Salivary biomarkers in psychobiological medicine.

The value of salivary biomarkers for diagnostic and prognostic assessments has become increasingly well established in medicine, pharmacology, and dentistry. Certain salivary components mirror the neuro-endocrine status of the organism. Other saliva products are protein in nature, and can serve to reflect immune surveillance processes. The autonomic nervous system regulates the process of salivation, and the concentration of yet other salivary components, such as alpha-amylase, which provide a reliable outcome measure of the sympathetic response. Here, we discuss molecular technologies that have permitted giant steps in the utilization of salivary samples and micro-fluidics for the benefit of diagnostic medicine and dentistry, and their putative role in springing forward research in psychobiology

Evidence-based Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine I: History

Contemporary Western medicine has witnessed a fragmentation of our conceptualization of the medical endeavor into ‘traditional medicine’ and ‘non-traditional medicine’. The former is meant to refer to the Western medical tradition, the latter encompasses both ‘complementary’ and ‘alternative’ medical practices. Complementary medicine complements conventional medical treatments, and alternative modes of medical interventions are meant to replace traditional Western medicine. Evidence-based research must be directed at establishing the best available evidence in complementary and alternative medicine. This paper is the first of a set of four ‘lectures’ that reviews the process of evidence-based research, and discusses its implications and applications for the early decades of the 21st century. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the series by examining some of the historical and philosophical foundations of this research endeavor

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Evidence-Based Research for the Third Millennium

The stress that results from traumatic events precipitates a spectrum of psycho-emotional and physiopathological outcomes. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that results from the experience or witnessing of traumatic or life-threatening events. PTSD has profound psychobiological correlates, which can impair the person's daily life and be life threatening. In light of current events (e.g. extended combat, terrorism, exposure to certain environmental toxins), a sharp rise in patients with PTSD diagnosis is expected in the next decade. PTSD is a serious public health concern, which compels the search for novel paradigms and theoretical models to deepen the understanding of the condition and to develop new and improved modes of treatment intervention. We review the current knowledge of PTSD and introduce the role of allostasis as a new perspective in fundamental PTSD research. We discuss the domain of evidence-based research in medicine, particularly in the context of complementary medical intervention for patients with PTSD. We present arguments in support of the notion that the future of clinical and translational research in PTSD lies in the systematic evaluation of the research evidence in treatment intervention in order to insure the most effective and efficacious treatment for the benefit of the patient

O potencial de podcasts para o fomento à “imaginação sociológica”

O presente Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso tem como objetivo analisar o potencial de podcasts para o fomento à “imaginação sociológica”. Considerou-se podcast como arquivo de áudio disponibilizado na internet que pode ser acessado via download, cujo conteúdo é uma locução que trata de um determinado assunto, podendo ou não agregar uma trilha sonora, de forma semelhante a um programa de rádio. O fomento à “imaginação sociológica” é relacionado à proposta de que cidadãos sejam ensinados a tecer um olhar sobre a sociedade a partir de ferramentas teóricas disponibilizadas pela sociologia, orientando o indivíduo a compreender seu lugar no mundo considerando o cenário histórico no qual está inserido, bem como os demais indivíduos. A adesão ao recurso do podcast tem crescido nos últimos anos, através da difusão de uma diversidade de programas, sobre os mais variados assuntos, incluindo aqueles que são caros à sociologia. Considerando tal cenário, desenvolveu-se um modelo de análise, tomando como base uma literatura sobre o ensino de sociologia, bem como a noção de “audioleitura”, com o objetivo de avaliar sua possível contribuição como recurso didático. A avaliação do material considerou dois podcasts disponíveis na internet. O primeiro, elaborado por professores de sociologia, o Café com Sociologia. O segundo, por profissionais de outras áreas que tratam de questões políticas, entre vários temas, o Anticast. Concluiu-se que os podcasts disponíveis na internet tem potencial para servir como recurso didático adicional, tanto em sala de aula como fora, exigindo do professor a prática de transposição didática, em função da forma como tais recursos são disponibilizados, em termos de duração e público-alvo para o qual são direcionados (adulto). Também demonstraram ser um interessante recurso para pensar o fomento à “imaginação sociológica” para além dos espaços escolares

Impact of oxygen concentration on the oxidative cytotoxic response of macrophages

Macrophage cytotoxic response includes nitric oxide synthase- and NADPH oxidase-dependent production of nitric oxide (●NO) and superoxide (O2●-). Both enzymes use O2 as a substrate; therefore, their activity, as well as the formation of the product of the reaction between ●NO and O2●-, peroxynitrite (ONOO-), could be affected by local concentrations of O2. Moreover, O2 partial pressure (pO2) could modulate ●NO formation as it is demonstrated that iNOS expression is regulated by the hypoxia inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α). While tissular pO2 varies between 2-15 %, most in vitro experiments are usually performed at a pO2 of 21%. To determine the effects of O2 concentration, J774.A1 macrophages were exposed during 1h or 24h to different O2 concentrations, ranging from 2 to 21%, and O2-●, ●NO and ONOO- production rates were measured. Also, to evaluate the influence of O2 as a signaling agent, HIF-1α activation and iNOS expression were assessed under the same conditions. Our results show that O2-● and ●NO production decreases when pO2 is under 10%, and therefore, less ONOO- production is detected. For instance, at 6% O2, almost 100% of O2-● formation is preserved, but the production of ●NO and ONOO- decreased to ≈60% of that observed in atmospheric air. After a 1h-incubation, no changes were observed in HIF-1α activation or iNOS expression. To evaluate the cytotoxic response, macrophage infection by Trypanasoma Cruzi was used as a model at different O2 concentrations. In accordance with our data, macrophages are less capable of eliminating parasites at a pO2 of 6% when compared to those incubated at 21%. However, even at 6% O2, macrophage activation to produce ONOO- increases 30% its capacity to eliminate T. Cruzi. Altogether, our results show the relevance of ONOO- as a cytotoxic agent at physiological pO2 conditions.Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovació

THE ADO METHOD FOR SOLVING ONE-DIMENSIONAL DEEP-PENETRATION TRANSPORT PROBLEMS

In this work, the Analytical Discrete Ordinate method (ADO method) is used to solve deep-penetration transport problems in one-dimensional Cartesian geometry, subject to isotropic and linear anisotropic scattering effects. The regime is considered permanent, the media are homogeneous, and the fluxes are caused by sources located on the boundaries of the domain. In addition, the energy fluctuations will be considered as not significant, characterizing the phenomena as monoenergetic problems. In order to validate the code, method and provide benchmark results, some test problems will be treated and results will be discussed. In particular, the ADO method generated fairly accurate results when compared to other methods based on SN approaches, at a relatively low computational cost

Evidence-Based Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine II: The Process of Evidence-Based Research

It is a common practice in contemporary medicine to follow stringently the scientific method in the process of validating efficacy and effectiveness of new or improved modes of treatment intervention. It follows that these complementary or alternative interventions must be validated by stringent research before they can be reliably integrated into Western medicine. The next decades will witness an increasing number of evidence-based research directed at establishing the best available evidence in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). This second paper in this lecture series examines the process of evidence-based research (EBR) in the context of CAM. We outline the fundamental principles, process and relevance of EBR, and its implication to CAM. We underscore areas of future development in EBR. We note that the main problem of applying EBR to CAM at present has to do with the fact that the contribution of EBR can be significant only to the extent to which studies used in the process of EBR are of good quality. All too often CAM research is not of sufficient quality to warrant the generation of a consensus statement. EBR, nevertheless, can contribute to CAM by identifying current weaknesses of CAM research. We present a revised instrument to assess quality of the literature

Solução das equações de Luikov para transferência de calor e massa em meios capilares porosos

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Evidence-Based Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine III: Treatment of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease

This paper presents the novel domain of evidence-based research (EBR) in the treatment of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) from the perspective of traditional medicine and of complementary and alternative medicine. In earlier lectures we have described the process of evidence-based medicine as a methodological approach to clinical practice that is directed to aid clinical decision-making. Here, we present a practical example of this approach with respect to traditional pharmacological interventions and to complementary and alternative treatments for patients with AD