Vascular Sympathetic Neurotransmission and Endothelial Dysfunction

Endothelium is an important regulator of vascular tone via release of various endothelium-derived substances. Several studies have reported that endothelium may decrease the release of noradrenaline from vascular postganglionic sympathetic nerves and thus neurogenic vasoconstriction. Endothelium derived-mediators (adenosine and NO) can modify vascular sympathetic neurotransmission and are relevant for vascular homeostasis. This is a relevant issue in terms of vascular homeostasis and, any modification, may lead to a deregulation process and to pathologies. Focus on NO-mediated effects on vascular sympathetic transmission will be done, discriminating the effects ascribed to NO generated by NO synthases located in the different vascular layers. A comparison between mesenteric/tail arteries will also be explored, particularly the relevance of the transsynaptic modulation on noradrenaline release mediated by endothelial NO and adenosine in normotensive/hypertensive vascular tissues. Adenosinergic system, namely adenosine, nucleoside transporters and adenosine receptors, can be influenced by endothelium mediators, namely by NO, causing alterations on the way these players interact with each other. In conditions where endothelium is compromised, a deregulation occurs with an increase in vascular sympathetic neurotransmission (as a consequence of adenosinergic system dynamic alteration). In summary, the impact of endothelial dysfunction on vascular neurotransmission is debated with particular focus on adenosinergic and nitroxidergic system dynamics

Clean air matters: an overview of traffic-related air pollution and pregnancy

The right to a healthy pregnancy and to giving birth in a safe environment is source of comprehensive research. Decent birth facilities, respect, and no discrimination are already recognized as fundamental rights, but an accurate look at the outdoor environment is required. Air pollution is a dangerous factor to pregnant women and newborns, many of whom highly exposed to traffic-related atmospheric pollutants in urban areas. Such exposure can lead to low birth weight and long-lasting effects, such as respiratory diseases and premature death. Thus, this commentary, based on the analysis of literature, presents the importance of the exposome concept and of epigenetics in identifying the role of the environment for better health conditions of pregnant women and newborns. In the final considerations, this study proposes the deepening of the subject and the mobilization in this regard, with a human rights-based approach to environmental health and to the increased awareness of pregnant women on the risks of air pollution and its effects on health

Meio Grogue e com as Mãos Amarradas: O Primeiro Contato com o Recém-Nascido Segundo Mulheres que Passaram por uma Cesárea Indesejada

AbstractObjective: to describe and analyze the experience and feelings of mothers who had an unwanted Csection, with regard to the first contact with their newborn. Methods: this is a qualitative webbased research, whose call for participants was published in October 2011 on a social network of mothers website. The women were interviewed in regard to their experience with C-section, referred to as an unwanted outcome, invited to make narratives about the feelings associated with the experience of labor and childbirth and to the postpartum period. The analysis was conducted within a gender perspective. Results: the 20 women interviewed age ranged from 17 to 41 years, 19 women had studied for 12 or more years and were married or lived with a partner. Only two women remained with their newborns right after birth. The other ones were kept apart from their babies for periods that ranged between one hour (three women) and more than four hours (six women). Most women could not have a partner/companion during the immediate postpartum period, although in Brazil this is a right guaranteed by law. The majority had also suffered some kind of violence and many also regretted being under the influence of medication for sedation during their first contact with the newborn. Regarding this first contact, three groups were identified: women with feelings of fulfillment, those with ambiguous feelings, and those without any positive feelings about the first contact with their newborn. Conclusion: women referring to their C-section as an unwanted outcome had their frustration towards the birth experience amplified by the conditions of the first contactwith their newborn. These conditions were negatively influenced by the immediate postpartum assistance routines.ResumoObjetivo: descrever e analisar a experiência e os sentimentos de mulheres que relatam ter vivido uma cesárea indesejada no primeiro contato com seus filhos recém-nascidos. Método: pesquisa baseada na internet, com convite para participação publicado em outubro de 2011 via redes sociais. As mulheres que responderam foram entrevistadas a respeito de sua experiência de cesárea, de sentimentos associados à experiência de parto e nascimento e ao período pós-parto. A pesquisa foi orientada pela perspectiva das relações sociais de gênero. Resultados: vinte mulheres foram entrevistadas. A idade delas variou entre 17 e 41 anos. Metade delas residia em São Paulo. Todas, exceto uma, tinham 12 anos ou mais de estudo e eram casadas ou moravam com o companheiro. Apenas duas permaneceram com o filho logo após o nascimento. Para as demais, o tempo de separação variou de menos de uma hora (três mulheres) a mais de quatro horas (seis mulheres). A maioria não pôde contar com um acompanhante de sua escolha no pós-parto imediato, embora no Brasil esse direito seja garantido por lei. A maioria relata ter sofrido algum tipo de violência. Muitas lamentaram estar sob efeito de medicação para sedação no primeiro contato com o recém-nascido. Três grupos foram identificados: mulheres com sentimentos de plenitude, mulheres com sentimentos ambíguos e mulheres sem emoções positivas acerca de seu filho. Conclusões: mulheres que referem suas cesáreas como indesejadas tiveram suas frustrações com as experiências do parto amplificadas pelas condições do primeiro contato com seu recém-nascido, condições estas prejudicadas pelas rotinas de assistência nos pós-parto imediato

Do individual ao coletivo. O caso particular da Banda Sinfónica da GNR.

Partindo das variáveis emoções, criatividade e líder (mentor), esta investigação de natureza aplicada desenvolve-se no contexto da Banda Sinfónica da Guarda Nacional Republicana. Para tal foram contruídos inquéritos por questionário, com base na Teoria Cognitiva da Emoção (Lazarus, 1991c, 2006), na Teoria de Investimento em Criatividade (Sternberg e Lubart, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996) e na Teoria sobre a Importância do Mentor (Noller, 1982), aplicados a uma amostra de conveniência constituída por 1 maestro (chefe da banda) e 94 Músicos (4 mulheres e 90 homens). Foram também aplicadas entrevistas a 5 especialistas. Tendo como finalidade obter um referencial que permita potenciar o desempenho dos músicos e do maestro da Banda Sinfónica da Guarda Nacional Republicana, esta investigação levanta o seguinte problema: Qual a relação entre o maestro, as emoções e a criatividade na Banda Sinfónica da Guarda Nacional Republicana? Seguindo uma lógica de abordagem dialética, através do procedimento estatístico, definimos como objetivo geral desta investigação, descrever e explicar a relação entre o mentor e os processos emocional e criativo na Banda Sinfónica da Guarda Nacional Republicana e como objetivo específico, perceber se as dimensões do mentor na qualidade de líder e maestro, interferem no processo emocional e criativo. Assim sendo, verificámos que as emoções mais representativas são a felicidade pelo sucesso do desempenho individual e o orgulho, que reflete uma realização de valor quer individual quer coletiva. Na variável criatividade é o conhecimento que assume uma maior relevância, dado que músicos e maestro com um maior nível de conhecimento, tendem a ter um desempenho mais criativo. Por fim, na variável mentor, o valorizar, apresenta um maior destaque, visto que

A flauta no contexto da música de câmara contemporânea portuguesa: os últimos 40 anos

O presente trabalho tem como principal objetivo compreender a evolução da música de câmara em Portugal nos últimos quarenta anos, especificamente a música contemporânea portuguesa e perceber o papel da flauta neste contexto. Para tal fez-se primeiramente uma análise do contexto social, político e cultural bem como os seus principais intervenientes. Analisaram-se as instituições que durante muitos anos foram a referência para o estudo da música assim como o papel dos docentes de flauta na divulgação do repertório camerístico português. Definiram-se algumas instituições promotoras de eventos dedicados à música de câmara, analisando a flauta como instrumento integrante. Por fim foi realizada uma abordagem biográfica de alguns grupos de música de câmara contemporânea portuguesa com flauta, a sua importância e o seu contributo para o tema em estudo; Abstract: The flute in the context of Portuguese contemporary chamber music – The last 40 years. The main purpose of this thesis “The flute in the context of Portuguese contemporary chamber music – The last 40 years” is to understand the evolution of chamber music in Portugal in the last forty years, specifically the Portuguese contemporary music and to understand the role of the flute in this context. Firstly a social, political and cultural analysis was done, as well as to their key players. The institutions that for many years were the reference for the study of music were analyzed, as well as the role of flute teachers in spreading the Portuguese chamber music repertoire. Some institutions that promote events dedicated to chamber music were determined, analyzing the flute as an integral instrument. Finally, a biographical approach of some Portuguese contemporary chamber music groups with flute was done, their importance and their contribution to the subject under study

Fatores associados ao início da vida sexual e o uso de preservativo entre adolescentes da Ilha de Santiago, Cabo Verde, África Ocidental

Foram analisados fatores associados ao início da vida sexual de adolescentes na Ilha de Santiago, Cabo Verde, segundo sexo. Estudo realizado com amostra probabilística e representativa de 768 adolescentes, age 13-17 anos, de escolas secundárias públicas da Ilha de Santiago em 2007. A associação foi testada pelo teste de proporção, qui-quadrado de Pearson ou Fisher e regressão logística. Nos rapazes, os fatores associados ao início da vida sexual foram: idade maior que 14 anos, ser católico e consumo de bebidas alcoólicas. Para meninas: escolaridade maior que nove anos e ter parceiro afetivo-sexual. Ao contrário de outros contextos da África Subsaariana, foram constatadas taxas elevadas de uso de preservativo por adolescentes no início da vida sexual. Os adolescentes podem iniciar a vida sexual de maneira mais segura se tiverem informação, educação sexual e acesso a métodos de prevenção à gravidez e às DST. Este artigo oferece elementos para a reflexão sobre o delineamento de políticas de redução da vulnerabilidade dos jovens às DST/AIDS e sobre os limites e desafios da promoção do uso do preservativo e educação sexual, focando as relações desiguais de gêneroThe current study focuses on factors associated with sexual initiation and condom use among teenagers on Santiago Island, Cape Verde, according to gender. This was a representative, probabilistic sample of 13-to-17-year-olds (n = 768) attending public secondary schools on Santiago Island in 2007. Associations were tested by test of proportion, Pearson's chi-square, or Fisher's exact test and logistic regression. Factors related to sexual initiation among boys were: age over 14 years, Catholic religion, and alcohol consumption. For girls, the factors included: > 9 years of schooling and involvement in an affective-sexual relationship. Unlike other Sub-Saharan countries, this study showed a high prevalence of condom use during initial sexual activity. Adolescents are able to safely begin sexually active life if they have access to information, sex education, and other STD prevention and contraceptive methods. This study provides insights on the development of policies to reduce the vulnerability of the young population to STD/AIDS and the limits and challenges related to the promotion of condom use and sex education, focusing on unequal gender relation

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A RAPID AND SIMPLE REVERSED-PHASE HPLC METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF GEMCITABINE IN HUMAN PLASMA

Objective: In order to investigate the human plasma pharmacokinetics of dFdC, the objective of this work was to optimize and validate a rapid reversed-phase (RP) high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method according to the guidelines of the international regulatory institutions: European Medicines Agency (EMA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and International Conference on Harmonization (ICH). Methods: Chromatographic runs were performed on a RP-ACE-C18 column. Mobile phase was constituted of sodium acetate buffer (pH 5) and acetonitrile, in gradient mode, at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. Gemcitabine and cytarabine (internal standard) were detected at 290 nm. Results: The method was shown to be selective, linear in the range of 0.25–10 mg/L (R2=0.9998), accurate and precise within-run and between-run as reflected by the coefficient of variation values (<15%) and the relative errors values (<15%), stable and robust to changes in the column temperature and detection UV wavelength. Detection limit and lower limit of quantification were 0.22 and 0.25 mg/L respectively. Conclusion: The developed method is useful to measuring gemcitabine plasmatic concentrations in pharmacokinetics studies and in therapeutic drug monitoring

Why do women in the private sector have shorter pregnancies in Brazil? Left shift of gestational age, caesarean section and inversion of the expected disparity

Introduction: Gestational age (GA) at birth is the main predictor of newborn health, and pontaneous birth occurs around 40 weeks. In Brazil there is a populational reduction of the GA (left shift), presently around 39 weeks, due to interventions in childbirth. Objective: To analyze the left shift of gestational age (LDGA) in São Paulo City (SP) and in Southeastern Brazil, and associated factors. Methods: Epidemiological descriptive study of LDGA in SP (data from Live birth information sector, SINASC) and in Southeastern Brazil (data from “Birth in Brazil Survey”). Differences in GA were estimated, by type of birth (vaginal or cesarean) and payment source (public or private), using GA distribution curves in weeks. Results: In SP, the peak of the curve for GA for vaginal births was 39 weeks, while for cesarean was 38 weeks. Most vaginal births were full term (39-406/7) while most cesarean were early term (37-386/7). In the private sector, there were more caesarean sections and lower GA at birth, with more preterm newborns and 60.4% being born early term, while in the public sector, 58.7% of births were full term, and a much higher proportion reaching 40 weeks. Conclusions: Babies born by cesarean and in the private sector lost one additional gestational week. There was an inversion in the expected disparity, with well-off women achieving poorer outcomes compared to the disadvantaged mothers. The use of continuous variables to estimate the IG (in days or weeks of pregnancy lost) can contribute to a better understanding of the Brazilian perinatal paradox