Universidade de Pernambuco

About: Universidade de Pernambuco is a education organization based out in Recife, Brazil. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Artificial neural network. The organization has 6147 authors who have published 6948 publications receiving 73648 citations.

The Influence of the Environment on Natural Resource Use: Evidence of Apparency

Abstract: This chapter evaluates the mechanisms by which certain characteristics of a specific natural resource (particularly a plant), such as its environmental availability or chemical composition, can affect its local use. An evaluation of the factors that influence people’s decision to select and try a natural resource and, possibly, incorporate it in their social-ecological systems is the main guiding issue for this chapter. To address this issue, we explore the assumptions of the ecological apparency hypothesis (EAH), the optimal foraging theory (OFT) and the resource availability hypothesis (RAH). EAH, OFT and RAH were first introduced in classic ecological research but were subsequently adapted to the fields of human ecology and ethnobiology. We also discuss how these ideas can complement one another to explain people’s choices for plant resource use and management. Finally, we bring some evidence from the available literature in favor or against these assumptions, especially to what concerns the EAH.

Prevention and treatment of iron-deficiency anemia: new focuses and perspectives

Abstract: The authors briefly describe the epidemiology of anemia, the goals established by the United Nations to combat the problem worldwide, and the difficulties encountered in applying proven effective strategies in public health services to prevent and cure anemia in pregnant women and children, both of which are prime high-risk groups. They analyze recent research aimed at four objectives related to prevention and cure: improving treatment efficacy; increasing effectiveness; reducing costs; and decreasing unwanted side effects. The study indicates that ongoing research could improve prospects for treatment through public health services.

Ultrasonography of the liver and spleen in Brazilian patients with hepatosplenic schistosomiasis and cirrhosis

Abstract: Ultrasonography is now widely used in the diagnosis and management of patients with chronic Schistosoma mansoni infections. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the use of ultrasonography in patients with hepatosplenic schistosomiasis (HSS) with and without cirrhosis. Ninety-seven patients (52 males; median age 38 years, range 19–68 years) with HSS, 65 with well compensated (HSSC) and 32 with decompensated (HSSD) disease and cirrhosis, were systematically examined by ultrasound. Hepatic fibrosis was graded according to WHO recommendations. Typical atrophy of the right hepatic lobe accompanied by hypertrophy of the left lobe, with a rounded inferior marginal edge, was seen in 86 (88·7%) patients. Periportal fibrosis was observed in 83 (85·6%) cases and confirmed histologically in all. In 66 patients (68·0%) thickening of the gallbladder wall, associated with periportal fibrosis and extending from the branches of the porta hepatis, was noted. No evidence of biliary disease was found in these patients and gallstones were present in only 3 cases. Fourteen (43·8%) of the HSSD patients could not be classified for grade of fibrosis because of the advanced stage of cirrhosis related to hepatitis B or C viral infection. Of the remaining 18 HSSD patients, none had only grade I fibrosis (vs. 10·8% of HSSC, P = 0·054) and only 6 had grade II (vs. 67·7% of HSSC, P < 0·0005), while the frequency of grade III was significantly higher in the HSSD patients than in those with HSSC (37·5% vs. 21·5%, P = 0·049). These findings indicate that although ultrasonography is a very valid technique for assessing patients with pure HSS, and should be considered the ‘gold standard’, it is not reliable for assessing periportal fibrosis in patients with concomitant cirrhosis due to other causes.

Idosos do Município do Recife, Estado de Pernambuco, Brasil: uma análise da morbimortalidade hospitalar

Abstract: Summary This article analyses the current morbidity and mortality situation (2005) of the elderly (60-year-old or more) in the Municipality of Recife, State of Pernambuco, Brazil. Data were obtained from the Hospitals Information System, of the Brazilian Health System (SIH/SUS). Elderly people, who represent 9.4% of the general population, were responsible for 19.2% of the hospitals admissions (AIH type I). The six main causes of the admission of the elderly were circulatory system diseases, followed by digestive system and respiratory system diseases, neoplasias and external causes, which together represented 68.1% of hospital morbidity causes. It was verified that the coefficient of hospital mortality of the elderly population was 3.3 times more than that of adults. Among women, the difference was even higher (five times). It was observed that the main causes for the morbidity among the elderly are passive to reduction through wide political promotion, prevention as well as opportune and adequate treatment of these illnesses.

CD1a+ and CD83+ Langerhans cells are reduced in lower lip squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract: Background Actinic cheilitis (AC) is a potentially malignant lesion diagnosed in the lip of patients chronically exposed to the sun that may give rise to a fully invasive lower lip squamous cell carcinoma (LLSCC). It is known that ultraviolet radiation causes dendritic cells (DCs) depletion in the epidermis, but the role of this cellular population in lip cancer progression remains uncertain. Therefore, this study investigated the distribution of DCs in normal, dysplastic and neoplastic tissues of the lower lip. Methods Thirteen cases of lower lip mucocele, 42 of ACs and 21 of LLSCC were retrieved and original diagnoses confirmed by two oral pathologists, who further classified ACs as low- and high-risk lesions. Immunoreactions against CD1a and CD83 identified immature and mature DCs, respectively. Results Immature CD1a+ Langerhans cells (LCs) were significantly decreased in LLSCC when compared to morphologically normal (P 0.05), but ACs demonstrated a lower concentration of CD1a+ LCs than normal epithelium (P 0.05). Conclusion These results suggest that depletion of epithelial LCs, but not IDCs in the connective tissue, would represent an important step for lip cancer development.