Myocardial Infarction and Treatment Adherence Rates across Sociodemographic & Health Indicators

Trends on first myocardial infarction and rates of adherence to treatment across age were estimated. Data sourced from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 1999-2016, were used to determine the patterned age trends of patients’ first myocardial infarction as well as their subsequent willingness to comply with treatments, such as weight loss. Demographic characteristics and socioeconomic status were taken into account and integrated as they play a key role in contextualizing and understanding these health trends. Preliminary historical trend analyses across 9 waves of data spanning 17 years indicate that patients are increasingly presenting with myocardial infarction earlier in life, and disparities exist across demographic and socioeconomic lines

O uso do software educativo NavegaFeliz na inclusão digital e no tratamento terapêutico de vítimas de escalpelamento atendidas pela Fundação Santa Casa de Misericórdia do Pará

A Fundação Santa Casa de Misericórdia do Pará – FSCMPA atende a vítimas de escalpelamento, ou seja, pessoas que têm seu couro cabeludo total ou parcialmente extraído por eixos de motores de barco que não são devidamente protegidos, deixando-os expostos e facilitando o risco de acidentes. O acidente, que traz traumas físicos e psicológicos, faz com que as vítimas se sintam envergonhadas, culpadas, com baixa autoestima e até mesmo depressão. Assim, a Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia – UFRA, em parceria com a FSCMPA, desenvolveu o software educativo NavegaFeliz, voltado à realidade amazônica, que está sendo utilizado como ferramenta de inclusão digital e auxílio terapêutico de meninas e mulheres escalpeladas, bem como de outros usuários do hospital cujas enfermidades alteram sua condição física e psicológica. Nessa perspectiva, a I oficina terapêutica oferecida no 1º semestre de 2011 no Infocentro da FSCMPA teve como clientela adolescentes vítimas de abuso sexual e vítimas de escalpelamento e suas acompanhantes, objetivando elevar a autoestima e contribuir com a inclusão digital das usuárias, tendo como produto final a criação coletiva de uma revista em quadrinhos cujo tema gerador foi “Virtudes e Família”, pois a preocupação central foi com a formação ética e a reintegração familiar das paciente

Heritable patterns of tooth decay in the permanent dentition: principal components and factor analyses

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dental caries is the result of a complex interplay among environmental, behavioral, and genetic factors, with distinct patterns of decay likely due to specific etiologies. Therefore, global measures of decay, such as the DMFS index, may not be optimal for identifying risk factors that manifest as specific decay patterns, especially if the risk factors such as genetic susceptibility loci have small individual effects. We used two methods to extract patterns of decay from surface-level caries data in order to generate novel phenotypes with which to explore the genetic regulation of caries.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The 128 tooth surfaces of the permanent dentition were scored as carious or not by intra-oral examination for 1,068 participants aged 18 to 75 years from 664 biological families. Principal components analysis (PCA) and factor analysis (FA), two methods of identifying underlying patterns without <it>a priori </it>surface classifications, were applied to our data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The three strongest caries patterns identified by PCA recaptured variation represented by DMFS index (correlation, r = 0.97), pit and fissure surface caries (r = 0.95), and smooth surface caries (r = 0.89). However, together, these three patterns explained only 37% of the variability in the data, indicating that <it>a priori </it>caries measures are insufficient for fully quantifying caries variation. In comparison, the first pattern identified by FA was strongly correlated with pit and fissure surface caries (r = 0.81), but other identified patterns, including a second pattern representing caries of the maxillary incisors, were not representative of any previously defined caries indices. Some patterns identified by PCA and FA were heritable (h²= 30-65%, p = 0.043-0.006), whereas other patterns were not, indicating both genetic and non-genetic etiologies of individual decay patterns.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study demonstrates the use of decay patterns as novel phenotypes to assist in understanding the multifactorial nature of dental caries.</p

Toward Identifying the Next Generation of Superfund and Hazardous Waste Site Contaminants

Reproduced with permission from Environmental Health Perspectives."This commentary evolved from a workshop sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences titled "Superfund Contaminants: The Next Generation" held in Tucson, Arizona, in August 2009. All the authors were workshop participants." doi:10.1289/ehp.1002497Our aim was to initiate a dynamic, adaptable process for identifying contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) that are likely to be found in future hazardous waste sites, and to identify the gaps in primary research that cause uncertainty in determining future hazardous waste site contaminants. Superfund-relevant CECs can be characterized by specific attributes: they are persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic, occur in large quantities, and have localized accumulation with a likelihood of exposure. Although still under development and incompletely applied, methods to quantify these attributes can assist in winnowing down the list of candidates from the universe of potential CECs. Unfortunately, significant research gaps exist in detection and quantification, environmental fate and transport, health and risk assessment, and site exploration and remediation for CECs. Addressing these gaps is prerequisite to a preventive approach to generating and managing hazardous waste sites.Support for the workshop, from which this article evolved, was provided by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Research Program (P42-ES04940)

Toward Identifying the Next Generation of Superfund and Hazardous Waste Site Contaminants

Reproduced with permission from Environmental Health Perspectives."This commentary evolved from a workshop sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences titled "Superfund Contaminants: The Next Generation" held in Tucson, Arizona, in August 2009. All the authors were workshop participants." doi:10.1289/ehp.1002497Our aim was to initiate a dynamic, adaptable process for identifying contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) that are likely to be found in future hazardous waste sites, and to identify the gaps in primary research that cause uncertainty in determining future hazardous waste site contaminants. Superfund-relevant CECs can be characterized by specific attributes: they are persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic, occur in large quantities, and have localized accumulation with a likelihood of exposure. Although still under development and incompletely applied, methods to quantify these attributes can assist in winnowing down the list of candidates from the universe of potential CECs. Unfortunately, significant research gaps exist in detection and quantification, environmental fate and transport, health and risk assessment, and site exploration and remediation for CECs. Addressing these gaps is prerequisite to a preventive approach to generating and managing hazardous waste sites.Support for the workshop, from which this article evolved, was provided by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Research Program (P42-ES04940)

Characterization of an Antibody Depletion Assay for Analysis of Bactericidal Antibody Specificity ▿

Serum bactericidal antibodies are important for protection against systemic Neisseria meningitidis infections. Consequently, identifying the specific targets of bactericidal antibodies is important for understanding protective immunity to meningococcal disease and for vaccine development and evaluation. We have developed a new assay that can be used to investigate the specificity of serum bactericidal antibodies. Prior to testing for bactericidal activity, antibodies specific for a given antigen or group of antigens are depleted from a serum sample by incubation with the antigen(s) bound to the wells of a 96-well microplate. A dilution series of the antigen is bound to the plate to assess the effectiveness of the antigen in removing the bactericidal antibodies. Removal of antibodies with solid-phase antigen prior to bactericidal testing avoids depletion of complement by soluble immune complexes that can form when soluble antigen is present in the bactericidal test mixture (direct inhibition). The parameters associated with this assay are investigated and compared with those associated with a direct-inhibition assay. The bactericidal depletion assay can be an effective tool for studying the specificity of serum bactericidal antibodies

O uso do software educativo NavegaFeliz na inclusão digital e no tratamento terapêutico de vítimas de escalpelamento atendidas pela Fundação Santa Casa de Misericórdia do Pará

A Fundação Santa Casa de Misericórdia do Pará – FSCMPA atende a vítimas de escalpelamento, ou seja, pessoas que têm seu couro cabeludo total ou parcialmente extraído por eixos de motores de barco que não são devidamente protegidos, deixando-os expostos e facilitando o risco de acidentes. O acidente, que traz traumas físicos e psicológicos, faz com que as vítimas se sintam envergonhadas, culpadas, com baixa autoestima e até mesmo depressão. Assim, a Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia – UFRA, em parceria com a FSCMPA, desenvolveu o software educativo NavegaFeliz, voltado à realidade amazônica, que está sendo utilizado como ferramenta de inclusão digital e auxílio terapêutico de meninas e mulheres escalpeladas, bem como de outros usuários do hospital cujas enfermidades alteram sua condição física e psicológica. Nessa perspectiva, a I oficina terapêutica oferecida no 1º semestre de 2011 no Infocentro da FSCMPA teve como clientela adolescentes vítimas de abuso sexual e vítimas de escalpelamento e suas acompanhantes, objetivando elevar a autoestima e contribuir com a inclusão digital das usuárias, tendo como produto final a criação coletiva de uma revista em quadrinhos cujo tema gerador foi “Virtudes e Família”, pois a preocupação central foi com a formação ética e a reintegração familiar das paciente