Objective: To investigate the long-term effect of oral magnesium supplementation on clinical symptoms, bronchial reactivity, lung function and allergen-induced skin responses in children and adolescents with moderate persistent asthma. Design: A double-blind randomized parallel placebo-controlled study. Setting and subjects: The patients were recruited from the Pediatric Outpatient Clinic, Division of Pulmonology, Allergy and Immunology, and followed at the Center for Investigation in Pediatrics at State University of Campinas Hospital, Brazil. Thirtyseven out of 72 patients met the study criteria. There were no dropouts. Intervention: The 37 patients (aged 7-19 years, 19 males) were randomized in two groups: magnesium (n ¼ 18, 300 mg/day) and placebo (n ¼ 19), during 2 months. Both patient groups received inhaled fluticasone (250 mg twice a day) and salbutamol as needed. The primary outcome was bronchial reactivity evaluated with methacholine challenge test (PC20). Results: After a follow-up of 2 months, the methacholine PC20 for testing bronchial reactivity has augmented significantly in the magnesium group only. The skin responses to recognized antigens have also decreased in patients treated with magnesium. The forced vital capacity (FVC), the forced expiratory volume at first second (FEV1), the forced expiratory flow at 25-75 and the FEV1/FVC ratio were similar in both groups. The magnesium group presented fewer asthma exacerbations and used less salbutamol compared to the placebo group. Conclusions: Oral magnesium supplementation helped to reduce bronchial reactivity to methacholine, to diminish their allergen-induced skin responses and to provide better symptom control in pediatric patients with moderate persistent asthma treated with inhaled fluticasone.

A incontinência urinária (IU) representa problema comum entre mulheres, comprometendo sua qualidade de vida. Teve-se, aqui, o objetivo de investigar a qualidade de vida de mulheres com queixa de incontinência urinária que buscaram atendimento médico em ambulatório de urologia, de um hospital de ensino. Foram entrevistadas 43 mulheres com queixa de IU, preservando-se os aspetos éticos de pesquisa em seres humanos. Obteve-se, como resultados, que a idade média foi de 50,7 anos, 62,8% referiram perda de urina entre 5 e 9 anos. Houve muitos relatos de danos físicos e psicológicos decorrentes da IU: 33,5% na interação psicossocial, 23,3% na vida sexual, 41,9% depressão e isolamento social, 27,9% alterações do sono, 76,7% relataram constrangimento por perda de urina. Concluise que os dados obtidos permitem o desenvolvimento de ações amplas no atendimento e orientação a mulheres com IU.

The antitumor effects of thiophene and acridine compounds have been described; however, the clinical usefulness of these compounds is limited due to the risk of high toxicity and drug resistance. The strategy of molecular hybridization presents the opportunity to develop new drugs which may display better target affinity and less serious side effects. Herein, 2-((6-Chloro-2-methoxy-acridin-9-yl)amino)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-4H-cyclohepta[b]-thiophene-3-carbonitrile (ACS03), a hybrid thiophene–acridine compound with antileishmanial activity, was tested for toxicity and antitumor activity. The toxicity was evaluated in vitro (on HaCat and peripheral blood mononuclear cells) and in vivo (zebrafish embryos and acute toxicity in mice). Antitumor activity was also assessed in vitro in HCT-116 (human colon carcinoma cell line), K562 (chronic myeloid leukemic cell line), HL-60 (human promyelocytic leukemia cell line), HeLa (human cervical cancer cell line), and MCF-7 (breast cancer cell line) and in vivo (Ehrlich ascites carcinoma model). ACS03 exhibited selectivity toward HCT-116 cells (Half maximal inhibitory concentration, IC50 = 23.11 ± 1.03 µM). In zebrafish embryos, ACS03 induced an increase in lactate dehydrogenase, glutathione S-transferase, and acetylcholinesterase activities. The LD50 (lethal dose 50%) value in mice was estimated to be higher than 5000 mg/kg (intraperitoneally). In vivo, ACS03 (12.5 mg/kg) induced a significant reduction in tumor volume and cell viability. In vivo antitumor activity was associated with the nitric oxide cytotoxic effect. In conclusion, significant antitumor activity and weak toxicity were recorded for this hybrid compound, characterizing it as a potential anticancer compound.

As alterações dos anéis vasculares são decorrentes de malformações dos grandes vasos e seus ramos, sendo que a persistência do quarto arco aórtico direito é a mais comum em cães. Este trabalho relata o caso de um canino, fêmea, de três meses, com quadro clínico de regurgitação. A radiografia lateral contrastada mostrou constrição esofágica próxima à base cardíaca e sua consequente dilatação cranial. O tratamento instituído foi a correção cirúrgica, por meio da transecção do ligamento arterioso para a liberação do esôfago, bem como o manejo nutricional adequado. O prognóstico é reservado, podendo haver remissão do megaesôfago e melhora do quadro de regurgitações, conferindo ao paciente, melhor qualidade de vida.

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) are two important aliphatic esters known for their biodegradability and bioresorbability properties; the former is stiffer and brittle while the smaller modulus of the latter allows a suitable elongation. The new biomaterials being developed from the blend of these two polymers (PLA and PCL) is opportune due to the reducing interfacial tension between their immiscible phases. In a previous study, PLA/PCL immiscible blend when compatibilized with poly(ε-caprolactone-b-tetrahydrofuran) resulted in enhanced ductility and toughness no cytotoxic effect in vitro tests. There is little published data on the effect of poly(ε-caprolactone-b-tetrahydrofuran) on PLA and PCL biocompatibility and biodegradability in vivo tests. This study focuses on evaluating the behavioral response and polymer-tissue interaction of compatibilized PLA/PCL blend compared to neat PLA implanted via intraperitoneal (IP) and subcutaneous (SC) in male Wistar rats, distributed in four experimental groups: neat PLA, PLA/PCL blend, sham, and control at 2-, 8- and 24-weeks post-implantation (WPI). An open-field test was performed to appraise emotionality and spontaneous locomotor activity. Histopathological investigation using hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and picrosirius-hematoxylin (PSH) was used to assess polymer-tissue interaction. Modifications in PLA and the PLA/PCL blend’s surface morphology were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). PLA group defecated more often than PLA/PCL rats 2 and 8 WPI. Conjunctive capsule development around implants, cell adhesion, angiogenesis, and giant cells of a foreign body to the biomaterial was observed in light microscopy. Both groups displayed a fibrous reaction along with collagen deposition around the biomaterials. In the SEM, the images showed a higher degradation rate for the PLA/PCL blend in both implantation routes. The polymers implanted via IP exhibited a higher degradation rate compared to SC. These findings emphasize the biocompatibility of the PLA/PCL blend compatibilized with poly(ε-caprolactone-b-tetrahydrofuran), making this biopolymer an acceptable alternative in a variety of biomedical applications.

App Inventor is a free application for creating other applications for Android devices. The App Inventor tool has no specific programming language, using instructions of blocks that can be incorporated in a logical way for the development of applications. This paper discusses ways to encourage the use of App Inventor as a teaching tool for programming and support school learning, evaluating it in several respects. The studies propose a didactic and dynamic way to understand when using the tool and introduce students to the first steps of programming. The results of this project are the construction of the dynamics and assessment of the potential advantages and benefits that this dynamic can bring to student learning. ResumoO App Inventor é um aplicativo gratuito para a criação de outros aplicativos (apps) para dispositivos Android. A ferramenta App inventor não possui uma linguagem de programação específica, utilizando-se de blocos de instruções que podem ser encaixados de forma lógica para o desenvolvimento da aplicação. Este trabalho discute formas de incentivar o uso do App Inventor como ferramenta de ensino de programação e apoio ao aprendizado escolar, avaliando-o em vários aspectos. É proposto um método para utilizar a ferramenta e introduzir os alunos aos primeiros passos da programação. Os resultados deste projeto são as dinâmicas e a avaliação das vantagens potenciais e dos benefícios que essas dinâmicas podem trazer ao aprendizado dos alunos.

The denervation of the intestine with benzalkonium chloride (BAC) reduces mortality and improves weight gain in rats with short bowel syndrome (SBS). Nevertheless, translating these promising findings from bench to bedside is not feasible because BAC promotes peritonitis and irreversible denervation which may be followed by an uncontrolled dilatation of the viscera. The use of botulinum toxin (BT) instead of BAC to achieve the denervation of the remaining small intestine in SBS could be an interesting option because it leads to a mild and transient denervation of the intestine. Methods: Here we evaluated the effects of the ileal denervation with BT in rats with SBS by verifying the body weight variation and intestinal morphological parameters. Four groups with 6 animals each were submitted to enterectomy with an ileal injection of saline (group E) or BT (group EBT). Control groups were submitted to simulated surgery with an ileal injection of BT (group BT) or saline (group C-control). Results: We observed that the treatment of the remaining ileum with BT completely reversed the weight loss associated to extensive small bowel resection. Conclusion: This may provide a new promising approach to the surgical treatment of SBS.

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