Using a prioritized medium access control protocol for incrementally obtaining an interpolation of sensor readings

This paper addresses sensor network applications which need to obtain an accurate image of physical phenomena and do so with a high sampling rate in both time and space. We present a fast and scalable approach for obtaining an approximate representation of all sensor readings at high sampling rate for quickly reacting to critical events in a physical environment. This approach is an improvement on previous work in that after the new approach has undergone a startup phase then the new approach can use a very small sampling period.

Self-reported diabetes in older people: comparison of prevalences and control measures

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to analyze the prevalence of diabetes in older people and the adopted control measures.METHODS Data regarding older diabetic individuals who participated in the Health Surveys conducted in the Municipality of Sao Paulo, SP, ISA-Capital, in 2003 and 2008, which were cross-sectional studies, were analyzed. Prevalences and confidence intervals were compared between 2003 and 2008, according to sociodemographic variables. The combination of the databases was performed when the confidence intervals overlapped. The Chi-square (level of significance of 5%) and the Pearson’s Chi-square (Rao-Scott) tests were performed. The variables without overlap between the confidence intervals were not tested.RESULTS The age of the older adults was 60-69 years. The majority were women, Caucasian, with an income of between > 0.5 and 2.5 times the minimum salary and low levels of schooling. The prevalence of diabetes was 17.6% (95%CI 14.9;20.6) in 2003 and 20.1% (95%CI 17.3;23.1) in 2008, which indicates a growth over this period (p at the limit of significance). The most prevalent measure adopted by the older adults to control diabetes was hypoglycemic agents, followed by diet. Physical activity was not frequent, despite the significant differences observed between 2003 and 2008 results. The use of public health services to control diabetes was significantly higher in older individuals with lower income and lower levels of education.CONCLUSIONS Diabetes is a complex and challenging disease for patients and the health systems. Measures that encourage health promotion practices are necessary because they presented a smaller proportion than the use of hypoglycemic agents. Public health policies should be implemented, and aimed mainly at older individuals with low income and schooling levels. These changes are essential to improve the health condition of older diabetic patients.

Identification of risk factors for death from tetanus in Pernambuco, Brazil: a case-control study

A case-control study was conducted to identify risk factors for death from tetanus in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil. Information was obtained from medical records of 152 cases and 152 controls, admitted to the tetanus unit in the State University Hospital, in Recife, from 1990 to 1995. Variables were grouped in three different sets. Crude and adjusted odds ratios, p-values and 95% confidence intervals were estimated. Variables selected in the multivariate analysis in each set were controlled for the effect of those selected in the others. All factors related to the disease progression - incubation period, time elapsed between the occurrence of the first tetanus symptom and admission, and period of onset - showed a statistically significant association with death from tetanus. Similarly, signs and/or symptoms occurring on admission or in the following 24 hours (second set): reflex spasms, neck stiffness, respiratory signs/symptoms and respiratory failure requiring artificial ventilation (third set) were associated with death from tetanus even when adjusted for the effect of the others.

Treatment of pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigus foliaceus: experience with 71 patients over a 20 year period

Forty one cases of pemphigus vulgaris and thirty cases of pemphigus foliaceus were investigated at Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho from 1978 to 1999. They were divided into two treatment groups: one group received up to 100 mg of oral prednisone daily and the other group received >120 mg daily. The dose up to 100 mg provided good initial control of pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigus foliaceus and did not increase the mortality rate associated to disease. The dose >120 mg induced higher morbidity. These data allowed us to establish a regimen of oral prednisone (1-2 mg/kg/daily) with maximum of 120 mg daily in the treatment of pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigus foliaceus.

Design of New Materials for Passive Vibration Control

The aim of this contribution is to extend the techniques of composite materials design to non-linear material behaviour and apply it for design of new materials for passive vibration control. As a first step a computational tool allowing determination of macroscopic optimized one-dimensional isolator behaviour was developed. Voigt, Maxwell, standard and more complex material models can be implemented. Objective function considers minimization of the initial reaction and/or displacement peak as well as minimization of the steady-state amplitude of reaction and/or displacement. The complex stiffness approach is used to formulate the governing equations in an efficient way. Material stiffness parameters are assumed as non-linear functions of the displacement. The numerical solution is performed in the complex space. The steady-state solution in the complex space is obtained by an iterative process based on the shooting method which imposes the conditions of periodicity with respect to the known value of the period. Extension of the shooting method to the complex space is presented and verified. Non-linear behaviour of material parameters is then optimized by generic probabilistic meta-algorithm, simulated annealing. Dependence of the global optimum on several combinations of leading parameters of the simulated annealing procedure, like neighbourhood definition and annealing schedule, is also studied and analyzed. Procedure is programmed in MATLAB environment.

Influence of Prolonged Wearing of Unstable Shoes on Upright Standing Postural Control

Objective: To study the influence of prolonged wearing of unstable shoes on standing postural control in prolonged standing workers. Methods: The participants were divided into two groups: one wore unstable shoes while the other wore conventional shoes for 8 weeks. Stabilometry parameters related to centre of pressure (CoP), rambling (RM) and trembling (TR) as well as the total agonist/antagonist muscle activity, antagonist co-activation and reciprocal activation were evaluated during upright standing, before and after the 8 week period. In both moments, the subjects were evaluated wearing the unstable shoes and in barefoot. Results: The unstable shoe condition presented increased CoP displacement related variables and decreased co-activation command compared to barefoot before and after the intervention. The prolonged wearing of unstable shoes led to: (1) reduction of medial-lateral CoP root mean square and area; (2) decreased anteroposterior RM displacement; (3) increased anteroposterior RM mean velocity and mediolateral RM displacement; (4) decreased anteroposterior TR RMS; and (5) increased thigh antagonist co-activation in the unstable shoe condition. Conclusion: The unstable shoe condition is associated to a higher destabilizing effect that leads to a selection of more efficient and accurate postural commands compared to barefoot. Prolonged wearing of unstable shoes provides increased effectiveness and performance of the postural control system, while wearing of unstable shoes in upright standing, that are reflected by changes in CoP related variables and by a reorganization of postural control commands.

Larval control of Anopheles (Nyssorhinchus) darlingiusing granular formulation of Bacillus sphaericus in abandoned gold-miners excavation pools in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest

INTRODUCTION: Use of a Bacillus sphaericus based mosquito larvicide was evaluated as an intervention for malaria vector control at a mining site in Amapá, Brazil. Impacts on larval and adult densities of the primary vector Anopheles darlingi were measured over the course of a 52 week study period.METHODS: In Calçoene, State of Amapá, gold mining activity occurs in 19 mining sites in gold-miners of Lourenço. Large pools are formed in mining sites and naturally colonized by Anopheles darlingi. During one year, the impact of applications of VectoLex(r) CG to these larval sources was evaluated. Applications of 20kg/ha were made as needed, based on 10 immature (3rd, 4th instars and pupae) surveillance of health and established thresholds. RESULTS: One hundred percent initial control was observed 48h after each treatment. The pools received from 2-10 (5.3±1.6) treatments during the year. The average re-treatment interval in productive pools was 9.4±4.3 weeks. During weeks 3-52 of the study, mean density of late stage larvae was 78% and pupae were 93% lower in the treated pools than in untreated pools (p< 0.0001, n=51) while reduction of adult mosquitoes was 53% in comparison to the untreated area during the last five months of the study, which were the rainy season (p<0.001).CONCLUSIONS:VectoLex(r) CG reduced immature Anopheles darlingi infestation levels during the entire study period, and reduced adult mosquito populations during the rainy season.

Impact of insecticide resistance on the field control of Aedes aegypti in the State of São Paulo

IntroductionThe need to control dengue transmission by means of insecticides has led to the development of resistance to most of the products used worldwide against mosquitoes. In the State of São Paulo, the Superintendência de Controle de Endemias(SUCEN) has annually monitored the susceptibility of Aedes aegypti to insecticides since 1996; since 1999, surveys were conducted in collaboration with the National Network of Laboratories (MoReNAa Network) and were coordinated by the Ministry of Health. In this study, in addition to the biological characterization of insecticide resistance in the laboratory, the impact of resistance on field control was evaluated for vector populations that showed resistance in laboratory assays.MethodsField efficacy tests with larvicides and adulticides were performed over a 13-year period, using World Health Organization protocols.ResultsData from the field tests showed a reduction in the residual effect of temephos on populations with a resistance ratio of 3. For adults, field control was less effective in populations characterized as resistant in laboratory qualitative assays, and this was confirmed using qualitative assays and field evaluation.ConclusionsOur results indicated that management of resistance development needs to be adopted when insect populations show reduced susceptibility. The use of insecticides is a self-limiting tool that needs to be applied cautiously, and dengue control requires more sustainable strategies.

Control in distribution networks with demand side management

The way in which electricity networks operate is going through a period of significant change. Renewable generation technologies are having a growing presence and increasing penetrations of generation that are being connected at distribution level. Unfortunately, a renewable energy source is most of the time intermittent and needs to be forecasted. Current trends in Smart grids foresee the accommodation of a variety of distributed generation sources including intermittent renewable sources. It is also expected that smart grids will include demand management resources, widespread communications and control technologies required to use demand response are needed to help the maintenance in supply-demand balance in electricity systems. Consequently, smart household appliances with controllable loads will be likely a common presence in our homes. Thus, new control techniques are requested to manage the loads and achieve all the potential energy present in intermittent energy sources. This thesis is focused on the development of a demand side management control method in a distributed network, aiming the creation of greater flexibility in demand and better ease the integration of renewable technologies. In particular, this work presents a novel multi-agent model-based predictive control method to manage distributed energy systems from the demand side, in presence of limited energy sources with fluctuating output and with energy storage in house-hold or car batteries. Specifically, here is presented a solution for thermal comfort which manages a limited shared energy resource via a demand side management perspective, using an integrated approach which also involves a power price auction and an appliance loads allocation scheme. The control is applied individually to a set of Thermal Control Areas, demand units, where the objective is to minimize the energy usage and not exceed the limited and shared energy resource, while simultaneously indoor temperatures are maintained within a comfort frame. Thermal Control Areas are overall thermodynamically connected in the distributed environment and also coupled by energy related constraints. The energy split is performed based on a fixed sequential order established from a previous completed auction wherein the bids are made by each Thermal Control Area, acting as demand side management agents, based on the daily energy price. The developed solutions are explained with algorithms and are applied to different scenarios, being the results explanatory of the benefits of the proposed approaches.

Changes in the floristic composition of a Terra Firme rain forest In Brazilian Amazonia over an eight-year period In response to logging

Changes in the floristic composition over an eight-year period in a logged area at the Tapajós National Forest in Brazilian Amazonia arc discussed. Two treatments of different intensities of logging were compared with an undisturbed (control) forest. Data were collected from permanent sample-plots. The effects of logging on floristic composition were stronger in the more heavily logged treatment. The number of species decreased immediately after logging, but started to increase before the fifth year after logging and was higher at the end of the study period than before logging. The more heavily logged plots responded more to disturbances, as judged by the increase in the number of species during the period after logging. This forest appears to recover its initial floristic composition after disturbance without intervention.

Myopia control with a novel peripheral gradient soft lens and orthokeratology: a 2-year clinical trial

Objective. To evaluate the degree of axial elongation with soft radial refractive gradient (SRRG) contact lenses, orthokeratology (OK), and single vision (SV) spectacle lenses (control) during a period of 1 year before treatment and 2 years after treatment. Methods. This was a prospective, longitudinal, nonrandomized study. The study groups consisted of 30, 29, and 41 children, respectively. The axial length (AL) was measured during 2 years after recruitment and lens fitting. Results. The baseline refractive sphere was correlated significantly (r 2 = 0.542; P < 0.0001) with the amount of myopia progression before baseline. After 2 years, the mean myopia progression values for the SRRG, OK, and SV groups were −0.56 ± 0.51, −0.32 ± 0.53, and −0.98 ± 0.58 diopter, respectively. The results represent reductions in myopic progression of 43% and 67% for the SRRG and OK groups, respectively, compared to the SV group. The AL increased more in the SV group compared to the SRRG and OK groups, with 27% and 38% lower axial elongation, respectively, compared to the SV group at the 2-year visit (P < 0.05). SRRG and OK showed no differences (P = 0.430). Conclusion. The SRRG lens significantly decreased AL elongation compared to the SV control group. The SRRG lens was similarly effective to OK in preventing myopia progression in myopic children and adolescent.

Right ventricular diastolic dysfunction in the postoperative period of tetralogy of Fallot

OBJECTIVE: To assess right ventricular diastolic function in the intermediate postoperative period of repair of tetralogy of Fallot. METHODS: We carried out a case-control study with 60 patients divided into 2 groups as follows: 1) group I - 30 patients who had undergone repair of tetralogy of Fallot and 2) group II - 30 healthy children. The 2 groups were paired for age, sex, and body surface. The flows in the pulmonary and tricuspid valves were analyzed with Doppler echocardiography. The presence of anterograde flow at the end of diastole in the pulmonary artery defined restrictive right ventricular physiology. Surgical, radiological, electrocardiographic, and echocardiographic variables were analized in the group I. RESULTS: The velocity of the A wave and the E/A ratio for the tricuspid valve showed significant differences between the groups. Cases with E/A < 1.30 predominated in inspiration (group I - 19/30, and group II - 5/30). The duration of the QRS complex on the electrocardiogram was significantly increased in patients with E/A <1.30. Nineteen (63.3%) patients had restrictive right ventricular physiology, which had a longer postoperative period, longer duration of the QRS complex, and a lower E/A ratio in inspiration. The surgical and radiological variables showed no statistical difference. CONCLUSION: Restrictive right ventricular physiology was detected on the intermediate follow-up of most patients undergoing repair of tetralogy of Fallot. The postoperative period and QRS duration were increased in patients with impairment in diastolic function.

Risk factors for acute myocardial infarction during the postoperative period of myocardial revascularization

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors for acute myocardial infarction during the postoperative period after myocardial revascularization. METHODS: This was a case-control study paired for sex, age, number, type of graft used, coronary endarterectomy, type of myocardial protection, and use of extracorporeal circulation. We assessed 178 patients (89 patients in each group) undergoing myocardial revascularization, and the following variables were considered: dyslipidemia, systemic hypertension, smoking, diabetes mellitus, previous myocardial revascularization surgery, previous coronary angioplasty, and acute myocardial infarction. RESULTS: Baseline clinical characteristics did not differ in the groups, except for previous myocardial revascularization surgery, prevalent in the case group (34 patients vs. 12 patients; p = 0.0002). This was the only independent predictor of risk for acute myocardial infarction in the postoperative period, based on a multivariate logistic regression analysis (p=0.0001). Mortality and the time of hospital stay of the case group were significantly higher (19.1% vs. 1.1%; p<0.001 and 15.7 days vs. 10.6 days; p<0.05 respectively) than those of the control. CONCLUSION: Only previous myocardial revascularization was an independent predictor of acute myocardial infarction in the postoperative period, based on multivariate logistic regression analysis.

Colchicine to Reduce Atrial Fibrillation in the Postoperative Period of Myocardial Revascularization

Abstract Background: The high prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in the postoperative period of myocardial revascularization surgery increases morbidity and mortality. Objective: To assess the efficacy of colchicine to prevent AF in the postoperative period of myocardial revascularization surgery, the impact of AF on hospital length of stay and death, and to identify its risk factors. Methods: Between May 2012 and November 2013, 140 patients submitted to myocardial revascularization surgery were randomized, 69 to the control group and 71 to the colchicine group. Colchicine was used at the dose of 1 mg orally, twice daily, preoperatively, and of 0.5 mg, twice daily, until hospital discharge. A single dose of 1 mg was administered to those admitted 12 hours or less before surgery. Results: The primary endpoint was AF rate in the postoperative period of myocardial revascularization surgery. Colchicine group patients showed no reduction in AF incidence as compared to control group patients (7.04% versus 13.04%, respectively; p = 0.271). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups regarding death from any cause rate (5.6% versus 10.1%; p = 0,363) and hospital length of stay (14.5 ± 11.5 versus 13.3 ± 9.4 days; p = 0.490). However, colchicine group patients had a higher infection rate (26.8% versus 8.7%; p = 0.007). Conclusion: The use of colchicine to prevent AF after myocardial revascularization surgery was not effective in the present study. Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials number RBR-556dhr.

Poliomyelitis: epidemiological aspects in Rio de Janeiro (Guanabara State) and adjacent areas in the period from 1961 to 1970

Based on the available data from the Hospital responsible for the care of paralitic poliomyelitis cases in Rio de Janeiro City (Guanabara State) and adjacent areas, and the laboratory studies carried out on these patients, the authors analize epidemiological aspects of poliomyelitis in a period of ten years (1961 to 1970). Paralitic poliomyelitis remains a public health problem, with a typical incidence in the less than 4 year age group. All three poliovirus types have been prevalent for at least one period of time during the last ten years. Trivalent oral vaccine has been used since 1961 but the vaccination levels achieved were not enough to a permanent control of the disease. A definite seasonal distribution of cases could not be observed with the available data. Active mass campaign vaccinations with previous motivation of all segments of the population, specially the low-income groups instead of passive waiting of children in Vaccination Centers seems to be the best aproach to control poliomyelitis in this area.