Optimized multinomial tests: an aplication to hardy-weinberg genetic equilibrium.

A estatística X2, quando na aplicação do teste de equilibrio genético de Hardy-weinberg, apresenta baixa eficiência, principalmente quando a amostra é de pequeno porte. Alguns procedimentos alternativos foram apresentados, com excelentes propriedades estatístcas: nivel de significância homogênio e não-viés. Esses procedimentos apresentam uma grande desvantagem prática: muitos pontos na região de rejeição são aleatorizados. No presente trabalho é apresentada uma nova propriedade, o máximo volume da função poder. Na busca do teste com essa propriedade, é sugerida uma forma de construção da região de rejeição, que apresenta o maior número de pontos, sem aleatorizações. Esse procedimento surge como uma adaptação da construção da região de rejeição com a propriedade de nível de significância homogêneo, sem a desvantagem de muitos pontos aleatorizados, apresentando a maior quantidade de combinações genotípicas, associadas ao não-equilibrio genético, qualquer que seja o nível de significância preestabelecido do teste. Tem-se, assim, uma alternativa prática que viabiliza propriedades teóricas desejáveis, a um teste de hipóteses.The chi-square statistic, on the application of Hardy-Weinberg genetic equilibrium test, has low efficiency, mostly if the sample is scarce. Some alternative procedures have been presented, have valuable statistic proprieties: homogeneous significance level and unbiasedness. Those procedures have a pratical disadvantage: various points are parcially in the critical region. At the present work, it is shown a new approach, the maximum volume of the power function, as a that to construct a critical region, with the maximum number of points that not randomization. This approach is an adaptation of the critical region construction with homogeneous significance level propriety, but it does not have the disadvantage of many points parcially in the critical associated with Hardy-Weinberg genetic disequilibrium, whichever is the segnificance level in the test. Therefore, it is a pratical alternative which makes possible the propriety theory are desidered in a hypothesis test

Parainfluenza virus infections in a tropical city: clinical and epidemiological aspects

Little information on the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of human parainfluenza virus (HPIV) infections, especially in children from tropical countries, has been published. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of HPIV infections in children attended at a large hospital in Fortaleza in Northeast Brazil, and describe seasonal patterns, clinical and epidemiological characteristics of these infections. From January 2001 to December 2006, a total of 3070 nasopharyngeal aspirates collected from children were screened by indirect immunofluorescence for human parainfluenza viruses 1, 2, and 3 (HPIV-1, 2 and 3) and other respiratory viruses. Viral antigens were identified in 933 samples and HPIV in 117. The frequency of HPIV-3, HPIV-1 and HPIV-2 was of 83.76%, 11.96% and 4.27%, respectively. Only HPIV-3 showed a seasonal occurrence, with most cases observed from September to November, and with an inverse relationship to the rainy season. Most HPIV-3 infections seen in outpatients were diagnosed as upper respiratory tract infections

3 Departamento de Estatística – Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC)

Abstract. Limited computational power imposes new challenges during the implementation of security and privacy solutions for mobile devices. The choice for the most appropriate cryptographic algorithm for each mobile device has become a critical factor. In this paper, we present an approach for performance evaluation of cryptographic algorithms for mobile devices. To validate the approach, a tool called PEARL (PErformance evaluAtor of cryptogRaphic aLgorithms for mobile devices) is introduced. This tool collects and analyzes information related to the executions of the cryptographic algorithms in the mobile devices. PEARL also allows evaluating the performance of symmetrical and asymmetrical cryptographic algorithms and hashing functions for the J2ME platform.

Factors related to HIV/tuberculosis coinfection in a Brazilian reference hospital

Infection with both Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis is currently the world's leading cause of death due to infectious agents. We evaluated factors related to the development of tuberculosis (TB) in HIV-infected patients who were being treated at an infectious diseases hospital in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. From January 2004 to December 2005, we made an epidemiological study through the analysis of the medical records of 171 patients, who were diagnosed as having both HIV and tuberculosis. Among these co-infected patients, most (81%, p=0.0006) were male. Co-infection was more frequent (87.8%) among patients over 40 years of age and those with lower educational levels (less than eight years of schooling). Forty-one percent of the patients in the study had not had a smear culture test for acid-fast bacilli (AFB). CD4 cell counts were lower than 200 cells/µL in 71.9% of the patients, the mean being 169 cells/µL. This type of data is important for establishing strategies to improve the control of tuberculosis in HIV-infected patients

Factors related to positive testing of dogs for visceral leishmaniasis in endemic area in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Submitted by Sandra Infurna ([email protected]) on 2019-10-29T14:52:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 KatiaCalabrese_NilzaDAlves_etal_IOC_2006.pdf: 44636 bytes, checksum: 837719621dca60ebfafc66b13d681063 (MD5)Approved for entry into archive by Sandra Infurna ([email protected]) on 2019-10-29T15:03:11Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 KatiaCalabrese_NilzaDAlves_etal_IOC_2006.pdf: 44636 bytes, checksum: 837719621dca60ebfafc66b13d681063 (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2019-10-29T15:03:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 KatiaCalabrese_NilzaDAlves_etal_IOC_2006.pdf: 44636 bytes, checksum: 837719621dca60ebfafc66b13d681063 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006Universidade Estadual do Ceará. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências Veterinárias. Fortaleza, CE, Brasil.Universidade de Cuiabá. Departamento de Medicina Veterinária. Cuiabá, MT, Brasil.Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-árido. Departamento de Ciências Animais. Mossoró, RN, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Departamento de Protozoologia. Laboratório de Imunomodulação. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Departamento de Protozoologia. Laboratório de Imunomodulação. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Universidade Federal do Ceará. Departamento de Estatística e Matemática Aplicada. Fortaleza, CE, Brasil.Universidade Estadual do Ceará. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências Veterinárias. Fortaleza, CE, Brasil.O presente estudo objetivou descrever alguns fatores relacionados à positividade de cães para leishmaniose visceral, em área endêmica do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte. Foram analisados 198 cães, dos quais 62 foram recrutados de propriedades rurais e 136 de residências urbanas. O diagnóstico foi realizado através dos testes de imunofluorescência indireta e imunoadsorção enzimática. Dos cães analisados, 45% dos positivos eram provenientes da área rural e 35% da área urbana. Analisando a função dos animais, a prevalência foi de 50% dos cães de guarda nas áreas rural e de 43% na área urbana. Quanto aos cães que tinham contato com outros cães de origem rural ou urbana, a prevalência observada de foi 54% e 32%, respectivamente. No que se refere ao sexo, as fêmeas da zona rural foram mais prevalentes. Estes resultados sugerem uma atenção maior sobre o papel destes animais como reservatório dessa zoonose, como também na urbanização da leishmaniose visceral e o inquérito epidemiológico desta doença, no qual estas informações poderão contribuir para o planejamento de estratégias de controle do cão como reservatório doméstico.This study aimed at describing several factors related to positive testing of dogs for visceral leishmaniasis, in an endemic area of the state of Rio Grande do Norte. Sera of 198 dogs were analyzed, 62 from rural properties and 136 from urban residences. Diagnosis was performed through indirect immunofluorescence and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Forty five percent of positive dogs were from the rural area and 35% came from the urban area. Concerning the analysis of dogs’ function, the watchdogs showed greater prevalence, with 50% prevalence in the rural area and 43% in the urban area. With regard to contact with other dogs and origin in rural or urban areas, the prevalence was 54% and 32% respectively. In relation to gender, females from the rural area were more prevalent. These results suggest more attention should be paid to dogs as reservoirs for this zoonosis, as well as their important role in the urbanization of Leishmaniasis and in epidemiological survey of the disease. These data can contribute to the planning of strategies for control, targeting dogs as domestic reservoirs

In Vitro Effect of Sulfamethoxazole-Trimethoprim against Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum▿

This study evaluated the in vitro effect of sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim against Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum isolated from HIV-positive patients. The drugs were tested by microdilution testing in accordance with the CLSI guidelines. All of the strains were inhibited by sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, with MIC ranges of 0.039 (sulfamethoxazole)/0.0078 (trimethoprim) mg/ml to 0.625/0.125 mg/ml for mycelial forms and 0.0025/0.0005 to 0.02/0.004 mg/ml for yeast-like forms. However, in vivo studies are necessary to evaluate the significance of these results

Macrobrachium amazonicum: an alternative for microbiological monitoring of aquatic environments in Brazil

This study aimed to evaluate the role of the Amazon River prawn, Macrobrachium amazonicum, as carrier of Candida spp., by analyzing the correlation between Candida spp. from these prawns and their environment (surface water and sediment), through M13-PCR fingerprinting and RAPD-PCR. For this purpose, 27 strains of Candida spp. were evaluated. These strains were recovered from the gastrointestinal tract of adult M. amazonicum (7/27) from Catú Lake, Ceará State, Brazil and from the aquatic environment (surface water and sediment) of this lake (20/27). Molecular comparison between the strains from prawns and the aquatic environment was conducted by M13-PCR fingerprinting and RAPD-PCR, utilizing the primers M13 and OPQ16, respectively. The molecular analysis revealed similarities between the band patterns of eight Candida isolates with the primer M13 and 11 isolates with the primer OPQ16, indicating that the same strains are present in the digestive tract of M. amazonicum and in the aquatic environment where these prawns inhabit. Therefore, these prawns can be used as sentinels for environmental monitoring through the recovery of Candida spp. from the aquatic environment in their gastrointestinal trac