Redescription of Prosthenhystera obesa (Diesing, 1850) (Callodistomidae, Digenea) with New Host Records and Data on Morphological Variability

Prosthenhystera obesa (Diesing,1850) Travassos, 1922 from the gall bladder of Astyanax bimaculatus, Caranx gibbosus, Galeocharax humeralis, Leporinus copelandii, Pimelodus fur, Pseudopimelodus roosevelti, Salminus brevidens, Salminus maxillosus and from the new hosts, Cynopotamus amazonum and Triurobrycon lundii is redescribed, demonstrating a large morphological variation, mainly in body and testes size and shape. New hosts harbouring immature specimens of P. obesa are presented: Brycon sp., Leporellus vittatus, Pachyurus squamipinnis, Pimelodus clarias, Pseudoplatystoma corruscans and Salminus hilarii. Scanning electron microscopy micrographies, original figures and measurements of adult and immature specimens from different Brazilian hosts and localities are presented

A process for mining science & technology documents databases, illustrated for the case of "knowledge discovery and data mining"

This paper presents a process of mining research & development abstract databases to profile current status and to project potential developments for target technologies, The process is called "technology opportunities analysis." This article steps through the process using a sample data set of abstracts from the INSPEC database on the topic o "knowledge discovery and data mining." The paper offers a set of specific indicators suitable for mining such databases to understand innovation prospects. In illustrating the uses of such indicators, it offers some insights into the status of knowledge discovery research*.

Breast imaging reporting and data system (BI-RADS™): como tem sido utilizado?

O Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS™), do American College of hRadiology, foi concebido para padronizar o laudo mamográfico e reduzir os fatores de confusão na descrição e interpretação das imagens, além de facilitar o monitoramento do resultado final. OBJETIVO: Identificar a maneira como vem sendo utilizado o BI-RADS™, gerando informações que possam auxiliar o Colégio Brasileiro de Radiologia a desenvolver estratégias para aperfeiçoar o seu uso. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Os dados foram coletados na cidade de Goiânia, GO. Foram solicitados os exames de mamografia anteriores a todas as mulheres que se dirigiram ao serviço para realização de mamografia entre janeiro/2003 e junho/2003. Foram incluídos na análise exames anteriores, realizados entre 1/7/2001 e 30/6/2003. RESULTADOS: Foram coletados 104 laudos anteriores, emitidos por 40 radiologistas de 33 diferentes serviços. Dos 104 laudos, 77% (n = 80) utilizavam o BI-RADS™. Destes, apenas 15% (n = 12) eram concisos, nenhum utilizava a estrutura e organização recomendadas pelo sistema, 98,75% (n = 79) não respeitavam o léxico e 65% (n = 51) não faziam recomendação de conduta. CONCLUSÃO: O BI-RADS™, apesar de bastante utilizado, não foi reconhecido como sistema para padronização dos laudos. Foi usado quase exclusivamente como forma de classificação final dos exames.

Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System - BI-RADS®: valor preditivo positivo das categorias 3, 4 e 5. revisão sistemática da literatura

OBJETIVO: Avaliar artigos, na literatura, que verificam o valor preditivo positivo das categorias 3, 4 e 5 do Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS®). MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Foi realizada pesquisa na base de dados Medline utilizando os termos "predictive value" e "BI-RADS". Foram incluídos 11 artigos nesta revisão. RESULTADOS: O valor preditivo positivo das categorias 3, 4 e 5 variou entre 0% e 8%, 4% e 62%, 54% e 100%, respectivamente. Três artigos avaliaram, concomitantemente, os critérios morfológicos das lesões que apresentaram maior valor preditivo positivo na mamografia, sendo nódulo espiculado o critério com maior valor preditivo positivo. CONCLUSÃO: Houve grande variabilidade do valor preditivo positivo das categorias 3, 4 e 5 do BI-RADS® em todos os estudos, porém foram identificadas diferenças metodológicas que limitaram a comparação desses estudos.

Valor preditivo positivo das categorias 3, 4 e 5 do Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS®)

OBJETIVO: O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o BI-RADS® como fator preditivo de suspeição de malignidade em lesões mamárias não palpáveis nas categorias 3, 4 e 5, correlacionando as mamografias com os resultados histopatológicos através do cálculo do valor preditivo positivo do exame mamográfico. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Trezentas e setenta e uma pacientes encaminhadas a um serviço de referência em tratamento de câncer em Teresina, PI, para realização de exames histopatológicos em mama no período de julho de 2005 a março de 2008, por terem mamografia de categorias 3, 4 ou 5, tiveram seus exames revisados. Das 371 pacientes, 265 foram submetidas a biópsia por agulha grossa e 106, a marcação pré-cirúrgica. RESULTADOS: Em relação às mamografias, 11,32% foram classificadas como categoria 3, 76,28% como categoria 4 e 12,4% como categoria 5. Os resultados histológicos demonstraram 24% de exames positivos para malignidade. Os valores preditivos positivos das categorias 3, 4 e 5 foram, respectivamente, de 7,14%, 16,96% e 82,61%. Foram calculados os valores preditivos positivos, separadamente, para as biópsias percutâneas (7,14%, 15,76%, 76,47%) e para as marcações pré-cirúrgicas (7,14%, 20%, 100%). CONCLUSÃO: Achados malignos foram subestimados pelo laudo radiológico e houve superestimação de achados benignos, o que resultou na realização desnecessária de alguns procedimentos invasivos.

Positive predictive values of Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS®) categories 3, 4 and 5 in breast lesions submitted to percutaneous biopsy

Objective To evaluate the BI-RADS as a predictive factor of suspicion for malignancy in breast lesions by correlating radiological with histological results and calculating the positive predictive value for categories 3, 4 and 5 in a breast cancer reference center in the city of São Paulo. Materials and Methods Retrospective, analytical and cross-sectional study including 725 patients with mammographic and/or sonographic findings classified as BI-RADS categories 3, 4 and 5 who were referred to the authors' institution to undergo percutaneous biopsy. The tests results were reviewed and the positive predictive value was calculated by means of a specific mathematical equation. Results Positive predictive values found for categories 3, 4 and 5 were respectively the following: 0.74%, 33.08% and 92.95%, for cases submitted to ultrasound-guided biopsy, and 0.00%, 14.90% and 100% for cases submitted to stereotactic biopsy. Conclusion The present study demonstrated high suspicion for malignancy in lesions classified as category 5 and low risk for category 3. As regards category 4, the need for systematic biopsies was observed.

Automatic evaluation and data generation for analytical chemistry instrumental analysis exercises

In general, laboratory activities are costly in terms of time, space, and money. As such, the ability to provide realistically simulated laboratory data that enables students to practice data analysis techniques as a complementary activity would be expected to reduce these costs while opening up very interesting possibilities. In the present work, a novel methodology is presented for design of analytical chemistry instrumental analysis exercises that can be automatically personalized for each student and the results evaluated immediately. The proposed system provides each student with a different set of experimental data generated randomly while satisfying a set of constraints, rather than using data obtained from actual laboratory work. This allows the instructor to provide students with a set of practical problems to complement their regular laboratory work along with the corresponding feedback provided by the system's automatic evaluation process. To this end, the Goodle Grading Management System (GMS), an innovative web-based educational tool for automating the collection and assessment of practical exercises for engineering and scientific courses, was developed. The proposed methodology takes full advantage of the Goodle GMS fusion code architecture. The design of a particular exercise is provided ad hoc by the instructor and requires basic Matlab knowledge. The system has been employed with satisfactory results in several university courses. To demonstrate the automatic evaluation process, three exercises are presented in detail. The first exercise involves a linear regression analysis of data and the calculation of the quality parameters of an instrumental analysis method. The second and third exercises address two different comparison tests, a comparison test of the mean and a t-paired test.

Avaliação de microcalcificações mamárias de acordo com as classificações do Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS TM) e de Le Gal

OBJETIVO: avaliar a acurácia da mamografia para o diagnóstico de microcalcificações mamárias suspeitas, com as classificações do Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS TM) e Le Gal em comparação com o resultado histopatológico utilizado como padrão-ouro. MÉTODOS: foram selecionados dos arquivos dos blocos cirúrgicos, 130 casos operados com mamografias contendo somente microcalcificações mamárias, inicialmente classificadas como suspeitas sem lesões detectáveis ao exame clínico. Estas foram reclassificadas por dois examinadores, utilizando as classificações de Le Gal e BI-RADS TM, obtendo-se diagnóstico de consenso. As biópsias foram revistas por dois patologistas e foi obtido diagnóstico de consenso. A leitura das mamografias e a revisão das lâminas foram feitas em duplo-cego. As análises estatísticas utilizadas neste estudo foram o teste do chi2, o modelo Fleiss quadrático para VPP e o programa Epi-Info 6.0. RESULTADOS: a correlação entre a análise histopatológica e mamográfica, usando BI-RADS TM e Le Gal, mostrou a mesma sensibilidade de 96,4%, especificidade de 55,9 e 30,3%, valor preditivo positivo (VPP) de 37,5% e 27,5% e acurácia de 64,6 e 44,6%, respectivamente. Quando discriminamos por categorias de BI-RADS TM, obtivemos VPPs: categoria 2, 0%; categoria 3, 1,8%; categoria 4, 31,6% e categoria 5, 60%. Os VPPs pela classificação de Le Gal foram: categoria 2, 3,1%; categoria 3, 18,1 %; categoria 4, 26,4%; categoria 5, 66,7% e não classificável, 5,2%. CONCLUSÕES: observou-se uma maior precisão com a classificação de BI-RADS TM, porém não se conseguiu reduzir a ambigüidade na avaliação das microcalcificações mamárias.

Fasciola hepatica IN BOVINES IN BRAZIL: DATA AVAILABILITY AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION

Fasciolosis is a disease of importance for both veterinary and public health. For the first time, georeferenced prevalence data of Fasciola hepatica in bovines were collected and mapped for the Brazilian territory and data availability was discussed. Bovine fasciolosis in Brazil is monitored on a Federal, State and Municipal level, and to improve monitoring it is essential to combine the data collected on these three levels into one dataset. Data were collected for 1032 municipalities where livers were condemned by the Federal Inspection Service (MAPA/SIF) because of the presence of F. hepatica. The information was distributed over 11 states: Espírito Santo, Goiás, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Pará, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and São Paulo. The highest prevalence of fasciolosis was observed in the southern states, with disease clusters along the coast of Paraná and Santa Catarina and in Rio Grande do Sul. Also, temporal variation of the prevalence was observed. The observed prevalence and the kriged prevalence maps presented in this paper can assist both animal and human health workers in estimating the risk of infection in their state or municipality.

Sugarcane crop efficiency in two growing seasons in São Paulo State, Brazil

A conceptual framework for crop production efficiency was derived using thermodynamic efficiency concept, in order to generate a tool for performance evaluation of agricultural systems and to quantify the interference of determining factors on this performance. In Thermodynamics, efficiency is the ratio between the output and input of energy. To establish this relationship in agricultural systems, it was assumed that the input energy is represented by the attainable crop yield, as predicted through simulation models based on environmental variables. The method of FAO's agroecological zones was applied to the assessment of the attainable sugarcane yield, while Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) data were used as observed yield. Sugarcane efficiency production in São Paulo state was evaluated in two growing seasons, and its correlation with some physical factors that regulate production was calculated. A strong relationship was identified between crop production efficiency and soil aptitude. This allowed inferring the effect of agribusiness factors on crop production efficiency. The relationships between production efficiency and climatic variables were also quantified and indicated that solar radiation, annual rainfall, water deficiency, and maximum air temperature are the main factors affecting the sugarcane production efficiency.

Determination of the influence of the variation of reducing and non-reducing sugars on coffee quality with use of artificial neural network

The present study aimed at evaluating the use of Artificial Neural Network to correlate the values resulting from chemical analyses of samples of coffee with the values of their sensory analyses. The coffee samples used were from the Coffea arabica L., cultivars Acaiá do Cerrado, Topázio, Acaiá 474-19 and Bourbon, collected in the southern region of the state of Minas Gerais. The chemical analyses were carried out for reducing and non-reducing sugars. The quality of the beverage was evaluated by sensory analysis. The Artificial Neural Network method used values from chemical analyses as input variables and values from sensory analysis as output values. The multiple linear regression of sensory analysis values, according to the values from chemical analyses, presented a determination coefficient of 0.3106, while the Artificial Neural Network achieved a level of 80.00% of success in the classification of values from the sensory analysis.

Non-Linear Unsteady Aerodynamic Response Approximation Using Multi-Layer Functionals

Non-linear functional representation of the aerodynamic response provides a convenient mathematical model for motion-induced unsteady transonic aerodynamic loads response, that accounts for both complex non-linearities and time-history effects. A recent development, based on functional approximation theory, has established a novel functional form; namely, the multi-layer functional. For a large class of non-linear dynamic systems, such multi-layer functional representations can be realised via finite impulse response (FIR) neural networks. Identification of an appropriate FIR neural network model is facilitated by means of a supervised training process in which a limited sample of system input-output data sets is presented to the temporal neural network. The present work describes a procedure for the systematic identification of parameterised neural network models of motion-induced unsteady transonic aerodynamic loads response. The training process is based on a conventional genetic algorithm to optimise the network architecture, combined with a simplified random search algorithm to update weight and bias values. Application of the scheme to representative transonic aerodynamic loads response data for a bidimensional airfoil executing finite-amplitude motion in transonic flow is used to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach. The approach is shown to furnish a satisfactory generalisation property to different motion histories over a range of Mach numbers in the transonic regime.

On-site calibration of a phase fraction meter by an inverse technique

The formal calibration procedure of a phase fraction meter is based on registering the outputs resulting from imposed phase fractions at known flow regimes. This can be straightforwardly done in laboratory conditions, but is rarely the case in industrial conditions, and particularly for on-site applications. Thus, there is a clear need for less restrictive calibration methods regarding to the prior knowledge of the complete set of inlet conditions. A new procedure is proposed in this work for the on-site construction of the calibration curve from total flown mass values of the homogeneous dispersed phase. The solution is obtained by minimizing a convenient error functional, assembled with data from redundant tests to handle the intrinsic ill-conditioned nature of the problem. Numerical simulations performed for increasing error levels demonstrate that acceptable calibration curves can be reconstructed, even from total mass measured within a precision of up to 2%. Consequently, the method can readily be applied, especially in on-site calibration problems in which classical procedures fail due to the impossibility of having a strict control of all the input/output parameters.

Comparison of anaerobic threshold determined by visual and mathematical methods in healthy women

Several methods are used to estimate anaerobic threshold (AT) during exercise. The aim of the present study was to compare AT obtained by a graphic visual method for the estimate of ventilatory and metabolic variables (gold standard), to a bi-segmental linear regression mathematical model of Hinkley's algorithm applied to heart rate (HR) and carbon dioxide output (VCO2) data. Thirteen young (24 ± 2.63 years old) and 16 postmenopausal (57 ± 4.79 years old) healthy and sedentary women were submitted to a continuous ergospirometric incremental test on an electromagnetic braking cycloergometer with 10 to 20 W/min increases until physical exhaustion. The ventilatory variables were recorded breath-to-breath and HR was obtained beat-to-beat over real time. Data were analyzed by the nonparametric Friedman test and Spearman correlation test with the level of significance set at 5%. Power output (W), HR (bpm), oxygen uptake (VO2; mL kg-1 min-1), VO2 (mL/min), VCO2 (mL/min), and minute ventilation (VE; L/min) data observed at the AT level were similar for both methods and groups studied (P > 0.05). The VO2 (mL kg-1 min-1) data showed significant correlation (P < 0.05) between the gold standard method and the mathematical model when applied to HR (r s = 0.75) and VCO2 (r s = 0.78) data for the subjects as a whole (N = 29). The proposed mathematical method for the detection of changes in response patterns of VCO2 and HR was adequate and promising for AT detection in young and middle-aged women, representing a semi-automatic, non-invasive and objective AT measurement.