Educação protestante e cultura afro-descendente: uma relação conturbada

A cultura africana presente no Brasil deixou-nos um legado sagrado, onde encontramos vários tipos de manifestações religiosas de rico valor cultural. O protestantismo que chega ao Brasil, por sua vez, é tipicamente europeu e norte-americano, logo, com sérias dificuldades de manter um relacionamento cultural com o povo brasileiro, fortemente influenciado pela cultura africana. Exemplo disso é o material desenvolvido pela APEC, utilizadas até hoje nas escolas bíblicas, com as crianças, em todo Brasil. Através deste material, poderemos ver como o processo de aculturação da identidade afro-descendente acontece tanto de forma objetiva (imposição aberta) como de forma subjetiva (imposição baseada na atração e conseqüente desvalorização do sistema cultural através de falta de referências afrodescendentes no material apresentado e a supervalorização da cultura branca européia e norte-americana)

Supersonic quasi-particles dynamics in organic semiconductors

AbstractWe investigate the dynamics of charge-carriers schemes on high external electric fields in organic semiconductors. Specifically, the critical field strength needed for the transition from subsonic to supersonic regime was determined for solitons and polarons in conjugated polymers, for both trans- and cis-symmetry. Also, the collision between quasi-particles and impurities, at supersonic regime, is investigated. For this purpose it is used a modified Su–Schrieffer–Heeger hamiltonian model in the scope of an Ehrenfest molecular dynamics. The results provide useful information regarding the behavior of the conductivity of conducting polymers measured for different electric fields and bearing different types of impurities

Charge localization and hopping in a topologically engineered graphene nanoribbon

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are promising quasi-one-dimensional materials with various technological applications. Recently, methods that allowed for the control of GNR’s topology have been developed, resulting in connected nanoribbons composed of two distinct armchair GNR families. Here, we employed an extended version of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model to study the morphological and electronic properties of these novel GNRs. Results demonstrated that charge injection leads to the formation of polarons that localize strictly in the 9-AGNRs segments of the system. Its mobility is highly impaired by the system’s topology. The polaron displaces through hopping between 9-AGNR portions of the system, suggesting this mechanism for charge transport in this material

FERTILIZANTES NA PRODUÇÃO DE MUDAS DE OLIVEIRA ‘ARBEQUINA’

In this work evaluated the effect of fertilizers in the final phase of olive rooted stem cuttings production. The experimental set was carried out in the Experimental Farm of EPAMIG, located in the city of Maria da Fé, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The work developed with rooted hard-cuttings of Arbequina cultivar started in beginning of February 2008. The experimental design was of completely randomized plots with four replicates of 12 plants for each experimental plot. The plants were cultivated in pots containing 2 dm3 of soil substratum. Four commercial fertilizers were evaluated: Ativo®; Brotax-Micro®; Fert Bokashi®; and Nippoterra®, in five concentration levels (cm3 dm-3): 0; 1; 2; 3; and 4. All fertilizer treatments were applied at 15-days intervals during the period of 120 days and each experimental plot was sprayed with 0,5 dm3 of treatment solution. After 60 days the average number of buds and bud length were evaluated. Further, after 120 days of treatment, were evaluated the averages of shoot and root length; root number; shoot fresh and dry weight; and root fresh and dry weight. During the last phase of olive rooted cuttings production, the treatments using the fertilizers Ativo®, Brotax-Micro®, Fert Bokashi® and Nippoterra® showed better result than the treatment control (no fertilizer). The fertilizers with the best performance were Brotax-Micro® and Nippoterra® while the dosage of 4 cm3 dm-3 showed the higher response for all fertilizers tested.O trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar os efeitos da aplicação de fertilizantes comerciais na fase final de produção de mudas de oliveira. A pesquisa foi conduzida na Fazenda da EPAMIG, localizada no município de Maria da Fé, MG. As atividades de pesquisa iniciaram em 2008, sendo utilizadas estacas semilenhosas enraizadas de ‘Arbequina’. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o inteiramente casualizado, com quatro repetições e 12 mudas por parcela, cultivadas em sacolas plásticas com capacidade de 2 dm3 de substrato. Avaliou-se quatro fertilizantes comerciais: Ativo®; Brotax-Micro®; Fert Bokashi®; e Nippoterra®, em cinco dosagens (cm3 dm-3): 0; 1; 2; 3; e 4. Os fertilizantes foram aplicados em intervalos de 15 dias após instalação do ensaio, durante um período de 120 dias. Cada parcela experimental foi pulverizada com 0,5 dm3 de solução. Aos 60 dias foram avaliados o número médio de brotações e o comprimento médio de brotações e aos 120 dias, altura da planta; número médio de raízes; comprimento do sistema radicular; massa da fitomassa seca da parte aérea e massa da fitomassa seca da raiz. Observou-se pelos resultados que os fertilizantes Ativo®, Brotax-Micro®, Fert Bokashi® e Nippoterra® tiveram desempenho favorável na etapa final de produção de mudas de oliveira; Todos fertilizantes testados, quando aplicados na dosagem de 4 cm3 dm-3, proporcionaram mudas maiores e com sistema radicular mais desenvolvido, em relação à testemunha

Panoramic snapshot of serum soluble mediator interplay in pregnant women with convalescent COVID-19: an exploratory study

IntroductionSARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy can induce changes in the maternal immune response, with effects on pregnancy outcome and offspring. This is a cross-sectional observational study designed to characterize the immunological status of pregnant women with convalescent COVID-19 at distinct pregnancy trimesters. The study focused on providing a clear snapshot of the interplay among serum soluble mediators.MethodsA sample of 141 pregnant women from all prenatal periods (1st, 2nd and 3rd trimesters) comprised patients with convalescent SARS-CoV-2 infection at 3-20 weeks after symptoms onset (COVID, n=89) and a control group of pre-pandemic non-infected pregnant women (HC, n=52). Chemokine, pro-inflammatory/regulatory cytokine and growth factor levels were quantified by a high-throughput microbeads array.ResultsIn the HC group, most serum soluble mediators progressively decreased towards the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy, while higher chemokine, cytokine and growth factor levels were observed in the COVID patient group. Serum soluble mediator signatures and heatmap analysis pointed out that the major increase observed in the COVID group related to pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α, IL-12, IFN-γ and IL-17). A larger set of biomarkers displayed an increased COVID/HC ratio towards the 2nd (3x increase) and the 3rd (3x to 15x increase) trimesters. Integrative network analysis demonstrated that HC pregnancy evolves with decreasing connectivity between pairs of serum soluble mediators towards the 3rd trimester. Although the COVID group exhibited a similar profile, the number of connections was remarkably lower throughout the pregnancy. Meanwhile, IL-1Ra, IL-10 and GM-CSF presented a preserved number of correlations (≥5 strong correlations in HC and COVID), IL-17, FGF-basic and VEGF lost connectivity throughout the pregnancy. IL-6 and CXCL8 were included in a set of acquired attributes, named COVID-selective (≥5 strong correlations in COVID and <5 in HC) observed at the 3rd pregnancy trimester.Discussion and conclusionFrom an overall perspective, a pronounced increase in serum levels of soluble mediators with decreased network interplay between them demonstrated an imbalanced immune response in convalescent COVID-19 infection during pregnancy that may contribute to the management of, or indeed recovery from, late complications in the post-symptomatic phase of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant women

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030