Fine needle aspiration biopsy in the oral cavity and head and neck region

The objective of the current study was to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of submucous nodules from the oral cavity and head and neck region as an auxiliary diagnostic tool. Fifty patients with nodule lesions in the oral cavity and the head and neck region were selected. All of them were submitted to FNAB and to either incisional or excisional biopsy. The diagnoses from the FNABs were compared with the biopsy diagnosis as the gold standard. All the cases of FNAB were analyzed by a single oral pathologist prior to the biopsy diagnosis. The results showed that the sensitivity of FNAB was 75%, its specificity was 96% and its accuracy was 58.8%. The false positive and false negative rates were 6.7% and 13.3%, respectively. The positive predictive value was 86% and the negative predictive value was 93%. The inconclusive rate was 16/50. FNAB displayed a high success rate for identifying both malignant and benign lesions, but a low accuracy for making a final diagnosis

DISFUNÇÕES PSICOLÓGICAS EM ATLETAS DE JUDÔ E JIU-JITSU EM TEMPORADA PRÉ-COMPETITIVA NA CIDADE DE MANAUS.

RESUMO  Esta investigação teve como objetivo verificar a incidência das ‘’Disfunções psicológicas em atletas de judô e jiu-jitsu em temporada pré-competitiva da cidade de Manaus’’. Os atletas menores de 18 anos tiveram autorização de seus responsáveis, comprovada pelo Termo de Consentimento Livre e Esclarecido - TCLE, no término da pesquisa os dados foram reunidos e analisados. No final houve a participação de 110 atletas de diferentes zonas da cidade e chegou-se ao resultado esperado pelo pesquisador antes do começo da pesquisa, de que os atletas mais experientes não são tão afetados pela ansiedade e nervosismo quanto os mais jovens. Especificamente procurou-se: a) levantar o número de atletas que sofrem com alguma disfunção psicológica; b) investigar quais sintomas eram mais frequentes nos atletas de judô e jiu-jitsu da cidade de Manaus; c) em que faixa etária esses sintomas eram mais fortes; d) como os atletas buscam diminuir seus níveis de ansiedade e nervosismo pré-competição. Os dados foram coletados a partir da aplicação de um questionário contendo 18 questões os 110, atletas da cidade de Manaus, de 12 a 40 anos de idade, estando em temporada de pré-competição, sendo eles, competidores de nível internacional, nacional e municipal. Palavras-chave: Nervosismo, Atletas, Competição, Ansiedade, Manaus.     ABSTRACT The objective of the present study was to verify the incidence of ‘’Psychological dysfunctions in judo and jiu-jitsu athletes in the pre-competitive season of the city of Manaus”. Athletes under the age of 18 years were authorized by their supervisors, evidenced by the Free Closed Consent Term – FCCT, at the end of the research the data were collected and analyzed. At the end there was the participation of 110 athletes from different zones of the city and the result was expected by the researcher before the beginning of the research, that the most experienced athletes are not as affected by anxiety and nervousness as the younger ones. Specifically we tried to: a) raise the number of athletes suffering from some psychological dysfunction; b) to investigate which symptoms were more frequent in the judo and jiu-jitsu athletes of the city of Manaus; c) in which age group these symptoms were stronger; d) how athletes seek to decrease their levels of anxiety and pre-competition nervousness. The data were collected from the application of a questionnaire containing 18 questions, the 110 athletes from the city of Manaus, from 12 to 40 years of age, being in pre-competition season, being they international, national and municipal level competitors. Key words: Nervousness, Athletes, Competition, Anxiety, Manaus

Abordagem Temática: natureza dos temas em Freire e no enfoque CTS

O educador brasileiro Paulo Freire, assim como referenciais ligados ao enfoque Ciência-Tecnologia-Sociedade (CTS), defendem o uso de temas nos encaminhamentos curriculares. Tendo como pano de fundo uma tentativa de aproximação entre estes dois referenciais, surgeo problema da presente pesquisa, ou seja, qual a natureza destes temas? Freire e o enfoque CTS estão falando da mesma coisa? Como objetivo central desta busca-se aprofundar aspectos teórico-metodológicos da relação entre temas geradores, conceituados por Paulo Freire, e temas articulados ao enfoque CTS. Constitui-se numa pesquisa de cunho bibliográfico, utilizando-se como fontes: periódicos, anais de eventos, coletânea de cadernos e guias didáticos. Como resultados, destacam-se cinco categorias: a) Abrangência dos temas; b) Surgimento dos temas; c) Disciplinas envolvidas na estruturação do tema, d) Relação tema/conteúdo e e) Conteúdo tradicional designado de tema

Polish device for FOCCoS/PFS slit system

The Fiber Optical Cable and Connector System, FOCCoS, for the Prime Focus Spectrograph, PFS, is responsible for transporting light from the Subaru Telescope focal plane to a set of four spectrographs. Each spectrograph will be fed by a convex curved slit with 616 optical fibers organized in a linear arrangement. The slit frontal surface is covered with a special dark composite, made with refractory oxide, which is able to sustain its properties with minimum quantities of abrasives during the polishing process; this stability is obtained This stability is obtained by the detachment of the refractory oxide nanoparticles, which then gently reinforce gently the polishing process and increase its the efficiency. The surface roughness measured in several samples after high performance polishing was about 0.01 microns. Furthermore, the time for obtaining a polished surface with this quality is about 10 times less than the time required for polishing a brass, glass or ceramic surface of the same size. In this paper, we describe the procedure developed for high quality polishing of this type of slit. The cylindrical polishing described here, uses cylindrical concave metal bases on which glass paper is based. The polishing process consists to use grid sequences of 30 microns, 12 microns, 9 microns, 5 microns, 3 microns, 1 micron and, finally, a colloidal silica on a chemical cloth. To obtain the maximum throughput, the surface of the fibers should be polished in such a way that they are optically flat and free from scratches. The optical fibers are inspected with a microscope at all stages of the polishing process to ensure high quality. The efficiency of the process may be improved by using a cylindrical concave composite base as a substrate suitable for diamond liquid solutions. Despite this process being completely by hand, the final result shows a very high quality

Effectiveness of surgical decompression in the treatment of a calcifying cystic odontogenic tumor

The calcifying odontogenic cystic tumor (CCOT) is a benign lesion of odontogenic origin characterized by an ameloblastoma-like epithelium with ghost cells that may calcify. Despite broadly considered as a cyst, some investigators prefer to classify it as a neoplasm. Clinically, it occurs predominantly during the third decade of life. No difference in gender prevalence has been observed nor predilection of the lesion between maxilla and mandible. The most affected region extends from the incisor tooth to bicuspids. The classic treatment of the lesion is full excision, although a different approach may be determined by the possible association with another odontogenic tumor. Depending on the tumor size and the vicinity with important structures, decompression may be undertaken before its complete removal. The present report describes a case of CCOT with large proportions, located at the right maxilla and extending to the maxillary sinus, nasal cavity, and orbital floor. The treatment option was surgical decompression as the initial procedure, with satisfactory outcome. After partial remission, the lesion was fully removed, and the post-operative follow-up was uneventful

Granulocytic sarcoma of the oral cavity in a chronic myeloid leukemia patient : an unusual presentation

Intraoral granulocytic sarcoma is an unusual manifestation of chronic or acute leukemia. The oral manifestations often involve enlargements of the gingival and mucosal tissue from direct leukemic cell infiltration. Only 38 cases have been reported in scientific literature to date. We present the case of a 47 year-old female who was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in December 2006. She was referred to a dentist for further evaluation, revealing generalized gingival overgrowth as well as periodontal, apical disease, and bleeding of the gums. An oral biopsy was performed and histological features revealed immature blast-like cells

Reasons for Resubmission of Research Projects to the Research Ethics Committee of a University Hospital in SÃO Paulo, Brazil

INTRODUCTION: It is important to know the reasons for resubmitting research projects to the Research Ethics Committee in order to help researchers to prepare their research projects, informed consent forms and needed research documentation. OBJECTIVES: To verify the reasons for resubmitting projects that were previously rejected by the Ethics Committee. METHOD: This is a cross-sectional study that evaluated research projects involving human beings. Research projects were submitted in 2007 to the Research Ethics Committee of the Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. RESULTS: One thousand two hundred and fifty six research projects were submitted to the ethics committee and the average time for evaluating the research projects and related documents until a final decision was reached was 49.95 days. From the total, 399 projects were reviewed in 2 or more meetings until a final decision was reached. Of these, 392 research projects were included in the study; 35 projects were subsequently excluded for involving animals. Among the research projects included, 42.5% concerned research with new drugs, vaccines and diagnostic tests, 48.5% consisted of undergraduate students' research projects, 68.9% of the research had no sponsorship, and 97.5% were eventually approved. The main reasons for returning the projects to the researchers were the use of inadequate language and/or difficulty of understanding the informed consent form (32.2%), lack of information about the protocol at the informed consent form (25.8%), as well as doubts regarding methodological and statistical issues of the protocol (77.1%). Other reasons for returning the research projects involved lack of, inaccuracy on or incomplete documentation, need of clarification or approval for participation of external entities on the research, lack of information on financial support. CONCLUSION: Among the research projects that were returned to the researchers for additional clarification, the main reasons were inadequacies or doubts about the terms used in the informed consent form as well as lack of information regarding the research at the informed consent form and methodological and statistical issues regarding the protocol

Vimentin expression and the influence of Matrigel in cell lines of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Vimentin is a cytoeskeletal intermediate filament protein commonly observed in mesenchymal cells; however, it can also be found in malignant epithelial cells. It is demonstrated in several carcinomas, such as those of the cervix, breast and bladder, in which it is widely used as a marker of the epithelial to mesenchymal transition that takes place during embryogenesis and metastasis. Vimentin is associated with tumors that show a high degree of invasiveness, being detected in invasion front cells. Its expression seems to be influenced by the tumor microenvironment. The aim of this study was to evaluate vimentin expression in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cell lines, and to investigate the contribution of the microenvironment to its expression. HNSCC cell lines (HN6, HN30 and HN31) and an immortalized nontumorigenic cell line (HaCaT) were submitted to a three-dimensional assay with Matrigel. Cytoplasmatic staining of the HN6 cell line cultured without Matrigel and of the HN30 and HN31 cell lines cultured with Matrigel was demonstrated through immunohistochemistry. Western Blotting revealed a significant decrease in vimentin expression for the HN6 cell line and a significant increase for the HN30 and HN31 cell lines cultured with Matrigel. The results suggest that vimentin can be expressed in HNSCC cells and its presence is influenced by the microenvironment of a tumor

Intravascular Papillary Endothelial Hyperplasia : report of 4 cases with immunohistochemical findings

Intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia (IPEH) is a benign endothelial proliferation, usually intravascular, that may mimic angiosarcoma. In this report, four new cases of IPEH involving the oral region are described. The affected sites were the lower lip, labial comissure and the submandibular region. After clinical evaluation, the complete removal of the lesions showed a circumscribed and soft mass. Histologically, the major feature was a reactive proliferation of endothelial cells composed of small papillary structures with hypocellular and hyalinized cores arising in an organized thrombus. Immunohistochemical staining for CD34 was strongly positive in endothelial cells. Vimentin and laminin immunolabelling were also consistent with a vascular origin. In order to verify the proliferative potential of the lesions, the Ki-67 antibody was used, revealing low percentage of labeled cells (<20%). No immunoreactivity for GLUT-1 was observed. Since the complete removal is curative, no additional treatment was necessary, and no signs of recurrence had been observed until now. Due to the particular features of IPEH, it is important for pathologists and clinicians to become familiar with this lesion. Additionally, the specific histological arrangement, including the absence of cellular pleomorphism, mitotic activity and necrosis, represents a guide to help in the differential diagnosis. Moreover, the vascular origin and the proliferative index should be assessed by immunohistochemistry in order to provide an accurate diagnosis

HOXB5 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Human HOX genes encode transcription factors that act as master regulators of embryonic development. They are important in several processes such as cellular morphogenesis and differentiation. The HOXB5 gene in particular has been reported in some types of neoplasm, but not in oral cancer. OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated the expression of HOXB5 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and in non-tumoral adjacent tissues, focusing on verifying its possible role as a broad tumor-associated gene and its association with histopathological and clinical (TNM) characteristics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: RT-PCR was performed to amplify HOXB5 mRNA in 15 OSCCs and adjacent non-tumoral epithelium. A possible association with TNM and histopathologic data was verifed by the chi-square and post-hoc t-test. RESULTS: HOXB5 was amplifed in 60% non-tumoral epithelium and in 93.3% carcinomas. No statistically signifcant differences were found regarding the HOXB5 mRNA expression and TNM or histological grade. CONCLUSION: HOXB5 is expressed in OSCCs and its role in cancer progression should be further investigated.FAPESPCoordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES