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The brewing industry annually produces nearly 200 billion litres, generating more than 15 million tons of malt residue. Most of this residue is used to generate energy for the industries' operation. However, a still significant part, estimated at more than 1.5 million tons, coming mainly from small and medium breweries, does not have a good destination. Given this context, this research aimed to develop a bio compound to replace conventional wood agglomerates made from brewing malt residue with pre-gelatinised corn and PVA glue. Bio compound with brewer's residue was made by following steps: pre-gelatinised corn was initially driven by extrusion in an IMBRA RX50, single screw extruder (INBRAMAQ, Ribeirão Preto, SP). Soon after extrusion, extruded was ground in a hammer mill with a smaller than 0.7 mm particle size. The pre-gelatinised was mixed with the brewer's residue, PVA glue, and water in proportions established in the experimental design and pressed in a hydraulic press at 40 kg/cm2. Each sample was dried in an oven with air circulation at 70 °C for 24 hours. After the oven, the material was placed in a desiccator until the analysis. All treatments established in the experimental design were subjected to characterisation analyses: Mechanical resistance by Texture Analyzer TAXT2 Plus (Stable Micro Systems, England), density, moisture by AOAC methods, and Colour by Minolta Chroma Meter CR-400 colourimeter. With the analysis of the results, it was possible to identify that the material formed with the proportion 65:35 (residue / pre-gelatinised corn) plus 10 % of PVA presented better results in terms of mechanical resistance. The analysis of Colour and appearance of the material does not show significant variation in the results, and it was impossible to establish a better treatment for these characteristics. The data presented could conclude that the bio compound developed could be a good destination for this waste since it showed physical characteristics like conventional agglomerates, with the additional advantages of low cost and lower environmental impact due to no use of chemical components in its composition.

Purpose. To determine the efficacy of 23-gauge pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for symptomatic posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) on visual acuity (VA) and quality after multifocal intraocular lenses (IOLs). Methods. In this prospective case series, patients who developed symptomatic PVD and were not satisfied with visual quality due to floaters and halos after multifocal IOL implantation underwent PPV. Examinations included LogMAR uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), intraocular pressure, biomicroscopy, and indirect ophthalmoscopy at baseline and 1, 7, 30, and 180 days postoperatively. Ultrasonography and aberrometry were performed. The Visual Functioning Questionnaire 25 (VFQ-25) was administered preoperatively and at 30 days postoperatively. Both the postoperative UCVA and questionnaire results were compared to preoperative findings using the Wilcoxon test. Results. Sixteen eyes of 8 patients were included. VA significantly improved from 0.17 to 0.09 postoperatively (P=0.017). All patients reported improvement of halos, glare, and floaters. VFQ-25 scores significantly improved in general vision (P=0.023), near activities (P=0.043), distance activities (P=0.041), mental health (P=0.011), role difficulties (P=0.042), and driving (P=0.016). Conclusion. PPV may increase UCVA and quality of vision in patients with bilateral multifocal IOLs and symptomatic PVD. Larger studies are advised.

Introduction: HIV infection can lead to a progressive immunosuppression and result in an AIDS-related infections complex and other manifestations in affected individuals. Data from the AIDS 2012 Epidemiological Bulletin from 1980 to 2010 reported 241,662 deaths from AIDS in Brazil. Niterói, in Rio de Janeiro State, is a medium-sized city, of 500,000 inhabitants approximately and expressive socioeconomic and cultural indicators. Objective: To evaluate the relationship between seasonal demand and positivity of anti-HIV tests in the Miguelote Viana Public Health Central Laboratory located in Niterói. Methods: This is a temporal series analytical cross-sectional study. Anti-HIV tests demand, positivity and days worked by Miguelote Viana Public Health Central Laboratory were analyzed from a database for the period from 2005 to 2010. Data was then statistically evaluated through a temporal series and hypothesis testing on tendency and seasonality. Miguelote Viana Public Health Central Laboratory is a reference center for the dosage of viral load and CD4 levels for all public health units of Niterói; also attending to the population of cities in Metropolitan Region II. This is an innovative research, since articles that relate anti-HIV tests demand increase/decrease with the respective months of the year have not been found yet. As a result, we present graphs, tables and charts. Results: From January 2005 to December 2010, we have registered 64,505 serological tests for HIV, as follows: 17.44% (11,252) in 2005; 16.36% (10,557) in 2006; 17.81% (11,494) in 2007; 17.12% (11,046) in 2008; 16.20% (10,452) in 2009; and 15.04% (9,704) in 2010. In annual average, the days worked per month were as follows: 20 in 2005; 19.5 in 2006; 19.8 in 2007; 19.6 in 2008; 19.7 in 2009 and 19.3 in 2010. The monthly average of days worked in the six years studied was: 21 in Jan; 17.3 in February; 21.6 in March; 17.3 in April; 20 in May; 18.6 in June; 21.6 in July; 22 in August; 20.3 in September; 20.3 in October; 17.3 in November and 18.6 days in December. The annual average of positivity in absolute numbers was as follows: 42.6 in 2005; 44.0 in 2006; 38.3 in 2007; 32.8 in 2008; 24.25 in 2009 and 25.25 in 2010. The average positivity per month in the six years studied was the following: 39.3 in January; 29.3 in February; 40.8 in March; 31.8 in April; 31.1 in May; 34.6 in June; 33.8 in July; 38.6 in August; 35.0 in September; 34.8 in October; 31.5 in November and 33.6 in December. The average percentage of positivity per month was as follows: January (4.35), February (3.85), March (3.95), April (3.88), May (3.56), June (2.34), July (3.54), August (3.80), September (3.79), October (3.60), November (3.92) and December (3.75). In the studied period (2005-2010), Carnival holidays occurred in the month of February, on the following days: 8, 28, 20, 5, 24 and 16, respectively. Conclusion: We observed no seasonal relation between demand and positivity of anti-HIV tests carried out at Miguelote Viana Public Health Central Laboratory. A significant statistical decrease occurred in both anti-HIV tests demand and positivity during the studied years of the 2005–2010 series.