Cidade emoção: o ver e o viver os espaços públicos por um grupo de jovens a partir da comunidade Carobinha no Rio de Janeiro

Este trabalho entende a cidade através do olhar de um grupo de jovens que habita um lugar sujeito às condições de pobreza. O que nos move é conjecturar como, a partir das emoções, tais jovens são capazes de construir em processos interacionais no e com o espaço urbano, a percepção de cidade ao localizarem nesta, suas identidades. Para a caracterização desta cidade, que convencionamos chamar “cidade emoção”, coletamos as representações que os jovens expressam em desenhos e falas sobre o espaço urbano, uma vez que são imagens gravadas no imaginário coletivo. O objetivo de nossa pesquisa foi entender o espaço vivenciado do Rio de Janeiro, através dos processos perceptivos de jovens que trazem à tona a complexidade urbana à medida que revelam a identidade do território cotidiano de suas experiências. Por conseguinte, essa relação interacional dos jovens, converte-se em uma das peças fundamentais e tecedoras da construção do indivíduo, que analisamos com base na ideia de Vygotski (1998). Nesse contexto teórico, nosso objeto de estudo, a cidade, se coloca culturalmente como uma comunidade emocional, de domínio dos seus habitantes, porém, está no território apropriado o centro de onde emana o entendimento do que é o todo urbano.This report tries to understand the city through the look of young people that lives in a place expose to poverty conditions. What move us to try understand how, starting to the feelings, those young people are able to construct in interaction process in and with urban space, the perception of city to the notice their identities in it. To characterization of this city, that we decide to call “emotion city”, so was collected representations that they usually express at drawings and speeches about the urban space, since they are captured images at collective imaginary of the habitants. The objective of this research has been to try understand the living area to the Rio de Janeiro, through to young peoples’ perceptive processes bring up urban complexity as they reveal identity territory and daily experiences. Therefore, this young people’s interactional relation became itself at one of most important parts at development for the individual that was analyzed having at base Vygotski’s idea (1998). This theory context, our object of study, the city, take itself culturally as one emotional neighborhood, of habitants’ domain, although it is in a territory belongs to the city habitants, the center where the knowledge come from that is the all urban

Characterization and biofouling potential analysis of two cyanobacterial strains isolated from Cape Verde and Morocco

This work assesses the isolation, identification and characterization of two cyanobacterial strains isolated from Morocco and Cape Verde, as well as their biofilm-forming ability at two different surfaces, in a long-term assay under controlled hydrodynamic conditions. Cyanobacteria are new sources of value-added compounds but also ubiquitous and harmful microfoulers on marine biofouling. In this work, the isolation and identification of two cyanobacterial strains isolated from Cape Verde and Morocco, as well as their biofilm-forming ability on glass and Perspex under controlled hydrodynamic conditions, were performed. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that cyanobacterial strains isolated belong to Leptothoe and Jaaginema genera (Leptothoe sp. LEGE 181153 and Jaaginema sp. LEGE 191154). From quantitative and qualitative data of wet weight, chlorophyll a content and biofilm thickness obtained by optical coherence tomography, no significant differences were found in biofilms developed by the same cyanobacterial strain on different surfaces (glass and Perspex). However, the biofilm-forming potential of Leptothoe sp. LEGE 181153 proved to be higher compared with Jaaginema sp. LEGE 191154, particularly at the maturation stage of biofilm development. Three-dimensional biofilm images obtained from confocal laser scanning microscopy showed different patterns between both cyanobacterial strains and also among the two surfaces. Because standard methodologies to evaluate cyanobacterial biofilm formation, as well as two different optical imaging techniques, were used, this work also highlights the possibility of integrating different techniques to evaluate a complex phenomenon like cyanobacterial biofilm development

Application of Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy for Validation of the Novel (AN+DN) Solvent Polarity Scale

Based on solvation studies of polymers, the sum (1:1) of the electron acceptor (AN) and electron donor (DN) values of solvents has been proposed as an alternative polarity scale. To test this, the electron paramagnetic resonance isotropic hyperfine splitting constant, a parameter known to be dependent on the polarity/proticity of the medium, was correlated with the (AN+DN) term using three paramagnetic probes. The linear regression coefficient calculated for 15 different solvents was approximately 0.9, quite similar to those of other well-known polarity parameters, attesting to the validity of the (AN+DN) term as a novel “two-parameter” solvent polarity scale

Tailoring carbon nanotubes to enhance their efficiency as electron shuttle on the biological removal of acid orange 10 under anaerobic conditions

Anaerobic treatments have been described for the biodegradation of pollutants. However, the reactions proceed slowly due to the recalcitrant nature of these compounds. Carbon nanomaterials (CNM) intermediate in, and favor, the electron transfer, accelerating the anaerobic reduction of pollutants, which act as final electron acceptors. In the present work, different carbon nanotubes (CNT) with modified surface chemistry, namely CNT oxidized with HNO3 (CNT_HNO3) and CNT doped with nitrogen in a ball milling process (CNT_N_MB) were prepared using commercial CNT as a starting material. The new CNM were tested as redox mediators (RM), 0.1 g L−1, in the biological reduction of the azo dye, Acid Orange 10 (AO10), with an anaerobic granular sludge, over 48 h of reaction. Methane production was also assessed to verify the microorganism’s activity and the CNM’s effect on the methanogenic activity. An improvement in the biological removal of AO10 occurred with all CNM (above 90%), when compared with the control without CNM (only 32.4 ± 0.3%). The best results were obtained with CNT_N_MB, which achieved 98.2 ± 0.1% biological AO10 removal, and an 11-fold reduction rate increase. In order to confer magnetic properties to the CNM, tailored CNT were impregnated with 2% of iron-samples: CNTThis study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2019 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE‐01‐0145‐ FEDER‐000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 ‐ Programa Operacional Regional do Norte, as well as FCT/MCTES trough national funds (PIDDAC) and Base Funding – UIDB/50020/20 of the Associate Laboratory LSRE‐LCM – funded by national funds rough FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC). Ana Rita Silva holds a Grant from FCT, reference SFRH/BD/131905/2017. Salomé. G.P. Soares acknowledges FCT funding under the Scientific Employment Stimulus ‐ Institutional Call CEECINST/00049/2018.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Characterization of protective immune responses induced by pneumococcal surface protein A in fusion with Pneumolysin derivatives

Pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) and Pneumolysin derivatives (Pds) are important vaccine candidates, which can confer protection in different models of pneumococcal infection. Furthermore, the combination of these two proteins was able to increase protection against pneumococcal sepsis in mice. The present study investigated the potential of hybrid proteins generated by genetic fusion of PspA fragments to Pds to increase cross-protection against fatal pneumococcal infection. Pneumolisoids were fused to the N-terminus of clade 1 or clade 2 pspA gene fragments. Mouse immunization with the fusion proteins induced high levels of antibodies against PspA and Pds, able to bind to intact pneumococci expressing a homologous PspA with the same intensity as antibodies to rPspA alone or the co-administered proteins. However, when antibody binding to pneumococci with heterologous PspAs was examined, antisera to the PspA-Pds fusion molecules showed stronger antibody binding and C3 deposition than antisera to co-administered proteins. In agreement with these results, antisera against the hybrid proteins were more effective in promoting the phagocytosis of bacteria bearing heterologous PspAs in vitro, leading to a significant reduction in the number of bacteria when compared to co-administered proteins. The respective antisera were also capable of neutralizing the lytic activity of Pneumolysin on sheep red blood cells. Finally, mice immunized with fusion proteins were protected against fatal challenge with pneumococcal strains expressing heterologous PspAs. Taken together, the results suggest that PspA-Pd fusion proteins comprise a promising vaccine strategy, able to increase the immune response mediated by cross-reactive antibodies and complement deposition to heterologous strains, and to confer protection against fatal challenge

Bioinvasion in a Brazilian Bay: Filling Gaps in the Knowledge of Southwestern Atlantic Biota

Biological invasions are a major cause of global species change. Nevertheless, knowledge about the distribution and ecology of introduced species is regionally biased, and many gaps in knowledge exist for most developing countries.To study the zoobenthos on the hard substratum of the Ilha Grande Bay, a survey was conducted on both natural and artificial substrata at three depths and seven sites. The species recorded were classified as native, cryptogenic or introduced. Multivariate analyses were conducted to assess the prevalence of introduced species in these communities and to compare the distribution of species on natural and artificial substrata of this bay to identify possible discrepancies in habitat use. Of the 61 species, 25 were cryptogenic, 10 were introduced and 26 were native. Similar numbers of introduced species were found on both natural and artificial substrata, though the community composition was significantly different between them. We also compared the species composition of the Ilha Grande Bay survey to other inventories taken around the world. The highest similarities were found between the Ilha Grande Bay inventory and the Atlantic coastal region (Tampa Bay, USA and the Gulf of Mexico), American Samoa and Pearl Harbor (USA) inventories.This study presents the first published comprehensive list of hard substratum sessile marine invertebrate species in a Brazilian bay. The high percentage of cryptogenic species reveals gaps in both zoological records and information on introduced species for the Brazilian coast. The introduced species successfully colonized different sites in the Ilha Grande Bay, including both natural and artificial substrata. In addition, we find that artificial structures may not be good surrogates for natural rocky shores and may represent an ecological threat. Comparisons with other inventories suggest a history of broad-scale invasion, though more evidence is needed to support this conclusion

Evaluation of respiratory muscle strength in overweight/obese children and adolescents

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate respiratory muscle strength in overweight/obese children and adolescents. METHODS: This cross-sectional study enrolled patients between four and 15 years old, classified according to the National Center for Health Statistics curve for body mass index (BMI): Overweight/Obese Group (OG, BMI> 85th percentile) and Normal Weight Group (NG, BMI between 5th and 85th percentile). Manuvacuometer was used to measure maximal inspiratory pressure (MaxInspP) and maximal expiratory pressure (MaxExpP). Three measurements were obtained using the maximum pulmonary effort and the higher value was considered. Variables were compared by t test chi-square test. Adjustment of possible covariants was made by analysis of covariance, being significant p<0.05. RESULTS: 69 children were included: 37 (54%) in the OG and 32 (46%) in the NG. Obese patients were younger: 9.8±2.3 versus 10.9±1.9 years (p=0.031). MaxInspP was 71.4±24.9cmH2O in the OG and 89.6±19.6cmH2O (p=0.002). MaxExpP was 71.9±24.8cmH2O in the OG and 95.6±19.6cmH2O in the NG (p<0.001). There was no difference between groups regarding gender and physical activity. After adjustment for age, only the MaxExpP was significantly different between groups (p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Maximal expiratory pressure was lower in overweight/obese patients, indicating that obesity may alter pulmonary mechanics.OBJETIVO: Avaliar a força muscular respiratória de crianças e adolescentes com sobrepeso ou obesidade. MÉTODOS: Estudo transversal com crianças e adolescentes entre quatro e 15 anos de idade de duas instituições de ensino fundamental e uma clínica de nutrição. As crianças foram avaliadas e classificadas em dois grupos, de acordo com a curva proposta pelo National Center for Health Statistics: sobrepeso/obesos (GSO, índice de massa corpórea (IMC) em relação à idade e ao sexo acima do percentil 85) e eutróficos (GE, IMC entre percentil 5 e 85). Para avaliar as pressões inspiratória máxima (PImax) e expiratória máxima (PEmax) foram realizadas três medidas com um manovacuômetro, considerando-se a maior medida a partir da capacidade máxima inspiratória e expiratória. Aplicou-se o teste t para as variáveis quantitativas e o qui-quadrado para as qualitativas. Para ajuste das covariáveis, foi feita a análise de covariância, sendo significante p<0,05. RESULTADOS: Foram avaliadas 69 crianças: 37 (54%) do GSO e 32 (46%) eutróficos. O GSO apresentou menor idade (9,8±2,3 versus 10,9±1,9 anos; p=0,03). A PImax foi 71,4±24,9cmH2O no GSO e 89,6±19,6cmH2O nos eutróficos (p=0,002). A PEmax foi 71,9±24,8cmH2O no GSO e 95,6±19,6cmH2O nos eutróficos (p<0,001). Não houve diferenças quanto ao sexo e à prática de atividade física. Ajustando-se os valores em relação à idade, somente a PEmax manteve-se diferente entre os grupos (p=0,003). CONCLUSÕES: A força muscular expiratória mostrou-se diminuída nesta amostra de crianças e adolescentes com sobrepeso/obesidade, indicando que a obesidade pode comprometer a mecânica pulmonar dessa população.UNIFESPUniversidade Guarulhos Unidade de Terapia Intensiva AdultoHospital Alemão Oswaldo CruzUNIFESP, EPM, São PauloSciEL

Assessment of ciprofloxacin photocatalysis by-products toxicity with Vibrio fischeri

The presence of pharmaceuticals in water has become a large concern due to the potential negative effects on humans and aquatic ecosystems. From these pharmaceuticals, antibiotics represent a serious problem since their overuse and misuse may lead to adverse environmental effects, in particular, toxicity to microflora and fauna and potential negative effects to humans [1]. Photocatalysis has become attractive to promote the degradation of contaminants in the aquatic environment since it allows their rapid and efficient removal from water, transforming them into by-products [2]. In order to evaluate toxicity of these by-products, several bio tests using bacteria (Vibrio fischeri) and algae (Daphnia spp.), among others, have been used [3]. In the present work a photocatalytic systems using commercial TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles in suspension was used to degrade ciprofloxacin under UV radiation. Samples were withdraw over time in order to monitor degradation and toxicity. The luminescence of the bacteria Vibrio fischeri was used to test the toxicity of ciprofloxacin intermediate compounds, produced during the photocatalysis process. If a substance is toxic towards these bacteria, their normal luminescence decreases, as a consequence of a decreasing bacteria viability. Results (Figure 1) indicate that samples without ciprofloxacin degradation (t=0), in contact with bacteria (for 35 min), result in a higher luminescence than with completely degraded ciprofloxacin (t=15min). These results indicate that by products are responsible for low bacteria viability.FEDER through the COMPETE Program and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of the Strategic Project PEST-C/FIS/UI607/2011 and project PTDC/CTM-NAN/121038/2010