Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 genomic architecture and its alteration pattern through ORF analysis/ Avaliação da arquitetura genômica do SARS-CoV-2 e seu padrão de alteração por meio de análise de ORF

Members of the Coronaviridae family comprise four genera Alphacoronavirus and Betacoronavirus, which infect only mammals, and Gammacoronavirus and Deltacoronavirus infect birds and mammals. Since the end of 2019, humanity has witnessed the emergence of a new pandemic caused by a line of beta-coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) responsible for causing a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome named coronavirus disease (COVID-19) affecting countries worldwide. In this context, this work aimed to investigate the main changes in SARS-CoV-2 genomic architecture through the time since the beginning of the infection using in silico analysis. A genomic database was built using complete and revised genomes from NCBI as well as analyzed through sequencing alignment and phylogenetic softwares. This study was able to show a change in the organizational pattern of the genome of the new coronavirus for the different regions studied, in addition to showing specific changes in the genomic sequence requiring further analysis of the collected genomes and may provide new evidence for the key protein changes like Spike protein

Motivações para o uso do smartphone e tempo de uso por adultos durante a pandemia COVID-19

Introdução: Padrões e motivações para o uso de smartphones não são consistentes, variando assim com o uso da internet, que tem sido um aliado, ajudando pessoas com medidas de distanciamento social. Objetivo: Investigar motivações para o uso do smartphone e o tempo de uso por adultos durante a pandemia da COVID-19. Métodos: Estudo transversal, realizado entre maio e junho de 2020, com adultos que utilizaram smartphones durante a pandemia. As informações foram obtidas por meio de um questionário online, o Google Forms®, contendo as variáveis socioeconômicas, as motivações para o uso do smartphone e o tempo gasto com ele (em horas). Os dados categóricos foram analisados por meio do software SPSS, e foram expressos como frequências absolutas e relativas, por meio da análise bivariada, aplicadas para avaliar associações entre o “aumento do uso de smartphones” e variáveis socioeconômicas e motivações utilizando o qui-quadrado de Pearson, considerando o nível de significância de 5%. Resultados: 658 indivíduos participaram do estudo, dos quais (84,2%) disseram estar usando o celular por períodos mais longos devido a medidas de distanciamento social, enquanto parte da população utilizou o smartphone por motivos de lazer (27,3%); 30,7% utilizaram o dispositivo de 7 a 12 horas, com 77,0% relatando que o smartphone os ajudou com o distanciamento social; e 35,6% relataram que essa tecnologia os ajudou a manter seu bem- estar mental; esses valores apresentaram significância estatística, com p <0.001. Conclusão: O tempo de uso do smartphone aumentou com a pandemia, que teve um efeito satisfatório na continuidade do distanciamento social, pois remotamente permite a interação social.Introduction: Patterns and motivations for smartphone use are not consistent, thus varying with internet use, which has been an ally in helping people with social distancing measures. Objective: Investigate motivations for smartphone use and time of use by adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Cross-sectional study, performed between May and June 2020, with adults who used smartphones during the pandemic. The information was obtained through an online questionnaire, Google Forms®, containing the socioeconomic variables, the motivations for using the smartphone and the time spent using it (in hours). The categorical data were analyzed using the SPSS software and were expressed as absolute and relative frequencies, through bivariate analysis, applied to evaluate associations between the “increased smartphone use” and socioeconomic variables and motivations using Pearson’s chi-square, considering the significance level of 5%. Results: 658 individuals participated in this study, of which 84.2% said they were using the cell phone for longer periods due to social distancing measures, while part of the population used the smartphone for leisure reasons (27.3%); 30.7% used the device for 7 to 12 hours, with 77.0% reporting that the smartphone helped them with social distancing; and 35.6% reported this technology helped them to maintain their mental well-being; these values showed statistical significance, with p <0.001. Conclusion: The time of smartphone use increased with the pandemic, which had a satisfactory effect on continuing social distancing, as it remotely allows social interaction

Predição temporal de parâmetros da qualidade da água usando redes neurais profundas / Temporal prediction of water quality parameters using deep neural networks

The quality of the water is directly related to its level of pollution, and for that, monitoring is necessary to identify the physical, chemical and biological characteristics, considering the current legislation. This paper presents a comparison between the Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) and Perceptron Multilayer (MLP) neural network models to predict pH, OD, BOD, Phosphorus, Turbidity, Temperature, Solid, and faecal coliforms of water quality. The error metrics MAPE, RMSE and MSE were used, when the neural networks are configured with 10, 25 and 50 neurons. In five water quality parameters, the LSTM network presented an average RMSE of 0.21, an average MSE of 0.11 and an average MAPE of 5.68. The MLP network showed an average RMSE of 0.21, an average MSE of 0.10 and an average MAPE of 5.55. The results of the experiments aim to contribute to the process of monitoring water quality and to help planning water management through the appropriate machine learning model for predicting parameters. 

LIBERDADE ACADÊMICA EM TEMPOS DIFÍCEIS: DIÁLOGOS BRASIL E ESTADOS UNIDOS

This paper intends to discuss the academic freedom, its role and its possible limits and borders, from the paradigm of the Democratic Constitutional State, as configured in our constitutional text of October 1988. The discussion focuses on the relationship between the critical and investigative role expected of the Universities and of its members in relation to the so-called legislative proposals of the Escola Sem Partido movement. Hence, it explores if these proposals do not offend the constitutional freedom of professors, students, technicians and researchers, in addition to the higher education institutions themselves, when subjects that gravitate around their roles and responsibilities are taken into account. For this purpose, keeping in mind our own constitutional context, we decided to use Comparative Law, focusing on decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States that deal with the same issue addressed here. The analysis indicates that academic freedom has an essential and constitutionally recognized role in the Constitutional Democracy.O artigo busca trabalhar a liberdade acadêmica, seu papel e seus possíveis limites e fronteiras, a partir do paradigma do Estado Democrático de Direito, como configurado em nosso texto constitucional de outubro de 1988. O enfoque se dá na relação entre o papel crítico e investigativo esperado das Universidades e de seus membros, diante das chamadas propostas legislativas do movimento Escola Sem Partido. Isto é, perguntamos se estas propostas não ofenderiam a liberdade constitucional de professores, alunos, técnicos e pesquisadores, além das próprias instituições de ensino superior, quanto a assuntos que gravitam em torno de suas funções e responsabilidades. Para este fim, sem olvidarmos de nosso próprio contexto constitucional, decidimos dialogar com o direito comparado, principalmente com o cenário estadunidense e certas decisões da Suprema Corte dos Estados Unidos que lidam com a mesma temática aqui abordada. Conclui-se que a liberdade acadêmica tem um papel essencial, constitucionalmente reconhecido, no Estado Democrático de Direito.

Analysis of Exogenous Poisoning by Pesticide in the State of Bahia-Brazil during the Period from 2007 to 2017

Brazil is one of the main exporters of agricultural products and is one of the largest consumers of pesticides in the world. Bahia stands out in irrigated agriculture, with growth at the national and international level exports. The aim of this study is to describe and analyze the spatial distribution, and the epidemiological profile of the population with confirmed cases of pesticides intoxication in the state of Bahia-Brazil, from 2007 to 2017. It is an ecological and retrospective study of a series, with secondary data collected at the Department of Informatics of the System Of Health (DATASUS), on notifications and confirmed cases of pesticide poisoning in the state in 2007 to 2017. In Bahia, about 1,632 notifications of exogenous pesticide poisoning in the investigated period, confirming about 1137 cases. The main age group affected by these intoxications were related to 20-39 years of age. The results of this study show the increase in the number of notified and confirmed cases in Bahia during years from 2007 to 2017, thus suggesting the carrying out of research on the subject in this and other Brazilian states, in order to monitor and evaluate the causes of these pesticide poisoning, and improve health promotion

Impacts of Agricultural Toxicity on Non-Target Organisms in Aquatic Ecosystem

The present review addresses the impacts of pesticides used in crops on non-target organisms in aquatic ecosystems. In recent decades, these ecosystems have received large amounts of these compounds, which are released by urban communities, rural and industrial properties. Pesticides reach the aquatic environment through different routes (leaching, irrigation, drainage, and surface runoff) and can easily reach non-target organisms, such as fish, mollusks, as well as other benthic organisms. Usually, these animals tend to undergo bioaccumulation. Exposure to these pesticides can cause numerous physiological changes by direct influence on certain cellular structures, such as on the lysosomal membrane, which can be degraded. Also, they can even react with nucleic acids resulting in several genetic injuries, thus causing adverse reactions to the body. There is a need for more incentives for the adoption of sustainable agroecological practices, as well as a ban on active ingredients harmful to the environment, in addition to strict inspection by competent environmental agencies

Novas evidências na abordagem terapêutica das infecções do trato urinário (ITUs) em mulheres

No mundo, as infecções do trato urinário (ITUs) acometem em torno de 150 milhões de pessoas a cada ano. Ademais, as ITUs representam uma importante causa de morbidade em aproximadamente 10 a 20% das mulheres com idade entre 25 e 80 anos, acometendo em uma proporção de 8 mulheres para cada homem. O presente estudo de revisão buscou avaliar novas evidências na abordagem terapêutica das ITUs em mulheres, documentadas por meio de estudos clínicos e randomizados. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de revisão integrativa realizada por meio da base de dados PubMed, que levou em consideração os seguintes critérios de inclusão: ensaios clínicos e testes controlados e aleatórios; artigos publicados no último ano; que possuíam texto completo disponível e que abordassem acerca da terapêutica das ITUs em mulheres. Ficou constatado que a fosfomicina figura como opção de tratamento antibiótico oral adicional para casos de ITU na população feminina. Além disso, a diminuição potencial do impacto ecológico que a fosfomicina pode exercer sobre casos de ITU MDR é alvo para novos estudos. Já em relação às terapias não antibióticas, o hipurato de metenamina, produtos do cranberry, como as proantocianidinas de cranberry, sozinho ou combinado com antibióticos, além da uva ursi (UU) e do estrogênio vaginal são terapêuticas que mostraram benefícios nos casos de ITU ou ITU recorrente, mas que continuam sendo alvo para estudos potenciais futuros

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio