Bipolar disorder and age-related functional impairment

OBJECTIVE: Although bipolar disorder is a major contributor to functional impairment worldwide, an independent impact of bipolar disorder and ageing on functioning has yet to be demonstrated. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of bipolar disorder on age-related functional status using matched controls as a standard. METHOD: One-hundred patients with bipolar disorder and matched controls were evaluated for disability. Age-related effects controlled for confounders were cross-sectionally evaluated. RESULTS: Patients were significantly more impaired than controls. Regression showed effects for aging in both groups. The effect, size, however, was significantly stronger in patients. CONCLUSION: Bipolar disorder was an important effect modifier of the age impact on functioning. While a longitudinal design is needed to effectively demonstrate this different impact, this study further depicts bipolar disorder as a chronic and progressively impairing illness

Violência autoinfligida por intoxicação exógena em um serviço de urgência e emergência

RESUMO Objetivo Analisar as violências autoinfligidas por intoxicação exógena notificadas em um serviço de saúde. Métodos Estudo epidemiológico, retrospectivo e analítico realizado em um serviço de urgência e emergência do município de Teresina, Piauí. Procedeu-se nos meses de janeiro e fevereiro de 2015, mediante análise de todos os casos de violência autoinfligida por intoxicação exógena notificados no Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação, no período de 2009 a 2014. O teste qui-quadrado de Pearson foi utilizado na análise. Resultados Foram notificadas 277 vítimas de violência autoinfligida por intoxicação exógena, sendo que 10,5% morreram por suicídio. Houve associação entre o óbito e as variáveis idade, escolaridade, zona de ocorrência e tipo de exposição, assim como entre o tipo de exposição e a quantidade de agentes utilizados. Conclusão Os resultados fornecem subsídios para a definição de estratégias de prevenção considerando os grupos vulneráveis e a complexidade dos fatores associados à violência autoinfligida

Changes in microphytobenthos fluorescence over a tidal cycle: implications for sampling designs

Intertidal microphytobenthos (MPB) are important primary producers and provide food for herbivores in soft sediments and on rocky shores. Methods of measuring MPB biomass that do not depend on the time of collection relative to the time of day or tidal conditions are important in any studies that need to compare temporal or spatial variation, effects of abiotic factors or activity of grazers. Pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry is often used to estimate biomass of MPB because it is a rapid, non-destructive method, but it is not known how measures of fluorescence are altered by changing conditions during a period of low tide. We investigated this experimentally using in situ changes in minimal fluorescence (F) on a rocky shore and on an estuarine mudflat around Sydney (Australia), during low tides. On rocky shores, the time when samples are taken during low tide had little direct influence on measures of fluorescence as long as the substratum is dry. Wetness from wave-splash, seepage from rock pools, run-off, rainfall, etc., had large consequences for any comparisons. On soft sediments, fluorescence was decreased if the sediment dried out, as happens during low-spring tides on particularly hot and dry days. Surface water affected the response of PAM and therefore measurements used to estimate MPB, emphasising the need for care to ensure that representative sampling is done during low tide

Economic History and History of Economics: Complementary Approaches to Portuguese Economic Development

This chapter focuses on how the problems of economic development were addressed by the Portuguese historiography of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The ensuing discussion benefits from the simultaneous consideration of two historiographical domains that complement each other: economic history and the history of economics. On the one hand, there are the authors and texts of economic history that seek to describe the facts and circumstances related to the functioning and dynamics of economic reality, for a given period or succession of periods, in order to establish evolutionary trends. On the other hand, there are the authors and texts of the history of economics that seek to adopt analytical forms (principles and laws) and doctrinal and programmatic frameworks (visions and ideologies) aimed at providing explanatory meaning to the observed economic changes, phenomena and regularities. A true understanding of the important issues pertaining to Portuguese economic development is to be found, however, in the intersection of these distinct but complementary historiographical perspectives.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Glycophenotypic Alterations Induced by Pteridium aquilinum in Mice Gastric Mucosa: Synergistic Effect with Helicobacter pylori Infection

The bracken fern Pteridium aquilinum is a plant known to be carcinogenic to animals. Epidemiological studies have shown an association between bracken fern exposure and gastric cancer development in humans. The biological effects of exposure to this plant within the gastric carcinogenesis process are not fully understood. In the present work, effects in the gastric mucosa of mice treated with Pteridium aquilinum were evaluated, as well as molecular mechanisms underlying the synergistic role with Helicobacter pylori infection. Our results showed that exposure to Pteridium aquilinum induces histomorphological modifications including increased expression of acidic glycoconjugates in the gastric mucosa. The transcriptome analysis of gastric mucosa showed that upon exposure to Pteridium aquilinum several glycosyltransferase genes were differently expressed, including Galntl4, C1galt1 and St3gal2, that are mainly involved in the biosynthesis of simple mucin-type carbohydrate antigens. Concomitant treatment with Pteridium aquilinum and infection with Helicobacter pylori also resulted in differently expressed glycosyltransferase genes underlying the biosynthesis of terminal sialylated Lewis antigens, including Sialyl-Lewisx. These results disclose the molecular basis for the altered pattern of glycan structures observed in the mice gastric mucosa. The gene transcription alterations and the induced glycophenotypic changes observed in the gastric mucosa contribute for the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of Pteridium aquilinum in the gastric carcinogenesis process

Micronucleus frequency in children exposed to biomass burning in the Brazilian Legal Amazon region: a control case study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Amazon represents an area of 61% of Brazilian territory and is undergoing major changes resulting from disorderly economic development, especially the advance of agribusiness. Composition of the atmosphere is controlled by several natural and anthropogenic processes, and emission from biomass burning is one with the major impact on human health. The aim of this study was to evaluate genotoxic potential of air pollutants generated by biomass burning through micronucleus assay in exfoliated buccal cells of schoolchildren in the Brazilian Amazon region.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was conducted during the dry seasons in two regions of the Brazilian Amazon. The assay was carried out on buccal epithelial cells of 574 schoolchildren between 6-16 years old.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results show a significant difference between micronucleus frequencies in children exposed to biomass burning compared to those in a control area.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The present study demonstrated that in situ biomonitoring using a sensitive and low cost assay (buccal micronucleus assay) may be an important tool for monitoring air quality in remote regions. It is difficult to attribute the increase in micronuclei frequency observed in our study to any specific toxic element integrated in the particulate matters. However, the contribution of the present study lies in the evidence that increased exposure to fine particulate matter generates an increased micronuclei frequency in oral epithelial cells of schoolchildren.</p