Reconstrução do ligamento cruzado anterior com a técnica de duplo feixe - avaliação no laboratório de biomecânica

OBJETIVO: O objetivo deste estudo é descrever a metodologia da análise da rotação do joelho utilizando instrumentos do laboratório de biomecânica e apresentar os resultados preliminares de um estudo comparativo com pacientes submetidos à reconstrução do ligamento cruzado anterior com a técnica de duplo feixe. MÉTODOS: Descreveu-se o protocolo atualmente utilizado em nosso laboratório e realizou-se a análise cinemática tridimensional e medida da amplitude de rotação do joelho de oito pacientes normais (grupo controle) e 12 pacientes operados com a técnica de duplo feixe em três tarefas no laboratório de biomecânica. RESULTADOS: Não indicam diferenças significativas entre os lados operados e não operados em relação às amplitudes médias da marcha, da marcha com mudança de direção ou da marcha com mudança de direção ao descer a escada (p > 0,13). CONCLUSÕES: Os resultados preliminares não demonstraram diferença da técnica de reconstrução de LCA em duplo feixe em relação ao lado contralateral e ao grupo controle.

Ônibus 174 - imagimagens da humilhação social

Este artigo procura debater a psicologia social no cinema através de um conceito específico: a humilhação social como problema político. Para tanto foi tomado como objeto de análise o filme Ônibus 174, documentário realizado pelo cineasta José Padilha em 2002. Os comentários elaborados aqui visam compreender as estratégias narrativas utilizadas pelo diretor, que incluem aspectos estéticos e a participação do público, que transformam sua obra em um objeto de estudo da humilhação social que ocorre no âmbito da esfera pública, onde a ação define as relações sociais entre os indivíduos.

Corporeidade e ação nos processos de formação do eu

Parte-se da hipótese de que tanto os modos de constituição da subjetividade, quanto as teses epistemológicas sobre a formação do eu têm sofrido importantes mudanças nas últimas décadas. No plano das identidades pessoais, tal fato se expressa no atenuamento do ideário intimista, tradicionalmente centrado na idéia da vida mental como espaço privado e interior. No plano epistemológico, diferentes saberes vêm questionando a equivalência entre vida mental e interioridade psicológica e propondo descrições da origem do eu que incluam a dimensão da corporeidade e da ação. Considerando as noções de representação e de ação como eixos fundamentais para diferentes concepções da subjetividade, este artigo examina um modelo internalista do psiquismo, contrastando-o com outro que toma o eu como agente corporificado.

A psicologia redescobrirá a sexualidade?

O senso comum indica o psicólogo como o profissional mais preparado para trabalhar com a sexualidade. Raramente, entretanto, formamos psicólogos para lidar com a vida sexual em contextos que não sejam clínicos. Esse artigo sintetiza uma crítica às abordagens "sexológicas", dominantes no século XX, argumentando que a abordagem "construcionista", ao desconstruir a heteronormatividade e a subordinação da mulher como naturais, validou-se como paradigma alternativo de grande relevância para a pesquisa e a prática de profissionais que abordam a sexualidade. O construcionismo interpretou melhor novos desafios, como a epidemia da Aids, especialmente em contextos de desigualdade e violação de direitos, inspirando a prevenção baseada na análise de gênero e compreensão de cenários, cenas, scripts e trajetórias de sujeitos sexuais. O trabalho dos psicólogos será beneficiado se sua formação redescobrir a sexualidade, repensar a sexologia, superar abordagens baseadas em valores pessoais e em psicologias com pretensões universalistas, ao menos no campo da sexualidade.

Da fotografia como arte à arte como fotografia: a experiência do Museu de Arte Contemporânea da USP na década de 1970

Este ensaio visa sistematizar os primeiros resultados de uma pesquisa, ainda em curso, sobre o processo de legitimação da fotografia pelo sistema de arte no Brasil, cujo foco principal é o museu. Os museus de arte da cidade de São Paulo foram escolhidos para dar início a essa investigação. Primeiramente, será abordada, em linhas gerais, a presença da fotografia no Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo e na Bienal de São Paulo, dada a vinculação de origem do Museu de Arte Contemporânea com essas duas instituições paulistanas. Na seqüência será analisada a formação do acervo fotográfico do Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo durante a década de 1970. Por fim, esse percurso permitirá observar que a atuação de Walter Zanini, o primeiro diretor do Museu, e as particularidades da posição do MAC-USP no sistema de arte no Brasil naquele período resultaram no entendimento da fotografia prioritariamente no âmbito da arte contemporânea de caráter experimental e não como obra de arte autônoma, segundo os princípios da chamada fotografia artística.

Um relato de vida, um caminho institucional: juventude, medicalização e sofrimentos sociais

Apresenta-se uma história de vida com o intuito de traçar uma análise das manifestações particulares de uma trajetória individual em diálogo com os elementos presentes na vida de jovens de grupos populares. Foca-se na discussão dos equipamentos sociais na produção de sentidos, lugares e sofrimentos em algumas vidas, ocasionando processos em que "doenças" e medicalização são geradas a partir de problemas sociais. Com base nos pressupostos da pesquisa etnográfica, acompanhou-se a trajetória de uma jovem, por quatro anos, em sua passagem por serviços sociais de atenção à infância e à juventude, assim como de saúde mental. Considera-se que as políticas sociais devem intervir com jovens sob uma compreensão ampliada dos problemas sociais, sendo que o campo da atenção em saúde mental, em conexão com a esfera social, deve cuidar das situações de sofrimento sem que haja a homogeneização das necessidades, traduzindo-se numa iatrogenia e na medicalização do social.

Establishment of a protocol for obtention of neuronal stem cells lineages from the dog olfactory epithelium

A morphological and cell culture study from nasal mucosa of dogs was performed in order to establish a protocol to obtain a cell population committed to neuronal lineage, as a proposal for the treatment of traumatic and degenerative lesions in these animals, so that in the future these results could be applied to the human species. Twelve mongrel dogs of 60-day aged pregnancy were collected from urban pound dogs in São Paulo. Tissue from cribriform ethmoidal lamina of the fetuses was collected at necropsy under sterile conditions around 1h to 2h postmortem by uterine sections and sections from the fetal regions described above. Isolated cells of this tissue were added in DMEM/F-12 medium under standard conditions of incubation (5% CO², >37ºC). Cell culture based on isolated cells from biopsies of the olfactory epithelium showed rapid growth when cultured for 24 hours, showing phase-bright sphere cells found floating around the fragments, attached on culture flasks. After 20 days, a specific type of cells, predominantly ellipsoids or fusiform cells was characterized in vitro. The indirect immunofluorescence examination showed cells expressing markers of neuronal precursors (GFAP, neurofilament, oligodendrocyte, and III â-tubulin). The cell proliferation index showed Ki67 immunostaining with a trend to label cell groups throughout the apical region, while PCNA immunostaining label predominantly cell groups lying above the basal lamina. The transmission electron microscopy from the olfactory epithelium of dogs revealed cells with electron-dense cytoplasm and preserving the same distribution as those of positive cell staining for PCNA. Metabolic activity was confirmed by presence of euchromatin in the greatest part of cells. All these aspects give subsidies to support the hypothesis about resident progenitor cells among the basal cells of the olfactory epithelium, committed to renewal of these cell populations, especially neurons.

ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT POLICIES IN BRAZIL: CONTEXT, ICT MANAGEMENT AND OUTCOMES

The State Reform processes combined with the emergence and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) originated electronic government policies and initiatives in Brazil. This paper dwells on Brazilian e-government by investigating the institutional design it assumed in the state's public sphere, and how it contributed to outcomes related to e-gov possibilities. The analyses were carried out under an interpretativist perspective by making use of Institutional Theory. From the analyses of interviews with relevant actors in the public sphere, such as state secretaries and presidents of public ICT companies, conclusions point towards low institutionalization of e-gov policies. The institutional design of Brazilian e-gov limits the use of ICT to provide integrated public services, to amplify participation and transparency, and to improve public policies management.

Composite electrode of carbon nanotubes and vitreous carbon for electron field emission

In this work, the electron field emission behaviour of electrodes formed by carbon nanotubes (CNTs) grown onto monolithic vitreous carbon (VCarbon) substrates with microcavities is presented. Scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the microstructure of the films. Tungsten probes, stainless steel sphere, and phosphor electrodes were employed in the electron field emission study. The CNT/VCarbon composite represents a route to inexpensive excellent large area electron emission cathodes with fields as low as 2.1 V mu m(-1). In preliminary lifetime tests for a period of about 24 h at an emission current of about 4 mA cm(-2), there is an onset degradation of the emission current of about 28%, which then stabilizes. Electron emission images of the composites show the cavity of the samples act as separate emission sites and predominantly control the emission process. The emission of CNTs/VCarbon was found to be stable for several hours. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Electromagnetic energy within magnetic spheres

Consider that an incident plane wave is scattered by a homogeneous and isotropic magnetic sphere of finite radius. We determine, by means of the rigorous Mie theory, an exact expression for the time-averaged electromagnetic energy within this particle. For magnetic scatterers, we find that the value of the average internal energy in the resonance picks is much larger than the one associated with a scatterer with the same nonmagnetic medium properties. This result is valid even, and especially, for low size parameter values. Expressions for the contributions of the radial and angular field components to the internal energy are determined. For the analytical study of the weak absorption regime, we derive an exact expression for the absorption cross section in terms of the magnetic Mie internal coefficients. We stress that, although the electromagnetic scattering by particles is a well-documented topic, almost no attention has been devoted to magnetic scatterers. Our aim is to provide some new analytical results, which can be used for magnetic particles, and emphasize the unusual properties of the magnetic scatters, which could be important in some applications. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

Time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy of white-spot caries in human enamel

The objective is to differentiate noncavitated caries enamel through time-resolved fluorescence and to find excitation and emission parameters that can be applied in future clinical practice for detection of caries lesions that are not clearly visible to the professional. Sixteen human teeth with noncavitiated white-spot caries were selected for this work. Fluorescence intensity decay was measured by using an apparatus based on the time-correlated single-photon counting method. An optical fiber bundle was employed for sample excitation (440 nm), and the fluorescence collected by the same bundle (500 nm) was registered. The average lifetime for sound enamel was 7: 93 +/- 0: 09, 2: 46 +/- 0: 04, and 0: 51 +/- 0: 02 ns, whereas for the carious enamel the lifetimes were 4: 84 +/- 0: 06, 1: 35 +/- 0: 02, and 0: 16 +/- 0: 01 ns. It was concluded that it is possible to differentiate between carious and sound regions by time-resolved fluorescence and that, although the origin of enamel fluorescence is still uncertain, the lifetime values seem to be typical of fluorophores like collagen I. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

Políticas públicas ambientais no Brasil: mitigação das mudanças climáticas

Since the mid of 1980 an, discussed global climate change in the international sphere. This process resulted in the achievement of the United Nations Conference for Environment and Development UNCED, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, which resulted, among other documents, the Framework Convention of Climate Change - CMC. After five years, there was the establishment of the Kyoto Protocol - PK - which, unlike the Convention, set clearer standards on reducing emissions of gases effect of studying and targets to be achieved by countries which have issued more gas in the past, in the Annex I. The aim of this text is to analyze the ongoing federal public policies regarding mitigation of climate change in the country. To that end, it is based on analysis of official documentation. It analyzes policies before and after the adoption of the CMC in Brazil.

Fluorescence and reflectance spectroscopy for identification of atherosclerosis in human carotid arteries using principal components analysis

Objectives: The aim of this work was to verify the differentiation between normal and pathological human carotid artery tissues by using fluorescence and reflectance spectroscopy in the 400- to 700-nm range and the spectral characterization by means of principal components analysis. Background Data: Atherosclerosis is the most common and serious pathology of the cardiovascular system. Principal components represent the main spectral characteristics that occur within the spectral data and could be used for tissue classification. Materials and Methods: Sixty postmortem carotid artery fragments (26 non-atherosclerotic and 34 atherosclerotic with non-calcified plaques) were studied. The excitation radiation consisted of a 488-nm argon laser. Two 600-mu m core optical fibers were used, one for excitation and one to collect the fluorescence radiation from the samples. The reflectance system was composed of a halogen lamp coupled to an excitation fiber positioned in one of the ports of an integrating sphere that delivered 5 mW to the sample. The photo-reflectance signal was coupled to a 1/4-m spectrograph via an optical fiber. Euclidean distance was then used to classify each principal component score into one of two classes, normal and atherosclerotic tissue, for both fluorescence and reflectance. Results: The principal components analysis allowed classification of the samples with 81% sensitivity and 88% specificity for fluorescence, and 81% sensitivity and 91% specificity for reflectance. Conclusions: Our results showed that principal components analysis could be applied to differentiate between normal and atherosclerotic tissue with high sensitivity and specificity.

Retention of progenitor cell phenotype in otospheres from guinea pig and mouse cochlea

Background: Culturing otospheres from dissociated organ of Corti is an appropriate starting point aiming at the development of cell therapy for hair cell loss. Although guinea pigs have been widely used as an excellent experimental model for studying the biology of the inner ear, the mouse cochlea has been more suitable for yielding otospheres in vitro. The aim of this study was to compare conditions and outcomes of otosphere suspension cultures from dissociated organ of Corti of either mouse or guinea pig at postnatal day three (P3), and to evaluate the guinea pig as a potential cochlea donor for preclinical cell therapy. Methods: Organs of Corti were surgically isolated from P3 guinea pig or mouse cochlea, dissociated and cultivated under non-adherent conditions. Cultures were maintained in serum-free DMEM:F12 medium, supplemented with epidermal growth factor (EGF) plus either basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) or transforming growth factor alpha (TGF alpha). Immunofluorescence assays were conducted for phenotype characterization. Results: The TGF alpha group presented a number of spheres significantly higher than the bFGF group. Although mouse cultures yielded more cells per sphere than guinea pig cultures, sox2 and nestin distributed similarly in otosphere cells from both organisms. We present evidence that otospheres retain properties of inner ear progenitor cells such as self-renewal, proliferation, and differentiation into hair cells or supporting cells. Conclusions: Dissociated guinea pig cochlea produced otospheres in vitro, expressing sox2 and nestin similarly to mouse otospheres. Our data is supporting evidence for the presence of inner ear progenitor cells in the postnatal guinea pig. However, there is limited viability for these cells in neonatal guinea pig cochlea when compared to the differentiation potential observed for the mouse organ of Corti at the same developmental stage.

Structure of PbTe(SiO(2))/SiO(2) multilayers deposited on Si(111)

The structure of thin films composed of a multilayer of PbTe nanocrystals embedded in SiO(2), named as PbTe(SiO(2)), between homogeneous layers of amorphous SiO(2) deposited on a single-crystal Si( 111) substrate was studied by grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) as a function of PbTe content. PbTe(SiO(2))/SiO(2) multilayers were produced by alternately applying plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition and pulsed laser deposition techniques. From the analysis of the experimental GISAXS patterns, the average radius and radius dispersion of PbTe nanocrystals were determined. With increasing deposition dose the size of the PbTe nanocrystals progressively increases while their number density decreases. Analysis of the GISAXS intensity profiles along the normal to the sample surface allowed the determination of the period parameter of the layers and a structure parameter that characterizes the disorder in the distances between PbTe layers. (C) 2010 International Union of Crystallography Printed in Singapore - all rights reserved