Correlates of sugar-sweetened beverage intake among low-income women during the first 1000 days.

OBJECTIVE: To describe prenatal and postpartum consumption of water, cows' milk, 100 % juice and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) among women enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) programme in New York City (NYC) and to identify correlates of SSB intake in this population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional data were collected from structured questionnaires that included validated beverage frequency questionnaires with the assistance of container samples. The association of maternal and household factors and non-SSB consumption with habitual daily energetic (kJ (kcal)) intake from SSB was assessed by using multivariable median regression. SETTING: WIC programme in NYC, NY. Data were collected in 2017. PARTICIPANTS: 388 pregnant or postpartum women (infant aged <2 years) from the NYC First 1000 Days Study. RESULTS: Median age was 28 years (interquartile range (IQR) 24-34); 94·1 % were Hispanic/Latina, and 31·4 % were pregnant. Overall, 87·7 % of pregnant and 89·1% of postpartum women consumed SSB ≥ once weekly, contributing to a median daily energetic intake of 410 kJ (98 kcal) (IQR (113-904 kJ) 27-216) and 464 kJ (111 kcal) (IQR (163-1013 kJ) 39-242), respectively. In adjusted analyses, only consumption of 100 % juice was associated with greater median energetic intake from SSB (adjusted ß for each additional ounce = 13; 95% CI 8, 31 (3·2; 95 % CI 2·0, 7·3). CONCLUSIONS: Among pregnant and postpartum women in WIC-enrolled families, interventions to reduce SSB consumption should include reduction of 100 % juice consumption as a co-target of the intervention.

ASPIRATION BRONCHOPNEUMONIA BY ACINETOBACTER BAUMANNII IN A WILDLIFE EUROPEAN HARE (LEPUS EUROPAEUS) IN BRAZIL.

Acinetobacter baumannii is a major cause of illness in hospitalized patients and the most important and common pathogen in nosocomial outbreaks worldwide. In animals, A. baumannii has been associated with respiratory infections in a group of minks, leading to pneumonia and acute mortality. This report documents a case of aspiration bronchopneumonia in a wild European hare caused by A. baumannii. A free-ranging, adult male European hare was submitted to necropsy after acute trauma due to being hit by a car. Its lungs showed consolidation with abscess in the middle and cranial lobes. Histopathologic evaluation revealed liquefactive necrosis associated with neutrophilic infiltration, cellular debris, plant material, and bacterial myriads surrounded by moderate neutrophils, macrophages, multinucleated giant cells, lymphocytes, and plasma cell inflammation. Acinetobacter baumannii was isolated from lung tissue.

Central Nervous System Idiopathic Inflammatory Demyelinating Disorders in South Americans: A Descriptive, Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Study.

The idiopathic inflammatory demyelinating disease (IIDD) spectrum has been investigated among different populations, and the results have indicated a low relative frequency of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) among multiple sclerosis (MS) cases in whites (1.2%-1.5%), increasing in Mestizos (8%) and Africans (15.4%-27.5%) living in areas of low MS prevalence. South America (SA) was colonized by Europeans from the Iberian Peninsula, and their miscegenation with natives and Africans slaves resulted in significant racial mixing. The current study analyzed the IIDD spectrum in SA after accounting for the ethnic heterogeneity of its population. A cross-sectional multicenter study was performed. Only individuals followed in 2011 with a confirmed diagnosis of IIDD using new diagnostic criteria were considered eligible. Patients' demographic, clinical and laboratory data were collected. In all, 1,917 individuals from 22 MS centers were included (73.7% female, 63.0% white, 28.0% African, 7.0% Mestizo, and 0.2% Asian). The main disease categories and their associated frequencies were MS (76.9%), NMO (11.8%), other NMO syndromes (6.5%), CIS (3.5%), ADEM (1.0%), and acute encephalopathy (0.4%). Females predominated in all main categories. The white ethnicity also predominated, except in NMO. Except in ADEM, the disease onset occurred between 20 and 39 years old, early onset in 8.2% of all cases, and late onset occurred in 8.9%. The long-term morbidity after a mean disease time of 9.28±7.7 years was characterized by mild disability in all categories except in NMO, which was scored as moderate. Disease time among those with MS was positively correlated with the expanded disability status scale (EDSS) score (r=0.374; p=<0.001). This correlation was not observed in people with NMO or those with other NMO spectrum disorders (NMOSDs). Among patients with NMO, 83.2% showed a relapsing-remitting course, and 16.8% showed a monophasic course. The NMO-IgG antibody tested using indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) with a composite substrate of mouse tissues in 200 NMOSD cases was positive in people with NMO (95/162; 58.6%), longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis (10/30; 33.3%) and bilateral or recurrent optic neuritis (8/8; 100%). No association of NMO-IgG antibody positivity was found with gender, age at onset, ethnicity, early or late onset forms, disease course, or long-term severe disability. The relative frequency of NMO among relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) + NMO cases in SA was 14.0%. Despite the high degree of miscegenation found in SA, MS affects three quarters of all patients with IIDD, mainly white young women who share similar clinical characteristics to those in Western populations in the northern hemisphere, with the exception of ethnicity; approximately one-third of all cases occur among non-white individuals. At the last assessment, the majority of RRMS patients showed mild disability, and the risk for secondary progression was significantly superior among those of African ethnicity. NMO comprises 11.8% of all IIDD cases in SA, affecting mostly young African-Brazilian women, evolving with a recurrent course and causing moderate or severe disability in both ethnic groups. The South-North gradient with increasing NMO and non-white individuals from Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and Venezuela confirmed previous studies showing a higher frequency of NMO among non-white populations.

Familial forms of multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica at an MS center in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: To describe familial forms of demyelinating diseases from an MS referral center in Río de Janeiro State, Brazil. METHODS: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was done to identify familial IIDD cases in Hospital da Lagoa, a public hospital where 75% of patients with IIDD who live in Rio de Janeiro state, located in the Southeast region of Brazil, are referred. The diagnoses of all consecutive patients followed in 2011 were reviewed to apply new diagnostic criteria (Wingerchuk et al., 2008). The diagnosis of IIDD was confirmed based on clinical history, neurological examination, MRI of the skull and spinal cord, CSF analysis and investigation of IgG NMO antibodies. The cases that had at least one other relative with IIDD were selected for the study. RESULTS: Familial forms were found only in the multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica syndrome (NMOSD) categories. 23 MS families were identified, 60.86% with first degree kinship. It has a Caucasian preponderance, 90% of whom were white. The frequency of early onset was 15% and 20% of the MSf cases have progressive primary course. CONCLUSION: The frequency of familial cases of IIDD was 6.12% among MS patients and 2.8% in NMO spectrum syndromes.

The impact of diagnostic criteria for neuromyelitis optica in patients with MS: a 10-year follow-up of the South Atlantic Project.

BACKGROUND: It is recognized that there is a particular geographic and ethnic distribution of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) among Caucasian and non-Caucasian populations. OBJECTIVE: To review the diagnoses of patients whom were enrolled in the South Atlantic Project, a Brazilian multiple sclerosis (MS) survey performed from 1995-1998, and to identify NMO and MS case frequencies. METHODS: We reviewed the data from a 10-year follow-up of MS patients. To apply the current diagnostic criteria, the neurologists were asked to collect clinical and laboratory data from the medical records of study patients treated from 1999-2009. RESULTS: The spectrum of inflammatory demyelinating disease in 322 patients (67% white; 33% African-Brazilian) was: 49 (15%) with NMO; 14 (4%) with NMO syndromes; 10 (3%) with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM); one isolated tumefactive brain lesion; 249 (77%) with MS (151 with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), 70 with secondary progressive MS (SPMS) and 27 with primary progressive MS (PPMS)). Disability was more severe in NMO and PPMS. One-third of the NMO patients had died. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of NMO was 6.8% in São Paulo and 20.5% in Rio de Janeiro, and mainly seen in persons of African descent, which strengthens the hypothesis of there being an ethnic association of this disease. We recommend that epidemiological studies on MS that were performed previously be reviewed again, to ensure more accurate diagnoses.

Gustatory receptor neurons in Manduca sexta contain a TrpA1-dependent signaling pathway that integrates taste and temperature.

Temperature modulates the peripheral taste response of many animals, in part by activating transient receptor potential (Trp) cation channels. We hypothesized that temperature would also modulate peripheral taste responses in larval Manduca sexta. We recorded excitatory responses of the lateral and medial styloconic sensilla to chemical stimuli at 14, 22, and 30 °C. The excitatory responses to 5 chemical stimuli-a salt (KCl), 3 sugars (sucrose, glucose, and inositol) and an alkaloid (caffeine)-were unaffected by temperature. In contrast, the excitatory response to the aversive compound, aristolochic acid (AA), increased robustly with temperature. Next, we asked whether TrpA1 mediates the thermally dependent taste response to AA. To this end, we 1) identified a TrpA1 gene in M. sexta; 2) demonstrated expression of TrpA1 in the lateral and medial styloconic sensilla; 3) determined that 2 TrpA1 antagonists (HC-030031 and mecamylamine) inhibit the taste response to AA, but not caffeine; and then 4) established that the thermal dependence of the taste response to AA is blocked by HC-030031. Taken together, our results indicate that TrpA1 serves as a molecular integrator of taste and temperature in M. sexta.

A participação popular em Ipatinga (MG, Brasil): conquistas e desafios do setor de saúde / Popular participation in Ipatinga (MG, Brazil): achievements and challenges of the health sector

Com a implementação do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) a partir dos anos 90, observase a passagem de um sistema político, administrativo e financeiramente centralizado para um cenário em que milhares de agentes passam a se constituir sujeitos fundamentais no campo da saúde. Entender como esses diferentes atores conseguiram absorver e garantir à comunidade o direito de participar na tomada de decisão em política pública de saúde foi o objetivo deste trabalho, que procura investigar o discurso democrático e a prática participativa implementada pelo Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) no município de Ipatinga (MG). Utilizamos como referencial a Teoria da Ação Comunicativa, de Habermas, e a partir dela um modelo de democracia entendido como a institucionalização dos processos discursivos de formação da opinião e da vontade. A partir desse referencial teórico, integrado aos principais pressupostos da Reforma Sanitária Brasileira, foi feito o estudo das políticas municipais de saúde de Ipatinga, no que diz respeito às suas bases e relações democráticas. Os resultados obtidos indicam que há uma importante história democrática no município, com indícios, no entanto, de retrocessos na prática participativa do setor saúde, pois atualmente verifica-se uma reprodução de práticas tradicionais de governar.

Since the SUS implementation in the 90's, it has been possible to observe the change from a political, administrative, and financially centered system to a scene where thousands of agents started to constitute fundamental citizens in the field of health. The objective of this work is to understand how these different actors have absorbed and guaranteed the community the right to participate in the decision of public health policies. This research also tries to investigate the democratic speech and the participative practice implemented by the Worker's Party (PT) in the city of Ipatinga (MG, Brazil). This work uses as theoretical referential the Communicative Action Theory of Habermas and, from this theory, a model of democracy which is understood as the institutionalization of the discursive processes of opinion and will formation. The results obtained indicate that there is an important democratic history in the city, but with indications, however, of retrocessions in the participative practices of the health sector, as the reproduction of traditional practices of government is verified.

[Popular participation in Ipatinga (MG, Brazil): achievements and challenges of the health sector]. / A participação popular em Ipatinga (MG, Brasil): conquistas e desafios do setor de saúde.

Since the SUS implementation in the 90's, it has been possible to observe the change from a political, administrative, and financially centered system to a scene where thousands of agents started to constitute fundamental citizens in the field of health. The objective of this work is to understand how these different actors have absorbed and guaranteed the community the right to participate in the decision of public health policies. This research also tries to investigate the democratic speech and the participative practice implemented by the Worker's Party (PT) in the city of Ipatinga (MG, Brazil). This work uses as theoretical referential the Communicative Action Theory of Habermas and, from this theory, a model of democracy which is understood as the institutionalization of the discursive processes of opinion and will formation. The results obtained indicate that there is an important democratic history in the city, but with indications, however, of retrocessions in the participative practices of the health sector, as the reproduction of traditional practices of government is verified.

Estudio microbiologico y fisicoquimico de tinturas al 10, 10 y 50 porcento del Parthenium hysterophorus L / Microbiologyc and physicochemical study of tinctures 10, 20 and 50 percent of Parthenium hysterophorus L

Segun la Materia Medica y el Repertorio Homeopatico de W. Boericke, el Parthenium-Escoba amargo es un remedio cubano para fiebres, especialmente malarial, que se utiliza tambien para tratar la amenorrea y la...

Determination of soluble ICAM-1 and TNFalphaR in the cerebrospinal fluid and serum levels in a population of Brazilian patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

Cytokines and adhesion molecules have been implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system. In this study we analyzed intrathecal (CSF) and serum levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1) and TNFalphaR (60kD) from 20 patients with clinically definite MS during acute relapse or stable disease. Comparing to control groups of healthy individuals and patients with intervertebral herniated disc, MS patients showed increased levels (p< 0.001) of sICAM-1 and TNFalphaR in both serum and CSF samples. Regardless stage of disease there was no significant difference in the levels of sICAM-1 during acute relapse (657 + or - 124.9 ng/ml) or remission (627 + or - 36.2 ng/ml). A steady increase of TNFalphaR (60kD) in both serum and CSF, indicate the existence of a continuous inflammatory process within the brain tissue of MS patients despite absence of clinical signs of disease activity