No abstract

Increasing research findings argue for a link between brain cholesterol turnover and Alzheimer's disease (AD). High cerebral levels of this lipid increase Ass load. The elimination of cerebral cholesterol involves two mechanisms, dependent of apolipoprotein E and cholesterol 24-hydroxylase (CYP46). CYP46 is a gene associated with AD; the most studied single nucleotide polymorphism is the rs754203, which changes T-->C. Some studies describe that this polymorphism is possibly associated with loss of function of CYP46; others describe that it is possibly associated with cerebral cholesterol accumulation or an increase of CYP46 activity leading to an accumulation of the 24S-hydroxycholesterol in cerebrospinal fluid. Publications about this subject around the world are controversial. Some studies associate the T allele with AD and others the C allele. The aim of this review is to describe and summarize the findings of the researches about the relationship between CYP46 and AD that have been published in the past 9 years.

Introduction: Some internet users lose the ability to control the duration and / or frequency of their use, leading to the phenomenon of internet addiction. In Brazil, there is no data about the prevalence of this phenomenon. Aim: To estimate and compare the prevalence of Internet addiction among university students in the health area. Method: A comparison of the prevalence was evaluated among undergraduate students from the health area of the University of Pernambuco, Brazil. Three instruments were applied: the Portuguese (Brazil) versions of the Internet Addiction Test, the Online Cognition Scale and a questionnaire characterizing socio-demographic and habits of use from Internet. The data were submitted to bivariate statistical tests, test of association for categorical variables and analysis of linear growth trend. Results: At the end of the study, 359 students participated in the study, 75.5% women with a mean age of 19.49 years (± 2.33 years). According to Internet Addiction Test, 44.28% of the sample had Internet Addiction, with a higher prevalence in males (51.1%). Concerning Online Cognition Scale, the prevalence of the disorder was 62.9%, higher in females (65.7%). This prevalence rates obtained were higher when compared to previous studies, which may be related to the variety of instruments. Conclusion: The prevalence of Internet Addiction in the sample studied varied according to the instrument used. There was also a significant linear trend between the weekly connection time and the severity of the addiction to the internet. Keywords: Internet; Addictive Behavior; Prevalence; Cross-Sectional Studies

Nas últimas décadas, podemos verificar uma tendência em diversos países de regulamentar o uso medicinal e recreativo da cannabis, o que pode gerar um enorme mercado global. No entanto, o histórico de quase um século na condição de ilegalidade, em praticamente todo o planeta, contribui para que a literatura científica sobre o tema seja severamente limitada. Partindo dessa problemática, o objetivo deste artigo é apresentar um modelo computacional, utilizando a linguagem Python e empregando técnicas de clusterização, tais como KMeans, Agglomerative Clustering e Spectral Clustering, de modo a encontrar grupos de interesse numa massa de dados. A base de dados utilizada foi obtida da aplicação do questionário do teste CUDIT – Cannabis Use Disorder Identification Test, composto de oito perguntas com cinco opções de resposta, que permitiram graduar o comportamento do indivíduo em cada questão. Os resultados demonstraram que a técnica foi capaz de separar grupos com padrões distintos e que apresentam consistência em análise qualitativa preliminar.

Objective: To review the applicability of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) during the pre, intra and postoperative periods of patients undergoing liver transplantation. Methods: This is an integrative review that seeks to evaluate the indications for the use of ECMO in liver transplantation. As databases, were used: MEDLINE, Web of Science and Scopus, with articles published in the last ten years in English and Portuguese. Results: In this review, 24 papers were included, of which 3 were original articles and 21 were case reports. The studies were divided according to the ECMO application period concerning the liver transplant: one for the preoperative, eight intraoperative and 15 postoperative. It was identified that ECMO use is mainly related to hepatopulmonary syndrome complications. The limited number of studies regarding using ECMO in the preoperative period reflects the importance of hepatic transplant as the main measure to manage liver disease complications. In the intraoperative phase, ECMO usage is expressive in managing cardiopulmonary complications refractory to previous interventions. The use of this mechanism in the postoperative period is the most reported. The main indication is severe hypoxemia secondary to hepatopulmonary syndrome, in which other treatments have been ineffective. The main complications related to this mechanism were sepsis, renal failure and bleeding. Conclusion: ECMO is an important therapeutic modality for managing complications resulting from liver transplantation. However, only some studies in the literature have an adequate sample number to assess its actual efficacy and level of safety.