Quantitative description of six fish species' gut contents and prey abundances in the Baltic Sea (1968-1978).

The dataset presents a compilation of stomach contents from six demersal fish species from two functional groups inhabiting the Baltic Sea. It includes detailed information on prey identities, body masses, and biomasses recovered from both the fish's digestive systems and their surrounding environment. Environmental parameters, such as salinity and temperature levels, have been integrated to enrich this dataset. The juxtaposition of information on prey found in stomachs and in the environment provides an opportunity to quantify trophic interactions across different environmental contexts and investigate how fish foraging behaviour adapts to changes in their environment, such as an increase in temperature. The compilation of body mass and taxonomic information for all species allows approaching these new questions using either a taxonomic (based on species identity) or functional trait (based on body mass) approach.

Linking biodiversity, ecosystem function, and Nature's contributions to people: a macroecological energy flux perspective.

At macroecological scales, the provision of Nature's contributions to people (NCP) is mostly estimated with biophysical information, ignoring the ecological processes underlying them. This hinders our ability to properly quantify the impact of declining biodiversity and the provision of NCP. Here, we propose a framework that combines local-scale food web energy flux approaches and large-scale biodiversity models to evaluate ecosystem functions and flux-related NCP at extensive spatiotemporal scales. Importantly, this approach has the potential to upscale ecosystem functions, assess the vulnerability of flux-related NCP to the climate crisis, and support the development of multiscale mitigation policies.

Potential of using facial thermal imaging in patient triage of flu-like syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

The screening of flu-like syndrome is difficult due to nonspecific symptoms or even oligosymptomatic presentation and became even more complex during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, an efficient screening tool plays an important role in the control of highly contagious diseases, allowing more efficient medical-epidemiological approaches and rational management of global health resources. Infrared thermography is a technique sensitive to small alterations in the skin temperature which may be related to early signs of inflammation and thus being relevant in the detection of infectious diseases. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of facial thermal profiles as a risk evaluator of symptoms and signs of SARs diseases, using COVID-19 as background disease. A total of 136 patients were inquired about the most common symptoms of COVID-19 infection and were submitted to an infrared image scanning, where the temperatures of 10 parameters from different regions of the face were captured. We used RT-qPCR as the ground truth to compare with the thermal parameters, in order to evaluate the performance of infrared imaging in COVID-19 screening. Only 16% of infected patients had fever at the hospital admission, and most infrared thermal variables presented values of temperature significantly higher in infected patients. The maximum eye temperature (MaxE) showed the highest predictive value at a cut-off of >35.9°C (sn = 71.87%, sp = 86.11%, LR+ = 5.18, LR- = 0.33, AUC = 0.850, p < 0.001). Our predictive model reached an accuracy of 86% for disease detection, indicating that facial infrared thermal scanning, based on the combination of different facial regions and the thermal profile of the face, has potential to act as a more accurate diagnostic support method for early COVID-19 screening, when compared to classical infrared methods, based on a single spot with the maximum skin temperature of the face.

AMAZONIA CAMTRAP: A data set of mammal, bird, and reptile species recorded with camera traps in the Amazon forest.

The Amazon forest has the highest biodiversity on Earth. However, information on Amazonian vertebrate diversity is still deficient and scattered across the published, peer-reviewed, and gray literature and in unpublished raw data. Camera traps are an effective non-invasive method of surveying vertebrates, applicable to different scales of time and space. In this study, we organized and standardized camera trap records from different Amazon regions to compile the most extensive data set of inventories of mammal, bird, and reptile species ever assembled for the area. The complete data set comprises 154,123 records of 317 species (185 birds, 119 mammals, and 13 reptiles) gathered from surveys from the Amazonian portion of eight countries (Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela). The most frequently recorded species per taxa were: mammals: Cuniculus paca (11,907 records); birds: Pauxi tuberosa (3713 records); and reptiles: Tupinambis teguixin (716 records). The information detailed in this data paper opens up opportunities for new ecological studies at different spatial and temporal scales, allowing for a more accurate evaluation of the effects of habitat loss, fragmentation, climate change, and other human-mediated defaunation processes in one of the most important and threatened tropical environments in the world. The data set is not copyright restricted; please cite this data paper when using its data in publications and we also request that researchers and educators inform us of how they are using these data.

Corrigendum: Close to a Decade of Decrease in Antimicrobial Usage in Danish Pig Production-Evaluating the Effect of the Yellow Card Scheme.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00109.].

Effects of harvesting Spirulina platensis biomass using coagulants and electrocoagulation-flotation on enzymatic hydrolysis.

This study aimed to assess the harvesting of Spirulina platensis using coagulants and electrocoagulation-flotation (ECF) and to evaluate its influence on enzymatic hydrolysis. Using nine chemical coagulants, we obtained a biomass harvesting efficiency of up to 99.5%. Using ECF, the harvesting efficiency at the aluminum and carbon electrode was 98%-99% and 33.8%-86.9%, respectively. Hydrolysis efficiency (HE) with amylases varied from 17% to 42%, and the degree of hydrolysis (DH) with proteases varied from 1.26% to 4.07%, compared with an HE of 31% and a DH of 3.57% in the centrifuged biomass. Compared to an HE of 61.75% for the centrifuged biomass, and HE of 99% and 85.46% was obtained for the biomass harvested using the aluminum and carbon electrodes. The HEs with the electrodes were better than those with the alternative methods and centrifugation; hence, with some optimization, the biomass harvested could be used for enzymatic hydrolysis.

Close to a Decade of Decrease in Antimicrobial Usage in Danish Pig Production-Evaluating the Effect of the Yellow Card Scheme.

The emergence and dissemination of antimicrobial resistant pathogens have led to rising concern about the widespread and excessive use of antimicrobials in veterinary medicine. Denmark has implemented several initiatives to reduce antimicrobial use in animals since the 90s, with the Yellow Card scheme implemented in 2010. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects on antimicrobial use in Danish pig farms of changes in the legislation regarding the Yellow Card, based on analysis of temporal trends in monthly antimicrobial consumption calculated at herd-level from 2010 to 2017. A dynamic linear model with a linear growth component was used to model the data. The percentage of herds with a negative growth component and a significant decline below zero (based on 95% credible intervals) was assessed for the entire study period. The analysis was run separately for the different age groups within each farm: weaners (up to 30 kg), sows and finishers herds, and categorized according to antimicrobial use before the Yellow Card initiative (2008-2009), as groups of herds with "low," "moderate," or "high" consumption. The results evidence a decline of the antimicrobial consumption in Danish pig herds, more pronounced during two periods: with the introduction of the Yellow Card and in relation to the announcements and changes in the legislation in 2014. Weaner herds in the high consumption category had the highest percentage of herds with a negative growth component, reaching 82% of herds in January 2011, followed by weaner herds with moderate antimicrobial consumption reaching 71% of herds in October 2012. For finisher herds in the moderate consumption category, the proportion with a negative growth increased from 38% in January 2010 to 71% in July 2011. A decline in antimicrobial consumption was also evident after announcements and changes in the legislation in 2014, particularly for sows and finishers. Our findings suggest that changes in the Yellow Card scheme promoted a continuous reduction in antimicrobial use in Danish pig herds, particularly in herds with high antimicrobial consumption.

Development of Reporting Guidelines for Animal Health Surveillance-AHSURED.

With the current trend in animal health surveillance toward risk-based designs and a gradual transition to output-based standards, greater flexibility in surveillance design is both required and allowed. However, the increase in flexibility requires more transparency regarding surveillance, its activities, design and implementation. Such transparency allows stakeholders, trade partners, decision-makers and risk assessors to accurately interpret the validity of the surveillance outcomes. This paper presents the first version of the Animal Health Surveillance Reporting Guidelines (AHSURED) and the process by which they have been developed. The goal of AHSURED was to produce a set of reporting guidelines that supports communication of surveillance activities in the form of narrative descriptions. Reporting guidelines come from the field of evidence-based medicine and their aim is to improve consistency and quality of information reported in scientific journals. They usually consist of a checklist of items to be reported, a description/definition of each item, and an explanation and elaboration document. Examples of well-reported items are frequently provided. Additionally, it is common to make available a website where the guidelines are documented and maintained. This first version of the AHSURED guidelines consists of a checklist of 40 items organized in 11 sections (i.e., surveillance system building blocks), which is available as a wiki at https://github.com/SVA-SE/AHSURED/wiki. The choice of a wiki format will allow for further inputs from surveillance experts who were not involved in the earlier stages of development. This will promote an up-to-date refined guideline document.

Unweaving tangled mortality and antibiotic consumption data to detect disease outbreaks - Peaks, growths, and foresight in swine production.

As our capacity to collect and store health data is increasing, a new challenge of transforming data into meaningful information for disease monitoring and surveillance has arisen. The aim of this study was to explore the potential of using livestock mortality and antibiotic consumption data as a proxy for detecting disease outbreaks at herd level. Changes in the monthly records of mortality and antibiotic consumption were monitored in Danish swine herds that became positive for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) and porcine pleuropneumonia. Laboratory serological results were used to identify herds that changed from a negative to a positive status for the diseases. A dynamic linear model with a linear growth component was used to model the data. Alarms about state changes were raised based on forecast errors, changes in the growth component, and the values of the retrospectively smoothed values of the growth component. In all cases, the alarms were defined based on credible intervals and assessed prior and after herds got a positive disease status. The number of herds with alarms based on mortality increased by 3% in the 3 months prior to laboratory confirmation of PRRS-positive herds (Se = 0.47). A 22% rise in the number of weaner herds with alarms based on the consumption of antibiotics for respiratory diseases was found 1 month prior to these herds becoming PRRS-positive (Se = 0.22). For porcine pleuropneumonia-positive herds, a 10% increase in antibiotic consumption for respiratory diseases in sow herds was seen 1 month prior to a positive result (Se = 0.5). Monitoring changes in mortality data and antibiotic consumption showed changes at herd level prior to and in the same month as confirmation from diagnostic tests. These results also show a potential value for using these data streams as part of surveillance strategies.

Comparison of time-series models for monitoring temporal trends in endemic diseases sero-prevalence: lessons from porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome in Danish swine herds.

BACKGROUND: Monitoring systems are essential to detect if the number of cases of a specific disease is rising. Data collected as part of voluntary disease monitoring programs is particularly useful to evaluate if control and eradication programs achieve the target. These data are characterized by random noise which makes harder to interpret temporal changes in the data. Monitoring trends in the data is a possible approach to overcome this issue. The objective of this study was to assess the performance of three time-series models that allows monitoring trends in data in terms of its adaptability when used to monitor changes in disease sero-prevalence at a national scale based on data collected as part of voluntary monitoring programs. We compared two Bayesian forecasting methods and an Exponential smoothing method, specifically a Dynamic Linear Model, a Dynamic Generalized Linear Model and a Holt's linear trend method, respectively. These three different types of time series models were applied to data on weekly sero-prevalence of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) in Danish swine herds. RESULTS: Comparing the linear cross-dependence between the filtered values obtained from the three models and the raw data, we observed that the Holt's linear trend method shows negative linear dependence for roughly half of the time for breeding/nucleus and multiplier herds, having values close to zero for most of the period in finisher herds. CONCLUSIONS: Bayesian forecasting methods adapt faster to changes in the data, compared to the deterministic Holt's linear trend method. The practical implication of this greater flexibility is that the Bayesian methods will provide more reliable values of changes in the data and have potential to be implemented as part of a surveillance system in Denmark.

Estimating time evolving cross-dependence of porcine reproduction and respiratory syndrome sero-prevalence in Danish swine herds.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) has been a challenge for the Danish swine industry. It is important to identify forms of time-dependence in PRRS sero-prevalence among swine herds at country level, in order to allocate resources in an effective manner. This is of particular value if an increase of PRRS sero-prevalence occurs in a particular type of herds and control measures are taken to avoid disease spread downwards the swine production system. The objective of this study was to describe the presence (or lack thereof) of the linear cross-dependence of PRRS sero-prevalence in Danish swine herds from 2012 to 2014. These temporal dependencies were calculated for Danish swine herds with different biosecurity status and directional trade contacts between them: from nucleus/breeding herds to multipliers and finisher herds and from nucleus/breeding herds to finishers via multiplier herds. We used a method proposed for non-stationary time-series decomposition which allows an assessment of the existence of linear cross-dependencies between multiple of types of herds. The results demonstrate the existence of cyclic patterns of direct linear positive and negative dependence between PRRS sero-prevalence between multipliers and finishers herds. This suggests that the associations between PRRS sero-prevalence time-series follow the swine production system downwards for the majority of the study period, i.e. an increase or decrease in PRRS sero-prevalence in multiplier is followed by a shift in PRRS sero-prevalence in finisher herds after a few weeks. For specific time periods, however, these associations might have been influenced by other factors.

Outcomes From Using Mortality, Antimicrobial Consumption, and Vaccine Use Data for Monitoring Endemic Diseases in Danish Swine Herds.

The aim of this study was to assess the potential of using multiple data sources currently available in Denmark for monitoring swine diseases. The study included farms that, based on serology, changed from "negative" to "positive" status for Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), enzootic pneumonia (Mycoplasma hyopneumonia), and porcine pleuropneumonia (Actinobacillus pluropneumoniae) between January 2014 and September 2017. These corresponded to 45 swine farms working as individual operation units (i.e., their disease status is independent from other farms) and 81 farms that were part of joint operation units (i.e., 2 or more farms considered to be an epidemiological unit, having swine and personnel are transferred among them, that have the same disease status). Additionally, a total of 95 farms with a negative status for these three diseases during the study period were also included in the study. Changes in mortality data, antimicrobial consumption, and vaccine use at herd level were monitored using Shewhart control charts prior to, during, and after these farms were found positive for the three diseases. The analysis was run separately for the different age groups-weaners (up to 30 kg), sows and finishers herds-within each farm. Briefly, the highest percentage of herds generating alarms was generated up to 3 months before they changed their disease status based on mortality (30%) and 1 month after based on antimicrobial use for respiratory diseases (100%). Porcine pleuropneumonia showed to be the disease with the highest impact on these data at herd level; alarms based on the three data streams were generated in the same month that herds changed their status to porcine pleuropneumonia-positive, as well as the following months. Alarms based on vaccine use generally occurred within the same month or after changes in disease status. False alarms were found in 2% (median value) of the herds for the different age groups based on mortality and antimicrobial use for respiratory diseases in healthy farms. Monitoring changes in mortality data, antimicrobial consumption, and vaccine use showed changes (i.e., warnings) at herd level prior to confirmation from diagnostic tests.

Building the foundation for veterinary register-based epidemiology: A systematic approach to data quality assessment and validation.

Epidemiological studies often use data from registers. Data quality is of vital importance for the quality of the research. The aim of this study was to suggest a structured workflow to assess the quality of veterinary national registers. As an example of how to use the workflow, the quality of the following three registers was assessed: the Central Husbandry Register (CHR), the database for movement of pigs (DMP) and the national Danish register of drugs for veterinary use (VetStat). A systematic quantitative assessment was performed, with calculation the proportion of farms and observations with "poor quality" of data. "Poor" quality was defined for each measure (variable) either as a mismatch between and/or within registers, registrations of numbers outside the expected range, or unbalanced in- and outgoing movements. Interviews were conducted to make a complementary qualitative assessment. The proportion of farms and observations within each quality measure varied. This study highlights the importance of systematic quality assessment of register data and suggests a systematic approach for such assessments and validations without the use of primary data.

Mortality in Danish Swine herds: Spatio-temporal clusters and risk factors.

The aim of this study was to explore spatio-temporal mortality patterns in Danish swine herds from December 2013 to October 2015, and to discuss the use of mortality data for syndromic surveillance in Denmark. Although it has previously been assessed within the context of syndromic surveillance, the value of mortality data generated on a regular and mandatory basis from all swine herds remains unexplored in terms of swine surveillance in Denmark. A total of 5010 farms were included in the analysis, corresponding to 1896 weaner herds, 1490 sow herds and 3839 finisher herds. The spatio-temporal analysis included data description for spatial, temporal, and spatio-temporal cluster analysis for three age groups: weaners (up to 30kg), sows and finishers. Logistic regression models were used to assess the potential factors associated with finisher and weaner herds being included within multiple-herd clusters. The spatio-temporal distribution of mortality changed over time, and suggested a general increase in mortality for the months of January and July for the three age groups. A large number of single-herd clusters (i.e. clusters with only one herd), and fewer multiple-herd clusters (i.e. clusters with at least two herds) were found. The herd size affected whether weaner herds were within multiple-herd clusters, and factors such farm type, SPF status and presence of atrophic rhinitis had an impact on finisher herds being inside vs. outside multiple-herd clusters in the univariable analysis. However, due to a strong correlation between variables, only farm type remained in the multivariable analysis for the finisher herds. The higher mortality observed for the months of January and July could be linked to infrequent updates of the data used to calculate mortality. The presence of single-herd clusters might indicate welfare and disease issues, while multiple-herd clusters could suggest the presence of infectious diseases within the cluster area. The impact of farm type is linked to the fact that larger farms specialize in only one age group, with high biosecurity and more specialized personnel, and subsequently a lower mortality. Mortality data have a potential use in disease surveillance. However, detected clusters might not be due to disease, but the result of changes such as herd management practices. Further analysis to explore other spatio-temporal monitoring methods is needed before mortality data can be incorporated into a Danish disease monitoring system.

A simulation study to evaluate the performance of five statistical monitoring methods when applied to different time-series components in the context of control programs for endemic diseases.

Disease monitoring and surveillance play a crucial role in control and eradication programs, as it is important to track implemented strategies in order to reduce and/or eliminate a specific disease. The objectives of this study were to assess the performance of different statistical monitoring methods for endemic disease control program scenarios, and to explore what impact of variation (noise) in the data had on the performance of these monitoring methods. We simulated 16 different scenarios of changes in weekly sero-prevalence. The changes included different combinations of increases, decreases and constant sero-prevalence levels (referred as events). Two space-state models were used to model the time series, and different statistical monitoring methods (such as univariate process control algorithms-Shewart Control Chart, Tabular Cumulative Sums, and the V-mask- and monitoring of the trend component-based on 99% confidence intervals and the trend sign) were tested. Performance was evaluated based on the number of iterations in which an alarm was raised for a given week after the changes were introduced. Results revealed that the Shewhart Control Chart was better at detecting increases over decreases in sero-prevalence, whereas the opposite was observed for the Tabular Cumulative Sums. The trend-based methods detected the first event well, but performance was poorer when adapting to several consecutive events. The V-Mask method seemed to perform most consistently, and the impact of noise in the baseline was greater for the Shewhart Control Chart and Tabular Cumulative Sums than for the V-Mask and trend-based methods. The performance of the different statistical monitoring methods varied when monitoring increases and decreases in disease sero-prevalence. Combining two of more methods might improve the potential scope of surveillance systems, allowing them to fulfill different objectives due to their complementary advantages.

Monitoring endemic livestock diseases using laboratory diagnostic data: A simulation study to evaluate the performance of univariate process monitoring control algorithms.

Surveillance systems are critical for accurate, timely monitoring and effective disease control. In this study, we investigated the performance of univariate process monitoring control algorithms in detecting changes in seroprevalence for endemic diseases. We also assessed the effect of sample size (number of sentinel herds tested in the surveillance system) on the performance of the algorithms. Three univariate process monitoring control algorithms were compared: Shewart p Chart(1) (PSHEW), Cumulative Sum(2) (CUSUM) and Exponentially Weighted Moving Average(3) (EWMA). Increases in seroprevalence were simulated from 0.10 to 0.15 and 0.20 over 4, 8, 24, 52 and 104 weeks. Each epidemic scenario was run with 2000 iterations. The cumulative sensitivity(4) (CumSe) and timeliness were used to evaluate the algorithms' performance with a 1% false alarm rate. Using these performance evaluation criteria, it was possible to assess the accuracy and timeliness of the surveillance system working in real-time. The results showed that EWMA and PSHEW had higher CumSe (when compared with the CUSUM) from week 1 until the end of the period for all simulated scenarios. Changes in seroprevalence from 0.10 to 0.20 were more easily detected (higher CumSe) than changes from 0.10 to 0.15 for all three algorithms. Similar results were found with EWMA and PSHEW, based on the median time to detection. Changes in the seroprevalence were detected later with CUSUM, compared to EWMA and PSHEW for the different scenarios. Increasing the sample size 10 fold halved the time to detection (CumSe=1), whereas increasing the sample size 100 fold reduced the time to detection by a factor of 6. This study investigated the performance of three univariate process monitoring control algorithms in monitoring endemic diseases. It was shown that automated systems based on these detection methods identified changes in seroprevalence at different times. Increasing the number of tested herds would lead to faster detection. However, the practical implications of increasing the sample size (such as the costs associated with the disease) should also be taken into account.

Spatial analysis and temporal trends of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome in Denmark from 2007 to 2010 based on laboratory submission data.

BACKGROUND: Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) has been a cause for great concern to the Danish pig industry since it was first diagnosed in 1992. The causative agent of PRRS is an RNA virus which is divided into different genotypes. The clinical signs, as well as its morbidity and mortality, is highly variable between herds and regions. Two different genotypes of PRRS virus (PRRSV) are found in Denmark: type 1 and type 2. Approximately 40% of Danish swine herds are seropositive for one or both PRRSV types. The objective of this study was to describe the temporal trend and spatial distribution of PRRSV in Danish swine herds from 2007 to 2010, based on type-specific serological tests from the PRRS surveillance and control program in Denmark using the results stored in the information management system at the National Veterinary Institute, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Vet). RESULTS: The average monthly seroprevalence of PRRSV type 1 was 9% (minimum of 5%; maximum of 13%) in breeding herds, and 20% (minimum of 14%; maximum of 26%) in production herds; PRRSV type 2 had an average seroprevalence of 3% (minimum of 1%; maximum of 9%) in breeding herds and of 9% (minimum of 5%; maximum of 13%) within production herds. The seroconversion rate followed a similar and consistent pattern, being higher for type 1 than for type 2 for both PRRSV types. Regarding the spatiotemporal results, the relative risk distribution maps changed over time as a consequence of the changes in PRRSV seroprevalence, suggesting a general decline in the extent of areas with higher relative risk for both type 1 and 2. Local spatial analysis results demonstrated the existence of statistically significant clusters in areas where the relative risk was higher for both herds. CONCLUSIONS: PRRSV type 1 seroprevalence was constantly higher than for PRRSV type 2 in both herd types. Significant spatial clusters were consistently found in Denmark, suggesting that PRRSV is endemic in these areas. Furthermore, relative risk distribution maps revealed different patterns over time as a consequence of the changes in seroprevalence.

The dog and cat population on Maio Island, Cape Verde: characterisation and prediction based on household survey and remotely sensed imagery.

The objective was to estimate and characterise the dog and cat population on Maio Island, Cape Verde. Remotely sensed imagery was used to document the number of houses across the island and a household survey was carried out in six administrative areas recording the location of each animal using a global positioning system instrument. Linear statistical models were applied to predict the dog and cat populations based on the number of houses found and according to various levels of data aggregation. In the surveyed localities, a total of 457 dogs and 306 cats were found. The majority of animals had owners and only a few had free access to outdoor activities. The estimated population size was 531 dogs [95% confidence interval (CI): 453-609] and 354 cats (95% CI: 275-431). Stray animals were not a concern on the island in contrast to the rest of the country.

Upper trapezius relaxation induced by TENS and interferential current in computer users with chronic nonspecific neck discomfort: An electromyographic analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have shown that a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and interferential current (IFC) application reduces pain in subjects with musculoskeletal disorders. However there are no clinical trials evaluating or comparing the muscle relaxation generated for these devices. PURPOSE: To compare the muscle relaxation of the upper trapezius induced by the application of TENS and IFC in females with chronic nonspecific neck discomfort. METHODS: Sixty-four females between 18 and 40 years of age and a history of nonspecific neck discomfort were randomly assigned to a TENS or an IFC group. The women in the TENS (N = 32; mean age 22 years) and IFC (N = 32, mean age 23 years) group were submitted to current application during 3 consecutive days and were assessed by electromyography (EMG) in different times aiming to quantify the muscular tension of the upper trapezius. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was used as pain measure at baseline (before TENS or IFC application) and at the end of the study. RESULTS: At baseline, demographic, pain, and EMG assessment data were similar between groups. Those in the IFC group had a significant trapezius relaxation after 3 IFC applications when compared to baseline and intermediate evaluations (P < 0.05). In contrast, the same analysis showed no significant difference between all assessments in the TENS group (P >0.05). In relation to pain relief, both groups showed an improvement at the end of the study when compared to baseline (both,P <0.05). The between-group analysis showed no difference for the subjects who received such IFC as TENS application (P <0.05). CONCLUSION: IFC induced the upper trapezius relaxation after 3 sessions in females with neck discomfort, but the TENS application did not change the muscular tension. However, these results should be carefully interpreted due to the lack of differences between groups. A significant pain decrease was found in the subjects of both groups, however, only the IFC application presented a clinically important improvement.

Diminuição da expressão imuno-histoquímica de moléculasde adesão em carcinomas escamosos de mucosa oral / Reduction of immunohistochemical expression of adhesion molecules in squamous carcinoma of oral mucosa

Objetivos: Comparar a expressão imuno-histoquímica da E-caderina e da Beta-catenina de lesões escamosaspré-neoplásicas e neoplásicas de mucosa oral de amostras emblocadas em parafina. Materiais e métodos:Foram selecionadas 15 amostras de mucosa oral de pacientes apresentando hiperplasia com ou sem displasialeve (grupo 1); 5 amostras apresentando displasia moderada, acentuada ou carcinoma in situ (grupo 2); e12 amostras apresentando carcinoma de células escamosas invasor (grupo 3). Essas amostras foram submetidasà técnica de imuno-histoquímica com anticorpos primários monoclonais anti-E-caderina e anti-Betacatenina.A leitura em microscopia óptica compreendeu a expressão tecidual desses marcadores no epitélioescamoso das amostras de mucosa oral – lesadas ou não. A expressão imuno-histoquímica dessas moléculasde adesão foi classificada, segundo a sua intensidade de marcação tecidual, em negativa, positiva fraca epositiva forte. Resultados: A expressão de E-caderina foi forte em 93,3% dos casos do grupo 1 (hiperplasia/displasia leve), e 100% dos casos demonstraram forte expressão para a Beta-catenina nesse mesmo grupo. Contudo, no grupo 3 (carcinoma de célula escamosa), somente 42% dos casos foram fortemente positivospara E-caderina e 25% deles para Beta-catenina. Conclusões: A E-caderina e a Beta-catenina diminuíram asua expressão segundo a progressão tumoral do carcinoma de mucosa oral, reforçando um dos mecanismosrelacionados com a sua carcinogênese.

Objectives: To compare the immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin and Beta-catenin in squamous pre-malignant and malignant lesions of formalin fixed paraffin embedded buccal mucosa samples. Materials e methods: Selected 15 samples of buccal mucosa of patients with hyperplasia with or without mild dysplasia (group 1), 5 samples showing moderate dysplasia, severe or carcinoma in situ (group 2) and 12 samples presenting invasive squamous cell carcinoma (group 3). These samples were subjected to immunohistochemistry with anti-E-cadherin and anti-Beta-catenin monoclonal antibodies. The expression of these markers in tissue samples injured or not were analyzed in accordance of positivity that was observed in epithelium stratum. The immunohistochemical expression of these adhesion molecules was classified according to their intensity in negative, weak positive and strong positive. Results: The expression of E-cadherin was strong at 93.3% of patients in group 1, and 100% of the cases showed strong expression of Beta-catenin in the same group. However, in group 3, only 42% of cases were strongly positive for E-cadherin and 25% of them to Beta-catenin. Conclusions: The E-cadherin and Beta-catenin decreased their expression according to tumor progression, from hiperplasia/mild dysplasia lesion to buccal invasive carcinoma and this fact may be related of the carcinogenesis mechanisms.