Mammography-based screening program: preliminary results from a first 2-year round in a Brazilian region using mobile and fixed units

RLH, TBS and ALF made substantial contributions to the conception and design of the article, the acquisition, analysis and interpretation of the data, and drafting of the article. ECM, JSCM and NB made substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study.Background: Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer deaths among women worldwide. The use of mobile mammography units to offer screening to women living in remote areas is a rational strategy to increase the number of women examined. This study aimed to evaluate results from the first 2 years of a government-organized mammography screening program implemented with a mobile unit (MU) and a fixed unit (FU) in a rural county in Brazil. The program offered breast cancer screening to women living in Barretos and the surrounding area. Methods: Based on epidemiologic data, 54 238 women, aged 40 to 69 years, were eligible for breast cancer screening. The study included women examined from April 1, 2003 to March 31, 2005. The chi-square test and Bonferroni correction analyses were used to evaluate the frequencies of tumors and the importance of clinical parameters and tumor characteristics. Significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: Overall, 17 964 women underwent mammography. This represented 33.1% of eligible women in the area. A mean of 18.6 and 26.3 women per day were examined in the FU and MU, respectively. Seventy six patients were diagnosed with breast cancer (41 (54%) in the MU). This represented 4.2 cases of breast cancer per 1000 examinations. The number of cancers detected was significantly higher in women aged 60 to 69 years than in those aged 50 to 59 years (p < 0.001) or 40 to 49 years (p < 0.001). No difference was observed between women aged 40 to 49 years and those aged 50 to 59 years (p = 0.164). The proportion of tumors in the early (EC 0 and EC I) and advanced (CS III and CS IV) stages of development were 43.4% and 15.8%, respectively. Conclusions: Preliminary results indicate that this mammography screening program is feasible for implementation in a rural Brazilian territory and favor program continuation

Eléments de dimensionnement pour la nitrification en lit bactérien

The influence of various parameters on trickling filter nitrification is assessed. In particular, the importance of the temperature, the hydraulic loading, the irrigation force (SK), the recirculation rate, the concentrations and the organic loading are discussed. This review is based upon previous studies published so far, as well as a recent European program coordinated by Cemagref. The trickling filters can achieve either partial or full nitrification. Design data are derived for the cases of tertiary nitrification as well as combined nitrification and BOD removal. / Après avoir rappelé le principe de la nitrification dans les lits bactériens, on cherche à montrer l'influence de divers paramètres sur le fonctionnement de ces lits, en particulier la température, la charge hydraulique, l'intensité d'irrigation (SK), la recirculation, les concentrations et la charge organique. Cette mise au point est basée sur les études publiées jusqu'ici, ainsi que sur une récente étude européenne à laquelle le Cemagref a participé. Les lits bactériens permettent de produire des effluents partiellement ou totalement nitrifiés. Des éléments de dimensionnement sont suggérés pour le cas de la nitrification tertiaire, ainsi que pour la nitrification avec élimination de la DBO simultanée

Exploration de l'hydrodynamique d'un biofiltre de nitrification tertiaire en grandeur réelle

[Departement_IRSTEA]GMA [TR1_IRSTEA]21 - TECHNEAU / EPURENational audienceThe hydrodynamic behaviour of a biofilter used for nitrification of domestic effluents in tertiary treatment is explored. The plant is an industrial prototype of a horizontal suface of 144 m2. It is filled with a media whose granulometry is 3,5 mm, on a height of 4 m. The residence time distributions were obtained from lithium chloride tracer experiments. The space variability of the average residence times of the tracer measured at the surface of biofilter is very significant and is explained mainly by the geometry of system of distribution of the effluent under the biofilter, the residence times within the material bed being on the contrary homogeneous. The hydrodnamic behaviour of the biofilter is close to a plug flow with axial dispersion. The consequences of the measured heterogeneity on the quality of the treated effluent are evaluated using a model of nitrification by the biofilm.Le comportement hydrodynamique d'un biofiltre de nitrification tertiaire d'effluents domestiques est exploré. Il s'agit d'un prototype industriel d'une surface horizontale de 144 m2. Il est rempli d'un matériau dont la granulométrie est de 3,5 mm, sur une hauteur de 4 m. Les distributions des temps de séjour ont été obtenues à partir de traçages au chlorure de lithium. La variabilité spatiale des temps de séjour moyens du traceur mesurés à la surface du matériau est très importante et s'explique principalement par la géométrie de système de distribution de l'effluent sous le lit, les temps de séjour au sein du lit de matériau étant au contraire homogènes. Le comportement du lit est proche d'un réacteur piston avec dispersion axiale. Les conséquences de l'hétérogénéité mesurée sur la qualité du traitement sont évaluées à l'aide d'un modèle de nitrification par le biofilm

Mesure de la capacité d'oxygénation en eau claire des systèmes d'aération de la station d'épuration de l'union des producteurs de Saint Emilion les 1 et 2 Mars 1995 : Compte rendu n°100

[Type_IRSTEA]Rapport d'expertis

Mesure de la capacité d'oxygénation en eau claire des systèmes d'aération de la station d'épuration de l'union des producteurs de Saint Emilion les 1 et 2 Mars 1995 : Compte rendu n°100

[Type_IRSTEA]Rapport d'expertis

Comparison of four skeletal methods for the estimation of age at death on white and black adults

When analyzing human adult skeletal remains, it is often difficult to decide whether a single aging method will give a more reliable age estimation than a combination of methods. This study evaluates four macroscopic indicators for age estimation on 218 American White and Black individuals, ranging in age from 25 to 90 years of age, from the Terry collection. Individuals in the sample were selected to have a balanced race, sex, and age distribution. The following aging methods were applied to each skeleton by one experienced observer: the Suchey-Brooks (SB) pubic symphysis method, the Lovejoy auricular surface method, the monoradicular teeth Lamendin (LM) method, and the I\u15fcan (IC) method for fourth ribs. The statistical study involved the evaluation of inaccuracy and bias (based on median age) for each age indicator and the combination of methods using Principal component analysis (PCA). Analysis was performed on the entire sample, then by race, then sex, and then age group (25-40 years, 41-60 years, and >60 years). PCA was the most accurate method for both racial groups when all age groups are analyzed together. When the sample was divided into age groups, SB was the most accurate for young adults (25-40 years) and LM was the most accurate for middle adults (41-60 years). After the age of 60, all methods are highly inaccurate, although IC gives the lowest inaccuracy. As regards bias, the study highlights the tendency of all methods to overestimate the age of young individuals and to underestimate in the older age group. No single skeletal indicator of age at death is ever likely to reflect accurately the many factors that accumulate with chronological age. In fact, one must use as many dental and skeletal indicators as possible. However, in order to maximize the potential of each method, in the final evaluation one should consider mainly the method or methods that have a higher accuracy for a particular age range

Organ volume measurements: comparison between MRI and autopsy findings in infants following sudden unexpected death.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the accuracy of a semiautomated 3D volume reconstruction method for organ volume measurement by postmortem MRI. METHODS: This prospective study was approved by the institutional review board and the infants' parents gave their consent. Postmortem MRI was performed in 16 infants (1 month to 1 year of age) at 1.5 T within 48 h of their sudden death. Virtual organ volumes were estimated using the Myrian software. Real volumes were recorded at autopsy by water displacement. The agreement between virtual and real volumes was quantified following the Bland and Altman's method. RESULTS: There was a good agreement between virtual and real volumes for brain (mean difference: -0.03% (-13.6 to +7.1)), liver (+8.3% (-9.6 to +26.2)) and lungs (+5.5% (-26.6 to +37.6)). For kidneys, spleen and thymus, the MRI/autopsy volume ratio was close to 1 (kidney: 0.87±0.1; spleen: 0.99±0.17; thymus: 0.94±0.25), but with a less good agreement. For heart, the MRI/real volume ratio was 1.29±0.76, possibly due to the presence of residual blood within the heart. The virtual volumes of adrenal glands were significantly underestimated (p=0.04), possibly due to their very small size during the first year of life. The percentage of interobserver and intraobserver variation was lower or equal to 10%, but for thymus (15.9% and 12.6%, respectively) and adrenal glands (69% and 25.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Virtual volumetry may provide significant information concerning the macroscopic features of the main organs and help pathologists in sampling organs that are more likely to yield histological findings