Soroprevalência de HIV em caminhoneiros usuários da Rodovia Anhanguera,SP 330, Brasil / HIV seroprevalence in truck dirivers users of Anhanguera Highway,SP 330, Brazil

Este estudo realizou uma avaliação sorológica para HIV em amostras de sangue coletadas de 1844 indivíduos, durante a Campanha Saúde na Boléia-Projeto Caminhoneiro, resultado de parceria entre Instituto Adolfo Lutz, Secretaria da Saúde, Coordenação DST/AIDS, Intervias e Uniararas. Do total de indivíduos, 1589 (86,2 por cento) eram caminhoneiros e 255 (13,8 por cento) outros usuários da Rodovia Anhanguera - SP 330, trecho compreendido entre os quilômetros 164 e 232. Foi realizada a triagem para HIV das amostras aplicando-se dois ensaios imunoenzimáticos (ELISA), paralelos e simultâneos. As amostras positivas e indeterminadas foram submetidas à reação de Imunofluorescência Indireta (IFI) e Western-Blot. Foram detectadas 15 amostras positivas entre os caminhoneiros, representando 0,9 por cento deste grupo. Os outros indivíduos amostrados foram soronegativos

A nonlinear operator-based speech feature analysis method with application to vocal fold pathology assessment.

Traditional speech processing methods for laryngeal pathology assessment assume linear speech production with measures derived from an estimated glottal flow waveform. They normally require the speaker to achieve complete glottal closure, which for many vocal fold pathologies cannot be accomplished. To address this issue, a nonlinear signal processing approach is proposed which does not require direct glottal flow waveform estimation. This technique is motivated by earlier studies of airflow characterization for human speech production. The proposed nonlinear approach employs a differential Teager energy operator and the energy separation algorithm to obtain formant AM and FM modulations from filtered speech recordings. A new speech measure is proposed based on parameterization of the autocorrelation envelope of the AM response. This approach is shown to achieve impressive detection performance for a set of muscular tension dysphonias. Unlike flow characterization using numerical solutions of Navier-Stokes equations, this method is extremely computationally attractive, requiring only a small time window of speech samples. The new noninvasive method shows that a fast, effective digital speech processing technique can be developed for vocal fold pathology assessment without the need for direct glottal flow estimation or complete glottal closure by the speaker. The proposed method also confirms that alternative nonlinear methods can begin to address the limitations of previous linear approaches for speech pathology assessment.

Effect of omeprazole on concentrations of clarithromycin in plasma and gastric tissue at steady state.

This study was conducted to determine (i) the effect of omeprazole on steady-state concentrations of clarithromycin and 14-(R)-hydroxyclarithromycin in plasma and gastric mucosa, (ii) the effect of clarithromycin on steady-state concentrations of omeprazole in plasma, and (iii) the effect of clarithromycin on the suppression of gastric acid secretion by omeprazole. Twenty healthy, Helicobacter pylori-negative male subjects completed this three-period, double-blind, randomized crossover study. In period 1, all subjects received 40 mg of omeprazole each morning for 6 days. Twenty-four-hour gastric pH monitoring took place on days -1 and 6. Pharmacokinetic sampling took place on day 6. In periods 2 and 3, subjects were randomly assigned to receive either 40 mg of omeprazole or omeprazole placebo daily for 6 days plus clarithromycin (500 mg) every 8 h for 5 days with a single 500-mg dose on day 6. Gastric tissue and mucus samples were obtained via endoscopy on day 5. Gastric pH monitoring and pharmacokinetic sampling took place on day 6. Two-week washout intervals separated the three study periods. Clarithromycin increased mean omeprazole area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to 24 h from 3.3 +/- 2.0 to 6.3 +/- 4.5 micrograms.h/ml (P < 0.05) and harmonic mean half-life from 1.2 to 1.6 h (P < 0.05) but did not significantly alter the effect of omeprazole on gastric pH. Mean clarithromycin area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to 8 h increased from 22.9 +/- 5.5 (placebo) to 26.4 +/- 5.7 micrograms.h/ml (omeprazole) (P < 0.05) when clarithromycin was administered with omeprazole. Analysis of variance revealed that mean concentrations of clarithromycin in tissue and mucus were statistically significantly higher when clarithromycin was given with omeprazole than when clarithromycin was given with placebo (P <0.001). Mean maximum observed concentrations of clarithromycin in the gastric fundus increased from 20.8 +/- 7.6 (placebo) to 24.3 +/- 6.4 micrograms/g (omeprazole), and those in the gastric mucous from 4.2 +/- 7.7 placebo to 39.3 +/- 32.8 micrograms/g (omeprazole). Similar increases were observed for the 14-(R)-hydroxyclarithromycin. These results show that omeprazole increases concentrations of clarithromycin in gastric tissue and mucus and may provide a mechanism for synergy between clarithromycin ad omeprazole that explains the excellent eradication of H. pylori seen in clinical trials.

Squamous cell carcinoma in situ (Bowen's disease) mimicking subungual verruca vulgaris.

Squamous cell carcinoma uncommonly presents as a primary neoplasm of the nail. When occurring in the periungual region, this malignancy may mimic a wide variety of infectious, inflammatory, and neoplastic disorders, including the common wart. We present the case of a 62-year-old man with subungual squamous cell carcinoma in situ that for many years was treated as a verruca.

Bandpass (bandstop) digital filter design routine.

As a complement to the design methods for low pass digital filters previously published [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 48, 1447 (1977)], we present a description of a bandpass (or bandstop) digital filter design program, a demonstration of its use, and the fortran code.