PLGA Based Drug Carrier and Pharmaceutical Applications: The Most Recent Advances

Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) is one of the most successful polymers that has been used to produce medicines, such as drug carriers (DC) [...]</jats:p

É possível desvirtuar a participação social na gestão dos recursos hídricos? : análise espacial aplicada ao Comitê de Bacia Hidrográfica do rio Paraguaçu (BA)

O trabalho produziu uma análise espacial do quantitativo de membros representantes do Comitê de Bacia Hidrográfica do rio Paraguaçu (CBHP), Bahia, no período de 2006/2009, e suas implicações para a gestão participativa e dos conflitos em torno dos usos múltiplos dos recursos hídricos. A partir do domicílio de cada representante, foi quantificado o número de representantes no CBHP por município e feita a cartografia desse quantitativo. O resultado revelou a existência de uma superrepresentação no CBHP dos irrigantes do trecho alto da bacia do rio Paraguaçu. A consequência é a hegemonia política de uma região sobre as demais, que configura uma geometria de poder conformada pela existência de pólos concentradores de poder político, que possivelmente expresse polarização econômica. Com base nos resultados, problematiza-se os critérios de composição dos comitês de bacia hidrográfica, baseados na representação por setor de usuários, sem levar em consideração a origem geográfica e a vinculação regional ao território.This paper produced a spatial analysis of the quantitative of representative members of the Water basin Committee of Paraguaçu river (CBHP), Bahia, in the period 2006/2009, and its implication for participatory and conflict management around the multiple uses of water resources. From the home address of each representative in CBHP, it has been quantified the number of representatives per municipalities and it was made the mapping of this quantitative. The result showed the existence of an overrepresentation of irrigators from the upper portion of water basin. The consequence is a political hegemony of one region over the others ones that constitutes a geometry of power conformed by the existence of hubs poles of political power, possibly expressing the economic polarization in the territory. Based on the results, it was discussed the criteria for the composition of the water basin committees, based on representation by users of water resources, regardless of geographic origin and linkage to the regional territory

Trace metals in size-fractionated particulate matter in a Portuguese hospital: exposure risks assessment and comparisons with other countries

Hospitals are considered as a special and important type of indoor public place where air quality has significant impacts on potential health outcomes. Information on indoor air quality of these environments, concerning exposures to particulate matter (PM) and related toxicity, is limited though. This work aims to evaluate risks associated with inhalation exposure to ten toxic metals and chlorine (As, Ni, Cr, Cd, Pb, Mn, Se, Ba, Al, Si, and Cl) in coarse (PM2.5–10) and fine (PM2.5) particles in a Portuguese hospital in comparison with studies representative of other countries. Samples were collected during 1 month in one urban hospital; elemental PM characterization was determined by proton-induced X-ray emission. Noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic risks were assessed according to the methodology provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA; Region III Risk-Based Concentration Table) for three different age categories of hospital personnel (adults, >20, and 65 years). The estimated noncarcinogenic risks due to occupational inhalation exposure to PM2.5-bound metals ranged from 5.88×10−6 for Se (adults, 55–64 years) to 9.35×10−1 for As (adults, 20–24 years) with total noncarcinogenic risks (sum of all metals) above the safe level for all three age categories. As and Cl (the latter due to its high abundances) were the most important contributors (approximately 90 %) to noncarcinogenic risks. For PM2.5–10, noncarcinogenic risks of all metals were acceptable to all age groups. Concerning carcinogenic risks, for Ni and Pb, they were negligible (<1×10−6) in both PM fractions for all age groups of hospital personnel; potential risks were observed for As and Cr with values in PM2.5 exceeding (up to 62 and 5 times, respectively) USEPA guideline across all age groups; for PM2.5–10, increased excess risks of As and Cr were observed particularly for long-term exposures (adults, 55–64 years). Total carcinogenic risks highly (up to 67 times) exceeded the recommended level for all age groups, thus clearly showing that occupational exposure to metals in fine particles pose significant risks. If the extensive working hours of hospital medical staff were considered, the respective noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic risks were increased, the latter for PM2.5 exceeding the USEPA cumulative guideline of 10−4. For adult patients, the estimated noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic risks were approximately three times higher than for personnel, with particular concerns observed for children and adolescents

Traffic-Related Air Pollution: Legislation Versus Health and Environmental Effects

Ambient air quality is a very topical issue as it has an important influence on human health.Exposure to atmospheric pollutants may result in various adverse health effects. Theimpacts of air pollution are not confined only to human health but also to the environmentas a whole. In that regard, vehicular traffic emissions are especially important, because itsvolume is increasing every year. Consequently pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx),carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) are emitted into the atmosphere causing a significant decline of air quality acrossEurope, which results in hundreds of thousands of premature deaths every year. In order toimprove the situation, the European Union has been defining legislation on ambient airquality with limits of the respective pollutants and aiming to increase the levels of publichealth protection. Despite reductions in emissions, concentrations of these pollutants remainhigh often above existing targets exposing populations to levels that reduce lifeexpectancy, cause premature death and widespread aggravation to health.In this chapter, various aspects of air pollution are discussed with specific emphasis onvehicular road traffic. An overview of the current legislation related to air quality is given.The work then focuses on the health impacts of important traffic related pollutants, withparticular focus on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The general description ofPAHs is presented with further discussion on their health and environmental impacts

Avaliação de técnicas de pré-processamento de sinais do EEG para detecção de eventos epileptogênicos utilizando redes neurais artificiais

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Elétrica.A avaliação desenvolvida neste trabalho faz parte de uma seqüência de estudos realizados pelo Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, na Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, relacionados ao desenvolvimento de técnicas computacionais para processament

#memorialdoconvento

O Programa oficial do Ensino Secundário para a disciplina de português prevê a leitura integral de várias obras literárias representativas da cultura nacional. Todavia, as características dos jovens urbanos do século XXI são incompatíveis com esta proposta, o que cria novos desafios à escola. Neste artigo descreve-se uma experiência pedagógica, que levou os estudantes a trabalhar conteúdos literários, colocando-os numa posição ativa de produção de conhecimento e de interpretação autónoma do texto literário, a propósito do estudo de Memorial do Convento, de José Saramago. A proposta implicou o recurso às novas tecnologias e resultou na criação de um conjunto diversificado de videojogos. As conclusões apontam a possibilidade de um trabalho de apropriação de conhecimento, que desvie o professor do seu papel tradicional de transmissor de saberes e coloque o aluno numa posição em que a sua vivência de imersão digital permita a criação de uma escola adaptada à pós-modernidade

Fluorinated Molecules and Nanotechnology: Future 'Avengers' against the Alzheimer's Disease?

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a serious health concern, affecting millions of people globally, which leads to cognitive impairment, dementia, and inevitable death. There is still no medically accepted treatment for AD. Developing therapeutic treatments for AD is an overwhelming challenge in the medicinal field, as the exact mechanics underlying its devastating symptoms is still not completely understood. Rather than the unknown mechanism of the disease, one of the limiting factors in developing new drugs for AD is the blood-brain barrier (BBB). A combination of nanotechnology with fluorinated molecules is proposed as a promising therapeutic treatment to meet the desired pharmacokinetic/physiochemical properties for crossing the BBB passage. This paper reviews the research conducted on fluorine-containing compounds and fluorinated nanoparticles (NPs) that have been designed and tested for the inhibition of amyloid-beta (A beta) peptide aggregation. Additionally, this study summarizes fluorinated molecules and NPs as promising agents and further future work is encouraged to be effective for the treatment of AD