A comparative study on the different staining methods and number of specimens for the detection of acid fast bacilli

The presence of acid fast bacilli in multiple specimens was investigated comparatively with Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) and fluorescence microscopy (FM) staining in order to determine sensitivity in detecting tuberculosis (TB). A total of 465 specimens obtained from 295 patients were analysed at Harran University Medical School Hospital between March 1998 and March 2000. The culture was employed as the reference method. Sixty-eight patients (23.1%) were diagnosed as having TB by culture. The ZN and FM staining sensitivities were 67.6% (46/68) and 85.2% (58/68) respectively. Two hundred and one patients (68.1%) submitted one specimen to the laboratory. TB positivity was detected in 42 (20.9%) of these patients by culture. The sensitivities of ZN and FM stains were found to be 61% and 83% in these patients. However, in 18 patients (6.1%) who submitted two specimens to the laboratory, the TB was positive in six of them (33.3%) and ZN and FM sensitivities were 66% and 83% respectively. When three specimens or more were collected from the patients (76 patients, 25.8%), TB positivity was determined in 20 of them (26.3%) and the sensitivities were 80% and 92% in the ZN- and FM-stained smears, respectively. Our data indicate that in the diagnosis of TB, FM has greater sensitivity than ZN. In particular, in the case of a single specimen, the diagnostic value of FM is quite significant. It is, therefore, possible to conclude that both ZN and FM staining can be used for the diagnosis of TB when there are more than two specimens. However, if only one or two specimens are available, FM staining is preferable.

Random mating with a finite number of matings.

Random mating is the null model central to population genetics. One assumption behind random mating is that individuals mate an infinite number of times. This is obviously unrealistic. Here we show that when each female mates a finite number of times, the effective size of the population is substantially decreased.

Anàlisi de l’adherència a les guies de pràctica clínica i de la qualitat dels documents assistencials a la Síndrome Coronària Aguda Sense Elevació del Segment ST a l’Hospital de Sant Pau.

El nivell d’acompliment de les recomanacions de les GPC de la ESC (European Society of Cardiology) per la SCASEST a l’Hospital de Sant Pau als mesos d’octubre a desembre del 2010 és subòptim, similar al d’altres centres americans i europeus, i roman invariable respecte les dades de 2006-2007. El servei de Cardiologia destaca en les recomanacions d’hàbits i control de factors de risc cardiovascular. Existeixen diferències poc rellevants entre els serveis de Cardiologia i Medicina Interna en les recomanacions farmacològiques. No s’ha objectivat una relació significativa entre la qualitat de la informació dels documents assistencials i l’adherència a les GPC.

Using the Number of Pores on Fingerprint Images to Detect Spoofing Attacks

Abstract-Due to the growing use of biometric technologies inour modern society, spoofing attacks are becoming a seriousconcern. Many solutions have been proposed to detect the use offake "fingerprints" on an acquisition device. In this paper, wepropose to take advantage of intrinsic features of friction ridgeskin: pores. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential ofusing pores to detect spoofing attacks.Results show that the use of pores is a promising approach. Fourmajor observations were made: First, results confirmed that thereproduction of pores on fake "fingerprints" is possible. Second,the distribution of the total number of pores between fake andgenuine fingerprints cannot be discriminated. Third, thedifference in pore quantities between a query image and areference image (genuine or fake) can be used as a discriminatingfactor in a linear discriminant analysis. In our sample, theobserved error rates were as follows: 45.5% of false positive (thefake passed the test) and 3.8% of false negative (a genuine printhas been rejected). Finally, the performance is improved byusing the difference of pore quantity obtained between adistorted query fingerprint and a non-distorted referencefingerprint. By using this approach, the error rates improved to21.2% of false acceptation rate and 8.3% of false rejection rate.

Seasonal analysis of the number of aeropiles in Anocentor nitens (Neumann, 1897) (Acari: Ixodidae) from the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Variation between aeropile numbers of the right and left peritrematic plate in male and female Anocentor nitens (Neumann, 1897) is reported from a site in Brazil. From January to December 1998, 146 males and 247 females of A. nitens were recovered from Equus caballus L. in Silva Jardim District, State of Rio de Janeiro. Asymmetry of numbers of aeropiles between right and left plates occurred in 83.6% of the males and 82.2% of the females. Differences in the number of aeropiles between the sexes were not significant. Quantitative variation of aeropiles was correlated to the period of recovery, with significant asymmetry detected in August-September and November-December, mainly in males. Results suggest an adaptation, especially in the male ticks, that expresses itself as greater variation in the number of aeropiles in some periods of the year.

Factores de rendimiento asociados a SPMD

Actualmente existen muchas aplicaciones paralelas/distribuidas en las cuales SPMD es el paradigma más usado. Obtener un buen rendimiento en una aplicación paralela de este tipo es uno de los principales desafíos dada la gran cantidad de aplicaciones existentes. Este objetivo no es fácil de resolver ya que existe una gran variedad de configuraciones de hardware, y también la naturaleza de los problemas pueden ser variados así como la forma de implementarlos. En consecuencia, si no se considera adecuadamente la combinación "software/hardware" pueden aparecer problemas inherentes a una aplicación iterativa sin una jerarquía de control definida de acuerdo a este paradigma. En SPMD todos los procesos ejecutan el mismo código pero computan una sección diferente de los datos de entrada. Una solución a un posible problema del rendimiento es proponer una estrategia de balance de carga para homogeneizar el cómputo entre los diferentes procesos. En este trabajo analizamos el benchmark CG con cargas heterogéneas con la finalidad de detectar los posibles problemas de rendimiento en una aplicación real. Un factor que determina el rendimiento en esta aplicación es la cantidad de elementos nonzero contenida en la sección de matriz asignada a cada proceso. Determinamos que es posible definir una estrategia de balance de carga que puede ser implementada de forma dinámica y demostramos experimentalmente que el rendimiento de la aplicación puede mejorarse de forma significativa con dicha estrategia.

Generador de gestores de contenido web en Java

Aquest projecte consisteix en el desenvolupament d'una aplicació web programada en Java, que permet crear diferents tipus de webs, donant l'opció de definir i administrar tant les estructures com els continguts dels apartats. Altres opcions que permet gestionar són els tipus d'usuaris que podran accedir i el disseny gràfic de cada web generada. S'aconsegueix així crear webs sense necessitat de programar. Mitjançant el desenvolupament del projecte es pretén aprendre i utilitzar el framewok anomenat Struts que ofereix una plataforma sobre la qual es desenvolupa l'aplicació permetent utilitzar una sèrie de llibreries ja programades i treballar utilitzant una metodologia o patró de disseny.

The average crossing number of equilateral random polygons.

In this paper, we study the average crossing number of equilateral random walks and polygons. We show that the mean average crossing number ACN of all equilateral random walks of length n is of the form . A similar result holds for equilateral random polygons. These results are confirmed by our numerical studies. Furthermore, our numerical studies indicate that when random polygons of length n are divided into individual knot types, the for each knot type can be described by a function of the form where a, b and c are constants depending on and n0 is the minimal number of segments required to form . The profiles diverge from each other, with more complex knots showing higher than less complex knots. Moreover, the profiles intersect with the ACN profile of all closed walks. These points of intersection define the equilibrium length of , i.e., the chain length at which a statistical ensemble of configurations with given knot type -upon cutting, equilibration and reclosure to a new knot type -does not show a tendency to increase or decrease . This concept of equilibrium length seems to be universal, and applies also to other length-dependent observables for random knots, such as the mean radius of gyration Rg.

Arquitectura tradicional en pedra seca : el patrimoni immoble de la comarca del Bages

Treball d'investigació centrat en el coneixement d'un patrimoni immoble de la comarca del Bages, sovint desconegut, però que entronca amb una tècnica ancestral coneguda popularment com a pedra seca. Aquest treball combina la recerca en fonts bibliogràfiques, documentals i de prospecció sobre el terreny amb la recerca del màxim de mostres representatives en pedra seca del Bages. A partir de l'anàlisi d'aquestes mostres arquitectòniques s'intenten establir les diferents tipologies i les seves característiques aprofundint en el seu estudi i coneixement.

Detecting the number of clusters of individuals using the software STRUCTURE: a simulation study.

The identification of genetically homogeneous groups of individuals is a long standing issue in population genetics. A recent Bayesian algorithm implemented in the software STRUCTURE allows the identification of such groups. However, the ability of this algorithm to detect the true number of clusters (K) in a sample of individuals when patterns of dispersal among populations are not homogeneous has not been tested. The goal of this study is to carry out such tests, using various dispersal scenarios from data generated with an individual-based model. We found that in most cases the estimated 'log probability of data' does not provide a correct estimation of the number of clusters, K. However, using an ad hoc statistic DeltaK based on the rate of change in the log probability of data between successive K values, we found that STRUCTURE accurately detects the uppermost hierarchical level of structure for the scenarios we tested. As might be expected, the results are sensitive to the type of genetic marker used (AFLP vs. microsatellite), the number of loci scored, the number of populations sampled, and the number of individuals typed in each sample.

A comprehensive characterization of genome-wide copy number aberrations in colorectal cancer reveals novel oncogenes and patterns of alterations.

To develop a comprehensive overview of copy number aberrations (CNAs) in stage-II/III colorectal cancer (CRC), we characterized 302 tumors from the PETACC-3 clinical trial. Microsatellite-stable (MSS) samples (n = 269) had 66 minimal common CNA regions, with frequent gains on 20 q (72.5%), 7 (41.8%), 8 q (33.1%) and 13 q (51.0%) and losses on 18 (58.6%), 4 q (26%) and 21 q (21.6%). MSS tumors have significantly more CNAs than microsatellite-instable (MSI) tumors: within the MSI tumors a novel deletion of the tumor suppressor WWOX at 16 q23.1 was identified (p<0.01). Focal aberrations identified by the GISTIC method confirmed amplifications of oncogenes including EGFR, ERBB2, CCND1, MET, and MYC, and deletions of tumor suppressors including TP53, APC, and SMAD4, and gene expression was highly concordant with copy number aberration for these genes. Novel amplicons included putative oncogenes such as WNK1 and HNF4A, which also showed high concordance between copy number and expression. Survival analysis associated a specific patient segment featured by chromosome 20 q gains to an improved overall survival, which might be due to higher expression of genes such as EEF1B2 and PTK6. The CNA clustering also grouped tumors characterized by a poor prognosis BRAF-mutant-like signature derived from mRNA data from this cohort. We further revealed non-random correlation between CNAs among unlinked loci, including positive correlation between 20 q gain and 8 q gain, and 20 q gain and chromosome 18 loss, consistent with co-selection of these CNAs. These results reinforce the non-random nature of somatic CNAs in stage-II/III CRC and highlight loci and genes that may play an important role in driving the development and outcome of this disease.

Médecine sociale en 2013 : quand la précarité précède la pauvreté [Social medicine : does it still make sense in 2013?]

Social medicine is a medicine that seeks to understand the impact of socio-economic conditions on human health and diseases in order to improve the health of a society and its individuals. In this field of medicine, determining the socio-economic status of individuals is generally not sufficient to explain and/or understand the underlying mechanisms leading to social inequalities in health. Other factors must be considered such as environmental, psychosocial, behavioral and biological factors that, together, can lead to more or less permanent damages to the health of the individuals in a society. In a time where considerable progresses have been made in the field of the biomedicine, does the practice of social medicine in a primary care setting still make sense? La médecine sociale est une médecine qui cherche à comprendre l'impact des conditions socio-économiques sur la santé humaine et les maladies, dans la perspective d'améliorer l'état de santé d'une société et de ses individus. Dans ce domaine, la détermination du statut socio-économique des individus ne suffit généralement pas à elle seule pour expliquer et comprendre les mécanismes qui sous-tendent les inégalités sociales de santé. D'autres facteurs doivent être pris en considération, tels que les facteurs environnementaux, psychosociaux, comportementaux et biologiques, facteurs qui peuvent conduire de manière synergique à des atteintes plus ou moins durables de l'état de santé des individus d'une société. A une époque où les connaissances, les compétences et les moyens à disposition en biomédecine ont fait des progrès considérables, la pratique de la médecine sociale en cabinet a-t-elle encore sa place en 2013?

Reducing the number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET)

Evidence Review 3 - Reducing the number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) Briefing 3 - Reducing the number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) This pair of documents, commissioned by Public Health England, and written by the UCL Institute of Health Equity, examine how to help young people into employment, education or training. They describe the relationship between being NEET and health; inequalities in prevalence of being NEET; and the scale of the problem. The papers show that being NEET, particularly for prolonged periods, is associated with negative effects on health and a range of other outcomes. Furthermore, the chances of becoming NEET are not equally or randomly distributed throughout society – those who are relatively disadvantaged, from poor backgrounds, or who have had negative experiences at school are more likely to spend some time being NEET. The papers also propose actions that can be taken at a local level in order to reduce the proportion of young people who are NEET. There is good evidence on what works in order to enable and support young people to enter employment, education and training. Taking action to reduce NEET levels is both possible and necessary – both to ensure young people have opportunities, and also as an important way to improve public health and reduce inequalities. The full evidence review and a shorter summary briefing are available to download above. This document is part of a series. An overview document which provides an introduction to this and other documents in the series, and links to the other topic areas, is available on the ‘Local Action on health inequalities’ project page. A video of Michael Marmot introducing the work is also available on our videos page.