A method based on microwave-induced combustion (MIC) was applied for the decomposition of different types of edible seaweed (Nori, Hijiki and Wakame) for subsequent determination of bromine and iodine by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Decomposition of 500 mg of each sample was achieved in less than 30 min. A single and diluted solution (150 mmol L-1 (NH4)2CO3) was used for the absorption of both analytes and a reflux step of 5 min was applied to improve analyte recoveries. Accuracy was evaluated using certified reference materials and agreement was between 103 and 108% for both elements.

Las funciones ejecutivas constituyen un conjunto de habilidades que incluye la resolución de problemas, la planificación, la iniciación, el autocontrol, la conciencia ante situaciones nuevas y la capacidad de modificar los planes si es necesario. Se trata de funciones de alto nivel cognitivo, que son cruciales para que una persona mantenga sus actividades diarias y para la promoción de una buena calidad de vida. El déficit en estas funciones se conoce como síndrome disejecutivo (SD). Hay muchos modelos teóricos sobre SD; sin embargo, la literatura no es muy clara en relación con los componentes involucrados ni con la forma de investigar y resolver este problema. Varios estudios muestran que la edad, el consumo de sustancias y la psicopatología pueden afectar a algunas de estas funciones a través de daños en los circuitos frontales asociados a ellos. El efecto de este daño puede poner en peligro las actividades rutinarias del día a día, imponer dificultades en la socialización y afectar su vida laboral. Hay un cuerpo creciente de estudios que tratan de determinar las causas, consecuencias y modelos que son capaces de dar cuenta de estos efectos y promover estrategias de tratamiento más eficaces. Este artículo pretende hacer una revisión de la SD, centrándose en los aspectos relacionados más importantes, tales como las comorbilidades, la reserva cerebral, la reserva cognitiva y los programas de rehabilitación.

Executive Functions (EF) concern a range of abilities including problem-solving, planning, initiation, selfmonitoring, conscious attention, cope with new situations and the ability to modify plans if necessary. It's a high cognitive function that is crucial for a person to get engaged and maintain daily activities whilst keeping a good quality of life. Problems in the EF were formerly known as Dysexecutive Syndrome (DS). There are many models concerning DS, although the literature on the subject still remains unclear. Several works appoint the effects brought by elderly life, as well as abuse of drugs and some psychopathologies. These factors are known to increase the distress of the frontal circuits and that could be associated to executive deficits. The effects of DS would compromise individuals in day-to-day routine, academic, social and labor fields. There is a growing body of studies trying to determine the causes, implications, associations and the best way to take care of these effects. This work intends to review DS, focusing on the most important fields related to this area, such as psychopathology associations, cognitive reserve, assessment and cognitive rehabilitation programs.

As funções executivas constituem um conjunto de habilidades que envolvem o planejamento e a resolução de problemas, desde a iniciação, consciência e auto controle de comportamentos frente a novas situações, além da capacidade de modificar tais planos quando necessário. As funções executivas envolvem um alto grau de controle cognitivo e são cruciais para atender as atividades diárias e manter uma qualidade de vida. Os déficits associados a estas funções é denominado Síndrome Disexecutiva (SD). Existem muitos modelos teóricos que procuram elucidar a SD, no entanto, a literatura não é muito clara quanto os componentes envolvidos, formas de investigar e estratégias para resolver estes déficits. Vários estudos apontam que os efeitos da idade, do consumo de substâncias e de psicopatologias podem contribuir para a deterioração de circuitos frontais associados aos déficits executivos, comprometendo ainda mais o funcionamento diário, acadêmico, social e laboral. Existe um vasto campo de estudos visando determinar as causas, implicações, fatores associados e a melhor forma de lidar com estes efeitos. O presente artigo busca revisar estudos acerca da SD, focando em aspectos centrais como psicopatologias, reserva cognitiva e programas de reabilitação cognitiva.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) during pregnancy in teenage mothers and to assess its association with socio-demographic characteristics, obstetric history and psychosocial variables. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of pregnant teenagers enrolled in the national public health system in the urban area of Pelotas, southern Brazil. MDD was assessed with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, the Abuse Assessment Screen was used to identify physical abuse within the last 12 months and during pregnancy, and social support was assessed with the Medical Outcomes Survey Social Support Scale. RESULTS: Forty-three (4.94%) potential subjects refused to participate, resulting in 828 total participants. The prevalence of MDD was 17.8%, 9.2% reported they had been subjected to violence within the last 12 months, while 5.8% had suffered violence during pregnancy, and the mean (SD) overall social support score was 87.40 (11.75). After adjustment, we found the highest incidence of MDD in adolescents with less than 8 years of education, followed by those with previous episodes of MDD and those with lower overall social support. CONCLUSIONS: MDD is a relatively common condition in pregnant teenagers and appears to be more prevalent in young mothers who are both socioeconomically and psychosocially underprivileged.

The retrovirus human T lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) promotes spastic paraparesis, adult T cell leukaemia and other diseases. Recently, some human microRNAs (miRNAs) have been described as important factors in host-virus interactions. This study compared miRNA expression in control individuals, asymptomatic HTLV-1 carriers and HTLV-1 associated myelopathy (HAM)/tropical spastic paraparesis patients. The proviral load and Tax protein expression were measured in order to characterize the patients. hsa-miR-125b expression was significantly higher in patients than in controls (p = 0.0285) or in the HAM group (p = 0.0312). Therefore, our findings suggest that miR-125b expression can be used to elucidate the mechanisms of viral replication and pathogenic processes.

A soroprevalência e a distribuição geográfica do HTLV-1/2 entre os doadores de sangue são extremamente importantes para os serviços de transfusão. Neste trabalho, foi determinada a soroprevalência da infecção pelo HTLV-1/2 entre os doadores de sangue de primeira vez da cidade de Ribeirão Preto e região. No período de Janeiro de 2000 a Dezembro de 2010, 1.038.489 doações de sangue foram obtidas sendo 301.470 doações de primeira vez. Todas as amostras foram avaliadas com testes sorológicos para HTLV-1/2 usando ensaio imunoenzimático (EIA). Adicionalmente, a frequência de coinfecção com o vírus da hepatite B (HBV), vírus da hepatite C (HCV), vírus da imunodeficiência humana (HIV), doença de Chagas (CD) e sífilis também foi determinada. Adicionalmente, foi utilizada uma reação de PCR in-house como teste confirmatório para HTLV-1/2. Um total de 296 (0,1%) doadores de primeira vez foram sorologicamente reativos para HTLV-1/2. O PCR confirmatório de 63 amostras mostrou que 28 eram HTLV-1 positivas, 13 HTLV-2 positivas, 19 negativas e três indeterminadas. Em relação às taxas de coinfecção com HTLV1/2, a maior prevalência foi com HBV (51,3%) e HCV (35,9%), mas a coinfecção com HIV, CD e sífilis também foram detectadas. O número real de indivíduos infectados pelo HTLV-1 e a taxa de coinfecção na população é subestimado e estudos epidemiológicos como esse são muito informativos.

The seroprevalence and geographic distribution of HTLV-1/2 among blood donors are extremely important to transfusion services. We evaluated the seroprevalence of HTLV-1/2 infection among first-time blood donor candidates in Ribeirão Preto city and region. From January 2000 to December 2010, 1,038,489 blood donations were obtained and 301,470 were first-time blood donations. All samples were screened with serological tests for HTLV-1/2 using enzyme immunoassay (EIA). In addition, the frequency of coinfection with hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Chagas disease (CD) and syphilis was also determined. In-house PCR was used as confirmatory test for HTLV-1/2. A total of 296 (0.1%) first-time donors were serologically reactive for HTLV-1/2. Confirmatory PCR of 63 samples showed that 28 were HTLV-1 positive, 13 HTLV-2 positive, 19 negative and three indeterminate. Regarding HTLV coinfection rates, the most prevalent was with HBV (51.3%) and HCV (35.9%), but coinfection with HIV, CD and syphilis was also detected. The real number of HTLV-infected individual and coinfection rate in the population is underestimated and epidemiological studies like ours are very informative.

Complement receptor 1 (CR1) gene polymorphisms that are associated with Knops blood group antigens may influence the binding of Plasmodium parasites to erythrocytes, thereby affecting susceptibility to malaria. The aim of this study was to evaluate the genotype and allele and haplotype frequencies of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of Knops blood group antigens and examine their association with susceptibility to malaria in an endemic area of Brazil. One hundred and twenty-six individuals from the Brazilian Amazon were studied. The CR1-genomic fragment was amplified by PCR and six SNPs and haplotypes were identified after DNA sequence analysis. Allele and haplotype frequencies revealed that the Kn b allele and H8 haplotype were possibly associated with susceptibility to Plasmodium falciparum. The odds ratios were reasonably high, suggesting a potentially important association between two Knops blood antigens (Kn b and KAM+) that confer susceptibility to P. falciparum in individuals from the Brazilian Amazon.

No âmbito do tema saúde pública e envelhecimento, o objetivo desse estudo foi averiguar quais são as representações do processo de envelhecimento para profissionais da saúde pública e como essas se expressam na atenção à saúde, no bem-estar e no cuidado do idoso. Participaram 27 profissionais (dez agentes comunitários de saúde e dezessete profissionais de enfermagem). Utilizaram-se dois instrumentos, um questionário sociocultural e um questionário sobre as representações do envelhecimento. Os dados foram analisados qualitativa e quantitativamente (teste qui-quadrado). As palavras mais representativas para expressar o envelhecimento foram aposentadoria e descanso. O fator que mais influenciou o bem-estar e o cuidado do indivíduo idoso foi uma boa rede familiar. Quanto à definição de cuidado, os aspectos biológicos foram os mais freqüentes. A amostra apresentou noções sobre a doença de Alzheimer. Assim sendo, os dados encontrados trazem implicações para a capacitação de recursos humanos. Os agentes de saúde e os profissionais de enfermagem devem ser auxiliados no processo de construção de uma melhor compreensão do contexto biopsicossocial em que o envelhecimento está inserido.

This paper addresses the aging process in the context of public health, with emphasis to human resources and to how aging is perceived by the public health professionals. The aim of this study was to identify the representations of the aging process for public health professionals and how these representations are expressed in health care, well-being and elderly care. The sample included 27 public health professionals, 10 community health agents and 17 nursing professionals. Two instruments were used, a sociocultural questionnaire and a questionnaire about aging representations. Data analysis included qualitative and quantitative procedures (Chi-square test). Among the main findings, the most representative words used in relation to aging were retirement and rest. For this sample, good family support and care were considered the most important factors contributing to the well-being of the elderly. When it comes to defining care, the most frequent concept referred to biological aspects. Moreover, this sample in general showed some knowledge about Alzheimer Disease. These findings can contribute to the capacitation of human resources. Health agents and nursing professionals should be guided towards construction of a deeper comprehension of the biopsychosocial context of the aging process.

No âmbito do tema saúde pública e envelhecimento, o objetivo desse estudo foi averiguar quais são as representações do processo de envelhecimento para profissionais da saúde pública e como essas se expressam na atenção à saúde, no bem-estar e no cuidado do idoso. Participaram 27 profissionais (dez agentes comunitários de saúde e dezessete profissionais de enfermagem). Utilizaram-se dois instrumentos, um questionário sociocultural e um questionário sobre as representações do envelhecimento. Os dados foram analisados qualitativa e quantitativamente (teste qui-quadrado). As palavras mais representativas para expressar o envelhecimento foram aposentadoria e descanso. O fator que mais influenciou o bem-estar e o cuidado do indivíduo idoso foi uma boa rede familiar. Quanto à definição de cuidado, os aspectos biológicos foram os mais freqüentes. A amostra apresentou noções sobre a doença de Alzheimer. Assim sendo, os dados encontrados trazem implicações para a capacitação de recursos humanos. Os agentes de saúde e os profissionais de enfermagem devem ser auxiliados no processo de construção de uma melhor compreensão do contexto biopsicossocial em que o envelhecimento está inserido.

This paper addresses the aging process in the context of public health, with emphasis to human resources and to how aging is perceived by the public health professionals. The aim of this study was to identify the representations of the aging process for public health professionals and how these representations are expressed in health care, well-being and elderly care. The sample included 27 public health professionals, 10 community health agents and 17 nursing professionals. Two instruments were used, a sociocultural questionnaire and a questionnaire about aging representations. Data analysis included qualitative and quantitative procedures (Chi-square test). Among the main findings, the most representative words used in relation to aging were retirement and rest. For this sample, good family support and care were considered the most important factors contributing to the well-being of the elderly. When it comes to defining care, the most frequent concept referred to biological aspects. Moreover, this sample in general showed some knowledge about Alzheimer Disease. These findings can contribute to the capacitation of human resources. Health agents and nursing professionals should be guided towards construction of a deeper comprehension of the biopsychosocial context of the aging process.