The relationship between physical activity and mental health has been widely investigated, and several hypotheses have been formulated about it. Specifically, during the aging process, physical exercise might represent a potential adjunctive treatment for neuropsychiatric disorders and cognitive impairment, helping delay the onset of neurodegenerative processes. Even though exercise itself might act as a stressor, it has been demonstrated that it reduces the harmful effects of other stressors when performed at moderate intensities. Neurotransmitter release, neurotrophic factor and neurogenesis, and cerebral blood flow alteration are some of the concepts involved. In this review, the potential effects of exercise on the aging process and on mental health are discussed, concerning some of the recent findings on animal and human research. The overwhelming evidence present in the literature today suggests that exercise ensures successful brain functioning.

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OBJECTIVE: Mini-Mental State Examination cutoffs have been presented for schooling levels to screen cognitive impairment. However, items may behave differently with regards to education. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of education on MMSE subscales and items. METHOD: Community-dwelling participants aged 65 years or more (n = 990, females = 637, age = 74.1 years, range 65-108) were stratified as illiterate (n = 373), 1-8 (n = 540), 9-12 (n = 63), and more than 12 years of schooling (n = 14) and were screened with MMSE and Pfeffer Functional Activities Questionnaire. To make the Mini-Mental State Examination items comparable, each item was transformed into z scores. Multiple linear regression was used to estimate the effect of schooling on MMSE subs and items controlling for age, sex, and activities of daily life. RESULTS: Temporal and space orientation, attention/calculation, repetition, reading, writing, and drawing scores improved as education increased, but not memory registration, three step command, and naming. Reading and writing displayed the largest coefficients, whereas education exerted no influence on naming and three step command tasks. CONCLUSION: Education does not exert an important effect on naming, three step command, memory registration, and delayed recall. As memory is a key factor for diagnosing dementia, these items could be considered despite education.

Background: An analysis of cortical activity by electroencephalogram (EEG) may show different patterns in depressed and normal individuals. Objectives: Our study aimed (1) to compare the total mean frequency (TMF) and mean EEG frequency per bands (MFB) in depressed and healthy elderly individuals, and (2) to verify the effect of exercise as an additional treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD; according to DSM-IV) via an assessment of depressive symptoms, TMF and MFB. Methods: This research was divided into 2 studies. In study 1, we assessed 45 elderly individuals (13 normal and 32 depressive) in a cross-sectional design to search for differences in TMF and MFB. In study 2, we conducted a longitudinal study to assess the effect of exercise on MDD. Twenty depressed elderly persons who were on clinical treatment were allocated to a control group or an exercise group. Subjects were assessed at baseline and after 6 months with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, also assessing the TMF and MFB. Results: Our cross-sectional study showed that a lower mean frequency (MF) in posterior areas is related to depression in the elderly. Moreover, in our longitudinal study, we observed that depressed elderly individuals showed a better response to treatment and an increase in MF after physical training. Conclusion: The interaction between exercise and pharmacological treatment may increase the TMF in posterior areas of depressed elderly individuals after 6 months.

O estudo visa descrever as sensações vivenciadas pelas mulheres durante a realização da episiotomia e analisar as repercussões desta prática sobre sua sexualidade. É de natureza qualitativa e foi realizado com dez mulheres em uma maternidade pública da Secretaria Municipal de Saúde da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro, de setembro a dezembro de 2005. Os dados foram obtidos através da entrevista semi-estruturada, e os depoimentos foram categorizados seguindo as técnicas da análise de conteúdo. As sensações vividas pelas mulheres durante o procedimento estão associadas ao trauma por serem dolorosas, provocadas por agentes externos à sua fisiologia corporal e sem o seu consentimento prévio. A episiotomia afetou a sexualidade das mulheres por interferir em seus par tos, em suas relações sexuais e familiares. Concluímos que, por ser a episiotomia uma violação dos direitos sexuais e reprodutivos das mulheres, tornase imprescindível que as enfermeiras realizem a proteção perineal como prática incorporada.

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The development of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies and metagenomics protocols deeply impacted the discovery of viral diversity. Moreover, the characterization of novel viruses in the Neotropical primates (NP) is central for the comprehension of viral evolution dynamics in those hosts, due to their evolutionary proximity to Old World primates, including humans. In the present work, novel anelloviruses were detected and characterized through HTS protocols in the NP Callithrix penicillata, the common black-tufted marmoset. De novo assembly of generated sequences was carried out, and a total of 15 contigs were identified with complete Anelloviridae ORF1 gene, two of them including a flanking GC-rich region, confirming the presence of two whole novel genomes of ~3 kb. The identified viruses were monophyletic within the Epsilontorquevirus genus, a lineage harboring previously reported anelloviruses infecting hosts from the Cebidae family. The genetic divergence found in the new viruses characterized two novel species, named Epsilontorquevirus callithrichensis I and II. The phylogenetic pattern inferred for the Epsilontorquevirus genus was consistent with the topology of their host species tree, echoing a virus-host diversification model observed in other viral groups. This study expands the host span of Anelloviridae and provides insights into their diversification dynamics, highlighting the importance of sampling animal viral genomes to obtain a clearer depiction of their long-term evolutionary processes.

Introdução: Apesar de estudos apontarem que apenas 15% das brasileiras no início da gestação demonstram interesse pela cesariana, os números de nascimentos cirúrgicos ultrapassam os 10% a 15% recomendados pela OMS. É importante que a profissional de saúde propicie uma troca de informações e compartilhamento de decisões entre cuidador e cuidado, no lugar de imposição de saberes. Objetivos: Identificar as ações de educação em saúde fornecidas às mulheres durante o pré-natal acerca do processo de parturição; Conhecer as percepções das mulheres sobre as ações de educação em saúde em relação a trabalho de parto e parto divulgadas no pré-natal. Metodologia: O estudo será de uma pesquisa de campo, de caráter descritivo e exploratório, com uma abordagem qualitativa. As participantes da pesquisa serão puérperas que estejam internadas no alojamento conjunto de uma maternidade municipal da zona oeste do Rio de Janeiro, que aceitem participar da pesquisa, com idade entre 18 e 45 anos que tenham realizado o mínimo de 6 (seis) consultas de pré-natal. Após submissão e aprovação do comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da UERJ e prefeitura, será iniciada a coleta de dados, onde serão realizadas entrevistas semi-estruturadas. Resultados: A partir do estudo foram elaboradas duas categorias para discutir sobre a temática. Categoria 1: Ações de educação em saúde fornecidas às mulheres durante o pré-natal acerca do processo de parturição. Categoria 2: Conhecer as percepções das mulheres sobre as ações de educação em saúde em relação a trabalho de parto e parto divulgadas no pré-natal. Considerações Finais: Durante a pesquisa foi possível observar a precariedade de informações por parte das gestantes e parturientes, por esse motivo, entende-se que o preparo para o momento do parto é essencial durante os encontros nas consultas de pré-natal, para que essas mulheres se fortaleçam e conduzam com mais autonomia a gestação e o parto.