Zero-phonon emission and magnetic polaron parameters in EuTe

A phonon structure in the photoluminescence of EuTe was discovered, with a well-defined zero-phonon emission line (ZPL). The ZPL redshifts linearly with the intensity of applied magnetic field, indicating spin relaxation of the photoexcited electron, and saturates at a lower magnetic field than the optical absorption bandgap, which is attributed to formation of magnetic polarons. From the difference in these saturation fields, the zero-field polaron binding energy and radius are estimated to be 43 meV and 3.2 (in units of the EuTe lattice parameter), respectively. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3634030]

Estimation of the thickness and the optical parameters of several stacked thin films using optimization

The reverse engineering problem addressed in the present research consists of estimating the thicknesses and the optical constants of two thin films deposited on a transparent substrate using only transmittance data through the whole stack. No functional dispersion relation assumptions are made on the complex refractive index. Instead, minimal physical constraints are employed, as in previous works of some of the authors where only one film was considered in the retrieval algorithm. To our knowledge this is the first report on the retrieval of the optical constants and the thickness of multiple film structures using only transmittance data that does not make use of dispersion relations. The same methodology may be used if the available data correspond to normal reflectance. The software used in this work is freely available through the PUMA Project web page (http://www.ime.usp.br/similar to egbirgin/puma/). (C) 2008 Optical Society of America

Source populations in coastal crabs: parameters affecting egg production

Benthic marine invertebrates may form metapopulations connected via propagule dispersal. Conservation efforts often target potential source coastlines to indirectly benefit areas depending on allochthonous offspring production. Besides population density, adult size structure, sex ratio, brooding frequency and the proportion of breeding individuals may significantly influence the reproductive output of benthic populations, but these effects have seldom been tested. We used rocky shore crabs to assess the spatial variability of such parameters at relevant scales for conservation purposes and to test their consistency over 2 consecutive years; we then used the data to address whether bottom-up processes or biological interactions might explain the patterns observed. We decomposed egg production rates into their components for the 2 most abundant brachyuran species inhabiting the intertidal rocky habitat. Adult density and brooding frequency varied consistently among shores for both species and largely explained the overall spatial trends of egg production. Temporally consistent patterns also included among-shore differences in the size of ovigerous females of the grapsid Pachygrapsus transversus and between-bay differences in the fecundity of the spider crab Epialtus brasiliensis. Sex ratio was remarkably constant in both. We found no positive or negative correlations between adult density and brooding frequency to support either the existence of a component Allee effect (lack of mate encounters) or an effect of intra-specific competition. Likewise, shore-specific potential growth in P. transversus does not negatively correlate with frequency of ovigerous individuals, as would be expected under a critical balance between these 2 processes. The patterns observed suggest that bottom-up drivers may best explain spatial trends in the reproductive output of these species.

Cardiovascular response during trigeminal ganglion compression for trigeminal neuralgia according to the use of local anesthetics

There are controversies about the use of local anesthetics during balloon compression for trigeminal neuralgia (TN) as a protective factor for cardiovascular events. The objective of this study was to investigate cardiovascular parameters (blood pressure and heart rate [HR]) of patients that underwent trigeminal balloon compression with local anesthetics compared to a control group (placebo). This is a randomized controlled study; 55 patients were randomized into two groups: study (deep sedation and trigeminal block with 0.8-mL lidocaine 2%) and control group (deep sedation and trigeminal injection of 0.8-mL saline). Blood pressure and HR were measured in five distinct moments: preoperative, during puncture for local anesthesia/placebo, during puncture with the catheter, during balloon compression, and final evaluation. Statistical analysis was performed with Pearson`s chi (2) and McNemar tests and the analysis of variance for repetitive measures. The means of systolic and diastolic blood pressures (SBP and DBP, respectively) were higher in the control group when compared to the study group at the evaluation during puncture with the catheter (p < 0.001) and balloon compression (p < 0.001 and p = 0.018 for DBP and SBP, respectively). There was an increase in the HR in the control group during the procedure (p = 0.017). The use of local anesthetics during the trigeminal balloon compression for TN can have a preventive role for the risk of cardiovascular events.

Influence of anabolic steroid treatment associated to physical exercise in the ultrasonic vocalization of rats

Unlike humans, who communicate in frequency bands between 250 Hz and 6 kHz, rats can communicate in frequencies above 18 kHz. Their vocalization types depend on the context and are normally associated to subjective or emotional states. It was reported significant vocal changes due to administration of replacement testosterone in a trained tenor singer with hypogonadism. Speech-Language Pathology clinical practices are being sought by singers who sporadically use anabolic steroids associated with physical exercise. They report difficulties in reaching and keeping high notes, ""breakage"" in the passage of musical notes and post singing vocal fatigue. Those abnormalities could be raised by the association of anabolic steroids and physical exercise. Thus, in order to verify if this association could promote vocal changes, maximum, minimum and fundamental frequencies and call duration in rats treated with anabolic steroids and physically trained (10 weeks duration) were evaluated. The vocalizations were obtained by handling the animals. At the end of that period, rats treated and trained showed significant decrease in call duration, but not in other parameters. The decrease in call duration could be associated to functional alterations in the vocal folds of treated and trained animals due to a synergism between anabolic steroids and physical training. (C) 2010 Acoustical Society of America. [DOI: 10.1121/1.3488350]

Influences of sex and age on biological rhythms of serum lipids and lipoproteins

Background: Few studies have evaluated seasonal variations of biochemical parameters routinely analyzed in clinical laboratories. Rhythmic patterns for lipids and lipoproteins have been demonstrated and have been the object of research, mainly because of their demonstrated association with coronary artery disease. This study evaluated the occurrence of biological rhythms on serum lipids and lipoproteins and the effects of sex and age on the rhythms in a Brazilian hospital outpatient population. Methods: Retrospective laboratory study was carried out to evaluate the results of total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (TG), from individuals registered at a university referral hospital over 8years. The studied population was composed of individuals of both sexes and all ages totaling 38,579 participants and 301,934 measurements. Statistical analyses were carried out using the SAS program and the temporal analysis used the Cosinor method. Results: TG rhythm was present only in females. All other parameters were equally rhythmic in both sexes. Regarding age, HDL-C presented rhythms in all age groups, but TC and LDL-C showed seasonality only for those > 13years, TG did not present rhythms in all age groups. Conclusion: Effects of sex and age on biological rhythms detected in TC, LDL-C and HDL-C should be considered a significant cause of pre-analytical variation in these laboratory tests. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

LEUCINE ATTENUATES SKELETAL MUSCLE WASTING VIA INHIBITION OF UBIQUITIN LIGASES

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of leucine supplementation on elements of the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) in rat skeletal muscle during immobilization. This effect was evaluated by submitting the animals to a leucine supplementation protocol during hindlimb immobilization, after which different parameters were determined, including: muscle mass; cross-sectional area (CSA); gene expression of E3 ligases/deubiquitinating enzymes; content of ubiquitinated proteins; and rate of protein synthesis. Our results show that leucine supplementation attenuates soleus muscle mass loss driven by immobilization. In addition, the marked decrease in the CSA in soleus muscle type I fibers, but not type II fibers, induced by immobilization was minimized by leucine feeding. Interestingly, leucine supplementation severely minimized the early transient increase in E3 ligase [muscle ring finger 1 (MuRF1) and muscle atrophy F-box (MAFbx)/atrogin-1] gene expression observed during immobilization. The reduced peak of E3 ligase gene expression was paralleled by a decreased content of ubiquitinated proteins during leucine feeding. The protein synthesis rate decreased by immobilization and was not affected by leucine supplementation. Our results strongly suggest that leucine supplementation attenuates muscle wasting induced by immobilization via minimizing gene expression of E3 ligases, which consequently could downregulate UPS-driven protein degradation. It is notable that leucine supplementation does not restore decreased protein synthesis driven by immobilization. Muscle Nerve 41: 800-808, 2010

Improving Critical Thinking and Clinical Reasoning With a Continuing Education Course

Background: Continuing education courses related to critical thinking and clinical reasoning are needed to improve the accuracy of diagnosis. Method: This study evaluated a 4-day, 16-hour continuing education course conducted in Brazil. Thirty-nine nurses completed a pretest and a posttest consisting of two written case studies designed to measure the accuracy of nurses` diagnoses. Results: There were significant differences in accuracy from pretest to posttest for case 1 (p = .008) and case 2 (p = .042) and overall (p = .001). Conclusion: Continuing education courses should be implemented to improve the accuracy of nurses` diagnoses. J Contin Educ Nurs 2009;40(3):121-127.

Use of Hyaluronidase to Prevent Perineal Trauma During Spontaneous Births: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-blind, Clinical Trial

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to compare the frequency and severity of perineal trauma during spontaneous birth with or without perineal injections of hyaluronidase (HAase). Methods: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial was conducted in a midwife-led, in-hospital birth center in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Primiparous women (N = 160) were randomly assigned to an experimental (n = 80) or control (n = 80) group. During the second stage of labor, women in the experimental group received an injection of 20.000 turbidity-reducing units of HAase in the posterior region of the perineum, and those in the control group received a placebo injection. The assessment of perineal outcome was performed by 2 independent nurse-midwives. A 1-tailed Fisher exact test was performed, and a P value < .025 was considered statistically significant. Results: Perineal integrity occurred in 34.2% of the experimental group and in 32.5% of the control group, which was not a statistically significant difference (P = .477). First-degree laceration was the most common trauma in the posterior region of the perineum in women in both groups (experimental = 56%, control = 42.6%). Severe perineal trauma occurred in 28.9% of the experimental group and 38.8% of the control group, which also was not a statistically significant difference (P =. 131). The depth of second-degree perineal lacerations in the experimental and control groups, measured by the Peri-Rule, was 1.9 cm and 2.3 cm, respectively. An episiotomy was performed in 11 women (experimental group = 3, control group = 8), and 4 (all in control group) had third-degree lacerations. Discussion: The use of injectable HAase did not increase the proportion of intact perineum and did not reduce the proportion of severe perineal trauma in our sample. J Midwifery Womens Health 2011; 56: 436-445 (C) 2011 by the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

Clinical relationships and ethical problems in primary care, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil

Objectives: Main Objective: to identify ethical problems in primary care according to nurses` and doctors` perceptions. Secondary Objective: to know ethical issues of patient-professional relationships in primary care. Design: Synthesis to integrate and reinterpret primary results of qualitative studies. Setting: Primary healthcare centers, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil. Participants and/or context: Incidental sample of 34 nurses and 36 medical doctors working in primary healthcare centers selected by convenience. Methods: Individual, semi-structured interviews to identity situations considered as sources of ethical problems. The sample is socially representative of primary care health centers and professionals. Data collection assured discourse saturation. Hermeneutic-dialectical discourse analysis was used to study the results. Results: Patient-professional relationships and team work were the main sources of ethical problems. The most important problems were patient information, privacy, confidentiality, interpersonal relationship, linkage and patient autonomy. These issues reflect the recent changes in clinical relation ships and show the peculiarities of primary care with its continuous care which lasts a long time. Healthcare involves multiprofessional team work in the midst of the patient claims for autonomy. Good care of patients needs requires a relationship based on communication and cooperation, and includes feelings and values, with communication skills. Conclusions: Ethical problems in primary care are common situations. For quality and humane primary care the relationship should consist of dialogue, trust and cooperation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.

Peak torque and rate of torque development in elderly with and without fall history

Background Falls are one of the greatest concerns among the elderly A number of studies have described peak torque as one of the best fall-related predictor. No studies have comprehensively focused on the rate of torque development of the lower limb muscles among elderly fallers. Then, the aim of this study was to determine the relationship between muscle peak torque and rate of torque development of the lower limb joints in elderly with and without fall history It was also aimed to determine whether these parameters of muscle performance (i e, peak torque and rate of torque development) are related to the number of falls. Methods: Thirty-one women volunteered to participate in the study and were assigned in one of the groups according to the number of falls over the 12 months that preceded the present Then, participants with no fall history (Cl; n = 13; 67.6[7.5] years-old), one fall (GII; n = 8, 66 0[4 91 years-old) and two or more falls (GIII, n = 10; 67.8[8.8] years-old) performed a number of lower limb maximal isometric voluntary contractions from which peak torque and rate of torque development were quantified Findings. Primary outcomes indicated no peak torque differences between experimental groups in any lower limb joint. The rate of torque development of the knee flexor muscles observed in the non-fallers (Cl) was greater than that observed in the fallers (P < 0.05) and had a significant relationship with the number of falls (P < 0 05) Interpretation. The greater knee flexor muscles` rate of torque development found in the non-fallers in comparison to the fallers indicated that the ability of the elderly to rapidly reorganise the arrangement of the lower limb may play a significant role in allowing the elderly to recover balance after a trip. Thus, training stimulus aimed to improve the rate of torque development may be more beneficial to prevent falls among the elderly than other training stimulus, which are not specifically designed to improve the ability to rapidly produce large amounts of torque (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd

Strength training improves fall-related gait kinematics in the elderly: a randomized controlled trial

Background: Falls are one of the greatest concerns among the elderly. Among a number of strategies proposed to reduce the risk of falls, improving muscle strength has been applied as a successful preventive strategy. Although it has been suggested as a relevant strategy, no studies have analyzed how muscle strength improvements affect the gait pattern. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a lower limb strength training program on gait kinematics parameters associated with the risk of falls in elderly women. Methods: Twenty seven elderly women were assigned in a balance and randomized order into an experimental (n = 14: age = 61.1 (4.3) years, BMI = 26.4 (2.8) kg m(-2)) and a control (n = 13; age = 61.6 (6.6) years; BMI = 25.9 (3.0) kg m(-2)) group. The EG performed lower limb strength training during 12 weeks (3 days per week), being training load increased weekly. Findings: Primary outcomes were gait kinematics parameters and maximum voluntary isometric contractions at pre- and post-training period. Secondary outcomes were training load improvement weekly and one repetition maximum every two weeks. The I maximal repetition increment ranged from 32% to 97% and was the best predictor of changes in gait parameters (spatial, temporal and angular variables) after training for the experimental group. Z-score analysis revealed that the strength training was effective in reversing age-related changes in gait speed, stride length, cadence and toe clearance, approaching the elderly to reference values for healthy young women. Interpretation: Lower limb strength training improves fall-related gait kinematic parameters. Thus, strength training programs should be recommended to the elderly women in order to change their gait pattern towards young adults. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Transient effects of stretching exercises on gait parameters of elderly women

This study aimed to analyse the effects of a single stretching exercise session on a number of gait parameters ill elderly participants in all attempt to determine whether these exercises can influence the risk of fall. Fifteen healthy women living in the community Volunteered to participate in the study. A kinematic gait analysis was performed immediately before and after a session of static stretching exercises applied oil hip flexor/extensor muscles. Results showed a significant influence of stretching exercises on a number of gait parameters, which have previously been proposed as fall predictors. Participants showed increased gait velocity, greater step length and reduced double Support time during stance after performing stretching exercises, suggesting improved stability and mobility. Changes around the pelvis (increased anterior-posterior tilt and rotation range of motion) resulting from the stretching exercises were suggested to influence the gait parameters (velocity, step length and double support time). Therefore, stretching exercises were shown to be a promising strategy to facilitate changes in gait parameters related to the risk of fall. Some other gait variables related to the risk of fall remained Unaltered (e.g., toe clearance). The stable pattern of segmental angular velocities was proposed to explain the stability of these unchanged gait variables. The results indicate that stretching exercises, performed oil a regular (daily) basis, result in gait adaptations which can be considered as indicative of reduced fall risk. Other Studies to determine whether regular stretching routines are an effective strategy to reduce the risk of fall are required. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The impact of a 17-day training period for an international championship on mucosal immune parameters in top-level basketball players and staff members

This investigation examined the impact of a 17-d training period (that included basketball-specific training, sprints, intermittent running exercises, and weight training, prior to an international championship competition) on salivary immunoglobulin A (SIgA) levels in 10 subjects (athletes and staff members) from a national basketball team, as a biomarker for mucosal immune defence. Unstimulated saliva samples were collected at rest at the beginning of the preparation for the Pan American Games and 1 d before the first game. The recovery interval from the last bout of exercise was 4 h. The SIgA level was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and expressed as absolute concentrations, secretion rate, and SIgA level relative to total protein. The decrease in SIgA levels following training was greater in athletes than in support staff; however, no significant differences between the two groups were detected. A decrease in SIgA level, regardless of the method used to express IgA results, was verified for athletes. Only one episode of upper respiratory tract illness symptoms was reported, and it was not associated with changes in SIgA levels. In summary, a situation of combined stress for an important championship was found to decrease the level of SIgA-mediated immune protection at the mucosal surface in team members, with greater changes observed in the athletes.

Ringo: Discordance between the molecular and clinical manifestation in a Golden Retriever Muscular Dystrophy dog

Of the various genetic homologues to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), the Golden Retriever Muscular Dystrophy (GRMD) dog, which presents a variable but usually severe and progressive muscle weakness, has the closest relevance to DMD in both clinical severity and histopathological change. Among 77 GRMD dogs born in our colony in Brazil, we have identified a very mildly affected dog, Ringo, born July 2003. Among his descendants, at least one male, Suflair, is also showing a mild course. In an attempt to better characterize these two dogs, we studied the pattern of muscle proteins expression in Ringo and Suflair, as compared to severely affected and normal control dogs. Dystrophin was absent in both and utrophin was overexpressed in a pattern similar to the observed in severely affected dogs. Understanding the mechanism that is protecting Ringo and Suflair from the deleterious effect of the dystrophin gene mutation is of utmost interest, In addition it points out that the clinical impact of therapeutic trials should be interpreted with caution. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.