Vacinação infantil e tomada de decisão por pais de alta escolaridade

OBJECTIVE To analyze the sociocultural aspects involved in the decision-making process of vaccination in upper-class and highly educated families. METHODS A qualitative approach based on in-depth interviews with 15 couples from the city of Sao Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, falling into three categories: vaccinators, late or selective vaccinators, and nonvaccinators. The interpretation of produced empirical material was performed through content analysis. RESULTS The study showed diverse and particular aspects surrounding the three groups’ decisions whether to vaccinate their children. The vaccinators’ decision to vaccinate their children was spontaneous and raised no questions. Most late or selective vaccinators experienced a wide range of situations that were instrumental in the decision to delay or not apply certain vaccines. The nonvaccinator’s decision-making process expressed a broader context of both criticism of hegemonic obstetric practices in Brazil and access to information transmitted via social networks and the internet. The data showed that the problematization of vaccines (culminating in the decision to not vaccinate their children) occurred in the context of humanized birth, was protagonized by women and was greatly influenced by health information from the internet. CONCLUSIONS Sociocultural aspects of the singular Brazilian context and the contemporary society were involved in the decision-making on children’s vaccination. Understanding this process can provide a real basis for a deeper reflection on health and immunization practices in Brazil in light of the new contexts and challenges of the world today.OBJETIVO Analisar os aspectos socioculturais envolvidos no processo de tomada de decisão da vacinação em famílias de alta renda e escolaridade. MÉTODOS Abordagem qualitativa, com uso de técnica de entrevista em profundidade, realizada com 15 casais residentes na cidade de São Paulo, SP, alocados em três grupos: vacinadores, vacinadores tardios ou seletivos e não vacinadores. O percurso analítico-interpretativo do material empírico foi realizado por meio da análise de conteúdo. RESULTADOS O estudo encontrou diversidades e particularidades frente à decisão de (não) vacinação infantil nos três grupos. Nos casais vacinadores, a decisão em vacinar os filhos apresentou-se sem questionamentos. A maioria dos vacinadores tardios ou seletivos vivenciaram diferentes situações que foram determinantes para a decisão de postergar ou excluir algumas vacinas. O processo de decisão nos casais não-vacinadores foi expresso num contexto mais amplo envolvendo a crítica às práticas obstétricas hegemônicas no país e o acesso às informações veiculadas pelas redes sociais e internet. Os dados evidenciaram que a problematização das vacinas (que culminou na tomada de decisão de não vacinar os filhos) ocorreu no contexto do parto humanizado, foi protagonizada pelas mulheres e teve importante influência das informações em saúde veiculadas na internet. CONCLUSÕES Aspectos socioculturais singulares do contexto brasileiro e da sociedade contemporânea mais ampla estão envolvidos na tomada de decisão em vacinar ou não os filhos. A compreensão desse processo é importante para fornecer subsídios a uma reflexão mais profunda sobre as práticas de saúde e imunização no Brasil, nos novos contextos e desafios do mundo contemporâneo

Optimization of fermentation conditions for the production of curcumin by engineered Escherichia coli

Curcumin is a plant secondary metabolite with outstanding therapeutic effects. Therefore, there is a great interest in developing new strategies to produce this high-value compound in a cheaper and environmentally friendly way. Curcumin heterologous production in E. coli using artificial biosynthetic pathways was previously demonstrated using synthetic biology approaches. However, the culturing conditions to produce this compound were not optimized and so far only a two-step fermentation involving the exchange of the culture medium allowed to obtain high concentrations of curcumin, which limits its production at an industrial scale. In this study, the culturing conditions to produce curcumin were evaluated and optimized. In addition, it was concluded that E. coli BL21 allows to produce higher concentrations compared to E. coli K-12 strains. Different IPTG concentrations, time of protein expression induction and substrate type and concentration were also evaluated. The highest curcumin production obtained was 959.3 µM (95.93% of percent yield), which was 3.1-fold higher than the highest concentration previously reported. This concentration was obtained using a two-stage fermentation with LB and M9. Moreover, TB demonstrated to be a very interesting alternative medium to produce curcumin since it also led to high concentrations (817.7 µM). The use of this single fermentation medium represents an advantage at industrial scale and although the final production is lower than the one obtained with the LB-M9 combination, it leads to a significantly higher curcumin production in the first 24 h of fermentation. This study allowed obtaining the highest concentrations of curcumin reported so far in a heterologous organism and is of interest for all of those working with the heterologous production of curcuminoids, other complex polyphenolic compounds or plant secondary metabolites.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of the UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01- 0145-FEDER-006684) and under the scope of the Project MultiBiorefinery-Multi-purpose strategies for broadband agro-forest and fisheries by-products valorization: a step forward for a truly integrated biorefinery (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016403). The authors also acknowledge financial support from BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004), funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020—Programa Operacional Regional do Norte and the post-doctoral grant (UMINHO/BPD/37/2015) to J.L.R. funded by FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Desenvolvimento de conceito para apoio de mobilidade em pacientes com Charcot-Marie-Tooth

A doença de Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) é uma doença degenerativa, que afeta os nervos periféricos que conectam a medula espinal aos músculos. Assim existem perturbações na condução dos impulsos nervosos aos músculos. Esta doença, também conhecida como atrofia fíbular muscular (APM), tem origem genética e é uma das doenças que embora rara é das mais comuns no grupo das neuropatias motoras hereditárias, sendo que apresenta sintomas bastante variados e distintos. O objetivo da mesma é o desenvolvimento de um dispositivo, dispositivo esse que no final irá ser entregue a esta mesma paciente e que lhe permita ter uma vida normal e segura. Para tal, a partir das necessidades e da forma como a paciente se locomove, o dispositivo selecionado para se desenvolver é um andarilho. Após esta escolha, iniciou-se o projeto, partindo do desenvolvimento conceptual para o desenvolvimento de sistemas e soluções construtivas seguindo-se o projeto de detalhe e dimensionamento. Após este processo, realizou-se a análise de estabilidade e análise estrutural. Com a finalização deste processo, verificou-se que o produto assegura segurança para o seu uso, mas, por este processo ser demasiado extenso e demorado, não foi possível a materialização do mesmo.Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is a degenerative disease that affects the peripheral nerves that connect the spinal cord to the muscles. Thus there are disturbances in the conduction of the nerve impulses to the muscles. This disease, also known as muscular fibular atrophy (MPA), has a genetic origin and is one of the diseases that, although rare, is one of the most common in the group of hereditary motor neuropathies, with very different and distinct symptoms. The purpose of this is the development of a device, which in the end will be delivered to this same patient and allow him to lead a normal and safe life. To do this, from the needs and the way the patient moves, the device selected to develop is a walker. After this choice, the project began, starting from the conceptual development for the development of systems and constructive solutions following the design of detail and dimensioning. After this process, stability analysis and structural analysis were performed. With the completion of this process, it was verified that the product ensures safety for its use, but because this process is too long and time consuming, it was not possible to materialize.Mestrado em Engenharia Mecânic

Exposição ao risco cambial de empresas "Domésticas": evidências de Portugal e Alemanha

Contrary to most studies on foreign exchange risk that so far have focused only on internationalized companies, this research work studies and analyzes the degree of foreign exchange exposure faced by "domestic" companies, and then, of companies whose amount of exports doesn´t exceed 5% of its total turnover each year. Concretely, examines the underlying determinants of exposure to foreign exchange risk obtained in the companies in the sample. It was considered, as a sample, Data from the Refinitiv Datastream databases of domestic companies in Portugal and Germany, and it should be noted that the companies that compose the sample, have a continuous operational history over the last 10 years, and are listed on the Portuguese (PSI Geral) and German (DAX) stock exchanges, respectively. In this way, the final sample consists of 1,368 German companies (151,716 company-month observations) and 70 Portuguese companies (9,371 company-month observations), over the time spectrum from January 2009 to December 2020. Expectedly, evidence shows that, in fact, German “domestic” companies and Portuguese “domestic” companies are, on average, exposed to EUR/USD exchange rate risk, being that, this degree of exposure is significantly and positively explained by Dimension. The sample for the German companies seems to suggest that larger companies are exposed to additional foreign exchange risk and that Gross Profit Margin, and Asset Turnover are negatively and significantly associated with exchange rate risk. On the other hand, it is the Portuguese companies with larger dimensions that are more exposed to exchange rate fluctuations.Contrariamente à maioria dos estudos sobre o risco cambial, que até ao momento se têm focado somente em empresas internacionalizadas, o presente trabalho de investigação estuda e analisa o grau de exposição cambial enfrentado por empresas “domésticas”, ou seja, de empresas cujo o montante de exportações não excede os 5% do total do seu volume de negócios em cada ano. Concretamente, esta dissertação examina quais as determinantes subjacentes à exposição ao risco cambial obtida nas empresas da amostra. Considerou-se, como fonte da amostra, dados provenientes das bases de dados Refinitiv Datastream de empresas “domésticas” de Portugal e Alemanha, sendo de referir que as empresas que compõe a amostra detêm um histórico operacional contínuo nos últimos 10 anos, e estão cotadas na bolsa de valores portuguesa (PSI Geral) e alemã (DAX), respetivamente. Por esta via, a amostra final consiste em 1.368 empresas alemãs (151.716 observações empresa – mês) e em 70 empresas portuguesas (9.371 observações empresa-mês), sob o espetro temporal de janeiro de 2009 a dezembro de 2020. Expectavelmente, as evidências mostram que, de facto, as empresas “domésticas” alemãs e as empresas “domésticas” portuguesas se encontram, em média, expostas ao risco da taxa de câmbio EUR/USD; sendo que esse grau de exposição é explicado significativamente e positivamente pela Dimensão. Verifica-se, para a amostra de empresas alemãs, que as empresas com maiores dimensões estão expostas a um risco cambial adicional, e que a Margem Bruta das Vendas e a Rotatividade dos Ativos estão negativamente e significativamente associadas ao risco cambial. Por outro lado, são as empresas portuguesas com maiores dimensões que estão mais expostas às variações das taxas de câmbio

Enhancing curcuminoid production using E. coli engineered strains

Curcuminoids are natural secondary metabolites from the herb Curcuma longa. Their beneficial properties, mainly as anti-cancer agents, have been exhaustively reported but the therapeutic effect of curcumin is limited by its fast systemic elimination along with poor bioavailability. Besides, curcumin extraction from plants is very expensive and it is hard to synthetize chemically. For these reasons, the use of microorganisms to produce these remarkable compounds on large scale and with greater yields constitutes an interesting approach. In the SYNBIOBACTHER project, the aim of producing curcumin from ferulic acid using an engineered Escherichia coli was achieved adding three enzymatic steps using plant genes (4-coumarate-CoA ligase (4CL) from Arabidopsis thaliana; diketide-CoA synthase (DCS) and curcumin synthase 1 (CURS1) from C. longa). The present work aims to improve curcumin production from ferulic acid by optimizing the production medium and other operational conditions. Previously, we used a standard two-step fermentation strategy (LB + M9 minimal media) to overcome the metabolic burden associated with protein overexpression and poor growth observed in minimal medium. Although feasible at the laboratory scale, the biomass separation is much more difficult, laborious and expensive in large scale fermentations. Therefore, we intend to develop a single medium formulation more suitable for the production of curcuminoids. MOPS minimal medium, TB and also LB and M9 are being evaluated. Furthermore, previously we studied in silico which gene deletions would enhance the curcumin production by the metabolic engineered E. coli. Using a recombineering approach, we are implementing those gene knockouts to construct several E. coli mutants (Δgnd; ΔfumA,fumB,fumC; ΔfumA,fumB,fumC,ccmA; ΔfumA,fumB,fumC,ccmA,argO) that will produce curcumin from ferulic acid. The curcuminoids production by these E. coli mutants is being evaluated

Relaciones entre profesionales de la salud y usuarios/as desde la perspectiva de género

The objective of this article is to analyze relationships between health professionals and users from a gender perspective. Using Pierre Bourdieu as a theoretical reference, we critically analyze data from two studies carried out in Brazil in which we took part as authors. The first of these studies was based in Rio de Janeiro and the second was a multicenter and ethnographical study carried out in eight health care facilities distributed throughout four Brazilian states, two in the Southeast region and two in the Northeast region. Among the principal results of the present study, we found that although the relationships between health professionals and users demonstrate varied opinions, all are marked by a gendered habitus. We conclude that, among other aspects, the construction of diverse femininities and masculinities and the way in which these are exercised in health care contexts are the product of process that is both socio-historical and personal.El objetivo de este artículo es analizar las relaciones entre profesionales de la salud y usuarios/as desde la perspectiva de género. A partir del referencial teórico de Pierre Bourdieu, se retoman y analizan críticamente datos de dos investigaciones realizadas en Brasil de la cuales participamos como autores: la primera, realizada en la ciudad de Río de Janeiro y, la segunda, un estudio multicéntrico y de naturaleza etnográfica desarrollado en ocho servicios distribuidos en cuatro estados brasileños, dos de la región Sudeste y dos de la Nordeste. Entre los principales resultados se destaca que las relaciones entre profesionales de la salud y usuarios/as, aunque estén marcadas por opiniones divergentes, están atravesadas por un habitus"generificado". Se concluye, entre otros aspectos, que la construcción de las diversas feminidades y masculinidades y la forma en que se da el ejercicio de estas en los contextos asistenciales de la salud son producto de un proceso que es, al mismo tiempo, socio-histórico y personal

Cloning, expression and characterization of UDP-glucose dehydrogenases

Uridine diphosphate-glucose dehydrogenase (UGD) is an enzyme that produces uridine diphosphate-glucuronic acid (UDP-GlcA), which is an intermediate in glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) production pathways. GAGs are generally extracted from animal tissues. Efforts to produce GAGs in a safer way have been conducted by constructing artificial biosynthetic pathways in heterologous microbial hosts. This work characterizes novel enzymes with potential for UDP-GlcA biotechnological production. The UGD enzymes from Zymomonas mobilis (ZmUGD) and from Lactobacillus johnsonii (LbjUGD) were expressed in Escherichia coli. These two enzymes and an additional eukaryotic one from Capra hircus (ChUGD) were also expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. The three enzymes herein studied represent different UGD phylogenetic groups. The UGD activity was evaluated through UDP-GlcA quantification in vivo and after in vitro reactions. Engineered E. coli strains expressing ZmUGD and LbjUGD were able to produce in vivo 28.4 µM and 14.9 µM UDP-GlcA, respectively. Using S. cerevisiae as the expression host, the highest in vivo UDP-GlcA production was obtained for the strain CEN.PK2-1C expressing ZmUGD (17.9 µM) or ChUGD (14.6 µM). Regarding the in vitro assays, under the optimal conditions, E. coli cell extract containing LbjUGD was able to produce about 1800 µM, while ZmUGD produced 407 µM UDP-GlcA, after 1 h of reaction. Using engineered yeasts, the in vitro production of UDP-GlcA reached a maximum of 533 µM using S. cerevisiae CEN.PK2-1C_pSP-GM_LbjUGD cell extract. The UGD enzymes were active in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic hosts, therefore the genes and expression chassis herein used can be valuable alternatives for further industrial applications.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit. The authors acknowledge FCT for funding MRC doctoral grant SFRH/BD/132998/2017.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Engineering a biosynthetic pathway for high-value glycosaminoglycans production

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Development of a low-cost culture medium for biopolymer production by Rhizobium viscosum CECT 908 and its potential application in Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery

Polymers are a versatile class of compounds that play an essential role in our society, being their production estimated in more than 180 million tons per year. Nowadays, the world market is dominated by synthetic and plant-derived polymers. Biopolymers of microbial origin are characterized by their better environmental compatibility and biodegradability when compared with the synthetic ones, and their production is faster than those obtained from plants. Microbial biopolymers usually exhibit excellent rheological properties, stability at a wide range of temperatures, salinities and pH values, as well as a broad variety of chemical structures, which results in different physicochemical and rheological properties. However, despite their outstanding properties, their application is still limited by their high production costs. In this work, an alternative low-cost culture medium was developed for biopolymer production by Rhizobium viscosum CECT 908, containing sugarcane molasses (60 g/L) and corn steep liquor (1%, v/v) as carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively. Using this low-cost medium, higher biopolymer production and apparent viscosity values (5.2 g/L and 6700 mPa s, respectively) were obtained comparing with the synthetic medium (2.3 g/L and 1100 mPa s), which contained glucose and yeast extract. As a result, the cost of the culture medium necessary to produce 1 Kg of biopolymer was reduced more than 20 times. The biopolymer produced in the alternative low-cost medium exhibited better rheological properties as compared to xanthan gum, including higher viscosity at the same concentration. Furthermore, it was found to be stable at temperatures up to 80ºC, NaCl concentrations as high as 200 g/L, and high shear rates (300 s-1). Polymers are widely used by the oil industry to increase the oil reservoirs productivity during the tertiary oil recovery processes. In sand-pack column assays performed using a heavy crude oil (40ºC= 170 mPa s), this biopolymer produced using the low-cost medium demonstrated a better performance than xanthan gum, recovering almost 50% of the entrapped oil. Results herein obtained highlight that the R. viscosum biopolymer is a promising candidate for application in MEOR as an alternative to the conventional microbial and synthetic polymers currently used.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Representations of dock workers from Santos-SP concerning the relation between work and health

This study analyses the representations of individual dock workers at the Port of Santos (state of São Paulo) concerning working conditions, the relation between work and health, and also the adopted health care strategies from the perspective of gender and masculinities. Qualitative research was developed and a total of 13 interviews were conducted with representatives from different categories of dock workers. The Port is described by the workers as a dangerous place, where accidents occur very frequently. They attribute this risk to the organization of labor and to the very heterogeneous conditions in which it is conducted on a daily basis. The transformations that happened in the past decades in the immediate context of work on the docks have implications regarding the patterns of illness and suffering of this specific population; at the same time, they demand the gradual (re)production of values and meanings concerning being a man and a dock worker.O trabalho analisa as representações de trabalhadores portuários avulsos do Porto de Santos-SP acerca das condições de trabalho, da relação trabalho-saúde e das estratégias adotadas para o cuidado em saúde a partir da perspectiva de gênero e das masculinidades. A pesquisa de natureza qualitativa desenvolveu-se na área de abrangência do Porto de Santos-SP. Foram entrevistados representantes de diferentes categorias de trabalhadores portuários, totalizando 13 entrevistas. O Porto é descrito pelos trabalhadores portuários como local perigoso, com grande ocorrência de acidentes. Eles atribuem esse risco à organização do trabalho e às condições muito heterogêneas sob as quais ele é realizado cotidianamente. As transformações no contexto imediato do trabalho portuário, produzidas nas últimas décadas, trazem implicações acerca dos padrões de adoecimento e sofrimento dessa população específica, ao mesmo tempo em que exigem paulatina (re)produção de valores e significados sobre ser homem e ser trabalhador portuário.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento Saúde, Educação e SociedadeUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)UNIFESP, Depto. Saúde, Educação e SociedadeUNIFESPSciEL