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[Study of socioeconomic home environment of children hospitalised at the Department of Paediatrics of Municipal Hospital in Łodz]

Med Wieku Rozwoj. 2007 Apr-Jun;11(2 Pt 1):173-7

Authors: Wosik-Erenbek M, Krenc Z, Mazurowski W

One of types of child abuse is lack of proper care concerning health and development. This was the motivation to carry out this study in hospitalised children in our Department. AIM: analysis of socioeconomic home environment of children hospitalised in the Department of Paediatrics of municipal hospital, situated in the centre of Łodz city. MATERIAL AND METHOD: the analysis was carried out in 618 children (326 girls and 292 boys), aged from 3 to 18 years, hospitalised in the Department of Paediatrics during the year 2006. The following factors were analysed, cause of admission, family structure, parental legal situation, parents education, parents (or guardians) occupation, number of siblings, living conditions. RESULTS: concerning living conditions: 9.2% studied children lived in one room with 4 or more persons, 5% children were from residential care, the homes of 40% families locked basic sanitary standards. Data concerning mothers: 63% had primary education, 41.7% were working, 2.9% were either dead or did not live with the family, 4.5% had reduced or no parental rights. Data concerning fathers: 50.2% had primary education, 26.5% were not working, 17.2% were dead or were not living with the family, 7.4% had reduced or no parented rights. Analysis of cause of admission and number of hospitalisations of these children may be related to insufficient care for their well being and development, in a significant on part of parents or other care gives. CONCLUSIONS: In the home setting of a large part of children treated in our Paediatric Department of the Lodz Municipal Hospital the study indicated gross evidence of poverty, which may have led to health neglect. This shows the need for more precise studies. The present results will serve as guidelines for elaboration and implementation of a more complex and effective programme for prevention of factors of health neglect, which is one of the elements of child abuse.

PMID: 17625288 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Endothelium-dependent vasodilator effect of Euterpe oleracea Mart. (Açaí) extracts in mesenteric vascular bed of the rat.

Vascul Pharmacol. 2007 Feb;46(2):97-104

Authors: Rocha AP, Carvalho LC, Sousa MA, Madeira SV, Sousa PJ, Tano T, Schini-Kerth VB, Resende AC, Soares de Moura R

Açai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) a fruit from the Amazon region, largely consumed in Brazil is rich in polyphenols. Experiments were undertaken to determine whether hydro-alcoholic extract obtained from stone of açaí induces a vasodilator effect in the rat mesenteric vascular bed precontracted with norepinephrine (NE) and, if so, to elucidate the underlying mechanism. Açai stone extract (ASE, 0.3-100 microg) induced a long-lasting endothelium-dependent vasodilation that was significantly reduced by N(G)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME) and (1)H-[1,2,3] oxadiazolo [4,4-a] quinoxalin-l-one (ODQ) and abolished by KCl (45 mM) plus l-NAME. In vessels precontrated with NE and KCl (45 mM) or treated with K(Ca)(+2) channel blockers (charybdotoxin plus apamin), the effect of ASE was significantly reduced. However this effect is not affect by indomethacin, glybenclamide and 4-aminopiridine. Atropine, pyrilamine, yohimbine and HOE 140 significantly reduced the vasodilator effect of acetylcholine, histamine, clonidine and bradykinin, respectively, but did not change the vasodilator effect of ASE. In cultured endothelial cells ASE (100 microg/mL) induced the formation of NO that was reduced by N(G)-nitro-l-arginine (l-NA, 100 microM). The present study demonstrates that the vasodilator effect of ASE is dependent on activation of NO-cGMP pathway and may also involve endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) release. The vasodilator effect suggest a possibility to use ASE as a medicinal plant, in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

PMID: 17049314 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Antioxidant capacity and other bioactivities of the freeze-dried Amazonian palm berry, Euterpe oleraceae mart. (acai).

J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Nov 1;54(22):8604-10

Authors: Schauss AG, Wu X, Prior RL, Ou B, Huang D, Owens J, Agarwal A, Jensen GS, Hart AN, Shanbrom E

The fruit of Euterpe oleraceae, commonly known as acai, has been demonstrated to exhibit significantly high antioxidant capacity in vitro, especially for superoxide and peroxyl scavenging, and, therefore, may have possible health benefits. In this study, the antioxidant capacities of freeze-dried acai fruit pulp/skin powder (OptiAcai) were evaluated by different assays with various free radical sources. It was found to have exceptional activity against superoxide in the superoxide scavenging (SOD) assay, the highest of any food reported to date against the peroxyl radical as measured by the oxygen radical absorbance capacity assay with fluorescein as the fluorescent probe (ORACFL), and mild activity against both the peroxynitrite and hydroxyl radical by the peroxynitrite averting capacity (NORAC) and hydroxyl radical averting capacity (HORAC) assays, respectively. The SOD of acai was 1614 units/g, an extremely high scavenging capacity for O2*-, by far the highest of any fruit or vegetable tested to date. Total phenolics were also tested as comparison. In the total antioxidant (TAO) assay, antioxidants in acai were differentiated into “slow-acting” and “fast-acting” components. An assay measuring inhibition of reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation in freshly purified human neutrophils showed that antioxidants in acai are able to enter human cells in a fully functional form and to perform an oxygen quenching function at very low doses. Furthermore, other bioactivities related to anti-inflammation and immune functions were also investigated. Acai was found to be a potential cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and COX-2 inhibitor. It also showed a weak effect on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide but no effect on either lymphocyte proliferation and phagocytic capacity.

PMID: 17061840 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Developing a telepresence robot for interpersonal communication with the elderly in a home environment.

Telemed J E Health. 2007 Aug;13(4):407-24

Authors: Tsai TC, Hsu YL, Ma AI, King T, Wu CH

“Telepresence” is an interesting field that includes virtual reality implementations with human-system interfaces, communication technologies, and robotics. This paper describes the development of a telepresence robot called Telepresence Robot for Interpersonal Communication (TRIC) for the purpose of interpersonal communication with the elderly in a home environment. The main aim behind TRIC’s development is to allow elderly populations to remain in their home environments, while loved ones and caregivers are able to maintain a higher level of communication and monitoring than via traditional methods. TRIC aims to be a low-cost, lightweight robot, which can be easily implemented in the home environment. Under this goal, decisions on the design elements included are discussed. In particular, the implementation of key autonomous behaviors in TRIC to increase the user’s capability of projection of self and operation of the telepresence robot, in addition to increasing the interactive capability of the participant as a dialogist are emphasized. The technical development and integration of the modules in TRIC, as well as human factors considerations are then described. Preliminary functional tests show that new users were able to effectively navigate TRIC and easily locate visual targets. Finally the future developments of TRIC, especially the possibility of using TRIC for home tele-health monitoring and tele-homecare visits are discussed.

PMID: 17848109 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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