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Objective: To analyze the effects of the technique of virtual reality guided imagery in the vital signs of hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation patients., Method: Quasi-experimental study with 35 participants who received an intervention using virtual reality guided imagery with progressive muscle relaxation, applied three times a week for four weeks in a referral hospital for transplants in the south of Brazil. Data collected included: temperature, arterial pressure, respiratory rate, heart rate, pain, and oxygen saturation, before and after each intervention. The comparisons were analyzed using Wilcoxon's test., Results: There was a clinical significance between the mean measurements before and after for respiratory rate (p=0.00) in all stages, and for the variables Heart rate, Temperature, and Oxygen saturation from the 1st to the 12th measurements (p=0.05)., Conclusion: The intervention was low cost, easy to apply, and showed positive effects, presenting itself as an option for patient-focused care.

The aim of this study was to determine the cause of sudden deaths in sheep in the Anari Valley of the state of Rondônia, in northern Brazil. In one outbreak, sheep were placed in an area where the owner had cut Amorimia (Mascagnia) sepium and let it dry for two days. Fourteen out of 35 sheep died with few outward clinical signs observed over a period of about 10 h after the ingestion of the dry plant. Dry A. sepium was administered experimentally to 9 sheep. Five died after the ingestion of single doses of 3-6.6 g/kg body weight (bw). Two sheep died after the ingestion of total doses of 6.4-31 g/kg bw over the course of 4 and 5 days, respectively, and one died after being treated with 33 daily doses of 0.56 g/kg bw. Six sheep died during exercise, and three died without exercise. Clinical signs were anorexia, muscular tremors, dyspnea, jugular engorgement, tachycardia, apathy, opisthotonos, foam in the nose, and recumbency. One sheep, which ingested a single dose of 1 g/kg bw, was not affected. The main macroscopic lesion was pulmonary edema. Histologic examination of the heart revealed degeneration and necrosis of cardiomyocytes, as well as multifocal inflammatory infiltrate of mononuclear cells. Fibrosis, neovascularization and infiltration by mononuclear inflammatory cells were observed in the sheep that ingested the plant for 33 days. Vacuolar-hydropic degeneration was observed in the epithelial cells of renal tubules of four sheep. It is concluded that A. sepium is responsible for sudden deaths in sheep., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Home care is defined as a group of hospital procedures that can be developed at home, encompassing health actions developed by a multiprofessional team. This study aims at disseminating the experience of a home care service offered by São Francisco Hospital, located in the city of Ribeirão Preto, presenting the results of a 12-month period (from September 2001 to August 2002). During the analyzed period, the service provided care mainly to women (57%), with age between 70 and 80 years (30%), with diagnosis of neurological diseases (27%) and tumors (17%). The sector is coordinated by nurses, who are also responsible for bringing in clients. The work is performed by an interprofessional team that performs procedures of collecting material for lab examinations, dressing, deliver care with catheters and ostomies, as well as home hospitalization.