Robust low-dimensional modelling of falling liquid films subject to variable wall heating

Accurate low-dimensional models for the dynamics of falling liquid films subject to localized or time-varying heating are essential for applications that involve patterning or control. However, existing modelling methodologies either fail to respect fundamental thermodynamic properties or else do not accurately capture the effects of advection and diffusion on the temperature profile. We argue that the best-performing long-wave models are those that give the surface temperature implicitly as the solution of an evolution equation in which the wall temperature alone (and none of its derivatives) appears as a source term. We show that, for both flat and non-uniform films, such a model can be rationally derived by expanding the temperature field about its free-surface values. We test this model in linear and nonlinear regimes, and show that its predictions are in remarkable quantitative agreement with full Navier–Stokes calculations regarding the surface temperature, the internal temperature field and the surface displacement that would result from temperature-induced Marangoni stresses

Valor de corte del cociente proteinuria/creatininuria predictor de proteinuria = 150 mg/24 h en una muestra de estudiantes argentinos. Utilidad de su aplicación para categorización de la proteinuria

Introducción: la proteinuria es marcador clásico de daño renal. La organización Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) categoriza en 2012 la proteinuria de 24 h (PER) como mg/24 h o la relación proteinuria/creatininuria en muestra aislada (PCR) como mg/g así: A1, normal-levemente aumentada (500). La PER es el gold standard y la PCR fue incorporada para evitar recolección de 24 h, pero la equivalencia numérica entre ambas es controvertida. El valor 150 mg/24 h tiene relevancia diagnóstica/pronóstica en enfermedad renal crónica. Objetivos: determinar, en una muestra de estudiantes argentinos, la correlación de PCR en primera orina matutina con PER, el valor de corte (VdC) de PCR predictor de PER=150 mg/24 h y la concordancia entre ambas metodologías para la categorización A según valores de PCR de la clasificación KDIGO 2012 y del VdC hallado.Materiales y métodos: estudio descriptivo, analítico y transversal realizado en una muestra de 51 estudiantes. Determinaciones en orina de 24 h y en la primera matutina. Proteínas: método rojo de pirogalol molibdato; creatinina: Jaffé cinético. Correlación: coeficiente de Spear-man; concordancia: Bland-Altman y kappa. VdC: análisis ROC (receiver operating curve). Programas: Excel yMedcalc. IC95 %, p<0,05. Resultados: proteinuria (mediana/rango intercuartil), PER (mg/24 h): 106,00/83,64-137,82; PCR (mg/g): 58,00/50,50-87,00; p=0,025; co-eficiente Spearman: 0,5540; Bland-Altman media de las diferencias (PER-PCR): 31,4. ABC=0,883 (IC95%: 0,762-0,956); VdC=82 mg/g; S=90 %; E=82,9 %; RP+=5,27; RP-=0,12. Concordancia en categorización A: kappa empleando PCR 150 mg/g: 0,106 (IC95%: -0,134-0,347), pobre-leve; kappa empleando VdC hallado: 0,4568 (IC95%: 0,2063-0,6505), leve-considerable. Conclusiones: la concordancia en categorización A mejora al utilizar el VdC. Destaca la importancia de no usar como equivalentes PCR=150 mg/g y PER=150 mg/24 h para diferenciar proteinuria normal de aumentada, sino la necesidad de establecer en cada laboratorio los VdC correspondientes

Epidemiología de la enfermedad de Chagas en comunidades mocovíes y criollas en el sur del Chaco Argentino

Señor editor: La enfermedad de Chagas constituye un serio problema sanitario, social y de impacto económico, particularmente en poblaciones rurales desatendidas y postergadas de Latinoamérica. Es esencial entender los contextos sociales y culturales para explicar la persistencia de esta enfermedad, así como promover intervenciones adaptadas a las necesidades de cada población.   DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21149/spm.v58i1.815

Evaluation of the ELISA-F29 test as an early marker of therapeutic efficacy in adults with chronic Chagas disease

This work compared the time at which negative seroconversion was detected by conventional serology (CS) and by the ELISA-F29 test on a cohort of chronic chagasic patients treated with nifurtimox or benznidazole. A retrospective study was performed using preserved serum from 66 asymptomatic chagasic adults under clinical supervision, and bi-annual serological examinations over a mean follow-up of 23 years. Twenty nine patients received trypanocide treatment and 37 remained untreated. The ELISA-F29 test used a recombinant antigen which was obtained by expressing the Trypanosoma cruzi flagellar calcium-binding protein gene in Escherichia coli. Among the untreated patients, 36 maintained CS titers. One patient showed a doubtful serology in some check-ups. ELISA-F29 showed constant reactivity in 35 out of 37 patients and was negative for the patient with fluctuating CS. The treated patients were divided into three groups according to the CS titers: in 13 they became negative; in 12 they decreased and in four they remained unchanged. ELISA-F29 was negative for the first two groups. The time at which negativization was detected was significantly lower for the ELISA-F29 test than for CS, 14.5 &#177; 5.7 and 22 &#177; 4.9 years respectively. Negative seroconversion was observed in treated patients only. The results obtained confirm that the ELISA-F29 test is useful as an early indicator of negative seroconversion in treated chronic patients