The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of smoking and alcohol intake among university students from the Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil (UFPel), as well as to investigate factors associated with both habits. The sample included 485 students who were admitted to the university in 2008. Students were sampled randomly across all schools of the UFPel campus, and answered a pre-tested questionnaire, which was administered in the classroom by a member of the research team. Of the individuals interviewed, 53.9% were females and 42.3% were under 20 years. Regarding alcohol intake, 75% used alcohol once a month or less frequently, and the prevalence of risk for abusive alcohol intake was 6.2%. Regarding smoking, 10.2% reported smoking regularly or on weekends. More than 90% of those who smoked or used alcohol started before entering the university. Smoking was directly related to age and inversely related to self-rated health. In terms of alcohol intake, those who lived with friends were more likely to use it. Our data suggest the need for implementing strategies to promote healthy lifestyles among university students. However, the fact that more than 90% of individuals started to smoke or drink before entering the university suggests that interventions should target adolescents as a whole, and not only those who are university students, because onset of smoking and alcohol intake seems to occur at earlier ages.

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The need to study cardiovascular diseases (CVD) has become more and more relevant as their prevalence has increased over the years. An intact endothelial wall is essential to vascular health. Certain factors are responsible for maintaining this tissue intact, including nitric oxide (NO), which provokes dilation of blood vessels in response to shear stress. Expression of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) enzyme, which produces nitric oxide in response to increases in blood flow, is of fundamental importance to maintenance of the vascular system. When this enzyme is inhibited, nitric oxide production is reduced, causing endothelial dysfunction. Since C-reactive protein inhibits production of nitric oxide by the eNOS enzyme, it is one of the causes of endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular events. The objective of the present study was to review scientific articles in the literature related to the subject 'inflammatory markers and endothelial function' . A wide-ranging review of the current literature was conducted, using systematic analysis of bibliographic references indexed in PubMed, Scielo, Medline and LILACS database, for the years 1992 to 2013. The studies reviewed show that increases in inflammation causes reductions in NO and increases in cardiovascular events. Increased inflammation is associated with higher incidence of cardiovascular diseases.Keywords: inflammation; nitric oxide; endothelium. ResumoA necessidade de estudo das Doenças Cardiovasculares (DCV) vem à tona pelo aumento da sua prevalência ao longo dos anos. Uma parede endotelial íntegra é essencial para a saúde vascular. Alguns fatores são responsáveis pela integridade deste tecido, como o óxido nítrico (NO), que provoca a dilatação do vaso sanguíneo em resposta ao estresse de cisalhamento. A expressão da enzima óxido nítrico sintase endotelial (eNOS), que produz óxido nítrico em resposta ao incremento do fluxo sanguíneo, é fundamental para a manutenção do sistema vascular. Quando há inibição desta enzima, ocorre diminuição da produção de óxido nítrico, causando disfunção endotelial. A PCR inibe a produção de óxido nítrico pela enzima eNOS, sendo então uma causadora de disfunção endotelial e eventos cardiovasculares. O presente artigo tem como objetivo revisar artigos científicos na literatura relacionados ao tema 'marcadores inflamatórios e função endotelial' . Foi realizada uma ampla revisão de literatura atual, utilizando-se análise sistemática das referências bibliográficas nas bases de dados PubMed, Scielo, Medline e Lilacs, no período de 1992 a 2013. Os estudos revisados mostram que o aumento da inflamação causa uma diminuição de NO e aumento de eventos cardiovasculares. O aumento da inflamação está associado ao aumento da incidência de doenças cardiovasculares.Palavras-chave: inflamação; óxido nítrico; endotélio.

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Ramis, TR, Muller, CHdL, Boeno, FP, Teixeira, BC, Rech, A, Pompermayer, MG, Medeiros, NdS, Oliveira, ÁRd, Pinto, RS, and Ribeiro, JL. Effects of traditional and vascular restricted strength training program with equalized volume on isometric and dynamic strength, muscle thickness, electromyographic activity, and endothelial function adaptations in young adults. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2018-The purpose of the study was to evaluate and compare the acute and chronic effects of partial vascular occlusion training in young, physically active adults. Neuromuscular, morphological, and endothelial function responses were compared between high-intensity resistance training (HI-RT) and low-intensity resistance training with partial vascular occlusion (LI-BFR), despite the same training volume. The 28 subjects (age, 23.96 ± 2.67 years) were randomly assigned into 2 groups: LI-BFR (n = 15) and HI-RT (n = 13). Both groups performed unilateral exercise of elbow flexion (EF) and knee extension (KE) 3 times per week for 8 weeks. This study was approved by the ethics committee. Flow-mediated dilation showed a significant difference in baseline and post-training in the LI-BFR group (4.44 ± 0.51 vs. 6.35 ± 2.08 mm, respectively). For nitrite/nitrate concentrations only, there was a significant difference when comparing pre- and post-acute exercise in both groups. The torque and rep. Sixty percent 1 repetition maximum had improvements in both groups. There were differences between groups only in isometric delta EF and isokinetic delta KE (EF 3.42 ± 5.09 and 9.61 ± 7.52 N·m; KE 12.78 ± 25.61 and 42.69 ± 35.68 N·m; LI-BFR and HI-RT groups, respectively). There was a significant increase of muscle thickness in both groups. An increase of both isokinetic and isometric electromyography (EMG) of biceps of the HI-RT group was observed. The same was observed for the LI-BFR group regarding isokinetic and isometric EMG of vastus lateralis. Thus, in addition to strength and hypertrophy gains, this study also shows benefits related to vascular function. For practical applications, this study demonstrates a clinical importance of LI-BFR training as an alternative methodology.