Long-Time Choledochal Clamping in Wistar Rats Causes Biliary Obstruction Progressing to Hepatic Fibrosis.

Background: Biliary complications are important causes of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing hepatic surgery. The aim of the study was to evaluate late liver alterations after a long period of choledochal clamping in Wistar rats.

Methods: Ten male Wistar rats, weighing 304 grams, anesthetized with sodium thiopental (25 mg/kg) and xylazine (10 mg/kg) intravenously, were distributed into 2 groups: the choledochal clamping group (CCG) and the operation sham group (OSG), with 5 animals each submitted to an abdominal incision.

Pain prevalence, socio-demographic and clinical features in patients with chronic ulcers.

Chronic wounds are considered a worldwide epidemic and pain is the most frequently symptom referred by the patients who have this type of wound. The aim was to assess the prevalence of pain in chronic wounds and relate socio-demographic and clinical variables to pain. This is an analytical cross-sectional study, carried out in Basic Health Units (BHU), Family Health Strategy (ESF) and in a university hospital in two cities of Minas Gerais.

Impact of oral clinical problems on oral health-related quality of life in brazilian children: a hierarchical approach.

Background: Oral health-related quality of life may be influenced by a series of characteristics. Considering the multidimensional character of quality of life, these impacts should be evaluated in the context of the physical, psychological, and social domains.

Aim: To evaluate the impact of clinical and perceived oral health problems on oral health-related quality of life in its different domains.

Effects of Arctium lappa on Cadmium-Induced Damage to the Testis and Epididymis of Adult Wistar Rats.

The protective role of Arctium lappa (AL) on the testes of rats acutely exposed to cadmium (Cd) was tested. The rats were randomly divided into a control group (C-group) and three major experimental groups, which were further subdivided into minor groups (n = 6) according to the experimental period (7 or 56 days). The C-group was subdivided into C-7 and C-56 [receiving a single saline solution, intraperitoneal (i.

Consumption profile and factors associated with the ingestion of beer and distilled beverages among elderly Brazilians: Gender differences.

Aim: To estimate the prevalence of the consumption of beer and distilled beverages and associated factors among Brazilian older adults residing in a highly populated city in Brazil, highlighting the factors associated with frequent consumption and differences in consumption between men and women.

Methods: It was a cross-sectional, analytic study carried out by means of probability samples of conglomerates of older adults (aged 65-74 years). Descriptive analysis, univariate analysis and estimates of multivariate models through logistic regression (OR, 95% CI) were realized.

Associations between oral disorders and the quality of life of older adults in Brazil.

Aim: To evaluate the effect of oral disorders on the quality of life of older adults.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of older adults (aged ≥ 60 years) who reside in a small Brazilian city was carried out. Trained and calibrated academics and dentists collected the data.

A pelvic floor muscle training program in postmenopausal women: A randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate if a specific pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) program effectively increases pelvic floor muscle (PFM) contractility and decreases anterior pelvic organ prolapse (POP) as well as urogynecological symptoms, in postmenopausal women. The mean outcome measure of this study was the pelvic floor surface electromyography (sEMG) activity.

Study Design: A clinical, randomized, blinded-assessor and controlled study was conducted with 46 postmenopausal women.

Electromyographic pelvic floor activity: Is there impact during the female life cycle?

Aim: To evaluate the pelvic floor muscle (PFM) electromyographic activity in different phases of the female life cycle, correlating electromyographic activity with age, Body Mass Index (BMI), parity as well as the presence and severity of urinary symptoms.

Methods: A clinical, observational, transversal and controlled study was conducted in 384 women: 49 nulliparous, 103 primigravid pregnant, 92 primiparous postpartum (vaginal delivery: n = 43; cesarean section delivery: n = 49), 22 climacteric, 65 postmenopausal, and 53 women identified as being unable to perform voluntary maximum contraction. All subjects were evaluated with digital palpation and PFM surface electromyography (sEMG) and completed the questionnaires: International Consultation on Incontinence Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ IU-SF) and International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Overactive Bladder (ICIQ-OAB).

Apheresis in developing countries around the World.

At the combined American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) Annual Meeting/World Apheresis Association (WAA) Congress in San Francisco, California, in April of 2014, the opening session highlighted the status of apheresis outside of the United States. The organizers invited physicians active in apheresis in countries not usually represented at such international gatherings to give them a forum to share their experiences, challenges, and expectations in their respective countries with regard to both donor and therapeutic apheresis. Apheresis technology is expensive as well as technically and medically demanding, and low and median income countries have different experiences to share with the rest of the world.

A systematic review of the effect of daily panty liner use on the vulvovaginal environment.

Background: Whether panty liners predispose to vulvovaginitis is unclear.

Objectives: To clarify the effects of the use of panty liners on the female genital tract.

Search Strategy: Several electronic databases (including PubMed and Embase) were searched to identify studies published in English before May 3, 2012.

Pelvic floor muscle training program increases muscular contractility during first pregnancy and postpartum: electromyographic study.

Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a training program over both pelvic floor muscles contractility and urinary symptoms in primigravid pregnant and postpartum primiparous women.

Patients And Methods: A clinical, prospective and blinded trial was conducted with 33 women divided into three groups: (G1) 13 primigravid pregnant women; (G2) 10 postpartum primiparous women (49.3 ± 5.

Are transversus abdominis/oblique internal and pelvic floor muscles coactivated during pregnancy and postpartum?

Aim: The aim of this study was to simultaneously evaluate both transversus abdominis/internal oblique (Tra/IO) and pelvic floor muscles (PFM) during isometric exercises in nulliparous, pregnant, and postpartum women.

Methods: The study included 81 women divided into four groups: (G1) nulliparous women without urinary symptoms (n = 20); (G2) primigravid pregnant women with gestational age ≥24 weeks (n = 25); (G3) primiparous postpartum women after vaginal delivery with right mediolateral episiotomy (n = 19); (G4) primiparous postpartum women after cesarean section delivery, with 40 to 60 days of postpartum (n = 17). The assessment consisted of simultaneous surface electromyography (EMGs) of the PFM and Tra/IO, during three isometric maximum voluntary contractions.

Quality of sleep and quality of life in adolescents infected with human immunodeficiency virus.

Objectives: To assess sleep characteristics of adolescents infected by HIV, and to ascertain whether psychosocial aspects are associated to the quality of sleep.

Methods: A cross-sectional study assessing 102 HIV-infected adolescents of both genders, aged between 10 and 20 years-old and 120 Controls. Data collection was performed by applying the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory.

Alternative X-ray filters for an intra-oral digital radiographic system.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the modulation of the radiation spectrum with the use of alternative X-ray filters in the quality of intra-oral digital images from storage phosphor plates.

Methods: The radiographic exposures were performed in a GE 1000 X-ray machine (General Electric Co., Milwaukee, WI), operating at 65 kVp, 10 mA, 40 cm focus receptor distance using three different exposure times: 0.

Effects of a psychoeducational intervention in family caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease.

Unlabelled: Psychoeducational activities are a way of promoting help for caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease, representing a forum for knowledge sharing, and in which the primary focus is on psychological themes aimed at carers developing coping skills and strategies.

Objective: The main objective of this study was to gauge perceptions about care and its impact among family caregivers of patients with AD participating in a psychoeducational group intervention, as well as the possible positive and negative aspects associated with this role. The subjective impact of AD on the lives of these caregivers was assessed on each of the dimensions of the Caregiver Burden Scale using a semi-directed interview on perceptions about care.

Subjective and psychological well-being of students of a University of the Third Age: Benefits of continuing education for psychological adjustment in the elderly.

Objectives: The present study sought to characterize the degree of general satisfaction with life and degree of satisfaction on four domains: health, physical capacity, mental capacity and social involvement, and to determine the characteristics of self-reports of individuals enrolled on the program in relation to their psychological well-being focusing on the dimensions: autonomy, personal growth, control, positive relationships with others, purpose, personal acceptance and generativity, and to analyse the effect of time studying on level of well-being.

Method: A total of 140 elderly students of a University for the Third Age took part in the study. The Global Satisfaction With Life Scale and the Self Development Scale (with six psychological well-being subscales) were applied.

Elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease and their family relationships: Caregiver perspectives.

Objective: The present study was to investigate the status of the family relationships of elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease from a caregiver's perspective.

Methods: A total of sixteen relatives/caregivers of AD patients were assessed by applying a semi-structured questionnaire about family relationships. Frequency tables containing categorical variables (gender, schooling, personal income and current occupation) were compiled.

Effects of high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulation on strength and the basal tonus of female pelvic floor muscles.

Objective: Spinal manipulation with high-velocity and low-amplitude (HVLA) manipulation is frequently used for the treatment of lumbopelvic pain; however, the effect on the pelvic floor has been poorly studied in the past. The objective of this study was to quantify the intravaginal pressure (IVP) and the basal perineal tonus (BPT), measured in terms of pressure, before and after the HVLA manipulation in patients without neuromuscular and skeletal dysfunctions.

Methods: In this experimental, noncontrolled, nonrandomized study, IVP was obtained through a perineometer introduced into the volunteers' vagina while in dorsal horizontal decubitus.

Ranitidine is unable to maintain gastric pH levels above 4 in septic patients.

Purpose: The study aimed to evaluate whether ranitidine and pantoprazole are able to maintain gastric pH >or=4 in septic patients.

Materials And Methods: Twenty intensive care unit patients from a university teaching hospital with sepsis were included in this study. Ten patients received ranitidine (50 mg as an intermittent bolus 3 times a day) and 10 received pantoprazole (40 mg as an intermittent bolus twice a day).

Low-intensity ultrasound increases FAK, ERK-1/2, and IRS-1 expression of intact rat bones in a noncumulative manner.

Background: Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound stimulation (LIPUS) reportedly increases osteogenesis in fracture models but fails in intact bone, suggesting LIPUS does not act on mechanotransduction and growth factor pathways of intact bone.

Questions/purposes: We asked whether daily 20-minute LIPUS applied to intact tibias would act on bone proteins involved in mechanotransduction (focal adhesion kinase [FAK], and extracellular signal-regulated kinase-1/2 [ERK-1/2]), and growth factor signaling (insulin receptor substrate-1 [IRS-1]) pathways at 7, 14, and 21 days of treatment.

Methods: Immunoblotting was performed to detect FAK, ERK-1/2, and IRS-1 expression and activation from the stimulated intact tibias at 7, 14, and 21 days of daily 20-minute LIPUS.

Evaluation of NIH consensus criteria for classification of late acute and chronic GVHD.

Historically, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) beyond 100 days after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) was called chronic GVHD, even if the clinical manifestations were indistinguishable from acute GVHD. In 2005, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) sponsored a consensus conference that proposed new criteria for diagnosis and classification of chronic GVHD for clinical trials. According to the consensus criteria, clinical manifestations rather than time after transplantation should be used in clinical trials to distinguish chronic GVHD from late acute GVHD, which includes persistent, recurrent, or late-onset acute GVHD.

LQTA-QSAR: a new 4D-QSAR methodology.

A novel 4D-QSAR approach which makes use of the molecular dynamics (MD) trajectories and topology information retrieved from the GROMACS package is presented in this study. This new methodology, named LQTA-QSAR (LQTA, Laboratório de Quimiometria Teórica e Aplicada), has a module (LQTAgrid) that calculates intermolecular interaction energies at each grid point considering probes and all aligned conformations resulting from MD simulations. These interaction energies are the independent variables or descriptors employed in a QSAR analysis.