Crenças em saúde para o controle da hipertensão arterial

As crenças em saúde podem influenciar na adesão ao tratamento da hipertensão arterial. Estimar o percentual de crenças em saúde sobre barreiras e benefícios quanto às medidas de prevenção e controle da hipertensão arterial e conhecer os fatores sociodemográficos associados a essas crenças foi o objetivo deste estudo descritivo-exploratório, que adotou como referencial teórico o Modelo de Crenças em Saúde. Foi realizado em um centro de saúde em Salvador, com 106 adultos, autodeclarados negros e com diagnóstico médico de hipertensão arterial. Para a entrevista, utilizou-se uma Escala de Crenças em Saúde sobre treze comportamentos relacionados às medidas de prevenção e controle da doença. Para análise dos dados, utilizaram-se índices percentuais, freqüência de casos, escores e a razão de prevalência. Os testes estatísticos foram verificados no nível de 5% de significância. A análise global mostrou predomínio da categoria "crenças sobre benefícios" para doze comportamentos de saúde. Homens e mulheres perceberam diferentemente benefícios para esses comportamentos e constatou-se uma tendência à percepção de menos benefícios quanto às medidas de prevenção e controle da hipertensão arterial em estratos socioeconômicos menos favorecidos, adultos jovens e pessoas sem companheiro.Health beliefs can interfere with the adherence to arterial hypertension therapy. The aim of this descriptive-exploratory study that adopted the Model of Health Beliefs as a theoretical reference was to estimate percentages of health beliefs about the benefits of prevention and control measures of arterial hypertension and to identify the social-demographic factors associated with these beliefs. The study was conducted in a Health Center in the city of Salvador, with 106 adults self- declared as black, and with a medical diagnosis of arterial hypertension. For the interviews we used a "Scale of Health Beliefs" about 13 behaviors related to disease prevention and control measures. The data analysis was based on percentage rates, frequency of cases and scores and the social-demographic factors associated to these beliefs were analyzed based on the prevalence rate. The global analysis showed predominance in the category "beliefs about benefits" for 12 behaviors. Men and women realized different benefits from these behaviors. The socio-economically less favored strata, young adults and individuals living without a partner tended to perceive less benefits from the prevention and control measures of arterial hypertension

Endoparasites of horses from the Formiga city, located in center-west region of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

With the aim of studying the endoparasite fauna of horses from the Formiga city, located in center-west region of the state of Minas Gerais, 25 animals that were naturally infected with helminths were evaluated. By means of parasitological necropsies, different endoparasites were found. The subfamily Cyathostominae presented the highest incidence, followed by Trichostrongylus axei, Oxyuris equi, Triodontophorus serratus, Strongyloides westeri, Strongylus edentatus, Habronema muscae, Parascaris equorum, Probstmayria vivipara, Strongylus vulgaris, Gasterophilus nasalis, Anoplocephala magna and Anoplocephala perfoliata. In the present study, if the species Probstmayria vivipara was not considered in the prevalence, the frequency of Cyathostominae was equivalent to 94.85%. The results obtained in this study allowed us to detect and identify different species of helminths in horses, and confirmed the high incidence of nematodes belonging to the subfamily Cyathostominae in the center-west region of Minas Gerais.Com o objetivo de estudar a fauna de endoparasitas de equinos da Região Centro-Oeste do Estado de Minas Gerais, 25 animais naturalmente infectados por helmintos foram avaliados. Por meio de necropsias parasitológicas, diferentes endoparasitas foram identificados. A sub - família Cyathostominae apresentou maior incidência, seguido por Trichostrongylus axei, Oxyuris equi, Triodontophorus serratus, Strongyloides westeri, Strongylus edentatus,Habronema muscae, Parascaris equorum, Probstmayria vivipara, Strongylus vulgaris, Gasterophilus nasalis,Anoplocephala magnae Anoplocephala perfoliata. No presente estudo, se não for considerada a espécieProbstmayria vivipara na prevalência, a frequência de Cyathostominae é equivalente a 94,85%. Os resultados obtidos neste estudo, permitiu detectar e identificar diferentes espécies de helmintos em equinos, bem como confirmar a elevada incidência de nematódeos pertencentes à sub-família Cyathostominae na Região Centro-Oeste de Minas Gerais.State Univ Sao Paulo UNESP, Fac Agr &Vet Sci, Ctr Res Anim Hlth CPPAR, BR-14884900 Jaboticabal, SP, BrazilState Univ Sao Paulo UNESP, Fac Agr &Vet Sci, Ctr Res Anim Hlth CPPAR, BR-14884900 Jaboticabal, SP, Brazi

Endothelial Differentiation of Human Stem Cells Seeded onto Electrospun Polyhydroxybutyrate/Polyhydroxybutyrate-Co-Hydroxyvalerate Fiber Mesh

Tissue engineering is based on the association of cultured cells with structural matrices and the incorporation of signaling molecules for inducing tissue regeneration. Despite its enormous potential, tissue engineering faces a major challenge concerning the maintenance of cell viability after the implantation of the constructs. The lack of a functional vasculature within the implant compromises the delivery of nutrients to and removal of metabolites from the cells, which can lead to implant failure. In this sense, our investigation aims to develop a new strategy for enhancing vascularization in tissue engineering constructs. This study's aim was to establish a culture of human adipose tissue-derived stem cells (hASCs) to evaluate the biocompatibility of electrospun fiber mesh made of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and its copolymer poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate (PHB-HV) and to promote the differentiation of hASCs into the endothelial lineage. Fiber mesh was produced by blending 30% PHB with 70% PHB-HV and its physical characterization was conducted using scanning electron microscopy analysis (SEM). Using electrospinning, fiber mesh was obtained with diameters ranging 300 nm to 1.3 µm. To assess the biological performance, hASCs were extracted, cultured, characterized by flow cytometry, expanded and seeded onto electrospun PHB/PHB-HV fiber mesh. Various aspects of the cells were analyzed in vitro using SEM, MTT assay and Calcein-AM staining. The in vitro evaluation demonstrated good adhesion and a normal morphology of the hASCs. After 7, 14 and 21 days of seeding hASCs onto electrospun PHB/PHB-HV fiber mesh, the cells remained viable and proliferative. Moreover, when cultured with endothelial differentiation medium (i.e., medium containing VEGF and bFGF), the hASCs expressed endothelial markers such as VE-Cadherin and the vWF factor. Therefore, the electrospun PHB/PHB-HV fiber mesh appears to be a suitable material that can be used in combination with endothelial-differentiated cells to improve vascularization in engineered bone tissues

Context-Specific Protein Network Miner – An Online System for Exploring Context-Specific Protein Interaction Networks from the Literature

Background: Protein interaction networks (PINs) specific within a particular context contain crucial information regarding many cellular biological processes. For example, PINs may include information on the type and directionality of interaction (e.g. phosphorylation), location of interaction (i.e. tissues, cells), and related diseases. Currently, very few tools are capable of deriving context-specific PINs for conducting exploratory analysis. Results: We developed a literature-based online system, Context-specific Protein Network Miner (CPNM), which derives context-specific PINs in real-time from the PubMed database based on a set of user-input keywords and enhanced PubMed query system. CPNM reports enriched information on protein interactions (with type and directionality), their network topology with summary statistics (e.g. most densely connected proteins in the network; most densely connected protein-pairs; and proteins connected by most inbound/outbound links) that can be explored via a user-friendly interface. Some of the novel features of the CPNM system include PIN generation, ontology-based PubMed query enhancement, real-time, user-queried, up-to-date PubMed document processing, and prediction of PIN directionality. Conclusions: CPNM provides a tool for biologists to explore PINs. It is freely accessible at http://www.biotextminer.com/CPNM/.Statistic

Water table depth modulates productivity and biomass across Amazonian forests

Aim: Water availability is the major driver of tropical forest structure and dynamics. Most research has focused on the impacts of climatic water availability, whereas remarkably little is known about the influence of water table depth and excess soil water on forest processes. Nevertheless, given that plants take up water from the soil, the impacts of climatic water supply on plants are likely to be modulated by soil water conditions. / Location: Lowland Amazonian forests. / Time period: 1971–2019. / Methods: We used 344 long-term inventory plots distributed across Amazonia to analyse the effects of long-term climatic and edaphic water supply on forest functioning. We modelled forest structure and dynamics as a function of climatic, soil-water and edaphic properties. / Results: Water supplied by both precipitation and groundwater affects forest structure and dynamics, but in different ways. Forests with a shallow water table (depth <5 m) had 18% less above-ground woody productivity and 23% less biomass stock than forests with a deep water table. Forests in drier climates (maximum cumulative water deficit < −160 mm) had 21% less productivity and 24% less biomass than those in wetter climates. Productivity was affected by the interaction between climatic water deficit and water table depth. On average, in drier climates the forests with a shallow water table had lower productivity than those with a deep water table, with this difference decreasing within wet climates, where lower productivity was confined to a very shallow water table. / Main conclusions: We show that the two extremes of water availability (excess and deficit) both reduce productivity in Amazon upland (terra-firme) forests. Biomass and productivity across Amazonia respond not simply to regional climate, but rather to its interaction with water table conditions, exhibiting high local differentiation. Our study disentangles the relative contribution of those factors, helping to improve understanding of the functioning of tropical ecosystems and how they are likely to respond to climate change