Irrationability and \u3cem\u3eThe End of Modernity\u3c/em\u3e by Gianni Vattimo

Irrationability and The End of Modernity by Gianni Vattim

Incerteza de Medição Aplicada a Ensaios de Indentação Pós Fadiga em Colchões e Colchonetes de Espuma Flexível de Poliuretano

Avaliar a qualidade de colchões de espuma flexível de poliuretano condiz com o bem de consumo destinado ao repouso humano, constituído, parcial ou integralmente, por lâminas flexíveis de poliuretano, devidamente revestido. Existem normas para confecção, densidade, deformação permanente à compressão, dentre outras, para que os fabricantes e importadores de colchões mantenham a mesma qualidade dos produtos oferecidos ao consumidor. Estas normas são regidas pela ABNT – Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas, onde esta faz referências a todos os itens normalizados que o colchão precisa ter para poder ser comercializado dentro do território nacional. Este trabalho visa estudar a incerteza de medição no levantamento do comportamento em indentação pós fadiga da espuma para colchões de espuma flexível de poliuretano. Embora existam normas sobre a análise estatística dos resultados, avaliam-se apenas a dispersão no número de ciclos, não considerando fatores como as fontes de incerteza das tensões aplicadas, da máquina de ensaios utilizada

Conceptual Logistics as a Form of Critical Pedagogy

Still carrying on today, traditional approaches to learning in higher education are centered on a procedural transfer of teachers’ knowledge to their students. In order to improve old and new educational practices, a critical examination of the dominant components of the knowledge transfer process is necessary. Using the model of education advocated by Paulo Freire and others, Critical Pedagogy, the authors critique textbooks, a cornerstone of college classrooms. Their design and common use in classrooms are discussed to examine the important role textbooks play in constraining student learning. Using the liberating learning environment as a template, 34 years and 12 editions of a dominant Communication Studies textbook, Human Communication: The Basic Course, are interrogated to identify how authors, publishers, and faculty are misusing textbooks and the negative impact this has on learning. To address these issues, the authors propose necessary changes through a framework of liberating pedagogy employing Conceptual Logistics and powerful models of knowledge transfer.

Changes in Cytokines of the Bone Microenvironment during Breast Cancer Metastasis

It is commonly accepted that cancer cells interact with host cells to create a microenvironment favoring malignant colonization. The complex bone microenvironment produces an ever changing array of cytokines and growth factors. In this study, we examined levels of MCP-1, IL-6, KC, MIP-2, VEGF, MIG, and eotaxin in femurs of athymic nude mice inoculated via intracardiac injection with MDA-MB-231GFP human metastatic breast cancer cells, MDA-MB-231BRMS1GFP, a metastasis suppressed variant, or PBS. Animals were euthanized (day 3, 11, 19, 27 after injection) to examine femoral cytokine levels at various stages of cancer cell colonization. The epiphysis contained significantly more cytokines than the diaphysis except for MIG which was similar throughout the bone. Variation among femurs was evident within all groups. By day 27, MCP-1, MIG, VEGF and eotaxin levels were significantly greater in femurs of cancer cell-inoculated mice. These pro-osteoclastic and angiogenic cytokines may manipulate the bone microenvironment to enhance cancer cell colonization

Hedging in the ethanol and sugar production: integrating financial and production decisions

Abstract Agricultural producers face financial risk at the moment of final products selling. This imposes the use of instruments to reduce risks in order to assure prices and production process economic feasibility. This paper examines the problem of creating hedging strategies with production constraints and proposes a deterministic multi-period optimization model to solve it. Uncertainty was introduced in the model through scenario trees and risk was analyzed according to the traditional mean variance approach. The model was analyzed for the sugar and ethanol market in order to aid in the financial management of a sugar cane refinery

Hedging in the ethanol and sugar production: integrating financial and production decisions

Abstract Agricultural producers face financial risk at the moment of final products selling. This imposes the use of instruments to reduce risks in order to assure prices and production process economic feasibility. This paper examines the problem of creating hedging strategies with production constraints and proposes a deterministic multi-period optimization model to solve it. Uncertainty was introduced in the model through scenario trees and risk was analyzed according to the traditional mean variance approach. The model was analyzed for the sugar and ethanol market in order to aid in the financial management of a sugar cane refinery

Lymphocytes from B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients present diferential regulation of the adenosinergic axis depending on risk stratifcation

Purpose Although risk-stratifed chemotherapy regimens improve B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) clinical outcome, relapse occurs in a signifcant number of cases. The identifcation of new therapeutic targets as well as prog nostic and diagnostic biomarkers can improve B-ALL patients’ clinical outcomes. Purinergic signaling is an important pathway in cancer progression, however the expression of ectonucleotidases and their impact on immune cells in B-ALL lacks exploration. We aimed to analyze the expression of ectonucleotidases in B-ALL patients’ lymphocyte subpopulations. Methods Peripheral blood samples from 15 patients diagnosed with B-ALL were analyzed. Flow cytometry was used to analyze cellularity, expression level of CD38, CD39, and CD73, and frequency of CD38+∕CD73+, and CD39+∕CD73+ in lymphocyte subpopulations. Plasma was used for cytokines (by CBA kit) and adenine nucleosides/nucleotides detection (by HPLC). Results Comparing B-ALL patients to health donors, we observed an increase of CD4+and CD8+T-cells. In addition, a decrease in CD38 expression in B and Treg subpopulations and an increase in CD39+ CD73+ frequency in Breg and CD8+ T-cells. Analyzing cytokines and adenine nucleosides/nucleotides, we found a decrease in TNF, IL-1β, and ADO concentrations, together with an increase in AMP in B-ALL patients’ plasma. Conclusion: As immunomodulators, the expression of ectonucleotidases might be associated with activation states, as well as the abundance of diferent cellular subsets. We observed a pro-tumor immunity expression profle in B-ALL patients at diagnosis, being associated with cell exhaustion and immune evasion in B-ALL