Ambiguidade do cuidado na vivência do consumidor de drogas

RESUMO Objetivo Compreender a percepção de usuários de um Centro de Atenção Psicossocial sobre o cuidado no contexto do consumo de drogas. Métodos Estudo fundamentado na Fenomenologia de Maurice Merleau-Ponty, desenvolvido no segundo semestre do ano de 2015. Foram realizados dois encontros de Grupo Focal, com dez usuários de um Centro de Atenção Psicossocial Álcool e outras Drogas. Os dados foram submetidos à técnica Analítica da Ambiguidade. Resultados O consumo de drogas ora proporciona ao consumidor sensações de prazer, ora contribui para a ocorrência de prejuízos biopsicossociais e/ou novas possibilidades de relação com a droga. Conclusões O consumo de drogas constitui-se em um processo ambíguo, que corresponde à percepção de diferentes perfis de cuidado na relação do consumidor com a droga. Cabe aos profissionais de saúde reconhecer as diversas possibilidades de cuidado e favorecer a construção de projetos terapêuticos baseados na escuta e respeito às necessidades dos consumidores de drogas

The spin label amino acid TOAC and its uses in studies of peptides: chemical, physicochemical, spectroscopic, and conformational aspects

We review work on the paramagnetic amino acid 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-N-oxyl-4-amino-4-carboxylic acid, TOAC, and its applications in studies of peptides and peptide synthesis. TOAC was the first spin label probe incorporated in peptides by means of a peptide bond. In view of the rigid character of this cyclic molecule and its attachment to the peptide backbone via a peptide bond, TOAC incorporation has been very useful to analyze backbone dynamics and peptide secondary structure. Many of these studies were performed making use of EPR spectroscopy, but other physical techniques, such as X-ray crystallography, CD, fluorescence, NMR, and FT-IR, have been employed. The use of double-labeled synthetic peptides has allowed the investigation of their secondary structure. A large number of studies have focused on the interaction of peptides, both synthetic and biologically active, with membranes. In the latter case, work has been reported on ligands and fragments of GPCR, host defense peptides, phospholamban, and β-amyloid. EPR studies of macroscopically aligned samples have provided information on the orientation of peptides in membranes. More recent studies have focused on peptide–protein and peptide–nucleic acid interactions. Moreover, TOAC has been shown to be a valuable probe for paramagnetic relaxation enhancement NMR studies of the interaction of labeled peptides with proteins. The growth of the number of TOAC-related publications suggests that this unnatural amino acid will find increasing applications in the future