HPV DNA testing with cytology triage in cervical cancer screening: Influence of revealing HPV infection status

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of cervical human papillomavirus (HPV) status might influence a cytotechnician's assessment of cellular abnormalities. The authors compared original cytotechnicians' Papanicolaou (Pap) readings for which HPV status was concealed with Pap rereads for which HPV status was revealed separately for 3 screening populations. METHODS: Previously collected cervical Pap smears and clinical data were obtained from the Canadian Cervical Cancer Screening Trial (study A), the Democratic Republic of Congo Community-Based Screening Study (study B), and the Brazilian Investigation into Nutrition and Cervical Cancer Prevention (study C). Smears were reread with knowledge of HPV status for all HPV-positive women as well as a sample of HPV-negative women. Diagnostic performance of Pap cytology was compared between original readings and rereads. RESULTS: A total of 1767 Pap tests were reread. Among 915 rereads for HPV-positive women, the contrast between "revealed" and "concealed" Pap readings demonstrated revisions from negative to positive results for 109 women (cutoff was atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance or worse) and 124 women (cutoff was low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions [LSIL] or worse). For a disease threshold of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of grade 2 or worse, specificity significantly declined at the atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance cutoff for studies A (86.6% to 75.3%) and C (42.5% to 15.5%), and at the LSIL cutoff for study C (61.9% to 37.6%). Sensitivity remained nearly unchanged between readings, except in study C, in which reread performance was superior (91.3% vs 71.9% for the LSIL cutoff). CONCLUSIONS: A reduction in the diagnostic accuracy of Pap cytology was observed when revealing patients' cervical HPV status, possibly due to a heightened awareness of potential abnormalities, which led to more false-positive results. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2015. (c) 2015 American Cancer Society.

Comparação de diferentes métodos de avaliação da capacidade de carga de pavimentos rodoviários

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Civil

Estudo da cabeceira da Sé do Porto

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Civil

Varões entrançados de material compósito com capacidade de monitorização

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Civil

Durabilidade de colagens estruturais em elementos de madeira

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Civil

Resilience of concrete structures in the marine environment through microstructural innovation

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Civil

Definição de indicadores para estimar custos de projeto e análise paramétrica dos eurocódigos estruturais

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Civil

Análise estrutural e dimensionamento de estruturas de membrana

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Civil

Influência da técnica da elaboração de provetes laboratoriais na quantificação da deformabilidade e resistência mecânica dos solos

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Civil

Structural and enzymatic characterization of ABgp46, a novel phage endolysin with broad anti-Gram-negative bacterial activity

The present study demonstrates the antibacterial potential of a phage endolysin against Gram-negative pathogens, particularly against multidrug resistant strains of Acinetobacter baumannii. We have cloned, heterologously expressed and characterized a novel endolysin (ABgp46) from Acinetobacter phage vb_AbaP_CEB1 and tested its antibacterial activity against several multidrug-resistant A. baumannii strains. LC-MS revealed that ABgp46 is an N-acetylmuramidase, that is also active over a broad pH range (4.0-10.0) and temperatures up to 50°C. Interestingly, ABgp46 has intrinsic and specific anti-A. baumannii activity, reducing multidrug resistant strains by up to 2 logs within 2 hours. By combining ABgp46 with several organic acids that act as outer membrane permeabilizing agents, it is possible to increase and broaden antibacterial activity to include other Gram-negative bacterial pathogens. In the presence of citric and malic acid, ABgp46 reduces A. baumannii below the detection limit (> 5 log) and more than 4 logs P. aeruginosa and Salmonella Typhimurium strains. Overall, this globular endolysin exhibits a broad and high activity against Gram-negative pathogens, that can be enhanced in presence of citric and malic acid, and be used in human and veterinary medicine.

As restrições à liberdade de testar

Dissertação de mestrado em Direito das Crianças, Família e Sucessões

Development of a water-in-oil-in-water multiple emulsion system integrating biomimetic aqueous-core lipid nanodroplets for protein entity stabilization. Part I: experimental factorial design

Lipid nanoballoons integrating multiple emulsions of the type water-in-oil-in-water enclose, at least in theory, a biomimetic aqueous-core suitable for housing hydrophilic biomolecules such as proteins, peptides and bacteriophage particles. The research effort entertained in this paper reports a full statistical 23x31 factorial design study (three variables at two levels and one variable at three levels) to optimize biomimetic aqueous-core lipid nanoballoons for housing hydrophilic protein entities. The concentrations of protein, lipophilic and hydrophilic emulsifiers, and homogenization speed were set as the four independent variables, whereas the mean particle hydrodynamic size (HS), zeta potential (ZP) and polydispersity index (PI) were set as the dependent variables. The V23x31 factorial design constructed led to optimization of the higher (+1) and lower (-1) levels, with triplicate testing for the central (0) level, thus producing thirty three experiments and leading to selection of the optimized processing parameters as 0.015% (w/w) protein entity, 0.75% (w/w) lipophilic emulsifier (soybean lecithin) and 0.50% (w/w) hydrophilic emulsifier (poloxamer 188). In the present research effort, statistical optimization and production of protein derivatives encompassing full stabilization of their three-dimensional structure, has been attempted via housing said molecular entities within biomimetic aqueous-core lipid nanoballoons integrating a multiple (W/O/W) emulsion.

Stress, cognitive appraisal, and psychological health: testing instruments for health professionals

The job of health professionals, including nurses, is considered inherently stressful (Lee & Wang, 2002; Rutledge et al., 2009), and thus it is important to improve and develop specific measures that are sensitive to the demands that health professionals face. This study analysed the psychometric properties of three instruments that focus on the professional experiences of nurses in aspects related to occupational stress, cognitive appraisal, and mental health issues. The evaluation protocol included the Stress Questionnaire for Health Professionals (SQHP; Gomes, 2014), the Cognitive Appraisal Scale (CAS; Gomes, Faria, & Gonçalves, 2013), and the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12; Goldberg, 1972). Validity and reliability issues were considered with statistical analysis (i.e. confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity, and composite reliability) that revealed adequate values for all of the instruments, namely, a six-factor structure for the SQHP, a five-factor structure for the CAS, and a two-factor structure for the GHQ-12. In conclusion, this study proposes three consistent instruments that may be useful for analysing nurses’ adaptation to work contexts.