Abstract Background: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a musculoskeletal chronic pain syndrome that impacts negatively patient's daily lives. Its pathogenesis is characterized by a complex relationship between biological and psychosocial factors not fully understood yet. Pain catastrophizing is associated with FM and is an important predictor of outcomes. This study aimed to answer two questions: (i) whether the allele and genotype frequencies of BDNF Val66Met (rs6265) polymorphism differs between FM patients and healthy controls (HC); and (ii) if the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism is a factor that predicts pain catastrophizing in FM. Methods: In a cross-sectional design, 108 FM patients and 108 HC were included. FM patients responded to the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (BP-PCS) to assess pain catastrophizing, as well as other validated tools for anxiety (The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory - STAI), depression (Beck Depression Inventory II -BDI-II) and functional aspects (Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire - FIQ; Central Sensitization Inventory validated and adapted for Brazilian population - CSI-BP; Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index - PSQI; and Resilience Scale). All subjects were genotyped for the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism. Results: Val allele was significantly more frequent in FM patients compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Also, FM patients with Val/Val genotype showed more pain catastrophizing thoughts, and this genotype was significantly associated with magnification and rumination dimensions of BP-PCS (p < 0.05). Furthermore, there were significant differences in levels of anxiety and symptoms of depression, years of education, and the functional situation between the FM and control groups. Conclusions: The findings show an association of BDNF Val66Met polymorphism with pain catastrophizing in FM, which opens new avenues to comprehend the interplay between molecular genetic characteristics and neuroplasticity mechanisms underpinning FM.

O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar a eficácia de uma oficina educativa sobre HIV/aids em um grupo de idosos. A população incluiu 471 indivíduos entre 60 e 91 anos composta principalmente por mulheres (83,1%). Procedeu-se a aplicação e reaplicação de um questionário organizado em cinco domínios, antes e após as oficinas. O teste de McNemar foi utilizado para comparar as respostas pré e pós-oficina (p<0,05) no programa estatístico STATA 12. Dentre os domínios, a maior variação (202,72%) ocorreu no domínio "conceito" sobre a fase assintomática da infecção. No domínio "transmissão", a variação foi de 168,53% para a transmissão do HIV por picada de mosquito. No domínio "prevenção", na questão sobre existência do preservativo feminino, a variação foi de 44%. O domínio "vulnerabilidade" indicou 34,93% na questão da aids relacionada a grupos específicos. No domínio "tratamento", a abordagem da cura para a aids obteve 50,85% de variação. A realização das oficinas demonstrou ser uma intervenção eficaz nos domínios "conceito", "transmissão", "prevenção", "vulnerabilidade" e "tratamento" nos idosos participantes da pesquisa.

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of educational workshops instructing about HIV/Aids in a group of elderly. The population included 471 individuals between 60 and 91 years old, mostly women (83.1%). A questionnaire comprising five domains was answered by participants before and after taking the educational workshops. McNemar test was used to assess differences between pre-and post-workshop, through thr software STATA 12 (p<0.05). The greatest variation (202.72%) was observed in the "concept" domain related to the asymptomatic infection phase. Regarding "HIV transmission", the variation was 168.53%. The domain "prevention" had variation of 44% concerning the existence of female condom. The "vulnerability" domain inquired about Aids association in specific groups, and a difference of 34.93% was observed. In the "treatment" domain, when inquiring about Aids cure, 50.85% variation was observed. The educational workshops were effective for the domains "concept", "transmission", "prevention", "vulnerability" and "treatment" in a group of elderly.

Las redes sociales en Internet son cada vez más populares porque facilitan el contacto con amigos, parientes lejanos, los clientes y consumidores a través del intercambio de mensajes y de fotos, videos y audios. Sin embargo, la presentación de tantos datos personales puede exponer la vida privada de una persona o la información interna de una empresa a extraños. Así, las redes sociales deberían establecer mecanismos flexibles y de fácil manejo para que sus usuarios mantengan el control sobre la visualización de sus datos. En este artículo se presenta una encuesta donde se analiza como las redes sociales actuales proporcionan este tipo de mecanismo, analizando algunos de sus puntos fuertes y débiles y presentar nuevas propuestas para el contexto específico de las redes sociales en Internet.

As redes sociais na Internet vêm se tornando cada vez mais populares, pois facilitam o contato com amigos, parentes distantes, clientes e consumidores através da troca de mensagens e da visualização de fotos, vídeos e áudios. Contudo, a apresentação de tantos dados pessoais pode expor a vida privada de alguém ou informações internas de uma empresa a pessoas desconhecidas. Desse modo, as redes sociais devem prover mecanismos flexíveis e de fácil utilização para que seus usuários possam manter controlo sobre a visualização de seus dados. Esse artigo apresenta-se como um survey onde será analisado como as atuais redes sociais provêem esse tipo de mecanismo, analisando alguns de seus aspectos positivos e negativos e apresentando novas propostas específicas para o âmbito de redes sociais na Internet.

Social networking on the Internet are becoming very popular because it facilitates contact with friends, distant relatives, customers and consumers by an exchange of messages, viewing photos, videos and audios . However, the presentation of so many personal data can expose the user's personal life or company private information to people unknown . Thus, social networks should provide flexible and user-friendly mechanisms so that users can maintain control over their private data. This article is presented as a survey describing how the current social networks provide this type of mechanism, analyzing some of their strengths and weaknesses and presenting new proposals for the specific context of social networks on the Internet.