The primary sources of particulate matter are linked to human activity. Certain particulate emissions, particularly those of a finer nature, can significantly impact human health, making them one of the most concerning pollutants. Ultrafine particles (UFP), which have a diameter of less than 100 nm, are of particular concern due to their impact on human health and the difficulty in controlling them. The concentration of ultrafine particles (UFP) in the workplace is a growing concern and is classified as an emerging risk. Workers may be exposed to UFP through inhalation, skin absorption, ingestion, or a combination of these routes. This study aims to determine the levels of UFP exposure among workers in environments with varying direct particle emission patterns. Measurements were conducted to compare the results with the levels recommended by the WHO. The study monitored industrial workplaces with direct particulate matter emissions, such as a carpentry and a bakery, as well as social sector sites without or almost without direct particle emissions, such as a school and a health clinic. One conclusion drawn from this study is that all tasks and occupations are susceptible to high levels of UFP, exceeding WHO recommended values in virtually all monitored environments. Therefore, monitoring and controlling UFP is crucial. Further in-depth studies on this subject are also necessary..

This paper aims to analyze the effects of Covid-19 on financial markets from the perspective of Complexity. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused turmoil in financial markets and is already one of the most important financial crises in history, causing a fall in several stock markets as well as great volatility. Unlike past crises, which in most cases were caused either by problems of fiscal deficits or in the financial system, this crisis has its origin in an epidemic disease, which occurred in Wuhan, China, and quickly spread across the globe affecting transport networks, commerce and finance, and will affect the public debt of many countries. This is a systemic situation in which there is a need to consider several interconnected systems, financial instability and high financial risk, something that econophysics and some complexity theorists already do. Therefore, this paper intends to show, theoretically, the systemic and complex character of the recent financial crisis caused by Covid-19.

Virtual reality experiences are frequently created using game engines, yet they are not simple for novices and unskilled professionals who don’t have programming and 3D modeling skills. Concurrently, there is a knowledge gap in software project design for intuitive virtual reality authoring tools, which were supposed to be easier to use. This work compiles design guidelines derived from a systematic literature review to contribute in the development of more intuitive virtual reality authoring tools. We searched the Scopus and Web of Science databases for works published between 2018 and 2021 and discovered 14 papers. We compiled 14 requirement and feature design guidelines, such as Visual Programming, Immersive Authoring, Reutilization, Sharing and Collaboration, Metaphors, and Movement Freedom, among others. The collected guidelines have the potential to either guide the development of new authoring tools or to evaluate the intuitiveness of existing tools. Furthermore, they can also support the development of the metaverse, since virtual content creation is one of its bases.

In this manuscript we use an exactly solvable stochastic binary model for regulation of gene expression to analyse the dynamics of response to a treatment aiming to modulate the number of transcripts of RKIP gene. We demonstrate the usefulness of our method simulating three treatment scenarios aiming to reestablish RKIP gene expression dynamics towards pre-cancerous state: i. to increase the promoter’s ON state duration; ii. to increase the mRNAs’ synthesis rate; iii. to increase both rates. We show that the pre-treatment kinetic rates of ON and OFF promoter switching speeds and mRNA synthesis and degradation will affect the heterogeneity and time for treatment response. Hence, we present a strategy for reducing drug dosage by simultaneously targeting multiple kinetic rates. That enables a reduction of treatment response time and heterogeneity which in principle diminishes the chances of emergence of resistance to treatment. This approach may be useful for inferring kinetic constants related to expression of antimetastatic genes or oncogenes and on the design of multi-drug therapeutic strategies targeting master regulatory genes.

The market of natural and organic cosmetics has been growing in last decades. The increase in interest in this type of product is a consequence of the concern that consumers have been presenting in relation to the environment and health. In addition to the appreciation the use of sustainable ingredients in cosmetic formulations, the consumers are also concerned about pollution caused by the use of plastics, which leads industries to reinvent themselves and rethink about the composition of packaging. The factor that most drives the purchase of natural and organic cosmetics is the fact that the consumer, in addition to contributing to the preservation of the environment, is also using a sustainable product. The growing demand for natural and organic cosmetics results in a concern of the brands with the organic issue, with the decreased use of animal derived ingredients and with the updating the parameters required for certification of a cosmetic as natural or organic. Due to the few studies available in this area, the importance of clarifying the definitions and concepts of natural and organic cosmetics is evident, in order to contribute with accurate information for the cosmetic sector.

Native strains of Trichoderma, isolated from mangrove sediments of PE, Brazil were determining their morphological and molecular characterization, and were investigated to assess of their biocontrol potential over the phytopathogenic Fusarium strains isolated from Caatinga soil, PE, Brazil. The Trichoderma strains were characterized by polyphasic approach, which combined their morphological characteristics, macro- and microculture results, growth evaluation by Tukey test, with significance of 5%. The DNA was extracted and the product was amplified with primers ITS 1 and 2, and sequenced. Trichoderma strains were compatible morphologically with the description of the genus. The molecular identification of Trichoderma, sequences of 500 bp were amplified, deposited in GenBank and used for phylogenetic analysis. The growth rate analysis showed rate of 0.1207 cm^h-1 to Trichoderma strains and Fusarium spp. lower growth rate (0.031 cm^h-1) was observed. The antibiosis tests showed the best antagonistic level of effectiveness to T. asperellum UCP 0149 against F. solani UCP 1395(82.2%) and F. solani UCP 1075(70.0%), followed of T. asperellum UCP 0319 against F. solani UCP1083 (73.4%), and T. asperellum UCP 0168 against F. solani UCP1098 (71.5%), respectively. The data obtained could serve as the basis for developing several biotechnological processes of safe use.

This study investigates the spatial signatures of seasonal snow in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) observations at different spatial scales and for different physiographic regions. Sentinel-1 C-band (SAR) backscattering coefficients (BSC) were analyzed in the Swiss Alps (SA), in high elevation forest and grasslands in Grand Mesa (GM), Colorado, and in North Dakota (ND) croplands. GM BSC exhibit 10dB sensitivity to wetness at small scales (~100 m) over homogeneous grassland. Sensitivity decreases to 5 dB in the presence of trees, and it is demonstrated that VH BSC sensitivity enables wet snow mapping below the tree-line. Area-variance scaling relationships show minima at ~100 m and 150-250 m respectively in barren and grasslands in SA and GM, increasing up to 1 km and longer in GM forests and ND agricultural fields. The spatial organization of BSC (as described by 1D-directional BSC wavelength spectra) exhibits multi-scaling behavior in the 100 -1,000 m range with a break at (180-360 m) that is also present in UAVSAR L-band measurements in GM. Spectral slopes in GM forested areas steepen during accumulation and flatten in the melting season with mirror behavior for grasslands reflecting changes in scattering mechanisms with snow depth and wetness, and vegetation mass and structure. Overall, this study reveals persistent patterns of SAR scattering variability spatially organized by land-cover, topography and regional winds with large inter-annual variability tied to precipitation. This dynamic scaling behavior emerges as an integral physical expression of snowpack variability that can be used to model sub-km scales and for downscaling applications.

The study evaluated the regenerative responses of the lacrimal functional unit (LFU) after Lacrimal Gland (LG) ablation. The LG of Wistar rats were submitted to G1) partial LG ablation, G2) partial ablation and transplantation of an allogeneic LG, or G3) total LG ablation, (n=7-10/group). The eye wipe test, slit-lamp image, tear flow, and histology were evaluated. RT-PCR analyzed inflammatory and proliferation mediators. The findings were compared to naïve controls after 1 and 2 months (M1 and M2). G3 presented increased corneal sensitivity, and the 03 groups have shown corneal neovascularization. Histology revealed changes in LG, and corneal inflammation. In the LG, there was an increase in MMP-9 mRNA of G1 and G2 at M1 and M2 and RUNX-1 at M1 and M2 in G1 and RUNX-3 mRNA at M1 in G1, and in G2 at M2. TNF-α mRNA rose in the corneas of G1 and G2 at M2. There was an increase in the IL-1β mRNA in the Trigeminal Ganglion of G1 at M1. Without changes in tear flow or evidence of LG regeneration, LG ablation or grafting are unreliable models for dry eye or LG repair in rats. The surgical manipulation extended inflammation to the LFU.

The study proposes planning independent children's mobility through geoinformation technologies for listening to children. This research assumes that children’s values and expectations must be considered in city planning. A bibliographic review identifies 15 indicators which make spaces safe and attractive for children to circulate and play. Thematic maps of the indicators are prepared, integrated by Multicriteria Analysis by Weights of Evidence, according to the hierarchical importance of each variable. The definition of weights considers the opinion of children and technicians. Consultation with children is carried out by Mapping Volunteers (VGI), Consultation on Hierarchy, Geodesign of Ideas for the area and Artistic Workshop. In the technical study, the query applies the Delphi method. It uses the VGI – Volunteered Geographic Information – web-based platform, where children record places of topophilia and topophobia, while technicians map the presence of 15 indicators. The set of information is made available on a web-based platform of SDI – Spatial Data Infrastructure, in which there are resources for a Geodesign workshop when ideas for the area are elaborated through negotiation and co-creation. The product is a transformation design for the area through urban design and parameterisation of uses.

With the influence of Big Data culture on qualitative data collection, acquisition, and processing, it is becoming increasingly important that social scientists understand the complexity underlying data collection and the resulting models and analyses. Systematic approaches for creating computationally tractable models need to be employed in order to create representative, specialized reference corpora subsampled from Big Language Data sources. Even more importantly, any such method must be tested and vetted for its reproducibility and consistency in generating a representative model of a particular population in question. This article considers and tests one such method for Big Language Data downsampling of digitally-accessible language data to determine both how to operationalize this form of corpus model creation, as well as testing whether the method is reproducible. Using the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's public documentation database as a test source, the sampling method's procedure was evaluated to assess variation in the rate of which documents were deemed fit for inclusion or exclusion from the corpus across four iterations. The findings of this study indicate that such a principled sampling method is viable, thus necessitating the need for an approach for creating language-based models that account for extralinguistic factors and linguistic characteristics of documents.

: The objective of this study was to obtain different dry matter contents and proportions of mel-on plant biomass for silage making. A completely randomized design was adopted with a facto-rial scheme (3 x 2) in four replications. The first factor corresponded to three mixtures of melon biomass on as fed basis (AF) of plant (branch + leaf) and fruit (harvested melon) as follows: 100% plant, 90% plant + 10% fruit, and 100% fruit. The other factor corresponded to the ensiled materi-al with fresh and dehydrated melon plant biomass (40% DM) which was dried in the field, after harvest. Silages with partial dehydration of the biomass available after fruit harvest with 0% and 10% fruit showed the greatest DM values: 297 and 293 g/kg DM, respectively. Silages with 0, 100 and 10% fruit showed medium LAB populations: 5.79, 5.14 and 4.58 logs CFU/g, respectively. Higher concentrations of acetic acid contents were observed in silages with 0 and 10% fresh fruit, which were 14.9 and 14.1 g/kg DM, respectively. Silages with 0% and 100% of dehydrated fruit showed better results for the indicators of good-quality silage. Dehydration improves the fer-mentative profile and quality of the melon silage.

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the largest pollutants and generator of toxic solvent resi-dues for the environment and human beings. In the last decade, there has been a huge evolution in the design and development of new environmentally friendly products and processes, in re-sponse to the global environmental concern and the growing demand for products with quality ingredients and manufacturing processes aimed at achieving sustainability. Consumers are looking for products with the benefits of natural products, with sustainable and environmentally friendly formulations with few synthetic molecules as possible. Thus, based on the origins of the pharmaceutical industry, it is important to return to Nature and enjoy the benefits that natural products bring to us. Deep eutectic solvents appear as an alternative to toxic solvents commonly used to extract bioactive compounds. These solvents are considered green solvents because they are made up of natural compounds such as sugars, amino acids, and carboxylic acids. In addition, they are simple to prepare, with an atomic economy of 100%, with attractive physicochemical properties. This paper is a comprehensive review in which is described the main properties, characteristics, and production methods of deep eutectic solvents as well as its application to extract from natural sources bioactive compounds with pharmaceutical interest.

The bioremediation induced by bacteria offers a promising alternative for the contamination of aromatic hydrocarbons, due to their metabolic processes suitable for the removal of these pollutants, as many of them are carcinogenic molecules and dangerous to human health. Our research focused on isolating a bacterium from the rhizosphere of the tara tree with the ability to degrade polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, using draft genomic sequencing and computational analysis. Enterobacter sp. strain UNJFSC 003 possesses 4,460 protein‐coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 77 tRNA genes, and a GC content of 54.38%. A taxonomic analysis of our strain revealed that it has an average nucleotide identity of 87.8% <95%, indicating that it is a new endemic enterobacterium. Additionally, pangenomic analysis with 15 strains demonstrated that our strain has a phylogenetic relationship with strain FDAARGOS 1428 (E. cancerogenus), with a total of 381 core genes and 4,778 accessory genes. Orthologous methods predicted that strain UNJFSC 003 possesses genes with potential for use in hydrocarbon bioremediation. Genes were predicted in the subpathways for the degradation of homoprotocatechuate and phenylacetate, primarily located in the cytoplasm. Studies conducted through molecular modeling and docking revealed the affinity of the predicted proteins in the degradation of benzo[a]pyrene in the homoprotocatechuate subpathway, specifically hpcB, which has enzymatic activity as a dioxygenase, and hpcC, which functions as an aldehyde dehydrogenase. This study provides information on native strains from the Lomas de Lachay with capabilities for the bioremediation of aromatic hydrocarbons and other compounds.

Pump Sizing is the process of dimensional matching an impeller and stator to provide a satisfactory performance test result and good service life during the operation of progressive cavity pumps. In this process, historical data analysis and dimensional monitoring are done manually, consuming a large amount of man-hours and requiring a deep knowledge of progressive cavity pump behavior. This work presents the use of complex networks in the construction of a prototype to recommend interference during the Pump Sizing process in a Progressive Cavity Pump. For this, data from different expert applications were used in addition to individual control Excel spreadsheets to build the database used in the prototype. From the pre-processed data, complex network techniques and the Betweenness Centrality metric were used to calculate the degree of importance of each order confirmation, as well as to calculate the dimensionality of the rotors. The model was evaluated using the mean squared error (MSE), obtaining a MSE of 0.28 for the cases where there were recommendations for order confirmations. Based on the results obtained, it was realized that there is a similarity with the dimensional defined by design engineers during the Pump Sizing process.

Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD) are characterized by their multifactorial etiology and pathogenesis. A 3-year prospective study was conducted in a Portuguese TMD department to study the prevalence of different TMD signs and symptoms and their association with risk factors and comorbidities. Five hundred ninety-five patients were included using an online database: EUROTMJ. Most patients were female (80.50 %), with a mean age of 38.20±15.73 years. The main complaints were temporomandibular joint (TMJ) clicking (13.26%), pain (12.49%), and masticatory muscle tension (12.15%). The main clinical findings were myalgia (74%), TMJ clicking (60-62%) and arthralgia (31-36%). Risk factors such as clenching (60%) and bruxism (30%) were positively associated with TMJ pain and myalgia. Orthodontic treatment (20%) and wisdom tooth removal (19%) were positively associated with TMJ clicking, while jaw trauma (6%) tracheal intubation (4%) and orthognathic surgery (1%) were positively associated with TMJ crepitus, limited man-dibular range of motion and TMJ pain, respectively. 42.88% of TMD patients had other associated chronic diseases, most of them were mental behavioral or neurodevelopmental disorders (33.76%), namely, anxiety (20%) and depression (13%). The authors also observed a positively association of mental disorders with the degree of TMJ pain and myalgia. Online database seems to be a relevant scientific instrument for healthcare providers who treat TMD. The authors expect that EUROTMJ database can serve as a milestone for other TMD departments.

(1) Background: Plasmodium vivax causes the largest malaria burden in Brazil, and chloroquine resistance poses a challenge to eliminating malaria by 2035. Illegal mining in the Roraima Yanomami indigenous territory can lead to the introduction of resistant parasites. This study aimed to investigate mutations in the pvcrt-o and pvmdr-1 genes to determine their potential as predictors of P. vivax chloroquine-resistant phenotypes. (2) Methods: Samples were collected in two health centers of Boa Vista. A questionnaire was completed, and blood was drawn from each patient. Then, DNA extraction, PCR, amplicon purification, and DNA sequencing were performed. After alignment with the Sal-1, the amplified fragment was analyzed. Patients infected with the mutant parasites were queried in the Surveillance Information System. (3) Results: 98% (157/164) of participants were from illegal mining areas. The pvcrt-o was sequenced in 151 samples, and the K10 insertion was identified in 13% of them. The pvmdr1 was sequenced in 80 samples: the MYF haplotype (958M) was detected in 92% of them, the TYF in 8%, while MYL was absent. No cases of recrudescence, hospitalization, or death were found. (4) Conclusions: Mutations in the pvcrt-o and pvmdr-1 genes have no potential to predict chloroquine resistance in P. vivax.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne infectious disease caused by organisms in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) complex. In many low and middle-income countries, TB remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Once a patient has been diagnosed with TB, it is critical that healthcare workers make the most appropriate treatment decision given the individual conditions of the patient and the likely course of the disease based on medical experience. Depending on the prognosis, delayed or inappropriate treatment can result in unsatisfactory results including the exacerbation of clinical symptoms, poor quality of life, and increased risk of death. This work benchmarks machine learning models to aid TB prognosis using a Brazilian health database of confirmed cases and deaths related to TB in the State of Amazonas. The goal is to predict the probability of death by TB thus aiding the prognosis of TB and associated treatment decision making process. In its original form, the data set comprised 36,228 records and 130 fields but suffered from missing, incomplete, or incorrect data. Following data cleaning and preprocessing, a revised data set was generated comprising 24,015 records and 38 fields, including 22,876 reported cured TB patients and 1,139 deaths by TB. To explore how the data imbalance impacts model performance, two controlled experiments were designed using (1) imbalanced and (2) balanced data sets. The best result is achieved by the Gradient Boosting (GB) model using the balanced data set to predict TB-mortality, and the ensemble model composed by the Random Forest (RF), GB and Multi-layer Perceptron (MLP) models is the best model to predict the cure class.

This article presents the implementation of a model to estimate the future price of commodities in the Brazilian market from time series of short-term technical evaluation. For this, data from two databases were used, one referring to the foreign market (opening values, maximum, minimum, closing, closing adjustment and volume) and the other, from the Brazilian market (the price of the day), considering commodities, sugar, cotton, corn, soybean and wheat. Subsequently, the technical indicators were calculated from the TA-Lib technical analysis library. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was applied, records with low correlation were removed, and then the database was consolidated. From the pre-processed data, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) recurrent neural networks were used to perform data prediction at the one and three day interval. These models were evaluated using the mean square error (MSE), obtaining results between 0.00010 and 0.00037 on test data one day ahead, and from 0.00017 to 0.00042 three days ahead. However, based on the results obtained, it was observed that the developed model obtained a promising forecasting performance for all the commodities evaluated. As a main contribution, there is the consolidation of databases that can be used in future scientific research. Furthermore, based on its interpretation, it can assist in decision making regarding the buying and selling of commodities to increase financial gains.

This paper presents the development and implementation of a machine learning model to estimate the future price of commodities in the Brazilian market from technical analysis indicators. For this, two databases were obtained regarding the commodities sugar, cotton, corn, soybean and wheat, which were submitted to the steps of data cleaning, pre-processing and subdivision. From the pre-processed data, recurrent neural networks of the long short-term memory type were used to perform the prediction of data in the interval of 1 and 3 days ahead. These models were evaluated using mean squared error, obtaining an accuracy between 0.00010 and 0.00037 on the test data for 1 day ahead and 0.00015 to 0.00041 for 3 days ahead. However, based on the results obtained, it can be stated that the developed model obtained a good prediction performance for all commodities evaluated.

Soil amendments with composted organic materials are recommended to increase soil organic matter (SOM), promote soil fertility, and the Circular Economy. Growing areas of hedged olive groves in southern Iberia peninsula generate huge amounts of olive leaves whose potential as soil organic amendment is not fully studied. An experimental field trial in a hedged olive grove (cv. “Cobrançosa”) was set up near Portalegre, Portugal, to test a compost of olive leaves plus sheep manure (2:1) applied in the row, at soil surface. Three nominal rates (0 or control, 2.5 and 5.0 kg m-2) were used, in a complete randomized block setup (3 treatments, 3 replicas, 9 plots) and soil chemical properties of layers 0-5, 5-15, and 15-30 cm deep were annually monitored. Results (mainly in layer 0-5 cm) showed increases in total N, carbon of the particulate organic matter (POM-C), permanganate oxidizable carbon (POX-C), extractable phosphorus, and zinc, after one year, and increases in soil organic carbon (SOC), C-stock, pHKCl, extractable phosphorus, and zinc, after two years. POX-C was the most sensitive SOM-related indicator, showing increases up to 30 cm deep after one year. This compost improved soil fertility, but should be monitored over longer periods of time, namely for SOC and extractable zinc content.

In the era of rapid digitalisation, the widespread integration of digital technology into various aspects of daily life has sparked significant interest in understanding its impact on cognitive mental processes. While the emerging data suggests that its influence may be positive or negative, the depth of evidence regarding neurobiological mechanisms remains limited. This review aims to synthesise previously published studies and explore the implications of digital technology components, specifically those resembling mobile technology, internet search engines, and conversational artificial intelligence models, on cognitive functions embedded in the brain’s ability to reorganise itself, known as neuroplasticity. Despite acknowledged limitations, through an exhaustive approach, this paper intends to offer a dynamic perspective on the effects of digital media on the human brain, before the onset of addiction.

The COVID-19 pandemic drew public attention back to the living conditions related to housing, access to green areas in close neighbourhood and nearby recreation. Several studies confirm that visiting green spaces improved the health and wellbeing in times of crisis. This representative study for the metropolitan area of Vienna, Austria’s capital, confirms the high relevance of contact with nature, particularly for citizens to cope with the negative consequences and perceived stress, anxiety, nervousness and many other negative symptoms experienced during the health crisis. It highlights the importance of nearby smaller but also medium to large scale green areas in cities for health and wellbeing of the population. Moreover, it specifically adds novel insights on age effects in use and perception of urban green spaces during COVID-19 pandemic. The online panel survey (n=1012) was conducted in summer 2021. In order to obtain a representative sample reflective of the population’s characteristics, a (stratified) random sample was selected by applying the quota method. The objective was to obtain a sample which represented gender, age and regional distribution of the population of the City of Vienna as well as the immediately surrounding local communities. Interestingly, particularly young people spent more time outside in green areas during the pandemic, discovered novel spaces for the first time and stated a high relevance of contact with nature for their wellbeing. Elderly people above sixty five, on the contrary, stayed more frequently at home. Significant differences are visible between the age groups also with regard to negative symptoms experienced in case of restricted access to green areas due to strict pandemic measures such as lockdowns and quarantine. All age groups, however, similarly acknowledged the importance of green areas for their physical, mental and emotional health in general during the pandemic.

Improving antigen presentation is crucial for the success of immunization strategies. Yeasts are classically used as biofactories to produce recombinant proteins and are efficient vehicles for the delivery of vaccine antigens, besides present adjuvants properties. Despite the absence of epidemic outbreaks, several vaccine approaches continue to be developed for Zika virus infection. These prophylactic strategies are fundamental given the severity of clinical manifestations, mainly due to viral neurotropism. The present study aimed to evaluate in vivo the immune response induced by P. pastoris recombinant strains displaying epitopes of the Envelope (ENV) and NS1 ZIKV proteins. Intramuscular immunization with heat-attenuated yeast enhanced the secretion of IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ, besides activation of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, in BALB/c mice. P. pastoris displaying ENV epitopes induced a more robust immune response, increasing immunoglobulin production, especially IgG isotypes. Both proposed vaccines showed the potential to induce immune responses without adverse effects, confirming the safety of administering P. pastoris as a vaccine vehicle. Here we demonstrated, for the first time, the evaluation of a vaccine against ZIKV based on a multiepitope construct, using yeast as a vehicle, reinforcing the applicability of P. pastoris as a whole yeast cell vaccine.

The effect of legumes adapted to a temperate climate on gas production kinetics, enteric methane, and rumen fermentation in vitro was evaluated. The species studied were Acacia dealbatha, Acacia melanoxylon, Albizzia lopantha, Lupinus pubescens, Inga insignes, Senna multiglandulosa and Tecoma stans. The effective degradation of the dry matter was estimated, the in vitro gas production was measured up to 120 hours of incubation, and the production of enteric methane, VFAs, and ammonia were measured at 24 hours. Dry matter, organic matter, ash, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, and acid detergent lignin were evaluated. The content of total phenols and condensed tannins was quantified. To determine digestibility, the samples were incubated for up to 120 hours. I. insignes presented a higher dry matter content and a high crude protein content. L. pubescens presented low dry matter digestibility. The neutral detergent fiber content was higher in I. insignes and with a higher value in dry matter digestibility and lower content of total phenols and condensed tannins. While S. multiglandulosa showed low detergent acid fiber content. The acid detergent lignin value was higher in I. insignes and lower in L. pubescens. In vitro gas and enteric methane production was higher in L. pubescens. propionic acid and ammonia they were higher in S. multiglandulosa. It is concluded that the amount of secondary compounds affects methane production, compromises digestibility and rumen kinetics of the legumes studied.

In bone tissue engineering, ceramics have been the choice due to their excellent biological properties. But the paradigm changed with the discovery of bioactive glasses (BGs) in 1969 by Larry Hench and co-workers, due to their ability to bond to living tissues through the formation of an interfacial bone-like hydroxyapatite layer when the bioglass was put in contact with biological fluids in vivo. Among a number of tested compositions, the one exhibiting the highest bioactivity index is the well-known trademarked 45S5 Bioglass®. The topic received increasing attention particularly after 1985 when this material entered in the market of biomedical devices, inspiring many other investigations aiming at further exploring the in vitro and in vivo performances of this BG, or developing other related BG compositions. The research efforts gradually revealed a number of shortcomings of 45S5 Bioglass®, mostly derived from its high sodium content, initially intended to decrease the melting temperature and accelerating the degradation of the silicate network over time. But the extensive release of sodium from 45S5 Bioglass® in the biological fluids creates a high pH cytotoxic environment. Other serious drawbacks include a fast degradation rate, and a poor sintering ability, which hinders the reliable fabrication of porous scaffolds. Therefore, sol-gel was regarded as an attractive alternative to prepare alkali-free BG compositions. The process uses inorganic and/or organic precursors, which undergo hydrolysis and condensation at room-temperature, being less costly. When properly conducted, the sol-gel process might result in amorphous structures with all the components intimately mixed at the atomic scale. Moreover, developing new better performing materials for bone tissue engineering is a growing concern, as the ageing of the world’s population leads to lower bone density and osteoporosis. This work describes the sol-gel synthesis of a novel quaternary silicate-based BG with the composition 60 SiO2 – 34 CaO – 4 MgO – 2 P2O5 (mol%) was prepared using acidified distilled water as single solvent. By controlling the kinetics of the hydrolysis and condensation steps, an amorphous glass structure could be obtained. The results of XRD of samples calcined within the temperature range from 600-900 ºC demonstrated that amorphous nature was maintained until 800 ºC, followed by partial crystallization at 900 ºC. The specific surface area, an important factor in osteoconduction, was also evaluated over different temperatures, ranging from 160.6 ± 0.8 m2/g at 600 ºC down to 2.2 ± 0.1 m2/g at 900 ºC, being accompanied consistent changes in average pore size and agreeing pore size distribution. The immersion of the BG particles in simulated body fluid (SBF) led to the formation of an extensive apatite layer on its surface. These overall results indicate the proposed material is very promising for biomedical applications in bone regeneration and tissue engineering.

Despite a global push in the development and implementation of widespread alternative energy use, significant disparities exist across given nation-states. These disparities reflect both technical and economic factors, as well as the social, political, and ecological gaps between how communities see energy development and national/global policy goals. Known as the “local-national gap,” many nations struggle with fostering meaningful conversations about the role of alternative energy technologies within communities. Mitigation of this problem first requires understanding the distribution of existing alternative energy technologies at the local level of policymaking. Using the State of Georgia, U.S.A. as a case study, we present a model for analyzing how existing adoption trends enable/limit conversation at the scale of local governance (i.e., county governments). Leveraging existing work on the Gini Coefficient as a metric for measuring energy inequity, we argue these tools can be applied to analyze where gaps exist in ongoing solar adoption trends. As we demonstrate, communities that adopt solar tend to be concentrated in a few counties, indicating existing conversations are limited to a circumscribed set of social networks. This information and the model we demonstrate can enable focused qualitative analyses of existing solar trends, not only amongst high-adoption areas but within communities where little to no adoption has occurred.

Studies of the fundamental origins of friction have undergone a rapid acceleration in recent years by providing valuable information on the nanoscale mechanisms responsible for the friction at the macroscopic level. Significant efforts have been directed into developing composite nanofluids and nanoparticle additives to unlock new tribological properties unattainable by traditional lub-ricants. The studies are now further evolving by developing methods to achieve active control of the nano- and/or mesoscale friction by application of magnetic and electric fields external to the contact. These methods constitute an area of rapidly growing interest, and they also are illumi-nating how the performance of conventional lubricants could be enhanced through synergistic addition of nanoparticles (NPs). This mini-review highlights 25 publications that collectively re-veal significant progress, as well as important outstanding challenges, to a fundamental under-standing of how the addition of NPs impacts the lubricant performance. The first two sections focus on the use of Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM), a technique that spans atomic to mac-roscale length and time scales. Subsequent sections expand to complimentary methods comparing results at the macro and atomic scale for similar materials. These studies highlight the pivotal role of the nanoparticle charge and surface treatment, while also indicating that rolling of nano-particles is ineffective and/or detrimental.

The annual energy matrix has been changing in the last years because of the necessity of less dependence on fossil fuels, which are running out on the planet. Therefore, a study was started to simulate the most efficient production of H2 through COMSOL Multiphysics®, as it is a gas that in the future will be essential to supply the world's energy necessities, due to its easy to get and insert in piped gas pipes. From this study, we were able to present an optimization of parameters that presents good indications of how to obtain efficient hydrogen production in an idealized reactor.

Children and young people (CYP) with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) may be particularly vulnerable to adverse mental health effects due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a cross-sectional U.K parent-reported study from 2nd April-2nd June 2020, using the Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire. CYP with NDDs (n=371) compared to neurotypical controls, had a higher prevalence of emotional symptoms (42% vs 15%), conduct problems (28% vs 9%), and lower prosocial behaviours (54% vs 22%). Those with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder showed inflated conduct, and those with autism spectrum disorder exhibited decreased prosocial behaviours. Females with ASD had higher emotional symptoms compared to males.

CD4+ T cells orchestrate and regulate immunity within jawed vertebrates, yet our understanding of their evolution, development, and cellular physiology has only begun to be unearthed in the past few decades. Discoveries of genetic diseases that ablate this cellular population have provided insight into their critical functions while transcriptomics, proteomics, and highresolution microscopy have recently revealed new insights into CD4+ T cell anatomy and physiology. This article compiles historical, microscopic, and multi omics data which can be used as a reference atlas to dissect cellular physiology within these influential cells and further understand pathologies like HIV infection that inflict human CD4+ T cells.

Timor-Leste, since its independence in 2002, has faced challenges in managing the growing number of civil servants, currently numbering over 13,000. Civil servants are classified under two regimes: General (GCR) and Special (SCR). This classification leads to disparities in salary, benefits, promotions, and performance evaluations, creating dissatisfaction among employees in both regimes. GCR employees enjoy regular salary increases and promotions based on performance, whereas SCR employees, despite earning higher salaries, do not receive the same opportunities for career advancement. This policy paper analyses these differences and recommends abolishing the dual regime structure. It proposes a unified system where salary progression, benefits, and promotions are based on education level, service length, and performance evaluations. Additional allowances should be provided to those working in rural areas to encourage retention and equitable service delivery. Regular external monitoring and audits are essential for effective performance management. Evidence from Indonesia supports these recommendations, showing that additional allowances and strong leadership improve employee performance and discipline.

Capsaicin, a lipophilic, volatile compound, is responsible for the pungent properties of chili peppers. In recent years, a significant increase in investigations into its properties has allowed the production of new formulations and the development of tools with biotechnological, diagnostic, and potential therapeutic applications. In this way, the possible clinical application of such compound is expanding every year. This opinion article aims to provide a synthesis of recent findings regarding the mechanisms by which capsaicin participates in the control of non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and dyslipidemia. This opinion review also discusses the recent findings and clinical studies of the use of capsaicin in body weight control.

Human milk (HM) is the gold standard for feeding infants but has been associated with slower growth in preterm infants compared with preterm formula. This systematic review and meta-analysis summarises the post-1990 literature to examine the effect of HM feeding on growth during the neonatal admission of preterm infants with birth weight ≤1500g and/or born ≤28 weeks’ gestation. Medline, PubMed, CINAHL and Scopus were searched, and comparisons grouped as: exclusive human milk (EHM) vs exclusive preterm formula (EPTF), any HM vs EPTF and higher vs lower doses of HM. We selected studies that used fortified HM and compared that with a PTF; studies comparing unfortified HM and term formula were excluded. Experimental and observational studies were pooled separately. The GRADE system was used to evaluate risk of bias and certainty of evidence. Forty-four studies were included with 37 (n =9,963 infants) included in the meta-analyses. In general, due to poor quality studies, evidence of the effect of any HM feeds or higher versus lower doses of HM was inconclusive. There was a possible effect that lower doses of HM compared with higher doses of HM improved weight gain during the hospital admission, and separately, a possible effect of increased head circumference growth in infants fed EPTF vs any HM. The clinical significance of this is unclear. There was insufficient evidence to determine the effects of an exclusive HM diet on any outcomes.

While there are several ways to identify customer behaviors, few extract this value from information already in a database, much less extract relevant characteristics. This paper presents the development of a prototype using the recency, frequency, and monetary attributes for customer segmentation of a retail database. For this purpose, the standard K-means, K-medoids, and MiniBatch K-means were evaluated. The standard K-means clustering algorithm was more appropriate for data clustering than other algorithms as it remained stable until solutions with 6 clusters. The evaluation of the clusters’ quality was obtained through the internal validation indexes: Silhouette, Calinski Harabasz, and Davies Bouldin. Once consensus was not obtained, three external validation indexes were applied: global stability, stability per cluster, and segment-level stability across solutions. Six customer segments were obtained, identified by their unique behavior: Lost customers, disinterested customers, recent customers, less recent customers, loyal customers, and best customers. Their behavior was evidenced and analyzed, indicating trends and preferences.

Introduction: When analyzing the current situation in Spain, derived from our current lifestyles far from following a Mediterranean lifestyle, there is an alarming prevalence of diabesity, which increases the global risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease (CVD) and decreases the quality of life related to health (QLRH). In order to guarantee, beyond glycemic control of patients with type 2 diabetes (DM2), adequate control of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) in DM2, it will be necessary to carry out a community intervention focused on the application of education programs focused on promoting the acquisition of healthy eating habits through the Mediterranean diet (DMED). This dietary pattern, together with physical exercise, has been shown to contribute to improving the QLRH of patients. Objective: To analyze the quality of life related to health, present in patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes, to determine the possible relationship between this and the degree of adherence to the Mediterranean diet and to examine whether there are differences between the sexes. Material and methods: Observational descriptive study in 93 patients diagnosed with DM2 with poor glycemic control (1Ac ≥ 7%), carried out in various health centers in Albacete and Cuenca, in which the baseline relationship between adherence to DMed and the HRQoL. They were administered a data collection sheet that included a survey of the degree of adherence to the DMed (MEDAS-14) and QLRH (SF-12v2) in the Primary Care (PC) medical and nursing consultations. The variables were analyzed: age groups, sex, years of evolution of DM2, body mass index (BMI), as well as basal glycemia (GB) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c). The “MEDAS-14” (adherence to DMED) was the main variable and the “SF-12v2” (QLRH) was the secondary variable. Material and methods: Observational descriptive study in 93 patients diagnosed with DM2 with poor glycemic control (1Ac ≥ 7%), carried out in various health centers in Albacete and Cuenca, in which the baseline relationship between adherence to DMed and the HRQoL. They were administered a data collection sheet that included a survey of the degree of adherence to the DMed (MEDAS-14) and QLRH (SF-12v2) in the Primary Care (PC) medical and nursing consultations. The variables were analyzed: age groups, sex, years of evolution of DM2, body mass index (BMI), as well as basal glycemia (GB) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c). The “MEDAS-14” (adherence to DMED) was the main variable and the “SF-12v2” (QLRH) was the secondary variable. Results: Patients with poorly controlled DM2 and with low adherence to the MedDM show a non-significantly greater affectation in the physical sphere: fair general state of health, physical function I (limitation to make moderate efforts such as moving a table, vacuuming or walk more than an hour), physical function II (limitation to climb several flights of stairs), physical role (problems at work or daily activities doing less than loved ones), physical role II (they had to stop performing some tasks at work or activities of daily living) and regular body pain. Presenting less affectation in the mental field: emotional role I, emotional role II, mental health I, vitality and mental health II. Without affectation in the social function since they consider that rarely the emotional or physical problems have hindered their social activities. Conclusions: Diabetic patients with poor glycemic control have low adherence to the MedMD (<9 points) and have poor QLRH. Low adherence to the DMed and obesity are related to a greater affectation in the physical dimension and less affectation in the mental dimension without affectation in the "social function".

Bone involvement occurs in 75% of patients with Gaucher disease (GD), and comprises structural changes, debilitating pain, and bone density abnormalities. Osteoporosis is a silent manifestation of GD until a pathologic fracture occurs. Thus early diagnosis is crucial for identifying high-risk patients to prevent irreversible complications. Thirty-one patients with GD were assessed prospectively to identify predictive markers associated with bone density abnormalities, osteopenia (OSN), and osteoporosis (OSR). Subjects were categorized into three cohorts based on T- or Z- scores of bone mineral density (BMD): In GD cohort with no bone complication (Z-score≥-0.9; T-scores≥-1), the OSN group (-1.8 ≥ Z-score ≥ -1; -2.5 ≥ T-score ≥ -1) and OSR group (Z-score ≤ -1.9; T-scores ≤ -2.5). Serum levels of TRAP5b, RANKL, OPG, and RANK were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. TRAP5b was increased in GD and showed a positive correlation with GD biomarkers, including plasma glucosylsphingosine (Lyso-Gb1), macrophage activation markers CCL18 and chitotriosidase. The highest levels of TRAP5b was measured in patients with osteoporosis. The elevation of RANKL and RANKL/OPG ratio correlated with osteopenia in GD. Elevation of TRAP5b, RANKL, and RANKL/OPG indicate osteoclast activation in GD. TRAP5b is a potential bone biomarker for GD with the ability to predict the progression of bone density abnormalities.

The plants Agave sisalana (sisal) and Punica granatum (pomegranate) are rich in saponins, which are secondary metabolites known for their therapeutic properties, including anti-inflammatory effects. Although, Brazil is the world's leading sisal producer, approximately 95% of the leaves are discarded after fiber extraction. Similarly, pomegranate peel waste is abundant in Brazil. To address the need for safe and effective anti-inflammatory treatments. This study aimed to create a topical mucoadhesive gel containing a combination of sisal (RS) and pomegranate residue ex-tracts (PR). In vitro experiments examined isolated and combined extracts, as well as the result-ing formulation, focusing on: 1) phytochemical analysis (total saponin content); 2) cytotoxicity (MTT assay); and 3) pharmacological assessment of anti-inflammatory activity (phagocytosis, macrophage spreading, and membrane stability).Results revealed saponin concentrations in grams per 100 grams of dry extract as follows: SR - 29.91 ± 0.33, PR - 15.83 ± 0.93, Association (A) - 22.99 ± 0.01, Gel Base (G1) - 0.00 ± 0.00, and Association Gel (G2) - 0.52 ± 0.05. In MTT tests for isolated extracts, cytotoxicity values (µg/mL) were 3757.00 for SR and 2064.91 for PR. Converse-ly, A and G2 exhibited no cytotoxicity, with increased cell viability over time. All three anti-inflammatory tests confirmed the presence of this activity in SR, PR, and A. Notably, G2 demon-strated an anti-inflammatory effect comparable to dexamethasone.In conclusion, the gel contain-ing SR and PR holds promise as a novel herbal anti-inflammatory treatment. Its development could yield economic, social, and environmental benefits by utilizing discarded materials in Brazil.

Despite a global push in the development and implementation of widespread alternative energy use, significant disparities exist across given nation-states. These disparities, frequently referred to as the local-national gap, reflect both technical and economic factors, as well as the social, political, and ecological gaps between how communities see energy development and national/global policy goals. This dataset is an attempt to bridge the local-national gap regarding solar PV adoption in the state of Georgia (U.S.A.). This dataset is an aggregation of variables from seven different publicly-available sources that was designed to help researchers interested in the context underlying solar adoption on the local scale of governance (e.g. the county level). The SolarView database includes information necessary for informing policymaking activities such as solar installation information, a historical county zip code directory, county-level census data, housing value indexes, renewable energy incentive totals, PV rooftop suitability percentages, and utility rates. As this is a database from multiple sources, incomplete data entries are noted.

The conditions for safe Internet access and the development of skills enabling full participation in online environments are recognized in the Council of Europe’s strategy for child rights, from 2022. The guarantee of this right has implications for experiences inside and outside the school context. Therefore, this article aims to compare the perceptions of students from different educational levels, who participated in a digital storytelling workshop, regarding online safety, searching habits, and digital competences. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey completed by 84 Portuguese students from elementary and secondary schools. A non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance was used to identify differences as children advance across educational stages. The results revealed that secondary students tend to spend more time online, and demonstrated more advanced search skills. Interestingly, the youngest children exhibited higher competences in creating games and practicing safety measures regarding online postings. These findings emphasize the importance of schools, in a joint action with the educational community, including parents, teachers and students, developing a coordinated and vertically integrated approach to digital education that considers the children's current knowledge, attitudes, and skills as a starting point for pedagogical intervention.

Directed movement towards a target requires spatial working memory, including processing of sensory inputs and motivational drive. In a stimulus-driven, operant conditioning paradigm designed to train zebrafish, we present a pulse of light via LED’s and/or sounds via an underwater transducer. A webcam placed below a glass tank records fish swimming behavior. During operant conditioning, a fish must interrupt an infrared beam at one location to obtain a small food reward at the same or different location. A timing-gated interrupt activates robotic-arm and feeder stepper motors via custom software controlling a microprocessor (Arduino). “Ardulink”, a JAVA facility, implements Arduino-computer communication protocols. In this way, full automation of stimulus-conditioned directional swimming is achieved. Precise multi­day scheduling of training, including timing, location and intensity of stimulus parameters, and feeder control is accomplished via a user-friendly interface. Our training paradigm permits tracking of learning by monitoring, turning, location, response times and directional swimming of individual fish. This facilitates comparison of performance within and across a cohort of animals. We demonstrate the ability to train and test zebrafish using visual and auditory stimuli. Current methods used for associative conditioning often involve human intervention, which is labor intensive, stressful to animals, and introduces noise in the data. Our relatively simple yet flexible paradigm requires a simple apparatus and minimal human intervention. Our scheduling and control software and apparatus (NemoTrainer) can be used to screen neurologic drugs and test the effects of CRISPR­-based and optogenetic modification of neural circuits on sensation, locomotion, learning and memory.

This paper investigates the relationship between public spaces and quality of life (QoL) for older adults, aiming to identify knowledge gaps within the context of population ageing and urbanization. Recognizing the growing importance of sustainable urban development, the research explores how cities can foster active ageing and improve QoL through accessible and inclusive public spaces. A scoping literature review identifies five key QoL domains for older adults: autonomy, meaningful activities, positive social relationships, leisure opportunities, and health. The review highlights areas requiring further investigation, including the interplay between environmental design and social connections, intergenerational perspectives on public space liveliness, the influence of context on QoL and the built environment, and the value of qualitative research in this field. By contributing to the understanding of QoL in relation to public spaces through the lens of Person-Environment fit theory, this study aims to inform urban design, landscape architecture, and policymaking in the creation of age-friendly communities with inclusive public spaces.

The Virus HIV-1 infection still represents a serious disease even if actually it is transformed in chronic pathology. Considering the crucial role of the enzyme Protease in life cycle of HIV many efforts have been made in the research of new organic compounds showing inhibitory activity. After development of several series of non peptidic inhibitors we report here the synthesis of novel simple HIV-Protease inhibitors containing heteroaryl carboxamides and their antiviral activity in vitro and in HEK293 cells. Benzofuryl- benzothienyl- and indolyl rings as well as aryl sulfonamides with different electronic properties have been introduced by efficient synthetic procedures. All compounds showed inhibitory activity similar to the commercial drug Darunavir, effective against both wild-type HIV-1 protease and that containing the V32I or V82A mutations. ADME properties were also evaluated, showing the potential of such compounds to be developed as drugs.

This paper presents a study on the influence of the frequency variation of a nonlinear1 control allocation technique execution, developed by the author [1], named by Fast Control2 Allocation (FCA) for the Quadrotor Tilt-Rotor (QTR) aircraft. Then, through Software In The3 Loop (SITL) simulation, the proposed work considers the use of Gazebo, QGroundControl, and4 Matlab applications, where different frequencies of the FCA can be implemented separated in5 Matlab, always analyzing the QTR stability conditions from the virtual environment performed in6 Gazebo. TheresultsshowedthattheFCAneedsatleast200HzoffrequencyfortheQTRsafeflight7 conditions, i. e., 2 times smaller than the main control loop frequency, 400 Hz. Lower frequencies8 than this one would case instability or crashes during the QTR Operation.

In this working paper we intended to address the emergence of what, potentially, will be a central concept in the very near future, Society 5.0 and that arises politically in (with) following the implementation of the concept of Industry 4.0. Society 5.0 proposes to deepen the potential of the individual-technology relationship in the promotion of the improvement of the quality of life of all people through a super smart society, is an extremely recent concept as a guiding social development that can have a profound impact in societies at all levels, such as quality of life and sustainability. It is a presentation that is based on very recent3 publications, but which also has a prospective component, which always generates some indetermination and uncertainty. Also, for this reason, it is a contribution that seeks above all else to contribute to this very urgent and necessary discussion.

Aim: In the present work we have studied the role of platelets and microvesicles in patients with severe hemophilia A (HA) treated under the regimen of prophylaxis. We have analyzed whether the administration of coagulation factor FVIII modifies this hemorrhagic phenotype in a cohort of 16 patients with diagnosis of severe HA, who were on prophylactic treatment with recombinant FVIII. Methods: Blood tests were performed before (72h without FVIII, baseline sample) and after 15 minutes of FVIII infusion. As a control group, 15 healthy subjects were studied. Platelet aggregation was determined by closure time, optical aggregation, impedance aggregation and flow cytometry. We also studied the expression of the platelet activation markers P-selectin, CD63, platelet-tissue factor, formation of platelet-leukocyte aggregates and tissue factor exposure. The total number of platelet and endothelial microvesicles were also analyzed by flow cytometry, as well as platelet cytosolic Ca²⁺ mobilization. Results: We found no significant differences in platelet function in patients with severe HA in prophylactic treatment before and after FVIII infusion. After FVIII administration, patients presented fewer endothelial microvesicles, indicating that the treatment does not increase one of the possible thrombotic risk markers of these patients. The total amount of plasma microvesicles and the platelet microvesicles were decreased in patients with HA compared to the control group. Conclusions: Our results do not support any effect of FVIII on platelet function in patients with severe HA treated under the regime of prophylaxis.

The ceramic pastes of ca. 31 samples recovered from the Almaraz archaeological site, located in the south bench of Tagus River, were studied in detail using XRF, micro-Raman and GSDR spectroscopies, as well as the XRD technique. The ceramic sherds could be grouped into six categories, Red Slip tableware, Decorated tableware, Yellow Slip tableware, Grey tableware, Common tableware and Handmade pottery. Our studies of the mineralogic composition of the sherds` body indicate that all ceramics were produced locally, using silicious clays in most cases and calcareous clays in a few ones. Micro-Raman and ground state diffuse reflectance absorption spectroscopy provided useful information regarding the materials used to produce the coloured ceramics: hematite and brookite for the red slip and decorated ceramics, jacobsite or carbon black for the black decoration or grey ceramics. For the yellow slip tableware a simple engobe rich in yellow clay was used. XRF spectroscopic studies provided the elemental composition of all samples, and biplots of the Potassium (K) versus Calcium (Ca) contents, normalized to the silicon content of each ceramic paste, clearly show that Pliocene and Miocene local clays sources were used to produce most ceramics. Only one sherd can be considered a Lisbon production.

As the global population ages, the prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases has become a major public health concern. The adoption of a less sedentary lifestyle has been shown to have a beneficial effect on cognitive decline, but the molecular mechanisms responsible are less clear. Here we provide a detailed analysis of the complex molecular, cellular, and systemic mechanisms underlying age-related cognitive decline and how lifestyle choices influence these processes. A review of the evidence from animal models, human studies, and postmortem analyses emphasizes the importance of integrating physical exercise with cognitive, multisensory, and motor stimulation as part of a multifaceted approach to mitigating cognitive decline. We highlight the potential of these non-pharmacological interventions to address key aging hallmarks—such as genomic instability, telomere attrition, and neuroinflammation—and underscore the need for comprehensive and personalized strategies to promote cognitive resilience and healthy aging.

This article aims to understand the domains and conceptual uses of contagion, its modalities and its effects, in its different historical contexts and meanings, as an expression of the process of interdependence between the positions and the different points of view of different actors involved in multiple scientific, moral, social and political challenges. Another objective focuses on understanding the process of collective management of contagion, disease and health, where prevention is an essential element of its objectives and justifications, its discursive order, as well as its practical activities.

Sociology and History as consolidated scientific and academic projects have maintained a peculiar and paradoxical relationship. The growing disciplinary and subdisciplinary specialization of these two sciences poses relevant epistemological and methodological challenges to face potential situations of isolation, fragmentation and enable the apology of an interdisciplinary perspective characterized by the historicity of social structures, actions and senses.Several types of reasons shape this diffuse process of approach/distinction between Sociology and History, namely, epistemological and methodological, disciplinary closure, academic, professional, configuring what can be called contained dialogues. This paper, starting from the sociological perspective of the authors, seeks to contribute to the reflection on the relevance of a scientific project aimed at affirming an interdisciplinary perspective that may foster the heuristic potentialities of both Sociology and History in the analysis of the complexity of social reality and human action.

Shot peening is an attractive technique for fatigue enhanced performance of metallic components, because it promotes crack initiation retardation and later crack growth. Engineering design based on fatigue crack propagation predictions applying the principles of fracture mechanics is commonly used in aluminum structures for aerospace engineering. The main purpose of present work was to analyze the effect of shot peening on the fatigue crack propagation of the 7475 aluminum alloy, under both constant amplitude loading and periodical overload blocks. The tests were performed on 4 and 8 mm thickness specimen's with stress ratios of 0.05 and 0.4. The analysis of the shot-peened surface showed a small increase of the micro-hardness values, due to the plastic deformations imposed by shot peening. The beneficial effect of surface peening on fatigue crack growth rates is quite limited to an increasing near the threshold. The specimens’ thickness has only marginal influence on the crack propagation, in opposite to the stress ratio. Periodic overload blocks of 300 cycles promotes a reduction of the fatigue crack growth rate for both intervals of 7,500 and 15,000 cycles.

The contamination of aquatic environments by pharmaceutical products consistently takes the attention of researchers due to the compounds' toxicity even at low concentrations. In response, we have developed an ecologically sustainable biosurfactant derived from a microorganism and incorporated into the bacterial cellulose. This bioproduct, along with the bacterial cellulose itself, was employed as a sorbent for pharmaceuticals (hormones and paracetamol) present in water. Bacterial cellulose membranes were generated through the cultivation of Gluconacetobacter xylinus ATCC 53582. The biosurfactant was produced by pre-inoculating Bacillus subtilis in a synthetic medium, followed by immersing the bacterial cellulose membranes in the biosurfactant solution, for incorporation. Tests were conducted using water experimentally contaminated with parace-tamol and 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), evaluating the biosurfactant's effect on bacterial cellulose sorption. Paracetamol levels were analyzed using spectrophotometry, and EE2 levels were as-sessed using high-performance liquid chromatography. In summary, bacterial cellulose exhibited superior adsorption for EE2 compared to paracetamol. The incorporation of biosurfactant onto bacterial cellulose reduced hormone adsorption but enhanced paracetamol sorption. Our findings indicated that adsorption is more effective with bacterial cellulose in its original and freeze-dried forms, without the incorporation of biosurfactant. Notably, we achieved more promising results in remediating the hormone EE2 compared to the paracetamol.

Breast cancer represents the most common neoplasm worldwide. Viral infections are involved with carcinogenesis, especially those caused by oncogenic Human Papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes. The relationship between HPV and various types of cancer, such as breast and lung, still requires further studies. After infection with HPV, there is a remodeling of the tumor microenvironment, providing a post-infection alteration with immunosuppressive characteristics. This study evaluated the role of HPV in breast adenocarcinoma cell lineage (MDA-MB-231), transfected with the HPV16 E5, E6, and E7 oncogenes and co-cultured with PBMCs. Immunophenotyping was performed. There was an increase in CD4+ T cells number when compared with non-transfected and transfected MDA-MB-231, especially the Treg profile. Moreover, proinflammatory intracellular cytokines, such as IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-17 were impaired by transfected cells and a decrease in the cytolytic ac-tivity of the CD8+ and CD56+ lymphocytes was also observed in the presence of HPV oncogenes, mainly with E6 and E7 in NK and TCD8+ cells. In conclusion, MDA-MB-231 breast cell lineage transfected with HPV oncogenes can downregulate the number and function of lymphocytes and monocytes.

A novel investigation into the structure-function relationship was undertaken to enhance understanding of the mechanism of action of the vasoactive peptide angiotensin II (AngII) using unconventional substitutions such as AIB (α-aminobutyric acid), CHA (cyclohexylalanine acid), IAP (isonipecotic acid), TOAC (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl-4-amine-4-carboxylic acid) at position 3, and DMT (2,6-dimethyl-Tyrosine) at position 4. Biological potency assays were conducted on guinea pig ileum, and structural features were analyzed using circular dichroism (CD) and molecular dynamics (MD). CHA3-AngII and AIB3-AngII analogs retained some agonistic activity, whereas IAP3-AngII and TOAC3-AngII derivatives were inactive. CD results indicated low conformational flexibility for AIB3-AngII and CHA3-AngII, and greater conformational restrictions for IAP3-AngII and TOAC3-AngII, consistent with computational modeling analyses. DMT4-AngII exhibited significant agonistic activity compared to the inactive Phe4AngII. Molecular modeling suggested a potential interaction between the hydroxyl group of Tyr4 and the amide bond between positions 7 and 8. AngII showed greater conformational restriction compared to DMT4-AngII and Phe4-AngII, underscoring the importance of tyrosine at position 4.

Subnational governments play a key role responding to climate change risks in terms of policy strategies and instruments. This article analyzes how Brazilian municipal and state governments have developed and implemented public policies to mitigate and to adapt to climate change risks. We surveyed all cities’ and states’ climate policies within the country. The methodological approach includes five main points of analysis: 1. mitigation targets and intentions; 2. adaptation actions; 3. stakeholders’ participation; 4. policy implementation; 5. participation in networks related to climate change. Our results suggest that even though subnational climate policies in Brazil are isolated initiatives within the national context, they play an important role responding to climate change risks in different scales and levels. The strongest Brazilian policies with both mitigation and adaptation actions counted on previous mobilization for the climate issue involving different stakeholders from several segments of the society. These governments have also participated in transnational cooperation networks related to climate change.

Bone is a dynamic tissue with the capacity of repair and regeneration in specific conditions. Nevertheless, due to the increased incidence of bone disorders, the need of bone grafts has been growing over the past decades and the development of an ideal bone graft with optimal properties remains a clinical challenge. This review addresses the bone properties (morphology, composition and their repair and regeneration capacity) and puts the main focus on the potential strategies for developing bone repair and regeneration materials. It describes the requirements for designing a suitable scaffold material, types of materials (polymers, ceramics and composites) and techniques to obtain the porous structures (additive manufacturing techniques/robocasting or derived from marine skeletons) for bone tissue engineering applications. The main objective of this review is to gather the knowledge on the materials and methods for the production of scaffolds for bone tissue engineering and highlighting the potential of natural porous structures such as marine skeletons as promising alternative bone graft substitute materials without any further mineralogical changes, or after partial or total transformation into calcium phosphate. The suitability of the marine-derived porous bone graft substitutes for the intended applications will be also discussed.

Brazil chicken production is around 13 million tons and about a third is exported to over 150 countries, placing Brazil as the world largest chicken meat producer, and therefore it is crucial to follow the legislation of all importer markets. This study conducted a survey by chance in 45 meat industries able to export. Therefore, 2580 chicken meat samples were collected and submitted to 11 analyte extraction and chromatographic verification of compliance in an accredited laboratory. Ten chemical residues (amoxicillin, bacitracin, colistin, dinitolmide + zoalene, spectinomycin, roxarsone, tiamulin, tylosin, trenbolone acetate and virginiamycin) were investigated in chicken meat and one (halofuginone hydrobromide) in chicken liver. The results showed that no compound exceeded the maximum residue limits established by seven legislations. All residue concentrations found were below the method quantification limit, thereby confirming the capability of Brazilian chicken meat industries in complying to foreign markets.

The successive steps of the oxidation mechanism of crocin, major compound of saffron, by the free OH• radical are investigated by the pulse radiolysis, steady-state (gamma) radiolysis methods and molecular simulations. The optical absorption properties of the transient species and their reaction rate constants are determined. The absorption spectrum of the oxidized radical of crocin resulting from the H-abstraction presents a maximum at 678 nm and a band at 441 nm, almost as intense as that of crocin. The spectrum of the covalent dimer of this radical contains an intense band at 441 nm and a weaker one at 330 nm. The final oxidized crocin, issued from radical disproportionation, absorbs weaker with a maximum at 330 nm. The molecular simulation results suggest that the OH• radical is electrostatically attracted by the terminal sugar and is scavenged predominantly by the neighbor methyl site of the polyene chain as in a sugar-driven mechanism. Based on detailed experimental and theoretical investigations, the antioxidant properties of crocin are highlighted.

Marek’s Disease (MD) has a significant impact on both the global poultry economy and animal welfare. The disease pathology can include neurological damage and tumour formation. Sexual dimorphism in immunity and known higher susceptibility of females to MD makes the chicken Z chromosome (GGZ) a particularly attractive target to study the chicken MD response. Previously, we used a Hy-Line F6 population from a full-sib advanced intercross line to map MD QTL regions (QTLRs) on all chicken autosomes. Here we mapped MD QTLRs on GGZ in the previously utilized F6 population with individual genotypes and phenotypes, and in eight elite commercial egg production lines with daughter-tested sires and selective DNA pooling (SDP). Four MD QTLRs were found from each analysis. Some of these QTLRs overlap regions from previous reports. All QTLRs were tested by indiviuals from the same eight lines used in the SDP and genotyped with markers located within and around the QTLRs. All QTLRs were confirmed. The results exemplify the complexity of MD resistance in chickens and the complex distribution of P-values and LD pattern and their effect on localization of the causative elements. Considering the fragments and interdigitated LD blocks while using LD to aid localization of causative elements, one must look beyond the insignificant markers, for possible distant markers and blocks in high LD with the significant block. The QTLRs found here may explain at least part of the gender differences in MD tolerance, and provide targets for mitigating the effects of MD.

In this paper any superalgebra is generalized to a new form, namely ultra algebra. We study some algebraic structure results for ultra algebras and we have defined some maps on ultra algebras to know ultra derivation and Jordan ultra derivation. Moreover on certain assumptions we have proved that Jordan ultra derivation is an ultra derivation.

A number of third order nonlinear processes can occur in single-mode fibres and an understanding of such phenomena is almost a prerequisite for actual lightwave-system designers. In this paper we review the main limitations imposed by several nonlinear effects, namely the self- and cross-phase modulation, four-wave mixing, stimulated Raman scattering and stimulated Brillouin scattering, on the performance of optical fiber communication systems.

With the rising trends in elderly populations around the world, there is a growing interest in understanding how climate sensitivity is related to their thermal perception. Therefore, we analyzed the associations between mortality in the elderly due to cardiovascular (CVD) and respiratory diseases (RD) and meteorological variables, for three cities in the State of São Paulo, Brazil: Campos do Jordão, Ribeirão Preto and Santos, from 1996 to 2017. We applied the Autoregressive Model Integrated with Moving Average (ARIMA) and the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) in order to evaluate statistical associations. Results showed CVD as a major cause of mortality, particularly in the cold period, when a high mortality rate is also observed due to RD. The mortality rate was higher in Campos do Jordão and lower in Santos (and intermediate values in Ribeirão Preto). Campos do Jordão results indicate an increased probability of mortality from CVD and RD due to lower temperatures. In Ribeirão Preto, the lower relative humidity may be related to the increase in CVD and RD deaths. This study emphasizes that, even among subtropical climates, there are significant differences. Therefore, this can assist decision makers in the implementation of mitigating and adaptive measures.

This work focused on proposing a plan for improvement and control of the customer service process in a customer service center, based on a waiting line analysis where it describes all the elements that interact in the system and a statistical analysis of processes to define the state in which it operates. Subsequently, the simulation of processes is applied to represent the system studied, and with it, to be able to evaluate different strategies for improvement and increase in productivity. The following strategies were evaluated: correction of the instability of customer service processes, establishment of new specification limits according to the promise of value to be fulfilled to customers, human resource management, administrative technical support. Finally, with the results obtained from the simulation of the system, the improvement and productivity increase plan is planned according to the DMAMC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control, or DMAIC) continuous improvement cycle established in six sigma

Introduction: Sarcopenia, muscle loss, often coexists with MASLD, a common liver disorder, which is more prevalent in those with sarcopenia. Sarcopenia also increases the risk of liver conditions like steatosis and fibrosis. Studies on sarcopenia in MASLD are common in developed countries, but fewer follow the EWGSOP2 guidelines in Brazil. Aim: to assess sarcopenia prevalence in MASLD patients. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted at the Gastroen-terology/Hepatology Service of ISCMPA with patients diagnosed with MASLD. The EWGSOP2 criteria were used to evaluate sarcopenia. Categorical data presented as absolute and relative frequency; parametric continuous data ex-pressed as mean±standard deviation; non-parametric continuous data as me-dian and IQR. Gender differences in were analyzed using Fisher's Exact Test or Chi-squared tests, and for continuous variables, T Student tests (parametric) and Mann-Whitney U tests for independent samples (non-parametric). The significance level was set at 5% (p<0.05). Results: The study involved 103 MASLD patients with an average age of 60.39 years, comprising 48 (46.60%) adults and 55 (53.40%) older individuals. Concerning sarcopenia diagnosis, four individuals exhibited decreased muscle strength; two had reduced MME (sarcopenia); and one showed decreased walking speed (severe sarcopenia). Among the participants, 63 (60.6%) were physically active. 35 (62.5%) had mild to moderate steatosis, while 21 (37.5%) had severe steatosis. In terms of EHNA, 13 subjects (24.08%) had moderate to severe EHNA. Regarding fibrosis classi-fication, 68 (72.34%) individuals had undetermined or high probability based on the NAFLD score, with higher prevalence in males (n=23; 88.5%). Fibrosis assessment via liver biopsy revealed 27 (28.72%) in F1 and F2 and 15 (16.96%) in F3 and F4. Stratification of fibrosis into F3 and F4 was more com-mon among men (n=9; 47.4%). Conclusion: Most of the population was physi-cally active. The parameters indicating sarcopenia exceeded the thresholds recommended by EWGSOP2. The prevalence of sarcopenia was low in individuals with MASLD.

This research focused on the perception of visually impaired individuals regarding tactile image creation using 3D printing. We developed and applied an experiment with 28 participants with visual impairments. They performed tasks based on skills whose foundations are needed and used in their daily lives, such as scanning, tactile discrimination, picture and spatial comprehension. The tactile images used in this study were developed by additive manufacturing and printed over 180 g/m² sulphite paper. The best performances were obtained when (1) the tactile image contour line heights were between 0.2 mm and 0.4 mm; and (2) the texture presented densities between 10% and 50%, when alone, or between 10% and 90%, when combined with another texture. The tested line widths (0.8 mm and 1.2 mm) did not present statistically significant differences in the results. Vision status (low vision or blindness) and moment of vision loss (congenital or late blind) did not influence the results. Schooling affected the activities of identifying objects and locating their copies. In the Conclusion section, there is a detailed recommendation list for the production and application of tactile materials, which range from simplifying forms to encouraging the use of both hands during content assimilation.

In recent decades, many attempts have been made to automate the entire welding process, how-ever, there remain many non-automated welding operations that present a constant hazard to workers. This article presents an automated welding solution with collaborative robots, with this contribution, we intend to help companies in this sector increase productivity, improve quality, effectively reduce costs, and improve working conditions.

High concentrations of Na⁺ or [Co(NH₃)₆]³⁺ can induce the B to Z conformational transition in alternating (dC-dG) oligo and polynucleotides. The use of short DNA oligomers (dC-dG)₄ and (dm⁵C-dG)₄ as models can allow a thermodynamic characterization of the transition. Both form right handed double helical structures (B-DNA) in standard phosphate buffer with 115 mM Na⁺ at 25 ^oC. However, at 2.0 M Na⁺ or 200 mM [Co(NH₃)₆]³⁺, (dm⁵C-dG)₄ assumes a left handed double helical structure (Z-DNA) while the unmethylated (dC-dG)₄ analogue remains right handed under those conditions. We have previously demonstrated that the enthalpy of the transition at 25 ^oC for either inducer can be determined using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) [Ferreira, J. M. & Sheardy, R. D., Biophys. J. 2006, 91, 1–7]. Here, ITC is used to investigate the linkages between temperature, water activity and DNA conformation. We found that the determined enthalpy for each titration varied linearly with temperature allowing determination of the heat capacity change (DC_p) between the initial and final states. As expected, the DC_p values were dependent upon the cation (i.e. Na⁺ vs [Co(NH₃)₆]³⁺) as well as the sequence of the DNA oligomer (i. e., methylated vs unmethylated). Osmotic stress experiments were carried out to determine the gain or loss of water by the oligomer induced by the titration. The results are discussed in terms of solvent accessible surface areas, electrostatic interactions and the role of water.

Electric mobility begins to enter East-African markets. This paper aims to investigate what policy level solutions and stakeholder constellations are established in the context of e-mobility in Dar es Salaam, Kigali, Kisumu and Nairobi and in which ways they attempt to tackle implementation of electric mobility solutions. The study employs two key methods including content analysis of policy and programmatic documents as well as interviews based on purposive sampling ap-proach with stakeholders involved in mobility transitions. The study findings point out that transport operators and their representative associations are less recognized as major players in the transition, far behind new e-mobility players (start-ups) and public authorities. The study further indicates that a set of financial and technical barriers persist such as high upfront invest-ment costs in vehicles and infrastructure, or anxieties regarding competitiveness with fossil fuel vehicles, that constrain the uptake of such private e-mobility initiatives. This study concludes by identifying current gaps that need to be tackled by policy makers and stakeholders in order to implement inclusive electric mobility in East-African cities, considering modalities that include transport providers and address their financial constraints.

This study takes as a starting point the importance and dependence of the media (Ball-Rokeach & DeFleur, 1976) to obtain information about the pandemic. The dependency theory of the media system was developed in the 1970s when mass media were the dominant source of information. Today, at a time when media choices have become abundant, studies are needed to understand the phenomenon of media dependence in light of new dimensions made important by the transformations that have taken place in the social and media fields - where the coexistence of mass media with social media platforms stands out. As large-scale crises rarely occur and the media environment changes rapidly, it is important to analyze how media dependence relates to choose and trust in different media (traditional media vs. social media) in times of crisis. Several questions arise. What is the trust attributed by individuals to social media as sources of information about the COVID-19? How well informed are the individuals who choose these sources as the main sources of information? From a questionnaire administered to 240 individuals in Portugal, during the first week of the state of emergency (March 2020), this research seeks to identify how people gained access to information about the COVID-19, how they acted critically towards the various sources and how they assess the reliability of different media. Finally, it analyzes the association between the type of medium chosen and adherence to misinformation content about the virus. The results reveal the existence of a phenomenon of dependence on the media, with a strong exposure (both active and accidental) to informative content, with conventional media being privileged as the main source, and positively distinguished in terms of confidence. Finally, a statistically significant association of a positive sign was identified between the use of social media as the main source and the acceptance of misinformation.

Astronauts in space are subject to a continuous bombardment of ionizing radiation. The Earth's magnetic field and the ISS shield some biologically damaging particles traveling through. Still, travel beyond low-Earth orbit and extravehicular activities are exceedingly more dangerous and there is a concern for the acute and late-occurring adverse health effects befalling astronauts. So, it is vital to consider the current tools and models used to describe and study the organic consequences of ionizing radiation exposure. It is equally important to see where these models may improve. This article reviews the historical development and current state of knowledge of radiation effects impacting astronauts in orbit. We explain the space radiation environment, cellular microenvironment, and how these may be incorporated in radiobiological models to aid in our understanding of the influence space travel may have on astronaut health. The topics discussed in this paper include a review of DNA damage and repair mechanisms and the numerical models that aim to explain the biological effects resulting from ionizing radiation damage. Historically, radiobiological models focused on how radiation damages nuclear DNA, built upon the hypotheses of Crowther and Lea in the 1940s and 1960s, and neglected other sub-cellular targets outside of nuclear DNA.

COVID-19 is a well-known respiratory disease spreading worldwide since January 2020, causing many deaths and massive pressure on health systems. This pandemic’s appearance compromised the health services’ sustainability and quality as many procedures were postponed or even canceled out, with an expected increase of adverse events like nosocomial infections, in-hospital deaths, and the worsening of the patients’ clinical status. Therefore, assessing whether the healthcare providers’ performance has changed is paramount. In this case, we evaluated the public hospitals in Portugal as the leading secondary health care providers in the country, which in turn has been highly affected by the pandemic. To this end, we developed a network Data Envelopment Analysis model serially relating efficiency and effectiveness. Using 2,795 observations from public hospitals and 18 variables, we observed consistent drops in efficiency when the pandemic started, followed by a recovery to levels above the pre-pandemic ones. Regarding effectiveness, we observed a positive trend during the evaluated period. In short, these results allow us to conclude that, apart from the great resilience of public healthcare providers, the Portuguese State was not prepared for a pandemic like COVID-19, but still the actions taken (including massive vaccination) were beneficial.

This research work uses a simplified approach to combine location information from beacons propagation signal interaction with a mobile device with local building information to give real-time location and guidance to a user inside a building. This is an interactive process with visualisation information that can help user’s orientation inside unknown buildings and the data stored from different users can provide useful information about users movements inside a public building. Beacons installed on the building at specific pre-defined position emit signals that give a geographic position with an associated imprecision, related with Bluetooth’s range. This uncertainty is handled by building layout and users’ movement in a developed system that maps users’ position, gives guidance and store user movements. This system is based on an App (Find Me!) for Android OS (Operating System) which captures the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signal coming from the beacon(s) and shows, through a map, the location of the user ‘s smartphone and guide him to the desired destination. Also, the beacons can deliver relevant context information. The application was tested by a panel of new and habitual campus users against traditional wayfinding alternatives yielding navigation times about 30% smaller, respectively.

In this study we fabricate gold nanocomposites and model their optical properties. The nanocomposites are either homogeneous films or gratings containing gold nanoparticles embedded in a polymer matrix. The samples are fabricated using a recently developed technique making use of laser interferometry. The gratings present original plasmon-enhanced diffraction properties. In this work, we develop a new approach to model the optical properties of our composites. We combine the extended Maxwell-Garnett model of effective media with the Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis (RCWA) method and compute both the absorption spectra and the diffraction efficiency spectra of the gratings. We show that such a semi-analytical approach allows us to reproduce the original plasmonic features of the composites and can give us entails about their inner structure. Such approach could be a simple and efficient tool to study complex micro-structured system based on plasmonic components, such as metamaterials.

Head and neck cancer is the sixth most frequent cancer type. Drug resistance and toxicity are common challenges of the existing therapies, making the development of reliable preclinical models essential for the study of the involved molecular mechanisms as well as for eventual intervention approaches that improve the clinical outcome. Preclinical models of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma have been traditionally based in cell lines and murine models. In this review, we will go over the most frequently used preclinical models, from immortalized-cell and primary tumour cultures in monolayer or 3D, to the currently available animal models. We will scrutinize their efficiency in mimicking the molecular and cellular complexity of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Finally, the challenges and opportunities of other envisaged putative approaches, as well as the potential of the preclinical models to further develop customized therapies will be discussed.

Cutaneous Melanoma (CM) is the most lethal form of skin cancer if it becomes metastatic, where treatment options and survival chances decrease dramatically. Immunotherapy treatments based on the immunologic checkpoint inhibitors (PD-1 and CTLA4) constituted a main breakthrough in the treatment of metastatic CM, particularly in the long-term benefit. However, several molecular pathways are responsible for the failure of this strategy in about 50-70% of CM patients. Some Long Non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNA) are implicated in triggering pro- and antitumorigenic responses to various cancer treatments. The relationship between lncRNA, circRNA and Immune Checkpoint Blockade (ICB) immunotherapy is not extensively explored in cutaneous metastatic melanoma (CMM). The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential role of both circRNA and lncRNA as a predictive immunotherapy biomarker in CMM. RNA-seq from 12 FFPE samples from the metastatic biopsy of metastatic melanoma patients treated with Nivolumab were analyzed. Our findings indicate that specific lncRNA and circRNA are involved in regulatory networks of the immune response against metastatic melanoma under treatment with nivolumab. Moreover, we have established a risk score that allows the prediction of Overall survival (OS) and Progression-free survival (PFS) of CMM patients with high accuracy. This proof of principle work provides a possible insight on the function of ceRNA, contributing to decipher the complex molecular mechanism of ICB cancer treatment response.

The ceramic sherds from approximately 20 samples of lead-glazed tableware, recovered from diverse archaeological sites, including three repurposed storage pits transformed into dumpsters within the medieval city of Santarém (13th-14th century), underwent a meticulous examination. This investigation utilized techniques such as micro-Raman, ground state diffuse reflectance absorption, and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopies, in addition to X-ray diffraction and stereomicroscopy. A parallel study was conducted on contemporaneous European ceramics (glazed sherds) sourced from archaeological sites dating back to the 13th-15th centuries in Saintonge (France), Ardenne, Zomergem, and Bruges (Belgium), as well as Surrey-Hampshire, Kingston, and Cheam (England). The colour of the ceramic bodies is predominantly white or whitish, with a few exhibiting a vivid red hue. Ceramic sherds with a light paste composition were likely crafted using kaolin clays as raw materials. Analyses of fabric, mineralogical, and elemental composition of the sherds suggest that the majority of Santarém's glazed ceramics were locally or regionally produced, potentially derived from a Pliocene kaolin-rich sand formation. However, this conclusion is not supported by the absence of discovered lead glaze kilns or workshops in Santarém for the late Middle Ages. A distinctive feature from the European workshop ceramics lies in the quartz temper content and fabric.

Financial stress can have significant implications for individuals, businesses, asset prices and the economy as a whole. This study examines the nonlinear structure and dynamic changes in the multifractal behavior of cross-correlation between the financial stress index (FSI) and four well-known commodity indices, namely Commodity Research Bureau Index (CRBI), Baltic Dry Index (BDI), London Metal Index (LME) and Brent Oil prices (BROIL), using multifractal detrended cross correlation analysis (MFDCCA). For analysis, we utilized daily values of FSI and commodity index prices from 16th June 2016 to 9th July 2023. The following are the most important empirical findings: (I) All of the chosen commodity market indices show cross correlations with the FSI and have notable multifractal characteristics. (II) The presence of power law cross-correlation implies that a noteworthy shift in FSI is likely to coincide with a considerable shift in the commodity indices. (III) The multifractal cross-correlation is highest between FSI and Brent Oil (BROIL) and lowest with LME. (IV) The rolling windows analysis reveals a varying degree of persistency between FSI and commodity markets. The findings of this study have a number of important implications for commodity market investors and policymakers.

During mechanical ventilation, a disparity between flow, pressure or volume demands of the patient and the assistance delivered by the mechanical ventilator often occurs. Asynchrony effect and ventilator performance are frequently studied from ICU datasets or using commercially available lung simulators and test lungs. This paper introduces an alternative approach of simulating and evaluating patient-ventilator interactions with high fidelity using the electro-mechanical lung simulator xPULM™ under selected conditions. The xPULM™ approximates respiratory activities of a patient during alternating phases of spontaneous breathing and apnoea intervals while connected to a mechanical ventilator. Focusing on different triggering events, volume assist-controlled (V/A-C) and pressure support ventilation (PSV) modes were chosen to test patient-ventilator interactions. In V/A-C mode a double-triggering was detected every third breathing cycle leading to an asynchrony index of 16.67%, being classified as severe. This asynchrony causes a major increase of Peak Inspiratory Pressure PIP = 12.80 ± 1.39 cmH2O and Peak Expiratory Flow PEF = -18.33 ± 1.13 L/min when compared to synchronous phases of the breathing simulation. Additionally, events of premature cycling were observed during PSV mode. In this mode, the peak delivered volume during simulated spontaneous breathing phases almost doubles compared to apnoea phases. The presented approach demonstrates the possibility of simulating and evaluating disparities in fundamental ventilation characteristics caused by double-triggering and premature cycling under V/A-C and PSV ventilation modes. Various dynamic clinical situations can be approximated and could help to identify undesired patient-ventilation interactions in the future. Rapidly manufactured ventilator systems could also be tested using this approach.

The mining industry is known for the intense environmental impacts it triggers, especially when it is developed in an open environment. Pit lakes are formed in depleted deposits and may be promising opportunities for use by society as well as troubling environmental liabilities. While these artificial basins are increasing numerically in many parts of the world, they are still little known researchers in the Environmental Sciences, which makes their environmental management challenging. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the environmental quality of sediments from three deactivated open-pit gold mines, located in the Mara Rosa, Brazil, through chemical, ecotoxicological and genotoxicology analyses. For this purpose, we collected samples in the dry season boom, and subsequently, we analysed metals. In sequence, acute ecotoxicological and a genotoxicology test (comet assay) were developed with Danio rerio fishes, in concentrations of 3.12%; 6.25%; 12.5%; 25%; 50% and 100%, in addition to the control group. The results indicated that the three lakes are environmentally compromised, especially Lago Azul, whose waters and sediments are undergoing an intense process of geological conditioning. Our results did not verify the ecotoxicity of the sediments of any of the lakes, only behavioural alterations in the test organisms exposed to the concentrations of 25%, 50% and 100% of the samples obtained in the Lago Azul. About the sediments, DNA damage at Danio rerio was detected in the three investigated environments, although fishes kept in the water sampled at Lago Azul presented the most extension of DNA damages.

Liposomes have been used for several decades for the encapsulation of drugs and bioactives in cosmetics and cosmeceuticals. On the other hand, the use of these phospholipid vesicles in food applications is more recent and has been increasing significantly in the last ten years. Although in different stages of technological maturity - in the case of cosmetics, many products are on the market - processes to obtain liposomes suitable for the encapsulation and delivery of bioactives are highly expensive, especially aiming at scaling-up. Among the bioactives proposed for cosmetics and food applications, vitamins are the most frequently used. Despite the differences between the administration routes (oral for food and mainly dermal for cosmetics), some challenges are very similar (e.g., stability, bioactive load, average size, increase of drug bioaccessibility and bioavailability). In the present work, a systematic review of the technological advancements in the nanoencapsulation of vitamins using liposomes and related processes was performed; challenges and future perspectives were also discussed in order to underline the advantages of these drug loaded biocompatible nanocarriers for cosmetics and food applications.

Our aim was to determine the secondary antibody deficiency profiles of patients in a mesoregion of São Paulo state, Brazil, focusing on infectious diseases. Demographic characteristics, clinical and laboratory data were obtained from electronic files; infections were classified as organ-specific and graded as mild, moderate, life-threatening, and fatal. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) accounted for 30% of patients, nephrotic syndrome (NS) 25%; chronic lymphocyte leukemia 20%, and multiple myeloma 15%. Patients with NS were younger than those in other groups, and hypo-γ-globulinemia was detected in 94.1%, IgG <400 mg/dL in 60.0%, IgA <40 mg/dL in 55.0%, and CD19 <20 cells/mm³ in 30.0%. One hundred and one infections were found; 82.1% were classified as mild or moderate, 7.9% as life-threatening, and 1.9% as fatal. Respiratory tract infections were more prevalent (41.5%), and pneumonia accounted for 19.8%. Lower levels of infections were found in patients with NS compared with NHL (P=0.0001). Most patients progressed to hypo-γ-globulinemia and secondary antibody deficiency after treatment with immunosuppressants, and mild and moderate infections were predominant. These therapies are increasing in patients with different diseases, therefore monitoring hypo-γ-globulinemia and infections may help to identify patients at high risk for severe complications, antibiotic prophylaxis or treatment, and immunoglobulin replacement

The article explores the integration of generative artificial intelligence with active methodologies in modern education, highlighting how this combination can transform pedagogical practices and promote more personalized and effective learning. The study investigates the application of tools such as ChatGPT , which enhance the personalization of teaching, providing immediate feedback and adjusting content to students' individual needs. The research is structured into three chapters: the first addresses practical strategies for applying these methodologies with AI, the second evaluates their effectiveness in learning and the third presents practical examples of integration. Adapting teaching through AI was a central element in developing a more efficient learning environment aligned with the specific needs of each student. The results point to a significant increase in student engagement, understanding and retention of content, although they highlight the need for careful and ethical implementation to avoid challenges such as superficiality in learning and data privacy issues. It is concluded that the integration of generative AI with active methodologies can significantly transform the educational environment, but must be carried out in a balanced and responsible way, complementing traditional pedagogical practices and ensuring the comprehensive training of students.

With the growing size and use of night lights time series from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite Day/Night Band (DNB), it is important to understand the stability of the dataset. All satellites observe differences in pixel values during repeat observations. In the case of night lights data, these changes can be due to both environmental effects and changes in light emission. Here we examine the stability of individual locations of particular large scale light sources (e.g. airports, prisons) in the monthly composites of DNB data from April 2012 to September 2017. The radiances for individual pixels of most large light emitters are approximately normally distributed, with a standard deviation of typically 15-20% of the mean. We observe geospatial autocorrelation in the monthly variations for nearby sites, while the correlation for sites separated by large distances is small. This suggests that local factors contribute most to the variation in the pixel radiances, and furthermore that averaging radiances over large areas will reduce the total variation. A better understanding of the causes of temporal variation would improve the sensitivity of DNB to lighting changes.

Nanomaterials such as pH-responsive polymers are promising for targeted drug delivery systems, due to the difference in pH between tumor and healthy regions. However, there is a significant concern about the application of these materials in this field due to their low mechanical resistance, which can be mitigated by combining these polymers with mechanically resistant inorganic materials such as mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) and hydroxyapatite (HA). Mesoporous silica has interesting properties such as high surface area and hydroxyapatite has been widely studied to aid in bone regeneration, providing special properties adding multifunctionality to the system. Furthermore, fields of medicine involving luminescent elements such as rare earth are an interesting option in cancer treatment. The present work aims to obtain a pH-sensitive hybrid system based on silica and hydroxyapatite with photoluminescent and magnetic properties. The nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nitrogen adsorption methods, CHN elemental analysis, Zeta Potential, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), vibrational sample magnetometry (VSM), and photoluminescence analysis. Incorporation and release studies of the antitumor drug doxorubicin were performed to evaluate the potential use of these systems in targeted drug delivery. The results showed the luminescent and magnetic properties of the materials and showed suitable characteristics for application in the release of pH-sensitive drugs.

Recent findings have demonstrated an increase in the prevalence of childhood obesity and overweight in Portugal, urging the need to study modifiable risk factors such as parental feeding practices. The Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire (CFPQ) is an important self-report measure assessing a broad range of responsive and non-responsive feeding practices. However, the CFPQ has not yet been validated in Portugal. Therefore, the present study aimed to test the validity of this measure with Portuguese parents of 2- to 8-year-old children. A sample of 409 parents completed a Portuguese-adapted version of the CFPQ and the already validated Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and psychometric analysis were conducted. CFA demonstrated the original 12-factor structure did not fit the sample. EFA identified an 8-factor structure, comprising 29 items: Monitoring, Modeling, Environment, Involvement, Emotion Regulation, Restriction for Weight Control, Restriction for Health, and Pressure. Findings suggest that parental feeding practices are sensitive to parents’ background culture and children’s developmental period.

The violence against women is a theme that extrapolates health issues, since after a victim seek for a health care, there is the notification of the act [1]. In Brazil, many times, these women are first assisted by mobile urgency services (SAMU/SIATE) and, as far as we have concern, there are no other studies with specific data about these assistance. The present paper aimed to analyze SAMU/SIATE assistance to abused women. Qualitative and retrospective epidemiological study of assistance to assaulted women carried out by SIATE and SAMU Maringá/Norte Novo between 2011 and 2020. Women between 20 and 39 years old, non-pregnant, were the main victims, and 19,52% of them have used some kind of drug. The (ex)partner figured as the perpetrator in 17,35%, but there were no information about this variable in 73,75% of the records. The Qui-square test shows a mortality rate superior to 70% among the severe traumatized victims. This is one of the first studies to analyze this kind of care provided by SAMU/SIATE, and reveals some gaps in its “modus-operandi” that can limitate an extrapolation of the results to bigger spheres. More researches in mobile urgency care services, in other provinces also, are needed to propose strategies to fight against this epidemic.

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T cell immunotherapy revolutionized cancer treatment and consists of the genetic modification of T lymphocytes with a CAR gene, aiming to increase their ability to recognize and kill antigen-specific tumor cells. The dynamics of CAR-T cell responses in patients presents a multiphasic kinetics with distribution, expansion, contraction, and persistence phases. The characteristics and duration of each phase depend on the tumor type, the infused product, and on patient-specific characteristics. We present a mathematical model which describes the multiphasic CAR-T cell dynamics resulting from the interplay between CAR-T and tumor cells, considering patient and product heterogeneities. The CAR-T cell population is divided into functional (distributed and effector), memory, and exhausted CAR-T cell phenotypes. The model is able to describe the diversity of CAR-T cell dynamic behaviors in different patients and hematological cancers as well as their therapy outcomes. Our results indicate that the joint assessment of the area under the concentration-time curve in the first 28 days and the corresponding fraction of non-exhausted CAR-T cells may be considered as potential markers to classify therapy responses. Overall, the analysis of different CAR-T cell phenotypes can be a key aspect for a better understanding of the whole CAR-T cell dynamics.

Abstract: An attractive application of crude glycerol is in the generation of biomethane by means of anaerobic co-digestion, involving the decomposition of the organic matter in two or more substrates by bacteria and archaea, in the absence of oxygen. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the potential of neural networks and fuzzy logic to predict the production of biomethane from the anaerobic co-digestion of glycerol and/or sugarcane molasses. Firstly, a reactor model was implemented using Scilab, with Monod kinetics involving two substrates and an intermediate (M2SI model), to generate a database for subsequent fitting and evaluation of neural and fuzzy models. The neural network package of Matlab was used. Fuzzy modeling was applied using the Takagi-Sugeno approach available in the ANFIS package of Matlab. The biomethane production results simulated by M2SI were used in neural network modeling, firstly employing a “generic” network applicable to all 8 scenarios. A very good fit was obtained (R²>0.99). Excellent performance was also observed for specific artificial neural networks (one for each condition). The parameters of the M2SI model for the 8 different conditions were also mapped using a neural network, as a function of the organic material composition. A fit with R²>0.99 was obtained using 25 neurons. In the case of the fuzzy logic, RMSE of 18.88 mL of methane was obtained with 216 rules, which was a value lower than 0.5% of the order of magnitude of the accumulated methane. It could be concluded from the results that fuzzy logic and artificial neural networks offer excellent ability to predict methane production, as well as to parameterize the M2SI kinetic model (using neural networks).

This study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant activities (AA) of lyophilized rosemary extract and lyophilized sage extract and their effects on the oxidative stability of poultry pátê. For this purpose, four poultry pátê formulations with rosemary, sage, sodium erythorbate, and a control (without antioxidants) were produced. The rosemary and sage were characterized according to total phenolic compounds (TPC), and AA by several methods. The poultry pátês stored at 4°C were evaluated by the lipid oxidation. High concentrations of TPC were detected in rosemary extract and sage extract (46.48 and 41.61 mg GAE/g: Gallic acid equivalent respectively). The AA of rosemary and sage extracts by free radical-scavenging were 4745.72 and 2462.82 µmol Trolox/g, respectively. The high concentration of catechin, rutin, myricetin and p-coumaric acids in these extracts may be responsible for the strong inhibitory action against food pathogens. Besides these compounds can be responsible for the best performance in inhibiting lipid oxidation in poultry pátês during the storage. This study suggests that rosemary and sage extracts may be used as a natural antioxidant in meat products.

The aging ability of dry white wines has been increasingly recognised. The present work aimed to understand which sensory factors drive their quality evaluation by experienced tasters. Individuals assessed several aesthetic, synthetic, and analytic flavour attributes, using dark tasting glasses. Wines originated from the grape varieties Alvarinho, Arinto, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Bianco with a wide range of ages. Basic physical-chemical analysis, browning (Abs 420 nm), elemental composition and a partial volatile fraction were also determined. The overall quality scores were a function of complexity and balance and were negatively influenced by the perception of faultiness. The different ages could be associated with a continuous sensory space characterised by a decreasing perception of freshness and an increase in the mellowed flavours. All wines shared an austere in-mouth perception elicited by their acidity, saltiness, bitterness, smoothness and dryness. Nevertheless, quality scores were similar from the youngest to the oldest-tasted wines (17 years old). The exception was a Sauvignon Blanc wine from a recent vintage that was judged as faulty due to the perception of earthiness. Overall, the tasted wines displayed an unexpected aging ability as demonstrated by the difference between the predicted and real wine ages. To improve the recognition of old wines, the metaphor “mellowed by age” is proposed to describe flavours resulting from beneficial aging instead of “oxidised by age”.

This review delves into the critical role of automation and sensor technologies in optimizing parameters for thermal treatments within electricity power generation. The demand for efficient and sustainable power generation has led to a significant reliance on thermal treatments in power plants. However, ensuring precise control over these treatments remains challenging, necessitating the integration of advanced automation and sensor systems. This paper evaluates the pivotal aspects of automation, emphasizing its capacity to streamline operations, enhance safety, and optimize energy efficiency in thermal treatment processes. Additionally, it highlights the indispensable role of sensors in monitoring and regulating crucial parameters such as temperature, pressure, and flow rates. These sensors enable real-time data acquisition, facilitating immediate adjustments to maintain optimal operating conditions and prevent system failures. It explores the recent technological advancements, including machine learning algorithms and IoT integration, which have revolutionized automation and sensor capabilities in thermal treatment control. Incorporating these innovations has significantly improved the precision and adaptability of control systems, resulting in heightened performance and reduced environmental impact. This review underscores the imperative nature of automation and sensor technologies in thermal treatments for electricity power generation, emphasizing their pivotal role in enhancing operational efficiency, ensuring reliability, and advancing sustainability in power generation processes.

This study analyzes the relationship between the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) and the mobility patterns of the Portuguese population. By reducing mobility, the idea is that contacts are reduced, countering the spread of the virus in the community. As an indicator of the spread of the virus, the reproduction number (Rt) was used. Data from Google's Community Mobility Reports was used to evaluate changes in mobility patterns. This report uses location data from Android mobile phone users. The locations are divided into retail and recreation, grocery and pharmacy, parks, transit stations, workplaces and residential. In this year of the COVID-19 crisis in Portugal, population mobility patterns have changed over the various phases of the pandemic. At first, all mobility was affected uniformly, with the population avoiding much of the activity outside the home. In a second phase, there was some adaptation, and the areas considered to be of lower risk had less impact, emphasizing the changes in the relationship between daily life and the workplace.

In this article, we prove an orthogonal decomposition theorem for real inner product gyrogroups, which unify some well-known gyrogroups in the literature: Einstein, M\"{o}bius, Proper Velocity, and Chen's gyrogroups. This leads to the study of left (right) coset partition of a real inner product gyrogroup induced from a subgyrogroup that is a finite-dimensional subspace. As a result, we obtain gyroprojectors onto the subgyrogroup and its orthogonal complement. We construct also quotient spaces and prove an associated isomorphism theorem. The left (right) cosets are characterized using gyrolines (cogyrolines) together with automorphisms of the subgyrogroup. With the algebraic structure of the decompositions, we study fiber bundles and sections inherited by the gyroprojectors. Finally, the general theory is exemplified for the aforementioned gyrogroups.

The aim of this article is to understand the symbolic representations of the assistance strategies aimed at disabled children, expressed in two newspapers published on the island of Faial, in the Azores, in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries (covering the time horizon between the end of the monarchic period and the implementation of the First Republic). The technique of documentary analysis and a subsequent qualitative thematic content analysis of childcare news collected in two local newspapers was used. The discursive records produced by the press on the assistance strategies value, on the one hand, an axiological dimension and forms of charitable intervention and, on the other hand, aggregate and reconcile the discourses and techniques inherent to charitable and philanthropic models. This mutual assimilation underlies the achievement of the same objective: the moralisation and integration of invalid childhood and, above all, the protection of the existing social order. We conclude that, perhaps contrary to what would be expected, the charitable logic articulated in a concomitant way with the philanthropic logic survived even with the stabilization of the republican period (result of a revolution that deposed the regime of the constitutional monarchy and implemented the republican regime in 1910 in Portugal whose political elites mobilized an official discourse that advocated the separation between the State and Religion, assigning the State the function of social assistance for children and youth). This demonstrates a certain dissociation, as well as a relative autonomy of conceptions about child and youth care between republican political ideology and current social practices at least in this specific context.

The development of electric aircrafts is becoming an important technology for achieving the goals set by the European Commission for the reduction of gases emissions by 2050 in the aeronautical transportation system. However, there is a gap between the values of specific power in commercial electric machines and the ones required for aeronautical applications. Therefore, the search for alternative materials and non-conventional designs is mandatory. One emergent solution is using superconducting machines and systems to overcome the current limits of conventional electrical machines. This work reviews the new hybrid and all-electric aircraft tendencies, complementing it with recent research on the design and development of high specific power superconducting machines. This includes the main topologies for hybrid and all-electric aircraft, with an overview of the ongoing worldwide projects of these types of aircrafts, systematizing the main characteristics of their propulsion systems. It also includes the research on superconducting machines for the purpose of high specific power, considering the impact on the redesign of aircraft systems in the electrical, cooling, and fuel source sense.

Peri-implantitis continues to be one of the major reasons for implant failures. We propose a new approach for incorporating MTA into Zirconia implant surfaces with Nd:YAG laser and investigate the biological response of peri-implant cells as well as the microbiological response. Discs of Zirconia stabilized with Yttria and Titanium were produced according 4 tested groups: Nd:YAG laser textured Zirconia coated with MTA (Zr MTA); Nd:YAG laser textured Zirconia (Zr Textured); Zirconia and Titanium discs (Zr and Ti ). Contact profilometry was used to evaluate surface roughness. Human osteoblasts, gingival fibroblasts and S. oralis were cultured on samples. Cell adhesion and morphology, cell viability, cell differentiation markers and bacterial growth were assessed. Zr Textured roughness was significantly higher compared to all other groups. Cellular adhesion was observed at 1 day in all samples in both cell lines. Osteoblasts viability was lower in Zr MTA group, unlike fibroblasts viability was shown to be higher in Zr MTA group compared to Zr Textured group at 3 and 7 days. Osteocalcin and IL-8 release by osteoblasts were higher in Zr MTA. Zr Textured showed higher IL-8 values released by fibroblasts. No differences in S. oralis CFUs were observed between groups. The results suggest that Zirconia implant surfaces coated with MTA seems to promote fibroblasts proliferation and osteoblasts differentiation, however does not appear to have antibacterial properties.

The depletion of the ore reserves in the world necessitates the search for secondary sources such as waste products (tailings and slag). A smelter in Namibia has historic slag which accumulated over decades of its operating life. Analytical and mineralogical characterization of the slag was performed using the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS), ICP-OES, scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) analysis, and optical microscopy analysis. The chemical analyses showed that the metal values contained in the slag were mainly copper, lead, and zinc whose average contents were approximately 0.3%Cu, 2.4%Pb and 3.2%Zn. About 10.5%Fe was also contained in the slag. Germanium was detected by scanning electron microscopy, but was however below detection limits of the chemical analysis equipment used. Based on the results, approximate conditions under which the different slag phases were formed were estimated and the recovery routes for the various metals were proposed. Analysis by both optical and scanning electron microscopy revealed that Zn and Fe occurred mainly in association with O as oxides, while Cu and Pb were mainly associated with S as sulphides. The slag consisted of three different phases; namely the silicate phase (slag), metallic phase and the sulphide phases. The slag phases were mainly glass, silicate phases and metallic and sulphide phases. It was observed that the metallic and sulphide phases were dominant in the finer size fractions (-75 µm) whereas the sulphide phase was also present in the coarser size fractions (+300 µm). An important finding from the microscopy examination was that the sulphide phases were interstitial and could be liberated from the slag. This finding meant that liberation and subsequent concentration of the sulphide phases was feasible using conventional processing techniques.

The MiniMovers (MM) APP combines motor development theory with creativity expertise and has been designed to provide parents with developmentally appropriate activities to support children’s motor skills. This study investigates how MiniMovers activities enabled parents to support their children’s physical development. Families participated in an 8-week MM programme of activities from the MM APP (Mini, Mighty and Mega levels), with pre- and post-intervention data collected. Mixed research methods were applied among children (N=8; aged 21-79 months) and their parents, providing quantitative analysis on children’s performance (running, throwing, jumping, kicking, balancing and catching), as well as qualitative analysis on parents’ attitude and behaviour (co-activity questionnaire, two-weekly feedback surveys and interviews). Kinematic data and kinetic data were captured using marker-based motion capture system and a force plate, respectively. For catching, children at Mighty and Mega levels were also tested using eye-tracking glasses. Videos were recorded for developmental stage evaluation. The results showed that five children improved across different ages, with two children improving in almost all tasks, and three children who had more tasks that improved than did not. Parents reported increased levels of co-activity, increased children’s enjoyment, independence, and confidence. This pilot study provides support for the research and development of MM App and suggests a need for more research into the use of APPs to support in home activities among families with young children.

Background: Seizures in the early postoperative period may impair patient recovery and increase risk of complication. The aim of this study is to determine whether there is any advantage in postoperative seizure prophylaxis following meningioma resection. Methods: This systematic review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. PUBMED, Web of Science, Embase, Science Direct, and Cochrane were searched for papers until April 2023. Results: Among 9 studies, a total of 3,249 were evaluated patients, of which 984 patients received antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). A comparison between patients who received AEDs and those who did not showed a non-significant differences between both groups (RR 1.22, 95% CI 0.66 to 2.40; I² = 57%). Postoperative seizures occurred in 5% (95% CI: 1% to 9%) within the early time period (<7 days), and 9% (95% CI: 1% to 17%) in the late time period (>7 days), with significant heterogeneity (I² = 91% and 97% respectively). In seizure-naive patients, the rate of postoperative seizures was 2% (95% CI: 0% to 6%) in the early period and increased to 6% (95% CI: 0% to 15%) in the late period. High heterogeneity led to the use of random-effects models in all analyses. Conclusion: The current evidence does not provide sufficient support for the effectiveness of prophylactic AED medications in preventing postoperative seizures in patients undergoing meningioma resection. This underscores the importance of considering diagnostic criteria and conducting individual patient analysis to guide clinical decision-making in this context.

Healthcare professionals constantly face situations that reflect ecosystems’ degradation. These can negatively affect their mental health. Research suggests that hope and resilience can play an important role in this scenario, since they are related to/predict mental health in highly heterogeneous samples (considering geography, age, profession, health, etc.). In this context, the aims of the present study are: to characterize and explore the relationship between hope, resilient coping and mental health of Portuguese healthcare professionals. Using Google Forms, 276 healthcare professionals answered to the GHQ-28, the (adult) Trait Hope Scale, and the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (cross-sectional study). The minimum and maximum possible scores were reached, with the exception of the maximum score of GHQ-28-Total. Regarding Hope, 19.6% scored below the midpoint (M=43.46, SD=11.97); 29.3% revealed low resilience (M=14.93, SD=4.05); and the average of 4 of the 5 Mental Health scores (exception: Severe Depression) indicates the probability of a psychiatric case. Hope correlated with Social Dysfunction and GHQ-28-Total; resilient coping proved to be a (weak) predictor of 4 of the 5 GHQ-28 indicators (exception: Severe depression). The results support the need to promote the sample's mental health, hope and resilient coping. They also suggest that stimulating resilient coping may contribute to improving healthcare professionals’ mental health.

Synthesizing evolution in the post-Darwinan era has been a very challenging endeavor, both because of the great number of perspectives regarding the same natural phenomena and because of the growing technology involving mapping the origin of novelties and selection of biological variation that surpass Darwin’s original proposal of evolution by means of natural selection. Since 1859 a lot has changed, and many have presented new perspectives on evolution; either dismissing, correcting or incorporating Darwin’s ideas. This review aims to approach these different theories focusing on virus host interactions and descriptions of host-switching events in 3 different viral lineages, as well as their implications on the understanding of host-switching phenomena itself.