Representações e estereotipias negras cruzamentos (im)prováveis entre o folclore holandês e o teatro paulista

Autores: Salloma Salomão Jovino e Patricia Schor.   Resumo: Versa sobre culturas negras e a emergência de protagonismo socioculturais em torno de novas formas de ativismo negro e antirracista em São Paulo e nos Países Baixos. Levanta questões sobre permanência de regimes de representação racializada e estereotipias raciais em diferentes geografias do colonialismo. Aproxima e procura singularizar estratégias de lutas por cidadania e representatividade em diferentes quadrantes da sociedade contemporânea.  Toma o fenômeno conhecido como Blackface em duas sociedades onde se podem verificar diferentes formas de ativismo negro e busca reconstruir a historicidade do racismo antinegro como desdobramento do colonialismo e suas dinâmicas e permanências na longa duração, em dois pontos que cruzam o Atlântico.   Summary: This article focuses on urban black cultures and the emergence of novel socio-cultural practices around black anti-racist activism in São Paulo and the Netherlands. We raise questions about the resilence of racialized regimes of representation and racial stereotyping in different geographies of colonialism. We then zero in on strategies of struggles for citizenship and representation in different realms of contemporaneity. The article presents an analysis of the phenomenon known as Blackface in two societies where different forms of black activism are found. It seeks to reconstruct the historicity of anti-black racism as the unfolding of colonialism, revealing its mechanics and continuities in the long run, in two points crossing the Atlantic

Disparity-driven vs blur-driven models of accommodation and convergence in binocular vision and intermittent strabismus

Background. Current models of concomitant, intermittent strabismus, heterophoria, convergence and accommodation anomalies are either theoretically complex or incomplete. We propose an alternative and more practical way to conceptualize clinical patterns. Methods. In each of three hypothetical scenarios (normal; high AC/A and low CA/C ratios; low AC/A and high CA/C ratios) there can be a disparity-biased or blur-biased “style”, despite identical ratios. We calculated a disparity bias index (DBI) to reflect these biases. We suggest how clinical patterns fit these scenarios and provide early objective data from small illustrative clinical groups. Results. Normal adults and children showed disparity bias (adult DBI 0.43 (95%CI 0.50-0.36), child DBI 0.20 (95%CI 0.31-0.07) (p=0.001). Accommodative esotropes showed less disparity-bias (DBI 0.03). In the high AC/A and low CA/C scenario, early presbyopes had mean DBI of 0.17 (95%CI 0.28-0.06), compared to DBI of -0.31 in convergence excess esotropes. In the low AC/A and high CA/C scenario near exotropes had mean DBI of 0.27, while we predict that non-strabismic, non-amblyopic hyperopes with good vision without spectacles will show lower DBIs. Disparity bias ranged between 1.25 and -1.67. Conclusions. Establishing disparity or blur bias, together with knowing whether convergence to target demand exceeds accommodation or vice versa explains clinical patterns more effectively than AC/A and CA/C ratios alone. Excessive bias or inflexibility in near-cue use increases risk of clinical problems. We suggest clinicians look carefully at details of accommodation and convergence changes induced by lenses, dissociation and prisms and use these to plan treatment in relation to the model

Magnetic bead technology for viral RNA extraction from serum in blood bank screening

Nucleic acid amplification testing (NAT) was recently recommended by Brazilian legislation and has been implemented at some blood banks in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, in an attempt to reduce blood-born transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus. OBJECTIVE: Manual magnetic particle-based extraction methods for HIV and HCV viral nucleic acids were evaluated in combination with detection by reverse transcriptase - polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) one-step. METHODS: Blood donor samples were collected from January 2010 to September 2010, and minipools of them were submitted to testing. ELISA was used for the analysis of anti-HCV/HIV antibodies. Detection and amplification of viral RNA was performed using real-time PCR. RESULTS: Out of 20.808 samples screened, 53 samples (29 for HCV and 24 for HIV) were confirmed as positive by serological and NAT methods. CONCLUSION: The manual magnetic bead-based extraction in combination with real-time PCR detection can be used to routinely screen blood donation for viremic donors to further increase the safety of blood products.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Associação Beneficente de Coleta de SangueUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)UNIFESPSciEL

Accommodation and vergence response gains to different near cues characterize specific esotropias

Aim. To describe preliminary findings of how the profile of the use of blur, disparity and proximal cues varies between non-strabismic groups and those with different types of esotropia. Design. Case control study Methodology. A remote haploscopic photorefractor measured simultaneous convergence and accommodation to a range of targets containing all combinations of binocular disparity, blur and proximal (looming) cues. 13 constant esotropes, 16 fully accommodative esotropes, and 8 convergence excess esotropes were compared with age and refractive error matched controls, and 27 young adult emmetropic controls. All wore full refractive correction if not emmetropic. Response AC/A and CA/C ratios were also assessed. Results. Cue use differed between the groups. Even esotropes with constant suppression and no binocular vision (BV) responded to disparity in cues. The constant esotropes with weak BV showed trends for more stable responses and better vergence and accommodation than those without any BV. The accommodative esotropes made less use of disparity cues to drive accommodation (p=0.04) and more use of blur to drive vergence (p=0.008) than controls. All esotropic groups failed to show the strong bias for better responses to disparity cues found in the controls, with convergence excess esotropes favoring blur cues. AC/A and CA/C ratios existed in an inverse relationship in the different groups. Accommodative lag of >1.0D at 33cm was common (46%) in the pooled esotropia groups compared with 11% in typical children (p=0.05). Conclusion. Esotropic children use near cues differently from matched non-esotropic children in ways characteristic to their deviations. Relatively higher weighting for blur cues was found in accommodative esotropia compared to matched controls

Altered of apoptotic markers of both extrinsic and intrinsic pathways induced by hepatitis C virus infection in peripheral blood mononuclear cells

Background: Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) has emerged as a leading cause of cirrhosis in the U. S. and across the world. To understand the role of apoptotic pathways in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, we studied the mRNA and protein expression patterns of apoptosis-related genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) obtained from patients with HCV infection.Methods: the present study included 50 subjects which plasma samples were positive for HCV, but negative for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or hepatitis B virus (HBV). These cases were divided into four groups according to METAVIR, a score-based analysis which helps to interpret a liver biopsy according to the degree of inflammation and fibrosis. mRNA expression of the studied genes were analyzed by reverse transcription of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and protein levels, analyzed by ELISA, was also conducted. HCV genotyping was also determined.Results: HCV infection increased mRNA expression and protein synthesis of caspase 8 in group 1 by 3 fold and 4 fold, respectively (p < 0.05). in group 4 HCV infection increased mRNA expression and protein synthesis of caspase 9 by 2 fold and 1,5 fold, respectively (p < 0.05). Also, caspase 3 mRNA expression and protein synthesis had level augumented by HCV infection in group 1 by 4 fold and 5 fold, respectively, and in group 4 by 6 fold and 7 fold, respectively (p < 0.05).Conclusions: HCV induces alteration at both genomic and protein levels of apoptosis markers involved with extrinsic and intrinsic pathways.Associacao Beneficente de Coleta de Sangue (COLSAN)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Colsan Assoc Beneficente Coleta Sangue, São Paulo, BrazilFed Univ São Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Gynecol, São Paulo, BrazilURDIP, São Paulo, BrazilFed Univ São Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Nephrol, São Paulo, BrazilFed Univ São Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Gynecol, São Paulo, BrazilFed Univ São Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Nephrol, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Grazing behavior and productive response of steers in a Lotus tenuis pasture

This investigation, conducted at the INTA experimental farm in Chascomús, Buenos Aires, Argentina (35º 56’ S, 57º 83’ W), studied the effect of two different time of day (am and pm) to initiate grazing of a legume summer pasture on animal production. Two groups of 10 Angus steers each (311 ± 3.9 kg liveweight), allocated at random to treatments, grazed daily a new strip of herbage, the main component of which was birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus tenuis), starting at 09:00 (morning) or 13:00 (afternoon). There were three experimental periods: during the summer of 2012/2013: PI (10/12–02/01), PII (03/01-25/01), and PIII (26/01–20/02); in the last three days of each period herbage quality, grazing behavior, dry matter (DM) intake, and liveweight gain were measured. Data were analyzed per period by ANOVA using a completely randomized design in a general linear model. Grazing time in PII was longer in the afternoon than in the morning (P&lt; 0.05) and the same trend was observed in PIII (P&lt; 0.07). A similar result was recorded for rumination time. Afternoon grazing tended to result in higher intake in and liveweight gain in all periods, but the differences between treatments were (P&lt;0.05) only in PIII (1102 vs. 1565 kg MS ha-1 and 0.022 vs. 0.456 kg d-1). It is concluded that the hour of grazing initiation of a Lotus summer pasture affected the grazing behavior of finishing steers; afternoon grazing promoted greater herbage intake and more rapid liveweight gain

Eduardo Agualusa dislocating the Portuguese language:O Vendedor de Passados trespasses the border

In this chapter I problematize the Angolan writer José Eduardo Agualusa's perspective to the Portuguese language. I carry out a close reading of his novel O Vendedor de Passados (The Book of Chameleons), focusing on his references to the Portuguese language and to the postcolonial community of the Portuguese language (the Lusofonia). I look in particular to the position of Africa within the Portuguese postcolonial imaginary and to the author's gendered gaze. This is a postcolonial critical query into echoes of Portuguese colonialism, in particular Lusotropicalismo, in a celebrated postcolonial novel