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The aim of the research was to evaluate the effects of sulfonitric and CS (CS) treatment in multilayer carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) on their electrochemical and magnetic properties. Thermogravimetric analysis (TG) showed an increase in thermal properties for CS functionalized MWCNT when compared in sulfonitric medium. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images revealed a reduction in the average diameter of functionalized MWCNT in the presence of CS in addition to decreasing their interlayer spaces. As evidenced by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) patterns. In addition, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra proved the functional groups inclusion of CS and sulfonitric solution on the (carbon nanotubes) CNT matrix. Unlike pristine MWCNT solutions which are unstable in aqueous media, functionalization with acidic solutions and contributed to its potential stabilization. The results obtained by Raman Spectroscopy prove the functionalization through the insertion of functional groups in the walls of the nanotubes. The electroanalysis showed higher capacitance values by mass and by area for samples functionalized with acids and that the addition of CS during functionalization increases the resistance to current flow, causing an insulating effect.

Objectives: To explore the health status of public school teachers from the perspective of the physiotherapist and the speech pathologist, in order to develop and implement a proposal of preventive intervention for this population, through self-care measures carried out in groups. Methods: This is a research - action qualitative study, with the completion of six meetings that took place fortnightly, lasting 45 minutes in average, covering physical therapy and speech therapy self-care. At the first meeting, a questionnaire was applied to collect personal and professional data and variables: physical therapy, pain sites, seated posturepermanence, speech therapy, annoyance in their voice, throat exams, water intake, strategies to maintain the order in the classroom. The sample consisted on 12 teachers linked to a public elementary school in Fortaleza-CE, Brazil. Results: All teachers made complaintsabout pain in the body and the types of pain most frequently reported were burning and stabbing. The majority (83.3%) reported never been submitted to physical therapy to relieve symptoms. In respect to speech complaints, 91.6% (11) of the study group reported discomfortin his voice and only one has held speech therapy, for six months. Conclusions: Integral, intersectional and interdisciplinary actions are needed, in order to prevent and early detect and treat physical or speech disorders that are characteristic of the profession. Group work proved to be a rich in possibilities tool.

The main objective of this study was to assess the impact of biochar rate (0, 8, 16 and 32 Mg ha−1) on the water retention capacity (WRC) of a sandy loam Dystric Plinthosol. The applied biochar was a by-product of slow pyrolysis (∼450 °C) of eucalyptus wood, milled to pass through a 2000 μm sieve that resulted in a material with an intrinsic porosity ≤10 μm and a specific surface area of ∼3.2 m2 g−1. The biochar was incorporated into the top 15 cm of the soil under an aerobic rice system. Our study focused on both the effects on WRC and rice yields 2 and 3 years after its application. Undisturbed soil samples were collected from 16 plots in two soil layers (5–10 and 15–20 cm). Soil water retention curves were modelled using a nonlinear mixed model which appropriately accounts for uncertainties inherent of spatial variability and repeated measurements taken within a specific soil sample. We found an increase in plant-available water in the upper soil layer proportional to the rate of biochar, with about 0.8% for each Mg ha−1 biochar amendment 2 and 3 years after its application. The impact of biochar on soil WRC was most likely related to an effect in overall porosity of the sandy loam soil, which was evident from an increase in saturated soil moisture and macro porosity with 0.5 and 1.6% for each Mg ha−1 of biochar applied, respectively. The increment in soil WRC did not translate into an increase in rice yield, essentially because in both seasons the amount of rainfall during the critical period for rice production exceeded 650 mm. The use of biochar as a soil amendment can be a worthy strategy to guarantee yield stability under short-term water-limited conditions. Our findings raise the importance of assessing the feasibility of very high application rates of biochar and the inclusion of a detailed analysis of its physical and chemical properties as part of future investigations.

The cacao tree (Theobroma cacao L.) is a species of great importance because cacao beans are the raw material used in the production of chocolate.However, the economic success of cacao is largely limited by important diseases such as black pod, which is responsible for losses of up to 30–40% of the global cacao harvest. The discovery of resistance genes could extensively reduce these losses. Therefore, the aims of this study were to construct an integrated multipoint genetic map, align polymorphisms against the available cacao genome, and identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with resistance to black pod disease in cacao. The genetic map had a total length of 956.41 cM and included 186 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers distributed among 10 linkage groups. The physical “in silico” map covered more than 200 Mb of the cacao genome. Based on the mixed model predicted means of Phytophthora evaluation, a total of 6 QTLs were detected for Phytophthora palmivora (1 QTL), Phytophthora citrophthora (1 QTL), and Phytophthora capsici (4 QTLs). Approximately 1.77–3.29% of the phenotypic variation could be explained by the mapped QTLs. Several SSR marker-flanking regions containing mapped QTLs were located in proximity to disease regions. The greatest number of resistance genes was detected in linkage group 6, which provides strong evidence for a QTL.This joint analysis involving multipoint and mixed-model approaches may provide a potentially promising technique for detecting genes resistant to black pod and could be very useful for future studies in cacao breeding.

The Amazon rain forest experiences the combined pressures from human-made deforestation and progressing climate change, causing severe and potentially disruptive perturbations of the ecosystem's integrity and stability. To intensify research on critical aspects of Amazonian biosphere–atmosphere exchange, the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) has been established in the central Amazon Basin. Here we present a multi-year analysis of backward trajectories to derive an effective footprint region of the observatory, which spans large parts of the particularly vulnerable eastern basin. Further, we characterize geospatial properties of the footprint regions, such as climatic conditions, distribution of ecoregions, land cover categories, deforestation dynamics, agricultural expansion, fire regimes, infrastructural development, protected areas, and future deforestation scenarios. This study is meant to be a resource and reference work, helping to embed the ATTO observations into the larger context of human-caused transformations of Amazonia. We conclude that the chances to observe an unperturbed rain forest–atmosphere exchange at the ATTO site will likely decrease in the future, whereas the atmospheric signals from human-made and climate-change-related forest perturbations will increase in frequency and intensity.

Background:The efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine in patients with autoimmune diseases (AID) depends on the underlying disease, the type of immunosuppression and the vaccine regimens administered. However, there are few studies evaluating immunogenicity according to immunosuppressive drugs and different COVID-19 vaccine platforms in a large cohort of patients with AID.Objectives:We aimed to determine the factors associated for vaccine response through anti-spike IgG antibodies 28 days after the third dose against COVID-19 in patients with AID.Methods:These data are from SAFER study: “Safety and efficacy on Covid-19 Vaccine in Rheumatic Disease”, a multicentric prospective phase IV study, in real life, in Brazil, started on May 2021. Data from this analysis were from 8 centers, from all Brazilian areas, after 2 or 3 doses of vaccine against COVID-19 in patients with AID age ≥ 18 years. Exclusion criteria were pregnancy, previous severe adverse events (AE) to any vaccine or other immunosuppression causes. Demographics, diagnoses and therapeutic regimens were collected. Available vaccines were adenoviral vectored vaccine (ChAdOx1, Astrazeneca), mRNA vaccine (BNT162b2, Pfizer–BioNTech) or inactivated SARS-COV-2 vaccine (Coronavac). Participants were followed up by means of blood collection for measurement of IgG antibody against SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain by chemiluminescence (SARS-CoV-2-IgG-II Quant assay) at baseline and 28 days after the first, 2nd and 3rd doses. The seropositivity was defined for titers IgG-Spike ≥7.1 BAU/mL. The inferential statistical analysis included a comparison of the IgG value at the 4 time points were performed with the Wilcoxon/Mann-Whitney test. Simple and multiple regressions were carried out to determine which clinical and sociodemographic variables influenced the IgG value 28 days after the booster dose (T4). An alpha level of 5% significance was used in all analyses.Results:A total of 1101 participants were included and followed from the first dose. Of these, 785 participants received the 3-dose regimen and had samples taken during the four study times. Finally, only the most frequent vaccination schedules were filtered out, removing 68 participants. Thus, the final database has 704 participants with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) N=249 (35%), Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) N=134 (19%), Spondyloarthritis (SpA) N=99 (14%), Connective Tissue Disease (CTD) N=72 (10%), Sjögren’s Syndrome (SS) N=53 (7. 5%), Inflammatory bowel disease N=51 (7.2%) and Vasculitis N=46 (6.5%). Mean age was 41.3 (±12.2), female N=562, (78.0%). Vaccination regimens administered were: Coronavac + Coronavac + Pfizer N=226 (32.10%), AstraZeneca + AstraZeneca + Pfizer N=223 (31.68%), AstraZeneca + AstraZeneca + AstraZeneca N=139 (19.74%), Coronavac + Coronavac + AstraZeneca N=77 (10.94%), Pfizer + Pfizer + Pfizer N=32 (4.55%) and Coronavac + Coronavac + Coronavac N=7 (0.99%). The median titers of IgG antibodies against SARS-COV-2 increased progressively over the times, at baseline was 1.05 BAU/mL (0.2-26.8), at T2 (28 days after first dose) was 78.4 BAU/mL (11.9-437.2), at T3 (28 days after second dose) was 214.8 BAU/mL (74.2-683.0) and T4 (28 days after the third dose) was 1281.1 BAU/mL (376.7-3420.9). No serious adverse events were observed during the follow-up. The multivariate linear regression showed that greater titers of IgG antibodies were associated with pre-exposure to COVID (p<0.001), Pfizer booster regimens (p=0.008,0.002, 0.001 respectively), patients receiving non-immunosuppressant DMARDs or not using immunosuppressive medications (p<0.05). Rituximab was an independent factor for low titers (p<0.05) (Table 1 and Figure 1).Conclusion:All vaccines administered as third dose induced an increase in IgG-S titers antibodies. COVID pre-exposure, Pfizer booster regimens and patients receiving non-immunosuppressant DMARDs or without medications were independent predictors of higher humoral immune responses which is relevant in this immunosuppressed population.REFERENCES:NIL.Acknowledgements:Support from the Brazilian Society of Rheumatology (SBR). Funding by the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Health, Brazil (DECIT).Disclosure of Interests:None declared.

Background:Patients with immune-mediated rheumatic diseases (IMRDs) have been prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination to mitigate the infection severity risks. Individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at a high risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes, especially those under immunosuppression or with comorbidities. In late 2022, the SARS-CoV-2 omicron BA.5 sublineage accounted for most of the sequenced viral genomes worldwide. Bivalent mRNA vaccines contain an ancestral strain component of the new coronavirus plus an updated component of the omicron BA.4 and BA.5. Since February 2023 a single bivalent mRNA vaccine booster dose has been recommended by the Brazilian Ministry of Health for adults who have completed a primary vaccination series and were at high risk of severe disease. However, few studies in the literature assessed the influence of the COVID-19 bivalent vaccine in the composite disease activity indices in patients with RA.Objectives:Evaluate the safety and the influence in the disease activity of a single bivalent mRNA vaccine booster against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with RA.Methods:These data are from the study “Safety and Efficacy on COVID-19 Vaccine in Rheumatic Diseases (SAFER),” a multicentric observational study that evaluate COVID-19 vaccine in IMRDs in Brazil. This analysis included adults meeting the ACR/EULAR (2010) classification criteria for RA from public’s healthcare centers, undergoing clinical-laboratorial assessments, and having their clinical disease activity indices (CDAI) scores calculated upon study inclusion and 28 days after de vaccination. Adverse events following the vaccination (AEs) were collected from all patients using a diary, filled out daily and returned at the end of 28 days after the booster dose. The Disease activity accessed before and after vaccination was compared using the McNemar test. For all tests, a statistical significance level of 5% and a confidence interval of 95% were used.Results:Of a total of 188 RA patients followed in the study during its primary vaccination schedule, 48 received the bivalent booster and were include in this sub-analysis. Most of them were female (95%), with mean BMI of 27 and an average age of 51 years. The most common comorbidity was hypertension (43%) and obesity (12 %). Only mild and transitory AEs were reported. The more common AEs (Table 1) were pain at the injection (60%), headache and Swelling around the injection site (31%), arthralgia (27%), fatigue (18%), fever (14%), myalgia (14%), nausea (10%) and dizziness (8%). The CDAI were evaluated in 38 individuals. No statistical difference was observed in the proportion of patients achieving treat to target goals (remission or low disease activity) before and after bivalent booster (Table 2).Conclusion:In general, the majority of AEs reported after bivalent COVID-19 booster were mild, similar to the previous data from monovalent immunizing in patients with RA. In the short period of observation, this vaccine did not increase the risk of flare in patients with RA.REFERENCES:[1] Tavares AC, de Melo AK, Cruz VA, de Souza VA, de Carvalho JS, Machado LL, et al. Guidelines on COVID-19 vaccination in patients with immune-mediated rheumatic diseases: a Brazilian Society of Rheumatology task force. Adv Rheumatol. 2022;62:3.Acknowledgements:NIL.Disclosure of Interests:None declared.

Megacities and other major population centres (MPCs) worldwide are major sources of air pollution, both locally as well as downwind. The overall assessment and prediction of the impact of MPC pollution on tropospheric chemistry are challenging. The present work provides an overview of the highlights of a major new contribution to the understanding of this issue based on the data and analysis of the EMeRGe (Effect of Megacities on the transport and transformation of pollutants on the Regional to Global scales) international project. EMeRGe focuses on atmospheric chemistry, dynamics, and transport of local and regional pollution originating in MPCs. Airborne measurements, taking advantage of the long range capabilities of the High Altitude and LOng Range Research Aircraft (HALO, https://www.halo-spp.de, last access: 22 March 2022), are a central part of the project. The synergistic use and consistent interpretation of observational data sets of different spatial and temporal resolution (e.g. from ground-based networks, airborne campaigns, and satellite measurements) supported by modelling within EMeRGe provide unique insight to test the current understanding of MPC pollution outflows. In order to obtain an adequate set of measurements at different spatial scales, two field experiments were positioned in time and space to contrast situations when the photochemical transformation of plumes emerging from MPCs is large. These experiments were conducted in summer 2017 over Europe and in the inter-monsoon period over Asia in spring 2018. The intensive observational periods (IOPs) involved HALO airborne measurements of ozone and its precursors, volatile organic compounds, aerosol particles, and related species as well as coordinated ground-based ancillary observations at different sites. Perfluorocarbon (PFC) tracer releases and model forecasts supported the flight planning, the identification of pollution plumes, and the analysis of chemical transformations during transport. This paper describes the experimental deployment and scientific questions of the IOP in Europe. The MPC targets – London (United Kingdom; UK), the Benelux/Ruhr area (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany), Paris (France), Rome and the Po Valley (Italy), and Madrid and Barcelona (Spain) – were investigated during seven HALO research flights with an aircraft base in Germany for a total of 53 flight hours. An in-flight comparison of HALO with the collaborating UK-airborne platform Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) took place to assure accuracy and comparability of the instrumentation on board. Overall, EMeRGe unites measurements of near- and far-field emissions and hence deals with complex air masses of local and distant sources. Regional transport of several European MPC outflows was successfully identified and measured. Chemical processing of the MPC emissions was inferred from airborne observations of primary and secondary pollutants and the ratios between species having different chemical lifetimes. Photochemical processing of aerosol and secondary formation or organic acids was evident during the transport of MPC plumes. Urban plumes mix efficiently with natural sources as mineral dust and with biomass burning emissions from vegetation and forest fires. This confirms the importance of wildland fire emissions in Europe and indicates an important but discontinuous contribution to the European emission budget that might be of relevance in the design of efficient mitigation strategies. The present work provides an overview of the most salient results in the European context, with these being addressed in more detail within additional dedicated EMeRGe studies. The deployment and results obtained in Asia will be the subject of separate publications.

Studies reported that tobacco addiction was related to visual impairments, but one unresolved issue is whether the impairments are related to the many compounds existing in the cigarettes or to the effects of nicotine. On the other hand, nicotine gum can be used as replacement therapy or as a neuroprotective agent for some diseases. The main purpose of this controlled trial is to investigate the effects of nicotine gum on vision. The ENIGMA-Vis trial aims to compare two dosages of nicotine gum (2-mg and 4-mg) and a placebo gum in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 100 participants to be allocated into a single group assignment of repeated measures (two studies; N= 50 for each one). Eligibility criteria are healthy nonsmokers not diagnosed with substance abuse and without an acute or chronic medical condition. Intervention will last three sessions for each participant with a window frame of one week per session. Study outcomes are (1) short-term effects of nicotine gum on contrast sensitivity; (2) short-term effects of nicotine gum on chromatic contrast discrimination; (3) whether demographics, body mass index, or serum cotinine predicts response of visual processing. This study addresses an important gap in the effects of nicotine on vision. One of the main takeaways of this study is to understand how the effects of nicotine on contrast sensitivity and chromatic contrast discrimination. This information will provide a further understanding of how nicotine interacts with early visual processes and help determine how the different components present during smoking can affect vision. Trial Registration number: RBR-46tjy3

An oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) bud rod disorder of unknown etiology, named Fatal Yellowing (FY) disease, is regarded as one of the top constraints with respect to the growth of the palm oil industry in Brazil. FY etiology has been a challenge embraced by several research groups in plant pathology throughout the last 50 years in Brazil, with no success in completing Koch’s postulates. Most recently, the hypothesis of having an abiotic stressor as the initial cause of FY has gained ground, and oxygen deficiency (hypoxia) damaging the root system has become a candidate for stress. Here, a comprehensive, large-scale, single- and multi-omics integration analysis of the metabolome and transcriptome profiles on the leaves of oil palm plants contrasting in terms of FY symptomatology—asymptomatic and symptomatic—and collected in two distinct seasons—dry and rainy—is reported. The changes observed in the physicochemical attributes of the soil and the chemical attributes and metabolome profiles of the leaves did not allow the discrimination of plants which were asymptomatic or symptomatic for this disease, not even in the rainy season, when the soil became waterlogged. However, the multi-omics integration analysis of enzymes and metabolites differentially expressed in asymptomatic and/or symptomatic plants in the rainy season compared to the dry season allowed the identification of the metabolic pathways most affected by the changes in the environment, opening an opportunity for additional characterization of the role of hypoxia in FY symptom intensification. Finally, the initial analysis of a set of 56 proteins/genes differentially expressed in symptomatic plants compared to the asymptomatic ones, independent of the season, has presented pieces of evidence suggesting that breaks in the non-host resistance to non-adapted pathogens and the basal immunity to adapted pathogens, caused by the anaerobic conditions experienced by the plants, might be linked to the onset of this disease. This set of genes might offer the opportunity to develop biomarkers for selecting oil palm plants resistant to this disease and to help pave the way to employing strategies to keep the safety barriers raised and strong.