Ocupação-Monumento: uma outra memória para São Paulo hoje

La crisis en relación con los monumentos tradicionales y los lugares de memoria revela la emergencia contemporánea de otras narrativas históricas, la demanda de usos renovados del espa cio de la ciudad y la lucha por una mayor igualdad social. Este trabajo parte de una reflexión sobre el concepto de monumento en la producción artística, considerando la Ocupación del 9 de Julio, coordinada por el MSTC (Movimento sem Teto do Centro) como un posible monumento para el São Paulo de hoy.The crisis in relation to traditional monuments and places of memory reveals the contemporary emergency for other historical narratives and the struggle for more social equality. This research starts from the reflection on the concept of monument in artistic production, considering the ‘Ocupação 9 de Julho’, a building taken by MSTC, a movement that fights for the right of popular housing, as a possible monument for São Paulo of today.A crise em relação aos monumentos e lugares de memória tradicionais revela a emergência contemporânea por outras narrativas históricas, a reivindicação de renovados usos do espaço da cidade e a luta por mais igualdade social. Esse trabalho parte de reflexão acerca do conceito de monumento na produção artística, considerando a Ocupação 9 de Julho, coordenada pelo MSTC (Movimento sem Teto do Centro) como possível monumento para a São Paulo de hoje

The Palaeolithic Site of Dmanisi in Georgia and Its Role in the Earliest Prehistory of Eurasia

This paper examines the role played by the Early Palaeolithic site of Dmanisi (Georgia) in the prehistory of Eurasia. The site was discovered by chance during the excavation underway at the Medieval settlement. Its discovery has radically changed our view of the chronology and behaviour of the first hominids that started to move out of Africa around 2 Ma ago. The researches carried out at Palaeolithic Dmanisi have shown that this event took place some 1 Ma before as compared to what had been previously suggested by most anthropologists and archaeologists

The Kids Are Alright (?). Infants’ Development and COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objectives: The study aimed to assess and compare the global development in six-month-old infants before and during the pandemic restrictive social distancing measures. Methods: This cross-sectional nested study involved infants assessed through the Griffiths Scales of Child Development (GSCD) between September 2019 and April 2021. Infants were classified in a pre-COVID or a COVID group, considering the evaluation date and the restrictive measures in place. GSCD subscales and General Development Scores (GDS) were calculated and compared. Results: One hundred and four healthy term-born infants were evaluated. GDS in the COVID group (n:70; median: 94; IQR: 90–100) appeared significantly lower than in the pre-COVID group (n:34; median: 98; IQR: 97–103; p < 0.001). Language and personal-social-emotional subareas scores appeared the most affected. A decreasing trend of GDS along with the severity of restriction was observed. Conclusion: A reduction in infant development scores was observed during pandemic social distancing. Further studies are needed to systematize these findings and to address effective public health policies for infants and families during long-term forced isolation periods

Changing in the post-surgery infective complications following the shortening of the antibiotic prophylaxis in the patients undergoing skin dermal substitutes reconstruction

Background: Bioengineered skin dermal substitutes (SDS) represent a novel therapeutic opportunity for restoring damaged tissue, both in massive deep burns, extensive full-thickness wounds, and reconstruction after cancer resection. Antimicrobial prophylaxis duration in such procedures has not been well established yet. The aim of the study was to evaluate the changing of infective complications following shortening of perioperative prophylaxis in patients undergoing surgical reconstruction with SDS. Material & Methods: Infective complications at the site of SDS were compared in two groups of patients: subjects undergoing surgical reconstruction between September 2014 and January 2016 (PERIOD A) who received a >24h-antibiotic prophylaxis, and subjects undergoing surgical reconstruction between May 2016 and June 2017 (PERIOD B) who received a ≤24h-antibiotic prophylaxis. Differences in the incidence of infection and pathogen prevalence were explored. Univariate linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate the risk factors for infection (sex, age, ASA code, perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis, site of SDS intervention, type of SDS, dimensions of surgical area, chronic renal impairment, and diabetes mellitus). Results: Between September 2014 and June 2017, 116 patients underwent a surgical reconstruction with a SDS. The 66.4% (n=77) of the study population was male, and the mean age was 73 years (22-92 years). Seventy-eight patients (67.2%) were positive for hypertension, 20 (17.2%) for diabetes mellitus, 16 (13.8%) for chronic renal impairment, 22 (19%) were former or current smokers, and 45 (38.8%) had an ASA code ≥3. In the 94.8% of the patients (n=110) the reason of surgical intervention was a skin cancer. Surgical SDS reconstruction involved the scalp in 44 cases (37.9%), the face in 28 (24.1%), the chest in 11 (9.5%), the arm or the hand in 9 (7.8%), the leg in 12 (10.3%) and the foot in 12 (10.3%). Among 116 patients undergoing SDS surgical reconstruction, 62 (53.4%) received a >24h-prophylaxis and 54 (46.6%) received a ≤24h-prophylaxis. The average duration of prophylaxis in the 2 groups of patients was 6.6 days and 0.5 day, respectively. Overall incidence rate of infection was 20.7% (24/116). The most frequently isolated pathogen was S. aureus (41.6%), followed by P. aeruginosa (29.1%), P. mirabilis (8.3%), and E. faecalis (4.1%). Patients undergoing SDS reconstruction in limb/foot had higher infection rate in comparison with those undergoing SDS reconstruction in chest/head (33.3% and 15.6%, respectively; p=0.034). No differences in the infection rate were observed between the patients who received >24h or ≤24h-antibiotic prophylaxis (22.5% and 18.5%, respectively; p=0.590). The two groups resulted similar for gender, age, comorbidities, ASA score, and type of skin cancer. No significant differences in pathogen prevalence were found (p=0.692). Conclusion: Antibiotic prophylaxis reduction to 24 hours or less demonstrated to be beneficial to patients undergoing surgical reconstruction with SDS. Shortening of antibiotic prophylaxis did not increase infection rate, and it allowed to reduce of 6 days-per-patient the antibiotic exposure

Infective complications in patients undergoing surgical reconstruction with dermal matrix: the Modena experience

Background: Bioengineered skin dermal substitutes (SDS) represent a novel therapeutic opportunity for restoring damaged tissue1,2,3. Antimicrobial prophylaxis duration in such procedures has not been well established yet. The aim of the study was to evaluate the changing of infective complications following shortening of perioperative prophylaxis in patients undergoing surgical reconstruction with SDS. Material & Methods: Infective complications at the site of SDS were compared in 2 groups: subjects undergoing surgical reconstruction between September 2014 and January 2016 (PERIOD A) who received a >24H-antibiotic-prophylaxis, and between May 2016 and June 2017 (PERIOD B) who received a ≤24H-antibiotic-prophylaxis. Differences in the incidence of infection and pathogen prevalence were explored. Results: Between September 2014 and June 2017, 116 patients underwent a surgical reconstruction with a SDS. The mean age was 73-years, 77 were male (66.4%), 78 (67.2%) were positive for hypertension, 20 (17.2%) for diabetes mellitus, 16 (13.8%) for chronic renal impairment, 22 (19%) were smokers, and 45 (38.8%) had an ASA score ≥3. In the 94.8% (n=110) the reason of surgical intervention was a skin cancer. Surgical SDS reconstruction involved the scalp in 44 cases (37.9%), the face in 28 (24.1%), the chest in 11 (9.5%), the limbs in 33 (28.5%). Among 116 patients, 62 (53.4%) received >24H-antibiotic and 54 (46.6%) ≤24H-antibiotic-prophylaxis. The average duration of prophylaxis in the 2 groups of patients was 6.6 days and 0.5 day, respectively. Overall incidence rate of infection was 20.7% (24/116). The most frequently isolated pathogen was S. aureus (41.6%), followed by P. aeruginosa (29.1%), P. mirabilis (8.3%), and E. faecalis (4.1%). Patients undergoing SDS reconstruction in limbs had higher infection rate in comparison with chest/head (33.3% and 15.6%, respectively; p=0.034). No differences in the infection rate were observed between the patients who received >24H or ≤24H-antibiotic-prophylaxis (22.5% and 18.5%, respectively; p=0.590). The two groups resulted similar for gender, age, comorbidities, ASA score, and type of skin cancer. Discussion: As far as we know, this is the first study that compared two perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis regimes in patients undergoing SDS reconstruction. Comparing the two patient groups (≤24-hour and >24-hour prophylaxis), no differences in the rate of infection were found. The result is very important: it shows that prolongation of prophylaxis in this type of surgical patients does not reduce the rate of infection. Shortening of antibiotic prophylaxis allowed to reduce of 6 days-per-patient the antibiotic exposure. It was surprising that only the reconstruction of the limbs, in comparison with other sites, was associated with a higher risk of infection (33.3 and 15.7 respectively). Nor the most critical patients (with an ASA score ≥3), nor patients undergoing major surgical reconstructions (surgical area >60 cm2) resulted associated with a higher risk. Conclusion: Antibiotic prophylaxis reduction to 24 hours or less demonstrated to be beneficial to patients undergoing surgical reconstruction with SDS. Shortening of antibiotic prophylaxis did not increase infection rate, and it allowed a reduction of 6 days-per-patient the antibiotic exposure. Randomized and controlled trials, with greater population, could give a more accurate response on the duration of antibiotic prophylaxis in patients undergoing surgical SDS reconstruction

Conformational altered p53 as an early marker of oxidative stress in Alzheimer\u27s disease

In order to study oxidative stress in peripheral cells of Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) patients, immortalized lymphocytes derived from two peculiar cohorts of patients, referring to early onset AD (EOSAD) and subjects harboured AD related mutation (ADmut), were used. Oxidative stress was evaluated measuring i) the typical oxidative markers, such as HNE Michel adducts, 3 Nitro-Tyrosine residues and protein carbonyl on protein extracts, ii) and the antioxidant capacity, following the enzymatic kinetic of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GRD). We found that the signs of oxidative stress, measured as oxidative marker levels, were evident only in ADmut but not in EOSAD patients. However, oxidative imbalance in EOSAD as well as ADmut lymphocytes was underlined by a reduced SOD activity and GRD activity in both pathological groups in comparison with cells derived from healthy subjects. Furthermore, a redox modulated p53 protein was found conformational altered in both EOSAD and ADmut B lymphocytes in comparison with control cells. This conformational altered p53 isoform, named unfolded p53 , was recognized by the use of two specific conformational anti-p53 antibodies. Immunoprecipitation experiments, performed with the monoclonal antibodies PAb1620 (that recognizes p53wt) and PAb240 (that is direct towards unfolded p53), and followed by the immunoblotting with anti-4-hydroxynonenal (HNE) and anti- 3-nitrotyrosine (3NT) antibodies, showed a preferential increase of nitrated tyrosine residues in unfolded p53 isoform comparing to p53 wt protein, in both ADmut and EOSAD. In addition, a correlation between unfolded p53 and SOD activity was further found. Thus this study suggests that ROS/RNS contributed to change of p53 tertiary structure and that unfolded p53 can be considered as an early marker of oxidative imbalance in these patients

β2-Adrenoceptors on tumor cells play a critical role in stress-enhanced metastasis in a mouse model of breast cancer

© 2016 The Authors Chronic stress accelerates metastasis – the main cause of death in cancer patients – through the activation of β-adrenoceptors (βARs). We have previously shown that β2AR signaling in MDA-MB-231HM breast cancer cells, facilitates invadopodia formation and invasion in vitro. However, in the tumor microenvironment where many stromal cells also express βAR, the role of β2AR signaling in tumor cells in metastasis is unclear. Therefore, to investigate the contribution of β2AR signaling in tumor cells to metastasis in vivo, we used RNA interference to generate MDA-MB-231HM breast cancer cells that are deficient in β2AR. β2AR knockdown in tumor cells reduced the proportion of cells with a mesenchymal-like morphology and, as expected, reduced tumor cell invasion in vitro. Conversely, overexpression of β2AR in low metastatic MCF-7 breast cancer cells induced an invasive phenotype. Importantly, we found that knockdown of β2AR in tumor cells significantly reduced the impact of stress on metastasis in vivo. These findings highlight a crucial role for β2AR tumor cell signaling in the adverse effects of stress on metastasis, and indicate that it may be necessary to block β2AR on tumor cells to fully control metastatic progression

Seletividade de herbicidas pós-emergentes isolados ou associados a fertilizante foliar na cultura da soja

Herbicides and foliar fertilizers are commonly associated in soybean crops. However, these mixtures can cause different effects on the plants, therefore requiring further studies. Herein, we assess the selectivity of post-emergence herbicides associated with foliar fertilizer (FF) in soybean crops (Roundup Ready). The experiment was carried out in a randomized block design with four replications. The treatments applied were: chlorimuron (17.5 g a.i. ha-1), chlorimuron + FF (17.5 + 693 g a.i. ha-1), cloransulam (40 g a.i. ha-1), cloransulam + FF (40 + 693 g a.i. ha-1), fomesafen (225 g a.i. ha-1), fomesafen + FF (225 + 693 g a.i. ha-1), glyphosate (1,280 g a.i. ha-1), glyphosate + FF (1,280 + 693 g a.i. ha-1), and two controls, being one with manual weeding and the other without weed control. Visual assessments of phytotoxicity and chlorophyll index were carried out weekly from seven to thirty-five days after applying the treatments (DAA). In these periods, chlorophyll levels were also assessed. In addition, the yield, 1000-grain weight, and moisture data were assessed at the end of the crop cycle. Phytotoxicity was higher than 30% when cloransulam and chlorimuron were applied, while phytotoxicity was close to 5% for fomesafen and glyphosate, either in the absence or presence of foliar fertilizer. There was no significant difference in grain yield, 1000-grain weight, and moisture. The association of herbicides with zinc-based foliar fertilizer did not influence the selectivity of post-emergence herbicides applied to the RR soybean.A associação de herbicidas com fertilizantes foliares é comumente adotada na cultura da soja. Entretanto, essas associações podem ocasionar diferentes efeitos quando aplicadas na soja, necessitando portanto de maiores estudos. Assim, objetivou-se avaliar a seletividade de herbicidas pós-emergentes associados com fertilizante foliar (FF) à base de zinco na cultura da soja RR (resistente ao glifosato). O experimento foi conduzido em delineamento experimental de blocos casualizados, com quatro repetições. Os tratamentos aplicados foram chlorimuron (17,5 g i.a. ha-1); chlorimuron + FF (17,5 + 693 g i.a. ha-1); cloransulam (40 g i.a. ha-1); cloransulam + FF (40 + 693 g i.a. ha-1); fomesafem (225 g i.a. ha-1); fomesafem + FF (225 + 693 g i.a. ha-1); glyphosate (1.280 g i.a. ha-1); glyphosate + FF (1.280 + 693 g i.a. ha-1) e duas testemunhas sendo uma capinada e outra infestada. Foram realizadas avaliações visuais de fitotoxicidade aos 7, 14, 21, 28 e 35 dias após a aplicação dos tratamentos (DAT), e também nessas épocas os teores de clorofila. Ao final do ciclo da cultura foram determinados os dados referentes a produtividade e o peso de 1000 grãos. A fitotoxicidade foi superior a 30% quando se aplicou o cloransulam e o chlorimuron, enquanto que para o fomesafem e o glyphosate a fitotoxicidade foram próximas a 5%, na ausência ou presença do fertilizante foliar. Não ocorreu diferença significativa para a produtividade de grãos, peso de 1000 grãos e umidade. A associação de herbicidas com fertilizante foliar a base de zinco não influenciou na seletividade dos herbicidas aplicados em pós-emergência na cultura da soja RR

Comprehensive analysis of promoter-proximal RNA polymerase II pausing across mammalian cell types

Background: For many genes, RNA polymerase II stably pauses before transitioning to productive elongation. Although polymerase II pausing has been shown to be a mechanism for regulating transcriptional activation, the extent to which it is involved in control of mammalian gene expression and its relationship to chromatin structure remain poorly understood. Results: Here, we analyze 85 RNA polymerase II chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-sequencing experiments from 35 different murine and human samples, as well as related genome-wide datasets, to gain new insights into the relationship between polymerase II pausing and gene regulation. Across cell and tissue types, paused genes (pausing index > 2) comprise approximately 60 % of expressed genes and are repeatedly associated with specific biological functions. Paused genes also have lower cell-to-cell expression variability. Increased pausing has a non-linear effect on gene expression levels, with moderately paused genes being expressed more highly than other paused genes. The highest gene expression levels are often achieved through a novel pause-release mechanism driven by high polymerase II initiation. In three datasets examining the impact of extracellular signals, genes responsive to stimulus have slightly lower pausing index on average than non-responsive genes, and rapid gene activation is linked to conditional pause-release. Both chromatin structure and local sequence composition near the transcription start site influence pausing, with divergent features between mammals and Drosophila. Most notably, in mammals pausing is positively correlated with histone H2A.Z occupancy at promoters. Conclusions: Our results provide new insights into the contribution of RNA polymerase II pausing in mammalian gene regulation and chromatin structure. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13059-016-0984-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users