Latin American plan of action for the application of science and technology to development

Includes bibliography

Professor negro universitário: notas sobre a construção e manipulação da identidade étnico-racial em espaços socialmente valorizados

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A ciência na imprensa paraense em 130 anos: um estudo de três grandes jornais diários

Esta dissertação se constitui em um estudo exploratório para reconhecimento de cenário sobre a cobertura de temas científicos em jornais do Pará, por isso, nossa atenção se voltou para a análise de três importantes jornais diários paraenses ao longo de 130 anos: A Província do Pará (1876-2002), Folha do Norte (1896-1974) e O Liberal (1946-atual). Para selecionar os textos sobre ciência desses periódicos, investigamos as edições de janeiro e julho de dez em dez anos de cada jornal, desde 1876 até 2006. Foram feitas adaptações no protocolo da Rede Ibero-Americana de Monitoramento e Capacitação em Jornalismo Científico – voltado para materiais televisivos – para tornar possível a pesquisa em jornais impressos. O protocolo se baseia no método de análise de conteúdo e possibilitou a caracterização e sistematização de informações dos 496 textos encontrados com questões científicas a partir da metodologia escolhida. Identificamos dados como a data de publicação do material, a presença de manchetes e chamadas na primeira página do jornal, o gênero jornalístico dos textos, a área do conhecimento predominante, os recursos visuais utilizados, os enquadramentos, a contextualização das questões científicas, as explicações de termos científicos, os benefícios e malefícios e as promessas e riscos da ciência, as controvérsias científicas e não científicas, fontes e vozes, e os locais das pesquisas e dos pesquisadores presentes nos textos selecionados. Os dados evidenciaram que a ciência já era pauta dos jornais paraenses no fim do século XIX, mas ganharam mais espaço a partir da segunda metade do século XX. Houve um grande destaque para as questões científicas relacionadas à saúde, apesar das pesquisas espaciais também terem tido forte presença. Observamos ainda expressiva contextualização e explicações de termos científicos. De forma geral, a ciência foi divulgada a partir do seu lado “positivo”, mostrando os seus benefícios, e com ênfase nas descobertas científicas. Por outro lado, foi dado pouco espaço para a discussão de suas controvérsias. Os recursos visuais também foram raros. As principais fontes e vozes identificadas no corpus foram dos cientistas e instituições de pesquisa e a maioria dos pesquisadores foi constituída por homens. Houve ainda um equilíbrio entre as pesquisas e pesquisadores do Brasil e aqueles de fora do país. A Província do Pará destacou temas da saúde, de forma predominante, mas também das ciências exatas e engenharias e deu espaço diferenciado a fontes e vozes não científicas. A Folha do Norte publicou textos mais longos e com bastante contextualização. Já O Liberal enfatizou questões de medicina e ciências humanas e foi o único periódico que deu mais destaque à pesquisa e aos pesquisadores brasileiros e, em especial, aos paraenses.

Tendências e perspectivas da produção acadêmica sobre a temática educação de surdos: mapeamento da produção

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

Frequency of HLA-B27 and its alleles in patients with Reiter syndrome: comparison with the frequency in other spondyloarthropathies and a healthy control population

This retrospective study analyzed the HLA-B*27 alleles in a group of 20 consecutive patients with the diagnosis of Reiter syndrome (RS) followed in a tertiary referral university hospital in Brazil, during the period 1990-2006, and compared the data with that observed in other patients with spondyloarthropathies followed at the same institution. Eight cases were associated to gastrointestinal infection, eight cases to previous urethritis, and four cases presented no established preceding infection. HLA-B*27 alleles were typed by polymerase chain reaction-amplified DNA hybridized with sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes (HLA-B*2701 to HLA-B*2721). They were compared to a group of 108 patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), 40 with undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy (uSpA) and 111 healthy controls. Among the 20 patients, 17 were HLA-B*27 positive (85%). Two HLA-B*27 alleles were observed: HLA-B*2705 (65%) and HLA-B*2702 (35%). In the other spondyloarthropathies, the observed alleles were HLA-B*2705 (90% in AS and 92.5% in uSpA), HLA-B*2702 (8% in AS and 5% in uSpA), HLA-B*2704 (1% in AS and 2.5% in uSpA) and HLA-B*2713 (1% in AS). Among the 111 healthy controls, 80% presented HLA-B*2705, followed by HLA-B*2702 in 10%, HLA-B*2703 in 6%, HLA-B*2707 in 3% and HLA-B*2713 in 1%. Concluding, in the HLA-B*27 positive patients with RS in this study there was predominance of HLA-B*2705 allele, in a lower frequency than that observed in patients with other spondyloarthropathies and healthy controls.

The meccano method for automatic 3-d triangulation and volume parametrization of complex solids

[EN]In this paper we review the novel meccano method. We summarize the main stages (subdivision, mapping, optimization) of this automatic tetrahedral mesh generation technique and we concentrate the study to complex genus-zero solids. In this case, our procedure only requires a surface triangulation of the solid. A crucial consequence of our method is the volume parametrization of the solid to a cube. We construct volume T-meshes for isogeometric analysis by using this result. The efficiency of the proposed technique is shown with several examples. A comparison between the meccano method and standard mesh generation techniques is introduced.-1…

Genetic engineering and preclinical evaluation of oncolytic herpes simplex viruses retargeted to cancer-specific receptors

Oncolytic virotherapy exploits the ability of viruses to infect and kill cells. It is suitable as treatment for tumors that are not accessible by surgery and/or respond poorly to the current therapeutic approach. HSV is a promising oncolytic agent. It has a large genome size able to accommodate large transgenes and some attenuated oncolytic HSVs (oHSV) are already in clinical trials phase I and II. The aim of this thesis was the generation of HSV-1 retargeted to tumor-specific receptors and detargeted from HSV natural receptors, HVEM and Nectin-1. The retargeting was achieved by inserting a specific single chain antibody (scFv) for the tumor receptor selected inside the HSV glycoprotein gD. In this research three tumor receptors were considered: epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) overexpressed in 25-30% of breast and ovarian cancers and gliomas, prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) expressed in prostate carcinomas and in neovascolature of solid tumors; and epidermal growth factor receptor variant III (EGFRvIII). In vivo studies on HER2 retargeted viruses R-LM113 and R-LM249 have demonstrated their high safety profile. For R-LM249 the antitumor efficacy has been highlighted by target-specific inhibition of the growth of human tumors in models of HER2-positive breast and ovarian cancer in nude mice. In a murine model of HER2-positive glioma in nude mice, R-LM113 was able to significantly increase the survival time of treated mice compared to control. Up to now, PSMA and EGFRvIII viruses (R-LM593 and R-LM613) are only characterized in vitro, confirming the specific retargeting to selected targets. This strategy has proved to be generally applicable to a broad spectrum of receptors for which a single chain antibody is available.

Institutional Complexity and Technology Transfer: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis

This Doctoral Thesis unfolds into a collection of three distinct papers that share an interest in institutional theory and technology transfer. Taking into account that organizations are increasingly exposed to a multiplicity of demands and pressures, we aim to analyze what renders this situation of institutional complexity more or less difficult to manage for organizations, and what makes organizations more or less successful in responding to it. The three studies offer a novel contribution both theoretically and empirically. In particular, the first paper “The dimensions of organizational fields for understanding institutional complexity: A theoretical framework” is a theoretical contribution that tries to better understand the relationship between institutional complexity and fields by providing a framework. The second article “Beyond institutional complexity: The case of different organizational successes in confronting multiple institutional logics” is an empirical study which aims to explore the strategies that allow organizations facing multiple logics to respond more successfully to them. The third work “ How external support may mitigate the barriers to university-industry collaboration” is oriented towards practitioners and presents a case study about technology transfer in Italy.

Environmental impact assessment of the School of Engineering and Architecture (Lazzaretto) - A pathway towards LEED certification

The current work has for object the improvement and the maintenance of the School of Engineering and Architecture in Via Terracini 28 (Bologna), with the prospective to maximize the operative efficiency reducing to the minimum the environmental impact and the costs. In order to realize this work the LEED certification has been used. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a certification system of the buildings. It was born in United States by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)

Phosphatidylethanol: normalization during detoxification, gender aspects and correlation with other biomarkers and self-reports

Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) is a direct ethanol metabolite, and has recently attracted attention as biomarker of ethanol intake. The aims of the current study are: (1) to characterize the normalization time of PEth in larger samples than previously conducted; (2) to elucidate potential gender differences; and (3) to report the correlation of PEth with other biomarkers and self-reported alcohol consumption. Fifty-seven alcohol-dependent patients (ICD 10 F 10.25; 9 females, 48 males) entering medical detoxification at three study sites were enrolled. The study sample was comprised of 48 males and 9 females, with mean age 43.5. Mean gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) was 209.61 U/l, average mean corpuscular volume (MCV) was 97.35 fl, mean carbohydrate deficient transferrin (%CDT) was 8.68, and mean total ethanol intake in the last 7 days was 1653 g. PEth was measured in heparinized whole blood with a high-pressure liquid chromatography method, while GGT, MCV and %CDT were measured using routine methods. PEth levels at day 1 of detoxification ranged between 0.63 and 26.95 micromol/l (6.22 mean, 4.70 median, SD 4.97). There were no false negatives at day 1. Sensitivities for the other biomarkers were 40.4% for MCV, 73.1% for GGT and 69.2% for %CDT, respectively. No gender differences were found for PEth levels at any time point. Our data suggest that PEth is (1) a suitable intermediate term marker of ethanol intake in both sexes; and (2) sensitivity is extraordinary high in alcohol dependent patients. The results add further evidence to the data that suggest that PEth has potential as a candidate for a sensitive and specific biomarker, which reflects longer-lasting intake of higher amounts of alcohol and seemingly has the above mentioned certain advantages over traditional biomarkers.