Finite element simulation of daily activities held by the intervertebral disc

The spine is a complex system, capable of maintaining stability and simultaneously performing movements and the lumbar region is fundamental for this ability. The present work aims to validate a Finite Elements (FE) model of a lumbar motion segment, through numerical simulation of the required mobility on the intervertebral disc, accordingly to some daily activities. For this study, only the simplest motion on the spine was simulated: flexion, extension and lateral bending. The biomechanical response of the FE model has proved to be suitable for predictions on flexion, but on extension and lateral flexion unexpected extension angles were obtained. These results showed the need of improvements in the mesh geometry, along with the introduction of a model considering of the external ligaments restraining effect, in order to get a more reliable and closer to reality simulation of the all biomechanical system

Desenvolvimento do sistema gestor de doações e voluntários - SGDV

Os textos apresentados a seguir tem o objetivo principal de documentar todo o Sistema Gestor de Doações de Voluntários, listando e explicando todas as suas funcionalidades e regras de negócio, assim como todo os dados e informações gerados e mantidos pelo sistema. O objetivo principal do sistema é gerenciar o vinculo de doações e voluntários a  fases de projetos cadastrados por ONGs, projetos na página caminho bem. Para que os colaboradores possam vincular suas doações à  fases de projetos, estes deverão estar cadastrados nos sistema como doadores. O mesmo deverá acontecer com os voluntários que desejarem se vincular alguma fase de projeto

9-Borafluoren-9-yl and diphenylboron tetracoordinate complexes of F- and Cl-substituted 8-quinolinolato ligands: synthesis, molecular and electronic structures, fluorescence and application in OLED devices

Six new four-coordinate tetrahedral boron complexes, containing 9-borafluoren-9-yl and diphenylboron cores attached to orthogonal fluorine- and chlorine-substituted 8-quinolinolato ligand chromophores, have been synthesised, characterised, and applied as emitters in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). An extensive steady-state and time-resolved photophysical study, in solution and in the solid state, resulted in the first-time report of delayed fluorescence (DF) in solid films of 8-quinolinolato boron complexes. The DF intensity dependence on excitation dose suggests that this emission originates from triplet–triplet annihilation (TTA). Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) studies give insight into the ground and excited state geometries, electronic structures, absorption energies, and singlet–triplet gaps in these new organoboron luminophores. Finally, given their highly luminescent behaviour, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) devices were produced using the synthesised organoboron compounds as emissive fluorescent dopants. The best OLED displays green-blue (λmaxEL = 489 nm) electroluminescence with an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 3.3% and a maximum luminance of 6300 cd m−2

Actividades corporales de aventura en la escuela: la carrera de orientación como propuesta en el desarrollo de habilidades socioemocionales

Os esportes de aventura quando tematizados nas aulas de Educação Física têm o potencial de despertar fortes emoções, principalmente pelas experiências de risco e aventura, no contexto escolar, a Base Nacional Comum Curricular-BNCC, existe há necessidade de se trabalhar a educação emocional. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar o comportamento socioemocional dos alunos diante de uma intervenção de corrida de orientação. 39 escolares do ensino médio participaram do estudo. Foi aplicado o questionário Big Five Inventory (BFI) após uma intervenção de corrida de orientação para a avaliação do perfil socioemocional. Foi constado que as maiores médias entre os perfis foram: Abertura (34,59), amabilidade (30,44), conscienciosidade (28,23) (tabela 1). A corrida de orientação, se mostra eficaz no desempenho emocional dos escolares pois os perfis de maior as maiores medias foram para os perfis de: Abertura, amabilidade e conscienciosidade. Está intervenção também atende aos requisitos presentes no BNCC sobre o desenvolvimento emocional como também sobre a necessidade de práticas de aventura para a Educação Física.Adventure sports when thematized in Physical Education classes have the potential to arouse strong emotions, mainly through risk and adventure experiences, in the school context, the National Common Curricular Base-BNCC, there is a need to work on emotional education. The objective of this study was to analyze the socio-emotional behavior of students in the face of an orienteering race intervention. 39 high school students participated in the study. The Big Five Inventory (BFI) questionnaire was applied after an orienteering race intervention to assess the socio-emotional profile. It was found that the highest averages among the profiles were: Openness (34.59), kindness (30.44), conscientiousness (28.23) (Table 1). The orienteering race proves to be effective in the emotional performance of the students because the profiles of the highest the highest averages were for the profiles of: Openness, kindness and conscientiousness. This intervention also meets the requirements present in the BNCC on emotional development as well as on the need for adventure practices for Physical Education.Los deportes de aventura cuando son tematizados en las clases de Educación Física tienen el potencial de despertar emociones fuertes, principalmente a través de experiencias de riesgo y aventura, en el contexto escolar, Base Curricular Común NacionalBNCC, existe la necesidad de trabajar la educación emocional. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar el comportamiento socioemocional de los estudiantes ante una intervención de carrera de orientación. 39 estudiantes de secundaria participaron en el estudio. Se aplicó el cuestionario Big Five Inventory (BFI) después de una intervención de carrera de orientación para evaluar el perfil socioemocional. Se encontró que los promedios más altos entre los perfiles fueron: Apertura (34,59), amabilidad (30,44), escrupulosidad (28,23) (Tabla 1). La carrera de orientación demuestra ser efectiva en el desempeño emocional de los estudiantes debido a que los perfiles de los más altos los promedios más altos fueron para los perfiles de: Apertura, amabilidad y escrupulosidad. Esta intervención también cumple con los requisitos presentes en el BNCC sobre el desarrollo emocional, así como sobre la necesidad de prácticas de aventura para la Educación Física.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Mycobacterium tuberculosis associated with severe tuberculosis evades cytosolic surveillance systems and modulates IL-1β production

Genetic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis affects immune responses and clinical outcomes of tuberculosis (TB). However, how bacterial diversity orchestrates immune responses to direct distinct TB severities is unknown. Here we study 681 patients with pulmonary TB and show that M. tuberculosis isolates from cases with mild disease consistently induce robust cytokine responses in macrophages across multiple donors. By contrast, bacteria from patients with severe TB do not do so. Secretion of IL-1β is a good surrogate of the differences observed, and thus to classify strains as probable drivers of different TB severities. Furthermore, we demonstrate that M. tuberculosis isolates that induce low levels of IL-1β production can evade macrophage cytosolic surveillance systems, including cGAS and the inflammasome. Isolates exhibiting this evasion strategy carry candidate mutations, generating sigA recognition boxes or affecting components of the ESX-1 secretion system. Therefore, we provide evidence that M. tuberculosis strains manipulate host-pathogen interactions to drive variable TB severities

Immunogenic evaluation of collagen and gelatin from marine origin envisioning tissue engineering-related applications

Workshop MicSeaOnMed (EEA GRANT) Blue Biotechnology: from the academy to the entrepreneur sector, Guimarães, Portugal, 24 May 2022N

Study of the immunologic response of marine-derived collagen and gelatin extracts for tissue engineering applications

9 pages, 3 figures, 2 tablesThe host immunologic response to a specific material is a critical aspect when considering it for clinical implementation. Collagen and gelatin extracted from marine sources have been proposed as biomaterials for tissue engineering applications, but there is a lack of information in the literature about their immunogenicity. In this work, we evaluated the immune response to collagen and/or gelatin from blue shark and codfish, previously extracted and characterized. After endotoxin evaluation, bone marrow-derived macrophages were exposed to the materials and a panel of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines were evaluated both for protein quantification and gene expression. Then, the impact of those materials in the host was evaluated through peritoneal injection in C57BL/6 mice. The results suggested shark collagen as the less immunogenic material, inducing low expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines as well as inducible nitric oxide synthase (encoded by Nos2) and high expression of Arginase 1 (encoded by Arg1). Although shark gelatin appeared to be the material with higher pro-inflammatory expression, it also presents a high expression of IL-10 (anti-inflammatory cytokine) and Arginase (both markers for M2-like macrophages). When injected in the peritoneal cavity of mice, our materials demonstrated a transient recruitment of neutrophil, being almost non-existent after 24 hours of injection. Based on these findings, the studied collagenous materials can be considered interesting biomaterial candidates for regenerative medicine as they may induce an activation of the M2-like macrophage population, which is involved in suppressing the inflammatory processes promoting tissue remodelingThe authors would like to acknowledge to European Union for the financial support under the scope of European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the projects 0302_CVMAR_I_1_P and 0474_BLUEBIOLAB_1_E (program INTERREG España-Portugal 2014/2020). Funding from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology for the grant of A. L. Alves (Ana Luísa Alves) under Doctoral Programme Do*Mar (PD/BD/127995/2016) is also acknowledgedPeer reviewe