El valor de la templanza en las relaciones familiares (En los escritos de Pedro-Juan Viladrich Bataller)

La familia “es una comunidad de personas, para las cuales el propio modo de existir y vivir juntos” exige la vivencia intensa y cotidiana del amor “bueno”, que es el “principio interior”, la “fuerza permanente” de las relaciones intrafamiliares, que son únicas y exclusivas de la “comunidad doméstica”, pues brotan de la “conyugalidad” y la “consanguinidad”. Los familiares para vivir bien estas relaciones amorosas cuentan con un conjunto de valores que les son propios e intrínsecos, entre cuales se encuentra el valor familiar de la templanza, que propicia un ambiente hogareño de armonía, estabilidad y unidad. Enseñando, adquiriendo y viviendo este valor los esposos, padres, hijos y hermanos avivan y renuevan la dinámica del “amor familiar incondicional y desnudo”: darse a sí mismo y abrirse para recibir al otro con todo lo que es y tiene.The family “is a community of persons, whose own way of existing and living together” requires a daily intense experience of “good” love, that is the inner principle, the permanent power of intra-family relationships, that are unique and exclusive of the “domestic community”, as they arise from the “conjugality” and the “consanguinity”. To live well these relationships of love the relatives have a group of values that are exclusive and inherent, among which, the temperance is one of the family values that fosters a homey atmosphere of harmony, stability, and unity. Teaching, acquiring and living this value, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters intensify and renew the dynamics of the “transparent and unconditional family love”; self-giving to oneself and opening to the other accepting what he is and he has

Leaf Epidermal Descriptors of Forage from Caatinga, NE Brazil

In the Brazilian semi-arid region, the predominant vegetation is the Caatinga, which has a diversity of plant species, some endemic and presenting forage potential. The characterization of the plant anatomy is important for animal diet studies, using a microhistological technique (Scott and Dahl 1980) for estimating the diet botanical composition from ruminant faeces. This paper determined leaf epidermal descriptors for Caatinga species using microscopic slides

Validity and Reliability of the Frontotemporal Dementia Rating Scale (FTD-FRS) for the Progression and Staging of Dementia in Brazilian Patients

Introduction: Few studies on instruments for staging frontotemporal dementia (FTD) have been conducted.  Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the factor structure, internal consistency, reliability, and convergent validity of the Brazilian version of the Frontotemporal Dementia Rating Scale (FTD-FRS).  Methods: A total of 97 individuals aged 40 years and above with >2 years’ education took part in the study, 31 patients diagnosed with behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD), 8 patients with primary progressive aphasia, 28 with Alzheimer disease, 8 with mild cognitive impairment, and a control group of 22 healthy subjects. The FTD-FRS was completed by family members or caregivers, and Neurologists completed the 8-item Clinical Dementia Rating for Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (CDR-FTLD) scale (6 original domains plus Language and Behavior). The Alzheimer disease and FTD patients had equivalent disease severity level.  Results: The internal consistency of the FTD-FRS, estimated by Cronbach α, was 0.975 whereas test-retest reliability was 0.977. Scree plot and exploratory factor (Varimax rotation) analyses revealed the existence of 4 factors, with eigenvalues >1, which together explained 77.13% of the total variance with values of 1.28 to 17.52. The domains of the Brazilian version of the FTD-FRS scale correlated with the domains of the CDR-FTLD.  Conclusions: The present study is the first to document the factorial structure of the FTD-FRS and its convergent validity with the CDR-FTLD. These tools are key to determine dementia severity in FTD. The Brazilian FTD-FRS demonstrated adequate psychometric properties for use in Brazil. This instrument may contribute to disease staging in FTD and may help to document intervention-related changes

Avaliação preliminar do Serviço de Saúde Escolar da IX Região Administrativa, Rio de Janeiro: estudo da população coberta e análise operacional de um subprograma

A preliminary evaluation of the School Health Service of the State of Rio de Janeiro's Ninth Administrative Region was performed as result of an agreement between the Institute of Social Medicine belonging to the State of Rio de Janeiro University and the State Department of Health. Through an analysis of the school-children's health level and an operational study of the health register subprogramme, high morbidity rates were found as was also a small percentage of children having received previous medical care. The effectiveness of the programme and the identification of problems in the technical and administrative area of the Service were determined. Among the results the need to complete the Service's evaluation through the use of the efficacy, efficiency and yielding criteria considering the availability of funds for planning and administration was emphasized. It is important to increase interaction between University and Community services in order to supply the former with conditions that enable the development of human resources adequate to the Community health conditions providing the latter with the necessary implementation of new techniques and patterns of attention.Foi realizada uma avaliação preliminar do Serviço de Saúde Escolar da IX Região Administrativa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, como resultado do convênio firmado entre o Instituto de Medicina Social da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro e a Secretaria de Saúde do Estado. Através de estudo do nível de saúde entre os escolares e da análise operacional do subprograma de Registro de Saúde, diagnosticaram-se elevados índices de morbidade e pequena proporção de crianças com assistência médica prévia, além de determinar-se a efetividade do programa e de identificar-se problemas no processo técnico-administrativo do Serviço. Dentre as conclusões destaca-se a necessidade de completar a avaliação do Serviço, através da determinação dos critérios de eficiência, eficácia e rendimento, tendo em vista o fornecimento de subsídios para as tarefas de planejamento e administração. É enfatizada a necessidade de ampliação das medidas integradoras dos serviços universitários com os serviços da comunidade, no sentido de fornecer aos primeiros as condições de realizar, através de prestação de serviços, uma formação dos recursos humanos de acordo com a situação de saúde da comunidade, e aos segundos a necessária implementação de novas técnicas e modelos de assistência

Fiber Optical Cable and Connector System (FOCCoS) for PFS/Subaru

FOCCoS, Fiber Optical Cable and Connector System, has the main function of capturing the direct light from the focal plane of Subaru Telescope using optical fibers, each one with a microlens in its tip, and conducting this light through a route containing connectors to a set of four spectrographs. The optical fiber cable is divided in 3 different segments called Cable A, Cable B and Cable C. Multi-fibers connectors assure precise connection among all optical fibers of the segments, providing flexibility for instrument changes. To assure strong and accurate connection, these sets are arranged inside two types of assemblies: the Tower Connector, for connection between Cable C and Cable B; and the Gang Connector, for connection between Cable B and Cable A. Throughput tests were made to evaluate the efficiency of the connections. A lifetime test connection is in progress. Cable C is installed inside the PFI, Prime Focus Instrument, where each fiber tip with a microlens is bonded to the end of the shaft of a 2-stage piezo-electric rotatory motor positioner; this assembly allows each fiber to be placed anywhere within its patrol region, which is 9.5mm diameter.. Each positioner uses a fiber arm to support the ferrule, the microlens, and the optical fiber. 2400 of these assemblies are arranged on a motor bench plate in a hexagonal-closed-packed disposition.Comment: 11 pages, 20 figure

H1N1pdm Influenza Infection in Hospitalized Cancer Patients: Clinical Evolution and Viral Analysis

BACKGROUND: The novel influenza A pandemic virus (H1N1pdm) caused considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide in 2009. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical course, duration of viral shedding, H1N1pdm evolution and emergence of antiviral resistance in hospitalized cancer patients with severe H1N1pdm infections during the winter of 2009 in Brazil. METHODS: We performed a prospective single-center cohort study in a cancer center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Hospitalized patients with cancer and a confirmed diagnosis of influenza A H1N1pdm were evaluated. The main outcome measures in this study were in-hospital mortality, duration of viral shedding, viral persistence and both functional and molecular analyses of H1N1pdm susceptibility to oseltamivir. RESULTS: A total of 44 hospitalized patients with suspected influenza-like illness were screened. A total of 24 had diagnosed H1N1pdm infections. The overall hospital mortality in our cohort was 21%. Thirteen (54%) patients required intensive care. The median age of the studied cohort was 14.5 years (3-69 years). Eighteen (75%) patients had received chemotherapy in the previous month, and 14 were neutropenic at the onset of influenza. A total of 10 patients were evaluated for their duration of viral shedding, and 5 (50%) displayed prolonged viral shedding (median 23, range=11-63 days); however, this was not associated with the emergence of a resistant H1N1pdm virus. Viral evolution was observed in sequentially collected samples. CONCLUSIONS: Prolonged influenza A H1N1pdm shedding was observed in cancer patients. However, oseltamivir resistance was not detected. Taken together, our data suggest that severely ill cancer patients may constitute a pandemic virus reservoir with major implications for viral propagation