Approaches in biotechnological applications of natural polymers

Natural polymers, such as gums and mucilage, are biocompatible, cheap, easily available and non-toxic materials of native origin. These polymers are increasingly preferred over synthetic materials for industrial applications due to their intrinsic properties, as well as they are considered alternative sources of raw materials since they present characteristics of sustainability, biodegradability and biosafety. As definition, gums and mucilages are polysaccharides or complex carbohydrates consisting of one or more monosaccharides or their derivatives linked in bewildering variety of linkages and structures. Natural gums are considered polysaccharides naturally occurring in varieties of plant seeds and exudates, tree or shrub exudates, seaweed extracts, fungi, bacteria, and animal sources. Water-soluble gums, also known as hydrocolloids, are considered exudates and are pathological products; therefore, they do not form a part of cell wall. On the other hand, mucilages are part of cell and physiological products. It is important to highlight that gums represent the largest amounts of polymer materials derived from plants. Gums have enormously large and broad applications in both food and non-food industries, being commonly used as thickening, binding, emulsifying, suspending, stabilizing agents and matrices for drug release in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. In the food industry, their gelling properties and the ability to mold edible films and coatings are extensively studied. The use of gums depends on the intrinsic properties that they provide, often at costs below those of synthetic polymers. For upgrading the value of gums, they are being processed into various forms, including the most recent nanomaterials, for various biotechnological applications. Thus, the main natural polymers including galactomannans, cellulose, chitin, agar, carrageenan, alginate, cashew gum, pectin and starch, in addition to the current researches about them are reviewed in this article.. }To the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientfíico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for fellowships (LCBBC and MGCC) and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nvíel Superior (CAPES) (PBSA). This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, the Project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462) and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) (JAT)

O conhecimento de enfermeiros e médicos que trabalham na Estratégia de Saúde da Família acerca da tuberculose no município de Vitória (ES): um estudo de corte transversal Knowledge about tuberculosis by doctors and nurses, who work in the Family Health Strategy in the city of Vitória, Espírito Santo State: a cross-sectional study

O Brasil está no 14º lugar entre os 23 países responsáveis por 80% dos casos da doença no mundo. Buscando compreender a manutenção desses índices, estruturou-se este estudo, com o objetivo de identificar se o conhecimento, sobre a tuberculose, de médicos e enfermeiros que trabalham na Estratégia de Saúde da Família no município de Vitória (ES), seria um fator relevante na mediação dos processos de prevenção, diagnóstico e tratamento da tuberculose. É um estudo de corte transversal, tendo como amostra 50 profissionais. Os dados coletados foram analisados utilizando-se o teste qui-quadrado exato de Fischer com o nível de significância de 0.05. Em relação à transmissão e ao diagnóstico da tuberculose, não houve diferença estatisticamente significativa entre médicos e enfermeiros. Apenas uma variável apresentou diferença estatística: 41% dos médicos e 15% dos enfermeiros (p<0,05) disseram que o paciente deve ser assistido em um local de escolha do médico ou enfermeiro, e ainda 4% do total da amostra responderam que a supervisão não pode ser feita por um membro da família. A pesquisa comprova que médicos e enfermeiros possuem conhecimento para reduzir os índices da tuberculose, embora sejam indispensáveis o contínuo estudo e capacitação desses profissionais.<br>Brazil is in 14th among the 23 countries responsible for 80% of the tuberculosis (TB) cases in the world. Aiming to understand the maintenance of these indexes, this study was developed to identify if the knowledge about tuberculosis by doctors and nurses, who work in the Family Health Strategy in the city of Vitória (ES), would be a factor in the mediation of the prevention processes, diagnosis and treatment of the Tuberculosis. This is a cross-sectional study, with a sample size of 50 professionals. The collected data had been analyzed using the Chi-square and Fisher Exact tests with significance level of 0.05. Regarding the transmission and diagnosis of the Tuberculosis, there was no statistically significant difference between doctors and nurses. Only one variable presented a statistical difference: 41% of doctors and 15% of the nurses (p<0,05) mentioned that the patient must be attended in a place of choice of the doctor or nurse, and still, 4% of the total of the sample had answered that the supervision cannot be made by a member of the family. The research proves that doctors and nurses has knowledge to reduce the indexes of Tuberculosis, even so is indispensable the continuous study and qualification of these professionals

Fístula axilo-cava para hemodiálise: relato de caso Axillary arteriovenous fistula for hemodialysis: case report

Na confecção de fístula arteriovenosa (FAV) para hemodiálise, condutos venosos autógenos demonstram performance superior quando comparados com material protético em relação à perviedade primária ou secundária. A prótese de politetrafluoroetileno (PTFE) é reservada para casos de falência de material autógeno e é geralmente utilizada em fístulas em membros superiores. Descrevemos o caso de uma paciente de 52 anos que, após falência de acessos para hemodiálise e impossibilidade de realização de diálise peritoneal em razão de peritonite bacteriana, foi submetida à confecção de FAV entre a artéria axilar direita e a veia cava inferior com prótese de PTFE de 6 mm. O acesso foi utilizado para hemodiálise 1 mês após sua criação e permanece pérvio após 24 meses. Até o momento, não houve complicações infecciosas, sinais de insuficiência cardíaca ou síndrome de roubo em membro superior direito.<br>With regards to the creation of an arteriovenous fistula (AV fistula) for hemodialysis, autogenous venous grafts clearly show high performance when compared with prosthetic material in terms of primary or secondary patency. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) grafts for the reconstruction of AV fistulae must be restricted to cases of failure of the autogenous material, which is generally used in upper limb fistulae. We describe a case of a 52-year-old patient, who, after access failure for hemodialysis and the impossibility of performing peritoneal dialysis due to bacterial peritonitis, underwent the reconstruction of an AV fistula between the right axillary artery and the cava vein using a 6-mm PTFE prosthesis. One month after surgery, this AV fistula started to be used for hemodialysis. The AV fistula remains patent 24 months after its creation. No infectious complications, cardiac insufficiency symptoms, or steal syndromes of right upper limb were detected