Harmonização de metodologias para avaliar a ecotoxicidade de nanomateriais hidróxidos duplos lamelares numa microalga dulçaquícola

Nanotechnology has experienced an unprecedent growth, marked by the development of innovative nanomaterials with unique physicochemical characteristics for a wide range of applications. Layered double hydroxides (LDH) are a great example of such innovation. Currently, risk assessment methodologies are based on test methods developed for conventional chemical’s characteristics and do not account for the specificities that nanomaterials exhibit. Under REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) and CLP (Classification, Labelling and Packaging of substances) EU regulations, nanomaterials are regarded as substances. The chemical safety assessment of nanomaterials is thus crucial to meet the needs for their registration and posterior commercialization. The safety assessment performed for REACH, based on the current non nano-specific ecotoxicological test methodologies might produce data with low relevance and reliability. Thus, the present study aimed to assess the impact of two different exposure methodologies, recommended by OECD (serial dilutions from a stock dispersion vs direct nanomaterial addition to each individual concentration), in the growth of the freshwater microalgae Raphidocelis subcapitata exposed to Zn-Al and Cu-Al LDHs. Moreover, different powder grain sizes (bulk, <25. 25-63, 63-125, 125- 250 and, >250 µm) of both LDHs were used for the exposure of the same microalgae regarding a possible grain size-dependent toxicity. Regarding exposure methodologies, differences were observed in the toxicity of Zn-Al LDH, however, there is no methodological difference in the toxicity output for Cu-Al LDH exposure. Zn-Al LDH toxicity was similar for all grain sizes, however, the 3 highest grain sizes of Cu-Al LDH produced lower toxicity when comparing to the bulk counterpart. Thus, a grain size separation for Cu-Al LDH might be of great advantage towards the formulation of an eco-friendlier nanomaterial. Exposure methodology results pose as a good starting point for ecotoxicological testing involving LDHs. Additionally, other studies with exposure methodologies and media, and different nanomaterials are needed, in order to achieve better standardization procedures for nano-specific test methodologies.A nanotecnologia tem sofrido um crescimento sem precedentes, marcado pelo desenvolvimento de nanomateriais inovadores com características físico-químicas únicas para uma ampla gama de aplicações. Os hidróxidos duplos-lamelares (LDHs) são um excelente exemplo dessa inovação. Atualmente, as metodologias de avaliação de risco são baseadas em metodologias de avaliação desenvolvidas para substâncias convencionais e não têm em conta as especificidades exibidas pelos nanomateriais. Os nanomateriais estão enquadrados como substâncias nos regulamentos europeus REACH (Registo, Avaliação, AutorizaçãoeRestriçãodeQuímicos) e CRE (Classificação, Registo e Embalagem),sendo-lhes aplicáveis as disposições constantes em ambos os documentos.Assim,a avaliação do risco dos nanomateriais é crucial para o seu registo e posterior comercialização. No entanto, a avaliação de risco dos nanomateriais no âmbito REACH é baseada em metodologias para compostos convencionais o que pode originar resultados com baixa relevância e confiabilidade. Por isso, o presente estudo visou avaliar o impacto de duas metodologias de exposição recomendadas pela OCDE (diluições em série a partir de uma solução stock vs. adição direta de nanomaterial a cada concentração individual), no crescimento da microalga de água doce Raphidocelis subcapitata após a exposição a uma gama de concentrações de Zn-AlLDH e Cu-Al LDH. Adicionalmente, pós com diferentes tamanhos de grão (heterogéneo; 250 μm) de ambos os LDHs foram utilizados na exposição à mesma microalga, considerando uma possível toxicidade dependente do tamanho do grão. Relativamente às metodologias, foram observadas diferenças na toxicidade obtida entre ambas as metodologias de exposição para Zn-Al LDH, contudo, nenhuma diferença foi detetada no caso doCu-AlLDH. Relativamente aos tamanhos de grão nos pós de LDHs, atoxicidade do Zn-Al LDH foi similar para todos os tamanhos, contudo, os 3 tamanhos maiores do Cu-Al LDH produziram uma menor toxicidade comparando com a amostra heterogénea. Assim sendo, a separação do Cu-Al LDH por tamanhos granulométricos poderá ser uma vantagem para a formulação de uma nanomaterial mais amigo do ambiente. Os resultados da metodologia de exposição constituem um bom ponto de partida para a elaboração de adaptações das metodologias a realizar em testes ecotoxicológicos com algas envolvendo LDHs. Estudos futuros com outras metodologias de exposição, meios de exposição e diferentes nanomateriais permitirão atingir uma padronização mais precisa das metodologias de teste para nanomateriais.Mestrado em Eco-toxicologia e Análise de Risc

AVALIAÇÃO + NORMALIZAÇÃO: DESIGN COMO MODERADOR NA ANÁLISE DE BENS DE CONSUMO

The design of packaging products depends on knowledge of different areas, including those focused on mechanical quality, such as in Mechanical, Chemical and Production Engineering, and other informational and communicative areas, such as in Product Design and Graphics. It is in this context that this research focuses on a demand from Inmetro in evaluating the usability of packaging. During its development, use was made of national quality and safety standards to define the field of study, select test batteries and regulatory guidelines, and choose sample quantities and profiles. However, even with the diversity of these standards established by ABNT (2020) and ISO (2020) there is still a gap in the guidelines that deal with ergonomics and usability of non-digital products, especially about interaction with real users. In this article, three different packaging models common to different foods from twenty different manufacturers are analyzed. Methods, tools, testing environment, sample selection and participant selection are described in the methodology section of the next topic. The results in fact point to what can be defined as a major concern that companies should have in relation to the quality of these types of packaging.O design das embalagens dos produtos depende do conhecimento de diferentes áreas, incluindo aquelas voltadas para a qualidade mecânica, como em Engenharia Mecânica, Química e de Produção, e outras informacionais e comunicativas, como em Design de Produto e Gráfico. É nesse contexto no qual esta pesquisa se debruça ante uma demanda do Inmetro na avaliação de usabilidade de embalagens. Durante o desenvolvimento desta, foi feito o uso de padrões nacionais de qualidade e de segurança para definir o campo de estudo, selecionar as baterias de teste e as diretrizes regulatórias, além de escolher as quantidades de amostra e perfis. Porém, mesmo com a diversidade dessas normas estabelecidas pela ABNT (2020) e pela ISO (2020) existe ainda uma lacuna quanto às diretrizes que tratam da ergonomia e usabilidade de produtos não digitais, principalmente no que diz respeito à interação com usuários reais. Neste artigo, são analisados ​​três diferentes modelos de embalagens comuns a diferentes alimentos, de vinte fabricantes diferentes. Os métodos, ferramentas, ambiente de teste, seleção de amostra e seleção de participantes são descritos na seção de metodologia do próximo tópico. Os resultados de fato apontam para o que se pode definir como uma maior preocupação que as empresas devem ter em relação a qualidade destes tipos de embalagens

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental trauma attendance: a systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental trauma patient attendance. The study was registered in the PROSPERO system, using the CRD42021288398 protocol. Searching was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Lilacs, and OpenGrey databases, using the following keywords: “Tooth injuries,” “Dental trauma,” “Traumatic Dental injury,” and “COVID-19". We included observational studies evaluating dental trauma in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Quality assessment was performed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Cross-Sectional Studies. Meta-analysis was performed in RevMan 5.4 software with Odds Ratios as a pooled measure of effect, with a 95% confidence interval, and using random-effects modeling. After applying the eligibility criteria, 32 studies were included for qualitative analysis, in which 10 were used to assess the frequency of dental trauma diagnoses in dental emergencies. Despite the decrease of visits during COVID-19, the analysis revealed no difference between the pandemic and pre-pandemic periods. Regarding the type of dental trauma, two of the studies revealed no differences for the periods before and during the pandemic. This study revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has not impacted the frequency or type of dental trauma compared to previous periods

AMORIS project - mobile application and command and control center on an iot network to support solidarity actions to counter Covid-19 and other outbreaks

O Projeto AMORIS visa fomentar uma ação de solidariedade entre membros da comunidade da Universidade de Brasília e seu entorno com abrangência regional e nacional, ação denominada Sistema UnB Solidária. O projeto contempla o desenvolvimento de um aplicativo de redes móveis operando em paradigma de Internet of Things (IoT) com uma central de comando & controle (C&C), monitoração, coordenação e integração, de modo a permitir que as pessoas façam ações solidárias em diversas situações, como: ajuda médica, ações de segurança comunitária, casos de dificuldade pessoal, apoio educacional etc

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

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

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 understanding 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,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 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 underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities 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 organism 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 neglected 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 lost

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental trauma attendance: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental trauma patient attendance. The study was registered in the PROSPERO system, using the CRD42021288398 protocol. Searching was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Lilacs, and OpenGrey databases, using the following keywords: “Tooth injuries,” “Dental trauma,” “Traumatic Dental injury,” and “COVID-19". We included observational studies evaluating dental trauma in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Quality assessment was performed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Cross-Sectional Studies. Meta-analysis was performed in RevMan 5.4 software with Odds Ratios as a pooled measure of effect, with a 95% confidence interval, and using random-effects modeling. After applying the eligibility criteria, 32 studies were included for qualitative analysis, in which 10 were used to assess the frequency of dental trauma diagnoses in dental emergencies. Despite the decrease of visits during COVID-19, the analysis revealed no difference between the pandemic and pre-pandemic periods. Regarding the type of dental trauma, two of the studies revealed no differences for the periods before and during the pandemic. This study revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has not impacted the frequency or type of dental trauma compared to previous periods.</div

Anatomical terminology of the internal nose and paranasal sinuses: cross-cultural adaptation to Portuguese

Introduction: Functional endonasal endoscopic surgery is a frequent surgical procedure among otorhinolaryngologists. In 2014, the European Society of Rhinology published the “European Position Paper on the Anatomical Terminology of the Internal Nose and Paranasal Sinuses”, aiming to unify the terms in the English language. We do not yet have a unified terminology in the Portuguese language. Objective: Transcultural adaptation of the anatomical terms of the nose and paranasal cavities of the “European Anatomical Terminology of the Internal Nose and Paranasal Sinuses” to Portuguese. Methods: A group of rhinologists from diverse parts of Brazil, all experienced in endoscopic endonasal surgery, was invited to participate in the creation of this position paper on the anatomical terms of the nose and paranasal sinuses in the Portuguese language according to the methodology adapted from that previously described by Rudmik and Smith. Results: The results of this document were generated based on the agreement of the majority of the participants according to the most popular suggestions among the rhinologists. A cross-cultural adaptation of the sinonasal anatomical terminology was consolidated. We suggest the terms “inferior turbinate”, “nasal septum”, “(bone/cartilaginous) part of the nasal septum”, “(middle/inferior) nasal meatus”, “frontal sinus drainage pathway”, “frontal recess” and “uncinate process” be standardized. Conclusion: We have consolidated a Portuguese version of the European Anatomical Terminology of the Internal Nose and Paranasal Sinuses, which will help in the publication of technical announcements, scientific publications and the teaching of the internal anatomical terms of the nose and paranasal sinuses in Brazil. Resumo: Introdução: A cirurgia endoscópica funcional endonasal é um procedimento cirúrgico frequente entre os otorrinolaringologistas. Em 2014, a Sociedade Europeia de Rinologia publicou o “Documento Europeu para Posicionamento sobre a Terminologia Anatômica Interna do Nariz e das Cavidades Paranasais” com o objetivo de unificar os termos na língua inglesa. Ainda não dispomos de uma terminologia unificada na língua portuguesa. Objetivo: Adaptação transcultural dos termos anatômicos do nariz e das cavidades paranasais para o português da “European Anatomical Terminology of the Internal Nose and Paranasal Sinuses”. Método: Um grupo de rinologistas de todo o Brasil, com experiência em cirurgia endoscópica endonasal, foi convidado a participar da elaboração desse posicionamento sobre os termos anatômicos do nariz e das cavidades paranasais para o português conforme metodologia adaptada da previamente descrita por Rudmik e Smith. Resultados: Os resultados desse documento foram gerados a partir da concordância da maioria dos participantes conforme as sugestões mais populares entre os rinologistas. Uma adaptação transcultural da terminologia anatômica nasossinusal foi consolidada. Sugerimos que se busque uniformizar termos como “concha inferior”, “septo nasal”, “porção (óssea/cartilagionasa) do septo nasal”, “meato (médio/ inferior) nasal”, “via da drenagem do seio frontal”,“recesso frontal” e “processo uncinado”. Conclusão: Consolidamos uma versão adaptada em português da “European Anatomical Terminology of the Internal Nose and Paranasal Sinuses” que auxiliará a publicação de comunicados técnicos, publicações científicas e o ensino dos termos anatômicos internos do nariz e das cavidades paranasais no Brasil. Keywords: Cross-cultural adaptation, Anatomy, Nose, Paranasal sinus, Consensus, Palavras-chave: Adaptação transcultural, Anatomia, Nariz, Cavidades paranasais, Consens