Ecological aspects of American cutaneous leishmaniasis: 6. Man-biting sandfly fauna of a patch of residual forest in the middle and north-eastern region of the S��o Paulo State, Brazil

This report shows the phlebotomine vectorial role in the endemic cutaneous leishmaniasis situated in the middle and north-eastern region of the S��o Paulo, Brazil. Analysis of information encloses a sandfly man-biting fauna of four different patches of residual forest. So, using the human-bait and Shannon trap for a period of one year we have caught 16,869 sandflies. The predominance of Lutzomyia intermedia (85,6%) was clear. Moreover, the low density of Lutzomyia whitmani and Lutzomyia pessoai and their epidemiological implications at present and in the past are discussed. Information about the daily activity of some species is given and we emphasize for the first time, the diurnal activity of Lutzomyia firmatoi in the S��o Paulo State.

Risco potencial de transmiss��o de mal��ria em Portugal Continental

Disserta����o de Mestrado em Gest��o do Territ��rio ��� ��rea de Especializa����o em Detec����o Remota e Sistemas de Informa����o Geogr��fica

Auditoria ��s demonstra����es financeiras num contexto de crise estudo de caso: inqu��rito ��s sociedades de Revisores Oficiais de Contas das empresas cotadas na CMVM

Disserta����o de Mestrado apresentado ao Instituto de Contabilidade e Administra����o do Porto para a obten����o do grau de Mestre em Auditoria sob orienta����o da Doutora Alcina Portugal Dias

Environmental Decision Support: a Distributed Artificial Intelligence Approach

Decision making in any environmental domain is a complex and demanding activity, justifying the development of dedicated decision support systems. Every decision is confronted with a large variety and amount of constraints to satisfy as well as contradictory interests that must be sensibly accommodated. The first stage of a project evaluation is its submission to the relevant group of public (and private) agencies. The individual role of each agency is to verify, within its domain of competence, the fulfilment of the set of applicable regulations. The scope of the involved agencies is wide and ranges from evaluation abilities on the technical or economical domains to evaluation competences on the environmental or social areas. The second project evaluation stage involves the gathering of the recommendations of the individual agencies and their justified merge to produce the final conclusion. The incorporation and accommodation of the consulted agencies opinions is of extreme importance: opinions may not only differ, but can be interdependent, complementary, irreconcilable or, simply, independent. The definition of adequate methodologies to sensibly merge, whenever possible, the existing perspectives while preserving the overall legality of the system, will lead to the making of sound justified decisions. The proposed Environmental Decision Support System models the project evaluation activity and aims to assist developers in the selection of adequate locations for their projects, guaranteeing their compliance with the applicable regulations.

A quest for the right word enhancing reflexivity and technology in terminology training

INTED2010, the 4th International Technology, Education and Development Conference was held in Valencia (Spain), on March 8, 9 and 10, 2010.

Mitochondria are the main source and one of the targets of Pb (lead)-induced oxidative stress in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a useful model organism for studying lead (Pb) toxicity. Yeast cells of a laboratory S. cerevisiae strain (WT strain) were incubated with Pb concentrations up to 1,000 ��mol/l for 3 h. Cells exposed to Pb lost proliferation capacity without damage to the cell membrane, and they accumulated intracellular superoxide anion (O2 .���) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The involvement of the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by Pb was evaluated. For this purpose, an isogenic derivative ��0 strain, lacking mitochondrial DNA, was used. The ��0 strain, without respiratory competence, displayed a lower intracellular ROS accumulation and a higher resistance to Pb compared to the WT strain. The kinetic study of ROS generation in yeast cells exposed to Pb showed that the production of O2 .��� precedes the accumulation of H2O2, which is compatible with the leakage of electrons from the mitochondrial ETC. Yeast cells exposed to Pb displayed mutations at the mitochondrial DNA level. This is most likely a consequence of oxidative stress. In conclusion, mitochondria are an important source of Pb-induced ROS and, simultaneously, one of the targets of its toxicity.

Assessing Reading Abilities of Mechanical Engineering College Students: A Prospecting Study*

Reading is a basic competence that students have to master to be successful. Despite this fact, recent studies show that there may be a significant decline in the reading abilities of college students, one of the most educated segments of any population. This work is a prospecting study regarding the assessment of reading abilities of college students, namely in the context of Engineering education. Based on an existing screening test for assessing reading difficulties of children and teenagers, this work presents the results obtained by administrating that test to students at a top engineering institution in Portugal. An outcome of this study is the determination of a time range suitable for a massive, time limited, use of the previously mentioned test to assess college students, thus enabling a basic tool that will permit, in future works, to screen reading abilities in wider college populations. This work also shows evidence that ca. 20% of college students present a poor reading performance, revealing a strong need for monitoring college students��� reading abilities along different generations.

Immune reconstitution after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation��

Abstract The investigation of the web of relationships between the different elements of the immune system has proven instrumental to better understand this complex biological system. This is particularly true in the case of the interactions between B and T lymphocytes, both during cellular development and at the stage of cellular effectors functions. The understanding of the B���T cells interdependency and the possibility to manipulate this relationship may be directly applicable to situations where immunity is deficient, as is the case of cancer or immune suppression after radio and chemotherapy. The work presented here started with the development of a novel and accurate tool to directly assess the diversity of the cellular repertoire (Chapter III). Contractions of T cell receptor diversity have been related with a deficient immune status. This method uses gene chips platforms where nucleic acids coding for lymphocyte receptors are hybridized and is based on the fact that the frequency of hybridization of nucleic acids to the oligonucleotides on a gene chip varies in direct proportion to diversity. Subsequently, and using this new method and other techniques of cell quantification I examined, in an animal model, the role that polyclonal B cells and immunoglobulin exert upon T cell development in the thymus, specifically on the acquisition of a broader repertoire diversity by the T cell receptors (Chapter IV and V). The hypothesis tested was if the presence of more diverse peptides in the thymus, namely polyclonal immunoglobulin, would induce the generation of more diverse T cells precursors. The results obtained demonstrated that the diversity of the T cell compartment is increased by the presence of polyclonal immunoglobulin. Polyclonal immunoglobulin, and particularly the Fab fragments of the molecule, represent the most diverse self-molecules in the body and its peptides are presented by antigen presenting cells to precursor T cells in the thymus during its development. This probably contributes significantly to the generation of receptor diversity. Furthermore, we also demonstrated that a more diverse repertoire of T lymphocytes is associated with a more effective and robust T cell immune function in vivo, as mice with a more diverse T cell receptors reject minor histocompatiblility discordant skin grafts faster than mice with a shrunken T cell receptor repertoire (Chapter V). We believe that a broader T cell receptor diversity allows a more efficient recognition and rejection of a higher range of external and internal aggressions. In this work it is demonstrated that a reduction of TCR diversity by thymectomy in wild type mice significantly increased survival of H-Y incompatible skin grafts, indicating decrease on T cell function. In addiction reconstitution of T-cell diversity in mice with a decreased T cell repertoire diversity with immunoglobulin Fab fragments, lead to a increase on TCR diversity and to a significantly decreased survival of the skin grafts (Chapter V). These results strongly suggest that increases on T cell repertoire diversity contribute to improvement of T cell function. Our results may have important implications on therapy and immune reconstitution in the context of AIDS, cancer, autoimmunity and post myeloablative treatments. Based on the previous results, we tested the clinical hypothesis that patients with haematological malignancies subjected to stem cell transplantation who recovered a robust immune system would have a better survival compared to patients who did not recover such a robust immune system. This study was undertaken by the examination of the progression and overall survival of 42 patients with mantle cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma receiving autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Chapter VI). The results obtained show that patients who recovered higher numbers of lymphocytes soon after autologous transplantation had a statistically significantly longer progression free and overall survivals. These results demonstrate the positive impact that a more robust immune system reconstitution after stem cell transplantation may have upon the survival of patients with haematological malignancies. In a similar clinical research framework, this dissertation also includes the study of the impact of recovering normal serum levels of polyclonal immunoglobulin on the survival of patients with another B cell haematological malignancy, multiple myeloma, after autologous stem cell transplantation (Chapter VII). The relapse free survival of the 110 patients with multiple myeloma analysed was associated with their ability to recover normal serum levels of the polyclonal compartment of immunoglobulin. These results suggest again the important effect of polyclonal immunoglobulin for the (re)generation of the immune competence. We also studied the impact of a robust immunity for the response to treatment with the antibody anti CD20, rituximab, in patients with non- Hodgkin���s lymphoma (NHL) (Chapter VIII). Patients with higher absolute counts of CD4+ T lymphocytes respond better (in terms of longer progression free survival) to rituximab compared to patients with lower number of CD4+ T lymphocytes. These observations highlight again the fact that a competent immune system is required for the clinical benefit of rituximab therapy in NHL patients. In conclusion, the work presented in this dissertation demonstrates, for the first time, that diverse B cells and polyclonal immunoglobulin promote T cell diversification in the thymus and improve T lymphocyte function. Also, it shows that in the setting of immune reconstitution, as after autologous stem cell transplantation for mantle cell lymphoma and in the setting of immune therapy for NHL, the absolute lymphocyte counts are an independent factor predicting progression free and overall survival. These results can have an important application in the clinical practice since the majority of the current treatments for cancer are immunosuppressive and implicate a subsequent immune recovery. Also, the effects of a number of antineoplastic treatments, including biological agents, depend on the immune system activity. In this way, studies similar to the ones presented here, where methods to improve the immune reconstitution are examined, may prove to be instrumental for a better understanding of the immune system and to guide more efficient treatment options and the design of future clinical trials. Resumo O estudo da rede de inter-rela����es entre os diversos elementos do sistema immune tem-se mostrado um instrumento essencial para uma melhor compreens��o deste complexo sistema biol��gico. Tal �� particularmente verdade no caso das interac����es entre os linf��citos B e T, quer durante o desenvolvimento celular, quer ao n��vel das fun����es celulares efectoras. A compreens��o da interdepend��ncia entre linf��citos B e T e a possibilidade de manipular esta rela����o pode ser directamente aplic��vel a situa����es em que a imunidade est�� deficiente, como �� o caso das doen��as neopl��sicas ou da imunossupress��o ap��s radio ou quimioterapia. O trabalho apresentado nesta disserta����o iniciou-se com o desenvolvimento de um novo m��todo laboratorial para medir directamente a diversidade do report��rio celular (Cap��tulo III). Redu����es da diversidade do report��rio dos receptores de c��lulas T t��m sido relacionadas com um estado de imunodefici��ncia. O m��todo desenvolvido utiliza ���gene chips���, aos quais hibridizam os ��cidos nucleicos codificantes das cadeias proteicas dos receptores linfocit��rios. A diversidade �� calculada com base na frequ��ncia de hibridiza����o do ��cido nucleico da amostra aos oligonucle��tidos presentes no ���gene chip���. De seguida, e utilizando este novo m��todo e outras t��cnicas de quantifica����o celular examinei, num modelo animal, o papel que as c��lulas policlonais B e a imunoglobulina exercem sobre o desenvolvimento linfocit��rio T no timo, especificamente na aquisi����o de um report��rio diverso de receptores T (Cap��tulos IV e V). Testei, ent��o, a hip��tese de que a presen��a no timo de p��ptidos mais diversos, como a imunoglobulna policlonal, induzisse a g��nese de precursores T mais diversos. Demonstr��mos que a diversidade do compartimento T �� aumentado pela presen��a de imunoglobulina policlonal. A imunoglobulina policlonal, e particularmente os fragmentos Fab desta mol��cula, representam as mol��culas aut��logas mais diversas presentes nos organismos vertebrados. Estes p��ptidos s��o apresentados por c��lulas apresentadoras de antig��nio ��s c��lulas precursoras T no timo, durante o desenvolvimento celular T. Tal, provavelmente, contribui para a g��nese da diversidade dos receptores. Tamb��m demonstr��mos que a presen��a de um report��rio mais diverso de linf��citos T se associa a um incremento da fun����o imunol��gica T in vivo. Uma diversidade de receptores T mais extensa parece permitir um reconhecimento e rejei����o mais eficientes de um maior n��mero de agressores internos e externos. Demonstr��mos que ratinhos com receptores de c��lulas T (RCT) com maior diversidade rejeitam transplantes cut��neos discordantes para antig��nios minor de histocompatibilidade mais rapidamente do que ratinhos com um menor report��rio T (Cap��tulo V). Por outro lado, uma redu����o da diversidade do RCT, causada por timectomia de ratinhos de estirpes selvagens, mostrou aumentar significativamente a sobreviv��ncia de transplantes cut��neos incompat��veis para o antig��nio H-Y (antig��nio minor de histocompatibilidade), indicando uma diminui����o da fun����o linfocit��ria T. Al��m disso, a reconstitui����o da diversidade dos linf��citos T em ratinhos com uma diversidade de report��rio T diminu��da, induzida pela administra����o de fragmentos Fab de imunoglobulina, conduz a um aumento da diversidade dos RCT e a uma diminui����o significativa da sobreviv��ncia dos enxertos cut��neos (Cap��tulo V). Estes resultados sugerem que o aumento do report��rio de c��lulas T contribui para uma melhoria das fun����es celulares T e poder��o ter implica����es importantes na terap��utica e reconstituti����o imunol��gica em contexto de SIDA, neoplasias, autoimunidade e ap��s tratamentos mieloablativos. Baseado nos resultados anteriores, decidimos testar a hip��tese cl��nica de que doentes com neoplasias hematol��gicas sujeitos a transplanta����o de precursores hematopoi��ticos e com recupera����o imunol��gica precoce ap��s transplante teriam uma sobreviv��ncia mais longa do que doentes que n��o recuperassem t��o bem a sua imunidade. Analis��mos a sobreviv��ncia global e sobreviv��ncia sem doen��a de 42 doentes com linfoma n��o Hodgkin de c��lulas do manto sujeitos a transplante aut��logo de precursores hematopoi��ticos (Cap��tulo VI). Os resultados obtidos mostraram que os doentes que recuperaram contagens mais elevadas de linf��citos imediatamente ap��s o transplante aut��logo, apresentaram uma sobreviv��ncia global e sem progress��o mais longa do que doentes que n��o recuperaram contagens linfocit��rias t��o precocemente. Estes resultados demonstram o efeito positivo de uma reconstituti����o imunol��gica robusta ap��s transplante de presursores hematopoi��ticos, sobre a sobreviv��ncia de doentes com neoplasias hematol��gicas. Do mesmo modo, estud��mos o efeito que a recupera����o de n��veis s��ricos normais de imunoglobulina policlonal tem na sobreviv��ncia de doentes com outras neoplasias hematol��gicas de linf��citos B, como o mieloma m��ltiplo,ap��s transplante aut��logo de precursos hematopoi��ticos (Cap��tulo VII). A sobreviv��ncia livre de doen��a dos 110 doentes com mieloma m��ltiplo analizados est�� associada com a sua capacidade de recuperar n��veis s��ricos normais do compartmento policlonal de imunoglobulina. Estes resultados pioneiros indicam a import��ncia da imunoglobulina policlonal para a g��nese de compet��ncia imunol��gica. Tamb��m estud��mos o impacto de um sistema imunit��rio eficiente sobre a resposta ao tratamento com o anticorpo anti CD20, ituximab, em doentes com linfoma n��o Hodgkin (LNH) (Cap��tulo VIII). Os resultados mostram que doentes com valores mais elevados de linf��citos T CD4+ respondem melhor (em termos de maior sobrevida livre de doen��a) ao rituximab, do que doentes com valores mais baixos. Estas observa����es ilustram a necessidade de um sistema imunit��rio competente para o benef��cio cl��nico da terap��utica com rituximab em doentes com LNH. Em conclus��o, o trabalho apresentado nesta disserta����o demonstra que as c��lulas B e a imunoglobulina policlonal promovem a diversidade das c��lulas T no timo e melhoram a fun����o linfocit��ria T perif��rica. Concomitantemente, tamb��m demonstr��mos que, no contexto de reconstitui����o imune, por exemplo, ap��s transplante aut��logo de precursores hematopoi��ticos em doentes com linfomas de c��lulas do manto, o n��mero absoluto de linf��citos �� uma factor independente da sobreviv��ncia. Os resultados demonstram, tamb��m, a import��ncia dos valores de linfocitos T na resposta ao tratamento com rituximab no caso de doentes com LNH. O mesmo princ��pio se prova pelo facto de que doentes com mieloma m��ltiplo sujeitos a transplante aut��logo de precursores hematopoi��ticos que recuperam valores normais s��ricos de imunoglobulinas policlonais, terem melhores taxas de resposta em compara����o com doentes que n��o recuperam valores normais de imunoglobulinas policlonais. Estes resultados podem ter importantes aplica����es na pr��tica cl��nica dado que a maioria dos tratamentos de doen��as neopl��sicas implica imunossupress��o e, subsequente, recupera����o imunol��gica. Estes estudos podem ser um instrumento fundamental para uma melhor compreens��o do sistema imune e guiar uma escolha mais eficiente de op����es terap��uticas bem como contribuir para a concep����o de futuros estudos cl��nicos.

Perfil alimentario de Triatoma rubrovaria (Blanchard, 1843) (Hemiptera, Triatominae) en ��mbitos peridomiciliarios, de una localidad rural de Uruguay

En una localidad con poblaci��n rural dispersa ("La Bolsa", 3�� seccional, dpto. de Artigas, Uruguay) se estudi��, en ��mbitos peridomiciliarios, el perfil alimentario de T. rubrovaria (triatom��neo silvestre y potencial vector secundario de colonizaci��n intradomiciliaria), utiliz��ndose la t��cnica de doble difusi��n en agar, enfrentando contenido promesent��rico frente a un panel de 13 sueros. Se pudo detectar en 120 insectos 251 identificaciones de fuente hematof��gica con alimentaci��n predominante en mam��feros (73%), pero marcado eclectismo alimentario (mam��feros, aves, reptiles y cucarachas), incluyendo hematofagia sobre seres humanos en un 8% de las identificaciones totales. La micropredaci��n de hemolinfa lo ubicar��a en una situaci��n evolutiva primitiva, intermedia entre predator/entom��fago y triatomineo/hemat��fago, que comparte con T. circunmaculata. Los mam��feros detectados con mayor frecuencia fueron dasip��didos y b��vidos, aunque la fuente hematof��gica, salvo en los adultos alados, se constituye en un fen��meno de proximidad ocasional por cohabitaci��n de un mismo habitat. La frecuencia de alimentaci��n sobre hombre, hallada en un ambiente peridomiciliario, aporta un importante elemento a su capacidad vectorial potencial. En el an��lisis espacial de las dietas se muestra al peridomicilio como un ��rea de interacci��n de hospederos dom��sticos, silvestres y sinantr��picos. La infecci��n tripanos��mica fue m��nima comparada con las altas tasas de infecci��n de ��mbitos silvestres.

O Poder Tribut��rio das Autarquias

Disserta����o de Mestrado em Solicitadoria

PROTEC����O INDIVIDUAL �� PICADA DE MOSQUITOS: Avalia����o Laboratorial e no Campo do Efeito Repelente de Vestu��rio Tratado com Insecticidas ou Repelentes

RESUMO O controlo vectorial representa uma parte importante da estrat��gia global actual para a preven����o das principais doen��as transmitidas por insectos, como a mal��ria, a febre de dengue ou do West Nile. Uma das vertentes do controlo vectorial �� aquela que se associa �� protec����o individual dos hospedeiros contra a picada de insectos. �� no ��mbito desta problem��tica que surge o estudo aqui apresentado. Este teve como um dos objectivos testar em laborat��rio a efic��cia de tr��s compostos diferentes (permetrina, DEET e citronela) contra a picada de mosquitos Anopheles stephensi Liston, 1901, quando aplicados a tecidos de algod��o. Com base neste estudo laboratorial, seleccionaram-se os tecidos mais eficientes que foram testados no terreno, na ��rea da Comporta, em ensaios simuladores de uma situa����o real. Os resultados foram complementados com alguns ensaios preliminares efectuados em laborat��rio com a esp��cie Culex theileri Teobald, 1903. Nos primeiros ensaios laboratoriais, tecidos impregnados com permetrina mostraram induzir uma repel��ncia mais eficaz do que tecidos com DEET e citronela micro-encapsulados. O efeito de repel��ncia dos tecidos com permetrina manteve-se, mesmo quando estes foram sujeitos a v��rios ciclos de lavagem. No entanto, os ensaios de repel��ncia/protec����o efectuados no campo demonstraram que a efic��cia do tecido impregnado com permetrina �� afectada pelo n��mero de lavagens. Testes laboratoriais realizados com Cx. theileri, a esp��cie mais abundante da ��rea da Comporta, apontam para que a discrep��ncia observada entre os resultados das experi��ncias laboratoriais e de campo possa estar associada a um comportamento diferencial das esp��cies envolvidas nos dois tipos de ensaio. Em conclus��o, embora o uso de vestu��rio tratado com microc��psulas de repelentes seja um m��todo promissor na protec����o contra as picadas de insectos, este ter�� de beneficiar de algum investimento futuro para que possa vir a ser considerado uma estrat��gia v��lida no controlo vectorial a larga escala. H�� que melhorar o modo de incorpora����o e apresenta����o do composto activo nos tecidos de modo a obter-se um efeito repelente mais efectivo e prolongado e a procura de repelentes naturais, indutores de menor toxicidade e mais repel��ncia, deve ser continuada.

Candidin: comparison of two antigens for cutaneous delayed hypersensitivity testing

A candidin, which is a suspension of killed yeast cells, is commonly used for intradermal tests of delayed hypersensitivity, to evaluate the immunological cellular competence of the patient, when the test is applied along with other similar tests. When working with a cellular antigen, the histopathology of positive skin tests reveals a cellular infiltrate which not only presents a characteristic hypersensitivity reaction but also a neutrophilic abscess in the central part. This research presents the results of a comparison between the yeast cell suspension and the polysaccharide antigens, both obtained from the same strains of Candida albicans. The results obtained by skin tests in one hundred individuals were 61.0% with the polysaccharide antigen and 69.0% with the yeast cell suspension antigen. Concordant results concerning the two antigens were observed in 82.0% of the individuals. The discussion section presents an assumption to explain the differences of positivity obtained with the two antigens. We conclude that the polysaccharide antigen can be utilized in the intradermal test of delayed hypersensitivity to Candida albicans.

Sentido de coer��ncia em pessoas com diabetes de tipo 2 : autocuidado e controlo metab��lico��

RESUMO - A diabetes mellitus �� considerada um flagelo �� escala mundial, n��o apenas por atingir milh��es de pessoas, mas tamb��m porque se tem verificado um aumento da sua preval��ncia e, consequente-mente, das suas complica����es cr��nicas, que se traduzem no aumento dos gastos em sa��de e, sobretudo, em sofrimento das pessoas com diabetes, seus familiares e comunidade. A preven����o das complica����es cr��nicas da diabetes reside, sobretudo, na adop����o de comporta-mentos saud��veis que, no dia-a-dia, se traduzem em compet��ncia no autocuidado. Assim, ser�� importante conhecer em que medida o sentido de coer��ncia ��� caracter��stica pessoal entendida como influenciadora das estrat��gias utilizadas face aos acontecimentos originadores de stress, com repercuss��es na sa��de mental, bem como na sa��de f��sica ��� pode determinar a escolha de comportamentos de sa��de e, por tal, possa considerar-se como um aspecto sobre o qual os pro-fissionais de sa��de poder��o investir em prole do seu fortalecimento e, consequentemente, garantir a facilita����o do processo de adop����o de comportamentos saud��veis. De acordo com o estudo transversal explorat��rio retrospectivo proposto ambiciona-se conhecer a rela����o entre o n��vel de sentido de coer��ncia e o n��vel de autocuidado e de controlo metab��lico, das pessoas com diabetes de tipo 2. Para tal investiga����o reconhece-se a pertin��ncia da aplica-����o da escala de avalia����o do sentido de coer��ncia ��� Question��rio Orienta����o para Viver (Nunes, 1999), da escala de avalia����o do autocuidado com a diabetes ��� Escala de Avalia����o das Activida-des de Autocuidado com a Diabetes (Bastos, Severo e Lopes, 2007) e do Formul��rio de Controlo Metab��lico na Diabetes (European Society of Cardiology e European Association for the Study of Diabetes cit. por Direc����o-Geral da Sa��de, 2007), numa amostra constitu��da por 391 pessoas com diabetes de tipo 2, seleccionadas por amostragem aleat��ria estratificada proporcional, de entre os utentes inscritos nas 33 institui����es de Cuidados de Sa��de Prim��rios, do distrito de Viana do Castelo --------------------------- ABSTRACT - Diabetes mellitus is considered a global scourge, not only for reaching millions of people, but also because there has been an increase in its prevalence and, consequently, its chronic complications, which translate into increased spending on health and especially in the suffering of people with diabetes, their families and community. The prevention of chronic complications of diabetes includes adoption healthy behaviors that on the day to day, translate into competence in self-care. Therefore it is important to know how far the sense of coherence ��� understood as influential personal characteristic of the strategies used by the events originators of stress, affecting the mental health and physical health ��� may determine the choice of health behaviors and, as such, can be considered as an aspect about which health pro-fessionals will invest in strengthening their offspring and thus ensure the facilitation of the process of adopting healthy behaviors. According to the proposed retrospective exploratory cross-sectional study aims to discover the relationship between the level of sense of coherence and level of self-care and metabolic control on people with type 2 diabetes. For this research recognizes the appropriateness of applying the rating scale of sense of coherence ��� Question��rio Orienta����o para Viver (Nunes, 1999), the rating scale of self-care in diabetes ��� Escala de Avalia����o das Actividades de Autocuidado com a Di-abetes (Bastos, Severo and Lopes, 2007) and the Formul��rio de Controlo Metab��lico na Diabetes (European Society of Cardiology and European Association for the Study of Diabetes cit. por Di-rec����o-Geral da Sa��de, 2007), a sample of 391 people with type 2 diabetes, selected by propor-tional stratified random sampling from among registered users in 33 institutions of Primary Health Care, on district of Viana do Castelo.

Robustness of corroded reinforced concrete structures. A structural performance approach

Structure and Infrastructure Engineering, 1-17

Interrupting Chagas disease transmission in Venezuela

The interruption of vectorial transmission of Chagas disease in Venezuela is attributed to the combined effects of ongoing entomoepidemiological surveillance, ongoing house spraying with residual insecticides and the concurrent building and modification of rural houses in endemic areas during almost five decades. The original endemic areas which totaled 750,000 km��, have been reduced to 365,000 km��. During 1958-1968, initial entomological evaluations carried out showed that the house infestation index ranged between 60-80%, the house infection index at 8-11% and a house density index of 30-50 triatomine bugs per house. By 1990-98, these indexes were further reduced to 1.6-4.0%, 0.01-0.6% and 3-4 bugs per house respectively. The overall rural population seroprevalence has declined from 44.5% (95% C.I.: 43.4-45.3%) to 9.2% (95% C.I.: 9.0-9.4%) for successive grouped periods from 1958 to 1998. The annual blood donor prevalence is firmly established below 1%. The population at risk of infection has been estimated to be less than four million. Given that prevalence rates are stable and appropriate for public health programmes, consideration has been given to potential biases that may distort results such as: a) geographical differences in illness or longevity of patients; b) variations in levels of ascertainment; c) variations in diagnostic criteria; and d) variations in population structure, mainly due to appreciable population migration. The endemic areas with continuous transmission are now mainly confined to piedmonts, as well as patchy foci in higher mountainous ranges, where the exclusive vector is Rhodnius prolixus. There is also an unstable area, of which landscapes are made up of grasslands with scattered broad-leaved evergreen trees and costal plains, where transmission is very low and occasional outbreaks are reported.