Microstructure characterisation and mechanical properties of a functionally-graded NbC/high chromium white cast iron composite

A functionally graded NbC – high chromium white cast iron composite was successfully fabricated by centrifugal casting for high wear applications. The migration of primary NbC particles to the outer periphery, as predicted by Stokes’ law, resulted in an extremely hard outer layer at the surface of a softer bulk material. Microstructural characterisation showed that both the volume fraction and the morphology of the carbides varies along the thickness of the specimen. At the outer surface, the NbC was present as primary carbides while Chinese-script NbC was found in the bulk of the material. Hardness, sliding wear and three-point bending tests confirmed that the outer layer was harder and more wear resistant than the rest of the material, which was correspondingly tougher. The study of the fracture surface of the specimens showed that there is a strong bond between NbC and the matrix such that delamination between the reinforcements and the matrix did not occur during fracture. If Chinese-script NbC can be reduced or prevented in the bulk material, further improvements to toughness could be achieved.ARC LP130100111, ARC DE150101703, FEDER POCI-01-0145-FEDER-00763

Transtorno do Espectro Autista: Direitos Fundamentais

A obra apresenta evidências sobre os direitos fundamentais sobre o Transtorno do Espectro Autista, uma condição neurológica que afeta o desenvolvimento do cérebro, afetando principalmente a comunicação social, a interação social e o comportamento. É uma condição que se manifesta de maneira variada em diferentes pessoas, e é considerada um espectro porque engloba uma ampla gama de sintomas e níveis de gravidade. Embora não haja cura para o TEA, intervenções e terapias podem ajudar a melhorar a qualidade de vida das pessoas com autismo. Alguns tratamentos comuns incluem terapia comportamental, terapia ocupacional, fonoaudiologia e educação especializada. O apoio e a compreensão da família, amigos, pais e da comunidade também desempenham um papel crucial no suporte às pessoas com TEA. É importante ressaltar que cada pessoa com TEA é única, e suas necessidades e habilidades variam. O objetivo principal é fornecer o suporte necessário para ajudar as pessoas com TEA a desenvolver todo o seu potencial e viver uma vida plena e inclusiva.The book presents evidence on the fundamental rights of Autism Spectrum Disorder, a neurological condition that affects the development of the brain, mainly affecting social communication, social interaction and behavior. It is a condition that manifests itself in different ways in different people, and is considered a spectrum because it encompasses a wide range of symptoms and levels of severity. Although there is no cure for ASD, interventions and therapies can help improve the quality of life of people with autism. Some common treatments include behavioral therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and specialized education. The support and understanding of family, friends, parents and the community also play a crucial role in supporting people with ASD. It is important to emphasize that each person with ASD is unique, and their needs and abilities vary. The main goal is to provide the necessary support to help people with ASD develop their full potential and live a full and inclusive life

GESTÃO HOSPITALAR: GERENCIAMENTO EM HOTELARIA HOSPITALAR E EQUIPE MULTIPROFISSIONAL

O capital humano era visto como fonte geradora de lucros para as organizações. Diante da competitividade, transformação do cenário, cobranças por melhores resultados, e diversidades de profissão no mundo das organizações de saúde, as exigências e perfil profissional vem mudando, as pessoas são percebidas como peça fundamental e indispensável para sucesso das organizações, tornando mais evidente que nesta diversidade requer gestores que seja resiliente e com habilidades de relacionamento interpessoal para formar equipes qualificadas e eficientes. Para tanto, objetiva-se formar equipe multiprofissional especializada em cuidados paliativos e implementar o conceito de hotelaria hospitalar. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, bibliográfica, retirado de artigos científicos e sites relevantes sobre a temática e nas bases de dados Google acadêmico, Scielo e Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS), apreciados no mês de julho e agosto 2022 com as seguintes palavras-chaves: gestão de pessoas, hotelaria hospitalar e equipe multiprofissional. Como resultados, observa-se que as organizações e os gestores vêm desenvolvendo um olhar mais holístico, integral e mais humano para com seus colaboradores em busca de reter bons profissionais e consolidar equipes multiprofissionais integradas e eficazes, com serviço em saúde e de hotelaria hospitalar mais humanizado com menor custo e melhores resultados. O planejamento financeiro deve ter como foco oferecer o melhor atendimento hospitalar com os recursos disponíveis, ou seja, com uma relação custo-benefício, prestando um serviço humanizado de qualidade com segurança e de referência para seus clientes e ambiente seguro para seus colaboradores.Human capital was seen as a source of profit for organizations. Faced with the competitiveness, transformation of the scenario, demands for better results, and diversity of professions in the world of health organizations, the requirements and professional profile have been changing, people are perceived as a fundamental and indispensable part for the success of organizations, making it more evident that this diversity requires managers who are resilient and with interpersonal skills to form qualified and efficient teams. Therefore, the objective is to form a multidisciplinary team specialized in palliative care and implement the concept of hospital hospitality. This is qualitative, bibliographical research, taken from scientific articles and relevant websites on the subject and in the Google Academic, Scielo and Virtual Health Library (BVS) databases, analyzed in July and August 2022 with the following keywords: people management, hospital hospitality and multidisciplinary team. As a result, it is observed that organizations and managers have been developing a more holistic, integral and more humane look towards their employees in order to retain good professionals and consolidate integrated and effective multidisciplinary teams, with a more humanized health and hospital hospitality service with lower costs and better results. Financial planning should focus on offering the best hospital care with available resources, that is, with a cost-effective relationship, providing a humanized quality service with safety and reference for its customers and a safe environment for its employees

Conhecimento sobre hipertensão arterial e fatores associados à não adesão à farmacoterapia

OBJECTIVES: to identify the degree of knowledge of people with hypertension concerning the disease and to verify the factors associated with the non-adherence to anti-hypertensive drug therapy. METHOD: Cross sectional study, involving 422 people. Data collection took place at their homes, between December 2011 and March 2012, through interviews using the following instruments: Medication Adherence Questionnaire (MAQ-Q), Medication Regimen Complexity Index (MRCI) and a guide with questions related to sociodemographic profile, satisfaction with healthcare service and knowledge about the disease. RESULTS: 42.6% did not adhere to the drug therapy and 17.7% had poor knowledge about the disease. Factors associated with the non-adherence were: complex drug therapy, poor knowledge about the disease and dissatisfaction with the healthcare service. CONCLUSION: The findings reinforce that the complex drug therapy prescriptions, little knowledge about the disease and dissatisfaction with the healthcare service have influence on the process of non-adherence to anti-hypertensive drug therapy.OBJETIVOS: identificar el nivel de conocimiento de personas con hipertensión arterial acerca de la enfermedad y verificar los factores asociados a la no adhesión a la farmacoterapia antihipertensiva. MÉTODO: estudio transversal realizado en 422 individuos. Los datos fueron recolectados en los domicilios, entre diciembre de 2011 y marzo de 2012, por medio de entrevistas utilizando los instrumentos: Cuestionario de Adhesión a Medicamentos (CAM-Q), Índice de Complejidad de la Farmacoterapia y un guión con preguntas relativas al perfil sociodemográfico, satisfacción con el servicio de salud y conocimiento sobre la enfermedad. RESULTADOS: 42,6% no adherían a la farmacoterapia y 17,7% poseían conocimiento insatisfactorio sobre la enfermedad. Los factores asociados a la no adhesión fueron: farmacoterapia compleja, conocimiento insatisfactorio sobre la enfermedad e insatisfacción con el servicio de salud. CONCLUSIÓN: Los hallazgos refuerzan que prescripciones farmacológicas complejas, poco conocimiento sobre la enfermedad e insatisfacción con el servicio de salud influyen en el proceso de la no adhesión al tratamiento medicamentoso antihipertensivo.OBJETIVOS: identificar o nível de conhecimento de pessoas com hipertensão arterial acerca da doença e verificar os fatores associados à não adesão à farmacoterapia anti-hipertensiva. MÉTODO: estudo transversal, realizado com 422 indivíduos. Os dados foram coletados nos domicílios, entre dezembro de 2011 e março de 2012, por meio de entrevistas, utilizando os instrumentos: Questionário de Adesão a Medicamentos, Índice de Complexidade da Farmacoterapia e um roteiro com questões relativas ao perfil sociodemográfico, satisfação com o serviço de saúde e conhecimento sobre a doença. RESULTADOS: 42,6% não aderiram à farmacoterapia e 17,7% possuíam conhecimento insatisfatório sobre a doença. Os fatores associados à não adesão foram: farmacoterapia complexa, conhecimento insatisfatório sobre a doença e insatisfação com o serviço de saúde. CONCLUSÃO: os achados reforçam que prescrições farmacológicas complexas, pouco conhecimento sobre a doença e insatisfação com o serviço de saúde influenciam no processo de não adesão ao tratamento medicamentoso anti-hipertensivo

Chromatin and epigenetics: current biophysical views

Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing experiments and their theoretical descriptions have determined fast dynamics of the "chromatin and epigenetics" field, with new concepts appearing at high rate. This field includes but is not limited to the study of DNA-protein-RNA interactions, chromatin packing properties at different scales, regulation of gene expression and protein trafficking in the cell nucleus, binding site search in the crowded chromatin environment and modulation of physical interactions by covalent chemical modifications of the binding partners. The current special issue does not pretend for the full coverage of the field, but it rather aims to capture its development and provide a snapshot of the most recent concepts and approaches. Eighteen open-access articles comprising this issue provide a delicate balance between current theoretical and experimental biophysical approaches to uncover chromatin structure and understand epigenetic regulation, allowing free flow of new ideas and preliminary results

Combination Therapies Targeting ALK-aberrant Neuroblastoma in Preclinical Models

PURPOSE ALK-activating mutations are identified in approximately 10% of newly diagnosed neuroblastomas and ALK amplifications in a further 1%-2% of cases. Lorlatinib, a third-generation anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor, will soon be given alongside induction chemotherapy for children with ALK-aberrant neuroblastoma. However, resistance to single-agent treatment has been reported and therapies that improve the response duration are urgently required. We studied the preclinical combination of lorlatinib with chemotherapy, or with the MDM2 inhibitor, idasanutlin, as recent data have suggested that ALK inhibitor resistance can be overcome through activation of the p53-MDM2 pathway. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN We compared different ALK inhibitors in preclinical models prior to evaluating lorlatinib in combination with chemotherapy or idasanutlin. We developed a triple chemotherapy (CAV: cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and vincristine) in vivo dosing schedule and applied this to both neuroblastoma genetically engineered mouse models (GEMM) and patient-derived xenografts (PDX). RESULTS Lorlatinib in combination with chemotherapy was synergistic in immunocompetent neuroblastoma GEMM. Significant growth inhibition in response to lorlatinib was only observed in the ALK-amplified PDX model with high ALK expression. In this PDX, lorlatinib combined with idasanutlin resulted in complete tumor regression and significantly delayed tumor regrowth. CONCLUSIONS In our preclinical neuroblastoma models, high ALK expression was associated with lorlatinib response alone or in combination with either chemotherapy or idasanutlin. The synergy between MDM2 and ALK inhibition warrants further evaluation of this combination as a potential clinical approach for children with neuroblastoma

Climate-driven deoxygenation elevates fishing vulnerability for the ocean’s widest ranging shark

Climate-driven expansions of ocean hypoxic zones are predicted to concentrate pelagic fish in oxygenated surface layers, but how expanding hypoxia and fisheries will interact to affect threatened pelagic sharks remains unknown. Here, analysis of satellite-tracked blue sharks and environmental modelling in the eastern tropical Atlantic oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) shows shark maximum dive depths decreased due to combined effects of decreasing dissolved oxygen (DO) at depth, high sea surface temperatures, and increased surface-layer net primary production. Multiple factors associated with climate-driven deoxygenation contributed to blue shark vertical habitat compression, potentially increasing their vulnerability to surface fisheries. Greater intensity of longline fishing effort occurred above the OMZ compared to adjacent waters. Higher shark catches were associated with strong DO gradients, suggesting potential aggregation along suitable DO gradients contributed to habitat compression and higher fishing-induced mortality. Fisheries controls to counteract deoxygenation effects on shark catches will be needed as oceans continue warming