Engineering molecular recognition and catalysis - examples of designed peptides and stimuli responsive materials

Biomimetics are a growing field with several applications in Bioengineering. This work focuses on two examples of biomimetic systems applied to the fields of Biocatalysis and Biosensing. Enzymes are highly versatile catalysts present in biological systems with a coveted technological potential. Enzymes tend to be large and complex proteins and the development of simpler Biomimetic catalysts has been a long-term goal. In this work, two computationally designed protein-based peptides, RD01v2 and RD02, mimicking metalloprotease activity, were synthesized by SPPS and purified by Preparative HPLC Chromatography. The characterization process was divided in folding studies by far-UV CD spectroscopy and hydrolytic activity studies. All the assays were accomplished for a range of pH from 7 to 10, with and without added Zinc (II) at constant temperature. A Zinc titration at all these pH values, with the mentioned conditions, was performed to calculate the apparent dissociation constant (KpepZn,App in the range of 105 M-1). RD peptides presented low catalytic hydrolytic activity towards 4-nPA with second order rate constant (k2 <1 M-1s-1). The second exampled studied included the development of stimuli responsive materials mimicking the sense of olfaction

A study in cross-cultural transmission of natural philosophy: the Kenkon Bensetsu

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Doutor em História dos Descobrimentos e da Expansão PortuguesaThis work shows that the transmission of European natural philosophy by Christian missionaries in Japan during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was made in a systematic way, even if at an elementary level. The Kenkon Bensetsu is used as main evidence of this. This text was introduced into Japan by Antonio Rubino, on the orders of Inoue Masashige it was translated by Sawano Chuan, at the request of Kainosho Masanobu it was transliterated by Nishi Kichibei and Mukai Gensho, and this last one also wrote a commentary on its theories from a neo-Confucian perspective. The historical setting and the process that led to the production of the Kenkon Bensetsu are described. From this it is established that the Japanese of all walks of life were curious about the causes of natural phenomena; that the missionaries had the ability to provide those explanations, drawing from the pool of theories provided by sixteenth century Aristotelian natural philosophy, adjusted to the interests and talents of their audience; and that the Japanese authorities considered that these theories were important in some way and thus took the necessary steps to ensure that that they would not be consigned into oblivion as a consequence of their efforts to stamp out Christianity. The text is integrally translated following explicit criteria, therefore opening the way to further exploration by many researchers. Some of its most striking characteristics concerning content and style are analysed

Land use, landscape fragmentation, and water quality in a small watershed

A intensidade de uso e ocupação do solo e a fragmentação da paisagem, estimadas através de técnicas de processamento de imagens de satélite, foram relacionadas a parâmetros químicos e físicos de qualidade de água, medidos em 3 pontos de captação do córrego Ponte de Terra, localizado no Distrito Federal. Os parâmetros analisados, coletados mensalmente na bacia (A = 9,8 km2), foram: a cor, a turbidez, a condutividade elétrica, a concentração de amônia, a demanda química de oxigênio (DQO) e o índice de qualidade da água (IQA). Estudou-se, também, a estacionariedade das séries históricas dos parâmetros entre os anos de 1992 e 2005, quando a bacia sofreu um processo significativo de ocupação do solo. Indicadores de intensidade de ocupação do solo (LUIm) e a fragmentação da paisagem (Fp) foram desenvolvidos e calculados para a bacia, usando-se as proporções de áreas de diferentes graus de modificação e a entropia espectral da imagem, respectivamente. Apesar do uso/ocupação do solo e da fragmentação da paisagem terem aumentado significativamente no período estudado, apenas a DQO (média das 3 captações) aumentou de forma significativa. Como a zona ripária se manteve relativamente íntegra no período estudado, é possível que ela tenha amenizado eventuais impactos à qualidade da água na bacia. _______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTLand-use intensity and landscape fragmentation, estimated by digital processing of remotely-sensed images, were related to chemical and physical parameters of water, measured in 3 points of the Ponte de Terra stream (9.8 km2 of basin area), located in Brasilia, Brazil. The water quality parameters studied were the colour, turbidity, conductivity, concentration of ammonia, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and the water quality index (IQA). The stationarity of the time series of the parameters was also studied in the period between 1992 and 2005, when the basin experienced a significant occupation process. Land-use intensity (LUIm) and landscape fragmentation (Fp) indicators were developed and calculated for the basin using the proportions of different use intensity classes, and the spectral entropy of the satellite images, respectively. Despite the fact that the land-use and landscape fragmentation increased significantly in the studied period, only the COD parameter (mean of the 3 points) increased significantly. As the riparian zone remained relatively undisturbed in the period, it is possible that it buffered eventual impacts on the water quality of basin

El perfil del alumno ingresante en una universidade particular de la cuidad de São Paulo

Para investigar, junto aos alunos ingressantes em Enfermagem de uma universidade particular da Cidade de São Paulo, como se dava sua inserção neste curso, realizou-se um estudo exploratório descritivo. As respostas de 33 alunos indicaram serem adultos jovens, do gênero feminino, casados, sem filhos e na sua maioria trabalhadores. Muitos moram na região da universidade e têm sua formação no nível médio em escola pública, sua inserção no ensino superior se deu na sua grande maioria após dois semestres ou mais da conclusão do ensino médio, conheceram o curso através de pessoas e pelos meios de comunicação. _________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTTo investigate close to the new students in Nursing of a particular university of the São Paulo City, how was their insertion in this course, a exploratory descriptive study was achieved. The answers of 33 students had indicated that they were young adults, female, married, without children and in their majority they were workers. Many of them live in the region of the university, they have education in the intermediate level in public school, their insertion in higher education occur in the majority of cases after two semesters or more of the conclusion of intermediate education and they had known the course through people and for the medias. _________________________________________________________________________________ RESUMENPara investigar como se ejecutaba su inserción en el curso de enfermeria, se realizó un estudio exploratorio descriptivo centralizado en los alumnos ingresantes de una Universidad particular de la Ciudad de Sao Paulo. Las respuestas de 33 alumnos indicaron ser adultos jóvenes, del sexo femenino, casados, sin hijos, estudiaron el nivel secundario en la escuela pública; la mayoría son trabajadores y viven en la jurisdicción de la universidad. Su inserción en la enseñanza superior se dio en su gran mayoría después de dos semestres o más de la conclusión de la enseñanza secundaria y conocieron el curso a través de personas y por los medios de comunicación

Performance Measurement System Based on Supply Chain Operations Reference Model: Review and Proposal

Current study provides a performance measurement system (PMS) based on Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) adapted for the service sector. A systematic literature review was conducted on 16 performance measurement systems, which included 44 performance indicators and various performance metrics. Performance indicators and metrics were sorted according to conceptual similarities and then related to the five management processes intrinsic to SCOR model (plan, source, make, deliver and return). Indicators researched in a review of the literature were classified into six groups, namely, financial, velocity, sustainability, quality, resource utilization and customer services. The proposed PMS fills a gap in literature by forwarding a tool for the evaluation of the supply chain performance within the service sector

Disciplined be Locke in the image of the teaching device and the construction of professional self in human development: the inner gentleman

The present work is a theoretical and reflective study of the pedagogical and educational aspects of the&nbsp;concept of discipline and training in John Locke Gentleman (gentleman), dialoguing with the theories of Basil&nbsp;Bernstein and Rudolf Steiner to initiate the discussion of vocational training, especially of health&nbsp;professionals. Reflecting the imagistic dialogue corpus of the idea of gentleman and disciplinary award of this&nbsp;concept in John Locke through the methodology of image analysis and the documentary method.&nbsp;Understandings about the context assigned by participant observation the researcher of the practices of the&nbsp;discipline of Human Anatomy, Department of Morphology, Federal University of Pelotas, in 2012, allowed&nbsp;overlap and interconnect theorizing and re-contextualize the analysis of pedagogical device. It is considered&nbsp;that the regulative discourse of pedagogical device to Basil Bernstein can be conferred with the concept of&nbsp;discipline in John Locke, especially in the development of children\u27s habits, skills and construction of the&nbsp;interior of each gentleman I professional in the formation stage, considering that the regulative discourse&nbsp;controls the instructional discourse

E-book e seus Modelos de Negócios: um panorama das Bibliotecas Universitárias do Estado do Rio de Janeiro

Apresenta um panorama do que vem ocorrendo em seis Bibliotecas Universitárias do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Abordará o caminho que está sendo seguido na aquisição e disponibilização dos novos modelos de negócios para e-books. Esta pesquisa justifica-se como um tema relevante e atual para a área da informação, pois provoca debates entre bibliotecários do Brasil e de outros países a cerca de qual o melhor produto/modelo para aquisição. As editoras oferecem diversas formas para adquirir e implantar esta nova tecnologia no dia-a-dia do bibliotecário e do usuário, mas a falta de um parâmetro para a adoção do mesmo está influenciando na escolha, pois editores e fornecedores oferecem recursos que muitas vezes só lhes convém. O referencial teórico da pesquisa foi composto por conceitos acerca do tema, como: terminologia de livro eletrônico/livro digital; Bibliotecas Universitárias, os novos modelos de negócios oferecidos pelas editoras, entre outros. Tem como objetivo geral analisar o cenário das Bibliotecas Universitárias do Estado Rio de Janeiro, frente à aquisição dos novos modelos de negócios para e-books. Utilizou-se como metodologia a pesquisa aplicada, bibliográfica e descritiva com aplicação de questionário. O levantamento de literatura para a pesquisa baseou-se em artigos e trabalhos acadêmicos apresentados em congressos. Ao término da pesquisa conclui-se que todas as instituições pesquisadas estão envolvidas na aquisição e na inclusão desta tecnologia ao acervo, porém a falta de uma política nacional está dificultando sua compra e oferta