Treatment of Atrophic Mandibular Fractures with the Pencilboneplate: Report of 2 Cases

The incidence of fractures of the atrophic edentulous mandible is still low, even with the increasing life expectancy. The reduced blood supply of the sclerotic bone, the diminished contact area between bone fragments and the patient’s systemic condition makes the treatment of those fractures a challenge for any professional. Treatment of atrophic mandibular fractures by means of miniplate osteosynthesis has not been the preferred method of fixa- tion by many authors. Yet, many surgeons have applied this type of fixation for the atrophied jaw sections. This paper reports 2 cases of fractured atrophic mandibles treated with the pencilboneplate, a monocortical 2.0 mm titanium, 8 or 10-hole hardware with reinforcement on its middle portion, highlighting important considerations of its use. The pencilboneplate appears to be a valuable option for the treatment of atrophic mandibular fractures, espe- cially by an intra-oral approach, and warrants further bio- mechanical and clinical studies.

Short-term low-intensity blood flow restricted interval training improves both aerobic fitness and muscle strength

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Lymphocyte transformation assay for C neoformans antigen is not reliable for detecting cellular impairment in patients with Neurocryptococcosis

Background: Cryptococcus neoformans causes meningitis and disseminated infection in healthy individuals, but more commonly in hosts with defective immune responses. Cell-mediated immunity is an important component of the immune response to a great variety of infections, including yeast infections. We aimed to evaluate a specific lymphocyte transformation assay to Cryptococcus neoformans in order to identify immunodeficiency associated to neurocryptococcosis (NCC) as primary cause of the mycosis. Methods: Healthy volunteers, poultry growers, and HIV-seronegative patients with neurocryptococcosis were tested for cellular immune response. Cryptococcal meningitis was diagnosed by India ink staining of cerebrospinal fluid and cryptococcal antigen test (Immunomycol-Inc, SP, Brazil). Isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stimulated with C. neoformans antigen, C. albicans antigen, and pokeweed mitogen. The amount of H-3-thymidine incorporated was assessed, and the results were expressed as stimulation index (SI) and log SI, sensitivity, specificity, and cut-off value (receiver operating characteristics curve). We applied unpaired Student t tests to compare data and considered significant differences for p<0.05. Results: The lymphotoxin alpha showed a low capacity with all the stimuli for classifying patients as responders and non-responders. Lymphotoxin alpha stimulated by heated-killed antigen from patients with neurocryptococcosis was not affected by TCD4+ cell count, and the intensity of response did not correlate with the clinical evolution of neurocryptococcosis. Conclusion: Response to lymphocyte transformation assay should be analyzed based on a normal range and using more than one stimulator. The use of a cut-off value to classify patients with neurocryptococcosis is inadequate. Statistical analysis should be based on the log transformation of SI. A more purified antigen for evaluating specific response to C. neoformans is needed.

SAG2A protein from Toxoplasma gondii interacts with both innate and adaptive immune compartments of infected hosts

Abstract Background Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular parasite that causes relevant clinical disease in humans and animals. Several studies have been performed in order to understand the interactions between proteins of the parasite and host cells. SAG2A is a 22 kDa protein that is mainly found in the surface of tachyzoites. In the present work, our aim was to correlate the predicted three-dimensional structure of this protein with the immune system of infected hosts. Methods To accomplish our goals, we performed in silico analysis of the amino acid sequence of SAG2A, correlating the predictions with in vitro stimulation of antigen presenting cells and serological assays. Results Structure modeling predicts that SAG2A protein possesses an unfolded C-terminal end, which varies its conformation within distinct strain types of T. gondii. This structure within the protein shelters a known B-cell immunodominant epitope, which presents low identity with its closest phyllogenetically related protein, an orthologue predicted in Neospora caninum. In agreement with the in silico observations, sera of known T. gondii infected mice and goats recognized recombinant SAG2A, whereas no serological cross-reactivity was observed with samples from N. caninum animals. Additionally, the C-terminal end of the protein was able to down-modulate pro-inflammatory responses of activated macrophages and dendritic cells. Conclusions Altogether, we demonstrate herein that recombinant SAG2A protein from T. gondii is immunologically relevant in the host-parasite interface and may be targeted in therapeutic and diagnostic procedures designed against the infection.

Predicting adverse events in children with fever and chemotherapy-induced neutropenia: the prospective multicenter SPOG 2003 FN study

PURPOSE To develop a score predicting the risk of adverse events (AEs) in pediatric patients with cancer who experience fever and neutropenia (FN) and to evaluate its performance. PATIENTS AND METHODS Pediatric patients with cancer presenting with FN induced by nonmyeloablative chemotherapy were observed in a prospective multicenter study. A score predicting the risk of future AEs (ie, serious medical complication, microbiologically defined infection, radiologically confirmed pneumonia) was developed from a multivariate mixed logistic regression model. Its cross-validated predictive performance was compared with that of published risk prediction rules. Results An AE was reported in 122 (29%) of 423 FN episodes. In 57 episodes (13%), the first AE was known only after reassessment after 8 to 24 hours of inpatient management. Predicting AE at reassessment was better than prediction at presentation with FN. A differential leukocyte count did not increase the predictive performance. The score predicting future AE in 358 episodes without known AE at reassessment used the following four variables: preceding chemotherapy more intensive than acute lymphoblastic leukemia maintenance (weight = 4), hemoglobin > or = 90 g/L (weight = 5), leukocyte count less than 0.3 G/L (weight = 3), and platelet count less than 50 G/L (weight = 3). A score (sum of weights) > or = 9 predicted future AEs. The cross-validated performance of this score exceeded the performance of published risk prediction rules. At an overall sensitivity of 92%, 35% of the episodes were classified as low risk, with a specificity of 45% and a negative predictive value of 93%. CONCLUSION This score, based on four routinely accessible characteristics, accurately identifies pediatric patients with cancer with FN at risk for AEs after reassessment.

Mortality and morbidity in the city of Bern, Switzerland, 1805-1815 with special emphasis on infant, child and maternal deaths

This article contributes to the research on demographics and public health of urban populations of preindustrial Europe. The key source is a burial register that contains information on the deceased, such as age and sex, residence and cause of death. This register is one of the earliest compilations of data sets of individuals with this high degree of completeness and consistency. Critical assessment of the register's origin, formation and upkeep promises high validity and reliability. Between 1805 and 1815, 4,390 deceased inhabitants were registered. Information concerning these individuals provides the basis for this study. Life tables of Bern's population were created using different models. The causes of death were classified and their frequency calculated. Furthermore, the susceptibility of age groups to certain causes of death was established. Special attention was given to causes of death and mortality of newborns, infants and birth-giving women. In comparison to other cities and regions in Central Europe, Bern's mortality structure shows low rates for infants (q0=0.144) and children (q1-4=0.068). This could have simply indicated better living conditions. Life expectancy at birth was 43 years. Mortality was high in winter and spring, and decreased in summer to a low level with a short rise in August. The study of the causes of death was inhibited by difficulties in translating early 19th century nomenclature into the modern medical system. Nonetheless, death from metabolic disorders, illnesses of the respiratory system, and debilitation were the most prominent causes in Bern. Apparently, the worst killer of infants up to 12 months was the "gichteren", an obsolete German term for lethal spasmodic convulsions. The exact modern identification of this disease remains unclear. Possibilities such as infant tetanus or infant epilepsy are discussed. The maternal death rate of 0.72% is comparable with values calculated from contemporaneous sources. Relevance of childbed fever in the early 1800s was low. Bern's data indicate that the extent of deaths related to childbirth in this period is overrated. This research has an explicit interdisciplinary value for various fields including both the humanities and natural sciences, since information reported here represents the complete age and sex structure of a deceased population. Physical anthropologists can use these data as a true reference group for their palaeodemographic studies of preindustrial Central Europe of the late 18th and early 19th century. It is a call to both historians and anthropologists to use our resources to a better effect through combination of methods and exchange of knowledge.

Relationships Past and Present: Examining the Impact of One's Relationship with His/her Opposite-sex Parent on His/her Attitudes Toward and Engagement in Hookup Culture

Hooking up has become a common and public practice on university campuses across the country. While much research has determined who is doing it, with whom they are doing it, and what they are hoping to get out of it, little work has been done to determine what personal factors motivate students to participate in the culture. A total of 407 current students were surveyed to assess the impact of one’s relationship with his/her opposite-sex parent on his/her attitudestoward and engagement in hookup culture on campus. Scores were assigned to the participants to divide them into categories of high and low attachment with their parent. It was hypothesizedthat heterosexual students who do not perceive themselves as having a strong, close, positive relationship with their opposite-sex parent would be more likely to engage in or attempt to engage in casual sexual behavior. This pattern was expected to be strongest for women on campus. Men and women differed in their reasons for hooking up, with whom they hook up, to what they attribute the behaviors of their peers, and what they hope to gain from their sexual interactions. Effects of parent-child relationships were significant only for women who reported hooking up because “others are doing it,” men’s agreement with the behavior of their peers, and women’s overall satisfaction with their hookups. Developmental, social, and evolutionary perspectives are employed to explain the results. University status was determined to be most telling of the extent to which a student is engaged in hookup culture.

Mortality of HIV-1-infected patients in the first year of antiretroviral therapy: comparison between low-income and high-income countries

BACKGROUND: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is being scaled up in developing countries. We compared baseline characteristics and outcomes during the first year of HAART between HIV-1-infected patients in low-income and high-income settings. METHODS: 18 HAART programmes in Africa, Asia, and South America (low-income settings) and 12 HIV cohort studies from Europe and North America (high-income settings) provided data for 4810 and 22,217, respectively, treatment-naive adult patients starting HAART. All patients from high-income settings and 2725 (57%) patients from low-income settings were actively followed-up and included in survival analyses. FINDINGS: Compared with high-income countries, patients starting HAART in low-income settings had lower CD4 cell counts (median 108 cells per muL vs 234 cells per muL), were more likely to be female (51%vs 25%), and more likely to start treatment with a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) (70%vs 23%). At 6 months, the median number of CD4 cells gained (106 cells per muL vs 103 cells per muL) and the percentage of patients reaching HIV-1 RNA levels lower than 500 copies/mL (76%vs 77%) were similar. Mortality was higher in low-income settings (124 deaths during 2236 person-years of follow-up) than in high-income settings (414 deaths during 20,532 person-years). The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of mortality comparing low-income with high-income settings fell from 4.3 (95% CI 1.6-11.8) during the first month to 1.5 (0.7-3.0) during months 7-12. The provision of treatment free of charge in low-income settings was associated with lower mortality (adjusted HR 0.23; 95% CI 0.08-0.61). INTERPRETATION: Patients starting HAART in resource-poor settings have increased mortality rates in the first months on therapy, compared with those in developed countries. Timely diagnosis and assessment of treatment eligibility, coupled with free provision of HAART, might reduce this excess mortality.

An α-Tubulin Mutant Destabilizes the Heterodimer: Phenotypic Consequences and Interactions with Tubulin-binding Proteins

Many effectors of microtubule assembly in vitro enhance the polymerization of subunits. However, several Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes that affect cellular microtubule-dependent processes appear to act at other steps in assembly and to affect polymerization only indirectly. Here we use a mutant α-tubulin to probe cellular regulation of microtubule assembly. tub1-724 mutant cells arrest at low temperature with no assembled microtubules. The results of several assays reported here demonstrate that the heterodimer formed between Tub1-724p and β-tubulin is less stable than wild-type heterodimer. The unstable heterodimer explains several conditional phenotypes conferred by the mutation. These include the lethality of tub1-724 haploid cells when the β-tubulin–binding protein Rbl2p is either overexpressed or absent. It also explains why the TUB1/tub1-724 heterozygotes are cold sensitive for growth and why overexpression of Rbl2p rescues that conditional lethality. Both haploid and heterozygous tub1-724 cells are inviable when another microtubule effector, PAC2, is overexpressed. These effects are explained by the ability of Pac2p to bind α-tubulin, a complex we demonstrate directly. The results suggest that tubulin-binding proteins can participate in equilibria between the heterodimer and its components.

The role of voice input for human-machine communication.

Optimism is growing that the near future will witness rapid growth in human-computer interaction using voice. System prototypes have recently been built that demonstrate speaker-independent real-time speech recognition, and understanding of naturally spoken utterances with vocabularies of 1000 to 2000 words, and larger. Already, computer manufacturers are building speech recognition subsystems into their new product lines. However, before this technology can be broadly useful, a substantial knowledge base is needed about human spoken language and performance during computer-based spoken interaction. This paper reviews application areas in which spoken interaction can play a significant role, assesses potential benefits of spoken interaction with machines, and compares voice with other modalities of human-computer interaction. It also discusses information that will be needed to build a firm empirical foundation for the design of future spoken and multimodal interfaces. Finally, it argues for a more systematic and scientific approach to investigating spoken input and performance with future language technology.

The World's best music /

Bibliography: v.10, p. 495-496.

Six duos pour voix égales pouvant être chantés en chœur avec accompagnement de piano.

Cover title.

The brook /

For voice and piano.

La sincère : ballade /

For voice and piano.

Elegiac variations. [music] : op. 25, for violoncello and piano.

Cover title.