Inquérito entre migrantes atendidos pela Central de Triagem e Encaminhamento, na Capital do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil: III. Aspectos alimentares

Foi realizado um inquérito alimentar recordatório do tipo qualitativo, sobre o consumo de alimentos ricos em caroteno e vitamina A, e também sobre alimentos consumidos diariamente por migrantes em trânsito pela Central de Triagem e Encaminhamento, na Capital do Estado de São Paulo. O consumo dos alimentos fontes da pró-vitamina ou da vitamina A foi classificado em: nulo, esporádico e freqüente. Os alimentos habitualmente ingeridos foram classificados segundo as Regiões de procedência. Concluiu-se que a alimentação dos migrantes foi julgada insatisfatória no que se refere aos alimentos ricos em caroteno e vitamina A.

Hipovitaminose A em filhos de migrantes nacionais em trânsito pela capital do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Estudo clínico-bioquímico

Realizaram-se exames clínico-nutricionais e bioquímicos em 109 crianças, de 2 a 7 anos de idade, filhos de migrantes nacionais em trânsito pela Central de Triagem e Encaminhamento (CETREN), na Capital do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil, em que se pesquisaram sinais clínicos de xeroftalmia e níveis sanguíneos de caroteno e vitamina A. As conclusões apontaram existir hipovitaminose A a nível bioquímico, no grupo estudado, não constituindo a xeroftalmia um problema de saúde pública.

Arriboflavinose clínica em pré-escolares, filhos de migrantes em trânsito pela Central de Triagem e Encaminhamento, na capital do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil

Foi realizado um levantamento clínico entre 109 pré-escolares, filhos de migrantes em trânsito pela Central de Triagem e Encaminhamento (CETREN), tendo-se constatado altíssima prevalência de arriboflavinose. A única medida factível foi a administração de riboflavina a todas as crianças examinadas.

Nutritional status of children, inmates of a small institution for homeless children in the capital of the State of S. Paulo, Brazil

Nutritional surveys (food consumption, clinical and biochemichal) were conducted in a small institution for homeless children. Results showed that only 30% of the children presented adequate calorie intake. Most of the children presented adequate protein intake, but almost half consumed less than 2/3 of the calcium RDA considered necessary. Food handling, processing, and distribution also proved inadequate and wastage, high. Skinfold measurement showed up one case of obesity. Furthermore, most of the children presented clinical signs of vitamin A deficiency, mostly skin lesions; while about half presented clinical signs of riboflavin deficiency. Biochemical data showed that 63.6% had deficient plasma levels of vitamin A, none showed abnormal results for riboflavin excretion, four showed packed blood cell volume below normal, and all had normal hemoglobin levels. Stool examinations revealed a high rate of pathogenic protozoa (Hymenolepis nana), in fact, one of the highest in Brazilian literature.

Acidentes graves do trabalho na Capital do Estado de São Paulo (Brasil)

Em 1970, o Grupamento de Acidentes do Trabalho (GAT) do INPS desenvolveu programa preventivo contra os acidentes de trabalho. Detalhes operacionais deste programa são descritos, e o resultado da investigação de 3.930 acidentes graves é analisado. Estes acidentes foram estudados quanto às seguintes variáveis: estado civil, faixa etária, sexo, profissão, tipo, conseqüências, fatores, dia da semana, hora do dia, horas decorridas do início do serviço, causas e número de lesões.

Hipovitaminose A em pré-escolares internados em uma instituição na capital do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil

Estudou-se o estado nutricional, em relação à vitamina A, de crianças de 2 a 6 anos de idade, internadas em uma instituição para menores. Foram realizados exames clínicos e bioquímicos. Os exames clínicos revelaram alta prevalência de xerose cutânea (75,8%) e prevalência moderada de hiperceratose folicular (18,3%). Exames oftalmológicos realizados sem o auxílio de corante vital revelaram uma prevalência de 20,7% de xerose conjuntival, enquanto que aqueles realizados com auxílio de colírio de Rosa Bengala a 1%, nas mesmas crianças, revelaram 31,7% de xerose conjuntival. Os exames bioquímicos mostraram que 39,4% dos examinados apresentaram níveis plasmáticos de vitamina A de 10mig/100ml ou menos, e 73,9% de 20mig/ 100ml ou menos.

Capital social y promoción de la salud en América Latina

América Latina enfrenta problemáticas de desarrollo y salud comunes. La equidad y la superación de la pobreza son cruciales en la búsqueda de soluciones integrales y de alto impacto. El artículo analiza el concepto de capital social, su relación con salud, sus limitaciones y potencialidades, desde una perspectiva de desarrollo comunitario y promoción de salud en América Latina. También, se identifican desafíos prioritarios, como la medición y fortalecimiento del capital social. Se discute cómo y por qué el capital social pudiera ser crítico en una estrategia global de promoción de la salud, donde el empoderamiento y la participación comunitaria, el trabajo interdisciplinario e intersectorial permitirían avanzar en los objetivos de salud pública y en la concreción de un cambio social sustentable. Igualmente, se identifican algunas de las potenciales limitaciones del concepto de capital social en el contexto de promoción de la salud en América Latina.

Capital social no ELSA-Brasil: confiabilidade teste-reteste do Resource Generator scale

OBJETIVO: Estimar a confiabilidade teste-reteste dos itens do Resource Generator scale para avaliação de capital social no Estudo Longitudinal de Saúde do Adulto (ELSA-Brasil).MÉTODOS: A escala de capital social foi aplicada em subamostra de 281 participantes dos seis Centros de Investigação do ELSA, em duas oportunidades, com intervalo de sete a 14 dias. O instrumento é constituído por 31 itens que representam situações concretas para avaliar o acesso a diferentes tipos de recursos, além de avaliar a fonte dos recursos disponíveis (familiares, amigos ou conhecidos). A análise estatística foi realizada por meio de estatísticas kappa (k) e kappa ajustado pela prevalência (ka).RESULTADOS: Os recursos sociais investigados foram encontrados com grande frequência (acima de 50%). Em relação à presença ou ausência dos recursos, as estimativas de confiabilidade ajustadas pela prevalência (ka) variaram de 0,54 a 0,97. No que se refere à fonte de recurso, essas estimativas variaram de ka = 0,45 (alguém que tenha bons contatos com a mídia) a ka = 0,86 (alguém que se formou no Ensino Médio).CONCLUSÕES: A escala apresentou níveis adequados de confiabilidade, que variaram de acordo com o tipo de recurso.

Social capital, social participation and life satisfaction among Chilean older adults

OBJECTIVE To examine factors associated with social participation and their relationship with self-perceived well-being in older adults. METHODS This study was based on data obtained from the National Socioeconomic Characterization (CASEN) Survey conducted in Chile, in 2011, on a probability sample of households. We examined information of 31,428 older adults living in these households. Descriptive and explanatory analyses were performed using linear and multivariate logistic regression models. We assessed the respondents’ participation in different types of associations: egotropic, sociotropic, and religious. RESULTS Social participation increased with advancing age and then declined after the age of 80. The main finding of this study was that family social capital is a major determinant of social participation of older adults. Their involvement was associated with high levels of self-perceived subjective well-being. We identified four settings as sources of social participation: home-based; rural community-based; social policy programs; and religious. Older adults were significantly more likely to participate when other members of the household were also involved in social activities evidencing an intergenerational transmission of social participation. Rural communities, especially territorial associations, were the most favorable setting for participation. There has been a steady increase in the rates of involvement of older adults in social groups in Chile, especially after retirement. Religiosity remains a major determinant of associativism. The proportion of participation was higher among older women than men but these proportions equaled after the age of 80. CONCLUSIONS Self-perceived subjective well-being is not only dependent upon objective factors such as health and income, but is also dependent upon active participation in social life, measured as participation in associations, though its effects are moderate.

Association between social capital and self-perception of health in Brazilian adults

OBJECTIVE To investigate the association between social capital and social capital and self-perception of health based on examining the influence of health-related behaviors as possible mediators of this relationship.METHODS A cross-sectional study was used with 1,081 subjects, which is representative of the population of individuals aged 40 years or more in a medium-sized city in Southern Brazil. The subjects who perceived their health as fine, bad or very bad were considered to have a negative self-perception of their health. The social capital indicators were: number of friends, people from whom they could borrow money from when needed; the extent of trust in community members; whether or not members of the community helped each other; community safety; and extent of participation in community activities. The behaviors were: physical activity during leisure time, fruits and vegetable consumption, tobacco use and alcohol abuse. The odds ratios (OR) and confidence intervals (CI) 95% were calculated by binary logistic regression. The significance of mediation was verified using the Sobel test.RESULTS Following adjustment for demographic and clinical variables, subjects with fewer friends (OR = 1.39, 95%CI 1.08;1.80), those who perceived less frequently help from people in the neighborhood (OR = 1.30, 95%CI 1.01;1.68), who saw the violent neighborhood (OR = 1.33, 95%CI 1.01;1.74) and who had not participated in any community activity (OR = 1.39, 95%CI 1.07;1.80) had more negative self-perception of their health. Physical activity during leisure time was a significant mediator in the relationship between all social capital indicators (except for the borrowed money variable) and self-perceived health. Fruit and vegetable consumption was a significant mediator of the relationship between the extent of participation in community activities and self-perceived health. Tobacco use and alcohol abuse did not seem to have a mediating role in any relationship.CONCLUSIONS Lifestyle seems to only partially explain the relationship between social capital and self-perceived health. Among the investigated behaviors, physical activity during leisure time is what seems to have the most important role as a mediator of this relationship.

The hamster cheek pouch: an immunologically privileged site suitable to the study of granulomatous infections

The hamster check pouch is an invagination of oral mucosa, characterized histologically as skin-like. In this paper we describe anatomical, histological and embriological features of the pouch and coment on the pouch as an immunologically privileged site since it lacks lymphatic drainage and has few Langerhans cells. We present the review from literature and our observations after inoculation in the pouch of mycobacteriae (BCG, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae) and a fungus (Paracoccidioides brasiliensis). Lesions in the pouch were granulomatous but smaller and long lasting; even granulomatous, the reaction was inefficient to control the proliferation of agents compared with inoculation in other sites, except for BCG. Appearance of immunity was also delayed or absent and, when it was detected, a sharp decrease in number of agents in pouch lesions was observed. These observations make the pouch an interesting site for the study of the role of immune system in infeccious diseases and in granuloma formation.

ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE PATTERNS OF URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS IN A NORTHEASTERN BRAZILIAN CAPITAL

Urinary tract infection is a common problem worldwide. Its clinical characteristics and susceptibility rates of bacteria are important in determining the treatment of choice and its duration. This study assessed the frequency and susceptibility to antimicrobials of uropathogens isolated from community-acquired urinary tract infections in the city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte State capital, northeastern Brazil, from 2007 to 2010. A total of 1,082 positive samples were evaluated; E. coli was the most prevalent pathogen (60.4%). With respect to the uropathogens susceptibility rates, the resistance of enterobacteria to ciprofloxacin and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim was 24.4% and 50.6%, respectively. Susceptibility was over 90% for nitrofurantoin, aminoglycosides and third-generation cephalosporins. High resistance rates of uropathogens to quinolones and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim draws attention to the choice of these drugs on empirical treatments, especially in patients with pyelonephritis. Given the increased resistance of community bacteria to antimicrobials, local knowledge of susceptibility rates of uropathogens is essential for therapeutic decision making regarding patients with urinary tract infections.

Congenital and maternal syphilis in the capital of Brazil

INTRODUCTION: ​This study aimed to describe the epidemiology of congenital and maternal syphilis in the Brazilian Federal District in 2010. ​ METHODS: ​A retrospective descriptive study was conducted on the basis of the cases recorded in the System of Notifiable Disease Information. RESULTS: ​The study population comprised 133 cases of congenital syphilis; of these, 116 (52.6%) mothers received prenatal care, and 70 (60.4%) were diagnosed with syphilis during pregnancy. Only 1 mother was adequately treated, and 100 (75.2%) of the pregnant women's partners did not undergo treatment for syphilis. ​ CONCLUSIONS: Although mothers attended prenatal care, not all were diagnosed during pregnancy or received adequate treatment for syphilis, as their partners did not undergo treatment for syphilis.

Biomass accumulation, photochemical efficiency of photosystem II, nutrient contents and nitrate reductase activity in young rosewood plants (Aniba rosaeodora Ducke) submitted to different NO3-:NH4+ ratios

The rosewood (Aniba rosaeodora Ducke) is a native tree species of Amazon rainforest growing naturally in acidic forest soils with reduced redox potential. However, this species can also been found growing in forest gaps containing oxide soils. Variations in the forms of mineral nitrogen (NO3- or NH4+) may be predicted in these different edaphic conditions. Considering that possibility, an experiment was carried out to analyze the effects of different NO3-:NH4+ ratios on the growth performance, mineral composition, chloroplastid pigment contents, photochemical efficiency photosystem II (PSII), and nitrate redutase activity (RN, E.C.1.6.6.1) on A. rosaeodora seedlings. Nine-month-old seedlings were grown in pots with a washed sand capacity of 7.5 kg and submitted to different NO3-:NH4+ ratios (T1 = 0:100%, T2 = 25:75%, T3 = 50:50%, T4 = 75:25%, and T5 = 100:0%). The lowest relative growth rate was observed when the NO3-:NH4+ ratio was equal to 0:100%. In general, high concentrations of NO3- rather than NH4+ favored a greater nutrient accumulation in different parts of the plant. For the chloroplastid pigment, the highest Chl a, Chl b, Chl tot, Chl a/b and Chl tot/Cx+c contents were found in the treatment with 75:25% of NO3-:NH4+, and for Chl b and Cx+c it was observed no difference. In addition, there was a higher photochemical efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm) when high NO3- concentrations were used. A linear and positive response for the nitrate reductase activity was recorded when the nitrate content increased on the culture substrate. Our results suggest that A. rosaeodora seedlings have a better growth performance when the NO3- concentrations in the culture substrate were higher than the NH4+ concentrations.

Fine litter accumulation in Central Amazonian Tropical Rainforest canopy

Fine litter dynamics within the canopy differ from litter dynamics on the forest floor for reasons such as differences in microclimate, substrate, disturbance level, stratum influence and decomposition rates. This study is the first attempt to quantify the fine litter accumulated in the canopy of Central Amazonian forests. We compared the canopy litter accumulation to fine litter-layer on forest floor and to other forests and also investigated which were the mostly accumulated litter omponents. We found that Central Amazonian Rainforest intercepts greater fine litter in the canopy (294 g.m-2) compared to other forest formations with higher winds speed as in a Costa Rican Cloud Forest (170 g.m-2). The mean canopy fine litter accumulated at the end of the dry season was less than a half of that on soil surface (833 g.m-2) and the fine wood component dominates the canopy samplings (174 g.m-2) while leafy component predominate on soil surface litter (353 g.m-2).