A diagnostic tool for magnesium nutrition in maize based on image analysis of different leaf sections

The nutritional status of maize (Zea mays L.) can be diagnosed by chemical analysis of leaves, which is very slow, or by visual diagnosis of deficiency symptoms, which is dependent on observer experience. The artificial visual system (AVS) is a technology to identify nutritional deficiencies in maize, allowing correction for nutrient supply at earlier development stages in maize. Our objective was to propose methods of artificial vision and pattern recognition to identify the concentration of magnesium (Mg) in maize plants grown in the greenhouse. Magnesium concentrations were 0.0, 0.65, 1.3, and 2.0 mM Mg, with four replications. Leaf scans were collected at V4 (four leaves fully developed), V6 (six leaves fully developed), and V8 (eight leaves fully developed) stages, and these leaves were samples for chemical assays. Such images were processed using AVS methods. Volumetric fractal dimension (VFD), Gabor wavelet (GW), and VFD with canonical analysis (VFDCA) were techniques used by the AVS to extract deficiency characteristics in the leaf images. The increase of Mg in the nutrient solution caused an increase in the Mg concentration in leaves, resulting in typical visual symptoms. The AVS method was able to identify all levels of deficiency, scoring 75.5% of rights in images of the middle section of leaves in the VFDCA method, in color scans of V4 leaves. The AVS was efficient at diagnosing Mg concentrations in leaves of maize during the V4 stage.FAPES

Favorable responses to treatment with 5 mg Sbv /kg/day meglumine antimoniate in patients with American tegumentary leishmaniasis acquired in different Brazilian regions

Submitted by Claudete Fernandes ([email protected]) on 2019-01-08T01:35:00Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ve_Cataldo_Jamyra_etal_INI_2018.pdf: 3061635 bytes, checksum: 1e12377d537631543f567aa6a9109cad (MD5)Approved for entry into archive by Janaína Nascimento ([email protected]) on 2019-01-10T14:11:46Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 ve_Cataldo_Jamyra_etal_INI_2018.pdf: 3061635 bytes, checksum: 1e12377d537631543f567aa6a9109cad (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2019-01-10T14:11:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ve_Cataldo_Jamyra_etal_INI_2018.pdf: 3061635 bytes, checksum: 1e12377d537631543f567aa6a9109cad (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica e Vigilância em Leishmanioses. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica e Vigilância em Leishmanioses. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica e Vigilância em Leishmanioses. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica e Vigilância em Leishmanioses. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica e Vigilância em Leishmanioses. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil / Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Faculdade de Medicina. Departamento de Otorrinolaringologia e Oftalmologia. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica e Vigilância em Leishmanioses. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica e Vigilância em Leishmanioses. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Epidemiologia Clínica. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biologia de Tripanossomatídeos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica e Vigilância em Leishmanioses. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica e Vigilância em Leishmanioses. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Introduction: Favorable responses in American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) patients to treatment with 5 mg Sbv/kg/day meglumine antimoniate (MA) has been reported in Rio de Janeiro, but little is known regarding the therapeutic response to low doses in patients from other locations. Methods: A retrospective review of medical records was conducted to compare the therapeutic response to 5 mg Sbv/kg/day MA treatment among 36 patients who acquired ATL in Brazilian states other than Rio de Janeiro (OS group) and 72 patients from Rio de Janeiro (RJ group). Results: One course of 5 mg Sbv/kg/day MA cured 72.8% of 81 cutaneous (CL) and 66.6% of 27 mucosal (ML) leishmaniasis-infected patients: 70% in the CL/RJ group, 81% in the CL/OS group, 50% in the ML/RJ group, and 80% in the ML/OS group. After up to two additional treatment courses at the same dose, 88.9% and 85.2% of the CL and ML patients were cured, respectively. Adverse events were observed in 40% of patients in the CL/RJ group, 57% of the CL/OS group, 58% of the ML/RJ group, and 80% of the ML/OS group. No significant differences were observed in the cure rates or adverse effects between the RJ and OS groups. No patients required permanent discontinuation of treatment due to adverse events. Conclusions: Patients with ATL acquired in both RJ and OS may respond to low-dose MA. While high-dose MA should remain the standard treatment for ATL, low-dose MA might be preferred when toxicity is a primary concern

Favorable responses to treatment with 5 mg Sbv/kg/day meglumine antimoniate in patients with American tegumentary leishmaniasis acquired in different Brazilian regions

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Favorable responses in American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) patients to treatment with 5 mg Sbv/kg/day meglumine antimoniate (MA) has been reported in Rio de Janeiro, but little is known regarding the therapeutic response to low doses in patients from other locations. METHODS: A retrospective review of medical records was conducted to compare the therapeutic response to 5 mg Sbv/kg/day MA treatment among 36 patients who acquired ATL in Brazilian states other than Rio de Janeiro (OS group) and 72 patients from Rio de Janeiro (RJ group). RESULTS: One course of 5 mg Sbv/kg/day MA cured 72.8% of 81 cutaneous (CL) and 66.6% of 27 mucosal (ML) leishmaniasis-infected patients: 70% in the CL/RJ group, 81% in the CL/OS group, 50% in the ML/RJ group, and 80% in the ML/OS group. After up to two additional treatment courses at the same dose, 88.9% and 85.2% of the CL and ML patients were cured, respectively. Adverse events were observed in 40% of patients in the CL/RJ group, 57% of the CL/OS group, 58% of the ML/RJ group, and 80% of the ML/OS group. No significant differences were observed in the cure rates or adverse effects between the RJ and OS groups. No patients required permanent discontinuation of treatment due to adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with ATL acquired in both RJ and OS may respond to low-dose MA. While high-dose MA should remain the standard treatment for ATL, low-dose MA might be preferred when toxicity is a primary concern

Low dose systemic or intralesional meglumine antimoniate treatment for American tegumentary leishmaniasis results in low lethality, low incidence of relapse, and low late mucosal involvement in a referral centre in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2001-2013)

BACKGROUND American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) is a non-lethal parasitic disease that presents with cutaneous (CL) and mucosal (ML) clinical forms. ATL treatment aims at healing the lesions and preventing the development of the late mucosal form. Systemic meglumine antimoniate (MA) therapy with 10-20 mg Sb5+/kg/day is the first choice of treatment. However, alternative therapies using 5 mg Sb5+/kg/day or intralesional (IL) MA are the usual regimens at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. OBJECTIVES To evaluate lethality and the incidence of relapse and development of late ML in CL patients treated at NIID from 2001 until 2013. METHODS Data were recovered from records of all ATL patients diagnosed during that period. FINDINGS Out of 777 patients, 753 were treated with MA (96.9%). Of those, 89.1% received alternative therapy of 9.9% IL and 79.2% systemic 5 mg Sb5+/kg/day. Some patients required 1-3 additional courses of treatment, thus making a total of 997 courses; 85.2% of them were subjected to alternative therapies. Lethality was 0.1%, relapse incidence 5.8%, and late ML incidence 0.25%. As a final outcome for the 777 patients, 95.9% were cured, 0.1% died and 4.0% were not able to follow-up. MAIN CONCLUSIONS Alternative MA schedules resulted in low lethality without increase of relapse or late ML incidence

Low versus high dose of antimony for American cutaneous leishmaniasis: A randomized controlled blind non-inferiority trial in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

<div><p>Background</p><p>Although high dose of antimony is the mainstay for treatment of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL), ongoing major concerns remain over its toxicity. Whether or not low dose antimony regimens provide non-inferior effectiveness and lower toxicity has long been a question of dispute.</p><p>Methods</p><p>A single-blind, non-inferiority, randomized controlled trial was conducted comparing high dose with low dose of antimony in subjects with ACL treated at a referral center in Rio de Janeiro, an endemic area of <i>Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis</i> transmission. The primary outcome was clinical cure at 360 days of follow-up in the modified-intention-to-treat (mITT) and per-protocol (PP) populations. Non-inferiority margin was 15%. Secondary objectives included occurrence of epithelialization, adverse events and drug discontinuations. This study was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov: <a href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01301924" target="_blank">NCT01301924</a>.</p><p>Results</p><p>Overall, 72 patients were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment arms during October 2008 to July 2014. In mITT, clinical cure was observed in 77.8% of subjects in the low dose antimony group and 94.4% in the high dose antimony group after one series of treatment (risk difference 16.7%; 90% CI, 3.7–29.7). The results were confirmed in PP analysis, with 77.8% of subjects with clinical cure in the low dose antimony group and 97.1% in the high dose antimony group (risk difference 19.4%; 90% CI, 7.1–31.7). The upper limit of the confidence interval exceeded the 15% threshold and was also above zero supporting the hypothesis that low dose is inferior to high dose of antimony after one series of treatment. Nevertheless, more major adverse events, a greater number of adverse events and major adverse events per subject, and more drug discontinuations were observed in the high dose antimony group (all p<0.05). Interestingly, of all the subjects who were originally allocated to the low dose antimony group and were followed up after clinical failure, 85.7% achieved cure after a further treatment with local therapy or low dose of antimony.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Compared with high dose, low dose of antimony was inferior at the pre-specified margin after one series of treatment of ACL, but was associated with a significantly lower toxicity. While high dose of antimony should remain the standard treatment for ACL, low dose antimony treatment might be preferred when toxicity is a primary concern.</p></div

Low dose systemic or intralesional meglumine antimoniate treatment for American tegumentary leishmaniasis results in low lethality, low incidence of relapse, and low late mucosal involvement in a referral centre in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2001-2013)

<div><p> BACKGROUND American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) is a non-lethal parasitic disease that presents with cutaneous (CL) and mucosal (ML) clinical forms. ATL treatment aims at healing the lesions and preventing the development of the late mucosal form. Systemic meglumine antimoniate (MA) therapy with 10-20 mg Sb5+/kg/day is the first choice of treatment. However, alternative therapies using 5 mg Sb5+/kg/day or intralesional (IL) MA are the usual regimens at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. OBJECTIVES To evaluate lethality and the incidence of relapse and development of late ML in CL patients treated at NIID from 2001 until 2013. METHODS Data were recovered from records of all ATL patients diagnosed during that period. FINDINGS Out of 777 patients, 753 were treated with MA (96.9%). Of those, 89.1% received alternative therapy of 9.9% IL and 79.2% systemic 5 mg Sb5+/kg/day. Some patients required 1-3 additional courses of treatment, thus making a total of 997 courses; 85.2% of them were subjected to alternative therapies. Lethality was 0.1%, relapse incidence 5.8%, and late ML incidence 0.25%. As a final outcome for the 777 patients, 95.9% were cured, 0.1% died and 4.0% were not able to follow-up. MAIN CONCLUSIONS Alternative MA schedules resulted in low lethality without increase of relapse or late ML incidence.</p></div

Subgroup analysis: Forest plot of absolute risk difference (RD) and relative risk (RR) with two-sided 95% confidence interval (CI) for major adverse events according to low versus high dose antimony treatment.

<p>Squares located to the right of the vertical solid line favor more major adverse events in the high dose antimony group.</p

Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of the modified intention-to-treat population.

<p>Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of the modified intention-to-treat population.</p

Bubble plot of -log10(Raw p-value) by risk difference with a two-sided 95% confidence interval sized by number of subjects with adverse events in high dose versus low dose antimony groups.

<p>Note: Grey zone area corresponds to area of p-value<0.05; X stands for point estimates; point estimates within the grey zone area have p-values<0.05; circles are sized by the number of patients with adverse events; circles located to the right of the vertical solid line favor more adverse events in the high dose antimony group.</p