A reconciled version of the cork oak tree genome-scale metabolic model

Quercus suber, commonly known as cork oak tree, is an evergreen tree which produces a thick bark (also known as cork) with multiple (a)biotic stress resistance properties (1). Due to corks natural characteristics, such as the low weight, excellent insulation and low permeability, the cellular structure has a significant economic value as it has multiple applications. For instance, it can be used as a wine bottle sealant and insulation boards (2,3). Additionally, cork is harvested periodically throughout the trees lifetime (4). Nevertheless, the corks quality can only be properly assessed after 40 years of tree growth, which makes the identification of metabolic traits, associated to high-quality cork, of the utmost importance (5). Genome-Scale Metabolic (GSM) models comprise both genomic and metabolic information and can predict the phenotypic behavior of an organism when subjected to distinct environmental conditions (6). Therefore, a reconstructed GSM model of the cork oak tree can point to metabolic properties related to cork quality. Additionally, in silico metabolic engineering strategies could lead to the development of metabolically enhanced trees. The current Quercus suber leaf model, reconstructed within merlin (7), contains 3126 reactions, 2648 metabolites, 7258 genes and was subjected to extensive manual curation, while the biomass and energy requirements were revamped. In silico simulations, using Flux Balance Analysis (8), accurately predict the phenotypic behavior of the leaf cell when exposed to phototrophic and heterotrophic conditions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Partial albinism in Rhinelepis aspera from the Upper Paraná Basin, Brazil, with a review of albinism in South American freshwater fishes

AbstractThis study reports a case of partial albinism in Rhinelepis aspera from the Aguapeí River, Upper Paraná Basin, Brazil and provides a review of albinism cases in freshwater fishes from South America. The captured specimen has depigmentation throughout almost its entire body, with pigmented eyes and little dark spots on the dorsal and caudal fins. It is an adult male, and we suggest that due to the benthic habitat, it would be able to reach adult size, avoiding predators. The review shows a scarcity of this phenomenon in nature

Violências nas escolas: decifrai-me ou vos devoro

O trabalho sumaria os principais resultados de um decênio de pesquisas sobre violências nas escolas no Brasil. As principais constatações são: (1) falta nitidez e coerência das normas sobre a conduta nos grupos docente e discente, sugerindo situações de anomia; (2) a gestão escolar com fortes componentes carismáticos e participativos obteve melhores resultados que a gestão burocrática; (3) em escolas praticantes da “pedagogia bancária”, parte dos alunos oprimidos se tornam opressores dos seus colegas, reproduzindo relações escolares e sociais; (4) a formação dos professores é distante da realidade, mais complexa, levando a profissão à perda de credibilidade e atratividade e os educadores ao sofrimento psíquico. O rumo proposto é o da sintonia da escola com as mudanças do seu tempo, já que se torna cada vez mais difícil manter fórmulas típicas do século XIX.This article summarises the main results of a decade or so of research projects on forms of violence at schools in Brazil. The main observations it makes are: (1) the rules and standards governing the conduct of both teachers and pupils lack clarity and coherence, which suggests that situations arise in which those rules and standards are disrespected; (2) forms of school management that include strong charismatic and participatory elements got better results than a bureaucratic management style; (3) in schools that practise the “banking” concept of education, some of the oppressed students themselves come to oppress their schoolmates, thereby reproducing certain scholastic and social conditions; (4) teacher training is a long way from reality, which is more complex, and this leads the profession to lose credibility and become less attractive and causes kindergarten and primary teachers to suffer mentally and emotionally. The authors propose that the path forward is to bring schools into harmony with the changes in today’s world, apart from anything else because it is getting more and more difficult to maintain formulae that were typical of the 19th century.Ce travail récapitule les principaux résultats d’une décennie de recherches sur la violence dans les écoles au Brésil. Les principales constatations sont: (1) manque de clarté et de cohérence des règles de conduite pour les enseignants et les élèves, suggérant des situations anormales; (2) la gestion scolaire à fortes composantes charismatiques et participatives a obtenu de meilleurs résultats que la gestion bureaucratique; (3) dans les écoles qui pratiquent la “ pédagogie bancaire ”, une partie des élèves oppressés deviennent oppresseurs de leurs camarades et reproduisent ainsi les rapports scolaires et sociaux; (4) la formation des enseignants est éloignée de la réalité, plus complexe, ce qui entraîne une perte de crédibilité et d’attractivité de la profession et des souffrances psychiques pour les éducateurs. Le chemin proposé est celui de l’adaptation de l’école aux changements de son temps, car il est de plus en plus difficile d’appliquer des formules typiques du XIXe siècle.El trabajo resumiría los principales resultados de un decenio de pesquisas sobre violencias en las escuelas de Brazil. Las principales constataciones son: (1) falta nitidez y coherencia de las normas de conducta en los grupos docente y alumnado, provocando situaciones de anomia; (2) la gestión escolar con fuertes componentes carismáticos y participativos obtuvo mejores resultados que la gestión burocrática; (3) en escuelas practicantes de la “pedagogía bancaria”, parte de los alumnos oprimidos se vuelven opresores de sus colegas, reproduciendo relaciones escolares y sociales; (4) la formación de los profesores es distante de la realidad más compleja, llevando a la profesión a la pérdida de credibilidad y atracción y a los educadores al sufrimiento psíquico. El rumbo propuesto es la sintonía de la escuela con los cambios de su tiempo, ya que se vuelve cada vez más difícil mantener fórmulas típicas del siglo XIX

Violências nas escolas: decifrai-me ou vos devoro

O trabalho sumaria os principais resultados de um decênio de pesquisas sobre violências nas escolas no Brasil. As principais constatações são: (1) falta nitidez e coerência das normas sobre a conduta nos grupos docente e discente, sugerindo situações de anomia; (2) a gestão escolar com fortes componentes carismáticos e participativos obteve melhores resultados que a gestão burocrática; (3) em escolas praticantes da “pedagogia bancária”, parte dos alunos oprimidos se tornam opressores dos seus colegas, reproduzindo relações escolares e sociais; (4) a formação dos professores é distante da realidade, mais complexa, levando a profissão à perda de credibilidade e atratividade e os educadores ao sofrimento psíquico. O rumo proposto é o da sintonia da escola com as mudanças do seu tempo, já que se torna cada vez mais difícil manter fórmulas típicas do século XIX.This article summarises the main results of a decade or so of research projects on forms of violence at schools in Brazil. The main observations it makes are: (1) the rules and standards governing the conduct of both teachers and pupils lack clarity and coherence, which suggests that situations arise in which those rules and standards are disrespected; (2) forms of school management that include strong charismatic and participatory elements got better results than a bureaucratic management style; (3) in schools that practise the “banking” concept of education, some of the oppressed students themselves come to oppress their schoolmates, thereby reproducing certain scholastic and social conditions; (4) teacher training is a long way from reality, which is more complex, and this leads the profession to lose credibility and become less attractive and causes kindergarten and primary teachers to suffer mentally and emotionally. The authors propose that the path forward is to bring schools into harmony with the changes in today’s world, apart from anything else because it is getting more and more difficult to maintain formulae that were typical of the 19th century.Ce travail récapitule les principaux résultats d’une décennie de recherches sur la violence dans les écoles au Brésil. Les principales constatations sont: (1) manque de clarté et de cohérence des règles de conduite pour les enseignants et les élèves, suggérant des situations anormales; (2) la gestion scolaire à fortes composantes charismatiques et participatives a obtenu de meilleurs résultats que la gestion bureaucratique; (3) dans les écoles qui pratiquent la “ pédagogie bancaire ”, une partie des élèves oppressés deviennent oppresseurs de leurs camarades et reproduisent ainsi les rapports scolaires et sociaux; (4) la formation des enseignants est éloignée de la réalité, plus complexe, ce qui entraîne une perte de crédibilité et d’attractivité de la profession et des souffrances psychiques pour les éducateurs. Le chemin proposé est celui de l’adaptation de l’école aux changements de son temps, car il est de plus en plus difficile d’appliquer des formules typiques du XIXe siècle.El trabajo resumiría los principales resultados de un decenio de pesquisas sobre violencias en las escuelas de Brazil. Las principales constataciones son: (1) falta nitidez y coherencia de las normas de conducta en los grupos docente y alumnado, provocando situaciones de anomia; (2) la gestión escolar con fuertes componentes carismáticos y participativos obtuvo mejores resultados que la gestión burocrática; (3) en escuelas practicantes de la “pedagogía bancaria”, parte de los alumnos oprimidos se vuelven opresores de sus colegas, reproduciendo relaciones escolares y sociales; (4) la formación de los profesores es distante de la realidad más compleja, llevando a la profesión a la pérdida de credibilidad y atracción y a los educadores al sufrimiento psíquico. El rumbo propuesto es la sintonía de la escuela con los cambios de su tiempo, ya que se vuelve cada vez más difícil mantener fórmulas típicas del siglo XIX

merlin v4: an updated platform for reconstructing genome-scale metabolic models

The Metabolic Models Reconstruction Using Genome-Scale Information (merlin) software is an open source user-friendly Java application developed for Windows and Unix, aimed towards the reconstruction of genome-scale metabolic models. The development of merlin follows a design philosophy of automating time-consuming steps in the reconstruction of genome-scale metabolic models, while allowing users to control the parameters of operations and manually curate the results. All major steps involved in the reconstruction of a metabolic model are implemented in merlin, including genome retrieval and its functional annotation, construction of the reactions set and associated entities, model compartmentalization and conversion to standard SBML formats. The fourth iteration of merlin includes a major overhaul of the user interface, implementation of new features, improvements to existing features, and most notably, the implementation of the object-relational mapping framework Hibernate. The graphical layout has been significantly streamlined, while supporting the latest version of AiBench, providing users with an intuitive and responsive interface. Development was also focused at new quality of life improvements, aimed mainly towards importing, exporting and duplicating merlin user projects. The development of the latest version of merlin followed a modular approach, culminating in the implementation of a plugin manager which simplifies and hastens the process of updating and debugging the various features of merlin. In addition, TranSyT, a state-of-the-art genome-wide transmembrane transport system annotation tool has been implemented to overcome the limitations of the previously available TRIAGE module. Finally, it is noteworthy to mention the implementation of BioISO, a tool aimed at evaluating a genome-scale metabolic network or biomass formulation, based on the previously available COBRA and FBA frameworks.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Acne do adulto: prevalência e descrição em utentes de cuidados de saúde primários da Área do Grande Porto, Portugal

Introduction: Though typically found in adolescents, acne frequently affects the adult population. In Portugal, no representative studies about acne prevalence in greater populational areas are known. This study had the following objectives: calculate acne prevalence in primary healthcare patients; its characteristics, including risk factors for onset and worsening; collect information concerning self-medication and/or prescribed treatment. Material and Methods: Application of a questionnaire and physical examination into a convenience sample, composed by adults from 20-60 years old that visited, in random days, five primary healthcare centers of the Greater Porto area. Results: From the 1,055 evaluated adults, acne prevalence was estimated at 61.5%. Only 36.8% of acne suffering adults was aware of their condition. More than half of tobacco users (62.3%) had acne. Just 25% of acne sufferers sought treatment. The most affected areas were the malars, differing from the younger disease form. Discussion: Acne prevalence was relatively higher than other studies. The results of this study have confirmed that acne seems to be related with increased calorie intake, tobacco smoking, whole milk and fat-reduced milk consumption, hirsutism, alopecia and seborrhea. Conclusion: In the primary healthcare set, more than half of adults were acne sufferers. These numbers show how important primary healthcare services can be in preventing and intervening when managing acne-related risk factors and psychosocial consequences.Introdução: A acne, apesar de caraterística no adolescente, afeta frequentemente o adulto. Em Portugal, não são conhecidos estudos sobre a prevalência da acne no adulto, nomeadamente observada nos grandes centros populacionais. Os objetivos deste estudo foram estimar a prevalência da acne nos utentes dos serviços de cuidados de saúde primários, as suas características, incluindo fatores de risco para início e/ou agravamento, além de coletar informação relacionada com a automedicação e/ou tratamento prescrito. Material e Métodos: Aplicação de questionário e exame físico a amostra composta por adultos entre os 20 - 60 anos de idade que visitaram, em dias aleatórios, cinco centros de saúde da área do Grande Porto. Resultados: Dos 1 055 adultos avaliados, a prevalência estimada de acne foi de 61,5%. Apenas 36,8% dos portadores estavam cientes da sua condição e somente 25% afirmou ter procurado tratamento. Mais de metade dos fumadores (62,3%) apresentavam acne. A zona mais afetada foi a região malar, diferindo da forma adolescente da doença. Discussão: A prevalência encontrada de acne foi mais elevada do que em outros estudos. A acne aparentou estar relacionada com a ingestão calórica aumentada, tabagismo, consumo de leite gordo ou meio gordo, hirsutismo, alopécia e seborreia. Conclusão: No contexto dos cuidados de saúde primários, mais de metade dos adultos eram portadores de acne. Estes números demonstram o quão importante pode ser a prevenção e intervenção pelos profissionais dos cuidados de saúde primários, tanto para a redução de eventuais factores de risco como para a intervenção terapêutica e consequências psicossociais relacionadas com a acne.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Efficacy and Safety of Oral Midazolam Sedation Compared with its Combination with Hydroxyzine Use in Pediatric Dentistry: A Systematic Review

Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of the use of midazolam as monotherapy, compared to the associated use of midazolam and hydroxyzine for minimum and moderate sedation of children in dental offices, using data obtained from clinical trials. Material and Methods: A systematic review protocol was developed and registered on PROSPERO (CR42020208633). An electronic search was carried out in Pubmed, Lilacs, Science Direct, Open Gray, Web of Science, and central Cochrane Library. No language restrictions were included. Clinical trials were carried out with children aged 0-12 years, using midazolam as monotherapy compared to the use of midazolam associated with hydroxyzine to verify the effectiveness and safety of oral sedation. The quality of the studies was individually assessed and grouped using the RoB 2 (Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials) and GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) systems, respectively. Results: A total of 749 studies were found. After analyzing the inclusion and removal of duplicates, two studies were analyzed for the quality of evidence. Through this analysis, it was possible to verify the very low level of scientific evidence on the superiority of the efficacy and safety of the combined use of midazolam and hydroxyzine for oral sedation in children in dental offices. Conclusion: The conflicting results and limitations of the studies enabled to establish that there is insufficient evidence to support the use of these drugs combined. There is only evidence for the use of midazolam as monotherapy

Perfil epidemiológico e espacial da síndrome gripal confirmada para COVID-19 no início da pandemia no estado do Pará-Brasil

Introduction: COVID-19 broke out in Wuhan in China in December 2019, soon reached pandemic level causing thousands of deaths worldwide. It presents mostly mild flu cases; however, it can evolve into a severe respiratory syndrome that is responsible for hospitalizations and deaths. Objective: To describe the epidemiological and spatial profile of confirmed cases of influenza-like syndrome (GB) by COVID-19 in the state of Pará. Method: Descriptive and ecological study, referring to cases of COVID-19 reported in the E-SUS VE. From the variables of the epidemiological profile, spatial distribution and temporal trend of the disease. Results: The spatial distribution showed that the concentration of cases is located in the southern municipalities of the state. In the profile variables: female gender (53.16%), age group (61.14%) 30 and 59 years, chronic heart disease represented (41.99%), diabetes (31.22%) and (16.30%) chronic respiratory diseases Health professionals infected (8%). Clinical features: fever (71.99%), cough (64.57%), and sore throat (46.78%). Confirmation criteria: rapid antibody test (84.39%), rapid antigen test (7.61%), and RT-PCR (7.48%). The temporal trend of the disease showed the peak of cases in the 20th epidemiological week. Conclusion: Mostly women, most frequent heart diseases and diabetes, confirmed by rapid test and classical symptoms of GS. A flattening of the curve was observed after the 21st week, possibly due to the lockdown intervention. However, it was shown the high number of cases on 07/07/2020 in several regions, specifically in municipalities of the southern region of the state.Introdução: A COVID-19 surgiu em Wuhan na China em dezembro de 2019, logo alcançou o nível de pandemia causando milhares de mortes no mundo. Se apresenta em sua maioria casos gripais leves, entretanto pode evoluir para uma síndrome respiratória grave que é responsável pelas hospitalizações e óbitos. Objetivo: Descrever o perfil epidemiológico e espacial dos casos confirmados de Síndrome Gripal (SG) por COVID-19 no estado do Pará. Método: Estudo descritivo e ecológico, referente aos casos de COVID-19 notificados no E-SUS VE. A partir das variáveis do perfil epidemiológico, distribuição espacial e tendência temporal da doença. Resultados: A distribuição espacial mostrou que a concentração dos casos localiza-se nos municípios do Sul do estado. Nas viariáveis do perfil: sexo feminino (53,16%), faixa etária (61,14%) 30 e 59 anos, doenças cardíacas crônicas representou (41,99%), diabetes (31,22%) e (16,30%) doenças respiratórias crônicas Profissionais da saúde infectados (8%). Características clínicas: febre (71,99%),tosse (64,57%) e dor de garganta (46,78%). Critério de confirmação: teste rápido- anticorpo (84.39%), teste rápido antígeno (7.61%) e RT-PCR (7.48%). Na tendência temporal da doença evidenciou-se o pico de casos na 20º semana epidemiológica. Conclusão: A maioria mulheres, doenças cardíacas e diabetes mais evidentes, confirmados a maioria por teste rápido e sintomatologia clássica da SG. Observou-se o achatamento da curva após a 21º semana, possivelmente, por conta da intervenção lockdown. Entretanto mostrou-se a alta de casos na data de 07/07/2020 em diversas regiões, especificamente em municípios da região sul do estado

Hexapoda Yearbook (Arthropoda: Mandibulata: Pancrustacea) Brazil 2020: the first annual production survey of new Brazilian species

This paper provided a list of all new Brazilian Hexapoda species described in 2020. Furthermore, based on the information extracted by this list, we tackled additional questions regarding the taxa, the specialists involved in the species descriptions as well as the journals in which those papers have been published. We recorded a total of 680 new Brazilian species of Hexapoda described in 2020, classified in 245 genera, 112 families and 18 orders. These 680 species were published in a total of 219 articles comprising 423 different authors residing in 27 countries. Only 30% of these authors are women, which demonstrates an inequality regarding sexes. In relation to the number of authors by species, the majority of the new species had two authors and the maximum of authors by species was five. We also found inequalities in the production of described species regarding the regions of Brazil, with Southeast and South leading. The top 10 institutions regarding productions of new species have four in the Southeast, two at South and with one ate North Region being the outlier of this pattern. Out of the total 219 published articles, Zootaxa dominated with 322 described species in 95 articles. The average impact factor was of 1.4 with only seven articles being published in Impact Factors above 3, indicating a hardship on publishing taxonomic articles in high-impact journals.The highlight of this paper is that it is unprecedent, as no annual record of Hexapoda species described was ever made in previous years to Brazil.Fil: Silva Neto, Alberto Moreira. Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; BrasilFil: Lopes Falaschi, Rafaela. Universidade Estadual do Ponta Grossa; BrasilFil: Zacca, Thamara. Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro. Museu Nacional; BrasilFil: Hipólito, Juliana. Universidade Federal da Bahia; BrasilFil: Costa Lima Pequeno, Pedro Aurélio. Universidade Federal de Roraima; BrasilFil: Alves Oliveira, João Rafael. Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; BrasilFil: Oliveira Dos Santos, Roberto. Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; BrasilFil: Heleodoro, Raphael Aquino. Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; BrasilFil: Jacobina, Adaiane Catarina Marcondes. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Somavilla, Alexandre. Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; BrasilFil: Camargo, Alexssandro. Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; BrasilFil: de Oliveira Lira, Aline. Universidad Federal Rural Pernambuco; BrasilFil: Sampaio, Aline Amanda. Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; BrasilFil: da Silva Ferreira, André. Universidad Federal Rural Pernambuco; BrasilFil: Martins, André Luis. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Figueiredo de Oliveira, Andressa. Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul; BrasilFil: Gonçalves da Silva Wengrat , Ana Paula. Universidade do Sao Paulo. Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz; BrasilFil: Batista Rosa, Augusto Henrique. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Dias Corrêa, Caio Cezar. Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro. Museu Nacional; BrasilFil: Costa De-Souza, Caroline. Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi; BrasilFil: Anjos Dos Santos, Danielle. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; ArgentinaFil: Pacheco Cordeiro, Danilo. Instituto Nacional Da Mata Atlantica; BrasilFil: Silva Nogueira, David. Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; BrasilFil: Almeida Marques, Dayse Willkenia. Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; BrasilFil: Nunes Barbosa, Diego. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Mello Mendes, Diego Matheus. Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá; BrasilFil: Galvão de Pádua, Diego. Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; BrasilFil: Silva Vilela, Diogo. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Gomes Viegas, Eduarda Fernanda. Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; BrasilFil: Carneiro dos Santos, Eduardo. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Rodrigues Fernandes, Daniell Rodrigo. Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; Brasi