“Eles querem nos converter” : representações sociais sobre a minoria ativa vegan

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Psicologia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia Social, do Trabalho e das Organizações, 2017.O presente estudo buscou acessar, descrever e analisar as representações sociais construídas por veganos e não veganos acerca do veganismo. Além disso, buscou evidências de que este é um movimento social ativista, nos moldes da teoria das minorias ativas de Moscovici. O referencial teórico metodológico adotado foi a abordagem estrutural das representações sociais. Foi utilizado um instrumento de evocação, baseado na técnica de associação livre, tendo como termos indutores “ser vegano” e “veganismo”. O instrumento apresentava-se dividido em duas partes: a primeira, para coleta dos dados sócio-demográfico dos participantes; e a segunda, para identificação das RS dos participantes. Além disso, 5 ativistas veganos participaram de um grupo focal visando aprofundar a compreensão das representações desse grupo. Os dados de 81 veganos e 79 não veganos foram analisados por meio do software Iramuteq (Interface de R pour les Analyses Multidimensionnelles de Textes et de Questionnaires), versão 0.7 alpha 2. Os resultados sugerem que elementos de autotranscendência humana guiam o comportamento dos veganos na busca por um mundo de igualdade entre todas as espécies. Além disso, o aspecto ativista sociopolítico do veganismo encontra-se nas periferias da representação, sugerindo que este é um aspecto que só recentemente vem se tornando parte da representação do que é ser vegano para essa população. Para não veganos, os resultados sugerem que sua representação social é ancorada nas diferenças presentes nos hábitos alimentares dessas populações e que o contato entre elas é permeado por atitudes preconceituosas não hostis. Na zona de transformação pode-se observar alguns elementos de avaliação positiva, indicando construção recente. Apesar disso, sugere-se que o veganismo ainda é compreendido globalmente mais como estilo de vida do que como um movimento social.This study aimed at accessing, describing and analyzing the social representations (SR) built by vegans and non-vegans about veganism. In addition, it sought evidence that this is an activist social movement as per the active minority theory, by Moscovici. The theoretical methodology adopted was the structural approach of social representations and the focus group technique. An evocation instrument was used for data collection, based on the free association technique, using as inducing terms “being vegan” and “veganism”. The instrument was presented in two parts: the first one collected the socio-demographic data of the participants; the second was used to identify the SRs of the participants. In addition, 5 vegan activists participated in a focus group that sought to produce further knowledge about the representations of this group. Data from 81 vegans and 79 non-vegans were analyzed using Iramuteq (Interface de R pour les Analyses Multidimensionnelles de Textes et de Questionnaires), version 0.7 alpha 2. Results suggest that elements of human self-transcendence guide the behavior of vegans in pursuit of a world of equality between all species. In addition, the socio-political activist aspect of veganism is located at the peripheries of the representation, suggesting that this aspect has only recently become a fundamental part of what it means to be vegan for this population. For non-vegans, results suggest that their social representation is anchored on the differences between the food habits of these populations, and that their social experience is permeated by non-hostile prejudiced attitudes. On the transformation zone, some positive-evaluation elements were observed, suggesting that this is a recent construct. Besides that, the results suggest that veganism is still understood more as a lifestyle than a social movement

Interactions of polymorphisms in different clock genes associated with circadian phenotypes in humans

Several studies have shown that mutations and polymorphisms in clock genes are associated with abnormal circadian parameters in humans and also with more subtle non-pathological phenotypes like chronotypes. However, there have been conflicting results, and none of these studies analyzed the combined effects of more than one clock gene. Up to date, association studies in humans have focused on the analysis of only one clock gene per study. Since these genes encode proteins that physically interact with each other, combinations of polymorphisms in different clock genes could have a synergistic or an inhibitory effect upon circadian phenotypes. In the present study, we analyzed the combined effects of four polymorphisms in four clock genes (Per2, Per3, Clock and Bmal1) in people with extreme diurnal preferences (morning or evening). We found that a specific combination of polymorphisms in these genes is more frequent in people who have a morning preference for activity and there is a different combination in individuals with an evening preference for activity. Taken together, these results show that it is possible to detect clock gene interactions associated with human circadian phenotypes and bring an innovative idea of building a clock gene variation map that may be applied to human circadian biology

High Expression of SOD2 Protein Is a Strong Prognostic Factor for Stage IIIB Squamous Cell Cervical Carcinoma

High superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) expression is associated with a poor prognosis at many cancer sites, the presence of metastases, and more advanced cervical cancer. This study aims to determine whether SOD2 protein expression is associated with the prognosis of stage IIIB cervical carcinoma. Methods: sixty-three patients with stage IIIB squamous cell cervical carcinoma were included. The evaluation of SOD2 expression by immunohistochemistry was based on a positive cell ratio score and the staining intensity score. Taking disease recurrence and death as endpoints, receiver operating characteristic curves were used to discriminate between high and low SOD2 expression. Results: high SOD2 expression was associated with recurrence (p = 0.001), distant recurrence (p = 0.002), and death (p = 0.005). A multivariate analysis showed that patients with high SOD2 expression had a threefold increased risk for recurrence (HR = 3.16; 1.33–7.51) and death (HR = 2.98; 1.20–7.40) compared with patients who had low SOD2 expression. Patients with high SOD2 expression had shorter disease-free survival (p = 0.001) and overall survival (p = 0.003) than patients with low SOD2 expression. Conclusion: high SOD2 expression is a strong prognostic factor for stage IIIB squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix and could be used as a prognostic marker in women with cervical carcinoma

Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora