In vivo study of an injectable poly(acrylonitrile)-based hydrogel paste as a bulking agent for the treatment of urinary incontinence.

Urinary incontinence can be treated by endoscopic injection of bulking agents, however, no optimal therapeutic effect has been achieved upon this treatment yet. In the present study, the development of a injectable poly(acrylonitrile) hydrogel paste is described, and its efficacy and histological behavior, once injected into the submucosal space of the minipig bladder, are evaluated. A device was developed to mix poly(acrylonitrile) hydrogel powder with glycerin, used as carrier, prior to injection into the submucosal space of the bladder. Several paste deposits, depending on the size of the bladder, were injected per animal. The implants were harvested at days 7, 14, 21, 28, 84 and 168 and analyzed morphologically and by histology. The persistence of the implants was demonstrated. However, at later time points the implants were split up and surrounded by granulomatous tissue, which was gradually replaced by histiocytes and adipocytes. Transitory focal urothelial metaplasia was observed only at day 7 and moderate foreign body reaction was detected predominantly between the second and fifth week. This study demonstrated the feasibility to develop an injectable paste of poly(acrylonitrile) hydrogel thought to provide the expected bulking effect, necessary for the treatment of urinary incontinence.

Variabilidade espacial de atributos de solos coesos do leste maranhense

A demanda nacional e internacional por mapas de atributos do solo tem aumentado. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram caracterizar e associar a variabilidade da granulometria, os atributos químicos e a cor de solos coesos a diferentes formas de paisagem, em áreas agrícolas e de vegetação nativa, por meio de técnicas geoestatísticas. Para a instalação do experimento, foram escolhidas três áreas representadas por uma área cultivada com soja e, contígua a essa, uma com cobertura vegetal remanescente de três feições de cerrado, designadas de Cerradão (A), Cerrado (B) e Campo Cerrado (C). As áreas A e B estão localizadas em pedoforma côncava e a área C, na convexa. Em cada área, foram estabelecidas malhas de amostragem com 121 pontos; nas áreas com cobertura vegetal construíram-se transeções com cinco pontos espaçados em 20 m. Os maiores alcances médios, considerando ambas as profundidades avaliadas, foram encontrados para a área A, sendo de 115 m para granulometria, 157 m para atributos químicos e 168 m para a cor do solo. A área B apresentou alcances médios de 95, 64 e 160 m para granulometria, atributos químicos e cor do solo, respectivamente. A área C, por sua vez, exibiu alcances médios de 63, 65 e 58 m para granulometria, atributos químicos e cor do solo, respectivamente. O ambiente com maior variabilidade (área C) está relacionado com locais de ocorrência de vegetação do tipo Campo Cerrado e pedoforma convexa. Esse mesmo local evidenciou a menor capacidade de resposta ao manejo da cultura de soja, evidenciado pelos índices de fertilidade do solo para essa cultura, com destaque para os baixos valores de matéria orgânica (9,20 mg kg-1) e CTC (29,60 mmol c dm-3). Assim, pode-se afirmar que para o compartimento geológico estudado, os ambientes de alta variabilidade sempre estão associados a áreas com menor resposta ao manejo do solo para a cultura da soja.

Risk evaluation for spoofing against a sensor supplied with liveness detection

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the risks associated with the use of fake fingerprints on a livescan supplied with a method of liveness detection. The method is based on optical properties of the skin. The sensor uses several polarizations and illuminations to capture the information of the different layers of the human skin. These experiments also allow for the determination under which conditions the system is deceived and if there is an influence respectively of the nature of the fake, the mould used for the production or the individuals involved in the attack. These experiments showed that current multispectral sensors can be deceived by the use of fake fingerprints created with or without the cooperation of the subject. Fakes created from direct casts perform better than those produced by fakes created from indirect casts. The results showed that the success of the attack is influenced by two main factors. The first is the quality of the fakes, and by extension the quality of the original fingerprint. The second is the combination of the general patterns involved in the attacks since an appropriate combination can strongly increase the rates of successful attacks.

Alcohol-attributable mortality in Switzerland in 2011--age-specific causes of death and impact of heavy versus non-heavy drinking.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol use causes high burden of disease and injury globally. Switzerland has a high consumption of alcohol, almost twice the global average. Alcohol-attributable deaths and years of life lost in Switzerland were estimated by age and sex for the year 2011. Additionally, the impact of heavy drinking (40+grams/day for women and 60+g/day for men) was estimated. METHODS: Alcohol consumption estimates were based on the Addiction Monitoring in Switzerland study and were adjusted to per capita consumption based on sales data. Mortality data were taken from the Swiss mortality register. Methodology of the Comparative Risk Assessment for alcohol was used to estimate alcohol-attributable fractions. RESULTS: Alcohol use caused 1,600 (95% CI: 1,472 - 1,728) net deaths (1,768 deaths caused, 168 deaths prevented) among 15 to 74 year olds, corresponding to 8.7% of all deaths (men: 1,181 deaths; women: 419 deaths). Overall, 42,627 years of life (9.7%, 95% CI: 40,245 - 45,008) were lost due to alcohol. Main causes of alcohol-attributable mortality were injuries at younger ages (15-34 years), with increasing age digestive diseases (mainly liver cirrhosis) and cancers (particularly breast cancers among women). The majority (62%) of all alcohol-attributable deaths was caused by chronic heavy drinking (men: 67%; women: 48 %). CONCLUSION: Alcohol is a major cause of premature mortality in Switzerland. Its impact, among young people mainly via injuries, among men mainly through heavy drinking, calls for a mix of preventive actions targeting chronic heavy drinking, binge drinking and mean consumption.

Progressive Taxes and Firm Births

Tax reform proposals in the spirit of the "flat tax" model typically aim to reduce three parameters: the average tax burden, the progressivity of the tax schedule, and the complexity of the tax code. We explore the implications of changes in these three parameters for entrepreneurial activity, measured by counts of firm births. The Swiss fiscal system offers sufficient intra-national variation in tax codes to allow us to estimate such effects with considerable precision. We find that high average taxes and complicated tax codes depress firm birth rates, while tax progressivity per se promotes firm births. The latter result supports the existence of an insurance effect from progressive corporate income taxes for risk averse entrepreneurs. However, implied elasticities with respect to the level and complexity of corporate taxes are an order of magnitude larger than elasticities with respect to the progressivity of tax schedules.

Upper gastrointestinal bleeding in cirrhosis: clinical and endoscopic correlations

The clinical data of 180 episodes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in 168 patients with cirrhosis of the liver are examined. The source of bleeding had been determined by early endoscopy in all cases. In men under the age of 50 years, and without symptoms of liver failure, bleeding was due to ruptured gastro-oesophageal varices in 84% of cases. Severe liver failure was associated with acute lesions of gastric mucosa in many cases. No presumptive diagnosis of the source of haemorrhage could be based on the examination of other clinical data (presence of ascites, mode of presentation and pattern of bleeding, history of ulcer disease, alcoholism, and previous medication.

Upper gastrointestinal bleeding in cirrhosis: clinical and endoscopic correlations

The clinical data of 180 episodes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in 168 patients with cirrhosis of the liver are examined. The source of bleeding had been determined by early endoscopy in all cases. In men under the age of 50 years, and without symptoms of liver failure, bleeding was due to ruptured gastro-oesophageal varices in 84% of cases. Severe liver failure was associated with acute lesions of gastric mucosa in many cases. No presumptive diagnosis of the source of haemorrhage could be based on the examination of other clinical data (presence of ascites, mode of presentation and pattern of bleeding, history of ulcer disease, alcoholism, and previous medication.