Socio-demographic and psychological features associated with smoking in pregnancy.

Objective: To investigate how social and psychological characteristics differ between pregnant women who smoke and do not smoke. To explore associations between social and psychological features with changes of smoking habits by the end of pregnancy.

Methods: A case-control study was set up.

History of Maternal Mortality in the City of Ribeirão Preto, in its Regional Health Department, and in the State of São Paulo after the Establishment of the Maternal Committees from 1998 to 2017.

Objective:  To describe the evolution of maternal mortality right after the establishment of maternal death committees in the region of the city of Ribeirão Preto, state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Methods:  The present study describes the spatial and temporal distribution of maternal mortality frequencies and rates, using data from the state of São Paulo, the municipality of Ribeirão Preto, and its Regional Health Department (DRS-XIII) from 1998 to 2017. The present ecological study considered the maternal mortality and live birth frequencies made available by the Computer Science Department of the Brazilian Unified Health System (Departamento de Informática do Sistema Único de Saúde, DATASUS, in the Portuguese acronym)/Ministry of Health, which were grouped by year and political-administrative division (the state of São Paulo, the DRS-XIII, and the city of Ribeirão Preto).

The Impact of CO Laser Treatment and Acidulated Phosphate Fluoride on Enamel Demineralization and Biofilm Formation.

This study evaluated the impact of CO laser treatment and acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF) on enamel demineralization and biofilm formation, using and designs. Demineralized enamel slabs were distributed among 8 groups: placebo, placebo + continuous CO laser, placebo + repeated CO laser, placebo + ultrapulsed CO laser, 1.23% APF, APF + continuous CO laser, APF + repeated CO laser and APF + ultrapulsed CO laser.

A simple test to assess the emotional status of smokers.

Background And Aims: Smokers exhibit a high prevalence of psychological abnormalities, and these factors may contribute to smoking initiation, its maintenance, and quitting difficulties. This study reports the development of a scale aiming at evaluating the emotional status of smokers in face of tobacco.

Methods: Levels of Anxiety, Depression, Perceived Stress, Self-esteem, and Loneliness of 120 smokers (age: 54.

Impact of different approaches of primary care mental health on the prevalence of mental disorders.

Unlabelled: AimTo compare the impact of three different approaches to primary care mental health on the prevalence of mental disorders.

Background: Millions of people suffer from mental disorders. As entry point into the health service, primary healthcare plays an important role in providing mental health prevention and treatment.

Effect of Er:Yag laser on dentin demineralization around restorations.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of cavity preparation with Er:YAG laser on dentin adjacent to restorations submitted to cariogenic challenge in situ, by subsuperficial microhardness analysis. Bovine incisors were sectioned, flattened, and polished, resulting in 40 dentin slabs. The slabs were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 10), according to the cavity preparation method: I-high-speed handpiece (control); II-Er:YAG laser (160 mJ; 3 Hz); III-Er:YAG laser (260 mJ; 3 Hz); IV-Er:YAG laser (300 mJ; 3Hz).

Impact of CO2 laser and stannous fluoride on primary tooth erosion.

This study evaluated in vitro the effect of input power of CO2 laser, either associated or not to stannous fluoride (SnF2) gel, for the control of intrinsic erosion in primary teeth. One hundred four enamel slabs (3 × 3 × 2 mm) from human primary molars were flattened and polished. Adhesive tapes were placed on their surface leaving a window of 3 × 1 mm.

Effect of foods and drinks on primary tooth enamel after erosive challenge with hydrochloric acid.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of industrialised foods and drinks on primary tooth enamel previously eroded with hydrochloric acid (HCl). The crowns of one hundred two specimens were subjected to an erosive challenge with HCl and randomly divided into six groups (n = 17): Chocolate Milk (Toddynho® - Pepsico) - negative control; Petit Suisse Yogurt (Danoninho® - Danone); Strawberry Yogurt (Vigor); Apple puree (Nestlé); Fermented Milk (Yakult® - Yakult); and Home Squeezed Style Orange Juice (del Valle) - positive control. The 28-day immersion cycles for the test products were performed twice daily and were interspersed with exposure of the test substrate to artificial saliva.

Correlates of experimentation with smoking and current cigarette consumption among adolescents.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze social characteristics and stress as correlates of cigarette smoking in adolescence. The main intent was to identify elements that distinguish adolescents who had experimented with smoking and did not progress to regular smoking from those who became current smokers.

Methods: Students at 10 high schools in the city of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, completed a questionnaire based on an instrument employed in a similar large-scale study.

Assessment of the relationship between entomologic indicators of Aedes aegypti and the epidemic occurrence of dengue virus 3 in a susceptible population, São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.

The aims of this study were to describe the occurrence of dengue in space and time and to assess the relationships between dengue incidence and entomologic indicators. We selected the dengue autochthonous cases that occurred between September 2005 and August 2007 in São José do Rio Preto to calculate incidence rates by month, year and census tracts. The monthly incidence rates of the city were compared to the monthly Breteau indices (BI) of the São José do Rio Region.

Spatial distribution of the human development index, HIV infection and AIDS-Tuberculosis comorbidity: Brazil, 1982-2007.

Introduction: AIDS epidemic has given visibility to the incidence of tuberculosis, for being the most frequent opportunistic infection. It is known that individuals who are socially vulnerable are more susceptible to HIV transmission and tuberculosis as well.

Objective: This study aims to conduct a geoepidemiological study on HIV/AIDS, AIDS-Tuberculosis co-infection and social vulnerability.

Long-term chlorhexidine effect on bond strength to Er:YAG laser irradiated-dentin.

This study evaluates the bond strength of dentin prepared with Er:YAG laser or bur, after rewetting with chlorhexidine on long-term artificial saliva storage and thermocycling. One hundred and twenty human third molars were sectioned in order to expose the dentin surface (n = 10). The specimens were randomly divided in 12 groups according to treatment and aging: Er:YAG laser rewetting with deionized water (LW) and 24 h storage in artificial saliva (WC); LW and 6 months of artificial saliva storage + 12.

Perceptions of patients, physicians, and Medical students on physicians' appearance.

Objective: To investigate the impressions made by different styles of dress and appearance adopted by physicians on patients, medical students and other physicians in Brazil.

Methods: Two hundred fifty nine patients, 119 students, and 99 physicians answered questions related to a panel of male and female physicians' pictures covering the following styles: white clothing; white coat; formal, informal, and casual garments; and surgical scrubs. They also reported their level of discomfort with a list of 20 items for professional appearance of both genders.

[Epidemiological intelligence as a model of organization in health].

The concept of epidemiological intelligence, as a construction of information societies, goes beyond monitoring a list of diseases and the ability to elicit rapid responses. The concept should consider the complexity of the definition of epidemiology in the identification of this object of study without being limited to a set of actions in a single government sector. The activities of epidemiological intelligence include risk assessment, strategies for prevention and protection, subsystems of information, crisis management rooms, geographical analysis, etc.

[The impact of mortality from external causes on human development in the Brazilian borderland].

This article estimates the impact of mortality from external causes on the human development index (HDI) along the Brazilian borderland from 2000 to 2005. Data obtained from Brazilian government agencies were combined using the methodology defined by the United Nations Development Program, revealing the HDI according to actual conditions. Subsequently, deaths from external causes were excluded in order to estimate their impact on the index, recalculating life expectancy using the technique of competing causes.

Spatial analysis of leprosy incidence and associated socioeconomic factors.

Objective: To identify clusters of the major occurrences of leprosy and their associated socioeconomic and demographic factors.

Methods: Cases of leprosy that occurred between 1998 and 2007 in São José do Rio Preto (southeastern Brazil) were geocodified and the incidence rates were calculated by census tract. A socioeconomic classification score was obtained using principal component analysis of socioeconomic variables.

Dyspnea descriptors translated from English to Portuguese: application in obese patients and in patients with cardiorespiratory diseases.

Objective: To investigate the usefulness of descriptive terms applied to the sensation of dyspnea (dyspnea descriptors) that were developed in English and translated to Brazilian Portuguese in patients with four distinct clinical conditions that can be accompanied by dyspnea.

Methods: We translated, from English to Brazilian Portuguese, a list of 15 dyspnea descriptors reported in a study conducted in the USA. Those 15 descriptors were applied in 50 asthma patients, 50 COPD patients, 30 patients with heart failure, and 50 patients with class II or III obesity.

Dyspnea descriptors developed in Brazil: application in obese patients and in patients with cardiorespiratory diseases.

Objective: To develop a set of descriptive terms applied to the sensation of dyspnea (dyspnea descriptors) for use in Brazil and to investigate the usefulness of these descriptors in four distinct clinical conditions that can be accompanied by dyspnea.

Methods: We collected 111 dyspnea descriptors from 67 patients and 10 health professionals. These descriptors were analyzed and reduced to 15 based on their frequency of use, similarity of meaning, and potential pathophysiological value.

[Completeness of data on live birth certificates and death certificates for early neonatal and fetal deaths in the Ribeirão Preto Region, São Paulo State, Brazil, 2000-2007].

This study aimed to evaluate the completeness of data on nine items included in both the certificate of live birth (CLB) and death certificate (DC), as well as the retrieval of data on early neonatal deaths. The study assessed live birth and early neonatal and fetal death records in municipalities in the Ribeirão Preto Region, São Paulo State, Brazil, from 2000 to 2007. Database matching for live births and deaths allowed retrieving data on early neonatal deaths.

[AIDS along Brazil's borders, 1990-2003].

Objective: To study the AIDS epidemic in Brazil's border areas, from the spatial and temporal perspective.

Methods: This was an ecological study in which the cases of AIDS reported to the Ministry of Health of Brazil from 1990-2003 were grouped according to "hunger areas" as defined by Josué de Castro in the 1940s and according to 19 cultural subregions. Spatial assessment was based on incidence rates for border municipalities; temporal assessment considered the absolute number of cases occurring quarterly from 1990-2003 in each of the hunger areas studied (Extreme South, Midwest, and Amazon).

Spatial and temporal study of leprosy in the state of São Paulo (Southeastern Brazil), 2004-2006.

Objective: To assess the temporal and spatial evolution of the leprosy endemy in the state of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil.

Methods: This is an ecological-social study that used the number of leprosy cases reported to the Brazilian Ministry of Health from January 2004 to December 2006. Monthly series were generated in each regional health department, and their sequences were adjusted by a Markovian model for the leprosy detection coefficients.

Effects of acute magnesium loading on pulmonary function of stable COPD patients.

Background: Magnesium (Mg) use has the potential to promote bronchodilatation and to improve lung function in obstructive diseases. IV administration of Mg during exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has led to improved peak flow. This study aimed to investigate the effects of acute IV Mg loading on respiratory parameters of stable COPD patients.

[Characterization of caregivers for children with HIV/AIDS, addressing quality of life, socio-economic stratification and oral health aspects].

Objective: This study examines perceptions, and knowledge of how to promote oral healthcare among people caring for children with HIV/AIDS.

Methods: A questionnaire was completed by people caring for children with HIV/AIDS, encompassing the quality of life (WHOQoL-bref); the socioeconomic stratification (BECC); and aspects related to oral health through the perception, care and promotion of oral health. Internal consistency was evaluated for the WHOQoL-bref domains, for the BECC questions and for the oral health questions.

Vestibular rehabilitation's effect over the quality of life of geriatric patients with labyrinth disease.

Unlabelled: Dizziness is a symptom that affects the population world over, being more prevalent in the elderly due to the process of functional deterioration of the hearing and vestibular systems with aging.

Aim: The objective of this study was to evaluate prospectively the effect of Vestibular Rehabilitation (VR) as treatment for labyrinth disease of vascular and metabolic origin in the quality of life of geriatric patients.

Methods: The study was outlined as clinical-prospective, longitudinal, and observed, with the participation of 40 elder citizens of both genders, divided in 2 groups, dizziness of vascular or metabolic origin.