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Background Upadacitinib (upa) is a novel selective JAK-1 inhibitor that has demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of moderate to severe ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) and has received regulatory approval for UC. We report a large prospective real-world experience with upa in patients with UC. Methods We performed a prospective analysis of clinical outcomes during upa therapy in patients with UC using pre-determined follow-up intervals at weeks 0, 2, 4, and 8 as part of a formalized treatment protocol. We used the Simplified Clinical Colitis Activity Index (SCCAI), C-reactive protein (CRP) and fecal calprotectin (FCP). Clinically active disease was defined as SCCAI ≥ 3. Clinical response was defined as a decrease of ≥ 3 points from baseline SCCAI. Clinical remission was defined as SCAAI < 3. Corticosteroid free clinical remission (CSFR) was defined as those in clinical remission, not taking systemic corticosteroid at the specific time point. CRP normalization was defined as baseline elevated and then within the normal range for the lab used (Quest Diagnostics (Secaucus, New Jersey) ≤8 mg/L or UChicago Medicine ≤5 mg/L). FCP response and remission was assessed at three different cutoffs: less than 250 μg/g, 150 μg/g, and 50μg/g. Adverse events were recorded as treatment-related adverse events (AE) and serious adverse events (SAE). Results 55 patients with UC received ≥4 weeks of upa (Table 1). 100% had previously received anti-TNF therapy and 81.8% had received ≥2 advanced therapies (biologic, small molecule, calcineurin-inhibitor). At 4 and 8 weeks of treatment, 18/22 (81.8%) and 19/21 (90.5%) achieved clinical response and 17/22 (77.3%) and 17/21 (81.0%) achieved clinical remission, respectively (Table 2). Of those who were on steroids at baseline, 100% (7 of 7) achieved CSFR. Results were seen as early as week 2 with clinical remission rates of 36.0%. Mean SCCAI decreased from 5.3 (SD 3.6) at week 0 to 1.71 (SD 3.96) at week 8 (p = 150 μg/g at baseline, 33.3% (2/6) achieved FCP 5 at week 0, 60% (3/5) achieved CRP Conclusion In this large prospective real-world experience in medically-resistant patients with UC, we describe that upadacitinib is rapidly effective and safe, with remission rates that exceed those seen in the pivotal trial.

Background Upadacitinib (upa) is a novel selective JAK-1 inhibitor that has demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of moderate to severe ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) and has received regulatory approval for UC. We report our prospective real-world experience with upadacitinib in patients with CD. Methods We performed a prospective analysis of clinical outcomes during upa therapy in patients with CD using pre-determined follow-up intervals at weeks 0, 2, 4, and 8 as part of a formalized treatment evaluation protocol at our institution. We used the Harvey Bradshaw Index (HBI), C-reactive protein (CRP) and fecal calprotectin (FCP). Clinically active disease was defined as HBI ≥5. Clinical response was defined as a decrease of ≥ 3 points from baseline HBI. Clinical remission was defined as HBI Results 47 patients with CD received ≥4 weeks of upa (Table 1). 100% had previously received anti-TNF therapy and 93.6% had received ≥2 advanced therapies (biologic, small molecule, calcineurin-inhibitor). At weeks 4 and 8, 16/21 (76.2%) and 12/16 (75.0%) achieved clinical response and 14/21 (66.7%) and 11/16 (68.8%) achieved clinical remission by 8 weeks, respectively (Table 2). Of those who were on steroids at baseline, 100% (5/5) achieved CSFR. Results were seen as early as week 2 with clinical remission rates of 52.6%. Mean HBI decreased from 6.7 (SD 4.6) at week 0 to 3.5 (3.7) at week 8 (Figure 1). Mean FCP decreased by 707.0 (SD 1026.0) μg/g at week 0 to 74.6 (SD 56.2) μg/g at week 8. Of those with FCP >150 μg/g at baseline, 100% (4/4) achieved FCP 5 mg/L at week 0, 80% (4/5) achieved CRP Conclusion In this large, prospective real-world experience in medically-resistant patients with CD, we describe that upadacitinib is rapidly effective and safe.

Background The development and availability of Janus kinus inhibitors (JAKinibs) for moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) provides new therapeutic options with both novel mechanisms and unique pharmacodynamic benefits. Tofacitinib (tofa) is a non-selective pan-JAKinib that received FDA approval for UC in 2018 and upadacitinib (upa) is a JAK-1 selective inhibitor, that received FDA approval for UC in 2022. It is unknown whether patients who do not respond to tofa will subsequently respond to upa. We report our real-world experience with upa in UC patients with primary or secondary non-response to tofa. Methods We performed a prospective analysis of clinical outcomes on upa in patients with UC and Crohn’s disease (CD) using pre-determined intervals at weeks 0, 2, 4, and 8 as part of a formalized treatment protocol at our institution. We used the SCCAI and HBI, as well as CRP and fecal calprotectin (FCP) to assess efficacy and recorded treatment-related adverse events and serious adverse events (AEs). Here we report our experience in patients treated with upa who have been previously treated with tofa. Results 26 patients (18=UC, 8=CD) with primary or secondary non-response to tofa received upa. (Table 1) In addition to tofa, all of these patients failed at least two biologics prior to upa treatment. In UC: by week 2 60% (6/10) achieved clinical response, and 40% (4/10) achieved clinical remission. By week 4 87.5% (7/8) achieved clinical remission, and 87.5% (6/8) achieved steroid-free remission; FCP decreased by a mean of 649.2 μg/g from baseline (+/- 772.7). At week 8: 100% (8/8) of patients achieved clinical response, 87.5% (7/8) achieved clinical remission, and of all of these (7/7) achieved steroid-free remission; FCP decreased by a mean of 180 μg/g (+/- 721.8) from baseline. One patient had follow-up to week 12 and continued to be in steroid-free remission. (Table 2) In CD: by week 2 2 of 2 patients achieved clinical remission, by week 4 3 of 3 were in clinical remission, 2 of 3 achieved steroid-free remission, and one patient had follow-up to week 8 and he remained in steroid-free remission. (Table 2). 6 patients experienced AEs, with the most common being acne (19.2%). No infections, MACE, or VTE occurred. Conclusion In this prospective real-world experience in medically-resistant patients with UC and CD who previously failed treatment with tofa and at least two biologics, we describe that upa is rapidly effective, inducing both clinical, steroid-free, and biochemical remission with no serious AEs.

The aim of this paper is to present a paradigm shift from meat demand to health driven understanding of the effects of livestock production and meat consumption in human. Included are comments on animal nutrition research with the purpose of getting more relevant health information. The growth and metabolism research covers the principles from feed intake regulation, nutrient digestion, absorption and growth. Meat preservation provides enough food for the urban population, and its major ingredient includes the combination of salt, sugar and fats, suspected to cause food addiction in man. The reported effect of processed red meat causing systemic inflammation is a major consideration in food preparation, diet selection and reasonable control for meat consumption. In livestock "Pharming" the danger of heavy metal contamination of commercial feed poses threat to human health aside from drug residues. It is proposed that the 50% of global greenhouse gas is due to the lifestyle of the rich and epidemic of obesity-related diseases are the effect of livestock "Pharming" and addiction to fast food and or processed meat.

Background: The assessment of the study processes or approaches to learning more often used by college students as they are understood by Biggs and his collaborators is considered fundamental in providing tools to better understand the way students learn and how this should be taken into account by tutors and teachers. The choice of a deep approach to learning as opposed to a surface approach is often considered connected to a more significant learning. Aim: This research aimed to adapt and validate the Revised Two Factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) (Biggs et al., 2001). for the Portuguese college student population. Method: A population of 707 college students and internet users was used. From these 241 were male and 466 female. The participants’ age varied between 18 and 40 years old (M= 22.96; SD = 4.41). The inclusion criteria used for the study was: (1) being Portuguese and studying in a Portuguese university, and (2) willingness to participate in the study after learning its objectives. Participants were recruited through two sampling methods: (1) Informal social networks. The eligible internet users who agreed to participate were asked to refer their friends to participate in the study; and (2) The Internet. Material: Two instruments were used in this assessment, a socio-demographic questionnaire to enable the characterization of the participants’ age, gender, degree and University/college attendance and the Revised Two Factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) (Biggs et al., 2001). Results: The final Portuguese version has a total of 16 items, instead of the 20 items proposed by the original version. A principal components factor analysis with varimax orthogonal rotation revealed a two factor structure, consistent with other researches using the instrument but not confirming the four factor structure found in the original version. In this version factor I - deep approach to learning, has a 9 items scope, and includes deep motives and deep strategies (I±=.783), with an explained variance of 20.463%; factor II - surface approach to learning has a 7 items scope, includes surface motives and surface strategies (I±=.751) and an explained variance of 16.544%. Deep and surface approaches were analysed separately in relation to age gender and academic degree, and in all cases significant statistical differences were found. Conclusion: The study provided evidence of the reliability and validity of the instrument, which showed good psychometric characteristics. The results indicate the Portuguese Revised Study Processes Questionnaire is an acceptable measure of learning approaches. Authors like [2] consider that when students are confronted with a learning task, they use the learning strategy that corresponds with their motivation to learn, in which case, it is important to analyse whether students are opting more frequently for deep or surface approaches and act upon that knowledge in a continuous effort to improve the learning process.

Der p 2, Der p 5 and Der p 7 are three allergens of the house-dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus that have been cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli as fusion proteins with glutathione-S-transferase (GST). We showed that these recombinant allergens produced immediate hypersensitivity skin-test reactions in 70, 60 and 52% respectively of a group of mite-sensitive allergic patients who were strongly positive to whole mite extract (WME). Comparable positivities were found for serum levels of specific IgE antibody against these allergens, as measured by the radioallergosorbant test (RAST). Overall, for the group of allergic patients that we evaluated, the serum IgE antibody concentrations against Der p 2, 5 and 7 were calculated to represent about one third, one quarter and one fifth respectively of the levels measured against the WME. However, for some patients the activity determined against the separate allergens was far higher than that detected against the WME, thus indicating that the concentration of these can be limiting in the WME. We found no significant correlations between the RAST levels against Derp 2 and either Derp 5 or 7, and RAST-inhibition tests indicated a lack of cross-reactivity between Der p 2 and the other two allergens. In contrast, the RAST results revealed the existence of a significant immunological relationship between Der p 5 and 7. Although a certain degree of reactivity against the GST fusion partner was found in the allergic patients studied, this was not a significant influence in determining the positivity against the recombinant allergens. These results confirm the in vivo biological activity of recombinant Der p 2, 5 and 7, and indicate that whilst Der p 2 is undoubtedly a major mite allergen, both Der p 5 and 7 make important contributions toward the overall allergenic activity of house-dust mites.

Os Autores apresentam os resultados obtidos com a amostra "pinguim" de Paracoccidioides, isolada por GEZUELE et al. (1989) na Antártica uruguaia. Das fezes de um desses animais, foi isolado um fungo considerado, recentemente, como nova espécie de Paracoccididoides - P. antarclicus. Os exames micológico e imunoquímico demonstraram tratar-se de Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, inclusive com a verificação da presença da glicoproteína 43 kDa pelos métodos de imunodifusão dupla, SDS-PAGE e imunoeletroforese. A possibilidade de se tratar de uma variedade do Paracoccididoides brasiliensis somente poderá ser confirmada através de outros estudos baseados na chamada taxonomía molecular, incluindo cariotipagem. Os Autores registram o significado epidemiológico deste achado, sugerindo uma revisão nos conhecimentos do nicho ecológico do P. brasiliensis. The Authors show lhe results obtained through the study of a Paracoccidioides strain isolated from a penguin in the Uruguaian An-lartide by GEZUELE et al. (1989). From the fecal matter it was isolated a fungus which was recently considered as a new species of the genus Paracoccidioides - P. antarcticus. However, the mycological and immunochemical studies including the demonstration of the 43 kDa glycoprotein by immunodiffusion test, SDS-PAGE and immunoelectrophoresis disclosed that such strain is similar to P. brasiliensis. Other studies, based on molecular taxonomy, including karyotyping, are the only tools to confirm Lhe possibility of such strain to be a variant of P. brasiliensis. The Authors report the epidemiological significance of that finding and suggest a review in the knowledge of the ecological "niche" of P. brasiliensis.

O presente trabalho avalia a sensibilidade, especificidade e eficiencia da imunodifusao dupla (ID), contraimunoeletroforese (CIE), reacao de fixacao de complemento (FC) e imunofluorescencia indireta (IFI) no diagnostico da paracoccidioidomicose. Os pacientes portadores da micose, virgens de tratamento, tiveram o diagnostico confirmado por exame micologico e/ou histopatologico. Utilizou-se como antigenos o filtrado de cultura da fase leveduriforme do Paracoccidioides brasiliensis para os testes de ID, CIE, FC e suspensao de celulas leveduriformes de "pool" de cepas do mesmo fungo para o teste de IFI. O estudo foi realizado em 4 grupos de individuos: 46 com paracoccidioidomicose ativa (sem tratamento), 22 com outras micoses profundas, 30 com outras doencas infecciosas (tuberculose e leishmaniose tegumentar) e 47 controles normais. Os valores de sensibilidade, especificidade e eficiencia foram obtidos de acordo com a metodologia utilizada por GALEN & GAMBINO (1975). Os resultados revelaram que os testes de precipitacao em gel de agar e agarose, representados pela ID e CIE foram os melhores, apresentando maior sensibilidade (91,3% e 95,6%, respectivamente), maxima especificidade (100%) e os maiores valores de eficiencia quando comparados a FC e IFI. Tais resultados confirmam dados obtidos por LONDERO et al. (1981), SIQUEIRA (1982), CANO & RESTREPO (1987), entre outros.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo a produção de exoantígenos H e M das amostras 58, B-679, A-811 e O187 de Histoplasma capsulatum, utilizando o meio NGTA (neopeptona, glicose, tiamina e asparagina) em períodos de cultivo de 1, 2 e 3 meses, a 36ºC, sob agitação constante (50 v.p.m.). Os antígenos brutos foram avaliados contra anti-soro e antígeno de Histoplasma capsulatum de referência (Center for Disease Control), 4 soros de pacientes portadores de paracoccidioidomicose, 7 de histoplasmose e soro hiperimune anti-H. capsulatum produzido em coelhos, através da reação de imunodifusão dupla. Verificou-se que, com exceção de B-679 com 1 mês de crescimento, todos os demais exoantígenos apresentaram as frações H e M de precipitação. Os exoantígenos obtidos de A-811 apresentaram só a banda H. Excetuando-se os exoantígenos 58 e B-679 com 1 mês de crescimento, todos os demais exoantígenos reagiram contra soros de pacientes com histoplasmose. Em relação aos soros de pacientes com paracoccidioidomicose, somente os exoantígenos 58 e O187 não apresentaram reação cruzada. Todos os exoantígenos reagiram frente ao soro hiperimune de coelho anti-H. capsulatum. Para obtenção de exoantígenos de H. capsulatum, sugerimos que as amostras sejam cultivadas sob as condições anteriormente descritas, adotando-se o período de 3 meses de crescimento, utilizando-se exoantígenos de referência como controles da reação. The purpose of this work is obtaining exocellular antigens H and M from 4 H. capsulatum strains using NGTA medium (neopeptone, glucose, thiamine and asparagine) for periods of 1,2 and 3 months, at 36ºC and continuously shaken. The exocellular antigens were evaluated by double immunodiffusion test against H. capsulatum rabbit antiserum, 7 histoplasmosis sera, 4 paracoccidioidomycosis sera and a reference antigen and antibody furnished by C.D.C. (Atlanta - USA). Except for the exocellular antigen from strain B.679 with 1 month of culture, all exocellular antigens obtained from the strains B.679, 58 and O187 showed the H and M bands. The A.811 strain demonstrated only the fraction H. All the exocellular antigens reacted positively with sera from histoplasmosis patients, except those obtained from strains 58 and B.679 with 1 month of culture. With regard to paracoc-cidioidomycosis patients sera, the exocellular antigens from strains 58 and O187 did not cross-react with them.

The present studies were undertaken to examine how the substitution of racemized forms of selected amino acids in synthetic peptides of guinea pig myelin basic protein (GPMBP) would alter the host's immunological ability to recognize such molecules. Using peptides from the 69-84 sequence of GPMBP containing a D-serine at position 70 or 75 (69-84[D-ser70 or D-ser75]) or D-aspartate at position 82 (69-84[D-asp82]), the findings demonstrated that the position of the diastereomer substitution on these neuropeptides was critical with respect to the ability of the immune system to recognize the molecule. Thus substitution of D-asp at position 82 or D-ser at position 75 abrogated the ability of these peptides to induce experimental autoimmune encephalitis and proliferation of host T cells. In contrast, a peptide containing a D-ser70 residue was capable of inducing clinical disease in rats, as well as stimulating T lymphocytes from 69-84-(D-ser70)-injected animals. Moreover, although this D-peptide was shown to share at least some determinant(s) with the 69-84 peptide, the use of 69-84(D-ser70)-stimulated cell lines demonstrated that some epitope(s) unique to this molecule could stimulate CD4+ syngeneic T cells.

Der p 2, Der p 5 and Der p 7 are three allergens of the house-dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus that have been cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli as fusion proteins with glutathione-S-transferase (GST). We showed that these recombinant allergens produced immediate hypersensitivity skin-test reactions in 70, 60 and 52% respectively of a group of mite-sensitive allergic patients who were strongly positive to whole mite extract (WME). Comparable positivities were found for serum levels of specific IgE antibody against these allergens, as measured by the radioallergosorbant test (RAST). Overall, for the group of allergic patients that we evaluated, the serum IgE antibody concentrations against Der p 2, 5 and 7 were calculated to represent about one third, one quarter and one fifth respectively of the levels measured against the WME. However, for some patients the activity determined against the separate allergens was far higher than that detected against the WME, thus indicating that the concentration of these can be limiting in the WME. We found no significant correlations between the RAST levels against Derp 2 and either Derp 5 or 7, and RAST-inhibition tests indicated a lack of cross-reactivity between Der p 2 and the other two allergens. In contrast, the RAST results revealed the existence of a significant immunological relationship between Der p 5 and 7. Although a certain degree of reactivity against the GST fusion partner was found in the allergic patients studied, this was not a significant influence in determining the positivity against the recombinant allergens. These results confirm the in vivo biological activity of recombinant Der p 2, 5 and 7, and indicate that whilst Der p 2 is undoubtedly a major mite allergen, both Der p 5 and 7 make important contributions toward the overall allergenic activity of house-dust mites.

House dust mites are the most important source of allergens in the tropical environment, and aqueous whole body extracts of these organisms have wide use in the diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases. However, it has been reported that mite excretions have a high allergenic activity. Because of this, we have evaluated spent house-dust mite culture medium as an alternative source of allergens from these organisms. We demonstrated that the extraction of allergens from this material is more efficient in alkaline solutions such as ammonium bicarbonate, and when the extraction process is extended to 48 hours. When the purification process is complemented with dialysis and ammonium sulphate precipitation, the toxicity of the extract decreases and its allergenic activity increases. The electrophoretic pattern of proteins of the spent culture medium extract showed bands that bound specific IgE antibodies, but this extract may be deficient in one of the principle allergens of mites, Der pII. The extract stimulates immediate hypersensitivity skin reactions in house-dust allergic patients, and produces RAST inhibitions with their sera. The allergenic activity of this extract is comparable to that of the 1st. International Standard for house-dust mite extracts. These results demonstrate that spent house-dust mite culture medium is an appropriate source of allergens from these organisms, and because of its low commercial value, may be an economical alternative for the production of allergenic extracts.

The polysaccharide antigen from P. brasiliensis has been largely employed in serologic tests ,as well as in skin tests, to evaluate cellular immunity. SDS-PAGE analysis of this antigen has revealed a variability in the number of bands exhibited by isolates SN, 265, 339, 113, and 18 (7 to 16 bands). The antigens obtained from isolates 2, PTL, 192 and Adel showed two or three bands. Glycoprotein analysis demonstrated a broad region between 50 and 90 kDa. Major bands of 48 and 30 kDa were present in almost all antigens. Optimal complement fixing dilution appears to be unaffected by the number of bands presented by different antigens. The immunoblot analysis revealed that the 90 and 30 kDa bands were mainly recognized by sera from paracoccidioidomycosis patients. Bands of high molecular weight were also recognized by most of the sera studied. Sera from histoplasmosis recognized the 94 kDa band. In conclusion, although the isolates exhibit quantitative variability in the number of fractions, it is possible to use only one or two samples given the greatest frequency of reactivity is seen in the 30 and 90 kDa fractions.

In vivo assessment of cardiac injury and contractile deficits after thermal injury remain difficult as neurohumoral compensatory mechanisms maintain cardiac output. While measurement of creatine kinase (CK) and the isoenzyme of creatine kinase (CKMB) have been used as clinical indicators of cardiac injury, these biochemical markers are not completely specific for cardiac muscle. Cardiac protein troponin I (cTnI) is unique to the myocardium but can be detected in the systemic circulation within three to four hours after cardiac injury. The purpose of this study was to examine cardiac contractile function at several postburn intervals and to correlate the appearance of cardiac dysfunction with biochemical measures of cardiac injury (serum concentration of CK, CKMB, and cTnI).New Zealand white rabbits were deeply anesthetized and a scald burn comprising 34 percent of the total body surface area (n = 36) or sham burn (n = 36) was accomplished using a template device. All burn rabbits were given lactated Ringer's solution (4 mL/kg/percent burn, Parkland formula). Blood samples were collected immediately prior to sacrifice in six animals from both burn and control groups, and animals were sacrificed either two, four, six or 24 hours after burn. Cardiac function was assessed in left ventricular preparations (Langendorff) and serum CK, CKMB, and cTnI levels were determined.Cardiac dysfunction occurred at all times after burn as indicated by a lower peak systolic left ventricular pressure and +/- dP/dt maximum compared with time-matched shams and the shift of left ventricular function curves plotted for burn groups downward and to the right of those calculated for shams, p0.05. Left ventricular systolic dysfunction after burn correlated with a progressive rise in cTnI and CK but not CKMB.The cardiospecificity of the cTnI eliminates concerns about tissue source associated with CK and CKMB and provides a biochemical measure of cardiac injury that is consistent with in vitro assessment of cardiac dysfunction.

Submitted by Guilherme Lemeszenski (guilherme@nead.unesp.br) on 2013-08-22T19:04:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 S0036-46651995000100007.pdf: 897597 bytes, checksum: 5cd06ce16898f7704f543141f811f999 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2013-08-22T19:04:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 S0036-46651995000100007.pdf: 897597 bytes, checksum: 5cd06ce16898f7704f543141f811f999 (MD5) Previous issue date: 1995-02-01 Made available in DSpace on 2013-09-30T20:07:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 S0036-46651995000100007.pdf: 897597 bytes, checksum: 5cd06ce16898f7704f543141f811f999 (MD5) S0036-46651995000100007.pdf.txt: 7 bytes, checksum: 212b0306580d4f0044d18f9a3edcc832 (MD5) Previous issue date: 1995-02-01 Submitted by Vitor Silverio Rodrigues (vitorsrodrigues@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2014-05-20T15:17:13Z No. of bitstreams: 2 S0036-46651995000100007.pdf: 897597 bytes, checksum: 5cd06ce16898f7704f543141f811f999 (MD5) S0036-46651995000100007.pdf.txt: 7 bytes, checksum: 212b0306580d4f0044d18f9a3edcc832 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-20T15:17:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 S0036-46651995000100007.pdf: 897597 bytes, checksum: 5cd06ce16898f7704f543141f811f999 (MD5) S0036-46651995000100007.pdf.txt: 7 bytes, checksum: 212b0306580d4f0044d18f9a3edcc832 (MD5) Previous issue date: 1995-02-01 Amostra de Paracoccidioides brasiliensis isolada de vísceras (baço e fígado) de um tatu (Dasipus novencinctus) foi estudada do ponto de vista micológico e imunoquímico. O tatu havia sido capturado em área da usina hidroelétrica de Tucuruí (Estado do Pará). Este já havia sido considerado como reservatório enzoótico do Paracoccidioides brasiliensis naquela região. Esta amostra, conservada na Micoteca do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo sob o número 135, apresenta todas as características de Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, com elevado poder antigênico e baixa virulência para cobaios e ratos Wistar. A demonstração do exo-antígeno específico do P. brasiliensis, representado pela glicoproteína de peso molecular 43 kDa, foi evidente através das técnicas de Imunodifusão Dupla, Imunoeletroforese, SDS-PAGE e Imunoblotting. A sample of P. brasiliensis isolated from the spleen and the liver of an armadillo (Dasipus novencinctus) has been analysed under a mycological and immunochemical viewpoint. The armadillo was captured in an area of Tucuruí (State of Pará, Brazil), the animal being already established as an enzootic reservoir of P. brasiliensis at that region of the country. This sample maintained in the fungal collection of the Tropical Medicine Institute of São Paulo (Brazil) numbered 135, has got all the characteristics of P. brasiliensis, with a strong antigenic power and low virulence for guinea-pigs and Wistar rats. The specific exoantigen of P. brasiliensis - the glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 43 kDa - was easily demonstrated with double immunodiffusion, immunoelectrophoresis, SDS-PAGE and immunobloting techniques. Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo Laboratório de Micologia Médica USP Faculdade de Medicina Hospital das Clínicas Instituto Adolfo Lutz Seção de Micologia Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia UNESP Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu UNESP Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu

The Authors show the results obtained through the study of a Paracoccidioides strain isolated from a penguin in the Uruguaian Antartide by GEZUELE et al. (1989). From the fecal mater it was isolated a fungus which was recently considered as a new species of the genus Paracoccidioides--P. antarcticus. However, the mycological and immunochemical studies including the demonstration of the 43 kDa glycoprotein by immunodiffusion test, SDS-PAGE and immunoelectrophoresis disclosed that such strain is similar to P. brasiliensis. Other studies, based on molecular taxonomy, including karyotyping, are the only tools to confirm the possibility of such strain to be a variant of P. brasiliensis. The Authors report the epidemiological significance of that finding and suggest a review in the knowledge of the ecological "niche" of P. brasiliensis.

Widely variable prevalences of allergic diseases have been reported in tropical populations, and this has been suggested to be due to effects of the nonspecific polyclonal stimulation of IgE synthesis caused by the helminthic infections that are endemic in these areas. Since 1980, we have been evaluating the allergic reactivity of different socioeconomic sectors of the population of tropical Venezuela (lat. 2-12 degrees N), and in the present study analyze the overall results obtained in the laboratory evaluation of children (5-15 years of age) belonging to these groups. Children of medium-high socioeconomic level (M-HSEL), who experience occasional helminthic infections, have moderately high total serum IgE levels, and have elevated skin test positivities and specific IgE levels against environmental allergens. Persons of low socioeconomic level, in the urban, and particularly rural situation experience frequent helminthic infection, and have highly elevated total serum IgE levels. In contrast to the M-HSEL, the majority of these children have detectable specific IgE antibody against a variety of inhalant allergens, but relatively few have high levels, and their skin test positivity is also low. In these frequently parasitized persons, evidence of saturation of mast cell Fc epsilon receptors was found by tests of passive sensitization. We propose, therefore, that helminthic parasites have a biphasic effect on allergic reactivity; occasional infections are stimulatory, via their nonspecific potentiation of IgE synthesis against environmental allergens, and frequent infections are suppressive due to the widely polyclonal stimulation that they cause, resulting in both diminished specific antibody production against any given allergen and mast cell Fc epsilon receptor saturation.

The purpose of this work is obtaining exocellular antigens H and M from 4 H. capsulatum strains using NGTA medium (neopeptone, glucose, thiamine and asparagine) for periods of 1, 2 and 3 months, at 36 degrees C and continuously shaken. The exocellular antigens were evaluated by double immunodiffusion test against H. capsulatum rabbit antiserum, 7 histoplasmosis sera, 4 paracoccidioidomycosis sera and a reference antigen and antibody furnished by C.D.C. (Atlanta--USA). Except for the exocellular antigen from strain B.679 with 1 month of culture, all exocellular antigens obtained from the strains B.679, 58 and O187 showed the H and M bands. The A.811 strain demonstrated only the fraction H. All the exocellular antigens reacted positively with sera from histoplasmosis patients, except those obtained from strains 58 and B.679 with 1 month of culture. With regard to paracoccidioidomycosis patients sera, the exocellular antigens from strains 58 and O187 did not cross-react with them.

We report the isolation of a strain of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis from a dogfood, probably contaminated with soil, in a Brazilian city. The fungus was isolated on appropriate culture media, and when inoculated into a guinea-pig testis produced orchitis with abundant fungal elements. Histopathology of sections of the testicle showed an inflammatory reaction with P. brasiliensis inside monocytes. Immunological identification confirmed the identity of the isolate.

Sera from two patients with chronic active paracoccidioidomycosis yielded negative double immunodiffusion results with a culture filtrate antigen from Paracoccidioides brasiliensis routinely used in our laboratory. Complement fixation tests were positive for both sera using a polysaccharide-rich antigen. This study reports the results of a more extensive serological investigation of these two sera. Both a somatic antigen and a saline extract from the fungus yielded positive results in the double immunodiffusion. However, the immunodominant 43 kDa glycoprotein antigen showed negative results, although it was recognized by both sera in the Western blot assay. The value of the double immunodiffusion as a single serological test in paracoccidioidomycosis diagnosis is discussed.

International audience; The Web of Objects is a new emerging concept that represents a new way of organizing physical or immaterial objects—or things—delivering a high level of services that can be discovered, composed, executed, and monitored. Building an ambient assisted living (AAL) ecosystem, according to this vision, is of great interest since it consists of multiple heterogeneous objects that need to be semantically and automatically interoperable. In this chapter, a new semantic framework for monitoring the AAL heterogeneous ecosystems is presented. This framework deals with context awareness and closed-world assumption (CWA) semantic reasoning in designing management rules and ontologies. It preserves, on one hand, the structural expressiveness provided by ontologies, through the compatibility with the W3C recommendations and, on the other hand, it takes advantage of the full benefit of the production rule reasoning. It is capable of dynamically detecting real-world objects and capturing their contexts, in order to identify the specific changes that are happening in the environment, to infer the current situation and to react accordingly. Context management is designed by combining the micro-concept ontology language into a set rules and queries using the SEMbySEM business rule language. These rules allow us to express high-level reasoning over context events, sent from the façade, while the queries allow us to generate high-level monitoring views, concerning manageable objects status and context, as well as their measures and produced activities. Conversely, the monitoring rules can trigger control actions that are translated, by the façade, into concrete operations on the targeted manageable object. In order to validate the proposed framework, a scenario dedicated to the safety of elderly people in smart homes is proposed and implemented hereby.