A web-based pilot study of inter-pathologist reproducibility using the ISHLT 2004 working formulation for biopsy diagnosis of cardiac allograft rejection: The European experience.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to assess, at the European level and using digital technology, the inter-pathologist reproducibility of the ISHLT 2004 system and to compare it with the 1990 system We also assessed the reproducibility of the morphologic criteria for diagnosis of antibody-mediated rejection detailed in the 2004 grading system. METHODS: The hematoxylin-eosin-stained sections of 20 sets of endomyocardial biopsies were pre-selected and graded by two pathologists (A.A. and M.B.) and digitized using a telepathology digital pathology system (Aperio ImageScope System; for details refer to http://aperio.com/). Their diagnoses were considered the index diagnoses, which covered all grades of acute cellular rejection (ACR), early ischemic lesions, Quilty lesions, late ischemic lesions and (in the 2005 system) antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). Eighteen pathologists from 16 heart transplant centers in 7 European countries participated in the study. Inter-observer reproducibility was assessed using Fleiss's kappa and Krippendorff's alpha statistics. RESULTS: The combined kappa value of all grades diagnosed by all 18 pathologists was 0.31 for the 1990 grading system and 0.39 for the 2005 grading system, with alpha statistics at 0.57 and 0.55, respectively. Kappa values by grade for 1990/2005, respectively, were: 0 = 0.52/0.51; 1A/1R = 0.24/0.36; 1B = 0.15; 2 = 0.13; 3A/2R = 0.29/0.29; 3B/3R = 0.13/0.23; and 4 = 0.18. For the 2 cases of AMR, 6 of 18 pathologists correctly suspected AMR on the hematoxylin-eosin slides, whereas, in each of 17 of the 18 AMR-negative cases a small percentage of pathologists (range 5% to 33%) overinterpreted the findings as suggestive for AMR. CONCLUSIONS: Reproducibility studies of cardiac biopsies by pathologists in different centers at the international level were feasible using digitized slides rather than conventional histology glass slides. There was a small improvement in interobserver agreement between pathologists of different European centers when moving from the 1990 ISHLT classification to the "new" 2005 ISHLT classification. Morphologic suspicion of AMR in the 2004 system on hematoxylin-eosin-stained slides only was poor, highlighting the need for better standardization of morphologic criteria for AMR. Ongoing educational programs are needed to ensure standardization of diagnosis of both acute cellular and antibody-mediated rejection.

Prevalence of antibodies to Hepatitis C virus in populations at low and high risk for sexually transmited diseases in Rio de Janeiro

In order to investigate the sexual transmission of the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), the prevalence of specific antibodies in populations at high and low risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) was evaluated. The population at low risk for STDs was composed of persons who voluntarity donated blood at the Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho (HUCFF) between July and November, 1990 (n = 2494). The population at high risk for STDs was drawn from an ongoing study on the natural history of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection (n = 210, 187 with sexual risk factors for HIV infection). All samples were screened using a first generation ELISA. Repeat reactive samples were then tested in a second generation RIBA. For all ELISA positive samples, two sex and age-matched ELISA negative controls were selected. Data pertaining to the presence of antibodies to the Hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBC antibodies) and to Treponema pallidum were abstracted from the medical records. The prevalence of RIBA 2 confirmed HCV infection among the blood donors was 2.08%, which is well above the reported prevalence in similar populations from developed western countries. Among the HIV infected homosexuals, the encountered prevalence was 7.96% (p < 0.0005). For the whole group with sexually acquired HIV infection, the prevalence was 8.02% (p < 0.000005). Anti-HBc antibodies were more frequently present in anti-HCV RIBA-2 confirmed positive blood donors than in controls (p < 0.001). 33.3% of the HCV-positive blood donors and 11.04% controls were found to be anti-HBc positive (p < 0.0005). As for the FTA-ABs, 17.6% HCV-positive donors and 4,9% controls were positive (p < 0.01). 5.9% samples from blood donors were both anti-HBc and FTA-ABS positive, whereas none of the controls reacted in both tests (p < 0.05). The association between HCV, Hepatitis B infection and syphilis in individuals at low risk for parenterally transmitted diseases suggests that sexual transmission contributes to the maintenance of the endemicity of HCV in the local population.

Diseño, Desarrollo e Implementación de una aplicación WEB-MAP para la visualización y consulta de los proyectos ejecutados por AudingIntraesa

Consiste en el desarrollo de una aplicación WEB-MAP para la visualización y consulta de los proyectos ejecutados por AudingIntraesa. La tecnología utilizada fue MySQL como sistema de gestión de bases de datos, HTTP Apache como servidor web y Adobe Flex como entorno de desarrollo. Se creó una base de datos. Se diseñó una interfaz de usuario intuitiva, eficiente y atractiva. Se desarrollaron rutinas en AS3 para dotar de funcionalidades a la aplicación. Incluyen la consulta y actualización en tiempo de ejecución, descarga de ficheros externos, la fácil navegación por el mapa con capacidades de zoom, pan, cambio de mapas.

Hepatitis B and C prevalences among blood donors in the south region of Brazil

The prevalence of hepatitis B and C infection has been determined in a seroepidemiological survey among blood donors from the south of Brazil (Florianópolis, State of Santa Catarina). These markers has also been correlated with the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), a surrogate marker to prevent post-transfusion hepatitis. Sera from 5000 donors were randomly collected in the period of April to November 1991. The prevalences of HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HBc were respectively 0.78, 7.02 and 13.98. The anti-HCV prevalence after confirmation testing with line immunoassay (LIA), was 1.14. Normal values of ALT ( < = 32 U/ml) were found in 59.78, values slightly above the mean (ALT between 32-70 U/ml) in 37.74 and high values of ALT ( > = 70 U/ml) in 2.48. The positivity of anti-HCV antibodies increased with the elevation of ALT levels. This correlation was not observed in relation to HBsAg. There exists a diversity in the recognition of HCV epitopes among HCV positive donors. Via the confirmation test used, we could observe that 94.7 of donors recognize the structural core antigen. Besides that, we observed that 5.26 of the HCV reactive sera recognized only epitopes located in the NS4 and/or NS5 region, indicating the importance of these epitopes for the improvement of assays.

Immunogenicity of multiple antigen peptides containing Plasmodium vivax CS epitopes in BALB/c mice

Multiple antigen peptide systems (MAPs) allow the incorporation of various epitopes in to a single synthetic peptide immunogen. We have characterized the immune response of BALB/c mice to a series of MAPs assembled with different B and T cell epitopes derived from the Plasmodium vivax circumsporozoite (CS) protein. A B-cell epitope from the central repeat domain and two T-cell epitopes from the amino and carboxyl flanking regions were used to assembled eight different MAPs. An additional universal T cell epitope (ptt-30) from tetanus toxin protein was included. Immunogenicity in terms of antibody responses and in vitro T lymphocyte proliferation was evaluated. MAPs containing B and T cell epitopes induced high titers of anti-peptides antibodies, which recognized the native protein on sporozoites as determined by IFAT. The antibody specificity was also determined by a competitive inhibition assay with different MAPs. A MAP containing the B cell epitope (p11) and the universal epitope ptt-30 together with another composed of p11 and the promiscuous T cell epitope (p25) proved to be the most immunogenic. The strong antibody response and specificity for the cognate protein indicates that further studies designed to assess the potential of these proteins as human malaria vaccine candidates are warranted.

Ultrastructure of the male terminalia of Cochliomyia hominivorax and C. macellaria

Cochliomyia hominivorax and C. macellaria are species that cause primary and secondary myiasis, respectively of medical and veterinary importance in the New World. The male terminalia of both insects show morphological differences that are now described from scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations.

Consolidació de la Plataforma COMalaWEB com a eina Web d'autoaprenentatge per a l'EEES

La plataforma d’e-learning: COMalaWEB és una eina multimedia de suport a l’estudi, l’experimentació i l’adquisició de tècniques d’autoaprenentatge. COMalaWEB s’ofereix com a punt de trobada entre estudiants, professors i altres professionals relacionats amb el mon de les telecomunicacions i/o de la docència universitària. Mitjançant el present projecte s’ha dut a terme la consolidació de la plataforma COMalaWEB com a eina WWW d'autoaprenentatge per a l'EEES (Estudis de Bachelor i de Màster): Dins de la plataforma s’hi ha integrat un Laboratori Virtual per a comunicacions analògiques i digitals (LaViCAD) que ofereix activitats experimentals amb un gran ventall de possibilitats que van des de les demostracions teòriques fins a l’emulació de sistemes de comunicacions quotidians com per exemple la televisió digital o el sistema Wifi dels sistemes WLAN. L’altre gran component de la plataforma es la base de dades de continguts empaquetada en unitats bàsiques anomenades objectes de coneixement, organitzada en cursos, integren tant continguts teòrics com un conjunt d’exercicis proposats per a aprofundir cadascun dels temes tractats. Amb l’actual projecte s’ha treballat en les següents línies d’actuació: - Integració dels simuladors del laboratori LAVICAD a la plataforma d’autoaprenentatge. - Creació de base de dades de recursos docents basats en paquets SCORM per a oferir materials docents de tipus teòric i col·leccions d’exercicis resolts en el marc de les diferents assignatures participants en el projecte. - Creació de base de dades de tipus qüestionari per a oferir exercicis a treballar en el marc de les diferents assignatures participants en el projecte. - Inserció de metodologies docents basades en els anteriors recursos en diferents assignatures d’estudis d’enginyeria i de màster.

The InterPro database, an integrated documentation resource for protein families, domains and functional sites.

Signature databases are vital tools for identifying distant relationships in novel sequences and hence for inferring protein function. InterPro is an integrated documentation resource for protein families, domains and functional sites, which amalgamates the efforts of the PROSITE, PRINTS, Pfam and ProDom database projects. Each InterPro entry includes a functional description, annotation, literature references and links back to the relevant member database(s). Release 2.0 of InterPro (October 2000) contains over 3000 entries, representing families, domains, repeats and sites of post-translational modification encoded by a total of 6804 different regular expressions, profiles, fingerprints and Hidden Markov Models. Each InterPro entry lists all the matches against SWISS-PROT and TrEMBL (more than 1,000,000 hits from 462,500 proteins in SWISS-PROT and TrEMBL). The database is accessible for text- and sequence-based searches at http://www.ebi.ac.uk/interpro/. Questions can be emailed to interhelp@ebi.ac.uk.

trEST, trGEN and Hits: access to databases of predicted protein sequences.

High throughput genome (HTG) and expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences are currently the most abundant nucleotide sequence classes in the public database. The large volume, high degree of fragmentation and lack of gene structure annotations prevent efficient and effective searches of HTG and EST data for protein sequence homologies by standard search methods. Here, we briefly describe three newly developed resources that should make discovery of interesting genes in these sequence classes easier in the future, especially to biologists not having access to a powerful local bioinformatics environment. trEST and trGEN are regularly regenerated databases of hypothetical protein sequences predicted from EST and HTG sequences, respectively. Hits is a web-based data retrieval and analysis system providing access to precomputed matches between protein sequences (including sequences from trEST and trGEN) and patterns and profiles from Prosite and Pfam. The three resources can be accessed via the Hits home page (http://hits. isb-sib.ch).

Monitorització de rendiment i accounting de centres de computació grid

El Port d'Informació Científica és un centre de Computació Grid de referència que dona suport a comunitats científiques, com el LHC (CERN). Al PIC, trobem una gran varietat de tecnologies que proporcionen serveis al centre. Des de l'arquitectura i elements de la xarxa, fins a recursos informàtics de computació, sistemes d'emmagatzematge a disc i cinta magnètica, bases de dades (ORACLE/PostgreSQL). El projecte consisteix en el disseny i implementació d'una base de dades col·lectora de tota la informació rellevant dels diferents sistemes del centre, i un portal web on mostrar tots els valors i gràfiques, tot basat en programari lliure.

Dawn for the galaxy: creació d'un joc web d'estratègia en temps real, multijugador i massiu

“Dawn or the Galaxy” és un treball de final de carrera que té com a objectiu principal la creació i desenvolupament d’una versió de demostració per a un joc del tipus MMORTS (massive multiplayer online real-time strategy) tractant d’incloure elements innovadors en aquest gènere de jocs i oferint un ampli ventall estratègic des de l’inici del joc. Per tal d’assolir l’objectiu es realitzarà un petit sondeig de mercat inicial i un estudi de models de jocs d’estratègia. El joc estarà integrat per més de seixanta fitxers de codi, una base de dades amb catorze taules interrelacionades no normalitzades i podrà tenir cabuda per a uns cinc-cents jugadors. Un cop programat l’aplicatiu, el joc es provarà en un entorn real, amb usuaris reals. Per a resoldre els problemes durant el transcurs del joc de forma ràpida, la aplicació serà sotmesa a un seguiment exhaustiu. La col·laboració dels jugadors en aquest punt serà fonamental.

Investigation of the hepatitis C virus replication complex.

Formation of a membrane-associated replication complex, composed of viral proteins, replicating RNA, altered cellular membranes, and other host factors, is a hallmark of all positive-strand RNA viruses. In the case of HCV, RNA replication takes place in a likely endoplasmic reticulum-derived membrane alteration referred to as the "membranous web." In vitro transcription-translation, membrane extraction and flotation analyses, immunofluorescence microscopy, fluorescent in situ hybridization, and RNA metabolic labeling followed by confocal laser scanning microscopy have yielded insights into the structure and function of the HCV replication complex. We describe these techniques and highlight selected results.

SGAR : sistema de control de almacenes por radiofrecuencia

Análisis, diseño e implementación de un aplicativo web para gestionar, de forma rápida y fiable, los procesos que se realizan sobre diversos materiales en un almacén, bajo un sistema LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySql y Php), el cual ofrece un sinfín de prestaciones y una alta configurabilidad a un coste de adquisición nulo.