Translation and cultural validation of the Lequesne's algofunctional questionnaire for osteoarthritis of knee and hip for portuguese language

OBJECTIVE: translation, validation and cultural adaptation of the algofunctional index of Lequesne for the Portuguese language. PATIENTS AND METHODS: the original questionnaire, published in English, was translated by three English professors, and after back translated by others three professors. Four physiotherapists had congregated and comparing the translations, they had elaborated the first version. This was applied to 11 patients with diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA) of knees and/or hips, and this version was recognized fully by the patients, who had not reported understanding problems. This version, considered as definitive, was them applied to others 73 patients in the following form: a time for observer 1 (A1), in the same day for observer 2 (A2) and one week later for observer 1 or 2 (A3). Jointly it was collected data on age, sex and applied questionnaire Westerm Ontario and McMaster Universities WOMAC in its version validated for Portuguese language. RESULTS: for osteoarthritis of knees, the patients of the pre-test (10 of 11 evaluated) had average age of 63 years (DP=9.3) and 2 were men. Its average grade for the index of Lequesne was of 14.9 (DP=5.1). The patients, evaluated with the definitive version, in number of 42, had in average 67.5 years (DP=8.7), 5 were men. Its average for the index of Lequesne was for A1=11.9 (DP=5.0), for A2=12.1 (DP=6.4) and A3=11.3 (DP=7.9). The intraclass correlation between A1 and A2 was of 0.99 and between A1 and A3 was of 0,99. The Pearson coefficient between A1 and WOMAC pain was of 0.800, WOMAC stiffness was of 0.640 and WOMAC function was 0.828, all with statistical significance. For osteoarthritis of hips, the patients of the pre-test (3 of the 11 evaluated) had average age of 67 years (DP=9.18) and were all women. Its average grade for the index of Lequesne was of 11.2 (DP=5.86). The patients, evaluated with the definitive version, in number of 37, had in average 66.9 years (DP=9.01), 8 were men. Its average for the index of Lequesne was for A1=12.5 (DP=5.6) for A2=12,5 (DP=5.7) and A3=14.1 (DP=6.3). The intraclass correlation between A1 and A2 was of 0.99 and between A1 and A3 was of 0.98. The coefficient of Pearson between A1 and WOMAC pain was of 0.759, WOMAC rigidity was of 0.659 and WOMAC function was 0.851, all also with statistical significance. CONCLUSION: the version for the Portuguese language (Brazil) of the algofunctional index of Lequesne, for evaluation of osteoarthritis of knees and hips is validated for use in Brazilian population.OBJETIVO: tradução, validação e adaptação cultural do índice algofuncional de Lequesne para a língua portuguesa. PACIENTES E MÉTODOS: o questionário original, publicado em língua inglesa, foi traduzido por três professores de inglês, e após, retraduzidos por outros três professores. Quatro fisioterapeutas se reuniram e, comparando as traduções, elaboraram a primeira versão. Esta foi aplicada a 11 pacientes com diagnóstico de osteoartrite de joelhos e/ou quadris, e esta versão foi reconhecida plenamente pelos pacientes, que não relataram problemas de compreensão. Passou-se, então, a aplicar esta versão, considerada como definitiva, a outros 73 pacientes da seguinte forma: uma vez pelo observador 1 (A1), no mesmo dia pelo observador 2 (A2) e uma semana mais tarde pelo observador 1 ou 2 (A3). Conjuntamente, colheu-se dados sobre idade e sexo, e aplicou-se o questionário Westerm Ontário and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) em sua versão validada para língua portuguesa. RESULTADOS: para osteoartrite de joelhos, os pacientes do pré-teste (10 de 11 avaliados) tinham idade média de 63 anos (DP=9,3) e dois eram homens. Sua nota média para o índice de Lequesne foi de 14,9 (DP=5,1). Os pacientes, avaliados com a versão definitiva, em número de 42, tinham em média 67,5 anos (DP=8,7), cinco eram homens. Sua média para o índice de Lequesne foi para A1=11,9 (DP=5,0), para A2=12,1 (DP=6,4) e A3=11,3 (DP=7,9). A correlação intraclasse entre A1 e A2 foi de 0,99 e entre A1 e A3 foi de 0,99. O coeficiente de Pearson entre A1 e WOMAC dor foi de 0,800, WOMAC rigidez foi de 0,640 e WOMAC função foi 0,828, todas estatisticamente significantes. Para osteoartrite de quadris, os pacientes do pré-teste (3 dos 11 avaliados) tinham idade média de 67 anos (DP=9,18) e todos eram mulheres. Sua nota média para o índice de Lequesne foi de 11,2 (DP=5,86). Os pacientes, avaliados com a versão definitiva, em número de 37, tinham em média 66,9 anos (DP=9,01), 8 eram homens. Sua média para o índice de Lequesne foi para A1=12,5 (DP=5,6), para A2=12,5 (DP=5,7) e A3=14,1 (DP=6,3). A correlação intraclasse entre A1 e A2 foi de 0,99 e entre A1 e A3 foi de 0,98. O coeficiente de Pearson entre A1 e WOMAC dor foi de 0,759, WOMAC rigidez foi de 0,659 e WOMAC função foi 0,851, todas também estatisticamente significantes. CONCLUSÃO: a versão em língua portuguesa (Brasil) do índice algofuncional de Lequesne, para avaliação de osteoartrite de joelhos e quadris está validada para uso em população brasileira.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)Centro Universitário das Faculdades Metropolitanas UnidasUNIFESP, EPMSciEL

New interactions: past and future experiments

In this talk I will review the present status and future perspectives of some popular extensions of the conventional three-neutrino oscillation scenario, from a purely phenomenological point of view. For concreteness I will focus only on three specific scenarios: non-standard neutrino interactions with matters, models with extra sterile neutrinos, and neutrino decay and decoherence.Comment: LaTeX file using jpconf class, 8 pages, 2 tables. Proceedings of the "XXIII International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics" (Neutrino 08), Christchurch, New Zealand, May 25-31, 200

Intragenic antimicrobial peptides (IAPs) from human proteins with potent antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity

Following the treads of our previous works on the unveiling of bioactive peptides encrypted in plant proteins from diverse species, the present manuscript reports the occurrence of four proof-of-concept intragenic antimicrobial peptides in human proteins, named Hs IAPs. These IAPs were prospected using the software Kamal, synthesized by solid phase chemistry, and had their interactions with model phospholipid vesicles investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and circular dichroism. Their antimicrobial activity against bacteria, yeasts and filamentous fungi was determined, along with their cytotoxicity towards erythrocytes. Our data demonstrates that Hs IAPs are capable to bind model membranes while attaining α-helical structure, and to inhibit the growth of microorganisms at concentrations as low as 1μM. Hs02, a novel sixteen residue long internal peptide (KWAVRIIRKFIKGFISNH2) derived from the unconventional myosin 1h protein, was further investigated in its capacity to inhibit lipopolysaccharide-induced release of TNF-α in murine macrophages. Hs02 presented potent anti-inflammatory activity, inhibiting the release of TNF-α in LPSprimed cells at the lowest assayed concentration, 0.1 μM. A three-dimensional solution structure of Hs02 bound to DPC micelles was determined by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Our work exemplifies how the human genome can be mined for molecules with biotechnological potential in human health and demonstrates that IAPs are actual alternatives to antimicrobial peptides as pharmaceutical agents or in their many other putative applications

Guidelines for studying diverse types of compound weather and climate events

Compound weather and climate events are combinations of climate drivers and/or hazards that contribute to societal or environmental risk. Studying compound events often requires a multidisciplinary approach combining domain knowledge of the underlying processes with, for example, statistical methods and climate model outputs. Recently, to aid the development of research on compound events, four compound event types were introduced, namely (1) preconditioned, (2) multivariate, (3) temporally compounding, and (4) spatially compounding events. However, guidelines on how to study these types of events are still lacking. Here, we consider four case studies, each associated with a specific event type and a research question, to illustrate how the key elements of compound events (e.g., analytical tools and relevant physical effects) can be identified. These case studies show that (1) impacts on crops from hot and dry summers can be exacerbated by preconditioning effects of dry and bright springs. (2) Assessing compound coastal flooding in Perth (Australia) requires considering the dynamics of a non-stationary multivariate process. For instance, future mean sea-level rise will lead to the emergence of concurrent coastal and fluvial extremes, enhancing compound flooding risk. (3) In Portugal, deep-landslides are often caused by temporal clusters of moderate precipitation events. Finally, (4) crop yield failures in France and Germany are strongly correlated, threatening European food security through spatially compounding effects. These analyses allow for identifying general recommendations for studying compound events. Overall, our insights can serve as a blueprint for compound event analysis across disciplines and sectors

Frequency and genotypic distribution of GB virus C (GBV-C) among Colombian population with Hepatitis B (HBV) or Hepatitis C (HCV) infection

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>GB virus C (GBV-C) is an enveloped positive-sense ssRNA virus belonging to the <it>Flaviviridae </it>family. Studies on the genetic variability of the GBV-C reveals the existence of six genotypes: genotype 1 predominates in West Africa, genotype 2 in Europe and America, genotype 3 in Asia, genotype 4 in Southwest Asia, genotype 5 in South Africa and genotype 6 in Indonesia. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and genotypic distribution of GBV-C in the Colombian population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two groups were analyzed: i) 408 Colombian blood donors infected with HCV (n = 250) and HBV (n = 158) from Bogotá and ii) 99 indigenous people with HBV infection from Leticia, Amazonas. A fragment of 344 bp from the 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) was amplified by nested RT PCR. Viral sequences were genotyped by phylogenetic analysis using reference sequences from each genotype obtained from GenBank (n = 160). Bayesian phylogenetic analyses were conducted using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach to obtain the MCC tree using BEAST v.1.5.3.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among blood donors, from 158 HBsAg positive samples, eight 5.06% (n = 8) were positive for GBV-C and from 250 anti-HCV positive samples, 3.2%(n = 8) were positive for GBV-C. Also, 7.7% (n = 7) GBV-C positive samples were found among indigenous people from Leticia. A phylogenetic analysis revealed the presence of the following GBV-C genotypes among blood donors: 2a (41.6%), 1 (33.3%), 3 (16.6%) and 2b (8.3%). All genotype 1 sequences were found in co-infection with HBV and 4/5 sequences genotype 2a were found in co-infection with HCV. All sequences from indigenous people from Leticia were classified as genotype 3. The presence of GBV-C infection was not correlated with the sex (p = 0.43), age (p = 0.38) or origin (p = 0.17).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It was found a high frequency of GBV-C genotype 1 and 2 in blood donors. The presence of genotype 3 in indigenous population was previously reported from Santa Marta region in Colombia and in native people from Venezuela and Bolivia. This fact may be correlated to the ancient movements of Asian people to South America a long time ago.</p

Genetic architecture of spatial electrical biomarkers for cardiac arrhythmia and relationship with cardiovascular disease

The 3-dimensional spatial and 2-dimensional frontal QRS-T angles are measures derived from the vectorcardiogram. They are independent risk predictors for arrhythmia, but the underlying biology is unknown. Using multi-ancestry genome-wide association studies we identify 61 (58 previously unreported) loci for the spatial QRS-T angle (N = 118,780) and 11 for the frontal QRS-T angle (N = 159,715). Seven out of the 61 spatial QRS-T angle loci have not been reported for other electrocardiographic measures. Enrichments are observed in pathways related to cardiac and vascular development, muscle contraction, and hypertrophy. Pairwise genome-wide association studies with classical ECG traits identify shared genetic influences with PR interval and QRS duration. Phenome-wide scanning indicate associations with atrial fibrillation, atrioventricular block and arterial embolism and genetically determined QRS-T angle measures are associated with fascicular and bundle branch block (and also atrioventricular block for the frontal QRS-T angle). We identify potential biology involved in the QRS-T angle and their genetic relationships with cardiovascular traits and diseases, may inform future research and risk prediction.</p

Search for New Physics in the Multijet and Missing Transverse Momentum Final State in Proton-Proton Collisions at √s=7 TeV

A search for physics beyond the standard model is performed in events with at least three jets and large missing transverse momentum produced in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV. No significant excess of events above the expected backgrounds is observed in 4.98 inverse femtobarns of data collected with the CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The results are presented in the context of the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model and more generically for simplified models. For the simplified models of gluino-gluino and squark-squark production, gluino masses below 1.0 TeV and squark masses below 0.76 TeV are excluded in case the lightest supersymmetric particle mass is below 200 GeV. These results significantly extend previous searches