Implementation contexts of a Tuberculosis Control Program in Brazilian prisons

OBJECTIVE To analyze the influence from context characteristics in the control of tuberculosis in prisons, and the influence from the program implementation degrees in observed effects.METHODS A multiple case study, with a qualitative approach, conducted in the prison systems of two Brazilian states in 2011 and 2012. Two prisons were analyzed in each state, and a prison hospital was analyzed in one of them. The data were submitted to a content analysis, which was based on external, political-organizational, implementation, and effect dimensions. Contextual factors and the ones in the program organization were correlated. The independent variable was the program implementation degree and the dependent one, the effects from the Tuberculosis Control Program in prisons.RESULTS The context with the highest sociodemographic vulnerability, the highest incidence rate of tuberculosis, and the smallest amount of available resources were associated with the low implementation degree of the program. The results from tuberculosis treatment in the prison system were better where the program had already been partially implemented than in the case with low implementation degree in both cases.CONCLUSIONS The implementation degree and its contexts – external and political-organizational dimensions – simultaneously contribute to the effects that are observed in the control of tuberculosis in analyzed prisons.

Geochemical variations in Solimões formation sediments (Acre basin, Western Amazonia)

SUMMARYMajor mineral, major element and minor element compositions are documented for a suite of drill core sediment samples representing a ~350m profile through the Solimões Formation sediments (Western Amazonia). Major element compositions are quantified using a chemical index of alteration (CIA) in order to asses the degree of weathering. Significant variations in CIA values throughout the profile, as well as abrupt changes between overlying, suggest that during the generation and deposition of thes sediments there were rapid changes in the ambient tectonic setting.

Induction of protective immunity against Schistosoma mansoni infection by antigens purified from PIII, a fraction of adult worm, associated to the downregulation of granuloma formation

This study was performed in order to define Schistosoma mansoni antigens able to function as modulator agents in BALB/c mice granulomatous hypersensitivity to parasite egg. The antigens P-24, P-35 and P-97 were purified by affinity chromatography from a fraction of S. mansoni adult worm antigenic preparation, denominated PIII, involved in the inhibition of granulomatous response to eggs. Immunization of mice with these antigens, in the presence of Corynebacterium parvum and Al(OH)3 as adjuvant, induced a significant protection degree against challenge infection, as observed by the decrease on worm burden recovered from portal system. In vitro blastogenesis assays revealed that purified antigens were able to induce significant proliferation of spleen cells from S. mansoni-infected mice. This protection was correlated to significant decrease in granuloma size induced by PIII. From these results, we concluded that PIII preparation contains antigens capable of mediating protective anti-parasite immunity and down-regulating granulomatous hypersensitivity to S. mansoni eggs.

An appropriate data set size for digital soil mapping in Erechim, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Digital information generates the possibility of a high degree of redundancy in the data available for fitting predictive models used for Digital Soil Mapping (DSM). Among these models, the Decision Tree (DT) technique has been increasingly applied due to its capacity of dealing with large datasets. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the data volume used to generate the DT models on the quality of soil maps. An area of 889.33 km² was chosen in the Northern region of the State of Rio Grande do Sul. The soil-landscape relationship was obtained from reambulation of the studied area and the alignment of the units in the 1:50,000 scale topographic mapping. Six predictive covariates linked to the factors soil formation, relief and organisms, together with data sets of 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 % of the total data volume, were used to generate the predictive DT models in the data mining program Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA). In this study, sample densities below 5 % resulted in models with lower power of capturing the complexity of the spatial distribution of the soil in the study area. The relation between the data volume to be handled and the predictive capacity of the models was best for samples between 5 and 15 %. For the models based on these sample densities, the collected field data indicated an accuracy of predictive mapping close to 70 %.

Importance of multidisciplinary trauma prevention program for youth

OBJECTIVE: present the experience of the P.A.R.T.Y. program in Campinas, thereby changing the habits of young people.METHODS: The organizers visited the participating schools talking to the students, who are aged between 14-18 years. These students spent an afternoon at the Clinics Hospital of Unicamp, where, for four hours, they attended lectures of the organizers, partners and municipal sectors, and also visited the hospital, talking with trauma victims. Questionnaires were evaluated between2010-2012, being applied before and after the project.RESULTS:2,450 high school students attended the program. The mean age is 16 ± 0,99 years and 37.6% were male. 3.6% of males already drive while drunk versus 0.8% of women. Before the project 116 (11.3%) thought that drunk driving wasn't a risk, and only 37 (3.6%) knew the alcohol effects. After the project, 441 (43%) began to consider drunk driving a risk and 193 (18.8%) know the alcohol effects when driving. 956 (93.3%) considered that prevention projects have a huge impact on their formation.CONCLUSION: It's expected that the attendees will act as multipliers of information, conveying the message of prevention to their entire social circles resulting in reduction in the number of trauma events involving the young, in the long term.

Effects of hyperprolactinemia and ovariectomy on the tibial epiphyseal growth plate and bone formation in mice

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of ovariectomy and the hyperprolactinemia procedure in the tibial epiphyseal growth plate of female mice.METHODS: In this study, the epiphyseal growth plate of ovariectomized (OVX) and/or rendered hyperprolactinemic female mice by 50 days of treatment with 200 μg metoclopramide (M) was evaluated morphologically, morphometrically and immuno-histochemically. Forty female and adult mice were divided into four groups according to treatment: V group - animals treated with saline solution; H group - hyperprolactinemic animals; Ovx/V group - ovariectomized animals and treated with saline solution; Ovx/H group - hyperprolactinemic and ovariectomized animals. After the treatment period, the animals were sacrificed, tibia was removed and fixed in 10% buffered formalin and decalcified in 10% formic acid. The material was immersed in paraffin and subjected to histological processing in paraffin. The sections were stained with Masson's trichrome and immunohistochemistry was carried out for the pro-apoptotic protein BCL-2. The images for the morphological and morphometric study were analyzed with the imaging program AxioVision 4.8 (Carl-Zeiss(r), Germany).RESULTS: The combination of hyperprolactinemia and the ovariectomy procedure decreased the number of resting chondrocytes 1.5-fold, the number of proliferative chondrocytes 1.8-fold; the percentage of resting cartilage 2.4-fold and the percentage of trabecular bone 2.1-fold, compared with respective control animals.CONCLUSION: The procedure of ovariectomy combined with the metoclopramide-induced hyperprolactinemia in female mice has showed marked bone degeneration due to significant decrease of cell proliferation in the epiphyseal growth plate and bone formation.

The mental health of graduate students at the Federal University of São Paulo: a preliminary report

We present data regarding the care provided to graduate level health professionals at the mental health center of the Federal University of São Paulo. From September 1996 to September 2003, 146 graduate students (99 in the Master's degree program and 47 in the Doctoral program) were attended. This population was predominantly female (68.5%), with a mean (± SD) age of 28.6 ± 4.42 years, not married (71.9%). Most of the subjects were professionals who had not graduated from the Federal University (78.1%). The students who sought help for psychological and/or psychiatric problems were classified into two categories: situational-adaptive crises and psychopathological crises. The main diagnoses were depression and anxiety disorders (44%) causing 4.5% of the subjects to be temporarily suspended from their graduate studies; 19.2% reported that they had used psychotropic drugs within the previous month, and 47.9% referred to sleep disturbances. Suicidal tendencies were mentioned by 18% of those interviewed. Students with emotional disturbances and academic dysfunctions should be recognized at an early stage, and it is fundamental for them to have access to mental health programs that provide formal, structured and confidential care. Thus, it is important that professors and advisors in graduate programs build a warm and affective learning environment. If we consider the expressive growth in Brazilian scientific production resulting from the implementation of an extensive national system of graduate education, it is important to focus efforts on enhancing and upgrading the mental health care system.

Financial support of graduate programs in Brazil: quo vadis?

Graduate programs provide the highest level of formal education and thus are crucial for the development of any country. However, official Brazilian data clearly show a dramatic decrease in the number and values of scholarships available to graduate programs in Brazil over the last few years, despite the importance and growth of such programs. Between 1995 and 2004, investment by the Coordenadoria de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal do Ensino Superior (CAPES, subordinate to the Ministry of Education and Culture) in funding scholarships, corrected for inflation in the period, actually decreased by 51%. In addition, during the period between 1994 and 2004, there was a loss of about 60% in the purchasing power of the graduate scholarships provided by CAPES and the National Council for Science and Technology (CNPq). To reverse this trend, we propose the development of sectorial funding for Brazilian graduate programs to guarantee the availability and continuity of financial support for this strategic activity.

Glucocorticoids, master modulators of the thymic catecholaminergic system?

There is evidence that the major mediators of stress, i.e., catecholamines and glucocorticoids, play an important role in modulating thymopoiesis and consequently immune responses. Furthermore, there are data suggesting that glucocorticoids influence catecholamine action. Therefore, to assess the putative relevance of glucocorticoid-catecholamine interplay in the modulation of thymopoiesis we analyzed thymocyte differentiation/maturation in non-adrenalectomized and andrenalectomized rats subjected to treatment with propranolol (0.4 mg·100 g body weight-1·day-1) for 4 days. The effects of β-adrenoceptor blockade on thymopoiesis in non-adrenalectomized rats differed not only quantitatively but also qualitatively from those in adrenalectomized rats. In adrenalectomized rats, besides a more efficient thymopoiesis [judged by a more pronounced increase in the relative proportion of the most mature single-positive TCRαβhigh thymocytes as revealed by two-way ANOVA; for CD4+CD8- F (1,20) = 10.92, P < 0.01; for CD4-CD8+ F (1,20) = 7.47, P < 0.05], a skewed thymocyte maturation towards the CD4-CD8+ phenotype, and consequently a diminished CD4+CD8-/CD4-CD8+ mature TCRαβhigh thymocyte ratio (3.41 ± 0.21 in non-adrenalectomized rats vs 2.90 ± 0.31 in adrenalectomized rats, P < 0.05) were found. Therefore, we assumed that catecholaminergic modulation of thymopoiesis exhibits a substantial degree of glucocorticoid-dependent plasticity. Given that glucocorticoids, apart from catecholamine synthesis, influence adrenoceptor expression, we also hypothesized that the lack of adrenal glucocorticoids affected not only β-adrenoceptor- but also α-adrenoceptor-mediated modulation of thymopoiesis.

Main food sources of carotenoids, according to the purpose and degree of processing, for beneficiaries of the 'Bolsa Família' in Brazil

The intake of carotenoids is associated with antioxidant properties and some of these substances have activity of pro-vitamin A. This study aimed to estimate the intake of carotenoids (average values) by the Brazilian population focusing on beneficiaries of the 'Bolsa Família' Program and identify the dietary sources, according to the purpose and degree of processing and the inclusion of food additives. The database used is the personal food consumption module of the Household Budget Survey of 2008-2009, conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. The content of carotenoids in foods was obtained primarily from a National data source. Food products were classified into three categories: 1) fresh and minimally processed foods; 2) processed foods (containing food additives, except for flavoring and coloring agents); and 3) highly processed foods (containing flavoring and coloring agents). Insufficient intakes were identified for the conditional cash transfer program beneficiaries (3,547.1 µg). Fresh and minimally processed foods supplied between 48.6% (for girls) and 65.7% (for male adults) of pro-vitamin carotenoids. Processed foods were sources of between 55.5% and 57.0% of lutein + zeaxanthin for elderly and between 58.0% and 67.8% of lycopene for adults. Highly processed foods contributed to less than 5.0% of total carotenoids.