Inclusão social do deficiente visual: experiência e resultados de Assis

OBJETIVOS: Traçar o perfil do usuário da Sala de Recursos para Deficiente Visual na cidade de Assis - SP, avaliar a porcentagem de deficientes visuais empregados e comparar o emprego com idade, gênero, tipo de deficiência e doença causadora da deficiência, entre dois períodos: de 1984 a 1996 e de 1997 a 2009. MÉTODOS: Foi realizado estudo retrospectivo dos prontuários médicos e da ficha escolar dos portadores de deficiência visual que frequentaram a Sala de Recursos para Deficiente Visual, no período de 1984 a 2009 na cidade de Assis - SP, divididos em dois períodos de 1984 a 1996 (G1) e de 1997 a 2009 (G2). Analisaram-se dados demográficos, a doença que provocou a baixa visão, o tipo de deficiência visual (cegueira ou baixa visão), escolaridade, recursos ópticos, frequência à Sala de Recursos para Deficiente Visual e taxa de emprego. Foi feita associação da taxa de emprego com: idade, gênero, raça/cor, tipo de deficiência e doença nos dois diferentes períodos. RESULTADOS: Foram encontrados 149 deficientes visuais sendo: 61,07% homens, 38,9% mulheres, 82,5% brancos e 17,4% não brancos e a mediana da idade foi de 18 anos. Dos 149 deficientes visuais, 63,75% eram portadores de baixa visão e 36,24% portadores de cegueira. As principais doenças que levaram à deficiência visual dos 149 pacientes foram em ordem decrescente: retinocoroidite por toxoplasmose (17,40%), atrofia óptica congênita (12,10%), alta hipermetropia (8,72%), retinose pigmentar e alta miopia (6,71% cada uma) e glaucoma congênito e catarata congênita (6,04% cada uma). A frequência à Sala de Recursos para Deficiente Visual foi boa em mais de 50% dos pacientes. Estavam trabalhando regularmente 44,7% e 12,3% dos maiores de 14 anos respectivamente nos períodos de 1984 - 1996 e de 1997 - 2009. Não houve diferença entre os dois períodos quanto às características demográficas, tipo de deficiência e doenças, havendo correlação da taxa de emprego apenas com a idade (pacientes com média de idade maior apresentavam maior porcentagem de emprego). CONCLUSÕES: Os deficientes visuais eram na maioria homens, brancos, portadores de baixa visão e portadores de toxoplasmose ocular. Quase metade (44,7%) dos pacientes com mais de 14 anos encontrava-se trabalhando regularmente até 1996 sugerindo que esforços conjuntos de oftalmologistas e educadores auxilia na inclusão social destes pacientes. A taxa de emprego caiu no período de 1997 a 2009 e a de aposentados aumentou.

Genetic Responses to Nanostructured Calcium-phosphate-coated Implants

Nanostructured calcium phosphate (CaP) has been histologically and biomechanically proven to enhance osseointegration of implants; however, conventional techniques were not sufficiently sensitive to capture its biological effects fully. Here, we compared the conventional removal torque (RTQ) evaluation and gene expression in tissues around nanostructured CaP-coated implants, using real-time RT-PCR, with those of uncoated implants, in a rabbit model. At 2 wks, RTQ values were significantly higher, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) expression was significantly higher, and runt-related transcription factor 2 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha expressions were significantly lower in the coated than in the uncoated implants. This indicates that inflammatory responses were suppressed and osteoprogenitor activity increased around the CaP-coated surface. At 4 wks, although RTQ values did not significantly differ between the 2 groups, ALP and osteocalcin (OCN) were significantly up-regulated in the coated group, indicating progressive mineralization of the bone around the implant. Moreover, an osteoclast marker, adenosine triphosphatase, which indicates acidification of the resorption lacunae, was significantly higher for the coated implants, suggesting gradual resorption of the CaP coating. This study reveals detailed genetic responses to nanostructured CaP-coated implants and provides evidence that the effect of nanotopography is significant during the osseointegration cascade.

Cataract Remains an Important Cause of Blindness in Campinas, Brazil

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of blindness in the elderly population of Campinas, Brazil, and to describe the coverage and quality of cataract surgery services in the area. Methods: A brief assessment of cataract surgery services (using the RACSS (Rapid Assessment of Cataract Surgical Services Method) was conducted using random cluster sampling, with a sample composed of 60 clusters of 40 people aged 50 years or older. Visual acuity (VA) was measured and the lens status observed by direct visual ophthalmoscopy. From the selected sample of 2,400 subjects, 92.67% were examined. Results: Blindness (VA 3/60 with available correction) was found in 1.98 % (2.03 % among male subjects, and 1.94 % among female subjects). The prevalence of blindness varied with age, from 0.2%, in the group from 50 to 54 years, to 7.2% in those above 80. Cataract was the main cause of blindness (40.2%) followed by suspected posterior segment disorders (18.2%), diabetic retinopathy (15.9%), and glaucoma (11.4%). The cataract surgical coverage was of 93% (VA 3/60) and 82.18% when the criterion was VA 6/60 in the best eye. The main reasons the subjects did not receive surgical treatment were: fear of undergoing surgery, 11.1%; lack of awareness about the condition, 16.7%; waiting for maturity, 16.7%; and contraindication to surgery, 44.4%. Conclusion: Cataract is the major cause of blindness in Campinas. Education on eye diseases, their prevention and treatment must become part of the city's public healthcare policies.

The effect of laminin-1-doped nanoroughened implant surfaces: Gene expression and morphological evaluation

Aim. This study aimed to observe the morphological and molecular effect of laminin-1 doping to nanostructured implant surfaces in a rabbit model. Materials and Methods. Nanostructured implants were coated with laminin-1 (test; dilution, 100 g/mL) and inserted into the rabbit tibiae. Noncoated implants were used as controls. After 2 weeks of healing, the implants were removed and subjected to morphological analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and gene expression analysis using the real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results. SEM revealed bony tissue attachment for both control and test implants. Real-time RT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of osteoblast markers RUNX-2, osteocalcin, alkaline phosphatase, and collagen I was higher (1.62-fold, 1.53-fold, 1.97-fold, and 1.04-fold, resp.) for the implants modified by laminin-1 relative to the control. All osteoclast markers investigated in the study presented higher expression on the test implants than controls as follows: tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (1.67-fold), calcitonin receptor (1.35-fold), and ATPase (1.25-fold). The test implants demonstrated higher expression of inflammatory markers interleukin-10 (1.53-fold) and tumour necrosis factor-α (1.61-fold) relative to controls. Conclusion. The protein-doped surface showed higher gene expression of typical genes involved in the osseointegration cascade than the control surface. © 2012 Humberto Osvaldo Schwartz-Filho et al.

A Confluência de Gêneros em Dark Water, de Walter Salles Jr.

Dark Water is the title of the translation of a short story, ―Floating Water‖, from the book Honogurai mizu no soko kara by Koji Suzuki, originally published in Japan, that the Japanese director Hideo Nakata adapted for the cinema and that was remade by the Brazilian director Walter Salles Jr. The objective of this study is to analyse Walter Salles’ film to demonstrate how it resolved the problems of transcreation, whilst at the same time it fulfilled commercial and artistic functions and incorporated the traces of its aesthetic trajectory. In this case, attention is drawn to the types of relationship between literature and cinema, to the metalinguistic function as a generator of poetics and of an interesting dialogue between genres.

Territórios, multiterritorialidades e memórias dos povos Guarani e Kaiowá: diferenças geográficas e as lutas pela Des-colonização na Reserva Indígena e nos acampamentos-tekoha - Dourados/MS

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Baryon and meson density of states

In a finite size bag like picture consisting of quarks (2 flavour) and gluons with SU(3) colour singlet restriction on the partition function and the chemical potential μ ≠ 0 with the constraint that the baryon number b = 0 and b = 1 for mesons and baryons, respectively we find a very good agreement with baryon density of states upto 2 GeV and with mesonic ones upto 1.3 GeV. Similar to a hadron-scale string theory our calculation also suggests that beyond 1.3 GeV there should exist exotic mesons.