Characterization of ethylcellulose isolated films: evalution of hydration and permeability properties

Neste trabalho propusemos o desenvolvimento de filmes isolados constituídos de etilcelulose contendo novo aditivo de formulação, o alfa-glucoligossacarídeo (α-GOS), além do tensoativo Tween® 80, sendo este material candidato à aplicação ao processo de revestimento de formas farmacêuticas orais, destinadas à liberação cólon-específico. A partir de filmes isolados foram realizadas avaliações das propriedades de hidratação (índice de intumescimento) e permeabilidade através da transmissão de vapor d’água (TVA). Resultados evidenciaram que as incorporações dos aditivos proporcionaram maior hidratação e influência na permeabilidade dos filmes. A presença do α-GOS gerou a formação de novo material com habilidade filmogênica e com elevado grau de hidratação proporcionando maior acessibilidade ao ataque pelas bactérias colônicas aos filmes isolados, estabelecendo perspectiva de aplicação em revestimento de formas farmacêuticas orais, destinadas à liberação modificada de fármaco.In this work was proposed the development of a new isolated film constituted of ethylcellulose and formulation additives: α-glucooligosaccharide (α-GOS) and/or surfactant Tween® 80. These materials have been used as candidate coating films for colon-specific drug delivery. Hydration and permeability studies were carried out through analyses of the index swelling and water vapor transmission (WTV), respectively. Results showed that the incorporation of the additives provided greater hydration and influence of the permeability to the film. The presence of the α-GOS produced the formation of new material with filmogenic ability and high degree of swelling providing the isolated films more accessible for bacterial attack to provides perspective application in pharmaceutical coating process of solid dosage oral form, destined for modified drug delivery systemsColegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Proposal of measures of performance evaluation for the clinical engineering centre and bio equipment - HCFMRP-USP

O objetivo deste estudo foi propor uma lista de indicadores como forma de avaliação de desempenho para o Centro de Engenharia Clínica e Bioequipamentos do HCFMRP-USP. Indicadores são importantes ferramentas de controle e de qualidade e fornecem bases para melhorar o desempenho do estabelecimento de saúde. Para a coleta de dados, foi utilizada a literatura, referente aos indicadores para a área de Engenharia Clínica. Equipe multidisciplinar composta pelos autores do artigo foi formada para discutir e escolher os indicadores que seriam propostos como medidas de avaliação de desempenho. Foi desenvolvido um estudo na bibliografia disponível sobre o tema e também entrevistas com os gestores-chaves que estão responsáveis pela área. Adotou-se o BSC - Balanced Scorecard, em suas perspectivas financeira, de clientes, de processos internos e de aprendizado e crescimento como mapa estruturante dos indicadores. Foram propostos dezesseis indicadores nas quatro perspectivas do BSC.The aim of this study was to propose a list of indicators as a mean of performance evaluation for the Clinical Engineering Center of the Hospital of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Medicine of Ribeirão Preto (HCFMRP – USP). Indicators are important tools of quality control and supply bases to enhance the performance of the health facility. In order to collect data, it was used the literature regarding the indicators for the area of Clinical Engineering. Multidisciplinary team was formed to discuss and choose the indicators that were proposed as measures of performance evaluation. A study in the literature available about the topic and also interviews with the key managers who are responsible for the area were developed. It was adopted the BSC - Balanced Scorecard as a structural map of the indicators. Sixteen indicators were proposed in the four BSC perspectives

Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests.

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, or Rhizobium nodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors

Geographic patterns of tree dispersal modes in Amazonia and their ecological correlates

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MAim: To investigate the geographic patterns and ecological correlates in the geographic distribution of the most common tree dispersal modes in Amazonia (endozoochory, synzoochory, anemochory and hydrochory). We examined if the proportional abundance of these dispersal modes could be explained by the availability of dispersal agents (disperser-availability hypothesis) and/or the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits (resource-availability hypothesis). Time period: Tree-inventory plots established between 1934 and 2019. Major taxa studied: Trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 9.55 cm. Location: Amazonia, here defined as the lowland rain forests of the Amazon River basin and the Guiana Shield. Methods: We assigned dispersal modes to a total of 5433 species and morphospecies within 1877 tree-inventory plots across terra-firme, seasonally flooded, and permanently flooded forests. We investigated geographic patterns in the proportional abundance of dispersal modes. We performed an abundance-weighted mean pairwise distance (MPD) test and fit generalized linear models (GLMs) to explain the geographic distribution of dispersal modes. Results: Anemochory was significantly, positively associated with mean annual wind speed, and hydrochory was significantly higher in flooded forests. Dispersal modes did not consistently show significant associations with the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits. A lower dissimilarity in dispersal modes, resulting from a higher dominance of endozoochory, occurred in terra-firme forests (excluding podzols) compared to flooded forests. Main conclusions: The disperser-availability hypothesis was well supported for abiotic dispersal modes (anemochory and hydrochory). The availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits seems an unlikely explanation for the distribution of dispersal modes in Amazonia. The association between frugivores and the proportional abundance of zoochory requires further research, as tree recruitment not only depends on dispersal vectors but also on conditions that favour or limit seedling recruitment across forest types

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Geographic patterns of tree dispersal modes in Amazonia and their ecological correlates

Aim: To investigate the geographic patterns and ecological correlates in the geographic distribution of the most common tree dispersal modes in Amazonia (endozoochory, synzoochory, anemochory and hydrochory). We examined if the proportional abundance of these dispersal modes could be explained by the availability of dispersal agents (disperser-availability hypothesis) and/or the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits (resource-availability hypothesis). Time period: Tree-inventory plots established between 1934 and 2019. Major taxa studied: Trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 9.55 cm. Location: Amazonia, here defined as the lowland rain forests of the Amazon River basin and the Guiana Shield. Methods: We assigned dispersal modes to a total of 5433 species and morphospecies within 1877 tree-inventory plots across terra-firme, seasonally flooded, and permanently flooded forests. We investigated geographic patterns in the proportional abundance of dispersal modes. We performed an abundance-weighted mean pairwise distance (MPD) test and fit generalized linear models (GLMs) to explain the geographic distribution of dispersal modes. Results: Anemochory was significantly, positively associated with mean annual wind speed, and hydrochory was significantly higher in flooded forests. Dispersal modes did not consistently show significant associations with the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits. A lower dissimilarity in dispersal modes, resulting from a higher dominance of endozoochory, occurred in terra-firme forests (excluding podzols) compared to flooded forests. Main conclusions: The disperser-availability hypothesis was well supported for abiotic dispersal modes (anemochory and hydrochory). The availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits seems an unlikely explanation for the distribution of dispersal modes in Amazonia. The association between frugivores and the proportional abundance of zoochory requires further research, as tree recruitment not only depends on dispersal vectors but also on conditions that favour or limit seedling recruitment across forest types