ABSTRACT
Smokeless tobacco (Snus) is a substance that contains nicotine, which has been placed on World Anti-Doping Agency's 2014 Monitoring Program. A proliferation of nicotine use in sport has been observed in recent years, but little is known regarding its effects, especially on football players' performance. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the effect of Snus on physical performance, heart rate variability, subjective activation, mental fatigue, and perceived readiness before a physical test in non-smoker, non-Snus user, amateur football players. Participants were administered either Snus or placebo 40 min prior to a fitness test battery (handgrip test, countermovement jump, agility test, and Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test). Results showed that Snus intake (compared with placebo) increased perceived mental fatigue level and mental load, and reduced perceived readiness level and heart rate variability. No significant differences between the two experimental conditions were found in either performance in the physical tests or perceived physical fatigue levels. In light of these results, Snus could not be considered an ergogenic substance. On the contrary, based on the extant evidence linking mental load and fatigue with physical performance, we argue that the observed negative effects on mental fatigue, perceived readiness, and heart rate variability should be considered.
Subject(s)
Athletic Performance/physiology , Mental Fatigue/etiology , Soccer/physiology , Tobacco, Smokeless/adverse effects , Arousal , Cognition , Exercise Test , Hand Strength , Heart Rate , Humans , Male , Mental Fatigue/psychology , Movement , Perception , Physical Exertion , Young AdultABSTRACT
Una de las causas principales de las dolencias bucales es la placa dental. Para el control de la misma, el cepillo con esponja vegetal (Luffa cylindrica. L Roem) podría convertirse en un auxiliar alternativo económico. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar la eficacia del cepillo de esponja vegetal frente al cepillo convencional en la remoción de placa supragingival. Ensayo clínico, aleatorizado y simple ciego para el evaluador. Fueron incluidos en el estudio 95 estudiantes de Odontología de las Universidades del Pacífico Privada, Nacional de Asunción, Central del Paraguay y Autónoma de Asunción sin patología bucal evidente, con más de 20% de placa dental en el examen inicial. La presencia de placa gingival basal fue evaluada con el índice de O' Leary tras seis horas mínimas sin cepillado ni uso de colutorios, a continuación se procedió al cepillado con los métodos asignados volviéndose a evaluar la presencia de placa supragingival. No se observó diferencia significativa en el porcentaje promedio de placa por la técnica Luffa en comparación con la técnica convencional después del cepillado (60% ±19 vs 62% ± 21 valor de p = 0,53, prueba t de student. El cepillo con esponja vegetal (Luffa cylindrica. L Roem) es una alternativa económica para la reducción de la placa supragingival.
One of the main causes of oral diseases is dental plaque. The loofah (Luffa cylindrica. L Roem) brush could become an economics alternative auxiliary to control dental plaque. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the loofa brush against the conventional toothbrush in the supragingival plaque removal. This was a randomized clinical trial, single blinded for the evaluator. Ninety five odontology students from the governmental National University of Asuncion and the private Pacifico and Autonoma de Asunción universities were included in the study. They did not have any obvious oral pathology and had more than 20% of dental plaque in the initial examination. The presence of basal gingival plaque was evaluated with the O Leary index after a minimum of six hours without brushing and using mouthwash. Then, they brushed their teeth with the method assigned and the presence of supragingival plaque was reevaluated. There was no significant difference in the mean percentages of plaque by the Luffa plaque technique compared with the conventional technique after brushing (60% ± 19 vs 62% ± 19 vs 62 ±, p value=0.53, Students t test). The loofa brush (Loofah cylindrica, L. Roem) is an economical alternative for the reduction of the supragingival plaque.
Subject(s)
Microvilli , Dental Plaque , ToothbrushingABSTRACT
The World Health Organization estimates the world prevalence of viral hepatitis C at 3%. The advent of therapeutic regimens for viral hepatitis has made the liver biopsy a routine specimen in the surgical pathology laboratory. The clinician will need to know the degree and type of necroinflammatory activity and the presence and level of fibrosis, before making the decision to start therapy. The biopsy is essential in determining the nature and extent of hepatic injury, the degree of inflammation, the type of inflammatory reaction, the distribution of fibrosis and the presence of other findings affecting the patient's prognosis. A scoring system is essential in the therapeutic trials for treatment of viral hepatitis and can be helpful in making therapeutic decisions. The aim of this article is to summarize the terminology, histologic findings, the available and more commonly used scoring systems and the surgical report of chronic viral hepatitis C.
Subject(s)
Humans , Liver/pathology , Hepatitis C/pathology , Biopsy/methods , Biopsy/standardsABSTRACT
Eighteen adult white male patients with cutaneous sporotrichosis were treated with itraconazole following different daily dose schemes. Cure was obtained in all cases after periods of 15-75 days (median 44 days) with total doses between 3.1 and 14.8 g (median 8.4 g). No serious side effects were observed and no relapses occurred in the follow-up period of between 1 and 26 months (median 14.7). These results show that itraconazole represents a safe and effective drug for the treatment of sporotrichosis. Comparison with other studies leads us to consider a daily dose of 200 mg as the most appropriate. A concomitant warming of the affected limbs should be recommended.
Subject(s)
Antifungal Agents/therapeutic use , Ketoconazole/analogs & derivatives , Sporotrichosis/drug therapy , Adult , Aged , Humans , Itraconazole , Ketoconazole/therapeutic use , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
Two cases of "pitted keratolysis" with a very accentuated plantar hyperkeratosis, and the isolation on chocolate thelurite agar of the presumptive etiologic agent, Corynebacterium sp., is presented. In order to keep permanently in mind, for a proper diagnosis, the original description of the disease as "keratoma plantare sulcatum" (Castellani, 1910), we are proposing to distinguish two different clinical forms: The hyperkeratotic one and the common or usual form of "pitted keratolysis" with keratolysis as the main sign. The prosecution of our biochemical studies with a significant number of strains isolated from both "pitted keratolysis" and from classical erythrasma cases, will surely permit us to definitively determine if all of them should or not be assimilated to Corynebacterium minutissimum.