Neck Circumference Is Independently Associated with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors: Cross-Sectional Analysis from ELSA-Brasil.

Background: Neck circumference (NC) is a simple anthropometric measurement that may be linked with cardiometabolic risk factors. We analyzed the association between NC and a range of cardiometabolic risk factors.

Methods: In a cross-sectional and sex-specific analysis of the ELSA-Brasil study (15,105 civil servants aged 35-74 years), we excluded participants with diabetes, taking antihypertensive and/or lipid-lowering drugs.

Topical Formulation Containing Naringenin: Efficacy against Ultraviolet B Irradiation-Induced Skin Inflammation and Oxidative Stress in Mice.

Naringenin (NGN) exhibits anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, but it remains undetermined its topical actions against ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced inflammation and oxidative stress in vivo. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical and functional antioxidant stability of NGN containing formulations, and the effects of selected NGN containing formulation on UVB irradiation-induced skin inflammation and oxidative damage in hairless mice. NGN presented ferric reducing power, ability to scavenge 2,2'-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline- 6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and hydroxyl radical, and inhibited iron-independent and dependent lipid peroxidation.

[Maternal deaths in Belo Horizonte, Brazil: perceptions of quality of care and preventability].

Objective: To analyze maternal deaths in Belo Horizonte from 2003 to 2010 based on the perception of family members of women who died from pregnancy-related causes.

Methods: Maternal deaths were researched at the City of Belo Horizonte Department of Health's Maternal, Fetal, and Infant Death Prevention Committee. Family members of deceased women were recruited by telephone or personally.

The Challenge of Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes to Public Health: A Study Based on Qualitative Systemic Approach.

The most common modeling approaches to understanding incidence, prevalence and control of chronic diseases in populations, such as statistical regression models, are limited when it comes to dealing with the complexity of those problems. Those complex adaptive systems have characteristics such as emerging properties, self-organization and feedbacks, which structure the system stability and resistance to changes. Recently, system science approaches have been proposed to deal with the range, complexity, and multifactor nature of those public health problems.

Redox-Active Profile Characterization of Remirea maritima Extracts and Its Cytotoxic Effect in Mouse Fibroblasts (L929) and Melanoma (B16F10) Cells.

Remirea maritima is a tropical plant with a reticulated root system belonging to the family Cyperaceae, also known to have biologically active secondary metabolites. However, very few data on R. maritima's biological actions are available and there are no reports regarding the redox-active profile of this plant.

Correspondence between overweight and socioeconomic and demographic indicators in the adult Brazilian population.

Objective: To verify the correlation between overweight and socioeconomic and demographic indicators among Brazilian adults, using data from the Brazilian Household Budget Survey from 2008/2009.

Methods: We analyzed the joint relationships between overweight and socioeconomic and demographic indicators in the Brazilian adult population (99,532,672 individuals), through the multiple correspondence analysis technique.

Results: The featured profile of the Brazilian adult population with regard to overweight was correlated with ages from 30 years of the most developed and economically social geographic regions of Brazil; however between genders, the correlation was in the opposite direction in the variables income, education, and subjective issues about life conditions related to food and nutrition security.

Interrelationships between nursing workers' state of nutrition, socio demographic factors, work and health habits.

The interrelationships between professional nursing workers' state of nutrition, variables relating to their socio demographic relationships, their professional work, and health behavior, were examined based on a correspondence analysis technique. This is a sectional study carried out involving 917 nursing professionals in a public hospital in Rio de Janeiro. The results show the formation of four groups, three of them grouped under BMI (body mass index) categories.

Recessive Resistance Derived from Tomato cv. Tyking-Limits Drastically the Spread of Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus.

The tomato yellow leaf curl disease (TYLCD) causes severe damage to tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) crops throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world. TYLCD is associated with a complex of single-stranded circular DNA plant viruses of the genus Begomovirus (family Geminiviridae) transmitted by the whitefy Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae).

Social inequalities in BMI trajectories: 8-year follow-up of the Pró-Saúde study in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Objective: In a cohort of government employees in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, we investigated prospectively, sex-specific associations between education and BMI trajectories and their potential effect modification by race.

Design: Of the 4030 participants in Phase 1 (1999), 3253 (81 %) participated in Phase 2 (2003) and 3058 (76 %) participated in Phase 3 (2006). Education was categorized as elementary, high school or college graduate.

Job strain and unhealthy lifestyle: results from the baseline cohort study, Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil).

Background: Unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as smoking and sedentary behavior, are among the main modifiable risk factors for chronic non-communicable diseases. The workplace is regarded as an important site of potential health risks where preventive strategies can be effective. We investigated independent associations among psychosocial job strain, leisure-time physical inactivity, and smoking in public servants in the largest Brazilian adult cohort.

Biotransformed soybean extract induces cell death of estrogen-dependent breast cancer cells by modulation of apoptotic proteins.

The process of soybean biotransformation increases the quantity of isoflavones (daidzein and genistein), which besides being considered an alternative to estroprogestive hormone replacement therapy (HRT), are able of hindering the growth and development of tumor cells. We investigated the effects of soybean extract biotransformed by fungus on estrogen-dependent (MCF-7) and nondependent (SK-BR-3) breast cell lines. Cells were treated with different concentrations of biotransformed (BSE) and nonbiotransformed soybean extract (SE), or daidzein (D) and genistein (G) patterns isolated and in combination (D + G).

Age and education influence the performance of elderly women on the dual-task Timed Up and Go test.

Gait variability is related to functional decline in the elderly. The dual-task Timed Up and Go Test (TUG-DT) reflects the performance in daily activities. Objective To evaluate the differences in time to perform the TUG with and without DT in elderly women with different ages and levels of education and physical activity.

Traditional risk factors are more relevant than HIV-specific ones for carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in a Brazilian cohort of HIV-infected patients.

Background: Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) had a dramatic impact on the mortality profile in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected individuals and increased their life-expectancy. Conditions associated with the aging process have been diagnosed more frequently among HIV-infected patients, particularly, cardiovascular diseases.

Methods: Patients followed in the Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas (IPEC) prospective cohort in Rio de Janeiro were submitted to the general procedures from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health, comprising several anthropometric, laboratory and imaging data.

Years worked at night and body mass index among registered nurses from eighteen public hospitals in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Background: Employees working night shifts are at a greater risk of being overweight or obese. Few studies on obesity and weight gain analyze the years of exposure to night work. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the years of exposure to night work and body mass index (BMI) among registered nurses.

Death and disability in patients with sleep apnea--a meta-analysis.

Background: Several studies have been attempting to ascertain the risks of Sleep Apnea Syndrome (SAS) and its morbidity and mortality.

Objective: The main objective was to verify whether SAS increases the risk of death; the secondary objective was to evaluate its morbidity in relation to cardiovascular disease and the number of days hospitalized.

Methods: A systematic review and a meta-analysis were performed of the published literature.

Umbilical cord blood adipokines and newborn weight change.

Purpose: To ascertain the association between umbilical cord levels of adiponectin, leptin and resistin, and birth weight (BW) and newborn weight change (NWC) in the first 96 h of life.

Methods: 392 full-term singletons were recruited, in 2005/2006, at the five public units providing obstetrical and neonatal care in Porto. Information was collected by face-to-face interview and additionally from clinical records.

Life course socioeconomic position and C-reactive protein: mediating role of health-risk behaviors and metabolic alterations. The Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil).

Background: Chronic inflammation has been postulated to be one mediating mechanism explaining the association between low socioeconomic position (SEP) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). We sought to examine the association between life course SEP and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in adulthood, and to evaluate the extent to which health-risk behaviors and metabolic alterations mediate this association. Additionally, we explored the possible modifying influence of gender.

Memory functioning in children with epilepsy: frontal lobe epilepsy, childhood absence epilepsy, and benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes.

Specific cognitive deficits have been identified in children with epilepsy irrespective of results on intelligence tests. Memory deficits are traditionally attributed to temporal lobe epilepsy, whereas the impact of frontal lobe epilepsy on memory functions has remained controversial. The aim of this study was the examination of memory abilities in other childhood common epilepsy syndromes (frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE), childhood absence epilepsy (CAE), and benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS)) and the influence of epilepsy-related variables.

Biotransformed soybean extract (BSE) inhibits melanoma cell growth and viability in vitro: involvement of nuclear factor-kappa B signaling.

Melanoma is recognized as one of the most aggressive cancers with a relatively high propensity for metastasis. The prognosis of melanoma remains poor in spite of treatment advances, emphasizing the importance of additional preventive measures. Isoflavonoids have become not only potential chemopreventive, but also important therapeutic natural agents.

Pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate inhibits UVB-induced skin inflammation and oxidative stress in hairless mice and exhibits antioxidant activity in vitro.

Ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation may cause oxidative stress- and inflammation-dependent skin cancer and premature aging. Pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) is an antioxidant and inhibits nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation. In the present study, the mechanisms of PDTC were investigated in cell free oxidant/antioxidant assays, in vivo UVB irradiation in hairless mice and UVB-induced NFκB activation in keratinocytes.

Prevalence of obesity, overweight and abdominal obesity and its association with physical activity in a federal university.

A cross sectional study to investigate the prevalence of obesity, overweight and abdominal obesity and its association with the level of physical activity (PA) measured in employees of a Rio de Janeiro University according to the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ).299 employees selected by random sampling were interviewed. The association between PA and anthropometric markers was estimated by Poisson models (robust variance).

[Experiencing skin to skin contact with the baby during the postpartum period as a mechanical act].

The objective was to understand the puerpera's experience during the first skin to skin contact with the newborn in the immediate postpartum period, the obstetric ward of a public hospital in a city in Bahia. Exploratory, descriptive and qualitative study, approved by the Ethics Committee and conducted with fourteen postpartum women, through semi-structured interviews in the period July-August 2011. The data were analyzed using Grounded Theory, identifying the phenomenon "Experiencing skin to skin contact as a mechanical act" and its three subcategories: "Encouraging the only contact", "Contact as a mechanical act" and "Being forced to initiate breastfeeding.