Simone Paiva

Non-verbal communication is predominant in the mother-child relation. This study aimed to analyze non-verbal mother-child communication in conditions of maternal HIV. In an experimental environment, five HIV-positive mothers were evaluated during care delivery to their babies of up to six months old. Recordings of the care were analyzed by experts, observing aspects of non-verbal communication, such as: paralanguage, kinesics, distance, visual contact, tone of voice, maternal and infant tactile behavior. In total, 344 scenes were obtained. After statistical analysis, these permitted inferring that mothers use non-verbal communication to demonstrate their close attachment to their children and to perceive possible abnormalities. It is suggested that the mother’s infection can be a determining factor for the formation of mothers’ strong attachment to their children after birth.

OBJECTIVE: to determine the socio-demographic profile of human milk donors and to identify the reasons they choose to donate their milk. METHODS: this was an exploratory, descriptive, and qualitative study. Eleven women from a public maternity hospital in Fortaleza, Ceará, participated in this study. Data were collected in May 2003 using a semi-structured questionnaire. RESULTS: milk donors were 16 to 20 years old, married, and had an educational level ranging from elementary school to college. Women reported that the main reasons for donating their milk were breast engorgement and referral by health professionals. The most donors were not aware of the benefits of breast-feeding or the importance of their contribution to the maternity hospital milk bank. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS women should receive information about the benefits of breast feeding and donation of human milk through milk banks.

This descriptive and exploratory study analyzed the proxemic factors of the nursing team and HIV/AIDS patients in a hospital environment in Fortaleza - CE, between October and November 2004. Data were collected through non-participant observation. Forty-one interactions were analyzed, in which no gender influence was observed. The professional's position towards the patient was mainly standing; intimate distance occurred in 21.95% of interactions, which were mostly related to technical procedures; personal distance predominated in 63.41% of cases, which were related to technical care; social distance occurred in 14.64% of interactions, which were aimed at conservation; obstacles were present in 15 interactions; local touch was the most frequent contact behavior; visual contact was present in 11 interactions, with a view to regulating the conversation flow; the tone of voice was found always adequate. Through proxemics, we can identify important factors in communication with HIV/AIDS patients.

Introduction:  Traditionally, cultivable bacteria isolated from infected root canals have been identified by phenotype-based methods. Because 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing has emerged as a more accurate and reliable tool for bacterial identification, the present study applied this approach to identify bacterial isolates recovered from the root canals of teeth with chronic apical periodontitis.Methods:  Anaerobic techniques were used for culturing; identification of the isolates was carried out by polymerase chain reaction amplification and sequencing of the V5–V8 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Bacteria were found in all samples. The mean number of taxa per canal was 3.1, ranging from 2 to 8. The median number of cultivable bacterial cells in the root canals was 4.2 × 105, ranging from 2.8 × 103 to 3.3 × 107. Eighty-seven strains belonging to 52 bacterial taxa were identified. The most prevalent taxa were Fusobacterium nucleatum, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Pseudoramibacter alactolyticus, Micromonas micros and streptococci. The following bacterial phyla were represented in this study: Firmicutes (22 taxa, 46% of the identified isolates), Actinobacteria (14 taxa, 25.3% of the isolates), Bacteroidetes (eight taxa, 13.8% of the isolates), Fusobacteria (three taxa, 9.2% of the isolates) and Proteobacteria (five taxa, 5.7% of the isolates). Some of the isolates represented unnamed species not previously cultivated and characterized. In conclusion, our findings using a combined anaerobic culture–molecular identification approach confirmed the polymicrobial nature of primary endodontic infections with dominance of anaerobic bacteria. Notably several bacteria that are difficult or impossible to identify by phenotypic means were identified, including previously uncultivated taxa, cultivated-but-not-yet-characterized taxa and newly named species.