The human umbilical cord (UC) is a biological sample that can be easily obtained just after birth. This biological sample is, most of the time, discarded and their collection does not imply any added risk to the newborn or mother s health. Moreover no ethical concerns are raised. The UC is composed by one vein and two arteries from which both endothelial cells (ECs) 1 and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) 2, two of the main cellular components of blood vessels, can be isolated. In this project the SMCs were obtained after enzymatic treatment of the UC arteries accordingly the experimental procedure previously described by Jaffe et al 3. After cell isolation they were kept in t-flash with DMEM-F12 supplemented with 5% of fetal bovine serum and were cultured for several passages. Cells maintained their morphological and other phenotypic characteristics in the different generations. The aim of this study was to isolate smooth muscle cells in order to use them as models for future assays with constrictor drugs, isolate and structurally characterize L-type calcium channels, to study cellular and molecular aspects of the vascular function 4 and to use them in tissue engineering.

Le principal objectif de cette thèse est d’analyser le processus de construction de la lèpre dans l’Etat de Goiás, au Brésil. Pour ce faire, on a cherché, par l’analyse des discours médicaux et politiques produits pendant la période comprise entre 1830 et 1962, à observer les transformations de la façon de penser et d’exprimer le problème, et les éléments relatifs au pouvoir et au savoir qui construisent la maladie comme problème médico-politique. Les principaux documents utilisés dans cette analyse se composent de rapports médicaux, de revues médicales de Goiás, de rapports gouvernementaux des Provinces/Etats, et de journaux locaux. L’hypothèse défendue est que la manière de concevoir la maladie analysée s’est transformée à Goiás dans les années 1920. La morphée, qui était vue, au XIXe siècle, comme possiblement curable et dont les malades coexistaient avec les sains dans les espaces urbains, a donné place à la lèpre, maladie contagieuse qui se propage sur les espaces pauvres et “sans civilisation” de l’Etat, et qui exigeait que des actions soient entreprises pour la contenir. Cette transformation a lieu dans un contexte de croissance de l’intérêt porté à l’espace de l’intérieur du Brésil et à un moment de dispute discursive au sujet du transfert de la capitale fédérale de Rio de Janeiro à Goiás. Les discours construits autour de cette question présentaient un espace et une population caractérisés par la maladie et par l’absence du pouvoir public. Ainsi, les gouvernements, sans moyens d’assumer la politique sanitaire d’assistance médicale aux malades dans les années 1920 et 1930, laissent ce rôle aux institutions philanthropiques ; alors qu’à la fin des années 1930 et pendant les années 1940, l’Etat se l’approprie et centralise la politique de prophylaxie qu’il rapproche fortement du projet de construction de la nouvelle capitale de l’Etat de Goiás. Pour les médecins, la lutte pour l’hégémonie sur le problème sert de mot d’ordre pour le renforcement de la classe et pour sa projection sur la scène politique, dans le cadre de la défense du progrès régional.

In Brazil the main prophylactic measures against leprosy / hanseniasis from the 1920s have suggested the creation of the National Department of Public Health established in January of the same year, which had among its functions the treatment and prophylaxis and assistance to those affected by the disease communicable and lepers. The fight against leprosy is underpinned precariously on institutional tripod composed Dispensary, Leper and Preventive. In Goiás from the 1930s and 1940s, the isolation and control of leprosy patients / hanseniasis, began with the construction of the leper colony Santa Marta, the preventorium Educandário Afrânio de Azevedo - object of this research - and the dispensary in 1942 in Goiânia and a dispensary in the city of Anapolis. In preventorium Educandário Afrânio de Azevedo, the internal assistance and received the necessary education to age 18 for boys and 21 for girls. The research seeks discourses built on the need for isolation of the parents in the colonies and in "preventing" the spread of leprosy / hanseniasis. The difficulties still back discrimination and prejudice that the stigma of the disease it is seen by society to this day. We expect to rescue the voices of these "segregated" have been victims of public policies that used in the work from an early age in schools of learners.

O presente trabalho visa trazer uma redescrição sobre o que seria o estado de isolamento , característico de sujeitos diagnosticados com autismo. Ele busca as causas inter-relacionadas e implicações que levam os autistas a estarem afastados da presença de outros sujeitos do convívio ou, como exploraremos aqui por um conceito próprio, da coexistência . As ferramentas e o método desse trabalho foram encontrados na Fenomenologia, para a partir dela então ser possível garantir compreensões sobre esse estado e seus fenômenos associados que incluam o relato dos próprios sujeitos investigados. Em um primeiro momento, com o filósofo Merleau-Ponty, o trabalho apresentará o que é a subjetividade, a objetividade e a experiência de estar no mundo, conceitos primários nessa empreitada. Em um segundo momento, a partir dos trechos autobiográficos selecionados, o método fenomenológico aparecerá para investigar o estado de isolamento. Duas autobiografias foram escolhidas: Beyond the silence, de Tito Mukhopadhyay, e Fall down 7 times get up 8, de Naoki Higashida. A análise autobiográfica começa colocando às claras os elementos presentes no campo perceptivo do autista quando este aparentemente isolou-se de uma existência comum, para a partir destes dados construir uma compreensão fenomenológica. Ao longo do percurso investigativo foi notado que a ausência de coexistência não é absoluta, pois de alguma forma os autistas reconhecem que há um mundo intersubjetivo que envolve os sujeitos e que os requisita a todo momento. Eles percebem o isolamento. Contudo, a demanda social pela vivência comum levo-os a buscar recursos que, ou facilitarão a coexistência, ou pelo menos aplacarão a angústia que a presença do outro pode despertar pelo potencial que ela carrega de trazer recordações ruins. Os recursos desenvolvidos por eles podem ser comportamentos repetitivos, extensa racionalização das vivências, evitação de novos ambientes e novas pessoas. A pesquisa conclui que o estado de isolamento é um recurso profilático decorrente dos sintomas do autismo, não uma manifestação psicopatológica especial dos autistas.

The comparison of neutralization indices (SMIT & WILTERDINK, 1966) was used for the intratypic serodifferentiation of 49 strains of poliovirus of types 1, 2 and 3, isolated from clinical cases with and without known contact with Sabin oral vaccine. This method was, as well, compared with the Wecker test and the RCT40 marker, in relation to the strains of poliovirus of type 3. The immune sera used in the neutralization tests were obtained from guinea pigs inoculated with vaccine strains LSc2ab, P712Ch2ab and Leon 12a1b. The types 1 and 3 strains isolated from cases without contact with oral vaccine were identified as heterologous to the respective vaccinal strains. All the strains isolated from cases with known contact (vaccinated and contacts) were identified as isologous to the vaccinal strains, but two, one of which (type 1) was considered as intermediate and the other (type 3) was heterologous. It was not possible to explain conveniently the results obtained in relation to type 2 strains because the neutralization indices of Lansing prototype strain by serum P712Ch2ab varied from one test to the other. The intratypic serodifferentiation of type 3 polioviruses by comparison of neutralization indices gave results comparable to the method of Wecker, showing to be a satisfactory method in view of the simplicity of its technique and particulary useful in epidemiologic surveys. The RCT40 marker gave results that show the necessity of using the intratypic serodifferentiation technique when dealing with type 3 strains.

Different concepts of frailty have resulted in different assessment tools covering distinct dimensions. Despite the growing recognition that there is an association between frailty and social factors, there's a lack of clarity on what is being assessed in terms of "social aspects" of frailty.

Common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops trunca-tus) produce a range of underwater vocalizations, both pulsed (echolocation clicks and burst-pulses) and nonpulsed (whistles). Whistles may be emit-ted in stereotyped (signature) or variant patterns, and their production might be affected by sex, age, environmental, and social contexts. This study examined, non-intrusively, the whistle emissions of six captive bottlenose dolphins at Zoomarine in Algarve, Portugal, in two separate time sets and three different contexts: two of the animals in isolation in 2008, and all six in 2012, both seg-regated from their group and in social context. From a total of 1,681 whistles, 1,249 were ana-lyzed from 32 samples in different contexts: seven samples in isolation in 2008, 18 in segregation in 2012, and seven in social context. Through visual inspection of spectrograms, whistles were classi-fied into 12 different contour categories. Only one category was found in both time sets and could be considered a signature whistle by SIGID criteria (Janik et al., 2013). This contour was associated with the same animal in 2008 and 2012. Whistle emission rates were 7.8 times higher in isolation as compared with social context, and significant differences were also found in the end and maxi-mum frequencies as well as number of inflections and loops. Multiloop whistles were more common in isolation than in social contexts. The variant (nonstereotyped) contours dominated the whistle production in segregated contexts (but not by iso-lated animals) as well as in social contexts. This study highlights the importance of examining the nonstereotyped portion of the bottlenose dolphin’s whistle repertoire in different contexts as signa-ture whistle production may not be a constant or universal phenomenon.

Background Older LGBT adults are growing in visibility throughout the Western world. An emerging body of research reveals that this population is at greater risk for a variety of negative physical and mental health problems compared to the general population. One such problem is loneliness, which is emerging as a major public health issue around the world. Unfortunately, loneliness has not been studied in a diverse range of older LGBT people. The purpose of this study was to assess levels of loneliness, as well as possible demographic and psychosocial predictors, in a population of older Portuguese gay men. Methods Using online surveys, 110 older Portuguese gay men (mean age = 63.5) completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale for Portuguese Older Adults, Connectedness to the LGBT Community Scale and Adjustment to Aging Scale, as well as measures of support from family and friends. Results Overall, high levels of loneliness were found, particularly among those with lower education levels. Low levels of family support, friends support and connectedness to the LGBT community were all significant predictors of loneliness in the regression analyses, but adjustment to aging was not. Conclusions These findings add to the international literature on the correlates of loneliness among older sexual minorities. Such findings may inform the development of psychosocial interventions and promote healthcare engagement among older sexual minorities, which are important steps toward reducing health disparities that affect this population.

São apresentados, de forma sucinta, alguns dos temas principais da filosofia fenomenológica e existencialista que Irvin D. Yalom refere como base da sua interpretação das características da existência. Com foco no isolamento existencial, são depois descritos os confrontos com essas características e a psicopatologia que de uma forma compreensiva decorre do enviesamento desses confrontos, assim como os principais eixos de uma psicoterapia de base fenomenológica e existencialista. ----- ABSTRACT ----- Some of the key themes of phenomenological and existentialist philosophy referred by Irvin D. Yalom as the basics for his interpretation of the characteristics of existence are presented. Focusing on existential isolation, the confrontations with all those characteristics are thereafter described as well as the psychopathology that, in a comprehensive way, results from the obliquity of those confrontations, as well as the central axes of a phenomenological and existentialist psychotherapy.