Congenitally transmitted visceral leishmaniasis: report of two Brazilian human cases

Visceral leishmaniasis is a relevant public health problem worldwide. Most of the reported cases in Latin America are from Brazil. Herein we report two human cases of congenitally transmitted visceral leishmaniasis in two patients who developed symptoms during pregnancy. The diagnosis was made by visual examination of Leishmania parasites in bone marrow aspirates of the mothers and by detecting parasite kDNA in bone marrow samples of the newborn children using polymerase chain reaction.

Large Scale Structure Sampling for Protein Fold Prediction using the Generalized Simulated Annealing

Molecular Dynamics Studies of Buckminsterfullerene Derivatives as Drug Carriers

The application of carbon nanostructures for drug delivery has been discussed in the last few years as one of the alternatives to induce hydrophilic drugs to cross biological membranes. The application of the Buckminsterfullerene as drug carriers as well as its toxicity have been well studied using several different techniques. One of the most important characteristics is that hydrophilic groups can be easily added to the fullerene surface such that a balance of hydrophilic and hydrophobic characteristics can be achieved. We report a study aimed at creating a fullerene derivative that has a flat free-energy profile across a membrane. Using NAMD, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were carried out for four different concentrations of hydroxyl groups on the fullerene surface, using the adaptive biasing force (ABF) method to obtain the free energy profile across the membrane. The results show that the PMF (potential of mean force) in the center of the membrane change in the range of −15Kcal/mol to 10Kcal/mol for different hydroxyl concentrations, the flattest PMF arising for six hydroxyl groups. To demonstrate the modified fullerene as a drug carrier, we carried out MD simulations for arginine and for arginine attached to the fullerene with six hydroxyl groups crossing the membrane. Arginine was chosen to represent a hydrophilic small drug. The simulations revealed that the free energy barrier for arginine crossing the membrane decreases from 33Kcal/mol to 15Kcal/mol when it is attached to the modified fullerene.

Incremental effect from integrating 3D-mammography (tomosynthesis) with 2D-mammography: Increased breast cancer detection evident for screening centres in a population-based trial

Three-dimensional (3D)-mammography (tomosynthesis) may improve breast cancer detection. We examined centre-specific effect of integrated 2D/3D mammography based on the STORM (screening with tomosynthesis or standard mammography) trial.

Virus–host interaction in feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection has been the focus of several studies because this virus exhibits genetic and pathogenic characteristics that are similar to those of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). FIV causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in cats, nevertheless, a large fraction of infected cats remain asymptomatic throughout life despite of persistent chronic infection. This slow disease progression may be due to the presence of factors that are involved in the natural resistance to infection and the immune response that is mounted by the animals, as well as due to the adaptation of the virus to the host. Therefore, the study of virus-host interaction is essential to the understanding of the different patterns of disease course and the virus persistence in the host, and to help with the development of effective vaccines and perhaps the cure of FIV and HIV infections.

The Mitochondrial Chaperone TRAP1 Promotes Neoplastic Growth by Inhibiting Succinate Dehydrogenase

We report that the mitochondrial chaperone TRAP1, which is induced in most tumor types, is required for neoplastic growth and confers transforming potential to noncancerous cells. TRAP1 binds to and inhibits succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), the complex II of the respiratory chain. The respiratory downregulation elicited by TRAP1 interaction with SDH promotes tumorigenesis by priming the succinate-dependent stabilization of the proneoplastic transcription factor HIF1α independently of hypoxic conditions. These findings provide a mechanistic clue to explain the switch to aerobic glycolysis of tumors and identify TRAP1 as a promising antineoplastic target.

Cauchy problem for effectively hyperbolic operators with triple characteristics

Mid-infrared characterization of thiophene-based thin polymer films

Optical properties of seven regioregular poly(3-alkylthiophene) with different alkyl side chain lengths which are poly(3-butylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3BT), poly(3-pentylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3PT), poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT), poly(3-heptylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3hept), poly(3-octylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3OT), poly(3-decylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3DT), and poly(3-dodecylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3DDT) have been studied in the mid-infrared (IR) spectral region by means of Fourier Transformation Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and IR spectroscopic ellipsometry (IRSE). Absorbance spectra obtained in this fingerprint region are potential to characterize the structures formed by organic molecules in thin films due to molecular vibrations in detail. In consequence, the vibrational absorption bands of these seven samples demonstrated that P3PT, P3HT, and P3hept exhibited very similar band profiles, in contrast, the stretching vibration of thiophene rings (≈1465cm−1: CC) underwent a blue shift in P3BT, P3OT, P3DT and P3DDT. The highest value of the real part (ɛ1) of the complex dielectric constant was obtained from P3HT on both indium thin oxide (ITO) and silicon (Si) substrates whereas the imaginary part (ε2) was directly affected by increasing in the alkyl side chain lengths in a frequency range around 3000cm−1. The optical properties of P3PT in the mid-IR region developed an affinity with those of P3HT. Thus, P3PT is particularly a suitable polymer active material candidate for high-performance devices

Cholestatic hepatitis in infants with infection by perinatal CMV and deficiency rickets: Description of a case

New Selective Processing Technique for Solar Cells

A new selective processing technique based on a confined dynamic liquid drop\meniscus is presented. This approach is based on localized wet treatment of silicon wafers using confined and dynamic liquid drop that while in contact with the wafer forms a dynamic liquid meniscus. Such new technique allows to touch in specific defined positions the silicon wafer (front and/or back) in order to perform any kind of wet processing without the need of protective photo-resist. The new selective processing technique allows the metallizations (front and back) of mono and multi crystalline silicon solar cells. The front grid contacts are obtained by locally etching the silicon nitride, forming in a thin layer of meso-porous silicon and totally filling the meso-porous layer by pulse reverse plating a Nickel film. Copper and Tin are then electroplated using the same selective processing. This technology provides an effective solution to avoid silver pastes for front contact grid, as it guarantees low specific contact resistivity (550μΩcm2 on a 75Ω/□ n-type doped emitter) and good adhesion to the silicon substrate (i.e. greater than 550g/mm). The Al back side of the solar cell are also treated by the new selective process. Tin is directly deposited on Aluminum back contact showing adhesion higher than silver on silicon (i.e. > 1N/mm)