Global banking: origins and evolution

This article reviews the origins and evolution of global banking and addresses the emerging patterns for the year 2000 and beyond.

Application of receptive music therapy in internal medicine and cardiology

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of receptive music therapy in clinical practice. METHODS: Receptive music therapy was individually applied via musical auditions, including five stages: musical stimulation, sensation, situation, reflection, and behavioral alteration. Following anamnesis and obtainment of consent, patients answered a first questionnaire on health risk evaluation (Q1), and after participating in 16 weekly music therapy sessions, answered a second one (Q2). RESULTS: Two men and 8 women, aged above 18 years, referred to us due to symptoms of stress, emotional suffering, and the need to change lifestyles (health risk behavior) were studied between August 1998 and December 1999. Comparison between answers to Q1 and Q2, showed a trend (P=0.059) for reduction of ingestion of cholesterol-rich foods and for increased prospects in life with a tendency towards improvement, and also of increased intake of fiber-rich food (55.6%), increased levels of personal satisfaction (44.5%), and decreased levels of stress (66.7%). CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated decreased stress levels and increased personal satisfaction, higher consumption of fiber-rich food, lower cholesterol intake, and a better perspective on life, suggesting that receptive music therapy may be applied in clinical practice as an auxiliary therapeutic intervention for the treatment of behavioral health risks.

Population structure and diversity of the pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus isolated from different sources and geographic origins

Fifty-five clinical and environmental Aspergillus fumigatus isolates from Mexico, Argentina, France and Peru were analyzed to determine their genetic variability, reproductive system and level of differentiation using amplified fragment length polymorphism markers. The level of genetic variability was assessed by measuring the percentage of polymorphic loci, number of effective alleles, expected heterozygocity and by performing an association index test (I A). The degree of genetic differentiation and variation was determined using analysis of molecular variance at three levels. Using the paired genetic distances, a dendrogram was built to detect the genetic relationship among alleles. Finally, a network of haplotypes was constructed to determine the geographic relationship among them. The results indicate that the clinical isolates have greater genetic variability than the environmental isolates. The I A of the clinical and environmental isolates suggests a recombining population structure. The genetic differentiation among isolates and the dendrogram suggest that the groups of isolates are different. The network of haplotypes demonstrates that the majority of the isolates are grouped according to geographic origin.

Música, religião e cor: uma leitura da produção de black music gospel

O artigo busca apresentar novos elementos para discutir a transformação do meio evangélico brasileiro. Para tanto, recorre à produção musical, especificamente à black music gospel / "música negra". Esta é baseada em musicalidades contemporâneas como, por exemplo, o hip-hop e o reggae , e efetivada por grupos independentes. Eles são formados por fiéis e não têm vínculos com empresas especializadas. Seus responsáveis apresentam bens e serviços que dialogam com as noções religiosas, principalmente com aquelas relacionadas ao contingente de fiéis afro-descendentes. Suas práticas e concepções caracterizam determinado estilo de participação e de pertencimento. Para a abordagem proposta, aplicam-se algumas noções como "negritude", "Atlântico negro" e "diáspora".

Differential effect of plant lectins on mast cells of different origins

Histamine release induced by plant lectins was studied with emphasis on the carbohydrate specificity, external calcium requirement, metal binding sites, and mast cell heterogeneity and on the importance of antibodies bound to the mast cell membrane to the lectin effect. Peritoneal mast cells were obtained by direct lavage of the rat peritoneal cavity and guinea pig intestine and hamster cheek pouch mast cells were obtained by dispersion with collagenase type IA. Histamine release was induced with concanavalin A (Con A), lectins from Canavalia brasiliensis, mannose-specific Cymbosema roseum, Maackia amurensis, Parkia platycephala, Triticum vulgaris (WGA), and demetallized Con A and C. brasiliensis, using 1-300 µg/ml lectin concentrations applied to Wistar rat peritoneal mast cells, peaking on 26.9, 21.0, 29.1, 24.9, 17.2, 10.7, 19.9, and 41.5%, respectively. This effect was inhibited in the absence of extracellular calcium. The lectins were also active on hamster cheek pouch mast cells (except demetallized Con A) and on Rowett nude rat (animal free of immunoglobulins) peritoneal mast cells (except for mannose-specific C. roseum, P. platycephala and WGA). No effect was observed in guinea pig intestine mast cells. Glucose-saturated Con A and C. brasiliensis also released histamine from Wistar rat peritoneal mast cells. These results suggest that histamine release induced by lectins is influenced by the heterogeneity of mast cells and depends on extracellular calcium. The results also suggest that this histamine release might occur by alternative mechanisms, because the usual mechanism of lectins is related to their binding properties to metals from which depend the binding to sugars, which would be their sites to bind to immunoglobulins. In the present study, we show that the histamine release by lectins was also induced by demetallized lectins and by sugar-saturated lectins (which would avoid their binding to other sugars). Additionally, the lectins also released histamine from Rowett nude mast cells that are free of immunoglobulins.

Differentiating origins of outflow tract ventricular arrhythmias: a comparison of three different electrocardiographic algorithms

Our objective is to evaluate the accuracy of three algorithms in differentiating the origins of outflow tract ventricular arrhythmias (OTVAs). This study involved 110 consecutive patients with OTVAs for whom a standard 12-lead surface electrocardiogram (ECG) showed typical left bundle branch block morphology with an inferior axis. All the ECG tracings were retrospectively analyzed using the following three recently published ECG algorithms: 1) the transitional zone (TZ) index, 2) the V2 transition ratio, and 3) V2 R wave duration and R/S wave amplitude indices. Considering all patients, the V2 transition ratio had the highest sensitivity (92.3%), while the R wave duration and R/S wave amplitude indices in V2 had the highest specificity (93.9%). The latter finding had a maximal area under the ROC curve of 0.925. In patients with left ventricular (LV) rotation, the V2 transition ratio had the highest sensitivity (94.1%), while the R wave duration and R/S wave amplitude indices in V2 had the highest specificity (87.5%). The former finding had a maximal area under the ROC curve of 0.892. All three published ECG algorithms are effective in differentiating the origin of OTVAs, while the V2 transition ratio, and the V2 R wave duration and R/S wave amplitude indices are the most sensitive and specific algorithms, respectively. Amongst all of the patients, the V2 R wave duration and R/S wave amplitude algorithm had the maximal area under the ROC curve, but in patients with LV rotation the V2 transition ratio algorithm had the maximum area under the ROC curve.

Historical origins of Brazilian relative backwardness

This paper relies on some data to identify the 19th century as the major period in which Brazil economy lagged behind some chosen benchmarking countries, as the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and some European periphery countries. To identify the reasons for this an exercise using immigration data was used to make a decomposition of the sources of growth of the proportion of the USA per capita GDP to the Brazilian one. The results indicate that the imported human capital was responsible for 59% to 88% of this total growth between 1820 and 1900.