A decision support system for fault detection and definition of the quality of wet blue goat skins.

The vast majority of goat skin processed by traditional tanneries comes from small rural producers. Thus, with the predominance of rustic creation, slaughter, and skinning methods, the batches of hides processed by tanneries have a very heterogeneous quality. Thus, there is a need to categorize the samples according to the quantity and location of defects. The categorization process is subjective and strongly influenced by the experience of the professional classifier, causing a lack of homogeneity in the composition of the goat hide lots for sale. Aiming to reduce failures in the categorization of goatskin samples, the authors investigate the application of computer vision and artificial intelligence on a set of previously categorized wet blue goatskin photographic samples. That said, is analyzed the capacity of different classifiers, with different paradigms, in detecting defects in goatskin samples and in categorizing these samples among seven possible quality levels. A hit rate of 95.9% was achieved in detecting defects and 93.3% in categorizing quality levels. The results suggest that the proposed methodology can be used as a decision aid tool in the qualification process of goat leather samples, which can reduce sample labeling errors.

Human toxocariasis: a seroepidemiological survey in schoolchildren of Sorocaba, Brazil.

A seroepidemiological survey for toxocariasis, among 180 schoolchildren of the public schools of Sorocaba City, state of São Paulo, Brazil, was carried out from August 2000 to July 2001. ELISA test was performed using excretory and secretory antigens for the detection of IgG anti-Toxocara antibodies. Information regarding the children was obtained from the parents or legal guardians. The results showed that the mean age was 5.4 +/- 1.4 years, the infection coefficient (IC) was 38.3 and the infection risk was higher among the children living in the city outskirts (IC = 47.4) where the socioeconomic conditions were worse than in the central region of the city (IC = 11.1). There was an association between higher frequency of seroreactivity in the ELISA test and the condition of living in a house with a yard and/or unpaved street. The same was observed in relation to a history of enteroparasitism. There was also an association between a seronegative ELISA test and previous treatment of pet dogs and/or cats with vermifuge. Based on these results, the authors propose that public health programs should include anthelmintic for dogs and cats during the antirabies vaccination campaigns, in order to diminish environmental contamination with Toxocara spp. eggs and consequently human infection.

Human toxocariasis: a seroepidemiological survey in schoolchildren of Sorocaba, Brazil

A seroepidemiological survey for toxocariasis, among 180 schoolchildren of the public schools of Sorocaba City, state of São Paulo, Brazil, was carried out from August 2000 to July 2001. ELISA test was performed using excretory and secretory antigens for the detection of IgG anti-Toxocara antibodies. Information regarding the children was obtained from the parents or legal guardians. The results showed that the mean age was 5.4 ± 1.4 years, the infection coefficient (IC) was 38.3 and the infection risk was higher among the children living in the city outskirts (IC = 47.4) where the socioeconomic conditions were worse than in the central region of the city (IC = 11.1). There was an association between higher frequency of seroreactivity in the ELISA test and the condition of living in a house with a yard and/or unpaved street. The same was observed in relation to a history of enteroparasitism. There was also an association between a seronegative ELISA test and previous treatment of pet dogs and/or cats with vermifuge. Based on these results, the authors propose that public health programs should include anthelmintic for dogs and cats during the antirabies vaccination campaigns, in order to diminish environmental contamination with Toxocara spp. eggs and consequently human infection.