Rio de Janeiro State University

About: Rio de Janeiro State University is a education organization based out in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 16631 authors who have published 30919 publications receiving 465753 citations. The organization is also known as: UERJ & Rio de Janeiro State University.

Dynamic linear model and SARIMA: a comparison of their forecasting performance in epidemiology

Abstract: One goal of a public health surveillance system is to provide a reliable forecast of epidemiological time series. This paper describes a study that used data collected through a national public health surveillance system in the United States to evaluate and compare the performances of a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) and a dynamic linear model (DLM) for estimating case occurrence of two notifiable diseases. The comparison uses reported cases of malaria and hepatitis A from January 1980 to June 1995 for the United States. The residuals for both predictor models show that they were adequate tools for use in epidemiological surveillance. Qualitative aspects were considered for both models to improve the comparison of their usefulness in public health. Our comparison found that the two forecasting modelling techniques (SARIMA and DLM) are comparable when long historical data are available (at least 52 reporting periods). However, the DLM approach has some advantages, such as being more easily applied to different types of time series and not requiring a new cycle of identification and modelling when new data become available.

Search for top-quark partners with charge 5/3 in the same-sign dilepton final state

Abstract: A search for the production of heavy partners of the top quark with charge 5/3 is performed in events with a pair of same-sign leptons. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 fb^(−1) and was collected at s√=8 TeV by the CMS experiment. No significant excess is observed in the data above the expected background, and the existence of top-quark partners with masses below 800 GeV is excluded at a 95% confidence level, assuming they decay exclusively to tW. This is the first limit on these particles from the LHC, and it is significantly more restrictive than previous limits.

Mechanical Forces Induce Scar Remodeling : Study in Non-Pressure-Treated versus Pressure-Treated Hypertrophic Scars

Abstract: Reparative process of second and third degree burns usually results in hypertrophic scar formation that can be treated by pressure. Although this method is efficient, its mechanisms of action are not known. In this work, we have studied the histological organization of hypertrophic scars submitted to pressure. Skin biopsies were performed 2 to 7 months after the onset of treatment in two adjacent regions of the scar, non-pressure- or pressure-treated and analyzed by immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy for extracellular matrix organization and cellular morphology. In non-pressure-treated regions, fibrillin deposits did not present the classical candelabra-like pattern under epidermis and were reduced in dermis; in pressure-treated regions the amount was increased compared to non-pressure-treated regions but the organization was still disturbed. In non-pressure-treated regions, elastin was present in patch deposits; in pressure-treated regions elastin formed fibers, smaller than in normal dermis. Tenascin was present in the whole dermis in non-pressure-treated regions, whereas in pressure-treated regions it was observed only under epidermis and around vessels, as in normal skin. α-Smooth muscle actin-expressing myofibroblasts were absent in normal skin, present in large amounts in non-pressure-treated regions, and almost absent in pressure-treated regions. The disturbed ultrastructural organization of dermal-epidermal junction observed in non-pressure-treated regions disappeared after pressure therapy; typical features of apoptosis in fibroblastic cells and morphological aspects of collagen degradation were observed in pressure-treated regions. Our results show that, in hypertrophic scars, pressure therapy restores in part the extracellular matrix organization observed in normal scar and induces the disappearance of α-smooth muscle actin-expressing myofibroblasts, probably by apoptosis. We suggest that the pressure acts by accelerating the remission phase of the postburn reparative process.