Evaluation of contamination for extraneous materials in “sun meat” sold in the “houses of the north” in the municipality of Diadema (SP, Brazil)

The “sun meat” is a handmade product, combining surface techniques of salting and dehydration, commonly used by people from the North and Northeast regions of Brazil. The sun meat cooking process lacks in sophisticated technology and official standards of procedure and quality. Thus, production, sale and distribution under unsatisfactory sanitary conditions are risky to the consumers’ health. This paper is aimed at evaluating the sanitary conditions of “sun meat” sold at the “houses of the north” for the presence of extraneous materials. Analysis of 44 samples of “sun meat” from 22 “houses of the north” located in “Diadema District” (SP, Brazil) had been carried out. The product conditions of exposure and sale in the “houses of the north” were evaluated and provided additional information to assess the degree of food safety of this product. In 44 samples were found various types of extraneous materials such as whole insects and debris, larvae, exuvia, mites, rodent hairs, bird feather pieces, fungi, and sharp  objects. Mechanical vectors were observed at 11 locations of the sale area. The results indicated that 90.9% of the “sun meat” has unsatisfactory sanitary conditions, caused by the presence of physical hazards of contamination. These results, associated with conditions found in the “houses of the north”, indicated that these products can put the health of consumers at risk. Keywords: Sun meat, Sanitary Conditions, Food security

The Ehrenfest urn revisited: Playing the game on a realistic fluid model

The Ehrenfest urn process, also known as the dogs and fleas model, is realistically simulated by molecular dynamics of the Lennard-Jones fluid. The key variable is Delta z, i.e. the absolute value of the difference between the number of particles in one half of the simulation box and in the other half. This is a pure-jump stochastic process induced, under coarse graining, by the deterministic time evolution of the atomic coordinates. We discuss the Markov hypothesis by analyzing the statistical properties of the jumps and of the waiting times between jumps. In the limit of a vanishing integration time-step, the distribution of waiting times becomes closer to an exponential and, therefore, the continuous-time jump stochastic process is Markovian. The random variable Delta z behaves as a Markov chain and, in the gas phase, the observed transition probabilities follow the predictions of the Ehrenfest theory.Comment: Accepted by Physical Review E on 4 May 200

Evaluation, recommendation and implementation of the local hospital catering system

According to the literature the prevalence of the risk of malnutrition o hospitalized people exceeds 25% of patients, this evidence is also related to low meal satisfaction. To reduce hospital malnutrition it is also important to improve the consumption of meals by implementing organoleptic and nutritional quality (O&NQ). The Local Health Agency of Trieste (ASUITS) has conducted surveys to find out how to evaluate and improve the procurement qualifications of hospital catering systems (HCS) and how to implement O&NQ. The production processes of meals served in two clinics using Cook Chill (CC) and Cook/Fresh - Hot Hold (CFHH) production process, respectively, were evaluated from 2017 - 2019. The Nutrient Analysis Critical Control Point process was applied for the evaluation of two catering systems. In addition, the antiradicalic power (ARP) of 120 samples of meals by the University of Trieste was analysed. In 2019 an investigation was conducted to compare the satisfaction and ARP content of meals served to patients in two hospital wards (N = 60). The meals to patients of two wards respectively with CC Cold Plating Retherm (PR) and CC Hot PR were served. Meals produced by the CC production process highlight the average loss of 50% of ARP compared to the CFHH. Meals produced by the CC Cold PR method limit the loss of ARP by 15-40% less compared to the CC Hot PR method. The satisfaction of patients who have consumed meals produced by the CC Cold PR method is double compared to that of patients who have consumed meals produced by the CC Hot PR method. The surveys have produced significant evidence to evaluate hospital meal production processes and to improve O&NQ. The results were used to develop recommendations for the drafting of tender specifications capable of also protecting nutritional variables. The evaluation of the O&NQ of HCS represents a central determinant of food safety and nutrition security and must be taken into consideration in the procurements procedure

Evaluating adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy with use of pill counts and viral load measurement in the drug resources enhancement against AIDS and malnutrition program in Mozambique

Background. Maintaining treatment adherence among the growing number of patients receiving antiretroviral treatment in Africa is a dramatic challenge. The objective of our study was to explore the results of a computerized pill count method and to test the validity, sensitivity, and specificity of this method with respect to viral load measurement in an African setting. Methods. We performed a prospective, observational study involving patients who received first-line highly active antiretroviral therapy in Mozambique from 1 April 2005 through 31 March 2006. Enrolled patients had received treatment for at least 3 months before the study. For defining treatment adherence levels, pill counts were used, and the results were analyzed with viral load measurements at the end of the observation period. Results. The study involved 531 participants. During the 12 months of observation, 137 patients left the program or discontinued first-line therapy. Of the remaining 394 patients, 284 (72.1%) had >95% treatment adherence; of those 284 patients, 274 (96.5%) had a final viral load <1000 copies/mL. A Cox proportional hazards analysis revealed that the relationship between >95% treatment adherence and the final viral load was closer than that between >90% treatment adherence and viral load. Conclusions. Treatment adherence >95% maximizes the results of the nonnucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor-based regimen. The pill count method appears to be a reliable and economic tool for monitoring treatment adherence in resource-limited settings

Evaluating adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy with use of pill counts and viral load measurement in the drug resources enhancement against AIDS and malnutrition program in Mozambique

Background. Maintaining treatment adherence among the growing number of patients receiving antiretroviral treatment in Africa is a dramatic challenge. The objective of our study was to explore the results of a computerized pill count method and to test the validity, sensitivity, and specificity of this method with respect to viral load measurement in an African setting. Methods. We performed a prospective, observational study involving patients who received first-line highly active antiretroviral therapy in Mozambique from 1 April 2005 through 31 March 2006. Enrolled patients had received treatment for at least 3 months before the study. For defining treatment adherence levels, pill counts were used, and the results were analyzed with viral load measurements at the end of the observation period. Results. The study involved 531 participants. During the 12 months of observation, 137 patients left the program or discontinued first-line therapy. Of the remaining 394 patients, 284 (72.1%) had >95% treatment adherence; of those 284 patients, 274 (96.5%) had a final viral load <1000 copies/mL. A Cox proportional hazards analysis revealed that the relationship between >95% treatment adherence and the final viral load was closer than that between >90% treatment adherence and viral load. Conclusions. Treatment adherence >95% maximizes the results of the nonnucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor-based regimen. The pill count method appears to be a reliable and economic tool for monitoring treatment adherence in resource-limited settings

Smectic ordering in liquid crystal - aerosil dispersions II. Scaling analysis

Liquid crystals offer many unique opportunities to study various phase transitions with continuous symmetry in the presence of quenched random disorder (QRD). The QRD arises from the presence of porous solids in the form of a random gel network. Experimental and theoretical work support the view that for fixed (static) inclusions, quasi-long-range smectic order is destroyed for arbitrarily small volume fractions of the solid. However, the presence of porous solids indicates that finite-size effects could play some role in limiting long-range order. In an earlier work, the nematic - smectic-A transition region of octylcyanobiphenyl (8CB) and silica aerosils was investigated calorimetrically. A detailed x-ray study of this system is presented in the preceding Paper I, which indicates that pseudo-critical scaling behavior is observed. In the present paper, the role of finite-size scaling and two-scale universality aspects of the 8CB+aerosil system are presented and the dependence of the QRD strength on the aerosil density is discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, 1 table. Companion paper to "Smectic ordering in liquid crystal - aerosil dispersions I. X-ray scattering" by R.L. Leheny, S. Park, R.J. Birgeneau, J.-L. Gallani, C.W. Garland, and G.S. Iannacchion

The DREAM model's effectiveness in health promotion of AIDS patients in Africa

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a holistic model for treating people living with AIDS in Africa; the model aims to improve knowledge about AIDS prevention and care, increase trust in the health centre, impact behaviour, and promote a high level of adherence to HAART. The study took place in the context of the DREAM (Drug Resource Enhancement against AIDS and Malnutrition) programme in Mozambique, designed by the Community of Sant'Egidio to treat HIV patients in Africa. It provides patients with free anti-retroviral drugs, laboratory tests (including viral load), home care and nutritional support. This is a prospective study involving 531 patients over a 12-month period. The patients, predominantly poor and with a low level of education, demonstrated a good level of knowledge about AIDS (more than 90% know how it is transmitted) and trust in the treatment, with a relatively small percentage turning to traditional healers. Overall the patients had a low level of engaging in risky sexual behaviour and a very good level of adherence to HAART (69.5% of the 531 subjects had a pill count higher than 95%). The positive results of the programme's educational initiatives were confirmed with the patients' good clinical results

Reduction of Maternal Mortality with Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy in a Large Cohort of HIV-Infected Pregnant Women in Malawi and Mozambique

Background: HIV infection is a major contributor to maternal mortality in resource-limited settings. The Drug Resource Enhancement Against AIDS and Malnutrition Programme has been promoting HAART use during pregnancy and postpartum for Prevention-of-mother-to-child-HIV transmission (PMTCT) irrespective of maternal CD4 cell counts since 2002. Methods: Records for all HIV+ pregnancies followed in Mozambique and Malawi from 6/2002 to 6/2010 were reviewed. The cohort was comprised by pregnancies where women were referred for PMTCT and started HAART during prenatal care (n = 8172, group 1) and pregnancies where women were referred on established HAART (n = 1978, group 2). Results: 10,150 pregnancies were followed. Median (IQR) baseline values were age 26 years (IQR:23-30), CD4 count 392 cells/mm(3) (IQR:258-563), Viral Load log(10) 3.9 (IQR:3.2-4.4), BMI 23.4 (IQR:21.5-25.7), Hemoglobin 10.0 (IQR:9.0-11.0). 101 maternal deaths (0.99%) occurred during pregnancy to 6 weeks postpartum: 87 (1.1%) in group 1 and 14 (0.7%) in group 2. Mortality was 1.3% in women with <than 350 CD4 cells/mm(3) and 0.7% in women with greater than 350 CD4s cells/mm(3) [OR = 1.9 (CL 1.3-2.9) p = 0.001]. Mortality was higher in patients with shorter antenatal HAART: 22/991 (2.2%) if less than 30 days and 79/9159 (0.9%) if 31 days or greater [OR = 2.6 (CL 1.6-4.2) p<0.001]. By multivariate analysis, shorter antenatal HAART (p, 0.001), baseline values for CD4 cell count (p = 0.012), hemoglobin (p = 0.02), and BMI (p<0.001) were associated with mortality. Four years later, survival was 92% for women with shorter antenatal HAART and 98% for women on established therapy prior to pregnancy, p = 0.001. Conclusions: Antiretrovirals for PMTCT purposes have significant impact on maternal mortality as do CD4 counts and nutritional status. In resource-limited settings, PMTCT programs should provide universal HAART to all HIV+ pregnant women given its impact in prevention of maternal death

Leray and LANS-α\alpha modeling of turbulent mixing

Mathematical regularisation of the nonlinear terms in the Navier-Stokes equations provides a systematic approach to deriving subgrid closures for numerical simulations of turbulent flow. By construction, these subgrid closures imply existence and uniqueness of strong solutions to the corresponding modelled system of equations. We will consider the large eddy interpretation of two such mathematical regularisation principles, i.e., Leray and LANS$-\alpha$ regularisation. The Leray principle introduces a {\bfi smoothed transport velocity} as part of the regularised convective nonlinearity. The LANS$-\alpha$ principle extends the Leray formulation in a natural way in which a {\bfi filtered Kelvin circulation theorem}, incorporating the smoothed transport velocity, is explicitly satisfied. These regularisation principles give rise to implied subgrid closures which will be applied in large eddy simulation of turbulent mixing. Comparison with filtered direct numerical simulation data, and with predictions obtained from popular dynamic eddy-viscosity modelling, shows that these mathematical regularisation models are considerably more accurate, at a lower computational cost.Comment: 42 pages, 12 figure