Vectorial capacity, basic reproduction number, force of infection and all that: formal notation to complete and adjust their classical concepts and equations

A dimensional analysis of the classical equations related to the dynamics of vector-borne infections is presented. It is provided a formal notation to complete the expressions for the Ross' threshold theorem, the Macdonald's basic reproduction "rate" and sporozoite "rate", Garret-Jones' vectorial capacity and Dietz-Molineaux-Thomas' force of infection. The analysis was intended to provide a formal notation that complete the classical equations proposed by these authors.

Basic assistance for mental health in Northeast Brazil

Introduction: Brazilian northeast region is historically affected by socioeconomic problems that made this region more needful for strategies regarding to psychiatric disorders assistance. Methods: This study includes original analysis based on data of secondary level health assistance, extracted from Brazil's Hospitalar Information System, Basic Assistance Information System and Brazilian Institute of Geographic and Statistics. Results: Between 2008 and 2010, more than two hundred million dollars were spent by Brazilian federal government to achieve better quality in the assistance for mental health in Northeast. The service network responsible for the treatment of mental disorders in primary care involves a wide range of professionals and establishments. Conclusion: In northeastern Brazil, socioeconomic and geographic conditions contribute to a particular state of vulnerability for the development of psychopathologies. The association of primary care and an integrated network of public health, however, have improved the attention to mental disordersin this region.

The basic antioxidant structure for flavonoid derivatives

An antioxidant structure-activity study is carried out in this work with ten flavonoid compounds using quantum chemistry calculations with the functional of density theory method. According to the geometry obtained by using the B3LYP/6-31G(d) method, the HOMO, ionization potential, stabilization energies, and spin density distribution showed that the flavonol is the more antioxidant nucleus. The spin density contribution is determinant for the stability of the free radical. The number of resonance structures is related to the pi-type electron system. 3-hydroxyflavone is the basic antioxidant structure for the simplified flavonoids studied here. The electron abstraction is more favored in the molecules where ether group and 3-hydroxyl are present, nonetheless 2,3-double bond and carbonyl moiety are facultative.

Highlights of the XXI annual meeting of the Brazilian Society of Protozoology, the XXXII annual meeting on Basic Research in Chagas' disease & an international symposium on vesicle trafficking in parasitic Protozoa – 7 to 9 November 2005, Caxambu, Minas Gerais, Brazil

This report focuses on the 2005 Annual meeting held in Caxambu, Minas Gerais, Brazil that was convened and organized by the Brazilian Society of Protozoology http://www.sbpz.org.br/. This is an annual event and details of these meetings can be found on the Society's website. Within the space available it has been impossible to cover all the important and fascinating contributions and what is presented are our personal views of the meetings scientific highlights and new developments. The contents undoubtedly reflect each author's scientific interests and expertise. Fuller details of the round tables, seminars and posters can be consulted on line at http://www.sbpz.org.br/livroderesumos2005.php.

Influence of alloy microstructure on the microshear bond strength of basic alloys to a resin luting cement

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of microstructure and composition of basic alloys on their microshear bond strength (µSBS) to resin luting cement. The alloys used were: Supreme Cast-V (SC), Tilite Star (TS), Wiron 99 (W9), VeraBond II (VBII), VeraBond (VB), Remanium (RM) and IPS d.SIGN 30 (IPS). Five wax patterns (13mm in diameter and 4mm height) were invested, and cast in a centrifugal casting machine for each basic alloy. The specimens were embedded in resin, polished with a SiC paper and sandblasted. After cleaning the metal surfaces, six tygon tubes (0.5 mm height and 0.75 mm in diameter) were placed on each alloy surface, the resin cement (Panavia F) was inserted, and the excess was removed before light-curing. After storage (24 h/37°C), the specimens were subjected to µSBS testing (0.5 mm/min). The data were subjected to a one-way repeated measures analysis of variance and Turkey's test (α=0.05). After polishing, their microstructures were revealed with specific conditioners. The highest µSBS (mean/standard deviation in MPa) were observed in the alloys with dendritic structure, eutectic formation or precipitation: VB (30.6/1.7), TS (29.8/0.9), SC (30.6/1.7), with the exception of IPS (31.1/0.9) which showed high µSBS but no eutectic formation. The W9 (28.1/1.5), VBII (25.9/2.0) and RM (25.9/0.9) showed the lowest µSBS and no eutectic formation. It seems that alloys with eutectic formation provide the highest µSBS values when bonded to a light-cured resin luting cement.

Inglés : 850 palabras básicas en español = Category: basic english 850 words

[ES] Glosario de las 850 palabras más usadas en inglés

Human papillomavirus (HPV) and associated diseases: between applied diagnostic and basic research

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the cause of cervical cancers (among these, adenocarcinoma, AdCa) and is associated to a subgroup of oropharyngeal carcinomas (OPSCCs). Even if the risk for cancer development is linked to the infection by some viral genotypes, mainly HPV16 and 18, viral DNA alone seems not to be sufficient for diagnosis. Moreover, the role of the virus in OPSCCs has not been totally clarified yet. In the first part of the thesis, the performances concerning viral genotyping in clinical cervical samples of a new pyrosequencing-based test and a well-known hybridization-based assay have been compared. Similar results between the methods have been obtained. However, the former showed advantages in detecting intratype variants, higher specificity and a broader spectrum of detectable HPV types. The second part deals with the evaluation of virological markers (genotyping, viral oncoproteins expression, viral load, physical state and CpG methylation of HPV16 genome) in the diagnosis/prognosis of cervical AdCa and HPV-associated OPSCCs. HPV16 has been confirmed the most prevalent genotype in both the populations. Interestingly, the mean methylation frequency of viral DNA at the early promoter showed the tendency to be associated to invasion for cervical AdCa and to a worse prognosis for OPSCCs, suggesting a promising role as diagnostic/prognostic biomarker. The experiments of the third part were performed at the DKFZ in Heidelberg (Germany) and dealt with the analysis of the response to IFN-k transfection in HPV16-positive cervical cancer and head&neck carcinoma cell lines to evaluate its potential role as new treatment. After 24h, we observed increased IFN-b expression which lead to the up-regulation of genes involved in the antigens presentation pathway (MHC class I and immunoproteasome) and antiviral response as well, in particular in cervical cancer cell lines. This fact suggested also the presence of different HPV-mediated carcinogenic pathways between the two anatomical districts.

Epigenetic role of N-Myc in Neuroblastoma

Childhood neuroblastoma is the most common solid tumour of infancy and highly refractory to therapy. One of the most powerful prognostic indicators for this disease is the N-Myc gene amplification, which occurs in approximately 25% of all neuroblastomas. N-Myc is a member of transcription factors belonging to a subclass of the larger group of proteins sharing Basic-Region/Helix–Loop–Helix/Leucin-Zipper (BR/HLH/LZ) motif. N-Myc oncoproteins may determine activation or repression of several genes thanks to different protein-protein interactions that may modulate its transcriptional regulatory ability and therefore its potential for oncogenicity. Chromatin modifications, including histone methylation, have a crucial role in transcription de-regulation of many cancer-related genes. Here, it was investigated whether N-Myc can functionally and/or physically interact with two different factors involved in methyl histone modification: WDR5 (core member of the MLL/Set1 methyltransferase complex) and the de- methylase LSD1. Co-IP assays have demonstrated the presence of both N-Myc-WDR5 and N-Myc-LSD1 complexes in two neuroblastoma cell lines. Human N-Myc amplified cell lines were used as a model system to investigate on transcription activation and/or repression mechanisms carried out by N-Myc-LSD1 and N-Myc-WDR5 protein complexes. qRT-PCR and immunoblot assays underlined the ability of both complexes to positively (N-Myc-WDR5) and negatively (N-Myc-LSD1) influence transcriptional regulation of crititical neuroblastoma N-Myc-related genes, MDM2, p21 and Clusterin. Ch-IP experiments have revealed the binding of the N-Myc complexes above mentioned to the gene promoters analysed. Finally, pharmacological treatment pointed to abolish N-Myc and LSD1 activity were performed to test cellular alterations, such as cell viability and cell cycle progression. Overall, the results presented in this work suggest that N-Myc can interact with two distinct histone methyl modifiers to positively and negatively affect gene transcription in neuroblastoma.

Supply sensitive services in Swiss ambulatory care: an analysis of basic health insurance records for 2003-2007

Swiss ambulatory care is characterized by independent, and primarily practice-based, physicians, receiving fee for service reimbursement. This study analyses supply sensitive services using ambulatory care claims data from mandatory health insurance. A first research question was aimed at the hypothesis that physicians with large patient lists decrease their intensity of services and bill less per patient to health insurance, and vice versa: physicians with smaller patient lists compensate for the lack of patients with additional visits and services. A second research question relates to the fact that several cantons are allowing physicians to directly dispense drugs to patients ('self-dispensation') whereas other cantons restrict such direct sales to emergencies only. This second question was based on the assumption that patterns of rescheduling patients for consultations may differ across channels of dispensing prescription drugs and therefore the hypothesis of different consultation costs in this context was investigated.

Basic symptoms and ultrahigh risk criteria: symptom development in the initial prodromal state

Symptom development during the prodromal phase of psychosis was explored retrospectively in first-episode psychosis patients with special emphasis on the assumed time-related syndromic sequence of "unspecific symptoms (UN)-predictive basic symptoms (BS)-attenuated psychotic symptoms (APS)-(transient) psychotic symptoms (PS)." Onset of syndromes was defined by first occurrence of any of their respective symptoms. Group means were inspected for time differences between syndromes and influence of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics on the recalled sequence. The sequence of "UN-BS/APS-PS" was clearly supported, and both BS and, though slightly less, APS were highly sensitive. However, onset of BS and APS did not show significant time difference in the whole sample (N = 126; 90% schizophrenia), although when each symptom is considered independently, APS tended to occur later than first predictive BS. On descriptive level, about one-third each recalled an earlier, equal and later onset of BS compared with APS. Level of education showed the greatest impact on the recall of the hypothesized sequence. Thereby, those with a higher school-leaving certificate supported the assumed sequence, whereas those of low educational background retrospectively dated APS before BS. These findings rather point out recognition and recall bias inherent to the retrospective design than true group characteristics. Future long-term prospective studies will have to explore this conclusively. However, as regards the criteria, the results support the notion of BS as at least a complementary approach to the ultrahigh risk criteria, which may also allow for an earlier detection of psychosis.