Ancient Plasmodium genomes shed light on the history of human malaria.

Malaria-causing protozoa of the genus Plasmodium have exerted one of the strongest selective pressures on the human genome, and resistance alleles provide biomolecular footprints that outline the historical reach of these species1. Nevertheless, debate persists over when and how malaria parasites emerged as human pathogens and spread around the globe1,2. To address these questions, we generated high-coverage ancient mitochondrial and nuclear genome-wide data from P. falciparum, P. vivax and P. malariae from 16 countries spanning around 5,500 years of human history. We identified P. vivax and P. falciparum across geographically disparate regions of Eurasia from as early as the fourth and first millennia BCE, respectively; for P. vivax, this evidence pre-dates textual references by several millennia3. Genomic analysis supports distinct disease histories for P. falciparum and P. vivax in the Americas: similarities between now-eliminated European and peri-contact South American strains indicate that European colonizers were the source of American P. vivax, whereas the trans-Atlantic slave trade probably introduced P. falciparum into the Americas. Our data underscore the role of cross-cultural contacts in the dissemination of malaria, laying the biomolecular foundation for future palaeo-epidemiological research into the impact of Plasmodium parasites on human history. Finally, our unexpected discovery of P. falciparum in the high-altitude Himalayas provides a rare case study in which individual mobility can be inferred from infection status, adding to our knowledge of cross-cultural connectivity in the region nearly three millennia ago.

Paleomicrobiology: Diagnosis and Evolution of Ancient Pathogens.

The last century has witnessed progress in the study of ancient infectious disease from purely medical descriptions of past ailments to dynamic interpretations of past population health that draw upon multiple perspectives. The recent adoption of high-throughput DNA sequencing has led to an expanded understanding of pathogen presence, evolution, and ecology across the globe. This genomic revolution has led to the identification of disease-causing microbes in both expected and unexpected contexts, while also providing for the genomic characterization of ancient pathogens previously believed to be unattainable by available methods. In this review we explore the development of DNA-based ancient pathogen research, the specialized methods and tools that have emerged to authenticate and explore infectious disease of the past, and the unique challenges that persist in molecular paleopathology. We offer guidelines to mitigate the impact of these challenges, which will allow for more reliable interpretations of data in this rapidly evolving field of investigation.

Geographically dispersed zoonotic tuberculosis in pre-contact South American human populations.

Previous ancient DNA research has shown that Mycobacterium pinnipedii, which today causes tuberculosis (TB) primarily in pinnipeds, infected human populations living in the coastal areas of Peru prior to European colonization. Skeletal evidence indicates the presence of TB in several pre-colonial South and North American populations with minimal access to marine resources- a scenario incompatible with TB transmission directly from infected pinnipeds or their tissues. In this study, we investigate the causative agent of TB in ten pre-colonial, non-coastal individuals from South America. We reconstruct M. pinnipedii genomes (10- to 15-fold mean coverage) from three contemporaneous individuals from inland Peru and Colombia, demonstrating the widespread dissemination of M. pinnipedii beyond the coast, either through human-to-human and/or animal-mediated routes. Overall, our study suggests that TB transmission in the pre-colonial era Americas involved a more complex transmission pathway than simple pinniped-to-human transfer.

Ten millennia of hepatitis B virus evolution.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been infecting humans for millennia and remains a global health problem, but its past diversity and dispersal routes are largely unknown. We generated HBV genomic data from 137 Eurasians and Native Americans dated between ~10,500 and ~400 years ago. We date the most recent common ancestor of all HBV lineages to between ~20,000 and 12,000 years ago, with the virus present in European and South American hunter-gatherers during the early Holocene. After the European Neolithic transition, Mesolithic HBV strains were replaced by a lineage likely disseminated by early farmers that prevailed throughout western Eurasia for ~4000 years, declining around the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. The only remnant of this prehistoric HBV diversity is the rare genotype G, which appears to have reemerged during the HIV pandemic.

A treponemal genome from an historic plague victim supports a recent emergence of yaws and its presence in 15th century Europe.

Developments in techniques for identification of pathogen DNA in archaeological samples can expand our resolution of disease detection. Our application of a non-targeted molecular screening tool for the parallel detection of pathogens in historical plague victims from post-medieval Lithuania revealed the presence of more than one active disease in one individual. In addition to Yersinia pestis, we detected and genomically characterized a septic infection of Treponema pallidum pertenue, a subtype of the treponemal disease family recognised as the cause of the tropical disease yaws. Our finding in northern Europe of a disease that is currently restricted to equatorial regions is interpreted within an historical framework of intercontinental trade and potential disease movements. Through this we offer an alternative hypothesis for the history and evolution of the treponemal diseases, and posit that yaws be considered an important contributor to the sudden epidemic of late 15th century Europe that is widely ascribed to syphilis.

Factors associated with cesarean sections in a public hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Brazil has one of the world's highest cesarean section rates. Contributing factors include the organization of obstetric practice, physicians' attitudes, and women's preferences and decisions. This study aimed to identify factors associated with cesarean sections in a public maternity hospital in Rio de Janeiro. A case-control study was conducted with 231 cesarean sections (cases) and 230 vaginal deliveries (controls). Hierarchical logistic regression analysis was performed, based on a conceptual model. Factors associated with increased odds of cesarean section were: primiparity; mother's age 20-34; last birth by cesarean; cervical dilatation < 3cm at admission; patient request; daytime birth; male attending obstetrician; obstetrician on duty for more than 24 hours a week; obstetrician with private practice; gestational hypertension; non-cephalic presentation; and gestational age > 41 weeks. Factors associated with lower odds of cesarean were: gestational age < 37 weeks; leaving home with signs of labor, use of oxytocin; and amniotomy. In this hospital, interventions aimed to modify the above-mentioned factors can help lower the cesarean rate.

[Violence in conjugal relations: concealing and taking sexual violence for granted]. / A violência nas relações de conjugalidade: invisibilidade e banalização da violência sexual?

This article presents the results of a qualitative study of women who had filed complaints of domestic violence, situating gender relations in a broader context. The authors focus on the meaning ascribed to sexual coercion in violent relations, suggesting that conjugal sexual violence is related to the perverse effects of changes in the sexual division of labor and the aggravated double demands on women from housework and the workplace, in relation to the dismantling of the male's role as provider in situations of poverty. In this context, women's refusal to engage in sex (a form of resistance which expresses their desire to be sexual protagonists and communicates disappointment with their partners) can be seen as contributing to the exacerbation of conjugal violence. In their partial position of "subjects of resistance", these women reveal a situation of oppression which is rarely referred to as violence: feelings of disgust and repulsion following sexual relations conceded as "conjugal rights" are similar to those manifested by victims of rape by strangers (which, in contrast, is generally recognized as "sexual violence").

[Quality of birth care in maternity hospitals of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil]. / Qualidade da atenção ao parto em maternidades do Rio de Janeiro.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the quality of birth care based on the World Health Organization guidelines. METHODS: A case-control study was carried out in a public and a private maternity hospitals contracted by the Brazilian Health System in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from October 1998 to March 1999. The sample comprised 461 women in the public maternity hospital (230 vaginal deliveries and 231 Cesarean sections) and 448 women in the private one (224 vaginal deliveries and 224 Cesarean sections). Data was collected through interviews with puerperal women and review of medical records. A summarization score of quality of delivery care was constructed. RESULTS: There was low frequency of practices that should be encouraged, such as having an accompanying person (1% in the private hospital for both vaginal delivery and C-sections), freedom of movements throughout labor (9.6% of C-sections in the public hospital and 9.9% of vaginal deliveries in the private hospital) and breastfeeding in the delivery room (6.9% of C-sections in the public hospital and 8.0% of C-sections in the private hospital). There was a high frequency of known harmful practices such as enema administration (38.4%); routine pubic shaving; routine intravenous infusion (88.8%); routine use of oxytocin (64.4%), strict bed rest throughout labor (90.1%) and routine supine position in labor (98.7%) in vaginal deliveries. The best summarizing scores were seen in the public maternity hospital. CONCLUSIONS: The two maternity hospitals have a high frequency of interventions during birth care. In spite of providing care to higher risk pregnant women, the public maternity hospital has a less interventionist profile than the private one. Procedures carried out on a routine basis should be pondered based on evidence of their benefits.

[Poverty, inequality, and equity in health: considerations based on a transversal gender perspective]. / Pobreza, desigualdade e eqüidade em saúde: considerações a partir de uma perspectiva de gênero transversal.

This article discusses the modernization of gender inequalities which has occurred in Brazil in the last 20 years under the hegemony of neo-liberal macro-economic policies. A concept of gender as transversal is applied to questions of reproductive health (contraception and abortion, prenatal care and birthing, adolescent pregnancy, maternal and reproductive mortality, STIs/AIDS, and violence, among others), permitting analysis by both gender and social class. The history of the PAISM (Program for Integral Health Care for Women), on the other hand, reveals the complex articulation of this national public health program which, although strongly influenced by the Brazilian women's movement, has been infiltrated by heterogeneous interests in the international context. PAISM serves as an example of the appropriation of proposals and principles that were generated by this social movement, but re-articulated to gloss over the process of deepening gender and class inequality.

[Cooperation and conflict in childbirth care: representations and practices of nurses and obstetricians]. / Saberes e práticas de enfermeiros e obstetras: cooperação e conflito na assistência ao parto.

In Brazil, where birthing generally occurs in hospitals and under the care of obstetricians, the incorporation of nurses is a strategy that has been used recently in an attempt to improve obstetric care. This study, conducted in two maternity hospitals in Rio de Janeiro, focuses on representations of obstetricians and nurses regarding teamwork and analyzes how the dimensions of power, cooperation/conflict, and technical autonomy are permeated by dualistic conceptions which influence the quality of health care for women during childbirth. On the one hand, the results show a consensus regarding the advantages of professional cooperation in the improvement of health care, assuming the existence of a clear definition of professional roles. At the same time, conflicts regarding therapeutic conduct during the birth process reflect the professionals' perceptions of autonomy and the influence of professional hierarchies, in which obstetric care is seen to depend on the "objective observation" of the women giving birth. The degree of conflict is differentiated according to the institutional context and related to dualistic conceptions such as objective/subjective, rational/emotional, and male/female.

[Cesarean sections: who wants them and under what circumstances?]. / Parto cesáreo: quem o deseja? Em quais circunstâncias?

Brazil has extremely high cesarean rates. Among related factors, it has been suggested that a "culture of cesarean childbirth" (or a preference for this type of delivery) exists among Brazilian women. Our study investigates this notion. Data were collected from September 1998 to March 1999 in two maternity hospitals in Rio de Janeiro Interviews were conducted and hospital records analyzed for a random representative sample of 909 women who had just given birth (454 vaginal deliveries and 455 cesareans). In the interviews, when asked if they had wanted to have a cesarean, 75.5% replied in the negative, thus indicating that these women cannot be considered as adhering to a "culture of cesarean sections" The main complaints against cesareans were: slower and more difficult recovery (39.2%) and greater pain and suffering (26.8%). However, 17% of the sample had at some point requested a cesarean, 75% of whom during labor. Analysis revealed that the request for a cesarean section is directly proportional to time between admission to the hospital and delivery. This suggests that (in addition to being the usual means of access to tubal ligation) the actual circumstances of birthing are important factors in Brazilian women s requests for cesarean sections.

[Women's representations and experiences with vaginal and cesarean delivery in public and private maternity hospitals]. / Representações e experiências das mulheres sobre a assistência ao parto vaginal e cesárea em maternidades pública e privada.

This study analyzes the different representations and experiences of women from different social classes, including issues related to their relations with hospital staff in different institutional settings. This qualitative study focused on women who had experienced both types of delivery, in three maternity hospitals in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (one public, one fully private, and another private under an outsourcing agreement with the public health system). The study showed that variations in public and private service models result in different types of delivery care and different relations with staff, and are reflected in different birthing experiences for the women. However, a critical gender perspective shows that in both cases, the service models reproduce the medicalization of childbirth and women's submission as objects in the birthing process. Although this is manifested in different ways in the three groups, the end result is to reduce the range of care and the possibility of women's empowerment during childbirth.

[Marketizing of the State, erosion of democracy and impoverishment of citizenship: global tendencies?]. / Financeirização do Estado, erosão da democracia e empobrecimento da cidadania: tendências globais?

This article analyses the advance of the neo-liberal regime, in order to contextualise the international formulation of policies focussed on poverty reduction. In recent debates, terms such as 'citizenship' and 'democracy' have been subject to critical scrutiny, revealing changes in the relations between citizens and the State which accompany the hegemony of economic criteria that put financial considerations at the centre of national states. We argue that analyses of such global processes require an ample political economy perspective, capable of illuminating how the substance of democracy and the legitimacy of state authority have been conditioned by the advance of new global entities that represent the interests of capital, favouring the concentration of wealth and the increase of poverty, inequality and exclusion, and installing a state of vital insecurity that affects the majority of the world's population.

Serviços de saúde e a violência na gravidez: perspectivas e práticas de profissionais e equipes de saúde em um hospital público no Rio de Janeiro / Healthcare services and violence during pregnancy: perspectives and practices of healthcare professionals and teams in a public hospital in Rio de Janeiro / Servicios de salud y violencia durante el embarazo: perspectivas y prácticas de profesionales y equipos de salud en un hospital público en Rio de Janeiro

Este artigo apresenta resultados parciais de entrevistas semiestruturadas realizadas com 23 profissionais de saúde de uma maternidade pública, no contexto de um projeto de pesquisa-ação implantado para promover a identificação e o acolhimento de mulheres que sofrem violência na gravidez. As percepções sobre as relações de gênero e sobre a violência, nas suas vidas particulares e profissionais, incluíram tanto os possíveis sinais de violência apontados no comportamento de pacientes e familiares nas consultas e contatos, quanto as barreiras, possibilidades e condições necessárias para abordarem o assunto na rotina hospitalar. Observamos que suas visões foram ampliadas na entrevista individual e nas discussões coletivas subsequentes, num processo de 'visibilidade construída' que apontou as raízes sociais complexas da violência, bem como os limites e as responsabilidades profissionais apropriadas à situação vivida pelas pacientes e às condições de trabalho desses profissionais.

This article presents preliminary results of semi-structured interviews with 23 healthcare professionals from a public maternity hospital, in the context of an action research project which aimed at promoting the identification of women who suffer violence during pregnancy, and at organizing a routine to support them. The perceptions of gender relations and violence in their personal and professional lives included possible signs of violence which emerge in the consultations and contacts with the patients, and the barriers, possibilities, and necessary conditions for including this question in the hospital routine. We observed that their views were broadened during the interviews and during the subsequent group discussions, in a process of 'constructed visibility' which indicated both the complex social sources of violence and the professional limits and responsibilities that are appropriate to the life situation of their patients and to the working conditions of these professionals.

Este artículo presenta los resultados parciales de entrevistas semi-estructuradas realizadas con 23 profesionales de salud de una maternidad pública en el contexto de un proyecto de investigación-acción implantado para promover la identificación y el cuidado de la salud de mujeres que sufren de violencia durante el embarazo. Las percepciones sobre las relaciones de género y la violencia, en sus vidas particulares y profesionales, incluyeron las posibles marcas de violencia señalados en el comportamiento de pacientes y de sus familiares durante las consultas, así como las barreras, posibilidades y condiciones necesarias para afrontar el asunto en la rutina del hospital. Observamos que sus visiones fueron ampliadas a través de la entrevista individual y en las discusiones colectivas subsecuentes en un proceso de "visibilidad construida" que a señala las raíces sociales de la violencia y responsabilidades profesionales apropiadas a la situación de las pacientes y las condiciones de trabajo de estos profesionales.

Representações e experiências das mulheres sobre a assistência ao parto vaginal e cesárea em maternidades pública e privada / Women's representations and experiences with vaginal and cesarean delivery in public and private maternity hospitals

Este estudo analisa as diferentes representações e experiências quanto ao parto vaginal e cesárea de mulheres de diferentes estratos sócio-econômicos, bem como a natureza das relações profissionais de saúde/usuárias no contexto institucional em que estão inseridas. A pesquisa de natureza qualitativa foi desenvolvida em três maternidades do Município do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, sendo uma pública, uma conveniada com o SUS e uma particular, com mulheres que tiveram os dois tipos de parto. Os resultados revelam que o modelo de organização dos serviços público e privado apresentam variações que produzem diferentes tipos de assistência e de relação entre os profissionais de saúde e as usuárias, dando forma a experiências distintas entre as mulheres pesquisadas. Todavia, ao empreendermos uma crítica assentada nas relações de gênero, podemos verificar que o modelo de assistência ao parto permanece submetendo quem deve ser sujeito e reproduzindo o projeto da medicalização - mesmo que este processo se manifeste de formas diferenciadas entre os grupos estudados -, o que reduz o campo da assistência e inviabiliza um lugar de poder diferenciado das usuárias.

This study analyzes the different representations and experiences of women from different social classes, including issues related to their relations with hospital staff in different institutional settings. This qualitative study focused on women who had experienced both types of delivery, in three maternity hospitals in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (one public, one fully private, and another private under an outsourcing agreement with the public health system). The study showed that variations in public and private service models result in different types of delivery care and different relations with staff, and are reflected in different birthing experiences for the women. However, a critical gender perspective shows that in both cases, the service models reproduce the medicalization of childbirth and women's submission as objects in the birthing process. Although this is manifested in different ways in the three groups, the end result is to reduce the range of care and the possibility of women's empowerment during childbirth.

Globalização capitalista e formação profissional em saúde: uma agenda necessária ao ensino superior / Capitalistic globalization and professional training in health: a necessary agenda for higher education

Os impactos da globalização capitalista na educação dos profissionais de saúde podem ser representados por uma formação técnica, polivalente, individualista e competitiva, dentre outros aspectos. Nesse contexto, o espaço público, a dimensão humanística e o pensamento crítico são desprezados. O presente ensaio tem como objetivo propor uma reflexão sobre a educação dos profissionais da saúde para o trabalho alienado em saúde no contexto do neoliberalismo e sugere possibilidades de ruptura com essa formação. Uma agenda temática apresenta conceitos considerados fundamentais na organização do pensamento crítico do profissional de saúde. A intenção é apontar caminhos para a inclusão dos profissionais da saúde na construção de um outro mundo possível, rompendo com a lógica desumanizadora do capital que tem no individualismo e no lucro seus fundamentos.

The impacts capitalistic globalization has had on the health professionals’ education can be represented by technical, polyvalent, individualistic and competitive training, among other aspects. In this context, the public space, the humanistic dimension, and critical thought are neglected. The purpose of this essay is to propose reflection on the education of health professionals for alienated work in health in the context of neoliberalism and suggests possibilities to break away from this type of training. A thematic agenda presents concepts that are considered fundamental for the organization of critical thought among health professionals. The goal is to point to paths to include health professionals in the construction of another possible world, breaking away from the dehumanizing logic of capital that has individualism and profit as its foundations.

Financeirização do Estado, erosão da democracia e empobrecimento da cidadania: tendências globais? / Marketizing of the State, erosion of democracy and impoverishment of citizenship: global tendencies?

Este artigo aborda a questão do avanço internacional do regime neoliberal, contexto da formulação de políticas que focalizam a pobreza, inclusive em países centrais. Em debates recentes, termos como 'cidadania' e 'democracia' têm sido sujeitos à interrogação crítica, revelando mudanças na relação cidadão/Estado que acompanham a hegemonia de critérios econômicos e a financeirização dos Estados nacionais. Argumentamos que tais processos globais requerem uma abordagem ampla, de uma perspectiva de economia política, capaz de iluminar como a substância da democracia e a legitimidade da autoridade estatal têm sido condicionadas pelo avanço de novos atores globais que representam os interesses do capital, favorecendo a concentração da riqueza e o aumento da pobreza, da desigualdade e da exclusão, e instaurando uma insegurança vital que atinge a maioria da população em nível mundial.

This article analyses the advance of the neo-liberal regime, in order to contextualise the international formulation of policies focussed on poverty reduction. In recent debates, terms such as 'citizenship' and 'democracy' have been subject to critical scrutiny, revealing changes in the relations between citizens and the State which accompany the hegemony of economic criteria that put financial considerations at the centre of national states. We argue that analyses of such global processes require an ample political economy perspective, capable of illuminating how the substance of democracy and the legitimacy of state authority have been conditioned by the advance of new global entities that represent the interests of capital, favouring the concentration of wealth and the increase of poverty, inequality and exclusion, and installing a state of vital insecurity that affects the majority of the world's population.

Gênero, saúde reprodutiva e vida cotidiana em uma experiência de pesquisa-ação com jovens da Maré, Rio de Janeiro / Survey and action on gender, reproductive health and daily life with youngsters in Maré, Rio de Janeiro

O artigo apresenta uma conceituação da pesquisa-ação que articula a pedagogia de Paulo Freire e a proposta reflexiva e prática do movimento de mulheres. Pretende contribuir para ampliar a compreensão dos problemas que afetam a juventude brasileira com base nas questões de vida e saúde vivenciadas por jovens rapazes e moças moradores de uma área favelada da cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Estas questões foram captadas por meio de um projeto de pesquisa-ação que aglutinou jovens em grupos de reflexão-ação que adotavam, como temas geradores, a identidade de gênero, a sexualidade e a saúde reprodutiva. Esses temas iam gradativamente se conectando a outras questões significativas que emergiram das dimensões socioculturais e políticas mais amplas que afetam a vida dos jovens, particularmente daqueles que vivem em contextos de pobreza, violência e exclusão de direitos. Buscou-se consolidar, conceitual e empiricamente, o enfoque que transversaliza gênero na classe social e o paradigma de conhecimento que legitima um novo sujeito de conhecimento engajado na ação transformadora.

This article presents a conceptualization of action research which articulates Paulo Freire's pedagogy with feminist methods of consciousness-raising. It aims to contribute to wider comprehension of the problems which affect Brazilian youth by presenting questions of daily life as they are experienced by young men and women who live in the Complexo da Maré, an extensive area of favelas in the city of Rio de Janeiro. These questions were identified through a process of action research which articulated young people in consciousness-raising groups that adopted the 'generating themes' of gender identity, sexuality and reproductive health. These themes were connected to other significant questions which gradually emerged from the wider sociocultural and political dimensions that affect the lives of young people, particularly those who live in contexts of poverty, violence and exclusion from basic rights. An attempt is made to conceptually and empirically consolidate an outlook that transversalizes gender in social class and a paradigm of knowledge that legitimates new subjects of knowledge who are engaged in transformative social action.

Este artículo presenta una conceptuación de la pesquisa-acción que articula la pedagogía de Paulo Freire y la propuesta reflexiva y práctica del movimiento de mujeres. Se propone contribuir para ampliar la comprensión de los problemas que afectan a la juventud brasileña a partir de cuestiones de vida y salud vivenciadas por jóvenes - chicos y chicas - que habitan en el Complejo de Maré, área de favelas de la ciudad de Rio de Janeiro. Estas cuestiones se captaron a través de un proyecto que reunió a jóvenes en grupos de reflexión-acción, adoptando como temas generadores la identidad de género, la sexualidad y la salud reproductiva; temas que se conectan gradualmente con otras cuestiones significativas que emergían de las dimensiones socio-culturales y políticas más amplias que afectan a la vida de los jóvenes, particularmente de los que viven en contextos de pobreza, violencia y exclusión de derechos. Se buscó consolidar, conceptual y empíricamente, el foco en la línea transversal del género en la clase social y el paradigma de conocimiento que legitima un nuevo sujeto de conocimiento comprometido con una acción transformadora.

Factors associated with cesarean sections in a public hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

O Brasil apresenta uma das maiores proporções de cesáreas do mundo. Fatores contribuintes para este fenômeno incluem organização da prática obstétrica, atitudes dos obstetras, preferências e decisões das mulheres. Com o objetivo de identificar fatores associados à realização de cesáreas, foi realizado estudo de caso-controle em uma maternidade pública do Município do Rio de Janeiro. Incluíram-se 231 partos por cesárea (casos) e 230 partos vaginais (controles). Utilizou-se análise multivariada com regressão logística, as variáveis foram incluídas no modelo obedecendo à ordem hierárquica definida em modelo conceitual. Fatores associados à maior chance de cesárea: primiparidade; idade 20-34 anos; último parto por cesárea; dilatação cervical < 3cm na admissão; preferência da mulher por cesárea; horário diurno; parto realizado por obstetra do sexo masculino; obstetra que trabalha mais de 24 horas semanais de plantão; obstetra com consultório particular; hipertensão; apresentação fetal não-cefálica; e idade gestacional > 41 semanas. Fatores associados à menor chance de cesárea: prematuridade; sinais de trabalho de parto ao sair de casa; uso de ocitocina e amniotomia. Propostas de modificação nos fatores estudados podem contribuir para redução da proporção de cesáreas.

A inserção dos homens nos estudos de gênero: contribuições de um sujeito histórico / Men's entrance into gender studies: contributions of an historical subject

Este artigo resgata conceitos e discussões sobre as questões de gênero que foram apresentados por homens que presenciaram o (res) surgimento do movimento feminista nos países centrais nos anos 60, e participaram de grupos de homens nos anos 70. Situados como sujeitos do conhecimento/de gênero no contexto dos debates críticos sobre a sociedade contemporânea, que foram amplamente disseminados naquela época, adotaram uma visão dialética e histórica da realidade social, trazendo contribuições que ajudaram a desconstruir a ótica binária antes prevalecente.