Introduction : Heart failure (HF) is a complex clinical syndrome representing the common final pathway of various heart diseases. It is characterized by low exercise tolerance, low survival rates and deteriorated quality of life. Several studies mention Quality of Life (QoL) as an important source of information on how disease truly affects patient's lives. In this context, the assessment of QoL is extremely important to provide data that support the choice of a therapeutic strategy and the assessment of the effectiveness of a treatment. Objectives : This study aimed to investigate and identify the most appropriate and widely used instrument for the assessment of quality of life in patients with HF. Methods : We searched the databases of Lilacs, Medline, Pubmed, Scielo and CAPES to identify relevant articles published in English and Portuguese between 2000 and 2010. Results : We found 25 papers that described, quoted or used instruments for the assessment of QoL in patients with HF. Conclusion : The MLHFQ is the most widely used instrument to assess QoL in patients with HF. Its good metric properties have been confirmed in a large number of studies. In addition, it has a simple structure and is easy to administer, which makes it the most recommended instrument for this purpose.

| Introduction:Woman during their lives go through many physiological and psychological changes, among them, there are two important moments: the pregnancy and the puerperium (postpartum). It is extremely important for women to have general guidance on maternal and child health during these two moments to help reduce morbidity and mortality of mother and baby for example. Objective: Verify and correlate the effects of a health education intervention on basic maternal and child health knowledge in pregnant women and postpartum women. Method: Single-arm uncontrolled clinical trial was performed, that means, without a control group, with 64 volunteers. The volunteers participated in gatherings in which they received information about general maternal and child health, with the following topics: perineum, low back pain, types of deliveries, normal neuropsychomotor development of the child, posture in gestation, Shantala, breastfeeding and sexually transmitted diseases. In all, there were 8 meetings, with the volunteers' seasonal presence, with a multiplechoice evaluation at the last meeting. Results: There was a weak significant correlation when relating the presence of volunteers with the numbers of correct answers in the final test (p = 0.292). When the two samples were compared, it was noticed that most correct answers occurred in the same variables (types of deliveries, normal psychomotor development, breastfeeding and Sexually transmitted disease). Conclusion: This study provided an increase in knowledge of maternal and child health in general. There was a weak correlation in the effects of the health education intervention on basic maternal and child health knowledge.Keywords: pregnancy, postpartum period, primary health care. RESUMO | Introdução:A mulher ao longo da vida passa por inúmeras alterações fisiológicas e psicológicas e, dentre elas, há dois momentos importantes: o período gestacional e o puerpério (pós-parto). Com isso, é de extrema importância a mulher ter, nesses dois momentos, orientação gerais sobre a saúde materno-infantil, para assim, por exemplo, diminuir a morbimortalidade da mãe e do bebê. Objetivo: Verificar e correlacionar os efeitos de uma intervenção de educação em saúde sobre conhecimentos básicos de saúde maternoinfantil em gestantes e puérperas. Método: Foi realizado um ensaio clínico de braço único não controlado, ou seja, sem grupo controle, com 64 voluntárias. As voluntárias participaram de encontros nos quais receberam informações sobre a saúde materno-infantil geral, sendo os seguintes temas: períneo, dor lombar, tipos de partos, desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor normal da criança, postura na gestação, Shantala, aleitamento materno e doenças sexualmente transmissíveis. Ao todo foram 8 encontros, com a presença sazonal das voluntárias, com uma avaliação de múltipla escolha no último encontro. Resultados: Houve uma correlação significativa fraca, quando foi relacionada a presença das voluntárias nas palestras com os números de acertos na avaliação final (p=0,292). Já quand...

MDSCs migrated early to the traumatized urethra, but did not integrate into the tissue. MDSC alters the expression of genes related to cell proliferation, neural growth factor and extracellular matrix and the expression of smooth and striated muscle proteins in the traumatized rat urethra.

Aims: To evaluate the expression of genes and proteins related to the urethral muscles of female rats after trauma by vaginal distention (VD) and after electrical stimulation therapy (EST). Methods:We compared the urethras of four groups of 20 animals each: control without trauma (C), 7 (recent-trauma) and 30 days (late-trauma) post-VD, and VDtreated with EST. We evaluated the expression of myogenic regulatory factors MYOD1 and myogenin (MYOG); skeletal muscle myosin heavy chain 1, 2, and 3 (MYH1, MYH2, and MYH3); smooth muscle MYH11; and myosin light chain 9 (MYL9). We used real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, Western blot analysis, and immunohistochemistry. Results: MYOD1 and MYOG genes were overexpressed in the recent-trauma group compared with the other groups (P < .05). MYH1 and MYH3 genes were upregulated in the recent-trauma group compared with the control and EST groups (P < .05). The MYH2 gene was overexpressed in the late-trauma group (P < .05), while the MYH2 protein was significantly increased in the EST group compared with control, recent-trauma and late-trauma groups by 5-, 3-, and 2.7-fold change, respectively (P < .05). MYL9 and MYH11 messenger RNA were overexpressed in both trauma groups compared with control and EST groups (P < .05). MYH11 protein was not different among the study groups (P > .05). Conclusions: EST enhances the recovery of the damaged urethral tissue of rats mainly by acting on the striated-muscle components. The MYH2 pathway underlies the positive effects of EST in the external urethral sphincter.

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