Predictive Capability of HPV and Pap Tests in Screening for Cervical Cancer over a Three-Year Follow-up

Purpose To compare the predictive capability of HPV and Pap smear tests for screening pre-cancerous lesions of the cervix over a three-year follow-up, in a population of users of the Brazilian National Health System (SUS). Methods This is a retrospective cohort study of 2,032 women with satisfactory results for Pap smear and HPV tests using second-generation hybrid capture,made in a previous study. We followed them for 36 months with data obtained from medical records, the Cervix Cancer Information System (SISCOLO), and the Mortality Information System (SIM). The outcome was a histological diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or more advanced lesions (CIN2ş). We constructed progression curves of the baseline test results for the period, using the Kaplan-Meier method, and estimated sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, and positive and negative likelihood ratios for each test. Results A total of 1,440 women had at least one test during follow-up. Progression curves of the baseline test results indicated differences in capability to detect CIN2ş (p < 0.001) with significantly greater capability when both tests were abnormal, followed by only a positive HPV test. The HPV test was more sensitive than the Pap smear (88.7% and 73.6%, respectively; p < 0.05) and had a better negative likelihood ratio (0.13 and 0.30, respectively). Specificity and positive likelihood ratio of the tests were similar. Conclusions These findings corroborate the importance of HPV test as a primary cervical cancer screening.

Comparison of two commercial kits and two extraction methods for fecal glucocorticoid analysis in ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) submitted to ACTH challenge

The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) is included in list of wild felid species protected by CITES and is part of conservation strategies that necessarily involve the use of assisted reproduction techniques, which requires practical and minimally invasive techniques of high reproducibility that permit the study of animal reproductive physiology. The objective of this study was to compare and validate two commercial assays: ImmuChem Double Antibody Corticosterone 125I RIA from ICN Biomedicals, Costa Mesa, CA, USA; and Coat-a-Count Cortisol 125I RIA from DPC, Los Angeles, CA, USA, for assessment of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites in ocelots submitted to ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) challenge. Fecal samples were collected from five ocelots kept at the Brazilian Center of Neotropical Felines, Associação Mata Ciliar, São Paulo, Brazil, and one of the animals was chosen as a negative control. The experiment was conducted over a period of 9 days. On day 0, a total dose of 100 IU ACTH was administered intramuscularly. Immediately after collection the samples were stored at 20C in labeled plastic bags. The hormone metabolites were subsequently extracted and assayed using the two commercial kits. Previously it was performed a trial with the DPC kit to check the best extraction method for hormones metabolites. Data were analyzed with the SAS program for Windows V8 and reported as means ± SEM. The Schwarzenberger extraction method was slightly better when compared with the Wasser extraction method (103,334.56 ± 19,010.37ng/g of wet feces and 59,223.61 ± 12,725.36ng/g of wet feces respectively; P=0,0657). The ICN kit detected an increase in glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations in a more reliable manner. Metabolite concentrations (ng/g wet feces) on day 0 and day 1 were 66,956.28 ± 36,786.93 and 92,991.19 ± 28,555.63 for the DPC kit, and 205,483.32 ± 83,811.32 and 814,578.75 ± 292,150.47 for the ICN kit, respectively. The limit of detection for the ICN kit was 7.7 ng/mL for 100% B/Bo (25ng/mL for 88%B/Bo) and for the DPC kit it was 0.2ug/dL for 90.95% B/Bo (1ug/dL for 81.27% B/Bo). In conclusion it was confirmed that the Schwarzenberger extraction method and the ICN kit are superior for extracting and measuring fecal glucocorticoid metabolites in ocelot fecal samples.

Rapid and sensitive detection of Bordetella bronchiseptica by loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)

Bordetella bronchiseptica causes acute and chronic respiratory infections in diverse animal species and occasionally in humans. In this study, we described the establishment of a simple, sensitive and cost-efficient loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for the detection of B. bronchiseptica. A set of primers towards a 235 bp region within the flagellum gene of B. bronchiseptica was designed with online software.. The specificity of the LAMP assay was examined by using 6 porcine pathogens and 100 nasal swabs collected from healthy pigs and suspect infected pigs. The results indicated that positive reactions were confirmed for all B. bronchiseptica and no cross-reactivity was observed from other non-B. bronchiseptica. In sensitivity evaluations, the technique successfully detected a serial dilutions of extracted B. bronchiseptica DNA with a detection limit of 9 copies, which was 10 times more sensitive than that of PCR. Compared with conventional PCR, the higher sensitivity of LAMP method and no need for the complex instrumentation make this LAMP assay a promising alternative for the diagnosis of B. bronchiseptica in rural areas and developing countries where there lacks of complex laboratory services.

Improving customer service by identifying critical success factors and utilizing business process outsourcing

Consumers increasingly demand convenience when dealing with companies and therefore it is important to provide professional, diverse and speedy service via customer’s preferred communication channel. These interactions between the customer service and customer have a critical role in customer’s future purchasing decisions. Those customers who don't receive satisfactory customer service are willing to do business with another company that charges more but offers better customer service. This study identifies the critical success factors for the customer service in order to improve the customer service according to the company’s mission and meet customer expectations. Case study is used as a research method and data is collected via observation, archival records and interviews during a time span of fourteen months. The analysis suggests three critical success factors: voice support, scalable and flexible customer service and customer service champions. The study further analyzes the improvement measures according to the critical success factors concluding the Business Process Outsourcing to be the most proper to proceed with. As a conclusion of the study, critical success factors enable achieving the goals of the customer service and align operations according to the company’s mission. Business Process Outsourcing plays important role in improving the customer service by allowing fast expansion of new service offering and obtaining specialized workforce.

Substitution-Newton-Raphson method applied to the modeling of a vapour compression refrigeration system using different representations of the thermodynamic properties of R-134a

This paper gives a detailed presentation of the Substitution-Newton-Raphson method, suitable for large sparse non-linear systems. It combines the Successive Substitution method and the Newton-Raphson method in such way as to take the best advantages of both, keeping the convergence features of the Newton-Raphson with the low requirements of memory and time of the Successive Substitution schemes. The large system is solved employing few effective variables, using the greatest possible part of the model equations in substitution fashion to fix the remaining variables, but maintaining the convergence characteristics of the Newton-Raphson. The methodology is exemplified through a simple algebraic system, and applied to a simple thermodynamic, mechanical and heat transfer modeling of a single-stage vapor compression refrigeration system. Three distinct approaches for reproducing the thermodynamic properties of the refrigerant R-134a are compared: the linear interpolation from tabulated data, the use of polynomial fitted curves and the use of functions derived from the Helmholtz free energy.

Diffusion Tensor Imaging as a Diagnostic and Research Tool: A Study on Preterm Infants

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is an advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique. DTI is based on free thermal motion (diffusion) of water molecules. The properties of diffusion can be represented using parameters such as fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity, which are calculated from DTI data. These parameters can be used to study the microstructure in fibrous structure such as brain white matter. The aim of this study was to investigate the reproducibility of region-of-interest (ROI) analysis and determine associations between white matter integrity and antenatal and early postnatal growth at term age using DTI. Antenatal growth was studied using both the ROI and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) method and postnatal growth using only the TBSS method. The infants included to this study were born below 32 gestational weeks or birth weight less than 1,501 g and imaged with a 1.5 T MRI system at term age. Total number of 132 infants met the inclusion criteria between June 2004 and December 2006. Due to exclusion criteria, a total of 76 preterm infants (ROI) and 36 preterm infants (TBSS) were accepted to this study. The ROI analysis was quite reproducible at term age. Reproducibility varied between white matter structures and diffusion parameters. Normal antenatal growth was positively associated with white matter maturation at term age. The ROI analysis showed associations only in the corpus callosum. Whereas, TBSS revealed associations in several brain white matter areas. Infants with normal antenatal growth showed more mature white matter compared to small for gestational age infants. The gestational age at birth had no significant association with white matter maturation at term age. It was observed that good early postnatal growth associated negatively with white matter maturation at term age. Growth-restricted infants seemed to have delayed brain maturation that was not fully compensated at term, despite catchup growth.

Effects of obtained benefits on willingness to pay and word-of-mouth behavior in newspaper industry

The purpose of this master’s thesis was to investigate the effects which benefits obtained from reading a newspaper and using its website have on behavioral outcomes such as word-of-mouth behavior and willingness to pay. Several other antecedents of willingness to pay have been used as the control variables. However, their interrelations haven’t been hypothesized. The empirical part focused on a case company – Finnish regional newspaper. Empirical research has been conducted using a quantitative method and data was collected via online survey placed on newspaper’s website during 2010. 1001 responses have been collected. The results showed that benefits obtained both from traditional printed newspaper and from online one have positive effects on the word-of-mouth about this newspaper and its website. However, it has been revealed that benefits obtained from reading the newspaper don’t have effect on the willingness to pay for this newspaper. Additionally, only interpersonal and convenience benefits obtained from using the newspaper’s website influence on the willingness to pay for it. Finally, willingness to pay for the bundle of printed newspaper and its website access is affected positively only by the information/learning benefits obtained from reading the newspaper and by the interpersonal benefits obtained from using the newspaper’s website.

Effects of weed control through cowpea intercropping on mayze morphology and yield

Intercropping combined with competitive maize cultivars can reduce the use of herbicides to control weeds. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of intercropping cowpea and maize, as well as hand-weeding on maize morphology and yield. The experimental design was in randomized complete blocks, with treatments arranged in split-plots and five replications. The plots consisted of four maize cultivars (BA 8512, BA 9012, EX 4001, EX 6004) and the split-plots consisted of the following treatments: no-weeding; twice hand-weeding (20 and 40 days after sowing); and intercropping with cowpea ('Sempre Verde' cultivar), both maize and cowpea sown at the same time. The variables evaluated were: maize fresh green ears and grain yield; characteristics of internodes, leaves, tassels, ears, grains; plant height and ear insertion height; number of weed plants and species; fresh and dry biomass of weed species and cowpea. Ten weed species were outstanding during the experiment, many of them from the Poaceae family. No interactions were found between weed control method and maize cultivars for most variables evaluated; and plants from hand-weeded split-plots showed superior mean values compared to plants from non-weeded and intercropped split-plots, both not differing from each other. The cowpea was inefficient in controlling weed, reducing the maize yields and not producing any grain. The maize cultivars 'BA 8512' and 'BA 9012 showed the highest mean green ear yield, and the highest grain yield in hand-weeded, no-weeded and intercropped split-plots. On the other hand, the maize cultivar 'EX 6004' showed such high means only in no-weeded and intercropped split-plots. 'EX 4001 presented the worst means in these variables for hand-weeded, no-weeded ant intercropped split-plots.

Quality, Productivity and Economy in Welding Manufacturing - Case Study: West Africa

This thesis studies quality, productivity and economy in welding manufacturing in West African states such as Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon. The study consists of two parts: the first part, which forms the theoretical background, reviews relevant literature concerning the metal and welding industries, and measurement of welding quality, productivity and economy. The second part, which is the empirical part, aims to identify activities in the metal manufacturing industries where welding is extensively used and to determine the extent of welding quality, productivity and economy measurements in companies operating in the metal manufacturing industries. Additionally, the thesis aims to identify challenges that companies face and to assess the feasibility of creating a network to address these issues. The research methods used in the empirical part are the case study (qualitative) method and the survey (quantitative) method. However, the case study method was used to elicit information from companies in Ghana, while the survey method was used to elicit information from companies in Nigeria and Cameroon. The study considers important areas that contribute to creating awareness and understanding of the current situation of the welding industry in West Africa. These areas include the metal manufacturing industrial sector, metal products manufactured, metal production and manufacturing systems deployed, welding quality, productivity and economy measurement systems utilized, equipment and materials on the markets, general challenges facing companies in welding operations, welding technology programs and research in local universities, and SWOT analysis of the various West African states. The notable findings indicate that majority of the companies operate in the constructionindustrial sector. Also, majority of the companies are project manufacturing oriented, thus provide services to customers operating in the growing industries such as the oil and gas, mining, food and the energy industry. In addition, only few companies are certified under standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 3834, and OHSAS 18001. More so, majority of the companies employ manual welding technique, and shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) as the commonly used welding process. Finally, welder salary is about € 300 / month as of June 2013 and the average operations turnover of medium to large companies is about € 5 million / year as at 2012. Based on analysis of the results of the study, it is noted that while welding activities are growing, the availability of cheap labor, the need for company and welder qualification and certification, and the need to manufacture innovative products through developmental projects (transfer of welding expertise and technology) remain as untapped opportunities in the welding industry in the West African states. The study serves as a solid platform for further research and concludes with several recommendations for development of the West African welding industry.

Process modeling method for electric accessories manufacturing enterprise

The theoretical research of the study focused to business process management and business process modeling, the goal was to found a new business process modeling method for electrical accessories manufacturing enterprise. The focus was to find few options for business process modeling methods where company could have chosen the best one for its needs The study was carried out as a qualitative research with an action study and a case study as the most important ways collect data. In the empirical part of the study examples of company’s processes modeled with the new modeling method and process modeling process are presented. The new way of modeling processes improves especially visual presentation of the processes and improves the understanding how employees should work in the organizational interfaces of the process and in the interfaces between different processes. The results of the study is a new unified way to model company’s processes, which makes it easier to understand and create the process models. This improved readability makes it possible to reduce the costs that were created from the unclear old process models.

PDM system functions and utilizations analysis to improve efficiency of sheet metal product design and manufacturing

This study will concentrate on Product Data Management (PDM) systems, and sheet metal design features and classification. In this thesis, PDM is seen as an individual system which handles all product-related data and information. The meaning of relevant data is to take the manufacturing process further with fewer errors. The features of sheet metals are giving more information and value to the designed models. The possibility of implementing PDM and sheet metal features recognition are the core of this study. Their integration should make the design process faster and manufacturing-friendly products easier to design. The triangulation method is the basis for this research. The sections of this triangle are: scientific literature review, interview using the Delphi method and the author’s experience and observations. The main key findings of this study are: (1) the area of focus in triangle (the triangle of three different point of views: business, information exchange and technical) depends on the person’s background and their role in the company, (2) the classification in the PDM system (and also in the CAD system) should be done using the materials, tools and machines that are in use in the company and (3) the design process has to be more effective because of the increase of industrial production, sheet metal blank production and the designer’s time spent on actual design and (4) because Design For Manufacture (DFM) integration can be done with CAD-programs, DFM integration with the PDM system should also be possible.

How and why to measure the germination process?

In the last two centuries, papers have been published including measurements of the germination process. High diversity of mathematical expressions has made comparisons between papers and some times the interpretation of results difficult. Thus, in this paper is included a review about measurements of the germination process, with an analysis of the several mathematical expressions included in the specific literature, recovering the history, sense, and limitations of some germination measurements. Among the measurements included in this paper are the germinability, germination time, coefficient of uniformity of germination (CUG), coefficient of variation of the germination time (CVt), germination rate (mean rate, weighted mean rate, coefficient of velocity, germination rate of George, Timson’s index, GV or Czabator’s index; Throneberry and Smith’s method and its adaptations, including Maguire’s rate; ERI or emergence rate index, germination index, and its modifications), uncertainty associated to the distribution of the relative frequency of germination (U), and synchronization index (Z). The limits of the germination measurements were included to make the interpretation and decisions during comparisons easier. Time, rate, homogeneity, and synchrony are aspects that can be measured, informing the dynamics of the germination process. These characteristics are important not only for physiologists and seed technologists, but also for ecologists because it is possible to predict the degree of successful of a species based on the capacity of their harvest seed to spread the germination through time, permitting the recruitment in the environment of some part of the seedlings formed.

Benefits of sales force automation to salespeople and to their customers in business-to-business markets

This study applied qualitative case study method for solving what kind of benefits salespeople and their customers perceived to gain when sales reps used a specific sales force automation tool, that defined the values and identified segment that best fit to each customer. The data consisting of four interviews was collected using semi-structured individual method and analyzed with thematic analysis technique. The analysis revealed five salespeople perceived benefits and four customer perceived benefits. Salespeople perceived benefits were improvements in customer knowledge, guidance of sales operations, salesperson-customer relationship building, time management and growing performance. Customer perceived benefits were information transmission, improved customer service, customer-salesperson relationship building and development of operations, which of the last was found as a new previously unrecognized customer benefit.

Anatomical analysis of peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) leaves cultivated in vitro, ex vitro and in vivo

The present work characterized and compared the anatomical structures of the leaves of Bactris gasipaes (Arecaceae) plants grown under different cultivation conditions (in vitro, ex vitro and in vivo) with the goal of identifying the origins of the difficulties encountered in acclimatizing micro-plants. The Quant program was used to determine leaf tissue thicknesses and areas, and histochemical tests were performed on leaf sections and analyzed using light microscopy. Stomatal and trichome densities were determined using the epidermal impression method and by scanning electronic microscopy. Our results indicated that there were no discernible alterations of the anatomical characteristics of the leaves of micro-plants cultivated under differing conditions and that the thickening of the mesophyll and the vascular fibers indicated adaptive responses to ex vitro conditions. As such, the observed difficulties in acclimatizing peach palm micro-plants to ex vitro conditions cannot be attributed to plant anatomical characteristics acquired during in vitro cultivation.

Genotoxic activity of the insecticide Nuvacron (Monocrotophos) detected by the micronucleus test in bone marrow erythrocytes of mice and in CHO cells

The organophosphorus insecticide Nuvacron (Monocrotophos) is a very toxic agent widely utilized in Brazilian agriculture. To evaluate the clastogenic potential of this insecticide, in vivo and in vitro micronucleus (MN) assay experiments were carried out on Swiss mice and on Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, respectively. Nuvacron administered at doses of 2.5 and 5.0 mg/kg induced a statistically significant increase in the frequencies of MN detected in polychromatic bone marrow erythrocytes from animals (six/group) treated ip 24 h before. Exponentially growing CHAO cells were treated continuously (16h) with Nuvacron diluted in water to final concentrations of 1, 10, 100, 200, and 400 mug/ml. Three experiments were carried out using the cytokinesis-block method and a total of 6000 binucleated cells were scored to determine MN frequencies. A statistically significant increase in the frequencies of MN was observed for the cells treated with 1 and 10 mug/ ml Nuvacron. A marked decrease in cell proliferation rates was observed for CHO cultures treated with higher concentrations. These data demonstrate that Nuvacron has a genotoxic effect on both in vivo and in vitro mammalian test systems.