Feminisation of Dentistry in Brazil from the Perspective of a MOOC-Type Distance Course - A Short Report

The Brazilian public healthcare system (SUS - Brazilian Healthcare System) provides free dental care, covering almost half of the Brazilian population. Providing continuing education to thousands of professionals is a difficult and expensive task given the country’s large size. SUS' Open University in partnership with public universities provides ongoing education to thousands of healthcare professionals using technological resources for distance learning. A distance learning course, in the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) modality, was developed to provide continuing medical education for dental surgeons to assist patients with chronic diseases. The course is free and has registered 13,089 participants. Aim: The purpose of this study is to present the profile of the MOOC course participants. Methods: Secondary data were obtained from Federal Council of Dentistry, the National Registry of Health Facilities, the National Institute for Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira and the Registry of Higher Education Institutions and Courses (e-MEC). Data of the MOOC course were collected in the Arouca Platform. Results: Dentists in Brazil are predominantly female. However, in some specialties there are more men than women. The majority of participants on the course were female 73.5% and in the age group of 21-40 years. Conclusion: This phenomenon is similar to other countries, and needs to be better investigated in Brazil, so that public policies of continuing education of healthcare professionals by means of distance learning, may take the profession's feminisation into consideration. &nbsp

Chitosan coatings in the maintenance of strawberry quality during refrigerated storage / Revestimentos de quitosana na manutenção da qualidade de morango durante o armazenamento refrigerado

 This study aimed to assess the use of chitosan coatings in the maintenance of postharvest quality of strawberries during refrigerated storage. The strawberries were selected, immersed in chitosan solution, packed and stored at 5°C for 20 days. The effect of different chitosan concentrations (0.5% and 1.0% w/v) on the qualitative aspects of the fruits was analyzed during storage. The parameters assessed were: weight loss, pH, titratable acidity, soluble solids, total sugars, reducing and non-reducing sugars and ascorbic acid. It was observed that refrigerated storage, associated with chitosan coatings, was effective in maintaining postharvest quality of strawberries, given that chitosan coatings delayed changes in weight loss, soluble solids, total sugars, reducing and non-reducing sugars, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid and pH during 20 days of storage. The chitosan concentration of 1.0% (w/v) was the most promising in maintaining quality, as well as preserving the fruits for more than 10 days under refrigeratio

Subsea processing as a tool for cost reduction of deepwater projects

Para que a produção e os lucros das empresas de petróleo não diminuam, novos campos de precisam ser descobertos e explorados. Muitas dessas novas descobertas são campos offshore em águas profundas. No entanto, a queda nos preços do petróleo nos últimos anos fez com que esse tipo de exploração, que já é um desafio em si, seja ainda mais difícil, de modo que as empresas estão postergando ou até mesmo cancelando vários projetos em águas profundas. Inovação, novas tecnologias e novos conceitos de produção e processamento de petróleo e gás são necessários para viabilizar projetos em águas profundas e aumentar sua competitividade. O objetivo do presente artigo foi analisar o processamento submarino da produção de petróleo como uma estratégia para reduzir custos, tanto de capital quanto de operação, para viabilizar a exploração de campos offshore remotos. Além disso, uma discussão sobre os benefícios e desafios dessa estratégia também foi realizada. Também inclui um estudo de caso no campo de Lula, no pré-sal brasileiro. Os resultados demonstram que o uso de separação submarina tem grande potencial para reduzir o OPEX e o CAPEX em projetos offshore. O presente estudo de caso demonstra uma redução de custos devido ao investimento nos separadores de cerca de US $6,1 bilhões, uma redução de cerca de 6 a 12 vezes na energia necessária para elevar a produção e uma redução de cerca de 5 a 7 vezes nos gastos com gás natural como combustível para os cenários avaliados.Para que la producción y los beneficios de las compañías petroleras no disminuyan, es necesario descubrir y explotar un nuevo campo petrolero. Muchos de estos nuevos descubrimientos son campos de aguas profundas en alta mar. Sin embargo, la caída de los precios del petróleo en los últimos años ha hecho que este tipo de exploración, que ya es un desafío en sí mismo, sea aún más difícil, por lo que las empresas posponen o incluso cancelan varios proyectos de aguas profundas. La innovación, las nuevas tecnologías y los nuevos conceptos de producción y procesamiento de petróleo y gas son necesarios para hacer factibles los proyectos de aguas profundas y aumentar su competitividad. El objetivo de este documento fue analizar el procesamiento submarino de la producción de petróleo como una estrategia para reducir los costos de capital y operativos para permitir la exploración remota en alta mar. Además, también se realizó una discusión sobre los beneficios y desafíos de esta estrategia. También incluye un estudio de caso en el campo de Lula, en pre-sal brasileña. Los resultados demuestran que el uso de la separación submarina tiene un gran potencial para reducir OPEX y CAPEX en proyectos offshore. El estudio de caso actual demuestra una reducción de costos debido a la inversión en los separadores de alrededor de US$ 6,1 mil millones, una reducción de aproximadamente 6 a 12 veces en la potencia necesaria para elevar la producción y una reducción de aproximadamente 5 a 7 veces en los gastos con gas natural como combustible para los escenarios evaluados.In order that the production and profits of petroleum companies do not decline, new oil field need to be discovered and exploited. Many of these new discoveries are offshore deepwater fields. However, the drop in oil prices in the last few years has made this type of exploration, which is already challenging in itself, even more difficult, so that companies are postponing or even canceling several deepwater projects. Innovation, new technologies and new concepts of oil and gas production and processing are necessary to make deepwater projects feasible and increase their competitiveness. The aim of this paper was to analyze the subsea processing of oil production as a strategy to reduce both capital and operating costs to enable remote offshore exploration. In addition, a discussion of the benefits and challenges of this strategy was also presented. It also includes a case study at the Lula field, in Brazilian pre-salt. Results demonstrate that the use of subsea separation has great potential to reduce OPEX and CAPEX on offshore projects. The current case study demonstrates a cost reduction due to the investment in the separators of around US$ 6.1 billion, a reduction about 6 to 12 times in the power needed to lift the production and a reduction of about 5 to 7 times in the expenditures with natural gas as fuel for the evaluated scenarios

Verbos introdutores de discurso direto

Estudamos verbos que introduzem discurso direto em português e alguns fatores Que determinam a possibilidade de transformação de discurso direto em indireto. Chegamos às seguintes conclusões: os verbos elocutórios dividem-se em dois grupos: os que têm o dictum como seu complemento e os que qualificam o dictum. A transformação de discurso direto em indireto não se aplica livremente, estando sujeita a certas restrições, como o principio da inserção do complemento e as restrições selecionais dos verbos

A cell viability study on an experimental model of human gingival fibroblasts cultured without foetal bovine serum

El objetivo del estudio es aportar más informaciones metodológicas y conceptuales a cerca del efecto del SBF 10% en ensayos de viabilidad celular sobre fibroblastos gingivales humanos, con la finalidad de optimizar las condiciones experimentales para la obtención de resultados más predictivos. Se utilizarán el ensayo colorimétrico WST-1 para la evaluación de proliferación celular, el ensayo de LDH para evaluación de la integridad de membrana celular, el ensayo de cuantificación de ADN mediante espectrometría y la microscopía óptica de contraste de fases para observar las alteraciones morfológicas. Entre 6 y 24 h, las células sufren poco con la ausencia del SBF 10% y no resulta imprescindible su utilización para evaluar proliferación celular y la integridad de membranas plasmática y nuclear. Sin embargo, la morfología de las células se altera, de forma intensa, a partir de 6 h de ausencia de SBF 10%, por lo que es conveniente utilizarlo para dichos estudios morfológicos.The aim of this study is to improve the methodological and conceptual knowledges about the effect of 10% foetal bovine serum in cell viability assays on human gingival fibroblasts, in order to optimize the experimental conditions to obtain more predictable results. In this study, different methods were used to determine cell proliferation, cell and nuclear membrane integrity and morphological study by using WST-1 assay, LDH assay, DNA quantification and phase contrast microscopy. Our results demonstrated that 10% foetal bovine serum deprivation for 6h up to 24h did not show changes in terms of cell proliferation, cell and nuclear membrane integrity. However, important morphological changes were observed under foetal bovine serum deprivation conditions after 6h. We conclude that, 10% foetal bovine serum does not result essential its utilization to evaluate cell proliferation and their deprivation do not compromise cell survival range and could be suppressed in cell proliferation, cell and nuclear membrane assays without affecting the assays results. In contrast, the utilization of 10% foetal bovine serum becomes crucial in morphological studies and we strongly recommend 10% foetal bovine serum supplement in morphological studies

Development of a diagnostic algorithm in periodontal disease and identification of genetic expression patterns: A preliminary report

AbstractBackground/purposeTo identify genetic expression patterns that can be used to define an appropriate diagnostic algorithm of clinical use in periodontal disease.Materials and methodsTotal RNA was extracted from 13 samples corresponding to normal human gingiva (NHG) and human gingiva affected by periodontal disease (PDHG). A comprehensive gene expression analysis was carried out by microarray analysis using Affymetrix Human Genome U133 plus 2.0 oligonucleotide arrays.ResultsSixty-six probe sets (genes and expressed sequence tags – EST) overexpressed in all samples of one of the comparison groups, were used for the diagnostic algorithm. All samples, including an independent test sample, were correctly classified as normal or periodontally affected using the diagnostic algorithm. In addition, 2596 genes/EST were upregulated and 1542 genes/EST were downregulated in PDHG, with numerous gene functions impaired in PDHG, especially those related to the immune response, cell-cell junctions, and extracellular matrix remodeling.ConclusionOur study reveals differential gene expression profiles in NHG and PDHG. The proposed diagnostic algorithm could have clinical usefulness for differential diagnosis in periodontal disease

Ensino do exame respiratório: o que é história e o que é necessidade?

A semiologia é uma das técnicas mais utilizadas na prática médica há séculos. Ensinada por meio de roteiros sistematizados, estudantes de inúmeras escolas da área de saúde por todo o mundo aprendem as manobras semiológicas como fundamento na avaliação dos pacientes. No entanto, apesar de extremamente difundida, discute-se pouco sobre sua acurácia como manobra diagnóstica. Tendo este ponto em vista, este artigo aborda a precisão das diversas manobras semiológicas do exame físico do aparelho respiratório e a descrição comparativa do seu ensino em diferentes escolas médicas no mundo. Como resultados, tem-se valores de acurácia discordantes, o que pode ser justificado pela qualidade dos estudos ou pelas variáveis analisadas que diferem entre os estudos e propostas de padronização. Em conclusão, a semiologia é a base da avaliação médica, independentemente dos avanços e disponibilidade dos exames de imagens, e cada manobra deve ser ensinada com seu devido valor científico. Conhecer a aplicabilidade e individualizar a prática das etapas do exame respiratório pode ser um caminho possível de adequação aos tempos atuais, sem impor perdas de informações relevantes para o desenvolvimento do raciocínio clínico.Medical semiology has been one of the most common techniques used in medical practice for centuries. Health science students around the globe learn these techniques through a systematized model as a fundamental skill for patient evaluation. However, though being widespread, little is known about semiology’s true accuracy as a diagnostic maneuver. Knowing that, through a literature review, this paper evaluated the precision of the preconized procedures that are used as part of the exam of the respiratory system and the comparative description of its teaching in different medical schools around the world. As a result, disagreement between several papers was found, which can be justified by the poor quality of the studies and the different variables that were studied in each one. However, one thing is still clear:  respiratory physical examination continues to be essential in medical practice, independently of the recent advances and availability of imaging exams. Teaching each step should consider available scientific evidence. The knowledge of the applicability and practical individualization of the respiratory examination can be a possible way for the current times without missing relevant information for developing clinical reasoning