Adaptive Filtering for the Maternal Respiration Signal Attenuation in the Uterine Electromyogram.

The electrohysterogram (EHG) is the uterine muscle electromyogram recorded at the abdominal surface of pregnant or non-pregnant woman. The maternal respiration electromyographic signal (MR-EMG) is one of the most relevant interferences present in an EHG. Alvarez (Alv) waves are components of the EHG that have been indicated as having the potential for preterm and term birth prediction. The MR-EMG component in the EHG represents an issue, regarding Alv wave application for pregnancy monitoring, for instance, in preterm birth prediction, a subject of great research interest. Therefore, the Alv waves denoising method should be designed to include the interference MR-EMG attenuation, without compromising the original waves. Adaptive filter properties make them suitable for this task. However, selecting the optimal adaptive filter and its parameters is an important task for the success of the filtering operation. In this work, an algorithm is presented for the automatic adaptive filter and parameter selection using synthetic data. The filter selection pool comprised sixteen candidates, from which, the Wiener, recursive least squares (RLS), householder recursive least squares (HRLS), and QR-decomposition recursive least squares (QRD-RLS) were the best performers. The optimized parameters were L = 2 (filter length) for all of them and λ = 1 (forgetting factor) for the last three. The developed optimization algorithm may be of interest to other applications. The optimized filters were applied to real data. The result was the attenuation of the MR-EMG in Alv waves power. For the Wiener filter, power reductions for quartile 1, median, and quartile 3 were found to be -16.74%, -20.32%, and -15.78%, respectively (p-value = 1.31 × 10-12).

Heart protective effects of cardioactive drugs associated with antineoplastic treatment against breast cancer.

The prevalence of breast cancer in women is a fundamental problem in public health worldwide. There is consensual evidence that many chemotherapeutic agents might have harmful effects on the cardiovascular system of patients. The cardiotoxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs might lead to ventricular systolic dysfunction and heart failure, and consequently cardioactive drugs, such as antihypertensive, might mitigate those cardiac dysfunctions. Thus, this study carried out an integrative literature review on the potential benefits of cardioactive drugs in cardiovascular repercussions resulting from chemotherapy (CT), especially in women with breast cancer. The research involved articles available on the PubMed, LILACS, and MedLine databases, using as descriptors "breast cancer", "chemotherapy", "cardiotoxicity", and "antihypertensive"; 11 articles were selected. The data corroborate an association between the use of antineoplastic drugs (anthracyclines, fluorouracil, and anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody, trastuzumab) and cardiotoxic effects, and anthracyclines are the most studied CT drugs in relation to cardiac dysfunction. The cardioprotective effect of cardioactive drugs, including non-selective and selective beta-blockers classes, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and angiotensin receptor blockers, could be observed in clinical outcomes. Nonetheless, the drugs have different cardioprotective effects on breast cancer patients and left ventricular ejection fraction; the serum concentrations of troponins and brain natriuretic peptide were the most frequent parameters analysed in selected articles. In summary, cardiovascular parameters should be followed-up in patients undergoing oncology treatment in all stages, regardless of the therapeutic scheme carried out, given the risk of developing and worsening such heart conditions.

P2X7 receptor inhibition by 2-amino-3-aryl-1,4-naphthoquinones.

Extracellular ATP activates purinergic receptors such as P2X7, cationic channels for Ca2+, K+, and Na+. There is robust evidence of the involvement of these receptors in the immune response, so P2X7 receptors (P2X7R) are considered a potential therapeutic target for the development of anti-inflammatory drugs. Although there are many studies of the anti-inflammatory properties of naphthoquinones, these molecules have not yet been explored as P2X7 antagonists. In previous work, our group prepared 3-substituted (halogen or aryl) 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinones and studied their action on P2X7R. In this paper, eight 2-amino-3-aryl-1,4-naphthoquinones were evaluated to identify the inhibitory activity on P2X7R and the toxicological profile. Three analogues (AD-4CN, AD-4Me, and AD-4F) exhibited reduced toxicity for mammalian cells with CC50 values higher than 500 µM. These three 3-substituted 2-amino-1,4-naphthoquinones inhibited murine P2X7R (mP2X7R) in vitro. However, the analogues AD-4CN and AD-4Me showed low selectivity index values. AD-4F inhibited both mP2X7R and human P2X7R (hP2X7R) with IC50 values of 0.123 and 0.93 µM, respectively. Additionally, this analogue exhibited higher potency than BBG at inhibiting the ATP-induced release of IL-1ß in vitro. Carrageenan-induced paw edema in vivo was reversed for AD-4F with an ID50 value of 11.51 ng/kg. Although AD-4F was less potent than previous 3-substituted (halogen or aryl) 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinones such as AN-04in vitro, this 3-substituted 2-amino-1,4-naphthoquinone revealed higher potency in vivo to reduce the edematogenic response. In silico analysis suggests that the binding site of the novel 2-amino-3-aryl-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives, including all the tautomeric forms, is located in the pore area of the hP2X7R model. Based on these results, we considered AD-4F to be a satisfactory P2X7R inhibitor. AD-4F might be used as a scaffold structure to design a novel series of inhibitors with potential inhibitory activity on murine (mP2X7R) and human (hP2X7R) P2X7 receptors.

Arylboronic acids inhibit P2X7 receptor function and the acute inflammatory response.

The P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) is an ion channel which is activated by interactions with the extracellular ATP molecules. The molecular complex P2X7R/ATP induces conformational changes in the protein subunits, opening a pore in the ion channel macromolecular structure. Currently, the P2X7R has been studied as a potential therapeutic target of anti-inflammatory drugs. Based on this, a series of eight boronic acids (NO) analogs were evaluated on the biologic effect of this pharmacophoric group on the human and murine P2X7R. The boronic acids derivatives NO-01 and NO-12 inhibited in vitro human and murine P2X7R function. These analogs compounds showed effect better than compound BBG and similar to inhibitor A740003 for inhibiting dye uptake, in vitro IL-1ß release and ATP-induced paw edema in vivo. In both, in vitro and in vivo assays the compound NO-01 showed to be the hit compound in the present series of the arylboronic acids analogs. The molecular docking suggests that the NO derivatives bind into the upper body domain of the P2X7 pore and that the main intermolecular interaction with the two most active NO derivatives occur with the residues Phe 95, 103 and 293 by hydrophobic interactions and with Leu97, Gln98 and Ser101 by hydrogen bonds.. These results indicate that the boronic acid derivative NO-01 shows the lead compound characteristics to be used as a scaffold structure to the development of new P2X7R inhibitors with anti-inflammatory action.

From abortion-inducing medications to Zika Virus Syndrome: 27 years experience of the First Teratogen Information Service in Latin America.

In 1990, the first Teratogen Information Service in Brazil (SIAT) was implemented in the Medical Genetics Service at Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre. SIAT is a free-to-use information service both to health professionals and the general population, especially to women who are pregnant or planning pregnancy. The main objective of this paper is to present the activities of SIAT in its initial years (1990-2006), compared to those in the last decade (2007-2017). In addition we review the scientific contribution of SIAT in the field of human teratogenesis. Since 1990, SIAT received 10,533 calls. Use of medications were the main reason for concern, accounting for 74% of all questions, followed by other chemical exposures (occupational, cosmetics, environmental), and maternal infectious diseases. Among its main contributions to scientific knowledge was the collaboration for the identification of two new human teratogens: misoprostol in the 1990s and Zika virus in 2015/16. In conclusion, SIAT is still evolving, as is the Medical Genetics Service that hosts it. Through its 27 years of existence more than 300 undergraduate and graduate students have rotated at SIAT. Presently, SIAT is expanding the research to experimental teratogenesis and to investigation of molecular mechanisms of teratogens.

Effects of the melanin precursor 5,6-dihydroxy-indole-2-carboxylic acid (DHICA) on DNA damage and repair in the presence of reactive oxygen species.

Eumelanin is a heterogeneous polymer composed of 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid (DHICA) and 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI). Studies have shown that DHICA promotes single strand breaks in plasmid DNA exposed to ultraviolet B radiation (UVB, 313 nm) and in DNA from human keratinocytes exposed to ultraviolet A radiation (UVA, 340-400 nm). Singlet molecular oxygen ((1)O2) is the main reactive species formed by UVA radiation on the skin. In this context, we now report that DHICA can cause single strand breaks in plasmid DNA even in the absence of light radiation. Interestingly, when DHICA was pre-oxidized by (1)O2, it lost this harmful capacity. It was also found that DHICA could interact with DNA, disturbing Fpg activity and decreasing its recognition of lesions by ∼50%. Additionally, the free nucleoside deoxyguanosine (dGuo) was used to evaluate whether DHICA would interfere with the formation of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodGuo) and spiroiminodihydantoin (dSp) by (1)O2 or with the formation of 8-oxodGuo by hydroxyl radical (OH). We observed that when dGuo was oxidized by (1)O2 in the presence of DHICA, 8-oxodGuo formation was increased. However, when dGuo was oxidized by OH in the presence of DHICA, 8-oxodGuo levels were lower than in the absence of the precursor. Overall, our data reveal an important role for this eumelanin precursor in both the promotion and the protection of DNA damage and imply that it can impair DNA repair.

Mycotoxins evaluation of total mixed ration (TMR) in bovine dairy farms: An update.

The total mixed ration (TMR) is currently a widespread method to feed dairy cows. It is a mixture of raw fodder and concentrate feed that can be contaminated by several mycotoxins. The main aim of this paper was to provide a critical review on TMR mycotoxin occurrence and its usefulness to monitor and control them on-farm. Aflatoxins, zearalenone, deoxynivalenol, T-2 toxin and fumonisins (regulated mycotoxins) are the most prevalent mycotoxins evaluated in TMR. Nonetheless, several emerging mycotoxins represent a health risk at the animal level regarding their prevalence and level in TMR. Even when measured at low levels, the co-occurrence of mycotoxins is frequent and synergistic effects on animal health are still underevaluated. Similar to the animal feed industry, on-farm plans monitoring mycotoxin feed contamination can be developed as a herd health management program. The estimated daily intake of mycotoxins should be implemented, but thresholds for each mycotoxin are not currently defined in dairy farms.

When Addressing Trauma Makes a Difference: A Case Report of Undiagnosed Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) is an emergent diagnosis, which acknowledges the impact of prolonged interpersonal abuse on affect regulation, interpersonal functioning, and self-concept. We present the case of a 59-year-old woman who remained undiagnosed and untreated for this condition for three decades while under follow-up in mental health services for the diagnosis of personality disorder and bipolar disorder. The patient suffered repeated sexual abuse in her childhood, resulting in intrusive traumatic memories she emotionally and cognitively avoided, dissociative amnesia, a persistent inability to experience positive emotions, a persistent sense of guilt, re-experiencing phenomena, and hypervigilance toward others and their intentions to harm her. She persistently believed herself to be worthless, defective, inferior, and lacking value; had a history of affective dysregulation resulting in suspicion of bipolar disorder; and displayed a pattern of relationship avoidance. Addressing chronic trauma and assessing its impact offered deeper contextualization of the patient's symptoms and proved pivotal in redefining her diagnosis and providing access to trauma-focused psychotherapy, which is the mainstay of treatment for C-PTSD.

Synchronous Gastric and Rectal Adenocarcinoma With Complete Response After Total Neoadjuvant Therapy: A Case Report.

Synchronous gastric cancer with another neoplasm is a rare condition, with colorectal cancer being the most frequently associated neoplasm. This article presents a case of a 76-year-old male diagnosed with synchronous gastric and rectal cancer with complete remission of gastric and rectal neoplasms after adjuvant therapy. The patient exhibited symptoms prompting upper and lower endoscopies, revealing gastric and rectal adenocarcinomas, respectively. Staging was performed, and due to the locally advanced nature of both malignancies, the patient underwent total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) for rectal cancer. The treatment consisted of external radiotherapy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy with oxaliplatin, leucovorin, folinic acid, and fluorouracil (FOLFOX). Remarkably, after seven cycles, a complete clinical response of the rectal neoplasm was achieved. Subsequent surgical resection included simultaneous subtotal gastrectomy and rectal anterior resection, resulting in a complete pathological response for both tumors. To the best of our knowledge, it is among the first cases to report a full pathological response in gastric cancer following TNT intended for rectal cancer.

Apple Core Unveiled: Malignant Colonic Obstruction Revealing an Unknown Rectosigmoid Neoplasm With Foreign Body Impaction.

This case report highlights a rare clinical scenario of a 46-year-old male presenting with constipation and fecaloid vomiting due to an impacted chicken bone within an unidentified rectosigmoid neoplasm, leading to acute malignant colonic obstruction. Emergent exploratory laparotomy revealed an impacted chicken bone lodged in a previously unknown rectosigmoid tumor. An anatomopathological examination revealed a mucinous adenocarcinoma with clear margins and one pericolic metastatic lymph node. The postoperative period was uneventful, and the patient was proposed for adjuvant chemotherapy. The abrupt onset of symptoms allowed for an early diagnosis, emphasizing the unexpected association between foreign body impaction and incidental malignant obstruction. This case underscores the complexity of managing foreign body ingestion in the gastrointestinal tract and emphasizes the crucial role of diagnostic imaging in surgical planning. Furthermore, it draws attention to the potential occurrence of colorectal cancer in younger individuals, emphasizing the necessity for clinical vigilance and screening strategies beyond conventional age recommendations.

Methadone Withdrawal-Related Psychosis in a Patient With Hormone-Dependent Breast Cancer: A Case Report.

Methadone withdrawal usually presents as a classical opiate withdrawal syndrome, including symptoms such as restlessness, pupillary dilation, sweating, insomnia, irritability, sneezing, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. It rarely manifests as psychosis. Here, we discuss the case of a 43-year-old female with a history of long-term methadone use who presented with first-episode psychosis during methadone down-titration. She exhibited persecutory delusions and auditory hallucinations, unrelated to classical opiate withdrawal symptoms. Medical tests were unremarkable. The patient was diagnosed with first-episode psychosis and was involuntarily admitted to our psychiatric hospital. As she suffered from hormone-dependent breast cancer and presented paliperidone-induced hyperprolactinemia, we switched this drug to aripiprazole, a prolactin-sparing antipsychotic. Her psychotic symptoms remitted in six weeks, with no reintroduction of methadone. It remains unclear whether this presentation is attributable to a rare manifestation of withdrawal or methadone's antipsychotic properties, masking an underlying psychotic disorder. This case contributes to understanding psychosis emergence post-opioid withdrawal, underscoring the need for further investigation into withdrawal-related psychosis and opioid antipsychotic properties. It also prompts the discussion of antipsychotic treatment in patients with comorbid breast cancer, while evidence about hyperprolactinemia as a risk factor for breast cancer remains conflicting.

Jejunal Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor: A Strange Cause of Massive Gastrointestinal Bleeding.

Jejunal gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are rare mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and a rare cause of massive GI bleeding. Due to this rarity and non-specific presentation, diagnosis and treatment may be difficult and often delayed. Urgent surgical intervention is crucial for controlling the source of bleeding and total tumor excision. Herein, we present the case of a 40-year-old male who presented to the emergency room (ER) with features of upper GI bleeding. He referred astheny and black stools, and was pale, sweaty, and tachycardic despite normal blood pressure. Rectal examination revealed melena, and laboratory findings revealed decreased hemoglobin (Hb) and elevated blood urea. Upper endoscopy was normal, and the Hb level dropped again to 6.9 g/dL; therefore, blood transfusion was required during ER observation. For further investigation, the patient underwent an angio-computed tomography scan, which revealed a lesion located in a jejunal loop as the probable bleeding source. Emergency exploratory laparotomy revealed a jejunal loop tumor. Segmental enterectomy containing the tumor was performed and the post-operative period was uneventful. The anatomopathological examination was compatible with low-risk GIST, and the multidisciplinary board agreed that surveillance was the best ongoing treatment. Due to the rarity of jejunal GIST as the cause of massive GI bleeding, diagnosis may be challenging, delaying prompt treatment with bleeding source control. In such cases, surgery may be both lifesaving and curative. Therefore, these tumors should not be forgotten when managing patients with occult GI bleeding with an atypical presentation to prevent delays in treatment and severe outcomes.

Impact of bacterial cellulose on the physical properties and printing quality of fine papers.

Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC), due to its inherent nanometric scale and strength properties, can be considered as a good candidate to be used in papermaking. This work explored the possibility of using it in the production of fine paper as a wet-end component and for the paper coating. Filler-containing handsheet production was performed with and without the presence of common additives typically used in the furnish of office papers. It was found that, under optimized conditions, BNC mechanically treated by high-pressure homogenization could improve all the evaluated paper properties (mechanical, optical and structural) without impairing the filler retention. However, paper strength was improved only to a small extent (increase in the tensile index of 8 % for a filler content of ca. 27.5 %). On the other hand, when used at the paper surface, remarkable improvements in the gamut area of >25 % in comparison to the base paper and of >40 % in comparison to starch-only coated papers were achieved for a formulation having 50 % BNC and 50 % of carboxymethylcellulose. Overall, the present results highlight the possibility of using BNC as a paper component, particularly when applied at the paper substrate as a coating agent aiming at improving printing quality.

Breast cancer in young women: a rising threat: A 5-year follow-up comparative study.

Introduction: Breast cancer in young women is usually considered as breast cancer occurring in women younger than 40 years and is the most frequent cancer-related cause of death in these patients. In the past few years, there seems to be an increasing trend in the prevalence of breast cancer in young women, which, associated with poorer prognosis, more aggressive histologic features, and more frequent recurrence rates, makes it a rising threat to young women. This study aimed to evaluate the biological behavior of breast cancer in young women in our institution. Material and methods: A retrospective, unicentric, cohort study was conducted between 2012 and 2016. All consecutive patients with breast cancer were enrolled in the study. Cases were divided into two groups: case group, those younger than 40 years, and control group, those 40 years or older. The exclusion criterion was nonoperative treatment. Several clinical and pathologic parameters were evaluated, as well as were overall survival time and disease-free survival time. Results: The incidence of breast cancer in young women presented a rising tendency over the study period. Significant differences were observed in the comparison of the groups according to body mass index, age at menarche, age at birth of the first child, and proliferation rate. There were no differences in overall survival and disease-free survival rates between the groups. Conclusions: Young women had a more symptomatic presentation, a greater tumor proliferation rate, but similar outcomes compared with older patients. Greater multicentric studies are needed to confirm or refute these results.

Selection of thermophilic and thermotolerant fungi for the production of cellulases and xylanases under solid-state fermentation.

Twenty-seven thermophilic and thermotolerant fungal strains were isolated from soil, decaying organic matter and sugarcane piles based on their ability to grow at 45°C on medium containing corn straw and cardboard as carbon sources. These fungi were identified in the genera Aspergillus, Thermomyces, Myceliophthora, Thermomucor and Candida. The majority of the isolated strains produced xylanase and cellulases under solid state fermentation (SSF). The highest cellulase and xylanase productions were obtained by the cultivation of the strains identified as Aspergillus fumigatus M.7.1 and Myceliophthora thermophila M.7.7. The enzymes from these strains exhibited maximum activity at pH 5.0 and at 60 and 70ºC. The endo-glucanase from A. fumigatus was stable from 40°C to 65°C and both endo-glucanase and xylanase from M. thermophila were stable in this temperature range when in absence of substrate. The enzymes were stable from pH 4.0 to 9.0.

Tracking Bacterial Nanocellulose in Animal Tissues by Fluorescence Microscopy.

The potential of nanomaterials in food technology is nowadays well-established. However, their commercial use requires a careful risk assessment, in particular concerning the fate of nanomaterials in the human body. Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC), a nanofibrillar polysaccharide, has been used as a food product for many years in Asia. However, given its nano-character, several toxicological studies must be performed, according to the European Food Safety Agency's guidance. Those should especially answer the question of whether nanoparticulate cellulose is absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. This raises the need to develop a screening technique capable of detecting isolated nanosized particles in biological tissues. Herein, the potential of a cellulose-binding module fused to a green fluorescent protein (GFP-CBM) to detect single bacterial cellulose nanocrystals (BCNC) obtained by acid hydrolysis was assessed. Adsorption studies were performed to characterize the interaction of GFP-CBM with BNC and BCNC. Correlative electron light microscopy was used to demonstrate that isolated BCNC may be detected by fluorescence microscopy. The uptake of BCNC by macrophages was also assessed. Finally, an exploratory 21-day repeated-dose study was performed, wherein Wistar rats were fed daily with BNC. The presence of BNC or BCNC throughout the GIT was observed only in the intestinal lumen, suggesting that cellulose particles were not absorbed. While a more comprehensive toxicological study is necessary, these results strengthen the idea that BNC can be considered a safe food additive.

Molluskicidal activity of 3-aryl-2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinones against Biomphalaria glabrata.

Schistosomiasis is the second most prevalent parasitic infectious disease after malaria, which affects millions of people worldwide and causes health and socioeconomic problems. The snail Biomphalaria glabrata is an intermediate host for the helminth, which is the causative agent of schistosomiasis: Schistosoma mansoni. One crucial strategy for controlling the disease is the eradication of the snail host. Niclosamide is the unique molluskicide applied in large-scale control programs, but its selectivity to other species is not adequate. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new molluskicides that are inexpensive, safe, and selective. Quinones are ubiquitous, playing important biological roles in fungi, plants, and others. Many synthetic molecules with relevant biological activities that contain the quinone nucleus in their structure are on the market in the therapy of cancer, malaria, or toxoplasmosis, for example. Derivatives of quinones are tools in the development of new molluskicides for Abbott laboratories. In the present work, 3-aryl-2­hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinones (ANs) were tested for molluskicide activity against Biomphalaria glabrata. The lethal concentration was determined for 48 h of continuous exposure. The naphthoquinones were found to have molluskicide properties. AN-15 was recorded as the highest mortality. Additionally, this analog exhibited in silico reduced ambient toxicity when compared to niclosamide. The findings of this study demonstrate that 3-aryl-2­hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinones are effective for the management of Biomphalaria glabrata under laboratory conditions.

The dark side of the esophagus.

Acute esophageal necrosis (AEN), also known as "black esophagus," is an entity characterized by the circumferential black appearance of esophageal mucosa, usually associated with hypoperfusion and gastric outlet obstruction. This entity has a reported prevalence of up to 0.2%, affecting predominantly elderly men with multiple comorbidities. Most cases resolve with conservative treatment with no need of surgical intervention. However, the overall prognosis is poor, with mortality reaching one-third of cases due to the patient's underlying illness. In this article we present three cases of patients with AEN.

On the Relationship Between Authentic Leadership, Flourishing, and Performance in Healthcare Teams: A Job Demands-Resources Perspective.

This study integrates the job demands-resources model and authentic leadership theory to test the general hypothesis that authentic leadership is a job resource that enables flourishing and performance in healthcare teams. Furthermore, this article tests the hypothesis that the daily bed occupancy is a job demand that weakens this relationship. Participants were 106 nurses that were distributed across 33 teams from two hospitals. The results suggest that the authentic leadership of team leaders is positively related with subjective and objective team performance, but only when daily bed occupancy is low. Authentic leadership had no relationship with team flourishing, regardless of the daily bed occupancy. Our findings suggest that the extent to which authentic leadership is adequate to promote the performance of teams working in a hospital setting is sensitive to contextual boundary conditions. Leading authentically might only be effective under specific circumstances.

Biocompounds recovery from olive mill wastewater by liquid-liquid extraction and integration with Fenton's process for water reuse.

The olive mill wastewaters obtained from two different processes, press extraction olive mill wastewater (POMW) from Portugal and two-phase system olive mill wastewater (2POMW) from Spain, were treated to recover phenolic compounds and water sequentially, by the integration of liquid-liquid extraction with Fenton's processes. From the recovered fractions, squalene, oleic acid, tyrosol, syringic acid, and p-coumaric acid were identified, and oleic acid appears in a higher concentration for 2POMW wastewater for all used solvents compared to POMW samples. Recovered fractions presented higher antioxidant activity, but remained antioxidants were found in the residual water. The wastewaters coming from a two-phase extraction method (2POMW) present higher phytotoxicity according to germination index, but the application of Fenton's process was able to improve the water quality to be re-used since an increase on the water biodegradability (BOD5/COD) and toxicity reduction were achieved.