Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title from title page (viewed Apr. 23, 2007) Includes bibliographical references (p. 53-57)

Magnetic dependence of low temperature specific heat down to 0.6K is used to investigate the pairing symmetry of unconventional superconductor CeRu2. At low temperature Debye model highly deviated the 8T data serving as normal state below small magnetic anomaly shown around 6K. Based on the entropy conservation of superconducting transition, superconducting order parameters of s-wave and d-wave could not both be well described specific heat data at zero field. However, two-gap model, £GS=0.80 meV and £GL=1.01 meV, is better to describe the pairing symmetry of CeRu2. This might be the controversies among the earlier reports. Magnetic susceptibility and resistance under magnetic filed are both used to investigate the small anomaly, excluding double superconducting phase. Moreover, two rounds of specific-heat measurement both show the magnetic anomaly and might lead to an intrinsic property.

Alcoholism is a prevalent multifactorial disease with both genetic and environmental components. Monoamine oxidase (MAO) has been proposed as a susceptibility marker for familial alcoholism but consistent evidence of either specific MAO variants in alcoholics or allelic segregation in at-risk families has not been presented. Two structural genes on the X chromosome encode two forms of the enzyme, MAO-A and MAO-B. Kinetic constants for platelet MAO-B and restriction fragment length polymorphisms for MAO-A were determined in alcoholics with multigenerational family histories of alcoholism, high risk relatives of familial alcoholics and low risk controls with no family history of alcoholism. Mean elevated levels of MAO-B deamination were observed in alcoholics and high risk individuals. Alcoholic and high risk individuals did not differ from non-alcoholics with respect to MAO-B tryptamine affinity or MAO-A polymorphisms. Significant non-genetic factors influence MAO-B activity. MAO variants are unlikely to define a genetic predisposition to alcoholism.

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Psychology, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Presented as Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1935. / Title from added collective thesis t.p. Part 1 reprinted from Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 77 (1935) -- Part 2 reprinted from Physical review, vol. 48 (1 July 1935). eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

This study focussed on two areas in the field of cancer susceptibility. The initial area was the genetic analysis of a recently mapped breast cancer susceptibility locus, BRCAl, in a number of breast and breast-ovarian cancer families. In the largest of the ICRF families studied (BOV3), linkage to the long arm of chromosome 17 was confirmed and a number of recombinants were identified. One such cross-over event enabled the reduction of the interval harbouring BRCAI to a region estimated to be between 1-1.5 Mh. During the course of this study, a second gene for breast/ovarian cancer predisposition, BRCA2, had been assigned to a 6 cM region at 13q12-13.Towards the identification of this gene, a YAC contig was constructed spanning the published minimal genetic interval for BRCA2. This contig provided a framework for the identification of BRCA2. Allele loss studies were also performed and indicated that BRCA1 acts as a tumour suppressor. Analysis of familial and sporadic infiltrating ductal grade 3 breast carcinomas revealed a pattern of combined loss or retention of BRCAI and BRCA2. This supports a role for both genes in the development of thistumour type. The other area of study was the genetic analysis of a group of autosomal dominant skin diseases, termed the non-epidermolytic palmoplantar keratodermas. This study demonstrated genetic heterogeneity between three forms of NEPPK: diffuse, punctate and focal. Genetic heterogeneity was also established between families presenting with clinically similar forms of focal NEPPK. Mutations in thetype I keratin on 17q12-21, KRT16, were identified as the genetic basis of focal NEPPK in a pedigree without associated susceptibility to oesophageal cancer. In the pedigrees with a striking association between focal NEPPK and oesophageal cancer susceptibility, the region harbouring this disease locus (TOC) was refined to a lcMregion on 17q24-25.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:32:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-10-03Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:23:12Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 mondelli_al_dr_botfm.pdf: 931767 bytes, checksum: 93ca5e5f024661d1c7d1a3256a3e20bf (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / As leveduras vêm se tornando um dos principais agentes etiológicos das infecções hospitalares encontrados em pacientes com imunossupressão, muitas vezes evoluindo para quadros de sepse fúngica, na qual a mortalidade é elevada. Vários fatores associados diferentes, para o desenvolvimento de candidemia, têm sido estudados. Porém, tem-se dificuldade para escolher o tratamento desses quadros sépticos, uma vez que os métodos utilizados atualmente para verificar sensibilidade necessitam de técnicas trabalhosas e com resultados demorados para uso em laboratórios de rotina médica. Os objetivos do presente trabalho foram: estudar os fatores associados para o desenvolvimento de candidemia, bem como, comparar a eficácia do antifungigrama, realizado por método de disco difusão em ágar 24 e 48 horas e pelo método do Etest®, para o fluconazol, com a metodologia da microdiluição; além de avaliar a viabilidade da identificação das espécies de Candida por metodologia automatizada, dos sistemas Vitek-Biomerieux (Durham NC, USA) e manual, chamada de mista (tubo germinativo e Chromagar Candida (Difco, Sparks, MD-EUA), com a metodologia tradicional de referência. Analisaram-se 98 prontuários retrospectivamente do período compreendido entre os anos de 2000 a 2006, que possuíam amostras viáveis de Candida spp para o estudo. Os fatores associados mais prevalentes para o desenvolvimento de candidemia no total geral dos pacientes foram: o uso de antimicrobianos e antifúngicos com 93,9% e 79,6% respectivamente; a utilização do cateter venoso central com 93,9%; a presença de ventilação mecânica com 73,5% além da nutrição parenteral com 60,2% dos casos. As principais espécies de Candida encontradas foram C. parapsilosis com 37,76% e C. albicans com 33,67%; Candida não-albicans somaram 66,33% dos casos. A C. glabrata apresentou o maior índice de mortalidade do estudo, com 75% dos... / Yeasts are becoming some of the most common causes of nosocomial fungal infections that can be found in immunocompromised patients. Such infections many times develop to sepsis, whose mortality rate is high. Many different associated factors for the development of candidemia have been studied, but there is a great difficulty to choose the treatment of such cases because of the current methods of susceptibility testing, which are usually refined and time-consuming techniques for routine use in laboratory medicine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the factors associated with the development of candidemia, and fluconazole efficacy in disk diffusion test and Etest® as well as evaluate the viability of identification of Candida species by automated system Vitek-Biomerieux (Durham NC, USA), manual method (germinative tube) and Chromagar Candida (Difco, Sparks, MD-EUA). Ninety eight medical charts of patients with Candida spp samples available for the study were retrospectively analyzed. The results showed that the most prevalent risk factors to develop candidemia were: antibiotics and antifungal agents (93.9% and 79.6%, respectively); use of venal central catheter (93.9%); the presence of mechanical ventilation (73.5%) and parenteral nutrition (60.2%). The main species of Candida found were C. parapsilosis (37.76%), C. albicans (33.67%) and Candida non albicans (66.33%). C. glabrata showed the best mortality rate (75%), followed by C. tropicalis (57.1%) and C.albicans (54.5%). The disk diffusion test with visual reading and Cecom disk (São Paulo, Brazil) after 24 hours was recommended for utilization in laboratory routine with 81.6% agreement with the reference method. The disk diffusion test with visual reading and Cecom disk after 48 hours was not recommended for utilization in laboratory routine with only 72.4% of agreement with the reference method... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Resumo: As leveduras vêm se tornando um dos principais agentes etiológicos das infecções hospitalares encontrados em pacientes com imunossupressão, muitas vezes evoluindo para quadros de sepse fúngica, na qual a mortalidade é elevada. Vários fatores associados diferentes, para o desenvolvimento de candidemia, têm sido estudados. Porém, tem-se dificuldade para escolher o tratamento desses quadros sépticos, uma vez que os métodos utilizados atualmente para verificar sensibilidade necessitam de técnicas trabalhosas e com resultados demorados para uso em laboratórios de rotina médica. Os objetivos do presente trabalho foram: estudar os fatores associados para o desenvolvimento de candidemia, bem como, comparar a eficácia do antifungigrama, realizado por método de disco difusão em ágar 24 e 48 horas e pelo método do Etest®, para o fluconazol, com a metodologia da microdiluição; além de avaliar a viabilidade da identificação das espécies de Candida por metodologia automatizada, dos sistemas Vitek-Biomerieux (Durham NC, USA) e manual, chamada de mista (tubo germinativo e Chromagar Candida (Difco, Sparks, MD-EUA), com a metodologia tradicional de referência. Analisaram-se 98 prontuários retrospectivamente do período compreendido entre os anos de 2000 a 2006, que possuíam amostras viáveis de Candida spp para o estudo. Os fatores associados mais prevalentes para o desenvolvimento de candidemia no total geral dos pacientes foram: o uso de antimicrobianos e antifúngicos com 93,9% e 79,6% respectivamente; a utilização do cateter venoso central com 93,9%; a presença de ventilação mecânica com 73,5% além da nutrição parenteral com 60,2% dos casos. As principais espécies de Candida encontradas foram C. parapsilosis com 37,76% e C. albicans com 33,67%; Candida não-albicans somaram 66,33% dos casos. A C. glabrata apresentou o maior índice de mortalidade do estudo, com 75% dos... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Yeasts are becoming some of the most common causes of nosocomial fungal infections that can be found in immunocompromised patients. Such infections many times develop to sepsis, whose mortality rate is high. Many different associated factors for the development of candidemia have been studied, but there is a great difficulty to choose the treatment of such cases because of the current methods of susceptibility testing, which are usually refined and time-consuming techniques for routine use in laboratory medicine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the factors associated with the development of candidemia, and fluconazole efficacy in disk diffusion test and Etest® as well as evaluate the viability of identification of Candida species by automated system Vitek-Biomerieux (Durham NC, USA), manual method (germinative tube) and Chromagar Candida (Difco, Sparks, MD-EUA). Ninety eight medical charts of patients with Candida spp samples available for the study were retrospectively analyzed. The results showed that the most prevalent risk factors to develop candidemia were: antibiotics and antifungal agents (93.9% and 79.6%, respectively); use of venal central catheter (93.9%); the presence of mechanical ventilation (73.5%) and parenteral nutrition (60.2%). The main species of Candida found were C. parapsilosis (37.76%), C. albicans (33.67%) and Candida non albicans (66.33%). C. glabrata showed the best mortality rate (75%), followed by C. tropicalis (57.1%) and C.albicans (54.5%). The disk diffusion test with visual reading and Cecom disk (São Paulo, Brazil) after 24 hours was recommended for utilization in laboratory routine with 81.6% agreement with the reference method. The disk diffusion test with visual reading and Cecom disk after 48 hours was not recommended for utilization in laboratory routine with only 72.4% of agreement with the reference method... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: Ligia Niéro-Melo / Coorientador: Paulo José Fortes Villas Boas / Banca: Augusto César Montelli / Banca: Lígia Maria Suppo de Souza Rugolo / Banca: Ana Paula Campanelli / Banca: Antonio Eugênio C. Cardoso de Almeida / Doutor

Paratuberculosis (Johne's disease) imposes a significant problem to the world dairy and beef industries and today is considered a potential zoonosis. The disease is caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis and is characterized by progressive weight loss and profuse diarrhoea. Susceptibility to infection is suspected to have a genetic component, and moderated values for heritability of infection have been reported. Interferon gamma is an inducible cytokine with a crucial role in the innate host response to intracellular bacteria. Toll-like receptors are trans-membrane structures responsible for coordination of innate and adaptive immune responses. The solute carrier family 11 member 1 (SLC11A1, formerly NRAMP1) gene plays an important role in innate immunity, preventing bacterial growth in macrophages during the initial stages of infection. The objective of this candidate gene case-control study was to characterize the distribution of polymorphisms in three candidate genes related to the immune function; interferon gamma (BoIFNG), toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), and SLC11A1 genes and to test their role as potential risk factors for paratuberculosis infection in cattle. The statistical analysis demonstrated significant differences in allelic frequencies between cases and controls for BoIFNG-SNP12781 and SLC11A1 microsatellites, indicating a significant association between infection and variant alleles. In the analysis of genotypes, a significant association was also found between infection status and BoIFNG-SNP12781 and SLC11A1-275-279-281 microsatellites. However, when variables such as breed and age were included in the multivariate logistic regression analysis, a tendency toward statistical significance for the effect of polymorphisms in the odds of infection was only found for alleles SLC11A1-275 and 279.

No description available.