of the mother's interviews, related to incomplete information on the death certificate and to changes of address. Analysis of patient files in the health clinics showed a 58.3% loss of information, indicating low-quality organization of hospital statistics; there was a prevalence of consultations classified as inadequate or barely adequate, due mainly to problems with physical examination and treatment. Despite this study's operational limitations, the results point to problems of access, effectiveness, and adequacy in the health care process.
A prospective study involving 500 consecutive patients undergoing hip replacement was performed to find out whether a combination of heparin and dihydroergotamine was effective in preventing ...postoperative fatal and non-fatal emboli. Deep-vein thrombosis was demonstrated in 131 cases (26.2%), in 99 of whom thrombi were confined to the ipsilateral (operated) limb and in 13 to the contralateral limb; 19 patients developed bilateral thrombi. Nine patients (1.8%) died during the first four weeks after operation, before they were discharged from hospital; in one, major emboli were demonstrated in the right pulmonary artery. Three of the 500 patients developed non-fatal pulmonary emboli. Excessive bleeding occurred in 21 (4.2%) and in 19 of these prophylaxis was discontinued. Wound haematomas developed in 25 patients (5.0%); only six required evacuation but in none of these six did deep infection occur while in hospital; in three patients, however, the wound haematoma prolonged the stay in hospital. Thus the combination of heparin and dihydroergotamine proved an effective prophylaxis against pulmonary embolism in patients undergoing total hip replacement. The risk of bleeding complications is wholly acceptable when balanced against the advantages of the therapy.
Os Autores utilizaram novo anti-helmíntico, o albendazol, no tratamento de 32 pessoas com estrongiloidíase. A casuística foi composta por adultos, de ambos os sexos, que receberam, pela via oral, ...dose cotidiana única de 400 mg, repetida em três oportunidades intervaladas por períodos de 24 horas. O controle da terapêutica sucedeu através de exames das fezes realizados sete, 14 e 21 dias após o término da administração, tendo sido empregado o método de Rugai, Mattos e Brisola. A porcentagem de curas verificada correspondeu a 28,1% e, ao lado da boa tolerância observada, essa constatação demonstrou baixa eficácia do medicamento em apreço no combate à infecção causada pelo Strongyloldes stercoralis, a despeito de méritos comprovados em investigações anteriores e concernentes a outras parasitoses intestinais.
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