Investigação da capacidade intelectiva de pacientes pediátricos diagnosticados com tumores de fossa posterior

Central Nervous System are the most common pediatric solid tumors. 60% of these tumors arise in posterior fossa, mainly in cerebellum. The first therapeutic approach is surgical resection. Malignant tumors require additional strategies - chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The increasing survival evidences that childhood brain tumors result in academic and social difficulties that compromise the quality of life of the patients. This study investigated the intellectual functioning of children between 7 to 15 years diagnosed with posterior fossa tumors and treated at CEHOPE - Recife / PE. 21 children were eligible - including 13 children with pilocytic astrocytoma (G1) who underwent only surgery resection, and eight children with medulloblastoma (G2) - submitted to surgical resection, chemotherapy and craniospinal radiotherapy. Participants were evaluated by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - WISC-III. Children of G1 scored better than children of G2. Inferential tools (Mann-Whitney Ü Test) identified significant diferences (p ≤ 0.05) between the Performance IQ (PIQ) and Processing Speed Index (PSI) as a function of treatment modality; Full Scale IQ (FSIQ), PIQ and PSI as a function of parental educational level; PIQ, FSIQ, IVP and Freedom from Distractibility (FDI) as a function of time between diagnosis and evaluation. These results showed the late and progressive impact of radiotherapy on white matter and information processing speed. Furthermore, children whose parents have higher educational level showed better intellectual performance, indicating the influence of xxii socio-cultural variables on cognitive development. The impact of cancer and its treatment on cognitive development and learning should not be underestimated. These results support the need to increase the understanding of such effects in order to propose therapeutic strategies which ensure that, in addition to the cure, the full development of children with this pathology

Novo sistema de aplicação de drogas em cirurgias oftalmológicas

The topical corneal application of antimitotic mitomycin-C (MMC) during refractive surgery is still characterized by a lack of standardization and considerable empirism. For this reason the creation of a system capable of reliable drug delivery represents a beneficial innovation for patients submitted to these procedures. Objective: Elaborate a new MMC delivery system during the transoperatory period of photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) followed by patent application. Methods: The project consists of an in vitro experimental study to create an MMC (0.02%) release system. The drug was impregnated in sterile Whatman® 41 paper filter discs with a diameter of 8 mm. After drying, the discs were applied to antibiogram plates seeded with Staphylococcus epidermidis (American Type Culture Collection ATCC 12228), followed by the addition of a drop of sterile water. At the end of 1 minute, the discs were removed and the plates incubated for 48 hours at 35oC. Mean drop volume in the collyrium flasks was measured using analytical balance weighing. The inhibition halo (mm) was correlated with the MMC impregnated into the disc. After completion of the invention design a patent application was lodged at the National Institute of Industrial Property. Results: The correspondence between MMC-produced inhibition halos indicated that a dose of 16μg was ideal for impregnating into the discs. The mean drop volume obtained from the collyrium flasks was 37.7 μL. A minute after the application of one drop of balanced saline solution, the system released an adequate concentration for PRK surgery. Conclusion: A new MMC delivery system was created for transoperatory application in photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). Publication of the patent application (number PI 0704739-8) gives the authors exclusive intellectual property rights. The study was sponsored by Ophthalmos Indústria e Comércio de Produtos Farmacêuticos S.A. (São Paulo-SP, Brazil) and received the indispensable scientific contribution of researchers from the fields of Pharmacy, Medicine, Biology, Statistics and Law, characterizing the work as multidisciplinary, in accordance with norms established by the Postgraduate Health Sciences Program of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)

Biodistribuição do pertecnetato de sódio (Na99mTcO4) em ratos submetidos à ressecção extensa de intestino delgado

Massive resection of the small intestine results in short bowel syndrome with anti-absorptive effect and repercussions on the metabolism. Morphologic and functional evaluation may be necessary in order to control wrapped organs. Scintigraphy an examination with little invading and no biologic damage can be used. The purpose were to assess the biodistribution of sodium pertecnetate in organs of rats subjected to massive resection of the small intestine, the intestinal adaptation of the remnant intestinal mucosa and weight curve evaluation in the postoperative period. Twenty-one Wistar rats were randomly allocated into three groups (n = 7). The operated group named short bowel (SB) after anesthetized was subjected to massive resection of the small intestine; the control group (C), and sham group (SHAM). On the 30th postoperative day, 0.l mL of sodium pertechnetate was injected into the venous orbital plexus. After 30 minutes, the rats were killed with an overdose of anesthetic, and fragments of the liver, spleen, pancreas, stomach, duodenum, small intestine, thyroid, lung, heart, kidney, bladder, muscle, femur and brain were harvested. The percentage of radioactivity per gram of tissue (%ATI/g) was determined using Gama Counter WizardTM 1470, PerkinElmer to all samples. Biopsies of 3 cm remaining jejunum were removed to histological analyses. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Tukey test for multiple comparisons were used, considering p<0.05 as significant. The study had the participation of some departments and laboratories, as Nucleus of Experimental Surgery, Department of Surgery, Laboratory of Radiobiology, Department of Pathology and Service of Nuclear Medicine, certifying the character of a multidisciplinary research. The results were no significant differences in %ATI/g of the sodium pertechnetate in the organs of the groups studied (p>0.05). An increase in the weight of the SB rats was observed after the second postoperative week. The jejunal mucosal thickness of the SB rats was significantly greater than that of C and sham rats (p<0.05. The biodistribution of sodium pertechnetate was not affected by massive intestinal resection in rats. An adaptive response by the intestinal mucosa probably contributed to the reversion of weight loss and the biodistribution of sodium pertechnetate was not affected by the surgery

Eram realmente pitagórico(a)s os homens e mulheres catalogado(a)s por Jâmblico em sua obra Vida de Pitágoras?

Pythagoras was one of the most important pre-Socratic thinkers, and the movement he founded, Pythagoreanism, influenced a whole thought later in religion and science. Iamblichus, an important Neoplatonic and Neopythagorean philosopher of the third century AD, produced one of the most important biographies of Pythagoras in his work Life of Pythagoras. In it he portrays the life of Pythagoras and provides information on Pythagoreanism, such as the Pythagorean religious community which resembled the cult of mysteries; the Pythagorean involvement in political affairs and in the government in southern Italy, the use of music by the Pythagoreans (means of purification of healing, use of theoretical study), the Pythagorean ethic (Pythagorean friendship and loyalty, temperance, self-control, inner balance); justice; and the attack on the Pythagoreans. Also in this biography, Iamblichus, almost seven hundred years after the termination of the Pythagorean School, established a catalog list with the names of two hundred and eighteen men and sixteen women, supposedly Pythagoreans of different nationalities. Based on this biography, a question was raised: to what extent and in what ways, can the Pythagoreans quoted by Iamblichus really be classified as Pythagoreans? We will take as guiding elements to search for answers to our central problem the following general objectives: to identify, whenever possible, which of the men and women listed in the Iamblichus catalog may be deemed Pythagorean and specific; (a) to describe the mystery religions; (b) to reflect on the similarities between the cult of mysteries and the Pythagorean School; (c) to develop criteria to define what is being a Pythagorean; (d) to define a Pythagorean; (e) to identify, if possible, through names, places of birth, life, thoughts, work, lifestyle, generation, etc.., each of the men and women listed by Iamblichus; (f) to highlight who, in the catalog, could really be considered Pythagorean, or adjusting to one or more criteria established in c, or also to the provisions of item d. To realize these goals, we conducted a literature review based on ancient sources that discuss the Pythagoreanism, especially Iamblichus (1986), Plato (2000), Aristotle (2009), as well as modern scholars of the Pythagorean movement, Cameron (1938), Burnet (1955), Burkert (1972), Barnes (1997), Gorman (n.d.), Guthrie (1988), Khan (1999), Mattéi (2000), Kirk, Raven and Shofield (2005), Fossa and Gorman (n.d.) (2010). The results of our survey show that, despite little or no availability of information on the names of alleged Pythagoreans listed by Iamblichus, if we apply the criteria and the definition set by us of what comes to be a Pythagorean to some names for which we have evidence, it is possible to assume that Iamblichus produced a list which included some Pythagoreans

Um estudo sobre a apreciação do raciocínio matemático na formação inicial de professores

The present work focused on developing teaching activities that would provide to the student in initial teacher training, improving the ability of mathematical reasoning and hence a greater appreciation of the concepts related to the golden section, the irrational numbers, and the incommensurability the demonstration from the reduction to the nonsensical. This survey is classified itself as a field one which data collection were inserted within a quantitative and qualitative approach. Acted in this research, two classes in initial teacher training. These were teachers and employees of public schools and local governments, living in the capital, in Natal Metropolitan Region - and within the country. The empirical part of the research took place in Pedagogy and Mathematics courses, IFESP in Natal - RN. The theoretical and methodological way construction aimed to present a teaching situation, based on history, involving mathematics and architecture, derived from a concrete context - Andrea Palladio s Villa Emo. Focused discussions on current studies of Rachel Fletcher stating that the architect used the golden section in this village construction. As a result, it was observed that the proposal to conduct a study on the mathematical reasoning assessment provided, in teaching and activity sequences, several theoretical and practical reflections. These applications, together with four sessions of study in the classroom, turned on to a mathematical thinking organization capable to develop in academic students, the investigative and logical reasoning and mathematical proof. By bringing ancient Greece and Andrea Palladio s aspects of the mathematics, in teaching activities for teachers and future teachers of basic education, it was promoted on them, an improvement in mathematical reasoning ability. Therefore, this work came from concerns as opportunity to the surveyed students, thinking mathematically. In fact, one of the most famous irrational, the golden section, was defined by a certain geometric construction, which is reflected by the Greek phrase (the name "golden section" becomes quite later) used to describe the same: division of a segment - on average and extreme right. Later, the golden section was once considered a standard of beauty in the arts. This is reflected in how to treat the statement questioning by current Palladio s scholars, regarding the use of the golden section in their architectural designs, in our case, in Villa Emo

Disfunção sexual feminina e níveis dos hormônios esteroidais em mulheres obesas atendidas no ambulatório de cirurgia bariátrica do hospital universitário Onofre Lopes em Natal/RN

A disfunção sexual corresponde a alterações em uma ou mais fases da resposta sexual humana e apresenta maior prevalência na população feminina. Ademais, a participação de alguns fatores como obesidade e níveis dos hormônios esteroidais na disfunção sexual feminina (DSF) permanece incerta. O presente estudo deteve-se na análise da ocorrência de DSF numa população de mulheres portadoras de obesidade, cadastradas no Ambulatório de Cirurgia Bariátrica do Hospital Universitário Onofre Lopes, da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, no município de Natal, RN. O estudo foi realizado em uma amostra composta por trinta e uma mulheres, com idade entre 20 e 50 anos, com índice de massa corpórea (IMC) > 30 Kg/m2. A todas as pacientes foi aplicado um questionário composto por uma seção com dados socio-econômicos, e outra abordando a saúde sexual feminina, sendo esta última correspondente ao Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), para diagnóstico de DSF. A partir dessa caracterização, as pacientes foram reunidas nos grupos CD (pacientes com disfunção, n= 9) e SD (sem disfunção, n= 22). Para a análise do efeito da obesidade na DSF, as pacientes foram reunidas nos grupos 1 (6 pacientes com IMC grau I e II: entre 30 e 40 Kg/m2) e 2 (25 com IMC grau III: acima de 40). Para o estudo da participação dos hormônios esteroidais foram determinadas as concentrações séricas de cortisol, estradiol e dehidroepiandrosterona (DHEA) pelo método de quimiluminescência. A análise estatística dos dados foi realizada usando os testes ANOVA, MANOVA (Pillai), além de análise de Cluster. Para identificar as diferenças entre os domínios do FSFI, foi usado o teste T de Student. A significância considerada para todos os testes foi para p< 0,01. Das pacientes estudadas, 25,8% apresentaram DSF de acordo com o escore total do FSFI. A análise estatística posterior evidenciou que as diferenças ocorreram para os domínios desejo, excitação e orgasmo. Não foi encontrada relação da presença de DSF com os diferentes graus de obesidade ou com os níveis hormonais dos esteróides cortisol, estradiol ou DHEA. Contudo, foi encontrado aumento significativo nos níveis séricos de estradiol para o grupo 1, que corresponde ao de menor índice de IMC. Estes resultados mostram que a prevalência de DSF não diferiu entre os graus I,II e III de obesidade das pacientes deste estudo mas, quando presente, a disfunção ocorre nos domínios desejo, excitação e orgasmo. A maior concentração de estradiol encontrada nas pacientes de menor índice de IMC sugere uma possível relação entre as duas variáveis que precisa ser investigada em estudos futuros.