Performance of the Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire Used in the Brazilian Center of the Prospective Study Natural History of Human Papillomavirus Infection in Men: The HIM Study

The Natural History of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection in Men: The HIM Study is a prospective multi-center cohort study that, among other factors, analyzes participants` diet. A parallel cross-sectional study was designed to evaluate the validity and reproducibility of the quantitative food frequency questionnaire (QFFQ) used in the Brazilian center from the HIM Study. For this, a convenience subsample of 98 men aged 18 to 70 years from the HIM Study in Brazil answered three 54-item QFFQ and three 24-hour recall interviews, with 6-month intervals between them (data collection January to September 2007). A Bland-Altman analysis indicated that the difference between instruments was dependent on the magnitude of the intake for energy and most nutrients included in the validity analysis, with the exception of carbohydrates, fiber, polyunsaturated fat, vitamin C, and vitamin E. The correlation between the QFFQ and the 24-hour recall for the deattenuated and energy-adjusted data ranged from 0.05 (total fat) to 0.57 (calcium). For the energy and nutrients consumption included in the validity analysis, 33.5% of participants on average were correctly classified into quartiles, and the average value of 0.26 for weighted kappa shows a reasonable agreement. The intraclass correlation coefficients for all nutrients were greater than 0.40 in the reproducibility analysis. The QFFQ demonstrated good reproducibility and acceptable validity. The results support the use of this instrument in the HIM Study. J Am Diet Assoc. 2011;111:1045-1051.

Seroprevalence of Human Herpesvirus 8 Infection in Individuals From Health Care Centers in Mozambique: Potential for Endemic and Epidemic Kaposi`s Sarcoma

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) infection is common in sub-Saharan Africa, but its prevalence in Mozambique is unknown. The seroprevalence of HHV-8 in a cohort of individuals seen at public health centers in Northern (n = 208), Central (n = 226), or Southern (n = 318) Mozambique was examined. All individuals were interviewed to obtain socioeconomic, demographic and clinical data and were tested for serum anti-HHV-8 antibodies using an immunofluorescence assay. The overall frequency of HHV-8 antibodies was 21.4% and, in spite of the diversity of epidemiological characteristics of the tested individuals, did not differ significantly among regions: 18.7%, 24.3% and 21.4% in the North, Center, and South, respectively (chi(2), 2.37; P = 0.305). The variables that were associated significantly with the presence of HHV-8 antibodies were gender, age, level of education, number of siblings and HIV serostatus, but these differed across the regions. In the North, although tested individuals lived under poor socioeconomic conditions, no association between HHV-8 infection and household variables was detected, with the exception of the number of siblings (P = 0.042). In the Central region, HHV-8 infection was associated with gender (P = 0.010), the number of household members (P = 0.031), and the place of attendance (P = 0.021). In the South, HHV-8 infection was associated with the number of siblings (P = 0.023) and HIV status (P = 0.002). The overall prevalence of HHV-8 seropositivity increased with age. These results demonstrate that Mozambique is another country in Africa with endemic HHV-8 infection, and, because of the AIDS epidemic, continued access to antiretroviral treatment is necessary to avert an outbreak of AIDS-Kaposi`s sarcoma. J. Med. Virol. 82:1216-1223, 2010. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Assessment the Health Hazard from (222)Rn in Old Metalliferous Mines in San Luis, Argentina

Radon levels in two old mines in San Luis, Argentina, are reported and analyzed. The radiation dose and environmental health risk of (222)Rn concentrations to both guides and visitors were estimated. CR-39 nuclear track detectors were used for this purpose. The values for the (222)Rn concentration at each monitoring site ranged from 0.43 +/- 0.04 to 1.48 +/- 0.12 kBq m(-3) in the Los Cndores wolfram mine and from 1.8 +/- 0.1 to 6.0 +/- 0.5 kBq center dot m(-3) in the La Carolina gold mine, indicating that, in this mine, the radon levels exceed up to four times the action level of 1.5 kBq m(-3) recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. The patterns of the radon transport process revealed that the La Carolina gold mine can be interpreted as a gas confined into a single tube with constant cross-section and air velocity. Patterns of radon activity, taking into account the chimney-effect winds, were used to detect tributary currents of air from shafts or larger fissures along the main adit of the Los Cndores mine, showing that radon can be used as an important tracer of tributary air currents stream out from fissures and smaller voids in the rock of the mine.