Does pregabalin act in pain control after lateral pharyngoplasties and tonsillectomies? A pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: Some studies have pointed to gabapentinoids as promising medications in postoperative pain control. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of pregabalin in reducing postoperative pain in tonsillectomy and lateral pharyngoplasties. STUDY DESIGN: Double-blind randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Tertiary care center. METHODS: A double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted with patients undergoing tonsillectomies and lateral pharyngoplasties between Aug 29, 2017, and Oct 31, 2020. Data of interest such as opioid consumption, pain scores, and adverse outcomes such as dizziness, nausea, headache, and sedation within 7 days following surgeries were analyzed. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference was observed in pain scores and opioid consumption between the groups studied in the pilot project. The use of pregabalin was associated with lower incidence of dizziness compared to controls. CONCLUSION: Gabapentinoids, especially pregabalin, are drugs whose potential for controlling pain after pharyngeal surgery, such as tonsillectomy and sleep apnea surgery, still needs to be more fully evaluated. After the conclusion of the present study, we hope to answer this question about the role of pregabalin in oropharyngeal surgeries.

Study of vaccinia and cowpox viruses' replication in Rac1-N17 dominant-negative cells.

Interfering with cellular signal transduction pathways is a common strategy used by many viruses to create a propitious intracellular environment for an efficient replication. Our group has been studying cellular signalling pathways activated by the orthopoxviruses Vaccinia (VACV) and Cowpox (CPXV) and their significance to viral replication. In the present study our aim was to investigate whether the GTPase Rac1 was an upstream signal that led to the activation of MEK/ERK1/2, JNK1/2 or Akt pathways upon VACV or CPXV' infections. Therefore, we generated stable murine fibroblasts exhibiting negative dominance to Rac1-N17 to evaluate viral growth and the phosphorylation status of ERK1/2, JNK1/2 and Akt. Our results demonstrated that VACV replication, but not CPXV, was affected in dominant-negative (DN) Rac1-N17 cell lines in which viral yield was reduced in about 10-fold. Viral late gene expression, but not early, was also reduced. Furthermore, our data showed that Akt phosphorylation was diminished upon VACV infection in DN Rac1-N17 cells, suggesting that Rac1 participates in the phosphoinositide-3 kinase pathway leading to the activation of Akt. In conclusion, our results indicate that while Rac1 indeed plays a role in VACV biology, perhaps another GTPase may be involved in CPXV replication.

Platelet-activating factor receptor plays a role in lung injury and death caused by Influenza A in mice.

Influenza A virus causes annual epidemics which affect millions of people worldwide. A recent Influenza pandemic brought new awareness over the health impact of the disease. It is thought that a severe inflammatory response against the virus contributes to disease severity and death. Therefore, modulating the effects of inflammatory mediators may represent a new therapy against Influenza infection. Platelet activating factor (PAF) receptor (PAFR) deficient mice were used to evaluate the role of the gene in a model of experimental infection with Influenza A/WSN/33 H1N1 or a reassortant Influenza A H3N1 subtype. The following parameters were evaluated: lethality, cell recruitment to the airways, lung pathology, viral titers and cytokine levels in lungs. The PAFR antagonist PCA4248 was also used after the onset of flu symptoms. Absence or antagonism of PAFR caused significant protection against flu-associated lethality and lung injury. Protection was correlated with decreased neutrophil recruitment, lung edema, vascular permeability and injury. There was no increase of viral load and greater recruitment of NK1.1(+) cells. Antibody responses were similar in WT and PAFR-deficient mice and animals were protected from re-infection. Influenza infection induces the enzyme that synthesizes PAF, lyso-PAF acetyltransferase, an effect linked to activation of TLR7/8. Therefore, it is suggested that PAFR is a disease-associated gene and plays an important role in driving neutrophil influx and lung damage after infection of mice with two subtypes of Influenza A. Further studies should investigate whether targeting PAFR may be useful to reduce lung pathology associated with Influenza A virus infection in humans.

Harm avoidance and self-directedness as essential features of panic disorder patients.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study is to compare the personality traits assessed with the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) between patients with panic disorder (PD) and a control group in a Brazilian sample. METHODS: One hundred thirty-five patients with PD paired according to sex and age with 135 controls without any psychiatric disorders were assessed with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), a structured interview. Temperament and character were assessed with the TCI. RESULTS: Consistently, patients with PD presented higher scores on the harm avoidance (HA) temperament scale (23.20 +/- 5.41 vs 15.21 +/- 4.92; P < .001) and lower scores on the self-directedness (SD) (27.81 +/- 7.25 vs 35.16 +/- 5.47; P < .001) if compared to the control group and has been associated independently from other TCI scales and confounders with PD. The multivariate logistic model containing HA and SD explains 38.6% to 51.4% of the differences between PD and controls. CONCLUSIONS: Harm avoidance could be a good candidate to be heritable because it appears to be a consistent finding across current literature in anxious and depressed patients independent of their cultural context. Also, SD seems to be a key character characteristic of PD patients. The dimensional assessment is an interesting alternative for understanding the relationship between the psychobiologic bases of temperament and character and is highly related to the development of psychiatric syndromes.

Leprous lesion presents enrichment of opportunistic pathogenic bacteria.

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that remains a major challenge to public health in endemic countries. Increasing evidence has highlighted the importance of microbiota for human general health and, as such, the study of skin microbiota is of interest. But while studies are continuously revealing the complexity of human skin microbiota, the microbiota of leprous cutaneous lesions has not yet been characterized. Here we used Sanger and massively parallel small sub-unit rRNA (SSU) rRNA gene sequencing to characterize the microbiota of leprous lesions, and studied how it differs from the bacterial skin composition of healthy individuals previously described in the literature. Taxonomic analysis of leprous lesions revealed main four phyla: Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria, with Proteobacteria presenting the highest diversity. There were considerable differences in the distribution of Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria, with the first two phyla enriched and the other markedly diminished in the leprous lesions, when compared with healthy skin. Propionibacterium, Corynebacterium and Staphylococcus, resident and abundant in healthy skin, were underrepresented in skin from leprous lesions. Most of the taxa found in skin from leprous lesions are not typical in human skin and potentially pathogenic, with the Burkholderia, Pseudomonas and Bacillus genera being overrepresented. Our data suggest significant shifts of the microbiota with emergence and competitive advantage of potentially pathogenic bacteria over skin resident taxa.

Protective immunity and safety of a genetically modified influenza virus vaccine.

Recombinant influenza viruses are promising viral platforms to be used as antigen delivery vectors. To this aim, one of the most promising approaches consists of generating recombinant viruses harboring partially truncated neuraminidase (NA) segments. To date, all studies have pointed to safety and usefulness of this viral platform. However, some aspects of the inflammatory and immune responses triggered by those recombinant viruses and their safety to immunocompromised hosts remained to be elucidated. In the present study, we generated a recombinant influenza virus harboring a truncated NA segment (vNA-Δ) and evaluated the innate and inflammatory responses and the safety of this recombinant virus in wild type or knock-out (KO) mice with impaired innate (Myd88 -/-) or acquired (RAG -/-) immune responses. Infection using truncated neuraminidase influenza virus was harmless regarding lung and systemic inflammatory response in wild type mice and was highly attenuated in KO mice. We also demonstrated that vNA-Δ infection does not induce unbalanced cytokine production that strongly contributes to lung damage in infected mice. In addition, the recombinant influenza virus was able to trigger both local and systemic virus-specific humoral and CD8+ T cellular immune responses which protected immunized mice against the challenge with a lethal dose of homologous A/PR8/34 influenza virus. Taken together, our findings suggest and reinforce the safety of using NA deleted influenza viruses as antigen delivery vectors against human or veterinary pathogens.

Trypanosoma cruzi adjuvants potentiate T cell-mediated immunity induced by a NY-ESO-1 based antitumor vaccine.

Immunological adjuvants that induce T cell-mediate immunity (TCMI) with the least side effects are needed for the development of human vaccines. Glycoinositolphospholipids (GIPL) and CpGs oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODNs) derived from the protozoa parasite Trypanosoma cruzi induce potent pro-inflammatory reaction through activation of Toll-Like Receptor (TLR)4 and TLR9, respectively. Here, using mouse models, we tested the T. cruzi derived TLR agonists as immunological adjuvants in an antitumor vaccine. For comparison, we used well-established TLR agonists, such as the bacterial derived monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL), lipopeptide (Pam3Cys), and CpG ODN. All tested TLR agonists were comparable to induce antibody responses, whereas significant differences were noticed in their ability to elicit CD4(+) T and CD8(+) T cell responses. In particular, both GIPLs (GTH, and GY) and CpG ODNs (B344, B297 and B128) derived from T. cruzi elicited interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) production by CD4(+) T cells. On the other hand, the parasite derived CpG ODNs, but not GIPLs, elicited a potent IFN-γ response by CD8(+) T lymphocytes. The side effects were also evaluated by local pain (hypernociception). The intensity of hypernociception induced by vaccination was alleviated by administration of an analgesic drug without affecting protective immunity. Finally, the level of protective immunity against the NY-ESO-1 expressing melanoma was associated with the magnitude of both CD4(+) T and CD8(+) T cell responses elicited by a specific immunological adjuvant.

Prime and boost immunization with influenza and adenovirus encoding the Toxoplasma gondii surface antigen 2 (SAG2) induces strong protective immunity.

In this work, we explored an original vaccination protocol using recombinant influenza and adenovirus. We constructed recombinant influenza viruses harboring dicistronic NA segments containing the surface antigen 2 (SAG2) from Toxoplasma gondii under control of the duplicated 3' promoter. Recombinant influenza viruses were able to drive the expression of the foreign SAG2 sequence in cell culture and to replicate efficiently both in cell culture and in lungs of infected mice. In addition, mice primed with recombinant influenza virus and boosted with a recombinant adenovirus encoding SAG2 elicited both humoral and cellular immune responses specific for SAG2. Moreover, when immunized animals were challenged with the cystogenic P-Br strain of T. gondii, they displayed up to 85% of reduction in parasite burden. These results demonstrate the potential use of recombinant influenza vectors harboring the dicistronic segments in the development of vaccines against infectious diseases.

Study of Vaccinia and Cowpox viruses' replication in Rac1-N17 dominant-negative cells

Interfering with cellular signal transduction pathways is a common strategy used by many viruses to create a propitious intracellular environment for an efficient replication. Our group has been studying cellular signalling pathways activated by the orthopoxviruses Vaccinia (VACV) and Cowpox (CPXV) and their significance to viral replication. In the present study our aim was to investigate whether the GTPase Rac1 was an upstream signal that led to the activation of MEK/ERK1/2, JNK1/2 or Akt pathways upon VACV or CPXV' infections. Therefore, we generated stable murine fibroblasts exhibiting negative dominance to Rac1-N17 to evaluate viral growth and the phosphorylation status of ERK1/2, JNK1/2 and Akt. Our results demonstrated that VACV replication, but not CPXV, was affected in dominant-negative (DN) Rac1-N17 cell lines in which viral yield was reduced in about 10-fold. Viral late gene expression, but not early, was also reduced. Furthermore, our data showed that Akt phosphorylation was diminished upon VACV infection in DN Rac1-N17 cells, suggesting that Rac1 participates in the phosphoinositide-3 kinase pathway leading to the activation of Akt. In conclusion, our results indicate that while Rac1 indeed plays a role in VACV biology, perhaps another GTPase may be involved in CPXV replication.

Effect of oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) essential oils on Trypanosoma cruzi (Protozoa: Kinetoplastida) growth and ultrastructure.

In the present work, we have investigated the effect of essential oils obtained from Origanum vulgare L. (oregano) and Thymus vulgaris L. (thyme) on growth and ultrastructure of diverse evolutive forms of Trypanosoma cruzi. Culture epimastigotes and bloodstream trypomastigotes were incubated for 24 h with different concentrations of oregano or thyme essential oils and with thymol (the main constituent of thyme), and the inhibitory concentration (IC)(50) was determined by cell counting. Crude extract of oregano essential oil inhibited epimastigote growth (IC(50)/24 h = 175 microg/ml) and also induced trypomastigote lysis (IC(50)/24 h = 115 microg/ml). Thyme essential oil presented IC(50)/24 h values of 77 microg/ml for epimastigotes and 38 mug/ml for trypomastigotes, while treatment with thymol resulted in an IC(50)/24 h of 62 microg/ml for epimastigotes and 53 microg/ml for trypomastigotes. Scanning electron microscopy of treated cells showed few morphological alterations at the plasma membrane. Observation by transmission electron microscopy showed cytoplasmic swelling with occasional morphological alterations in plasma and flagellar membrane. Our data indicate that oregano and thyme essential oils are effective against T. cruzi, with higher activity of thyme, and that thymol may be the main component responsible for the trypanocidal activity.

Caracterização química e anatômica de folhas de tomilho provenientes de plantas submetidas a diferentes condições luminosas / Characterization chemical and anatomical thyme leaves from plants subjected to different lighting conditions

Várias espécies de plantas possuem capacidade de desenvolver folhas com anatomias distintas quando cultivadas em diferentes condições de luz, as quais influenciam diretamente o crescimento e o desenvolvimento das mesmas, causando alterações morfofisiológicas. Diante da falta de informação a respeito de como o fator ambiental interfere sobre a fisiologia do desenvolvimento e do metabolismo das plantas de Thymus vulgaris, este trabalho objetivou estudar os efeitos das intensidades luminosas de 100, 50 e 30%, na produção e no teor de timol de seu óleo essencial, em sua anatomia foliar e na produtividade de biomassa fresca. Maiores rendimentos de óleo essencial foram encontrados para os níveis de irradiância de 100 e 50%. Para as análises anatômicas observa-se que quanto maior o índice de irradiância maiores espessura do limbo foliar, do mesofilo e das faces adaxial e abaxial são alcançadas, resultando maior produção de biomassa fresca.

Several plant species are capable of developing leaves with distinct anatomies when grown under different light conditions, which directly influence their growth and development and cause morphophysiological changes. Given the lack of information about how the environmental factors interfere with the physiology of development and metabolism of Thymus vulgaris plants, this study investigated the effects of light intensities of 100, 50 and 30% on the production and thymol content of the essential oil, on their leaf anatomy and on the productivity of fresh biomass. Higher yields of oil were found for levels of irradiance of 100 and 50%. Greater leaf, mesophyll and adaxial and abaxial thicknesses were achieved with a higher irradiance index, resulting in a higher production of fresh biomass.

O sono do recém-nascido em unidade de terapia intensiva neonatal / Newborn sleep in neonatal intensive care units / El sueño de recién nacido en unidad de cuidados intensivos neonatal

O objetivo deste estudo foi identificar e analisar a produção científica sobre o sono do recém-nascido internado na unidade de terapia intensiva neonatal. Trata-se de pesquisa bibliográfica com dados da Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde e descritores: sono, recém-nascido e unidade de cuidados intensivos neonatal, de 2002 a 2007. Dados dos 11 artigos encontrados no Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (LILACS) e Sistema Online de Busca e Análise de Literatura Médica (MEDLINE) foram categorizados nas temáticas: desenvolvimento do recém-nascido e cuidado ao recém-nascido. A primeira correlaciona desenvolvimento com padrão de sono. A segunda relaciona o cuidado à redução do estresse e qualidade do sono. Há ênfase em prevenção de morte súbita e operacionalização do cuidado ao recém-nascido com foco na avaliação pela enfermagem. Há escassa produção nacional e internacional sobre o tema, embora os trabalhos publicados sejam relevantes para a assistência ao recém-nascido.

The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the scientific production on sleep among newborns admitted to neonatal intensive care units. The literature search used data for 2002 to 2007 in a digital health library (Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde) using the descriptors: sleep, newborn and neonatal intensive care unit. Data from the 11 articles found in the SciELO, Lilacs and MEDLINE data bases were categorized into themes: development of the newborn, and care for the newborn. The former correlates development with sleep patterns. The latter relates care with minimizing stress, and with sleep quality. There is an emphasis on preventing sudden death and on operationalizing care for the newborn with a focus on nursing assessment. Brazilian and international scientific production on the subject is scarce, although the studies published are important to care for the newborn.

El objetivo de este estudio fue identificar y analizar la producción científica sobre el sueño del recién nacido internado en la unidad de terapia intensiva neonatal. Se trata de investigación bibliográfica con datos de la Biblioteca Virtual en Salud y descriptores: sueño, recién nacido y unidad de cuidados intensivos neonatal, de 2002 a 2007. Datos de los 11 artículos encontrados en Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciElo), Literatura Latino-Americana y del Caribe en Ciencias de la Salud (LILACS) y Sistema Online de Búsqueda y Análisis de Literatura Médica (MEDLINE) fueron clasificados en las temáticas: desarrollo del recién nacido y cuidado al recién nacido. La primera relaciona desarrollo con patrón de sueño. La segunda relaciona el cuidado a la reducción del estrés y calidad del sueño. Hay énfasis en prevención de muerte súbita y aplicación del cuidado al recién nacido con foco en la evaluación por la enfermería. Hay escasez de producción nacional e internacional sobre el tema, aunque los trabajos publicados sean relevantes para la asistencia al recién nacido.

Dimensão mítico-simbólica de mulheres sobre o parto: estudo sociopoético / Women’s myth symbolic dimension on the childbirth: sociopoetic study / La dimensión mito simbólica de las mujeres acerca del parto: estudio sócio-poético

Objetivos: identificar os arquétipos ativos no parto hospitalar. Metodologia: pesquisa descritiva, sociopoética, realizada numa instituição pública do Rio de Janeiro em 2009, com dez puérperas. Os dados foram submetidos à análise sociopoética mulheril/transversal. O projeto foi aprovado sob o parecer nº 0002/09 pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa do Instituto Fernandes Figueira. Resultados: destacam-se duas categorias: parto seguro e parto inseguro. Na primeira categoria houve predominância dos arquétipos personificados pelas deusas Héstia, Deméter e Perséfone. Na segunda, Perséfone, Atenas e Ártemis. No imaginário do parto inseguro os aspectos desestruturantes da psique das puérperas se relacionam com a demora do parto, à dor sentida, à solidão, à resistência às solicitações corporais, ao medo e ao sentimento de impotência. Já os aspectos estruturantes da psique foram relacionados à companhia da família, à relação da mãe-bebê, ao apoio da religiosidade, ao cuidado das enfermeiras obstétricas, principalmente no que se refere à escuta individual ao estímulo da expressão das emoções, ao incentivo à apropriação de seu corpo e à diminuição do pensamento racional. Conclusão: ampliar o olhar sobre a dimensão mítico-simbólica das mulheres sobre o parto auxilia as mesmas a integrar sentido à experiência do parto, bem como contribui para um cuidado mais sensível e individualizado.(AU)

Objective: to identify the archetypes active in the hospital delivery. Methodology: it's a descriptive, sociopoetic study, performed in a public institution of Rio de Janeiro city in 2009, with ten puerperal women. Data has been submitted to mulheril/transversal sociopoetic analysis. The project was submitted to Fernandes Figueira Institute Committee of Policy Research and agreed on the opinion nº 0002/09. Results: to stand out two categories: safe childbirth and unsafe childbirth. In the first category it had a predominance of the archetypes personified for the Héstia, Deméter and Perséfone goddesses. In the second, Perséfone, Atenas and Ártemis. In the imaginary of the unsafe childbirth the destructuring aspects of psyche of puerperal women are related with the delay of the childbirth, the pain felt, the loneliness, the resistance to the body requests, the fear and the feeling of impotence. The structuring aspects of psyche had been related to the family presence, to the mother-baby relationship, the religiosity support, the obstetrical nurses' care, mainly as for individual listening to the stimulation of emotions expression, to the incentive the appropriation of its body and the decrease of rational thought. Conclusion: to extend the look on the women mythical-symbolic dimension on the childbirth, help them to make sense in the childbirth experience, as well as it contributes for a more sensitive and individualized care.(AU)

Objetivos: identificar los arquetipos activos en el parto en el hospital. Metodología: investigación descriptiva, sóciopoética, realizada en una institución pública de la ciudad del Río de Janeiro en 2009, con diez puérperas. Los datos fuerón sometidos a análisis sócio-poética mulheril/transversal. El proyecto fue presentado a la Comisión de la política de investigación del Instituto Fernandes Figueira y el acuerdo sobre el dictamen nº 0002/09. Resultados: dos categorías son distinguidas: parto seguro y parto inseguro. En la primera categoría hubo el predominio de los arquétipos personificados por las diosas Héstia, Deméter y Perséfone. En la segunda, Perséfone, Atenas y Ártemis. En imaginario del parto inseguro los aspectos desestructurantes del psique de puérperas se relacionan con el retraso del parto, el dolor, la soledad, la resistencia a las peticiones corporales, el miedo y la sensación de impotencia. Ya los aspectos estructurantes del psique fuerón relacionados a la compañía de la familia, la relación madre-bebé, la ayuda de la religiosidad, el cuidado de las enfermeras obstétricas, principalmente con relación a la escucha individual al estímulo de la expresión de las emociones, el incentivo a la apropiación de su cuerpo y la reducción del pensamiento racional. Conclusión: ampliar la visión en la dimensión mítico-simbólica de las mujeres acerca del parto ayuda las mismas para integrar razón a la experiencia del parto, así como contribuyen para un cuidado más sensible e individualizado.(AU)

Potencial fungitóxico do óleo essencial de Piper hispidinervum (pimenta longa) sobre os fungos fitopatogênicos Bipolaris sorokiniana, Fusarium oxysporum e Colletotrichum gloeosporioides / Fungitoxic potential of the essential oil the Piper hispidinervum (long-pepper) against phytopathogenic fungi Bipolaris sorokiniana, Fusarium oxysporum e Colletotrichum gloeosporioides

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a atividade fungicida in vitro do óleo essencial das folhas de Piper hispidinervum sobre Bipolaris sorokiniana, Fusarium oxysporum e Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Para os ensaios biológicos, empregou-se o teste bioanalítico in vitro utilizando as concentrações de 100, 200, 500, 1000, 1500 e 2000 µg.mL-1 do óleo essencial. Estas foram incorporadas no meio de cultura BDA (batata-dextrose-ágar) para avaliação do crescimento ou inibição micelial. O delineamento estatístico utilizado foi o inteiramente casualizado, com quatro repetições. Na concentração de 200 µg.mL-1, observou-se uma inibição total do fitopatógeno Bipolaris sorokiniana enquanto que, para o Fusarium oxysporum e o Colletotrichum gloeosporioides esta ocorreu na concentração de 1000 µg.mL-1.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vitro antifungal activity of the essential oil of the leaves of Piper hispidinervum against Bipolaris sorokiniana, Fusarium oxysporum and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. For the biological tests, using the bioanalitic test in vitro the concentrations of 100, 200, 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 µg.mL-1 the essential oil. This were incorporated into PDA (potato dextrose agar) medium in order to evaluate fungal mycelial growth or inhibition. The statistic design used was completely randomized, with four replicates. In the concentration of 200 µg.mL-1, observed inhibited complete the phytopathogens Bipolaris sorokiniana while the Fusarium oxysporum and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides this is occurred in the concentration of 1000 µg.mL-1.

Efeito do óleo essencial de pimenta longa (Piper hispidinervum C. DC) e do emulsificante Tween® 80 sobre o crescimento micelial de Alternaria alternata (Fungi: Hyphomycetes) / The effect of Long-pepper essential oil (Piper hispidinervum C. DC.) and of Tween®; 80 emulsifier on the mycelial growth of Alternaria alternate (Fungi: Hyphomycetes)

Este trabalho objetivou avaliar o efeito do óleo essencial de folhas de pimenta longa (Piper hispidinervum C. DC), sobre o crescimento micelial de Alternaria alternata e a análise da influência da concentração do emulsificante Tween® 80 no controle deste fitopatógeno. O óleo essencial foi obtido pela técnica "arraste a vapor d'água", utilizando-se aparelho de Clevenger modificado, e posteriormente submetido, à análise por cromatografia em fase gasosa acoplada a espectrômetro de massas CG-EM a CG. Para os ensaios biológicos, o método foi o bioanalítico in vitro observando-se o crescimento ou inibição do micélio de A. alternata no meio de cultura BDA na presença de diferentes concentrações do óleo essencial (0, 100, 250, 500 e 1000 mgL-1 ) sob diferentes concentrações de Tween® 80. Adotou-se esquema fatorial com quatro repetições, em delineamento inteiramente casualizado (DIC). Observou-se que o óleo essencial de pimenta longa apresentou inibição sobre o crescimento micelial do fungo A. alternataem todas as concentrações analisadas, sendo que na concentração de 1000 mgL-1 esta inibição foi de 100 por cento , e a porcentagem de emulsificante (Tween® 80), influenciou na atividade fungitóxica das concentrações de 250 mgL -1 e 500 mgL -1 do óleo essencial.

The object of this work was to evaluate the effectof essential oils from Long-pepper leaves Piper hispidinervum on the mycelial growth of Alternaria alternata and to analyze the influence of emulsifier Tween® 80 concentration in the control of this phytopathogen. The essential oil was obtained by steam stream distillation, using a modified Clevenger apparatus, and the chemical composition was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectroscopy GC-MS and GC. For biological tests, the bioanalytical in vitro method was used, observing the growth or inhibition of such phytopathogen in BDA culture media, in the presence of different essential oil concentrations (0, 100, 250, 500, e 1000 mgL -1) under different Tween® 80 concentrations. Factorial scheme with four repetitions, in entirely randomized outline was adopted. The essential oil of Long-pepper inhibited the micellial growth of the A. alternata fungus at all of the concentrations tested. A 100 percent inhibition at the 1000 mgL -1 concentration was observed, and the percentage of emulsifier (Tween® 80) influenced the fungitoxic activity at the 250 mgL-1 and 500 mgL -1 concentrations of the essential oil.

Caracterização química e efeito inibitório de óleos essenciais sobre o crescimento de Staphylococcus aureus e Escherichia coli / Chemical ckaracterization and inhibitory effect of essential oils on the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli

Objetivou-se avaliar o efeito inibitório dos óleos essenciais de Cymbopogon citratus (capim-limão), Origanum vulgare (orégano) e Syzygium aromaticum (cravo-da-índia); os experimentos foram realizados com as bactérias Staphylococcus aureus e Escherichia coli, importantes patógenos causadores de contaminações em queijos e outros alimentos. Para quantificação e identificação dos constituintes químicos dos óleos, utilizou-se um cromatógrafo gasoso acoplado a um espectrômetro de massa. Os resultados dos testes in vitro, os óleos essenciais de C. citratus, O. vulgare e S. aromaticum promoveram efeito inibitório sobre as bactérias S. aureus e E. coli, porém o S. aromaticum apresentou melhor formação de halo de inibição nas menores concentrações. Para o efeito sinergístico dos óleos sobre as bactérias não foram observadas diferenças quando comparados com o efeito individual dos mesmos. Foi possível verificar que os óleos possuem efeito inibitório sobre os microrganismos estudados, sendo, portanto uma alternativa no controle microbiológico de alimentos.

With the aim of evaluating the inhinibitory effect of the Cymbopogon citratus (lemon grass), Origanun vulgare (oregano) and Syzygium aromaticum (clove), experiments were performed in laboratories, with the Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli bacteria, important pathogenics which contaminate cheese and other foods. For the oil chemical constitutions quantification and identification, the gas chromatography attached mass spectrometry to a was used. In the results in vitro test, the C. citratus, O. vulgare and S. aromaticum essential oils presented antimicrobian activity over S. aureus and E. coli bacteria, however, S. aromaticum presented better formation of inhibition halo in smaller concentrations. For the oil synergetic effect over bacteria and fungi, no significant difference was noticed when compared to their own individual effect. It was possible to verify that the oils had inhibitory effect over the microorganisms studied, being, therefore an alternate option in food microbiological control.

O enfermeiro e a abordagem das questões religiosas / The nurse and the approach of religious questions

Estudo qualitativo, exploratório e transdisciplinar. Considerando a religiosidade como componente da vida humana, admite-se que a mesma influencia o modo de pensar, sentir e agir do indivíduo e, conseqüentemente, de cuidar. Como nem sempre esse aspecto do cuidado é valorizado, o objetivo foi identificar as dificuldades dos enfermeiros em abordar as questões religiosas dos clientes no cuidar. O estudo admite, na argumentação, a multireferencialidade, assim como a complexidade e multidimensionalidade do homem e do universo. A coleta de dados ocorreu de fevereiro a maio de 2006, obtendo-se depoimentos de 10 enfermeiros do Hospital Universitário Pedro Ernesto, no Município do Rio de Janeiro. Neste artigo, apresenta-se uma das categorias resultantes da pesquisa: desconforto em abordar o assunto religiosidade. Conclui-se que as inúmeras dificuldades encontradas na abordagem dessas questões resultam, em grande parte, da falta de espaço na formação acadêmica e no ambiente profissional para discutir crítica e abertamente essa temática.

Projeto de Extensão Universitária: a enfermagem obstétrica no atendimento pré-natal de baixo risco / University Extension Project: obstetric nursing in the attendance of low-risk prenatal

Com abordagem qualitativa e na perspectiva da história social, este estudo tem como objeto a trajetória do Projeto de Extensão: A Enfermagem Obstétrica da Universidade do Estado do Rio Janeiro (UERJ) - consultas de pré-natal de baixo risco, entre 1997-2003. São objetivos: descrever a trajetória desse projeto, discutindo sua relação com as políticas públicas de saúde e educação e suas repercussões na Faculdade de Enfermagem/UERJ. São fontes de dados: registros do Centro Municipal de Saúde Milton Fontes Magarão, depoimentos dos sujeitos envolvidos nesse projeto e trabalhos científicos. Os docentes conseguiram espaço apropriado para promover ações de ensino/assistência, conforme a realidade social das clientes e o habitus profissional dos enfermeiros osbtétricos, e implementar as diretrizes do Programa de Assistência Integral à Saúde da Mulher. Acompanham as transformações da especialidade, articuladas com as políticas públicas, com vistas à prática docente e assistencial de qualidade e à garantia dos direitos da mulher.