Falls and other geriatric syndromes in Blantyre, Malawi: a community survey of older adults

Background The prevalence of geriatric syndromes (falls, immobility, intellectual or memory impairment, and incontinence) is unknown in many resource-poor countries. With an aging population such knowledge is essential to develop national policies on the health and social needs of older people. The aim of this study was to provide a preliminary survey to explore the prevalence of falls and other geriatric syndromes and their association with known risk factors in people aged > 60 years in urban Blantyre, Malawi. Methods This was a cross-sectional, community survey of adults aged > 60 years. Subjects were recruited at home or in the waiting areas of chronic care clinics. They were interviewed to complete a questionnaire on ageassociated syndromes and comorbid problems. The Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT) and Timed Up and Go (TUG) tests were carried out. Results Ninety-eight subjects were studied; 41% reported falling in the past 12 months, 33% of whom (13% of all subjects) were recurrent fallers. Twenty-five percent reported urine incontinence, 66% self-reported memory difficulties, and 11% had an AMT score < 7. A history of falling was significantly associated with urine incontinence (p=0.01), selfreported memory problems (p=0.004) and AMT score < 7 (p=0.02). Conclusions Geriatric syndromes, including falls, appear to be prevalent in older people in Blantyre, Malawi. Falling is associated with cognitive impairment and urinary incontinence. There is an urgent need for more understanding of geriatric problems in this setting to develop national policies on health and social needs of older people. It is likely that many of the contributory factors to falls would be amenable to multifactorial interventions similar to those found to be effective in developed countries.

Ontologia do espaço : critica da critica da entificação social do ser enquanto pressuposto a uma teoria espacial interpenetrada a “ontologia do ser social”, de Gyorgy Lukacs

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Humanas, Departamento de Geografia, Programa de Pós Graduação em Geografia, 2015.

O gigantesco passo da artilharia de campanha de 1914 para 1918

O presente trabalho de investigação tem como objetivo geral investigar os grandes progressos e inovações da Artilharia de Campanha no decorrer da Primeira Guerra Mundial. O período analisado está inserido no conflito da Primeira Guerra Mundial de 1914-1918, que se caracterizou fundamentalmente por ser um conflito onde existiu pouca mobilidade, uma quantidade excessiva de mortes e um desenvolvimento progressivo de armamento pesado para fazer face ao impasse provocado por uma guerra essencialmente de trincheiras. O crescimento exponencial da artilharia tornou-se, então, uma urgente necessidade num conflito onde a inovação dos materiais se sobrepôs à quantidade de homens. Para a elaboração deste trabalho de investigação aplicada, tendo como modelo o método da investigação histórica, foi analisada, numa abordagem diacrónica, o desenvolvimento da materiais e doutrinas utilizados pelas unidades de artilharia, sendo destacados essencialmente os exércitos da Alemanha, França e Grã-Bretanha. Por outro lado, numa abordagem sincrónica, foram identificadas as distintas inovações tais como o nascimento de novos tipos de artilharia, grande diversificação nas munições, tendência para a artilharia de tiro indireto substituir a de tiro direto, desenvolvimentos no controlo do tiro, novas formas de comunicação, artilharia de muito maior alcance, entre outros, pelo que este trabalho tem como finalidade demonstrar o papel da artilharia na criação do sistema de trincheiras e posteriormente no ultrapassar da imobilidade destas. Este trabalho baseia-se na análise de conteúdo de fontes primárias manuscritas e impressas, textuais e iconográficas, nacionais e internacionais, diretamente relacionadas com o tema abordado.

Galanin N-Terminal fragment (1-15) enhances the antidepressant effects of the 5-HT1A receptor agonist 8-OH-DPAT in the Forced Swimming Test.

Galanin and Galanin (1-15) [GAL(1-15)] are implicated in anxiety- and depression related behaviors. Moreover, Galanin modulates 5-HT1A receptor (5-HT1AR) function at autorreceptor and postsynaptic level in the brain. In this study, we have analysed the ability of GAL(1-15) to modulate the effects of the 8-OH-DPAT agonist in the Forced Swimming Test (FST). Groups of rats were assessed in the FST. In the first set of experiments, to evaluate the interactions of 8-OH-DPAT and GAL(1-15), rats received subcutaneously (s.c) the effective doses of 8-OH-DPAT (0.25mg/Kg) 60min before the test and intracerebroventricularly (icv) GAL(1-15)1nmol 15min before the tests alone or in combination. In the second set of experiments, groups of rats received s.c. 8-OH-DPAT (0.125mg/Kg), icv GAL(1-15) 1nmol and icv the GALR2 antagonist M871 3 nmol alone or in combination. The locomotor activity was analysed in the open field test. GAL(1-15) 1nmol enhanced the antidepressant-like effects mediated by the effective dose of the 8-OH-DPAT. GAL(1-15) significantly decreased the immobility (p<0.05) and climbing (p<0.05) and increased the swimming (p<0.01) behaviour induced by an effective dose of 8-OH-DPAT (0.25mg/Kg) in FST. Moreover, after coadministration of GAL(1-15) and threshold dose of 8-OH-DPAT (0.125mg/Kg) a significant decreased appeared in immobility (p<0.01) and climbing (p<0.01) and increased the swimming behavior (p<0.001) vs 8-OH-DPAT group. Moreover, M871 blocked completely this interaction. These results indicate that GAL(1-15) enhances the antidepressant effects induced by 8-OH-DPAT in the FST. These findings may give the basis for the development of novel therapeutic drugs. This study was supported by Junta de Andalucía CVI6476.