Aspectos do comportamento da cigarrinha-das-pastagens Mahanarva spectabilis (Distant)(Hemiptera: Cercopidae) na produção de espuma.

A cigarrinha-das-pastagens Mahanarva spectabilis (Distant) produz uma espuma protetora contra inimigos naturais e dessecação, ao longo da fase imatura. Objetivou-se avaliar o efeito do agrupamento e do tipo de forrageira na produção de espuma pela cigarrinha-das-pastagens, bem como os comportamentos exibidos durante este período, em duas diferentes forrageiras. Foram realizados testes com ninfas individualizadas no qual o tempo médio de cobertura total pela espuma foi de 38?55?? e 40?00?? em capim-elefante (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.) e braquiária (Brachiaria ruziziensis Germain e Evrard), respectivamente; e testes com grupos de ninfas onde o tempo médio para cobertura total foi de 48?00?? em capim-elefante e em braquiária 41?06??. Por meio da análise de correlação observou-se que as ninfas que mais tardaram o início de produção de espuma foram aquelas que mais demoraram a concluí-la, nas duas forrageiras. Apresentou-se a sequência comportamental exibida pelas ninfas M. spectabilis desde a sua liberação no vaso até a total cobertura por espuma. O tempo total de cobertura não sofreu alteração significativa quando as ninfas se alimentaram de capim-elefante ou braquiária, ou ainda quando se alimentaram de forma solitária ou agregada

Optimization of a Low Cost and Broadly Sensitive Genotyping Assay for HIV-1 Drug Resistance Surveillance and Monitoring in Resource-Limited Settings

Commercially available HIV-1 drug resistance (HIVDR) genotyping assays are expensive and have limitations in detecting non-B subtypes and circulating recombinant forms that are co-circulating in resource-limited settings (RLS). This study aimed to optimize a low cost and broadly sensitive in-house assay in detecting HIVDR mutations in the protease (PR) and reverse transcriptase (RT) regions of pol gene. The overall plasma genotyping sensitivity was 95.8% (N = 96). Compared to the original in-house assay and two commercially available genotyping systems, TRUGENE® and ViroSeq®, the optimized in-house assay showed a nucleotide sequence concordance of 99.3%, 99.6% and 99.1%, respectively. The optimized in-house assay was more sensitive in detecting mixture bases than the original in-house (N = 87, P<0.001) and TRUGENE® and ViroSeq® assays. When the optimized in-house assay was applied to genotype samples collected for HIVDR surveys (N = 230), all 72 (100%) plasma and 69 (95.8%) of the matched dried blood spots (DBS) in the Vietnam transmitted HIVDR survey were genotyped and nucleotide sequence concordance was 98.8%; Testing of treatment-experienced patient plasmas with viral load (VL) ≥ and <3 log10 copies/ml from the Nigeria and Malawi surveys yielded 100% (N = 46) and 78.6% (N = 14) genotyping rates, respectively. Furthermore, all 18 matched DBS stored at room temperature from the Nigeria survey were genotyped. Phylogenetic analysis of the 236 sequences revealed that 43.6% were CRF01_AE, 25.9% subtype C, 13.1% CRF02_AG, 5.1% subtype G, 4.2% subtype B, 2.5% subtype A, 2.1% each subtype F and unclassifiable, 0.4% each CRF06_CPX, CRF07_BC and CRF09_CPX

Drought frequency analysis and prediction in Sonora, Mexico

Sonora is located in northwestern Mexico, an arid region which has suffered from drought for the last nine years. Using available precipitation data, we conduct a drought frequency analysis and investigate teleconnections with recurrent atmospheric anomalies such as El Niño/Southern Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Upon completion of these analyses, we will investigate how drought intensity-duration-frequency estimates and seasonal drought forecasts can be useful to farmers and other water managers in Sonora. Copyright ASCE 2005

Pharmacovigilance of patients with multiple myeloma being treated with bortezomib and/or thalidomide

Abstract In order to evaluate the main adverse effects of drug protocols using bortezomib and/or thalidomide for the treatment of multiple myeloma, we conducted a prospective study. Data were collected through interviews, clinical observation, and from hospital records. A total of 59 patients were included. There was a predominance of females, 36 (61%) vs 23 (39%) males, and of whites, 49 (83.1%) vs 10 (16.9%) blacks. Age ranged from 40 to 94 years, with a median of 65 years (SD=11.6). Regarding staging at diagnosis, 27 (45.7%) patients were in stage III-A, with 12 (20.3%) patients having serum creatinine X2 mg/dL. The main adverse effects in the bortezomib treatment group (n=40) were: neutropenia (42.5%), diarrhea (47.5%), and peripheral neuropathy in 60% of cases, with no difference between the iv (n=26) and sc (n=14) administration routes (P=0.343). In the group treated with thalidomide (n=19), 31.6% had neutropenia, 47.4% constipation, and 68.4% peripheral neuropathy. Neutropenia was associated with the use of alkylating agents (P=0.038). Of the 3 patients who received bortezomib in combination with thalidomide, only 1 presented peripheral neuropathy (33.3%). Peripheral neuropathy was the main adverse effect of the protocols that used bortezomib or thalidomide, with a higher risk of neutropenia in those using alkylating agents. Improving the identification of adverse effects is critical in multiple myeloma patient care, as the patient shows improvements during treatment, and requires a rational and safe use of medicines

Desenvolvimento de um novo produto cerâmico para pavimentação de passeios e áreas públicas

Mobilidade e segurança são temas cada vez mais discutidos nos grandes centros urbanos, e as iniciativas nesse universo devem prever soluções práticas e econômicas, que gerem benefícios para os cidadãos. O pavimento, um dos fatores para a qualidade urbana, é a via de acesso indispensável para garantir o direito de ir e vir. Entre as soluções, o pavimento intertravado se destaca como um dos produtos mais recomendados na pavimentação das calçadas e áreas públicas. Em países da Europa e da América Latina a pavimentação com sistemas intertravados de cerâmicas é amplamente utilizada, porém essa prática ainda é pouco observada no Brasil, pela inexistência desse produto no mercado local. Desse modo, o objetivo deste projeto foi o desenvolvimento de pavimentos intertravados de cerâmica visando ao uso em passeios e áreas públicas. Também foram adicionados ao novo produto desenvolvido resíduos queimados oriundos do próprio processo de fabricação, os quais são chamados de cacos ou chamote, para diminuir a quantidade de material a ser descartado no meio ambiente. Após os resultados positivos na caracterização dos produtos, foram criados novos designs para essa tipologia de produtos, os quais foram produzidos em escala laboratorial

T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia: treatment experience with fludarabine

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the results of T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia treatment with fludarabine by assessing the complete hematologic response, the complete molecular response, progression-free survival, and overall survival. METHODS: We evaluated the records of six patients with T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia who were treated with fludarabine as a first-, second-, or third-line therapy, at a dose of 40 mg/m(2), for three to five days per month and 6 to 8 cycles. RESULTS: Of the six patients investigated with T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia who were treated with fludarabine, five (83.3%) were female, and their median age was 36.5 years (range 18 to 73). The median lymphocyte level was 3.4×10(9)/L (0.5 to 8.9). All patients exhibited a monoclonal T-cell receptor gamma gene rearrangement at diagnosis. Two (33.3%) patients received fludarabine as first-line treatment, two (33.3%) for refractory disease, one (16.6%) for relapsed disease after the suspension of methotrexate treatment due to liver toxicity, and one (16.6%) due to dyspesia. A complete hematologic response was achieved in all cases, and a complete molecular response was achieved in five out six cases (83.3%). During a mean follow-up period of 12 months, both the progression-free survival and overall survival rates were 100%. CONCLUSION: T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia demonstrated a high rate of complete hematologic and molecular response to fludarabine, with excellent compliance and tolerability rates. To confirm our results in this rare disease, we believe that fludarabine should be tested in clinical trials as a first-line treatment for T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia

SleepAp: an automated obstructive sleep apnoea screening application for smartphones.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a sleep disorder with long-term consequences. Long-term effects include sleep-related issues and cardiovascular diseases. OSA is often diagnosed with an overnight sleep test called a polysomnogram. Monitoring can be costly with long wait times for diagnosis. In this paper, a novel OSA screening framework and prototype phone application are introduced. A database of 856 patients that underwent at-home polygraphy was collected. Features were derived from audio, actigraphy, photoplethysmography (PPG), and demographics, and used as the inputs of a support vector machine (SVM) classifier. The SVM was trained on 735 patients and tested on 121 patients. Classification on the test set had an accuracy of up to 92.2% when classifying subjects as having moderate or severe OSA versus being healthy or a snorer based on the clinicians' diagnoses. The signal processing and machine learning algorithms were ported to Java and integrated into the phone application-SleepAp. SleepAp records the body position, audio, actigraphy and PPG signals, and implements the clinically validated STOP-BANG questionnaire. It derives features from the signals and classifies the user as having OSA or not using the SVM trained on the clinical database. The resulting software could provide a new, easy-to-use, low-cost, and widely available modality for OSA screening

Women's evaluations of their experience in a multicenter randomized controlled trial of intrapartum fetal pulse oximetry (The FOREMOST Trial)

Caroline Crowther is listed as a member of the FOREMOST Study GroupThe definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.comBackground:Fetal pulse oximetry improves the assessment of fetal well‐being during labor. The objective of this study was to evaluate women's satisfaction with their experience with this additional technology. Methods:We surveyed women participating in the FOREMOST trial, a randomized controlled trial comparing the addition of fetal pulse oximetry (FPO) to conventional cardiotocograph (CTG) monitoring (intervention group), versus CTG‐only (control group), in the presence of nonreassuring fetal status during labor. Our survey evaluated 3 aspects of women's experience: labor, fetal monitoring, and participation in the research. The survey was administered within a few days of giving birth and repeated 3 months later. Results:No differences were found between the intervention and control groups for women's evaluations of their labor, fetal monitoring, research, or overall experiences when surveyed on both occasions. Within each study group, a small but statistically significant decline occurred in women's scores for their experience of labor and overall experience from the initial survey close to the time of giving birth, to 3 months later. The magnitude of differences in responses over time was similar for the both groups. Women were more satisfied after a spontaneous or assisted vaginal birth than after cesarean section. Length of time the research midwife was present had a significant positive effect on women's ratings of their experience several days after giving birth (p = 0.006), but no effect at 3 months. Conclusions:The addition of fetal pulse oximetry for the assessment of fetal well‐being during labor did not affect childbearing women's perceptions of fetal monitoring or their labor. Women evaluated their experience in the research process positively overall. Small changes occurred in women's perception of their satisfaction over time