Ergonomics applied to the development and evaluation of insoles for protective footwear

Knowledge of ergonomics/human factors plays an important role in the creation and design of safety shoes and insoles, contributing to worker protection, comfort, and stability. The purpose of this study is to compare previous insole designs and analyze the plantar pressure and gait pattern kinematics using the Oxford foot model protocol. The tests were performed comparing the environments on the three rockers of the gait, represented by the heel, midfoot, and forefoot, according to the classification of foot type. The analysis of plantar pressure, regarding its total and maximum distribution, showed that the innovative insole presents a better load distribution in terms of the maximum plantar pressure exerted in the hindfoot and forefoot regions. In the biomechanical analysis of gait, the five variables studied did not show variation in the normal mechanics of the foot in any of the three environments considered. The hallux joint was the one that presented the greatest divergences with the barefoot in terms of amplitude and variability, as expected.SHOE@FUTURE: Technological Solutions for Professional Footwear, POCI-01-0247-FEDER-033835, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) through the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Program under the “Portugal 2020” Program. This work has been supported by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020

Covid-19 and pulmonary thromboembolism: a case report

COVID-19 is an acute viral infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. This pandemic disease stands out for the marked variation in the clinical characteristics of patients, ranging from asymptomatic cases to severe organ dysfunction and death. Serious complications occur in the late phase of the disease or even after viral infection, and thrombotic events are one of these complications. In this context, this study aimed to report a case of an obese, young adult female patient with a complication of pulmonary thromboembolism after infection by COVID-19

ANÁLISE FÍSICO-QUIMICA COMPARATIVA DE SABONETES LÍQUIDOS

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo realizar testes físico-químicos de duas amostras de sabonete líquido diferentes, a fim de compará-las. As análises foram realizadas no laboratório de química das Faculdades Ponta Grossa (FacPG) e no laboratório de produção de medicamentos (LAPMED) da Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa (UEPG). Os parâmetros físico-químicos analisados foram: densidade através do método da picnometria, viscosidade pelo método do viscosímetro rotacional (Brookfield) e verificação do pH com o auxílio de um peagâmetro digital. As análises das amostras A e B foram realizadas em triplicatas e os resultados obtidos foram comparados com a literatura. Os valores de densidade encontrados foram 1,003 g/cm 3 para a amostra A e 0,6207 g/cm 3 para a amostra B. Os valores de pH e viscosidade encontrados foram, respectivamente 5,76, 6RPM/s 10,69Pa.s, 12RPM/s 8,28Pa.s para a amostra A, e 6,56, 6RPM/s 4,68Pa.s, 12RPM/s 3,59Pa.s para a amostra B. Com a realização das análises físico-químicas pode ser observado uma diferença significativa entre as amostras, sendo a amostra A mais densa, mais viscosa e com o pH mais ácido que a amostra B

Evaluation of response to anti-leptospira bacterin vaccination in pregnant ewes and the passive transfer of antibodies to their offspring

Leptospirosis in sheep is often underestimated, and leads to great economic losses for the sheep farming industry. The aim of this study was to evaluate the humoral immune response in pregnant ewes, after the injection of a commercial polyvalent vaccine for leptospirosis, and to observe the transmission of anti-Leptospira antibodies through the colostrum to the offspring. For this, 24 pregnant ewes were vaccinated for leptospirosis.  Blood samples were collected prior to vaccination and then 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and 49 days after vaccination. In order to evaluate passive immunity transfer, blood samples of 32 lambs were collected during the first 48 hours after birth, and another collection was performed 10 to 21 days after birth. The lambs were placed into 2 groups: Group A (n=16): singleton lambs; and group B (n=16): twins. The sera samples were submitted to the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT), in which 21 Leptospira serovars were tested. The results were analyzed in a descriptive form. The number of sheep reactive to MAT gradually increased until 21 days after vaccination, and decreased right after. Of all the serovars contained in the vaccine, the largest proportion of animals were seroconverted to Hardjoprajtino serovar, Serjoe serogroup. Anti-Leptospira antibodies transferred through colostrum to lambs were detected by MAT in the serum collected 24-48 hours after birth.  It was observed that 65.6% (21 out of 32) of the lambs were reactive. In the subsequent collections that occurred from 10 to 21 days after birth, a decrease in the number of animals reactive to the MAT was detected. There was no significant statistical difference for the passive transfer of antibodies between single or twin lambs

Direct evidence for phosphorus limitation on Amazon forest productivity

The productivity of rainforests growing on highly weathered tropical soils is expected to be limited by phosphorus availability1. Yet, controlled fertilization experiments have been unable to demonstrate a dominant role for phosphorus in controlling tropical forest net primary productivity. Recent syntheses have demonstrated that responses to nitrogen addition are as large as to phosphorus2, and adaptations to low phosphorus availability appear to enable net primary productivity to be maintained across major soil phosphorus gradients3. Thus, the extent to which phosphorus availability limits tropical forest productivity is highly uncertain. The majority of the Amazonia, however, is characterized by soils that are more depleted in phosphorus than those in which most tropical fertilization experiments have taken place2. Thus, we established a phosphorus, nitrogen and base cation addition experiment in an old growth Amazon rainforest, with a low soil phosphorus content that is representative of approximately 60% of the Amazon basin. Here we show that net primary productivity increased exclusively with phosphorus addition. After 2 years, strong responses were observed in fine root (+29%) and canopy productivity (+19%), but not stem growth. The direct evidence of phosphorus limitation of net primary productivity suggests that phosphorus availability may restrict Amazon forest responses to CO2 fertilization4, with major implications for future carbon sequestration and forest resilience to climate change.The authors acknowledge funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), grant number NE/L007223/1. This is publication 850 in the technical series of the BDFFP. C.A.Q. acknowledges the grants from Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) CNPq/LBA 68/2013, CNPq/MCTI/FNDCT no. 18/2021 and his productivity grant. C.A.Q., H.F.V.C., F.D.S., I.A., L.F.L., E.O.M. and S.G. acknowledge the AmazonFACE programme for financial support in cooperation with Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and the National Institute of Amazonian Research as part of the grants CAPES-INPA/88887.154643/2017-00 and 88881.154644/2017-01. T.F.D. acknowledges funds from FundacAo de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de SAo Paulo (FAPESP), grant 2015/50488-5, and the Partnership for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) programme grant AID-OAA-A-11-00012. L.E.O.C.A. thanks CNPq (314416/2020-0)

Síndrome Asia relacionada à prótese mamária de silicone: uma revisão literária

Objetivo: O estudo, em questão, tem por objetivo elucidar a discussão sobre a Síndrome ASIA e sua correlação com o implante mamário. Método: As informações foram obtidas por meio de revisão da literatura e artigos selecionados na base de dados do Google Scholar. Considerações finais: O tema apresentado e as publicações levantadas trazem à luz a discussão da abordagem de uma situação ainda pouco estudada e conhecida, que é a ocorrência da Síndrome ASIA mediante o implante mamário de silicone e evidenciam que quando bem executadas a investigação e a conduta, estas se mostram capazes de obter resultados satisfatórios no que diz respeito ao alívio sintomático e melhoria da qualidade de vidas das pacientes

Rapid responses of root traits and productivity to phosphorus and cation additions in a tropical lowland forest in Amazonia

• Soil nutrient availability can strongly affect root traits. In tropical forests, phosphorus (P) is often considered the main limiting nutrient for plants. However, support for the P paradigm is limited, and N and cations might also control tropical forests functioning. • We used a large‐scale experiment to determine how the factorial addition of nitrogen (N), P and cations affected root productivity and traits related to nutrient acquisition strategies (morphological traits, phosphatase activity, arbuscular mycorrhizal colonisation and nutrient contents) in a primary rainforest growing on low‐fertility soils in Central Amazonia after one year of fertilisation. • Multiple root traits and productivity were affected. Phosphorus additions increased annual root productivity and root diameter, but decreased root phosphatase activity. Cation additions increased root productivity at certain times of year, also increasing root diameter and mycorrhizal colonisation. P and cation additions increased their element concentrations in root tissues. No responses were detected with N addition. • Here we show that rock‐derived nutrients determine root functioning in low‐fertility Amazonian soils, demonstrating not only the hypothesised importance of P, but also highlighting the role of cations. The changes in fine root traits and productivity indicate that even slow‐growing tropical rainforests can respond rapidly to changes in resource availability

Measurement of differential cross sections for top quark pair production using the lepton plus jets final state in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV

National Science Foundation (U.S.