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A validação é uma etapa metodológica do design e ocorre pelo pensamento cético que duvida da capacidade dos sentidos em reconhecer os objetos tais quais são em si mesmos. O artigo objetiva compreender, por uma reflexão sistemática, a influência e a aplicação do pensamento cético filosófico na validação como processo de design. Foi realizada uma pesquisa bibliográfica de natureza aplicada e abordagem qualitativa. Como resultado foi gerado um quadro ilustrativo do design contemporâneo através do ceticismo. A relevância da filosofia no design se evidencia na disposição a reflexão e análise da prática do design quanto a seus métodos e resultados.

Naming é o processo de criação e desenvolvimento de nomes. É uma atividade complexa que requer sonoridade, criatividade e pertinência semântica em relação ao produto, ou serviço, em questão. O processo de Naming necessita propor uma solução única e diferenciadora, podendo haver dificuldade em casos em que nomes similares já tenham sido utilizados. Dessa forma, criatividade é um elemento fundamental, bem como o uso de métodos e ferramentas que contribuam para que esse processo ocorra. Nesse sentido, este artigo demonstra a aplicabilidade de mapas semânticos como possibilidade inovadora no processo de naming, em um estudo de caso da marca Buenna. Ao final, são apresentados os resultados dos mapas enquanto ferramentas estratégicas potenciais de Gestão da Informação Aplicada, contribuindo para o âmbito das áreas de Gestão de Design e Publicidade.

Energy saving in street lighting is garnering more interest and has become a priority in municipal management. Therefore, LED luminaires are gradually becoming prevalent in our cities. Beyond their energy/economic saving potential, quality in public lighting installations concerns aspects such as uniformity and glare which must be maintained if not improved in any installation renewal project using this technology. The high light intensity generated in a discrete point in LED packages and its directional nature result in significant deficiencies in these last two parameters. To soften these effects, translucent covers are being used as one of the most common solutions with the drawback of significant light intensity losses. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the behavior of LED luminaire’s polyamide-based optical covers manufactured with a laser-sintered process. These are designed to improve glare and uniformity output, to minimize light output reductions, and to be industrially manufactured with no increment of cost for their lighting equipment compared to conventional transparent polycarbonate solutions. A laboratory and field lighting test study has been applied to different covers with the same LED lamp and luminaire to compare the performance of three different solutions built with different polymeric materials and with different light transmission surface textures. The photometric results have been observed and discussed to demonstrate the ability to significantly improve the lighting performance of LED luminaires—illuminance and uniformity levels and discomfort and disability glare indexes— using an improved optic cover.

In this study, silica and functionalized silica materials (3-aminopropyl and 3-mercapto derivatives) were successfully used for the removal of the pesticides bentazone and imazapyc from aqueous solutions. Adsorbent materials were characterized by BET isotherms and FT-IR spectroscopy (confirming the functionalization), and their equilibrium adsorption capacity was evaluated at different ionic strengths. It is observed that the maximum adsorption capacities decrease in the order 3-aminopropyl-derivative > silica >3-mercaptopropyl derivative. An increase in ionic strength produces an enhancement in the removal of pesticides. All isotherms are Ib-type and follow the Langmuir model, suggesting a monolayer physical adsorption process. • Functionalized silica is successfully used for bentazone and imazapyc removal. • The maximum adsorption capacities is 3-aminopropyl > silica >3-mercaptopropyl • An increase in ionic strength produces an enhancement in the removal of pesticides. • Isotherms are Ib-type and follow the Langmuir model (monolayer physical adsorption). • The values efficiency are 50–70% in bentazone and 40–50% in imazapyc removals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mammalian females, quiescent primordial follicles serve as the ovarian reserve and sustain normal ovarian function and egg production via folliculogenesis. The loss of primordial follicles causes ovarian aging. Cellular senescence, characterized by cell cycle arrest and production of the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), is associated with tissue aging. In the present study, we report that some quiescent primary oocytes in primordial follicles become senescent in adult mouse ovaries. The senescent primary oocytes share senescence markers characterized in senescent somatic cells. The senescent primary oocytes were observed in young adult mouse ovaries, remained at approximately 15% of the total primary oocytes during ovarian aging from 6 to 12 months, and accumulated in aged ovaries. Administration of a senolytic drug ABT263 to 3-month-old mice reduced the percentage of senescent primary oocytes and the transcription of the SASP factors in the ovary, in addition, led to increased numbers of primordial and total follicles and a higher rate of oocyte maturation. Our study provides experimental evidence that primary oocytes, a germline cell type that is arrested in meiosis, become senescent in adult mouse ovaries and that senescent cell clearance reduced primordial follicle loss and mitigated ovarian aging phenotypes., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Emergent technologies are frequently demonized due to the fear of the unknown. The doubts and alarms are more often than not sparked by their own developers, in a secret wish to become the masters of such fears, and thereby increase their control and influence upon laymen. The story is as old as the use of fire by the sorcerers guiding most ancient rituals. Now it seems to be the turn of artificial intelligence (AI), which is being continuously tainted with quasi-apocalyptic shadows, despite its remarkable potentials for supporting highly desirable societal transformations.

Since the dawn of additive manufacturing technologies in the 1980s and 90s, now commonly named 3D printing, the possibility of processing raw materials into freeform designed objects with unprecedented shape complexity opened new avenues for the development of medical devices. Indeed, the geometries of nature and the human body are extremely multifaceted, with even fractal- like or multiscale levels of detail, counting with functional gradients of properties, including topology and topography optimizations, to cite some interesting features. In consequence, classical subtracting manufacturing technologies, shape forming tools, and mass production chains are suboptimal for personalizing medical devices and adequately emulating life.

Just before the COVID-19 pandemic, 2019 marked the 100th anniversary of the school and manifesto of the Bauhaus. Now that life is slowly returning to normal, it may be a good moment to celebrate one of the most transformative educational initiatives ever, with the motivation of developing a model that could also transform BME.

Important Lessons Can be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, which after more than two years of worldwide suffering is still among us. First, we now better understand that global health concerns cannot be tackled and solved individually and verify that the dream for universal health care is far from being fulfilled. Besides, biomedical technologies and medical devices, despite their transformative potential, cannot always reach those urgently needing them, due to centralized production, supply chain issues, intellectual property restrictions, and lack of raw materials and resources close to the point of care, which calls for a renovation of the biomedical industry aimed at sustainability and equity. To make matters worse, unethical behaviors of governments, companies, and citizens, from which the ongoing pandemic has provided plenty of examples, also endanger the already challenging progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including "Goal 3" on "Good Health and Well Being."

Antibodies and antibody fragments are nowadays among the most important biotechnological products, and Pichia pastoris is one of the most important vectors to produce them as well as other recombinant proteins. The conditions to effectively cultivate a P. pastoris strain previously genetically modified to produce the single-chain variable fragment anti low density lipoprotein (-) under the control of the alcohol oxidase promoter have been investigated in this study. In particular, it was evaluated if, and eventually how, the carbon source (glucose or glycerol) used in the preculture preceding cryopreservation in 20% glycerol influences both cell and antibody fragment productions either in flasks or in bioreactor. Although in flasks the volumetric productivity of the antibody fragment secreted by cells precultured, cryopreserved and reactivated in glycerol was 42.9% higher compared with cells precultured in glucose, the use of glycerol in bioreactor led to a remarkable shortening of the lag phase, thereby increasing it by no less than thrice compared to flasks. These results are quite promising in comparison with those reported in the literature for possible future industrial applications of this cultivation, taking into account that the overall process time was reduced by around 8h., (Copyright © 2017 Sociedade Brasileira de Microbiologia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.)

Intraoral devices for bite-force sensing have several applications in odontology and maxillofacial surgery, as bite-force measurements provide additional information to help understand the characteristics of bruxism disorders and can also be of help for the evaluation of post-surgical evolution and for comparison of alternative treatments. A new system for measuring human bite forces is proposed in this work. This system has future applications for the monitoring of bruxism events and as a complement for its conventional diagnosis. Bruxism is a pathology consisting of grinding or tight clenching of the upper and lower teeth, which leads to several problems such as lesions to the teeth, headaches, orofacial pain and important disorders of the temporomandibular joint. The prototype uses a magnetic field communication scheme similar to low-frequency radio frequency identification (RFID) technology (NFC). The reader generates a low-frequency magnetic field that is used as the information carrier and powers the sensor. The system is notable because it uses an intra-mouth passive sensor and an external interrogator, which remotely records and processes information regarding a patient's dental activity. This permits a quantitative assessment of bite-force, without requiring intra-mouth batteries, and can provide supplementary information to polysomnographic recordings, current most adequate early diagnostic method, so as to initiate corrective actions before irreversible dental wear appears. In addition to describing the system's operational principles and the manufacture of personalized prototypes, this report will also demonstrate the feasibility of the system and results from the first in vitro and in vivo trials.