Social and economic impacts of congenital Zika syndrome in Brazil: Study protocol and rationale for a mixed-methods study

Global concern broke out in late 2015 as thousands of children in Brazil were born with microcephaly, which was quickly linked to congenital infection with Zika virus (ZIKV). ZIKV is now known to cause a wider spectrum of severe adverse outcomes—congenital Zika syndrome (CZS)—and also milder impairments. This study aimed to explore the social and economic impacts of CZS in Brazil. Data was collected through mixed methods across two settings: Recife City and Jaboatão dos Guararapes in Pernambuco State (the epicentre of the epidemic), and the city of Rio de Janeiro (where reports of ZIKV infection and CZS were less frequent). Data was collected May 2017-January 2018. Ethical standards were adhered to throughout the research. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with: mothers and other carers of children with CZS (approximately 30 per setting), pregnant women (10-12 per setting), men and women of child-bearing age (16-20 per setting), and health professionals (10-12 per setting). Thematic analysis was undertaken independently by researchers from at least two research settings, and these were shared for feedback. A case-control study was undertaken to quantitatively explore social and economic differences between caregivers of a child with CZS (cases) and caregivers with an unaffected child (controls). We aimed to recruit 100 cases and 100 controls per setting, from existing studies. The primary caregiver, usually the mother, was interviewed using a structured questionnaire to collect information on: depression, anxiety, stress, social support, family quality of life, health care and social service use, and costs incurred by families. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to compare outcomes for cases and controls. Costs incurred as a result of CZS were estimated from the perspective of the health system, families and society. Modelling was undertaken to estimate the total economic burden of CZS from those three perspectives

ATENÇÃO FARMACÊUTICA NO CONTEXTO DO TRATAMENTO DE TABAGISTAS:: ESTUDO DE CASO

Medicamentos são substâncias químicas que, quando em doses terapêuticas, atuam no organismo contribuindo para homeostase. Em contrapartida, sabe-se que a associação de dois ou mais fármacos pode acarretar alterações em seu mecanismo de atuação, conduzindo a riscos de toxicidade acompanhados de prejuízos à saúde por meio das interações medicamentosas. Objetiva-se estudar a atenção farmacêutica no contexto do tratamento de tabagistas. Na presente pesquisa foi realizado seguimento farmacoterapêutico de um paciente atendido em grupo de tratamento de tabagistas do município de Campina Grande, Paraíba. O tabagista em tratamento voluntário, sexo masculino, 52 anos, infartado, usuário dos medicamentos trimetazidina, bissulfato de clopidogrel, ácido acetilsalicílico, atorvastatina cálcica, oxalato de escitalopram, ramipril e succinato de metoprolol. Foi prescrito Bupropiona para tratamento do tabagismo. No acompanhamento da evolução foi utilizado o método Dáder, participação em grupos de apoio para resolução dos Problemas Relacionados a Medicamentos (PRMs) e aprimoramento da prática de atenção farmacêutica. Observaram-se riscos à saúde decorrentes da interação entre fármacos, fazendo-se necessárias estratégias que proporcionem segurança à utilização dos mesmos. Foi suspensa bupropiona e realizada a abordagem cognitiva comportamental. No relato, o tabagista em tratamento recebeu orientações por meio da atenção farmacêutica fortalecendo e promovendo adesão ao tratamento sem utilização da medicação prescrita para tratamento de tabagistas. Conclui-se que a atenção farmacêutica tem potencial para se tornar indispensável no âmbito da saúde em virtude de promover saúde por realizar observação qualificada da atuação do

Taking the pulse of Earth's tropical forests using networks of highly distributed plots

Tropical forests are the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth. While better understanding of these forests is critical for our collective future, until quite recently efforts to measure and monitor them have been largely disconnected. Networking is essential to discover the answers to questions that transcend borders and the horizons of funding agencies. Here we show how a global community is responding to the challenges of tropical ecosystem research with diverse teams measuring forests tree-by-tree in thousands of long-term plots. We review the major scientific discoveries of this work and show how this process is changing tropical forest science. Our core approach involves linking long-term grassroots initiatives with standardized protocols and data management to generate robust scaled-up results. By connecting tropical researchers and elevating their status, our Social Research Network model recognises the key role of the data originator in scientific discovery. Conceived in 1999 with RAINFOR (South America), our permanent plot networks have been adapted to Africa (AfriTRON) and Southeast Asia (T-FORCES) and widely emulated worldwide. Now these multiple initiatives are integrated via ForestPlots.net cyber-infrastructure, linking colleagues from 54 countries across 24 plot networks. Collectively these are transforming understanding of tropical forests and their biospheric role. Together we have discovered how, where and why forest carbon and biodiversity are responding to climate change, and how they feedback on it. This long-term pan-tropical collaboration has revealed a large long-term carbon sink and its trends, as well as making clear which drivers are most important, which forest processes are affected, where they are changing, what the lags are, and the likely future responses of tropical forests as the climate continues to change. By leveraging a remarkably old technology, plot networks are sparking a very modern revolution in tropical forest science. In the future, humanity can benefit greatly by nurturing the grassroots communities now collectively capable of generating unique, long-term understanding of Earth's most precious forests.Additional co-authors: Susan Laurance, William Laurance, Francoise Yoko Ishida, Andrew Marshall, Catherine Waite, Hannsjoerg Woell, Jean-Francois Bastin, Marijn Bauters, Hans Beeckman, Pfascal Boeckx, Jan Bogaert, Charles De Canniere, Thales de Haulleville, Jean-Louis Doucet, Olivier Hardy, Wannes Hubau, Elizabeth Kearsley, Hans Verbeeck, Jason Vleminckx, Steven W. Brewer, Alfredo Alarcón, Alejandro Araujo-Murakami, Eric Arets, Luzmila Arroyo, Ezequiel Chavez, Todd Fredericksen, René Guillén Villaroel, Gloria Gutierrez Sibauty, Timothy Killeen, Juan Carlos Licona, John Lleigue, Casimiro Mendoza, Samaria Murakami, Alexander Parada Gutierrez, Guido Pardo, Marielos Peña-Claros, Lourens Poorter, Marisol Toledo, Jeanneth Villalobos Cayo, Laura Jessica Viscarra, Vincent Vos, Jorge Ahumada, Everton Almeida, Jarcilene Almeida, Edmar Almeida de Oliveira, Wesley Alves da Cruz, Atila Alves de Oliveira, Fabrício Alvim Carvalho, Flávio Amorim Obermuller, Ana Andrade, Fernanda Antunes Carvalho, Simone Aparecida Vieira, Ana Carla Aquino, Luiz Aragão, Ana Claudia Araújo, Marco Antonio Assis, Jose Ataliba Mantelli Aboin Gomes, Fabrício Baccaro, Plínio Barbosa de Camargo, Paulo Barni, Jorcely Barroso, Luis Carlos Bernacci, Kauane Bordin, Marcelo Brilhante de Medeiros, Igor Broggio, José Luís Camargo, Domingos Cardoso, Maria Antonia Carniello, Andre Luis Casarin Rochelle, Carolina Castilho, Antonio Alberto Jorge Farias Castro, Wendeson Castro, Sabina Cerruto Ribeiro, Flávia Costa, Rodrigo Costa de Oliveira, Italo Coutinho, John Cunha, Lola da Costa, Lucia da Costa Ferreira, Richarlly da Costa Silva, Marta da Graça Zacarias Simbine, Vitor de Andrade Kamimura, Haroldo Cavalcante de Lima, Lia de Oliveira Melo, Luciano de Queiroz, José Romualdo de Sousa Lima, Mário do Espírito Santo, Tomas Domingues, Nayane Cristina dos Santos Prestes, Steffan Eduardo Silva Carneiro, Fernando Elias, Gabriel Eliseu, Thaise Emilio, Camila Laís Farrapo, Letícia Fernandes, Gustavo Ferreira, Joice Ferreira, Leandro Ferreira, Socorro Ferreira, Marcelo Fragomeni Simon, Maria Aparecida Freitas, Queila S. García, Angelo Gilberto Manzatto, Paulo Graça, Frederico Guilherme, Eduardo Hase, Niro Higuchi, Mariana Iguatemy, Reinaldo Imbrozio Barbosa, Margarita Jaramillo, Carlos Joly, Joice Klipel, Iêda Leão do Amaral, Carolina Levis, Antonio S. Lima, Maurício Lima Dan, Aline Lopes, Herison Madeiros, William E. Magnusson, Rubens Manoel dos Santos, Beatriz Marimon, Ben Hur Marimon Junior, Roberta Marotti Martelletti Grillo, Luiz Martinelli, Simone Matias Reis, Salomão Medeiros, Milton Meira-Junior, Thiago Metzker, Paulo Morandi, Natanael Moreira do Nascimento, Magna Moura, Sandra Cristina Müller, Laszlo Nagy, Henrique Nascimento, Marcelo Nascimento, Adriano Nogueira Lima, Raimunda Oliveira de Araújo, Jhonathan Oliveira Silva, Marcelo Pansonato, Gabriel Pavan Sabino, Karla Maria Pedra de Abreu, Pablo José Francisco Pena Rodrigues, Maria Piedade, Domingos Rodrigues, José Roberto Rodrigues Pinto, Carlos Quesada, Eliana Ramos, Rafael Ramos, Priscyla Rodrigues, Thaiane Rodrigues de Sousa, Rafael Salomão, Flávia Santana, Marcos Scaranello, Rodrigo Scarton Bergamin, Juliana Schietti, Jochen Schöngart, Gustavo Schwartz, Natalino Silva, Marcos Silveira, Cristiana Simão Seixas, Marta Simbine, Ana Claudia Souza, Priscila Souza, Rodolfo Souza, Tereza Sposito, Edson Stefani Junior, Julio Daniel do Vale, Ima Célia Guimarães Vieira, Dora Villela, Marcos Vital, Haron Xaud, Katia Zanini, Charles Eugene Zartman, Nur Khalish Hafizhah Ideris, Faizah binti Hj Metali, Kamariah Abu Salim, Muhd Shahruney Saparudin, Rafizah Mat Serudin, Rahayu Sukmaria Sukri, Serge Begne, George Chuyong, Marie Noel Djuikouo, Christelle Gonmadje, Murielle Simo-Droissart, Bonaventure Sonké, Hermann Taedoumg, Lise Zemagho, Sean Thomas, Fidèle Baya, Gustavo Saiz, Javier Silva Espejo, Dexiang Chen, Alan Hamilton, Yide Li, Tushou Luo, Shukui Niu, Han Xu, Zhang Zhou, Esteban Álvarez-Dávila, Juan Carlos Andrés Escobar, Henry Arellano-Peña, Jaime Cabezas Duarte, Jhon Calderón, Lina Maria Corrales Bravo, Borish Cuadrado, Hermes Cuadros, Alvaro Duque, Luisa Fernanda Duque, Sandra Milena Espinosa, Rebeca Franke-Ante, Hernando García, Alejandro Gómez, Roy González-M., Álvaro Idárraga-Piedrahíta, Eliana Jimenez, Rubén Jurado, Wilmar López Oviedo, René López-Camacho, Omar Aurelio Melo Cruz, Irina Mendoza Polo, Edwin Paky, Karen Pérez, Angel Pijachi, Camila Pizano, Adriana Prieto, Laura Ramos, Zorayda Restrepo Correa, James Richardson, Elkin Rodríguez, Gina M. Rodriguez M., Agustín Rudas, Pablo Stevenson, Markéta Chudomelová, Martin Dancak, Radim Hédl, Stanislav Lhota, Martin Svatek, Jacques Mukinzi, Corneille Ewango, Terese Hart, Emmanuel Kasongo Yakusu, Janvier Lisingo, Jean-Remy Makana, Faustin Mbayu, Benjamin Toirambe, John Tshibamba Mukendi, Lars Kvist, Gustav Nebel, Selene Báez, Carlos Céron, Daniel M. Griffith, Juan Ernesto Guevara Andino, David Neill, Walter Palacios, Maria Cristina Peñuela-Mora, Gonzalo Rivas-Torres, Gorky Villa, Sheleme Demissie, Tadesse Gole, Techane Gonfa, Kalle Ruokolainen, Michel Baisie, Fabrice Bénédet, Wemo Betian, Vincent Bezard, Damien Bonal, Jerôme Chave, Vincent Droissart, Sylvie Gourlet-Fleury, Annette Hladik, Nicolas Labrière, Pétrus Naisso, Maxime Réjou-Méchain, Plinio Sist, Lilian Blanc, Benoit Burban, Géraldine Derroire, Aurélie Dourdain, Clement Stahl, Natacha Nssi Bengone, Eric Chezeaux, Fidèle Evouna Ondo, Vincent Medjibe, Vianet Mihindou, Lee White, Heike Culmsee, Cristabel Durán Rangel, Viviana Horna, Florian Wittmann, Stephen Adu-Bredu, Kofi Affum-Baffoe, Ernest Foli, Michael Balinga, Anand Roopsind, James Singh, Raquel Thomas, Roderick Zagt, Indu K. Murthy, Kuswata Kartawinata, Edi Mirmanto, Hari Priyadi, Ismayadi Samsoedin, Terry Sunderland, Ishak Yassir, Francesco Rovero, Barbara Vinceti, Bruno Hérault, Shin-Ichiro Aiba, Kanehiro Kitayama, Armandu Daniels, Darlington Tuagben, John T. Woods, Muhammad Fitriadi, Alexander Karolus, Kho Lip Khoon, Noreen Majalap, Colin Maycock, Reuben Nilus, Sylvester Tan, Almeida Sitoe, Indiana Coronado G., Lucas Ojo, Rafael de Assis, Axel Dalberg Poulsen, Douglas Sheil, Karen Arévalo Pezo, Hans Buttgenbach Verde, Victor Chama Moscoso, Jimmy Cesar Cordova Oroche, Fernando Cornejo Valverde, Massiel Corrales Medina, Nallaret Davila Cardozo, Jano de Rutte Corzo, Jhon del Aguila Pasquel, Gerardo Flores Llampazo, Luis Freitas, Darcy Galiano Cabrera, Roosevelt García Villacorta, Karina Garcia Cabrera, Diego García Soria, Leticia Gatica Saboya, Julio Miguel Grandez Rios, Gabriel Hidalgo Pizango, Eurídice Honorio Coronado, Isau Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Walter Huaraca Huasco, Yuri Tomas Huillca Aedo, Jose Luis Marcelo Peña, Abel Monteagudo Mendoza, Vanesa Moreano Rodriguez, Percy Núñez Vargas, Sonia Cesarina Palacios Ramos, Nadir Pallqui Camacho, Antonio Peña Cruz, Freddy Ramirez Arevalo, José Reyna Huaymacari, Carlos Reynel Rodriguez, Marcos Antonio Ríos Paredes, Lily Rodriguez Bayona, Rocio del Pilar Rojas Gonzales, Maria Elena Rojas Peña, Norma Salinas Revilla, Yahn Carlos Soto Shareva, Raul Tupayachi Trujillo, Luis Valenzuela Gamarra, Rodolfo Vasquez Martinez, Jim Vega Arenas, Christian Amani, Suspense Averti Ifo, Yannick Bocko, Patrick Boundja, Romeo Ekoungoulou, Mireille Hockemba, Donatien Nzala, Alusine Fofanah, David Taylor, Guillermo Bañares-de Dios, Luis Cayuela, Íñigo Granzow-de la Cerda, Manuel Macía, Juliana Stropp, Maureen Playfair, Verginia Wortel, Toby Gardner, Robert Muscarella, Hari Priyadi, Ervan Rutishauser, Kuo-Jung Chao, Pantaleo Munishi, Olaf Bánki, Frans Bongers, Rene Boot, Gabriella Fredriksson, Jan Reitsma, Hans ter Steege, Tinde van Andel, Peter van de Meer, Peter van der Hout, Mark van Nieuwstadt, Bert van Ulft, Elmar Veenendaal, Ronald Vernimmen, Pieter Zuidema, Joeri Zwerts, Perpetra Akite, Robert Bitariho, Colin Chapman, Eilu Gerald, Miguel Leal, Patrick Mucunguzi, Miguel Alexiades, Timothy R. Baker, Karina Banda, Lindsay Banin, Jos Barlow, Amy Bennett, Erika Berenguer, Nicholas Berry, Neil M. Bird, George A. Blackburn, Francis Brearley, Roel Brienen, David Burslem, Lidiany Carvalho, Percival Cho, Fernanda Coelho, Murray Collins, David Coomes, Aida Cuni-Sanchez, Greta Dargie, Kyle Dexter, Mat Disney, Freddie Draper, Muying Duan, Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert, Robert Ewers, Belen Fadrique, Sophie Fauset, Ted R. Feldpausch, Filipe França, David Galbraith, Martin Gilpin, Emanuel Gloor, John Grace, Keith Hamer, David Harris, Tommaso Jucker, Michelle Kalamandeen, Bente Klitgaard, Aurora Levesley, Simon L. Lewis, Jeremy Lindsell, Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez, Jon Lovett, Yadvinder Malhi, Toby Marthews, Emma McIntosh, Karina Melgaço, William Milliken, Edward Mitchard, Peter Moonlight, Sam Moore, Alexandra Morel, Julie Peacock, Kelvin Peh, Colin Pendry, R. Toby Pennington, Luciana de Oliveira Pereira, Carlos Peres, Oliver L. Phillips, Georgia Pickavance, Thomas Pugh, Lan Qie, Terhi Riutta, Katherine Roucoux, Casey Ryan, Tiina Sarkinen, Camila Silva Valeria, Dominick Spracklen, Suzanne Stas, Martin Sullivan, Michael Swaine, Joey Talbot, James Taplin, Geertje van der Heijden, Laura Vedovato, Simon Willcock, Mathew Williams, Luciana Alves, Patricia Alvarez Loayza, Gabriel Arellano, Cheryl Asa, Peter Ashton, Gregory Asner, Terry Brncic, Foster Brown, Robyn Burnham, Connie Clark, James Comiskey, Gabriel Damasco, Stuart Davies, Tony Di Fiore, Terry Erwin, William Farfan-Rios, Jefferson Hall, David Kenfack, Thomas Lovejoy, Roberta Martin, Olga Martha Montiel, John Pipoly, Nigel Pitman, John Poulsen, Richard Primack, Miles Silman, Marc Steininger, Varun Swamy, John Terborgh, Duncan Thomas, Peter Umunay, Maria Uriarte, Emilio Vilanova Torre, Ophelia Wang, Kenneth Young, Gerardo A. Aymard C., Lionel Hernández, Rafael Herrera Fernández, Hirma Ramírez-Angulo, Pedro Salcedo, Elio Sanoja, Julio Serrano, Armando Torres-Lezama, Tinh Cong Le, Trai Trong Le, Hieu Dang Tra

Pesquisa de bioativos com atividade antimicrobiana nos extratos hidroetanólicos do fruto, folha e casca de caule do Zizyphus joazeiro mart

Zizyphus joazeiro Mart. árvore bastante disseminada no nordeste brasileiro, utilizada como agente de higienização bucal, em substituição aos produtos comerciais. Usa-se o fruto nas perturbações do estômago e as cascas na cicatrização de ferimentos, febres e infecções dos pulmões. O presente estudo objetiva avaliar a atividade antimicrobiana, in vitro dos diferentes extratos de Zizyphus joazeiro Mart frente á microrganismos, incluindo leveduras, bactérias Gram-positiva, Gram-negativa e Mycobacterium bovis. Os extratos foram preparados utilizando as partes aéreas (casca do caule, folhas e frutos) de Zizyphus joazeiro Mart. Esses foram testados quanto a sua atividade antimicrobiana, contra leveduras e bactérias utilizando o método de difusão em agar. Todos os extratos apresentaram atividade antimicrobiana. Dos microrganismos utilizados somente Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus e Candida albicans mostraram-se sensíveis. Nenhum dos extratos testados apresentou atividade sobre Mycobacterium bovis. Estes resultados podem explicar em parte a utilização Zizyphus joazeiro Mart. para o tratamento de doenças infecciosas na medicina tradicional

Pesquisa de bioativos com atividade antimicrobiana nos extratos hidroetanólicos do fruto, folha e casca de caule do Zizyphus joazeiro mart doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5892/ruvrv.2012.102.4351

Zizyphus joazeiro Mart. árvore bastante disseminada no nordeste brasileiro, utilizada como agente de higienização bucal, em substituição aos produtos comerciais. Usa-se o fruto nas perturbações do estômago e as cascas na cicatrização de ferimentos, febres e infecções dos pulmões. O presente estudo objetiva avaliar a atividade antimicrobiana, in vitro dos diferentes extratos de Zizyphus joazeiro Mart frente á microrganismos, incluindo leveduras, bactérias Gram-positiva, Gram-negativa e Mycobacterium bovis. Os extratos foram preparados utilizando as partes aéreas (casca do caule, folhas e frutos) de Zizyphus joazeiro Mart. Esses foram testados quanto a sua atividade antimicrobiana, contra leveduras e bactérias utilizando o método de difusão em agar. Todos os extratos apresentaram atividade antimicrobiana. Dos microrganismos utilizados somente Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus e Candida albicans mostraram-se sensíveis. Nenhum dos extratos testados apresentou atividade sobre Mycobacterium bovis. Estes resultados podem explicar em parte a utilização Zizyphus joazeiro Mart. para o tratamento de doenças infecciosas na medicina tradicional

Sensoriamento remoto no estudo de solos

As geotechnologies presently advance, remote sensing has been considered an important tool to monitor and evaluate natural resources, especially soil (Demattê and Garcia, 1999; Terra, 2011). The study of soils by remote sensing is based on the fact that the interaction between its physical, chemical and mineralogical with electromagnetic radiation occurs in specific lengths, so it is possible to identify and characterize them (Andronikov and Dobrovolskiy, 1991). This study aims to characterize the overall spectral behavior of a soil profile, through spectroradiometry in laboratory. The morphological characterization of the spectral curves of soils was performed by the means of qualitative evaluations based on methods employed by Demattê (2002), Bellinaso (2009), Demattê and Terra (2010) and Terra (2011). It is possible to verify the influence of constituents: iron, organic matter, particle size, moisture and mineralogy across the wavelength. It was observed that the sandiest horizons showed high reflectance of around 85%. The organic matter attenuated reflectance in the surface horizons, masking the effect of soil gradation to the length of 1850 nm. The qualitative evaluation method applied in this study allowed the characterization of the soil. The reflectance spectroradiometry proved to be a remote sensing technique highly effective in spectral characterization of soil.Pages: 9012-901

Relationship between climatic factors and air quality with tuberculosis in the Federal District, Brazil, 2003-2012

Introduction: despite the high rate of tuberculosis indicators in Brazil, the Federal District shows a low prevalence of the disease. Objective: to analyze the relationship between climatic factors and air quality with tuberculosis in the Brazilian Federal District. Methodology: this was an ecological and descriptive study comparing 3927 new cases of Tuberculosis registered at the Federal District Tuberculosis Control Program with data from the National Institute of Meteorology, Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, Brazilian Agricultural Research Institute, Brasilia Environmental Institute, and the Federal District Planning Company. Results: from 2003 to 2012, there has been a higher incidence of Tuberculosis (27.0%) in male patients in the winter (27.2%). Patients under 15 years of age (28.6%) and older than 64 years (27.1%) were more affected in the fall. For youth and adults (15-64 years), the highest number of cases was reported during winter (44.3%). The disease was prevalent with ultraviolet radiation over 17 MJ/m2 (67.8%; p = <0.001); relative humidity between 31.0% and 69.0% (95.8% of cases; p = <0.00); 12 h of daily sunlight or more (40.6%; p = 0.001); and temperatures between 20 °C and 23 °C (72.4%; p = <0.001). In the city of Taguatinga and surrounding area, pollution levels dropped to 15.2% between 2003 and 2012. Smoke levels decreased to 31.9%. In the Sobradinho region, particulate matter dropped to 13.1% and smoke to 19.3%, coinciding with the reduction of Tuberculosis incidence rates during the same period. Conclusion: the results should guide surveillance actions for Tuberculosis control and elimination and indicate the need to expand observation time to new climate indicators and air quality

Trocas gasosas e eficiência fotoquímica de cultivares de algodoeiro herbáceo sob aplicação de silício foliar

The objective of this study was to evaluate gas exchange and photochemical efficiency of cotton cultivars under leaf application of silicon. Therefore, the experiment was conducted in a completely randomized in a factorial 3 x 5, three cotton cultivars ('BRS Topazio', 'BRS Safira' and 'BRS Rubi'), five silicon concentrations (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 mg L-1) and four replications. Gas exchange and photochemical efficiency were determined by measuring the rate of CO2 assimilation, transpiration, stomatal conductance, internal CO2 concentration, instantaneous efficiency in water use, instantaneous carboxylation efficiency, initial fluorescence, maximum quantum efficiency of the variable and photosystem II (PSII). The data variables were subjected to analysis of variance and regression test comparison of means. There were significant differences in gas exchange and photochemical efficiency in response to concentrations of silicon. There were also significant differences among cotton cultivars evaluated. In cultivar 'BRS Top zio', the application of silicon increased CO2 assimilation rate and quantum efficiency of PSII. In 'BRS Safira' silicon reduced the rate of assimilation and internal CO2 concentration. In 'BRS Rubi' element increased the fluorescence of chlorophyll 'a' and quantum efficiency of photosystem II, and reduced the rate of assimilation and internal CO2 concentration and stomatal conductance. Silicate fertilization provided 'BRS Topazio' to express better photosynthetic rate in relation to 'BRS Safira' and 'BRS Rubi'. No damage occurred in PSII when 'BRS Top zio', 'BRS Safira' and 'BRS Rubi' cultivars received silicon as supplementary nutrition

Estilos de fé e sentido da vida

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo identificar os estilos de fé e relacioná-los com os níveis de religiosidade e vazio existencial. Para tanto, utilizou-se como principal referencial teórico a análise existencial de Viktor Frankl, que compreende a religiosidade como uma vontade de sentido último para a vida. A amostra foi constituída por 25 pessoas com idade média de 31 anos. Os instrumentos utilizados foram o Teste Propósito de Vida (PIL-Test), de James C. Crumbauch e Leonard T. Maholick, um questionário de atitude religiosa e seis perguntas da entrevista sobre o desenvolvimento da fé, originalmente elaborada por James W. Fowler. Por meio de análise de conteúdo foi possível identificar categorias pertinentes as concepções de Deus; o que faz a vida significante; crenças, valores e compromissos; momentos de comunhão ou harmonia com Deus ou com o universo; propósito da vida e o que é uma pessoa religiosa. Os resultados foram discutidos a luz da logoterapia e análise existencial de Viktor Frank

Antibiotic Activity Potentiation and Physicochemical Characterization of the Fixed Orbignya speciosa Almond Oil against MDR Staphylococcus aureus and Other Bacteria

Orbignya speciosa (babassu) is an important palm tree in Brazil whose fixed almond oil is used in popular medicine and especially in food, in addition to being a research target for the manufacture of biofuels. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fixed almond oil physicochemical characterization and its antibacterial activity in isolation and in association with aminoglycosides against standard and multidrug-resistant bacteria. Analyses such as water content, pH, acidity, peroxide index, relative density, and refractive index indicate the stability and chemical quality of the oil. In the oil&rsquo;s GC/MS chemical composition analysis, a high saturated fatty acid (76.90%) content was observed. Lauric acid (56.28%) and oleic acid (23.10%) were the major oil components. In the antibacterial test, a more significant oil activity was observed against K. pneumoniae KP-ATCC 10031 (minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) = 406.37 &mu;g/mL) and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 (MIC = 812.75 &mu;g/mL), but for the other strains&mdash;including standard and multi-resistant strains&mdash;the oil presented an MIC &ge; 1024 &mu;g/mL. Furthermore, a synergistic effect was observed when the oil was associated with amikacin and gentamicin against S. aureus (SA-10) and an antagonistic effect was observed with amikacin against Escherichia coli. Data indicate the O. speciosa oil as a valuable nutritional source of lauric, oleic, and myristic fatty acids with an ability to modulate aminoglycoside activity