Análise cinemática da marcha livre e adaptativa de pacientes com doença de Parkinson e idosos sadios: efeito da dica auditiva

Disorders in gait are identified in Parkinson’s disease patients. As a result, the capacity of walking independently and the interaction with the environment can be impairment. So, the auditory cues have been utilized as a non-pharmacological treatment to improve the locomotor impairment of the PD patients. However, these effects were observed in the regular lands and it’s not known the effects of auditory cues in gait during avoidance obstacles that could be more threaten for these patients. Yet, few studies in the literature compare the Parkinson’s disease patients with the older adults during the locomotor tasks and obstacle avoidance in association with the effects of auditory cues. The aim of the study is to compare the effects of the auditory cues in the gait and during obstacle avoidance in PD patients and older adults. 30 subjects distributed in two groups (Group 1 - 15, Parkinson’s disease patients; Group 2 - 15, healthy older adults) are going to participate of this study. After the participation approval, the assessment of clinical condition will be done by a physician. So, to investigate the locomotor pattern, it will be done a kinematic analysis. The experimental task is to walk on 8 m pathway and 18 trials will be done (6 for the free gait and 12 for adaptive gait). For the adaptive gait, two different obstacle heights will be manipulated: high obstacle (HO) and low obstacle (LO). In order to verify possible differences between the groups and the experimental condition, multivariance tests will be used with a significance level of 0.05. MANOVA revealed effect of condition and task. Thus, with DA, we observed an increase in cadence and reduced single support and stride length. When the tasks were compared, it was observed that the LO task, subjects had lower velocity and stride length... 9Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Comportamento locomotor, quadro clínico, incidência de quedas e nível de atividade física em pacientes com doença de Parkinson: um estudo longitudinal de dois anos

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Complexidade do ambiente e assimetria no andar de idosos com doença de Parkinson

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

The effects of macromolecular and serum supplements and oxygen tension during bovine in vitro procedures on kinetics of oocyte maturation and embryo development

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Optimising tetrazolium test procedures to evaluate the physiological potential of peanut seeds

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Growth optimization procedures for the phytopathogen Xylella fastidiosa

For the first time, growth curves are shown for the phytopathogen Xylella fastidiosa on traditional growth media such as PW (periwinkle wilt), BCYE (buffered charcoal yeast extract), and on new ones such as GYE (glutamate yeast extract) and PYE (phosphate yeast extract) that were developed in this work. The optimal growth conditions on solid and liquid media as well as their measurements are presented, by using total protein content and turbidity determinations. The results demonstrated that yeast extract provided sufficient nutrients for X. fastidiosa, since the cells grew well on PYE medium.

Effect of lactation length adjustment procedures on genetic parameter estimates for buffalo milk yield

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Serotonergic neurons in the median raphe nucleus regulate inhibitory avoidance but not escape behavior in the rat elevated T-maze test of anxiety

Rationale: A wealth of evidence supports the involvement of the serotonergic neurons of the median raphe nucleus (MRN) in anxiety. However, it is presently unclear whether serotonergic pathways arising from this nucleus play distinguishing regulatory roles in defensive behaviors that have been associated with specific subtypes of anxiety disorders. Objectives: To evaluate the role of the MRN serotonergic neurons in the regulation of two defensive behaviors, inhibitory avoidance and escape, which have been related, respectively, to generalized anxiety and panic disorders. Methods: Male Wistar rats were submitted to the elevated T-maze test of anxiety after intra-MRN administration of drugs that either non-selectively or selectively change the activity of the serotonergic neurons. Results: Intra-MRN injection of FG 7142 (0.04 and 0.08 nmol) and kainic acid (0.03 and 0.06 nmol), drugs that non-selectively stimulate the MRN serotonergic neurons, facilitated inhibitory avoidance acquisition, but impaired escape performance. Microinjection of muscimol (0.11 and 0.22 nmol), a compound that non-selectively inhibits the activity of the MRN serotonergic neurons, impaired inhibitory avoidance and facilitated escape performance. Both kainic acid and muscimol also changed rat locomotion in the open-field test. Intra-MRN injection of 8-OH-DPAT (0.6-15 nmol) and WAY-100635 (0.18-0.74 nmol), respectively an agonist and an antagonist of somatodendritic 5-HT1A receptors located on serotonergic neurons of the MRN, only affected inhibitory avoidance-while the former inhibited the acquisition of this behavior, the latter facilitated it. Conclusion: MRN serotonergic neurons seem to be selectively involved in the regulation of inhibitory avoidance in the elevated T-maze. This result supports the proposal that 5-HT pathways departing from this nucleus play an important role in anxiety processing, with implications for pathologies such as generalized anxiety disorder.

Antipanic procedures reduce the strychnine-facilitated wild running of rats

Wild running (WR) behavior of rats seen in response to intense acoustic stimulation of audiogenic seizure-paradigm is very similar to the panic flight and can be facilitated by subconvulsive doses of strychnine. The present work aimed to test whether antipanic procedures, such as dorsal periaqueductal gray (dPAG) lesion and imipramine treatments, affect the strychnine-facilitated WR. In study 1, six Wistar male adult rats with electrolytic lesion of dPAG had their WR completely blocked, whereas it was facilitated in 50% of sham-lesioned control rats by a dose of 0.5 mg/kg of strychnine administered intraperitoneal. This effect was not reproduced with a higher strychnine dose (1.0 mg/kg). In study 2, the effects of imipramine were investigated by testing 36 rats under a dose of strychnine that induces WR in 50% of subjects. They were assigned into three experimental groups: imipramine treatments of 5.0 and 10.0 mg/kg, and infusions of saline. All these treatments were subchronical with three intraperitoneal injections within 24h. Imipramine (10.0mg/kg) reduced the incidence of WR in comparison to the saline results. It is concluded that strychnine-facilitated WR is reduced by antipanic procedures and, therefore, can be viewed as a manifestation closely related to panic. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence of visual information on optimal obstacle crossing

Human motion seems to be guided by some optimal principles. In general, it is assumed that human walking is generated with minimal energy consumption. However, in the presence of disturbances during gait, there is a trade-off between stability (avoiding a fall) and energy-consumption. This work analyses the obstacle-crossing with the leading foot. It was hypothesized that energy-saving mechanisms during obstacle-crossing are modulated by the requirement to avoid a fall using the available sensory information, particularly, by vision. A total of fourteen subjects, seven with no visual impairment and seven blind, walked along a 5 meter flat pathway with an obstacle of 0.26 m height located at 3 m from the starting point. The seven subjects with normal vision crossed the obstacle successfully 30 times in two conditions: blindfolded and with normal vision. The seven blind subjects did the same 30 times. The motion of the leading limb was recorded by video at 60 Hz. There were markers placed on the subject's hip, knee, ankle, rear foot, and forefoot. The motion data were filtered with a fourth order Butterworth filter with a cut-off frequency of 4 Hz. The following variables were calculated: horizontal distance between the leading foot and the obstacle at toe-off prior to (DHPO) and after (DHOP) crossing, minimal vertical height from the foot to the obstacle (DVPO), average step velocity (VELOm). The segmental energies were also calculated and the work consumed by the leading limb during the crossing obstacle was computed for each trial. A statistical analysis repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted on these dependent variables revealing significant differences between the vision and non-vision conditions in healthy subjects. In addition, there were no significant differences between the blind and people with vision blindfolded. These results indicate that vision is crucial to determine the optimal trade-off between energy consumption and avoiding a trip during obstacle crossing.

Patient perceptions about anesthesia and anesthesiologists before and after surgical procedures

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Surgical procedures used for post-traumatic neurogenic bladder in a cat: report case

Um gato de um ano de idade, macho, castrado, sem raça definida, foi encaminhado ao Hospital Veterinário Escola para avaliação de retenção urinária associada à subluxação nas vértebras T12-T13, que foi causada por um acidente automobilístico. Realizou-se a denervação do esfíncter uretral, por transecção dos nervos pudendo e hipogástrico, para permitir o esvaziamento da bexiga, porém três meses após a cirurgia inicial o animal apresentou recorrência da retenção urinária. Esfincterotomia endoscópica uretral foi então realizada, resultando em incontinência urinária por quatro meses.

Evaluating the knowledge of sports participants regarding dental emergency procedures

Dental trauma is a common consequence of sports practice to which emergency treatment is critical. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of sports participants about dental trauma procedures, particularly tooth avulsion. A specific questionnaire concerning concepts, experiences and behaviors after dental trauma and the use of mouthguard was standardized and validated with 80 people. The validated questionnaire was then distributed to 310 sports participants. The results showed that 28.4% had experienced a kind of dental trauma; 42.6% would look for a dentist for treatment; 51.7% reimplanted or would reimplant the avulsed tooth; 6.5% would maintain the avulsed tooth in milk. Although 47.4% of the participants were aware of the possibility of accidents during sports practice, only 13.9% reported to use a mouthguard. This study showed an overall lack of knowledge of sportsmen and sportswomen with regards to tooth avulsion, thus reinforcing the need for educational campaigns to improve the immediate emergency treatment of tooth avulsion.