Photobiomodulation therapy does not depend on the differentiation of dental pulp cells to enhance functional activity associated with angiogenesis and mineralization

Lasers in Medical Science - The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of InGaAlP diode laser (660 nm) with or without an odontogenic medium (OM) in the functional activity of...     

Afferent and efferent projections of the anterior cortical amygdaloid nucleus in the mouse

The anterior cortical amygdaloid nucleus (ACo) is a chemosensory area of the cortical amygdala that receives afferent projections from both the main and accessory olfactory bulbs. The role of this structure is unknown, partially due to a lack of knowledge of its connectivity. In this work, we describe the pattern of afferent and efferent projections of the ACo by using fluorogold and biotinylated dextranamines as retrograde and anterograde tracers, respectively. The results show that the ACo is reciprocally connected with the olfactory system and basal forebrain, as well as with the chemosensory and basomedial amygdala. In addition, it receives dense projections from the midline and posterior intralaminar thalamus, and moderate projections from the posterior bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, mesocortical structures and the hippocampal formation. Remarkably, the ACo projects moderately to the central nuclei of the amygdala and anterior bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and densely to the lateral hypothalamus. Finally, minor connections are present with some midbrain and brainstem structures. The afferent projections of the ACo indicate that this nucleus might play a role in emotional learning involving chemosensory stimuli, such as olfactory fear conditioning. The efferent projections confirm this view and, given its direct output to the medial part of the central amygdala and the hypothalamic ‘aggression area’, suggest that the ACo can initiate defensive and aggressive responses elicited by olfactory or, to a lesser extent, vomeronasal stimuli.     

The use of home inquiry as a tool to follow up health actions in microareas -- analyzing the vaccination status of children under 1 year of age

One of the strategies on which local health services rely in order to follow up activities is home inquiry, a source of important information concerning the access to services and knowledge regarding the population's health conditions. This work aims at analyzing the use of inquiries as an instrument for diagnosis and follow-up of the vaccinal situation of children under one year old in a micro area of the City of Ribeir?o Preto-SP, Brazil. In the first semester of 1998, 106 families were interviewed by using a family record. Nine children under 01 year old (4.35% of the population) were identified, of whom 4 (44.44%) presented vaccination delay. It was later identified that 8 children presented an updated record and that information was not obtained in only one case. It can be verified that home inquiry is a viable strategy to follow up and evaluate the care delivered, which, in the case of this study, concerns vaccination actions, so as to efficiently and effectively determine the directions to be taken in health care in local level.     

The Portuguese version of “The Utrecht questionnaire for outcome assessment in aesthetic rhinoplasty”: validation and clinical application

Introduction

The evaluation of surgical outcomes measured by patient satisfaction or quality of life is very important, especially in plastic surgery. There is increasing interest in self-reporting outcomes evaluation in plastic surgery.

The effects of restraint stress on nociceptive responses induced by formalin injected in rat's TMJ

It has been reported that stress can alter nociception from superficial tissues, such as skin and subcutaneous region. However, the influence of stress on an experimental deep nociception model is not understood. In this study, the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) formalin test was used to evaluate the effects of acute and chronic restraint stress on nociceptive responses in rats. Animals were initially submitted to one session of acute restraint stress (1 h) or exposed to chronic stress (40 days-1 h/day). Then, animals were killed immediately to collect blood for hormonal determinations by radioimmunoassay, or submitted to the TMJ formalin test to evaluate nociception. Rats submitted to acute restraint presented a performance similar to unstressed controls in the TMJ formalin test, whereas chronically stressed rats showed an increase in nociceptive responses. After 40 days of restraint, morphine was injected i.p. (1, 5 mg/kg or saline). The stressed rats displayed decreased morphine effects on nociception compared to unstressed controls. These findings suggest that repeated stress can produce hyperalgesia, which is, at least in part, due to alterations in the activity of opioid systems. This model may help elucidate the underlying neural mechanisms that mediate the effects of repeated stress on orofacial pain.     

Heart failure: old syndrome, new concepts and nurse's role

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) has been cause of increasing concern in the world, face its progressive prevalence and incidence and its social and economic repercussion, pointing to the need of revision of the syndrome concept and adoption of measures to reduce its economical and social costs. The objective of this study is to contextualize the comprehension of the physiopathology and the treatment of CHF and the nursing interventions to patients with this syndrome.     

Production of meanings about family members living with mentally-ill patients

Nowadays, family care is a great challenge for Mental Health practice, which requires professionals to study and take a closer look at these social actors. This study, which is guided by a social constructionist and qualitative approach, aimed to get to know the meanings Family Health Program (FHP) professionals attribute to family members living with mentally-ill patients. Data were collected by means of the focus group technique, involving members from two FHP teams in Ilhéus/Bahia, Brazil. As a result, we describe the family members and their conceptual registers, as well as the following meanings: caring, motivating and suffering prejudice; powerless and lacking resources; producing abuse and unbalanced. It was observed that some of these meanings reinforce the community's exclusion of mental patients and their family members, while others oppose this discourse and are thus able to favor a closer approximation between these actors and the professionals, in view of a new practice that improves their living conditions.     

Mammalian cell invasion and intracellular trafficking by Trypanosoma cruzi infective forms

Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, occurs as different strains or isolates that may be grouped in two major phylogenetic lineages: T. cruzi I, associated with the sylvatic cycle and T. cruzi II, linked to the human disease. In the mammalian host the parasite has to invade cells and many studies implicated the flagellated trypomastigotes in this process. Several parasite surface components and some of host cell receptors with which they interact have been identified. Our work focused on how amastigotes, usually found growing in the cytoplasm, can invade mammalian cells with infectivities comparable to that of trypomastigotes. We found differences in cellular responses induced by amastigotes and trypomastigotes regarding cytoskeletal components and actin-rich projections. Extracellularly generated amastigotes of T. cruzi I strains may display greater infectivity than metacyclic trypomastigotes towards cultured cell lines as well as target cells that have modified expression of different classes of cellular components. Cultured host cells harboring the bacterium Coxiella burnetii allowed us to gain new insights into the trafficking properties of the different infective forms of T. cruzi, disclosing unexpected requirements for the parasite to transit between the parasitophorous vacuole to its final destination in the host cell cytoplasm.     

Supplementation of fish oil and olive oil in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated whether supplementation with olive oil could improve clinical and laboratory parameters of disease activity in patients who had rheumatoid arthritis and were using fish oil supplements. METHODS: Forty-three patients (34 female, 9 male; mean age = 49 +/- 19y) were investigated in a parallel randomized design. Patients were assigned to one of three groups. In addition to their usual medication, the first group (G1) received placebo (soy oil), the second group (G2) received fish oil omega-3 fatty acids (3 g/d), and the third group (G3) received fish oil omega-3 fatty acids (3 g/d) and 9.6 mL of olive oil. Disease activity was measured by clinical and laboratory indicators at the beginning of the study and after 12 and 24 wk. Patients' satisfaction in activities of daily living was also measured. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant improvement (P < 0.05) in G2 and G3 in relation to G1 with respect to joint pain intensity, right and left handgrip strength after 12 and 24 wk, duration of morning stiffness, onset of fatigue, Ritchie's articular index for pain joints after 24 wk, ability to bend down to pick up clothing from the floor, and getting in and out of a car after 24 wk. G3, but not G2, in relation to G1 showed additional improvements with respect to duration of morning stiffness after 12 wk, patient global assessment after 12 and 24 wk, ability to turn faucets on and off after 24 wk, and rheumatoid factor after 24 wk. In addition, G3 showed a significant improvement in patient global assessment in relation to G2 after 12 wk. CONCLUSIONS: Ingestion of fish oil omega-3 fatty acids relieved several clinical parameters used in the present study. However, patients showed a more precocious and accentuated improvement when fish oil supplements were used in combination with olive oil.