Content validation of an instrument to characterize people over 50 years of age living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Objective: To present the development and validation of an instrument for characterizing people, aged 50 or over, who are carriers of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Methods: The content of the instrument, which was developed based on consulted literature and the professional experience of the researchers, was validated by seven experts. The validation was performed in two stages of evaluation, using the Kendall coefficient of concordance to evaluate, the first time, concordance among experts with regard to relevance, clarity, and completeness of content, and secondly, the adequacy and comprehensiveness. The Cochran test was used to evaluate the concordance regarding clarity, in the second evaluation. Results: There was disagreement among the experts in the first evaluation, and after reformulation of the instrument, concordance was obtained in the second evaluation. Conclusion: The instrument for characterizing this population was validated against the content being used by researchers, and is now made available for use.25141

Population analysis of vitamin D receptor polymorphisms and the role of genetic ancestry in an admixed population

The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is an essential protein related to bone metabolism. Some VDR alleles are differentially distributed among ethnic populations and display variable patterns of linkage disequilibrium (LD). In this study, 200 unrelated Brazilians were genotyped using 21 VDR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 28 ancestry informative markers. The patterns of LD and haplotype distribution were compared among Brazilian and the HapMap populations of African (YRI), European (CEU) and Asian (JPT+CHB) origins. Conditional regression and haplotype-specific analysis were performed using estimates of individual genetic ancestry in Brazilians as a quantitative trait. Similar patterns of LD were observed in the 5′ and 3′ gene regions. However, the frequency distribution of haplotype blocks varied among populations. Conditional regression analysis identified haplotypes associated with European and Amerindian ancestry, but not with the proportion of African ancestry. Individual ancestry estimates were associated with VDR haplotypes. These findings reinforce the need to correct for population stratification when performing genetic association studies in admixed populations

Absence of Fas-L aggravates renal injury in acute Trypanosoma cruzi infection

Trypanosoma cruzi infection induces diverse alterations in immunocompetent cells and organs, myocarditis and congestive heart failure. However, the physiological network of disturbances imposed by the infection has not been addressed thoroughly. Regarding myocarditis induced by the infection, we observed in our previous work that Fas-L-/- mice (gld/gld) have very mild inflammatory infiltration when compared to BALB/c mice. However, all mice from both lineages die in the early acute phase. Therefore, in this work we studied the physiological connection relating arterial pressure, renal function/damage and cardiac insufficiency as causes of death. Our results show that a broader set of dysfunctions that could be classified as a cardio/anaemic/renal syndrome is more likely responsible for cardiac failure and death in both lineages. However, gld/gld mice had very early glomerular deposition of IgM and a more intense renal inflammatory response with reduced renal filtration, which is probably responsible for the premature death in the absence of significant myocarditis in gld/gld.Instituto Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz Laboratório de Biologia CelularUniversidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas FilhoUniversidade Federal Fluminense Instituto Biomédico Departamento de Fisiologia e FarmacologiaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Disciplina de NefrologiaCentro de Criação de Animais de Laboratório Departamento de Controle de Qualidade AnimalUNIFESP, EPM, Disciplina de NefrologiaSciEL

Fotossilhuetas para avaliação da imagem corporal de fisiculturistas

INTRODUÇÃO: Estudos recentes em imagem corporal têm buscado desenvolver conjuntos de silhuetas com as características de grupos específicos. Para o fisiculturismo, ainda não foram desenvolvidos conjuntos de silhuetas que representem mais detalhadamente o conjunto das estruturas corporais. Para esse esporte, os detalhes são essenciais. OBJETIVO: Propor um conjunto de silhuetas específico para fisiculturista composto por fotografias (fotossilhuetas). Método: O estudo foi estruturado em três fases: 1) fotografia dos fisiculturistas, seleção e organização das fotos pelos pesquisadores; 2) organização das fotos por professores e treinadores de fisiculturistas; e 3) aplicação do conjunto de fotossilhuetas proposto. RESULTADOS: Fase 1 - os valores de IMC se distribuíram em ordem crescente (IMC de 24,1 até 35,6kg/m²); Fase 2 - participaram seis professores de educação física e seis treinadores de fisiculturismo e todos ordenaram as fotossilhuetas na mesma ordem crescente que os pesquisadores; e Fase 3 - participaram 20 fisiculturistas, apenas um não apontou o conjunto proposto como preferido para avaliação perceptiva da imagem corporal. Entre as silhuetas atribuídas pelos três pesquisadores, observou-se correlação intraclasse de 0,92. Comparando a média das silhuetas atribuídas pelos pesquisadores (3,8 ± 1,0) e a média das silhuetas atribuídas pelos atletas (3,9 ± 1,0), não se encontrou diferença significativa e correlação de 0,75 (p < 0,05). CONCLUSÃO: Conclui-se que o conjunto de fotossilhuetas é válido para o estudo da dimensão perceptiva da imagem corporal de fisiculturistas no que diz respeito à identificação da silhueta atual

The economic impact of alcohol consumption: a systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Information on the economic impact of alcohol consumption can provide important evidence in supporting policies to reduce its associated harm. To date, several studies on the economic costs of alcohol consumption have been conducted worldwide. This study aims to review the economic impact of alcohol worldwide, summarizing the state of knowledge with regard to two elements: (1) cost components included in the estimation; (2) the methodologies employed in works conducted to date.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Relevant publications concerning the societal cost of alcohol consumption published during the years 1990-2007 were identified through MEDLINE. The World Health Organization's global status report on alcohol, bibliographies and expert communications were also used to identify additional relevant studies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty studies met the inclusion criteria for full review while an additional two studies were considered for partial review. Most studies employed the human capital approach and estimated the gross cost of alcohol consumption. Both direct and indirect costs were taken into account in all studies while intangible costs were incorporated in only a few studies. The economic burden of alcohol in the 12 selected countries was estimated to equate to 0.45 - 5.44% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Discrepancies in the estimation method and cost components included in the analyses limit a direct comparison across studies. The findings, however, consistently confirmed that the economic burden of alcohol on society is substantial. Given the importance of this issue and the limitation in generalizing the findings across different settings, further well-designed research studies are warranted in specific countries to support the formulation of alcohol-related policies.</p

Estudo espacial da mortalidade por acidentes de motocicleta em Pernambuco

OBJETIVO: Analisar a distribuição espacial da mortalidade por acidentes de motocicleta no estado de Pernambuco. MÉTODOS: Estudo ecológico de base populacional, usando os dados de mortalidade por acidentes de motocicletas ocorridos de 01/01/2000 a 31/12/2005. As unidades de análise foram municípios. Para a análise da distribuição espacial dos óbitos foram construídos coeficientes médios de mortalidade, tendo como numerador os óbitos por acidentes de motocicletas registrados no Sistema de Informações sobre Mortalidade e, como denominador, a população do centro do período. Utilizaram-se técnicas de análise espacial, suavização do coeficiente pelo método bayesiano empírico local e o diagrama de espalhamento de Moran, aplicados sobre a base cartográfica digital do estado. RESULTADOS: O coeficiente médio de mortalidade por acidentes de motocicletas em Pernambuco foi de 3,47/100 mil habitantes. Dos 185 municípios, 16 faziam parte de cinco conglomerados identificados com coeficientes de mortalidade que variaram de 5,66 a 11,66/100 mil habitantes, considerados áreas críticas. Três dessas áreas localizam-se na região de desenvolvimento sertão e duas no agreste. CONCLUSÕES: O risco de morrer por acidente de motocicleta é maior nas áreas de conglomerado em regiões fora do eixo metropolitano, sugerindo medidas de intervenção que considerem o contexto de desenvolvimento econômico, social e cultural

A Gamma-Herpesvirus Glycoprotein Complex Manipulates Actin to Promote Viral Spread

Viruses lack self-propulsion. To move in multi-cellular hosts they must therefore manipulate infected cells. Herpesviruses provide an archetype for many aspects of host manipulation, but only for alpha-herpesviruses in is there much information about they move. Other herpesviruses are not necessarily the same. Here we show that Murine gamma-herpesvirus-68 (MHV-68) induces the outgrowth of long, branched plasma membrane fronds to create an intercellular network for virion traffic. The fronds were actin-based and RhoA-dependent. Time-lapse imaging showed that the infected cell surface became highly motile and that virions moved on the fronds. This plasma membrane remodelling was driven by the cytoplasmic tail of gp48, a MHV-68 glycoprotein previously implicated in intercellular viral spread. The MHV-68 ORF58 was also required, but its role was simply transporting gp48 to the plasma membrane, since a gp48 mutant exported without ORF58 did not require ORF58 to form membrane fronds either. Together, gp48/ORF58 were sufficient to induce fronds in transfected cells, as were the homologous BDLF2/BMRF2 of Epstein-Barr virus. Gp48/ORF58 therefore represents a conserved module by which gamma-herpesviruses rearrange cellular actin to increase intercellular contacts and thereby promote their spread