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Technologies based on microalgae-bacteria seem to be sustainable options for wastewater treatment and reuse, with lower costs than conventional biological treatment technologies. Furthermore, they can generate added-value products produced from algae biomass. Among other advantages, the consortium bacteriaalgae produce photosynthetic oxygen through the microalgae, which can be used by aerobic bacteria for oxidizing organic matter and nitrogen, thus reducing the need for introducing artificial oxygen. In this review paper, the main systems that use microalgaebacteria consortium are discussed. Microalgae-bacteria present advantages in the removal of organics, nitrogen and phosphorus, when compared with conventional biological treatment systems (e.g., activated sludge, percolating filters and ponds), and are able to produce final effluents for reuse (e.g., in agricultural irrigation, industry or aquifer recharge) and excess of microalgae that can be converted to added-value products such as biogas and biofuels. Attention is given to the innovative aspects of applying photobioreators to the treatment and reuse of pulp and paper effluents and fiber-waste-based recycling wastewaters, which seems to open a new opportunity for the pulp, paper and recycling paper industries. Keywords: fiber-waste-based industry, microalgae-bacteria consortium, removal of nutrients, wastewater treatment

This study focused on five different subspecies of Portuguese Daucus carota L., to identify the main compounds in the essential oils of umbels from each subspecies. The isolation of the essential oils was performed by hydrodistillation methods followed by further composition analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, ultimately demonstrating that each subspecies had different major compounds. This study concluded that the main compounds found in Daucus carota subsp. maritimus were geranyl acetate, followed by trans-methyl-isoeugenol, α-pinene, cis-asarone and elemicin. Daucus carota subsp. hispidus presented with the major compounds as geranyl acetate, caryophyllene oxide, trans-methyl-isoeugenol and sabinene. For Daucus carota subsp. maximus, the major compounds were cis-asarone, geranyl acetate and elemicin, which was similar to Daucus carota subsp. carota which presented with the major compounds as geranyl acetate, cis-asarone, trans-methylisoeugenol and α-pinene. Finally, the major components of Daucus carota subsp. sativus were carotol and daucol. Keywords: essential oils, chemical composition, Daucus carota, hydrodistillation, GC-MS

Objetivo: O estudo teve como objetivo descrever o papel da história de polí­ticas públicas e de fatores de vulnerabilidade ainda associados í transmissão da hansení­ase no Brasil. Método: Trata-se de um estudo descritivo através de revisão bibliográfica a partir de busca de artigos dos últimos 20 anos em bases de dados. Resultados: Verificou-se que fatores biológicos, clí­nicos, socioeconômicos e polí­ticos ainda encontram-se sendo relevantes para manutenção de elevados í­ndices e de incapacidades fí­sicas associados í hansení­ase no paí­s. Conclusão: Os autores recomendam para atingir os objetivos propostos pela Organização Mundial de Saúde de eliminação da hansení­ase, uma abordagem multiprofissional, com atores das áreas de saúde, humanas e exatas, em ações integradas entre a atenção básica, vigilância em saúde e gestores de polí­ticas públicas.

Voxar Labs is a research group focused in augmenting experiences through research, innovation and collaboration with academia and industry. It develops cutting-edge multi-disciplinary research in the large area of Spatial Computing, tackling the inner areas of Extended Reality, Computer Vision and Natural Interaction. The laboratory aims to create impact through R&D&I, technology transfer, scientific publications, patents and human-resources formation. It is one of the most productive Augmented Reality research groups in the Latin America, also being recognized with seven best papers and ten first-place competitions’ prizes over the nine years of its existence. Voxar Labs is part of the Informatics Center of the Federal University of Pernambuco, located in Recife – Pernambuco, Brazil.

Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan with worldwide prevalence, known to affect a large variety of warm-blooded hosts. However, its ability to induce long-lasting infections in cold-blooded animals remains unclear. The most likely source of infection is through consumption of meat containing tissue cysts or by ingestion of food or water contaminated with oocysts. The current global climate change trend and the progressive degradation of natural habitats are prone to alter the distribution of ectotherm populations over a short period of time, which may favor contact between these animals and the protozoan. In association, alligator meat is considered a delicacy in many regions and its consumption has been previously related to a diversity of foodborne diseases. In that sense, we proposed in this study to search for specific antibodies against T. gondii in serum samples of two common species of alligators from the Brazilian fauna (Melanosuchus niger and Caimam crocodilus). We obtained the serum samples from 84 alligators from the Araguaia region, which were tested by agglutination assays that do not require species-specific secondary antibodies (Modified Agglutination Test – MAT; Indirect Hemagglutination Assay – IHA). From the 84 samples tested, eight (9.5%) were positive by MAT. From those, seven (87.5% of MAT+, 8.3% of the total) were also positive by IHA, reassuring a probable exposure of these animals to the parasite. Direct parasite detection in muscle fragments of one serologically reactive alligator did not yield positive results. Our results provide serological evidence that Brazilian alligators may be exposed to T. gondii and further studies should be performed to elucidate whether alligators are natural hosts of this ubiquitous protozoan parasite., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • Exposure to T. gondii was verified in sera of 84 Brazilian alligators. • The serum samples were analyzed to 2 serological assays: MAT and HAI. • 7 samples were found to be positive in bothserological tests.

With the rapid adoption of green infrastructure and nature-based solutions for a low-impact development, much consideration is given to ecosystem services and the ecological enhancement in modern planning of urban spaces. Artificial landscape water bodies have, in recent years, been utilized to enhance the ecological quality of urban environments. As an environmentally friendly measure, the water source of these waters has predominantly been adopting reclaimed water (treated wastewater). As a result, landscape water bodies are often eutrophic, exhibiting poor hydrodynamics, with lengthy water change cycles, creating the ideal environment for algal blooms that negatively impact the aesthetic appeal of these landscape waters. Based on the existing literature, this paper summarizes the treatment techniques and strategies employed in enhancing the quality of urban artificial landscape water bodies and providing integrated design solutions in the urban environment.

Portals are commonly used in video games (e.g., games like Portal, Antichamber, and the classic Asteroids). In this work we introduce GoThrough, a tool that enables users with little to no previous knowledge to add transformative portals to 3D scenes in the Unity game engine. We map the existing literature in portals, both in terms of academic works and web resources, as well as entertainment usages. Then, we introduce an approach for portals to work robustly both in terms of geometry and rendering, and explore common pitfalls (as well as how to handle them). The tool is shown to work in a variety of example scenarios, and has been evaluated quantitatively for performance, providing real-time performance in a variety of scenarios. User tests have also been conducted in order to analyse GoThrough qualitatively. With a SUS score of 87.5, we concluded that GoThrough is intuitive enough to be used by non-experts, making the process of creating impossible 3D worlds much less cumbersome.

Through the last decade, the creation of extended reality (XR) solutions has significantly increased due to the advent of cheaper, more advanced, and accessible instruments like smartphones, headsets, platforms, development kits, and engines. For instance, the number of GitHub repositories for XR related projects jumped from 51 in 2010 to over 15,000 in 2020. At the same time, the developer community approaches the creation of XR applications using inherited design processes and methods from past mainstream platforms such as web, mobile, or even product design. Unfortunately, those platforms do not consider the spatial aspects of these applications. In this paper, we present a revisited design process and a toolkit focused on the challenges innate to XR, that aims to help beginners and experienced teams in the creation of applications and interactions in Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality. We also present a compendium of 113 techniques and 118 guidelines and a set of canvases that guides users through the process, preventing them from skipping important tasks and discoveries. At last, we present a pilot case where we accompany a team with developers and designers running our process and using our toolkit for the first time, showing the benefits of a process that strikes specific issues of XR apps.

Cultural spaces like art galleries or museums are, in general, not accessible to blind or low vision visitors. Most of them do not have haptic support or when it has, the users do not have the experience to understand adapted art. This paper proposes a process to improve accessibility to visual art by for blind people improving knowledge on the creation and interpretation of photography. Initially, a photography workshop was applied to a group of three individuals with different levels of visual impairment. In the first part, researchers explained the basic concepts of photography like composing, lighting, and camera. Then, the participants choose their subjects and captured images. After the workshop, the research team built six haptic plaster pieces. Later, a final meeting and a public exhibition took place to collect users feedback and show their final results. With this process, we provide a path to improve the autonomy of blind people on image reading, photographic production, and haptic perception, giving them tools to interpret not just their captured images, but different visual art, using their own experiences. This work can also be extended to understand the challenges of image/haptic based interfaces for people with low vision.

The focus of this paper is on the treatment of a reentrant and flexible flow shop problem in which the processing times of the jobs at some stage may depend on the decisions made for the jobs at stages before and after the current stage, that is, they may depend on the machine sequence the jobs take in the processing flow. The problem was encountered in a cutting stock application embedded in the context of a virtual organisation. A mathematical model capturing the issues of reentrancy and machine sequence dependency is given. Solution procedures using a mixed-integer programming (MIP) solver and two metaheuristics, simulated annealing and tabu search are presented. The feasibility of the approach is established by computational tests with 30 randomly generated problem instances. The optimal results were obtained for all instances up to ten clients and five service providers and one instance with 15 clients and five service providers. The rest of the results were within the limits provided by the MIP solver.

Objectives: Retrospective clinical evaluation of 31 patients who underwent ulnar nerve decompression at the elbow and subcutaneous anterior transposition. Methods: From January 2000 to December 2013, 71 patients underwent subcutaneous anterior transposition of the ulnar nerve. Thirty-one patients returned for evaluation. The mean follow-up period was 60 months. Patients were evaluated for the degree of satisfaction after surgery, paresthesia, pain, Tinel sign, Froment test and sensitivity test by esthesiometer, muscle strength of the intrinsic muscles and deep flexor of the fifth digit, visual analogic pain scale (VAS) and were subjected to the QuickDash questionnaire. Results: Thirty-nine per cent of patients had compression on the right side and 61% on the left side. Sixty-one percent were idiopathic, 35% post traumatic and 3% had Poems syndrome. Forty-eight per cent of patients were very much satisfied after surgery and 52% were satisfied. Forty-eight per cent had paresthesia after surgery and 52% did not. Conclusion: The ulnar neurolysis of the cubital tunnel with anterior subcutaneous transposition is a safe and effective technique for treating idiopathic or post-traumatic compressive neuropathy, with high success rate and excellent function for activities of daily living. Level of Evidence IV, Case Series.

Neospora caninum is an intracellular protozoan parasite that has drawn increasing interest due to its association with worldwide repetitive bovine abortions, which cause billionaire losses to the meat and dairy industries annually. Innate immunity plays an important role in infection control, and N. caninum activates the production of inflammatory mediators through Toll-like Receptors (TLR), Nod-Like Receptors (NLR) and Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways. Advances in the knowledge of initial host-parasite interactions are desirable for the design of control measures against the infection, obliterating its pathogenesis. In that sense, we here aimed to describe the role of the innate C-type lectin receptor (CLR) Dectin-1 during the infection by N. caninum. With that intent, we observed that the absence of Dectin-1, observed in genetically depleted (Dectin-1-/-) mice or competitively inhibited by an inert agonist (Laminarin, LAM), rescued 50% of the mice infected with lethal doses of N. caninum. Dectin-1-/- and LAM-treated mice also presented a reduction in the parasite load during acute and chronic phases, associated to decreased inflammatory scores in the central nervous system. Amongst all the cell phenotypes that migrated to the initial site of infection, dendritic cells and macrophages gained subpopulations with high Dectin-1 surface expression. The impairment of the receptor in these cells led to a decreased parasite burden, as well as augmented production of IL-12p40. We also found that Dectin-1+ cells produced less reactive oxygen species (ROS) at the initial site of the infection, while mice deficient in NAPDH oxidase isoform 2 (NOX2-/-) were not able to control parasite replication and produce IL-12p40, even upon LAM treatment. Interestingly, the absence of functional Dectin-1 did not alter the susceptibility of mice against closely related T. gondii. In conclusion, the gathered data suggests that Dectin-1 is involved in the parasite-induced downmodulation of ROS and other key molecules triggered for the control of N. caninum infection, and is a promising target for future development of protocols intended for intervention against neosporosis.

Neospora caninum is an intracellular protozoan parasite that has drawn increasing interest due to its association with worldwide repetitive bovine abortions, which cause billionaire losses to the meat and dairy industries annually. Innate immunity plays an important role in infection control, and N. caninum activates the production of inflammatory mediators through toll-like receptors, NOD-like receptors, and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways. Advances in the knowledge of initial host–parasite interactions are desirable for the design of control measures against the infection, obliterating its pathogenesis. In that sense, we here aimed to describe the role of the innate C-type lectin receptor Dectin-1 during the infection by N. caninum. With that intent, we observed that the absence of Dectin-1, observed in genetically depleted (Dectin-1−/−) mice or competitively inhibited by an inert agonist [laminarin (LAM)], rescued 50% of the mice infected with lethal doses of N. caninum. Dectin-1−/− and LAM-treated mice also presented a reduction in the parasite load during acute and chronic phases, associated with decreased inflammatory scores in the central nervous system. Among all the cell phenotypes that migrated to the initial site of infection, dendritic cells and macrophages gained subpopulations with high Dectin-1 surface expression. The impairment of the receptor in these cells led to a decreased parasite burden, as well as augmented production of IL-12p40. We also found that Dectin-1+ cells produced less reactive oxygen species (ROS) at the initial site of the infection, while mice deficient in NADPH oxidase isoform 2 (NOX2−/−) were not able to control parasite replication and produce IL-12p40, even upon LAM treatment. Interestingly, the absence of functional Dectin-1 did not alter the susceptibility of mice against closely related Toxoplasma gondii. In conclusion, the gathered data suggest that Dectin-1 is involved in the parasite-induced downmodulation of ROS, and other key molecules triggered for the control of N. caninum infection and are a promising target for future development of protocols intended for intervention against neosporosis.

Toxoplasmosis is a zoonosis distributed all over the world, which the etiologic agent is an intracellular protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii. This disease may cause abortions and severe diseases in many warm-blood hosts, including humans, particularly the immunocompromised patients. The parasite specialized secretory organelles, as micronemes, rhoptries and dense granules, are critical for the successful parasitism. The dense granule protein 2 (GRA2) is a parasite immunogenic protein secreted during infections and previous studies have been shown that this parasite component is crucial for the formation of intravacuolar membranous nanotubular network (MNN), as well as for secretion into the vacuole and spatial organization of the parasites within the vacuole. In the present study, we produced a monoclonal antibody to GRA2 (C3C5 mAb, isotype IgG2b), mapped the immunodominant epitope of the protein by phage display and built GRA2 synthetic epitopes to evaluate their ability to protect mice in a model of experimental infection. Our results showed that synthetic peptides for B- and T-cell epitopes are able to improve survival of immunized animals. In contrast with non-immunized animals, the immunized mice with both B- and T-cell epitopes had a better balance of cytokines and demonstrated higher levels of IL-10, IL-4 and IL-17 production, though similar levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 were observed. The immunization with both B- and T-cell epitopes resulted in survival rate higher than 85% of the challenged mice. Overall, these results demonstrate that immunization with synthetic epitopes for both B- and T-cells from GRA2 protein can be more effective to protect against infection by T. gondii.

Objective: To evaluate the outcome of olecranon bone graft and compression screw for the treatment of nonunion of the Lichtman type I scaphoid. Method: We evaluated 15 patients of 32 who underwent surgical treatment for nonunion of the Lichtman type I scaphoid with olecranon bone graft and screw compression. Results: We obtained 100% consolidation in our sample. The mean flexion of the wrist on the affected side was 68° and 75° on the non-affected side. The average extension was 63° and 72°, respectively. The average grip strength was 35 kgf. This corresponds to 98% of the handgrip strength of the non-affected side, which was 37 kgf. The DASH score averaged 5 points. Conclusion: We believe that the use of bone graft obtained from the olecranon and secured with cannulated screw is a resolute technique for cases of linear nonunion of the Lichtmann type I scaphoid. It has the advantages of a new anesthesia for removal of the graft and the access is easy, providing a good exposure for removal and good aesthetic results. Level of evidence IV. Case series.

Background Toxoplasmosis is a zoonosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii, an intracellular protozoan parasite able to infect a wide range of hosts, including humans. Congenital infection can cause severe damage to the fetus. Thus, it is important to detect antibodies against the parasite to confirm clinical manifestations. Considering that all immunoglobulin isotypes may be present in biological samples from newborns and their mothers, this study aimed to evaluate the ability to diagnose recent toxoplasmosis by using colostrum, as an alternative noninvasive way to obtain biological samples, as well as to determine correlation rates between antibodies from serum samples to detect IgG, IgM and IgA isotypes against T. gondii. Methods A total of 289 puerperal women from Clinical Hospital of Federal University of Uberlândia (mean age: 24.8 years, range: 14 – 43 years) took part in this study. Serum and colostrum samples from these patients were analyzed using ELISA and immunoblotting assays for soluble antigens from T. gondii. Results ELISA immunoassays with serum samples showed reactivity in 47.0, 6.9 and 2.8 % of samples to anti-T. gondii IgG, IgM and IgA, respectively, in comparison with colostrum samples, which showed reactivity in 46.0, 7.9 and 2.8 % of samples to the same isotypes. Also, significant correlation rates of anti-T. gondii antibody levels between serum and colostrum samples were observed. Interestingly, reactivity to IgM and/or IgA in colostrum and/or serum confirmed clinical manifestations of congenital toxoplasmosis in three newborns. Immunoblotting assays showed that it is possible to detect IgG, IgM and IgA antibodies against various antigens of T. gondii in serum and colostrum samples. IgG antibodies in serum and colostrum samples recognized more antigenic fractions than IgM and IgA antibodies. Serum IgG detected more antigenic fractions than IgG antibodies present in the colostrum of the same patient. In contrast, specific IgA present in colostrum recognized a higher number of antigens than IgA present in serum samples of the same patient. Conclusions Overall, the results show that it is important to investigate the occurrence of congenital toxoplasmosis, even at puerperal period. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that T. gondii-specific IgG, IgM and IgA antibodies in serum and colostrum samples from puerperal women may be detected with a significant correlation, suggesting that colostrum may also be used as an alternative biological sample to efficiently diagnose recent human toxoplasmosis.

Este relato expõe como construímos momentos de práticas e reflexões educativas, que relacionaram conteúdos de matemática com a Robótica Educacional utilizando kits da LEGO, a partir da necessidade de obter dados precisos na programação de um robô para execução de giros. Essa necessidade culminou em um problema que surgiu em um trabalho com alunos do Ensino Médio resultando em um aplicativo para futuras programações de robôs. Essa experiência se configurou como um espaço de relação entre os conteúdos de matemática e problemas reais, desse modo, apresentamos em nossas considerações finais a relação entre o que foi desenvolvido e a Modelagem Matemática.

We discuss a problem of attending ships within agreed time limits at a port under the condition of the first come first served order. In addition, we indicate the use of the developed tool to support decisions at a strategic level with the objective of improving the attendance of the ships. The tool is based on a mathematical model of a multi-mode resource-constrained scheduling problem and on an extension of a differential evolution algorithm. We illustrate the implementation by computational tests with data generated on the basis of the characteristics of a real port environment.