The objective of this study is to analyze the offer of undergraduate degrees in Gerontology in Latin America and Portugal. 22 courses were located and it was analyzed by the course’s beginning, goal, professional profile, work load and... more
The objective of this study is to analyze the offer of undergraduate degrees in Gerontology in Latin America and Portugal. 22 courses were located and it was analyzed by the course’s beginning, goal, professional profile, work load and duration. Among the 22 identified courses, 45,4% offer gerontological evaluation’s disciplines. Concluding there are countries’ growing warring on create professionals up to deal with an elderly population in growing.
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Podemos dizer que, do ponto de vista normativo, os direitos da pessoa idosa no mundo e, especificamente, no Brasil, avançaram bastante. Entretanto, o maior desafio contemporâneo é a sua garantia pelo poder público e a sociedade em geral.... more
Podemos dizer que, do ponto de vista normativo, os direitos da pessoa idosa no mundo e, especificamente, no Brasil, avançaram bastante. Entretanto, o maior desafio contemporâneo é a sua garantia pelo poder público e a sociedade em geral. O objetivo deste artigo é discutir esse processo de conquista de direitos e os obstáculos postos na sua efetivação, considerando o contexto contemporâneo adverso que põe em risco o desmonte dos direitos já conquistados, tendo em vista a nova fase capitalista e a busca de superlucros mediante reestruturação produtiva e globalização passando por cima de conquistas sociais históricas.
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Research Interests: Philosophy and Humanities
to evaluate the serum concentration of NO in overweight women, smokers (SG) and nonsmokers (NSG). blood samples from smokers (n = 20) and nonsmokers (n = 18) were collected to obtain serum, and stored at -80 °C until analysis. NO was... more
to evaluate the serum concentration of NO in overweight women, smokers (SG) and nonsmokers (NSG). blood samples from smokers (n = 20) and nonsmokers (n = 18) were collected to obtain serum, and stored at -80 °C until analysis. NO was assessed by measuring total nitrite, determined by Greiss method. It was adopted as reference 24.4 mol/L, mean value found in a study with healthy subjects without excess weight. We used the Student t test to compare the means of age and waist circumference, and the Mann-Whitney U test to compare the median of concentrations of nitrite, number of cigarettes/day and Body Mass Index. We adopted a significance level of p < 0.05. the median nitrite in SG was 16.53 (2.79 - 69.72) mol/L, whereas in NSG was 10.85 (1.44 - 43.25) mol/L (p = 0.028). BMI median value to SG and NSG, was respectively 29.50 (25.00 - 38.14) kg/m2 and 30.68 (25.10 - 36.98) kg/m2 (p = 0.530), being classified as overweight. The data showing that the average nitrite was below the e...
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ABSTRACT
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Realizou-se o teste imunoenzimático ELISA, paralelamente à reação de imunofluorescência, para a detecção de anticorpos antí-Trypanosoma cruzi, em 137 amostras de líquidos pericárdicos humanos, colhidos na necropsia. Os resultados foram... more
Realizou-se o teste imunoenzimático ELISA, paralelamente à reação de imunofluorescência, para a detecção de anticorpos antí-Trypanosoma cruzi, em 137 amostras de líquidos pericárdicos humanos, colhidos na necropsia. Os resultados foram cotejados com os achados anatomopatológicos. Observou-se que: (1) os dois testes foram positivos em 30 casos e negativos em 105; (2) o teste ELISA foipositivo em 2 casos nos quais a immofluorescència revelou-se negativa; num desses casos, havia sinais morfológicos de doença de Chagas; (3) a média geométrica dos títulos obtidos com o teste ELISA foi significativamente maior que a da imunofluorescência; (4) o índice de concordância entre os dois testes apresentou o valor de 0,985. O presente relato parece-nos inédito quanto ao uso do teste imunoenzimático no líquidoperícárdicopara o diagnóstico post- mortem da doença de Chagas.
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In this study, we evaluated the profile of anti-Paracoccidioides brasiliensis immunoglobulin isotypes in serum from patients with the acute and chronic forms of paracoccidioidomycosis, using the whole Paracoccidioides brasiliensis antigen... more
In this study, we evaluated the profile of anti-Paracoccidioides brasiliensis immunoglobulin isotypes in serum from patients with the acute and chronic forms of paracoccidioidomycosis, using the whole Paracoccidioides brasiliensis antigen and the antigen treated with sodium metaperiodate. All the immunoglobulin isotypes present in the serum from patients with the acute and chronic forms of paracoccidioidomycosis presented higher reactivity towards the whole antigen than to the antigen treated with metaperiodate (P < 0.05). The reactivity of IgG and IgM to the antigen treated with metaperiodate was greater in serum from patients with the acute form of the disease (P < 0.05), while IgA was more reactive in serum from patients with the chronic form (P < 0.05). There was greater reactivity of IgG1 and IgG2 to the whole antigen and the antigen treated with metaperiodate in the serum from patients with paracoccidioidomycosis than there was in serum from patients with other parasi...
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Research Interests: Nonparametric Statistics, Flow Cytometry, Medical Microbiology, Treatment Outcome, Adolescent, and 15 moreMedicine, Tuberculosis, Humans, Female, Male, Young Adult, Aged, Middle Aged, Adult, Time Factors, Chemokines, Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Case Control Studies, BCG vaccine, and Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
We investigated the impact of multidrug therapy (MDT) on the epidemiological pattern of leprosy in Juiz de Fora, Brazil, from 1978 to 1995. Evaluation of 1,283 medical charts was performed according to the treatment regimen used in two... more
We investigated the impact of multidrug therapy (MDT) on the epidemiological pattern of leprosy in Juiz de Fora, Brazil, from 1978 to 1995. Evaluation of 1,283 medical charts was performed according to the treatment regimen used in two different periods. Following the introduction of MDT in 1987, prevalence of leprosy decreased from 22 patients/10,000 inhabitants to 5.2 patients/10,000 inhabitants in 1995. Incidence rate of leprosy was lower in period II (1987-1995) than in period I (1978-1986). Decreasing prevalence and incidence appear to be related to drug efficacy rather than decreased case identification, since both self-referred and professionally referred treatment increased markedly from period I to period II. For both periods, multibacillary leprosy was the most frequent clinical form of the disease (±68%), and the main infection risk factor identified was household contact. Leprosy is predominantly manifested in adults, but an increase in the number of very old and very yo...
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In the present study we report the distribution of Tityus serrulatus scorpion venom in serum and various tissues of CFI mice and the efficacy of antivenom in reducing venom concentration. The animals were injected s.c. with 10 micrograms... more
In the present study we report the distribution of Tityus serrulatus scorpion venom in serum and various tissues of CFI mice and the efficacy of antivenom in reducing venom concentration. The animals were injected s.c. with 10 micrograms of scorpion venom, divided into groups of four animals and killed at different times from 15 min to 24 hr. Blood samples and samples of different tissues (heart, lung, liver, kidney, spleen, brain and injection site) were collected. Maximum venom levels occurred at 15 min in the kidney and liver and at 30 min in serum, lung, heart and spleen. After 2 hr the venom decreased rapidly in serum and in all other organs until venom levels were no longer detectable after 8 hr. No venom was detected in the central nervous system. In another experiment, 10 microliters of scorpion antivenom was injected i.v. together with the venom, and a rapid reduction of venom concentration was observed in the blood and tissues. In the third experiment, anti-scorpion venom was injected i.v. 1 hr after venom administration, and partial reduction of venom concentration was detected in tissues (lung and kidney). These studies contribute to the elaboration of more objective treatment that may result in a more economic, efficient and controlled use of scorpion antivenom in stings involving humans.
Research Interests: Biology, Pharmacokinetics, Medicine, DISTRIBUTION, Quantitative analysis, and 15 moreMice, Animals, Blood sampling, Central Nervous System, SCORPIONS, Antivenom, Envenomation, Scorpion, Distribution, Quantitative Analysis, Economic Efficiency, Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Antivenin, Antivenins, and Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences
Translators are Typically invisible, noticed only when they blunder. how might one interpret, then, a book translated by a now very visible Nobel laureate, especially when the underlying text confronts controversial subjects that the... more
Translators are Typically invisible, noticed only when they blunder. how might one interpret, then, a book translated by a now very visible Nobel laureate, especially when the underlying text confronts controversial subjects that the laureate's own works avoid? Such is the case of the Portuguese writer José Saramago (1922-2010), who in 1981 translated Ferdinand Oyono's 1956 Une vie de boy. In its press release announcing the 1998 Nobel for literature, the Swedish Academy called him a writer “who with parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony continually enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality” (“Nobel Prize”). It is this ability to communicate what refuses fixed meaning that Walter Benjamin famously restored to the art of translation, endowing it with a philosophical and artistic distinction: “Even when all the surface content can be extracted and transmitted, the primary concern of the genuine translator remains elusive” (19). “Escrever é traduzir” (“To write is to translate”), Saramago would state years after he gained world visibility thanks to the translations of his works. In both cases, he argues, the objective is to pursue what lies beyond language, but the translator strives to communicate what may have been beyond not only the language of the original but also that of the translation (“Traduzir”). Saramago's translation of Oyono's Une vie de boy, a text that readers of Saramago's oeuvre generally overlook along with his other translations, invites a consideration of how the elusive as an artistic value with broad appeal may relate to the local cultural contingencies informing the translator's language choices.
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Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a murine autoimmune disease used to study multiple sclerosis (MS), a human inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. Genistein, an isoflavonoid phytoestrogenic... more
Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a murine autoimmune disease used to study multiple sclerosis (MS), a human inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. Genistein, an isoflavonoid phytoestrogenic compound found in soy, is known to reverse clinical signs of EAE. Although genistein has some potential in clinical application, it has some disadvantages related to its chemical structure, such as rapid in vivo metabolism and a fast decline in serum after oral administration. The present work investigates the treatment of EAE by using 7-O-tetradecanoyl-genistein (TDG), a more lipophilic analog of genistein obtained by esterification. The clinical course of EAE was investigated in C57Bl/6 mice immunized with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide (MOG)(35-55) in complete Freund's adjuvant supplemented with Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37RA. After 14 days of MOG immunization, mice were treated with TDG for seven days. Numbers of IL-17-producing...
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Bovine tuberculosis is a major cause of economic loss in countries where it is endemic, and in some countries, it may be a significant zoonotic disease problem. Therefore, new strategies for vaccine development are required, and among... more
Bovine tuberculosis is a major cause of economic loss in countries where it is endemic, and in some countries, it may be a significant zoonotic disease problem. Therefore, new strategies for vaccine development are required, and among them, genetic immunization has potential value. The main goal of this study was to test the Mycobacterium bovis Ag85B gene as a DNA vaccine following challenge with an M. bovis virulent strain (ATCC 19274). Groups of BALB/c mice ( n = 10) were immunized four times intramuscularly with the pCI-Ag85B construct or the pCI vector alone as the control. High titers of total immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgG1, and IgG2a anti-Ag85B were measured in pCI-Ag85B immunized mice when compared to the pCI control group. Regarding cellular immunity, significant levels of gamma interferon (IFN-γ) (1,100 ± 157 pg/ml) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (650 ± 42 pg/ml) but not interleukin-4 were detected in splenocyte culture supernatants of pCI-Ag85B-vaccinated mice following sti...
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In this work, we report the preparation and evaluation of the in vitro and in vivo of the immunosuppressive activity of a series of lipophilic amino alcohols and diamines. All compounds were evaluated for inhibition of cell proliferation,... more
In this work, we report the preparation and evaluation of the in vitro and in vivo of the immunosuppressive activity of a series of lipophilic amino alcohols and diamines. All compounds were evaluated for inhibition of cell proliferation, cytotoxicity and NO production. Compounds 9, 12, 13, 17, and 18 did not display inhibition of cell proliferation while decreased NO production. The two most potent compounds, 13 and 17, submitted to delayed-type hypersensitivity assays showed immunosuppressive activity.
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Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic, inflammatory and demyelinating disease of the Central Nervous System. Although its etiology is still unclear, it is supposed a CD4+ T Helper-1-mediated autoimmune disease. Experimental Autoimmune... more
Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic, inflammatory and demyelinating disease of the Central Nervous System. Although its etiology is still unclear, it is supposed a CD4+ T Helper-1-mediated autoimmune disease. Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an animal model to study Multiple Sclerosis. The characteristics of this model are inflammation and demyelination similar to Multiple Sclerosis. EAE allows to assess parameters such as CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, regulatory T lymphocytes, costimulatory molecules, chemokines and so on. The aim of this study was to make a bibliographic revision of the murine EAE immunopathology mediated by T cells. Keywords: Multiple Sclerosis. Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis. T lymphocytes.
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Research Interests: Immunology, Immune response, Traditional Medicine, Asthma, Medicine, and 13 moreDexamethasone, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Mice, Animals, Lung Diseases, Immunoglobulin E, Lung, Alismataceae, Plant extracts, Aqueous Extract, Interleukin, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, and Ovalbumin
FUNDAMENTOS: O carcinoma basocelular é o câncer mais comum em humanos. Estudos que utilizam recursos da biologia molecular e genética, associados à histomorfologia, permitem a identificação de fatores de risco no desenvolvimento de lesões... more
FUNDAMENTOS: O carcinoma basocelular é o câncer mais comum em humanos. Estudos que utilizam recursos da biologia molecular e genética, associados à histomorfologia, permitem a identificação de fatores de risco no desenvolvimento de lesões mais recorrentes e agressivas. OBJETIVO: Correlacionar a expressão dos marcadores de apoptose (p53 e Bcl-2) e proliferação celular (Ki-67 e PCNA) com os indicadores histológicos de gravidade do tumor. MÉTODOS: Estudaram-se cinco amostras das formas nodular, morfeiforme e superficial, respectivamente, e um grupo-controle com três pacientes livres de lesão. Empregou-se o teste de Mann-Whitney na comparação da expressão desses marcadores com a forma de apresentação do carcinoma basocelular. RESULTADOS: Verificou-se que a marcação do Bcl-2 foi expressiva nos CBCs ditos agressivos (variantes morfeiforme e nodular). Dos tumores estudados, 66,7% (n = 10) indicaram fortemente o p53. Nossos resultados mostram maior expressão do Ki-67 no carcinoma basocelula...
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Research Interests: Materials Science, Dentistry, Biomedical Engineering, Colorimetry, Macrophages, and 15 moreDental Materials, Cell line, Ceramics, In Vitro, Animals, Cell, American, Composite Material, Dental Porcelain, In Vitro Studies, Materials Testing, Cell Survival, Interferon gamma, Cell count, and Macrophage activation
ABSTRACT Concomitance of chronic periodontitis (CP) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have been associated with adverse outcomes. Vitamin D (25(OH)D) deficiency my play a role in CP and inadequate vitamin D status is common... more
ABSTRACT Concomitance of chronic periodontitis (CP) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have been associated with adverse outcomes. Vitamin D (25(OH)D) deficiency my play a role in CP and inadequate vitamin D status is common among patients with CKD. Vitamin D directly induces expression of the antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin, which can be triggered by a Toll-like receptor response to bacterial infection. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between 25(OH)D, serum cathelicidin levels and CP in patients with CKD not yet on dialysis. A case-control study was conducted. Cases and controls were defined as patients with CKD with and without CP, respectively. The demographic, clinical and laboratory data were obtained when the patient was attended at the outpatient clinic. CKD was defined and staged according to the NKF QDOKITM. Serum 25(OH)D levels were measured by chemiluminescence when assessing the CP, which was definide according to the American Academy of Periodontoly (1999). Serum 25(OH)D levels were stratified into deficient (≤14 ƞg/mL), insufficient (15-29 ƞg/mL) and sufficiency (≥30 ƞg/mL). Cathelicidin (LL-37) was measured by ELISA. A total of 15 cases were compared with 14 controls. Cases had lower median 25(OH)D levels than controls (22.6 versus 28.6 ƞg/mL, p &lt;0.01) and were more likely to be categorized as vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency (93,3% versus 57,1%, p &lt; 0,004). On the other hand, the percentage of controls with vitamin D sufficiency was higher then cases (42,9% versus 6,7%, p &lt;0,05). Median LL-37 levels were lower in cases compared to controls (5.4 versus 6.6 pg/mL, p &lt;0.08). Compared to CKD patients with 25(OH)D sufficiency, those with insufficiency/deficiency had lower median LL-37 levels (5.5 versus 9.0 pg/mL, p &lt;0.045). In conclusion, vitamin D insufficiency (serum 25[OH] &lt;30 ng/mL) is associated with CP in patients with CKD not yet on dialysis. This association seems to be mediated through an impairment in clearing bacterial infection due to a decrease in LL-37 production.