CONEXÃO URBANA: ESTRATÉGIA DE DESENVOLVIMENTO SUSTENTÁVEL

The scarcity of economic resources is a reality, especially in underdeveloped and developing countries which, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been worsening even more. Therefore, we understand the importance of seeking solutions that help to mitigate this shortage, through an urban design that is more appropriate for our cities. In this sense, this article proposes the debate on community spaces aimed at income generation, identifying challenges and opportunities in vulnerable communities. Projects from different countries in Latin America were selected that seek to respond to local demands, through social technologies and collaborative design and assisted self-construction processes. The intention was to analyze and identify common characteristics between the projects and systematize the data. Thus, this article aims to contribute to the debate on urban design solutions to improve the quality of life and contribute to the production of more inclusive, resilient, sustainable and healthy cities.O fortalecimento dos polos urbanos vai ao encontro do desenvolvimento urbano sustentável. Entretanto, a integração entre esses polos pode ser dificultada, por exemplo, por acidentes geográficos, constituindo obstáculos que impedem ou condicionam a implementação ou prolongamento dos traçados viários, dificultando a legilibidade, integração socioespacial e interação social. Nesse sentido, este artigo busca ampliar o debate sobre forma urbana, desafios e possibilidades para conexão urbana e adota como objeto de estudo projeto desenvolvido para trecho da cidade de Montenegro/ RS. Foi verificada a possibilidade de conexão da cidade, através dos acidentes geográficos, a partir de três elementos: sistema viário, mobilidade e centralidade. Portanto, esse trabalho sugere que projetos que contemplam a estruturação de polos urbanos e suas conexões podem melhorar a legibilidade e integração socioespacial, favorecendo o sentimento de pertencimento, a familiaridade com o lugar e a interação social. Por fim, pretende contribuir para o debate de soluções de desenho urbano para a produção de cidades inclusivas, resilientes, saudáveis e sustentáveis

Influência da cinoterapia e perfil do animal durante exercícios fisioterapêuticos na Síndrome de Smith Lemli Optiz

A cinoterapia é uma modalidade de tratamento que utiliza o cão como facilitador para a realização das atividades, promovendo a saúde física através de mecanismos básicos que incluem, a diminuição da solidão, depressão e ansiedade, aumento do estímulo para prática de exercícios, melhora da saúde social, emocional e cognitiva, além dos efeitos sobre o sistema nervoso simpático. No entanto, para a realização da atividade, o animal deve ter um perfil adequado. O estudo objetivou avaliar o efeito motivador da cinoterapia em uma criança com diagnóstico de Síndrome de Smith Lemli Optiz, bem como a influência do perfil do cão na execução dos exercícios. A pesquisa foi realizada com uma criança do sexo feminino, com idade de 4 anos de idade. O protocolo de tratamento consistiu em alongamento dos músculos isquiotibiais e abdutores de quadril, estimulação à postura ajoelhada e ajoelhada com rotação de tronco, transferência do sentado para a ortostase, a ortostase e o deambular, nos quais foi analisado o tempo de realização através de filmagem. Para a avaliação da motivação foi realizado o teste adaptado de McAuley, Duncan & Tammen (1987). Os resultados encontrados mostram que a cinoterapia teve influência positiva no tempo de realização dos exercícios e que o perfil do animal quando não é adequado à realização da cinoterapia exerce influencia negativa.

ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ ЕКОНОМІЧНОЇ ПРИРОДИ АМОРТИЗАЦІЇ

В статті досліджується амортизація як економічна категорія і реальний процес господарської діяльності підприємств. Виділені основні проблеми, що виникають під час її обліку та стоять на заваді використання амортизації як джерела нагромадження основного капіталу. Запропоновано напрямки перетворення її у власне інвестиційне джерело підприємств. Depreciation as an economic category and real process of enterprises’ activity are investigated in the article. The author determines the main problems, which are the obstacles for depreciation’s calculating as well as using it as the source of the fixed capital accumulation, and suggests the ways of transformation it into own investment source of the enterprises

Bacterial cell wall compounds as promising targets of antimicrobial agents I. Antimicrobial peptides and lipopolyamines

The first barrier that an antimicrobial agent must overcome when interacting with its target is the microbial cell wall. In the case of Gram-negative bacteria, additional to the cytoplasmic membrane and the peptidoglycan layer, an outer membrane (OM) is the outermost barrier. The OM has an asymmetric distribution of the lipids with phospholipids and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) located in the inner and outer leaflets, respectively. In contrast, Gram-positive bacteria lack OM and possess a much thicker peptidoglycan layer compared to their Gram-negative counterparts. An additional class of amphiphiles exists in Gram-positives, the lipoteichoic acids (LTA), which may represent important structural components. These long molecules cross-bridge the entire cell envelope with their lipid component inserting into the outer leaflet of the cytoplasmic membrane and the teichoic acid portion penetrating into the peptidoglycan layer. Furthermore, both classes of bacteria have other important amphiphiles, such as lipoproteins, whose importance has become evident only recently. It is not known yet whether any of these amphiphilic components are able to stimulate the immune system under physiological conditions as constituents of intact bacteria. However, all of them have a very high pro-inflammatory activity when released from the cell. Such a release may take place through the interaction with the immune system, or with antibiotics (particularly with those targeting cell wall components), or simply by the bacterial division. Therefore, a given antimicrobial agent must ideally have a double character, namely, it must overcome the bacterial cell wall barrier, without inducing the liberation of the pro-inflammatory amphiphiles. Here, new data are presented which describe the development and use of membrane-active antimicrobial agents, in particular antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and lipopolyamines. In this way, essential progress was achieved, in particular with respect to the inhibition of deleterious consequences of bacterial infections such as severe sepsis and septic shock

Vaccination with Recombinant Microneme Proteins Confers Protection against Experimental Toxoplasmosis in Mice

Toxoplasmosis, a zoonotic disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii, is an important public health problem and veterinary concern. Although there is no vaccine for human toxoplasmosis, many attempts have been made to develop one. Promising vaccine candidates utilize proteins, or their genes, from microneme organelle of T. gondii that are involved in the initial stages of host cell invasion by the parasite. In the present study, we used different recombinant microneme proteins (TgMIC1, TgMIC4, or TgMIC6) or combinations of these proteins (TgMIC1-4 and TgMIC1-4-6) to evaluate the immune response and protection against experimental toxoplasmosis in C57BL/6 mice. Vaccination with recombinant TgMIC1, TgMIC4, or TgMIC6 alone conferred partial protection, as demonstrated by reduced brain cyst burden and mortality rates after challenge. Immunization with TgMIC1-4 or TgMIC1-4-6 vaccines provided the most effective protection, since 70% and 80% of mice, respectively, survived to the acute phase of infection. In addition, these vaccinated mice, in comparison to non-vaccinated ones, showed reduced parasite burden by 59% and 68%, respectively. The protective effect was related to the cellular and humoral immune responses induced by vaccination and included the release of Th1 cytokines IFN-γ and IL-12, antigen-stimulated spleen cell proliferation, and production of antigen-specific serum antibodies. Our results demonstrate that microneme proteins are potential vaccines against T. gondii, since their inoculation prevents or decreases the deleterious effects of the infection

Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use in early acute respiratory distress syndrome : Insights from the LUNG SAFE study

Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: Concerns exist regarding the prevalence and impact of unnecessary oxygen use in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We examined this issue in patients with ARDS enrolled in the Large observational study to UNderstand the Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE (LUNG SAFE) study. Methods: In this secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE study, we wished to determine the prevalence and the outcomes associated with hyperoxemia on day 1, sustained hyperoxemia, and excessive oxygen use in patients with early ARDS. Patients who fulfilled criteria of ARDS on day 1 and day 2 of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure were categorized based on the presence of hyperoxemia (PaO2 > 100 mmHg) on day 1, sustained (i.e., present on day 1 and day 2) hyperoxemia, or excessive oxygen use (FIO2 ≥ 0.60 during hyperoxemia). Results: Of 2005 patients that met the inclusion criteria, 131 (6.5%) were hypoxemic (PaO2 < 55 mmHg), 607 (30%) had hyperoxemia on day 1, and 250 (12%) had sustained hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use occurred in 400 (66%) out of 607 patients with hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use decreased from day 1 to day 2 of ARDS, with most hyperoxemic patients on day 2 receiving relatively low FIO2. Multivariate analyses found no independent relationship between day 1 hyperoxemia, sustained hyperoxemia, or excess FIO2 use and adverse clinical outcomes. Mortality was 42% in patients with excess FIO2 use, compared to 39% in a propensity-matched sample of normoxemic (PaO2 55-100 mmHg) patients (P = 0.47). Conclusions: Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use are both prevalent in early ARDS but are most often non-sustained. No relationship was found between hyperoxemia or excessive oxygen use and patient outcome in this cohort. Trial registration: LUNG-SAFE is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073publishersversionPeer reviewe

Septicaemia models using Streptococcus pneumoniae and Listeria monocytogenes: understanding the role of complement properdin

Streptococcus pneumoniae and Listeria monocytogenes, pathogens which can cause severe infectious disease in human, were used to infect properdin-deficient and wildtype mice. The aim was to deduce a role for properdin, positive regulator of the alternative pathway of complement activation, by comparing and contrasting the immune response of the two genotypes in vivo. We show that properdin-deficient and wildtype mice mounted antipneumococcal serotype-specific IgM antibodies, which were protective. Properdin-deficient mice, however, had increased survival in the model of streptococcal pneumonia and sepsis. Low activity of the classical pathway of complement and modulation of FcγR2b expression appear to be pathogenically involved. In listeriosis, however, properdin-deficient mice had reduced survival and a dendritic cell population that was impaired in maturation and activity. In vitro analyses of splenocytes and bone marrow-derived myeloid cells support the view that the opposing outcomes of properdin-deficient and wildtype mice in these two infection models is likely to be due to a skewing of macrophage activity to an M2 phenotype in the properdin-deficient mice. The phenotypes observed thus appear to reflect the extent to which M2- or M1-polarised macrophages are involved in the immune responses to S. pneumoniae and L. monocytogenes. We conclude that properdin controls the strength of immune responses by affecting humoral as well as cellular phenotypes during acute bacterial infection and ensuing inflammation

Properdin in immunity: In vitro and in vivo investigations.

The complement system is one of the defence systems used by the host to protect itself against pathogens. It is divided into three complement pathways: the antibodydependent classical pathway, the lectin pathway and the alternative pathway. This latter antibody-independent pathway is auto-activated and leads to the generation and the deposition of C3b molecules on the pathogen’s surface. Properdin, the only positive regulator of this pathway, plays a major role by stabilising the alternative C3 convertase that leads to the creation of the amplification loop. Only little was known about the biology of properdin at the beginning of this project, despite the fact that properdin was discovered more than 50 years ago and despite the important role played by this molecule in immunity, as illustrated by the higher susceptibility to severe meningococcal disease encountered by properdin-deficient people. My thesis dealt with three experimental outlines to determine the role of properdin in immunity Properdin was examined from its global expression by various organs to its specific expression by different cell types. I have first shown using molecular biology and bioinformatics tools that properdin was expressed at a relatively high level in different lymphoid organs. I have then examined in more detail the expression of properdin by one of these organs, namely the spleen, using immunofluorescence. Properdin was thus shown to be present only in the white pulp compartment of this organ, where it was organised in clusters of properdin-positive cells possessing long cytoplasmic extensions. Next, I studied the expression of properdin by auxiliary cells. I have first given evidence that properdin was deposited on the surface of platelets and that this level of deposition was related to the activation state of the platelets. I have then shown for the first time that properdin was expressed by two mast cell lines. Microscopic analyses then demonstrated that properdin was present on the mast cell membrane and was present mainly as clusters on membrane extensions similar to vesicles in the process of being released. Further analyses on vesicles released by mast cells confirmed that properdin was enriched in a fraction of vesicles similar in size and in shape to microvesicles. Finally, the role played by properdin during bacterial infection was investigated using a pneumococcal pneumonia model. This study showed that properdin-deficient mice presented a worse level of infection than their wild-type littermates 2 days postinfection. This was associated with an unexpected higher survival rate for properdindeficient animals one week following the challenge. Therefore, in this model, while properdin was seen to be beneficial during the first 48 hours post-infection, by controlling the infection, the absence of properdin led to increased survival following infection. This study thus showed for the first time that properdin could play a bivalent role during infection, the higher inflammatory response engendered by properdin turning from being beneficial to being detrimental to the host over time

Properdin in immunity : in vitro and in vivo investigations

The complement system is one of the defence systems used by the host to protect itself against pathogens. It is divided into three complement pathways: the antibodydependent classical pathway, the lectin pathway and the alternative pathway. This latter antibody-independent pathway is auto-activated and leads to the generation and the deposition of C3b molecules on the pathogen’s surface. Properdin, the only positive regulator of this pathway, plays a major role by stabilising the alternative C3 convertase that leads to the creation of the amplification loop. Only little was known about the biology of properdin at the beginning of this project, despite the fact that properdin was discovered more than 50 years ago and despite the important role played by this molecule in immunity, as illustrated by the higher susceptibility to severe meningococcal disease encountered by properdin-deficient people. My thesis dealt with three experimental outlines to determine the role of properdin in immunity Properdin was examined from its global expression by various organs to its specific expression by different cell types. I have first shown using molecular biology and bioinformatics tools that properdin was expressed at a relatively high level in different lymphoid organs. I have then examined in more detail the expression of properdin by one of these organs, namely the spleen, using immunofluorescence. Properdin was thus shown to be present only in the white pulp compartment of this organ, where it was organised in clusters of properdin-positive cells possessing long cytoplasmic extensions. Next, I studied the expression of properdin by auxiliary cells. I have first given evidence that properdin was deposited on the surface of platelets and that this level of deposition was related to the activation state of the platelets. I have then shown for the first time that properdin was expressed by two mast cell lines. Microscopic analyses then demonstrated that properdin was present on the mast cell membrane and was present mainly as clusters on membrane extensions similar to vesicles in the process of being released. Further analyses on vesicles released by mast cells confirmed that properdin was enriched in a fraction of vesicles similar in size and in shape to microvesicles. Finally, the role played by properdin during bacterial infection was investigated using a pneumococcal pneumonia model. This study showed that properdin-deficient mice presented a worse level of infection than their wild-type littermates 2 days postinfection. This was associated with an unexpected higher survival rate for properdindeficient animals one week following the challenge. Therefore, in this model, while properdin was seen to be beneficial during the first 48 hours post-infection, by controlling the infection, the absence of properdin led to increased survival following infection. This study thus showed for the first time that properdin could play a bivalent role during infection, the higher inflammatory response engendered by properdin turning from being beneficial to being detrimental to the host over time.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo