158 research outputs found

    Antecedents of innovation in industry: The impact of work environment factors on creative performance

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    Purpose – Today, organizations must be able to create innovative strategies, and creative performance depends on knowing what hinders or stimulates creativity. This paper aims to determine which factors in the workplace environment positively or negatively affect creativity by analyzing individuals’ perceptions in a sample of Brazilian industrial companies. Design/methodology/approach – The discussion is based on the componential theory of creativity and the use of a recognized research instrument (KEYS). A regression analysis was carried out, using eight environmental factors related to creativity. The purpose of the collection is to observe the statistical relationships between the scales of the factors and the results related to creativity. Findings – Among the eight factors of the original componential theory, only three were found to have a significant impact on the creative process: organizational incentives, challenging work and support from the work group. Research limitations/implications – The sample in this study was relatively small, and a larger sample will be required to undertake factor analysis. Practical implications – Possible implications for the management of innovation in the Brazilian context are discussed in light of these results. Originality/value – This study contributed to the production of knowledge, still scarce in the country, about the search for creative solutions through the work environment by confirming which factors are significant and determinants of creative performance and challenging factors that had already been proven by other studies in non-Brazilian contexts

    Genetic and virulence characterization of colistin-resistant and colistin-sensitive A. baumannii clinical isolates.

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    Treatment of infections caused by A. baumannii is becoming a challenge due to the ability to develop multidrug-resistance, virulence, and high mortality. We described the colistin resistance and virulence genes present in sixA. baumannii clinical isolates using WGS, expression by qPCR, and virulence in the Galleria mellonella model. The colistin-resistant isolates were assigned as ST233 and the colistin-susceptible isolates as ST236 and ST407. The colistin-resistant isolates contained mutations within PmrA/PmrB, and the pmrA showed up-regulation in all of them. Only one colistin-resistant isolate indicating virulence in G. mellonella. This particular isolate belonged to a different clone, and it was the only isolate that presented non-synonymous mutations in pmrB. Colistinresistance in A. baumannii isolates seems to be caused by up-regulation of pmrA gene. Only one isolate appeared to be virulent in the G. mellonella model. This finding indicating low virulence in isolates belonging to emerging clones circulating in our hospital

    Evaluation the best condition of Fibrinolytic protease production using factorial design by Streptomyces sp DPUA 1573

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    XI Reunião Regional Nordeste da SBBq | 4th International Symposium in Biochemistry of Macromolecules and BiotechnologyFibrinolytic enzymes have the ability to degrade fibrin clots formed for avoiding intravascular thrombosis. In the pharmaceutical industry there is a search for new fibrinolytic agent that reduces the production cost and increasing productivity. The use of microorganism for enzyme production, such as the genus Streptomyces has been reported. Streptomyces is a Gram-positive bacteria, responsible for producing many bioactive compounds and extracellular enzymes of pharmaceutical interest. This study aimed to evaluated the production of fibrinolytic protease by Streptomyces sp DPUA 1573. Microbial cells were cultivated in the ISP2 for 48 hours, after this period the strains were inoculated in MS2 (soybean medium) that according with factorial design 24 (concentrations of soybean 0.5; 1.0 and 1.5%, glucose 0; 0.5 and 1.0% and different speeds 150 rpm; 200 rpm and 250 rpm and temperature 28C; 30C and 32C). The factorial design was analyzed by variance analysis (anova) and the glucose concentration showed a positive and significative effect. The results showed that the variable interaction had significant effect. that the best condition was composed 1.5% soybean, 1% glucose, 28 ºC and 150 speed in 48 hours, with production fibrinolytic 1391.66 U/mL. These values were higher than those reported in the literature. However these results show the biggest potencial in production fibrinolytic enzyme by Streptomyces.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    Evaluation of the effects of Quercetin and Kaempherol on the surface of MT-2 cells visualized by atomic force microscopy

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    AbstractThis study investigated the anti-viral effects of the polyphenolic compounds Quercetin and Kaempherol on the release of HTLV-1 from the surface of MT-2 cells. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to scan the surface of the MT-2 cells. MT-2 cells were fixed with 100% methanol on round glass lamina or cleaved mica and dried under UV light and laminar flow. The images were captured on a Multimode equipment monitored by a NanoScope IIId controller from Veeco Instruments Inc operated in tapping mode and equipped with phase-imaging hardware. The images demonstrated viral budding structures 131±57nm in size, indicating profuse viral budding. Interestingly, cell-free viruses and budding structures visualized on the surface of cells were less common when MT-2 was incubated with Quercetin, and no particles were seen on the surface of cells incubated with Kaempherol. In summary, these data indicate that HTLV-1 is budding constantly from the MT-2 cell surface and that polyphenolic compounds were able to reduce this viral release. Biological samples were analyzed with crude cell preparations just after cultivation in the presence of Quercetin and Kaempherol, showing that the AFM technique is a rapid and powerful tool for analysis of antiviral activity of new biological compounds

    Cross-sectional Survey of Hantavirus Infection, Brazil

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    A cross-sectional serosurvey was conducted to assess the proportion of persons exposed to hantaviruses in a virus-endemic area of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Findings of this study suggested the presence of >1 hantaviruses circulating in this region causing hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, mild disease, or asymptomatic infection

    Applied immuno-epidemiological research: an approach for integrating existing knowledge into the statistical analysis of multiple immune markers.

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    BACKGROUND: Immunologists often measure several correlated immunological markers, such as concentrations of different cytokines produced by different immune cells and/or measured under different conditions, to draw insights from complex immunological mechanisms. Although there have been recent methodological efforts to improve the statistical analysis of immunological data, a framework is still needed for the simultaneous analysis of multiple, often correlated, immune markers. This framework would allow the immunologists' hypotheses about the underlying biological mechanisms to be integrated. RESULTS: We present an analytical approach for statistical analysis of correlated immune markers, such as those commonly collected in modern immuno-epidemiological studies. We demonstrate i) how to deal with interdependencies among multiple measurements of the same immune marker, ii) how to analyse association patterns among different markers, iii) how to aggregate different measures and/or markers to immunological summary scores, iv) how to model the inter-relationships among these scores, and v) how to use these scores in epidemiological association analyses. We illustrate the application of our approach to multiple cytokine measurements from 818 children enrolled in a large immuno-epidemiological study (SCAALA Salvador), which aimed to quantify the major immunological mechanisms underlying atopic diseases or asthma. We demonstrate how to aggregate systematically the information captured in multiple cytokine measurements to immunological summary scores aimed at reflecting the presumed underlying immunological mechanisms (Th1/Th2 balance and immune regulatory network). We show how these aggregated immune scores can be used as predictors in regression models with outcomes of immunological studies (e.g. specific IgE) and compare the results to those obtained by a traditional multivariate regression approach. CONCLUSION: The proposed analytical approach may be especially useful to quantify complex immune responses in immuno-epidemiological studies, where investigators examine the relationship among epidemiological patterns, immune response, and disease outcomes

    SARS-CoV-2 reinfection caused by the P.1 lineage in Araraquara city, Sao Paulo State, Brazil

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    Reinfection by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-COV-2) has been reported in many countries, suggesting that the virus may continue to circulate among humans despite the possibility of local herd immunity due to massive previous infections. The emergence of variants of concern (VOC) that are more transmissible than the previous circulating ones has raised particular concerns on the vaccines effectiveness and reinfection rates. The P.1 lineage was first identified in December 2020 in Manaus city and is now globally spread. We report the first case of reinfection of SARS-CoV-2 caused by the P.1 variant outside of Manaus. The potential of these new variants to escape naturally and vaccine- induced immunity highlights the need for a global vigilance

    ANÁLISES MICROBIOLÓGICAS E PARASITOLÓGICAS DE SALADAS VERDES SERVIDAS EM SELF-SERVICE NO MUNICÍPIO DE CRATO – CEARÁ.

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    O presente artigo teve como objetivo realizar análises microbiológicas e parasitológicas em amostras de saladas verdes, variedade crespa, servidas em self-service de Crato - Ceará, no período de março a maio de 2010. Foram utilizadas 9 amostras de alface (Lactuca sativa) e 9 de acelga (Beta vulgaris). A pesquisa microbiológica baseou-se no Método de Número Mais Provável utilizando a técnica de tubos múltiplos para bactérias do grupo coliformes totais e fecais. A contagem de mesófilos (Unidade Formadora de Colônia) realizou-se por plaqueamento superficial em meio ágar contagem de placas. As análises parasitológicas foram realizadas de acordo com o princípio de sedimentação espontânea da Técnica de Hoffman, Pons e Janer. As pesquisas microbiológicas e parasitológicas desenvolveram-se em triplicata e duplicata, respectivamente. As análises microbiológicas de alfaces e acelgas revelaram baixos padrões higiênicos, indicados pela presença de coliformes totais, em que as maiores incidências foram nas amostras de 6 horas, mostrando-se superiores aos limites máximos estabelecidos pela legislação vigente para hortaliças, que é de 2 x 102 Número Mais Provável/Grama. Evidenciou-se a presença de mesófilos aeróbios acima do limite estabelecido nas diluições analisadas. As análises parasitológicas revelaram índices de parasitas como larvas de Strongyloides stercoralis, ovos de Ascaris lumbricoides, Taenia sp., Schistosoma mansoni, Balantidium coli e cisto de Entamoeba coli e Giardia sp.. De acordo com os resultados obtidos, evidencia-se a necessidade extrema da higienização dessas hortaliças por estarem relacionadas à transmissão de enfermidades intestinais, assim como a necessidade de medidas que propiciem uma melhoria na sua qualidade higiênico-sanitária
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