Phantom eye syndrome: a review of the literature

The purpose of this literature review was to describe the main features of phantom eye syndrome in relation to their possible causes, symptoms, treatments, and influence of eye amputation on quality of life of anophthalmic patients. For this, a bibliographical research was performed in Pubmed database using the following terms: eye amputation, eye trauma, phantom eye syndrome, phantom pain, and quality of life, associated or not. Thirteen studies were selected, besides some relevant references contained in the selected manuscripts and other studies hallowed in the literature. Thus, 56 articles were included in this review. The phantom eye syndrome is defined as any sensation reported by the patient with anophthalmia, originated anophthalmic cavity. In phantom eye syndrome, at least one of these three symptoms has to be present: phantom vision, phantom pain, and phantom sensations. This syndrome has a direct influence on the quality of life of the patients, and psychological support is recommended before and after the amputation of the eyeball as well as aid in the treatment of the syndrome. Therefore, it is suggested that, for more effective treatment of phantom eye syndrome, drug therapy should be associated with psychological approach.

Aging of intrauterine tissues in spontaneous preterm birth and preterm premature rupture of the membranes: a systematic review of the literature

Many adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs), including spontaneous preterm birth (PTB), are associated with placental dysfunction. Recent clinical and experimental evidences suggest that premature aging of the placenta may be involved in these events. Although placental aging is a well-known concept, the mechanisms of aging during normal pregnancy and premature aging in APOs are still unclear. This review was conducted to assess the knowledge on placental aging related biochemical changes leading to placental dysfunction in PTB and/or preterm premature rupture of membranes (pPROM). We performed a systematic review of studies published over the last 50 years in two electronic databases (Pubmed and Embase) on placental aging and PTB or pPROM. The search yielded 554 citations, 30 relevant studies were selected for full-text review and three were included in the review. Only one study reported oxidative stress-related aging and degenerative changes in human placental membranes and telomere length reduction in fetal cells as part of PTB and/or pPROM mechanisms. Similarly, two animal studies reported findings of decidual senescence and referred to PTB mechanisms. Placental and fetal membrane oxidative damage and telomere reduction are linked to premature aging in PTB and pPROM but the risk factors and biomolecular pathways causing this phenomenon are not established in the literature. However, no biomarkers or clinical indicators of premature aging as a pathology of PTB and pPROM have been reported. We document major knowledge gaps and propose several areas for future research to improve our understanding of premature aging linked to placental dysfunction.

Acrylic resin cytotoxicity for denture base - Literature review

Acrylic resin is a widely used material in clinical practice, and a satisfactory biocompatibility is essential. When the resin polymerization reaction is incomplete, residual monomers are released into the oral cavity. The aim of this study was to evaluate, through a literature review, the cytotoxicity caused by the denture base acrylic resin used, and its components. The selection of published studies was performed on the Pubmed database from January 2008 to July 2013. The keywords used were: cytotoxicity and acrylic resins, cytotoxicity and denture base resins and cytotoxicity and oral prosthesis. Inclusion criteria were: in vitro studies and literature reviews published in English that evaluated the acrylic resin cytotoxicity for denture base and its components. Studies with no reference to the search strategy were excluded. A total of 182 articles were found. Among these, only 13 were included for writing this review. The MTT test is the most common test used to evaluate acrylic resin cytotoxicity. Auto-polymerized resin is more cytotoxic than heat-polymerized resin because of its higher quantity of residual monomers which cause cell and tissue changes in the oral mucosa. However, more studies are necessary for the development of biocompatible materials.

Older people's perspectives on participation in physical activity: a systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative literature

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Thermal and spectroscopic studies of the antioxidant food additive propyl gallate

Literature mentions propyl gallate (PG) as a non-toxic synthetic antioxidant that can be used as a food additive due to its high tolerance to heat. It is important to understand the thermal properties and to identify the decomposition products of this substance, since it has been reported to be thermally stable at temperatures as high as 300 °C. Simultaneous thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), differential scanning calorimetry-photovisual (DSC-photovisual), coupled thermogravimetry-infrared spectroscopy (TG-FTIR) analyses and spectroscopic techniques were used to study the food additive PG. The TG-DTA curves, which were performed with the aid of DSC-photovisual, provided information concerning the thermal stability and decomposition profiles of the compound. From the TG-FTIR coupled techniques, it was possible to identify n-propanol as a possible volatile compound released during the thermal decomposition of the antioxidant. A complete spectroscopic characterization in the ultraviolet, visible, near and middle infrared regions was performed in order to understand the spectroscopic properties of PG.

Esthetics in implant-supported prostheses: a literature review

Esthetics is important for success of implant-supported prostheses. This study aimed to review esthetics concepts for implant treatment. Research in the PubMed database included studies published from 1995 to 2010 with the keywords implant esthetics, implant-supported prostheses, and esthetics. Forty-five studies were evaluated regarding the presurgical planning, surgical phase, and temporary and final restoration phases. It was concluded that esthetics in implant-supported prostheses results from a multidisciplinary approach from planning until insertion of the final restoration.

Examining the use of terms "Conservation" "Restoration" and "Preservation" between Natural Resource Professionals and Literature Reviews

ABSTRACT This thesis will determine if there is a discrepancy between how literature defines conservation, preservation, and restoration, and how natural resource professionals define these terms. Interviews were conducted with six professionals from six different agencies that deal with natural resources. These agencies consisted of both government and non-government groups. In addition to interviewing these professionals regarding how they define the terms, they were asked where their work fits into the context of these terms. The interviewees’ responses were then compared with the literature to determine inconsistencies with the use of these terms in the literature and real world settings. The literature and the interviewees have agreed on the term conservation. There are some different points of view about preservation, some see it as ‘no management’ and some others see it as keeping things the same or ‘static.’ Restoration was the term where both the literature and professionals thought of moving an ecosystem from one point of succession or community, to another point on a continuum. The only thing in which they disagree on is the final goal of a restoration project. The literature would suggest restoring the ecosystem to a past historic condition, where the interviewees said to restore it to the best of their abilities and to a functioning ecosystem.

PHYTOCHEMICAL AND CHEMOSYSTEMATICS STUDIES OF Conchocarpus marginatus AND C. inopinatus (Rutaceae)

PHYTOCHEMICAL AND CHEMOSYSTEMATICS STUDIES OF Conchocarpus marginatus AND C. inopinatus (Rutaceae). Phytochemical studies of the leaves and stem have led to the identification of the known acridone alkaloids arborinine, methylarborinine, 1-hydroxy-3-methoxy-N-methyl acridone, xanthoxoline, 1,2,3,5-tetramethoxy-N-methylacridone, toddaliopsin C and the new seco acridone alkaloid inopinatin. The known quinoline alkaloids 2-phenyl-1-methyl-quinolin-4(1H)-one, 2-phenyl-1-methyl-7-methoxy-quinolin-4(1H)-one, dictamnine, and the coumarins scopoletin and marmesin were also isolated. The isolated compounds and the distribution of secondary metabolites, which are systematically important, obtained from literature, clearly confirmed that some species formerly described in the genera Angostura and Galipea in fact shall belong to the genus Conchocarpus.

Ab initio studies of pristine and oxidized Cu3Au(100) and (111) surfaces

We review the previous literature and our recent work on first-principles studies of Cu3Au(100) and (111) surfaces, with focus on the segregation of atomic species to the surface at pristine conditions and in the presence of oxygen. In particular, the combined use of experimental and theoretical tools to achieve chemical identification at an atomic level of the surface species is emphasized and discussed.

Progress in animal experimentation ethics. A case study from a brazilian medical school and from the international medical literature

PURPOSE: This study describes in Brazil and in the global biomedical community the time course of the development of animal research welfare guidelines. METHODS: The database of the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirao Preto (EC/FMRP-USP), Brazil, was surveyed since its inception in 2002 as the regulations became more stringent to provide better protection of animal research welfare at this institution. Medline database was evaluated to identify the number of publications in the period between 1968 and 2008 that used research animals and were in compliance with established ethics guidelines. RESULTS: The EC/FMRP-USP evaluated 979 projects up until 2009. Most of the applications came from Department of Physiology and the most frequently requested species was the rat. In 2004, national research funding agencies started to request prior approval from institutional review ethics committees prior to application review and this requirement became federal law in Brazil in 2008. The analysis of international publications revealed a relative reduction in studies involving research animals (18% in 1968 to 7.5% in 2008). CONCLUSIONS: The present work showed that in the last four decades major changes occurred in the guidelines dictating use of research animals occurred and they are being adopted by developing countries. Moreover, animal welfare concern in the scientific community preceded the introduction of journal guidelines for this purpose. Furthermore, in Brazil it was anticipated that laws were needed to protect animal research welfare from being not upheld.

EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES PUBLISHED IN BRAZIL: IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS STUDIES ABOUT HUMAN HEALTH PREVENTION

Integrative review of Brazilian studies about evidence-based practices (EBP) about prevention in human health, published in Web of Science/JCR journals, between October 2010 and April 2011. The aim was to identify the specialties that most accomplished these studies, their foci and methodological approaches. Based on inclusion criteria, 84 studies were selected, mainly published in public health journals, focusing on primary care and also addressing clinical issues and different specialties. Prevention foci and methodological approaches also varied, with a predominance of systematic reviews without meta-analysis. The results indicate that there is no single way to conceptualize and practice EBP in the field of prevention, and that its application may not only serve to obtain indisputable evidence to equip intervention actions. This endless knowledge area is under construction, with a view to the analysis and further understanding of health phenomena.

WHAT THE STUDIES CONDUCTED IN BRAZIL REGARDING DIVIDEND POLICY REVEAL

This paper consists of a review of the literature about dividend policy in Brazil, focusing on the empirical studies conducted from 1990 to 2010 that were published in major Brazilian administration, accounting and finance journals and major conference proceedings on this subject. The analyzed sample comprised 39 studies using various methods and conducted in various periods. Based on the model of Harris and Raviv (1991), this paper grouped studies according to model type, and it found five main categories. We were able to find some tendencies, such as: dividend policy relevance in the Brazilian market; confirmation of existence of agency problems; conflicting findings regarding the clientele hypothesis; tax signaling in, and tax impact on, defining dividend policy; non-conflicting findings regarding key factors of dividend policy..

Using Prior Information from the Medical Literature in GWAS of Oral Cancer Identifies Novel Susceptibility Variant on Chromosome 4-the AdAPT Method

Background: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) require large sample sizes to obtain adequate statistical power, but it may be possible to increase the power by incorporating complementary data. In this study we investigated the feasibility of automatically retrieving information from the medical literature and leveraging this information in GWAS. Methods: We developed a method that searches through PubMed abstracts for pre-assigned keywords and key concepts, and uses this information to assign prior probabilities of association for each single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) with the phenotype of interest - the Adjusting Association Priors with Text (AdAPT) method. Association results from a GWAS can subsequently be ranked in the context of these priors using the Bayes False Discovery Probability (BFDP) framework. We initially tested AdAPT by comparing rankings of known susceptibility alleles in a previous lung cancer GWAS, and subsequently applied it in a two-phase GWAS of oral cancer. Results: Known lung cancer susceptibility SNPs were consistently ranked higher by AdAPT BFDPs than by p-values. In the oral cancer GWAS, we sought to replicate the top five SNPs as ranked by AdAPT BFDPs, of which rs991316, located in the ADH gene region of 4q23, displayed a statistically significant association with oral cancer risk in the replication phase (per-rare-allele log additive p-value [p(trend)] = 2.5 x 10(-3)). The combined OR for having one additional rare allele was 0.83 (95% CI: 0.76-0.90), and this association was independent of previously identified susceptibility SNPs that are associated with overall UADT cancer in this gene region. We also investigated if rs991316 was associated with other cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract (UADT), but no additional association signal was found. Conclusion: This study highlights the potential utility of systematically incorporating prior knowledge from the medical literature in genome-wide analyses using the AdAPT methodology. AdAPT is available online (url: http://services.gate.ac.uk/lld/gwas/service/config).

Pharmacological interventions in the treatment of the acute effects of cannabis: a systematic review of literature

Abstract Background Cannabis intoxication is related to a number of physical and mental health risks with ensuing social costs. However, little attention has been given to the investigation of possible pharmacological interactions in this condition. Objective To review the available scientific literature concerning pharmacological interventions for the treatment of the acute effects of cannabis. Methods A search was performed on the Pubmed, Lilacs, and Scielo online databases by combining the terms cannabis, intoxication, psychosis, anxiety, and treatment. The articles selected from this search had their reference lists checked for additional publications related to the topic of the review. Results The reviewed articles consisted of case reports and controlled clinical trials and are presented according to interventions targeting the physiological, psychiatric, and cognitive symptoms provoked by cannabis. The pharmacological interventions reported in these studies include: beta-blockers, antiarrhythmic agents, antagonists of CB-1 and GABA-benzodiazepine receptors, antipsychotics, and cannabidiol. Conclusion Although scarce, the evidence on pharmacological interventions for the management of cannabis intoxication suggests that propanolol and rimonabant are the most effective compounds currently available to treat the physiological and subjective effects of the drug. Further studies are necessary to establish the real effectiveness of these two medications, as well as the effectiveness of other candidate compounds to counteract the effects of cannabis intoxication, such as cannabidiol and flumazenil.

Progress in animal experimentation ethics: a case study from a Brazilian medical school and from the international medical literature

PURPOSE: This study describes in Brazil and in the global biomedical community the time course of the development of animal research welfare guidelines. METHODS: The database of the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirao Preto (EC/FMRP-USP), Brazil, was surveyed since its inception in 2002 as the regulations became more stringent to provide better protection of animal research welfare at this institution. Medline database was evaluated to identify the number of publications in the period between 1968 and 2008 that used research animals and were in compliance with established ethics guidelines. RESULTS: The EC/FMRP-USP evaluated 979 projects up until 2009. Most of the applications came from Department of Physiology and the most frequently requested species was the rat. In 2004, national research funding agencies started to request prior approval from institutional review ethics committees prior to application review and this requirement became federal law in Brazil in 2008. The analysis of international publications revealed a relative reduction in studies involving research animals (18% in 1968 to 7.5% in 2008). CONCLUSIONS: The present work showed that in the last four decades major changes occurred in the guidelines dictating use of research animals occurred and they are being adopted by developing countries. Moreover, animal welfare concern in the scientific community preceded the introduction of journal guidelines for this purpose. Furthermore, in Brazil it was anticipated that laws were needed to protect animal research welfare from being not upheld.