Application of the Quick Tool Exchange (QTE) System in Building Maintenance

Quick Tool Exchange (QTE) acts to reduce losses and failures during the production process and throughput time, contributing to rapid response to market changes. The object of the work is a private school of the Municipality of Porto Velho, capital of Rondônia. The general objective is to study the building maintenance of a private school in the Municipality of Porto Velho / RO, focusing on QTE technology. Therefore, the specific objectives were to characterize the building maintenance in the study (1); compare the operational processes applied in the face of QTE concepts (2); and propose innovation for the operational improvement of building maintenance in operation (3). The building maintenance has a clear importance, since its compliance contributes to the preservation of life and health of users of any construction. Both the preventive and the corrective have been receiving the importance due to it, especially the preventive one, since this is always cheaper in comparison to the corrective one, since besides the damages caused to the physical structure of the building, there can exist to the users present in the occurrence of the fact. The methodological procedures consisted in carrying out a bibliographic survey followed by a case study. The results demonstrated measures approved and not approved by the QTE, suggesting simple innovations, but with significant consequences to the improvement of service rendering, minimizing costs in the area of building maintenance. This study is of interest to businessmen in general, especially the public or private educational sector, and those involved with the area of Production Administration

Anthelmintic Activity In Vivo of Epiisopiloturine against Juvenile and Adult Worms of Schistosoma mansoni

Schistosomiasis is a serious disease currently estimated to affect more that 207 million people worldwide. Due to the intensive use of praziquantel, there is increasing concern about the development of drug-resistant strains. Therefore, it is necessary to search for and investigate new potential schistosomicidal compounds. This work reports the in vivo effect of the alkaloid epiisopiloturine (EPI) against adults and juvenile worms of Schistosoma mansoni. EPI was first purified its thermal behavior and theoretical solubility parameters charaterised. In the experiment, mice were treated with EPI over the 21 days post-infection with the doses of 40 and 200 mg/kg, and 45 days post-infection with single doses of 40, 100 and 300 mg/kg. The treatment with EPI at 40 mg/kg was more effective in adult worms when compared with doses of 100 and 300 mg/kg. The treatment with 40 mg/kg in adult worms reduced parasite burden significantly, lead to reduction in hepatosplenomegaly, reduced the egg burden in faeces, and decreased granuloma diameter. Scanning electron microscopy revealed morphological changes to the parasite tegument after treatment, including the loss of important features. Additionally, the in vivo treatment against juvenile with 40 mg/kg showed a reduction of the total worm burden of 50.2%. Histopathological studies were performed on liver, spleen, lung, kidney and brain and EPI was shown to have a DL50 of 8000 mg/kg. Therefore EPI shows potential to be used in schistosomiasis treatment. This is the first time that schistosomicidal in vivo activity of EPI has been reported

Temporal variation in vegetative development of Caulerpa scalpelliformis (Chlorophyta) from Baleia beach, Ilha Grande bay (Rio de janeiro, brazil)

Caulerpa scalpelliformis grows on rocky and sandy bottoms at different depths in Jacuacanga Cove, Ilha Grande Bay, where it can form dense patches. The invasive behavior of this and other species of Caulerpa is well documented in the literature. This study analyzed the variation of the vegetative development of C. scalpelliformis from Baleia Beach (23º01'63''S and 44º14'18''W) in Jacuacanga Cove, from June 2003 to September 2004, including plants from rocky and sandy substrates. Morphometric and dry weight data from the erect and prostrate portions were used. Plants were collected from 20 x 20 cm² plots (n=3), randomly positioned on the rocky boulders (≅1.5 m depth) and on contiguous sandy bottom (≅3.0 m depth). During the study period, C. scalpelliformis occurred on both substrates as a pseudo-perennial species, showing partial loss of the erect portions from winter to spring; the height and dry weight of the erect portions increased from summer to autumn on both substrates. The temporal variation of C. scalpelliformis vegetative development in Baleia Beach was similar to that described for the invasive C. racemosa and C. taxifolia from different geographical regions of the world.Caulerpa scalpelliformis cresce sobre substrato rochoso e arenoso a diferentes profundidades na Enseada de Jacuacanga, Baía da Ilha Grande, onde pode formar bancos densos. O comportamento invasor desta e de outras espécies de Caulerpa é bem documentado na literatura. Este estudo analisou a variação do desenvolvimento vegetativo de C. scalpelliformis da Praia da Baleia (23º01'63''S e 44º14'18''W), Enseada de Jacuacanga, de junho de 2003 a setembro de 2004, considerando plantas do substrato rochoso e do fundo de areia. Dados morfométricos e de peso seco das porções prostrada e ereta foram usados. Plantas foram coletadas em quadrados de 20 cm de lado (n=3), posicionados aleatoriamente sobre o substrato rochoso (profundidade ≅ 1,5 m) e sobre o substrato arenoso (profundidade ≅ 3,0 m). Durante o período de estudo, C. scalpelliformis ocorreu nos dois substratos como espécie pseudo-perene, mostrando perda parcial das porções eretas do talo do inverno para a primavera; altura e massa seca das porções eretas mostraram tendência de aumento do verão para o outono nos dois substratos. A variação temporal do desenvolvimento vegetativo de C. scalpelliformis na Praia da Baleia foi similar à descrita para C. racemosa e C. taxifolia, espécies invasoras em diferentes regiões do mundo

Neuroprotective effects on microglia and insights into the structure–activity relationship of an antioxidant peptide isolated from Pelophylax perezi

© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly citedTryptophyllins constitute a heterogeneous group of peptides that are one of the first classes of peptides identified from amphibian's skin secretions. Here, we report the structural characterization and antioxidant properties of a novel tryptophyllin-like peptide, named PpT-2, isolated from the Iberian green frog Pelophylax perezi. The skin secretion of P. perezi was obtained by electrical stimulation and fractionated using RP-HPLC. De novo peptide sequencing was conducted using MALDI MS/MS. The primary structure of PpT-2 (FPWLLS-NH2 ) was confirmed by Edman degradation and subsequently investigated using in silico tools. PpT-2 shared physicochemical properties with other well-known antioxidants. To test PpT-2 for antioxidant activity in vitro, the peptide was synthesized by solid phase and assessed in the chemical-based ABTS and DPPH scavenging assays. Then, a flow cytometry experiment was conducted to assess PpT-2 antioxidant activity in oxidatively challenged murine microglial cells. As predicted by the in silico analyses, PpT-2 scavenged free radicals in vitro and suppressed the generation of reactive species in PMA-stimulated BV-2 microglia cells. We further explored possible bioactivities of PpT-2 against prostate cancer cells and bacteria, against which the peptide exerted a moderate antiproliferative effect and negligible antimicrobial activity. The biocompatibility of PpT-2 was evaluated in cytotoxicity assays and in vivo toxicity with Galleria mellonella. No toxicity was detected in cells treated with up to 512 µg/ml and in G. mellonella treated with up to 40 mg/kg PpT-2. This novel peptide, PpT-2, stands as a promising peptide with potential therapeutic and biotechnological applications, mainly for the treatment/prevention of neurodegenerative disorders.This work was financed by FEDER - Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020 - Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI), and by Portuguese funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia in the framework of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031158 – PTDC/BII-BIO/31158/2017. The authors would like to thank the participation and scientific support of the Unit projects UIDB/50006/2020 | UIDP/50006/2020, and the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Universal Faixa ‘B’ (grant number 32103/2018-0). A.P. is a recipient of a post-doctoral grant from the project PTDC/BII-BIO/31158/2017. The authors would like to thank the researcher Roberto Resendes (CiBio, University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores, Portugal) for the logistical support in the collection of samples. C.P.A acknowledges FCT-MCTES fellowship PD/BD/136860/2018. A.B.-N. and F.C.D.A.L. acknowledge CNPq (grants 420449/2018-3 and 428211/2018-6) for financial support.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Virulence in Murine Model Shows the Existence of Two Distinct Populations of Brazilian Vaccinia virus Strains

Brazilian Vaccinia virus had been isolated from sentinel mice, rodents and recently from humans, cows and calves during outbreaks on dairy farms in several rural areas in Brazil, leading to high economic and social impact. Some phylogenetic studies have demonstrated the existence of two different populations of Brazilian Vaccinia virus strains circulating in nature, but little is known about their biological characteristics. Therefore, our goal was to study the virulence pattern of seven Brazilian Vaccinia virus strains. Infected BALB/c mice were monitored for morbidity, mortality and viral replication in organs as trachea, lungs, heart, kidneys, liver, brain and spleen. Based on the virulence potential, the Brazilian Vaccinia virus strains were grouped into two groups. One group contained GP1V, VBH, SAV and BAV which caused disease and death in infected mice and the second one included ARAV, GP2V and PSTV which did not cause any clinical signals or death in infected BALB/c mice. The subdivision of Brazilian Vaccinia virus strains into two groups is in agreement with previous genetic studies. Those data reinforce the existence of different populations circulating in Brazil regarding the genetic and virulence characteristics

Detection of Human Bocavirus mRNA in Respiratory Secretions Correlates with High Viral Load and Concurrent Diarrhea

Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a parvovirus recently identified in association with acute respiratory infections (ARI). Despite its worldwide occurrence, little is known on the pathogenesis of HBoV infections. In addition, few systematic studies of HBoV in ARI have been conducted in Latin America. Therefore, in order to test whether active viral replication of human bocavirus is associated with respiratory diseases and to understand the clinical impact of this virus in patients with these diseases, we performed a 3-year retrospective hospital-based study of HBoV in outpatients and inpatients with symptoms of Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) in Brazil. Nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs) from 1015 patients with respiratory symptoms were tested for HBoV DNA by PCR. All samples positive for HBoV were tested by PCR for all other respiratory viruses, had HBoV viral loads determined by quantitative real time PCR and, when possible, were tested by RT-PCR for HBoV VP1 mRNA, as evidence of active viral replication. HBoV was detected in 4.8% of patients, with annual rates of 10.0%, 3.0% and 3.0% in 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively. The range of respiratory symptoms was similar between HBoV-positive and HBoV-negative ARI patients. However, a higher rate of diarrhea was observed in HBoV-positive patients. High HBoV viral loads (>108 copies/mL) and diarrhea were significantly more frequent in patients with exclusive infection by HBoV and in patients with detection of HBoV VP1 mRNA than in patients with viral co-infection, detected in 72.9% of patients with HBoV. In summary, our data demonstrated that active HBoV replication was detected in a small percentage of patients with ARI and was correlated with concurrent diarrhea and lack of other viral co-infections