Alta prevalência de usuários que não retornam ao centro de testagem e aconselhamento (CTA) para o conhecimento do seu status sorológico - Rio Grande, RS, Brasil

The Testing and Counseling Centers are important sources of epidemiological information. This study describes a research conducted with the users of the Testing and Counseling Center of Rio Grande-RS submitted to anti-HIV test during the period 2001-2004. Demographic and behavioral factors of individuals attended in the service were analyzed using the database SISCTA- 2002/RG. HIV-1 seropositivity between 2001 and 2004 was of 1,1%; 2,4%; 2,3% and 1,7%, respectively. In 2003 and 2004, 37,7% and 36% of the HIV-1 positive patients did not return to the Testing and Counseling Center for getting the result of their serological anti-HIV or confirmatory tests. These results seem to reflect some tendencies of the HIV epidemic in Rio Grande and in Brazil. It is important to emphasize the high percentage of HIV-1 positive patients who do not return for getting the result of their test. In terms of public health this risk behavior may jeopardize the efforts for controlling the epidemic.Os Centros de Testagem e Aconselhamento (CTA) constituem importantes fontes de informações epidemiológicas, que quando bem gerenciadas e atualizadas, permitem o conhecimento e a análise das características da população atendida por esses serviços. Esse estudo descreve o perfil dos usuários do CTA de Rio Grande (RS) que foram submetidos à sorologia anti-HIV entre os anos de 2001 e 2004. Variáveis demográficas relativas ao comportamento e práticas daspessoas que procuraram o serviço foram analisadas, mediante consulta ao banco de dados SISCTA- 2002/RG. A soropositividade para HIV-1 foi de 1,1%; 2,4%; 2,3% e 1,7% de 2001 a 2004, respectivamente. Nos anos de 2003 e 2004, 37,7% e 36%, respectivamente, dos pacientes HIV-1+ não retornaram ao CTA para conhecimento dos exames anti-HIV ou confirmatório. Os resultados analisados parecem refletir algumas tendências da epidemia em Rio Grande e no país. É importanteressaltar a alta porcentagem de pacientes HIV-1 positivos que não procuram o resultado do seu teste. Em termos de saúde pública essa situação pode colocar em risco os esforços para o controle da epidemia

Effect of folate, vitamin B-6, and vitamin B-12 intake and MTHFR C677T polymorphism on homocysteine concentrations of renal transplant recipients

Plasma hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) is considered a risk factor for chronic allograft dysfunction (CAD), the main cause of functional loss in transplant recipients. Genetic polymorphisms that alter enzymes involved in homocysteine (Hcy) metabolism, such as methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), and vitamin deficiency can result in HHcy. The objectives of this study were to investigate the relationship between HHcy and CAD development, and to evaluate the effect of intake of folate and vitamins B-6 and 13,2 as well as MTHFR C677T polymorphism on Hcy concentrations. Ninety-eight renal transplant recipients including 48 showing CAD and 50 with normal renal function (NRF), were included in this cross-sectional study. Peripheral blood samples were collected for plasma Hcy quantification by liquid chromatography/sequential mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and for MTHFR polymorphism analysis using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Dietary intake was evaluated using a nutritional questionnaire. HHcy (P =.002) and higher mean concentrations of Hcy (P =.029) were associated with CAD. An association was observed between HHcy and 677T variant allele in the CAD group (P =.0005). There was no correlation between Hcy concentration and folate, vitamin B-6 or vitamin B-12 intake in the CAD group. However, a negative correlation was observed between Hcy concentration and folate intake (P =.043), and also between Hcy concentration and vitamin 136 intake (P =.030) in the NRF group. According to our study, HHcy is associated with CAD development. In patients with CAD, MTHFR polymorphism seems to have a greater effect on the Hey concentration than the vitamin intake. Increased folate and vitamin B, intakes seem to reduce Hcy concentrations among transplant recipients with NRF, and could contribute to reducing the risk of CAD development.39103163316

CreativeStone: a Creativity Booster for Hearthstone Card Decks

Digital Collectible Card Games (DCCG) rely on human expertise to create competitive card decks. The most effective decks are shared and become popular among players through online communities. Players then keep enhancing those decks by replacing cards and testing those new deck variations in online arenas. This fine-tuning process is time-consuming and most of the time leads to small improvements in the players win rate. This paper presents CreativeStone, a creativity booster for Hearthstone card decks. Our creativity-guided approach uses a genetic algorithm and the Regent-Dependent Creativity (RDC) metric to identify the core cards of an existing deck, and then improves it towards a more valuable and novel deck by adding cards that are synergic to the core cards, but also different from the ones in the original deck. Our experimental results show that CreativeStone can boost even legendary decks, outperforming handcrafted ones by 21% in win rate.</p