The development of a non-contact screening system for rapid medical inspection at a quarantine depot using a laser Doppler blood-flow meter, microwave radar and infrared thermography.

In order to conduct fast screening of passengers with infections such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) or pandemic influenza at a quarantine depot, we developed a non-contact screening system with self-produced program to conduct a human screening within five seconds, via a linear discriminant function from non-contact derived variables, i.e. palmer pulse derived from a laser Doppler blood-flow meter, respiration rate determined by a 10-GHz microwave radar, and facial temperature measured by thermography. The system evaluation was conducted on seven healthy male subjects (23 +/- 1 years). In order to achieve a pseudo-infection condition, the subjects maintained an ergometer exercise load (100 W, 10 minutes). Before (normal condition) and after (pseudo-infection condition) exercise, a significant linear discriminant function (p < 0.001) was determined to distinguish pseudo-infection condition from normal condition (Mahalanobis D-square = 20.3, classification error rate <5%). The proposed system appears promising for future application in fast screening of infection at a quarantine depot.

Development of a non-contact screening system for rapid medical inspection at a quarantine depot using a laser Doppler blood-flow meter, microwave radar and infrared thermography.

In order to conduct fast screening of passengers with infections such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) or pandemic influenza at a quarantine depot, we developed a non-contact screening system with a self-produced program to conduct a human screening within five seconds, via a linear discriminant function from non-contact derived variables, i.e. palmer pulse derived from a laser Doppler blood-flow meter, respiration rate determined by a 10-GHz microwave radar, and facial temperature measured by a thermography. The system evaluation was conducted on seven healthy male subjects (23+1 years). In order to achieve a pseudo-infection condition, the subjects maintained an ergo-meter exercise load (100 W, 10 minutes). Before (normal condition) and after (pseudo-infection condition) exercise, a significant linear discriminant function (p50.001) was determined to distinguish the pseudo-infection condition from the normal condition (Mahalanobis D-square 1/4 20.3, classification error rate55%). The proposed system appears promising for future application in fast screening of infection at a quarantine depot.

Antibiótico antifungico produzido por um estreptomiceto da região de Araraquara / Antifungal antibiotic produced by a streptomycete isolated in the region of Araraquara (SP), Brazil

Com o aumento significativo na incidência de infecções fúngicas invasivas durante a última década, principalmente em pacientes com câncer, AIDS, ou hospitalizados por período prolongado em unidades de terapia intensiva, há a necessidade da pesquisa de novos agentes antifúngicos com qualidade superior aos existentes. Esta pesquisa objetivou a procura de um microrganismo produtor de substâncias antibacterianas e antifúngicas. Microrganismos das amostras de solo da região de Araraquara, Brasil, foram coletados e analisados quanto ao seu potencial antimicrobiano contra microrganismos padrões (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans, Aspergillus oryzae). Das 64 cepas isoladas, 34 apresentaram atividade antimicrobiana. A cepa Ar 4014 foi escolhida para dar continuidade ao trabalho por apresentar boa atividade antimicrobiana contra Candida albicans. Estudos fermentativos mostraram que os Meios 608-K e 602-B foram os melhores para produção e extração de substâncias antifúngicas de Ar 4014. Após cromatografia em coluna de sílica do extrato bruto, as frações ativas obtidas mostraram picos de absorção UV-VIS característicos de pentaenos normais. O antibiótico foi denominado provisoriamente Ara 4014-75

Antibiotic 26-deoxylaidlomycin isolated from Streptomyces sp. Ar386 from Brazilian soil.

An actinomycete strain (Ar386) was isolated from the soil of the Araraquara region, SP, Brazil. The strain, named Streptomyces jacareensis, formed irregular rayed, rugose, grayish-white mycelium with sinuous, branched hyphae carrying rare isolated spores; assimilated glucose, galactose, inositol, ribose, maltose, sucrose, melibiose and starch but not mannitol, rhamnose, arabinose, xylose, lactose and raffinose; and contained LL-diaminopimelic acid in its cell wall. An antibiotic active against Gram-positive bacteria, which was characterized as being 26-deoxylaidlomycin and which may have application against poultry coccidiosis, was isolated from cultures of the strain. This was the first isolation of this antibiotic from a microorganism of the genus Streptomyces and also the first isolation of this antibiotic in Brazil.

Tecnologia de fermentacoes: aplicacoes presentes e novas possibilidades com o desenvolvimento da engenharia genetica e de cultura de celulas. / Fermentation technology: current uses and new possibilities with the development of the Genetic Engenneering and of the cell cultures

Prospecto atual e futuro da tecnologia de fermentacao. Os produtos obtidos por fermentacao foram agrupados em 1) farmacos, 2) alimentos, 3) produtos agro-industriais e 4) produtos quimicos. Outros processos que utilizam a fermentacao foram citados Entre as possibilidades breves de aplicacao foram relatadas as producoes do interferon, da insulina, dos hormonios proteicos e dos anticorpos monoclonais por fermentacao. As vastas possibilidades do emprego da Engenharia Genetica e da Cultura de Celulas nas fermentacoes industriais foram discutidas