Records and state of public infrastructure, the case of the Vogršček reservoir

An important component in the development of the\ud environment is diverse and functioning public infrastructure\ud (PI), which is managed by different sectors in Slovenia.\ud Information on the PI in Slovenia is collected in the\ud Consolidated Cadastre of PI maintained by the Surveying\ud and Mapping Authority of Republic of Slovenia; it is\ud an indispensable actor in the various processes of spatial\ud governance. In this paper, a three-stage methodology for\ud the analysis of public infrastructure is presented, which\ud enables the systematic and repeatable analysis of PI and\ud is also useful to check interactions between elements of PI\ud in the observed area. The proposed methodology is tested\ud in the wider area of the Vogršček reservoir in the Vipava\ud Valley. Through legislation, regulations on the management\ud and maintenance, concession contracts and agreements, the\ud management and maintenance of PI at the intersections\ud of different infrastructure is defined. The examples given\ud show the importance of the optimal operation of each part\ud of infrastructure for the operation of the infrastructure in\ud other sectors, as well as the importance of accurate records.\ud Suggestions for improving the situation in the field of PI\ud records are also given

SERVIÇO SOCIAL COMO UMA EXPRESSÃO DA PRÁXIS NA CRISE CONTEMPORÂNEA DO CAPITALISMO: fundamentos e tendências no Brasil

Aborda fundamentos do Serviço Social como uma expressão da práxis no contexto da crise contemporânea do capitalismo neoliberal na particularidade da sociedade brasileira. Busca sustentação na categoria da práxis a partir do pensamento de Marx e da tradição marxista para avançar na análise das alterações nas condições concretas dedesenvolvimento e de sustentação teórico-metodológica e ético-política do projeto profissional orientado pela perspectiva da emancipação humana. Tais condições, neste contexto, tendem para retrocessos.Palavras-chave: Serviço Social, praxis, neoliberalismo, crise contemporânea, emancipação humana.SOCIAL WORK AS AN EXPRESSION OF PRAXIS IN CONTEMPORARY CRISIS OF CAPITALISM: fundamentals and trends in BrazilAbstract: It covers fundamentals of Social Work as an expression of praxis in the context of the contemporary crisis of neoliberal capitalism in the particularity of Brazilian society. It also searches support in the category of praxis from the thought of Marx and the marxist tradition to advance the analysis of changes in the concrete conditions of developmentand support theoretical-methodological and ethical-political of the professional project driven by the human emancipation perspective. Taking this context into consideration, such conditions tend to setbacks.Keywords: Social Work, praxis, neoliberalism, contemporary crisis, human emancipation

Permanently protected agricultural land and the location of water sources suitable for irrigation

To aid the formation of the suggested areas of\ud permanently protected agricultural land, an allocation\ud algorithm was developed and used to establish the\ud irrigation water use potential of surface waters\ud streams, reservoirs, groundwater and treated municipal\ud wastewater, with the case study area of Slovenia.\ud The result is a map of the irrigation water use\ud potential, regarding the location and water source\ud use suitability for irrigation. The map shows areas\ud where the permanent protection of agricultural land\ud would be either most suitable either least suitable.\ud The appearance of the map depends on several water\ud management aspects, i.e. water demand management,\ud water use administration, the targeted management\ud of water infrastructure and the development of new\ud water sources

Lipase-producing fungi for potential wastewater treatment and bioenergy production

The use of fungal biomass as a lipase biocatalyst represents an attractive approach for the treatments of oil wastewater as well as for the production of biodiesel from oil and residual grease, due to its greater  stability, possibility of reuse, and lower cost. In this work, 20 filamentous fungi were isolated from the grease trap scum of a restaurant at the Federal University of Espírito Santo, Brazil. The fungi included those belonging to the genera Aspergillus, Beauveria, Botrytis, Cladosporium, Colletotrichum, Fusarium, Geotrichum, Penicillium, Rhizomucor, and Verticillium. Fungal lipase activity and biomass production were quantified. Lipase activity ranged from 0.13 U mg-1 protein of Rhizomucor sp. ECGF18 to 18.06 U mg-1 protein of Penicillium sp. ECGF02, and the biomass production ranged from 7.61 mg mL-1 for  Cladosporium sp. ECGF19 to 12.68 mg mL-1 for Rhizomucor sp. ECGF18. In the sequence, Penicillium sp. ECGF02 and Rhizomucor sp. ECGF18, were previously select and, further evaluated in solid-state fermentation. Results confirmed the high extracellular lipase-activity of Penicillium sp.ECG02 and the high intracellular lipase activity of Rhizomucor sp. ECG18. Rhizomucor sp. ECG18 showed potential for use in future research, in the form of whole-cell lipases, wastewater treatment, and as a biocatalyst in the production of biodiesel from oil residues.Key words: Lipase-producing fungi, wastewater treatment, bioenergy

Synthesis of Chitosan-Coated Silver Nanoparticle Bioconjugates and Their Antimicrobial Activity against Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria

The increase in multidrug-resistant bacteria represents a true challenge in the pharmaceutical and biomedical fields. For this reason, research on the development of new potential antibacterial strategies is essential. Here, we describe the development of a green system for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) bioconjugated with chitosan. We optimized a Prunus cerasus leaf extract as a source of silver and its conversion to chitosan–silver bioconjugates (CH-AgNPs). The AgNPs and CH-AgNPs were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), and zeta potential measurement (Z-potential). The cytotoxic activity of AgNPs and CH-AgNPs was assessed on Vero cells using the 3-[4.5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2.5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) cell proliferation assay. The antibacterial activity of AgNPs and CH-AgNPs synthesized using the green system was determined using the broth microdilution method. We evaluated the antimicrobial activity against standard ATCC and clinically isolated multisensitive (MS) and multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDR) Escherichia coli (E. coli), Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis), Klebsiella pneumonia (K. pneumoniae), and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays and the broth dilution method. The results of the antibacterial studies demonstrate that the silver chitosan bioconjugates were able to inhibit the growth of MDR strains more effectively than silver nanoparticles alone, with reduced cellular toxicity. These nanoparticles were stable in solution and had wide-spectrum antibacterial activity. The synthesis of silver and silver chitosan bioconjugates from Prunus cerasus leaf extracts may therefore serve as a simple, ecofriendly, noncytotoxic, economical, reliable, and safe method to produce antimicrobial compounds with low cytotoxicity

Outer Membrane Vesicles Derived from Klebsiella pneumoniae Influence the miRNA Expression Profile in Human Bronchial Epithelial BEAS-2B Cells

: Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen that causes nosocomial and community-acquired infections. The spread of resistant strains of K. pneumoniae represents a growing threat to human health, due to the exhaustion of effective treatments. K. pneumoniae releases outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). OMVs are a vehicle for the transport of virulence factors to host cells, causing cell injury. Previous studies have shown changes of gene expression in human bronchial epithelial cells after treatment with K. pneumoniae OMVs. These variations in gene expression could be regulated through microRNAs (miRNAs), which participate in several biological mechanisms. Thereafter, miRNA expression profiles in human bronchial epithelial cells were evaluated during infection with standard and clinical K. pneumoniae strains. Microarray analysis and RT-qPCR identified the dysregulation of miR-223, hsa-miR-21, hsa-miR-25 and hsa-let-7g miRNA sequences. Target gene prediction revealed the essential role of these miRNAs in the regulation of host immune responses involving NF-ĸB (miR-223), TLR4 (hsa-miR-21), cytokine (hsa-miR-25) and IL-6 (hsa-let-7g miRNA) signalling pathways. The current study provides the first large scale expression profile of miRNAs from lung cells and predicted gene targets, following exposure to K. pneumoniae OMVs. Our results suggest the importance of OMVs in the inflammatory response

As contribuições da enfermagem no processo de acreditação hospitalar: uma revisão da literatura / The contributions of nursing in the hospital accreditation process: a review of the literature

A acreditação é um processo de avaliação e promoção da melhoria da qualidade, estabelecido de maneira voluntária e periódica através de padrões pré-estabelecidos pela Organização Nacional de Acreditação (ONA), no intuito de alcançar as transformações de hábitos, valores e comportamentos dos indivíduos dentro das instituições adeptas, o que contribui para assistência de qualidade e a excelência dos serviços prestado Objetivo: Identificar na literatura contemporânea as contribuições da enfermagem no processo de acreditação hospitalar. Metodologia: Estudo de revisão bibliográfica, exploratório, qualitativo que foi realizado por meio de fontes secundárias constituídas por publicações envolvendo a temática central. Foram estabelecidos como critérios de inclusão: artigos publicados, no período de 2013 a 2018 e que abordem a temática central: As contribuições da enfermagem e Acreditação Hospitalar. Resultados: Entende-se que a equipe de Enfermagem representa maior quantidade nas instituições hospitalares e, pôde-se confirmar na participação ativa e direta ao paciente. Neste sentido, podemos afirmar que assistência de Enfermagem contribui no direcionamento dos esforços da instituição na busca por uma cultura de segurança. Considerações finais: A cultura da qualidade vem sendo buscada cada vez mais pelas instituições hospitalares e os indicadores de qualidade são ferramentas gerenciais imprescindíveis para contribuir no processo de assistência de enfermagem, pois são de adesão voluntária, embora ganhem peso no marketing das instituições

A comunicação da equipe multiprofissional na transição para os cuidados paliativos: Uma revisão da literatura / Multiprofessional Team Communication in the Transition to Palliative Care: A Literature Review

A comunicação é uma ferramenta de grande relevância em CP, por meio dela a notícia chega de forma digna, tendo caráter preventivo entre pacientes, familiares e profissionais. Contudo, deve ser direcionado por toda a equipe multiprofissional envolvida na assistência paliativa ao paciente, em especial o enfermeiro. Objetivo: Identificar na literatura contemporânea qual é a comunicação da equipe multiprofissional na transição para os cuidados paliativos. Metodologia: Estudo de revisão bibliográfica, exploratório, qualitativo que foi realizado por meio de fontes secundárias constituídas por publicações envolvendo a temática central. Foram estabelecidos como critérios de inclusão: artigos publicados, no período de 2013 a 2018 e que abordem a temática central: Oncologia, Cuidados Paliativos, Comunicação. Resultados: Nos artigos selecionados para esta revisão foi verificado preparo adequado da equipe multiprofissional na comunicação efetiva, não dando ênfase para dúvida, mas sendo direto ao ponto de compartilhar deste momento demonstrando apoio e suporte. Este dado pode estar relacionado a necessidade de toda equipe se fazer presente na hora do diagnóstico e o apoio que poderá começar após a notícia. Considerações finais: O estudo evidenciou que uma boa comunicação é fundamental para satisfação dos pacientes e de seus familiares com câncer em fase terminal. O processo de comunicação se configura como um elemento eficaz na assistência ao paciente em fase terminal e é de suma importância para a promoção dos cuidados paliativos

The clinical effectiveness of an integrated multidisciplinary evidence-based program to prevent intraoperative pressure injuries in high-risk children undergoing long-duration surgical procedures: a quality improvement study

The prevention of hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) in children undergoing long-duration surgical procedures is of critical importance due to the potential for catastrophic sequelae of these generally preventable injuries for the child and their family. Long-duration surgical procedures in children have the potential to result in high rates of HAPI due to physiological factors and the difficulty or impossibility of repositioning these patients intraoperatively. We developed and implemented a multi-modal, multi-disciplinary translational HAPI prevention quality improvement program at a large European Paediatric University Teaching Hospital. The intervention comprised the establishment of wound prevention teams, modified HAPI risk assessment tools, specific education, and the use of prophylactic dressings and fluidized positioners during long-duration surgical procedures. As part of the evaluation of the effectiveness of the program in reducing intraoperative HAPI, we conducted a prospective cohort study of 200 children undergoing long-duration surgical procedures and compared their outcomes with a matched historical cohort of 200 children who had undergone similar surgery the previous year. The findings demonstrated a reduction in HAPI in the intervention cohort of 80% (p < 0.01) compared to the comparator group when controlling for age, pathology, comorbidity, and surgical duration. We believe that the findings demonstrate that it is possible to significantly decrease HAPI incidence in these highly vulnerable children by using an evidence-based, multi-modal, multidisciplinary HAPI prevention strategy