Acute respiratory infection by human metapneumovirus in children in southern Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) has been described as an etiologic agent of acute respiratory infections (ARI), mainly in pediatric patients. Viral isolation is difficult and has low sensitivity, and consequently RT-PCR assays are currently used for detection. OBJECTIVES: Detect hMPV in ARI in hospitalized children in Southern Brazil; standardize a RT-PCR for routine hMPV diagnosis; validate a positive control for molecular tests; and perform phylogenetics analyses. STUDY DESIGN: Nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPA) from 156 hospitalized children were studied. A conserved region of the nucleoprotein gene was cloned, characterized and used to standardize an RT-PCR assay. Phylogenetic analyses were performed. Clinical data were obtained from medical records. RESULTS: hMPV was detected in 6.4% of the samples. Dyspnea and wheezing were frequently reported symptoms and the most common diagnoses were bronchiolitis, acute respiratory insufficiency or laryngotracheobronchitis. Nucleotide sequence alignment revealed 97.7% identity with genotype A1 of hMPV. The detection limit of hMPV genomes by RT-PCR in clinical samples was 180 copies/microL. CONCLUSION: This is the first report of the detection and genetic characterization of hMPV infections in children with lower ARI in Southern Brazil.     

Water intake during the development of renal hypertension (2K-1C) in mice

For both practical and methodological reasons, mice have been the most widely employed species for development of transgenic and gene knockin and knockout animals. However, basic behavioral and physiology control and regulatory mechanisms in mice are not well characterized. To broaden our understanding of the processes maintaining body fluid and blood pressure homeostasis in the mouse, the objectives of this study were to evaluate voluntary water, and sodium intakes during the development of renal hypertension and to examine the relationship between hypertension and the quantities of water and salt ingested. In male, C57BL/6J mice, two-kidney, one-clip renal hypertension (2K-1C) was induced, and water and 1.8% NaCl intakes were monitored for 2 weeks. At the end of this period, all animals received arterial catheters for direct recording of blood pressure. The mice that received renal artery clips were sorted into hypertensive (152+/-4 mm Hg) and normotensive (122+/-2 mm Hg) groups and were compared to control (117+/-4 mm Hg) animals that underwent a sham renal clipping procedure. Hypertensive 2K-1C animals had significantly elevated water intake compared to control animals. On most of the postsurgical days, the normotensive 2K-1C animals did not display increased water intake in comparison to the control group. No significant effect was detected for 1.8% saline intake between any of the pairs of groups. In summary, the reduction of blood flow to a single kidney in the 2K-1C model of renal hypertension induces high blood pressure accompanied by sustained hyperdipsia in the mouse.     

Interaction between α- and β-adrenoceptors in rat pineal adenosine cyclic 3′,5′-monophosphate phosphodiesterase activation

Summary The adrenergic regulation of the low-Km pineal cAMP phosphodiesterase (PDE) activity was studied in adult female rats. PDE activity showed a transient enhancement (up to 42%) during the process of degeneration of pineal sympathetic nerve terminals that followed superior cervical ganglionectomy (SCGx), thus confirming the neural modulation of the enzyme. Treatment with isoproterenol (0.3–5.0 mg/Kg) increased significantly PDE activity within 2 hours. Phenylephrine induced a significant increase of pineal PDE only at a 10 mg/Kg dose, while at a lower dose (1 mg/Kg) it potenciated the stimulatory effect of isoproterenol. Treatment of pineal organ cultures with 100 M propranolol inhibited norepinephrine (NE)-induced PDE activity while 100 M phentolamine had no significant effect. Propranolol at doses unable to alter thein vitro NE-induced stimulation of pineal PDE activity (1 M), antagonized such NE effect when used in combination with 1 uM phentolamine. At equimolecular concentrations (1 M) the mixed --adrenergic agonist NE was more effective than the -adrenergic agonist isoproterenol to increase pineal PDEin vitro. These resultsSupported by grant no. 6638, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Técnicas de la RepÚblica Argentina (CONICET), Argentina.Established Investigator, CONICET.     

Interactions between naloxone and GABA in the control of locomotor activity in the rat

Summary It was found that naloxone causes a small but significant reduction of motility. The GABA_B agonist baclofen and the GABA transaminase inhibitor-acetylenic GABA (GAG) also reduced locomotor activity. When a subeffective dose of baclofen was combined with naloxone 0.8 or 3.2 mg/kg, baclofen significantly inhibited motility beyond the inhibition caused by naloxone + saline. GAG, in a dose of 12.5 mg/kg, was also potentiated by naloxone, 3.2 mg/kg. The locomotion reducing effects of naloxone could be blocked by either picrotoxin or bicuculline. It is concluded that GABAergic mechanisms participate in the inhibition of locomotor activity provoked by naloxone. The possibility that this drug disinhibits GABAergic neurons is discussed.     

Discriminating adaptive attributions: Agreement between self-report and objective ratings

According to the reformulated learned helplessness model of depression, causal attributions are an important mediator of the effects on mood of positive and negative experiences. Adaptive attributions for negative events are assumed to be external, unstable, and specific. In the present study, subjects exposed to one of two attribution training procedures or a control condition made attributions for hypothetical events under neutral and adaptive instructional sets. Attributions were rated by subjects and coders blind to the purpose of the study. Results indicated that subjects' views of adaptive causal attributions were congruent with predictions from the learned helplessness model. The ratings of the objective coders indicated that subjects' attributions really did change in response to the adaptive instructions in the predicted direction. Implications of these results for the reformulated learned helplessness model and depression therapies that include an attribution retraining component are discussed.The authors would like to thank Dan Russell for his very helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.     

Immediate repair of urethroperineal fistulas after abdominoperineal amputation by means of a cutaneo-muscular flap of the gluteus maximus. Apropos of 2 successfully treated cases

Although a rare complication, the development of a urethro-perineal urinary fistula immediately after abdomino-perineal amputation is a difficult problem to solve. The fragility of the membranous urethra immediately in contact with the exenterated pelvic cavity which takes several weeks to fill in makes any attempt at isolated direct suture very hazardous. Secondary repair is also frequently difficult and the "functional prognosis is far from being always favourable". The major handicap resulting from the perpetuation of this type of fistula has led us to propose an attempt at immediate repair as soon as it is diagnosed with filling of the pelvi-perineal cavity by a cutaneo-muscular flap taken from gluteus maximus. In the two cases in which this treatment was performed, the fistula was cured and a good quality functional result was obtained.     

Tackling the frailty burden with an integrative value-based approach: results from a mixed-methods study

Journal of Public Health - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implementation of value-based care principles in the context of frailty in the perioperative process, highlighting the...     

Predictors of health-related quality of life in Parkinson’s disease: the impact of overlap between health-related quality of life and clinical measures

Quality of Life Research - This study aimed to determine predictors of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Parkinson's disease (PD) and to explore their predictive value before and after...     

Role of Cachexia and Fragility in the Patient Candidate for Cardiac Surgery

Frailty is the major expression of accelerated aging and describes a decreased resistance to stressors, and consequently an increased vulnerability to additional diseases in elderly people. The vascular aging related to frail phenotype reflects the high susceptibility for cardiovascular diseases and negative postoperative outcomes after cardiac surgery. Sarcopenia can be considered a biological substrate of physical frailty. Malnutrition and physical inactivity play a key role in the pathogenesis of sarcopenia. We searched on Medline (PubMed) and Scopus for relevant literature published over the last 10 years and analyzed the strong correlation between frailty, sarcopenia and cardiovascular diseases in elderly patient. In our opinion, a right food intake and moderate intensity resistance exercise are mandatory in order to better prepare patients undergoing cardiac operation.