Dexterity and Finger Sense: A Possible Dissociation in Children With Cerebral Palsy

Both hand and finger sensory perception and motor abilities are essential for the development of skilled gestures and efficient bimanual coordination. While finger dexterity and finger sensory perception can be impaired in children with cerebral palsy (CP), the relationship between these two functions in this population is not clearly established. The common assumption that CP children with better sensory function also demonstrate better motor outcomes has been recently challenged. To study these questions further, we assessed both finger dexterity and finger gnosia, the ability to perceive one's own fingers by touch, in groups of 11 children with unilateral (i.e., hemiplegic CP) and 11 children with bilateral spastic CP (i.e., diplegic CP) and compared them with typical children. In our sample, children with hemiplegia exhibited finger dexterity deficit in both hands and finger gnosia deficit only in their paretic hand. In contrast, children with diplegia exhibited finger gnosia deficits in both hands and finger dexterity deficit only in their dominant hand. Thus, our results indicated that children with spastic hemiplegia and diplegia present different sensory and motor profiles and suggest that these two subgroups of CP should be considered separately in future experimental and clinical research. We discuss the implications of our results for rehabilitation

Proposta de cinesioterapia postural integrada na reabilitação das disfunções da coluna vertebral

Monografia apresentada à Diretoria de Pós-graduação da Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense - UNESC, para a obtenção do título de especialista em Fisioterapia Traumato Ortopédica e Esportiva.Este trabalho tem como tema Proposta de cinesioterapia postural integrada na reabilitação das disfunções da coluna vertebral. Todas as alterações morfológicas correspondem, constantemente, a alterações fisiopatológicas do sistema de equilíbrio dinâmico e estático do segmento em questão, acarretando dor e incapacidade funcional (RODRIGUES & GUIMARÃES, 1998). Neste sentido, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo geral estruturar uma proposta de Cinesioterapia postural integrada na reabilitação das disfunções da coluna vertebral. Como objetivos específicos apontar os benefícios relatados na literatura das técnicas de reeducação postural; Relatar as principais alternativas cinesioterapêuticas para o tratamento dos pacientes com má postura; Colaborar com a literatura científica sobre técnicas cinesioterapêuticas para reeducação postural

Ecdysteroids. Selective Protections and Synthesis of Potential Tools for Biochemical Studies

B-Ecdysone and cyasterone bave been transformed into the ecdysterone analogue 4, wbich carries a [3-(p-hydroxyphenyl).-propoxylj- group at the end of the side chain. This derivative should be useful for various biochemical investigations (I-labelling, affinity chromatography), since it exhibits a marked ecdysterone-like activity in two independent biological tests. The synthetic scheme makes use of highly selective protections of the hydroxyl groups of phytoecdysteroids

O orçamento de caixa aplicado pelo método de recebimentos e desembolsos: um estudo de caso em uma instituição de ensino privado

TCC (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Sócio Econômico, Curso de Administração.O objetivo deste trabalho consistiu em sugerir uma ferramenta de planejamento e controle para uma instituição de ensino privado de Florianópolis para o ano letivo de 2006. Para isto iniciou-se o trabalho com a verificação e organização dos procedimentos financeiros existentes. Buscaram-se as fontes de receita e despesas e agrupou-se em quadros. Com isto projetou-se uma Demonstração do Resultado do Exercício do ano de 2005 e analisou-se o ponto de equilíbrio de 06 grupos de turmas do colégio, divididos segundo o mesmo valor de mensalidade. Com os dados organizados e analisados, sugeriu-se o método de recebimentos e desembolsos, e sugestões para implementar este modelo, como ferramenta de planejamento e controle das atividades financeiras da organização. Segundo a metodologia empregada a pesquisa caracteriza-se como qualitativa quanto ao tipo de dados; o estudo foi realizado através de pesquisa exploratória e descritiva, bibliográfica documental e por fim realizou-se um estudo de caso

Danse-doigts, jeu de motricité fine

International audienceCe document décrit la conception, la réalisation et l'expérimentation de « Danse-doigts », une application ludo-thérapeutique à destination d'enfants hémiparétiques. L'objectif de ce logiciel est double : permettre d'entraîner leur motricité fine sur tablette puis d'étudier l'effet de cet entraînement sur leurs compétences numériques (dénombrement, calcul.. .). La population visée, comme l'objectif d'évaluation des compé-tences de calcul, ont influencé la conception. Le développement logiciel se base sur des technologies Web standard mais repose sur une bibliothèque de programmation parallèle en javascript. Applications et bibliothèques sont disponibles gratuitement et s'installent très facilement sur la plupart des tablettes tactiles

RIZOMA E EDUCAÇÃO: GILES DELEUZE E FÉLIX GUATARI, CONTRIBUIÇÕES JUNTO A EDUCAÇÃO

Resumo: O presente artigo pretende tratar brevemente as colaborações que os filósofos Gilles Deleuze e Félix Guattari abordam em relação à educação. Trazem o conceito de rizoma e sua conexão com professor e aluno. Tendo como objetivo relacionar a importância do modelo rizomático junto a educação, entendendo como funciona esta modelo.Palavras-chave: Educação; Rizoma; Contribuições

Stability of telomeric G-quadruplexes

In most eukaryotes, telomeric DNA consists of repeats of a short motif that includes consecutive guanines and may hence fold into G-quadruplexes. Budding yeasts have telomeres composed of longer repeats and show variation in the degree of repeat homogeneity. Although telomeric sequences from several organisms have been shown to fold into G-quadruplexes in vitro, surprisingly, no study has been dedicated to the comparison of G-quadruplex folding and stability of known telomeric sequences. Furthermore, to our knowledge, folding of yeast telomeric sequences into intramolecular G-quadruplexes has never been investigated. Using biophysical and biochemical methods, we studied sequences mimicking about four repetitions of telomeric motifs from a variety of organisms, including yeasts, with the aim of comparing the G-quadruplex folding potential of telomeric sequences among eukaryotes. G-quadruplex folding did not appear to be a conserved feature among yeast telomeric sequences. By contrast, all known telomeric sequences from eukaryotes other than yeasts folded into G-quadruplexes. Nevertheless, while G3T1-4A repeats (found in a variety of organisms) and G4T2,4 repeats (found in ciliates) folded into stable G-quadruplexes, G-quadruplexes formed by repetitions of G2T2A and G2CT2A motifs (found in many insects and in nematodes, respectively) appeared to be in equilibrium with non-G-quadruplex structures (likely hairpin-duplexes)

High affinity binding of pyrethroids to the � subunit of brain sodium channels

SUMMARY Na ϩ channels are the primary molecular targets of the pyrethroid insecticides. Na ϩ channels consisting of only a type IIA ␣ subunit expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells responded to pyrethroid treatment in a normal manner: a sustained Na ϩ current was induced progressively after each depolarizing pulse in a train of stimuli, and this Na ϩ current decayed slowly on repolarization. These modified Na ϩ channels could be reactivated at much more negative membrane potentials (V 0.5 ϭ Ϫ139 mV) than unmodified Na ϩ channels (V 0.5 ϭ Ϫ28 mV). These results indicate that pyrethroids can modify the functional properties of the Na ϩ channel ␣ subunit expressed alone by blocking their inactivation, shifting their voltage dependence of activation, and slowing their deactivation. To demonstrate directly the specific interaction of pyrethroids with the ␣ subunit of voltage-gated Na ϩ channels, a radioactive photosensitive derivative, [ 3 H]RU58487, was used in binding and photolabeling studies. In the presence of a low concentration of the nonionic detergent Triton X-100, specific pyrethroid binding to Na ϩ channels in rat brain membrane preparations could be measured and reached 75% of total binding under optimal conditions. Binding approached equilibrium within 1 hr at 4°, dissociated with a half-time of ϳ10 min, and had K D values of ϳ58 -300 nM for three representative pyrethroids. Specific pyrethroid binding was enhanced by ϳ40% in the presence of 100 nM ␣-scorpion toxin, but no allosteric enhancement was observed in the presence of toxins acting at other Na ϩ channel receptor sites. Extensive membrane washing increased specific binding to 89%. Photolabeling with [ 3 H]RU58487 under these optimal binding conditions revealed a radiolabeled band with an apparent molecular mass of 240 kDa corresponding to the Na ϩ channel ␣ subunit. Anti-peptide antibodies recognizing sequences within the ␣ subunit were able to specifically immunoprecipitate the covalently modified channel. Together, these results demonstrate that the pyrethroids can modify the properties of cells expressing only the ␣ subunit of Na ϩ channels and can bind specifically to a receptor site on the ␣ subunit

Mitoxantrone and Analogues Bind and Stabilize i-Motif Forming DNA Sequences

YesThere are hundreds of ligands which can interact with G-quadruplex DNA, yet very few which target i-motif. To appreciate an understanding between the dynamics between these structures and how they can be affected by intervention with small molecule ligands, more i-motif binding compounds are required. Herein we describe how the drug mitoxantrone can bind, induce folding of and stabilise i-motif forming DNA sequences, even at physiological pH. Additionally, mitoxantrone was found to bind i-motif forming sequences preferentially over double helical DNA. We also describe the stabilisation properties of analogues of mitoxantrone. This offers a new family of ligands with potential for use in experiments into the structure and function of i-motif forming DNA sequences