Urinary incontinence related to perineal muscle strength in the first trimester of pregnancy: cross-sectional study

Objective To analyze pelvic floor muscle strength (PFMS), urinary continence and quality of life related to urinary incontinence (UI) of women in the first trimester of pregnancy. Method Cross-sectional study with a sample of 500 women who started prenatal care in a complementary healthcare facility in Guarulhos, state of São Paulo, from 2012 and 2013. Pelvic floor muscle strength was evaluated through perineometry. The pregnant women who presented UI answered the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF). Results It was found that maternal age (OR=1.06; CI95% 1.02-1.11) and prior UI (OR=15.12; 95%CI 8.19-27.92) are the variables that, in tandem, best explain the occurrence of UI at the beginning of pregnancy. The mean score on the ICIQ-SF was 8.2 (SD=3.9), considered a moderate impact on quality of life. Conclusion Older pregnant women with prior UI are more likely to have UI in the first trimester of pregnancy.
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Women’s pelvic floor muscle strength and urinary and anal incontinence after childbirth: a cross-sectional study

Abstract OBJECTIVE To analyse pelvic floor muscle strength (PFMS) and urinary and anal incontinence (UI and AI) in the postpartum period. METHOD Cross-sectional study carried out with women in their first seven months after child birth. Data were collected through interviews, perineometry (Peritron™), and the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF). RESULTS 128 women participated in the study. The PFMS mean was 33.1 (SD=16.0) cmH2O and the prevalence of UI and AI was 7.8% and 5.5%, respectively. In the multiple analyses, the variables associated with PFMS were type of birth and cohabitation with a partner. Newborn’s weight, previous pregnancy, UI during pregnancy, and sexual activity showed an association with UI after child birth. Only AI prior to pregnancy was associated with AI after childbirth. CONCLUSION Vaginal birth predisposes to the reduction of PFMS, and caesarean section had a protective effect to its reduction. The occurrence of UI during pregnancy is a predictor of UI after childbirth, and women with previous pregnancies and newborns with higher weights are more likely to have UI after childbirth.AI prior to pregnancy is the only risk factor for its occurrence after childbirth. Associations between PFMS and cohabitation with a partner, and between UI and sexual activity do not make possible to conclude that these variables are directly associated

A fucan of a brown seaweed and its antitumoral property on HT-29 and immunomodulatory activity in murine RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line

Polysaccharides from algae are also proper candidates with therapeutic properties and immunomodulatory and antitumor effects. The brown seaweed Lobophora variegata synthesizes different groups of anionic polysaccharides with several biological properties. Sulfated polysaccharides were obtained by delipidation of seaweed, proteolysis, and fractionation with different volumes of acetone. A fraction of sulfated polysaccharides, fucans or fucoidans, was extracted with 0.8 v acetone and named L. variegata (LV). This fucan was assessed in the inflammatory process in rats, antitumor action on human colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29 cells), apoptosis, and its effect on the cell cycle. LV fraction, a galactofucan, exhibited a high ratio of total sugar/sulfate (1.5) and a very low level of proteins. This polysaccharide showed an antiinflammatory effect on two models of inflammation induced by croton oil and oxazolone in rats. LV was analyzed in cellular proliferation of HT-29. We also demonstrated the cytotoxic action against this cell line and induction in the apoptosis and decreased the cell cycle in phases S and G2/M and the accumulation of cells in the G1 phase. Our studies with LV showed a marked immunomodulatory action without and with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on RAW 264.7 cells. Comparative studies of two fucans, LV and FV (Fucus vesiculosus), with different structures were assessed on viability in macrophages, RAW 264.7 cells. Both showed cytotoxicity in these cells. We observed high levels of nitric oxide (NO) production, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) when treated at 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 mg mL−1 of LV. Data also suggest that LV has potential antitumor effects on HT-29 and antiinflammatory and immunomodulatory effects on RAW 264.7 cell

Modelos de distribuição diamétrica para povoamentos desbastados de eucalipto utilizando a função hiperbólica

Os objetivos deste estudo foram ajustar, empregar e propor modelos de distribuição diamétrica com diferentes formas da função hiperbólica para a projeção da distribuição diamétrica de povoamentos desbastados. Foram utilizados dados de um experimento sobre desbastes, instalado em três povoamentos de um híbrido Eucalyptus grandis x Eucalyptus urophylla, localizado na região Nordeste do Estado da Bahia. As parcelas permanentes foram mensuradas aos 27, 40, 50, 58, 61, 76, 87, 101 e 112, 125, 135, 147 e 160 meses, com um desbaste realizado aos 58 meses e um segundo aos 130 meses. A utilização da função com dois parâmetros apresentou melhores resultados de raiz quadrada do erro médio (RMSE), bias e bias%

Aplicação da função hiperbólica na construção de curvas de índice de local

Neste estudo foi avaliada a eficiência da função hiperbólica, para geração de curvas anamórficas e polimórficas de índices de local. As curvas de índice de local foram construídas utilizando os métodos: da curva-guia, da equação das diferenças, da predição de parâmetros, de Hammer e dos índices de local definidos preliminarmente. Para aplicação desses métodos foram utilizados dados de parcelas permanentes de povoamentos de eucalipto. A eficiência foi confirmada, sendo a função indicada para descrever tendências polimórficas e anamórficas, podendo ser utilizada na classificação da capacidade produtiva de povoamentos de eucalipto

Clinical and hepatic evaluation in adult dengue patients: a prospective two-month cohort study

INTRODUCTION: To analyze the liver dysfunction and evolution of signs and symptoms in adult dengue patients during a two-month follow-up period. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted in Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from January to July, 2008. The evolution of laboratory and clinical manifestations of 90 adult dengue patients was evaluated in five scheduled visits within a two-month follow-up period. Twenty controls were enrolled for the analysis of liver function. Patients with hepatitis B, hepatitis C, those known to be human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositive and pregnant women were excluded from the study. RESULTS: At the end of the second month following diagnosis, we observed that symptoms persisted in 33.3% (30/90) of dengue patients. We also observed that, 57.7% (15/26) of the symptoms persisted at the end of the second month. The most persistent symptoms were arthralgia, fatigue, weakness, adynamia, anorexia, taste alteration, and hair loss. Prior dengue virus (DENV) infection did not predispose patients to a longer duration of symptoms. Among hepatic functions, transaminases had the most remarkable elevation and in some cases remained elevated up to the second month after the disease onset. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels overcame aspartate aminotransferase (AST) during the convalescent period. Male patients were more severely affected than females. CONCLUSIONS: Dengue fever may present a wide number of symptoms and elevated liver transaminases at the end of the second month

Macro-scale (biomes) differences in neotropical stream processes and community structure

The definition of conservation strategies and ecological assessment schemes requires understanding ecosystem patterns over multiple spatial scales. This study aimed to determine if macro-scale structural and functional (processes) patterns associated with stream ecosystems differed among three neotropical biomes (Cerrado, Amazon, Atlantic Forest). We compared the aquatic communities (benthic invertebrates and hyphomycetes) and processes (decomposition rates, primary production and biofilms growth and aquatic hyphomycetes reproduction rates-sporulation) of Cerrado stream sites (neotropical savannah) against those of stream sites in the connecting biomes of the Atlantic Forest and Amazon (rainforests). We expected that, contrary to the biome dependency hypothesis the community structure and processes rates of streams at the biome-scale would not differ significantly, because those ecosystems are strongly influenced by their dense riparian forests, which have a transitional character among the three biomes. Fifty-three stream sites were selected covering a wide range of geographic locations (Table 1), from near the Equator (2° S) in the Amazon, to intermediate latitudes in the Cerrado (12-19° S), and latitudes closer to the tropic of Capricorn in the Atlantic Forest (19º-25° S). We found that: 1) at the abiotic level, the aquatic ecosystems of the three biomes differed, which was mostly explained by large-scale factors such as temperature, precipitation and altitude; 2) functional and structural variables did not behave similarly among biomes: decomposition and sporulation rates showed larger differences among biomes than invertebrate and aquatic hyphomycete assemblages structure; 3) invertebrate assemblages structure differed between the rainforests and Cerrado but not between rainforests (Amazon and Atlantic Forest) whereas aquatic hyphomycetes were similar among all biomes; 4) biofilm growth and algae concentration in biofilms of artificial substrates were highly variable within biomes and not significantly different between biomes. Overall, aquatic ecosystem processes and community structure differed across biomes, being influenced by climatic variables, but the variation is not as pronounced as that described for terrestrial systems. Considering the potential use of these functional and structural indicators in national-wide ecological assessments, our results indicate the need to define different reference values for different biomes, depending on the variable used. The approach followed in this study allowed an integrative analysis and comparison of the stream ecosystems across three tropical biomes, being the first study of this kind. Future studies should try to confirm the patterns evidenced here with more sites from other areas of the three biomes, and especially from the Amazon, which was the least represented biome in our investigation. © 201

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio