Clinical applications of non-culture based methods for the diagnosis and management of opportunistic and endemic mycoses

Nonculture based methods for the detection of infections caused by fungal pathogens are becoming more important tools in the management of infected patients. Detection of fungal antigens and DNA appear to be the most promising in this respect for both opportunistic and endemic mycoses. In this article we present an overview of the most recent developments in nonculture based methods and examine their value in clinical practice.

The instantaneous-space-phasor a powerful diagnosis tool

This paper presents the instantaneous-space-phasor (ISP) definition and describes its properties and possible applications for three-phase systems. It is shown that the ISP provides the mathematical base for a new approach to the measurement of active, reactive, and apparent power. Moreover, the ISP helps separate the positive and negative-sequence components and fits perfectly into the Buchholz-Goodhue apparent power definition.

Diagnosis and environmental planning for Paranagud - PR - Brazil

The main goal of this study was to identify and analyse environmental problems related to human occupation at the south part of the city of Paranagua PR, Brazil, aiming the diagnosis and conceptual evaluation of landscape use. For landscape use assessments and degradation diagnosis purposes, the environment was classified considering mainly geological and geomorphologic characteristics, such as declivity and sediment origin. The identification of potential environmental impacts was made by aerial photographs, Landsat-TM images, photographic records, surface sediment samples, water-column samples, and mainly observation visits to each classified unit. Surface sediment samples were taken with a Petit-Ponar sampler, in 13 station located in Paranagua Bay. In order to characterize the contamination level on sediments, the concentration of the following elements were analysed: arsenic (As), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), lead (Ph) e zinc (Zn). For the extraction of these elements, samples were treated with HCl 0.1N for 12 hours. This method has the advantage of determining contaminants which are weakly bind to the sediment, thus more available to the system. Analysis were performed by atomic absorption spectroscopy. According to the adopted criteria, sectors were classified as hills, mangroves, continental sediments and beach ridges urban and port industrial. Water quality and concentrations of metallic elements were determined at three sectors one control and two with the influence of urban and port/industrial activities, respectively the major upland impacts found were: deforestation due to disordered occupation, and solid waste emission through domestic and industrial sewage. The diagnosis of the actual situation was used as a basis for a management plan, once it allows the identification of impacts, and consequent environmental irregularities. Based on this considerations, suggestions for land use and management were presented, which offers a better approach for recuperation and protection of the studied ecosystem.

Development of an open case-based decision-support system for diagnosis in oral pathology

Making diagnoses in oral pathology are often difficult and confusing in dental practice, especially for the lessexperienced dental student. One of the most promising areas in bioinformatics is computer-aided diagnosis, where a computer system is capable of imitating human reasoning ability and provides diagnoses with an accuracy approaching that of expert professionals. This type of system could be an alternative tool for assisting dental students to overcome the difficulties of the oral pathology learning process. This could allow students to define variables and information, important to improving the decision-making performance. However, no current open data management system has been integrated with an artificial intelligence system in a user-friendly environment. Such a system could also be used as an education tool to help students perform diagnoses. The aim of the present study was to develop and test an open case-based decisionsupport system.Methods: An open decision-support system based on Bayes' theorem connected to a relational database was developed using the C++ programming language. The software was tested in the computerisation of a surgical pathology service and in simulating the diagnosis of 43 known cases of oral bone disease. The simulation was performed after the system was initially filled with data from 401 cases of oral bone disease.Results: the system allowed the authors to construct and to manage a pathology database, and to simulate diagnoses using the variables from the database.Conclusion: Combining a relational database and an open decision-support system in the same user-friendly environment proved effective in simulating diagnoses based on information from an updated database.

Canine bartonellosis: serological and molecular prevalence in Brazil and evidence of co-infection with Bartonella henselae and Bartonella vinsonii subsp berkhoffii

The purpose of this study was to determine the serological and molecular prevalence of Bartonella spp. infection in a sick dog population from Brazil. At the São Paulo State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Botucatu, 198 consecutive dogs with clinicopathological abnormalities consistent with tick-borne infections were sampled. Antibodies to Bartonella henselae and Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii were detected in 2.0% ( 4/197) and 1.5% ( 3/197) of the dogs, respectively. Using 16S-23S rRNA intergenic transcribed spacer ( ITS) primers, Bartonella DNA was amplified from only 1/198 blood samples. Bartonella seroreactive and/or PCR positive blood samples ( n = 8) were inoculated into a liquid pre-enrichment growth medium ( BAPGM) and subsequently sub-inoculated onto BAPGM/blood-agar plates. PCR targeting the ITS region, pap31 and rpoB genes amplified B. henselae from the blood and/or isolates of the PCR positive dog ( ITS: DQ346666; pap31 gene: DQ351240; rpoB: EF196806). B. henselae and B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii ( pap31: DQ906160; rpoB: EF196805) co-infection was found in one of the B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii seroreactive dogs. We conclude that dogs in this study population were infrequently exposed to or infected with a Bartonella species. The B. henselae and B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii strains identified in this study are genetically similar to strains isolated from septicemic cats, dogs, coyotes and human beings from other parts of the world. To our knowledge, these isolates provide the first Brazilian DNA sequences from these Bartonella species and the first evidence of Bartonella co-infection in dogs.

Uterine evaluation and gestation diagnosis in owl monkey (Aotus azarai infulatus) using the B mode ultrasound

Background Gynecological and obstetrical ultrasonography has become an indispensable tool in the routine management, health evaluation and research on captive non-human primates.Methods Ultrasound was used to evaluate the uterus and estimate the gestation of owl monkeys. Twelve couples were selected, where five were primiparous and seven multiparous females from the National Primate Center reproductive colony, Ananindeua-PA, Brazil. The procedures were carried out using the GE (R) Logiq 100 MP, equipped with a 7.5 MHz linear probe.Results the females showed a simple uterus, of elongated shape, regular outline and homogeneous echogenic texture. In the uterine measurements craniocaudal diameter, dorsoventral diameter and uterine volume (UV), significant differences were identified (P < 0.05) between ultrasound examinations of primiparous and multiparous females. The UV showed a positive correlation with the number of births. The gestational sac and the embryonic echo were visible between 28 and 38 days after mating. Between 48 and 68 days after mating, embryonic death was identified in all the gestations.Conclusions the chemical (use of tranquilizers) and husbandry factors (capture stress) may be related to the prenatal death. The establishing methods of conditioning the female to the ultrasonographic exam may offer a solution to this problem.

Criteria for the diagnosis of diffuse uterine myohypertrophy

Objectives: Diffuse uterine myohypertrophy (DUMH) is a condition clinically diagnosed by the presence of uterine bleeding, homogeneous and diffuse uterine enlargement, and absence of any myoendometrial cause of bleeding. Since the morphologic criteria for the diagnosis of this entity are still controversial, this study aimed to investigate the clinical presentation and the morphologic findings of the cases of DUMH presenting at the University Hospital of Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil, Methods: We retrospectively studied 43 consecutive patients with DUMH submitted to hysterectomy (test group) and compared the findings with those obtained from 28 patients submitted to hysterectomy due to a prolapsed uterus (control group). There were no significant differences in age, weight or height between the two groups. Results: the uterine weight of the DUMH group (mean +/- S.D. 157.4 +/- 46.4 g) was significantly heavier than that of the control group (99.5 +/- 35.4 g) and myometrial thickness was significantly greater in the DUMH group (2.5 +/- 0.5 cm) than in the control group (1.9 +/- 0.4 cm). No positive correlation was observed between increased uterine weight and parity, but there was a positive correlation between uterine weight and myometrial thickness. on the basis of the present study, we suggest that the diagnosis of DUMH be made clinically and in cases of uterine weight greater than or equal to 120 g and myometrial thickness greater than or equal to 2.0 cm. In addition, 10 cases of each group were analyzed by morphometry to evaluate interstitial fibrosis and myometrial hypertrophy. The data showed that the increase in uterine weight in DUMH is caused by enlargement of individual myometrial fibers rather than accumulation of interstitial collagen. Conclusion: Discriminant analysis to estimate the diagnostic significance of a number of clinical and pathologic variables (age, parity, uterine weight and morphometric parameters) was able to differentiate cases of DUMH from controls in 100% of the patients.

MOLECULAR DIAGNOSIS of LEISHMANIA AMAZONENSIS IN A CAPTIVE SPIDER MONKEY IN BAURU, São Paulo, BRAZIL

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Establishing Standards for the Integrated Recommendation and Diagnosis System (DRIS) for Irrigated Bean Crops

This article addresses the establishment of integrated diagnostics and recommendation system (DRIS) standards for irrigated bean crops (Phaseolus vulgaris) and compares leaf concentrations and productivity in low- and high-productivity populations. The work was carried out in Santa Fe de Goias, Goias State, Brazil, in the agricultural years 1999/2000 and 2000/2001. For the nutritional diagnosis, leaf samples were collected, and leaf concentrations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S), boron (B), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn) were established in 100 commercial bean crops. A database was set up listing the leaf nutrient content and the respective productivities, subdivided into two subpopulations, high and low productivity, using a bean yield value of 3000 kg ha-1 to separate these subpopulations. Sufficiency values found in the high-productivity population matched only for the micronutrients B and Zn. The nutritional balance among the populations studied was coherent and was lower in the high-productivity population. The DRIS standards proposed for irrigated bean farming were efficient in evaluating the nutritional status of the crop areas studied. Calcium, Cu, and S were found to be the least available nutrients, indicating high response potential for the fertilizing using these nutrients.

DIAGNOSIS of REGIONAL CEREBRAL BLOOD FLOW ABNORMALITIES USING SPECT: AGREEMENT BETWEEN INDIVIDUALIZED STATISTICAL PARAMETRIC MAPS and VISUAL INSPECTION BY NUCLEAR MEDICINE PHYSICIANS WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS of EXPERTISE IN NUCLEAR NEUROLOGY

INTRODUCTION: Visual analysis is widely used to interpret regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) SPECT images in clinical practice despite its limitations. Automated methods are employed to investigate between-group rCBF differences in research Studies but have rarely been explored in individual analyses.OBJECTIVES: To compare visual inspection by nuclear physicians with the automated statistical parametric mapping program using a SPECT dataset of patients with neurological disorders and normal control images.METHODS: Using statistical parametric mapping, 14 SPECT images from patients with various neurological disorders were compared individually with a databank of 32 normal images using a statistical threshold of p<0.05 (corrected for multiple comparisons at the level of individual voxels or clusters). Statistical parametric mapping results were compared with Visual analyses by a nuclear physician highly experienced in neurology (A) as well as a nuclear physician with a general background of experience (B) who independently classified images as normal or altered, and determined the location of changes and the severity.RESULTS: of the 32 images of the normal databank, 4 generated maps showing rCBF abnormalities (p<0.05, corrected). Among the 14 images from patients with neurological disorders, 13 showed rCBF alterations. Statistical parametric mapping and physician A completely agreed on 84.37% and 64.28% of cases from the normal databank and neurological disorders, respectively. The agreement between statistical parametric mapping and ratings of physician B were lower (71.18% and 35.71%, respectively).CONCLUSION: Statistical parametric mapping replicated the findings described by the more experienced nuclear physician. This finding suggests that automated methods for individually analyzing rCBF SPECT images may be a valuable resource to complement visual inspection in clinical practice.

Anticorpos para Leptospira spp., Toxoplasma gondii e Neospora caninum em cães errantes albergados em canil privado

The serological profile of 300 mongrel dogs of various ages and gender were investigated. Animals were captured in the streets and afterwards directed to a private kennel in Avare city (SP) to search for leptospirosis, toxoplasmosis, and neosporosis. Blood samples were obtained from jugular or cephalic vein for the obtention of sera. The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) was used to leptospirosis. MAT detect the prevalence of 9.3%. The most frequent reactant serovars were Bratislava (35.7%), Cynopteri (17.9%), Autumnalis (14.3%), and Copenhageni (10.7%), besides 7.1% to others serovars: Icterohaemorrhagiae, Canicola, and Hardjo. The modified agglutination test used for the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis showed 26% of positive animals, with titers varying from 16 to 256, with 16 in 3.3%, 64 in 13.7%, and 256 in 9% of the samples. To canine neosporosis, it was used the indirect fluorescent antibody test, and two animals (0.7%) demonstrated antibodies with titers 25 and 100. The results show the participation of the animals in the epidemiological chain of the researched diseases.