Production of bacterial cellulose nanocrystals via enzymatic hydrolysis and evaluation of their coating on alginate particles formed by ionotropic gelation

This study aimed to obtain the bacterial cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) by enzymatic hydrolysis and verify the CNC application as coating material in alginate particles. Therefore, the production of CNC was carried out through two enzymatic hydrolysis methods involving a time period of 48 and 72 h. 0.35 mg of dry mass of cellulose was produced approximately 1.6 × 1011 CNC/mL. The CNC obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis at 72 h (Method II) was applied to cover the alginate particles, obtained by ionotropic gelation. The CNC Zeta potential value was about +15 mV and for alginate particles -26.46 ± 1.48 mV. These results confirmed the application of CNC as coating material for alginate particles. It brings an incremental contribution to the knowledge advancement in the pharmaceutical and food area, allowing the engineering of systems to use a mixed composition of nanobiomaterials to modify the release pattern of drugs, macromolecule, nutrients, stabilizers and target specific drug release.The authors acknowledge financial support from Coordination for Higher Level Graduate Improvements (CAPES/Brazil, Grant Numbers 001), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq/Brazil), and the State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP/Brazil, grant numbers 2019/22,626–5 and 2018/10,508–5).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Acessibilidade e paralelismo na interpretação do pronome sujeito e o contraste pro/pronome em português Accessibility, parallel function and the pro/pronoun contrast in Portuguese

O contraste pro/pronome em orações coordenadas em português é aqui explorado de modo a distinguirem-se os procedimentos através dos quais formas pronominais sujeito são interpretadas em diferentes contextos sintáticos e discursivos — através de estratégias de seleção de um antecedente lingüístico ou da recuperação "automática" de uma representação mantida particularmente ativada na memória de trabalho. Dois experimentos são relatados. O primeiro testa a hipótese de que o vínculo sintático entre a oração que contém a forma pronominal e a que contém seus possíveis antecedentes define condições de processamento que favorecem o uso de um ou de outro procedimento de interpretação. O segundo testa a hipótese de que o grau de ativação de uma dada representação na memória de trabalho (definido em relação a um sistema que opera em três níveis) afeta o modo como o sujeito pronominal de orações independentes é interpretado no discurso. Verifica-se que o contraste pro/ pronome pode ser re-estabelecido fora do âmbito de sentenças complexas uma vez que haja alteração local do foco da referência. A natureza deste contraste é discutida levando-se em conta as condições de processamento nas quais este se manifesta.<br>The contrastive interpretation of pro and pronoun in co-ordinate sentences by Portuguese speakers is explored here, as a means of distinguishing the procedures whereby pronominal forms are interpreted in different syntactic/discourse contexts - by means of a search-identification strategy (such as the parallel function strategy) or by means of the "automatic" recovery of a representation which is maintained particularly activated in working memory. Two experiments are reported. The first one tests the hypothesis that the kind of syntactic relationship that holds between the clause containing the pronominal form and the one containing possible antecedents defines processing conditions that favour one or another interpretation procedure. The second one tests the hypothesis that the degree of activation of a representation in working memory (defined in relation to a three-level activity working memory system) accounts for the interpretation of the pronominal subject of independent sentences in discourse. Local alteration of focus is shown to re-establish the pro/pronoun contrast at discourse level. The nature of this contrast is discussed in connection with the processing conditions in which it is manifested

Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination of disinfectant and/or sterilizing agents

Due to the growing number of outbreaks of infection in hospital and nurseries, it becomes essential to set up a sanitation program that indicates that the appropriate chemical agent was chosen for application in the most effective way. Validating the effectiveness of decontamination and disinfection is an important and often challenging task. In order to study and compare the behavior of selected microorganisms, they were submitted to minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). The MIC intervals, which reduced bacteria populations over 6 log10, were: 59 to 156 mg/L of quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs); 63 to 10000 mg/L of chlorhexidine; 1375 to 3250 mg/L of glutaraldehyde; 39 to 246 mg/L of formaldehyde; 43750 to 87500 mg/L of ethanol; 1250 to 6250 mg/L of iodine in polyvinyl-pyrolidone complexes, 150 to 4491 mg/L of chlorine-releasing-agents (CRAs) and 469 to 2500 mg/L of hydrogen peroxide. Chlorhexidine showed non inhibitory activity over germinating spores. A. calcoaceticus showed resistance to the majority of the agents tested, followed by E. cloacae and S. marcescens.<br>Devido ao número crescente de surtos de infecção hospitalar, torna-se proeminente o estabelecimento de um programa de sanitização que liste os agentes químicos a serem empregados e o modo de aplicação mais efetivo. Validação da eficácia de descontaminação é uma tarefa ao mesmo tempo importante e desafiadora. Para estudar e comparar o comportamento dos microrganismos selecionados foram realizados ensaios de concentração inibitória mínima (CIM). A CIM capaz de reduzir o bioburden inicial (>6 log10) foi: 59 - 156 mg/L de quartenários de amônia; 63 - 10000 mg/L de clorexidina, 1375 - 3250 mg/mL de glutaraldeído, 39 - 246 mg/L de formaldeído, 43750 - 87500 mg/L de etanol 1250 - 6250 mg/L de PVPI, 150 - 4491 mg/L de compostos liberadores de cloro e 469 -2500 mg/L de peróxido de hidrogênio

Metodologia para a estimativa de padrões de qualidade: o caso do infarto agudo do miocárdio Methodology for estimating standards for quality in health care: the case of acute myocardial infarction

Os passos para estimar padrões de qualidade para a assistência médica a serem utilizados em programas de melhoria de qualidade e em mecanismos de financiamento são apresentados, tomando o exemplo do infarto agudo do miocárdio. A metodologia é baseada em evidências científicas existentes relativas a tecnologias atualmente em uso no tratamento daquela condição no país. A letalidade hospitalar foi estimada para conjuntos tecnológicos selecionados, correspondentes a unidades mais ou menos complexas. Os parâmetros básicos utilizados na estimativa de padrões foram a eficácia (percentual de redução na taxa de mortalidade) e o percentual correspondente ao referente (indicações) associado a cada tecnologia. Os padrões foram ajustados para idade e tempo decorrido até a admissão hospitalar. A letalidade hospitalar padrão estimada variou de 28% (assistência tradicional em enfermarias) a 8,5% (unidades coronarianas relativamente complexas). É apontada a escassez de dados relevantes sobre as características, especialmente a gravidade de pacientes com infarto agudo do miocárdio no Brasil. Outras possíveis limitações da metodologia proposta são discutidas.<br>This study outlines the steps for estimating quality standards in health care to be used in quality improvement programs and funding mechanisms, focusing on the case of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The methodology is based on existing scientific evidence related to technologies currently used for treatment of AMI in Brazil. Hospital lethality was estimated for selected sets of technologies corresponding to more or less complex units. Basic parameters used for estimating standards were efficacy (percentage reduction in death rates ratio) and the percentage corresponding to the referent (indications) associated with each technology. Standards were adjusted for age and time interval from onset to hospital admission. Estimated standard hospital lethality varied from 28% (traditional care wards) to 8.5% (relatively complex coronary care units). Limitations of the proposed methodology are discussed

NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES: a data set on carnivore distribution in the Neotropics

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non-detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer-reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non-detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio-temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large-scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data