Periodic limb movements during sleep and restless legs syndrome in patients with ASIA A spinal cord injury

Objective: To establish the occurrence of Periodic Leg Movements (PLM) and Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) in Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) subjects. Methods: In this study, twenty four patients were submitted to a full night polysomnography and were assessed with Epworth Sleepiness Scale and an adapted form of International Restless Legs Syndrome Scale Rating Scale (IRLS Rating Scale). Control Group (CG) was composed of 16 subjects, 50% of each sex, age: 24.38 +/- 4 years old. Spinal Cord Injury Group (SCIG) was composed of 8 subjects (29 +/- 5 years old) with a complete SCI (ASIA A) of about three and a half years of duration, 100% males. Results: 100% of SCIG had RLS compared to 17% in CG ( p < 0.0001). SCIG had 18.11 +/- 20.07 of PLM index while CG had 5.96 +/- 11.93 (p = 0.01). Arousals related to PLM were recorded in CG and SCIG. There was a positive moderate correlation between RLS and age (r = 0.5; p = 0.01), RLS and PLM (r = 0.49; p = 0.01), adapted IRLS Rating Scale and PLM index (r = 0.64; p = 0.03) and also a negative moderate correlation between Epworth Sleepiness Scale and PLM index (r = -0.4; p = 0.04) in both groups. Conclusion: RLS and PLM are common findings in SCI patients with a complete injury. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Historia Nova do Brasil: revisiting a polemical work

This article discusses the texts and purposes of the Historia Nova do Brasil series, a joint production of the Ministerio da Educacao e Cultura and the Instituto Superior de Estudos Brasileiros (Iseb) launched in 1964 and soon aborted by the military dictatorship. The intent is to reconstitute its context to present the many influences on this project and to examine its impact and the debates and disputes that resulted, to try to recover the details of this important effort at renewing the teaching of history in Brazil.