Efavirenz intoxication due to a new CYP2B6 constellation.

Here, we describe severe neuropsychiatric symptoms in an HIV-positive Asian man with extremely high efavirenz plasma levels while receiving standard treatment with efavirenz/tenofovir/emtricitabine fixed-dose regimen. Genetic examination revealed compound homozygosity for loss-of-function alleles of CYP2B6, including coding for a rare truncated protein. Neuropsychiatric symptoms resolved completely after efavirenz discontinuation.

Incontinence urinaire à la toux au cours des pneumopathies interstitielles diffuses [Urinary incontinence due to chronic cough in interstitial lung disease]

INTRODUCTION: Urinary stress incontinence affects 10% to 30% of the female population and may have a major impact on psychosocial health. In interstitial lung disease, chronic cough may lead to development of urinary incontinence, but the prevalence and impact of this symptom are unknown. OBJECTIVES: To determine the rate and impact of urinary stress incontinence among women with chronic cough due to interstitial lung disease. METHODS: 28 female patients with chronic cough secondary to interstitial lung disease and 15 controls were evaluated by questionnaires to determine the prevalence of cough-related urinary incontinence, its severity, and its impact on quality of life. RESULTS: Cough-related urinary incontinence was present in 14/28 patients with interstitial lung disease and chronic cough (50%), but in only 1/15 controls (7%, p=0.005). On a 5-points quality of life scale, the median impact of urinary incontinence was 3 (minimum=1, maximal=5), and the median impact of chronic cough was 3.5. The majority of patients (64%) believed that incontinence was a natural phenomenon due to ageing, all were ashamed by this symptom and 79% were unable to mention it to their caring physician. Only one physician had previously addressed this issue. CONCLUSION: Cough-related urinary incontinence is common in patients with interstitial lung disease and is largely overlooked. It may significantly alter quality of life. A systematic questioning by the physician would allow to promptly refer these patients for appropriate therapeutic interventions, such as perineal training.

Réseau d'Enseignement Multimédia (REM): a la recerca d'un Erasmus virtual

El desenvolupament de les telecomunicacions mitjanyant xarxes d"ordinadors com Internet, i la facilitat de l"ús d'aquest tipus de xarxes, incrementen la possibilitat tant de transmetre material educatiu i intercanviar experiéncies com d"obrir nous canals de comunicació i crear entorns d"aprenentatge que permetin ultrapassar les coordenades d"espai i temps en qué s"han mogut tradicionalment les institucions. La Unió Europea, en el seu intent d"apropar les diferents cultures que conformen el mapa de la nostra comunitat, s"interessa per aquest tipus de sistemes, que permeten la comunicació i l"accés a la informació independentment de l"espai i del temps.

Centro de informação jurídica eletrônico e virtual

Apresenta modelo de biblioteca jurídica que sugere a potencialização do sistema de informações, sem a necessidade de aumento físico considerável do acervo interno. Sua estrutura, apoiada na conexão com bancos e bases de dados, redes eletrônicas de comunicação e bibliotecas informatizadas situadas interna e externamente, permitirá acesso a um conjunto de fontes e acervos muito mais amplo e diversificado do que aquele que existe internamente na forma tradicional vindo completar esta estrutura.

Serviços de referência virtual

Analisar os serviços de referência virtual, seus padrões e novas tecnologias que têm modificado a prática tradicional realizada no balcão de referência das bibliotecas. São descritas as principais iniciativas norte-americanas e as características de seu funcionamento.

El entorno virtual de la Universitat d'Andorra: la visión del profesorado

En los últimos años las Universidades tradicionalmente presenciales han apostado por la incorporación de la tecnología en los procesos académicos, muestra de ello es la proliferación de campus virtuales que acogen entornos virtuales de aprendizaje. La Universitat d"Andorra utiliza un entorno virtual de aprendizaje desde hace 8 años. El presente trabajo analiza los usos del entorno por parte del profesorado con el objetivo de proponer mejoras que reviertan en la mejora del aprendizaje por parte de los estudiantes. Se ha seguido una metodología descriptiva que combina técnicas cuantitativas y técnicas cualitativas, se ha distribuido un cuestionario dirigido al profesorado y se han realizado dos grupos de discusión dirigidos a profesores y estudiantes respectivamente. Los resultados de este estudio han permitido identificar las necesidades de formación del profesorado de la Universitat d"Andorra y realizar un plan de acciones para la mejora del uso del entorno virtual que en el momento de hacer el estudio prácticamente se reducía a una herramienta de compartición de documentación.

El espacio virtual de intercambio de información sobre recursos humanos en Ciencia y Tecnología de América Latina y el Caribe Del CV Lattes al CvLAC

Se describen los principales problemas de los diferentes sistemas de información para la gestión de la ciencia y tecnología de los países de América Latina y el Caribe y se identifican los retos y las alternativas para promover un mayor intercambio entre países del continente. La creación de un espacio de intercambio de información de los recursos humanos que participan en los sistemas de ciencia y tecnología, a través de una metodología común denominada el CvLAC, se constituye en una respuesta a los problemas identificados. El CvLAC parte de la experiencia brasileña del CvLattes. Se describen los objetivos y resultados esperados del Proyecto del CvLAC, ejecutado con la participación de Brasil, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, México y Venezuela. Se describen los desarrollos y alternativas a partir de los datos existentes en los países participantes en el proyecto, iniciando con Colombia y Chile, destacándose las infinitas posibilidades que las nuevas tecnologías de información digital y los nuevos desarrollos, logrados en este campo, hacen posible en términos de intercambio de datos.

Impact médical hospitalier du pied diabétique en Suisse [Hospitalizations due to diabetic foot in Switzerland].

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the hospital impact of diabetes, foot ulcers and amputations linked to diabetic foot in Switzerland. METHODS: Data from the medical statistics of Swiss hospitals between 2003 and 2008. RESULTS: Over 6 years, the annual hospital admission rate of diabetic patients increased by 38%, the number of hospitalised patients and of admissions by 44% and 51%, respectively. For ulcers, these figures were 112% and 194%, and for amputations 26% and 34%, respectively. Amongst patients hospitalised in 2005 with ulcer or for amputation, about 25% were hospitalised 2 years and 33% 1 year before or after. Length of stay decreased by 10%, but hospital mortality remained stable below 10%. CONCLUSION: Hospital admissions with diabetic foot problems are an important public health issue, and are getting worse.

Aspectos filosóficos do virtual e as obras simbólicas no ciberespaço

Discute os aspectos filosóficos do virtual e relaciona-os com o ciberespaço. Assim, o virtual é capaz de explicar um novo modelo de realização das formas simbólicas, ou seja, aquela tomada no pólo do virtual onde a conjunção e... e... constitui-se em aliança desenhando o conhecimento sob a forma de rede e explicando a desmaterialização das obras, contra a realidade tomada no pólo da "reificação", cujo paradigma é o da materialidade. A virtualização no ciberespaço potencializa a virtualidade da linguagem produzindo formas simbólicas que são, em essência, metamórficas. O virtual opera, ainda, a desterritorialização dos signos, portanto a desmaterialização das obras, produzindo uma complexidade na representação humana, em vez de uma substituição completa das obras.

Plenária Virtual Permanente: em busca da interlocução entre os conselhos de saúde

A Plenária Virtual Permanente é um sistema de áudio e vídeo para redes digitais desenvolvido para conselhos de saúde do Brasil. O artigo aborda as discussões que subsidiaram a criação do dispositivo, a descrição do mesmo e os desafios para a inclusão digital no âmbito dessas instâncias de participação.

Virtual screening and computational optimization for the discovery of covalent prolyl oligopeptidase inhibitors with activity in human cells.

Our docking program, Fitted, implemented in our computational platform, Forecaster, has been modified to carry out automated virtual screening of covalent inhibitors. With this modified version of the program, virtual screening and further docking-based optimization of a selected hit led to the identification of potential covalent reversible inhibitors of prolyl oligopeptidase activity. After visual inspection, a virtual hit molecule together with four analogues were selected for synthesis and made in one-five chemical steps. Biological evaluations on recombinant POP and FAPα enzymes, cell extracts, and living cells demonstrated high potency and selectivity for POP over FAPα and DPPIV. Three compounds even exhibited high nanomolar inhibitory activities in intact living human cells and acceptable metabolic stability. This small set of molecules also demonstrated that covalent binding and/or geometrical constraints to the ligand/protein complex may lead to an increase in bioactivity.

Matrizes da linguagem e a organização virtual do conhecimento

Os signos e as linguagens foram investigados para a organização virtual do conhecimento por meio dos mecanismos de busca. Fundamentou-se na teoria das matrizes da linguagem-pensamento, postuladas por Santaella (2005), na qual se perscrutou as linguagens sonora, visual e verbal. O objetivo da investigação foi estabelecer uma categorização dos mecanismos de busca a partir da correspondência dessas matrizes da linguagem com a indexação virtual e o modus análogo de busca. Os resultados da investigação indicam ser adequada a categorização dos mecanismos de busca sob o critério dos paradigmas semiótico da linguagem em três matrizes, dado o seu modo de ser e sua operacionalidade, sendo eles baseados em conteúdos sonoros, visuais e verbais. Sinteticamente, a sintaxe é a representação do sonoro, a forma é a representação do visível e o discurso é a representação do conhecimento verbal.

Control of Concrete Deterioration Due to Trace Compounds in Deicers, HR-299, 1992

This report describes the research completed under the research contract entitled "Development of a Conductometric Test for Frost Resistance of Concrete" undertaken for the Iowa Highway Research Board. The objective of the project was to develop a test method which can be reasonably and rapidly performed in the laboratory and in the field to predict, with a high degree of certainty, the behavior of concrete subjected to the action of alternate freezing and thawing. The significance of the results obtained, and recommendations for use and the continued development of conductometric testing are presented in this final report. In this project the conductometric evaluation of concrete durability was explored with three different test methods. The test methods and procedures for each type of test as well as presentation of the results obtained and their significance are included in the body of the report. The three test methods were: (1) Conductometric evaluation of the resistance of concrete to rapid freezing and thawing, (2) Conductometric evaluation of the resistance of concrete to natural freezing and thawing, and (3) Conductometric evaluation of the pore size distribution of concrete and its correlation to concrete durability. The report also includes recommendations for the continued development of these test methods.

Using Scanning Lasers for Real-Time Pavement Thickness Measurement, TR-538, 2006

Due to limited budgets and reduced inspection staff, state departments of transportation (DOTs) are in need of innovative approaches for providing more efficient quality assurance on concrete paving projects. The goal of this research was to investigate and test new methods that can determine pavement thickness in real time. Three methods were evaluated: laser scanning, ultrasonic sensors, and eddy current sensors. Laser scanning, which scans the surface of the base prior to paving and then scans the surface after paving, can determine the thickness at any point. Also, scanning lasers provide thorough data coverage that can be used to calculate thickness variance accurately and identify any areas where the thickness is below tolerance. Ultrasonic and eddy current sensors also have the potential to measure thickness nondestructively at discrete points and may result in an easier method of obtaining thickness. There appear to be two viable approaches for measuring concrete pavement thickness during the paving operation: laser scanning and eddy current sensors. Laser scanning has proved to be a reliable technique in terms of its ability to provide virtual core thickness with low variability. Research is still required to develop a prototype system that integrates point cloud data from two scanners. Eddy current sensors have also proved to be a suitable alternative, and are probably closer to field implementation than the laser scanning approach. As a next step for this research project, it is suggested that a pavement thickness measuring device using eddy current sensors be created, which would involve both a handheld and paver-mounted version of the device.

Dicer1 depletion in male germ cells leads to infertility due to cumulative meiotic and spermiogenic defects.

Background: Spermatogenesis is a complex biological process that requires a highly specialized control of gene expression. In the past decade, small non-coding RNAs have emerged as critical regulators of gene expression both at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level. DICER1, an RNAse III endonuclease, is essential for the biogenesis of several classes of small RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs) and endogenous small interfering RNAs (endo-siRNAs), but is also critical for the degradation of toxic transposable elements. In this study, we investigated to which extent DICER1 is required for germ cell development and the progress of spermatogenesis in mice.Principal Findings: We show that the selective ablation of Dicer1 at the early onset of male germ cell development leads to infertility, due to multiple cumulative defects at the meiotic and post-meiotic stages culminating with the absence of functional spermatozoa. Alterations were observed in the first spermatogenic wave and include delayed progression of spermatocytes to prophase I and increased apoptosis, resulting in a reduced number of round spermatids. The transition from round to mature spermatozoa was also severely affected, since the few spermatozoa formed in mutant animals were immobile and misshapen, exhibiting morphological defects of the head and flagellum. We also found evidence that the expression of transposable elements of the SINE family is up-regulated in Dicer1-depleted spermatocytes.Conclusions/Significance: Our findings indicate that DICER1 is dispensable for spermatogonial stem cell renewal and mitotic proliferation, but is required for germ cell differentiation through the meiotic and haploid phases of spermatogenesis.