Composites Based on Post-Industrial Wood Plastic Waste and Ultrasonic Treated Muscovite

In this work muscovite was ultrasonically treated to obtain composites with post-industrial wood plastic residues. The muscovite was ultrasonicated for 30 or 60 min and mixed with the polymeric matrix at a constant level of 15% (weight percentage). The composites were prepared in a single-screw extruder and formed into flat films for characterization. SEM images of the ultrasonicated muscovite revealed the occurrence of delamination, while the particle size distribution results suggested a decrease in size with longer sonication time. FTIR spectra also indicated the occurrence of delamination of the material. The composites exhibited a slight increase in density and a large increase in impact resistance of the samples with ultrasonicated muscovite. The XRD of the composites suggested the occurrence of alignment of the mineral in the matrix. The results indicate that ultrasonication is an effective method to improve the interaction and dispersion of muscovite with wood plastic waste to obtain composites

PROA - Curso de Pós-Graduação Lato Sensu Especialização em Tecnologias da Informação e da Comunicação na Promoção da Aprendizagem

O curso de especialização a distância "Aplicações das Tecnologias da Informação e da Comunicação na Promoção da Aprendizagem", promovido pelo IM/UFRGS, visa qualificar professores para atuarem como multiplicadores do uso das Tecnologias da Informação e da Comunicação na Educação, privilegiando a aprendizagem baseada na construção cooperativa de conhecimento. A arquitetura pedagógica do curso tem por base a utilização de uma metodologia interativa e problematizadora e, como eixo central, o desenvolvimento de "Projetos de Aprendizagem" interdisciplinares com a utilização da telemática. A estruturação básica da formação, enfatiza uma articulação entre os estudos teóricos-metodológicos e a apropriação tecnológica, em torno de situações práticas

Transtornos da saúde mental e comprometimento da qualidade de vida entre os estudantes de medicina no Brasil / Mental health disorders and compromised qualily of life among medical students in Brazil

INTRODUÇÃO: A saúde mental representa uma condição indispensável para o futuro profissional médico. No entanto, estudos vêm mostrando um grande aumento de transtornos mentais entre os estudantes de medicina brasileiros. A partir desta temática, este artigo teve como objetivo analisar o desenvolvimento dos transtornos de saúde mental entre estudantes de medicina no Brasil. METODOLOGIA: Trata-se de uma revisão narrativa da literatura com abordagem qualitativa. As bases de dados científicas Pubmed, Scielo, Lilacs e BVS foram pesquisadas em busca de estudos, em inglês e português, sobre a saúde mental dos estudantes de medicina brasileiros, publicados de 2010 até 2021. RESULTADOS E DISCUSSÃO:  Foi evidenciado que há uma prevalência maior de transtornos de saúde mental entre estudantes de medicina brasileiros que na população em geral. Existem fatores de riscos inerentes ao próprio estudante, como o distanciamento familiar e o aumento de responsabilidades, e há os fatores relacionados à instituição de ensino, como o excesso de trabalhos e a grande carga horária. Consequentemente, os acadêmicos ficam vulneráveis às desordens mentais, principalmente ansiedade e depressão, as quais interferem no seu desempenho social e discente. Dessa forma, as instituições de ensino superior devem criar estratégias, como serviços de apoio psicossociais, para o enfrentamento deste quadro.  CONCLUSÃO: Este estudo revelou aspectos relacionados aos transtornos de saúde mental entre estudantes de medicina no Brasil, como os impactos causados no desempenho acadêmico e na qualidade de vida. Diante disso, as instituições de ensino devem apresentar estratégias para o enfretamento dessa realidade

COVID-19 Severity and Survival over Time in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies: A Population-Based Registry Study

Mortality rates for COVID-19 have declined over time in the general population, but data in patients with hematologic malignancies are contradictory. We identified independent prognostic factors for COVID-19 severity and survival in unvaccinated patients with hematologic malignancies, compared mortality rates over time and versus non-cancer inpatients, and investigated post COVID-19 condition. Data were analyzed from 1166 consecutive, eligible patients with hematologic malignancies from the population-based HEMATO-MADRID registry, Spain, with COVID-19 prior to vaccination roll-out, stratified into early (February–June 2020; n = 769 (66%)) and later (July 2020–February 2021; n = 397 (34%)) cohorts. Propensity-score matched non-cancer patients were identified from the SEMI-COVID registry. A lower proportion of patients were hospitalized in the later waves (54.2%) compared to the earlier (88.6%), OR 0.15, 95%CI 0.11–0.20. The proportion of hospitalized patients admitted to the ICU was higher in the later cohort (103/215, 47.9%) compared with the early cohort (170/681, 25.0%, 2.77; 2.01–3.82). The reduced 30-day mortality between early and later cohorts of non-cancer inpatients (29.6% vs. 12.6%, OR 0.34; 0.22–0.53) was not paralleled in inpatients with hematologic malignancies (32.3% vs. 34.8%, OR 1.12; 0.81–1.5). Among evaluable patients, 27.3% had post COVID-19 condition. These findings will help inform evidence-based preventive and therapeutic strategies for patients with hematologic malignancies and COVID-19 diagnosis.Depto. de MedicinaFac. de MedicinaTRUEFundación Madrileña de Hematología y HemoterapiaFundación Leucemia y LinfomaAsociación Madrileña de Hematología y Hemoterapiapu

Proteases of haematophagous arthropod vectors are involved in blood-feeding, yolk formation and immunity : a review

Ticks, triatomines, mosquitoes and sand flies comprise a large number of haematophagous arthropods considered vectors of human infectious diseases. While consuming blood to obtain the nutrients necessary to carry on life functions, these insects can transmit pathogenic microorganisms to the vertebrate host. Among the molecules related to the blood-feeding habit, proteases play an essential role. In this review, we provide a panorama of proteases from arthropod vectors involved in haematophagy, in digestion, in egg development and in immunity. As these molecules act in central biological processes, proteases from haematophagous vectors of infectious diseases may influence vector competence to transmit pathogens to their prey, and thus could be valuable targets for vectorial control

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Search for new particles in events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search is presented for new particles produced at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, using events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb(-1), collected in 2017-2018 with the CMS detector. Machine learning techniques are used to define separate categories for events with narrow jets from initial-state radiation and events with large-radius jets consistent with a hadronic decay of a W or Z boson. A statistical combination is made with an earlier search based on a data sample of 36 fb(-1), collected in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the standard model background expectation determined from control samples in data. The results are interpreted in terms of limits on the branching fraction of an invisible decay of the Higgs boson, as well as constraints on simplified models of dark matter, on first-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying to quarks and neutrinos, and on models with large extra dimensions. Several of the new limits, specifically for spin-1 dark matter mediators, pseudoscalar mediators, colored mediators, and leptoquarks, are the most restrictive to date.Peer reviewe

Combined searches for the production of supersymmetric top quark partners in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A combination of searches for top squark pair production using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment, is presented. Signatures with at least 2 jets and large missing transverse momentum are categorized into events with 0, 1, or 2 leptons. New results for regions of parameter space where the kinematical properties of top squark pair production and top quark pair production are very similar are presented. Depending on themodel, the combined result excludes a top squarkmass up to 1325 GeV for amassless neutralino, and a neutralinomass up to 700 GeV for a top squarkmass of 1150 GeV. Top squarks with masses from 145 to 295 GeV, for neutralino masses from 0 to 100 GeV, with a mass difference between the top squark and the neutralino in a window of 30 GeV around the mass of the top quark, are excluded for the first time with CMS data. The results of theses searches are also interpreted in an alternative signal model of dark matter production via a spin-0 mediator in association with a top quark pair. Upper limits are set on the cross section for mediator particle masses of up to 420 GeV