Tuberculosis among children and adolescents in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Focus on extrapulmonary disease.

Objective: To compare the socio-demographic, clinical, and diagnostic characteristics and treatment outcomes between extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) and pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in children and adolescents in Rio de Janeiro, a high TB-burdened Brazilian city.

Methods: This retrospective study used data from patients with EPTB and PTB aged 0 - 18 years, notified on two national databases from 2014 to 2016.

Results: Among the 1008 patients, 144 (14.

Hydrogen sulfide-releasing silk fibroin scaffold for bone tissue engineering.

Hydrogen sulfide (HS)-based therapy is a promising therapeutic strategy for several biomedical applications. Following the observation that endogenous and exogenous HS plays a prominent role as a bone anabolic agent, we recently developed a silk fibroin (SF) porous scaffold loaded with GYY4137 (GYY), an HS donor, for applications in bone tissue engineering. Here, we assayed whether the combination of SF with HS potentiates the osteoconductive properties of SF.

Silk Fibroin Porous Scaffolds Loaded with a Slow-Releasing Hydrogen Sulfide Agent (GYY4137) for Applications of Tissue Engineering.

Hydrogen sulfide (HS) is a physiological gasotransmitter known to possess a regulatory role in several tissues, including bone. The exogenous administration by injection of solutions of HS-releasing compounds (e.g.

Prospective cohort 20 years after endovascular treatment for abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Objective: To describe the factors associated with survival 20 years after endovascular treatment of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in a single center.

Methods: Prospective cohort of asymptomatic patients with an infrarenal aortic aneurysm treated with a bifurcated endovascular graft (Talent) between June 1997 and August 2008. Cox proportional hazard multivariable regression was used for analysis of independent risk factors for survival.

Positive correlation between pesticide sales and central nervous system and cardiovascular congenital abnormalities in Brazil.

Background: This study investigated the association between pesticide exposure in Brazil (2005-2013) with rates of central nervous system (CNS) and cardiovascular system (CVS) congenital abnormalities in 2014.

Method: An exposure variable was established from data on production and sales of pesticides (kg) per crop area (ha) for 2012 and 2013 years. The Brazilian states were divided into three categories: high, medium, and low pesticide use and rate ratios were estimated for each group of states (CI: 95 %).

Objective and subjective image evaluation of maxillary alveolar bone based on cone beam computed tomography exposure parameters.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to optimize the exposure parameters for cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) for performing diagnostic imaging of maxillary alveolar bone.

Study Design: CBCT (Promax 3 D Max) was performed on a frozen human cadaver head. Image homogeneity and the degree of alveolar bone contrast were determined by objective assessment using ImageJ software and subjective assessment by orthodontists and oral radiologists.

Preclinical activity profile of α-lactoalbumin, a whey protein rich in tryptophan, in rodent models of seizures and epilepsy.

Purpose: To evaluate the potential anticonvulsant activity of α-lactalbumin (ALAC), a whey protein rich in tryptophan (TRP) relative to other large neutral amino acids (LNAAs), in rodent models of seizures and epilepsy.

Methods: The effects of ALAC administered per os were evaluated by standard protocols against audiogenic seizures in Genetic Epilepsy Prone Rats (GEPR-9 rats), maximal electroshock (MES)-induced seizures in rats, pilocarpine-induced seizures in mice, spontaneous chronic seizures in mice exposed to pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus (SE), and absence seizures in WAG/Rij rats. In some models, carbamazepine (CBZ) was included as an active control.

Memory complaints and test performance in healthy elderly persons.

In order to compare the use of a structured self-report questionnaire with direct questioning about memory problems, 71 healthy and independent aged individuals (63 women) from the community without risk factors for cognitive deficits were objectively asked about subjective memory complaints (SMC), given the Memory Complaint Questionnaire (MAC-Q) and then submitted to the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). SMC positively correlated with higher scores on MAC-Q, although a significant percentage of the sample had SMC and lower scores on MAC-Q and also no SMC and higher scores on MAC-Q. Performance on RAVLT was significantly worse (p<0.

Neonatal late-onset bloodstream infection: attributable mortality, excess of length of stay and risk factors.

Background: Bloodstream infection represents a major threat among neonates under intensive care with considerable impact on morbidity and mortality. This study evaluated extra stay, attributable mortality and the risk factors associated with late-onset bloodstream infection (LO-BSI) among neonates admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit during a 4-year period.

Methods: A retrospective matched cohort study was conducted.

[Knowledge and practices regarding stroke at a university hospital: Part 2. Medical education in the new era of treatment of cerebral infarction].

Background And Purpose: This study was undertaken to evaluate professionals working at a University Hospital as to their knowledge and attitudes towards stroke.

Methods: Individuals working in the hospital were divided in two groups, Health care workers (HCW) and non-Health care workers (NHCW), and further subdivided according to level of schooling, resulting in seven strata. A closed questionnaire addressing epidemiology, risk factors, pathophysiology, typical symptoms, treatment, clinical course and personal attitudes towards smoking and blood pressure control, was applied to a random sample of each stratum (total n = 309).

[Knowledge and practices regarding stroke at a university hospital: Part 1. Education of the nursing staff: priorities for the treatment of cerebral infarction].

Background And Purpose: This study was undertaken to evaluate professionals working at a university hospital as to their knowledge and attitudes towards stroke.

Methods: Individuals working in the hospital were divided in two groups, health care workers (HCW) and non-health care workers (NHCW), and further subdivided according to level of schooling, resulting in seven strata. A closed questionnaire addressing epidemiology, risk factors, pathophysiology, typical symptoms, treatment, clinical course and personal attitudes towards smoking and blood pressure control, was applied to a random sample of each stratum (total n = 309).

[Spontaneous and traumatic rupture of the renal parenchyma in primary obstructive megaureter: a report of 2 cases].

Urinary extravasation in infants may occur secondary to a variety of congenital obstructive uropathic conditions. This condition has been reported most often in infants with posterior urethral valves and pelviureteral junction obstruction. We present two cases of perirenal urinary extravasation from the kidney due to primary obstructive megaureter.

In vivo effectiveness of lithium on impaired neutrophil chemotaxis in Shwachman-Diamond syndrome.

The effect of lithium treatment on the impaired neutrophil chemotactic function of a patient affected by Shwachman-Diamond syndrome is reported. We found that (1) a cytoskeletal cellular defect seems to be involved in the impairment of neutrophil function (and perhaps of cellular secretion and chondrocyte function) in the syndrome; (2) intermittent neutropenia is always present in the syndrome, and (3) lithium seems capable, in addition to its capacity of inducing leukocytosis, of modulating leukocyte functions by modulating the microtubular system. The drug, at usual therapeutic dosage, was able to normalize neutrophil functions without side effects.