The Amazon region has the most incredible diversity of freshwater stingrays; however, there are still places where information about this group is scarce. The present work aims to record the occurrence of freshwater stingrays in the Uatumã river basin, Amazonas, Brazil. For this, collections were carried out in three municipalities bathed by the Uatumã River, Presidente Figueiredo, Itapiranga and São Sebastião do Uatumã. The rays were collected through fishing using a hand net and, after capture, were identified through the pattern of the dorsal and ventral color of the disc, the absence or presence of the labial groove and the organization of the row of spines on the tail, too were also measured, weighed and sexed. In total, 69 specimens of Potamotrygonines were captured, 59 of which were from the genus Potamotrygon and ten individuals from the genus Paratrygon. The present study provides preliminary information on the characteristics of freshwater stingray species that may occur in the Uatumã River. Furthermore, new research is necessary to improve the identification of specimens to determine the diversity and elucidate aspects related to the biology of elasmobranchs in the Uatumã River Basin, Brazil.

The tambaqui Colossoma macropomum is the main species of edible fish originating from fish farming in the Amazon region. This study aimed to determine and compare the hematological and biochemical parameters of tambaqui from fish farms in municipalities in the Metropolitan Region of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Two fish farms were sampled in a semi-excavated pond-type breeding system in each of the five towns investigated (Presidente Figueiredo, Manaus, Iranduba, Manacapuru and Novo Airão), totaling ten breeders. On each farm, ten specimens were captured, totaling 100 animals. Blood was collected by caudal puncture, and hematological and biochemical parameters were determined using the methodology described for teleosts fish. For the erythrogram in the variables of hematocrit, hemoglobin concentration and erythrocytes, significant differences were observed in Iranduba and Novo Airão, demonstrating indications of anemic processes and dehydration. For plasma biochemistry, low levels were observed in fish from Iranduba and Novo Airão. High values in lipid compounds were found in tambaqui from Manacapuru. High intraspecific variation was found in the leukogram and thrombogram, which determined similarities between tambaqui from different farms and municipalities. On the other hand, fish from Manacapuru have an inappropriate diet, indicated by the high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides found in the blood.

A 52-day experiment was conducted to determine the crude protein (CP) requirements of juvenile matrinxã Brycon amazonicus, and to evaluate their resulting growth performance, hematological parameters and enzymatic activities. Sixty fish (29.03g ± 1.16g) were distributed in 12 tanks (310 L) with a completely randomized design, and maintained at four dietary crude protein levels (270, 320, 350, 390 g.kg-1) for 52 days. The results revealed that the fish fed diet 390 g.kg-1 CP had the best final weight, weight gain, feed conversion ratio, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio and lipid retention rate. The same could be stated for hematocrit, number of circulating erythrocytes, triglycerides and total proteins of the hematological profile (p<0.05). In the whole body composition, dry matter content was lower in the fish fed 390 g.kg-1 CP, while lipid content was higher in the fish fed 350-390 g.kg-1 CP (p<0.05). No differences were observed in CP and ash (p>0.05), or in the activities of digestive enzymes (p>0.05). In short, our findings suggest benefits of the 390 g.kg-1 CP feed for being the most adequate for this species’ juvenile stage.

The split of the brain into two hemispheres is pivotal to human existence, enabling incompatible versions of the world, with quite different priorities and values, to exist concomitantly. Neuroimaging techniques are usually the adopted methods to assess hemispherical bias. However, can differences in thinking orientation, behavioural style, and personality emerging from laterality be observed without the use of neuroimaging techniques? This paper investigates whether a personality test based on the Five-factor model (FFM) is also able to identify hemispherical bias. It does so by testing five hypotheses on personality differences related to handedness. The aim is to contribute to the instantiation of the FFM in neuroscience by testing its validity against the neuroscientific literature on brain laterality. The findings pointed to no statistically significant differences due to handedness in three out of five personality traits (namely, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness and Extraversion). As to the other two traits – Openness and Agreeableness – the hypotheses were only partially confirmed by the data, as the relevant difference found was not between left-handed and right-handed groups, but between ambidextrous and the others.

Upon the outbreak of the COVID-19, countries worldwide developed policies with the goal to introduce restrictive measures geared towards mitigating the spread of the virus. Although these health initiatives were put in place through top-down public directives, they relied heavily on the cooperation of citizens who had to be willing to carry them out. As a consequence, we could observe differences in compliance with governmental restrictions within and between countries. Increasing policy stringency was the method adopted overall to promote people’s compliance. This article used survey data from 10308 participants in Brazil to examine whether there was a positive correlation between policy stringency and compliance with restrictive measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The results revealed, however, that there was no direct influence of policy stringency on people’s health behaviors. Accordingly, I hypothesized that individual differences in personality traits were one of the drivers behind policy compliance, as they would support self-interests such as the duty to support authorities as well as the perceived health risks of certain behaviors and ultimately motivate compliance. The findings’ implications for both compliance research and for authorities wanting to nurture voluntary compliance with public health orders are discussed and suggestions are provided.

Access to food systems is essential to sustain urban life. In this paper, we discuss the differences concerning accessibility levels to food systems among potential consumers in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The goal was to characterize spatial mismatches regarding food opportunities and identify suitable areas for sustainable food mile solutions, such as non-motorized home delivery and purchase trips. For this, we have spatially related: (i) the population concentration; (ii) the income of households; and (iii) accessibility measures considering both the spatial structure of food retailers and the distance between households and stores, considering the food mile. We have then used spatial statistics and spatial analysis methods to determine the spatial pattern of variables and the cumulative opportunity measure for households. There is great spatial differentiation regarding the accessibility levels of food retailers and the results can be considered to support the development of policy and land use regulation that can stimulate non-motorized and collaborative delivery as an effective last-mile solution.

Leishmaniasis are neglected diseases that affect regions such as South Asia, South Africa and Latin America, less developed regions. Current treatment, for cutaneous, mucocutaneous and visceral leishmaniosis, which are the main forms of the disease, is based on the administration of pentavalent antimonial and amphotericin B. However, these drugs have low efficacy and high toxicity. For this reason, the search for new treatments for this disease is necessary, based on studies of new molecules and their conformations. The research proposed the conformational study of brominated guanidine compounds with potential antileishmanial activity using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The present study involves the bro-minated molecules, LQOF-G2, LQOF-G30, LQOF-G35 and LQOF-G35-Br. The later was synthesized by the reaction of LQOF-G35 with NBS under IR irradiation at 120 Watts of potency and dichloro-methane as solvent by 12-h of exposition. The obtained results demonstrated the efficiency of the bromination method, since two bromines atoms entered the molecule. Furthermore, NMR analysis showed the occurrence of a conformational change from Z to E when compound LQOF-G35 was brominated to LQOF-G35-Br. This feature was well confirmed by comparative DRX study of the LQOF-G35 and LQOF-G35-Br compounds. The antileishmanial activity of LQOF-G2 e LQOF-G35 motivated the synthesis of new brominated compounds LQOF-G30 e LQOF-G35-Br.

This paper presents new perspectives of photonic technologies for capsule endoscopy. It is firstly presented a review about conventional endoscopy (upper endoscopy and colonoscopy), followed by capsule endoscopy (CE), as well as their techniques, advantages, and drawbacks. The technologies for CEs presented in this paper have the potential of integration on the existing endoscopic systems commercially available. Such technologies include narrow band imaging (NBI), photodynamic therapy (PDT), confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE), Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and Spectroscopy in order to improve the performance of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract examination. In the context of NBI, two optical filters were designed and fabricated for integration into endoscopic capsules, allowing the visualization of light centered at the 415 nm and 540 nm. These optical filters are based on the principle of Fabry-Perot and were made of thin-films of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and silicon dioxide (SiO2). Moreover, strategies and aid solutions for the adaptation of ECs for PDT are also discussed.

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 objective of this study was to apply simulation and computational intelligence techniques using artificial intelligence and genetic algorithm for economic and environmental optimization of the reverse network (manufacturers, waste managers and recyclers in São Paulo, Brazil) of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) to promote circular economy. For the economic evaluation, the reduction of: fuel, drivers, insurance, depreciation, maintenance and charges was considered and for the environmental evaluation, the environmental impact was measured in the abiotic, biotic, water, land, air and greenhouse gases compartments. It is concluded that the optimized structure of the WEEE reverse chain for São Paulo, Brazil reduced the number of collections, making the most of the cubage. It also generated economic and environmental gains, contributing to the strategic actions of the circular economy. Thus, the proposed simulation allows replication in organizational practice, mainly to meet the 2030 agenda on reducing the carbon footprint generated in transport in large cities. Thus, this study can guide companies on structuring the reverse WEEE chain in São Paulo, Brazil for economic and environmental optimization, a relevant aspect considering the exponential generation of WEEE, requiring the implementation of the national solid waste policy, and subsequently the signature of the electronics sector agreement in São Paulo.

Polysaccharides such as alginate and gellan gum are biocompatible and easily accessible biopolymers with excellent properties to produce microparticles as drug delivery systems. However, the production methods often fail in reproducibility, compromising the translational potential of such systems. In this work, microparticles made from gellan gum and alginate were optimized using the coaxial air flow method, and an inexpensive and reproducible production method. A Design of Experiments was used to identify the main parameters that affect the microparticle’s production and optimization, focusing on the diameter and dispersibility. Airflow was the most significant factor for both parameters. Pump flow affected the diameter, whilst the gellan gum/alginate ratio affected dispersibility. After optimization, microparticle swelling, drug entrapment and release profile were analyzed at two pH, 7.4 and 6.5. Using methylene blue as a model drug, higher encapsulation and swelling indexes were obtained at pH 7.4, whilst a more pronounced release occurred at pH 6.5. The microparticle release profiles were studied by resorting to well-known models, showing a Fickian type release. The developed microparticles show promising results as drug-delivery vehicles for biomedical applications.

In his best-selling book An Introduction to Probability Theory and its Applications, W. Feller established a way of ending the St. Petersburg Paradox by the introduction of an entrance fee, and provided it for the case in which the game is played with a fair coin. A natural generalization of his method is to establish the entrance fee for the case in which the probability of head is θ (0 < θ < 1/2). The deduction of those fees is the main result of Section 2. We then propose a Bayesian approach to the problem. When the probability of head is θ (1/2 < θ < 1) the expected gain of the St. Petersburg Game is finite, therefore there is no paradox. However, if one takes θ as a random variable assuming values in (1/2,1) the paradox may hold, what is counter-intuitive. On Section 3 we determine a necessary and sufficient condition for the absence of paradox on the Bayesian approach and on Section 4 we establish the entrance fee for the case in which θ is uniformly distributed in (1/2,1), for in this case there is paradox.

An important indicator of human-related pollution in watersheds is dissolved oxygen (DO). The DO is highly dependent on both space and time characteristics of the watershed and is directly linked to eutrophication, which impairs the development of both the aquatic fauna and flora, also negatively impacting the water quality. Aspiring to reach a more accurate and precise forecasting approach to predict levels of DO, the present work proposes new graph-based and transformer-based deep learning models. The models were trained and validated for the Credit River Watershed, and the results were compared with both benchmarking and literature-found approaches. The proposed Graph Neural Network Sample and Aggregate (GNN-SAGE) model was the best-performing approach, reaching coefficient of determination (R2) and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) values of 97% and 0.34 ppm, respectively. The findings from the Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) indicated that the GNN-SAGE benefited from spatiotemporal information from the surrounding stations, improving the model’s results, and that temperature is a major input attribute for determining future DO levels. The results established that the proposed GNN-SAGE model stands as a state-of-the-art solution for DO forecasting, with potential for real-time water quality applications.

Turbidity is an important indicator of water quality in hydrology. More traditional ways to monitor turbidity can provide reliable results. However, they are prone to human error, have elevated costs, and lack real-time monitoring capacity. Addressing these hindrances, in this work we combine spectral bands and indices from Sentinel-2 with several machine learning paradigms, namely XGBoost, Random Forests, GMDH, Support Vector Regression, k-Nearest Neighbors and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator to model turbidity, using data from twelve monitoring stations encompassing the Mississippi River, USA. Results show that considering the individual monitoring stations, the ML paradigms for turbidity modeling were satisfactory at locations with a larger range and standard deviation values, achieving a mean R2 value of 59.5%. Tree-based models were the best overall approach, often ranking as the best or second-best performing model. When all the samples from the monitoring stations were used, the XGBoost provided superior output for turbidity modeling, reaching an R2 equal to 75.7%. A comprehensive comparison with the literature found values showed that the models implemented using this study’s methodology could provide competitive results, deeming it as an alternative for turbidity modeling from remote sensing data.

Sewage sludge is an organic waste generated in waste-water treatment plants with certain content of nutrients, what may potentially be used as a source of slow release fertilizer, especially as phosphorus (P) source, but it demands some pre-treatment and the content of P is much lower compared to soluble mineral fertilizers. For these reasons, composted sewage sludge was used to manufacture pelletized organomineral fertilizers, mixing it with the inorganic sources monoammonium phosphate (MAP) and AshDec® (ASD) (thermochemically incinerated sewage sludge). The fertilizers were physiochemically characterized and evaluated as to the dynamics of soil P solubilization, and the forms of P remaining according to its lability. The sources evaluated were: organic compost of sewage sludge powder (SSC), pelletized SSC (SCP), pelletized organominerals SSC+MAP (S+MAP) and SSC+ASD (S+ASD), ASD alone, all compared to a soluble mineral fertilizer (MAP), and a control without P fertilizer. A test was conducted in leaching columns with 50 g of soil (Oxisol), where the fertilizers were applied at a dose of 100 mg P/column, and 30 mL of water or 2% citric acid were added daily for 30 consecutive days. The collected leachates had pH measured and P content determined. Pelletizing process resulted in denser products and promoted more gradual P release. The organomineral S+MAP was the most water-soluble recycled source, solubilizing about 70% of the total P, while the others presented much lower solubilization (&lt;20%). In contrast, all fertilizers showed high solubility in 2% citric acid (except for S+ASD). After leaching, the greatest amount of P remaining in the soil as labile and moderately labile. Composting and the AshDec process produced materials with slow P solubilization, which would be favoured to solubilize in acidic soils and acidic rhizosphere conditions. In turn, the organomineral mixture of SSC with a highly soluble mineral fertilizer (MAP) resulted in a promising product with intermediate nutrient solubility, better synchronized with crop demand, thus increasing efficiency in P use.

In cold-climate regions, road salt is used as a de-icer for winter road maintenance. The applied road salt melts ice and snow on roads, being washed off through storm sewer systems into nearby urban streams, harming the freshwater ecosystem. Addressing the gap in the knowledge regarding the use of deep learning approaches for urban stream water quality forecasting, the present work discusses our implementation of a “Graph Neural Network” - “Sample and Aggregate” (GNN-SAGE) model for forecasting chloride concentrations in the Credit River in Ontario, Canada. The proposed GNN-SAGE is compared to other models, including a Deep Neural Network based transformer (DNN-Transformer) and a benchmarking persistence model for 6 hours forecasting horizon. Ac-cording to the results, the GNN-SAGE model surpasses other models in providing accurate predic-tions of chloride concentrations within the assessed prediction window. Also, a SHAP analysis provides insight into the variables that influence the model’s forecasting, showing the impact of the spatiotemporal neighbouring data from the network and the seasonality variables on the model’s result. The GNN-SAGE model shows potential for use in real-time forecasting of water quality in urban streams, aiding in the development of regulatory policies to protect the vulnerable freshwater ecosystems in urban areas.

Count data analysis presents unique challenges due to its discrete nature, often exhibiting excessive zeros and overdispersion. To address these complexities, count models, such as Poisson regression and Negative Binomial regression, have been developed, enabling modeling and prediction of count-based phenomena. Additionally, it’s important to notice that zero inflation, a phenomenon commonly observed in count data, requires specialized techniques for robust analysis. This article provides an overview of count data and count models, explores zero inflation, introduces Likelihood Ratio Tests, and explains how the Vuong Test can be used as a model selection criteria. Furthermore, we created a Vuong Test implementation from scratch using the Python programming language. This implementation enhances the accessibility and applicability of the Vuong Test in real-world scenarios, providing a valuable contribution to the academic community, since Python didn’t have an implementation of this statistical test.

The global population is at risk of vitamin D deficiency due to low exposure to sunlight and low intake of the vitamin through diet. The aim was to investigate in women the association between vitamin D status and parathyroid hormone (PTH), ultraviolet radiation, lifestyle, ethnicity, social conditions, and residential greenness. A 1-year longitudinal study assessed vitamin D status in 309 women, latitude 51° 14' N. Blood samples were taken four times throughout the year for analysis of 25(OH)D and serum PTH concentration. After each seasonal visit, the individuals completed 4-day diet diaries and used two dosimeter badges for 1 week to estimate weekly UVR exposure. A questionnaire was applied to provide information about lifestyle and their ethnicity. Residential greenness was measured by Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), within a 1000 m radius around each participant’s home address. Women living in greener spaces were more likely to have improved vitamin D status (RR: 1.51; 95%CI: 1.13 – 2.02), as well as those who were more exposed to UVR (RR: 2.05; 95%CI: 1.44 – 2.92). Our results provided a first insight into the connection between vitamin D, residential greenness, and lifestyle in a region of temperate climate and with a high degree of urbanization.

Although the effect of thermal modification (TM) on teak wood color is well documented, a few studies were carried out in closed system processes, as well as it remains unclear the effect of different processes on the same material. This work aimed to verify the effect of closed and open system processes of TM on the color of fast-growing teak wood. Thermally modified wood was evaluated in a closed system at 160 °C (CS160) and in an open system at 185 °C and 210 °C (OS185 and OS210). We measured the moisture content (initial and final) of wood, and the corrected mass loss (CML). The chemical analyses encompassed the contents of alpha-cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, and extractives (total, in acetone and dichloromethane). Wood color was measured before and after TM according to the CIEL*a*b* color space. It was possible to achieve the same color using different processes of thermal modification (CS160 and OS210). TM reduced wood lightness (L*), red-green chromaticity coordinate (a*), and yellow-blue chromaticity coordinate (b*). L* and a* had the bigger and lower variations, respectively. The color of thermally modified wood was significantly changed, even at the mildest condition tested (OS185, 0.33% CML).

Chagas disease is a Neglected Tropical Disease with limited and ineffective therapy. In a search for new antitrypanosomal compounds, we investigated the potential of metabolites from bacteria living in corals and sediments of the Southeastern Brazilian coast. Three corals Tubastraea coccinea, Mussismilia hispida, Madracis decactis and sediments yielded 11 bacterial strains, that were fully identified by MALDI-ToF/MS or gene sequencing, resulting in six genera - Vibrio, Shewanella, Mesoflavibacter, Halomonas, Bacillus and Alteromonas. To conduct this study, EtOAc extracts were prepared and tested against Trypanosoma cruzi. Crude extracts showed IC50 values ranging from 15 to 51 μg/mL against trypomastigotes. The bacterium Mesoflavibacter zeaxanthinifaciens was selected for fractionation, resulting in an active fraction (FII) with IC50 values of 17.7 μg/mL and 23.8 μg/mL against the trypomastigotes and amastigotes, respectively, with neither mammalian cytotoxicity nor hemolytic activity. Using NMR and ESI-HRMS analysis, FII revealed the presence of unsaturated iso-type fatty acids. Its lethal action was investigated, leading to a protein spectral profile of the parasite altered after treatment. FII also induced a rapid permeabilization of the plasma membrane of the parasite, leading to cell death. These findings demonstrate these unsaturated iso-type fatty acids as possible new hits against T. cruzi.

Background: Here, we investigated the inflammaging and physical performance in older adults before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Women(n=18) and men(n=7) older were evaluated before the COVID-19 pandemic(PRE), 12 months after the lockdown(POST), and 10 months after resuming exercise training(POS-TR). Physical tests [gait speed(GS) and timed-up-and-go(TUG)]; muscle strength (handgrip-HG), and serum cytokine levels were assessed. Results: The older women showed higher GS and TUG at POST than PRE and POST-TR, besides lower HG at POST-TR than PRE, whereas older men exhibited lower HG at POST and POST-TR than PRE. Both groups presented (1)lower IL-10 and IL-12p70 values in contrast to higher IL-6/IL-10 and IL-8/IL-10 ratios at POST than PRE; (2)higher IL-10 values and lower IL-8/IL-10 ratio at POST-TR than POST; (3)higher IL-12p70/IL-10 ratio at POST-TR than PRE and POST. Particularly older women showed: (4)lower IL-6 values at POST and POST-TR than PRE; (5)lower IL-8 and IL-10 values at POST-TR than POST; (6)and higher TNF-α/IL-10 and IFN-γ/IL-10 ratios at POST than PRE and POST-TR. Significant correlations between the variables were found in both groups. Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, detraining and resumption of exercise training promoted distinct alterations in physical capacity and inflammaging among older women and older men population.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a notable arbovirus with maternal, sexual, and TORCH-related transmission capabilities. After 2015, Brazil had the highest number of ZIVK-infected pregnant women who lost their babies or delivered them with Congenital ZIKV Syndrome (CZS). ZIKV infection has been linked to variations in endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) and interleukins within the placenta. ERVs, remnants of ancient viral infections integrated into the genome, include syncytin receptors crucial for placental development. Interleukins, immune response regulators, aid immune tolerance and support syncytial structure development in the placenta, where syncytin receptors facilitate vital cell-to-cell fusion events. Since ZIKV can infect trophoblast cells, we investigated the relationship between ZIKV infections and ERV and interleukin modulations. Investigating the impact of ZIKV on trophoblast cells, we examined two cell types (BeWo and HTR8) infected with ZIKV-MR766 (African) and ZIKV-IEC-Paraíba (Asia-Brazilian) using Taqman and RT2 Profiler PCR Array assays. While early ZIKV infection (24-48 hours) did not induce differential ERV and interleukin expression, future studies involving additional trophoblastic cell lineages and extended infection timelines will illuminate the dynamic interplay between ZIKV, HERVs, interleukins, and cytokines essential for placental formation and function.

This review and meta-analysis (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020138845) critically evaluates test-retest reliability, concurrent validity and criterion validity of different physical activity (PA) levels of three most-common used international PA questionnaires (PAQs) in national language versions of EU-28: IPAQ-SF, GPAQ, and EHIS-PAQ. In total, 4969 abstracts were read, 287 full-text articles were identified as relvant to the study objectives, and 19 studies were included in the final meta-analysis. The studies’ results and quality were evaluated using the Quality Assessment of Physical Activity Questionnaires (QAPAQ) checklist. Results indicate that only five EU-28 countries validated national language versions of selected PAQs. Meta analysis revealed that assessment of moderate-to-vigourus PA (MVPA) is the most relevant PA level outcome, since no publication bias in any of measurement properties was detected while test-retest reliability was the moderately-high (rw=0.74), and moderate for both criterion (rw=0.41) and concurrent validity (rw=0.72). Reporting of methods and results of the studies was poor with overall moderate risk of bias with total score of 0.43. In conclusion, where only self-reporting is feasible, assessment of MVPA with selected PAQs in EU-28 adult population is recommended for policymaking.

The current investigation scrutinized the strategic approaches employed by the top four teams in the Brazilian Men's Volleyball Superliga, according to the match's opponent. The study encompasses the analysis of 22 matches, involving teams ranked first through fourth, competing against each of the 12 teams participating in the 21-22 season of the Brazilian Men's Volleyball Superliga, including one home and one away match for each team. Utilizing social network analysis facilitated the identification of the interconnections and particularities among all variables, offering a comprehensive perspective. The findings unveiled that during the offensive phase, the second, third, and fourth-ranked teams consistently exhibited higher eigenvector values, irrespective of the opposing team, notably when the middle-blocker positioned themselves in front and near the setter. Conversely, the championship-winning team displayed variations in offensive tactics. The team securing the second position demonstrated alterations in setting placement, whereas the other teams executed settings aimed at zones 3 and 4. Additionally, the initial setter's position at the commencement of a rally displayed varying eigenvector values based on the opponent, indicating team rotation as a performance determinant. Thus, barring the finalist team, the performance of the remaining teams is intricately intertwined with the individual characteristics of players.

Nutraceuticals are bioactive compounds present in foods, utilized to ameliorate health, prevent diseases, and support the proper functioning of the human body. They have gained attention due to their ability to hit multi-targets and act as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory agents, and modulators of immune response and cell death. Therefore, nutraceuticals are being studied to prevent and treat liver ischemia–reperfusion injury (IRI). This study evaluated the effect of a nutraceutical solution formed by resveratrol, quercetin, omega-3 fatty acid, selenium, ginger, avocado, leucine, and niacin on liver IRI. IRI was performed with 60 min of ischemia and 4 hours of reperfusion in male Wistar rats. Afterward, the animals were euthanized to study hepatocellular injury, cyto-kines, oxidative stress, gene expression of apoptosis-related genes, TNF-alpha and Caspase 3 proteins, and histology. Our results show that the nutraceutical solution was able to decrease apoptosis and histologic injury. The suggested mechanisms of action are a reduction in gene expression and the Caspase 3 protein and a reduction in the TNF-alpha protein in liver tissue. The nutraceutical solution was unable to decrease transaminases and cytokines. These findings suggest that the nutraceuticals used favored the protection of hepatocytes and their combination represent a promising therapeutic proposal against liver IRI.

The genus Naegleria, of free-living amoeba (FLA) group, has been investigated mainly due to its human health impact resulting in deadly infections and their worldwide distribution on freshwater systems. Naegleria fowleri, colloquially known as the “brain-eating amoeba”, is the most studied Naegleria species because it causes Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM) of high lethality. The assessment of FLA biodiversity is fundamental to evaluate the presence of pathogenic species and the possibility of human contamination. However, the knowledge of FLA distribution in Brazil is unknown, and to rectify this situation we present a research on identifying Naegleria spp. in the Monjolinho River, as a model study. The river is a public Brazilian freshwater source that crosses the city of São Carlos. Five distinct sampling sites were examined through limnological features, trophozoites culturing and PCR against internal transcribed spacers (ITS) regions and 5.8S rRNA sequence. The results identified N. philippinensis, N. canariensisi, N. australiensis, N.gruberi, N. dobsoni sequences, as well as a Vahlkampfia sequence. The methodology delineated here represents the first Brazilian Naegleria spp. study on a freshwater system. Our result stresses the urgency of a large scale evaluation of the presence of free-living amoebas in Brazil.

In this paper, solar irradiance and wind speed forecasts were performed considering time horizons ranging from 10 min to 60 min, under a 10 min time-step. Global horizontal irradiance (GHI) and wind speed were computed using four forecasting models (Random Forest, k-Nearest Neighbours, Support Vector Regression, and Elastic Net) to compare their performance against two alternative dynamic ensemble methods (windowing and arbitrating). Forecasting models and dynamic forecasting ensembles were implemented in Python for performance evaluation. The performance comparison between the prediction models and the dynamic ensemble methods was carried out by evaluating the RMSE, MAE, R² and MAPE, to evaluate whether the dynamic ensemble forecasting method obtained greater. According to the results obtained windowing dynamic ensemble method was the most efficient among the tested. For the wind speed data, by varying its parameter λ (from 1 to 100), a variable performance profile was obtained, where from λ =1 to λ = 74, windowing proved to be the most efficient, reaching maximum efficiency for λ = 19. Windowing was the best method for the GHI analysis, reaching its best performance for λ = 1. The efficiency gain using windowing was 0.56% when using the wind speed model and 1.96% for GHI.

Piperine, an active plant alkaloid from black pepper (Piper nigrum), has several pharmacological effects: antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory, which involves inhibiting molec-ular events associated with various stages of cancer development. The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms of action of piperine in relation to its potential anticancer effect on head and neck cancer cells. Parameters related to neoplastic potential, analysis of cyto-kine, protein and gene expression were investigated in the head and neck cancer cell lines (HEp-2 and SCC-25) treated with piperine. The results of the tests indicated that piperine modified mor-phology, inhibited viability and the formation of cell colonies. Piperine promoted genotoxicity by triggering apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in G2/M and S. A decrease in cell migration was also observed, and decreased expression of MMP2/9 genes. Piperine also reduced the expression of inflammatory molecules (PTGS2 and PTGER4), regulated the secretion of cytokines (IF-y and IL-8) and modulated the expression of ERK and p38. These results suggest that piperine exerts anti-cancer effects on tumor cells, and could be a promising natural treatment by regulating signaling pathways associated with head and neck cancer.

The accumulation of brown algae from the genus Sargassum has been increasing over the years in coastal regions of the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil, and Mexico. This causes harmful effects to the ecosystem, health, economy, and climate due to gas emissions from its decomposition process. There is the possibility of this biomass being reused in civil construction, and few studies have been carried out on its application to common Portland cement mortar. As such, the objective of this study is to evaluate the potential of sargassum ash as a mineral addition to partial replacement of fine aggregates in Portland cement mortar. Characterizations of the raw materials were carried out through X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, loss on ignition, particle size distribution, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), real density, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and dispersion spectroscopy of electrons. The mortars were prepared by partially replacing the fine aggregate (sand) with sargassum ash, at 0%, 5%, 10% and 20%. Mortar performance was evaluated through water absorption, apparent porosity, apparent specific mass, compressive strength after 7, 28, and 63 days after curing. Lastly, a life cycle assessment in accordance with ISO standards 14040:2006 and 14044:2006. The results showed that replacing sand with sargassum ash increases water absorption, apparent porosity, and decreases the apparent specific mass and compressive strength as replacement increases. Nevertheless, the compressive strength results after 63 days, for 5 and 10% replacement did not differ statistically from reference values. The life cycle assessment indicates that mortars with partial replacement of sand by sargassum ash showed positive environmental impacts when compared to reference values for most categories regardless of the scenario analyzed, especially for mortar with 10% replacement. As such, the use of sargassum ash at 10% does not alter compressive strength values after 63 days while reducing its environmental impact. The application of this biomass in civil construction materials provides a destination for this algae that has been causing several social, environmental, and economic problems.

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.

This review delves into using natural antimicrobials in the dairy industry and examines various sources of these compounds, including microbial, plant, and animal sources. It highlights dairy products' most commonly used natural antimicrobials, such as nisin, lysozyme, lactoferrin, chitosan, and essential oils. It discusses the mechanisms by which they inhibit microbial growth and improve the shelf life of dairy products. Moreover, the review explores encapsulation technology as a promising approach for increasing the viability of natural antimicrobials. It discusses how encapsulation technology can protect these compounds from environmental factors that can reduce their effectiveness, such as pH, temperature, and oxygen exposure. The review also highlights the different materials that can be used for encapsulation, such as alginate, chitosan, and starch, and discusses their properties and suitability for encapsulating different natural antimicrobials. Finally, the review examines the benefits and challenges of using natural antimicrobials in dairy products. While natural antimicrobials offer several advantages, including improved safety, quality, and sensory properties of dairy products, it's crucial to be aware of the challenges associated with their use, such as potential allergenicity, regulatory requirements, and consumer perception. The review concludes by emphasizing the need for further research to identify and develop effective and safe natural antimicrobials for the dairy industry to ensure the quality and safety of dairy products for consumers.

For decades, neurologic and other extra glandular manifestations have been described in Sjögren’s syndrome (SS). More recently, neuropathic, psychological and cognitive alterations are being considered part of the disease. The lacrimal glands (LG), the ocular surface (OS), salivary glands (SG) and the central nervous system (CNS) are integrated to modulate the autonomic functions and, not just those organs, but also the hippocampus, which is linked to the autonomic nervous system, and modulate behavior responses appears to be compromised in the SS. Recent studies confirm that the tryptophan/kynurenine pathway (TKP) can be stimulated by interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and other cytokines, activating the indoleamine-pyrrole 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) in SS. This pathway interferes on serotonergic and glutamatergic neurotransmission, mostly in the hippocampus, and other structures of the CNS. Although not demonstrated, it is plausible that this constant interference induces clinical signs of SS, and contributes to the discrepancy between symptoms and signs, towards manifestations of hyperalgesia and depression in patients with SS. Therapeutic strategies are being reexamined and new options designed and tested to regulate the involved steps of the TKP. In the future, the application of this concept may offer a clue to the mosaic of manifestations of SS.

Hypercholesterolemia plays a fundamental role in the development and progression of atherosclerosis. Current guidelines for treating dyslipidemia target low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C). Despite advances in the pharmacotherapy of atherosclerosis, the most successful agents used to treat this disease – statins – remain insufficient in the primary or secondary prevention of acute myocardial infarction. Advancing therapy for hypercholesterolemia with emerging new drugs, either as monotherapy or in combination, is expected to improve cardiovascular outcomes.

The global craft beer market is witnessing substantial growth, with a particular spotlight on sour beers. These unique brews are created through lactic fermentation initiated by lactic acid bacteria (LAB). However, the presence of hops, renowned for their antimicrobial properties, can pose a limitation within the realm of sour beer production. This research aims to explore and assess the potential of sour beer as a probiotic beverage. It involves a comparative analysis of the viability of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei F19 (F19) and 431 (L431) in a sour beer with an International Bitterness Unit (IBU) value of 26.65, alongside examining the ex-pression of genes such as horA, horB, horC, hitA, bsrA, and recA, which are associated with hop resistance. The study encompasses the development of two formulations of sour beers characterized by both high hop content and a robust probiotic count (8.44 – 8.77 log CFU/mL). The findings suggest that both probiotic strains of F19 and L431, are well-suited to produce sour beers with elevated hop levels, demonstrating excellent stability. Notably, the expression of genes responsible for hops resistance exhibited distinct modulation patterns among the two strains. It appears that a higher concentration of bsrA, as observed in strain L431, may be more effective in mitigating the effects of hop-related stress, potentially surpassing the combined expression of horA and bsrA. Nonetheless, further research is essential to validate this observation in gene expression. F19 and L431 emerge as promising candidates for the development of sour beers with increased hop intensity.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the nanomechanical properties and chemical composition of restorative materials and dental surfaces using different toothpastes. Methods: Enamel (n=60) and dentin (n=60) bovine blocks were obtained and restored using resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC, n=30) or composite resin (CR, n=30) to form the dentin adjacent to RMGIC (DRMGIC), enamel adjacent to RMGIC (ERMGIC), dentin adjacent to CR (DCR), and enamel adjacent to CR (ECR). After restoration, one hemiface of each specimen was coated with an acid-resistant varnish to create the control (C) and eroded (E) sides (erosion: 5 days, 4 × 2 min/day; 1% citric acid / abrasion: 2 × 15 s followed by immersion on slurries 2 min). Three toothpastes were used: without fluoride (WF; n=10), sodium fluoride (NaF; n=10), and stannous fluoride (SnF2; n=10). The specimens were analyzed for nanohardness (H), elastic modulus (Er), and chemical composition using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Raman microscopy. Data were analyzed using ANOVA two-way repeated measures and Tukey’s test (α = 0.05). Results: The NaF presented lower values of H for DRMGIC-C, with a statistical difference for WF (p < 0.05). SnF2 resulted in lower Er values for ERMGIC-E and RMGIC-E than WF and NaF (p < 0.05). WF showed lower calcium and phosphorus concentrations for DCR-E than other types of toothpastes (p < 0.05). Only stannous-based toothpaste damaged the elasticity of eroded glass ionomer restorations performed in enamel. Toothpastes with fluoride was capable for maintaining main chemical elements of dentin adjacent to restorative materials under challenge conditions.

We present a new model formulation for a class of capacitated lot-sizing problem considering setup costs, product returns, and remanufacturing (CLSP-RM). We investigate a broad class of instances that fall into two groups, in the first group we can reformulate the problem with a relaxation and test whether the original problem is solvable. The relaxation gives near optimal solutions and the solution of this class does not give any difficulty to known solvers such as Cplex, Gurobi or Xpress. The second group of instances are of category NP and will be solved with a simple period-by-period simulation

Hypertensive diseases of pregnancy (HDP) represent a global clinical challenge, affecting 5-10% of women and leading to complications for both maternal well-being and fetal development. At the heart of these complications is endothelial dysfunction, with oxidative stress emerging as a pivotal causative factor. The reduction in nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability is a vital indicator of this dysfunction, culminating in blood pressure dysregulation. In the therapeutic context, although antihypertensive medications are commonly used, they come with inherent concerns related to maternal-fetal safety, and a percentage of women do not respond to these therapies. Therefore, alternative strategies that directly address the pathophysiology of HDP are required. This article focuses on the potential of the nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway, abundantly present in dark leafy greens and beetroot, as an alternative approach to treating HDP. The objective of this review is to discuss the prospective antioxidant role of nitrate. We hope our discussion paves the way for using nitrate to improve endothelial dysfunction and control oxidative stress, offering a potential therapy for managing HDP.

Background: To identify and appraise the impacts and effectiveness of counseling interventions based on the 5A model on indicators of physical activity in adults. Methods: In May, 2022, a systematic review was carried out. Searches were performed in Embase, Lilacs, Pubmed, Scielo, Scopus, Sportdiscus and Web of Science. To avoid potential losses searches also were made in Google Scholar and in reference lists. Assessment of studies, data extraction and synthesis took place independently by two researchers. Results: Four studies composed the synthesis, which involved people with an average age between 40 and 55 years, being women in the majority of the samples. It was observed that counseling was carried out in conjunction with other strategies, such as drawing up an action plan, sending text messages and offering educational material. Only one study showed a statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups in the “daily number of steps” indicator. Conclusions: counseling based on the 5A model did not reflect significant findings in relation to physical activity. Considering that behavior change for many people is neither a simple nor a quick process and that the 5A model is promising for other behavioral indicators, we indicate the need to carry out new intervention studies, with an expanded focus in relation to themes related to physical activity (e.g., types, dos-es, risks, benefits, identification of barriers and assessment) and, in parallel, the offer of practices in the Primary Health Care setting.

Medicinal plants for bone grafts are promising because they are free from infecting microorganisms and biocompatible. We report a novel study evaluating osteoregeneration of bone grafts from extracts of Alternanthera brasiliana and Fridericia platyphylla after bone injury induced by radius fracture in rats. Grafts were obtained using 2% chitosan gel and 0.5% hydroalcoholic extract. The rats were randomly divided into four experimental groups (N= 12): Negative control (NC) - Chitosan gel; Positive control (PC) - bovine mineral bone graft (Lumina Bone®, fine powder 0.5); F. platyphylla Graft (FRID) - 0.5% bone graft; A. brasiliana Graft (ABRA) - 0.5% bone graft. The animals were evaluated for three periods, 30, 60, and 90 days after fracture induction. Bone alkaline phosphatase (BSAP) and radiographic and histological evaluations were followed. After 90 days, there was an increase in BSAP for the ABRA group on the newly formed bone matrix but not for FRID, indicating the presence of active osteoblasts. Additionally, mature bone tissue and bone remodeling were observed, and a conspicuous presence of type I collagen for both FRID and ABRA. We demonstrated that FRID and ABRA grafts produced early bone neoformation. New perspectives for these species as a graft are suggested.

In this study, the objective is to analyze the economic viability of municipal household solid waste (organic matter + paper) for the production of gas, coke and biofuel through the pyrolysis and distillation process. The waste was collected in the city of Belém do Pará-Brazil and pre-treated at UFPA. The analyzed fraction (organic matter + paper) was subjected to pre-treatment of drying, crushing, sieving and was subsequently subjected to proximate characterization and finally pyrolysis of the organic fraction (organic matter + paper) in a fixed bed reactor. Initially, it was necessary to review the literature and with the yields obtained by pyrolysis of the frac-tion, economic feasibility analyzes were carried out. The economic indicators for evaluating the most viable pyrolysis process were: simple payback, discounted payback, net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and profitability index (IL). The analysis of the indicators showed the economic viability considering an analysis horizon of 10 years, of materials based on organic material and paper. The break-even point obtained was 0.96 US$/L and the minimum biofuel sales price (MFSP – “Minimum Fuel Sale Price”) obtained in this work was 1.30 US$/L. The sensitivity analysis demonstrated that material costs (organic matter + paper), bio-oil yield, total project investment and electricity, respectively, are the variables that most affect the mini-mum biofuel sales price (MFSP).

To support the decision making process of new investors, this paper aims to implement Machine Learning algorithms to generate investment indications. Three artificial intelligence techniques were implemented, namely: Multilayer Perceptron, Logistic Regression and Decision Tree, which performed the classification of investments. The results of the different algorithms were compared to each other using the metrics: accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score. The Decision Tree was the algorithm that obtained the best classification metrics and an accuracy of 77%.

Many factors drive land desertification, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. However, the numerous driving factors of desertification make analyses computer expensive. Cloud computing comes along to address this problem, especially in developing countries. The objective of this work was to assess the sensitivity of the East Atlantic Basin, Brazil, to desertification using the Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use (MEDALUS) model and Google Earth Engine (GEE). The model is composed of four environmental Quality Indices (QIs) associated with soil (SQI), vegetation (VQI), climate (CQI) and management (MQI), and contains factors influencing the desertification process. Digital databases of the factors were pre-processed and uploaded to GEE for analysis. We report Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs) and Environmentally Critical Factors (ECF) maps of the East Atlantic Basin, which showed that most of the basin is in either critical (49.4%) or fragile (35.7%) state of sensitivity. In contrast, only a smaller portion of the area is unaffected (5%) or potentially affected (10.1%). Sensitivity to desertification was inversely correlated with the presence of vigorous vegetation. A joint analysis of ESAs and ECF shed light on the importance of each factor in the sensitivity to desertification. The East Atlantic Basin shows a high degree of sensitivity to desertification, thereby demanding more attention and establishment of measures to mitigate the negative impacts of the desertification process.

Many factors drive land desertification, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. However, the numerous driving factors of desertification make analyses computer expensive. Cloud computing comes along to address this problem, especially in developing countries. The objective of this work was to assess the sensitivity of the East Atlantic Basin, Brazil, to desertification using the Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use (MEDALUS) model and Google Earth Engine (GEE). The model is composed of four environmental Quality Indices (QIs) associated with soil (SQI), vegetation (VQI), climate (CQI) and management (MQI), and contains factors influencing the desertification process. Digital databases of the factors were pre-processed and uploaded to GEE for analysis. We report Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs) and Environmentally Critical Factors (ECF) maps of the East Atlantic Basin, which showed that most of the basin is in either critical (49.4%) or fragile (35.7%) state of sensitivity. In contrast, only a smaller portion of the area is unaffected (5%) or potentially affected (10.1%). Sensitivity to desertification was inversely correlated with the presence of vigorous vegetation. A joint analysis of ESAs and ECF shed light on the importance of each factor in the sensitivity to desertification. The East Atlantic Basin shows a high degree of sensitivity to desertification, thereby demanding more attention and establishment of measures to mitigate the negative impacts of the desertification process.

Eutrophication, a global concern, impacts water quality, ecosystems, and human health. It’s crucial to monitor algal blooms in freshwater reservoirs, as they indicate the trophic condition of a waterbody through Chlorophyll-a (Chla) concentration. Traditional monitoring methods, however, are expen-sive and time-consuming. Addressing this hindrance, we developed models using remotely sensed data from the Sentinel-2 satellite for large-scale coverage, including its bands and spectral indexes, to estimate the Chla concentration on 149 freshwater reservoirs in Ceará, Brazil. Several machine learning models were trained and tested, including k-nearest neighbours, random forests, extreme gradient boosting, the least absolute shrinkage, group method of data handling (GMDH), and sup-port vector machine models. A stepwise approach determined the best subset of input parameters. Using a 70/30 split for the training and testing datasets, the best-performing model was the GMDH, achieving an R2 of 0.91, MAPE of 102.34%, and RMSE of 20.38 g/L, which are values consistent with the ones found in the literature. Nevertheless, the predicted Chla concentration values were most sensitive to the red, green, and near infra-red bands.

Oats are a nutrient rich cereal used for animal feed and growing in human consumption. This cereal can be affected by Fusarium spp., causing the disease Fusarium Head Blight. This disease is caused mainly by species within the Fusarium graminearum species complex, and are also responsible for producing mycotoxins that are harmful to humans and animals. This study aimed to investigate fungal diversity in Brazilian oat samples, focusing on the Fusarium sambucinum species complex and the presence of type B trichothecenes (deoxynivalenol and its derivatives, and nivalenol) from two different regions; Paraná (PR) and Rio Grande do Sul (RS). The isolated fungi from oat grains were identified as species from the genera: Fusarium, Phoma and Alternaria. The majority of Fusarium isolates belonged to the Fusarium sambucinum species complex; identified as F. graminearum s.s., F. meridionale and F. poae. In the RS region, F. poae was the most frequent fungus, while FGSC was the most frequent in the PR region. The majority of F. graminearum s.s. isolates were of the 15-ADON genotype, while some 3-ADON genotypes were identified; however, F. meridionale and F. poae were all of the NIV genotype. Mycotoxin analysis revealed that 92% and 100% of the samples from PR and RS were contaminated with type B trichothecenes, respectively. The oats from PR were predominantly contaminated with DON, whereas NIV was predominant in oats from RS. Analysis showed that 24% of the samples were contaminated with DON at levels higher than Brazilian regulations. Co-contamination of DON, its derivatives and NIV was observed in 84% and 57.7% of the samples from PR and RS, respectively. The results provide new information on Fusarium contamination in Brazilian oats, highlighting the importance for further studies on mycotoxins.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a degenerative disease that affects approximately 6.1 million and is primarily caused by the loss of dopaminergic neurons. Naphthoquinones have several biological activities explored in the literature, including neuroprotective effects. Therefore, this review shows an overview of natural and synthetic naphthoquinones with neuroprotective effects and with potential for the development of molecules for the treatment of PD. Many examples of natural naphthoquinones, such as shikonin, plumbagin and vitamin K, exerted a neuroprotective effect by preventing oxidative stress, in addition to multiple mechanisms. Synthetic naphthoquinones with inhibitory activity on the P2X7 receptor were also found, leading to a neuroprotective effect on Neuro-2a cells. It was found that naphthazarin can act as inhibitors of the MAO-B enzyme. Vitamin K and synthetic naphthoquinones hybrids with tryptophan or dopamine showed inhibition of the aggregation of α-synuclein. A library of synthetic derivatives of juglone and naphthazarin were able to protect Neuro-2a cells against neurodegenerative effects of neurotoxins. We report many examples of naphthoquinones that act in therapeutic pathways for the treatment of PD. In addition, routes for producing synthetic derivatives were also discussed. With the data presented, 1,4-naphthoquinones can be considered a promising class in the treatment of PD.

Background: The management of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) focuses on dietary interventions, physical activity, and pharmacological therapy. Strategies that enhance adherence to the diet could play a pivotal role in managing this population. Objective: To compare the effectiveness of outpatient nutritional guidance supplemented by digital media with exclusively standard outpatient nutritional guidance in pregnant women with GDM. Methods: This was a randomized, patient-blinded clinical trial conducted at the Diabetes and Pregnancy outpatient clinic from February 2021 to January 2023. Pregnant women with GDM were randomly allocated into two groups: the Control Group (CG) received exclusively outpatient nutritional guidance, and the Intervention Group (IG) received outpatient nutritional guidance along with reminders via WhatsApp. Dietary intake (calories, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and fibers) was evaluated using 24-hour dietary recalls (24HR). Glycemic control and the need for pharmacological treatment were also assessed. Mann-Whitney tests were applied to numerical variables, and Fisher's exact test or Chi-square tests were used for categorical variables. Results: 81 women were included, 34 allocated to the CG, and 47 to the IG. Patients were followed for a period of 4 to 8 weeks. Few differences were observed in glycemic control between the two groups over the follow-up period. There were no statistical differences in pharmacological therapy (p=0.498); 188 24HR were conducted in the CG and 290 in the IG. A statistically significant increase in lipid intake was observed in the IG over the follow-up period compared to the CG (p

Dioclea apurensis Kunth is native to ferruginous rocky outcrops (known as canga) in the eastern Amazon. Native cangas are considered hotspots of biological diversity and have one of the largest iron ore deposits in the world. There, D. apurensis can grow in post-mining areas where molecular mechanisms and rhizospheric interactions with soil microorganisms are expected to contribute to their establishment in rehabilitating minelands. In this study, we compare the root proteomic profile and rhizosphere-associated bacterial and fungal communities of D. apurensis growing in canga and a rehabilitating mineland to characterize the main mechanisms that allow the growth and establishment in post-mining areas. The results showed that proteins involved in response to oxidative stress, drought, excess of iron, and phosphorus deficiency were more accumulated in canga and, therefore, helped explain its high establishment rates in rehabilitating minelands. Rhizospheric selectivity of microorganisms was more evident in canga. The microbial community structure was mostly different between the two habitats, denoting that despite having its preferences, D. apurensis can associate with beneficial soil microorganisms without specificity. Therefore, its good performance in rehabilitating minelands can also be improved or attributed to its ability to cope with beneficial soil-borne microorganisms. Native plants with such adaptations must be used to enhance the rehabilitation process.

Social distancing policies put in place during COVID-19 epidemic in addition to helping to limit the spread of the disease also contributed to improving urban air quality. Here we show a decrease in air pollutant concentration as a consequence of mobility reduction in São Paulo during the containment measure which began on 22^nd March 2020. When comparing to foregoing weeks to equivalent periods of 2019, the concentration of most air pollutants sharply decreased in the first days of mobility restriction, to then increase again after government officials downplayed the threat of the disease. This trend is also followed by a decrease in hospital admissions by SARS-influenza. Therefore, despite the great economic and social unrest caused by the pandemic, this unique situation shows that large-scale mobility reduction policy had a significant impact on air quality, benefiting, directly and indirectly, the public health system.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a stealthy and progressive neurological disorder that is a leading cause of dementia in the global elderly population, imposing a significant burden on both the elderly and society. Currently, the condition is treated with medications that alleviate symptoms. Nonetheless, these drugs may not consistently produce the desired results and can cause serious side effects. Hence, there is a vigorous pursuit of alternative options to enhance the quality of life for patients. Ginkgo biloba (GB), an herb with historical use in traditional medicine, contains bioactive compounds such as terpenoids (Ginkgolides A, B, and C), polyphenols, organic acids, and flavonoids (quercetin, kaempferol, and isorhamnetin). These compounds are associated with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and neuroprotective properties, making them valuable for cognitive health. A systematic search across three databases using specific keywords GB in AD and dementia yielded 1702 documents, leading to the selection of 15 clinical trials for synthesis. In eleven studies, GB extract/EGb 761® was shown to improve cognitive function, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and functional abilities in both dementia types. In four studies, however, there were no significant differences between the GB-treated and placebo groups. Significant improvements were observed in scores obtained from the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Short Cognitive Performance Test (SKT), and Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). While the majority of synthesized clinical trials show Ginkgo biloba has promising potential in these conditions, more research is needed to determine optimal dosages, effective delivery methods, and appropriate pharmaceutical formulations. Furthermore, a thorough assessment of adverse effects, exploration of long-term use implications, and investigation into potential drug interactions are critical aspects that must be carefully evaluated in future studies.

Indices such as Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist Circumference (WC) and Waist to Height Ratio (WHtR) have emerged as tools to assess cardiovascular risks associated with abdominal obesity. The Timed Up and Go Test (TTUG) assesses mobility and the risk of falls, especially in the elderly and individuals with physical limitations. Objective: To correlate anthropometric indicators of cardiovascular risk (BMI, WC, WHtR) and performance in the TTUG in elderly people who practice physical activity. Methods: Cross-sectional study, CAAE: 27116319.1.0000.8044, elderly people, both sexes, average age 68 years. Anthropometric data was collected: BMI, WC, WHtR and TUG test results. Results: Average values: weight (67.8 ± 12.7 kg), height (157.2 ± 8.4 cm), TTUG (10.3 ± 2.5 26 seconds), WC (93.3 ± 10.9 cm), waist-to-height ratio (0.59) and BMI (27.4 ± 4.4): Correlations between 27 TTUG and age (r = -0.086, p = 0.683), TTUG and BMI (r = 0.29, p = 0.892) WC and WHtR (r = 0.927, p 28 < 0.001). Conclusion: This study revealed correlations between anthropometric indicators of cardio vascular risk (BMI, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio) and performance in the TUG test in the elderly.

Conventional methods for pathogen detection in water rely on time-consuming enrichment steps followed by biochemical identification strategies, which require assay times ranging from 24 hours to up to a week. However, in recent years, significant efforts have been made towards the development of biosensing technologies enabling rapid and close-to-real-time detection of waterborne pathogens. In previous studies, we developed a plastic optical fiber (POF) immunosensor using an optoelectronic configuration consisting of a U-Shape probe connected to an LED and a photodetector. Bacterial detection was evaluated with the immunosensor immersed in a bacterial suspension in water with a known concentration. Here, we report on the sensitivity of a new optoelectronic configuration consisting of two POF U-Shape probes, one as the reference and the other as the immunosensor, for the detection of Escherichia coli. In addition, another way of detection was tested where the sensors were calibrated in the air, before immersed in bacterial suspension and then read in the air, making the immunosensor more sensitive and with a faster detection time. This new sensor detected the presence of E. coli at 104 CFU/mL in less than 10 minutes. Currently sub 10 minutes is faster than previous studies using fiber-optic based biosensors. It is also a much simpler and quicker methodology when compared with conventional laboratory technology.

We are experiencing an unprecedented urbanization process that alongside with physical, social and economic developments is having a significant impact on population’s health. Due to higher apprehensions of pollution, violence and poverty, our modern cities no longer ensure a good quality of life so they become unhealthy environments. This study aims to measure the socio-environmental and hematologic profile of residents of Santo André’s landfill – “Bairro Espírito Santo” by using the contextualization of the studied area. The research method is Observational type and from Retrospective cohort and by convenience sampling in Santo André in the Greater ABC region. The study determined a socio environmental profile and the hematologic diseases screening related to a close location to the landfill. The disease manifests itself within a broad spectrum of symptoms that causes changes in blood count parameters. The full blood counts analysis was performed, indicating that the blood counts of residents living near the landfill led to positive hematological changes and diseases like Leukopenia, Anemia, Neutropenia and lymphocytosis were the most common changes. However it is considered that the proof of the relation of cause- effect to environmental exposures that may trigger chronic manifestations in humans requires specific studies that are often complicated.

Students with disabilities are often framed as “the problem” and have limited opportunities to engage in standards based mathematics, leading to persistent underachievement. In this paper, we investigate a research divide between mathematics educational research for students with and without disabilities, a divide with significant differences in the theoretical orientations and research methodologies used to understand learners. Based on an analysis of 149 mathematics educational research articles published between 2013 and 2015, we found significant differences between articles focused on learners with and without disabilities. For those with disabilities, mathematical problem solving was understood primarily from behavioral and information processing theoretical perspectives, while for those without disabilities, problem solving was understood primarily through constructivist and sociocultural perspectives. While 86% of research on problem-solving including students with disabilities was quantitative, only 35% of research on students without disabilities was quantitative. Fifty percent of problem-solving research on students without disabilities was qualitative, compared to only 6% of research on students with disabilities. Problem solving, then, is studied in very different ways for learners with and without disabilities. Students without disabilities are studied through close analysis of learning, often individual. Students with disabilities are most often studied quantitatively, in groups, with little analysis of individual thinking. By offering only a limited range of methods and theoretical orientations, this research divide reifies deficit constructions of students with disabilities.

Deep-Brain Stimulation (DBS) is a a highly effective and safe medical treatment that improves the lives of patients with a wide range of neurological and psychiatric deceases, and has been consolidated as a first-line tool in the treatment of these conditionsin the last two decades. Closed Loop Deep-Brain Stimulation (CLDBS) pushes this tool further by automatically adjusting the stimulation parameters to the brain response in real time. In this context, this paper presents a Low-Noise Amplifier (LNA) and a Neurostimulator circuits fabricated in the low-power/low-voltage 65 nm CMOS process from the TSMC, which were designed targeting implantable applications. To achieve the best trade-off between input-referred noise and power consuption, metaheuristic algorithms were employed to determine and optimizes the dimentions of the LNA devices during the design phase. The measurement results showed that the LNA had a gain of 40.6 dB, a 3 dB bandwidth spanning over three decades from 10 Hz to 8.6 kHz, and a power consumption of 6.19 uW. Simulations results indicated an input-referred noise of 4.86 uVrms for the LNA. The circuit of the Neurostimulator is a programmable Howland Current-Pump, whose measurements showed its ability to generate currents with arbitrary shapes ranging from between 325 uA to +318 uA. The simulations showed a quiescent power consumption of 0.13 W with a zero neurostimulation current. The LNA and the Neurostimulator circuits are supplied with 1.2 V voltage and occupy a microdevice area of 145 um x 311 um and 88 um x 89 um, respectively, making them suitable for implantation in applications involving Closed Loop Deep-Brain Stimulation.

Sword-duels are interesting, from a game-theoretical perspective, as they correspond to sudden-death interactions between players (i.e., defeat means removal from the game), and where victory/defeat depend on not just skill, but also luck. Analyzing probabilities of victory streaks, given a certain level of self and others' skill, is thus relevant for any application domain that can be modeled in the same way. This paper takes inspiration from Miyamoto Musashi, famously undefeated for 61 duels, and implements a Markov-chain Monte-Carlo simulation approach to evaluate this scenario. Results suggest that a 61 victory streak can be probabilistically observed when skill level is roughly 6.5 times that of the average duelist, and with 95\% confidence when skill level is roughly 1000 times that of the average duelist. More generally, this paper provides a method for determining chances of victory streaks in game-theoretical sudden-death encounters, when both "skill" and "luck" contribute to the outcome of the encounter. Specific scenarios can be modeled by modifying the utilized Markov chain and adjusting sampled distributions as required.

There have been beaching events of the marine alga pelagic sargassum in coastal regions of the Caribbean Sea, West African countries, and the north-northeast region of Brazil since 2011. Its presence has caused environmental and socioeconomic impacts while several studies were conducted in order to understand the causes of this phenomenon, as well as alternatives to mitigate its impacts. The objective of this research was to evaluate pelagic sargassum biomass as a raw material for the manufacture of medium-density multilayer particleboards. These are composed of 30% sargassum particles in their inner layer and 70% sugarcane bagasse particles on their outer layers which are bonded with castor oil-based polyurethane resin. A physical and chemical characterization was carried out in order to evaluate sargassum particles while physical and mechanical tests were carried out in order to evaluate the panels. Results were subsequently compared with indications from NBR 14810-2:2018 and ISO 16893:2016 standards. A life cycle assessment based on ISO 14040:2006 and 14044:2006 was carried out as to complement the feasibility study of these panels and to compare their different manufacturing processes. The multilayer panels met the minimum requirements for physical and mechanical properties established by regulations, indicating that the Sargassum spp. biomass can be used as filling. The life cycle assessment study indicates that sargassum panels produced in the Belém-PA-Brazil region present lower environmental impacts in four of seven evaluated categories when compared to conventional panels. As such, they constitute an alternative way to mitigate environmental impacts generated by beaching events.

Piscine lactococcosis is a disease caused by Lactococcus garvieae, L. petauri and L. formosensis. It is considered to be an emerging disease and poses a risk to global aquaculture production. Studies of the genetic diversity of Lactococcus spp. strains have epidemiological importance since they provide information on the genetic relationships between isolates and indicate geographic and temporal distribution. The aim of this study was to evaluate the genetic diversity of Brazilian Lactococcus spp. isolates obtained from native fish species using PCR-based DNA fingerprinting techniques. For this, 36 isolates were selected and submitted to gyrB sequencing, molecular serotyping, REP-, BOX-, and RAPD-PCR approaches. The discriminatory power and the congruence between the typing methods were calculated. After the correct taxonomic discrimination of the isolate, a total of 14, 5 and 17 isolates were reclassified as L. garvieae, L. formosensis and L. petauri, respectively. L. garvieae and L. petauri are related to serotype I, while L. formosensis strains were classified as serotype II. The typing methods tested are useful for evaluating the genetic diversity of isolates and a comprehensive indication of the diversity was found. Heterogeneous and homogeneous populations were observed for L. garvieae and L. petauri, respectively. RAPD-PCR demonstrated a greater discriminatory power for L. formosensis and L. petauri, while REP-PCR showed better results for L. garvieae strains, thus these methodologies are recommended for genotyping these bacterial species. In conclusion, Brazilian isolates of Lactococcus spp. obtained from native fish species constitute a genetically diverse population and the techniques used in this study allowed a better genetic characterization of the isolates.

The most important step for the installation of a wind farm is to know the wind regime in the region, since an error in estimating this wind speed causes an error proportional to the cube of power, resulting in financial losses for investors. Therefore, knowing the methods used for predicting wind speed becomes important and the knowledge of how research and studies in this area are going helps map the subject and outline strategies for developing research in strategic areas. For this purpose, the Scopus database was used considering some keywords, such as ("forecast" OR "prevision") AND "wind" AND ("turbine" OR "power" OR "energy" or "velocity" or "speed"), considering the period since 2019, and analyzing the data of the documents found using the Bibliometrix package. With the results found, it was possible to map researchers, institutions that are developing work in this area, in addition to the most cited articles, among other aspects analyzed.

The aging of the global population has increased the prevalence of neurodegenerative conditions. Bacopa monnieri (BM), an herb with active compounds, such as bacosides A and B, betulinic acid, loliolide, asiatic acid, and quercetin, demonstrates the potential for brain health. Limited research has been conducted on the therapeutic applications of BM in neurodegenerative conditions. This systematic review aims to project BM's beneficial role in brain disorders. BM has anti-apoptotic and antioxidant actions and can repair damaged neurons, stimulate kinase activity, restore synaptic function, improve nerve transmission, and increase neuroprotection. The included twenty-two clinical trials demonstrated that BM can reduce Nuclear Factor-κB phosphorylation, improve emotional function, cognitive functions, anhedonia, hyperactivity, sleep routine, depression, attention deficit, learning problems, memory retention, impulsivity, and psychiatric problems. Moreover, BM can reduce the levels of pro-inflammatory biomarkers and oxidative stress. Here, we highlight that BM provides notable therapeutic benefits and can serve as a complementary approach for the care of patients with neurodegenerative conditions associated with brain disorders. This review adds to the growing interest in natural products and their potential therapeutic applications by improving our understanding of the mechanisms underlying cognitive function and neurodegeneration and informing the development of new therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative diseases.

Latin America and the Caribbean offer the most favorable natural and social conditions for the emergence of cattle ranching that regenerate and maintains the ecosystem services on which life on Earth depends, that is energy efficient and that contributes to meeting fundamental human food needs. Unlike other major global producers, cattle farming in Latin America and the Caribbean is fundamentally based on pasture. Therein lies both its strength (due to the regenerative potential of well-managed pastures) and its vulnerability (due to the pervasive link between deforestation and pasture formation, especially in the Amazon, where 40% of the Brazilian herd is concentrated). The diversification of pastures (today marked by impressive monotony, with brachiaria accounting for 85% of the species in Brazil), the introduction of legumes and tree plantations within them, and the proper management of herds, open the way to the possibility of drastically reducing the area currently occupied by the activity (especially in the Amazon) while maintaining the supply of its products. Agricultural research has disseminated forms of moderate intensification of cattle ranching, which represent a low opportunity cost of animal feed and, at the same time, regeneration of ecosystem services that have so far been destroyed by the prevailing methods of farming.

The objective was to estimate the correlation between VIs and grain yield and identify the optimal timing and VIs for precise corn grain yield estimation. Furthermore, the study aims to employ photographic quantification to measure corn ear traits and establish their correlation with corn grain yield. Ten corn hybrids were evaluated in CRB with three rep-lications at three locations. Vegetation indices and green leaf area were estimated throughout the cycle using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and subsequently corre-lated with grain productivity. In addition, photographs were taken of the corn ear to esti-mate their length, width and total number of kernels and compare these values with manual measurements. The experiments consistently demonstrated significant experi-mental quality across sites, with accuracy ranging from 79.07% to 95.94%. UAV flights carried out at the beginning of the crop cycle revealed a positive correlation between grain productivity and the evaluated indices (NGRDI, VARI, GLI). Regarding the phenotyping of corn ears, the regression coefficients for width, length and TNG were 0.92, 0.88 and 0.62, respectively, indicating an association with manual measurements. However, stage V5 in the localities of Lavras and Ijaci and stage V8 in the locality of Nazareno showed a posi-tive correlation with productivity. The use of images for ear phenotyping is promising as a method for measuring corn components.

Castor oil may be differentiated from other non-edible vegetable oils because of its main composition of hydroxylated fatty acids. Ricinoleic acid comprises 80–90% wt. of fatty acids in castor oil (Ricinus communis). In this study, the thermo-oxidative stability and tribological behavior of bio-based lubricant samples synthesized from castor oil using isoamyl alcohol were evaluated. Initially, the compositional and physicochemical properties of the obtained samples were assessed using 1H NMR, FTIR, and ASTM methods. Oxidative stability of the samples was evaluated using Rancimat method at 110 °C under air flow. The final biolubricant sample (BL2), obtained after esterification, epoxidation, and oxirane rings opening reactions, presented an oxidation stability time (OST) of 14.3 h. The thermal stability was also evaluated by thermogravimetry (TG) from the mass variations under inert and oxidative atmosphere. BL2 showed higher thermal stability compared to the other samples, demonstrating higher decomposition temperatures in both inert (339.04 °C) and oxidative (338.47 °C) atmospheres, for a mass loss of 50%. The tribological properties of the samples were evaluated using a four-ball tribometer configuration. The BL1 and BL2 samples exhibited lower friction coefficients than the mineral oil sample (MOS) by 21.5% and 43.1%, respectively. Regarding wear, the observed wear scar diameter (WSD) was also lower in BL1 and BL2 compared to MOS by 5.2% and 40.4%, respectively. The results of the tribological evaluation suggest that both samples obtained in this study have promising potential for applications in lubricating machines and mechanical systems.

The World Health Organization has defined the outbreak of the new coronavirus as a public health emergency of international concern. The average age of patients affected by the disease caused by the virus ranges from 49 to 59 years. The symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection include fever, cough, acute respiratory disease, and, in severe cases, the disease may progress to pneumonia and renal failure that may lead to death. Many oral and maxillofacial hospital procedures produce aerosol and droplets contaminated by blood, bacteria, and viruses. The purpose of this study is to gather recommendations from health authorities and scientific articles in order to educate surgeons regarding the procedures to assist and treat in oral and maxillofacial surgeries. The objective is to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 during the treatment of patients in urgent and emergency situations. The study’s methodology used the guidelines provided by the Brazilian College of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, in addition to the recommendations and epidemiologic data from national and international health authorities. The implementation of special precautions in oral and maxillofacial surgeries may elucidate questions related to the transmission of the disease by asymptomatic carriers and help control the spread of the virus.

Aluminum matrix nanocomposites have been the subject of much attention due to their extraordinary mechanical properties and thermal stability. This research focuses on producing and characterizing an aluminum matrix reinforced with silicon carbide (SiC) nanometric particles. The conventional powder metallurgy route was used to produce the nanocomposites, and the dispersion and mixing process was carried out by ultrasonication. The conditions of the dispersion and the volume fraction of the SiC were evaluated in the production of the nanocomposites. Microstructural characterization was carried out using optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Mechanical characterization was carried out using hardness and tensile tests. The dispersion agent was investigated, and isopropanol leads to better dispersion with fewer agglomerates. Increasing the volume fraction of the reinforcement improves the hardness of the nanocomposites. However, greater agglomeration of the reinforcement is observed for larger volume fractions. The greatest increase in hardness (77% increase compared to the hardness of the Al matrix) is obtained with 1.0 vol % of SiC, corresponding to the sample with the best dispersion. The mechanical characterization through tensile tests attests to the effect of the reinforcement on the Al matrix. The main strengthening mechanisms identified were the load transfer, the texture hardening, Orowan strengthening, and the increase in the density of dislocations in the nanocomposites.

Over a period of nearly one hundred years, Raul Lino da Silva (1879-1974) experienced the profound political, social and economic changes that marked the twentieth century in Portugal. Having been born during the Constitutional Monarchy (1822-1910), he lived through the First Republic (1910-1926), the Military Dictatorship (1926-1933) and the Second Republic, or Estado Novo (New State, 1933-1974), and died shortly after the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974, at the dawning of the Third Republic. Raul Lino was the architect who published the most in Portugal, having become known through his advocacy of the “Campanha da casa portuguesa” (“Portuguese house campaign”), which provoked a great deal of controversy among his peers. He is less known for the transversal quality of his synthesis between architecture, the decorative arts and territory, and its underlying affirmation of an idea of the city, which we conjecture from a diagonal reading of his theoretical and plastic narrative. We limit the analysis to the first half of the 20th century, concentrating on ten case studies, that encompass architectural projects, urbanistic plans and reports. The above expound the broad conception which he defended in the same year as was held the First National Architecture Congress (1948), whose proposals ratified in Portugal the orthodoxy established in 1933 by the International Congresses of Modern Architecture (CIAM). Quoting Aristotle Raul Lino conceived the city as the locus of happiness, shaping the possibilities of consensus between tradition and modernity by means of architecture, which is both envelope and stage for our collective existence. In fact, Raul Lino anticipated themes to be found in the narratives of authors like Aldo Rossi (1966), Paul Virilio (2004, 2009) or Peter Zumthor (2006), and his thought proves particularly relevant and timely in the present day.

Lower back musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are an important public health problem and the leading cause of disability worldwide, but with prevalence yet unknown among shellfish gatherers. To investigate the prevalence and work-related factors associated with lower back MSD in a population of female shellfish gatherers, an epidemiological cross-sectional study was carried out in Saubara, Bahia – Brazil, in 2013. The Brazilian version of the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ), in addition to a questionnaire containing the physical demands adapted to the artisanal work, were applied to a random sample of 209 female shellfish gatherers. The prevalence of lower back MSD was 72.7%. Using multivariate logistic regression, the shellfish gatherers who had worked for more than 26 years in the activity showed a prevalence of 1.22 (95% CI: 1.04-1.44) times higher compared to those unexposed. Lower back MSD was 1.24 (95%CI: 1.08-1.42) times higher among those more exposed to work sitting with trunk flexion. Those performed manual handling and muscle force with the arms had a prevalence ratio of 1.18 (95%CI: 1.01-1.39). These results show the need for greater awareness of health and social welfare factors impacting workers in small-scale fisheries and will promote the elaboration of health care policies for this occupational class.

The use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) is a great contribution to medical studies since the application of forecasting concepts allows the analysis of future diseases propagations. In this context, this paper presents a study of the new coronavirus SARS-COV-2 with a focus on verifying the virus propagation associated with mitigation procedures and massive vaccination campaigns. There were proposed two methodologies to predict 28 days ahead the number of new cases, deaths, and ICU patients of five European countries: Portugal, France, Italy, United Kingdom, and Germany, and a case study of the results of massive immunization in Israel. The data input of cases, deaths, and daily ICU patients was normalized to reduce discrepant numbers due to the countries size, and the cumulative vaccination values by the percentage of population immunized, at least with one dose of vaccine. As a comparative criterion, the calculation of the mean absolute error (MAE) of all predictions presents the best methodology and targets other possibilities of use for the proposed method. The best architecture achieved a general MAE for the 1 to 28 days ahead forecast lower than 30 cases, 0,6 deaths and 2,5 ICU patients by million people.

Despite the need for a sustainable energy resource, bioenergy gained its spotlight in the 2000s. Sugarcane is a significant crop in terms of sugar and energy capacity, and it can be an alternative energy source to mitigate the effects of climate change. Bioenergy production from sugarcane in Brazil is one of the most efficient. This production lends a centrality to biofuels' importance in confronting the effects of climate change. The present article reviews the Brazilian history of this crop as a biofuel source. We highlight the historical changes related to scientific, technological, industrial, and environmental advances since the beginning of the 20th century. We describe how creating governmental institutes and disseminating scientific knowledge strengthened public policies that led Brazil to occupy leadership positions in producing, distributing, and using bioenergy throughout the country. The compiled data shows the improvement and the new approaches needed in ethanol sugarcane. We developed a bibliometric analysis to evaluate Brazilian science's contribution to this process compared to other countries. Brazil's history of science and investments in sugarcane biofuel development for transportation may be divided into two phases: ethanol-only and flex-fuel cars. A third phase is starting, which is the ethanol-to-hydrogen era.

Nails are a simple and viable solution to connect sections of wooden structures. Although they are the oldest and most traditional connection elements there is a considerable knowledge gap concerning the use of larger sized, threaded nails, in tropical hardwoods. The objective of this project was to evaluate the effect of different nail models and diameters on the withdrawal resistance of Allantoma decandra wood and verify the efficiency of the existing nail withdrawal resistance prediction equations. Withdrawal tests were carried out using three nail models (smooth, helical, and annular), of two different diameters (2.8 mm and 3.5 mm). For each combination, ten Allantoma decandra wood specimens were used. Four nails were inserted 3.2 mm into each wood specimen and then withdrawn using a universal testing machine with 600 kN capacity, according to the procedures of ASTM D-143-2014. The nail model was the most relevant factor in this study, having a direct influence on withdrawal resistance. Annular nails presented the highest resistance values, followed by helical and smooth nails. The nail diameter had no significant effect on the maximum load result. The equations for withdrawal resistance prediction demonstrated considerable accuracy regarding the experimentally obtained data, being important tools to anticipate the behavior of wooden structures.

The bio-oil obtained by pyrolysis of Açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) seeds at 450 ºC, 1.0 atmosphere, in technical scale, submitted to fractional distillation to produce biofuels-like fractions. The distillation of bio-oil carried out in a laboratory distillation column (Vigreux) of 30 cm. The physical-chemistry properties (density, kinematic viscosity, acid value and refractive index) determined by official methods. The chemical functions present in distillation fractions determined by FT-IR and the chemical composition by GC-MS. The distillation of bio-oil yielded gasoline, light kerosene, and kerosene-like fuel fractions of 16.16, 19.56, and 41.89% (wt.), respectively. All the physical-chemistry properties (density, kinematic viscosity, acid value and refractive index) increase with boiling temperature. The gasoline-like fraction is composed by 64.0% (area.) hydrocarbons and 36.0% (area.) oxygenates, while light kerosene-like fraction by 66.67% (area.) hydrocarbons and 33.33% (area.) oxygenates, and kerosene-like fraction by 19.87% (area.) hydrocarbons and 81.13% (area.) oxygenates.

The study of the optical properties of biological tissues for a wide spectral range is necessary for the development and planning of noninvasive optical methods to be used in clinical practice. In this study, we propose a new method to calculate almost all optical properties of tissues as a function of wavelength directly from spectral measurements. Using this method and with the exception of the reduced scattering coefficient, which was obtained by traditional simulation methods, all the other optical properties were calculated in a simple and fast manner for human and pathological colorectal tissues. The obtained results are in good agreement with previous published data, both in magnitude and in wavelength dependence. Since this method is based on spectral measurements and not on discrete-wavelength experimental data, the calculated optical properties contain spectral signatures that correspond to major tissue chromophores such as DNA and hemoglobin. Analysis of the absorption bands of hemoglobin in the wavelength dependence of the absorption spectra of normal and pathological colorectal mucosa allowed to identify differentiated accumulation of a pigment in these tissues. The increased content of this pigment in the pathological mucosa may be used for the future development of noninvasive diagnostic methods for colorectal cancer detection.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the blending and grinding influence over the nutritional, sensorial and sustainable aspects of coffee. To do so, a systematic review of the literature was accomplished. The database for the selection of relevant papers was the Portal de Periódicos da Capes, with remote access via CAFe. For the elaboration of the research, a chronological criterion with period restriction was used, considering the period between 2008-2022, to access all possible works related to the theme of this work. The following terms were used: blending; grinding; coffee; nutrition-al; sensorial; sustainability. To filter the searches, the association of these terms was also used by means of links and word associations. In the terminology, the Boolean operator AND was used to interconnect the terms used. Roasting degree, grinding, and amount of each coffee species impacts the nutritional and sensorial aspects of coffee. And the determination of each blending influences the sustainability of the environment, economic and social aspects of the coffee chain.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic caused by spreading rapidly a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has imposed a unique situation for the humanity. Sao Paulo has reported 124,105 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 5,623 deaths up to June 14th, being considered the epicenter of the pandemic in Brazil and in South America. Due to the measures for social distancing, there was a drop in the air pollution concentration in Sao Paulo. Starting on March 16th, 2020, we broke 90 days of social distancing into 13 weeks and compared to an equivalent period in 2019. We investigated the air quality improvement during the quarantine period and compared the associated avoided deaths to COVID-19 burden deaths. Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) was the best indicator of air quality in the analyzed weeks, since its reduction reached 58 %. Our study showed that the 5,623 deaths occurred during the analyzed weeks of quarantine represents an economic health loss of US$ 10.5 billion. In opposite, we observed a significant air quality improvement due to pollutants concentrations’ reductions during the analyzed weeks. Considering PM₁₀, PM_2.5 and NO₂, the decrease of concentration levels respectively avoided 78, 337 and 387 premature deaths and prevented up to US$ 1.5 billion on health costs. These results highlight the importance of continuing to enforce existing air pollution regulations and measures to protect human health both during and after COVID-19 pandemic.

Mimosa acutistipula is endemic to Brazil and grows in ferruginous outcrops (canga) in Serra dos Carajás, eastern Amazon, where one of the largest iron ore deposits in the world is located. Plants that develop in these ecosystems are subject to severe environmental conditions and must have adaptive mechanisms to grow and thrive in cangas. Mimosa acutistipula is a native species used to restore biodiversity in post-mining areas in canga. Understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the adaptation of M. acutistipula in canga is essential to deduce the ability of native species to adapt to possible stressors in rehabilitating minelands over time. In this study, the root proteomic profiles of M. acutistipula grown in a native canga ecosystem and rehabilitating minelands were compared to identify essential proteins involved in the adaptation of this species in its native environment and that should enable its establishment in rehabilitating minelands. The results showed differentially abundant proteins, where 436 proteins with significant values (p < 0.05) and fold change ≥ 2 were more abundant in canga and 145 in roots from the rehabilitating minelands. Among them, a representative amount and diversity of proteins were related to responses to water deficit, heat, and responses to metal ions. Other identified proteins are involved in biocontrol activity against phytopathogens and symbiosis. This research provides insights into proteins involved in M. acutistipula responses to environmental stimuli, suggesting critical mechanisms to support the establishment of native canga plants in rehabilitating minelands over time.

Background: Considering its deleterious effects on health, as well as the importance of information to support actions, strategies and public policies, this study was aimed to identify and classify the risk factors for consumption of ultra-processed foods among Brazilian adolescents. Data sources: targeting observational studies involving samples of Brazilian adolescents (11 to 19 years old), which evaluated possible associations between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and individual, interpersonal, environmental and public policies variables, in October 2022, a systematic review was conducted, consulting electronic databases (Lilacs, Pubmed, Scielo, Scopus and Web of Science), Google Scholar and the reference lists of included articles. Data synthesis: The descriptive synthesis consisted of 11 papers, representing nine original studies. In general, the consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with different individual, interpersonal and environmental variables. More specifically, the following variables can be highlighted: sedentary behavior (specially screen time), studying at a private school, having a higher Body Mass Index and being female. Conclusions: Based on this evidence, it is important to direct actions, strategies and public policies aimed at confronting the consumption of ultra-processed foods for these groups.

The use of unmanned aerial aircrafts (UAVs) is governed by strict regulatory frameworks that prioritize safety. To guarantee safety, it is necessary to acquire and maintain situational awareness (SA) throughout the operation. Existing Canadian regulations require pilots to operate their aircrafts in visual line-of-sight. Therefore, the task of acquiring and maintaining SA primary falls to the pilots. However, the development of aerial transport is entering a new era with the adoption of a highly dynamic and complex system known as advanced air mobility (AAM), which involves UAV operating autonomously beyond visual line-of-sight. SA must therefore be acquired and maintained primarily by each UAV through specific technologies and procedures. In this paper, we review these technologies and procedures in order to decompose the SA of the UAV in the AAM. We then use the system modeling language to provide a high-level structural and behavioral representation of the AAM as a system having UAV as its main entity. In a case study, we analyze one of the flagships UAVs of our industrial partner. Results show that this UAV doesn’t have all the technologies and methodologies necessary to achieve all the identified SA goals identified for the safety of the AAM. This work is a theoretical framework intended to contribute to the realization of the AAM, and we also expect to impact the future design and utilization of UAVs.

Almost four years after COVID-19 was declared a global health emergency, equitable distribution of the vaccine remains a challenge, especially among homeless people, the fastest growing population in Brazil. Therefore, we sought to identify the factors associated with completion of the COVID-19 vaccination schedule among homeless people in Brazil. Materials and Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study in the capital cities of Brazil's Federative Units, considering people living on the streets as the target population. We used a sequential inclusion approach, with individual interviews conducted by trained professionals, using a validated questionnaire. We used descriptive statistics to analyze the data and a binary logistic regression model to identify factors associated with homeless individuals who completed the COVID-19 vaccination schedule. Results: It was identified that the highest density of homeless people and indicators related to COVID-19 is located in the Northeast, Southeast and South regions of Brazil. The primary data sample consisted of 1,392 participants, predominantly male (n: 961; 69.0%), with an average age of 38.3±15.2 years, belonging to the black/brown race/color (n: 1,097; 78.8%), with an elementary school education (n: 1,060; 76.1%). The factors associated with completing the vaccination schedule were: receiving government aid (OR: 1.58; 95%CI: 1.09 - 2.30), visits from Health Agents from the Street Clinic (OR: 3.19; 95%CI: 1.95 - 5.36), history of COVID-19 (OR: 5.77; 95%CI: 3.17 - 11.15), support for mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 (OR: 3.76; 95%CI: 2.48 - 5.76), trust in the efficacy of vaccines (OR: 3.92; 95%CI: 2.63 - 5.89), seeking information from NGOs, street clinics, community leaders (OR: 1.91; 95%CI: 1.01 - 3.88) and trust in the Federal Government's statements on vaccines (OR: 1.57; 95%CI: 1.06 - 2.31).Conclusion: The study advances knowledge by highlighting the completeness of the COVID-19 vaccination schedule among the homeless population. The source of information proved to be one of the determinants of completeness, and the Unified Health System played a leading role in raising awareness among homeless people, notably through its strategy of street clinics, when available. The evidence points to the importance of affirmative and inclusive actions that guarantee access to the vaccine for homeless people.

Cancer is often characterised by the presence of hypoxia and inflammation. Paramount to the mechanisms controlling cellular responses under such stress stimuli, are the transcription factor families of Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF) and Nuclear Factor of kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-кB). Although, a detailed understating of how these transcription factors respond to their cognate stimulus is well established, it is now appreciated that HIF and NF-кB undergo extensive crosstalk, in particular in pathological situations such as cancer. Here, we focus on the current knowledge on how HIF is activated by inflammation and how NF-кB is modulated by hypoxia. We summarise the evidence for the possible mechanism behind this activation and how HIF and NF-кB function impacts cancer, focusing on colorectal, breast and lung cancer. We discuss possible new points of therapeutic intervention aiming to harness the current understanding of the HIF-NF-кB crosstalk.

Assessing dietary inadequacies can contribute to understanding the nutritional vulnerabilities of a country. This study aimed to investigate nutrient intakes and micronutrient inadequacies in the Brazilian adult population, with an interest in different age subgroups. Cross-sectional study with 1812 individuals aged 19 to 65 years from a population-based study with a representative sample of Brazilian adults. Dietary intake was assessed by two 24-hour food recalls, and the probabilities of inadequate intake were estimated using the Dietary Reference Intake targets. Adequate macronutrient intake was over 99% for proteins, 84.7% for carbohydrates, and 80.7% for total fats. There was a high probability of inadequacy (above 90%) for vitamins D and E, but vitamin D inadequacy was very similar between sexes. In contrast, vitamin E was more likely to be inadequately consumed among women. A high probability of inadequacy (above 85%) of calcium and magnesium was found in the population, regardless of age group. Except for iron, the probability of inadequacy of other minerals increased with age. The results showed a relevant proportion of nutrient inadequacies, with those most at risk being women and older individuals, helping with better targeting and monitoring of public health policies that address nutritional problems in the population.

The advantage of FPGAs lies in the ability to implement a fully hardware solution for interfacing with various input/output (I/O) devices. Each block can work in parallel with all the others, simplifying the satisfaction of timing constraints. However, this hardware utilization consumes FPGA resources that could otherwise be allocated to the primary project. An alternative involves employing a small "soft-core" processor implementing I/O in software. With the goal to design and evaluate a new tiny soft-core processor optimized for FPGA resources in I/O , a novel processor named Baby8 is developed. It is an 8-bit CISC soft-core processor optimized for reduced FPGA resources including program size for 8-bit applications. The number of instructions is not large but any instruction can access arbitrary memory locations. The performance and resource utilization of the newly designed processor are evaluated and compared with a variety of other soft-core processors. The results demonstrate its competitive performance, achieving an average maximum clock frequency of approximately 57 MHz and a power consumption of around 2mW. Furthermore, it conserves nearly half of the FPGA resources in implementation.

This paper provides a comparative analysis of AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and Salsa20 algorithm implementations, focusing on power consumption efficiency in passive RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags and ultra-low-power devices. The main objective of this work is to determine which of these algorithms is more suitable to operate in these types of devices. For this purpose, ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) implementations of AES and Salsa20 based on low-power approaches were developed and their power consumption was evaluated. Results demonstrate that Salsa20 power consumption is lower than AES (2.82μW and 4.01μW, respectively - both in 0.18μm), indicating that Salsa20 is a better choice than AES for passive RFID tags.

The introduction of biologic therapies has led to dramatic improvements in the management of moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Even though the efficacy and safety of the newer biologic agents are difficult to match, oral administration is considered an important advantage by many patients. Current research is focused on development of oral therapies with improved efficacy and safety compared to available alternatives, as exemplified by deucravacitinib, the first oral allosteric Tyk2 inhibitor approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis in adults. Recent advances in our knowledge of psoriasis pathogenesis have also led to the development of targeted topical molecules, mostly focused on intracellular signaling pathways, such as AhR, PDE-4 and Jak-STAT. Topical tapinarof, an AhR modulator, and roflumilast, a PDE-4 inhibitor, have exhibited favorable efficacy and safety outcomes have been approved by the FDA for the topical treatment of plaque psoriasis. This revision focuses on the most recent oral and topical therapies available for psoriasis and specially on those that are currently under evaluation and development for the treatment of psoriasis.

Antibodies are important tools for the study of membrane proteins in biological, biophysics and structural analyses. However, the production of purified membrane proteins is still a formidable challenge due to the amphipathic character and inherent instability of these proteins. In this work, we tested a strategy for producing antibodies against an ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) transporter without the need to produce the full membrane complex. Instead, just the extra cytoplasmic regions of the ABC-type transporter Rv1819c from Mycobacterium tuberculosis were presented in the RAD-display, a scaffold system based on the engineered Pyrococcus furiosus RadA protein developed for exposition of peptides. The RadA scaffold protein is highly stable, can tolerate long insertions and easy to produce in Escherichia coli. Based on the three-dimensional structure of Rv1891c, we selected two versions of the main extracellular loops of the permease to use as test cases for this approach. Rv1819c-derived peptides displayed on RAD display system were used for immunization of mice and production of polyclonal antibodies. These antibodies were able to recognize the transporter in M. tuberculosis cell extracts, on intact cells by flow cytometry and as purified protein. The results showed the approach can be a useful tool for in vitro analyses, screening, and evaluation of different epitopes in membrane proteins.

Growing evidence about the negative socio-environmental consequences of plastic pollution led to various initiatives for better plastic scrap governance and its trade. At the same time, an examination of recent data shows that plastic scrap represents only a fraction of recyclable materials which are traded internationally and are also subject to similar problems of cross-border environmental governance. A limited analysis comparing plastics, textiles, paper and ferrous metals suggests that ongoing momentum for improvement of plastic scrap governance and circularity should also be framed to consider other types of secondary materiais.

Sarcopenia is associated with clinical complications, which increase mortality. Effective sarcopenia risk screening in the elderly should be grounded in a comprehensive assessment, encompassing both nutritional status and medication use. Current screening tools, while emphasizing muscular per-formance, exhibit limited sensitivity in identifying elderly individuals at risk of sarcopenia. This cross-sectional study aimed to develop a sarcopenia risk screening tool, named Sarc-Global, with enhanced sensitivity, incorporating factors pertinent to the overall health of the elderly. Utilizing the criteria established by EWGSOP2 for diagnosing sarcopenia, we evaluated 395 communi-ty-dwelling elderly individuals. This evaluation served as a reference for assessing the efficacy of two validated questionnaires, Sarc-F and Sarc-CalF, and our newly developed Sarc-Global. Con-structed through multiple logistic regression, Sarc-Global integrates variables such as sex, age, medication use, body mass index, arm circumference, and handgrip strength – all significantly associated with sarcopenia (p

Covid-19 is a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, which has spread worldwide since the beginning of 2020. Several pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical strategies were proposed to contain the virus dissemination, including vaccination and lockdowns. One of the consequences of the pandemic was the denial or delay of access to convenient health care services, but also potentially the increase of adverse events within those services, like the number of hospital infections. Therefore, the main question here is: What happened to the performance and sustainability of hospitals? The main goal of this work was to test if the Portuguese public hospitals' performance has been affected by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We used the Benefit-of-Doubt method integrated with the Malmquist Index to analyze the performance evolution over time. Then, we employed a multiple regression model to test whether some pandemic-related variables could explain the performance results. We considered a database of 40 Portuguese public hospitals evaluated from January 2017 to May 2022. The period 2017 to 2019 corresponds to the baseline (pre-pandemic), against which the remaining period will be compared (during the pandemic). We also considered fourteen variables characterizing hospital quality, divided into three main performance definitions (efficiency and productivity; access; safety and care appropriateness). As potential explanatory variables, we consider seven dimensions, including vaccination rate and the need for intensive care for Covid-19 infected people. Results suggest that Covid-19 pandemic features help explain the drop on access after 2020, but not the evolution of safety and appropriateness of care, which surpris-ingly increased the whole time.

Abstract: Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a progressive uncurable neurodegenerative disease affect-ing millions worldwide. Various methods, including drug therapies and light emission diode (LED) irradiation, are promising alternatives for preventing and reducing the rapid progression of neurodegenerative diseases, also stimulating the reconstructing of neural tissue structures. In this study, we evaluated the neuroprotective and restorative effects of taurine combined with LED on human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y), under oxidative stress condition, a considerable modulator in AD. We evaluated LED at the wavelength of 660 nm and taurine under different concentrations before and after exposing SH-SY5Y cells to different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), assessing mitochondrial activity by the MTT colorimetric test and labeling live cell mitochondria by fluorescence using MitoTracker Orange. Cell viability was also evaluated by the trypan blue exclusion assay, and we verified cellular morphological structures by scan-ning electron microscopy (SEM). It was observed that neuroprotective effects are achieved by both LED and taurine when cells are exposed to them and later are stressed with H2O2. Compar-ing both agents, LED irradiation is sufficient to stimulate cell proliferation, representing an af-fordable candidate to contribute against neurodegeneration.

Hypoxia, or reduced oxygen availability, has been studied extensively for its ability to activate specific genes. Hypoxia induced gene expression is mediated by the HIF transcription factors, although not exclusively so. Despite the great knowledge on the mechanisms by which hypoxia activates genes, much less is known about how hypoxia promotes gene repression. In this review, we discuss the potential mechanisms underlying hypoxia-induced transcriptional repression responses. We highlight HIF-dependent and independent mechanisms, but also the potential roles of dioxygenases with functions at the nucleosome and DNA level. Finally, we discuss recent evidence regarding the involvement of transcriptional repressor complexes in hypoxia.

Hydrogels are water-absorbing polymers that can hydrate forage plants in the soil. The objec-tive was to evaluate the replacement of synthetic hydrogels derived from petroleum by biode-gradable hydrogels in Mombaça grass pastures (Megathyrsus maximum). The experimental treat-ments consisted of: No hydrogel (NH); Synthetic commercial hydrogel (CH), made from a syn-thetic polyacrylamide product; and Biodegradable test hydrogel (TH), obtained from cashew gum (Anacardium occidentale). The experimental design was randomized blocks with five replica-tions and three treatments. Morphogenesis, production, chemical and mineral composition of the Mombaça grass pasture were assessed. The data was subjected to analysis of variance and mean comparison by the Snott-Knott test at 5% probability. Leaf elongation rate was 42.3 mm day-1 in the TH treatment, which was higher (P<0.05) than NH (35.0 mm day-1). Green leaf mass yield was higher in TH in comparison to NH and CH. On the other hand, there was no effect of hydration on chemical composition. The mineral composition of Mombaça grass showed more Zn when TH was used. It can be concluded that biodegradable hydrogels can replace synthetic commercial hydrogels in pastures.

This review aimed to analyze the effects of additives in the process of producing silage from re-hydrated corn grains for ruminants. Control treatment studies used in this analysis was corn grain rehydrated with water only. To be included in the review, the studies needed to follow stand-ardized criteria, including the absence of additives in the control treatment and the evaluation of the silage in beef animals, such as cattle, goats, and sheep. A total of seven publications, published between 2014 and 2022, were included in the final dataset. To compare the results, the PROC ANOVA of SAS was used, which included a random effect of comparison within the study, per-forming a paired comparison. It was observed that the use of additives did not influence the chemical composition, pH, organic acid and ethanol content, microbial population, fermentative losses, aerobic stability, and dry matter in vitro digestibility of rehydrated corn grain silage (p >0.05). Based on this information, it is concluded that the use of additives in rehydrated corn grain silage did not show major differences on silage quality. It is important, however, to evaluate the effects of additives in silages on animal performance.

Then the purposes of this study were to compare and correlate the aerobic threshold (TH_aer) and anaerobic threshold (TH_anaer) measured during a new single judo specific incremental test and Treadmill Test for aerobic demand evaluation. Eight well-trained male competitive judo players (24.3±7.9 years; height of 169.3±6.7cm; fat mass of 12.7±3.9%) performed a maximal incremental specific test for judo mimicking the UchiKomi drills and on treadmill in different days. There was difference between specific and general TH_aer (P=0.0006) as well as weak correlation for TH_aer (r=0.32; R²=0.1; P=0.2) and TH_anaer (rs=-0.31; R²=0.1; P=0.12). When correlation was applied with normalized data (percentage of peak load) we observed moderate correlation for TH_aer (r=0.76; R²=0.58; P=0.027), but the same was not observed for TH_anaer. We conclude that there is a need of TH_aer and TH_anaer evaluation through a specific test for Judo.

Soil microorganisms plays an important role on plant development and the homogenization of soil microbiome is agri-environmental harmful. It is essential that agricultural practices are carried out taking soil microbiome preservation in consideration. Agroforestry systems are one of the most environmentally friendly agrosystems and its plant diversity influence directly the soil microbiome diversity. In addition, many technologies have been developed and used by applying inoculants in agriculture. However, most of the inoculants are developed with only one or a little number of microbial species to supply a specific plant nutritional demand. In this study we tested the efficacy of the microbial consortium (MC) obtained from compost and the cyanobacteria Arthrospira platensis (AP) comparing with the application of the vermicompost tea (VT) and bokashi (BK) in arugula, lettuce, beetroot, and carrot in an agroforestry system in two seasons. Soil changes on chemical properties and β-glucosidase and arylsulfatase were measured over time. The vegetables yield was measured and for arugula and lettuce the nutritional traits and plant root system were also evaluated. Greater plant yield, nutritional values, and plant root development was observed in the CM treated plants, AP and BK had similar results. Our results show that both CM and AP have potential to become a sustainable product for agricultural production

Portugal Mainland has hundreds of thousands of people living in the Atlantic coastal zone, with numerous high economic value activities and a high number of infrastructures that must be protected from natural coastal hazard, namely extreme storms and sea level rise (SLR). In the context of climate change adaptation strategies, a reliable and accurate assessment of the physical vulnerability to SLR is crucial. This study is a contribution to the implementation of flooding standards imposed by the European Directive 2007/60/EC, which requires each member state to assess the risk associated to SLR and floods caused by extreme events. Therefore, coastal hazard in the Continental Atlantic coast of Portugal Mainland was evaluated for 2025, 2050 and 2100 in the whole coastal extension with different sea level scenarios for different extreme event return periods and due to SLR. A coastal flooding probabilistic map was produced based on the developed methodology using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology. The Extreme Flood Hazard Index (EFHI) was determined on flood probabilistic bases through five probability intervals of 20% of amplitude. For a given SLR scenario, the EFHI is expressed, on the probabilistic flooding maps for an extreme tidal maximum level, by five hazard classes ranging from 1 (Very Low) to 5 (Extreme).

Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) is associated with access and use of public open spaces. The “President João Goulart Elevated Avenue” and current denominated “Minhocão” is a facility for leisure activities that are open for people during the night/weekends. The aim of this study was to examine if the prevalence of LTPA among individuals living in the surroundings of Minhocão is different according to proximity to, and use of, the facility. We conducted a cross-sectional study with cluster sampling with people aged ≥18 years who lived in households until 500m and between 501m to 1500m of Minhocão. The survey was conducted between December/2017 until March/2019 with an electronic questionnaire self-responded. We conducted bivariate analysis and Poisson regression to examine possible differences in LTPA according to the proximity of residences and use of Minhocão. The analysis used post-stratification weights. A total of 12,030 telephone numbers of people were drawn (≤500m = 6,942; and &gt;500m to ≤1500m = 5,088). The final sample analyzed were of 235 residents who returned the questionnaires. There was a higher prevalence of individuals engaging in at least 150 minutes per week of LTPA among users than non-users (Prevalence Ratio=2.23, IC95%1.72-2.90). People who used the park had higher prevalence of all types of LTPA than non-users. The results can serve to inform government decision-making on the future of Minhocão.

Quantum revival phenomena, wherein the wave function of a quantum system periodically returns to its initial state after evolving in time, are investigated in this study. Focusing on electrons confined within a quantum box with an impurity, both weak and strong coupling regimes are explored, revealing intricate relationships between impurity parameters and temporal dynamics. The investigation considers the influence of impurity position, impurity strength, and external factors such as aluminum concentration, temperature, and hydrostatic pressure on classical periods and revival times. Through analytical derivations and graphical analyses, the study elucidates the sensitivity of quantum revivals to these parameters, providing valuable insights into the fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics. While no specific physical applications are discussed, the findings offer implications for quantum heat engines and other quantum-based technologies, emphasizing the importance of understanding quantum revivals in confined quantum systems.

In this work, we propose an approach for the autonomous navigation of mobile robots using fusion of sensor data by a Double Deep Q-Network with collision avoidance by detecting moving people via computer vision techniques. We evaluate two data fusion methods for the proposed autonomous navigation approach: Interactive and Late fusion strategy. Both are used to integrate mobile robot sensors through the following sensors: GPS, IMU and, an RGB-D camera. The proposed collision avoidance module is implemented along with the sensor fusion architecture in order to prevent the autonomous mobile robot from colliding with moving people. The simulation results indicate a significant impact on the success of completing the proposed mission by the mobile robot with the fusion of sensors, indicating a performance increase (success rate) of 27% in relation to navigation without sensor fusion. With the addition of moving people in the environment, deploying the people detection and collision avoidance security module has improved about 14% the success rate when compared to that of the autonomous navigation approach without the security module. Video was developed with robot navigation using the DDQN-Late Fusion https://www.loom.com/share/684afa6a5b0148afadc9a200ab9f3483.

In this work, the cross-linked PMMA-based dental resins scraps were submitted to pyrolysis to recover MMA (Methylmethacrylate). The thermal degradation of cross-linked PMMA-based dental resins scraps was analyzed by TG/DTG to guide the operating conditions in pilot scale. The pyrolysis experiments carried out in a reactor of 143L, at 345, 405, and 420°C, 1.0 atmosphere. The reaction liquid products obtained at 345°C, physicochemical characterized for density, kinematic viscosity, and refractive index. The chemical composition of liquid products obtained at 345°C, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 110 minutes, at 405°C, 50, 70, and 130 minutes, and at 420°C, 40, 50, 80, 100, 110, and 130 minutes determined by GC-MS. The experiments show that liquid phase yields were 55.50%, 48.73%, and 48.20% (wt.), at 345, 405, and 420°C, respectively, showing a smooth sigmoid behavior, decreasing with increasing temperature, while that of gas phase were 31.69%, 36.60%, and 40.13% (wt.), respectively, increasing with temperature. The liquid products density, kinematic viscosity, and refractive index obtained at 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 110 minutes, varied between 0.9227 and 0.9380 g/mL, 0.566 and 0.588 mm2/s, and 1.401 and 1.414, respectively, showing percentage deviations between 0.74 and 2.36%, 7.40 and 10.86%, and 0.00 and 0.92%, respectively, compared to standard values for density, kinematic viscosity, and refractive index of pure MMA at 20 °C. The GC-MS identified in the reaction liquid products at 345, 405, and 420°C, 1.0 atm, esters of carboxylic acids, alcohols, ketones, and aromatics, showing concentrations of MMA between 83.454 and 98.975% (area.). For all the depolymerization experiments, the concentrations of MMA in the liquid phase, between 30 and 80 minutes, reach purities above 98% (area.), decreasing drastically with increasing reaction time after 100 minutes, thus making it possible to depolymerize the cross-linked PMMA-based dental resins scraps by pyrolysis to recover MMA. The optimum operating conditions to achieve high MMA concentrations, as well as elevated yields of liquid reaction products were 345 °C and 80 minutes.

Smart grids represent the evolution of traditional electrical grids through the integration of digital and communication technologies. These grids are capable of monitoring and managing the distribution of electricity efficiently and resiliently. Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays a crucial role in this context, offering advanced solutions for optimization, forecasting, and energy management. This paper explores the main AI technologies applied to smart grids, highlighting their advantages, challenges, and impacts on energy efficiency and sustainability. The methodology employed includes a comprehensive literature review, analysis of current AI applications in smart grids, and examination of case studies to illustrate the practical implementation and benefits of AI technologies in this field.

COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has spread around the world and killed around 6.9 million people. Rapid and accurate diagnosis is essential for preventing and controlling the disease, reducing transmission and consequently saving lives. RT-PCR is the gold standard test used to detect the disease. However, the test is expensive and the result is time-consuming, which makes mass testing difficult, especially in countries with limited resources. In addition, the test has high analytical specificity and low diagnostic sensitivity, which leads to false-negative results. Several studies in the literature report the presence of hematological and biochemical alterations in infected patients and use these alterations with machine learning algorithms to help diagnose the disease. Therefore, this article presents the results obtained by different neural network architectures based on Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) for the diagnosis of COVID-19. The study was conducted in two distinct stages: the first consisted of selecting the best ART network among several, using three open-access datasets and comparing the results with the literature. In the second stage, the chosen model was tested on a dataset containing patients from various hospitals in four countries. In addition, the model was subjected to external validation, including data from a country not present during the training and adjustment of the model, in order to validate the robustness and generalization capacity of the model. The results obtained by the ART networks in this study are promising, outperforming not only classical models, but also the deep learning models often used in the literature. Validation on data from different countries strengthens the model’s reliability and effectiveness.