Teologia da Libertação na Prática Ecológica: o Bispo e o Rio

Resumo: a polêmica criada em torno ao projeto de transposição das águas do rio São Francisco mostra a luta de grupos sociais que encontraram num líder religioso a sua referência política. Tendo como referencial teórico as contribuições de Max Weber e Pierre Bourdieu para o estudo da figura do profeta, o artigo analisa o papel de D. Luiz Cappio no processo de mobilização social de setores da Igreja, do meio político, dos movimentos sociais e povos que abraçaram a causa da proteção ao rio São Francisco. A análise de documentos favoráveis e contrários a suas duas greves de fome (em 2005 e 2007) permite aprofundar o conhecimento da função profética como decorrência prática da Teologia da Libertação. Palavras-chave: Profetismo. Igreja. Política. Meio Ambiente. Rio São Francisco

Encapsulation of Nanostructures in a Dielectric Matrix Providing Optical Enhancement in Ultrathin Solar Cells

The incorporation of nanostructures in optoelectronic devices for enhancing their optical performance is widely studied. However, several problems related to the processing complexity and the low performance of the nanostructures have hindered such actions in real-life devices. Herein, a novel way of introducing gold nanoparticles in a solar cell structure is proposed in which the nanostructures are encapsulated with a dielectric layer, shielding them from high temperatures and harsh growth processing conditions of the remaining device. Through optical simulations, an enhancement of the effective optical path length of approximately four times the nominal thickness of the absorber layer is verified with the new architecture. Furthermore, the proposed concept in a Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cell device is demonstrated, where the short-circuit current density is increased by 17.4%. The novel structure presented in this work is achieved by combining a bottom-up chemical approach of depositing the nanostructures with a top-down photolithographic process, which allows for an electrical contact.This work was funded in part by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) under Grants IF/00133/2015, PD/BD/142780/2018 and SFRH/BD/ 146776/2019. The authors also want to acknowledge the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme through the ARCIGS-M project under Grant 720887, the Special Research Fund (BOF) of Hasselt University, the FCT through the project NovaCell (PTDC/CTM-CTM/28075/ 2017), and InovSolarCells (PTDC/FISMAC/29696/2017) co-funded by FCT and the ERDF through COMPETE2020. The authors also want to acknowledge Sandra Maya for the production of images used in this work.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Currents issues in cardiorespiratory care of patients with post-polio syndrome

Post-polio syndrome (PPS) is a condition that affects polio survivors years after recovery from an initial acute attack of the poliomyelitis virus. Most often, polio survivors experience a gradual new weakening in muscles that were previously affected by the polio infection. The actual incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in individuals suffering from PPS is not known. However, there is a reason to suspect that individuals with PPS might be at increased risk. Method: A search for papers was made in the databases Bireme, Scielo and Pubmed with the following keywords: post polio syndrome, cardiorespiratory and rehabilitation in English, French and Spanish languages. Although we targeted only seek current studies on the topic in question, only the relevant (double-blind, randomized-controlled and consensus articles) were considered. Results and Discussion: Certain features of PPS such as generalized fatigue, generalized and specific muscle weakness, joint and/or muscle pain may result in physical inactivity deconditioning obesity and dyslipidemia. Respiratory difficulties are common and may result in hypoxemia. Conclusion: Only when evaluated and treated promptly, somE patients can obtain the full benefits of the use of respiratory muscles aids as far as quality of life is concerned.Ctr Univ Augusto Motta, Programa Posgrad Ciencias Reabilitacao, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, BrazilUniv Severino Sombra, Fac Med, Vassouras, RJ, BrazilUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro, Inst Psiquiatria, Lab Mapeamento Cerebral & EEG, BR-22290140 Rio De Janeiro, RJ, BrazilUniv Fed Fluminense, Hosp Univ Antonio Pedro, Niteroi, RJ, BrazilInst Fed Educ Ciencia & Tecnol Rio de Janeiro, Curso Fisioterapia, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, BrazilUniv Fed Piaui, Parnaiba, PI, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Neurol, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Neurol, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Size effects on antimicrobial efficiency of DBD plasma coated silver nanoparticles on textiles

This work studies the surface characteristics, the antimicrobial activity and the aging effect, of plasma pre-treated polyamide 6,6 fabrics (PA66) coated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), with the aim to identify the optimum size of nanosilver exhibiting antibacterial properties suitable for manufacturing of hospital textiles. The release of bactericidal Ag+ ions from the 10, 20, 40, 60 and 100 nm AgNPs-coated PA66 surface were function of the particles size, number and aging. Plasma pre-treatment promoted both ionic and covalent interactions between AgNPs and the formed oxygen species on the fibers (Figure 1), favoring the deposition of smaller in diameter AgNPs that consequently showed better immediate and durable antimicrobial effect against Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Surprisingly, after 30 days of aging, a comparable bacterial growth inhibition was achieved for all the fibers treated with AgNPs of <100 nm in size. The Ag+ in the coatings also favored the electrostatic stabilization of the plasma-induced functional groups on the PA66 surface, thereby retarding the aging process (Figure 2). At the same time, the size-related ratio Ag+/Ag0 of the AgNPs between 40 and 60 nm allowed for controlled release of Ag+ rather than bulk silver. Overall, the results suggest that instead of reducing the AgNPs size, which is associated to higher toxicity, similar long-term effects can be achieved with larger NPs (40-60 nm), even in lower concentrations. Since the antimicrobial efficiency of AgNPs larger than 30 nm is mainly ruled by the release of Ag+ over time and not by the size and number of the AgNPs, this parameter is crucial for the development of efficient antimicrobial coatings on plasma-treated surfaces, and contribution to the safety and durability of clothing used in clinical settings

Size and aging effects on antimicrobial efficiency of silver nanoparticles coated on polyamide fabrics activated by atmospheric DBD plasma

Recently, renewed interest has arisen in silver nanopar@cles for biomedical devices because of their high surface energy, enhanced physicochemical and biological proper@es and extremely large surface area, which provides beAer contact with microorganisms. Atmospheric plasma is an alterna@ve and cost- compe@@ve method to wet chemical nanopar@cles deposi@on methods, avoiding the need of toxic solvents, expensive vacuum equipment and allowing con@nuous and uniform processing of material surfaces. However, there are no reports on the size and @me-dependent an@microbial, physical and chemical surface effects of the silver nanopar@cles immobilized on plasma func@onalized polymers. Thus, the purposes of this study were: (i) the silver nanopar@cle size and aging effects aCer 30 days on the an@microbial ac@vity aCer deposi@on onto DBD plasma-treated polyamide 6,6 fabrics, and (ii) the aging effect on the physico-chemical binding mechanism between different sized silver nanopar@cles and the plasma treaded polyamide 6,6. Five different in size commercial silver nanopar@cles have been employed (10, 20, 40 60 and 100 nm).This work was funded by Portuguese Founda@on for Science and Technology FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) and co-financed by European funds (FEDER) through the PT2020 program, research project M-ERA-NET/0006/2014 and COMPETE program through FCT within the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007136 and UID/CTM/00264.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Unexpectedly long incubation period of Plasmodium vivax malaria, in the absence of chemoprophylaxis, in patients diagnosed outside the transmission area in Brazil

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In 2010, Brazil recorded 3343,599 cases of malaria, with 99.6% of them concentrated in the Amazon region. <it>Plasmodium vivax </it>accounts for 86% of the cases circulating in the country. The extra-Amazonian region, where transmission does not occur, recorded about 566 cases imported from the Amazonian area in Brazil and South America, from Central America, Asia and African countries. Prolonged incubation periods have been described for <it>P. vivax </it>malaria in temperate climates. The diversity in essential biological characteristics is traditionally considered as one possible explanation to the emergence of relapse in malaria and to the differences in the duration of the incubation period, which can also be explained by the use of chemoprophylaxis. Studying the reported cases of <it>P. vivax </it>malaria in Rio de Janeiro, where there is no vector transmission, has made it possible to evaluate the extension of the incubation period and to notice that it may be extended in some cases.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Descriptive study of every malaria patients who visited the clinic in the last five years. The mean, standard deviation, median, minimum and maximum of all incubation periods were analysed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From the total of 80 patients seen in the clinic during the study time, with confirmed diagnosis of malaria, 49 (63%) were infected with <it>P. vivax</it>. Between those, seven had an estimated incubation period varying from three to 12 months and were returned travellers from Brazilian Amazonian states (6) and Indonesia (1). None of them had taken malarial chemoprophylaxis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The authors emphasize that considering malaria as a possible cause of febrile syndrome should be a post-travel routine, independent of the time elapsed after exposure in the transmission area, even in the absence of malaria chemoprophylaxis. They speculate that, since there is no current and detailed information about the biological cycle of human malaria plasmodia's in Brazil, it is possible that new strains are circulating in endemic regions or a change in cycle of preexisting strains is occurring. Considering that a prolonged incubation period may confer advantages on the survival of the parasite, difficulties in malaria control might arise.</p