
Southwest Bahia State University
UniversityVitória da Conquista, Brazil
Research output, citation impact, and the most-cited recent papers from Southwest Bahia State University (Brazil). Aggregated across the NobleBlocks index of 300M+ scholarly works.
Top-cited papers from Southwest Bahia State University
O livro escrito por Basarab Nicolescu, “O Manifesto da Transdisciplinaridade”, completa 10 anos de existencia e continua sendo uma obra de referencia no que diz respeito aos maleficios produzidos pela fragmentacao do conhecimento e as tragedias geradas pela “tecnociencia”. Refletindo sobre a necessidade de urgentes mudancas epistemologicas e societais no mundo atual, por considerar que “amanha podera ser tarde demais”, o autor desse oportuno manifesto avalia inicialmente o significado de duas importantes revolucoes que aconteceram no seculo XX: a revolucao quantica e a revolucao informatica.
The energy spectrum of cosmic rays above $2.5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{18}\text{ }\mathrm{eV}$, derived from 20 000 events recorded at the Pierre Auger Observatory, is described. The spectral index $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ of the particle flux, $J\ensuremath{\propto}{E}^{\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\gamma}}$, at energies between $4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{18}\text{ }\mathrm{eV}$ and $4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{19}\text{ }\mathrm{eV}$ is $2.69\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.02(\mathrm{stat})\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.06(\mathrm{syst})$, steepening to $4.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.4(\mathrm{stat})\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.06(\mathrm{syst})$ at higher energies. The hypothesis of a single power law is rejected with a significance greater than 6 standard deviations. The data are consistent with the prediction by Greisen and by Zatsepin and Kuz'min.
Excessive and continuous stress has effects that go beyond mere health commitment, by triggering various diseases, and it is well stablish that this stress-related somatic events can affect the quality of life. Based on the exposed, the following questions were raised: There is association between quality of life and stress level in university students? What are the potential variables that influences this association? Therefore, this research aimed to analyze recent scientific productions about stress and quality of life in university students. A systematic review was conducted on the recent scientific production (i.e., published papers along the last five (5) years) in Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, PubMed and Virtual Health Library (BVS). For this it was used the following search terms: "quality of life", restricted to the title, "Stress" and "students" in the title, abstract or keywords, all entered in a single search and connected by the Boolean operator "AND". This study identified 142 articles in the scientific literature, but only 13 articles were classified as eligible according to the previously established criteria, highlighting the lack of studies that address the theme under investigation. Among these, quality of life was frequently negatively associated to stress and factors as insomnia and burnout were also associated with its deterioration. This systematic review highlights the negative association between stress and QoL in university students, through the deterioration of various aspects related to physical and mental health.
Lipid oxidation in meats is a process whereby polyunsaturated fatty acid react with reactive oxygen species leading to a series of secondary reactions which in turn lead to degradation of lipids and development of oxidative rancidity. This process is one of the major factors responsible for the gradual reduction of sensory and nutritional quality of meats, thus affecting consumer acceptance. Therefore, the control and minimization of lipid oxidation in meat and meat products is of great interest to the food industry. In view of this, some technologies have been developed, such as vacuum packaging, modified atmosphere, and use of antioxidants. The aim is understanding the lipid oxidation mechanisms responsible for sensory and nutritional quality reduction in meat and meat products and identify the most effective methods to control this process. Lipid oxidation in meat can be controlled using different strategies, such as animal dietary supplements, addition of antioxidants, processing, and the use of special packaging. Better results can be obtained by using synergistic strategies and focusing attention on food safety and to prevent negative effects to other sensory properties.
Experience economy is the last segment in the evolution of the market, and it is characterized by the fact that consumers do not acquire goods, products or services, but experiences that they integrate in their biography, and consequently in their identity. Customer Experience, possibly the latest revolution in business thinking along with the digital transformation, seeks the design and management of truly customer-centric experiences. This revolution is spreading across different sectors, among which the health sector should necessarily be considered. This talk covers the fundamental ideas within the concept of customer experience, as well as it provides information and suggestions about how to design and deliver an optimal patient experience.
The COVID-19 pandemic has infected millions worldwide, leaving a global burden for long-term care of COVID-19 survivors. It is thus imperative to study post-COVID (i.e., short-term) and long-COVID (i.e., long-term) effects, specifically as local and systemic pathophysiological outcomes of other coronavirus-related diseases (such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)) were well-cataloged. We conducted a comprehensive review of adverse post-COVID health outcomes and potential long-COVID effects. We observed that such adverse outcomes were not localized. Rather, they affected different human systems, including: (i) immune system (e.g., Guillain-Barré syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndromes such as Kawasaki disease), (ii) hematological system (vascular hemostasis, blood coagulation), (iii) pulmonary system (respiratory failure, pulmonary thromboembolism, pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, pulmonary vascular damage, pulmonary fibrosis), (iv) cardiovascular system (myocardial hypertrophy, coronary artery atherosclerosis, focal myocardial fibrosis, acute myocardial infarction, cardiac hypertrophy), (v) gastrointestinal, hepatic, and renal systems (diarrhea, nausea/vomiting, abdominal pain, anorexia, acid reflux, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, lack of appetite/constipation), (vi) skeletomuscular system (immune-mediated skin diseases, psoriasis, lupus), (vii) nervous system (loss of taste/smell/hearing, headaches, spasms, convulsions, confusion, visual impairment, nerve pain, dizziness, impaired consciousness, nausea/vomiting, hemiplegia, ataxia, stroke, cerebral hemorrhage), (viii) mental health (stress, depression and anxiety). We additionally hypothesized mechanisms of action by investigating possible molecular mechanisms associated with these disease outcomes/symptoms. Overall, the COVID-19 pathology is still characterized by cytokine storm that results to endothelial inflammation, microvascular thrombosis, and multiple organ failures.
Abstract Cloud point extraction is a separation and preconcentration procedure that has been extensively applied for trace metal determination in several different matrices. Its major advantages are simple experimental procedures, low cost, high preconcentration factors, and environmental safety. These aspects include it in a set of analytical methods in agreement with the "green chemistry" principles. The surfactants characteristics and the process of micelle formation are outlined for a better understanding of the technique. After general considerations about the cloud point extraction basis and its extraction mechanism for metal chelates are considered, selected spectroanalytical techniques and their application for analysis of the micellar phase are discussed. The micellar extraction in metal speciation analysis, the on‐line incorporation of cloud point extraction to flow injection analysis, and coupling with capillary electrophoresis are described. Keywords: Cloud point extractionmetal trace analysisspectroanalytical techniques Acknowledgement The authors are grateful for CNPq, CT‐PETRO, CAPES, and FAPESB for financial support and fellowship, and Professor Carol H. Collins and Dr. J. Sneddon for language assistance.
Malaria is still the most destructive and dangerous parasitic infection in many tropical and subtropical countries. The burden of this disease is getting worse, mainly due to the increasing resistance of Plasmodium falciparum against the widely available antimalarial drugs. There is an urgent need for new, more affordable and accessible antimalarial agents possessing original modes of action. Natural products have played a dominant role in the discovery of leads for the development of drugs to treat human diseases, and this fact anticipates that new antimalarial leads may certainly emerge from tropical plant sources. This present review covers most of the recently-published non-alkaloidal natural compounds from plants with antiplasmodial and antimalarial properties, belonging to the classes of terpenes, limonoids, flavonoids, chromones, xanthones, anthraquinones, miscellaneous and related compounds, besides the majority of papers describing antiplasmodial crude extracts published in the last five years not reviewed before. In addition, some perspectives and remarks on the development of new drugs and phytomedicines for malaria are succinctly discussed.
We report a measurement of the proton-air cross section for particle production at the center-of-mass energy per nucleon of 57 TeV. This is derived from the distribution of the depths of shower maxima observed with the Pierre Auger Observatory: systematic uncertainties are studied in detail. Analyzing the tail of the distribution of the shower maxima, a proton-air cross section of $[505\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}22(\mathrm{stat}{)}_{\ensuremath{-}36}^{+28}(\mathrm{syst})]\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{mb}$ is found.
In the literature there are a considerable number of chemical and biochemical tests for evaluation of in vitro antioxidant activities of pure compounds or fractions and organic extracts. These tests are important tools for screening of synthetic and natural bioactive compound as well as they can be employed in food chemistry. This work is a critical review of the main methods employed for in vitro antioxidant determination.
BACKGROUND: The combined association of physical activity and sedentary behavior with adverse health factors is not yet clear in the literature. A combined analysis of physical activity level and sedentary behavior may provide evidence of the interrelation between these behavioral variables and the frailty syndrome. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between physical activity level, sedentary behavior and frailty in older adults. METHODS: In this study, we evaluated 457 older adults (age range = 60 to 96 years old) from the Longitudinal Study of the Elderly Health of Alcobaça, Bahia. The frailty condition was defined by the presence of three or more of the following criteria: unintentional weight loss, slow walking speed measured over a 4.57 m test, a reduction of manual grip strength and exhaustion. Based upon these criteria, participants were classified as non-frail or frail. Physical activity level and time spent in sedentary behavior were assessed with the International Questionnaire of Physical Activity. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the sample. To examine the combined association of physical activity and sedentary behavior with frailty, chi-square and Poisson regression tests were used. Statistical significance was defined as p ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: The prevalence of frailty was 8.8% (n = 40), with higher prevalence observed with increasing age. Low physical activity level combined with excessive time spent in sedentary behavior (physical activity level < 150 min/wk. and sedentary behavior ≥540 min/day) was associated with frailty, resulting in a prevalence ratio of 2.83 (95% CI, 1.23 to 6.52). CONCLUSION: Frailty is more prevalent among older adults who exhibit insufficient levels of physical activity combined with a great amount of time spent in sedentary behavior, even when adjusted for sociodemographic factors.
The surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory is sensitive to Earth-skimming tau neutrinos that interact in Earth's crust. Tau leptons from ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}$ charged-current interactions can emerge and decay in the atmosphere to produce a nearly horizontal shower with a significant electromagnetic component. The data collected between 1 January 2004 and 31 August 2007 are used to place an upper limit on the diffuse flux of ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}$ at EeV energies. Assuming an ${E}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$ differential energy spectrum the limit set at 90% C.L. is ${E}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}^{2}d{N}_{{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}}/d{E}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}<1.3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}7}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}\text{ }{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}\text{ }{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\text{ }{\mathrm{sr}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ in the energy range $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{17}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}<{E}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}<2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{19}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}$.
Essential oils from leaves, ripe and unripe fruits of Schinus terebinthifolius growing in Brazil were investigated. Oil content from either ripe or unripe fruits was similar (4.65% and 3.98%, respectively). Sesquiterpenes (from 78.0% to 90.4%) dominated the oil content of both leaves and unripe fruit. The essential oils were tested in vitro for their allelopathic activity on germination and radicle growth of Lactuca sativa and Cucumis sativus at 1,000 and 10,000 g mL -1 concentrations. The three samples tested were more active in inhibiting the radicle growth for L. sativa (88.6-92.4%) than for C. sativus (50.5-84.5%) at 10,000 g mL -1 concentration.
In view of the advancement in the understanding about the most diverse types of cancer and consequently a relentless search for a cure and increased survival rates of cancer patients, finding a therapy that is able to combat the mechanism of aggression of this disease is extremely important. Thus, oncolytic viruses (OVs) have demonstrated great benefits in the treatment of cancer because it mediates antitumor effects in several ways. Viruses can be used to infect cancer cells, especially over normal cells, to present tumor-associated antigens, to activate "danger signals" that generate a less immune-tolerant tumor microenvironment, and to serve transduction vehicles for expression of inflammatory and immunomodulatory cytokines. The success of therapies using OVs was initially demonstrated by the use of the genetically modified herpes virus, talimogene laherparepvec, for the treatment of melanoma. At this time, several OVs are being studied as a potential treatment for cancer in clinical trials. However, it is necessary to be aware of the safety and possible adverse effects of this therapy; after all, an effective treatment for cancer should promote regression, attack the tumor, and in the meantime induce minimal systemic repercussions. In this manuscript, we will present a current review of the mechanism of action of OVs, main clinical uses, updates, and future perspectives on this treatment.
Abstract The development of new sorbents and their application in preconcentration methods for determination of trace elements is a subject of great interest. This review summarizes and discusses several analytical methods involving the preparation and use of new solid‐phase materials. The performance and general properties of sorbents such as carbon nanotubes, imprinted ions, biosorbents, nanoparticles, and fullerene are discussed in detail. The perspective and future trends in the use of these materials are also considered.
This paper presents a review on kaurane diterpenes and their glycoside derivatives, covering aspects of their occurrence, biological activities and the synthesis of these natural products and their analogues. First, it shows and classifies diterpenes, in accordance with the already established structural criteria in the literature. Then, kaurane diterpenes are presented, focusing on their chemical structures, occurrence in the plant kingdom and their main, recently described, biological activities. Moreover, the most significant works, published between 1964 and November 2006, which describe the total synthesis or structural transformations of some kaurane diterpenes, including either semisynthetic and/or microbiological methodologies, are consisely reviewed. At this point, some general considerations on glycosides are introduced, and kaurane glycosides are presented and discussed on the basis of their toxic importance and occurrence in the plant kingdom, having focused on related aspects of their biological activities and the relationships between these activities and the structural factors of their molecules. Finally, the principal methods of glycosidation by enzymatic and chemical processes are both presented, and a few papers on the synthesis of kaurane glycosides are succinctly discussed.
The Pierre Auger Observatory is exploring the potential of the radio detection technique to study extensive air showers induced by ultra-high energy cosmic rays. The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) addresses both technological and scientific aspects of the radio technique. A first phase of AERA has been operating since September 2010 with detector stations observing radio signals at frequencies between 30 and 80 MHz. In this paper we present comparative studies to identify and optimize the antenna design for the final configuration of AERA consisting of 160 individual radio detector stations. The transient nature of the air shower signal requires a detailed description of the antenna sensor. As the ultra-wideband reception of pulses is not widely discussed in antenna literature, we review the relevant antenna characteristics and enhance theoretical considerations towards the impulse response of antennas including polarization effects and multiple signal reflections. On the basis of the vector effective length we study the transient response characteristics of three candidate antennas in the time domain. Observing the variation of the continuous galactic background intensity we rank the antennas with respect to the noise level added to the galactic signal.
Data collected at the Pierre Auger Observatory are used to establish an upper limit on the diffuse flux of tau neutrinos in the cosmic radiation. Earth-skimming ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}$ may interact in the Earth's crust and produce a $\ensuremath{\tau}$ lepton by means of charged-current interactions. The $\ensuremath{\tau}$ lepton may emerge from the Earth and decay in the atmosphere to produce a nearly horizontal shower with a typical signature, a persistent electromagnetic component even at very large atmospheric depths. The search procedure to select events induced by $\ensuremath{\tau}$ decays against the background of normal showers induced by cosmic rays is described. The method used to compute the exposure for a detector continuously growing with time is detailed. Systematic uncertainties in the exposure from the detector, the analysis, and the involved physics are discussed. No $\ensuremath{\tau}$ neutrino candidates have been found. For neutrinos in the energy range $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{17}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}<{E}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}<2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{19}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}$, assuming a diffuse spectrum of the form ${E}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$, data collected between 1 January 2004 and 30 April 2008 yield a 90% confidence-level upper limit of ${E}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}^{2}d{N}_{{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}}/d{E}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}<9\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}\text{ }{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{sr}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$.
The aim of this work was to evaluate the microemulsification as sample preparation procedure for determination of Cu, Fe, Ni and Zn in vegetable oils samples by High-Resolution Continuum Source Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (HR-CS FAAS). Microemulsions were prepared by mixing samples with propan-1-ol and aqueous acid solution, which allowed the use of inorganic aqueous standards for the calibration. To a sample mass of 0.5g, 100μL of hydrochloric acid and propan-1-ol were added and the resulting mixture diluted to a final volume of 10mL. The sample was manually shaken resulting in a visually homogeneous system. The main lines were selected for all studied metals and the detection limits (3σ, n=10) were 0.12, 0.62, 0.58 and 0.12mgkg(-1) for Cu, Fe, Ni and Zn, respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD) ranged from 5% to 11 % in samples spiked with 0.25 and 1.5μgmL(-1) of each metal, respectively. Recoveries varied from 89% to 102%. The proposed method was applied to the determination of Cu, Fe, Ni and Zn in soybean, olive and sunflower oils.
An upper limit of 16% (at 95% c.l.) is derived for the photon fraction in cosmic rays with energies greater than 1019 eV, based on observations of the depth of shower maximum performed with the hybrid detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory. This is the first such limit on photons obtained by observing the fluorescence light profile of air showers. This upper limit confirms and improves on previous results from the Haverah Park and AGASA surface arrays. Additional data recorded with the Auger surface detectors for a subset of the event sample support the conclusion that a photon origin of the observed events is not favored.