Bioclimatic buildings strategies for the climate of Araras city, São Paulo - Brazil

The concept of bioclimatic architecture or passive solar architecture can be defined as an architecture that includes the climate as an important variable in the design process. Through the use of bioclimatic strategies the environment comfort can be obtained naturally for users of buildings, which depending on the climate, the construction techniques and the type of use. Considering these aspects, the main objective of this work is to identify bioclimatic strategies for buildings for the climate of Araras city, countryside of São Paulo State - Brazil, based on climatic characterization of the city and in the study of design guidelines indicated by the Brazilian Code NBR 15220-3, the Brazilian Bioclimatic Zoning. According to the code, the climate of Araras is inserted in Bioclimatic Zone 4. For this climate the main indicated strategies for winter are the use of solar passive heating and massive internal walls in buildings. For summer, the use of evaporative cooling and ventilation are indicated. Based on this information were established initial guidelines for thermal comfort and energy efficiency for projects of buildings in the climate of Araras-SP

Access to medicines in the Brazilian Unified Health System's primary health care : assessment of a public policy

In 2008, the Programa Rede Farmácia de Minas (RFM, literally translated: ‘Minas Gerais Pharmacy Network’ program) was created as a strategy to expand access to medicines. Aim: Measure access to medicines in public pharmacies through comparison between municipalities that joined or not the RFM. Materials & methods: Cross-sectional, evaluative study, gathering information from a representative sample of the municipalities in Minas Gerais between July 2014 and May 2015. The Poisson regression results were obtained by calculating the prevalence ratios. Results: Adequate access to medicines in Minas Gerais was 69.9%, being 75.8% in municipalities with and 69.2% without the RFM. The municipalities with the RFM showed statistically higher percentages in the Availability, Adequacy/Accommodation, and Acceptability dimensions. Conclusion: RFM appears an efficient strategy for promoting access to medicines

Diet-induced Obesity In Rats Leads To A Decrease In Sperm Motility.

Obesity is rapidly becoming a worldwide epidemic that affects children and adults. Some studies have shown a relationship between obesity and infertility, but until now it remains controversial. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of high-fat diet-induced obesity on male reproductive parameters. In a first experiment, male Wistar rats were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) or standard chow (SD) for 15, 30 or 45 weeks, after which they were evaluated by adiposity index, serum leptin levels, reproductive organ weights and sperm counts. In a second experiment, rats received HFD or SD only for 15 weeks, long enough to cause obesity. Sexual hormones and sexual behavior were evaluated in these animals, as well as fertility after natural mating. Another group of rats was submitted to motility analysis and fertility evaluation after in utero insemination. After 15, 30 or 45 weeks, HFD-fed animals presented significant increases in obesity index and serum leptin levels. Reproductive organ weights and sperm counts in the testis and epididymis were similar between the two groups at all timepoints studied. Sexual behavior was not altered by the diet regimen, and HFD fertility after natural mating was also similar to SD-fed animals. Intergroup testosterone levels were also comparable, but estradiol levels were increased in HFD rats. Furthermore, sperm quality was reduced in HFD animals as evidenced by their decreased percentage of sperm with progressive movement. This altered motility parameter was followed by a trend toward reduction in fertility potential after artificial in utero insemination. The results reported herein showed that obesity can affect sperm quality, by reducing sperm motility, without affecting other sperm parameters. The low sperm quality caused a slight reduction in fertility potential, showing that obesity may lead to impairment in male fertility.93

Development and characterization of biointeractive gelatin wound dressing based on extract of Punica granatum Linn

Punica granatum Linn (pomegranate) extracts have been proposed for wound healing due to their antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. In this work, we designed biointeractive membranes that contain standard extracts of P. granatum for the purpose of wound healing. The used standard extract contained 32.24 mg/g of gallic acid and 41.67 mg/g of ellagic acid, and it showed high antioxidant activity (the concentration of the extract that produces 50% scavenging (IC50) 1.715 µg/mL). Compared to the gelatin-based membranes (GEL), membranes containing P. granatum extracts (GELPG) presented a higher maximal tension (p=0.021) and swelling index (p=0.033) and lower water vapor permeability (p=0.003). However, no difference was observed in the elongation and elastic modulus of the two types of membranes (p > 0.05). Our wound-healing assay showed that a GELPG-treated group experienced a significant increase compared to that of the control group in their wound contraction rates on days 3 (p < 0.01), 7 (p < 0.001), and on day 14 (p < 0.001). The GELPG membranes promoted major histological changes in the dynamics of wound healing, such as improvements in the formation of granular tissue, better collagen deposition and arrangement, and earlier development of cutaneous appendages. Our results suggest that a biointeractive gelatin-based membrane containing P. granatum extracts has a promising potential application for dressings that are used to treat wounds.The research was funded by FAPITEC/SE (Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa e Inovação Tecnológica do Estado de Sergipe) and by the Brazilian Bureau of Research. T. Pashirova received the financial support from the government assignment for the FRC Kazan Scientific Center of Russian Academy of Sciences. E.B. Souto received the support from the projects M-ERA-NET-0004/2015-PAIRED and UIDB/04469/2020, granted by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation, Ministry of Science and Education (FCT/MEC) through national funds and co-financed by FEDER under the Partnership Agreement PT2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Functional Properties of Brazilian Propolis: From Chemical Composition Until the Market

Propolis is a product obtained from resins and exudates of different plants from different regions in order to protect the comb, with peculiar organoleptic, chemicals and biological properties. Considering this, this chapter presents the types of Brazilian propolis as the types available nowadays, their chemical compositions, as well as, some of their important biological properties enabling employing them as important health food, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, and immunomodulation action. Various “in vivo” and clinical trial studies, conducted in different regions, on the safety and dosage of propolis, technologies used to obtain propolis extract, and several innovative presentations of this promising bee product are also presented in this chapter. Finally, this chapter aims to present the regulatory affairs, potential market for propolis around the world, and perspectives for a near future

Strategies to improve the availability of medicines in primary health care in Brazil : findings and implications

Aim: Access to essential medicines is a key component of managing patients in ambulatory care. In 2008, the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, created the Pharmacy Network of Minas (Rede Farmácia de Minas [RFM]) program to improve access to medicines, increasing availability and restructuring the infrastructures. The aim was to assess the current situation, comparing municipalities with and without RFM. Materials & methods: Descriptive survey study, data collected from 2014 July to May 2015. Availability was verified by stock levels. Results: The drug availability index was 61.0%, higher in municipalities with RFM. Most physicians considered the pharmaceutical services as good/very good. The main reasons for medicines shortage were ‘financial transference problems’, ‘insufficient financial resources’ and ‘budget’. Conclusion: Strategies, such as the RFM can promote improvements in medicine availability

Human cerebral organoids and fetal brain tissue share proteomic similarities

The limited access to functional human brain tissue has led to the development of stem cell-based alternative models. The differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into cerebral organoids with self-organized architecture has created novel opportunities to study the early stages of the human cerebral formation. Here we applied state-of-the-art label-free shotgun proteomics to compare the proteome of stem cell-derived cerebral organoids to the human fetal brain. We identified 3,073 proteins associated with different developmental stages, from neural progenitors to neurons, astrocytes, or oligodendrocytes. The major protein groups are associated with neurogenesis, axon guidance, synaptogenesis, and cortical brain development. Glial cell proteins related to cell growth and maintenance, energy metabolism, cell communication, and signaling were also described. Our data support the variety of cells and neural network functional pathways observed within cell-derived cerebral organoids, confirming their usefulness as an alternative model. The characterization of brain organoid proteome is key to explore, in a dish, atypical and disrupted processes during brain development or neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative, and neuropsychiatric diseases7CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOS - FINEPFUNDAÇÃO CARLOS CHAGAS FILHO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DO RIO DE JANEIRO - FAPERJFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPNão temNão temNão temNão tem14/21035-0; 16/07332-7; 13/08711-3; 14/10068-4JN, VS-C, and DM-D-S are supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) grants 14/21035-0, 16/07332-7, 13/08711-3, and 14/10068-4. CS was recipient of a CAPES-FAPERJ Postdoc fellowship. Other funds are provided by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), the Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Neurociência Translacional (INCT-INNT), Foundation for Research Support in the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), Brazilian Funding Authority for Studies and Projects (FINEP), and Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES

Nefroblastoma em um sagui-de-tufos-pretos (Callithrix penicillata)

Descreve-se um caso de nefroblastoma maligno em um sagui de vida livre no Brasil Central. O macaco foi encontrado morto e encaminhado para necropsia. Na macroscopia, o rim esquerdo apresentava-se rompido e o parênquima estava substituído por um tecido neoplásico friável, parcialmente encapsulado e de superfície natural branca e de corte amarela. O ureter esquerdo apresentava-se distendido devido à obstrução por uma massa friável, vermelha, esférica, de 2mm de diâmetro. Histologicamente, as massas renal e ureteral consistiam de uma neoplasia embrionária composta por três populaçõies de células neoplásicas, composta por epitélio embrionário formando glomérulos e túbulos, células blastemais poligonais e um estroma mesenquimal. O epitélio embrionário exibiu imunorreactividade nuclear rara para WT-1, enquanto que as células blastemais exibiram imunorreactividade nuclear citoplasmática e rara para WT-1; As células blastemais também foram imunorreativas à vimentina. Nenhuma imunorreatividade foi detectada para pan-citoqueratina (AE1/AE3), actina e desmina. As características morfológicas e imuno-histoquímicas da presente neoplasia são consistentes com as descritas para o nefroblastoma renal.A renal nephroblastoma is described in a free-living black-tufted marmoset (Callithrix penicillata) in Central Brazil. The monkey was found dead and subjected to necropsy. Gross anatomic changes consisted of a ruptured left kidney, which was almost completely effaced by a white to yellow, partially encapsulated friable mass. The left ureter was distended due to obstruction by a red, spherical, 2mm in diameter friable mass. The urinary bladder was also distended. Histologically the renal and ureteral masses consisted of a triphasic embryonal neoplasm composed of embryonic epithelium forming glomeruli and tubules, polygonal blastemal cells, and a mesenchymal stroma. The embryonic epithelium exhibited rare nuclear immunoreactivity for WT-1, whereas blastemal cells exhibited robust cytoplasmic and rare nuclear immunoreactivity for WT-1; blastemal cells were also immunoreactive for vimentin. No immunoreactivity was detected for pan-cytokeratin (AE1/AE3), actin, and desmin. Morphological and immunohistochemical features of the present neoplasm are consistent with those described for renal nephroblastoma