Using an experimental model for the study of therapeutic touch.

Objective: to verify whether the Paw Edema Model can be used in investigations about the effects of Therapeutic Touch on inflammation by measuring the variables pain, edema and neutrophil migration.

Method: this is a pilot and experimental study, involving ten male mice of the same genetic strain and divided into experimental and control group, submitted to the chemical induction of local inflammation in the right back paw. The experimental group received a daily administration of Therapeutic Touch for 15 minutes during three days.

[The effectiveness of therapeutic touch on pain, depression and sleep in patients with chronic pain: clinical trial].

This research aimed to check the effectiveness of Therapeutic Touch on decreased pain intensity, depression self-assessment scores and improved sleep quality. A clinical before-after trial is presented. The study was carried out at a Basic Health Unit in Fernandópolis, SP-Brazil, involving 30 elderly patients with chronic non-oncologic pain who received 8 sessions of Therapeutic Touch in accordance with the Krieger-Kunz method.

Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis mortality and social deprivation: a spatial analysis in small areas of Madrid region.

Objectives: To study census-tract distribution of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis mortality in the Madrid Region and its association with socio-economic deprivation.

Methods: Cross-sectional, ecological (3906 census-tract) study, using mortality data for 1996-2003 and a deprivation index drawn up on the basis of 2001 census data. Standardised mortality ratios were calculated taking Spanish rates for 2001 as reference.

Vibrio cholerae periplasmic superoxide dismutase: isolation of the gene and overexpression of the protein.

Superoxide dismutases are ubiquitous enzymes which play an important role in protecting cells against oxidative damage and which have also been shown to contribute to the pathogenicity of many bacterial species. Here we demonstrate that Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholerae, expresses an active periplasmic Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase. Moreover, we have set up an expression system yielding large amounts of V.

[Prevention of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy and methods for prion inactivation].

Background: Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) are infectious, progressive, lethal neurodegenerative diseases which affect both human and other mammalian species. The knowledge on the agent responsible for the infection and its pathogenetic mechanism is still limited. Specific diagnostic tests are currently not available; diagnosis is based on clinical symptoms and confirmed by a post-mortem examination which can reveal the typical brain lesions.

[Intuition: a discussion in the literature].

The purpose of this article is to present the concept of intuition in the literature in general and review how this theme has been considered in the nursing literature in particular. The findings in the literature where intuition appears as an innate and accessible attribute of the human being are presented in short. The authors assume a favorable position concerning the association of the rational and intuitive aspects of the human being as a kind of personal development and amplification of the possibilities to understand and help people.

Coordinate expression and developmental role of Id2 protein and TAL1/E2A heterodimer in erythroid progenitor differentiation.

The Id proteins and basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins play major roles in specifying cell fate decisions in diverse biologic settings. A potential role for Id and TAL1/E2A bHLH genes in hematopoiesis has been suggested by studies on immortalized cell lines. However, it is uncertain whether these observations reflect normal hematopoiesis.

Glucose metabolism and ethanol production in adh multiple and null mutants of Kluyveromyces lactis.

Four genes coding for alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activities were identified in Kluyveromyces lactis. Due to the presence in this yeast of multiple ADH isozymes, mutants in the individual genes constructed by gene replacement yielded no clear phenotype. We crossed these mutants and developed a screening procedure which allowed us to identify strains lacking several ADH activities.