A. Rita Gaio

P-glycoprotein activity in human Caucasian male lymphocytes does not follow its increased expression during aging.

P‐glycoprotein (P‐gp) is a transmembrane protein that mediates the efflux of innumerous structurally unrelated compounds. It was initially found over‐expressed in tumor cells, associated to a multidrug resistance phenotype (MDR). Then, P‐gp was found constitutively expressed in excretory cells/tissues and in circulating cells, such as lymphocytes. Considering the importance of this transporter in the establishment of therapeutic protocols and the existence of contradictory results, this study aimed at evaluating the influence of aging in the expression and function of P‐gp in human lymphocytes, comparing two different methodologies to assess both parameters. P‐gp activity and expression were evaluated in lymphocytes isolated from whole blood samples of 65 healthy caucasian male donors, divided into two groups according to age (group 1: under 30‐years old; group 2: above 60‐years old). P‐gp expression was assessed using the anti‐P‐gp monoclonal antibody, UIC2, in the presence and in absence of vinblastine (Vbl). P‐gp activity was evaluated measuring the efflux rate of the fluorescent P‐gp substrate rhodamine 123 (Rho 123) and also using UIC2 shift assay. Flow cytometric analysis was performed to assess all the proceedings. Furthermore, P‐gp expression and each of the P‐gp activity determination methods were compared, through correlation analysis and linear regression models. We observed a significant age‐dependent increase in mean P‐gp expression (p = 0.029), which was not reflected in the transporters activity (p > 0.050). Statistical analysis allowed selection of UIC2 shift assay over Rho 123 efflux assay as a more selective method to assess P‐gp activity. Despite the significant correlation between P‐gp expression and P‐gp activity found in lymphocytes (Gp1(group 1)—r = 0.609, p < 0.001; Gp2—r = 0.461, p = 0.012), using UIC2 shift assay, these data reinforce the need for P‐gp activity assessment, rather than P‐gp expression determination alone, when starting new therapeutic regimens with P‐gp substrates, especially in men older than 60 years of age.

How much is too much alcohol in tuberculosis

About one-third of the population worldwide have Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections, although 90% of infected individuals never develop clinical disease [1, 2]. Heavy alcohol intake seems to increase risk of TB in males. New measures for alcohol abuse are needed http://ow.ly/2Esr304cDg4

Data Mining in HIV-AIDS Surveillance System

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is an infectious agent that attacks the immune system cells. Without a strong immune system, the body becomes very susceptible to serious life threatening opportunistic diseases. In spite of the great progresses on medication and prevention over the last years, HIV infection continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed more than 36 million lives over the last 35 years since the recognition of the disease. Monitoring, through registries, of HIV-AIDS cases is vital to assess general health care needs and to support long-term health-policy control planning. Surveillance systems are therefore established in almost all developed countries. Typically, this is a complex system depending on several stakeholders, such as health care providers, the general population and laboratories, which challenges an efficient and effective reporting of diagnosed cases. One issue that often arises is the administrative delay in reports of diagnosed cases. This paper aims to identify the main factors influencing reporting delays of HIV-AIDS cases within the portuguese surveillance system. The used methodologies included multilayer artificial neural networks (MLP), naive bayesian classifiers (NB), support vector machines (SVM) and the k-nearest neighbor algorithm (KNN). The highest classification accuracy, precision and recall were obtained for MLP and the results suggested homogeneous administrative and clinical practices within the reporting process. Guidelines for reductions of the delays should therefore be developed nationwise and transversally to all stakeholders.

A restricted mixture model for dietary pattern analysis in small samples

Multivariate finite mixture models have been applied to the identification of dietary patterns. These models are known to have many parameters, and consequently large samples are usually required. We present a special case of a multivariate mixture model that reduces the number of parameters to be estimated and seems adequate for small to moderately sized samples. We illustrate our approach with an analysis of Portuguese data from a food-frequency questionnaire and with a simulation study.

An Approach for Assessing the Distribution of Reporting Delay in Portuguese AIDS Data

HIV/AIDS epidemic is an important public health problem. The burden of the epidemic is estimated from surveillance systems data. The collected information is incomplete, making the estimation a challenging task and the reported trends often biased. The most common incomplete-data problems, in this kind of data, are due to under-diagnosis and reporting delays, mainly in the most recent years. This is a classical problem for imputation methodologies. In this paper we study the distribution of AIDS reporting delays through a mix approach, combining longitudinal K-means with the generalized least squares method. While the former identifies homogeneous delay patterns, the latter estimated longitudinal regression curves. We found that a 2-cluster structure is appropriated to accommodate the heterogeneity in reporting delay on HIV/AIDS data and that the corresponding estimated delay curves are almost stationary over time.

Can silicosis explain it all

Portugal is still the country with the highest TB incidence rate in Western Europe1--3; although a recent decrease in TB incidence rate has placed the country close to the low incidence goal.2 Despite a national TB incidence rate of 21.1/100 000 inhabitants in 2013, Penafiel municipality registers the highest TB incidence rate in the whole country (83.4/100 000 inhabitants in 2013).2 Penafiel municipality is part of Northern Portugal region (NUTS II) and it is located in a geographic area designated as Vale de Sousa. The large majority of its 28 parishes are quite industrialized, although (DGEG) and National Health Institute Doutor Ricardo Jorg (INSA). TB incidence rate and other incidence rates ar expressed as the rate per 100 000 inhabitants. A time-tren descriptive analysis was carried out to substantiate th dynamics of the TB incidence and other collected data both regions over the study period. During the period studied, a total of 675 new TB case were notified in Penafiel, with an average decrease of th TB incidence rate of 1.41% per year (from 95.5/100 00 inhabitants in 2002 to 82.1/100 000 inhabitants in 2012 In the same period, a total of 16 364 new cases were not fied in Northern Portugal, with a similar average decreas of 1.19% per year (from 35.8/100 000 inhabitants in 2002 t rly ic e e d s is

An Agent-Based MicMac Model for Forecasting of the Portuguese Population

Simulation is often used to forecast human populations. In this paper we use a novel approach by combining Micro-Macro (MicMac) models into an Agent-Based perspective to simulate and forecast the behavior of the Portuguese population. The models include migrations and three scenarios corresponding to three different expected economic growth rates. We conclude that the increase in the number of emigrants leads to a reduction of the Portuguese women that are in the fertile age. This justifies the decrease of births and therefore the general decrease of the total Portuguese Population.