Risk factors in the mother-child relationship that predispose to the development of early childhood caries

This study focused on the risk factors in mother-child relationship that predispose babies to the development of dental caries. A prospective cohort study with 80 mother-child pairs was conducted. The mothers responded at 12, 18 and 30 months after their children's birth, to questions about variables related to diet, sucking habits, and oral care. Children were clinically examined to verify caries lesions (white spot lesions or cavitation). Data were analysed using Chi squared or Fisher's exact tests. The significance level was set at 5 %. Of the total, 3.75 % showed cavitated lesions after 18 months; 6.25 and 45 % had spot white lesions, respectively, at 18 and 30 months. The cariogenic diet was high at 12 (63.75 %) and 30 (88.75 %) months. Good oral hygiene was present in a minority of children at 12 months (46.25 %), but increased at 30 months (65 %), helping to prevent cavities and white spot lesions over this period (p = 0.0005). The variables of the blocks sucking habits and diet were not associated with caries. The lack of oral care in children was a risk factor for dental caries development.

Psychosocial factors for risk and protection to child malnutrition in mothers of malnourished and eutrophic children: the role of maternal mental health

In this study, the relationship between child malnutrition, depression, anxiety and other maternal socio-demographic variables was investigated in mothers of malnourished (MD) and eutrophic (ME) children. The causes attributed by mothers to malnutrition were also studied. Ten mothers from each group, with children aged from 11 months to three years and who were users of primary health care units, participated in the study. They answered Beck depression and anxiety inventory, a questionnaire on vital events and an open question concerning the causes of malnutrition. The evaluation instruments were corrected according to proper guidelines and comparative analyses between the groups were performed. The answers to the open question were qualitatively evaluated, submitted to content analysis. The mothers in the two groups were nearly 30 years old or older. They had a steady partner and were subject to very similar life conditions. They had attended school for 5.5 years and were housewives or worked in low-income jobs. Concerning mental health indicators, a significantly larger number of mothers in the MM group showed depression indicators when compared to mothers in the EM group. Most mothers attributed malnutrition to biological factors or to the lack of maternal care, with more moralist statements in the EM group, and statements filled with guilt in MM. Results suggest that in order to fight malnutrition, in addition to nutritional interventions, it is necessary to heed attention to maternal socio-emotional issues.

A new tuning fork with different vibration frequencies as an aid to bronchopulmonary hygiene physiotherapy

Background: The main function of the mucociliary system is the removal of particles or substances that are potentially harmful to the respiratory tract. The tuning fork therapeutic for the purpose of bronchial hygiene has still not been described in the literature. The optimal vibration frequency to mobilize secretions is widely debated and varies between 3 and 25 Hz. It is expected that a tuning fork is able to generate vibrations in the thorax, facilitating bronchial hygiene. The aim of the present study is to develop tuning forks with different frequencies, for use in bronchopulmonary hygiene therapy. Methods: The first tuning fork was made with a fixed frequency of 25 Hz and it was recorded in the Brazilian institution of patent registration. This device generated a frequency of 25 Hz and had a weight of 521 g, with dimensions of 600 mm in total length. The device is characterized by a bottom end containing a transducer with a diameter of 62 mm and a thickness of 5/16 mm (8''), a rod removable 148 mm, fork length of 362 mm and an extension at the upper end of sinuous shape bilaterally.The tuning forks must be applied at an angle of 90° directly on the chest wall of the patient after pulmonary auscultation for location of secretions. The tuning fork is activated by squeezing the tips of the extensions together and releasing them in a sudden movement. Results: This study shows the result of the development of others three tuning forks of different dimensions to generate different frequencies. Each equipment reaches a fixed frequency preset of 12, 15 and 20 Hz measured by digital oscilloscope. Conclusions: The tuning fork models developed in this study generated different frequencies proposed by the scientific literature as effective in the mobilization of pulmonary secretions.

Longitudinal study of habits leading to malocclusion development in childhood

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Traffic soil compaction of an oxisol related to soybean development and yield

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

Myocardial contractile dysfunction contributes to the development of heart failure in rats with aortic stenosis

Objectives: To analyze the potential contribution of contractility state and ventricular geometry to the development of heart failure in rats with aortic stenosis.Methods: Rats were divided into three groups: compensated aortic stenosis (AS, n = 11), heart failure AS (n = 12) and control rats (C, n = 13).Results: After 21 weeks, failing AS rats presented higher systolic (C = 36.6 +/- 3.1, AS-78.6 +/- 4.8*, failing AS = 104.6 +/- 7.8*) and diastolic meridian stress (C = 6.9 +/- 0.4, AS = 20.1 +/- 1.1*, failing AS = 43.2 +/- 3.2*(dagger)), hydroxyproline (C = 3.6 +/- 0.7 mg/g, AS = 6.6 +/- 0.6* mg/g, failing AS = 9.2 +/- 1.4*(dagger) mg/g) and cross-sectional area (C = 338 +/- 25 mu m(2), AS = 451 +/- 32* mu m(2), failing AS = 508 +/- 36*(dagger) mu m(2)), in comparison with control and compensated AS animals (*p < 0.05 vs. control, (dagger)p < 0.05 vs. AS). In the isometric contraction study, considering the time from peak tension to 50% relaxation (RT50), the relative variation responses, following post-rest contraction and increase in Ca2+ concentration, were higher in failing AS than compensated AS animals. In contrast, following post-rest contraction, compensated AS group presented higher values of the peak developed tension (DT) than failing AS group. Following beta-adrenergic stimulation, control animals presented higher values of +dT/dt and -dT/dt than AS animals. In addition, failing AS animals presented higher TPT values than compensated AS animals.Conclusion: Myocardial contractile dysfunction contributes to the development of heart failure in rats with aortic stenosis. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V.. All rights reserved.

Application of Factorial Design Experiments to the Development of a Disposable Amperometric DNA Biosensor

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Analysis of floristic composition and structure as an aid to monitoring protected areas of dense rain forest in southeastern Brazil

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

Child safety from the perspective of essential needs

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

A inclusão da criança com necessidades especiais na visão de berçaristas

A inserção das crianças de zero a 18 meses em creches poderá estimular o seu desenvolvimento motor e perceptocognitivo, podendo essa fase ser considerada a primeira da educação inclusiva. Objetivou-se verificar as concepções das profissionais do berçário relativas à inserção da criança com necessidades especiais na rotina de atividades desenvolvidas. Foram entrevistadas sete berçaristas da Secretaria Municipal de Educação de Bauru. Os dados, organizados segundo categorias analíticas: conceitos relativos ao processo de inclusão, benefícios para a criança e diferenças entre as crianças nessa faixa etária, foram submetidos à análise qualitativa. Os resultados mostraram que a inclusão de crianças com necessidades especiais é vista com reservas, explicitando ideias preconcebidas sobre a deficiência. Eles se justificam pela falta de conhecimento do desenvolvimento infantil e dos fatores que o envolvem, bem como pelo fato de os profissionais vincularem suas atividades às experiências pessoais.

Identification of a Microdeletion at the 7q33-q35 Disrupting the CNTNAP2 Gene in a Brazilian Stuttering Case

Speech and language disorders are some of the most common referral reasons to child development centers accounting for approximately 40% of cases. Stuttering is a disorder in which involuntary repetition, prolongation, or cessation of the sound precludes the flow of speech. About 5% of individuals in the general population have a stuttering problem, and about 80% of the affected children recover naturally. The causal factors of stuttering remain uncertain in most cases; studies suggest that genetic factors are responsible for 70% of the variance in liability for stuttering, whereas the remaining 30% is due to environmental effects supporting a complex cause of the disorder. The use of high-resolution genome wide array comparative genomic hybridization has proven to be a powerful strategy to narrow down candidate regions for complex disorders. We report on a case with a complex set of speech and language difficulties including stuttering who presented with a 10Mb deletion of chromosome region 7q33-35 causing the deletion of several genes and the disruption of CNTNAP2 by deleting the first three exons of the gene. CNTNAP2 is known to be involved in the cause of language and speech disorders and autism spectrum disorder and is in the same pathway as FOXP2, another important language gene, which makes it a candidate gene for causal studies speech and language disorders such as stuttering. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Diretividade materna e socialização de crianças com atraso de desenvolvimento

Diretividade materna é, com freqüência, descrita como conceito uniforme na literatura e tem gerado inúmeras discussões quanto às suas implicações no desenvolvimento infantil. Este trabalho objetiva verificar a presença de comportamentos diretivos em mães de crianças com atraso de desenvolvimento e o significado que esta variável assume no processo interativo. Foram observadas quatro díades mãe e criança em situações de rotina diária e de brinquedo livre, por um período de doze meses. Os resultados revelaram que, de modo geral, as mães se mostraram diretivas, no entanto, identificou-se diferenças individuais nos padrões de diretividade. As crianças demonstraram níveis crescentes de oposição, evidenciando alguns picos em torno dos 24 meses. Conclui-se então que a diretividade pode ser uma variável que promove o desenvolvimento infantil dependendo do significado que assume na relação mãe-criança, mas não deve ser a única dimensão determinadora da qualidade do estilo interativo materno.

A perspectiva histórico-dialética da periodização do desenvolvimento infantil

O presente artigo se propõe uma análise dos estágios do desenvolvimento infantil na perspectiva histórico-cultural. Nele são apresentados os princípios ou fundamentos que devem sustentar a periodização do desenvolvimento na perspectiva de Vigotski, buscando-se evidenciar o caráter histórico e dialético das proposições do autor. São também apontadas, de forma breve, algumas das importantes contribuições de Leontiev e Elkonin a essa temática. Discute-se inicialmente a importância de uma abordagem histórica do desenvolvimento da criança, enfatizando-se a relação criança-sociedade e as condições históricas concretas como determinantes do processo de desenvolvimento infantil. em seguida, são apresentados os fundamentos da periodização das idades na perspectiva vigotskiana, destacando-se a relação entre as proposições do autor e os princípios do método dialético. São então apresentados os estágios do desenvolvimento infantil provisoriamente identificados por Vigotski e, por fim, a análise de Leontiev e Elkonin sobre a periodização do desenvolvimento apoiada na categoria de atividade principal.

O lugar do afetivo no desenvolvimento da criança: implicações educacionais

This study, of theoretical nature, aims to analyse some propositions of Historic and Cultural psychology about human psyche, especially regarding the constitution of affective processes in relation to child development. Therefore, brings together some principles of Spinozist philosophy that underlie the Vigotskian thought about affections and postulates that, for this school of psychology, on the basis of human development are the social experience and subject-object relation, constitutive of cognitive and affective processes. The analyses developed over the text indicate that social mediators - signs and instruments - subsidize the formation of activity and consciousness in a process that legitimizes the historic and social origin of affective functions. The paper aims to highlight the role of education as a privileged place of access to knowledge capable of transforming ways of thinking, feeling and acting of children through the processes of teaching and learning.