Repositório RCAAP

The HIV infection and the tuberculosis (TB) are together the main causes of death for infectious agents in the world, being approximately 13 million people infected with both causative agents. The HIV-infected individuals show increased susceptibility for active tuberculosis, being the imunosupression caused by the virus the main risk factor for the development for active TB. This study investigated the profile of Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug resistance and evaluated the factors related to the development of TB in HIV infected patients who were treated at HSJ, which is a reference hospital in infectious diseases in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. During the period of July 2003 until June 2006, 208 patients with clinical and/or laboratorial diagnosis of micobacteriosis or tuberculosis and infection for the HIV were taken care in this hospital. The TB/HIV co-infected patients were older (average: 40 years, p= 0.0025) than the control group, being approximately 4 years older. The majority of the patients were male (80.8%, p= 0.0005) and they had shown a risk to develop TB of 43.0% greater compared to the female sex. The risk to develop the TB disease was two times higher in the patients with lower educational levels (less than eight years of schooling) and they represented 85.9% of the patients (p=0.000). The history of previous contact with TB patients and previous treatment for TB were also found to be risk factors for TB. The imunosupression level was higher in TB-HIV coinfected patients being the CD4+ lymphocytes count average of 169 cells/mm ³(p=0.000) and the viral load logarithm average of 4,36 (p=0.0013). The clinical forms most frequents were pulmonary (45.7%), extrapulmonary (28.4%) and disseminated (25.9%). Of the samples that were submitted to identification, 81.2% were M. tuberculosis and 12.8% were not M. tuberculosis. The resistance frequency to one drug and multi-resistance were the same (5.9%). Overall, these observations are important for establishing political strategies of public health to improve the conditions at the regional level.

VIRGINIO, Camila Gomes.

This paper deals with the welfare and long run allocation impacts of privatization. There are two types of capital in this model economy, one exclusively private and the other has public good features, denominated infrastructure, which is o¤ered by both public and private sectors. A positive externality due to infrastructure capital is assumed. So the government can improve upon decentralized allocations by way of internalizing the externality. Public investment is nanced through distortionary taxation. It is shown that the welfare net gains of privatization depend on the quality and quantity of the private infrastructure supply. Furthermore, those net gains are strongly related to the quality control of the new private infrastructure supply that emerges after the privatization policy.

Helicobacter pylori is a bacteria that infects about 50% of the world population constituting one of the principal risk factors for the development of gastric cancer. The emergence of this cancer type is associated to the presence of the bacteria and risk elements, such as the alimentary habits, the genetic predisposition and environmental factors. The present work had as objective evaluates the effect of components of the Northeastern diet (salt, vinegar, pepper and potato juice), extracts and essential oils on H. pylori growth. In the study a reference and a clinic strain were used. The chosen method for the accomplishment of the screening test was the inhibitory-zone testing and for determination of the Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) it was used the agar dilution method as described by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). The strains were inoculated in appropriate culture medium containing different concentrations of the tested substances. The reading was determined macroscopically and the growth confirmed through the accomplishment of the microscopy by the Gram method and biochemical tests. It was verified that the salt did not inhibit the growth and morphology of H. pylori, however, it was able to influence the antimicrobial effect, in vitro. The vinegar and the pepper did not show antimicrobial activity. The potato juice was shown to promote the bacterial growth. The ethanolic extracts of Lippia alba Mill. N.E.B chemotypes I, II, III) and Egletes viscosa L. were active against the bacteria. The essential oils of Ocimum gratissimum L., Ocimum sp, Myracrodruom urundeuva All., L. alba Mill. N.E.B chemotypes I, II, III and E. viscosa L. were also active against H. pylori. The chemical characterization confirmed the majority constituents of the plants. H. pylori constitute, today, a vast research source in several areas. Related studies the transmission prevalence, resistance antimicrobial, new therapeutic alternatives and development of vaccines they are necessary and plenty promising.

BEZERRA, Cristianne Sousa.

The systemic infections caused by yeasts of the genus Candida are considered opportunist mycoses of high risk in hospital environments. These infections represent important therapeutical challenge, by reason of arising of species resistent to some antifungals, associated with high rate of mortality. Therefore, this work sought: To verify the frequency of fungemias at Dr. César Cals Hospital and Albert Sabin Children Hospital; identify the etiological agents implicated; determine the sensitivety profile to antifulgal and evaluate the genotypical profile of the species isolated from patients with recurrency. For this, were recuperated from 4627 hemcultures, 55 yeast-positive hemocultures at HGCC and from 5316 hemocultures 87 yeast-positive hemocultures at HIAS. From them, 23 patients at HGCC and from 43 at HIAS that had clinical histories with complet data entered this study. The mycological diagnosis was performed through biochemical and morphological characteristics of the etiological isolated. The test of sensitivety to antifungal- amphotericin B, fluconazole, itraconazole and cetoconazole- utilized the microdilution method in broth, reported in the document M27-A2 of the NCCLS. The genotyping techniques were performed through PFGE (Pulsed Field Gel Electrophresis), RAPD (Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis). Within the period from june of 2000, to june of 2002 at HGCC, were analysed 4627 hemocultures, being positives 1051, of which 55 (5,2%) were positive for yeast of the genus Candida. On the other hand, in the period from june of 2001 to july of 2002 at HIAS, were analysed 5316 hemocultures, of which 87 (5,72%) were yeast-positive of the genus Candida and Rhodotorula.The main specie involved in the genus Candida, was C. parapsilosis with 36% and 42% of the cases at HGCC and HIAS respectively. The main risk factors associated with candidemia, were: the previous antibiotic therapy, central venous catheter, parenteral nutrition, gastric probe, mechanical ventilation, surgery and prematurity. About the resistance to antifungals drugs was observed that amphotericin B showed a resistance level of 4%, fluconazole-56%, itraconazole-52% and cetoconazole- 86%. The PFGE technique caracterized a cromossomic profile of 6 bands for C. parapsilosis and 4 for C. tropicalis. This technique permited the diferentiation of one cepa with changed pattern of bands for the last episode of the patient 4. The technique of RAPD chacacterized a distribution pattern of predominant bands for C. parapsilosis and was capable of characterize 4 genetical profiles, denoting reinfection in 3 patients and 2 genomic profiles were found for C. tropicalis. This assay shows the emergency of the non- albicans Candida, specially the C. parapsilosis, as main responsible for the cases of candidemia in the two hospitals of tertiary indication of Fortaleza, associated with a high resistance in vitro to antifungals. The genetical variability found in C. parapsilosis and C. tropicalis through the PFGE and RAPD techniques, revealed reinfection pictures, which rises the possibility that these be due to a contamination among patients or indirectly through the healthy workers.

Coccidioidomycosis and histoplasmosis are systemic mycoses that occur in humans and other animals and are caused by the dimorphic fungi Coccidioides posadasii and Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum, respectively. They are considered important deep mycoses that can lead to several secondary complications. In the past years, the improvement of the techniques applied in mycological diagnosis and the increase in the occurrence of immunocompromising diseases have caused a great impact in the incidence of deep and opportunistic mycoses in the world. In spite of the existence of effective antifungal therapy against coccidioidomycosis and histoplasmosis, the pursue of new drugs to treat theses diseases is necessary. Ciprofloxacin is a classic antibacterial drug that belongs to the group of fluoroquinolones, which inhibit the catalytic activity of DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV, which are essential in bacterial DNA replication and transcription. Some studies have shown that ciprofloxacin can act on fungal DNA gyrase. Thus, the present study aimed at evaluating the in vitro inhibitory effect of ciprofloxacin (CIP), when associated with amphotericin B (AMB), itraconazole (ITC), voriconazole (VRC) or caspofungina (CAS), on C. posadasii and H. capsulatum var. capsulatum. Sixteen strains of C. posadasii in the filamentous phase and 16 and 9 strains of H. capsulatum in the filamentous and yeast-like phase, respectively, were used. Broth macrodilution and microdilution assays were performed, as described in the documents M38-A and M27-A2, respectively, of the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). Drug interaction was analyzed by calculating the fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI), which is defined as the sum of the ratios between the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of each combined drug and the MIC of the same drug isolatedly. Values of FICI smaller or equal to 0.5 indicate the occurrence of synergy. Concerning the isolates of C. posadasii, synergistic interactions were observed for all combinations, especially for the associations of CIP (3.125≤CIM≤12.5 ug mL-1) with ITC (0.0078≤CIM≤0.125 ug mL-1) (n=13/16), CIP (3.125≤CIM≤12.5 ug mL-1) with VRC (0.0078≤CIM≤0.0312 ug mL-1) (n=13/16) and CIP (3.125≤CIM≤12.5 ug mL-1) with CAS (2≤CIM≤8 ug mL-1) (n=14/16). For the isolates of H. capsulatum in the filamentous phase synergistic interactions were also observed for all combinations, with emphasis to the associations of CIP (3.906≤CIM≤62.5 ug mL-1) with ITC (0.00006≤CIM≤0.0078 ug mL-1) (n=14/16) and CIP (31.25≤CIM≤125 ug mL-1) with VRC (0.0156≤CIM≤0.125 ug mL-1) (n=16/16). For H. capsulatum in yeast-like phase, few synergistic interactions were observed for the tested drug combinations. None of the tested combinations presented antagonism. The obtained data may point at a new alternative for the treatment of coccidioidomycosis and histoplasmosis. Thus, it is necessary to investigate the mechanisms of action of these drug combinations on the fungal cellular metabolism and to perform in vivo experiments to confirm the relevance of these findings.

In the past years, the improvement of mycological diagnosis methods and immunosuppressive diseases have caused a great impact in the incidence of opportunistic and deep mycoses all around the world, which motivated the performance of new antifungal drugs prospective studies. Histoplasmosis is a systemic mycosis caused by the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum, which may mimic tuberculosis, in healthy individuals, concerning clinical and radiological aspects.ome cases of histoplasmosis that are refractory to the treatment with conventional antifungal drugs have been described. The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro inhibitory effect of the antituberculosis drugs: isoniazid (INH), pyrazinamide (PZA) and ethambutol (EMB); antifungal drugs: amphotericin B (AMB), fluconazole (FLC), itraconazole (ITC) and voriconazole (VRZ) and chemical analogs of isoniazid against strains of H. capsulatum (n=30), as well as to evaluate the use of different culture media for the performance of the susceptibility tests. For such, first, the antituberculosis agents INH, PZA and EMB and the analogs of isoniazid were tested isolatedely, and then, in association with the antifungal drugs FLC, ITC and VRZ, against 18 strains of H. capsulatum, previously grown onto BHI agar, through broth macrodilution technique. Each of the 12 remaining strains grown onto potato agar, BHI agar, 2% malt extract agar and lactritmel agar were microscopically analyzed, concerning the presence of tuberculate macroconidia, which were quantified as follows: 0-10, 10-50 and >50 macroconidia/field. Fungal cultures were used to determine the susceptibility of H. capsulatum to the antifungal agents AMB, FLC, ITC and VRZ, through broth microdilution methodology. The antituberculosis drugs inhibited the in vitro growth of the fungal strains, with MICs ranging from 0.04 to 0.30 mg/mL for INH; 0.55 to 3.13 mg/mL for PZA and 1.56 to 6.25 mg/mL for EMB. Concerning antifungal drugs, all the strains were susceptible, with MIC values ranging from 0.0625 to 0.25 µg/mL for AMB; 15.62 to 62.5 µg/mL for FLC; 0.0039 to 0.0312 µg/mL for ITC, and 0.00156 to 0.25 µg/mL for VRZ. When associating antituberculosis drugs with azole derivatives, all associations inhibited the in vitro growth of H. capsulatum strains, and synergy was observed for the nine combinations tested. Analogs of isoniazide presented MICs of 2, 4, 8 and 15-fold better than the standard antituberculosis drug. Basing on micromorphological analysis, the lowest quantification of macroconidia/field (0-10) was observed for 11, 10, 6 and 7 strains previously grown onto potato agar, BHI agar, malt agar and lactritmel agar, respectively. Malt agar was the most adequate medium for the production of macroconidia, 10-50 and >50/field, with a total of six strains; followed by lactritmel agar, with 5 strains. Concerning the relationship between MIC and culture medium used during the test, it was observed that inoculum from strains grown onto malt agar and BHI agar allowed the detection of the MIC for 11 strains. On the other hand, for those inocula grown onto potato agar and lactritmel agar, the MIC values were not detected for 8 and 5 strains, respectively. The results of this study provide additional data on the antifungal potential of antituberculosis drugs and their interactions with azole derivatives. However, new studies are necessary in order to determine the mechanism of action of these compounds on fungal cellular metabolism.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is detached as an important pathogen of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) in children, mainly in the first year of life. This study had as purposes: to determine the prevalence of RSV in cases of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in children served in Albert Sabin Children Hospital, in Fortaleza – CE, over the period of January 2001 to July 2004; describe the seasonality pattern of RSV circulation along the study period; observe characteristics clinical-epidemiological of these infections; characterize antigenically the circulating RSV in the epidemic period from 2003 to 2004 and determine the isolation rate of RSV in HEp-2 cells culture from samples collected in 2002, 2003, and 2004 and stored at –20ºC. Aspirated from nasopharynx were collected from children with up to seven days from the beginning of ARIs symptoms and submitted to the reaction of indirect immunofluorescence (IIF). Samples collected in 2002, 2003, and 2004, and stored at –20ºC, were inoculated in monolayers of HEp-2 cells. During the 43 months of study, RSV was identified in 21.0% (409/1950) of the clinical specimens collected. Virus circulation was initially observed during the months of January or February and the last cases were recorded in July or August of each year of study. The peak of these infections was observed from March to July, associated with the rainy season of the city. The infections caused by RSV were more frequent in male children and those with up to two years of age. Bronchiolitis and pneumonia were the clinical syndromes more associated with the virus. Dyspnea, throat pain, coryza, sneezes and cyanosis were the significant clinical signs and symptoms in ARIs caused by RSV. About 9.5 % (39/409) of the infected children presented problems associated, such as prematurity, heart diseases and congenital pulmonary diseases. Among the risk factors associated with these infections, was pointed out the exposure to ARIs in the domicile. Strains of RSV A and B co-circulated during the epidemical periods analyzed, without a significant predominance of any antigenical group. About 29.8 % (122/409) of the positive samples for RSV, stored at –20ºC, were inoculated in monolayers of HEp-2 cells. The isolation percentage varied from 0.0 %, in samples collected in 2002, to 36.8 %, in 2004. Our results confirm the importance of the RSV as etiological agent of ARIs, especially LRTI, in young children. The occurrence of RSV in the city of Fortaleza showed a regular seasonal pattern associated with the rains. The conservation of samples at –20ºC did not make impossible the isolation in cells culture up to one year after freezing.

Gastric cancer is the most deadly malignant neoplasia worldwide, with high incidence in Brazil and Helicobacter pylori infection is a well-established risk factor. Depending on the presence of virulence genes such as cagA, cagE, vacA and virB11, H. pylori can cause differentiated inflammatory responses, with large amounts of nitric oxide (NO) generated primarily by iNOS. High amount of NO resulting in accumulation of reactive oxygen species can cause DNA oxidative damage. The genomic integrity is guaranteed by important repair enzymes as: APE-1, OGG-1 and PARP-1. Genetic polymorphisms that modify the activity of these enzymes may influence the ability to repair and therefore the host susceptibility to the development of gastric cancer H.pylori associated. Therefore, the goal of this study was to evaluate the association of the C150T polymorphism in iNOS, T2197G in APE-1, C1245G in OGG -1 and A40676G in PARP-1 with H.pylori genotype in 109 cases of patients with gastric adenocarcinoma from hospitals in Fortaleza, Ceará. The identification of polymorphisms was performed by PCR-RFLP and the detection and genotyping of H.pylori were performed by PCR. The studied polymorphisms showed the following frequencies: iNOS 78% CC, 21.1% CT and 0.9% TT; PARP-1 69.7% AA 26.6% AG and 3.7% GG to OGG -1 56% CC, 39.4% CG and 4.6% GG and APE-1 38.5% TT, 47.7% TG and 13.8% GG. Valuable to note the low frequency of the homozygous polymorphic (TT) of iNOS and the high frequency of heterozygous (TG) from APE-1. The variant alleles of iNOS and PARP-1 were correlated with subjects ≤ 55 years, suggesting that these polymorphisms were associated with early development of the neoplasia. Intestinal tumors located in the non-antrum were correlated with heterozygous genotype of OGG-1 (CG), while diffuse, located on the body with the AA genotype of PARP-1. H. pylori was detected in 92.6% of cases. The genes cagA, cagE and virB11 were detected in 65.3%, 50.4% and 60.3% of cases respectively and vacAs1m1 was detected in 72.2%. The cases were also grouped considering the alleles of vacA and the integrity of the cag-pathogenicity island. Thus, the groups A1 and A2, consist of more pathogenic strains, were observed in 33.6% and 13.8% of patients, respectively. In the individual analysis of each enzyme, we observed that individuals carrying the variant alleles of APE-1 (TG+GG) were infected with low pathogenic strains (p=0.0422). These low pathogenic strains were also associated with patients carrying the wild genotype (AA) of PARP-1 (p=0.0396). These data were confirmed when patients infected with more virulent strains were compared to those infected with less virulent strains (p = 0.046). Analyzing only the group A1, it was also observed a correlation of APE-1 (TG) with OGG-1 (CC). When genotypes were combined by considering only the repair enzymes studied or two by two, it was found that most patients infected with the wild-type of PARP-1 were carriers of the variant allele for at least one of the enzymes and that most patients infected with less pathogenic strains possess a polymorphic allele of APE-1, independent of the genotype associated with the repair enzyme. Taken together, these data indicate the relevance of the APE-1 polymorphism in the development of gastric cancer in individuals infected with less virulent strains and corroborate the importance of the bacterial genotype, since; in general, individuals with wild-type for enzymes repair studied developed gastric cancer when infected with virulent strains.

Adenoviruses (Ad) are important etiological agents of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in children, particularly between six months and five years old. This was a retrospective study, whose objectives were: to perform clinical and epidemiologic profile of adenoviral respiratory infections in children attended in Hospital Infantil Albert Sabin, in the city of Fortaleza, from January 2001 to December 2006; to observe the detection frequency of Ad in cases of ARI in children attended in that hospital; to describe the main clinical features of adenoviral respiratory infections; to search for the existence of a seasonal pattern of adenoviral infections in the city of Fortaleza; to determine the isolation rate of Ad in HEp-2 cell lines inoculated with samples of nasopharyngeal secretions (NPS) considered positive to Ad by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF); and to create a collection of Ad strains for future studies on antigenic and genomic diversity of these agents. NPS samples of 3,070 children with ARI up to seven days of the onset of symptoms were collected. IIF was applied to all of the samples, and among them, 54 were positive to Ad. Forty one of those positive samples were inoculated into HEp-2 cells, resulting in 32 viral isolations. Other 103 randomly choosen negative samples were also inoculated, resulting in more three isolations, reaching the number of 57 confirmed cases of Ad infections. The detection frequency of Ad was 1.86% of total number of cases of ARI and 6.1% of cases of viral ARI. It was not observed any seasonal pattern or correlation to rainy or dry season. Most cases of adenoviral ARI occurred in children aged seven to 24 months, representing 63.15% of cases. Ad ARI was observed mainly in children attended in the out-patient facility (50.88%), and the predominant diagnosis was upper respiratory tract infection (70.18%). The main clinical features in Ad patients were fever, cough, rhinorrhea, anorexia, vomiting or diarrhea, nasal obstruction, and dyspnea. The main therapeutic management for Ad patients was use of nebulization (about 42% of patients)

Analise o mercado de microcrédito sob o foco da demanda. Busca identificar a forma de atuação dos pequenos empresários e sua rotatividade no mercado. Sobre a decisão de ingressar neste mercado, há o contraponto entre as características pessoais do tomador em avaliar suas necessidades empresariais e as condições das agências fornecedoras de microcrédito. Foram elaborados modelos que atendessem a tríplice condição de um microempresário vir a ser, ser ou deixar de ser um usuário de microcrédito. Para tanto, foram desenvolvidos, inicialmente, dois modelos de escolha discreta multinomiais que contemplassem e mensurassem os fatores determinantes na decisão do tomador em ser usuário de microcrédito, dadas as suas características pessoais em face das condições do micronegócio. O terceiro modelo, de escolha discreta binária, objetivou estimar a chance de o tomador deixar de ser usuário de microcrédito levando-se em conta a oferta e o desempenho do próprio micronegócio. Os resultados obtidos a partir de dados primários e secundários permitiram concluir de uma forma geral que os pequenos empresários procuram manter-se no mercado buscando expandir seus negócios, tendo o microcrédito como um dos instrumentos iniciais para este fim.

SILVA, Jéssica Soares. Entre toadas, leis e cachês: as práticas das bandas cabaçais do Cariri cearense e as ressignificações do conceito de culturas populares. 2011. 96f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Sociologia) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Departamento de Ciências Sociais, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sociologia, Fortaleza-CE, 2011.

Chronic hepatitis C has been associated with non-organ-specific autoantibodies (NOSA) production. Despite of increasing number of researches about this subject, there is no agreement among the authors of which autoantibodies are produced during combinated therapy of interferon and ribavirin or the clinical relevance of NOSA in patient’s organism. Our aim was to evaluate the profile of NOSA in patients with chronic hepatitis C who attended to Walter Cantídio Hospital (HUWC) and received combinated antiviral therapy (interferon-ribavirin). A total of 34 patients with hepatitis C were studied. Anti-nuclear antibody (ANA), anti-smooth muscle antibody (SMA), anti-liver/kidney microsomal antibody type 1 (LKM-1) and anti-mitochondrial antibody (AMA) were detected by indirect immunofluorescence. The presence of NOSA was related to clinical and epidemiological variables and to the outcome of antiviral combination therapy with interferon-alfa and ribavirin. Patients were classified as nonresponders, relapsers or long-term responders depending on the outcome of treatment. In our study, before therapy, 23 patients were NOSA positive (SMA was detected in 6 patients, SMA and AMA in 10 and SMA, AMA and ANA in 7). On the 24th week of treatment, 24 patientes were NOSA positive (SMA was detected in 4 patients, SMA and AMA in 10, ANA and SMA in 1, ANA and AMA in 1 and SMA, AMA and ANA in 8). NOSA behavior did not show significant variation during treatment. The overall rate of long-term response was 26,5% (9/34). Long-term response occurred in 17,4% (4/23) of NOSA positive patients and 45,5% (5/11) of NOSA negative patients. Positivity of autoantibodies was not associated with gender, age, viral genotype or aminotransferase levels. In conclusion, ANA was the only NOSA associated with treatment outcome. The absence of NOSA might indicate a significantly higher chance for viral clearance in response to combination therapy for chronic hepatitis C infection.

The genus Malassezia enclose lipophylic and lipid-dependent yeast that after many changes in its taxonomic classification, comprises in the atuality 13 species, including M. pachydermatis, M. furfur, M. sympodialis, M. globosa, M. obtusa, M. restricta, M. slooffiae, M. dermatis, M. japonica, M. yamatoensis, M. nana, M. equine, and M. caprae. These yeasts are associated to several diseases including, such as pityriasis versicolor, or dermatoses, seborrheic dermatitis and atopic dermatitis, among others. The general aim of this study was to contribute to better knowledgement about the phenotypical identification, storage in fungal collection and in vitro antifungal susceptibility of Malassezia spp. The phenotiping was based on macro and micromorphologics characteristics, as well as biochemistry and nutritional analisys. Twenteen strains suffers storage at -80ºC in vegetables oils. The microdilution technique was accomplished in RPMI 1640 broth, supplemented with ox bile, Tween 20 and glycerol, being complemented with subculture on Dixon agar, for determination of the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal fungicidal concentration (CFM). The drugs tested were ketoconazole (KET), itraconazole (ITR), fluconazole (FLC), amphotericin B (AMB) and caspofungine (CAS). With the conventional phenotypical analysis of the strains (n=38), could suggest the presence of the M. furfur/ M. dermatis (n=17), M. sympodialis (n=8), M. slooffiae (n=5) and M. pachydermatis (n=8). The stored accomplished in vegetable oils at -80ºC showed meaningful rate of recorver, but physiologic characteristics was modified, such as _-glicosidase activity and Chremophor EL assimilation. Most of the strains (84,21%) was sensitive for KET and ITR, obtaining values of MIC 0.03μg/mL. For FLC the MIC range was 4 to 64μg/mL, against VOR the strains of M. pachydermatis obtained MIC range <0,03 a 2μg/mL, therefore the lipid-dependents strains of Malassezia spp. obtained dispersive results from <0.03 to >16μg/mL. Against ANB, the MIC range was 1 to >16μg/mL. It was not possible determinate the MIC and MFC values for caspofungine. The extracts from avocado seeds were active against strains of M. pachydermatis.

The human metapneumovírus (hMPV) is a newly discovered virus that has been considered as one of the most common agents of acute respiratory infections (ARI) virus in childhood. The objectives of this study were: 1) to observe the frequency of infections caused by hMPV among children attending Hospital Infantil Albert Sabin, a major pediatric hospital in Ceará, from January 2006 to December 2007; 2) to describe aspects of seasonality of these infections relating them to the occurrence of rain and the circulation of other respiratory viruses, 3) to describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients infected by hMPV, compared with positive and negative patients for other viruses; 4) to evaluate the IFI assay as a method of diagnosis for the detection of hMPV. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected from children with symptoms of ARI and submitted to indirect immunofluorescence assays for the detection of the following respiratory viruses: hMPV, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza A and B, adenovirus and parainfluenza 1, 2 and 3. During the 24 months of study, samples were collected from 1276 and respiratory viruses were demonstrated in 380 (29.78%) samples. The hMPV was the second most frequently detected respiratory viruses representing a total of 8.69% of all samples and 29% among the samples positive for the virus analyzed. It was not observed for hMPV a pattern of seasonality or correlation with the rainy season. Most patients positive for hMPV were attended in the emergence (89.2%). The mean age of patients infected by hMPV was 27 months, wich is significantly older than that for VSR (15 months), adenovirus (14 months) and parainfluenza virus 3 (18 months). Among patients infected by hMPV, 53.2% had a diagnosis of infections of the upper airways and 46.7% had a diagnosis of infections of the lower airways. The hMPV infections showed the same spectrum of infections caused by other viruses analyzed. The hMPV associated to more cases of pneumonia that led to the hospitalization of children infected than other viruses analyzed. More than half of these patients used the aerosol / salbutamol as conduct therapy (68.5%). The IFI assay proved to be quite effective as a method of diagnosis for the detection of hMPV in this study

The contemporary world of work is permeated by a backdrop of profound transformations, exemplified by the change in labor relations, increasingly dynamic and competitive, labor market, which spread into the outsourcing, subcontracting, and modes of organization and production, predominantly centered in the capital. Among the coping strategies of the models of precarious employment and alternative income generation, draws attention to the proliferation of solidarity organizations, which are based on values very different from those most widely used in today\'s society, such as cooperation, mutual aid, democratic decision-making. This specificity motivated this research, which aimed to understand the general meanings attributed to work by members of enterprises based on the principles of Solidarity Economy. The research was conducted from the standpoint of the workers associated themselves and had the theoretical ideas presented by authors such as Antunes (2000), Castel (2005), Singer (2002) and Vygotsky (2001). The methodology for achieving goals followed the referential quality and data collection was conducted through individual interviews. The discursive material collected, in turn, was analyzed based on Content Analysis proposed by Bardin (1977). The data analyzed showed that inserting these projects brings a positive impact on the meanings attributed to work, while remaining references to the notion of working with a formal contract as a guarantee of rights and labor protections.

Otitis results from auricular inflammation and represents 8-15% of all cases received in the veterinarian practices. This study was done to outline and compare the isolation profile in external and middle ears from dogs with otitis. Between August/2003 and March/2004, 64 dogs with both otitis externa and media and 50 dogs with bilateral otitis externa were studied. Fifty dogs with healthy ears were used as control group. The collection was done ate the Zoonosis Control Center in Fortaleza-CE and the microbiological analysis at the Microbiological Center - Department of Pathology and Legal Medicine-UFC. Samples from the external ears were collected with sterile swabs and the ones from the middle ears by osteotomy of the tympanic bulla. The microrganisms were cultured and identified according to methods previously described and susceptibility tested by agar diffusion method (NCCLS). In otitic dogs the most frequent alterations were: lesions of the pinna (72%), local pain (12%) and alteration of the pinna position (12%). Sixty-two per cent of the dogs showed entire tympanic membrane with some structural alteration. Microbiogical growth was seen in 48% of the samples fromdogss with otitis media, and the most frequent isolates were: Estafilococos positive-coagulase (62.5%), non-fermentative Gram-negative (10%), Enterobacteriaceae (5%) and Candida albicans (5%). It was observed that there was an increased number and variety of species isolated in external ears comparaed to middle ears. In samples from external ears, the following predominated: Bacillus sp. (27.1%), M. pachydermatis (23.4%) e S. intermedius (21.8%). The most frequent species isolated in dogs with bilateral otitis externa were: Bacillus sp. (27.9% e 31%), M. pachydermatis (25.9% e 24%), S. intermedius (23.8% e 24.6%) e Enterobactérias (6% e 6.1%). There was a significative difference (p<0.0001) in the way the isolates were associated, which showed the individuality from each ear in bilateral otitis externa. In this study, no anaerobic microrganisms were isolated. S. intermedius strains (n=83) showed intermediate resistance to most of the cntimicrobials tested and high resistance to penicillin (36.1%), ampicillin (27.7%), tetracyclin (27.7%), erythromycin (14.5%) and clindamycin (12.0%). These results describe tha variety of bacterial and fungal isolates associated with canine otitis and reveal the need to adopt systematic procedures for the diagnosis and treatment of dogs with otitis.

ARAÚJO, Claúdio Romero Pereira de. Teoria vygotskiana e educação: o que falam desta relação os docentes das universidades de Fortaleza? . 2007. 140 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Psicologia) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Departamento de Psicologia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia, Fortaleza-CE, 2007.

As citocinas desempenham um papel importante na resposta imune do hospedeiro contra o M. leprae. Polimorfismos de genes de citocinas têm sido implicados como um fator do hospedeiro influenciando a susceptibilidade para doenças infecciosas. O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar a relação entre a hanseníase e os polimorfismos dos genes TNFα (fator de necrose tumoral-α) -308 G→A; IFNγ (interferon-γ) +874 T→A; IL-6 (interleucina-6) -174 G→C; IL-10 -1082 A→T, -819 C→T, -592 A→C e TGFβ (fator de crescmento tumoral-β) códon 10 e códon 25. O estudo foi realizado com moradores do município de Sobral com 15 anos ou mais, no Estado do Ceará, durante o período de março de 2006 a julho de 2008. Os indivíduos foram divididos em três grupos. O grupo caso índice foi composto por 46 indivíduos com hanseníase. Controles internos foram 110 contactantes que residiam no domicílio do caso índice e os controles externos foram 83 indivíduos que não residiam no mesmo domicílio do caso índice. Desses indivíduos foram coletados 3ml para extração de DNA através do “Genomic Prep Blood DNA Isolation Kit” (GE Healthcare) e para tipificação dos polimorfismos dos genes das citocinas através do “kit” da “One-Lambda” (Canoga Park, CA, EUA). Também forma coletados 4,9ml de sangue para detecção de anticorpos IgM para PGL-I utilizando um teste ELISA. Os dados epidemiológicos e clínicos foram obtidos a partir de um questionário aplicado à todos participantes, padronizado para o projeto “Epidemiologia da hanseníase no Ceará: aprofundamento dos estudos imuno-epidemiológicos”, ao qual esse estudo está vinculado. Assim, não foram observadas associações significantes entre os polimorfismos dos genes das citocinas estudados e a susceptibilidade à hanseníase. Em relação ao gene IL-10, os indivíduos com o genótipo GCC/GCC apresentaram uma tendência a desenvolver a hanseníase mais precocemente. Em relação aos SNPs do gene IFNγ e TGFβ encontramos uma associação do genótipo T/T do IFNγ e do genótipo T/T G/G do TGFβ com uma predisposição à doença em indivíduos vacinados, podendo ser que indivíduos com esses genótipo não sejam beneficiados com a vacina. Em relação aos SNPs do gene IL-6 do grupo de controles internos foi observada uma associação entre um considerável aumento do genótipo C/C e a positividade para o anti-PGL-I. Dessa forma, o estudo do polimorfismo dos genes das citocinas traz um melhor esclarecimento da relação entre a genética do hospedeiro e a hanseníase, complementando estudos sobre a sua transmissão e fatores intra e extra-familiares em suas características imunológicas.