A comparison of initial antiretroviral therapy in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study and the recommendations of the International AIDS Society-USA.

BACKGROUND: In order to facilitate and improve the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART), international recommendations are released and updated regularly. We aimed to study if adherence to the recommendations is associated with better treatment outcomes in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS). METHODS: Initial ART regimens prescribed to participants between 1998 and 2007 were classified according to IAS-USA recommendations. Baseline characteristics of patients who received regimens in violation with these recommendations (violation ART) were compared to other patients. Multivariable logistic and linear regression analyses were performed to identify associations between violation ART and (i) virological suppression and (ii) CD4 cell count increase, after one year. RESULTS: Between 1998 and 2007, 4189 SHCS participants started 241 different ART regimens. A violation ART was started in 5% of patients. Female patients (adjusted odds ratio aOR 1.83, 95%CI 1.28-2.62), those with a high education level (aOR 1.49, 95%CI 1.07-2.06) or a high CD4 count (aOR 1.53, 95%CI 1.02-2.30) were more likely to receive violation ART. The proportion of patients with an undetectable viral load (<400 copies/mL) after one year was significantly lower with violation ART than with recommended regimens (aOR 0.54, 95% CI 0.37-0.80) whereas CD4 count increase after one year of treatment was similar in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Although more than 240 different initial regimens were prescribed, violations of the IAS-USA recommendations were uncommon. Patients receiving these regimens were less likely to have an undetectable viral load after one year, which strengthens the validity of these recommendations.

Comparative study and identification of potent eukaryotic transcriptional repressors in gene switch systems.

In mammalian cells, proper gene regulation is achieved by the complex interplay of transcription factors that activate or repress gene expression by binding to the regulatory regions of target promoters. While transcriptional activators have been extensively characterised and classified into functional groups, relatively little is known about the comparative strength and cell type-specificity of transcriptional repressors. Here, we have compared the ability of a series of eukaryotic repression domains to silence basal and activated transcription. A series of the most potent repression domains was further tested in the context of a gene therapy gene-switch system in various cell types. The results indicate that the analysed repression domains exert varying silencing activities in different promoter contexts. Furthermore, their potential for gene silencing varies also depending on the cellular context. When multimerised within one chimeric repressor protein, particular combinations of repressor domains were found to display synergistic repressing effects and efficient repression in a panel of cell lines. This approach thus allowed the identification of transcriptional repressors that are both potent and versatile in terms of cellular specificity as a basis for gene switch systems.

Intérêt des faibles doses de rt-PA dans les syndromes inflammatoires et hémorragiques du segment antérieur: étude clinique et revue de la littérature [Treatment of anterior segment fibrinous reactions and hemorrhage with intracameral low dose rt-PA: clinical study and review of the literature].

PURPOSE: to evaluate the efficacy and the safety of low dose intraocular tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) in the treatment of traumatic hyphema and postoperative fibrinous membrane. METHODS: Six microg to 10 microg of rt-PA was injected into the anterior chamber to treat severe fibrinous postoperative membranes and total traumatic hyphemae. RESULTS: Thirteen eyes of 13 patients were treated. Four cases of traumatic hyphema and 9 cases of fibrinous membranes were included. Complete fibrinolysis within 24 hours was observed in 4 cases (30.8%). A partial success was noted in 7 eyes (53.8%). No beneficial effect was observed in two cases of traumatic hyphema associated with intravitreal hemorrhage after penetrating trauma. No side effect attributable to rt-PA occurred. CONCLUSION: Low dose intraocular rt-PA appears to be safe and effective in the treatment of postoperative fibrinous membrane and endocular hemorrhage limited to the anterior chamber.

La visite médicale en pratique hospitalière: entre soins et apprentissage [Conducting ward rounds: a balance between care and teaching].

Every day, hospital doctors spend time at conducting ward rounds. Rounds are a core clinical activity during which doctors interact with patients, synthetise a whole set of informations and make many decisions. In addition, rounds can become a crucial teaching moment, when a trainee gets supervised by an attending physician. However, litterature on the topic of rounds is scarce. This paper summarizes the results of the few key studies focusing on ward rounds. The results are presented in four sections, each one being dedicated to one of the round stakeholders: the trainee or resident, the trainer, the patient and the nurse. An emphasis is put on ward rounds involving both a trainee and a trainer, since such rounds always mean striking a balance between care and teaching.

Schooling in the Network Society : Internet in Primary and Secondary Education. Research report (synthesis document)

Aquest projecte té la intenció d'identificar i analitzar els efectes de la introducció d'Internet a les escoles catalanes (educació primària i secundària). L'objectiu és posar de manifest la manera com s'utilitza la xarxa en aquest àmbit i en quina mesura contribueix a l'aparició, en els centres educatius, d'una nova cultura adaptada a les necessitats de la societat xarxa. Amb aquest propòsit, aquest projecte desplega les seves línies d'anàlisi per a fer atenció al procés d'incorporació d'Internet, principalment, en tres direccions: la pràctica pedagògica, les formes d'organització i gestió dels centres educatius i la seva vinculació amb la comunitat i el territori. Aquesta investigació ha estat desenvolupada pel grup de recerca ENS (Education and Network Society). Amb una perspectiva comparativa, el treball d'aquest grup vol contribuir, sobre la base de dades empíriques, a interpretar la transformació de l'àmbit educatiu no universitari en els paràmetres que estableix, avui dia, la nostra societat.

History of domestication and spread of Aedes aegypti - A Review

The adaptation of insect vectors of human diseases to breed in human habitats (domestication) is one of the most important phenomena in medical entomology. Considerable data are available on the vector mosquito Aedes aegypti in this regard and here we integrate the available information including genetics, behaviour, morphology, ecology and biogeography of the mosquito, with human history. We emphasise the tremendous amount of variation possessed by Ae. aegypti for virtually all traits considered. Typological thinking needs to be abandoned to reach a realistic and comprehensive understanding of this important vector of yellow fever, dengue and Chikungunya.

Study and implementation of some quantitative trading models

Quantitative or algorithmic trading is the automatization of investments decisions obeying a fixed or dynamic sets of rules to determine trading orders. It has increasingly made its way up to 70% of the trading volume of one of the biggest financial markets such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). However, there is not a signi cant amount of academic literature devoted to it due to the private nature of investment banks and hedge funds. This projects aims to review the literature and discuss the models available in a subject that publications are scarce and infrequently. We review the basic and fundamental mathematical concepts needed for modeling financial markets such as: stochastic processes, stochastic integration and basic models for prices and spreads dynamics necessary for building quantitative strategies. We also contrast these models with real market data with minutely sampling frequency from the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). Quantitative strategies try to exploit two types of behavior: trend following or mean reversion. The former is grouped in the so-called technical models and the later in the so-called pairs trading. Technical models have been discarded by financial theoreticians but we show that they can be properly cast into a well defined scientific predictor if the signal generated by them pass the test of being a Markov time. That is, we can tell if the signal has occurred or not by examining the information up to the current time; or more technically, if the event is F_t-measurable. On the other hand the concept of pairs trading or market neutral strategy is fairly simple. However it can be cast in a variety of mathematical models ranging from a method based on a simple euclidean distance, in a co-integration framework or involving stochastic differential equations such as the well-known Ornstein-Uhlenbeck mean reversal ODE and its variations. A model for forecasting any economic or financial magnitude could be properly defined with scientific rigor but it could also lack of any economical value and be considered useless from a practical point of view. This is why this project could not be complete without a backtesting of the mentioned strategies. Conducting a useful and realistic backtesting is by no means a trivial exercise since the \laws" that govern financial markets are constantly evolving in time. This is the reason because we make emphasis in the calibration process of the strategies' parameters to adapt the given market conditions. We find out that the parameters from technical models are more volatile than their counterpart form market neutral strategies and calibration must be done in a high-frequency sampling manner to constantly track the currently market situation. As a whole, the goal of this project is to provide an overview of a quantitative approach to investment reviewing basic strategies and illustrating them by means of a back-testing with real financial market data. The sources of the data used in this project are Bloomberg for intraday time series and Yahoo! for daily prices. All numeric computations and graphics used and shown in this project were implemented in MATLAB^R scratch from scratch as a part of this thesis. No other mathematical or statistical software was used.

Essays on the history of brazilian dipterology: III. Three remarkable notices from the 18th century, mainly related to myiasis-producing flies (Cochliomyia and Dermatobia)

This paper registers reports about dipterans made by three Portuguese who lived in Brazil during the 18th century. Luiz Gomes Ferreira, in his book "Erário mineral" ["Mineral revenue"], wrote curious passages related with myiasis-causing flies of the genus Cochliomyia. José Rodrigues de Mello registered, in Latin verses, the folklore for curing myiases caused by Cochliomyia hominivorax in cattle. Luiz dos Santos Vilhena, in the last of his twenty letters dealing with several aspects of life in Brazil, made reference to horseflies, human bot flies and mosquitos.