Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso desenvolvido na Empresa Master Agroindustrial Ltda. na unidade de Videira/Sc na área de sanidade e produção de suínos

Relatório de Estágio (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Campus Curitibanos. Medicina Veterinária.O Estágio Curricular Supervisionado em Medicina Veterinária foi realizado na área de sanidade e produção de suínos, na empresa Master Agroindustrial LTDA., localizada na cidade de Videira/SC. O estágio foi supervisionado pela Médica Veterinária MSc. Mônica Santi e orientado pelo Professor Dr. Adriano Tony Ramos, período de 1 de agosto a 3 de novembro de 2017, com carga horaria total de 450 horas. O estágio teve como objetivo acompanhar as rotinas das diferentes fases de produção, gestação, maternidade, creche, compreendendo o manejo envolvido em cada setor, com foco na fase de creche e no manejo medicamentoso por antibióticos, em consonante a realização de necropsias e participação nos experimentos implantados pela empresa em parceria com a Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Durante a realização do estágio foram acompanhadas diversas atividades, como coleta de materiais para exames laboratoriais, verificação do perfil sanitário em fase de creche, participação em palestras de segurança do trabalho, entre outras atividades relacionadas ao ciclo de produção. O estágio proporcionou o contato com uma realidade diferente do âmbito acadêmico, permitindo compreender a cadeia de produção suína e a responsabilidade do Médico Veterinário dentro do cotidiano da empresa

Análise dos métodos de aproveitamento de carcaças de animais de produção e resíduos animais no campo, a luz dos aspectos legais incidentes sobre a biosseguridade e a proteção à saúde animal Curitibanos

TCC(graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Campus Curitibanos. Medicina Veterinária.O projeto de lei 5851/2016 disciplina o aproveitamento de carcaças de animais de produção e resíduos animais no campo para fins não comestíveis, buscando dar correta destinação para o resíduo, entre os métodos disponíveis se destaca a reciclagem que consiste na extração de subprodutos que incluem gorduras, óleos e materiais proteináceos conhecidos como farinha de carne, inserindo na cadeia produtiva uma fonte extra de renda para produtores e empresas, contudo existe um possível risco a saúde pública relacionado a contaminação com príons, microrganismos ou compostos tóxicos, com destaque para Encefalopatia Espongiforme Bovina, doença priônica de potencial zoonótico e grande impacto econômico. O presente trabalho busca explanar, de forma sucinta, o processo jurídico de formação do projeto de lei 5851/2016 em seus aspectos formais e materiais

From: Larry Roberts (enclosure)

Illegal trafficking of pharmaceutical products by criminal organisations is a global threat for public health. Drugs for erectile dysfunction such as phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors are the most commonly counterfeited medicines in Europe. The search of possible toxic chemical substances in seized products is needed to provide early warning for public health. Furthermore, the elemental profile of the seized products can be useful in criminal investigations. For the first time an ion beam analysis (IBA) procedure to characterise authentic Viagra® tablets and sildenafil-based illegal products is described. Moreover, results are compared with the ones obtained by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) on authentic Viagra® tablets in two reactors. IBA results showed that a combination of particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and secondary ion mass spectrometry using primary ions with energies in the range of several MeV (MeV-SIMS) is a powerful tool to characterise different products in a straightforward manner, allowing discrimination between legal and illegal products. INAA allowed accurate elemental quantification and also showed a great potential for the future implementation of an inter- laboratory classification system

Beta-alanine (Carnosyn™) supplementation in elderly subjects (60–80 years): effects on muscle carnosine content and physical capacity

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of beta-alanine supplementation on exercise capacity and the muscle carnosine content in elderly subjects. Eighteen healthy elderly subjects (60–80 years, 10 female and 4 male) were randomly assigned to receive either beta-alanine (BA, n = 12) or placebo (PL, n = 6) for 12 weeks. The BA group received 3.2 g of beta-alanine per day (2 × 800 mg sustained-release Carnosyn™ tablets, given 2 times per day). The PL group received 2 × (2 × 800 mg) of a matched placebo. At baseline (PRE) and after 12 weeks (POST-12) of supplementation, assessments were made of the muscle carnosine content, anaerobic exercise capacity, muscle function, quality of life, physical activity and food intake. A significant increase in the muscle carnosine content of the gastrocnemius muscle was shown in the BA group (+85.4%) when compared with the PL group (+7.2%) (p = 0.004; ES: 1.21). The time-to-exhaustion in the constant-load submaximal test (i.e., TLIM) was significantly improved (p = 0.05; ES: 1.71) in the BA group (+36.5%) versus the PL group (+8.6%). Similarly, time-to-exhaustion in the incremental test was also significantly increased (p = 0.04; ES 1.03) following beta-alanine supplementation (+12.2%) when compared with placebo (+0.1%). Significant positive correlations were also shown between the relative change in the muscle carnosine content and the relative change in the time-to-exhaustion in the TLIM test (r = 0.62; p = 0.01) and in the incremental test (r = 0.48; p = 0.02). In summary, the current data indicate for the first time, that beta-alanine supplementation is effective in increasing the muscle carnosine content in healthy elderly subjects, with subsequent improvement in their exercise capacity

AI is a viable alternative to high throughput screening: a 318-target study

: High throughput screening (HTS) is routinely used to identify bioactive small molecules. This requires physical compounds, which limits coverage of accessible chemical space. Computational approaches combined with vast on-demand chemical libraries can access far greater chemical space, provided that the predictive accuracy is sufficient to identify useful molecules. Through the largest and most diverse virtual HTS campaign reported to date, comprising 318 individual projects, we demonstrate that our AtomNet® convolutional neural network successfully finds novel hits across every major therapeutic area and protein class. We address historical limitations of computational screening by demonstrating success for target proteins without known binders, high-quality X-ray crystal structures, or manual cherry-picking of compounds. We show that the molecules selected by the AtomNet® model are novel drug-like scaffolds rather than minor modifications to known bioactive compounds. Our empirical results suggest that computational methods can substantially replace HTS as the first step of small-molecule drug discovery

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Aspectos anatomopatológicos e genéticos de casos fatais de calcinose sistêmica em equinos

A calcinose sistêmica em equinos é uma doença rara, de fisiopatologia não completamente elucidada, com curso geralmente letal e lesões histopatológicas caracterizadas por inflamação e mineralização sistêmicas. Apresenta correlações com a miosite imunomediada, que é uma doença genética de origem inflamatória, relacionada com uma variante do gene MYH1 que codifica a cadeia pesada da miosina 1. Apesar da falta de comprovação da influência genética no desenvolvimento de calcinose sistêmica, ambas as doenças apresentam curso clínico inicial semelhante, acometendo, principalmente, equinos da raça Quarto de Milha, e estão frequentemente associadas a históricos prévios de infecções bacterianas ou vacinação, que parecem servir de evento desencadeador das doenças. A miosite imunomediada diferencia-se da calcinose sistêmica por apresentar um bom prognóstico, causando atrofia muscular imunomediada com rápida recuperação, enquanto a calcinose sistêmica apresenta um curso grave de alta letalidade. Poucos estudos abordaram a calcinose sistêmica, sua relação com miosite imunomediada e com a mutação no gene MYH1. O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever os aspectos epidemiológicos, patológicos e moleculares de casos de calcinose em equinos submetidos à necropsia entre os anos de 2018 e 2021 nas regiões Sul e Centro-Oeste do Brasil. No período estudado, cinco casos histologicamente compatíveis com lesão muscular definida como calcinose sistêmica foram diagnosticados. Os equinos afetados eram da raça Quarto de Milha, tinham idade mediana de 15,4 meses e tiveram evolução da doença de 16,8 dias em média. As alterações macroscópicas eram caracterizadas por áreas de palidez acentuada na musculatura, com lesões microscópicas de necrose, calcificação, atrofia e regeneração muscular e manifestação em vários órgãos, com predomínio de processos inflamatórios e mineralizantes. Quatro dos cinco cavalos tiveram material submetido a avaliação molecular e todos apresentaram mutação para a variante patológica do gene MYH1 em homozigose (n=1) ou heterozigose (n=3). Não havia outra mutação relacionada à doença muscular nos casos testados. Três equinos apresentaram marcação positiva contra antígenos de Streptococcus equi na avaliação imuno-histoquímica, especialmente, no trato respiratório. Os achados genéticos do presente estudam reforçam o envolvimento da variante MYH1_p.E321G no desenvolvimento da calcinose sistêmica em equinos QM e que esta apresenta consonância entre os achados clínicos e epidemiológicos da miosite imunomediada, diferenciando-se na manifestação histopatológica.Systemic calcinosis in horses is a rare disease with pathophysiology that is not completely elucidated, typically fatal course, and histopathological lesions characterized by systemic inflammation and mineralization. It presents deep correlations with immune-mediated myositis, which is a genetic inflammatory disease related to mutations in the MYH1 gene that encodes the heavy chain of myosin. Despite the lack of evidence for genetic influence on the development of systemic calcinosis, both diseases present similar initial clinical courses, mainly affecting Quarter Horse breed horses, and are commonly associated with previous histories of bacterial infections or vaccination, which seem to serve as triggering events for the diseases. Immune-mediated myositis differs from systemic calcinosis in that it has a good prognosis, causing immune-mediated muscle atrophy with rapid recovery, while systemic calcinosis presents a severe course with high lethality. Few studies have addressed systemic calcinosis, its relationship with immune-mediated myositis, and the MYH1 gene mutation. The aim of this study is to describe the epidemiological, pathological, and molecular aspects of cases of calcinosis in horses submitted to necropsy between 2018 and 2021 in the South and Midwest regions of Brazil. During the studied period, five histologically compatible cases with muscle injury defined as systemic calcinosis were diagnosed. The median age of affected horses was 15.4 months, all Quarter Horse breed, with an average disease progression time of 16.8 days. Macroscopic alterations were characterized by areas of pronounced paleness in the musculature with microscopic lesions of muscle atrophy with manifestation in various organs, with a predominance of inflammatory and mineralizing processes. Four of the five horses had material submitted to molecular evaluation and all presented a mutation for the pathological variant of the MYH1 gene, one homozygous and three heterozygous horses. There was no other mutation related to muscle disease in the tested cases. Three horses showed positive marking against Streptococcus equi antigens on immunohistochemical evaluation, especially in the respiratory tract. The genetic findings of the present study indicate that the MYH1 gene is involved in the development of systemic calcinosis and that it presents consistency between the clinical and epidemiological findings of immune-mediated myositis, differing in histopathological manifestation

Digitalizing and capturing haptic feedback in virtual prototypes for User Experience design

The term User Experience (UX) is commonly associated with interactive computer-based systems. Companies operating in the consumer market are recently discovering the importance of designing UX, and in particular multisensory UX, of any kind of system, and not necessarily high-tech products. One of the most effective ways to design UX is to enable users interacting with the prototype of the system during the design process, and in particular already during its initial stages. These prototypes should provide the same experience occurring while interacting with the corresponding real product. To this aim Virtual Prototypes (VPs) may be effectively used, especially in the early design stages when the activities are still in progress and changes are frequent. Multisensory UX can be effectively designed through VPs only if all the senses involved in the real interaction are recreated into the virtual simulation. To date, despite a growing interest of research and industry in the development and use of VPs, many applications are still limited to visual and sound simulations. This paper focuses on the use of VPs to design multisensory UX, concentrating on the introduction of the sense of touch in the simulation. The methodological approach as well as the development of a case study are described in the paper