The Assessment of Medical Students’ Chronotypes

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the circadian typology of medical students at public universities from one of the northeastern states in Brazil, active in the morning and afternoon shifts, checking the compatibility between their study time, productivity, income and chronotype. Methods: To obtain the results, the assessment of the chronotype in 342 medical students of both sexes was considered. Each participant was submitted to the questionnaire developed by Horne and Ostberg, adapted by Cardinali, Colomberk and Rey. It’s composed of 9 questions, providing the general ranking of each individual. Based upon scored, the chronotypes were classified. Results: The sample was composed of 49.12% (168) male and 50.87% (174) female subjects, a similar gender distribution of enrolled students during data collection time. By applying the questionnaire, the prevalent rating among the medical students as moderately morning (29.82%) and intermediate (43.85%) has been relevant. The academic performance assessment in two morning-intermediate groups (8.16) had no significant distance from others considered afternoon active (8.20). Conclusion: The health sciences student, especially Medicine, faces constant adaptation of scheduling, in the attempt of fulfilling the requirements throughout the course, causing chronogram desynchronization effects and forced readaptation to each different school semester.

Musical and Photographic Stimulations on the Symptomatology of Alzheimer’s Disease in Elderly

Background: Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive and neurodegenerative disorder characterized by deterioration of brain functions. Psychosocial interventions such as music and photographic stimuli may contribute to cognitive and sensory exercise or rehabilitation. Objective: Evaluate musical and photographic stimuli in elderly people with Alzheimer’s disease. Methods: It is an uncontrolled clinical trial, before-after type, eleven subjects composing the sample. Participants were submitted to Katz Index, Autobiographical Memory Test, GDS-15, Mini-Mental State Examination. The collection instruments were used on the first and last day of intervention, individually. There were 2 sessions in the week with duration of 50 minutes totaling 20 sessions. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics and as variables expressed as mean standard deviation. Results: There was a significant effect of cognitive activity (P < 0.01), it was observed that a small advance (P = 0.05) of the daily life activities. With the analysis of GDS-15, it is verified that they are more effective for the increase of the previous self-estimation of the therapy (P = 0.94). In the application of the AMT, it is observed that there was a better recruitment of the memory for the neutral words. Conclusion: Musical and photographic stimuli had a positive effect on the cognitive level, daily life activities and autobiographical memory in seniors with Alzheimer’s disease.

Trypanosoma rangeli:growth in mammalian cells in vitro and action of a repositioned drug(17-AAG)and a natural extract(Artemisia sp.essential oil)

Trypanosoma rangeli and T.cruzi are both parasitic unicellular species that infect humans.Unlike T.cruzi,the causative agent of Chagas disease,T.rangeli is an infective and non-pathogenic parasite for humans,but pathogenic for vectors from the Rhodnius genus.Because both species can coexist in different hosts and overlap their infective cycles but very little is known about the infection of T.rangeli in mammalian cells,we decided to characterize both the development of this parasite in cell culture and the effect of therapeutic agents with potential trypanocidal action on it.We found that T.rangeli exhibits a cycle of infection in Vero cells similar to that for T.cruzi and that the repurposed drug,17-AAG,and the natural extract Artemisia sp.essential oil produce a toxic effect on epimastigotes showing a trypanocidal action from the fifth day of culture.Both treatments also affected the infection of trypomastigotes and reduced the capacity of replication of amastigotes of T.rangeli.Since T.cruzi/T.rangeli coinfection cases have been reported,the finding of drugs with potential activity against both species could be significant in the future.Furthermore,studies of susceptibility of both species to drugs could also help to know the different mechanisms of pathogenicity in humans displayed by T.cruzi that are absent in T.rangeli.

Prevalence and Characterization of the Cerebral Palsy in Maceio,a Northeast City of Brazil

Background: Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders arising from a static damage or brain development defects occurring during fetal life and in the first months of life. Methods: The sample consisted of 800 individuals living in 50 districts of the city of Maceio. A standardized questionnaire was applied. Results: The prevalence of cerebral palsy in the sample was 5/1000. All were born at term, 75% were male, 50% had severe cerebral palsy and 50% was moderate. 75% had quadriplegia and 25% had diplegia. Fifty percent of the cerebral palsy was caused by meningitis and 50% for prolonged labor. Conclusions: The prevalence of cerebral palsy in Maceió is 140.38% higher than the highest prevalence found in developed countries, predominantly in low-income and related to postnatal infection in families.

GTP-bound Rab3A exhibits consecutive positive and negative roles during human sperm dense-core granule exocytosis

Exocytosis of mam maUan sperm dense-core secretory granule relies on the same fusion molecules as all other secretory cells; one such molecule is the small GTPase Rab3A. Here, we report an in-depth biochemical characterization of the role of Rab3A in secretion by scrutinizingthe exocytotic response of streptolysin O-permeabiUzed human sperm to the acute application of a number of Rab3A-containing constructs and correlating the findings with those gathered with the endogenous protein. Full length, geranyigeranyiated, and active Rab3A elicited human sperm exocytosis perse. With Rab3A/Rab22A chimeric proteins, we demonstrated that the carboxy-terminal domain of the Rab3A molecule was necessary and sufficient to promote exocytosis, whereas its amino.terminus prevented calcium-triggered secretion. Interestingly, full length Rab3A halted secretion when added after the docking of the acrosome to the plasma membrane. This effect depended on the inability of Rab3A to hydrolyze GTP. We combined modified immunofluorescence and acrosomal staining protocols to detect membrane fusion and the activation status of endogenous Rab3 simultaneously in individual cells, and found that GTP hydrolysis on endogenous Rab3 was mandatory for fusion pores to open. Our findings contribute to establishing that Rab3 modulates regulated exocytosis differently depending on the nucleotide bound and the exocytosis stage under study.