Touch during childbirth: yesterday and today.

Birth helpers touch the parturient woman in many ways. They make physical contact to diagnose difficulties and manipulate safe delivery. They may also touch the woman in non-physical ways, with special words, as they help a woman to give birth. Some hope also for a divine touch, as Jewish tradition teaches that God is a partner in the birth process. This paper takes a historical look at the different forms of touch used by birth attendants to ease the safe arrival of a healthy infant. We hope that this short retrospective will encourage today's birth helpers, especially doctors and midwives, to notice how they themselves touch birthing women. We hope to promote awareness of the verbal and non-verbal language of touch and to encourage the use of the art of touch among medical staff who are now more skilled than ever before in applying scientific touch to patients.

Imaging of abdominal pain in pregnancy.

This article reviews the evolving radiology and clinical literature on imaging of suspected common and relatively common maternal nonobstetric conditions of the abdomen and pelvis, including appendicitis, urolithiasis, and biliary disease, as well as on trauma to the maternal abdomen and pelvis and to the fetus. Recommendations for imaging these conditions, based on the literature to date and on the authors' experiences at two tertiary-care institutions with busy obstetric services, are proposed. The potential and theoretical fetal and maternal risks from such imaging are also reviewed.

Regression of glioma in rat models by intranasal application of parvovirus h-1.

PURPOSE: In previous studies, we have shown that the apathogenic rat parvovirus H-1 (H-1PV) is capable to induce regression of advanced symptomatic rat and human gliomas in a rat model, when the virus was injected in the tumor (intracranially) or intravenously. Infection with H-1PV did not provoke any pathology in nontumor tissue. This study addresses the question whether also intranasal application of this oncolytic virus is suitable and sufficient for treating gliomas in this animal model. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Rat (RG-2) or human (U87) glioma cells were grafted stereotactically in the brain of rats (Wistar or RNU, respectively), and after development of tumors visible by MRI, H-1PV was instilled intranasally. Tumor regression was monitored by MRI, and survival was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Brains from sacrificed animals were analyzed for histologic alterations, presence of viral DNA and proteins and infectious virions. In addition, distribution of virus to other organs was determined. RESULTS: A single intranasal instillation of H-1PV was sufficient to induce efficient regression of rat glioma, leading to significant prolongation of survival without any toxicity for other tissues. It is shown that the virus reaches brain and other tissues, and that the viral replication-associated (and oncolysis-associated) regulatory proteins are exclusively expressed in the tumor tissue. In rats with xenografts of human glioma, oncolytic activity of H-1PV was less pronounced, however, leading to significant prolongation of survival. CONCLUSION: In view of an ongoing clinical trial on the use of H-1PV for oncolytic virotherapy of glioma, the option of applying the virus intranasally may be a valuable alternative to invasive routes of infection.

The NS2 proteins of parvovirus minute virus of mice are required for efficient nuclear egress of progeny virions in mouse cells.

The small nonstructural NS2 proteins of parvovirus minute virus of mice (MVMp) were previously shown to interact with the nuclear export receptor Crm1. We report here the analysis of two MVM mutant genomic clones generating NS2 proteins that are unable to interact with Crm1 as a result of amino acid substitutions within their nuclear export signal (NES) sequences. Upon transfection of human and mouse cells, the MVM-NES21 and MVM-NES22 mutant genomic clones were proficient in synthesis of the four virus-encoded proteins. While the MVM-NES22 clone was further able to produce infectious mutant virions, no virus could be recovered from cells transfected with the MVM-NES21 clone. Whereas the defect of MVM-NES21 appeared to be complex, the phenotype of MVM-NES22 could be traced back to a novel distinct NS2 function. Infection of mouse cells with the MVM-NES22 mutant led to stronger nuclear retention not only of the NS2 proteins but also of infectious progeny MVM particles. This nuclear sequestration correlated with a severe delay in the release of mutant virions in the medium and with prolonged survival of the infected cell populations compared with wild-type virus-treated cultures. This defect could explain, at least in part, the small size of the plaques generated by the MVM-NES22 mutant when assayed on mouse indicator cells. Altogether, our data indicate that the interaction of MVMp NS2 proteins with the nuclear export receptor Crm1 plays a critical role at a late stage of the parvovirus life cycle involved in release of progeny viruses.

Intervenção psicológica a gestantes: contribuições do grupo de suporte para a promoção da saúde / Psychological pregnants’ intervention: support group contributions for health promotion

O presente artigo visa a apresentar um modo de o psicólogo atuar com gestantes, utilizando princípios do grupo de suporte. A intervenção grupal procurou promover a saúde da mulher que passa por essa fase vital, criando um espaço para compartilharem reflexões e informações acerca das mudanças que atravessam. A metodologia consistiu no relato da experiência ocorrida num hospital privado, no Município de Resende. Foram realizados 22 encontros. Para orientar o trabalho, cada encontro previa três momentos: apresentações, discussão do tema através de palestra interativa e momento de avaliação. Como resultados, constatamos que a identificação entre as gestantes, o compartilhar sentimentos e o apoio mútuo funcionaram como suporte social. Concluímos que o grupo constituiu uma intervenção primária, à medida que tomou uma postura de promoção da saúde, atingindo os níveis de atuação psicoterapêutico, psicopedagógico e psicoprofilático.

The present article aims at showing a psychologist treatment with pregnant women using the support group principles. This treatment attempted to promote the health of the women who are in this vital phase, creating a space to share their reflections and informations concerning the changes in this period. The methodology consisted in one experienced description that happened in a private hospital in Resende-RJ. There were 22 meetings and in each of them there were specific moments: presentations, discussion of the topic by an interactive talk and an evaluation moment. As results, we verified that the identification between the pregnant women, the feelings shared and the mutual support functioned as social supports. We concluded that the group constituted a primary intervention and reached the levels of psychotherapeutic, psycopedagogic and psycoprophylactic actuation.