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Hansen's disease has a slow evolution, which mostly affects the adult population. Detecting cases in children shows that the endemic continues and there is early exposure of the population to the bacillus. This is an ecological study with the objective of analyzing the occurrence of Hansen's disease in children under fifteen in the Jequitinhonha Valley through epidemiological and operational indicators. The results show that the endemic continues in the region, demonstrating that the health services are not proactive and must implement specific prevention and control measures for this age group in order to reduce the transmission of the disease and the possible damage it can bring to the life of individuals, especially when it affects them in their childhood.

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Study Type – Diagnosis (exploratory cohort)
Level of Evidence 2b What’s known on the subject? and What does the study add? In recent years, several nomograms were developed in an effort to decrease the number of unnecessary prostate biopsies. The European SWOP‐PRI and the North American PCPT are among the most popular. However, evidence on the relative predictive accuracy is lacking. A head‐to‐head comparison on the diagnostic accuracy of two previously validated prostate cancer risk predictors on biopsy confirmed the superiority of these tools over PSA alone. Moreover, in the studied population, the European SWOP‐PRI proved to be more accurate than the North American PCPT‐CRC. OBJECTIVE • To compare the diagnostic accuracy of two previously validated prostate cancer risk predictors on biopsy. PATIENTS AND METHODS • In total, 390 consecutive patients submitted to 10‐core systematic transrectal prostate biopsy at our institution were included in this retrospective study. • External validation of a European (European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer derived Prostate Risk Indicator; SWOP‐PRI) and a North American (Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial Cancer Risk Calculator; PCPT‐CRC) nomogram was performed. • The predictive accuracy of these online available nomograms was calculated based on the area under the curve derived from receiver–operator characteristic curves and then compared using the DeLong method. RESULTS • Both tools were confirmed to be superior to prostate‐specific antigen alone. Moreover, the SWOP‐PRI (77.9%) displays a 7.96% increase in the predictive accuracy compared to the PCPT‐CRC (69.9%) in a statistically significant fashion (P= 0.002). CONCLUSIONS • The results obtained in the present study confirm the utility of nomograms with respect to biopsy outcome prediction in patients with suspicion of prostate cancer. • In the current sample of patients, the European‐based nomogram appears to be more accurate than the North American nonogram, which lacks information regarding prostate volume and prostatic ultrasonographic lesions. • To our knowledge, this is the first study to compare the accuracy of these popular risk calculators in a specific population.

PurposeNewly diagnosed HIV infections among men who have sex with men (MSM) are rising in many European countries. Surveillance tools must be tailored to the current state of the epidemic, and include decentralised prospective monitoring of HIV incidence and behavioural changes in key populations. In this scenario, an open prospective cohort study was assembled—The Lisbon Cohort of MSM—aiming to dynamically monitor the frequency of disease and its predictors.ParticipantsThe Lisbon Cohort of MSM is an ongoing observational prospective study conducted at a community-based voluntary HIV counselling and testing centre in Lisbon, Portugal (CheckpointLX). Men testing negative for HIV, aged 18 or over and reporting having had sex with men are invited to follow-up visits every 6 months. At each evaluation, a face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire is conducted, and HIV and syphilis rapid tests are performed by trained peer counsellors. From April 2011 to February 2014, 3106 MSM were eligible to the cohort of whom 923 (29.7%) did not participate. The remaining 2183 (70.3%) MSM were enrolled and 804 had at least one follow-up evaluation, for a total of 893 person-years of observation.Future plansThe study findings will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences. The follow-up of this cohort of HIV-negative MSM will be a valuable tool for monitoring HIV incidence in a setting where limited prospective information existed. Moreover, it will allow for a deeper analytical approach to the study of population time trends and individual changes in risk factors that currently shape the HIV epidemic among MSM.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sealing ability of castor oil polymer (COP), mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and glass ionomer cement (GIC) as root-end filling materials. Forty-five single-rooted human teeth were cleaned and prepared using a step-back technique. The apical third of each root was resected perpendicularly to the long axis direction. All teeth were obturated with gutta-percha and an endodontic sealer. After, a root-end cavity with 1.25-mm depth was prepared using a diamond bur. The specimens were randomly divided into three experimental groups (n=15), according to the root-end filling material used: G1) COP; G2) MTA; G3) GIC. The external surfaces of the specimens were covered with epoxy adhesive, except the root-end filling. The teeth were immersed in rhodamine B dye for 24 hours. Then, the roots were sectioned longitudinally and the linear dye penetration at the dentin/material interface was determined using a stereomicroscope. ANOVA and Tukey's tests were used to compare the three groups. The G1 group (COP) presented smaller dye penetration, statistically different than the G2 (MTA) and G3 (GIC) groups (p<0.05). No statistically significant difference in microleakage was observed between G2 and G3 groups (p>0.05). The results of this study indicate that the COP presented efficient sealing ability when used as a root-end filling material showing results significantly better than MTA and GIC.