Osteoarthritis of the hands, hips and knees in an Australian twin sample - Evidence of association with the aggrecan VNTR polymorphism

Age-related changes in the composition of the cartilage matrix may be associated with the development of osteoarthritis, a relatively late-onset disease characterised by the destruction of joint cartilage. In order to investigate whether differences in the VNTR polymorphic region of aggrecan affect cartilage functionality and therefore the development of osteoarthritis, we examined the aggrecan polymorphic genotypes of a sample of 134 Australian twins aged over 50 (including 34 monozygotic and 27 dizygotic twin pairs). Clinical measures of hand, hip and knee osteoarthritis, as well as self-reported bone and joint pain, were tested for association with the aggrecan polymorphism. The results were consistent with either a deleterious effect of allele 27, or a protective effect of alleles 25 and 28, providing some additional evidence for an association between the aggrecan VNTR polymorphism and osteoarthritis of the hands, hips and knees.

Linkage and Association Analysis of Radiation Damage Repair Genes XRCC3 and XRCC5 with Nevus Density in Adolescent Twins

Previous studies have shown that a deficiency in DNA damage repair is associated with increased cancer risk, and exposure to UV radiation is a major risk factor for the development of malignant melanoma. High density of common nevi (moles) is a major risk factor for cutaneous melanoma. A nevus may result from a mutation in a single UV-exposed melanocyte which failed to repair DNA damage in one or more critical genes. XRCC3 and XRCC5 may have an effect on nevus count through their function as components of DNA repair processes that may be involved directly or indirectly in the repair of DNA damage due to UV radiation. This study aims to test the hypothesis that the frequency of flat or raised moles is associated with polymorphism at or near these DNA repair genes, and that certain alleles are associated with less efficient DNA repair, and greater nevus density. Twins were recruited from schools in south eastern Queensland and were examined close to their 12th birthday. Nurses examined each individual and counted all moles on the entire body surface. A 10cM genome scan of 274 families (642 individuals) was performed and microsatellite polymorphisms in XRCC3 and adjacent to XRCC5 were also typed. Linkage and association of nevus count to these loci were tested simultaneously using a structural-equation modeling approach implemented in MX. There is weak evidence for linkage of XRCC5 to a QTL influencing raised mole count, and also weak association. There is also weak evidence for association between flat mole count and XRCC3. No tests were significant after correction for testing multiple alleles, nor were any of the tests for total association significant. If variation in XRCC3 or XRCC5 influences UV sensitivity, and indirectly affects nevus density, then the effects are small.

Association of severe coronary stenosis with subclinical left ventricular dysfunction in the absence of infarction

Background. Regional left ventricular (LV) dysfunction may occur in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) in the absence of infarction, but the causes of this phenomenon are unclear. We sought to identify whether changes in regional LV function were related to stenosis severity, using sensitive new ultrasound markers of function. Methods: We studied 67 individuals with no history of infarction and with normal LV systolic function: 49 patients with CAD and 18 control subjects without CAD. All patients underwent color Doppler tissue imaging, integrated backscatter (IB), anatomic M-mode echocardiography, and strain rate imaging to detect changes in structure and function. Peak early and late diastolic myocardial velocity, cyclic variation of IB, wall thickness, and percent wall thickening were measured in each basal and mid segment. Strain rate and peak systolic strain were calculated in each wall. CAD was defined as greater than or equal to 50% diameter stenosis. Normokinetic segments (n = 354) subtended by CAD were divided according to stenosis severity into 3 groups: group 1 (subtended by 50%-69% stenosis); group 2 (subtended by 70%-98% stenosis); and group 3 (subtended by greater than or equal to99% stenosis). Each parameter in each group was compared with that in 216 segments from control subjects. Results: Segments subtended by significant CAD showed lower peak early and late diastolic myocardial velocity compared with control segments. Group 3 showed significantly lower myocardial velocities than group 2 for both peak early (4.8 +/- 1.8 vs 6.0 +/- 2.0 cm/s, P

Does participation in a pain course based on the international association for the study of pain's curricula guidelines change student knowledge about pain?

The People in Pain course was set up as a joint initiative of the Departments of Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy within the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The University of Queensland. It was instigated in response to the publication of Pain Curricula for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) in 1994 (1). The first year it was offered, the "People in Pain" course comprised 14 h of lecture content. It was then expanded to encompass 28 h of lectures and seminar involvement. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of participation in a university pain course that meets the IASP pain curricula guidelines to increase health professional students' knowledge about pain. METHODS: Students who participated in the People in Pain course over the first three years were invited to complete the Revised Pain Knowledge and Attitudes Questionnaire (R-PKAQ) pre- and postcourse. Data obtained from 22 students in the short course formed a pilot project, and data from 22 students in the longer version of the course were used in the present study. RESULTS: Examination of the correlation matrix indicated substantial correlations between all R-PKAQ subscales except physiological basis of pain and pharmacological management of pain. In both the pilot project during the first year of the course and the expanded course in the following two years, significant improvement was found in the students' knowledge on five of the six subscales of the R-PKAQ: physiological basis of pain, psychological factors of pain perception, assessment and measurement of pain, cognitive-behavioural methods of pain relief, and pharmacological management of pain. Improvements in the developmental aspects of pain perception subscale failed to reach significance. CONCLUSIONS: An integrated pain course developed according to the pain curriculum guidelines developed by the IASP resulted in increased student knowledge regardless of the length of the program attended.

Avaliação da qualidade de vida em crianças e adolescentes com câncer

Trata-se de um estudo sobre avaliação da qualidade de vida de crianças e adolescentes com câncer que objetivou-se a produção de duas propostas de artigo. A primeira proposta de artigo teve como objetivo conhecer as médias dos escores geral ou por dimensões encontrados nos estudos realizados os quais utilizaram o Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 3.0 Cancer Module. Aplicou-se a estratégia de busca nas bases Scopus, Web of Science, Bireme, PsycoInfo e a EBSCO host. Encontrou-se 210 resumos e títulos, excluiu-se 189 por duplicidade e por não atender aos critérios de inclusão. Analisou-se e elegeu-se 21 para compor o estudo. Todos os artigos publicados na língua inglesa, em sua maioria na América (47,6%) e no período de 2011 a 2013 (61,9%), utilizaram-se do questionário para a coleta de dados tanto para criança e adolescentes quanto para seus pais na maioria dos artigos (61,9%). A variação dos escores por dimensões e geral provavelmente esteve relacionada com a seleção dos grupos de comparação pois, pode-se perceber a diversidade dos critérios de inclusão e das variáveis para a análise em cada estudo. Concluiu-se que as médias dos escores por dimensões e geral não alcançaram valores abaixo de 30 e os maiores escores por dimensões estão acima de 80. Sugere-se que a dimensão ansiedade frente ao tratamento, no relato das crianças, pode ter obtido os maiores escores dentro de cada estudo. A segunda proposta de artigo objetivou-se avaliar a qualidade de vida de crianças e adolescentes com câncer em tratamento ou em acompanhamento e verificar associações com as variáveis socioeconômicas e clínicas. Realizou-se um estudo transversal com 98 crianças e adolescentes com diagnóstico de câncer de uma unidade de referência em oncologia pediátrica no estado do Espírito Santo - Brasil. Aplicou-se o questionário PedsQLTM e coletou-se informações sociodemográficas e clínicas. A amostra caracterizou-se com predominância do sexo masculino, de faixa etária de 08 a 12 anos, de classe econômica C e com diagnóstico de leucemia. Houve associação entre a faixa etária nas médias escores de 5 das 8 dimensões da avaliação da qualidade de vida. Não houveram diferenças estatisticamente significante em nenhuma das dimensões nem no escore total da qualidade de vida com as variáveis sexo da criança e adolescente, tipo de tumor, classe econômica e a escolaridade da mãe. Concluiu-se que faixa etária, o status do tratamento e frequentar a escola são fatores que modificam a avaliação qualidade de vida no relato das crianças e adolescentes, aumentando ou diminuindo as dificuldades frente ao tratamento e a doença.

Growth and yield of corn hybrids in response to association with Azospirillum brasilense and nitrogen fertilization

There is a growing interest in optimizing the positive effects of the association between Azospirillum bacteria and corn crop in order to reduce the use of nitrogen fertilizers. This study aimed to evaluate the inoculation efficiency of an A. brasilense-based commercial product in association with different rates of nitrogen fertilization in two corn genotypes. The experiment was arranged in a 2 x 2 x 5 factorial randomized block design, with four replications. The treatments consisted of two corn hybrids (30F53 and CD386); with and without inoculation with a commercial product based on A. brasilense and five nitrogen rates (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg ha-1). The variables plant height, basal stem diameter, leaf area, shoot dry matter, leaf nitrogen content, length and diameter of the cob, weight of 100 grains and grain yield were evaluated. Inoculation with A. brasilense provided increases of 11 and 12% in leaf area and shoot dry matter, respectively. There were differences in the response of the corn hybrids for most variables and the increase in nitrogen supply provided increments in the growth and yield of corn.

Encontro nacional da ANPAD x meeting of aom: lições, questionamentos e especulações

Este trabalho compara dois congressos científicos na área de administração e "management", o vigésimo sexto Encontro da Associação Nacional de Programas de Pós-Graduação em Administração (ANPAD) e o Sexagésimo segundo "meeting" da Academy of Management (AOM), ambos realizados no ano de 2002. A partir desta comparação, procuram-se extrair possíveis aprendizados, observandose as tendências futuras que possam permitir avanços a este tipo de evento.

Genotoxicity biomarkers in occupational to formaldehyde in pathology anatomy laboratories

Formaldehyde (FA) the most simple and reactive of all aldehydes, is a colorless, reactive and readily polymerizing gas at normal temperature. It has a pungent, suffocating odour that is recognized by most human subjects at concentrations below 1ppm. According to the Report on Carcinogens, FA ranks 25th in the overall U.S. chemical production with more than 11 billion pounds (5 million tons) produced each year. Is an important industrial compound that is used in the manufacture of synthetic resins and chemical compounds such as lubricants and adhesives. It has also applications as a disinfectant, preservative and is used in cosmetics. Estimates of the number of persons who are occupationally exposed to FA indicate that, at least at low levels, may occur in a wide variety of industries. The occupational settings with most extensive use of formaldehyde is in the production of resins and in anatomy and pathology laboratories. Several studies reported a carcinogenic effect in humans after inhalation of FA, in particular an increased risk for nasopharyngeal cancer. Nowadays, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies FA as carcinogenic to humans (group 1), on the basis of sufficient evidence in humans and sufficient evidence in experimental animals. Manifold in vitro studies clearly indicated that FA is genotoxic. FA induced various genotoxic effects in proliferatin cultured mammalian cells. A variety of evidence suggests that the primary DNA alterations after FA exposure are DNA-protein crosslinks. Incomplete repair of DPX can lead to the formation of mutations.

A case-control study on the association of hepatitis B virus infection and hepatocellular carcinoma in Northeast Brazil

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) serological markers were investigated in 40 incident cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and in two age and sex matched control groups, comprising 40 patients with other cancers and 80 healthy individuals, resident in Bahia, Brazil. Serologic tests were done by radioimmunoassay. The study observed high proportion of seropositivity to HBsAg (42.5%) and of those presenting HBsAg or antiHBc (65.0%) among HCC cases, higher in men than women and in those aged 17 to 30 years old. HBsAg seropositivity among HCC patients was greater than in the control group with other cancers (7.5%) and in healthy controls (2.5%), corresponding to odds ratio estimates of 15.0 (95% CI 3.29, 68.30) and 33.0 (95% CI 9.13, 119.28), both statistically significant. HBeAg was not observed and antiHBe was present in 41.2% of cases, suggesting the absence of viral replication, possibly with viral DNA intergration into the hepatocyte genome. The presence of cirrhosis was associated with HBsAg seropositivity among HCC cases. A history of chronic alcoholism is shown to be more frequently related to those cases with cirrhosis. This study highlights the relevant association between HCC and HBV in Northeast Brazil, particularly for young individuals, and the high risk of development of HCC for HBsAg carriers.

Lifestyle factors influence in the frequency in buccal micronucleus

Genomic damage is probably the most important fundamental cause of development and degenerative disease. It is also well established that genomic damage is produced by environmental exposure to genotoxins, medical procedures (e.g. radiation and chemicals), micronutrient deficiency (e.g. folate), lifestyle factors (e.g. alcohol, smoking, drugs and stress), and genetic factors such as inherited defects in DNA metabolism and/or repair. Tobacco smoke has been associated to a higher risk of development of cancer, especially in the oral cavity, larynx and lungs, as these are places of direct contact with many carcinogenic tobacco’s compounds. Alcohol is definitely a recognized agent that influence cells in a genotoxic form, been citied as a strong agent with potential in the development of carcinogenic lesions. Epidemiological evidence points to a strong synergistic effect between cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption in the induction of cancers in the oral cavity. Approximately 90% of human cancers originate from epithelial cells. Therefore, it could be argued that oral epithelial cells represent a preferred target site for early genotoxic events induced by carcinogenic agents entering the body via inhalation and ingestion. The MN assay in buccal cells was also used to study cancerous and precancerous lesions and to monitor the effects of a number of chemopreventive agents.