Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its components in Brazilian women with polycystic ovary syndrome

SOARES, Elvira Maria Mafaldo et al. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its components in Brazilian women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Fertility and Sterility, v.89, n.3, p.649-655, mar. 2008

Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its components in Brazilian women with polycystic ovary syndrome

SOARES, Elvira Maria Mafaldo et al. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its components in Brazilian women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Fertility and Sterility, v.89, n.3, p.649-655, mar. 2008

Negros misturados: um estudo de caso sobre identidades negras em Mossoró-RN

With more or less 213.000 habitants, Mossoró is the second more developed city from the Rio Grande do Norte. The town is proclamated like the land of freedom. To so far, exist four moments in your history related with the defence of freedom that is point like truthful from so proclamation. Suchlike happenings are the first female vote on Brazil, the resistance against the Lampião s band, the worman s mutiny and the slave release in 1883, five year before the Áurea law sanction. These happenings are commemorate yearly on setember with one big theatrical event called by the freedom high. Inside this contexto of exaltation to freedom, there is one black movement by name black and beautiful. Is the present dissertation, talked about the building of black identities between the black militants of Mossoró and the dwellers from the Santo Antônio district. With such approach, we intend to think about possibles differences or likeness, how the militants and dwellers from the refered district self-calleds like blacks or not. We are understanding black identity like one process to self-affirmation done by specificities of the social context and the individual particularity. This way, the identity change into one dynamic and contextual reality, gone always by one business process against the interaction of the social actors. So we search to discuss the specificities that involve the process to building of black identities in the city of freedom

Síndrome metabólica e risco cardiovascular na pós- menopausa: avaliação por diferentes critérios diagnósticos e influência de fatores sócio-econômicos

The metabolic syndrome (MetS) involves a group of risk factors and is associated with a significantly higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and type 2 diabetes. Recent studies have shown the importance of preventing CVD through early diagnosis and treatment of patients with MetS. The objective of our study was to determine the prevalence of MetS by different diagnostic criteria in postmenopausal women and analyze the influence of socioeconomic factors on cardiovascular risk in this sample of the population. A cross-sectional study involving 127 postmenopausal women (45 to 64 years) from Natal and Mossoró, Brazil. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. The experimental protocol consisted of applying structured interview, clinical examination and implementation of dosages blood. The diagnosis of MetS was based on NCEP-ATP III (National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III) and IDF (International Diabetes Federation) criteria. The research was accomplished with the participation of an interdisciplinary team in their several phases. The result of the sample studied had mean age of 53.9 ± 4.6 years and per capita income of 54.5 dollars. The prevalence of MetS, according to NCEP-ATP III and IDF criteria, was 52.8% and 61.4$, respectively. The agreement rate between NCEP-ATP III and IDF criteria was 81.9%, with a kappa value of 0.63 (CI 95%, 0.49-0.76), indicating good agreement between the two definitions. The most prevalent cardiovascular risk factor was HDL < 50 mg/dl, observed in 96.1% of the women analyzed, followed by increased waist circumference (≥ 80 cm) in 78.0%, elevated blood pressure in 51.2%, triglycerides ≥ 150 mg/dl in 40.9% and glycemia ≥ 100 mg/dl in 37.0% of the women. The occurrence of MetS was significantly associated with schooling and body mass index (BMI). High blood pressure was significantly associated with low family income, low schooling and weight gain. There was no significant association between the intensity of climacteric symptomatology and the occurrence of MetS. The conclusions of the research were that MetS and its individual components show a high prevalence in postmenopausal Brazilian women, and significant associations with weight gain and low socioeconomic indicators. The data point to the need for an interdisciplinary approach at the basic health care level, directed toward the early identification of risk factors and the promotion of cardiovascular health of climacteric women.

Síndrome metabólica e fatores associados: estudo comparativo com mulheres que apresentaram pré-eclâmpsia e gravidez normal, acompanhadas cinco anos após o parto

Preeclampsia is defined as an extremely serious complication of the pregnancy-puerperium cycle with delayed emergence of cardiovascular risk factors, including metabolic syndrome. The research aimed estimate the prevalences of metabolic syndrome and associated factors in women with preeclampsia and normal pregnancy followed five years after childbirth. This is a cross-sectional observational study using a quantitative approach, conducted at a maternity school in the city of Natal in Rio Grande do Norte state. The sample was composed of 70 women with previous preeclampsia and 75 normal selected by simple random probability sampling. Subjects were analyzed for sociodemographic, obstetric, clinical, anthropometric and biochemical parameters. International Diabetes Federation criteria were adopted to diagnose metabol ic syndrome. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann-Whitney, Student s t, Pearson s chi-squared, and Fisher s exact tests, in addition to simple logistic regression, were used for data analysis, at a 5% significance level (p ≤ 0.05). Statistical tests demonstrated elevated body mass index (p = 0.001), predominance of family history of diabetes mellitus (p = 0.022) and significantly higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the preeclampsia group (37.1%) when compared to normal (22.7%) (p = 0.042). Intergroup comparison showed a high number of metabolic syndrome components in women with previous preeclampsia. Altered systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.001) was the most prevalent, followed by low concentrations of high-density lipoproteins (p = 0.049), and hyperglycemia (p=0.030). There was a predominance of the metabolic syndrome in women with schooling 0-9 years (42.4%) (p = 0.005), body mass index above 30Kg.m 2 (52.3%) (p < 0.001), uric acid high (62.5%) (p = 0.050 and family history of hypertension (38.5%) (p< 0.001). Multivariate analysis of the data showed that the body mass index above 30 kg.m2, education level less than 10 years of study (p < 0.001) and family history of hypertension (p = 0.002) remained associated with the metabolic syndrome after multivariate analysis of the data. It is considered Women with previous preeclampsia exhibited high prevalence of metabolic syndrome and their individual components in relation to normal, especially, altered systolic and diastolic blood pressure, low concentrations of high-density lipoproteins and hyperglycemia. The factors associated to this ou tcome were obesity, less than 10 years of schooling, and family history of hypertension. Overall, this study identified young women with a history of PE exposed to a higher cardiovascular risk than normal

Efeitos individuais e interativos da diversidade de detritos, contexto e variabilidade ambiental sobre a magnitude e estabilidade do processo de decomposição

Studies on the effects of changes in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning have been a central theme in ecology over the past two decades. Several studies have showed that the diversity of plant debris differently affects the decomposition process in aquatic and terrestrial environments, but we know very about the effects of detritus diversity on decomposition under fluctuating environmental conditions. We tested whether and how the environmental contexts, as well as the dynamic of their alternation, influence the effects of detritus diversity on the decomposition process. We performed a field experiment where we manipulate the litter diversity of 8 species of terrestrial plants decomposing (litterbags) in single and in mixture containing the eight species together in three different environmental contexts: the terrestrial environment (T), aquatic (A) and interface (I) - experimental treatment that simulates variation in flooding regime. We measured the rate of decomposition through the loss of mass of the community and each individual detritus in monocultures and mixtures. Species richness and environmental variability had no effects on the magnitude and stability of the decomposition process. However, there were significant diversity effects on the decomposition of an individual alien species, F. benjamina. Environmental context had significant effects on the magnitude and variability of decomposition. Detritus decomposition was faster and more variable on aquatic, interface and terrestrial conditions, respectively. Our results demonstrate that the diversity of plant detritus has minor effects to the decomposition across disparate environmental conditions and suggest that it is necessary to consider the potential of other abiotic factors in affect the magnitude and variability of the decomposition processes

Narrativa autobiográfica como prática de formação e de atualização de si : os grupos referência e o grupo reflexivo na mediação da constituição identitária docente

The thesis: "autobiographical narrative as practical continuous training and updating of itself: the groups-reference and the reflexive group in the mediation of identity construction of teaching" begins in the founder matter: "What are the implications of groups-reference in the process of identity formation and the teaching role of teachers which is participating of the research? This object of study deals with the continuing education of teachers of Basic Education and the role of the reflective group as space-time of (re) construction of educational knowledge, for the recognition of yourself. The thesis defends that the autobiographical narrative, as a pedagogical tool and research, for the initial and continuous training, is presented as theoretical and methodological foundation necessary for identity formation of the teacher. The research is limited to the qualitative approach with a focus on the autobiographical narrative. The participants are six teachers, three teachers and three students-teachers. The corpus comprises six autobiographical narratives, six reports of successful experiences, two studies on the biographical work, and six individual testimonials about the impact in personal and professional life. The data analysis was to reference Dausien and Alheit (2006), Bruner (1997), Contreras (2002), Delory-Momberger (2007), Freire (2005), Giddens (2002), Josso (2004), new (1988, 2002), Passeggi (2001, 2002), Pineau (2004), Ricoeur (2004), Souza (2006), Tardif (2002) and Vygotsky (2005). The research revealed that the formation of identity as a teachers of the educators occurred in the reference group, involving the formal, non-formal and informal of the processes of knowledge , in a movement of alternation training that includes yourself, the other and the ambient. Also revealed that the pedagogical choices of the teachers studied aimed at minimizing educational gaps that were lived in both field personal and social; that the personal identity is configured as an identity narrative and the methodology of the biographical work, through the mimesis of continuing education, provided the passage from the group reflective to the group of reference

O outro diálogo: uma compreensão do diálogo interno

This thesis aims to enable a wider comprehension on thought operation as well as suggest alternatives for the formation of reflexive, critical, autonomous and creative individuals. The research defends the idea that it is possible for an individual to develop vigilant attention that makes thought flexibilization and change in the course of action, possible. This operation is called Internal Dialogue and is essentially characterized by a continuous openness towards novelty and learning. This makes it possible to minimize the usual way thought operates, in a automatic fashion (automatism). The research was based on theoretical references and ideas of David Bohm (1989;1994;2005) and Michael Polanyi (1983). The main emphasis was the understanding that a crisis situation enables awareness and state of alert that favors a more flexible thought pattern (Aragão Gomes, 1994, 1997). The methodology used was presentation and analysis of these moments through autobibliographical records with indication of crisis on behalf of the subjects. Other criteria were also used that enabled the composition of the analyzed material such as the fact that: the subjects were public and real, the data was available through accessible material; the subjects identified themselves as in crisis; these crisis were of varied kinds; they had different social, cultural and professional profiles. Thus, three auto-bibliographical elements were selected: the Infidel: the story of a woman that challenged Islam (2007), written by the political Muslim author Ayaan Hirsi; Still me: memories (2001), of the actor Christopher Reeve as well as Confessions of a Philosopher (2001), by the philosopher Bryan Magee. In these books an analysis was made related to parts that stated action an though operation that express internal dialogue. These were organized into categories that were pointed out as relevant for the identification of internal dialogue such as: Perceptions of physical reaction; emotions, beliefs and issues, individual actions, self judgment and thought, self questioning, comprehension, observation and empirical investigation, perception of the changes they performed in the world, escape of conditioning as well as action that resulted in new meaning. The analysis performed reinforces our goal once it sated that internal dialogue is an important tool that allows thought awareness, minimizing common automatism and making consciousness possible as well as favoring the occurrence of critical and reflexive thought. Thus, final considerations deal with the need for the development of teaching methodologies that address internal dialogue as a counterpoint to the many daily action that reinforce the automatism of thought

Outro diálogo: uma compreensão do diálogo interno

This thesis aims to enable a wider comprehension on thought operation as well as suggest alternatives for the formation of reflexive, critical, autonomous and creative individuals. The research defends the idea that it is possible for an individual to develop vigilant attention that makes thought flexibilization and change in the course of action, possible. This operation is called Internal Dialogue and is essentially characterized by a continuous openness towards novelty and learning. This makes it possible to minimize the usual way thought operates, in a automatic fashion (automatism). The research was based on theoretical references and ideas of David Bohm (1989;1994;2005) and Michael Polanyi (1983). The main emphasis was the understanding that a crisis situation enables awareness and state of alert that favors a more flexible thought pattern (Aragão Gomes, 1994, 1997). The methodology used was presentation and analysis of these moments through autobibliographical records with indication of crisis on behalf of the subjects. Other criteria were also used that enabled the composition of the analyzed material such as the fact that: the subjects were public and real, the data was available through accessible material; the subjects identified themselves as in crisis; these crisis were of varied kinds; they had different social, cultural and professional profiles. Thus, three auto-bibliographical elements were selected: the Infidel: the story of a woman that challenged Islam (2007), written by the political Muslim author Ayaan Hirsi; Still me: memories (2001), of the actor Christopher Reeve as well as Confessions of a Philosopher (2001), by the philosopher Bryan Magee. In these books an analysis was made related to parts that stated action an though operation that express internal dialogue. These were organized into categories that were pointed out as relevant for the identification of internal dialogue such as: Perceptions of physical reaction; emotions, beliefs and issues, individual actions, self judgment and thought, self questioning, comprehension, observation and empirical investigation, perception of the changes they performed in the world, escape of conditioning as well as action that resulted in new meaning. The analysis performed reinforces our goal once it sated that internal dialogue is an important tool that allows thought awareness, minimizing common automatism and making consciousness possible as well as favoring the occurrence of critical and reflexive thought. Thus, final considerations deal with the need for the development of teaching methodologies that address internal dialogue as a counterpoint to the many daily action that reinforce the automatism of thought

Aconselhamento em HIV/AIDS: ações e reflexões dos profissionais do Centro de Testagem e Aconselhamento (CTA)

The counseling on HIV/Aids consists in a prevention strategy that contributes to increase the diagnosis of HIV and start earlier the treatment. The counseling has as pillars the emotional and educational support, risks evaluation that aim at the adoption of safe practices and the individual s responsibility for his own health. To accomplish these results, it is necessary that health workers understand counseling as a unique educational moment that stimulates the user s critical-reflection when it comes to his role as an active subject in this process. This study aimed to analyze the counseling on HIV/Aids conducted by the professionals of the Testing and Counseling Center (CTA), based on the educational perspective of Paulo Freire . This is a descriptive qualitative study with a critical reflexive design based on the principles of Action-Science. All the professionals acting as counselors in the Joao Pessoa, PB CTA, eight in total, took part in the study. Data were collected during the month of March, 2011, through non participative observation and semi-structured interviews with a critical-reflexive focus, analyzed according to the tenets of the critical-reflexive methodology, and discussed taking into consideration the Paulo Freire s pedagogy and pertinent literature. It was observed that most of the professionals expressed the work philosophy of CTA as the diagnosis and prevention of the disease, associated with the utilization and demonstration of condoms. However, upon observation of their counseling sessions, these ideas were not converted in actions. Educational themes were not covered and the condom wasn t offered at any time. The counseling actions focused on the provision of information and filling out the paper forms which are necessary for attendance. The sessions were conducted with brief dialogues and little opportunity for the users to expose or complement their thoughts and needs. The professionals mentioned as facilitating conditions for counseling, the team interaction and physical structure. The difficulties focused on the users low cognition, the large demand for attendance, aspects related to the service organization, and the counselors absences and delays. After reflecting about the actions observed in the counseling, the majority of professionals admitted the need to modify their practice in the incorporation of educational principles for the achievement of a broader prevention, and seemed to be willing to work in this perspective. In conclusion, although the counselors show ideas consistent with the purposes of CTA, these ideas are limited when it comes to the understanding of the meaning of prevention in HIV/Aids. Taking into consideration that they express a certain comprehension and act differently during the counseling, they demonstrate a lack of bond between the theories in use and the proposed ones, in accordance with the contribution of the action-science theory. The counseling, as an educative practice, doesn t materialize in the counseling itself and the orientation for reflection is not given during the attendance. These findings suggest the need to include the process of reflection in the execution of the actions of counseling, so that these practices are guided by reflexive practice, aiming at transforming the way of thinking and acting into a more educational perspective toward a more democratic and holistic assistance.

Gestão do Conhecimento baseado na análise de GAP de competências: Um estudo de caso do DETRAN-RN

The Knowledge Management in organizations is a continuous process of learning that is given by the integration of data, information and the ability of people to use this information. The Management Skills is concerned to understand the powers of officials in the face of organizational skills (teams) and professionals (or tasks positions) want. Joints are located in the greater context of the economy of organizatio s and have the same assumption: that the possession of scarce resources, valuable and difficult to imitate gives the organization a competitive advantage. In this sense, this thesis proposes a model of knowledge management based on analysis of GAP of powers, namely the gap between the skills needed to reach the expected performance and skills already available in the organization, officials and trainees of Coordination of Registration of conductors of DETRAN-RN. Using the method of survey research could make an analysis of academic skills, techniques and emotional individual and a team of officials and trainees, identifying levels of GAP's competence in that sector of the organization and suggest a plan for training , A level of expertise for each sector of coordination, and propose a model for Knowledge Management to help the management of GAP's identified

Avaliação, identificação e atividade enzimática de bactérias psicotróficas presentes no leite cru refrigerado

Extended storage of refrigerated milk can lead to reduced quality of raw and processed milk, which is a consequence of the growth and metabolic activities of psychrotrophic bacteria, able to grow under 7oC or lower temperatures. Although most of these microorganisms are destroyed by heat treatment, some have the potential to produce termoresistant proteolytic and lipolytic enzymes that can survive even UHT processing and reduce the processed products quality. Recently, the IN 51 determineds that milk should be refrigerated and stored at the farm what increased the importance of this group of microorganisms. In this work, psychrotrophic bacteria were isolated from 20 communitarian bulk tanks and 23 individual bulk tanks from dairy farms located at Zona da Mata region of Minas Gerais State and from southeastern Rio de Janeiro. Selected milk dilutions were plated on standard agar and after incubation for 10 days at 7oC, five colonies were isolated, firstly using nutrient agar and after using McConkey agar for 24 hours at 21oC. The isolates were identified by morphology, Gram stain method, catalase production, fermentative/oxidative metabolism and by API 20E, API 20NE, API Staph, API Coryne or API 50 CH (BioMerieux). In order to ensure reproductibility, API was repeated for 50% of the isolates. Species identification was considered when APILAB indexes reached 75% or higher. 309 strains were isolated, 250 Gram negative and 59 Gram positive. 250 Gram negative isolates were identified as: Acinetobacter spp. (39), Aeromonas spp. (07), A. Hydrophila (16), A. sobria (1), A. caviae (1), Alcaligenes feacalis (1), Burkholderia cepacia (12), Chryseomonas luteola (3), Enterobacter sp. (1), Ewingella americana(6), Hafnia alvei (7), Klebsiella sp. (1), Klebsiella oxytoca (10), Yersinia spp. (2), Methylobacterium mesophilicum (1), Moraxella spp. (4), Pantoea spp. (16), Pasteurella sp. (1), Pseudomonas spp. (10), P. fluorescens (94), P. putida (3), Serratia spp. (3), Sphigomonas paucomobilis (1). Five isolates kept unidentified. Pseudomonas was the predominant bacteria found (43%) and P. fluorescens the predominant species (37.6%), in accordance with previous reports. Qualitative analysis of proteolytic and lipolytic activity was based on halo formation using caseinate agar and tributirina agar during 72 hours at 21oC and during 10 days at 4°C, 10oC and 7°C. Among 250 Gram negative bacteria found, 104 were identified as Pseudomonas spp. and 60,57% of this group showed proteolytic and lipolytic acitivities over all four studied temperatures. 20% of Acinetobacter, Aeromonas, Alcaligenes, Burkholderia, Chryseomonas, Methylobacterium, Moraxella presented only lipolytic activity. Some isolates presented enzymatic activity in one or more studied temperatures. Among Gram positive bacteria, 30.51% were proteolytic and lipolytic at 10oC, 8.47% were proteolytic at 7oC, 10oC, and 21oC, 8.47% were proteolytic at all studied temperatures (4oC, 7oC, 10oC and 21oC) and 3.38% were proteolytic only at 21oC. At 4oC, only one isolate showed proteolytic activity and six isolates were lipolytic. In relation to Gram negative microorganisms, 4% were proteolytic and lipolytic at 7oC, 10oC and 21oC, 10% were proteolytic at 10oC and 4.4% were lipolytic at 4oC, 7oC, 10oC and 21oC, while 6.4% of all isolates were proteolytic and lipolytic at 10oC and 21oC as well as lipolytic at 4oC and 7oC. These findings are in accordance with previous researches that pointed out Pseudomonas as the predominant psycrotrophic flora in stored refrigerated raw milk

A construção estilística das identidades poéticas da cidade de Natal: um olhar bakhtiniano

The purpose of this work is to bring forward cultural identities of the city of Natal that are built upon representations contained in the work of Twentieth-Century Potiguar1 poets. We started out with the premise that the urban tissue owes its formation to the effect of the feelings produced and to the individuals that give shape to them, thus causing the city to abound with feelings and meanings that are relevant for both society and the individual. As cities and their identities may be studied and interpreted from different viewpoints, we have used in this study poetic discourse that functions as a memory to the city and takes shape out of a set of historically established social practices. Our research is situated within the area of Applied Linguistics, an area of knowledge focused mainly in language that is increasingly expanding its investigation limits in an interdisciplinary way. Therefore, this study is based on a social and historical model of language, with language construed as a discourse practice (Bakhtin and Circle), and presents an interface with cultural studies (Hall, Canclini), taking into account the fact that culture builds up values and brings forth differences in respect of the conditions under which such values and differences are produced. In this sense, we have tried to ―listen‖ to what the poets say, by understanding and interpreting the meanings produced by their discourse, in order to identify the formation of the identities of the city that arise out of distinct points of view and diverse stylistic marks. Analysis of these poetic utterances lead to multifold cultural identities of the city, ranging from a naive and multicolored Natal to a city that builds itself on its characters and on to an insurgent, usurped Natal

Uma avaliação do serviço de atenção domiciliar/programa melhor em casa: o caso do hospital Monsenhor Walfredo Gurgel

This dissertation try to understand how management actions implemented by Monsenhor Walfredo Gurgel Hospital in the city of Natal promote effectively the benefits of Home Care Services / Programa Melhor em Casa . The research is exploratory and descriptive, qualitative approach. Data were collected through document analysis and the interviews with the managers of the Program in Health Department and Hospital beyond the questionnaires with the home care teams and technical management unit of Hospital Jobs. The information were treatment trough categories that analyzed to implemented actions and program objectives. The results show that: the practices carried out by the host teams produce the humanization of care by seeking to ensure access to health services and solving human form; networks of health care are not yet finalized hindering the referral of patients to other units, the networks allow support from other institutions to minimize the problems encountered, the management unit vacancies allows the reduction of costs, mainly by regulating beds and record of health initiatives in home care assists in the monitoring and evaluation process of the Services Home Care / Programa Melhor em Casa primarily the epidemiological profile and patients individual treatment plan. Concludes that most of the actions implemented by the Hospital contribute to the effectiveness of the goals of Programa Melhor em Casa

Relação entre o ciclo sono e vigília e a função cardiorrespiratória em estudantes de medicina

Students, normally, present an irregular sleep pattern characterized by delays in sleep onset and offset from weekdays to weekends, short sleep duration on weekdays and long sleep duration on weekends. The reduction of the necessary sleep and the irregularity in the sleep patterns provoke relevant short- and long-term impairments on performances, for example, in cardiorespiratory function. The cardiorespiratory performance represents, in addition to fitness, traces associated to health conditions and in several studies to pattern and/or individual s sleep quality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the pattern of the sleep-wake cycle and the cardiorespiratory function of medical students under different class schedules. The study was accomplished with two classes of medical students of UFRN, one had classes at 7 am (n = 47) and the second had classes at 8 am (n = 41) during the week. On the first stage of the study all volunteers filled out an anamnesis, the International Physical Activity questionnaire, the Pittsburgh index of sleep quality, the Portuguese version of the Horne and Östberg cronotype questionnaire, the Health and Sleep questionnaire and the Epworth Scale of Somnolence (ESS). On the second stage, 24 students (12 of each class) had their activity rhythm monitored by actimeters set to record activity at a 2-min interval for 14 days concomitant to the completion of the sleep diary. In this same stage, each volunteer performed the effort test (treadmill) only once in the morning period (between 9:00 and 11:00). The students showed an irregular pattern of the sleep-wake cycle and this irregularity is strongly influenced by the class schedules, in addition to the contribution of the academic demand, social activities and endogenous factors. The students who woke up earlier showed greater irregularity in the sleep-wake pattern. The earlier was the class schedule the worse was the sleep quality and the greater was the frequency of students with excessive diurnal somnolence. The classes schedules and the irregular pattern of the sleep-wake cycle did not show effect on the cardiorespiratory performance of the medical students. The performance on the test seems to be affected by other factors, which can be related to the pattern of the sleep-wake cycle or not. Therefore, it is suggested that the late start of classes provokes less irregularity on the pattern of the sleep-wake cycle. However, it was observed that this irregularity and the class schedule seem not to affect the cardiorespiratory performance directly