Religious communities and HIV prevention: An intervention study using a human rights-based approach

Religious communities have been a challenge to HIV prevention globally. Focusing on the acceptability component of the right to health, this intervention study examined how local Catholic, Evangelical and Afro-Brazilian religious communities can collaborate to foster young people`s sexual health and ensure their access to comprehensive HIV prevention in their communities in Brazil. This article describes the process of a three-stage sexual health promotion and HIV prevention initiative that used a multicultural human rights approach to intervention. Methods included 27 in-depth interviews with religious authorities on sexuality, AIDS prevention and human rights training of 18 young people as research-agents, who surveyed 177 youth on the same issues using self-administered questionnaires. The results, analysed using a rights-based perspective on health and the vulnerability framework, were discussed in daylong interfaith workshops. Emblematic of the collaborative process, workshops are the focus of the analysis. Our findings suggest that this human rights framework is effective in increasing inter-religious tolerance and in providing a collective understanding of the sexuality and prevention needs of youth from different religious communities, and also serves as a platform for the expansion of state AIDS programmes based on laical principles.

Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 Use for Maxillary Reconstruction in Cleft Lip and Palate Patients

Background: The conventional methods of maxillary alveolar reconstruction in patient with cleft are the periosteoplasty and autologous bone grafting. As an important alternative of bone substitution, there is the recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2). This study compares the rhBMP-2 with periosteoplasty and autologous bone grafting. Methods: Patients with cleft and alveolar defect were divided into 3 groups of 6 patients who underwent to autologous iliac crest bone grafting, resorbable collagen sponge with rhBMP2, and periosteoplasty, respectively. The analysis was performed through computed tomographic scan preoperatively and at months 3, 6, and 12 postoperatively. The variables analyzed were the alveolar defect volume, formed bone volume, bone formation rate, maxillary height repair rate, and the formed bone density mean. Results: The formed bone volume was similar comparing the bone graft and BMP groups at 1-year postoperative analysis (P = 0.58). Both of them had the formed bone volume significantly larger than the periosteoplasty group at 3 and 6 months postoperatively. In this last group, the 1-year follow-up was canceled because the bone formation was insufficient. The bone formation rate, the maxillary height repair rate, and the mean of density of the formed bone were similar in the bone graft and BMP groups at 1-year follow-up with P values of 0.93, 0.90, and 0.81, respectively. Conclusions: The amount of formed bone in the periosteoplasty group was insufficient. There was no difference among the bone graft and rhBMP-2 therapy considering the parameters analyzed.

Household income, sex and respiratory mortality in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1996-2010

SETTING: Respiratory mortality rates are declining in several countries, including Brazil; however, the effect of socio-economic indicators and sex is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To identify differences in mortality trends according to income and sex in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. DESIGN: We performed a time-trend analysis of all respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer and tuberculosis, using Joinpoint regression comparing high, middle and low household income levels from 1996 to 2010. RESULTS: The annual per cent change (APC) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for death rates from all respiratory disease in men in high-income areas was -1.1 (95%CI -2.7 to 0.5) in 1996-2002 and -4.3 (95%CI -5.9 to -2.8) in 2003-2009. In middle- and low-income areas, the decline was respectively -1.5 (95%CI -2.2 to -0.7) and -1.4 (95%CI -1.9 to -0.8). For women, the APC declined in high-income (-1.0, 95%CI -1.9 to -0.2) and low-income areas (0.8, 95%CI -1.3 to -0.2), but not in middle-income areas (-0.5, 95%CI -1.4 to 0.3) from 1996 to 2010. CONCLUSION: Death rates due to COPD and all respiratory disease declined more consistently in men from high-income areas. Mortality due to lung cancer decreased in men, but increased in women in middle- and low-income areas.

Diet and the risk of head and neck cancer: a pooled analysis in the INHANCE consortium

We investigated the association between diet and head and neck cancer (HNC) risk using data from the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology (INHANCE) consortium. The INHANCE pooled data included 22 case-control studies with 14,520 cases and 22,737 controls. Center-specific quartiles among the controls were used for food groups, and frequencies per week were used for single food items. A dietary pattern score combining high fruit and vegetable intake and low red meat intake was created. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the dietary items on the risk of HNC were estimated with a two-stage random-effects logistic regression model. An inverse association was observed for higher-frequency intake of fruit (4th vs. 1st quartile OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.43-0.62, p (trend) < 0.01) and vegetables (OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.49-0.90, p (trend) = 0.01). Intake of red meat (OR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.13-1.74, p (trend) = 0.13) and processed meat (OR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.14-1.65, p (trend) < 0.01) was positively associated with HNC risk. Higher dietary pattern scores, reflecting high fruit/vegetable and low red meat intake, were associated with reduced HNC risk (per score increment OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.84-0.97).

Parametric resonances in a base-excited double pendulum

Two parametrically-induced phenomena are addressed in the context of a double pendulum subject to a vertical base excitation. First, the parametric resonances that cause the stable downward vertical equilibrium to bifurcate into large-amplitude periodic solutions are investigated extensively. Then the stabilization of the unstable upward equilibrium states through the parametric action of the high-frequency base motion is documented in the experiments and in the simulations. It is shown that there is a region in the plane of the excitation frequency and amplitude where all four unstable equilibrium states can be stabilized simultaneously in the double pendulum. The parametric resonances of the two modes of the base-excited double pendulum are studied both theoretically and experimentally. The transition curves (i.e., boundaries of the dynamic instability regions) are constructed asymptotically via the method of multiple scales including higher-order effects. The bifurcations characterizing the transitions from the trivial equilibrium to the periodic solutions are computed by either continuation methods and or by time integration and compared with the theoretical and experimental results.

Structural Insights into Human Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor Delta (PPAR-Delta) Selective Ligand Binding

Peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs delta, alpha and gamma) are closely related transcription factors that exert distinct effects on fatty acid and glucose metabolism, cardiac disease, inflammatory response and other processes. Several groups developed PPAR subtype specific modulators to trigger desirable effects of particular PPARs without harmful side effects associated with activation of other subtypes. Presently, however, many compounds that bind to one of the PPARs cross-react with others and rational strategies to obtain highly selective PPAR modulators are far from clear. GW0742 is a synthetic ligand that binds PPAR delta more than 300-fold more tightly than PPAR alpha or PPAR gamma but the structural basis of PPAR delta: GW0742 interactions and reasons for strong selectivity are not clear. Here we report the crystal structure of the PPAR delta:GW0742 complex. Comparisons of the PPAR delta:GW0742 complex with published structures of PPARs in complex with alpha and gamma selective agonists and pan agonists suggests that two residues (Val312 and Ile328) in the buried hormone binding pocket play special roles in PPAR delta selective binding and experimental and computational analysis of effects of mutations in these residues confirms this and suggests that bulky substituents that line the PPAR alpha and gamma ligand binding pockets as structural barriers for GW0742 binding. This analysis suggests general strategies for selective PPAR delta ligand design.

Profitable instructions (1963) : edición de texto y análisis de la expresión del punto de vista

[ES] Esta tesis presenta la edición crítica del libro Profitable instructions; describing what speciall obseruations are to be taken by trauellers in all nations, states and countries; pleasant and profitable. By the three much admired, Robert, late Earle of Essex. Sir Philip Sidney. And, Secretary Davison (1633). Dicho manual contiene tres partes diferenciadas como (a) el material prefatorio formado por una carta dirigida al lector, (b) el manual de instrucciones para el viajero, y (c) dos cartas dirigidas a viajeros noveles. Este libro ha sido objeto de estudio de algunos investigadores desde una perspectiva cultural y literaria, especialmente, la carta redactada por Sidney. Sin embargo, no parece haber sido editado anteriormente en su totalidad ni tampoco el texto ha sido objeto de análisis lingüístico y/o textual. Existe, no obstante, alguna edición de la carta de Robert Devereux al Conde de Rutland como la realizada por Spedding et al. (1862).

TNFRSF13B Genetic variability an anthropological - evolutionary approach to Biomedical Research

In the recent years TNFRSF13B coding variants have been implicated by clinical genetics studies in Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID), the most common clinically relevant primary immunodeficiency in individuals of European ancestry, but their functional effects in relation to the development of the disease have not been entirely established. To examine the potential contribution of such variants to CVID, the more comprehensive perspective of an evolutionary approach was applied in this study, underling the belief that evolutionary genetics methods can play a role in dissecting the origin, causes and diffusion of human diseases, representing a powerful tool also in human health research. For this purpose, TNFRSF13B coding region was sequenced in 451 healthy individuals belonging to 26 worldwide populations, in addition to 96 control, 77 CVID and 38 Selective IgA Deficiency (IgAD) individuals from Italy, leading to the first achievement of a global picture of TNFRSF13B nucleotide diversity and haplotype structure and making suggestion of its evolutionary history possible. A slow rate of evolution, within our species and when compared to the chimpanzee, low levels of genetic diversity geographical structure and the absence of recent population specific selective pressures were observed for the examined genomic region, suggesting that geographical distribution of its variability is more plausibly related to its involvement also in innate immunity rather than in adaptive immunity only. This, together with the extremely subtle disease/healthy samples differences observed, suggests that CVID might be more likely related to still unknown environmental and genetic factors, rather than to the nature of TNFRSF13B variants only.

Acque e navigazione : un nuovo museo per le acque e la navigazione di Ravenna

ACQUE E NAVIGAZIONE UN NUOVO MUSEO DELLE ACQUE E DELLA NAVIGAZIONE A RAVENNA L’immagine dell’acqua a Ravenna fa riscoprire una storia della città fatta di corsi e specchi d’acqua. Questi, a causa del tempo e dell’opera dell’uomo scomparvero o mutarono profondamente la loro conformazione. L’importanza quindi dello studio di come questa città abbia convissuto negli anni con l’acqua e come l’uomo si sia adattato a queste condizioni è notevole. Ora Ravenna è una citta di “terra”, collegata al mare solo tramite il canale Candiano, le attività e la vita dell’uomo si sono staccate dall’acqua e nel tempo il mare è diventato solo una “vicinanza” perdendo tutto quel fascino e quell’importanza che possedeva nei secoli precedenti. Tra i tanti aspetti del legame passato tra l’uomo e l’acqua, l’imbarcazione risulta il mezzo più tipico e caratterizzante. Grazie a tanti studi fino ad ora compiuti è possibile ricostruire una catalogazione delle imbarcazioni che hanno fatto parte della storia acquatica di Ravenna e che quindi hanno composto la sua storia. L’imbarcazione costituisce una memoria storica e tecnica, essa riflette i cambiamenti storici e tecnico-evolutivi della civiltà delle acque. L’evoluzione delle barche è delle navi è progredita di pari passo con i cambiamenti delle esigenze dell’uomo, fin dall’antichità. Una rappresentazione tra imbarcazione, storia dell'uomo e geomorfologia della acque a Ravenna fa sì che l’argomento ricopra ambiti generali sull’intera civiltà che ha popolato il ravennate. Il museo delle acque a Ravenna vuole essere perciò un percorso nel passato della città, alla scoperta dell’antico legame con l’acqua, legame che forse ormai è stato dimenticato e di cui a volte si ignora l’esistenza. Questo non comporta il forzare un legame ormai abbandonato, ma un rivivere i momenti che hanno caratterizzato la crescita della città fino allo stato attuale. Questo museo mira a integrare il cospicuo patrimonio storico museale di Ravenna andando a colmare una mancanza da me ritenuta importante, appunto una memoria storica delle vita acquatica della città e dei propri abitanti nel tempo. Il tema museale studiato e analizzato verterà su un percorso nella storia della navigazione e del legame che Ravenna ebbe con l’acqua fin dalle sue origini. Questo importante tema prevederà l’esposizione di importanti relitti navali e ritrovamenti storici per i quali sarà obbligatoria l’organizzazione di appositi spazi espositivi per un’ottima conservazione. L’edificio appare come un rigido corpo all’esterno, rivestito in pietra basaltica grigia con tonalità diverse, mentre dal lato del canale risulta notevolmente più aperto, con un lungo porticato in affaccio diretto sull’acqua che segue tutta la forma del l’edificio stesso e che si interrompe solo in prossimità della grande hall d’ingresso in vetro e acciaio. Queste caratteristiche permettono di creare due facce completamente diverse, una molto chiusa e una invece molto aperta, per enfatizzare il senso di scoperta del “mondo acqua” al momento dell’ingresso nell’edificio. Due realtà molto diverse tra loro. Il lato, che affaccia sulla nuova piazza creata all’interno dell’area, rivestito in pietra basaltica grigia, rende una sensazione di chiusura fisica, creata appositamente per stimolare la scoperta dell’acqua sul lato opposto. La facciata è rotta in maniera irregolare da feritoie, quasi come una enorme roccia sull’acqua, sul riferimento del MuMok, il Museo di Arte Moderna Fondazione Ludwig di Ortner & Ortner aVienna.

La caratterizzazione endofenotipica del rimuginio

Rumination, defined as the tendency to think about the negative affect evoked by stressful events, has been identified as potentially playing a role in the development of cardiovascular diseases. Specifically, recent studies suggest that ruminative thoughts might be mediators of the prolonged physiological effects of stress. The main goal of this research was to study the effect of rumination, evoked in the laboratory, during the subsequent 24 hours. As rumination has been associated with the activity of several physiological systems, including the cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune system, we also aimed at studying the process from a psychoneuroendocrine point of view. Levels of anxiety, depression, anger, hostility, and trait rumination were assessed by the use of validated questionnaires. Impedance cardiography-derived measures, skin conductance, respiration, and beat-to-beat blood pressure (BP) were monitored continuously in 60 subjects during baseline, the Anger Recall Inteview, a reading task and two recovery periods. Half of the sample was randomly assigned to a distracter condition after the Anger Recall Inteview. Cortisol, plasma concentrations of epinephrine, norepinephrine, and inflammatory biomarkers (CRP, sICAM-1) were also obtained at baseline and at the end of the session. Then, all subjects were asked to wear an ambulatory BP monitor for 24 hours. Results show that the distracter was effective in stopping rumination in the laboratory but did not have a long-lasting effect in the subsequent 24 hours. Rumination was associated with prolonged sympathetic activity, vagal withdrawal, cortisol secrection, pro-inflammatory reaction and mood impairment compared to the reading task. After controlling for age and body mass index, rumination also proved to be a strong predictor of daily moods, and ambulatory HR and BP. Personality traits did not have an effect in determining the frequency or duration of daily rumination. Findings suggest that perseverative cognition can prolong stress- related affective and physiological activation and might act directly on somatic disease via the cardiovascular, immune, endocrine, and neurovisceral systems.