Occurrence of postural deviations in children of a school of Jaguariúna, São Paulo, Brazil

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the posture of students from a public school in Brazil and to identify the differences between normal deviation during growth and compensatory alterations. METHODS: Students from first to fourth grade of a public school in the city of Jaguariúna, São Paulo, Brazil, were evaluated. The students were positioned at sagital anterior and posterior coronal planes for postural assessment. Kendall points were used as the normal reference. RESULTS: 247 students were evaluated, 131 boys and 116 girls, and the main postural deviations found were: shoulder unbalance (50.2%), protracted shoulder (39.7%), abducted scapula (40.5%), knock-knee (29.6%), pelvic unbalance (21.5%), pelvic anteversion (19%), knee hyperextension (19%), medial rotation of hip (12.9%), protracted cervical (11.7%), head tilt (15.4%), thoracic hyperkyphosis (9.7%) and lumbar hyperlordosis (26.3%). CONCLUSIONS: A high incidence of postural alterations was detected in school children. Some of the postural alterations, such as abducted scapula, unbalance and protraction of the shoulders, knock-knee and lumbar hiperlordosis, normally occur and they are naturally corrected during growth. However, some postural problems, such as protraction and inclination of the cervical spine, were also prevalent and they require early intervention.OBJETIVO: Avaliar a postura de escolares do ensino público fundamental e diferenciar as alterações que fazem parte do crescimento normal das compensatórias. MÉTODOS: Trata-se de um estudo analítico, descritivo, de corte transversal, no qual se realizou avaliação postural em escolares de primeira a quarta série de uma escola pública da cidade de Jaguariúna, situada no interior do Estado de São Paulo. Cada aluno foi avaliado nos planos coronal-anterior, coronal-posterior e sagital, utilizando-se o método de Kendall como referência de alinhamento postural normal. RESULTADOS: A avaliação postural de 247 escolares (131 masculinos e 116 femininos) identificou a seguinte incidência de alterações: desnível (50,2%) e protrusão de ombro (39,7%), escápula alada (40,5%), aumento do ângulo valgo de joelho (29,6%), inclinação (21,5%) e anteroversão pélvica (19%), hiperextensão de joelho (19%), rotação de fêmur (12,9%), protrusão (11,7%) e inclinação cervical (15,4%), cifose torácica (9,7%) e hiperlordose lombar (26,3%). CONCLUSÕES: Houve elevada incidência de escápula alada, desnível e protrusão de ombro, aumento do ângulo valgo de joelho e hiperlordose lombar, consideradas normais durante o desenvolvimento da criança. As inclinações e a protrusão cervical, alterações que necessitam de intervenção precoce, também foram identificadas.748

Uma coleção de história em um museu de ciências naturais: o Museu Paulista de Hermann von Ihering

Instalado em um edifício-Monumento, data de 1895 a inauguração do Museu Paulista. Seu primeiro diretor, o zoólogo Hermann Von Ihering (1895-1916), teve a tarefa de organizar suas vastas coleções, as quais possuíam objetos de diversos ramos do conhecimento, entre eles, a História. Este artigo tem a intenção de entender a dimensão, dinâmica e concepção desta coleção de História, que recebeu pouca atenção da Historiografia relativa ao tema.The Museu Paulista, installed in a landmark building, was inaugurated in 1895. Its first director, the zoologist Herman von Ihering (1895-1916) undertook the assignment of organizing its extensive collections, which comprehended objects pertaining to varied fields of knowledge, including that of History. The present article aims at understanding the dimension, the dynamics and the conception of this historical collection. Until now little attention has been bestowed upon this subject matter by the specialized historiography

BALB/c Mice Infected with Antimony Treatment Refractory Isolate of Leishmania braziliensis Present Severe Lesions due to IL-4 Production

Leishmaniasis is a neglected disease that affects more than 12 million people worldwide. In Brazil, the cutaneous disease is more prevalent with about 28,000 new cases reported each year, and L. braziliensis is the main causative agent. The interesting data about the infection with this parasite is the wide variety of clinical manifestations that ranges from single ulcerated lesions to mucocutaneous and disseminated disease. However, experimental models to study the infection with this parasite are difficult to develop due to high resistance of most mouse strains to the infection, and the mechanisms underlying the distinct manifestations remain poorly understood. Here, the authors use a mouse experimental model of infection with different L. braziliensis isolates, known to induce diseases with distinct severity in the human hosts, to elucidate immune mechanisms that may be involved in the different manifestations. They showed that distinct parasite isolates may modulate host response, and increased IL-4 production and Arg I expression was related to more severe disease, resulting in longer length of disease with larger lesions and reduced parasite clearance. These findings may be useful in the identification of immunological targets to control L. braziliensis infection and potential clinical markers of disease progression

Respiratory functional characteristics of human leptospirosis

Introdução: O comprometimento respiratório da leptospirose humana pode ser sua principal manifestação clínica e comumente está associado a maior morbimortalidade. Métodos: Objetivando descrever aspectos funcionais respiratórios nessa doença, foram analisados 21 pacientes com oximetrias de pulso e espirometrias em dois momentos: em avaliação inicial e após cerca de 28 dias. Resultados: Dois (9,5%) doentes tinham saturação periférica de oxigênio menor que 95%. Padrões espirométricos normais foram observados em 8 (38,1%) casos; distúrbios ventilatórios restritivos foram inferidos em 7 (33,3%), obstrutivos com capacidade vital forçada reduzida em 4 (19%), e inespecíficos em 2 (9,5%). Espirometrias anormais se associaram a pior escore APACHE II (p=0,02) e anormalidades na radiografia de tórax (p=0,05). Após resolução clínica, verificou-se ganho funcional significativo (p<0,05) no grupo de pacientes com espirometria alterada. Conclusões: Alterações espirométricas foram detectadas no curso da enfermidade e estiveram associadas a pior gravidade clínica e maior freqüência de anormalidades radiológicas torácicas. _________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT: Introduction: Respiratory impairment may be the main clinical manifestation of human leptospirosis. Methods: With the aim of describing the respiratory functional characteristics of this disease, 21 patients were evaluated using pulse oximetry and spirometry at two times: an initial evaluation and after around 28 days. Results: Two (9.5%) patients presented peripheral oxygen saturation of less than 95%. Normal spirometric patterns were observed in eight (38.1%); cases restrictive ventilatory disorders were inferred in seven (33.3%), obstructive disorders with reduced forced vital capacity in four (19%), and nonspecific disorders in two (9.5%). Abnormal spirometry findings were associated with worse APACHE II scores (p = 0.02) and abnormalities on chest x-ray (p = 0.05). After clinical resolution, significant functional gain was observed (p < 0.05) in the group of patients with abnormal spirometry findings. Conclusions: It was concluded that respiratory functional abnormalities were detected during the course of the disease and were associated with greater clinical severity and higher frequency of chest radiographic abnormalities