Biomedical applications of human cathelicidin

[Excerpt] Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are good candidates to treat burn wounds, a major cause of morbidity, impaired life quality and resources consumption in developed countries. Tuberculosis (TB), a disease caused by the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis, represents the second world’s deadliest infectious disease, affecting around 9 million people worldwide in 2013. Of those, about 1.1 million died from the disease. The potential of cathelicin, a human AMP, in the treatment of mycobacteriosis and wound regeneration was assessed in pre-clinical trials. (...)

Enteroscopia por cápsula e doença de Crohn: Caminhos para a otimização

Tese de Doutoramento em Medicina

Search for a CP-odd Higgs boson decaying to Zh in pp collisions at s=8TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for a heavy, CP-odd Higgs boson, A, decaying into a Z boson and a 125 GeV Higgs boson, h, with the ATLAS detector at the LHC is presented. The search uses proton–proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1. Decays of CP-even h bosons to ττ or bb pairs with the Z boson decaying to electron or muon pairs are considered, as well as h→bbh→bb decays with the Z boson decaying to neutrinos. No evidence for the production of an A boson in these channels is found and the 95% confidence level upper limits derived for View the MathML sourceσ(gg→A)×BR(A→Zh)×BR(h→ff¯) are 0.098–0.013 pb for f=τf=τ and 0.57–0.014 pb for f=bf=b in a range of mA=220–1000 GeVmA=220–1000 GeV. The results are combined and interpreted in the context of two-Higgs-doublet models.

Active magneto-optical control of spontaneous emission in graphene

We investigate the spontaneous emission rate of a two-level quantum emitter near a graphene-coated substrate under the influence of an external magnetic field or strain induced pseudo-magnetic field. We demonstrate that the application of the magnetic field can substantially increase or decrease the decay rate. We show that a suppression as large as 99$\%$ in the Purcell factor is achieved even for moderate magnetic fields. The emitter's lifetime is a discontinuous function of $|{\bf B}|$, which is a direct consequence of the occurrence of discrete Landau levels in graphene. We demonstrate that, in the near-field regime, the magnetic field enables an unprecedented control of the decay pathways into which the photon/polariton can be emitted. Our findings strongly suggest that a magnetic field could act as an efficient agent for on-demand, active control of light-matter interactions in graphene at the quantum level.

Psychosocial adjustment and physical health in children of divorce

Objective: To review the literature on the effects of parental divorce over the psychological maladjustment and physical health problems in children of divorced parents, thus contributing to the integration of existing scientific knowledge based on the biopsychosocial model of the impact of divorce on children’s physical health as proposed by Troxel and Matthews (2004). Sources: Review of the literature using MEDLINE and PsycInfo (1980-2007) databases, selecting the most representative articles on the subject. Special attention was paid to contributions by internationally renowned investigators on the subject. Summary of the findings: Divorce may be responsible for a decline of physical and psychological health in children. The developmental maladjustment of children is not triggered by divorce itself, but rather by other risk factors associated with it, such as interparental conflict, parental psychopathology, decline in socio-economic level, inconsistency in parenting styles, a parallel and conflicting co-parenting relationship between parents and low levels of social support. Such risk factors trigger maladjusted developmental pathways, marked by psychopathological symptoms, poor academic performance, worst levels of physical health, risk behavior, exacerbated psychophysiological responses to stress and weakening of the immune system. Conclusions: Clear links were observed between experiencing parental divorce and facing problems of physical and psychological maladjustment in children. Divorce is a stressor that should be considered by health professionals as potentially responsible for maladjusted neuropsychobiological responses and for decline in children’s physical health.