Working conditions and common mental disorders in physicians in Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Common mental disorders (CMD) are a marker of work-related psychiatric morbidity. Previous studies have shown a high prevalence in Brazilian health care settings. AIMS: To assess the prevalence of CMD and their associated factors in a group of physicians working at a public health unit in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. METHODS: CMD were evaluated using the self-reporting questionnaire-20 (SQR-20), developed by the World Health Organization and validated for Brazil. The questionnaire consists of 20 questions: four about physical symptoms and 16 about emotional symptoms. Prevalence was calculated as a percentage of physicians with CMD. Poisson univariate and multivariate regression models were applied to assess associated factors. RESULTS: Analysis was based on 227 physicians who answered the SRQ-20 (97% response rate). The prevalence of CMD was 24%. Dissatisfaction and commitment to work remained positively associated with CMD. Having more than one job and significant social support from peers and superiors remained negatively associated with CMD. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of CMD is in a similar range to that reported in other countries and in Brazil generally. Aspects related to work were the only ones that were independently associated with CMD. Work-related aspects and the motivation of physicians are important and need to be taken into account to ensure that physicians remain healthy.

Recurrent amplification of RTEL1 and ABCA13 and its synergistic effect associated with clinicopathological data of gastric adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Despite progression in treatment of gastric cancer, prognosis of patients remains poor, in part due to the low rate of diagnosis during its early stages. This paradigm implies the necessity to identify molecular biomarkers for early gastric cancer diagnosis, as well as for disease monitoring, thus contributing to the development of new therapeutic approaches. In a previous study, performed by array-Comparative Genomic Hybridization, we described for the first time in literature recurrent amplification of RTEL1 and ABCA13 genes in gastric cancer. Thus, the aim of the present study was to validate recurrent amplification of RTEL1 and ABCA13 genes and associate CNV status with clinicopathological data. FINDINGS: Results showed RTEL1 and ABCA13 amplification in 38 % of samples. Statistical analysis demonstrated that RTEL amplification is more common in older patients and more associated with intestinal type and ABCA13 amplification increases the risk of lymph node metastasis and is more common in men. Co-amplification of these genes showed a significant association with advanced staging. CONCLUSIONS: aCGH is a very useful tool for investigating novel genes associated with carcinogenesis and RTEL1 amplification may be important for the development of gastric cancer in older patients, besides being a probable event contributing for chromosomal instability in intestinal gastric carcinogenesis. ABCA13 amplification may have age-specific function and could be considered a useful marker for predicting lymph node metastasis in resected gastric cancer patients in early stage. Lastly, RTEL1 and ABCA13 synergistic effect may be considered as a putative marker for advanced staging in gastric cancer patients.

Day-restricted feeding during pregnancy and lactation programs glucose intolerance and impaired insulin secretion in male rat offspring.

AIM: The maternal environment during pregnancy and lactation plays a determining role in programming energy metabolism in offspring. Among a myriad of maternal factors, disruptions in the light/dark cycle during pregnancy can program glucose intolerance in offspring. Out-of-phase feeding has recently been reported to influence metabolism in adult humans and rodents; however, it is not known whether this environmental factor impacts offspring metabolism when applied during pregnancy and lactation. This study aims to determine whether maternal day-restricted feeding (DF) influences energy metabolism in offspring. METHODS: Pregnant and lactating Wistar rats were subjected to ad libitum (AL) or DF during pregnancy and lactation. The offspring born to the AL and DF dams were intra- and interfostered, which resulted in 4 group types. RESULTS: The male offspring born to and breastfed by the DF dams (DF/DF off) were glucose intolerant, but without parallel insulin resistance as adults. Experiments with isolated pancreatic islets demonstrated that the male DF/DF off rats had reduced insulin secretion with no parallel disruption in calcium handling. However, this reduction in insulin secretion was accompanied by increased miRNA-29a and miRNA34a expression and decreased syntaxin 1a protein levels. CONCLUSION: We conclude that out-of-phase feeding during pregnancy and lactation can lead to glucose intolerance in male offspring, which is caused by a disruption in insulin secretion capacity. This metabolic programming is possibly caused by mechanisms dependent on miRNA modulation of syntaxin 1a.

[Assessment of effectiveness of the Tanaka-Johnston method for prediction of the mesiodistal diameter of unerupted canines and premolars]. / Avaliação da efetividade do método de Tanaka-Johnston para predição do diâmetro mésio-distal de caninos e pré-molares não-irrompidos.

In the present study, the authors evaluated the Tanaka-Johnston method of prediction, with the objective of verifying its effectiveness for the right and left sides, for both genders and for the white, light mulatto, medium mulatto, dark mulatto and black races in the city of Salvador, Bahia. The mesiodistal diameter of the inferior permanent incisors, canines and premolars that had already erupted was measured with the aid of a digital caliper rule in the oral cavity of 98 individuals (45 males and 53 females), aging from 13 to 29 years. The results obtained with the application of the Tanaka-Johnston formulas were compared with the real values through statistical tests. After the analysis of the results, it was observed that the correlation between the estimated values and the real values was greater for females than it was for males. As to race, the coefficients of correlation were satisfactory. They were greater in the superior arch for the dark mulatto race (0.67), and in the inferior arch for the light mulatto race (0.74). Considering the sides, the findings revealed a greater coefficient of correlation for the inferior arch on the left side (0.61). It was concluded that the Tanaka-Johnston method, in spite of originating from a sample of European descendants, is indicated for the prediction of the mesiodistal diameter of canines and premolars in the different races evaluated in this research. The effectiveness of the referred method was also checked for both genders and sides in the studied sample.

Skeletal and dental arch asymmetries in Class II division 1 subdivision malocclusions.

The aim of this study is to determine whether or not skeletal and/or dental asymmetries were presented in patients with Class II division 1 subdivision malocclusions. Frontal cephalometric radiographs and dental arch casts were obtained from thirty Brazilians from Rio de Janeiro; the mean age of the sample was 11.6 years. Nine bilateral triangles were established on tracings of the radiographs to describe the cranio-dento-facial complex. The area of each triangle was calculated, and the frequency of AP and transverse asymmetries on the dental casts were determined. When comparing Class I and Class II sides on the radiographs, Student t-tests did not show any statistically significant differences in triangle areas. However, the frequency of asymmetries on the dental casts were statistically significant at the 1% level. These asymmetries were more evident in the anteroposterior plane than in the transverse plane and in the lower arches than in the upper arches. It was concluded that Class II division 1 subdivision malocclusions are characterized by dental deviations and not skeletal dysplasia in the frontal plane.

Effect of different time intervals between sealant application and bracket bond on adhesive strength.

The effect of variation of time between the use of the sealant and the composite itself on the bond strength of the enamel-resin-bracket system was tested in vitro for two composites. Eighty brackets were bonded to extracted human molars, half for each composite. The sealant was applied 1 minute, 2.5 minutes, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes before the use of the composite. The brackets were submitted to a shear force until debonding. Means and standard deviations were calculated. No statistically significant differences were found among the different times of sealant application and between the two composites tested, when a two-way analysis of variance was carried out.

Skeletal and dental arch asymmetries in individuals with normal dental occlusions.

The aim of this study was to determine whether skeletal and/or dental asymmetries are presented in individuals with normal dental occlusions. Frontal cephalometric radiographs and dental arch casts were obtained from 20 Brazilians from Rio de Janeiro whose mean age was 22.4 years. Normal dental occlusions were present in all individuals. Nine bilateral triangles were established on the radiographs for the craniodentofacial complex. The area for each triangle was calculated, and the frequency of asymmetries on the dental casts was investigated. When comparing right and left sides on the radiographs, Student's tests did not show statistically significant differences in triangle areas, although the areas were not symmetrical. Males and females showed similar results when the areas of the radiographic triangles were compared between sexes. Maxillary and mandibular dental midlines, palatal raphe on the casts, and median sagittal plane on the radiographs were almost coincident. Additionally, the frequency of molar asymmetries on the dental casts was not statistically different, but molar asymmetries greater than 1 mm were present in 50% of the sample.

[Nutritive value of macaçar bean (Vigna unguiculatta L.) Walp (author's transl)]. / Valor nutritivo do feijão maccar

The biological value of dry and immature macaçar bean (Vigna unguiculatta L.) Walp, isolated or associated to manioc flour, was studied. Thirty-six male Albino rats, Wistar strain, aged 23 days, were divided into six groups and fed experimental and control (casein) diets for 28 days. The weight curve and the PER of the animals fed dry and immature macaçar bean either isolated or associated to manioc flour were lower than those of the casein group. The data lead to the conclusion that the macaçar bean is to be used as a food supplement only, due to its low biological value.

[Biological value of a soy-corn-wheat based noodle (macaroni) supplemented with lysine (author's transl)]. / Valor biológico de uma massa alimentícia (macarrão) à base de soja-milho-trigo suplementada com lisina

The biological value of a soy-corn-wheat based noodle (macaroni) prepared by the General Food Corporation was studied. The protein level of the noodle was of 20.5g%. Thirty-six Albino rats were used in this experimental. The animals were divided into sex groups of six animals each. The experimental groups were fed: a) cooked macaroni without lysine; and b) macaroni supplemented with increasing levels of L-lysine HCL. The control group received commercial casein. The protein level of the experimental diets was of 10g%. At the end of the fourth week of the experiment some rats showed a slight difference in the growth curve, specially the animals fed macaroni without lysine. However, statistical analysis did not show a significant difference. The protein efficiency ratio (PER) of the experimental groups was similar to that of the control group, but when the lysine level of the diets increased there was a corresponding increase in the PER. No significant difference was noted too. These results suggest that lysine do not improve the biological value of the noodle.