Evidencias de validez y precisión de la "Escala de Coping através de ouvir música"

O presente estudo buscou verificar a validade de construto e precisão da Escala de Coping através de Ouvir Música (ECOM), cujos fatores representam estratégias de coping focadas na emoção, no problema e evitação/desligamento. Contou com a participação de 248 estudantes de escolas e universidades públicas e particulares da cidade de Aracaju, no Nordeste brasileiro. Os principais resultados corroboram a estrutura original da escala com três fatores. Foram verificados índices de precisão adequados para o fator coping focado na emoção, mas índices menores para os fatores de coping focado no problema e evitação. Foram verificadas ainda diferenças por gênero nas estratégias de coping relacionadas a ouvir música. Os dados são discutidos considerando a literatura sobre psicometria e sugestões de pesquisa são realizadas para se desenvolverem os estudos na área de coping.This study aims at evaluating the construct validity and accuracy of the Coping by Music Listening Scale (CMLS) whose factors represent coping strategies as emotion in the problem and avoidance/disconnexion. It acounted on the participation of 248 students from schools and public and private universities in the city of Aracaju, Brazilian Northeast. The main results confirm the scale's original structure with three factors. Appropriate accuracy indices of emotion-oriented coping factor and the scale as a whole were verified, but lower rates for the problem-oriented and avoidance factors. It was also found gender differences in coping strategies by music listening. The results are discussed considering the psychometric literature and suggestions for research were carried out to develop studies on the coping research.El presente estudio buscó verificar la validez de constructo y precisión de la "Escala de Coping através de Ouvir Música" (ECOM), cuyos factores representan estrategias de coping focalizadas en la emoción, en el problema y evitación/desligamiento. Contó con la participación de 248 estudiantes de escuelas y universidades públicas y particulares de la ciudad de Aracaju, en el Nordeste brasileño. Los principales resultados corroboran la estructura original de la escala con tres factores. Fueron verificados índices de precisión adecuados para el factor coping focalizado en la emoción y de la escala total, pero índices menores para los factores de coping focalizado en el problema y evitación. Fueron verificadas aún diferencias por género en las estrategias de coping relacionadas a oír música. Los datos son discutidos considerando la literatura sobre psicometría y sugestiones de investigaciones son realizadas para el desarrollo de estudios en el área de coping

Citotoxicity and immune response induced by organopalladium(II) compounds in mice bearing Ehrlich ascites tumour

Cyclometallated palladium(II) complexes are reactive inorganic compounds employed in several biological studies because of their antitumour potential and interaction with immune system. In the present study, the immune and citotoxic response induced by two organopalladated complexes: [{Pd(N,C-dmba)} 2(μ-NCS) 2] (1), [Pd(C-dmba)(NCS)(dppp)] (2) [dmba = N,N′-dimethylbenzylamine, dppp = 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino)propane] and cisplatin (cis-DDP), as standard, were investigated in mice bearing Ehrlich ascites tumour. The mice were divided into five groups and inoculated with the compounds (1) or (2) or cisplatin, or only vehicle or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Many parameters were evaluated, such as tumour cell percentage in the peritoneal exsudate, levels of seric nitric oxide (NO) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and increase in life span. Analysis of all data revealed, for compound (2), an activity similar to that presented by cisplatin, resulting in increased life span, lower levels of seric TNF-α and increase in NO production. ©2007 Sociedade Brasileira de Química

Three electrode electrochemical microfluidic cell: construction and characterization

This work describes the construction and characterization of an electrochemical flow-through microcell with the three electrodes (working, pseudo-reference, and auxiliary) inserted in microchannels with thickness smaller than 20 µm. These microchannels were constructed between two stacked polycarbonate slides using one or more overlapped toner masks as spacer. This strategy allows the construction of microcells with a variable internal volume on the working electrode (0.6 to 2.4 µL). Three different materials were optimized as electrodes: gold film or graphite-epoxy composite as working electrode, silver-epoxy composite as pseudo-reference electrode and, graphite-epoxy composite as auxiliary electrode. The performance of the microfluidic cell was characterized by cyclic voltammetry, potentiometric stripping analysis at constant current, and square wave anodic stripping voltammetry using ferrocyanide and heavy metals (Cu2+, Hg2+, Pb2+, and Cd2+) as model analytes

Beyond trees: Mapping total aboveground biomass density in the Brazilian savanna using high-density UAV-lidar data

Tropical savanna ecosystems play a major role in the seasonality of the global carbon cycle. However, their ability to store and sequester carbon is uncertain due to combined and intermingling effects of anthropogenic activities and climate change, which impact wildfire regimes and vegetation dynamics. Accurate measurements of tropical savanna vegetation aboveground biomass (AGB) over broad spatial scales are crucial to achieve effective carbon emission mitigation strategies. UAV-lidar is a new remote sensing technology that can enable rapid 3-D mapping of structure and related AGB in tropical savanna ecosystems. This study aimed to assess the capability of high-density UAV-lidar to estimate and map total (tree, shrubs, and surface layers) aboveground biomass density (AGBt) in the Brazilian Savanna (Cerrado). Five ordinary least square regression models esti-mating AGBt were adjusted using 50 field sample plots (30 m × 30 m). The best model was selected under Akaike Information Criterion, adjusted coefficient of determination (adj.R2), absolute and relative root mean square error (RMSE), and used to map AGBt from UAV-lidar data collected over 1,854 ha spanning the three major vegetation formations (forest, savanna, and grassland) in Cerrado. The model using vegetation height and cover was the most effective, with an overall model adj-R2 of 0.79 and a leave-one-out cross-validated RMSE of 19.11 Mg/ha (33.40%). The uncertainty and errors of our estimations were assessed for each vegetation formation separately, resulting in RMSEs of 27.08 Mg/ha (25.99%) for forests, 17.76 Mg/ha (43.96%) for savannas, and 7.72 Mg/ha (44.92%) for grasslands. These results prove the feasibility and potential of the UAV-lidar technology in Cerrado but also emphasize the need for further developing the estimation of biomass in grasslands, of high importance in the characterization of the global carbon balance and for supporting integrated fire management activities in tropical savanna ecosystems. Our results serve as a benchmark for future studies aiming to generate accurate biomass maps and provide baseline data for efficient management of fire and predicted climate change impacts on tropical savanna ecosystems

Blood transfusion in cardiac surgery is a risk factor for increased hospital length of stay in adult patients

Abstract\ud \ud \ud \ud Background\ud \ud Allogeneic red blood cell (RBC) transfusion has been proposed as a negative indicator of quality in cardiac surgery. Hospital length of stay (LOS) may be a surrogate of poor outcome in transfused patients.\ud \ud \ud \ud Methods\ud \ud Data from 502 patients included in Transfusion Requirements After Cardiac Surgery (TRACS) study were analyzed to assess the relationship between RBC transfusion and hospital LOS in patients undergoing cardiac surgery and enrolled in the TRACS study.\ud \ud \ud \ud Results\ud \ud According to the status of RBC transfusion, patients were categorized into the following three groups: 1) 199 patients (40%) who did not receive RBC, 2) 241 patients (48%) who received 3 RBC units or fewer (low transfusion requirement group), and 3) 62 patients (12%) who received more than 3 RBC units (high transfusion requirement group). In a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model, the following factors were predictive of a prolonged hospital length of stay: age higher than 65 years, EuroSCORE, valvular surgery, combined procedure, LVEF lower than 40% and RBC transfusion of > 3 units.\ud \ud \ud \ud Conclusion\ud \ud RBC transfusion is an independent risk factor for increased LOS in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. This finding highlights the adequacy of a restrictive transfusion therapy in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.\ud \ud \ud \ud Trial registration\ud \ud Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: http://NCT01021631.The authors would like to thank Suelly Zeferino and Lígia Camara for their assistance with data extraction. There was no external funding source for this research.This work was supported by the Department of Anaesthesiology, InCor, University of Sao Paulo

Reactive Oxygen Species Production and Mitochondrial Dysfunction Contribute to Quercetin Induced Death in Leishmania amazonensis

BACKGROUND: Leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania, affects more than 12 million people worldwide. Quercetin has generated considerable interest as a pharmaceutical compound with a wide range of therapeutic activities. One such activity is exhibited against the bloodstream parasite Trypanosoma brucei and amastigotes of Leishmania donovani. However, the mechanism of protozoan action of quercetin has not been studied. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In the present study, we report here the mechanism for the antileishmanial activity of quercetin against Leishmania amazonensis promastigotes. Quercetin inhibited L. amazonensis promastigote growth in a dose- and time- dependent manner beginning at 48 hours of treatment and with maximum growth inhibition observed at 96 hours. The IC(50) for quercetin at 48 hours was 31.4 µM. Quercetin increased ROS generation in a dose-dependent manner after 48 hours of treatment. The antioxidant GSH and NAC each significantly reduced quercetin-induced cell death. In addition, quercetin caused mitochondrial dysfunction due to collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The effects of several drugs that interfere directly with mitochondrial physiology in parasites such as Leishmania have been described. The unique mitochondrial features of Leishmania make this organelle an ideal drug target while minimizing toxicity. Quercetin has been described as a pro-oxidant, generating ROS which are responsible for cell death in some cancer cells. Mitochondrial membrane potential loss can be brought about by ROS added directly in vitro or induced by chemical agents. Taken together, our results demonstrate that quercetin eventually exerts its antileishmanial effect on L. amazonensis promastigotes due to the generation of ROS and disrupted parasite mitochondrial function