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Aim: ALK, ROS1, NTRK and RET gene fusions and MET exon 14 skipping alterations represent novel predictive biomarkers for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Therefore, testing patients for these genetic variants is crucial for choosing the best selective treatment. Over the last couple of decades, next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms have emerged as an extremely useful tool for detecting these variants. Materials & methods: In the present study, we report our NGS molecular records produced during a year of diagnostic activity. Results: Overall, our in-house developed NGS workflow successfully analyzed n = 116/131 (88.5%) NSCLC samples. Of these, eight (6.8%) and five (4.3%) out of 116 patients harbored ALK and RET gene rearrangements, respectively: one case harbored ROS1 gene fusion (0.7%). Conclusion: Our results highlight that an RNA-based NGS analysis can reliably detect gene fusion alterations, thereby playing a pivotal role in the management of NSCLC patients.

Objective To profile clinically non-aggressive and aggressive pituitary adenomas (PAs)/pituitary neuroendocrine tumours (PitNETs) and pituitary carcinomas for somatic mutations and epigenetic alterations of genes involved in cell proliferation/differentiation, microRNAs (miRNA)/long noncoding RNA (LncRNA)-post-transcriptional regulators and therapy targets. Design Retrospective observational study. Patients and Measurements A total of 64 non-aggressive and 41 aggressive PAs/PitNETs and 6 pituitary carcinomas treated by endoscopic surgery with >= 1-year follow-up were included. Somatic mutations of 17 genes and DNA methylation of 22 genes were assessed. Ten normal pituitaries were used as control. Results We found at least one mutation in 17 tumours, including 6/64 non-aggressive, 10/41 aggressive PAs/PitNETs, and 1/6 pituitary carcinoma. AIP (N = 6) was the most frequently mutated gene, followed by NOTCH (4), and TP53 (3). Hypermethylation of PARP15, LINC00599, ZAP70 was more common in aggressive than non-aggressive PAs/PITNETs (p < .05). Lower levels of methylation of AIP, GNAS and PDCD1 were detected in aggressive PAs/PITNETs than non-aggressive ones (p < .05). For X-linked genes, males presented higher level of methylation of FLNA, UXT and MAGE family (MAGEA11, MAGEA1, MAGEC2) genes in aggressive vs. non-aggressive PAs/PITNETs (p < .05). In pituitary carcinomas, methylation of autosomal genes PARP15, LINC00599, MIR193 and ZAP70 was higher than in PAs/PITNETs, while X-linked genes methylation level was lower. Conclusions Somatic mutations and methylation levels of genes involved in cell proliferation/differentiation, miRNA/LncRNA-post-transcriptional regulators and targets of antineoplastic therapies are different in non-aggressive and in aggressive PAs/PitNETs. Methylation profile also varies according to gender. Combined genetic-epigenetic analysis, in association with clinico-radiological-pathological data, may be of help in predicting PA/PitNET behaviour.

Purpose: Antibodies against the lymphocyte PD-1 (aPD-1) receptor are cornerstone agents for advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), based on their ability to restore the exhausted antitumor immune response. Our study reports a novel, lymphocyte-independent, therapeutic activity of aPD-1 against NSCLC, blocking the tumor-intrinsic PD-1 receptors on chemoresistant cells. Experimental Design: PD-1 in NSCLC cells was explored in vitro at baseline, including stem-like pneumospheres, and following treatment with cisplatin both at transcriptional and protein levels. PD-1 signaling and RNA sequencing were assessed. The lymphocyte-independent antitumor activity of aPD-1 was explored in vitro, by PD-1 blockade and stimulation with soluble ligand (PD-L1s), and in vivo within NSCLC xenograft models. Results: We showed the existence of PD-1+ NSCLC cell subsets in cell lines and large in silico datasets (Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia and The Cancer Genome Atlas). Cisplatin significantly increased PD-1 expression on chemo-surviving NSCLC cells (2.5-fold P = 0.0014), while the sequential treatment with anti–PD-1 Ab impaired their recovery after chemotherapy. PD-1 was found to be associated with tumor stemness features. PD-1 expression was enhanced in NSCLC stem-like pneumospheres (P < 0.0001), significantly promoted by stimulation with soluble PD-L1 (+27% ± 4, P < 0.0001) and inhibited by PD-1 blockade (−30% ± 3, P < 0.0001). The intravenous monotherapy with anti–PD-1 significantly inhibited tumor growth of NSCLC xenografts in immunodeficient mice, without the contribution of the immune system, and delayed the occurrence of chemoresistance when combined with cisplatin. Conclusions: We report first evidence of a novel lymphocyte-independent activity of anti–PD-1 antibodies in NSCLC, capable of inhibiting chemo-surviving NSCLC cells and exploitable to contrast disease relapses following chemotherapy. See related commentary by Augustin et al., p. 505

We prospectively evaluated in thalassemia major (TM) patients the changes in pancreatic iron levels assessed by T2* magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), their dependence on total body iron balance, and their association with the different iron chelators in monotherapy. Among the patients with pancreatic iron overload (IO) at the baseline MRI, only the 5.2% showed no pancreatic IO at the follow-up MRI, performed 18 months later. The 29.5% of patients without baseline pancreatic IO, showed pancreatic IO at the follow-up MRI. The reduction in pancreatic IO was inversely correlated with baseline pancreatic iron levels and directly correlated with reduction in serum ferritin levels and hepatic iron. Among the patients with pancreatic IO at baseline, in all three groups of patients treated with iron chelators in monotherapy (deferrioxamine or deferiprone or deferasirox) there was a significant increase in global pancreas T2* values. The reduction in pancreatic iron levels was comparable among the three groups. Our data showed that it is difficult to remove the iron from the pancreas and that the three iron chelators in monotherapy have a comparable efficacy.

The typical presentation of giant cell tumor of bone is a solitary lesion involving the meta-epiphyseal region of the long bones. The presence of more than one distinct giant cell tumor in the same patient is rare. This study reports on 7 patients with multicentric giant cell tumor of bone. Clinical and radiologic features were reviewed to evaluate the behavior of multicentric giant cell tumor of bone. Immunohistochemistry and genetic analysis for the H3F3A gene were performed to confirm the diagnosis. The knee was most frequently involved, and most of the lesions were in an ipsilateral extremity. All of the patients received surgical management with curettage or resection. The overall median follow-up was 194 months (interquartile range, 41–336 months). Five of 7 patients had local recurrence (71%), but considering the number of surgically treated lesions, the risk of local recurrence was 33% (5 local recurrences among 15 treated lesions). No lung metastases occurred. Multicentric giant cell tumor of bone tends to exhibit the same aggressive clinical behavior as solitary giant cell tumor of bone. Patients should be monitored for the occurrence of other lesions, especially in the ipsilateral extremity. [ Orthopedics . 202x;4x(x):xx–xx.]

Luis Radford e Vanessa Dias Moretti apresentam o livro Pensamento Algébrico nos Anos Iniciais: Diálogos e Complementaridades entre a Teoria da Objetivação e a Teoria Histórico-Cultural, publicado em 2021 pela Editora Livraria da Física. Com a participação de quinze pesquisadores de diferentes regiões do Brasil e de outros países. o livro está dividido em doze capítulos que incialmente apresentam o aporte teórico da Teoria da Objetivação (TO) e da Teoria Histórico-Cultural da Atividade (THCA), além de pesquisas que descrevem ideias concretas sobre o processo lógico-histórico de construção de conceitos algébricos em tarefas de ensino, como o uso do jogo Mancala e do desenvolvimento de habilidades algébricas para além da aritmética generalizada, abordando temas como a atividade semiótica de alunos no sequenciamento de padrões e o significado do símbolo de igualdade como indicação de equivalência entre membros de uma equação. O livro traz ainda significativas contribuições para a alfabetização algébrica de estudantes dos Anos Iniciais e para a formação inicial e continuada de professores, favorecendo ainda às pesquisas interessadas em aprofundar seus conhecimentos sobre o pensamento algébrico nos primeiros anos do Ensino Fundamental.

Air pollution, besides being one of the leading causes of death worldwide, remains one of the most controversial topics in environmental monitoring. The current state of the art refers to remote satellite analysis and static ground-level technologies. The O-ZONE project has set itself the objective of bridging this technological gap using dynamic in situ analysis using compact, inexpensive and reusable samplers that can be integrated onboard stratospheric balloons and drones. The prototype, therefore, consists of a pneumatic system, a set of filters and a sampling bag. Thanks to this architecture, it is possible to sample atmospheric air at different altitudes. After the flight, the samples collected are analysed using chromatographic techniques to provide a picture of the various air layers. On 30 September 2021, the fully autonomous payload successfully flew in Kiruna (Swedish Lapland) aboard BEXUS 30, the stratospheric balloon made available by the promoters of the “hands-on” project of the same name, SNSA (Swedish National Space Agency), DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) and ESA (European Space Agency). In this paper, the technical specifications of the device are described, with a focus on the sampling system; we then highlight the results obtained by the filters that, at different altitudes, collected stratospheric pollutants such as VOCs and, in the first layers of the atmosphere, PM. In conclusion, an interpretation of the results is provided to better understand the possible future uses of the prototype.

Este estudo objetiva avaliar aspectos das concepções de universidade, que são comuns e que são diferentes entre as universidades de tecnologia brasileira e francesa, estabelecidas por Drèze e Debelle. A pesquisa se caracteriza como um estudo comparado entre universidades de tecnologia de dois países, o Brasil e a França. O corpus de pesquisa foi composto por documentos e por entrevistas semiestruturadas. A análise dos dados ocorreu por meio do uso da técnica da Análise de Conteúdo, com o manuseio do software NVivo Pro 12. Constatou-se que a concepção de universidade como um Núcleo de Progresso (concepção norte-americana) é a que está mais presente no ensino, na pesquisa, na extensão (ou terceira missão), na inovação e na relação com o setor produtivo nas universidades estudadas. Conclui-se que, na realidade efetiva, as universidades de tecnologia da França e do Brasil se caracterizam como Núcleos de Progresso dentro do ideário de universidades do espírito.

We report on an inconsistency in the latitudinal distribution of aviation emissions between the data products of phases 5 and 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP). Emissions in the CMIP6 data occur at higher latitudes than in the CMIP5 data for all scenarios, years, and emitted species. A comparative simulation with the chemistry–climate model ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) reveals that the difference in nitrogen oxide emission distribution leads to reduced overall ozone changes due to aviation in the CMIP6 scenarios because in those scenarios the distribution of emissions is partly shifted towards the chemically less active higher latitudes. The radiative forcing associated with aviation ozone is 7.6 % higher, and the decrease in methane lifetime is 5.7 % larger for the year 2015 when using the CMIP5 latitudinal distribution of emissions compared to when using the CMIP6 distribution. We do not find a statistically significant difference in the radiative forcing associated with aviation aerosol emissions. In total, future studies investigating the effects of aviation emissions on ozone and climate should consider the inconsistency reported here.

Monitoring the degradation of induction motors is an essential concern for industries, especially when there are high costs related to maintenance and their stops. Nowadays, there are many non-invasive ways to monitor the health status of induction motors, including sensors to measure temperature, magnetic field, vibration, current, and power. However, installing these sensors may not be a simple task since intrusive procedures such as engine disassembling, wire separation, and engine interruption are commonly observed. Thus, we propose MUCLA (Multiphase Clamp and Tracking - patent pending) as a new device and methodology for monitoring motor degradation by analyzing its stator current. MUCLA introduces a non-invasive current sensors array on a proposed clamp in the hardware perspective, while a spectral tracking methodology refers to our novelty in the software viewpoint. For end-users, the main MUCLA contribution relies on the combination of the simplicity of installation and the possibility of using the proposed device even when considering Variable-Frequency Drive powered engines. The results obtained with both simulation and practical tests show encouraging results over different input workloads and emulated degradation. Compared to the current initiatives, we can classify MUCLA as a better solution for industrial plants in terms of installation time, installation complexity, and cost.

Understanding the interlayer interaction at the nanoscale in two-dimensional (2D) transition metal carbides and nitrides (MXenes) is important to improve their exfoliation/delamination process and application in (nano)-tribology. The layer-substrate interaction is also essential in (nano)-tribology as effective solid lubricants should be resistant against peeling-off during rubbing. Previous computational studies considered MXenes' interlayer coupling with oversimplified, homogeneous terminations while neglecting the interaction with underlying substrates. In our study, Ti-based MXenes with both homogeneous and mixed terminations are modeled using density functional theory (DFT). An ad hoc modified dispersion correction scheme is used, capable of reproducing the results obtained from a higher level of theory. The nature of the interlayer interactions, comprising van der Waals, dipole-dipole, and hydrogen bonding, is discussed along with the effects of MXene sheet's thickness and C/N ratio. Our results demonstrate that terminations play a major role in regulating MXenes' interlayer and substrate adhesion to iron and iron oxide and, therefore, lubrication, which is also affected by an external load. Using graphene and MoS2 as established references, we verify that MXenes' tribological performance as solid lubricants can be significantly improved by avoiding -OH and -F terminations, which can be done by controlling terminations via post-synthesis processing.

La stima accurata delle dimensioni della ustione è di fondamentale importanza in ambito extraospedaliero, per calcolare il fabbisogno di fluidi da infondere e per evitare le complicanze migliorando gli esiti clinici sui pazienti. La rianimazione con i fluidi è uno degli interventi prioritari nella gestione precoce dei pazienti con ustioni estese e, in letteratura, sono presenti diverse formule per determinare il fabbisogno di liquidi che tengono anche conto della percentuale della superfice corporea totale ustionata (TBSA).

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative motor disorder that can associate with deficits in cognitive and emotional processing. In particular, PD has been reported to be mainly associated with defects in executive control and orienting attentional systems. The deficit in emotional processing mainly emerged in facial expression recognition. It is possible that the defects in emotional processing in PD may be secondary to other cognitive impairments, such as attentional deficits. This study was designed to systematically investigate the different weight of automatic and controlled attentional orienting mechanisms implied in emotional selective attention in PD. To address our purpose, we assessed drug-naïve PD patients and age-matched healthy controls with two dot-probe tasks that differed for stimuli duration. Automatic and controlled attentions were evaluated with stimuli lasting 100 ms and 500 ms, respectively. Furthermore, we introduced an emotion recognition task to investigate the performance in explicit emotion classification. The stimuli used in both the tasks dot-probe and emotion recognition were expressive faces displaying neutral, disgusted, fearful, and happy expressions.Our results showed that in PD patients, compared with healthy controls, there was 1) an alteration of automatic and controlled attentional orienting toward emotional faces in both the dot-probe tasks (with short and long durations), and 2) no difference in the emotion recognition task. These findings suggest that, from the early stages of the disease, PD can yield specific deficits in implicit emotion processing task (i.e., dot-probe task) despite a normal performance in explicit tasks that demand overt emotion recognition.

Southwest Algeria has a significant but little studied biodiversity, closely associated with a diverse cultural heritage. Medicinal plants are commonly used by the local population as traditional therapeutic treatments. This study was carried out with the aim of inventorying the spontaneous species used by the populations of the Ain Sefra region (south-western Algeria) and to gather information on the ancestral know-how of the local populations in terms of therapeutic use. The ethno-botanical survey was carried out using a semi-structured questionnaire among local herbalists practising in the study area. The data collected was analysed using quantitative indices such as species use value (UV), informant consensus factor (FIC) and fidelity level (FL). The results showed that 48 spontaneous medicinal plants were recognised and identified as medicinal species. These plants belonged to 28 families, of which the families Asteraceae and Lamiaceae are the most represented with 18% and 12% respectively. The leaves are the most used parts for medicinal purposes with decoction being the most used mode. Thus according to the (UV) Juniperus thurifera L. and Cotula cinerea Delile are the most used. Thus Artemisia herb alba Asso had the highest level of fidelity (100%) for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. In conclusion, this study revealed that the local population of the Ain Sefra region has a strong ethnobotanical knowledge and still uses local spontaneous medicinal species to treat several diseases.

A nanocatalyst with chiral amino alcohol catalytic function was efficiently employed in the Henry reaction, easily recovered by centrifugation and reused without loss of activity.

O artigo apresenta um estudo sobre representações do migrante pela perspectiva teórica discursiva e decolonial, partindo da autonarrativa de uma migrante beninense, estudante universitária no Brasil, como um modo de trazer à tona discursos silenciados de grupos minoritarizados, como o da migrante, e de conhecer um pouco sobre a identidade desse sujeito em deslocamento. Utilizaremos como dispositivo metodológico a Análise de Discurso de linha francesa, que estabelece a articulação entre materialidade linguística e história para a produção de sentidos. O corpus é constituído pois, de recortes discursivos da autonarrativa da migrante a partir da seleção de eixos temáticos que caracterizam regularidades, entre outras categorias de análise baseadas na semântica global de Dominique Maingueneau. O objetivo geral é analisar as representações identitárias que o sujeito tem de si e do outro brasileiro que emergem no discurso autonarrativo, a fim de discutir indícios da constituição subjetiva e identitária de quem fala e os processos de formação de memória que acontecem entre culturas e línguas. Para o uso da autonarrativa como possibilidade de construção de conhecimento, trazemos o estudo de Michel Foucault sobre a escrita de si, entre outros autores que falam sobre a importância das histórias de vida. Para fundamentar teoricamente as noções de memória, diferença e identidade, apoiamo-nos nos estudos culturais, além do olhar decolonial para lidar com as identidades subjugadas das minorias. Com essa reflexão, entendemos que é possível romper com o pensamento hegemônico único, eurocêntrico, que dá espaço enunciativo e relevância somente às narrativas dos povos privilegiados em detrimento do dominado, do sujeito colonizador em detrimento do colonizado, do sujeito hegemônico em detrimento do sujeito ordinário ou “infame” de que fala Foucault, valorizando, então, o lugar de fala de uma migrante negra e dando relevância à sua existência invisibilizada e silenciada no país hospedeiro, o qual, muitas vezes, lhe é hostil.

Continuous-flow, gas-phase selective oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of unsaturated long chain alcohols (i.e. decen-1-ol isomers) to the corresponding aldehydes over an innovative, highly dispersed Cu-based catalyst supported over ferrite.

Diamond-based coatings are employed in several technological applications, for their outstanding mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and chemical stability. Of significant relevance is the interface with silicon oxide, where phenomena of adhesion, friction, and wear can affect drastically the performance of the coating. Here we monitor such phenomena in real-time by performing massive ab initio molecular dynamics simulations in tribological conditions. We take into account many relevant factors that can play a role, i.e. the diamond surface orientation and reconstruction, silanol density, as well as, the type and concentration of passivating species. The large systems size and the long simulations time, put our work at the frontier of what can be currently done with fully ab initio molecular dynamics. The results of our work point to full hydrogenation as an effective way to reduce both friction and wear for all diamond surfaces, while graphitization is competitive only on the (111) surface. Overall we expect that our observations will be useful to improve technological applications where the silica-diamond interface plays a key role. Moreover, we demonstrate that realistic and accurate in silico experiments are feasible nowadays exploiting HPC resources and HPC optimized software, paving the way to a more general understanding of the relationship between surface chemistry and nanoscale-tribology.

Este artigo tem por objetivo levantar a questão da permanência de certas questões fundamentais à igreja cristã, sobretudo por meio da exortação paulina “às coisas do alto”, em sua Epístola aos Colossenses. A realidade sempre presente dos poderes totalitários e exploratórios, do apego humano às paixões violentas e desregradas, bem como do apego às distrações rasteiras e à cobiça das coisas materiais, permanece como obstáculo poderoso e deveras resistente à ação cristã no mundo. Sem a fundamentação na fé que vem da Palavra do Deus vivo e encarnado, uma fundamentação rigorosamente mística, esse combate contra essa realidade brutal do mundo, vinculada à linguagem da morte, vira-se contra si mesmo, validando ainda mais os imperativos exploratórios e sua desumana lógica interna. Uma igreja viva e ativa é uma igreja ainda em martírio – podemos dizer, infelizmente –, uma vez que presente num mundo ainda dominado pela linguagem e pelos anseios da carne.

We propose to derive deviation measures through the Minkowski gauge of a given set of acceptable positions. We show that, given a suitable acceptance set, any positive homogeneous deviation measure can be accommodated in our framework. In doing so, we provide a new interpretation for such measures, namely, that they quantify how much one must shrink or deleverage a financial position for it to become acceptable. In particular, the Minkowski Deviation of a set which is convex, translation insensitive, and radially bounded at non-constants, is a generalized deviation measure in the sense of [R. T. Rockafellar, S. Uryasev and M. Zabarankin, Generalized deviations in risk analysis, Finance Stoch. 10 2006, 1, 51–74]. Furthermore, we explore the converse relations from properties of a Minkowski Deviation to its sub-level sets, introducing the notion of acceptance sets for deviations. Hence, we fill a gap existing in the literature, namely the lack of a well-defined concept of acceptance sets for deviation measures. Dual characterizations in terms of polar sets and support functionals are provided.

Este artigo parte de uma tese cujo estudo foca as percepções das professoras participantes. Considera-se o ensino da produção textual como movimento gradativo e processual, perpassando o contexto do ensino médio. Os dados decorrem de um processo de pesquisa vivenciado em uma escola estadual do estado do Rio Grande do Sul, com base na questão: “Quais as principais percepções dos participantes da pesquisa sobre características, desafios e possibilidades do ensino, que marcam a prática de produção textual, coletivamente vivenciada na escola?”. A pesquisa, de natureza qualitativa, abrangeu aplicação de questionário e construção de diário de bordo. Os resultados referendam a aposta na formação docente continuada como condição para promover processos de ensino que potencializem o pleno desenvolvimento humano. Também permitem afirmar que o ensino da produção textual é um processo gradativo e sinaliza que, quando professor e estudante analisam e reconstroem em conjunto os textos, retomam e expandem ciclos de aprendizagem e desenvolvimento, na imbricação entre áreas, conhecimentos linguísticos e formas como isso se faz presente na enunciação e produção do texto.

RESUMO O objetivo desta investigação foi avaliar o comportamento da Rede de Atenção à Saúde (RAS) durante situações de desastres. O estudo foi realizado em Santa Maria, estado do Rio Grande do Sul, e teve como objeto a atuação do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) após o incêndio ocorrido na Boate Kiss, em 2013. Trata-se de uma investigação qualitativa, com características da Avaliação de Quarta Geração. As principais fontes de informação foram entrevistas individuais e coletivas com representantes de grupos com diferentes interesses no tema proposto. A análise de dados identificou três momentos de atuação com características distintas. O enfrentamento inicial dependeu da capacidade de mobilização, conectividade, recursos da comunidade e capacidade convocatória; o atendimento aos sobreviventes e familiares – especialmente atendimento hospitalar – exigiu regulação, financiamento e capacidade de gestão e coordenação de equipes com visão das propostas assistenciais em disputa. Houve abertura para formas menos hierárquicas de gestão dos serviços. A institucionalidade do SUS, com mobilização de recursos, com rede e capacidade de regulação, foi o fator mais importante para enfrentar os efeitos do desastre. A fragmentação dos serviços e a fragilidade da atenção básica limitaram a qualidade da assistência imediata e dificultam o cuidado longitudinal.

To evaluate the effects of different amplitude-modulated frequency (AMF-100Hz and AMF-10Hz) of the interferential current (IC) on autonomic nervous system (ANS) in healthy volunteers. Thirty healthy volunteers (23.7 ±2.7 years old) were randomized into placebo interventions (turned off), IC with AMF-100Hz and IC with AMF-10Hz. Interventions ware applied in the paravertebral ganglionar region for 30 minutes. ANS evaluated by the heart rate variability before and immediately after the interventions. 10Hz intervention reduced the sympathetic activity in 6% and an increase in the parasympathetic in 6%. 100Hz intervention increased 12% to sympathetic activity and decreased 12% to parasympathetic activity. IC changes the autonomic balance in healthy volunteers. 10Hz reduces the sympathetic activity and increases parasympathetic, although the 100Hz has opposite results. The IC at 10Hz improves the autonomic balance and presents potential effects to be tested in hypertensive patients.

The functionality of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal carbides and nitrides (MXenes) in technological applications greatly depends on their wettability. For instance, MXenes’ layer stability against degradative oxidation is notably reduced when stored in aqueous solutions, leading to the transformation into oxides. In this work, we study water adsorption on Ti-based MXenes by ab initio calculations. The energy gains for the molecular adsorption on Tin+1XnT2 is evaluated as a function of the termination (T = F, O, OH, mixture), the carbon/nitrogen ratio (X = C, N), the layer thickness (n) and water coverage. MXenes’ hydrophilicity tends to increase due to the presence of defects as vacancies and flake edges. We demonstrate that physical adsorption occurs through hydrogen bonding on both defect-free layers and layers containing C/N or Ti atomic vacancies, with –OH terminations providing the strongest interactions (0.40–0.65 eV). In contrast, strong water chemisorption is observed on surfaces with a single termination vacancy (0.60–1.20 eV), edges (0.75–0.85 eV), and clusters of defects (1.00–1.80 eV). We verified that the presence of undercoordinated Ti atoms on the surface is the key factor in promoting H2O chemisorption, i.e., the degradative oxidation. Graphical Abstract

Agriculture is one of the most important economic sectors that societies have relied on since ancient times. The developing countries have reached now and late to smart agriculture, or precision agriculture, which uses the latest developments in the field of informatics and the internet of things. Many scientific projects have contributed to the development of smart agriculture, however, these projects focus on partial aspects without addressing other aspects. The application of the results of these projects becomes either a partial or a composite application of different heterogeneous works, which renders the desired results ineffective. Accordingly, this paper proposes a comprehensive reference regulatory approach for an advanced agricultural information system that accommodates the agricultural sector within its interconnected levels, public and private, and its various aspects (Monitor, Prediction, Optimization, Control) within a modern information technology vision based on the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence and optimization technologies.

Resumen Este artículo explora la figura de la trabajadora sexual en las novelas Virgindade Inútil de la escritora brasileña Ercilia Nogueira de Cobra y ¡Quiero trabajo! de la autora argentina María Luisa Carnelli. Al narrar historias de mujeres que escapan de sus hogares para realizar labores sexuales, sus personajes se convierten en “sujetos nómades” (Braidotti) ya que desafían las imágenes femeninas asociadas con el matrimonio y el trabajo doméstico. Así, las autoras de estas novelas proponen una nueva manera de pensar la femineidad. Este estudio comparado contribuye a la discusión de los roles de las mujeres en Argentina y Brasil de las décadas de 1920 y 1930.

Diamond displays outstanding chemical, physical, and tribological properties, making it attractive for numerous applications ranging from biomedicine to tribology. However, the reaction of the materials with molecules present in the air, such as oxygen, hydrogen, and water, could significantly change the electronic and tribological properties of the films. In this study, we performed several density functional theory calculations to construct a database for the adsorption energies and dissociation barriers of these molecules on the most relevant diamond surfaces, including C(111), C(001), and C(110). The adsorption configurations, reaction paths, activation energies, and their influence on the structure of diamond surfaces are discussed. The results indicate that there is a strong correlation between adsorption energy and surface energy. Moreover, we found that the dissociation processes of oxygen molecules on these diamond surfaces can significantly alter the surface morphology and may affect the tribological properties of diamond films. These findings can help to advance the development and optimization of devices and antiwear coatings based on diamond.

O mercado de cervejas artesanais tem se mostrado bastante promissor, com crescimento ao longo dos anos. Neste sentido, o objetivo geral desse trabalho foi organizar uma análise bibliométrica sobre cervejas artesanais. Na metodologia, foram utilizadas produções científicas publicadas em periódicos presentes na base de dados e limitados pela categoria “beer” (cerveja) – Capes Cafe (1990 a 2022). Em relação aos resultados, dentro dos 36 artigos encontrados na série história, apenas 13 artigos foram encontrados na categoria “beer” e todos foram analisados. Demostrando, assim, que esse mercado ainda precisa ser consolidado no Brasil.

We propose the Star-Shaped deviation measures in the same vein as Star-Shaped risk measures and Star-Shaped acceptability indexes. We characterize Star-Shaped deviation measures through Star-Shaped acceptance sets and as the minimum of a family of Convex deviation measures. We also expose an interplay between Star-Shaped risk measures and deviation measures.