Evaluation of a modified culture medium for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato

The aim of the present study was to assess the possible use of a modified medium, prepared in the laboratory using the constituents of Barbour-Stonner-Kelly (BSK) medium and medium 199 as base, for the culture of Borrelia strains, comparing the growth of individual strains in this medium and in the BSK-H medium, and the protein profile and antigenic characteristics of Borrelia proteins expressed in these media. A qualitative evaluation of growth of Borrelia species was made with acceptable results (morphology and motility), but during a quantitative evaluation using the three main genospecies of Borrelia, the better results were obtained with a B. burgdorferi sensu stricto strain. The modified medium did not enable the growth of a B. afzelii strain. The protein profile and antigenic characteristic of the expressed proteins in the modified medium were studied with satisfactory results. These results suggest the modified medium as an alternative for the cultivation of Borrelia strains, with some limitations, in poorly-resourced laboratories.

Are light traps baited with kairomones effective in the capture of Lutzomyia longipalpis and Lutzomyia intermedia? An evaluation of synthetic human odor as an attractant for phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae)

Phlebotomine sand flies are often captured with human bait and/or light traps, either with or without an animal bait. More recently, synthetic attractants have been used as bait in traps to improve the capture of phlebotomine sand flies as well as other insects of medical and veterinary importance. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of the kairomone 1-octen-3-ol (octenol) and the synthetic human odor BG-Mesh LureTM (BGML - lactic acid, caproic acid and ammonia) baited in modified CDC light traps on the capture of phlebotomine sand flies. The experiments followed the 5x5 Latin square design. Among the species caught, Lutzomyia intermedia apparently presented a dose-dependent response to octenol. The response obtained with the BGML, alone or in combination with octenol (5 mg/h), indicated some degree of attractiveness of these baits to different phlebotomine sand fly species. Octenol seems to be more attractive to L. intermedia than to Lutzomyia longipalpis, while the BGML presented a higher success in capturing L. longipalpis. When the components of the BGML were used separately, there was no increase in catching the female of L. intermedia. Apparently, there was no synergistic effect between the octenol and the BGML. In conclusion, the octenol and the BGML were demonstrated to be possible baits to attract some phlebotomine sand fly species.

Audio as medium for content distribution (providing access to knowledge)

Reaching and educating the masses to the benefit of all of mankind is the ultimate goal and through the use of this technology facility/tool many can be reached in their own language, in their own community, in their own time and at their own pace. Making this content available to those who will benefit from the information, is vital. These people who want to consume the content are not necessarily that interested in the qualification, they need the information. Making the content available in an auditory format may also help those who may not be as literate as others. The uses of audio/ recorded lessons have a number of uses and should not just be seen as a medium for content distribution to distant communities. Recording lectures makes it possible for a lecturer to present lectures to a vast number of students, while just presenting the lecture once.

Seroepidemiological study of human parvovirus B19 among human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients in a medium-sized city in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Parvovirus B19 (B-19) may cause chronic anaemia in immunosuppressed patients, including those infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We studied single serum samples from 261 consecutive HIV-infected patients using an enzyme immunoassay to detect IgG antibodies to B-19. The seroprevalence of B-19-IgG was 62.8%. The differences in seroprevalence across gender, age, educational categories, year of collection of the serum samples, clinical and antiretroviral therapy characteristics, CD4+ count, CD4+ and CD8+ percentage and CD4+/CD8+ ratios were neither substantial nor statistically significant. There was a non-significant, inverse association between B-19 seropositivity and plasma HIV load and haemoglobin level. Our results indicated that 37.1% of patients might be susceptible to B-19 infection and remained at risk for being infected, mainly during epidemic periods. As B-19 infection can be treated with immune globulin preparations, it may be included in the diagnostic approach toward chronic anaemia in HIV-infected patients.

Use of unmodified starches and partial removal of serum to improve Granada medium stability

The use of 1% unmodified rice starch and 1% horse serum instead of 2% soluble starch and 5% serum in Granada medium is described. These components result in a medium of increased stability, preventing spoilage after a few days of storage at room temperature

Specimen storage in transport medium and detection of group B streptococci by culture

Recovery of group B streptococci (GBS) was assessed in 1,204 vaginorectal swabs stored in Amies transport medium at 4 or 21°C for 1 to 4 days either by direct inoculation onto Granada agar (GA) or by culture in blood agar (BA) and GA after a selective broth enrichment (SBE) step. Following storage at 4°C, GBS detection in GA was not affected after 72 h by either direct inoculation or SBE; however, GBS were not detected after SBE in the BA subculture in some samples after 48 h of storage and in GA after 96 h. After storage at 21°C, loss of GBS-positive results was significant after 48 h by direct inoculation in GA and after 96 h by SBE and BA subculture; some GBS-positive samples were not detected after 24 h of storage followed by SBE and BA subculture or after 48 h of storage followed by SBE and GA subculture. Storage of swabs in transport medium, even at 4°C, produced after 24 h an underestimation of the intensity of GBS colonization in most specimens. These data indicate that viability of GBS is not fully preserved by storage of vaginorectal swabs in Amies transport medium, mainly if they are not stored under refrigeration

Minimum interference routing with fast protection

One of the most effective techniques offering QoS routing is minimum interference routing. However, it is complex in terms of computation time and is not oriented toward improving the network protection level. In order to include better levels of protection, new minimum interference routing algorithms are necessary. Minimizing the failure recovery time is also a complex process involving different failure recovery phases. Some of these phases depend completely on correct routing selection, such as minimizing the failure notification time. The level of protection also involves other aspects, such as the amount of resources used. In this case shared backup techniques should be considered. Therefore, minimum interference techniques should also be modified in order to include sharing resources for protection in their objectives. These aspects are reviewed and analyzed in this article, and a new proposal combining minimum interference with fast protection using shared segment backups is introduced. Results show that our proposed method improves both minimization of the request rejection ratio and the percentage of bandwidth allocated to backup paths in networks with low and medium protection requirements

A First approximation to the realism/idealism debate about the external world

El text intenta fer una primera aproximació al debat contemporani entre realistes i anti-realistes sobre el món empíric, centrant-se en les posicions de Putnam i Nagel. El seu objectiu principal és el d'entendre les motivacions de les posicions i l'estructura actual del debat, i el d'establir les característiques que hauria de tenir qualsevol posició satisfactòria

Is a Virtual Library cost effective?

The Andalusian Public Health System Virtual Library (Biblioteca Virtual del Sistema Sanitario Público de Andalucía, BV-SSPA), was created in June 2006. In this paper an evaluation is made to see whether the investment made by the Andalusian Government has been worthwhile. The cost-effectiveness and efficiency of the project together with the management criteria are explored.

Contrast ultrasound: a simple-to-use phase-shifting medium offers saline infusion sonography-like images.

OBJECTIVE: To test the ability of a novel phase-shifting medium (PSM) to provide sustained distension of the uterine cavity and produce saline infusion sonography (SIS)-like images in a simplified contrast ultrasound procedure. DESIGN: Prospective pilot feasibility trial of a new diagnostic procedure, contrast ultrasound. SETTING: Clinical reproductive endocrine and infertility unit of regional teaching hospital. PATIENT(S): Twenty-six asymptomatic infertile women (group I) and 27 women presenting with dysfunctional uterine bleeding (DUB) who were scheduled for exploratory surgery (group II). INTERVENTION(S): All women who were temporarily on oral contraceptive first had a regular pelvic ultrasound followed by the intrauterine instillation of up to 3 mL PSM, using a regular insemination catheter, after which all instruments were removed and a regular ultrasound was performed again. RESULT(S): In all 53 women, intrauterine instillation of 1-3 mL PSM resulted in a 3-7 mm uterine distension, sufficient to produce SIS-like images of the uterine cavity that lasted 7-10 min. Contrast ultrasound revealed an endometrial polyp in 3 asymptomatic women of group I. In group II. 12 of 14 women (86%) whose vaginal ultrasound were positive or dubious had positive findings with contrast ultrasound; 9 of 12 patients whose vaginal ultrasounds were negative also had positive contrast ultrasound findings. All the positive and negative findings of contrast ultrasound made in group II were confirmed anatomically (sensitivity and specificity of 100%), whereas the correlation for standard vaginal ultrasound was markedly lower at 57.1% and 85.7%, respectively. Most patients (46 of 53) reported no discomfort during or after the procedure, and 7 women described the procedure as mildly uncomfortable. CONCLUSION(S): Contrast ultrasound, a novel simple diagnostic procedure conducted after intrauterine instillation of 1-3 mL PSM using a simple plastic catheter, delivered SIS-quality images in asymptomatic (group I) and symptomatic (group II) patients while retaining the simplicity of standard ultrasound. We therefore foresee broad application of contrast ultrasound for sensitive and specific assessment for uterine pathologies in the physician's office.

Effectiveness of Pregabalin as Monotherapy or Combination Therapy for Neuropathic Pain in Patients Unresponsive to Previous Treatments in a Spanish Primary Care Setting

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Patients from a previous study of neuropathic pain (NP) in the Spanish primary care setting still had symptoms despite treatment. Subsequently, patients were treated as prescribed by their physician and followed up for 3 months. Since pregabalin has been shown to be effective in NP, including refractory cases, the objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of pregabalin therapy in patients with NP refractory to previous treatments. METHODS This was a post hoc analysis of pregabalin-naïve NP patients treated with pregabalin in a 3-month follow-up observational multicenter study to assess symptoms and satisfaction with treatment. Patients were evaluated with the Douleur Neuropathique en 4 questions (DN4), the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and the Treatment Satisfaction for Medication Questionnaire (SATMED-Q) overall satisfaction domain. RESULTS 1,670 patients (mean age 58 years, 59 % women), previously untreated or treated with ≥1 drug other than pregabalin, were treated with pregabalin (37 % on monotherapy). At 3 months, pain intensity and its interference with activities decreased by half (p < 0.0001), while the number of days with no or mild pain increased by a mean of 4.5 days (p < 0.0001). Treatment satisfaction increased twofold (p < 0.0001). Patients with a shorter history of pain and those with neuralgia and peripheral nerve compression syndrome (PCS) as etiologies had the highest proportion on monotherapy and showed the greatest improvements in pain-related parameters in their respective group categories. CONCLUSION Treatment with pregabalin (as monotherapy or combination therapy) provides benefits in pain and treatment satisfaction in patients with NP, including refractory cases. Shorter disease progression and neuralgia and PCS etiologies are favorable factors for pregabalin treatment response.

Effective diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease by means of large margin-based methodology.

BACKGROUND Functional brain images such as Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) have been widely used to guide the clinicians in the Alzheimer's Disease (AD) diagnosis. However, the subjectivity involved in their evaluation has favoured the development of Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) Systems. METHODS It is proposed a novel combination of feature extraction techniques to improve the diagnosis of AD. Firstly, Regions of Interest (ROIs) are selected by means of a t-test carried out on 3D Normalised Mean Square Error (NMSE) features restricted to be located within a predefined brain activation mask. In order to address the small sample-size problem, the dimension of the feature space was further reduced by: Large Margin Nearest Neighbours using a rectangular matrix (LMNN-RECT), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) or Partial Least Squares (PLS) (the two latter also analysed with a LMNN transformation). Regarding the classifiers, kernel Support Vector Machines (SVMs) and LMNN using Euclidean, Mahalanobis and Energy-based metrics were compared. RESULTS Several experiments were conducted in order to evaluate the proposed LMNN-based feature extraction algorithms and its benefits as: i) linear transformation of the PLS or PCA reduced data, ii) feature reduction technique, and iii) classifier (with Euclidean, Mahalanobis or Energy-based methodology). The system was evaluated by means of k-fold cross-validation yielding accuracy, sensitivity and specificity values of 92.78%, 91.07% and 95.12% (for SPECT) and 90.67%, 88% and 93.33% (for PET), respectively, when a NMSE-PLS-LMNN feature extraction method was used in combination with a SVM classifier, thus outperforming recently reported baseline methods. CONCLUSIONS All the proposed methods turned out to be a valid solution for the presented problem. One of the advances is the robustness of the LMNN algorithm that not only provides higher separation rate between the classes but it also makes (in combination with NMSE and PLS) this rate variation more stable. In addition, their generalization ability is another advance since several experiments were performed on two image modalities (SPECT and PET).