The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of low-back pain (LBP) and to identify the level of functional disability in elderly individuals in different populations. From January 1985 to October 2018, a search was performed using the following databases: Embase, LILACS, SciELO, Scopus, Medline, and the Web of Science. The descriptors were low-back pain, back pain, lower-back pain, prevalence, and elderly in Portuguese and English. Two independent reviewers conducted a search for studies and evaluated their methodological quality. The search strategy returned 2186 titles, and 35 were included in this review. The studies evaluated 135,059 elderly individuals aged between 60 and 102 years, and the prevalence of LBP ranged from 21% to 75%. The levels of functional disability, as well as functional difficulties, activities of daily living, and physical capacity, were identified in 60% of the studies. This review indicated a high prevalence of LBP in elderly individuals and functional disability that affects factors important for independence. However, the studies used different methodologies, suggesting that more studies be conducted with scientific accuracy, methodological quality, and low risk of bias to contribute to the proposal of preventive actions for elderly populations.

AIM: We sought to evaluate musculoskeletal discomfort and mental and physical fatigue in the call-center workers of an airline company before and after a supervised exercise program compared with rest breaks during the work shift. INTRODUCTION: This was a longitudinal pilot study conducted in a flight-booking call-center for an airline in São Paulo, Brazil. Occupational health activities are recommended to decrease the negative effects of the call-center working conditions. In practice, exercise programs are commonly recommended for computer workers, but their effects have not been studied in call-center operators. METHODS: Sixty-four call-center operators participated in this study. Thirty-two subjects were placed into the experimental group and attended a 10-min daily exercise session for 2 months. Conversely, 32 participants were placed into the control group and took a 10-min daily rest break during the same period. Each subject was evaluated once a week by means of the Corlett-Bishop body map with a visual analog discomfort scale and the Chalder fatigue questionnaire. RESULTS: Musculoskeletal discomfort decreased in both groups, but the reduction was only statistically significant for the spine and buttocks (p=0.04) and the sum of the segments (p=0.01) in the experimental group. In addition, the experimental group showed significant differences in the level of mental fatigue, especially in questions related to memory Rienzo, #181ff and tiredness (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary results demonstrate that appropriately designed and supervised exercise programs may be more efficient than rest breaks in decreasing discomfort and fatigue levels in call-center operators.

OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to describe and discuss a minimization procedure specifically designed for a clinical trial that evaluates treatment efficacy for OCD patients. METHOD: Aitchison's compositional distance was used to calculate vectors for each possibility of allocation in a covariate adaptive method. Two different procedures were designed to allocate patients in small blocks or sequentially one-by-one. RESULTS: We present partial results of this allocation procedure as well as simulated data. In the clinical trial for which this procedure was developed, successful balancing between treatment arms was achieved. Separately, in an exploratory analysis, we found that if the arrival order of patients was altered, most patients were allocated to a different treatment arm than their original assignment. CONCLUSION: Our results show that the random arrival order of patients determine different assignments and therefore maintains the unpredictability of the allocation method. We conclude that our proposed procedure allows for the use of a large number of prognostic factors in a given allocation decision. Our method seems adequate for the design of the psychiatric trials used as models. Trial registrations are available at clinicaltrials.gov NCT00466609 and NCT00680602.

OBJETIVO: Evidências advindas de estudos de família e de genética molecular têm dado suporte à hipótese do envolvimento de mecanismos imunológicos na fisiopatologia do transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo. Tem sido sugerido que o potencializador do fator nuclear do polipeptídeo kappa light em células-B inibidoras-like 1 (NFKBIL1) é um modulador do sistema imunológico. Dada a importância do NFKBIL1 na resposta imunológica, o presente estudo investigou o polimorfismo -62A/T (rs2071592), localizado na região promotora de seu gene, como fator de risco genético para o desenvolvimento do transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo. MÉTODO: O polimorfismo -62A/T do gene do NFKBIL1 foi investigado em uma amostra de 111 pacientes com o diagnóstico de transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo, de acordo com os critérios do DSM-IV, e 272 controles saudáveis emparelhados por idade e gênero. RESULTADOS: Não houve diferenças na distribuição genotípica entre pacientes e controles (χ2 = 0,98; 2 d.f.; p = 0,61). DISCUSSÃO: Apesar dos resultados negativos, estudos compreendendo mais polimorfismos no gene do NFKBIL, em amostras maiores, são necessários. Populações com diferentes origens étnicas também precisam ser avaliadas. CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados da presente investigação não evidenciam associação entre o polimorfismo -62A/T do gene do NFKBIL1 e o transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo nesta amostra brasileira.

OBJECTIVE: Evidence from family and molecular genetic studies support the hypothesis of involvement of immunologic mechanisms in the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells inhibitor-like 1 (NFKBIL1) has been suggested as a modulator of the immunological system. Given the importance of NFKBIL1 in the immunological response, the present study investigated the -62A/T polymorphism (rs2071592), located in the promoter region of its gene (NFKBIL1), as a genetic risk factor for the development of obsessive-compulsive disorder. METHOD: The -62A/T NFKBIL1 polymorphism was investigated in a sample of 111 patients who met DSM-IV criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder and 272 healthy age- and gender-matched controls. RESULTS: There were no differences in genotypic distributions between patients and controls (χ2 = 0.98; 2 d.f.; p = 0.61). DISCUSSION: Despite these negative findings, more comprehensive polymorphism coverage within the NFKBIL1 is warranted in larger samples. Populations with different ethnic backgrounds should also be studied. CONCLUSION: The results of the present investigation do not provide evidence for the association between the -62A/T NFKBIL1 polymorphism and obsessive-compulsive disorder in this Brazilian sample.

Evidence-based Medicine (EBM) has become a major source of medical knowledge. It handles complexities of virtually every method or technique used in research. The knowledge on how the EBM researcher retrieves information, judges for relevance and analyzes derived data is invaluable for the skillful reader of medical scientific reports.

No mercado financeiro, existem modelos de otimização de portfólios já bem estabelecidos, denominados modelos de média-variância generalizados, ou modelos de Markowitz generalizados. Este modelo considera que um investidor típico, enquanto espera altos retornos, espera também que estes retornos sejam tão certos quanto possível. Neste artigo introduzimos um novo sistema otimizador de mídia baseado no modelo de média-variância, uma abordagem inovadora na área de planejamento de mídia. Após apresentar o modelo em sua máxima generalidade, discutimos possíveis vantagens do paradigma de média-variância, como sua flexibilidade na modelagem do problema de otimização, sua habilidade de lidar com vários índices de performance - satisfazendo a maioria dos requisitos de planejamento - e, o mais importante, a propriedade de diversificar os portfólios de mídia de uma forma natural, sem a necessidade de estipular restrições ad hoc para forçar a diversificação.

In the financial markets, there is a well established portfolio optimization model called generalized mean-variance model (or generalized Markowitz model). This model considers that a typical investor, while expecting returns to be high, also expects returns to be as certain as possible. In this paper we introduce a new media optimization system based on the mean-variance model, a novel approach in media planning. After presenting the model in its full generality, we discuss possible advantages of the mean-variance paradigm, such as its flexibility in modeling the optimization problem, its ability of dealing with many media performance indices - satisfying most of the media plan needs - and, most important, the property of diversifying the media portfolios in a natural way, without the need to set up ad hoc constraints to enforce diversification.

CONTEXTO: Fibromialgia é uma síndrome reumática caracterizada por dores músculo-esqueléticas difusas e crônicas e sítios dolorosos específicos à palpação, chamados de tender points, freqüentemente associados a fadiga, distúrbios do sono, rigidez matinal e, em alguns casos, dispnéia e ansiedade. Devido ao seu caráter crônico, a síndrome geralmente causa impacto negativo na qualidade de vida dos fibromiálgicos. OBJETIVO: Comparar a eficácia de instrumentos que avaliam a qualidade de vida de fibromiálgicos mensurada pelo Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire(FIQ) e pelo Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Healthy Survey (SF-36), e a ansiedade avaliada pelo Inventário de Ansiedade Traço-estado (IDATE). TIPO DE ESTUDO: Transversal. LOCAL: Ambulatório de Reumatologia do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (HC/FMUSP). MÉTODOS: Participaram do estudo 80 sujeitos: 40 com fibromialgia (grupo teste) e 40 saudáveis (grupo controle). Três questionários (dois para avaliação de qualidade de vida - FIQ e SF-36 -; e um para ansiedade - IDATE) foram aplicados aos indivíduos dos dois grupos em uma única entrevista. Toda a análise estatística foi realizada utilizando-se o Teste "t" Student e o teste de Correlação de Pearson (r), com significância p < 0,05. Além disso, o teste estatístico Qui-quadrado de Pearson, para homogeneidade, foi usado para comparar o grau de escolaridade entre os grupos teste e controle. RESULTADOS: Os resultados obtidos mostram que houve diferença estatisticamente significante entre os grupos (p = 0,00), indicando que os fibromiálgicos têm pior qualidade de vida e níveis mais altos de ansiedade. A correlação entre os três questionários foi alta (r = 0,90). DISCUSSÃO: O impacto negativo na qualidade de vida decorrente da Fibromialgia tem sido relatado em muitos estudos, nos quais os protocolos de avaliação são os principais istrumentos de medida. O FIQ é um instrumento utilizado em vários estudos clínicos para avaliar a função física. Este estudo comprovou a eficiência do FIQ para avaliar o impacto da fibromialgia sobre a qualidade de vida. O SF-36 é menos específico que o FIQ, mas também se mostrou eficiente para a avaliação da qualidade de vida de fibromiálgicos, uma vez que os discrimina dos indivíduos saudáveis. A ansiedade é considerada um sintoma secundário da fibromialgia e é freqüentemente grave nos casos de fibromialgia. Um dos instrumentos utilizados para avaliá-la é o IDATE. No presente estudo, apesar de apresentar resultados estatisticamente significantes quando analisado isoladamente, o IDATE mostrou-se menos eficaz que os demais instrumentos para distinguir o grupo teste do controle. Tratando-se mais especificamente da qualidade de vida, foi possível confirmar que o grupo teste apresenta pior qualidade de vida quando comparado ao controle. Isso foi demonstrado pelos dois instrumentos utilizados para avaliar a qualidade de vida (FIQ e SF-36). Quanto à ansiedade, apesar do IDATE ter sido o instrumento menos eficaz, pôde-se observar resultados significantes na avaliação dos grupos teste e controle, evidenciando que os pacientes com fibromialgia apresentam maior nível de ansiedade, tanto no estado como no traço. Portanto, os pacientes com fibromialgia têm níveis mais elevados de tensão, nervosismo, preocupação e apreensão (avaliados pela escala A-estado); e maior propensão à ansiedade (avaliada pela escala A-traço). CONCLUSÃO: Os três instrumentos utilizados mostraram ser eficazes para avaliar pacientes fibromiálgicos, porém o FIQ mostrou ser o mais eficaz para discriminar e avaliar o impacto da fibromialgia na qualidade de vida. Conclui-se que os pacientes fibromiálgicos têm pior qualidade de vida e níveis mais altos de ansiedade.

CONTEXT: Fibromyalgia is a syndrome characterized by chronic, diffuse musculoskeletal pain, and by a low pain threshold at specific anatomical points. The syndrome is associated with other symptoms such as fatigue, sleep disturbance, morning stiffness and anxiety. Because of its chronic nature, it often has a negative impact on patients' quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To assess the quality of life and anxiety level of patients with fibromyalgia. TYPE Of STUDY: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Rheumatology outpatient service of Hospital das Clínicas (Medical School, Universidade de São Paulo). METHODS: This study evaluated 80 individuals, divided between test and control groups. The test group included 40 women with a confirmed diagnosis of fibromyalgia. The control group was composed of 40 healthy women. Three questionnaires were used: two to assess quality of life (FIQ and SF-36) and one to assess anxiety (STAI). They were applied to the individuals in both groups in a single face-to-face interview. The statistical analysis used Student's t test and Pearson's correlation test (r), with a significance level of 95%. Also, the Pearson chi-squared statistics test for homogeneity, with Yates correction, was used for comparing schooling between test and control groups. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference between the groups (p = 0.000), thus indicating that fibromyalgia patients have a worse quality of life and higher levels of anxiety. The correlations between the three questionnaires were high (r = 0.9). DISCUSSION: This study has confirmed the efficacy of FIQ for evaluating the impact of fibromyalgia on the quality of life. SF-36 is less specific than FIQ, although statistically significant values were obtained when analyzed separately, STAI showed lower efficacy for discriminating the test group from the control group. The test group showed worse quality of life than did the control group, which was demonstrated by both FIQ and SF-36. Even though STAI was a less efficient instrument, it presented significant results, showing that fibromyalgia patients presented higher levels of anxiety, both on the state and trait scales. Thus, patients with fibromyalgia had higher levels of tension, nervousness, preoccupation and apprehension, and higher propensity towards anxiety. CONCLUSION: The three instruments utilized showed efficiency in evaluating fibromyalgia patients. FIQ was found to be the most efficient instrument for discriminating and assessing the impact of fibromyalgia on their quality of life. It can be concluded that such patients have a worse quality of life and higher levels of anxiety.

This work presents a method to analyze characteristics of a set of genes that can have an influence in a certain anomaly, such as a particular type of cancer. A measure is proposed with the objective of diagnosing individuals regarding the anomaly under study and some characteristics of the genes are analyzed. Maximum likelihood equations for general and particular cases are presented.

Três lotes de vacinas contra o sarampo, produzidos com a cepa de vírus Biken CAM-70, sob as formas liofilizada e reconstituída, pertencentes ao estoque da rede de vacinação da Secretaria de Estado da Saúde de São Paulo, Brasil, foram submetidos a testes de sensibilidade à luz, à temperatura de 2 a 8°C, e de termoestabilidade (protegidos da luz) às temperaturas de 28, 36,5 e 45°C, objetivando verificar por quanto tempo retinham sua potência, isto é, a concentração ideal recomendada para a cepa de vírus presente (3,70 log 10 DICT50 ou 5.000 doses infectantes de cultura de tecidos 50% por dose). A análise de retas de regressão ajustadas demonstrou que, de modo geral, tanto os lotes de vacinas liofilizados como os reconstituídos, mantidos às referidas temperaturas, expostos ou protegidos da luz, apresentaram queda de potência no decorrer do experimento, a qual foi mais acentuada para vacinas expostas à luz. Reconstituídos e mantidos a 2 a 8°C, os lotes não apresentaram homogeneidade no referente à sensibilidade à luz. Quando a fotossensibilidade de lotes de vacinas liofilizadas foi testada a 2 a 8°C eles mostraram-se mais sensíveis à degradação térmica quando expostos à luz do que quando protegidos dela. Entretanto, expostos ou protegidos, a potência foi inferior à minima aceita para a cepa Biken CAM-70. Às demais temperaturas, mesmo ao abrigo da luz, os dois lotes não retiveram potência mínima. Quanto às vacinas do lote 3, conservadas a 2 a 8°C, mantiveram-se de acordo com os requerimentos mínimos de potência durante 60 dias quando protegidas da luz, e durante 40 dias quando expostas a ela. A degradação térmica às demais temperaturas foi mais acentuada (28°C: 5 dias; 36,5°C: 2 dias; 45°C: 0,5 dia). Considerando a concentração viral mínima que vacinas produzidas com a cepa Biken CAM-70 devem conter para induzir efetiva resposta imunológica, os lotes de vacinas pesquisados (sob a forma liofilizada ou reconstituídos para administração) apresentaram, além de baixa estabilidade ao calor, pouca homogeneidade com relação a este parâmetro.

Three different lots of measles vaccines produced with the Biken CAM-70 virus strain were requested from the central cold store of the Public Health Department of the State of S. Paulo, Brazil, and assays on photosensitivity at 2-8° C, and on stability at 28, 36.5 and 45° C were carried out to find out for how long these vaccines would maintain their minimum potency, established as being 3.70 log10 or 5000 TCID50 (50% tissue culture infective dose ) per human dose. The analysis of the adjusted straight regression lines indicated that, with the passage of time, the potency of lyophilized or reconstituted vaccines, as well as of vaccines exposed to or protected from light decreased. Light-exposed vaccines, however, became less potent than vaccines protected from the light. None of the vaccine lots studied, reconstituted and stored at 2-8° C, exhibited homogeneity as to sensitivity to light. When freeze-dried vaccines had their photosensitivity studied at 2-8° C, lots 1 and 2 presented greater thermal degradation when exposed to light than when protected from it. However, in both instances, it was found that potency fell bellow that taken as minimum for the Biken CAM-70 virus strain. At all other temperatures considered, even when protected from light, lots 1 and 2 did not retain the minimum potency. Lot 3 kept the expected stability for 60 days at 2-8° C when protected from light and for 40 days when unprotected, but its thermal degradation at other temperatures was more intense (28° C: 5 days; 36.5° C: 2 days; 45° C: 0.5 day). Taking into account the potency that measles vaccines produced with the Biken CAM-70 virus strain are required to contain in order to induce effective immunity, the three vaccine lots studied were found to possess low thermal stability and to lack homogeneity both in the freeze-dried as well as in the reconstituted form.

Três lotes de vacinas contra o sarampo, produzidos com a cepa de vírus Biken CAM-70, sob as formas liofilizada e reconstituída, pertencentes ao estoque da rede de vacinação da Secretaria de Estado da Saúde de São Paulo, Brasil, foram submetidos a testes de sensibilidade à luz, à temperatura de 2 a 8°C, e de termoestabilidade (protegidos da luz) às temperaturas de 28, 36,5 e 45°C, objetivando verificar por quanto tempo retinham sua potência, isto é, a concentração ideal recomendada para a cepa de vírus presente (3,70 log 10 DICT50 ou 5.000 doses infectantes de cultura de tecidos 50% por dose). A análise de retas de regressão ajustadas demonstrou que, de modo geral, tanto os lotes de vacinas liofilizados como os reconstituídos, mantidos às referidas temperaturas, expostos ou protegidos da luz, apresentaram queda de potência no decorrer do experimento, a qual foi mais acentuada para vacinas expostas à luz. Reconstituídos e mantidos a 2 a 8°C, os lotes não apresentaram homogeneidade no referente à sensibilidade à luz. Quando a fotossensibilidade de lotes de vacinas liofilizadas foi testada a 2 a 8°C eles mostraram-se mais sensíveis à degradação térmica quando expostos à luz do que quando protegidos dela. Entretanto, expostos ou protegidos, a potência foi inferior à minima aceita para a cepa Biken CAM-70. Às demais temperaturas, mesmo ao abrigo da luz, os dois lotes não retiveram potência mínima. Quanto às vacinas do lote 3, conservadas a 2 a 8°C, mantiveram-se de acordo com os requerimentos mínimos de potência durante 60 dias quando protegidas da luz, e durante 40 dias quando expostas a ela. A degradação térmica às demais temperaturas foi mais acentuada (28°C: 5 dias; 36,5°C: 2 dias; 45°C: 0,5 dia). Considerando a concentração viral mínima que vacinas produzidas com a cepa Biken CAM-70 devem conter para induzir efetiva resposta imunológica, os lotes de vacinas pesquisados (sob a forma liofilizada ou reconstituídos para administração) apresentaram, além de baixa estabilidade ao calor, pouca homogeneidade com relação a este parâmetro.

Three different lots of measles vaccines produced with the Biken CAM-70 virus strain were requested from the central cold store of the Public Health Department of the State of S. Paulo, Brazil, and assays on photosensitivity at 2-8° C, and on stability at 28, 36.5 and 45° C were carried out to find out for how long these vaccines would maintain their minimum potency, established as being 3.70 log10 or 5000 TCID50 (50% tissue culture infective dose ) per human dose. The analysis of the adjusted straight regression lines indicated that, with the passage of time, the potency of lyophilized or reconstituted vaccines, as well as of vaccines exposed to or protected from light decreased. Light-exposed vaccines, however, became less potent than vaccines protected from the light. None of the vaccine lots studied, reconstituted and stored at 2-8° C, exhibited homogeneity as to sensitivity to light. When freeze-dried vaccines had their photosensitivity studied at 2-8° C, lots 1 and 2 presented greater thermal degradation when exposed to light than when protected from it. However, in both instances, it was found that potency fell bellow that taken as minimum for the Biken CAM-70 virus strain. At all other temperatures considered, even when protected from light, lots 1 and 2 did not retain the minimum potency. Lot 3 kept the expected stability for 60 days at 2-8° C when protected from light and for 40 days when unprotected, but its thermal degradation at other temperatures was more intense (28° C: 5 days; 36.5° C: 2 days; 45° C: 0.5 day). Taking into account the potency that measles vaccines produced with the Biken CAM-70 virus strain are required to contain in order to induce effective immunity, the three vaccine lots studied were found to possess low thermal stability and to lack homogeneity both in the freeze-dried as well as in the reconstituted form.