PMS2: a potential prognostic protein marker in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: An increase in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cases was observed despite the reduction in exposure to classic risk factors. Although the exact cause of this trend remains unknown, epigenetic factors could be contributing to an increased occurrence of these tumors. This study aims to assess the influence of PMS2 protein immunoexpression on the prognosis of patients with OSCC. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study comprised 76 cases of OSCC treated between 2011 and 2016. Immunohistochemical staining for PMS2 was performed. For evaluation, 10 fields per histological section were photographed at a 400x magnification and positively-stained cells were counted with Image J. Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare the immunolabeling pattern with the clinical-pathological and prognostic characteristics. Survival analysis was performed with Chi-square, Long-Rank Mantel-Cox and Cox regression tests (p<0.05). RESULTS: An overexpression of PMS2 was observed in N0/1 tumors and in oral cancers found in unusual locations. In patients ≤60 years of age, high levels of PMS2 (>60%; p=0.041) were associated with low survival (p=0.029). In multivariate analysis, surgery combined with chemotherapy (p=0.030) and high PMS2 immunoexpression (p=0.042) significantly increased the risk of death for ≤60 years old patients. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study indicate that PMS2 can be a potential prognostic protein marker in OSCC patients 60 years of age and younger.

Clinical-pathological and sociodemographic factors associated with the distant metastasis and overall survival of oral cavity and oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of clinical-pathological and sociodemographic factors on the prevalence of distant metastasis (DM) and overall survival in patients with oral cavity and oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma (OOSCC). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Cross-sectional study based on the records of 404 OOSCC patients evaluated for DM, covering the period 2000-2014. We analysed the influence of age, sex, level of schooling, primary tumor subsite, treatment, marital status, family history of cancer, history of smoking and alcohol consumption, type of health care coverage (private vs. public) and overall survival. Findings were submitted to Fisher's exact test, Pearson's chi-squared test, Mantel-Cox log-rank testing and multinomial and Cox regression analysis (SPSS v. 20.0; p<0.05). RESULTS: The prevalence of DM was 5.4% (22/404). The respiratory tract was the most affected DM site (n=9; 40.9%). Male sex (p=0.049), oropharyngeal primary tumor (p=0.008), stage T3-4 (p=0.022), lymph node metastasis (N+) (p<0.001) and palliative treatment (p=0.005) were directly associated with DM. Patients with oral primary tumours (p=0.343) and primary oropharyngeal tumours (p=0.242) did not differ significantly with regard to the prevalence of DM. N+ was an independent risk factor for DM (p=0.017). Five variables independently reduced overall survival: male sex (p=0.035), age >65 years (p=0.046), indigenous/brown racial type (p=0.045), palliative treatment (p=0.035) and DM (p=0.048). CONCLUSIONS: Lymph node metastasis independently increased the prevalence of DM and, along with male sex, older age, brown racial type and palliative treatment, was independently associated with poor prognosis in patients with OOSCC.

A qualitative assessment of long distance truck drivers' vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in Itajaí, southern Brazil.

Itajaí is the largest port in southern Brazil and has one of the nation's highest AIDS incidence rates. Since over 400 truck drivers enter the city daily, they may play a key role in the HIV/AIDS epidemic due to transactions with commercial sex workers (CSWs) and/or substance use. We conducted a rapid assessment to establish the context of HIV vulnerability among truckers and CSWs in Itajaí. Forty three in-depth interviews and eight focus groups were conducted with truckers and CSWs. Two truck-driving routes involving brothels, meeting places and drug-use locations were mapped and field observations were collected. Tapes and field notes were transcribed and analyzed for emerging themes. Truck drivers typically had unprotected sex with several partners, including CSWs and truckstop employees. Both truckers and CSWs had low perceived HIV risk in spite of being engaged in high-risk sex behaviors. Use of alcohol and amphetamine-like drugs was frequent among truckers and appeared to influence unsafe sex practices. Knowledge about amphetamine-related risks was low, as was access to health services and HIV/AIDS behavioral interventions. Interventions, targeting truckers, CSWs and truckstop employees, are needed that traverse cities, states and borders and take into account seasonality, spatial context and workplace conditions.

Social representation of Hansens disease thirty years after the term leprosy was replaced in Brazil

Baseando-se nas teorias de representação social (RS) e do Núcleo Central (NC), procedeu-se ao estudo estrutural do neologismo hanseníase, introduzido no Brasil, pelo Ministério da Saúde, nos anos 1970. A pesquisa foi conduzida em 2001, em oitocentas donas de casa dos municípios do Rio de Janeiro e Duque de Caxias. Concluiu-se que a hanseníase é parte da modernização do senso comum, mais ainda ancorada na representação tradicional da lepra. Esse achado é compreensível sabendo-se que a estrutura central de uma RS tem determinação histórica, não devendo ser esperadas mudanças de curto e médio prazos. Além disso, não se observou investimento em comunicação social para a divulgação ampla da nova terminologia. Os autores discutem a interface da RS com o conceito de história das mentalidades

Bifurcation points in the theory of axially symmetric arc cathodes.

Steady-state current transfer from arc plasmas to axially symmetric cathodes is treated in the framework of the model of nonlinear surface heating. An approach is developed to calculate the bifurcation points at which three-dimensional spot-mode solutions branch off from solutions describing the diffuse mode and axially symmetric spot modes. In particular, the first bifurcation point positioned on the diffuse-mode solution has been calculated, and thus its stability limit, i.e., the current below which the diffuse mode becomes unstable. Calculation results are given for the case of a tungsten cathode in the form of a circular cylinder in high-pressure plasmas. The effect produced on the stability limit by variations of control parameters (cathode dimensions, work function of the cathode material, plasma-producing gas, and its pressure) is studied and found to conform to trends observed experimentally. The stability limit is found to be much more sensitive to variations of control parameters than characteristics of the diffuse mode are, the strongest effect being produced by variations of cathode dimensions and of the work function of the cathode material. This finding conforms to the fact that the diffuse-spot transition is difficult to reproduce in the experiment.

Three-wave interaction in two-component quadratic nonlinear lattices.

We investigate a two-component lattice with a quadratic nonlinearity and find with the multiple scale technique that integrable three-wave interaction takes place between plane wave solutions when these fulfill resonance conditions. We demonstrate that energy conversion and pulse propagation known from three-wave interaction is reproduced in the lattice and that exact phase matching of parametric processes can be obtained in non-phase-matched lattices by tilting the interacting plane waves with respect to each other.