Effects of Micelles and Vesicles on the Oximolysis of p-Nitrophenyl Diphenyl Phosphate: A Model System for Surfactant-Based Skin-defensive Formulations against Organophosphates

The rates of oximolysis of p-nitrophenyl diphenyl phosphate (PNPDPP) by Acetophenoxime; 10-phenyl-10-hydi-oxyiminodecanoic acid; 4-(9-carboxynonanyl)-1-(9-carboxy-1-hydroyiminononanyl) benzene; 1-dodecyl-2-[(hydroxyimino)methyl]-pyridinium chloride (IV) and N-methylpyridinium-2-aldoxime chloride were determined in micelles of N-hexadecyl-N,N,N-trimethylammonium chloride (CTAC), N-hexadecyl-N,N-dimethylammonium propanesulfonate and dioctadecyldimethylammonium chloride (DODAC) vesicles. The effects of CTAC micelles and DODAC vesicles on the rates of oxymolysis of O,O-Diethyl O-(4-nitrophenyl) phosphate (paraoxon) by oxime IV were also determined. Analysis of micellar and vesicular effects on oximolysis of PNPDPP, using pseudophase or pseudophase with explicit consideration of ion exchange models, required the determination of the aggregate`s effects on the pK(a), of oximes and on the rates of PNPDPP hydrolysis. All aggregates increased the rate of oximolysis of PNPDPP and the results were analyzed quantitatively. In particular, DODAC vesicles catalyzed the reaction and increased the rate of oximolysis of PNPDPP by IV several million fold at pH`s compatible with pharmaceutical formulations. The rate increase produced by DODAC vesicles on the rate of oximolysis paraoxon by IV demonstrates the pharmaceutical potential of this system, since the substrate is used as an agricultural defensive agent and the surfactant is extensively employed in cosmetic formulations. (C) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 98:1040-1052, 2009

The Effects of Eating Behaviors and Exercise Patterns on the Processing of Food and Exercise Related Stimuli

The effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for eating disorders has established a link between cognitive processes and unhealthy eating behaviors. However, the relationship between individual differences in unhealthy eating behaviors that are not related to clinical eating disorders, such as overeating and restrained eating, and the processing of food related verbal stimuli remains undetermined. Furthermore, the cognitive processes that promote unhealthy and healthy exercise patterns remain virtually unexplored by previous research. The present study compared individual differences in attitudes and behaviors around eating and exercise to responses to food and exercise-related words using a Lexical Decision Task (LDT). Participants were recruited from Colby (n = 61) and the greater Waterville community (n = 16). The results indicate the following trends in the data: Individuals who scored high in “thin ideal” responded faster to food-related words than individuals with low “thin Ideal” scores did. Regarding the exercise-related data, individuals who engage in more “low intensity exercise” responded faster to exercise-related words than individuals who engage in less “low intensity exercise” did. These findings suggest that cognitive schemata about food and exercise might mediate individual’s eating and exercise patterns.

Arquitetura física e arquitetura organizacional: construção de paralelo hitórico e conexção funcional

o objetivo do presente trabalho é refletir e discutir através da construção de um paralelo histórico entre as arquiteturas física e organizacional, a possibilidade de aprendizado mútuo entre as duas arquiteturas. Desta forma, pretendemos verificar a relação direta entre as arquiteturas no que diz respeito à evolução do conhecimento humano e seus reflexos em ciências correlatas, bem como criar uma conexão funcional para o desenvolvimento de novos projetos, possibilitado pela lógica do pensamento desenvolvido ao longo desta pesquisa. Vamos observar ao longo deste trabalho que as arquiteturas não só têm muito a contribuir mutuamente na construção de novos projetos arquitetônicos adequados ao desenvolvimento das mais diversas atividades humanas, como também no implemento e análise de novas técnicas e metodologias de gestão, considerando-se a interação do conhecimento produzido pelas arquiteturas. Ainda no que diz respeito ao aprendizado, poderemos avaliar a situação atual do ensino da administração e da arquitetura, especificamente na possibilidade interdisciplinar das duas ciências, através de entrevistas com profissionais das respectivas áreas. Da mesma forma, a questão da utilização de novas tecnologias no âmbito das organizações, deverá ser analisada, objetivando identificar sua real utilidade, e consistência com um projeto sócio-político ideológico.

Tradução, adaptação e validação do Defensive Style Questinnaire (DSQ-40) para o português brasileiro

O estudo dos mecanismos de defesa do ego tem servido como indicativo do modo típico de um indivíduo lidar com os conflitos. Os mecanismos de defesa podem ser agrupados em três fatores alocados de forma hierárquica: fatores maduros, neuróticos e imaturos. Bond desenvolveu um questionário objetivo e auto-aplicável, o Defensive Style Questionnaire – DSQ, que visa identificar os derivados conscientes dos mecanismos de defesa. O objetivo desse estudo é o de descrever o processo de tradução do Defensive Style Questionnaire (DSQ-40) versão em português e avaliar a confiabiidade, validade de conteúdo de constructo dessa versão do instrumento. Métodos: A primeira versão da escala foi apresentada para cinco indivíduos, com graus diferentes de escolaridade, que efetuaram pequenos ajustes de linguagem. Posteriormente, a escala foi apresentada para três “experts”, que avaliaram a validade de conteúdo do instrumento. A versão final foi retraduzida e apresentada para o autor do instrumento original que aceitou essa versão do DSQ-40. Posteriormente foi avaliada a confiabilidade e validade da versão em português do Defensive Style Questionnaire (DSQ-40). A amostra constitui-se de 339 indivíduos. Uma subamostra (n=75) foi avaliada também pelo MMPI, e outra subamostra (n=66) foi também avaliada pelo DFS (Escala de Funcionamento Defensivo). Resultados: Houve necessidade de pequenos ajustes no vocabulário em oito questões e modificações na linguagem em quatro questões, resultando na versão final do instrumento. A média de correlação dos “experts” com cada defesa foi de 89%, e dos fatores maduros, imaturos e neuróticos foi de 100%. A análise fatorial do instrumento forneceu uma distribuição das defesas semelhante ao instrumento original. A avaliação teste-reteste demonstrou boa correlação intraclasse em todos os fatores. O uso de defesas imaturas e neuróticas foi maior entre os pacientes que os controles (p<0,05). Houve correlação entre o nível defensivo de acordo com o DFS (p=0,006) e MMPI (p=0,004) e as defesas imaturas. Conclusões: A adaptação do DSQ-40 por diferentes indivíduos com diferentes graus de escolaridade e pelo grupo de experts possibilitou o ajuste à realidade sociocultural brasileira. Os dados do presente estudo indicam que a versão em português do DSQ-40 possui características psicométricas que permite o seu uso na nossa cultura.

Social media crises in the organization: exploring management strategies through cases from France and Brazil

The aim of this Master’s thesis has been to shed light on the response strategies that organizations are implementing when facing a crisis created on or amplified by social media. Since the development of social media in the late 1990s, the interplay between the online and the offline spheres has become more complex, and characterized by dynamics of a new magnitude, as exemplified by the wave of “Twitter” Revolutions or the Wikileaks scandal in the mid 2000s, where online behaviors deeply affected an offline reality. The corporate world does not escape to this worldwide phenomenon, and there are more and more examples of organizational reputations destroyed by social media “fireballs”. As such, this research aims to investigate, through the analysis of six recent cases of corporate crises (2013-2015) from France and Brazil, different strategies currently in use in order to identify examples of good and bad practices for companies to adopt or avoid when facing a social media crisis. The first part of this research is dedicated to a review of the literature on crisis management and social media. From that review, we were able to design a matrix model, the Social Media Crisis Management Matrix, with which we analyzed the response strategies of the six companies we selected. This model allows the conceptualization of social media crises in a multidimensional matrix built to allow the choice, according to four parameters, of the most efficient (that is: which will limit the reputational damage) response strategy. Attribution of responsibility for the crisis to the company by stakeholders, the origin of the crisis (internal or external), the degree of reputational threat, and the emotions conveyed online by stakeholders help companies determining whether to adopt a defensive response, or an accommodative response. The results of the analysis suggest that social media crises are rather manichean objects for they are, unlike their traditional offline counterparts, characterized by emotional involvement and irrationality, and cannot be dealt with traditionally. Thus analyzing the emotions of stakeholders proved to be, in these cases, an accurate thermometer of the seriousness of the crisis, and as such, a better rudder to follow when selecting a response strategy. Consequently, in the cases, companies minimized their reputational damage when responding to their stakeholders in an accommodative way, regardless of the “objective” situation, which might be a change of paradigm in crisis management.

Substrate Preparation Behaviors for the Cultivation of the Symbiotic Fungus in Leaf-Cutting Ants of the Genus Atta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Our findings revealed two distinct patterns of substrate preparation: the pattern of leaf-cutting ants foraging on dicotyledons is marked by highly fragmented substrate resulting in a more advanced initial decomposition. The pattern of leaf-cutting ants harvesting grasses is characterized by large pieces of substrate, resulting in little initial decomposition. Ants foraging on both types of plants are apparently intermediary between the two patterns, although more similar to the patterns of those foraging on dicotyledons. Also, the behavior of scraping the substrate was described for the first time, it is very important for the removal of the epicuticular wax layer of the leaves helping the growth of the symbiotic fungus.

The dorsal raphe nucleus exerts opposed control on generalized anxiety and panic-related defensive responses in rats

It has been proposed that the ascending dorsal raphe (DR)-serotonergic (5-HT) pathway facilitates conditioned avoidance responses to potential or distal threat, while the DR-periventricular 5-HT pathway inhibits unconditioned flight reactions to proximal danger. Dysfunction on these pathways would be, respectively, related to generalized anxiety (GAD) and panic disorder (PD). To investigate this hypothesis, we microinjected into the rat DR the benzodiazepine inverse receptor agonist FG 7142, the 5-HT1A receptor agonist 8-OH-DPAT or the GABA(A) receptor agonist muscimol. Animals were evaluated in the elevated T-maze (ETM) and light/dark transition test. These models generate defensive responses that have been related to GAD and PD. Experiments were also conducted in the ETM 14 days after the selective lesion of DR serotonergic neurons by 5,7-dihydroxytriptamine (DHT). In all cases, rats were pre-exposed to one of the open arms of the ETM 1 day before testing. The results showed that FG 7142 facilitated inhibitory avoidance, an anxiogenic effect, while impairing one-way escape, an anxiolytic effect. 8-OH-DPAT, muscimol, and 5,7-DHT-induced lesions acted in the opposite direction, impairing inhibitory avoidance while facilitating one-way escape from the open arm. In the light/dark transition, 8-OH-DPAT and muscimol increased the time spent in the lighted compartment, an anxiolytic effect. The data supports the view that distinct DR-5-HT pathways regulate neural mechanisms underlying GAD and PD. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Involvement of median raphe nucleus 5-HT1A receptors in the regulation of generalized anxiety-related defensive behaviours in rats

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Association between regular participation in sports and leisure time behaviors in Brazilian adolescents: A cross-sectional study

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

H1 but not H2 histamine antagonist receptors mediate anxiety-related behaviors and emotional memory deficit in mice subjected to elevated plus-maze testing

This study investigated the role of H1 and H2 receptors in anxiety and the retrieval of emotional memory using a Trial 1/Trial 2 (T1/T2) protocol in an elevated plus-maze (EPM). Tests were performed on 2 consecutive days, designated T1 and T2. Before T1, the mice received intraperitoneal injections of saline (SAL), 20 mg/kg zolantidine (ZOL, an H2 receptor antagonist), or 8.0 or 16 mg/kg chlorpheniramine (CPA, an H1 receptor antagonist). After 40 min, they were subjected to the EPM test. In T2 (24 h later), each group was subdivided into two additional groups, and the animals from each group were re-injected with SAL or one of the drugs. In T1, the Student t-test showed no difference between the SAL and ZOL or 8 mg/kg CPA groups with respect to the percentages of open arm entries (%OAE) and open arm time (%OAT). However, administration of CPA at the highest dose of 16 mg/kg decreased %OAE and %OAT, but not locomotor activity, indicating anxiogenic-like behavior. Emotional memory, as revealed by a reduction in open arm exploration between the two trials, was observed in all experimental groups, indicating that ZOL and 8 mg/kg CPA did not affect emotional memory, whereas CPA at the highest dose affected acquisition and consolidation, but not retrieval of memory. Taken together, these results suggest that H1 receptor, but not H2, is implicated in anxiety-like behavior and in emotional memory acquisition and consolidation deficits in mice subjected to EPM testing.

Do extrafloral nectaries present a defensive role against herbivores in two species of the family Bignoniaceae in a Neotropical savannas?

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Differences in the number of some antennal sensilla of four honey bee (Apis mellifera) types and comparisons with the defensive behaviour

The number of sensilla coeloconica, ampullacea and campaniformia of flagellomeres 3 to 10 of the antennae of workers of four honey bee types (Italian, Caucasian, African and Africanized) was studied by scanning electron microscopy. Comparisons of the four bee types showed that only African and Africanized honey bees did not differ from one another with respect to the number of sensilla coeloconica and ampullacea of flagellomere 10. African and Africanized honey bees and Caucasian and Italian honey bees also did not differ from one another in terms of flagellomere 9. In the other flagellomeres there were no differences among bee types. Italian and Caucasian honey bees differed from Africanized honey bees in terms of number of sensilla campaniformia on flagellomere 6, and Caucasian honey bees differed from African and Africanized honey bees in terms of flagellomere 3. Five significant but random correlation values were obtained between number of antennal sensilla and defensive behaviour in Africanized honey bees. Thus,there is no relationship between antennal structures and defence behaviour.