PREVALENCE OF ANTI- Toxocara ANTIBODIES IN A RANDOM SAMPLE OF INPATIENTS AT A CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL IN VITÓRIA, ESPÍRITO SANTO, BRAZIL

In the streets of Vitória, in the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil, are large number of stray dogs, many of which are infected with Toxocara canis, suggesting a high risk for human infection. In order to investigate the prevalence of Toxocara infection in children in Espírito Santo we studied the prevalence of anti-Toxocara antibodies in 100 random inpatients over one year of age, at the Children's Hospital N.S. da Glória, the reference children's hospital for the State.All the sera were collected during the period between October 1996 and January 1997. The mean age was 6.6±4.1 yrs. (1 to 14 yrs., median 6yrs.) and there were patients from all of the different wards of the hospital. Sixty-eigth patients came from the metropolitan area of Vitória and the other 32 from 17 other municipalities. The anti-Toxocara antibodies were investigated by ELISA-IgG using a secretory-excretory antigen obtained from second stage larvae. All sera were adsorbed with Ascaris suum antigen before the test. Thirty-nine sera (39%) were positive, predominantly from boys, but the gender difference was not statistically significant (boys:25/56 or 44.6%; girls:14/44 or 31.8%; p=0.311). The prevalence of positive sera was higher, but not statistically significant, in children from the urban periphery of metropolitan Vitória (formed by the cities of Vitória, Cariacica, Vila Velha, Serra and Viana) than in children from 17 other municipalities (44.1% and 28.1% respectively, p=0.190). Although the samples studied do not represent all children living in the State of Espírito Santo, since the Children's Hospital N.S. da Glória admits only patients from the state health system, it is probable that these results indicate a high frequency of Toxocara infection in children living in Espírito Santo. Further studies of population samples are necessary to ascertain the prevalence of Toxocara infection in our country.

Genetic variation between susceptible and non-susceptible snails to Schistosoma infection using random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis (RAPDs)

Susceptibility of snails to infection by certain trematodes and their suitability as hosts for continued development has been a bewildering problem in host-parasite relationships. The present work emphasizes our interest in snail genetics to determine what genes or gene products are specifically responsible for susceptibility of snails to infection. High molecular weight DNA was extracted from both susceptible and non-susceptible snails within the same species Biomphalaria tenagophila. RAPD was undertaken to distinguish between the two types of snails. Random primers (10 mers) were used to amplify the extracted DNA by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and silver staining. The results suggest that RAPD represents an efficient means of genome comparison, since many molecular markers were detected as genetic variations between susceptible and non-susceptible snails.

A Random Access Protocol incorporating Multi-Packet Reception, Retransmission Diversity and Successive Interference Cancellation

8th International Workshop on Multiple Access Communications (MACOM2015), Helsinki, Finland.

Allocation of Parallel Real-Time Tasks in Distributed Multi-core Architectures supported by an FTT-SE Network

Distributed real-time systems such as automotive applications are becoming larger and more complex, thus, requiring the use of more powerful hardware and software architectures. Furthermore, those distributed applications commonly have stringent real-time constraints. This implies that such applications would gain in flexibility if they were parallelized and distributed over the system. In this paper, we consider the problem of allocating fixed-priority fork-join Parallel/Distributed real-time tasks onto distributed multi-core nodes connected through a Flexible Time Triggered Switched Ethernet network. We analyze the system requirements and present a set of formulations based on a constraint programming approach. Constraint programming allows us to express the relations between variables in the form of constraints. Our approach is guaranteed to find a feasible solution, if one exists, in contrast to other approaches based on heuristics. Furthermore, approaches based on constraint programming have shown to obtain solutions for these type of formulations in reasonable time.

Strain differentiation of Trichophyton rubrum by random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD)

Trichophyton rubrum is an important cause of dermatomycoses. Molecular strain typing methods have recently been developed to address questions about epidemiology and source of relapse following treatment. This report describes the application of RAPD for molecular strain differentiation of this fungus utilizing the primers 1- (5'-d[GGTGCGGGAA]-3') and 6- (5'-d[CCCGTCAGCA]-3'). A total of five RAPD patterns were observed among 10 strains of T. rubrum, with each of the primers used. We conclude that RAPD analysis using primers 1 and 6 can be used in epidemiological studies.

Analysis of the genetic polymorphism of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis and Paracoccidioides cerebriformis "Moore" by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and 28S ribosomal DNA sequencing: Paracoccidioides cerebriformis revisited

Our purpose was to compare the genetic polymorphism of six samples of P. brasiliensis (113, 339, BAT, T1F1, T3B6, T5LN1), with four samples of P. cerebriformis (735, 741, 750, 361) from the Mycological Laboratory of the Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Analysis (RAPD). RAPD profiles clearly segregated P. brasiliensis and P. cerebriformis isolates. However, the variation on band patterns among P. cerebriformis isolates was high. Sequencing of the 28S rDNA gene showed nucleotide conservancy among P. cerebriformis isolates, providing basis for taxonomical grouping, and disclosing high divergence to P. brasiliensis supporting that they are in fact two distinct species. Moreover, DNA sequence suggests that P. cerebriformis belongs in fact to the Aspergillus genus.

Optimization of random amplified polymorphic DNA techniques for use in genetic studies of Cuban triatominae

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique is a simple and reliable method to detect DNA polymorphism. Several factors can affect the amplification profiles, thereby causing false bands and non-reproducibility of assay. In this study, we analyzed the effect of changing the concentration of primer, magnesium chloride, template DNA and Taq DNA polymerase with the objective of determining their optimum concentration for the standardization of RAPD technique for genetic studies of Cuban Triatominae. Reproducible amplification patterns were obtained using 5 pmoL of primer, 2.5 mM of MgCl2, 25 ng of template DNA and 2 U of Taq DNA polymerase in 25 µL of the reaction. A panel of five random primers was used to evaluate the genetic variability of T. flavida. Three of these (OPA-1, OPA-2 and OPA-4) generated reproducible and distinguishable fingerprinting patterns of Triatominae. Numerical analysis of 52 RAPD amplified bands generated for all five primers was carried out with unweighted pair group method analysis (UPGMA). Jaccard's Similarity Coefficient data were used to construct a dendrogram. Two groups could be distinguished by RAPD data and these groups coincided with geographic origin, i.e. the populations captured in areas from east and west of Guanahacabibes, Pinar del Río. T. flavida present low interpopulation variability that could result in greater susceptibility to pesticides in control programs. The RAPD protocol and the selected primers are useful for molecular characterization of Cuban Triatominae.

Energy-aware Task Allocation onto Unrelated Heterogeneous Multicore Platform for Mixed Criticality Systems

Presented at Work in Progress Session, IEEE Real-Time Systems Symposium (RTSS 2015). 1 to 4, Dec, 2015. San Antonio, U.S.A..

Cost allocation model for distribution networks considering high penetration of distributed energy resources

The high penetration of distributed energy resources (DER) in distribution networks and the competitive environment of electricity markets impose the use of new approaches in several domains. The network cost allocation, traditionally used in transmission networks, should be adapted and used in the distribution networks considering the specifications of the connected resources. The main goal is to develop a fairer methodology trying to distribute the distribution network use costs to all players which are using the network in each period. In this paper, a model considering different type of costs (fixed, losses, and congestion costs) is proposed comprising the use of a large set of DER, namely distributed generation (DG), demand response (DR) of direct load control type, energy storage systems (ESS), and electric vehicles with capability of discharging energy to the network, which is known as vehicle-to-grid (V2G). The proposed model includes three distinct phases of operation. The first phase of the model consists in an economic dispatch based on an AC optimal power flow (AC-OPF); in the second phase Kirschen's and Bialek's tracing algorithms are used and compared to evaluate the impact of each resource in the network. Finally, the MW-mile method is used in the third phase of the proposed model. A distribution network of 33 buses with large penetration of DER is used to illustrate the application of the proposed model.

A crop-land allocation model: A case study in La Rioja, Spain

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies.

Do hospitals react to random demand pressure by early discharges?

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Economics from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Parametric portfolio policies: An application for a global tactical asset allocation model

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Hospital costs and random demand

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Economics from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

A random access MAC protocol for MPR satellite networks

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores, pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Identification and differentiation of Candida species from pediatric patients by random amplified polymorphic DNA

Thirty-four Candida isolates were analyzed by random amplified polymorphic DNA using the primer OPG-10:24 Candida albicans; 4 Candida tropicalis; 2 Candida parapsilosis; 2 Candida dubliniensis; 1 Candida glabrata and 1 Candida krusei. The UPGMA-Pearson correlation coefficient was used to calculate the genetic distance between the different Candida groupings. Samples were classified as identical (correlation of 100%); highly related samples (90%); moderately related samples (80%) and unrelated samples (< 70%). The results showed that the RAPD proposed was capable of classifying the isolates coherently (such that same species were in the same dendrogram), except for two isolates of Candida parapsilosis and the positive control (Netherlands, 1973), probably because they are now recognized as three different species. Concerning the only fluconazole-resistant Candida tropicalis isolate with a genotype that was different to the others, the data were insufficient to affirm that the only difference was the sensitivity to fluconazole. We concluded that the Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA proposed might be used to confirm Candida species identified by microbiological methods.