Effects of photobiomodulation on cellular viability and cancer stem cell phenotype in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common head and neck malignancy; it has been shown that cancer stem cells (CSC) are present in OSCC and associated with tumor growth, invasion, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance. Photobiomodulation (PBM) is an alternative tool for oncologic treatment adverse effects such as oral mucositis (OM); however, controversy exists regarding the undesirable effects of PBM on tumor or CSC. This study aimed to evaluate in vitro, the effects of PBM, with the same dosimetric parameters as those used in the clinic for OM prevention and treatment, on OSCC cellular viability, as well as PBM's effect on CSC properties and its phenotype. OSCC cell lines were submitted to single or daily PBM with 3 J/cm2 and 6 J/cm2 and then the cellular viability was evaluated by MTT, NRU (neutral red uptake), and CVS (crystal violet staining). The CSC populations were evaluated by clonogenic formation assay, flow cytometry, and RT-qPCR. The single PBM with the 3 J/cm2 group was associated with increased cellular viability. Daily PBM with 3 J/cm2 and 6 J/cm2 was associated with a significant decrease in cellular viability. Additionally, daily PBM was not able to promote CSC self-renewal or the CD44high/ESAlow and CD44high/ESAhigh cellular phenotypes. Moreover, a decrease in the number of spheres and in the expression of the CSC related gene BMI1 was observed after daily PBM with 6 J/cm2. Daily PBM with 3 J/cm2 and 6 J/cm2 showed an inhibitory effect on cellular viability and was not able to promote the CSC self-renewal or phenotype.

Attenuated aortic vasodilation and sympathetic prejunctional facilitation in epinephrine-deficient mice: selective impairment of ß2-adrenoceptor responses.

It has been suggested that there is a link between epinephrine synthesis and the development of ß2-adrenoceptor-mediated effects, but it remains to be determined whether this development is triggered by epinephrine. The aim of this study was to characterize ß-adrenoceptor-mediated relaxation and facilitation of norepinephrine release in the aorta of phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase-knockout (Pnmt-KO) mice. Catecholamines were quantified by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography-electrochemical detection. Aortic rings were mounted in a myograph to determine concentration-response curves to selective ß1- or ß2-adrenoceptor agonists in the absence or presence of selective ß1- or ß2-adrenoceptor antagonists. Aortic rings were also preincubated with [(3)H]norepinephrine to measure tritium overflow elicited by electrical stimulation in the presence of increasing concentrations of nonselective ß- or selective ß2-adrenoceptor agonists. ß2-Adrenoceptor protein density was evaluated by Western blotting and ß2-adrenoceptor localization by immunohistochemistry. Epinephrine is absent in Pnmt-KO mice. The potency and the maximal effect of the ß2-adrenoceptor agonist terbutaline were lower in Pnmt-KO than in wild-type (WT) mice. The selective ß2-adrenoceptor antagonist ICI 118,551 [(±)-erythro-(S*,S*)-1-[2,3-(dihydro-7-methyl-1H-inden-4-yl)oxy]-3-[(1-methylethyl)amino]-2-butanol hydrochloride] antagonized the relaxation caused by terbutaline in WT but not in Pnmt-KO mice. Isoproterenol and terbutaline induced concentration-dependent increases in tritium overflow in WT mice only. ß2-Adrenoceptor protein density was decreased in membrane aorta homogenates of Pnmt-KO mice, and this finding was supported by immunofluorescence confocal microscopy. In conclusion, epinephrine is crucial for ß2-adrenoceptor-mediated vasodilation and facilitation of norepinephrine release. In the absence of epinephrine, ß2-adrenoceptor protein density was decreased in aorta cell membranes, thus potentially hindering its functional activity.

Safety Climate Evaluation in Primary Health Care: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The perception of the existence of deficits in patient safety, the associated costs and the limitation of resources have made it essential to define improvement strategies. Important concepts have emerged, such as safety climate, which evaluates the perceptions of safety status held by professionals in relation to their organization. The aim of this study is to characterize the safety climate in primary health care (PHC) using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ)-Short Form 2006 PT and to assess associations between SAQ-Short Form 2006 PT scores and demographic and professional characteristics. A cross-sectional study was conducted in all public PHC units in the northern region of Portugal. Data were collected through an online questionnaire shared via institutional emails and by means of a snowball approach. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis were performed. Statistical significance set at p ≤ 0.05. A total of 649/7427 (8.7%) responses were included in the analyses. The mean and median total SAQ-Short Form 2006 PT scores were 69.23 (SD = 15.73, range 22.22-100.00) and 71.53 [59.03; 79.86], respectively. This is the first study to assess the safety climate in PHC in Portugal. The median obtained total SAQ-Short Form 2006 PT score was 71.53 [59.03; 79.86], which is below the threshold of ≥75, indicating safety deficits.

An evaluation scale of family environment for identification of children at risk of school failure.

This study describes the development of the Home Environment Resources Scale, a Brazilian measure for families with children ages 6 to 12 years. The scale measures aspects of support for school achievement, made available to the child at home. A first version of the measure with 11 subscales was administered to 100 mothers or guardians of children with poor school achievement in a clinical setting. Analysis of the items in the first version resulted in a final version comprising 8 subscales with acceptable indices of internal consistency. Two validity studies were conducted. One aimed at verifying to what extent the Home Environment Resources Scale could discriminate the home environment of students referred to a mental health clinic on account of poor school performance. The sample included mothers of 53 referred and 23 nonreferred children. The two groups differed significantly in home resources and on four subscales. The other study assessed the validity, i.e., prediction of the academic outcome of children entering Grade 1. 70 children and their mothers participated. Results indicate that school achievement and social competence at school are mediated by family support.

Cuidar de quem cuida: eficácia de um programa de inteligência emocional para enfermeiros / Caring for those Who Care: Effectiveness of an Emotional Intelligence Program for Nurses / Cuidar de quien cuida: eficacia de un programa de inteligencia emocional para enfermeros

Objetivo: Avaliar a eficácia de um programa de promoção da inteligência emocional, em enfermeiros em exercício de funções num hospital do Porto. Metodo: Estudo exploratório e quase-experimental, misto, com recurso à Escala de Inteligência Emocional de Wong e Law; Continuum de Saúde Mental- versão reduzida para adultos; Escala de Ansiedade, Depressão e Stress ­ 21 itens; Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory. A amostra incluiu 6 enfermeiros, maioritariamente do sexo feminino, com idades compreendidas entre os 29 e os 35. Resultados: Os enfermeiros desenvolveram e aplicaram estratégias mais eficazes ao nível da autoconsciência, clarificação, autorregulação emocional, comunicação e gestão do conflito, permitindo um maior bem-estar social e emocional. Conclusões: O desenvolvimento de competências de Inteligência Emocional são essenciais na prestação de cuidados, permitindo a adoção de comportamentos adaptativos, a aprimoração de habilidades de gestão/regulação emocional promovendo o bem-estar, fulcrais para o processo de humanizar os cuidados.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a program to promote emotional intelligence on nurses working on their regular functions in a hospital in Porto. Method: Exploratory quasi-experimental mixed study using as resources the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale; Mental Health Continuum - short version for adults; the Anxiety, Depression, and Stress Scale - 21 items; and the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory. The sample included 6 nurses, most of them female, between 29 and 35 years of age. Results: The nurses developed and applied more effective strategies at the self-awareness, clarification, emotional self-regulation, communication, and conflict management levels, allowing for greater social and emotional well-being. Conclusions: The development of Emotional Intelligence competencies is essential in the provision of care, enabling the adoption of adaptive behaviors, the improvement of management/emotional regulation skills for the promotion of well-being, which are central to the humanization process of care.

Objetivo: Evaluar la eficacia de un programa de promoción de la inteligencia emocional, en enfermeros en ejercicio de sus funciones en un hospital do Porto. Método: Estudio exploratorio de corte casi-experimental, mixto, con recursos en la Escala de Inteligencia Emocional de Wong y Law; Continuum de Salud Mental- versión reducida para adultos; Escala de Ansiedad, Depresión y estrés ­ 21 items; Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory. La muestra incluyó 6 enfermeros, mayoritariamente de sexo femenino, con edades comprendidas entre los 29 y los 35 años. Resultados: Los enfermeros desarrollaron y aplicaron estrategias más eficaces a nivel de la autoconsciencia, la clarificación, la autorregulación emocional, la comunicación y la gestión del conflicto, permitiendo un mayor bienestar social y emocional. Conclusiones: El desarrollo de competencias de Inteligencia Emocional son esenciales en la prestación de cuidados, permitiendo la adopción de comportamientos adaptativos, el perfeccionamiento de habilidades de gestión/regulación emocional promoviendo el bienestar, centrales para el proceso de humanización de los cuidados.

Socialização em creche: um estudo sobre comportamento e brincadeiras de crianças pequenas / Socialization in day care center: a study on children behavior and play / Socialización en la guardería: la conducta y los juegos de niños pequeños

Objetivou-se comparar o engajamento das crianças com pares e nas atividades, antes e depois de participarem em brincadeiras coordenadas por um adulto na creche. Vinte crianças com idades entre 36 e 46 meses, em creche filantrópica, participaram de 20 sessões de brincadeiras. Precedendo e sucedendo esse período, elas foram filmadas por nove dias em atividades livres. Simultaneamente, uma observadora registrava comportamentos interativos e brincadeiras, focalizando cada criança por dois minutos. Esse registro era completado com a observação das filmagens. Categorizaram-se as brincadeiras em solitária, paralela, associativa e cooperativa, e os comportamentos como gregário, comunicação amigável com ou sem foco no brinquedo e comunicação hostil com ou sem foco no brinquedo. Os dados dos dois momentos foram comparados mediante uso do Teste de Wilcoxon. O aumento do tempo em brincadeira solitária e conjunta, o aumento das interações positivas e a diminuição das interações negativas sugerem maior engajamento após as atividades guiadas pela educadora.

The objective was to compare the engagement of children with peers and in activities, before and after participating in teacher guided play in the day care center. Twenty children aged between 36 and 46 months, in a philanthropic day care center, participated in 20 play sessions. Preceding and succeeding that period, they were filmed during free play for nine days. Simultaneously, an observer recorded interactive and play behaviors, focusing on each child for two minutes, and later completed her recordings with the images captured by the cameras. Observed play was categorized as solitary, parallel, associative and cooperative. Interactive behaviors were categorized as gregarious, friendly communication focused or not on toy and unfriendly communication focused or not on toy. Data from the two observation blocks were compared by means of the Wilcoxon Test. Increased time in solitary and joint play, increased positive interactions and reduced negative interactions suggest greater engagement after teacher-guided play.

El objetivo fue comparar la participación de niños con sus compañeros y actividades antes y después de participar en sesiones de juego coordinado por el adulto en la guardería. Veinte niños de edades comprendidas entre 36 y 46 meses en guardería sin fines de lucro participaron en 20 sesiones de juego. Anterior y posterior de esto, durante nueve días los niños fueron filmados y un observador registró sus comportamientos interactivos y juegos, centrándose en cada niño durante dos minutos. Los juegos se clasificaron en solitario, paralelo, asociativo y cooperativo. Los comportamientos se clasificaron como gregario, comunicación amable con o sin foco en el juguete y comunicación hostil con o sin foco en el juguete. Los datos de ambos momentos se compararon mediante la Prueba de Wilcoxon. El aumento del tiempo en el jugar solitario y juntos, el aumento de las interacciones positivas y la reducción de las interacciones negativas sugieren una mayor participación después de las actividades guiadas por el profesor.

[Research training in nutrition: relevance for medical clinical pratice]. / Estágio de investigação em nutrição: relevância para a prática clínica em medicina.

INTRODUCTION: In oncology, early and individualized nutritional intervention for each patient is essential to improve nutritional intake and status, to reduce morbidity during treatment, enhance tolerance to treatment and improve Quality of Life. OBJECTIVES: For medical students to evaluate nutritional risk and status, analyse the prevalence of undernutrition in a population of patients with diverse types of tumours. We aimed to identify difficulties regarding the use of the MUST tool (Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool) for nutritional risk by the students. METHODS: This study included 35 cancer patients consecutively referenced for Radiotherapy (RT) in the Radiotherapy Department of the University Hospital of Santa Maria. Nutritional risk was evaluated by MUST; nutritional status by Patient Generated-Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) validated and specific for oncology. RESULTS: Students identified 13 patients (36%) at moderate/high risk of undernutrition. According to PG-SGA, 31,5% (11/35) of patients presented moderate or severe undernutrition, of which 77% of patients needed individualized nutritional counselling. Students successfully detected undernourished patients using these specific methods. CONCLUSION: Risk of undernutrition and undernutrition are common in oncology, therefore indicating the critical need to educate all health professionals for risk screening and for the relevance of nutritional intervention in the multidisciplinary context. MUST is a simple and quick tool, that demonstrated to be adequate when applied by medical students, well accepted by these health professionals and effectively used. Nutritional risk evaluation can and must be performed by health professionals such as the medical team, as long as they are involved in patient's treatment. Our methodology may be used as a model allowing for early guidance to individualized intervention, human resources' optimization and education for the importance of nutrition care.

Estresse cotidiano na transição da 1ª série: percepção dos alunos e associação com desempenho e ajustamento / Daily hassles in the first-grade transition: student perception and association with school achievement and adjustment

O artigo apresenta uma pesquisa conduzida em escolas públicas, com o objetivo de avaliar a intensidade do estresse percebido, associado ao cotidiano escolar na transição da 1ª série, bem como investigar associações entre desempenho, ajustamento e estresse em domínios específicos da vida escolar. Participaram 171 alunos da 1ª série, com idade entre 6 e 8 anos. Os instrumentos utilizados foram: Inventário de Estressores Escolares, Teste de Desempenho Escolar, Avaliação do Desempenho e do Ajustamento pelo Professor. Nos resultados, as crianças apontaram como mais estressantes os domínios de relacionamento com os companheiros e demandas do novo contexto. O estresse no domínio acadêmico foi negativamente associado a desempenho. A freqüência à educação infantil contribuiu para minimizar o estresse.

This article describes a study conducted in public schools aiming at evaluating how much upset children feel about school daily hassles during the first grade transition. The relationships between daily hassles in different domains of school life and measures of achievement and adjustment were also investigated. One hundred and seventy-one (171) first grade students participated in the study. The instruments used were the School Hassles Inventory, the School Achievement Test, and the items for the assessment of children's achievement and adjustment from the Teacher Report Form. The results showed that: children rated hassles with peers and nonacademic school demands as the most stressful domains during first grade whereas academic concerns correlated negatively to achievement. Prior kindergarten attendance was associated with lower levels of daily stress.

Ambiente familiar e os problemas do comportamento apresentados por crianças com baixo desempenho escolar / Home enviroment and behavior problems presented by school underachieving children

Comportamentos externalizantes freqüentemente se desenvolvem em contextos de adversidade ambiental. O objetivo do estudo foi documentar essa associaçäo em crianças com desempenho escolar pobre. Participaram meninos e meninas, com idade entre sete e 11 anos, referidos para atendimento por dificuldades escolares. De um universo de 141 crianças, formaram-se dois grupos com base na pontuaçäo da Escala Comportamental Infantil: G1 (crianças sem problema de comportamento, n= 30) e G2 (crianças com problema de comportamento, n= 37). As mäes foram entrevistadas, obtendo-se informaçöes sobre recursos e adversidades do ambiente familiar. Os resultados indicaram que o ambiente familiar de G2 apresenta menos recursos e maior adversidade, incluindo problemas nas relaçöes interpessoais, falhas parentais quanto a supervisäo, monitoramento e suporte, indícios de menor investimento dos pais no desenvolvimento da criança, práticas punitivas e modelos adultos agressivos. As dificuldades escolares aumentam a vulnerabilidade da criança para inadaptaçäo psicossocial. Enfatiza-se a importância de incluir a família em intervençöes preventivas voltadas para essa clientela