Patients’ perception of childbirth according to the delivery method: The experience in our clinic

Introduction: The aim of this study is to identify the way in which childbirth in general, and the delivery method in particular, influenced the maternal psychosocial status and the perception upon birth during postpartum. Material and method: We conducted a cohort type 2 prospective study. We included patients who had given birth at “Bucur” Maternity of Hospital “St. John” Bucharest from the 1st of January 2017 until the 1st of January 2018. Results: The majority of the patients (21.05%) who chose to give birth vaginally assigned the maximum degree (10) to the difficulty of birth. The patients who gave birth through cesarean section experienced the feeling of sadness in a higher percentage than those who gave birth vaginally (30.52% versus 21.05%). Among the patients who were in favor of having more children, 85.45% preferred the same delivery method. All the patients who gave birth vaginally wished to have other children using the same method, while 81.4% from the patients who gave birth through cesarean section were in favor of more children. Conclusion: The patients’ perception of childbirth was a subjective parameter. Further studies with standardized questionnaires should be applied for more reliable results

A STUDY REGARDING THE ACTUAL STATE OF ART FOR TECHNOLOGIES AND EQUIPMENT’S USED TO SEPARATE THE SEA BUCKTHORN FRUITS FROM HARVESTED BRANCHES

In the Phyto-pharmaceutical products industry, the sea buckthorn extracts are very valuable in many European countries and for this reason are manufactured many products that use different plant parts (fruits, seeds, lives, etc.). The bioproduct marketing policies and alternative medicine (especially to new-borns) promote products to stimulate the immune system and to provide large vitamin concentration, from this reason the sea buckthorn plantations were established in many rural Romanian regions, but nowadays the fruit harvesting process involves cutting the branches, process that requires a lot of labour and a long period of time, more than that, the transport, handling, cleaning and fruit separation operations that are included in well-controlled technology designed to reduce fruit loss and damage. To support sea buckthorn plantation holders and processors, the INMA directs its expertise to make a study regarding the actual state of art on technologies and equipment’s used to separate the sea buckthorn fruit from the harvested branches in the developed countries, which also take the lead on the market

Anticorrosive polystyrene coatings modified with tannic acid on zinc and steel substrates

Polystyrene (PS) polymer layers were prepared by the sol-gel method and studied as anticorrosive barrier layers on carbon steel and zinc substrates. To increase the corrosion resistance of the coatings, two different approaches were considered: (i) the use of mesoporous silica-nano­containers impregnated with a corrosion inhibitor (tannic acid) introduced into the polystyrene matrix and (ii) direct impregnation of polystyrene coatings with the same corrosion inhibitor. The impregnated nanocontainers were characterized by transmission electron microscopy. The thickness and the adhesion of the coatings were measured, and their corrosion behavior was investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Results showed that the used inhibitor slightly decreased adhesion, but significantly increased the corrosion resistance of the coatings. The direct introduction of tannic acid into the polymer matrix offers higher corrosion resistance than in the case of polystyrene coatings doped with impregnated silica nanocontainers

Patients’ perception of childbirth according to the delivery method: The experience in our clinic

Introduction: The aim of this study is to identify the way in which childbirth in general, and the delivery method in particular, influenced the maternal psychosocial status and the perception upon birth during postpartum. Material and method: We conducted a cohort type 2 prospective study. We included patients who had given birth at “Bucur” Maternity of Hospital “St. John” Bucharest from the 1st of January 2017 until the 1st of January 2018. Results: The majority of the patients (21.05%) who chose to give birth vaginally assigned the maximum degree (10) to the difficulty of birth. The patients who gave birth through cesarean section experienced the feeling of sadness in a higher percentage than those who gave birth vaginally (30.52% versus 21.05%). Among the patients who were in favor of having more children, 85.45% preferred the same delivery method. All the patients who gave birth vaginally wished to have other children using the same method, while 81.4% from the patients who gave birth through cesarean section were in favor of more children. Conclusion: The patients’ perception of childbirth was a subjective parameter. Further studies with standardized questionnaires should be applied for more reliable results

The Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Infection on Premature Birth—Our Experience as COVID Center

Information about the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on pregnant women is still limited and raises challenges, even as publications are increasing rapidly. The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on preterm birth pregnancies. We performed a prospective, observational study in a COVID-only hospital, which included 34 pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection and preterm birth compared with a control group of 48 healthy women with preterm birth. The rate of cesarean delivery was 82% in the study group versus 6% for the control group. We observed a strong correlation between premature birth and the presence of COVID-19 symptoms (cough p = 0.029, fever p = 0.001, and chills p = 0.001). The risk for premature birth is correlated to a lower value of oxygen saturation (p = 0.001) and extensive radiologic pulmonary lesions (p = 0.025). The COVID-19 pregnant women with preterm delivery were older, and experienced an exacerbation of severe respiratory symptoms, decreased saturation of oxygen, increased inflammatory markers, severe pulmonary lesions and decreased lymphocytes

Condições para a emergência do neofascismo no Brasil: da crise política ao governo Bolsonaro

O capitalismo em crise aprofunda o neoliberalismo e o corolário tem sido o avanço da extrema direita em muitos países, com variados traços de fascistização. Há entre o neoliberalismo e o neofascismo uma afinidade eletiva. No Brasil, a crise política iniciada em 2013 e radicalizada em 2015 com a crise econômica deflagrou o processo de fascistização. Alicerçado na interpretação de Nicos Poulantzas, buscar-se-á apresentar a peculiaridade de uma crise política que cria o ambiente propício para o surgimento do movimento fascista a partir do ativismo de massas das classes médias radicalizadas. A debilidade política da classe trabalhadora aliada à aguda disputa política no seio das classes dominantes engendrou uma grave crise política e institucional, permitindo o ascenso das classes médias que, em 2018, chegam ao Executivo Federal com a eleição de Jair Bolsonaro, mas não para terem os seus reais interesses representados

Prenatal Diagnosis of Bovine Aortic Arch Anatomic Variant

Fetal aortic arch development is an early and complex process that depends on many genetic and environmental factors. The final aortic arch varies greatly; it may take the form of a normal arch, anatomic variant (AAAV) with a common origin to that of the innominate artery and left common carotid artery (formerly known as “bovine aortic arch” (with an incidence of up to 27%)) or one of multiple pathological conditions. The present study aimed to establish the feasibility and impact of prenatal anatomic arch variants’ diagnosis. A retrospective study of 271 fetal second- and third-trimester anomaly scans was performed in our tertiary center. Examinations that evaluated the sagittal aortic arch were included and the branching pattern was assessed. Additionally, a literature data search based on the terms “common origin of innominate artery and left common carotid artery”, “bovine arch”, “bovine aortic” and “aortic arch anomalies” was performed. Results that referred to prenatal AAAV were retained and the papers evaluated. In our study, the AAA incidence was 1.93%, with 4 out of 5 cases being arch type B. All cases had minor associated conditions but a good postnatal outcome. An anatomic aortic variant with a common IA and LCCa prenatal diagnosis was found in a small number of studies; most of the cases described in pediatric and adult series were related to cardiac surgery for stenting, aneurysm or thoracic-associated diseases. The incidence of AAAV varied from 6 to 27% depending on the population studied (highest incidence in African individuals). The variant was highly associated with aortic dissection, pulmonary and cerebral embolism and increased risks of incidents during surgery. Diagnosing AAAV during a routine anatomic scan is feasible and diagnoses can be made when anomaly scans are performed. Awareness of the condition is important for postnatal surgery when other cardiac anomalies are found; this can prevent accidents with simple changes to the patient’s lifestyle, and, in the case of surgery, means we can adopt the correct surgical approach

Spider venom administration impairs glioblastoma growth and modulates immune response in a non-clinical model.

Molecules from animal venoms are promising candidates for the development of new drugs. Previous in vitro studies have shown that the venom of the spider Phoneutria nigriventer (PnV) is a potential source of antineoplastic components with activity in glioblastoma (GB) cell lines. In the present work, the effects of PnV on tumor development were established in vivo using a xenogeneic model. Human GB (NG97, the most responsive line in the previous study) cells were inoculated (s.c.) on the back of RAG-/- mice. PnV (100 µg/Kg) was administrated every 48 h (i.p.) for 14 days and several endpoints were evaluated: tumor growth and metabolism (by microPET/CT, using 18F-FDG), tumor weight and volume, histopathology, blood analysis, percentage and profile of macrophages, neutrophils and NK cells isolated from the spleen (by flow cytometry) and the presence of macrophages (Iba-1 positive) within/surrounding the tumor. The effect of venom was also evaluated on macrophages in vitro. Tumors from PnV-treated animals were smaller and did not uptake detectable amounts of 18F-FDG, compared to control (untreated). PnV-tumor was necrotic, lacking the histopathological characteristics typical of GB. Since in classic chemotherapies it is observed a decrease in immune response, methotrexate (MTX) was used only to compare the PnV effects on innate immune cells with a highly immunosuppressive antineoplastic drug. The venom increased monocytes, neutrophils and NK cells, and this effect was the opposite of that observed in the animals treated with MTX. PnV increased the number of macrophages in the tumor, while did not increase in the spleen, suggesting that PnV-activated macrophages were led preferentially to the tumor. Macrophages were activated in vitro by the venom, becoming more phagocytic; these results confirm that this cell is a target of PnV components. Spleen and in vitro PnV-activated macrophages were different of M1, since they did not produce pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Studies in progress are selecting the venom molecules with antitumor and immunomodulatory effects and trying to better understand their mechanisms. The identification, optimization and synthesis of antineoplastic drugs from PnV molecules may lead to a new multitarget chemotherapy. Glioblastoma is associated with high morbidity and mortality; therefore, research to develop new treatments has great social relevance. Natural products and their derivatives represent over one-third of all new molecular entities approved by FDA. However, arthropod venoms are underexploited, although they are a rich source of new molecules. A recent in vitro screening of the Phoneutria nigriventer spider venom (PnV) antitumor effects by our group has shown that the venom significantly affected glioblastoma cell lines. Therefore, it would be relevant to establish the effects of PnV on tumor development in vivo, considering the complex neoplastic microenvironment. The venom was effective at impairing tumor development in murine xenogeneic model, activating the innate immune response and increasing tumor infiltrating macrophages. In addition, PnV activated macrophages in vitro for a different profile of M1. These activated PnV-macrophages have potential to fight the tumor without promoting tumorigenesis. Studies in progress are selecting the venom molecules with antitumor and immunomodulatory effects and trying to better understand their mechanisms. We aim to synthesize and carry out a formulation with these antineoplastic molecules for clinical trials. Spider venom biomolecules induced smaller and necrotic xenogeneic GB; spider venom activated the innate immune system; venom increased blood monocytes and the migration of macrophages to the tumor; activated PnV-macrophages have a profile different of M1 and have a potential to fight the tumor without promote tumorigenesis

Metilén kékkel impregnált szilika nanokonténerek hatása a kitozán vékony rétegre: Influence of methylene blue impregnated silica nanocontainers on the properties of chitosan thin layers

Chitosan is a biopolymer, which is synthesized by the deacetylation of chitin extracted from the shells of crustaceans [1]. It has drawn significant attention in the past few years in physical and electrochemical research, due to its eco-friendly nature, cost-efficient production process and the abundance of  its precursor. This study focuses on the characterization of methylene blue impregnated silica nanocontainers-chitosan systems. Glass and zinc were used as substrates. Methylene blue shows a high affinity toward silica nanocontainers [2] and its also a good model substance due to its intense color. It has been widely studied as a possible corrosion inhibitor [3]. Optical studies show that methylene blue accumulates significantly in the nanocontainers. The methylene blue can’t be impregnated directly in the chitosan thin coating, it can be introduced only through the nanocontainers. We have succeeded in producing stable methylene blue-nanocontainers/chitosan systems. Further research is needed to determine the electrochemical properties of these coatings and to optimize their anticorrosive effect. Kivonat A kitozán egy biopolimer melyet a rákfélék páncéljából kivont kitin deacilezésével állítanak elő [1]. Környezetbarát, gazdaságos, nyersanyaga könnyen hozzáférhető és sokrétű tulajdonságainak köszönhetően az utóbbi években kiemelt figyelmet kapott különböző fizikai és elektrokémiai kutatásokban. Munkánk során metilénkékkel impregnált szilika nanokonténerek/kitozán rendszerek tulajdonságait vizsgáltuk üveg és cink hordozókon. A metilénkék nagy affinitást mutat a szilika nanokonténerekkel szemben [2], valamint megfelelő modell anyag intenzív színének köszönhetően. A szakirodalomban széleskörűen vizsgálták mint lehetséges korrózió inhibitort [3]. Az optikai vizsgálatokból kitűnik, hogy a metilénkék jelentősen akkumulálódik a nanokonténerekben. A kitozán rétegbe nem lehet a metilénkéket impregnálni, de a nanokonténerek segítségével bevihető. Sikeresen létrehoztunk stabil metilénkék-nanokonténer/kitozán rendszereket. További kutatások szükségesek annak érdekében, hogy vizsgáljuk a bevonatok elektrokémiai tulajdonságait, illetve optimizáljuk ezek korrózióvédő hatását. &nbsp