Common mental disorders associated with tuberculosis: a matched case-control study.

INTRODUCTION: Despite the availability of treatment and a vaccine, tuberculosis continues to be a public health problem worldwide. Mental disorders might contribute to the burden of the disease. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the association between common mental disorders and tuberculosis. METHODS: A matched case-control study was conducted. The study population included symptomatic respiratory patients who attended three referral hospitals and six community clinics in the city of Salvador, Brazil. A doctor's diagnosis defined potential cases and controls. Cases were newly diagnosed tuberculosis cases, and controls were symptomatic respiratory patients for whom tuberculosis was excluded as a diagnosis by the attending physician. Cases and controls were ascertained in the same clinic. Data collection occurred between August 2008 and April 2010. The study instruments included a structured interview, a self-reporting questionnaire for the identification of common mental disorders, and a questionnaire for alcoholism. An univariate analysis included descriptive procedures (with chi-square statistics), and a multivariate analysis used conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: The mean age of the cases was 38 years, and 61% of the cases were males. After adjusting for potential confounders, the odds of tuberculosis were significantly higher in patients diagnosed with a common mental disorder (OR: 1.34; 95% CI 1.05-1.70). CONCLUSION: There appears to be a positive and independent association between common mental disorders and tuberculosis; further epidemiological studies are required to increase our understanding of the possible biological and social mechanisms responsible for this association. Independent of the direction of the association, this finding has implications for the provision of care for mental disorders and for tuberculosis

Occurrence and predictors of gingivitis and supragingival calculus in a population of Brazilian adults

The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of gingivitis and calculus and their predictors in a population of adults in Brazil. A representative sample of 758 adults from 35 to 59 years of age from Porto Alegre city was examined. A structured questionnaire was applied. The Gingival Bleeding Index and the presence of calculus were measured at 4 sites/tooth. Multivariable logistic models were fitted to determine the predictors for gingival bleeding at >20% of sites. Overall, 96.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]=95.1-98.0) of individuals had ≥ 1 bleeding site. The mean percentages of sites with gingivitis and calculus were 26.1% and 44.6%, respectively. The odds of gingivitis decreased by ~45% for individuals ≥40 years old compared to younger adults. Individuals that never performed interproximal cleaning and non-whites had an approximately two times higher chance of gingivitis. Smokers had lower chances of gingivitis than never-smokers (odds ratio=0.40; 95% CI=0.24-0.68). Higher numbers of missing teeth were associated with higher chances of gingivitis. The percentage of calculus was significantly associated with skin color, education, proximal cleaning, smoking exposure, dental visits, and tooth loss. It can be concluded that the occurrence of gingivitis and calculus was high in this Brazilian population, and it was associated with age, skin color, education, self-reported proximal cleaning, smoking, dental care, and tooth loss

PRESSÃO ARTERIAL EM FUNÇÃO DO SEXO, IDADE E LARGURA DO MANGUITO

Neste estudo medidas indiretas da pressão arterial foram comparadas, usando-se manguito de largura correta versus o de largura padrão, em 1000 pessoas. O manguito de largura correta, apropriada à circunferência do braço, foi escolhido segundo as recomendações da American Heart Association. Os resultados evidenciaram inadequação do manguito padrão na população estudada, tomando-se excessivamente largo na maioria dos braços; resultando em importante hipoestimação dos valores de pressão arterial, sobretudo nos adultos jovens, sexo feminino, e magros. Tais achados levantam a hipótese de que o uso do manguito padrão possa prejudicar o diagnóstico precoce da hipertensão arterial.In this study indirect arterial preassure measurements were compared using correct cuff width versus standard one, in 1000 people. The choice of the correct cuff width followed the American Heart Association recommendation. The results showed inappropriation of the standard cuff in the studied population, which is too much large in the majority of the arms, resulting in important hipoestimation of the arterial preassure values, particularly in the young adults, females and leans. Such findings raise the hypotesis that the use of standard cuff can mask the early diagnosis of hypertension in people with thin arms

Salt stress on physiology, biometry and fruit quality of grafted Passiflora edulis

The production of grafted passion fruit is an alternative for plant adaptation to saline environments. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of salt stress on physiology, biometry and fruit quality of P. edulis grafted on Passiflora spp. The experiment was conducted in completely randomized design, in a 3 x 2 factorial scheme, corresponding to three species of Passiflora (P. edulis, P. gibertii and P. cincinnata) with P. edulis scion and two levels of irrigation water salinity (0.5 - control and 4.5 dS m-1), with four repetitions. Water salinity compromises gas exchanges (CO2 assimilation raste and transpiration) and physiological variables (total chlorophyll and total water consumption) in grafted P. edulis. The interaction between the factors (water salinity x species) compromised only the growth in plant height and number of leaves. In relation to the species, auto-grafted P. edulis stood out from the other species, with higher internal CO2 concentration, number of leaves, stem dry mass, peel thickness, total soluble solids (TSS) of the pulp and TSS/TA ratio (titratable acidity). Auto-grafted P. edulis under saline conditions develops vital mechanisms (TSS and TSS/TA), which attenuates the effects of salt stress on the physico-chemical quality of the fruits

Desempenho zootécnico e financeiro de bovinos confinados com acesso a diferentes áreas de sombreamento e a pleno sol / Zootecnical and financial development of confined bovines with access to different areas of shading and exposed to the sun

Estudos indicam que o fornecimento de sombra para bovinos de corte durante o período de confinamento favorece o aumento de produtividade, mesmo em zebuínos, como o nelore. Desta forma, foram avaliados o desempenho zootécnico e financeiro de bovinos mestiços machos não-castrados confinados no estado de Rondônia entre os meses de junho e setembro de 2017. Os animais foram apartados em três lotes de 130 animais cada. Os lotes identificados como F1 e F2 receberam, respectivamente, acesso à área de 400m² e 200m² de malha de sombrite com 80% de bloqueio solar. O lote F3, escolhido como testemunha, foi mantido a pleno sol. O período de confinamento foi de 89 dias, com fornecimento controlado de dieta total composta por ureia, núcleo mineral aditivado, farelo de soja, soja em grão moída, milho em grão seco moído e silagem de planta inteira de milho. As variáveis climáticas obtidas na estação meteorológica local e junto ao Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia, indicaram que os animais sofreram estresse térmico durante o período de confinamento. O acesso à maior área de sombra por animal melhorou o índice de rendimento de carcaça, mas ocasionou queda no consumo e piorou o desempenho de eficiência biológica. Como consequência, o custo por arroba produzida dos lotes com acesso à sombra foi superior quando comparado ao lote mantido a pleno sol, tornando economicamente inviável a implantação da estrutura de sombrite sob essas circunstâncias. O investimento feito foi viabilizado diante de uma perspectiva ética, considerando a melhoria no conforto térmico proporcionada pelo acesso à sombra no decorrer do período de confinamento, altamente estressante para os animais. Do ponto de vista comercial, o investimento foi viabilizado quando consideradas as cobranças crescentes do mercado consumidor por melhorias no bem-estar animal durante toda a cadeia produtiva

Perícia médica para transtornos mentais no Brasil: a integração das tecnologias de informação

O presente artigo investiga possibilidades de uso de recursos tecnológicos na melhoria do serviço de perícia médica para transtornos mentais no Brasil.  A mudança nas condições de trabalho e emprego em todo o mundo, especialmente no Chile, levou à geração de novos riscos no trabalho. Os fatores de risco psicossocial e as consequências para a saúde mental dos trabalhadores, devido à sua exposição, vêm crescendo constantemente nos últimos anos. A preocupação com a prevenção e a identificação adequada de patologias de saúde mental são um dos principais problemas das autoridades de saúde e segurança em nosso país. O objetivo geral é discutir possibilidades de melhoria do processo de perícia médica previdenciária para transtornos mentais no Brasil. Para tanto, foi realizada uma revisão de literatura, em busca de evidências que indicassem as contribuições das tecnologias da informação à melhoria do processo de perícia previdenciária no país, além da pesquisa sobre perícia médica em transtornos mentais. Os resultados indicam que as experiências mais avançadas no que se refere ao uso de tecnologias no trabalho da perícia previdenciária são realizadas no âmbito do Exército Brasileiro, cujo sistema inclui todos os processos, laudos e procedimentos necessários para a execução eficiente da perícia. Conclui-se que o modelo adotado pelo Exército pode ser referência para outros sistemas de previdência, de modo a oferecer ao contribuinte e ao profissional um processo justo e o cumprimento dos prazos legais

Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers. These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30 to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components. The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy -- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Measurement of the Radiation Energy in the Radio Signal of Extensive Air Showers as a Universal Estimator of Cosmic-Ray Energy

We measure the energy emitted by extensive air showers in the form of radio emission in the frequency range from 30 to 80 MHz. Exploiting the accurate energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we obtain a radiation energy of 15.8 \pm 0.7 (stat) \pm 6.7 (sys) MeV for cosmic rays with an energy of 1 EeV arriving perpendicularly to a geomagnetic field of 0.24 G, scaling quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy. A comparison with predictions from state-of-the-art first-principle calculations shows agreement with our measurement. The radiation energy provides direct access to the calorimetric energy in the electromagnetic cascade of extensive air showers. Comparison with our result thus allows the direct calibration of any cosmic-ray radio detector against the well-established energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DOI. Supplemental material in the ancillary file