125 research outputs found
SOROEPIDEMIOLOGIA E FATORES ASSOCIADOS À TRANSMISSÃO DO Toxoplasma gondii EM SUÍNOS DO NORTE DO PARANÁ
Devido à importância do suíno como fonte de infecção da toxoplasmose humana e aos
problemas reprodutivos gerados por esta enfermidade, objetivou-se traçar o perfil soroepidemiológico
e os fatores associados à transmissão do Toxoplasma gondii no rebanho de suínos da região Norte
do Paraná. Coletaram-se amostras de 521 animais (324 matrizes, 157 marrãs e 40 cachaços), de
22 propriedades suinícolas. Foi aplicado um questionário epidemiológico para verificar as
características em relação aos manejos adotados. Realizou-se Imunofluorescência Indireta (IFI)
para detecção de anticorpos anti-T. gondii (IgG) e considerou-se positivas as amostras que
apresentaram título ³ 64. De 521 amostras de soro analisadas pela IFI, resultaram em 15,35%
reagentes (80/521), sendo 54 (10,37%) matrizes, 20 (3,83%) marrãs e seis (1,15%) cachaços. A
análise das variáveis evidenciou que o sistema de criação intensivo foi um fator de proteção para a
presença de T. gondii. Entretanto, o acesso de outros animais ao cocho de ração e ao reservatório
de água, a utilização do bebedouro tipo canaleta, presença de lâmina dágua nas baias e a existência
de áreas alagadiças, foram fatores que contribuíram para a infecção pelo T. gondii.
Serumepidemiology and associated factors on swine transmission of Toxoplasma gondii
at Northern Paraná Brazil
Abstract
Due to the importance of swine as an infection source of toxoplasmosis to man and
the reproductive problems that this disease causes, it was defined the prevalence and the factors
associated with the transmission of Toxoplasma gondii in swine herds of northern Paraná State. A
total of 521 serum samples (324 sows, 157 gilts e 40 boars) from 22 herds were analyzed and an
epidemiological questionnaire was applied to obtain the management employed in these properties.
The indirect immunofluorescence (IFAT) test was performed to detect anti-T. gondii antibodies (IgG)
and titers ³ 64 were considered positive. From the 521 analyzed serum samples, 15.35% (80/521)
were reactive for the IFAT test 54 (10.37%) sows, 20 (3.83%) gilts and 6 (1.15%) boars. The
statistical analysis has shown that the intensive management system is a protective factor for T.
gondii infection. However, the access of other animals to the water and food reservoir, the channels
water-thought, the pens with water-blade and the presence of wet areas were factors which contributed
to wards the infection by T. gondii
Simulation techniques for cosmological simulations
Modern cosmological observations allow us to study in great detail the
evolution and history of the large scale structure hierarchy. The fundamental
problem of accurate constraints on the cosmological parameters, within a given
cosmological model, requires precise modelling of the observed structure. In
this paper we briefly review the current most effective techniques of large
scale structure simulations, emphasising both their advantages and
shortcomings. Starting with basics of the direct N-body simulations appropriate
to modelling cold dark matter evolution, we then discuss the direct-sum
technique GRAPE, particle-mesh (PM) and hybrid methods, combining the PM and
the tree algorithms. Simulations of baryonic matter in the Universe often use
hydrodynamic codes based on both particle methods that discretise mass, and
grid-based methods. We briefly describe Eulerian grid methods, and also some
variants of Lagrangian smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) methods.Comment: 42 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in Space Science
Reviews, special issue "Clusters of galaxies: beyond the thermal view",
Editor J.S. Kaastra, Chapter 12; work done by an international team at the
International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Bern, organised by J.S.
Kaastra, A.M. Bykov, S. Schindler & J.A.M. Bleeke
Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector
A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results
Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC
Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC
provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of
lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with
a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the
transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the
anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the
nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of
the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp.
Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in
the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies
smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating
nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and
transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of
inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous
measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables,
submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are
available at
http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02
HTLV-1 infection in solid organ transplant donors and recipients in Spain
HTLV-1 infection is a neglected disease, despite infecting 10-15 million people worldwide and severe illnesses develop in 10% of carriers lifelong. Acknowledging a greater risk for developing HTLV-1 associated illnesses due to immunosuppression, screening is being widely considered in the transplantation setting. Herein, we report the experience with universal HTLV testing of donors and recipients of solid organ transplants in a survey conducted in Spain. All hospitals belonging to the Spanish HTLV network were invited to participate in the study. Briefly, HTLV antibody screening was performed retrospectively in all specimens collected from solid organ donors and recipients attended since the year 2008. A total of 5751 individuals were tested for HTLV antibodies at 8 sites. Donors represented 2312 (42.2%), of whom 17 (0.3%) were living kidney donors. The remaining 3439 (59.8%) were recipients. Spaniards represented nearly 80%. Overall, 9 individuals (0.16%) were initially reactive for HTLV antibodies. Six were donors and 3 were recipients. Using confirmatory tests, HTLV-1 could be confirmed in only two donors, one Spaniard and another from Colombia. Both kidneys of the Spaniard were inadvertently transplanted. Subacute myelopathy developed within 1 year in one recipient. The second recipient seroconverted for HTLV-1 but the kidney had to be removed soon due to rejection. Immunosuppression was stopped and 3 years later the patient remains in dialysis but otherwise asymptomatic. The rate of HTLV-1 is low but not negligible in donors/recipients of solid organ transplants in Spain. Universal HTLV screening should be recommended in all donor and recipients of solid organ transplantation in Spain. Evidence is overwhelming for very high virus transmission and increased risk along with the rapid development of subacute myelopathy
Computer-Based Intensity Measurement Assists Pathologists in Scoring Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog Immunohistochemistry - Clinical Associations in NSCLC Patients of the European Thoracic Oncology Platform Lungscape Cohort.
Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) loss is frequently observed in NSCLC and associated with both phosphoinositide 3-kinase activation and tumoral immunosuppression. PTEN immunohistochemistry is a valuable readout, but lacks standardized staining protocol and cutoff value.
After an external quality assessment using SP218, 138G6 and 6H2.1 anti-PTEN antibodies, scored on webbook and tissue microarray, the European Thoracic Oncology Platform cohort samples (n = 2245 NSCLC patients, 8980 tissue microarray cores) were stained with SP218. All cores were H-scored by pathologists and by computerized pixel-based intensity measurements calibrated by pathologists.
All three antibodies differentiated six PTEN+ versus six PTEN- cases on external quality assessment. For 138G6 and SP218, high sensitivity and specificity was found for all H-score threshold values including prospectively defined 0, calculated 8 (pathologists), and calculated 5 (computer). High concordance among pathologists in setting computer-based intensities and between pathologists and computer in H-scoring was observed. Because of over-integration of the human eye, pixel-based computer H-scores were overall 54% lower. For all cutoff values, PTEN- was associated with smoking history, squamous cell histology, and higher tumor stage (p < 0.001). In adenocarcinomas, PTEN- was associated with poor survival.
Calibration of immunoreactivity intensities by pathologists following computerized H-score measurements has the potential to improve reproducibility and homogeneity of biomarker detection regarding epitope validation in multicenter studies
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