Falls occur frequently among older people and represent the most common cause of injury-related morbidity and mortality in later life. Preventing falls is an important way to reduce injuries, hospitalizations, and injury-related morbidity and mortality among older people. The research literature has identified hundreds of risk factors for falls among elderly people. Prioritizing risk factors for falls is useful for designing effective and efficacious prevention programs. The aim of this study was to use the Analytic Hierarchy Process to develop a hierarchy of risk factors for falls based on the knowledge and experience of experts working in this field.

This research aimed at investigating gender stereotypes among adolescent students of two schools – one religious and the other non-religious – trying to identify possible differences that the school orientation could exert on its students in the formation, maintenance and change of stereotypes. This work proposal made it possible to trace a profile of the adolescents’ stereotyped perception on their male and female peers in three analysis levels, auto-stereotypes, hetero-stereotypes and meta- -perception. For this purpose, five-point Likert scales were utilized and the data obtained were analyzed statistically utilizing descriptive statistics and ANOVA. The analyses indicated that women are mainly characterized by collective traces. However, the number of individualistic attributes which are applied to them is quite significant, differently from the male characterization which is strongly marked by individualistic attributes and lacks of collective ones. The attributions are more intense among the students of religious school, what suggests that this group tends to utilize more often the stereotypes and that there is a marked tendency towards the ingroup in the attributions. The data indicate that women are more stereotyped than men in the number of attributes used in the characterization as well as in the intensity with which they are attributed. Keywords : adolescence; stereotypes; gender; school education.

This paper begins by pointing out that its objective is to show that the body and its gender features are represented in the children’s comic books, thus contributing to the establishment and/or the strengthening of power relations. The comics chosen for such analysis are Monica’s Gang and Xaxado’s Gang, both of them Brazilian. The first is widely broadcast by the different media. The paper analyses the chosen comics and then presents the author’s understanding of the visual culture and its relation with the educational process. It then points out the challenges for those educators who intend to use comic books in the perspective of visual culture. It concludes by defending that comic books are cultural artifacts that must be discussed, specially by teachers and educators, in order to unveil the ideological discourses that mark their narratives and understand them beyond hobby and entertainment, but as a powerful vehicle for the socialization of values, ideas, beliefs, and habits.

Progress in understanding the genetic basis and pathophysiology of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), along with continuous efforts in finding a way to increase survival motor neuron (SMN) protein levels have resulted in several strategies that have been proposed as potential directions for efficient drug development. Here we provide an overview on the current status of the following approaches: 1) activation of SMN2 gene and increasing full length SMN2 transcript level, 2) modulating SMN2 splicing, 3) stabilizing SMN mRNA and SMN protein, 4) development of neurotrophic, neuroprotective and anabolic compounds and 5) stem cell and gene therapy. The new preclinical advances warrant a cautious optimism for emergence of an effective treatment in the very near future.

<p><strong>Introduction.</strong> Extramural venous invasion (EMVI) is a significant predictive factor of the prognosis for patients with colorectal carcinoma and it is directly connected with the relapse of a disease, especially with the appearance of distant metastases. <strong>Methods.</strong> The research comprises 90 patients with colorectal cancer. Representative samples of tumor tissues obtained by surgical resection are fixed in 4% formalin and embedded into paraffin blocks. Semi-series incisions of 4&mu;m thickness were stained by HE method and Van Gieson&rsquo;s method. <strong>Results. </strong>Out of 90 analyzed patients, 21 (23,33%) were with EMVI, and 69 (76.67%) without EMVI on the histological preparations stained by HE method. EMVI was found in 7 more tumors on the preparations stained by Van Gieson&rsquo;s method. Sensitivity of the method determining EMVI on the histological preparations stained by Van Gieson&rsquo;s method was better for 25% (7/28) than on the preparations stained by HE method. EMVI was not found in patients at A and B1 stage of disease according to Astler- Coller classification, but out of 77 patients which were at B2, C1 and C2 stage EMVI was found in 28 (36,36%) patients, p&le;0,01. EMVI was found in 18/77 (23,38%) patients who had a tumor of low histological gradus, p&le;0,01 and in 10/13 (76,92%) patients who had a tumor of high histological gradus, p&le;0,01. In patients with neural invasion, EMVI was found in 18/22 (81,82%), whereas in patients without neural invasion EMVI was found in 10/68 (14,71%), p&le;0,01. In patients with weak intensity of peritumoral lymphocytic reaction EMVI was found in 20/41 (48,78%) whereas in patients with moderate and noticeable level it was found in 8/49 (16,33%), p&le;0,01. There was a significant correlation between extramural venous invasion and other parameters of unfavorable prognosis. <strong>Conclusion.</strong> EMVI is an important indicator in administration of postoperative adjuvant therapy in patients with colorectal carcinoma. A special histochemical method of elastic fiber stain should be applied in everyday practice when EMVI is not found on HE stained preparations in patients with CRC.</p>