Low-laser action analysis associated with Himatanthus drasticus extract in wound healing.

The aim of this study was to analyze the healing action of low-intensity laser therapy associated with Himatanthus drasticus in wound healing in mice. The study was experimental, analytical, controlled, randomized, and prospective. Twenty Wistar rats were divided into four groups: control with injury, injury + laser, wound + Himatanthus drasticus, and wound + laser + Himatanthus drasticus. The animals underwent surgical skin wounds on their backs, and different treatments were applied based on the group. The healing process was evaluated histologically through the analysis of collagen fibers, neovascularization, and inflammatory reaction. The results showed that low-intensity laser therapy and Himatanthus drasticus treatment improved the healing process in terms of collagen synthesis, decreased inflammatory cell migration, fibroblast proliferation, neovascularization, wound size reduction, and edema reduction. However, the combination of laser and Himatanthus drasticus did not show significant improvement compared to individual treatments. There were no statistical differences in polymorphonuclear cells between the treatment groups. Low-intensity laser therapy and Himatanthus drasticus have demonstrated positive properties in improving the healing process. Further research is needed to better understand their individual and combined effects. The study contributes to the exploration of alternative wound healing methods and encourages further investigation in this field.

Comment on Boyde et al. (2023), 'Fleas and lesions in armadillo osteoderms'.

Boyde et al. (2023) stated that Moura et al. (2021) did not explain how fleas generated cavities in armadillo osteoderms, which is wrongly stated, also presenting a misrepresentation of what is written about this in Moura et al. (2021).

Revealing Natural Intracellular Peptides in Gills of Seahorse Hippocampus reidi.

The seahorse is a marine teleost fish member of the Syngnathidae family that displays a complex variety of morphological and reproductive behavior innovations and has been recognized for its medicinal importance. In the Brazilian ichthyofauna, the seahorse Hippocampus reidi is among the three fish species most used by the population in traditional medicine. In this study, a protocol was performed based on fast heat inactivation of proteases plus liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry to identify native peptides in gills of seahorse H. reidi. The MS/MS spectra obtained from gills allowed the identification of 1080 peptides, of which 1013 peptides were present in all samples and 67 peptide sequences were identified in an additional LC-MS/MS run from an alkylated and reduced pool of samples. The majority of peptides were fragments of the internal region of the amino acid sequence of the precursor proteins (67%), and N- and C-terminal represented 18% and 15%, respectively. Many peptide sequences presented ribosomal proteins, histones and hemoglobin as precursor proteins. In addition, peptide fragments from moronecidin-like protein, described with antimicrobial activity, were found in all gill samples of H. reidi. The identified sequences may reveal new bioactive peptides.

Multiomic Approach for Bioprospection: Investigation of Toxins and Peptides of Brazilian Sea Anemone Bunodosoma caissarum.

Sea anemones are sessile invertebrates of the phylum Cnidaria and their survival and evolutive success are highly related to the ability to produce and quickly inoculate venom, with the presence of potent toxins. In this study, a multi-omics approach was applied to characterize the protein composition of the tentacles and mucus of Bunodosoma caissarum, a species of sea anemone from the Brazilian coast. The tentacles transcriptome resulted in 23,444 annotated genes, of which 1% showed similarity with toxins or proteins related to toxin activity. In the proteome analysis, 430 polypeptides were consistently identified: 316 of them were more abundant in the tentacles while 114 were enriched in the mucus. Tentacle proteins were mostly enzymes, followed by DNA- and RNA-associated proteins, while in the mucus most proteins were toxins. In addition, peptidomics allowed the identification of large and small fragments of mature toxins, neuropeptides, and intracellular peptides. In conclusion, integrated omics identified previously unknown or uncharacterized genes in addition to 23 toxin-like proteins of therapeutic potential, improving the understanding of tentacle and mucus composition of sea anemones.

Potencial inibitório do ácido elágico sobre a formação do complexo Keap1-Nrf2: implicações terapêuticas em doenças crônico-degenerativas / Inhibitory potential of ellagic acid on the formation of the keap1-Nrf2 complex: Therapeutical implications in chronic-degenerative diseases

Objetivos ­ Avaliar o potencial inibitório do ácido elágico sobre as interações do complexo Keap1-Nrf2, com o intuito de esclarecer um dos eventuais mecanismos associado à atividade antioxidante do ácido elágico. Métodos ­ Foram empregadas simulações de docagem molecular para prever o modo de ligação do ácido elágico no sítio ligante da proteína Keap1, o qual foi comparado com o modo de ligação obtido experimentalmente e descrito na literatura para o ligante natural, a proteína Nrf2, e um potente inibidor monoácido do complexo Keap1-Nrf2. Resultados ­ As simulações de docagem revelaram que o ácido elágico apresenta potencial para realizar uma rede de ligações de hidrogênio com resíduos de aminoácidos da proteína Keap1 considerados importantes para o reconhecimento do Nrf2, se assemelhando ao perfil observado para inibidores do complexo Keap1-Nrf2 descritos na literatura. Conclusão ­ O ácido elágico apresenta características químicas e espaciais favoráveis para a inibição do complexo Keap1-Nrf2 e a elucidação do seu modo de ligação pode auxiliar na identificação de novos produtos naturais com propriedades antioxidantes e potencializar o desenvolvimento de fármacos contra doenças crônico-degenerativas.

Psicologia 24 horas nas UTIs: uma herança pós-pandemia de COVID-19? / Psychology 24 hours in ICUs: a post-pandemic inheritance of COVID-19?

A psicologia desempenha um papel essencial na UTI, fornecendo suporte emocional aos pacientes e suas famílias. A presença contínua de profissionais de psicologia tem evoluído ao longo dos anos e foi enfatizada durante a pandemia de COVID-19, com um enfoque especial ao cuidado da saúde mental. A implementação de um regime de plantão 24 horas de psicólogos na UTI poderia ser uma herança positiva, garantindo um atendimento personalizado e a detecção precoce de sofrimento psicológico. Essa abordagem também beneficiaria os profissionais de saúde, com diminuição de sobrecarga.

Psychology plays an essential role in the ICU, providing emotional support to patients and their families. The continuous presence of psychology professionals has evolved over the years and was emphasized during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a special focus on mental health care. The implementation of a 24-hour on-call system for psychologists in the ICU could be a positive legacy, ensuring personalized care and early detection of psychological distress. This approach would also benefit healthcare professionals by reducing their workload.

Do ouvido ao narrado: interlocução terapeuta-sujeito com afasia em atividade com história em quadrinhos / From heard to narrated: therapist-subject with aphasia interlocution in an activity with comic books

RESUMO Objetivo Analisar a interlocução terapeuta-sujeito com afasia no processo de interpretação e organização de história em quadrinhos. Métodos Estudo transversal, de natureza qualitativa. Os dados coletados foram de situações enunciativas audiogravadas e apresentadas descritivamente por quadros de interlocução (A1-T1) e (A2-T2), registrando atividade com Histórias em Quadrinhos (HQ), realizada em encontro do Grupo Interdisciplinar de Convivência da instituição, do qual participaram sujeitos com e sem afasia. Analisou-se a interlocução entre duas terapeutas em formação (T1 e T2) e dois sujeitos com afasia (A1 e A2). Resultados As interlocuções entre A1-T1 e A2-T2, ocorridas durante o processo de organização das HQ, evidenciaram posicionamentos diferentes das terapeutas, no que tange ao ouvido e ao narrado. A1 foi reconhecida por T1 como sujeito de linguagem, à medida que a terapeuta promoveu a disjunção, ou seja, encaminhou A1 à condição de locutor; o mesmo fato não ocorreu com A2 e T2, pois o primeiro não foi reconhecido como sujeito de linguagem, já que T2 manteve-se em conjunção, não conferindo lugar de fala a A2. Conclusão A enunciação benvenistiana configura-se como recurso teórico-metodológico para análise e intervenção clínica junto a sujeitos com afasia. O contexto de convivência grupal impõe-se como lócus de cuidado e formativo para as diferentes áreas de atenção às pessoas com afasia, articulando, interdisciplinarmente, aspectos da enunciação à prática terapêutica.

ABSTRACT Purpose To analyze the therapist-subject with aphasia interlocution in the process of interpretation and organization of comics. Methods Cross-sectional study of a qualitative nature. The data are from audio-recorded enunciative situations and presented descriptively by interlocution charts (A1-T1) and (A2-T2), registering activity with Comics, held at a meeting of the Interdisciplinary Group of Coexistence (GIC) in which subjects with and without aphasia participate. The interlocution between two therapists in training (T1 and T2) and two subjects with aphasia (A1 and A2) is analyzed. Results: The interlocutions between A1-T1 and A2-T2, which occurred during the process of organization of the comic, show different positions of the therapists regarding the ear and the narrated. A1 is recognized by T1 as a subject of language as the therapist promotes disjunction, that is, it directs A1 to the condition of speaker; the same does not occur with A2 and T2, because the former is not recognized as a subject of language, since T2 remains in conjunction, not giving A2 speaking space. Conclusion Benvenistian enunciation is configured as a theoretical and methodological resource for analysis and clinical intervention with subjects with aphasia; the context of group coexistence imposes itself as a locus of care and training for the different areas of attention to people with aphasia, articulating, interdisciplinary, aspects of enunciation to therapeutic practice.

Development of a Cyclic Voltammetry-Based Method for the Detection of Antigens and Antibodies as a Novel Strategy for Syphilis Diagnosis.

The improvement of laboratory diagnosis is a critical step for the reduction of syphilis cases around the world. In this paper, we present the development of an impedance-based method for detecting T. pallidum antigens and antibodies as an auxiliary tool for syphilis laboratory diagnosis. We evaluate the voltammetric signal obtained after incubation in carbon or gold nanoparticle-modified carbon electrodes in the presence or absence of Poly-L-Lysine. Our results indicate that the signal obtained from the electrodes was sufficient to distinguish between infected and non-infected samples immediately (T0') or 15 min (T15') after incubation, indicating its potential use as a point-of-care method as a screening strategy.

Ammonia quantum tunneling in cold rare-gas He and Ar clusters and factorial design approach for methodology evaluation.

Quantum tunneling of the ammonia inversion motion and energy level splittings in He and Ar clusters were investigated. It was found that the double well potential (DWP) in He clusters is symmetrical and that the first layer of He atoms is able to model the system. The calculated tunneling splitting was in good agreement with the experimental, 36.4 and 24.6 cm[Formula: see text] respectively. For NH[Formula: see text] in Ar clusters, the DWP becomes slightly asymmetric, which is enough to decrease the resonance and make the symmetric DWP unable to model the system. An asymmetric potential was used and the result was in excellent agreement with the experimental splitting, of 9.0 and 10.6 cm[Formula: see text] respectively. Non-covalent interactions revealed that the asymmetry is caused by dissimilar interactions in each minimum of the double well potential. The effects of different methodologies were analyzed via a design of experiments approach. For the gas-phase NH[Formula: see text] molecule, only diffuse functions were statistically significant while for the NH[Formula: see text] embedded in He cluster both the MP2 method and polarization functions were significant. This tendency suggests higher order polarization functions may be essential to generate accurate barrier heights.

Modeling nonlocal behavior in epidemics via a reaction-diffusion system incorporating population movement along a network.

The outbreak of COVID-19, beginning in 2019 and continuing through the time of writing, has led to renewed interest in the mathematical modeling of infectious disease. Recent works have focused on partial differential equation (PDE) models, particularly reaction-diffusion models, able to describe the progression of an epidemic in both space and time. These studies have shown generally promising results in describing and predicting COVID-19 progression. However, people often travel long distances in short periods of time, leading to nonlocal transmission of the disease. Such contagion dynamics are not well-represented by diffusion alone. In contrast, ordinary differential equation (ODE) models may easily account for this behavior by considering disparate regions as nodes in a network, with the edges defining nonlocal transmission. In this work, we attempt to combine these modeling paradigms via the introduction of a network structure within a reaction-diffusion PDE system. This is achieved through the definition of a population-transfer operator, which couples disjoint and potentially distant geographic regions, facilitating nonlocal population movement between them. We provide analytical results demonstrating that this operator does not disrupt the physical consistency or mathematical well-posedness of the system, and verify these results through numerical experiments. We then use this technique to simulate the COVID-19 epidemic in the Brazilian region of Rio de Janeiro, showcasing its ability to capture important nonlocal behaviors, while maintaining the advantages of a reaction-diffusion model for describing local dynamics.

Finding reliable methodology for optical rotation and correct predictions of (s)-methyloxirane and (1R,5R)-ß-pinene.

Theoretical calculations of optical rotation (OR), although important to predict absolute configurations (ACs) and corroborate experiments, require efficient methodology able to reproduce enantiomer specificity and real OR values. Also, troublesome molecules are recurring in the literature, such as (S)-methyloxirane and (1R,5R)-ß-pinene. This study evaluates DFT functionals B3LYP, CAM-B3LYP, ωB97X-D, M06-2X, and PBE0 considering basis sets aug-cc-pVDZ, aug-cc-pVTZ, 6-311++G(2d,p), and 6-311++G(3df,2p) in OR prediction of 42 rigid organic molecules assessing cases with wrong enantiomeric determination comparing to available experimental data at wavelengths 355, 589, and 633 nm. Functionals CAM-B3LYP and ωB97X-D with aug-cc-pVTZ are indicated here to reproduce experimental values more accurately considering fewer number of wrong AC predictions, normalized RMSD values below 0.70, and a good approximation to experimental values in hierarchical cluster analysis. Methyloxirane AC was reproduced in CAM-B3LYP and PBE0, with [α]355=6.94 for CAM-B3LYP/aug-cc-pVTZ close to experimental value [α]355=7.49±0.30 . Good results were found for AC of ß-pinene in M06-2X, CAM-B3LYP, and ωB97X-D while the latter in 6-311++G(3df,2p) obtained OR values of [α]589=3.44 and [α]689=4.20 close to experimental values [α]589=2.8 and [α]689=4.66±0.60 . The two molecules aforementioned are, for the first time, reported to give valid theoretical OR values in such simple methodologies. OR calculations were all performed after geometry optimization at the same level of theory, and analysis of different functional combinations for each step in ß-pinene showed it can interfere with AC prediction even in rigid molecules.

Data-Driven Simulation of Fisher-Kolmogorov Tumor Growth Models Using Dynamic Mode Decomposition.

The computer simulation of organ-scale biomechanistic models of cancer personalized via routinely collected clinical and imaging data enables to obtain patient-specific predictions of tumor growth and treatment response over the anatomy of the patient's affected organ. These patient-specific computational forecasts have been regarded as a promising approach to personalize the clinical management of cancer and derive optimal treatment plans for individual patients, which constitute timely and critical needs in clinical oncology. However, the computer simulation of the underlying spatiotemporal models can entail a prohibitive computational cost, which constitutes a barrier to the successful development of clinically-actionable computational technologies for personalized tumor forecasting. To address this issue, here we propose to utilize dynamic-mode decomposition (DMD) to construct a low-dimensional representation of cancer models and accelerate their simulation. DMD is an unsupervised machine learning method based on the singular value decomposition that has proven useful in many applications as both a predictive and a diagnostic tool. We show that DMD may be applied to Fisher-Kolmogorov models, which constitute an established formulation to represent untreated solid tumor growth that can further accommodate other relevant cancer phenomena (e.g., therapeutic effects, mechanical deformation). Our results show that a DMD implementation of this model over a clinically relevant parameter space can yield promising predictions, with short to medium-term errors remaining under 1% and long-term errors remaining under 20%, despite very short training periods. In particular, we have found that, for moderate to high tumor cell diffusivity and low to moderate tumor cell proliferation rate, DMD reconstructions provide accurate, bounded-error reconstructions for all tested training periods. Additionally, we also show that the three-dimensional DMD reconstruction of the tumor field can be leveraged to accurately reconstruct the displacement fields of the tumor-induced deformation of the host tissue. Thus, we posit the proposed data-driven approach has the potential to greatly reduce the computational overhead of personalized simulations of cancer models, thereby facilitating tumor forecasting, parameter identification, uncertainty quantification, and treatment optimization.

Tendência temporal das internações por condições sensíveis à atenção primária em idosos no Brasil / Temporal trend of hospitalization for ambulatory care sensitive conditions in the elderly in Brazil / Tendencia temporal de las hospitalizaciones por condiciones sensibles de la atención primaria en mayores de Brasil

Objetivo: Avaliar a tendência temporal das Internações por Condições Sensíveis à Atenção Primária (ICSAP), em idosos, segundo sua estrutura, magnitude e causas, no Brasil, entre 2000 e 2018. Métodos: Estudo ecológico realizado com base em dados do Sistema de Informação Hospitalar do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) e Sistema de Informação da Atenção Básica (SIAB), entre 2000 e 2018, referentes a indivíduos com 60 anos ou mais, sendo incluídas 20.695.407 internações. Calcularam-se os coeficientes brutos e específicos de hospitalizações segundo sexo, faixa etária e região e estimaram-se a cobertura da Estratégia de Saúde da Família e o número de consultas médicas na atenção primária. Para análise da série temporal utilizou-se o método de regressão linear simples, sendo testada a correlação pelo Coeficiente de Correlação de Pearson (p<0,05). Resultados: Observou-se tendência de redução nas taxas de ICSAP em idosos no Brasil, de 2000 a 2018, para ambos os sexos, todas as faixas etárias e regiões (p<0,001). As principais causas de ICSAP concentraram-se nas doenças do aparelho circulatório (14,42%); respiratório (11,52%); e endócrinas, metabólicas e nutricionais (4,42%). Ocorreu diminuição de 61,50% de internações por insuficiência cardíaca e um aumento de 27,29% nas internações por pneumonia. Constatou-se tendência de aumento da cobertura da Estratégia de Saúde da Família (ESF) e do número médio de consultas (p<0,001), em idosos, no Brasil, de 2000 a 2015. Houve correlação negativa entre internações e indicadores de acesso à atenção primária (p<0,001). Conclusão: Há tendência de redução nas taxas gerais de ICSAP em idosos no Brasil, em função de melhorias na cobertura da atenção primária.

Objective: To evaluate the temporal trend of hospitalizations for Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions (ACSC) in the elderly, according to their structure, magnitude, and causes, in Brazil, between 2000 and 2018. Methods: An ecological study based on data from the Hospital Information System of the Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS) and the Primary Care Information System (Sistema de Informações sobr à Atenção Básica - SIAB), between 2000 and 2018, referring to individualsaged 60 years or older, including 20,695,407 hospitalizations. Gross and specific coefficients of hospitalizations were calculated according to sex, age group, and region, and the coverage of the Family Health Strategy (Estratégia Saúde da Família ­ ESF), and the number of medical consultations in primary care were estimated. For the time series analysis, the simple linear regression method was used, and the correlation was tested by Pearson's Correlation Coefficient (p<0.05). Results: There was a trend of reduction in the rates of hospitalizations for ACSC in the elderly in Brazil, from 2000 to 2018, for both sexes, all age groups, and regions (p<0.001). The main causes of ACSC were concentrated in diseases of the circulatory system (14.42%), respiratory (11.52%), and endocrine, metabolic and nutritional (4.42%). There was a 61.50% decrease in hospitalizations for heart failure and a 27.29% increase in hospitalizations for pneumonia. There was a tendency to increase the coverage of the ESF and the average number of consultations (p<0.001) in the elderly in Brazil from 2000 to 2015. There was a negative correlation between hospitalizations and indicators of access to primary care (p<0.001). Conclusion: There is a trend of a reduction in the general rates of hospitalizations for ACSC in the elderly in Brazil due to improvements in primary care coverage.

Objetivo: Evaluar la tendencia temporal de las Hospitalizaciones por Condiciones Sensible de la Atención Primaria (HCSAP), de mayores, según la estructura, la magnitud y sus causas, en Brasil, entre 2000 y 2018. Métodos: Estudio ecológico realizado en la base de datos del Sistema de Información Hospitalaria del Sistema Único de Salud (SUS) y del Sistema de Información de la Atención Básica (SIAB), entre 2000 y 2018, referentes a los individuos de 60 años o más, con la inclusión de 20.695.407 hospitalizaciones. Se ha calculado los coeficientes brutos y específicos de las hospitalizaciones según el sexo, la franja de edad y la región y se ha estimado la cobertura de la Estrategia Salud de la Familia y el número de citas médicas de la atención primaria. Para el análisis de la serie temporal se ha utilizado el método de regresión linear simple y se ha testada la correlación por el Coeficiente de Correlación de Pearson (p<0,05). Resultados: Se observó la tendencia para la reducción de las tasas de HCSAP de mayores en Brasil entre 2000 y 2018, para ambos sexos, todas las franjas de edad y regiones (p<0,001). Las principales causas de HCSAP se han concentrado en las enfermedades del aparato circulatorio (14,42%); del respiratorio (11,52%); y las endocrinas, las metabólicas y las nutricionales (4,42%). Hubo una disminución del 61,50% de ingresos por insuficiencia cardiaca y el aumento del 27,29% de los ingresos por neumonía. Se ha constatado la tendencia de aumento de la cobertura de la Estrategia Salud de la Familia (ESF) y del número medio de citas (p<0,001) de mayores en Brasil entre 2000 y 2015. Hubo correlación negativa entre los ingresos y los indicadores de acceso a la atención primaria (p<0,001). Conclusión: Hay una tendencia para la reducción de las tasas generales de HCSAP de mayores en Brasil debido las mejorías de la cobertura de la atención primaria.

Metabolic imprint induced by seed halo-priming promotes a differential physiological performance in two contrasting quinoa ecotypes.

"Memory imprint" refers to the process when prior exposure to stress prepares the plant for subsequent stress episodes. Seed priming is a strategy to change the performance of seedlings to cope with stress; however, mechanisms associated with the metabolic response are fragmentary. Salinity is one of the major abiotic stresses that affect crop production in arid and semiarid areas. Chenopodium quinoa Willd. (Amaranthaceae) is a promising crop to sustain food security and possesses a wide genetic diversity of salinity tolerance. To elucidate if the metabolic memory induced by seed halo-priming (HP) differs among contrasting saline tolerance plants, seeds of two ecotypes of Quinoa (Socaire from Atacama Salar, and BO78 from Chilean Coastal/lowlands) were treated with a saline solution and then germinated and grown under different saline conditions. The seed HP showed a more positive impact on the sensitive ecotype during germination and promoted changes in the metabolomic profile in both ecotypes, including a reduction in carbohydrates (starch) and organic acids (citric and succinic acid), and an increase in antioxidants (ascorbic acid and α-tocopherol) and related metabolites. These changes were linked to a further reduced level of oxidative markers (methionine sulfoxide and malondialdehyde), allowing improvements in the energy use in photosystem II under saline conditions in the salt-sensitive ecotype. In view of these results, we conclude that seed HP prompts a "metabolic imprint" related to ROS scavenger at the thylakoid level, improving further the physiological performance of the most sensitive ecotype.

Dynamic mode decomposition in adaptive mesh refinement and coarsening simulations.

Dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) is a powerful data-driven method used to extract spatio-temporal coherent structures that dictate a given dynamical system. The method consists of stacking collected temporal snapshots into a matrix and mapping the nonlinear dynamics using a linear operator. The classical procedure considers that snapshots possess the same dimensionality for all the observable data. However, this often does not occur in numerical simulations with adaptive mesh refinement/coarsening schemes (AMR/C). This paper proposes a strategy to enable DMD to extract features from observations with different mesh topologies and dimensions, such as those found in AMR/C simulations. For this purpose, the adaptive snapshots are projected onto the same reference function space, enabling the use of snapshot-based methods such as DMD. The present strategy is applied to challenging AMR/C simulations: a continuous diffusion-reaction epidemiological model for COVID-19, a density-driven gravity current simulation, and a bubble rising problem. We also evaluate the DMD efficiency to reconstruct the dynamics and some relevant quantities of interest. In particular, for the SEIRD model and the bubble rising problem, we evaluate DMD's ability to extrapolate in time (short-time future estimates).

Morphology of the stifle in agouti (Dasyprocta prymnolopha, Wagler 1831).

The agouti (Dasyprocta prymnolopha, Wagler 1831) is a wild rodent of great zootechnical potential, a fact that enables anatomical and morphological studies to support management actions with this animal. In this perspective, this study aimed to describe the anatomy and histology of the agouti stifle joint. Four adult agoutis were used, two females and two males. The animals were submitted to dissection and identification of the structures of the stifle joint. For light microscopy study, samples of the patellar ligament, cranial and caudal cruciate ligaments, medial and lateral collateral ligaments were used. Agouti has a highly congruent patellofemoral joint; elongated patella; medial and lateral fabellae at the proximal insertion of the gastrocnemius muscle; medial and lateral meniscus with lunula; in addition to the presence of the following ligament structures: patellar ligament, cranial and caudal cruciate ligaments, medial and lateral collateral ligaments, meniscofemoral ligament, caudal meniscal ligament of the medial meniscus, and medial and lateral cranial ligaments. The patellar ligament presents bundles of parallel collagen fibers with a straight path and coated fibroblasts; collateral and cruciate ligaments had loose and dense connective tissue, coated fibroblasts and collagen bundle undulations, the latter most expressive in the caudal cruciate ligament. Thus, except for the shape and angulation of the stifle, which allows specific movements, the agouti stifle has structures analogous to that of other rodents and domestic animals.

Qualidade de vida e condicionamento cardiorrespiratório em idosas praticantes e não praticantes de atividade física / Quality of life and cardiorespiratory conditioning in elderly practicing and non-practicing physical activity

O presente estudo teve como objetivo avaliar o condicionamento cardiorrespiratório e a qualidade de vida em idosas praticantes e não praticantes de atividade física. Foi realizado um estudo analítico, de corte transversal. A amostra foi constituída de 40 idosas do sexo feminino provenientes do projeto de convivência da longevidade de Teresina (PI), com idades entre 60 e 80 anos, ativas fisicamente e sedentárias conforme o questionário internacional de atividade física. Foram convidadas a compor os grupos igualmente de idosas praticantes de atividade física (IPAF) e não praticantes de atividade física (INPAF). Foi utilizado o Teste de caminhada de 6 minutos (TC6), para avaliação do condicionamento cardiorrespiratório, sendo mensurados distância percorrida e alcance do limite inferior de normalidade de 139 metros, e o questionário SF-36 para analisar qualidade de vida. A comparação estatística entre grupos foi realizada através do Teste Mann ­ Whitney ou teste t student, com nível de significância de 95%. Encontrou-se diferença significativa (p<0,05) nos domínios capacidade funcional, dor, estado geral da saúde, vitalidade, aspectos sociais e saúde mental do questionário SF-36 na comparação entre as IPAF e INPAF. No TC6, as IPAF também mostraram resultados significativos superiores (p<0,05) na distância percorrida em relação ao INPAF. Além do que, as IPAF apresentaram maior limite inferior de normalidade do TC6 em comparação ao outro grupo (p<0,05). Os resultados permitem concluir que houve melhor qualidade de vida e condicionamento cardiorrespiratório nas idosas praticantes de atividade física, desfechos que contribuem para ampliação dos conhecimentos da importância da atividade física em idosos.(AU)

The study aimed to evaluate cardiorespiratory fitness and quality of life in elderly women who practice and do not practice physical activity. An analytical, cross-sectional study was conducted. The sample consisted of 40 female elderly women from the longevity coexistence project of Teresina (PI), aged between 60 and 80 years, physically active and sedentary according to the international physical activity questionnaire, were invited to compose the groups of equally elderly women who practice physical activity (IPAF) and those who do not practice physical activity (INPAF). The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) was used to assess cardiorespiratory fitness, measuring the distance covered and reaching the lower limit of normality of 139 meters, and the SF-36 questionnaire to analyze quality of life. The statistical comparison between groups was performed using the Mann - Whitney test or the student t test, with a significance level of 95%. There was a significant difference (p <0.05) in the functional capacity, pain, general health, vitality, social and mental health domains of the SF-36 questionnaire in the comparison between IPAF and INPAF. In the 6MWT, the IPAF also showed significantly higher results (p <0.05) in the distance covered in relation to the INPAF. In addition, the IPAF showed a lower limit of normality for the 6MWT compared to the other group (p <0.05). The results allow us to conclude that there was a better quality of life and cardiorespiratory conditioning in the elderly who practice physical activity. These outcomes contribute to the expansion of knowledge about the importance of physical activity in the elderly.(AU)

Quality of life of aphasia subjects participating in an interdisciplinary group. / Qualidade de vida de sujeitos com afasia participantes de um grupo interdisciplinar de convivência.

PURPOSE: To analyze the Quality of Life of subjects with aphasia participating in an Interdisciplinary Living Group. METHODS: cross-sectional and quantitative study. Convenience sample submitted to two questionnaires: a semi-structured one, developed exclusively for the characterization of the subjects and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale - Bref (WHOQOL-Bref) to identify their Quality of Life (QOL). Data analysis was descriptive. RESULTS: Eight subjects were interviewed, aged between 35 and 78 years and schooling between Incomplete Elementary School and Incomplete Higher Education. The predominant occupation was that of a clerk and the income varied between one and four minimum wages. The time of brain injury was from three to 10 years, caused predominantly by Stroke caused by Systemic Arterial Hypertension. As for WHOQOL, there was an important variation between the subjects in the four domains (physical, psychological, social and environmental). However, most scored above 70 points. For all subjects, the Living Group was identified as a space for the production of life and health, motivating them to seek other services. CONCLUSION: The subjects were adults and elderly people belonging to the lower-middle class; presented chronic health conditions, impaired verbal expression and long monitoring time to their health needs. The WHOQOL-Bref revealed that five subjects perceived their favorable living/health conditions, however, they highlighted reduced social contact. The Living Group became an important space for improving QOL.

OBJETIVO: Analisar a Qualidade de Vida de sujeitos com afasia participantes de um Grupo Interdisciplinar de Convivência. MÉTODO: estudo transversal e quantitativo. Os participantes foram submetidos a dois questionários: um semiestruturado, desenvolvido para a caracterização dos sujeitos e o outro o World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale ­ Bref (WHOQOL-Bref) para identificação da Qualidade de Vida (QV) dos mesmos. A análise dos dados foi realizada de modo descritivo. RESULTADOS: Foram entrevistados oito sujeitos com idade entre 35 e 78 anos e escolaridade variando entre Ensino Fundamental Incompleto e Superior Incompleto. A ocupação predominante na amostra foi a de balconista e a renda variou entre um e quatro salários mínimos. O tempo de lesão cerebral variou de três a 10 anos, causada predominantemente por Acidentes Vasculares Cerebrais decorrentes de Hipertensão Arterial Sistêmica. Quanto ao WHOQOL houve importante variação entre os sujeitos nos quatro domínios (físico, psicológico, social e ambiental). No entanto, a maioria pontuou acima de 70 pontos. Para todos os sujeitos, o Grupo de Convivência foi identificado como espaço de produção de vida e saúde sendo motivador para a busca de outros atendimentos. CONCLUSÃO: Os sujeitos eram adultos e idosos pertencentes à classe econômica média baixa; apresentavam condições crônicas de saúde, comprometimento da expressão verbal e longo período de acompanhamento das necessidades de saúde. O WHOQOL-Bref revelou que cinco sujeitos perceberam suas condições de vida/saúde favoráveis, no entanto, destacaram convívio social reduzido. O Grupo de Convivência configurou-se como importante espaço para melhoria de QV.