Therapeutic residences and community: the construction of new anti-asylum practices

This article highlight an effort of connection between areas of Mental Health and Community Psychology related to public health practice focused on promoting autonomy and citizenship. In this sense through a research on the role of therapeutic residences, such as construction strategy anti-asylum practices, we discussed other spaces of sociability as mental health promoters, highlighting those asylum without walls which lead the community for psychiatric patients. Spinoza's contribution is important, because his theory conceives the subject from the quality of the interactions between themselves, or better, as it affects and is affected in the meetings, which may be the promoters of the power to act or not. This qualitative research, with inspiration ethnographic, participated in these research forty residents of five therapeutic residences installed in three districts of a Great Vitoria in Espírito Santo, Southeast Brazil.Este trabalho reflete um esforço de articulação entre as áreas de saúde mental e psicologia comunitária na perspectiva de construção de práticas em saúde pública voltadas para a promoção de autonomia e cidadania. Nesse sentido, através de uma pesquisa sobre o papel das residências terapêuticas como estratégia de construção de práticas antimanicomiais, discutimos outros espaços de sociabilidade como promotores de saúde mental, destacando aqueles extramuros institucionais os quais nos remete a comunidade da qual, alias, tais instituições, fazem parte. A contribuição de Espinosa é fundamental, na medida em que concebe os sujeitos a partir da qualidade das interações entre si, ou melhor, da forma como se afeta e se é afetado nos encontros, que podem ser promotores da potência de agir ou de padecimento. Desta pesquisa qualitativa, com inspiração etnográfica, participaram 40 moradores de cinco residências terapêuticas, instaladas em três bairros de um município da Grande Vitória/ES.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)UNIFESPSciEL

Use of Artificial Intelligence on the Control of Vector-Borne Diseases

Artificial intelligence has many fields of application with an increasing computational processing power, and the algorithms are reaching human performance on complex tasks. Entomological characterization of insects represents an essential activity to drive actions to control the vector-borne diseases. Identification of the species and sex of insects is essential to map and organize the control measurements by the public health system in most areas where transmission is actively occurring. In many places in the world, the methodology done for identification of the mosquitos is by visual examination from human trained researchers or technicians. This activity is time-consuming and requires several years of experience to have skills to do the job. This chapter addresses the application of artificial intelligence for identification of mosquitos associated with vector-borne diseases. Benefits, limitations, and challenges of the use of artificial intelligence on the control of vector-borne diseases are discussed in this review

Functional investigation of bone implant viability using radiotracers in a new model of osteonecrosis

OBJECTIVES: Conventional imaging methods are excellent for the morphological characterization of the consequences of osteonecrosis; however, only specialized techniques have been considered useful for obtaining functional information. To explore the affinity of radiotracers for severely devascularized bone, a new mouse model of isolated femur implanted in a subcutaneous abdominal pocket was devised. To maintain animal mobility and longevity, the femur was harvested from syngeneic donors. Two technetium-99m-labeled tracers targeting angiogenesis and bone matrix were selected. METHODS: Medronic acid and a homodimer peptide conjugated with RGDfK were radiolabeled with technetium-99m, and biodistribution was evaluated in Swiss mice. The grafted and control femurs were evaluated after 15, 30 and 60 days, including computed tomography (CT) and histological analysis. RESULTS: Radiolabeling achieved high (>;95%) radiochemical purity. The biodistribution confirmed good blood clearance 1 hour after administration. For 99mTc-hydrazinonicotinic acid (HYNIC)-E-[c(RGDfK)2, remarkable renal excretion was observed compared to 99mTc-methylene diphosphonate (MDP), but the latter, as expected, revealed higher bone uptake. The results obtained in the control femur were equal at all time points. In the implanted femur, 99mTc-HYNIC-E-[c(RGDfK)2 uptake was highest after 15 days, consistent with early angiogenesis. Regarding 99mTc-MDP in the implant, similar uptake was documented at all time points, consistent with sustained bone viability; however, the uptake was lower than that detected in the control femur, as confirmed by histology. CONCLUSIONS: 1) Graft viability was successfully diagnosed using radiotracers in severely ischemic bone at all time points. 2) Analogously, indirect information about angiogenesis could be gathered using 999mTc-HYNIC-E-[c(RGDfK)2. 3) These techniques appear promising and warrant further studies to determine their potential clinical applications

Impact of El Niño/Southern Oscillation on Visceral Leishmaniasis, Brazil

We used time-series analysis and linear regression to investigate the relationship between the annual Niño-3 index from 1980 to 1998 and the annual incidence of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in the State of Bahia, Brazil, during 1985–1999. An increase in VL incidence was observed in the post-El Niño years 1989 (+38.7%) and 1995 (+33.5%). The regression model demonstrates that the previous year’s mean Niño-3 index and the temporal trend account for approximately 50% of the variance in the annual incidence of VL in Bahia. The model shows a robust agreement with the real data, as only the influence of El Niño on the cycle of VL was analyzed. The results suggest that this relationship could be used to predict high-risk years for VL and thus help reduce health impact in susceptible regions in Brazil

Progresso genético do melhoramento de arroz de terras altas no período de 1950 a 2001

The objective of this study was to quantify the genetic progress obtained by the genetic improvement of upland rice from 1950 to 2001. Four field experiments were conducted in the sites: Airport and Agronomy, in Viçosa, MG; in the farms Capivara and Palmital, in Santo Antônio de Goiás, GO, and Goianira, GO, respectively. The experiments were installed in a randomized block design, with three replications. Twenty-five cultivars planted in the period from 1950 to 2001 were assessed. Data of grain yield, plant height and days to flowering were collected and analyzed. In order to get the most accurate estimate of the genetic gain, the plants were separated in the groups of early and late cultivars. To estimate the genetic progress, a linear regression of the cultivar means per decade of use was performed. Genetic gains for grain yield were 0.3 and 2.09% per year in the early and late groups, respectively. Over the evaluated period, the mean plant height of the cultivars was reduced by 21 cm in the early group, and 38 cm in the late group. There was mean increase of ten days in the cycle of the early cultivar group and a decrease of 13 days of the late group.O objetivo deste trabalho foi quantificar o progresso genético obtido pelo melhoramento genético na cultura do arroz de terras altas, no período de 1950 a 2001. Foram feitos quatro experimentos de campo, nas localidades: Aeroporto e Agronomia, em Viçosa, MG; e nas Fazendas Capivara e Palmital, em Santo Antônio de Goiás, GO, e Goianira, GO, respectivamente. Os experimentos foram realizados no delineamento de blocos ao acaso, com três repetições. Avaliaram-se 25 cultivares, desenvolvidas no período de 1950 a 2001. Foram coletados e analisados os dados referentes à produtividade de grãos, altura das plantas e dias para a floração. A fim de se obter estimativa mais precisa do ganho genético, optou-se por dividir as cultivares nos grupos precoce e tardio. Para a obtenção da estimativa do progresso genético, foi realizada a regressão linear das médias das cultivares por década de lançamento. Os ganhos genéticos para a produtividade de grãos foram de 0,3 e 2,09% ao ano, nos grupos precoce e tardio, respectivamente. A altura média das plantas das cultivares reduziu-se em 21 cm no grupo precoce e em 38 cm no tardio, no período avaliado. Houve acréscimo médio de dez dias no ciclo, no grupo de cultivares precoce, e decréscimo de 13 dias no grupo tardio

Vale de Cidadania: uma extensão solidária no Vale do Jequitinhonha

Serão apresentadas as ações de trabalho e geração de renda desenvolvidas pelo Programa Polos de Cidadania na região do Médio Vale do Jequitinhonha, por meio do Projeto Vale de Cidadania. Para tal, será apresentada a metodologia utilizada bem como relatos de experiências. Serão feitas também algumas considerações sobre os principais avanços, dificuldades, especificidades e desafios da ação extensionista

Crosssectional study to evaluate factors associated with adherence to antiretroviral therapy by Brazilian HIV-infected patients.

ABSTRACT Antiretroviral therapy success is highly dependent on the ability of the patient to fully adhere to the prescribed treatment regimen. We present the results of a cross-sectional study that evaluates the predictive value of a self-administered questionnaire of adherence to antiretroviral (ARV) therapy. Study participants were interviewed using a 36-item Patient Medication Adherence Questionnaire (PMAQ) designed to assess knowledge about ARV therapy, motivation to adhere to treatment, and behavioral skills. Plasma HIV-1 RNA levels were correlated with the results obtained from the PMAQ. Of the 182 study participants, 82 (45%) were receiving their initial ARV regimen. Of the remaining patients, 39 (21%) and 61 (34%) were on a second or additional ARV regimen, respectively. An undetectable viral load was documented in 47/62 (76%) patients on their first regimen who reported missing medication on less than 4 days in the last 3 months. The PMAQ had a higher predictive value of plasma viral suppression for patients in the initial regimen than for patients in salvage therapy. The overall predictive value of the PMAQ to identify adherence was 74%, and 59% for nonadherence, with an overall efficacy of 64%. Of the 74 patients (45%) who did not understand the concept of antiretroviral therapy, 80% were failing or had previously failed the ARV treatment. Of 35 patients with doubts about their HIV status or skeptical of the benefits of ARV therapy, 29 (84%) were nonadherent. Despite the positive predictive value of PMAQ in identifying adherence, self-reported adherence is not a sufficiently precise predictor of treatment success to substitute for viral load monitoring. On the other hand, the use of such an instrument to identify factors associated with nonadherence provides an excellent opportunity to apply early intervention designed to specifically address factors that might be contributing to the lack of adherence prior to regimen failure