A Biosymtic (Biosymbiotic Robotic) Approach to Human Development and Evolution. The Echo of the Universe.

In the present work we demonstrate that the current Child-Computer Interaction paradigm is not potentiating human development to its fullest – it is associated with several physical and mental health problems and appears not to be maximizing children’s cognitive performance and cognitive development. In order to potentiate children’s physical and mental health (including cognitive performance and cognitive development) we have developed a new approach to human development and evolution. This approach proposes a particular synergy between the developing human body, computing machines and natural environments. It emphasizes that children should be encouraged to interact with challenging physical environments offering multiple possibilities for sensory stimulation and increasing physical and mental stress to the organism. We created and tested a new set of computing devices in order to operationalize our approach – Biosymtic (Biosymbiotic Robotic) devices: “Albert” and “Cratus”. In two initial studies we were able to observe that the main goal of our approach is being achieved. We observed that, interaction with the Biosymtic device “Albert”, in a natural environment, managed to trigger a different neurophysiological response (increases in sustained attention levels) and tended to optimize episodic memory performance in children, compared to interaction with a sedentary screen-based computing device, in an artificially controlled environment (indoors) - thus a promising solution to promote cognitive performance/development; and that interaction with the Biosymtic device “Cratus”, in a natural environment, instilled vigorous physical activity levels in children - thus a promising solution to promote physical and mental health

Building Persuasive Robots with Social Power Strategies

Can social power endow social robots with the capacity to persuade? This paper represents our recent endeavor to design persuasive social robots. We have designed and run three different user studies to investigate the effectiveness of different bases of social power (inspired by French and Raven's theory) on peoples' compliance to the requests of social robots. The results show that robotic persuaders that exert social power (specifically from expert, reward, and coercion bases) demonstrate increased ability to influence humans. The first study provides a positive answer and shows that under the same circumstances, people with different personalities prefer robots using a specific social power base. In addition, social rewards can be useful in persuading individuals. The second study suggests that by employing social power, social robots are capable of persuading people objectively to select a less desirable choice among others. Finally, the third study shows that the effect of power on persuasion does not decay over time and might strengthen under specific circumstances. Moreover, exerting stronger social power does not necessarily lead to higher persuasion. Overall, we argue that the results of these studies are relevant for designing human--robot-interaction scenarios especially the ones aiming at behavioral change

Screen printed electrodes modified with carboxylated multiwall carbon nanotubes for the analysis of hydroquinone and ascorbic acid

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have demonstrated to be advantageous in electrochemical applications such as in energy storage devices and sensors. The presence of oxygenated carbon species, especially carboxylic acid moieties, together with metallic impurities are identified as chief factors for the catalytic properties of CNTs. The oxygen-containing groups are introduced randomly at the surface of CNTs by strong mineral acid treatment. These factors can be of extreme importance for the construction of biosensors based on carbon nanomaterials. In this study, multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were chemically shortened and carboxylated by treatment with nitric acid for metal impurities removalusing a method described in the literature, originating MWCNT-COOH. Ethanol suspensions of MWCNT-COOH at different concentrations were used to modify the surfaces of commercially available screen-printed electrodes (SPEs). The SPEs modification with MWCNT-COOH was optimised and it was applied in order to obtain a reproducible electrochemical response. The morphology of the MWCNT-COOH modified SPEs was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy. Characterization of the CNT film generated on the surface of the working electrode and stability studies were carried out with potassium hexacyanoferrate. Results are compared with those obtained for commercially available carbon SPE and SPEMWCNT. Effect of solution acidity on the peak current and potential of the substances was studied at pH 3 and 7 where a correlation with the dissociation degree of carboxyl groups at the MWCNTs on the electrode surface occurs. The catalytic properties of the MWCNT-COOH-modified SPEs as well as their analytical advantages as voltammetric detectors are discussed through the analysis of ascorbic acid (AA) and hydroquinone (HQ)

Thrombotic microangiopathies: First report of 294 cases from a single institution experience in Argentina

Introduction: Thrombotic microangiopathies (TMAs) are rare disorders associated with fatal outcomes if left uncared for. However, healthcare problems in developing countries tend to limit medical assistance to patients. Methods: We prospectively studied an Argentine cohort of 294 consecutive patients from 2013 to 2016. Patients’ subcategory classification relied on clinical symptoms and presence or absence of trigger events associated with TMA. Results: Main suspected disorders were the primary TMAs known as thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) (n = 72/294, 24%) and atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome (aHUS) (n = 94/294, 32%). In acute phase, demographic parameters for acquired TTP (aTTP) (n = 28) and aHUS (n = 47) showed that both groups were characterised by a young median age (37 and 25 years, respectively) and female predominance (60% and 86%). Median of a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with a thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13 activity was significantly lower in aTTP than in aHUS group (1.4% vs 83%) and was associated with a more severe thrombocytopenia (15 × 109 vs 53 × 109/L). Creatinine (Cr) and urea (Ur) were significantly increased in aHUS compared to aTTP subjects (Cr: 3.7 vs 0.7 mg/dL, Ur: 118 vs 33 mg/dL). Gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms were more frequent in aHUS and aTTP, respectively. Conclusion: The first description of a TMA cohort in Argentina revealed similar clinical presentations to those of other countries.Fil: Dos Santos, Célia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Paiva Palomino, Juvenal Hernán. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Investigaciones Hematológicas "Mariano R. Castex"; ArgentinaFil: Romero, María Lucila. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Investigaciones Hematológicas "Mariano R. Castex"; ArgentinaFil: Agazzoni, Mara. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Investigaciones Hematológicas "Mariano R. Castex"; ArgentinaFil: Kempfer, Ana Catalina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Rotondo, Sabrina. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Investigaciones Hematológicas "Mariano R. Castex"; ArgentinaFil: Casinelli, Maria Marta. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Investigaciones Hematológicas "Mariano R. Castex"; ArgentinaFil: Alberto, Maria Fabiana. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Investigaciones Hematológicas "Mariano R. Castex"; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez Luceros, Analía Gabriela. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Investigaciones Hematológicas "Mariano R. Castex"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Medicina Experimental. Academia Nacional de Medicina de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Medicina Experimental; Argentin

MAJOR GOAT MILK PROTEIN: SEPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION BY “LAB-ON-A-CHIP” MICROFLUIDIC ELECTROPHORES

This work presents the electrophoretic profile of goat and cow milk samples and their mixtures using microfluidic and conventional electrophoresis. The microfluidic method allowed the separation of the major caseins from milk, excepting the goat κ-casein.  Besides, the major whey proteins were separated with perfect distinction of A and B β-lactoglobulin variants. Comparing to SDS-PAGE, a variation in the molecular weight was observed in all milk proteins. However, A and B β-lactoglobulin variants could not be isolated using SDS-PAGE. Although urea-PAGE did not show high resolution among whey proteins, γ-, κ-, β-, and α-caseins were clearly identified. This method also showed a lower limit detection of cow milk in mixture samples than the "lab-on-a-chip" electrophoresis. In both methods, the highest linearity obtained from plotting total percentage against cow milk concentration was observed by using cow αs1-casein (R2 = 0.986 and R² = 0.973). This result indicates that microfluidic electrophoresis is an effective tool to detect the presence of some proteins in goat and cow milk, and in mixtures. Microfluidic chip technology might will complement the current methods for analyzing milk proteins, highlighting its speed amount of reagents and whey protein separation, which showed a better result than urea or SDS-PAG

Sweets and Jams

This manual aims to assist the Work Health and Safety Assessment Tool – Horticultural Products – Sweets and Jams user, in carrying out a simplified and easy-to-use occupational risk assessment with a view to adopting risk control solutions at workplaces. The design of this tool trie to provide an instrument capable of being used without internet access or specific software installation. In addition to its main purpose, this tool can also be used for workers consultation or training actions, provided as a complement of the other instruments developed within the scope of this project. The tool is organized in three distinct parts (see Figure 1): the first, where a checklist is filled out, from which a graphical overview is obtained, which will give the overview of the level of risk control (second part). This synthesis of results allows the user to immediately visualize the level of control of the main risks and in which will have to make major interventions. Finally, the third part appears, where a report is generated with solutions, particularized for each one of the risks in which the adoption of measures proves necessary.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Safety and Health at Work - Assessment tool: Meat Products

This manual aims to assist the Work Health and Safety Assessment Tool – Meat Products user, in carrying out a simplified and easy-to-use occupational risk assessment with a view to adopting risk control solutions at workplaces. The design of this tool trie to provide an instrument capable of being used without internet access or specific software installation. In addition to its main purpose, this tool can also be used for workers consultation or training actions, provided as a complement of the other instruments developed within the scope of this project. The tool is organized in three distinct parts: the first, where a checklist is filled out, from which a graphical overview is obtained, which will give the overview of the level of risk control (second part). This synthesis of results allows the user to immediately visualize the level of control of the main risks and in which will have to make major interventions. Finally, the third part appears, where a report is generated with solutions, particularized for each one of the risks in which the adoption of measures proves necessary.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Production of electrospun fast-dissolving drug delivery systems with therapeutic eutectic systems encapsulated in gelatin

Fast-dissolving delivery systems (FDDS) have received increasing attention in the last years. Oral drug delivery is still the preferred route for the administration of pharmaceutical ingredients. Nevertheless, some patients, e.g. children or elderly people, have difficulties in swallowing solid tablets. In this work, gelatin membranes were produced by electrospinning, containing an encapsulated therapeutic deep-eutectic solvent (THEDES) composed by choline chloride/mandelic acid, in a 1:2 molar ratio. A gelatin solution (30% w/ v) with 2% (v/v) of THEDES was used to produce electrospun fibers and the experimental parameters were optimized. Due to the high surface area of polymer fibers, this type of construct has wide applicability. With no cytotoxicity effect, and showing a fast-dissolving release profile in PBS, the gelatin fibers with encapsulated THEDES seem to have promising applications in the development of new drug delivery systems.The research leading to these results has received funding from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through the projects ENIGMA - PTDC/EQU-EPR/ 121491/2010 and UID/CTM/50025/2013, LAQVREQUIMTE: UID/QUI/50006/2013, UCIBIO-REQUIMTE: UID/Multi/04378/2013 (co-financed by the ERDF under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement [POCI-01-0145-FEDER- 007728]) and by FEDER through the COMPETE 2020 Programme. Marta Martins is grateful for financial support from FCT through the grant BIM/PTDC/EQUEPR/121491/ 2010/ENIGMA. This research has also received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/ 2007-2013) under grant agreement number REGPOTCT2012-316331-POLARIS and from the project BNovel smart and biomimetic materials for innovative regenerative medicine approaches^ RL1 - ABMR - NORTE-01-0124- FEDER-000016) co-financed by North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (ON.2 – O Novo Norte), under the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Brazilian consensus on the treatment of fibromyalgia

UNIFESP Ambulatório de FibromialgiaUFPR HC ambulatório de fibromialgiaUNIFESPUNIFESP Setor de reumatismos de partes molesPUC-SP Departamento de MedicinaPUC-Campinas Hospital Universitário Serviço de ReumatologiaSociedade Brasileira de ReumatologiaSanta Casa de Belo Horizonte Ambulatório de Fibromialgia Programa de Residência Médica em ReumatologiaFMUSP HC Serviço de ReumatologiaSanta Casa de Campo Grande Setor de Reumatologia programa de Residência em Clínica MédicaUniversidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto AlegreUNiSULUniversidade Federal do Espírito Santo Hospital Universitário serviço de ReumatologiaSociedade Brasileira de Clínica MédicaSociedade Brasileira para o Estudo da DorAssociação Brasileira de Medicina Física e ReabilitaçãoUniversidade de São Paulo Faculdade de MedicinaUniversidade Federal FluminenseAcademia Brasileira de Neurologia Departamento de DorEuropean Neurological Society Subcomitê de DorPeripheral Nerve SocietyFMUSP Grupo de MãoSociedade Brasileira de ortopedia e TraumatologiaAxia.Bio farmacoeconomia e pesquisa em saúdeUNIFESP Núcleo de Gestão de PesquisasUNIFESP, Ambulatório de FibromialgiaUNIFESP, Setor de reumatismos de partes molesUNIFESP, Núcleo de Gestão de PesquisasSciEL

Chemical Composition and Validation of the Ethnopharmacological Reported Antimicrobial Activity of the Body Fat of Phrynops geoffroanus

Background. Phrynops geoffroanus is a small turtle that inhabits lakes, rivers, and streams throughout South America. The body fat of this animal is used as a folk medicine in Brazil for treating illnesses such as sore throats, ear aches, mumps, rheumatism, and arthritis. The present study evaluated the antimicrobial activity of oil extracted from Phrynops geoffroanus (OPG), determined its chemical composition, and discussed the implications of its use in traditional medicine. The OPG was obtained from the ventral region of this turtle using hexane as a solvent. The antimicrobial activity of OPG was tested against standard and multiresistance strains of bacteria and fungi and its composition was determined indirectly by analyzing the methyl esters of the component fatty acids. The OPG presented a clinically relevant antifungal activity against Candida krusei ATCC 6258 (MIC 128 µg/mL). When the OPG was associated with the antibacterial and antifungal drugs, was observed a synergistic effect when associated the OPG with the gentamicin against the strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa 22. Our results indicated that OPG has clinically relevant antifungal activity against C. krusei, and demonstrated synergetic antibacterial activity in combination with commercial antibiotics against Pseudomonas aeruginosa