Federal University of Amazonas

Introduction Events such as the Paralympic Games leave a series of legacies in the host societies. This is also applicable to the development of associated scientific knowledge, particularly in the field of sports biomechanics. Objective The objective of this study is to investigate the Brazilian scientific production in the field of biomechanics in Paralympic sports during the cycle that preceded and followed the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Additionally, the study aims to provide insights for future research endeavors. Methods The search was conducted on the Lattes Platform, utilizing the filters “Assunto” and “Doutores” and the keywords “Paralímpico” and “Paralympic.” In total, 723 authors were identified who published articles related to the topic. Subsequently, the curricula were accessed, and the articles were sorted and identified, resulting in 37 articles that met all inclusion criteria. Results The results indicate that: a) Brazil witnessed an increase in the number of publications after London 2012; b) The majority of these productions (87%) originate from Public Institutions; c) There was a greater participation of other regions of Brazil in the production of knowledge in the area after Rio 2016; d) Individual modalities such as powerlifting and athletics were the most researched, despite Brazil's reference status in some collective modalities; e) Women remain a minority, both as participants in research and as authors of publications; f) The productions demonstrate high levels of quality; g) The most commonly used research techniques in biomechanics were kinematics and dynamometry. Conclusion The field of biomechanics in Paralympic sports has significantly benefited from the legacy generated by the Rio 2016 Paralympics. As future challenges for researchers, the following aspects stand out: maintaining the quality of productions, expanding studies to include collective modalities, increasing the participation of other federated entities in the production of knowledge in this field, promoting greater gender equity, and incorporating new research techniques in biomechanics. Level of Evidence II; Review Study. Keywords: Para-Athletes; Biomechanical Phenomena; Sports for Persons with Disabilities

Evaluating trends in fisheries, especially data‐limited small‐scale fisheries, is challenging. We used fish landings to evaluate changes in composition of fish landings in rivers of the Central Amazon, from a discontinuous historical 28‐year series of landings from different data collection systems in main ports of the city of Manaus, the largest consumer market in the region. Annual mean trophic level (MTL), fishing‐in‐balance index (FiB), and mean landed size (MSL) were estimated. MTL did not decline, FiB was positive in most years, and MSL declined. Relative catches of certain fish species were replaced by others at a similar trophic level, but mean body size declined over time. We conclude that fishing in the Central Amazon is not sustainable and would benefit from better management strategies.

Background The tethered swimming (TS) is an ergometer where swimming is simulated in an ecological environment, commonly used for assessing force in water. Objective This systematic review aims at a critical appraise of the literature on the biomechanical and physiological variables obtained from many protocols and tests assessing force–time curve in TS. Methods We explored the databases of PubMed, EMBASE, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, and Academic Search Premier (PROSPERO protocol CRD42020204826), and manually searched the reference papers list. Observational studies with swimming protocols and tests were included (with any follow-up and published in the full version). The following exclusion criteria would be used, but they were not necessary, as no case met these criteria. Our search was based on the adapted Downs and Black Quality Assessment Checklist. Results In total, 55 articles were examined extensively for ftting the established inclusion criteria. Quality of the articles included ranged from 35.7 to 85.7% (65.7±13.3%). Most studies addressing TS were assessed [peak=41 and average force=39], whereas only a very few studies referred to measures of [force impulse=21, fatigue index=11, force development rate=5], and physiological variables [oxygen consumption=10, blood lactate concentration=8, and heart rate=6]. The studies were carried out with durations of 10 s, 15 s, 20 s, 25 s, 30 s, 55 s, 1, 2, or 3 min, related to the duration to perform 10 and 20 complete strokes in front crawl swimming technique. Conclusion Based on the general results of this systematic review, the impulse seems to be the most reliable measure and presented linear correlation with swimming speed. In contrast, the TS physiological responses show compatibility for the aerobic response, critical force, and maximal oxygen uptake determination. Keywords Biomechanics · Physiology · Tethered forces · Propulsive forces · Swimming

Geographic isolation underlies major hypotheses on the biogeography of Amazonian fauna, but evidence is largely biased towards vertebrates. We show that environmental variation is at least as important as geographic location in explaining compositional patterns of soil oribatid mites across two landscapes 560 km apart on opposite Amazon riverbanks.

In an effort to improve the spawning success rate in hypophysed pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) females, we investigated the effects of the time of administration and the concentration of Ciosin® (i.e., an analogue of prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α)) on ovulation. To that end, in Experiment 1, hypophysed females received 2 mL/fish of ciosin either at the time of the resolving dose (0H) or at five (5H) or seven hours (7H) postresolving dose. Then, in Experiment 2, hypophysed females were induced at the time of resolving the dose with five ciosin doses ranging from 1.0 to 7.0 mL/kg. Reproductive parameters and plasma levels of 17α-20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (DHP) and PGF2α were evaluated at the time of spawning for both experiments. Neither the timing of ciosin application closer to spawning nor its higher concentrations resulted in increased reproductive parameters or elevated PGF2α and DHP levels. The absence of the PGF2α peak at the time of ovulation in both experiments can be attributed to the rapid increase and subsequent decrease in exogenous PGF2α levels shortly after application. In Experiment 2 two main clusters were observed: one characterized by spawning failure, poor-quality spawn and low DHP levels and the other characterized by successful spawning, high fecundity and elevated DHP levels. Although positive correlations were observed between DHP and good reproductive performance, the reasons behind the substantial variation in DHP among females subjected to the same treatments remain unknown. An emerging focus is to elucidate the pattern of expression of PGF2α receptors and their relationship with DHP in pacu.

Yellow passion fruit peel and cupuaçu seeds are common wastes. Usually, they have few or no applications and are discarded, causing environmental pollution. To use them in a new way and reduce ecological pollution, we obtained the ash of yellow passion fruit peels by calcination. We characterized it using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy with attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), adsorption-desorption of N2, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), basicity, and soluble alkalinity. It was observed that the ash was mainly composed of potassium (69%) in the form of carbonate, chloride, and sulfate, with a good surface area (11.23 m2 g−1). The cupuaçu butter was also extracted from the cupuaçu seeds and characterized, showing low acidity, peroxide, saponification, and iodine indexes, in addition to presenting a lipid profile with 57% saturated fatty acid and 43% unsaturated fatty acid. Oleic and stearic acids were present in higher proportions. These results demonstrate that this butter can be a sustainable input in biodiesel production. Thus, the ash was used as a heterogeneous catalyst in the butter transesterification. The biodiesel synthesis was optimized, resulting in 97.8% butter conversion into biodiesel under the following conditions: reaction time of 2 h, 5 wt% of catalyst, 80 °C, and a methanol-to-oil molar ratio of 30. This work, therefore, shows that it is possible to obtain and utilize bioinputs, such as cupuaçu butter and passion fruit peel ash, to produce biodiesel through transesterification, and the use of waste materials (precisely passion fruit peels and cupuaçu seeds) makes this method a cost-effective and environmentally friendly approach to biofuel production.

The Graduate Program in the National Network for Teaching Environmental Sciences (PROFCIAMB) in partnership with the National Water and Basic Sanitation Agency (ANA) and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) updated the educational material of the “Water in Course – Multipliers” associated with the collection of didactic products desenvolved with the theme of Water by ANA to compose the education distance course “Water as an Interdisciplinary Element of Teaching in Schools”, which is aimed at teachers of Basic Education and professionals who work with teaching in non-formal spaces and/or non-school. Its objectives were built considering the Sustainable Development Goals ODS4 Quality Education and ODS6 Potable Water and Sanitation. The course was supported by Tutors (Students from the PROFCIAMB Network) and had a workload of 80 hours, distributed over four months in 5 modules. Module 1 to 4 for the Water and Teaching Principles and Methodology disciplines: Water: sustainable consumption and its multiple uses; Situation of water resources in Brazil; All together by the water; and, Cases of success in water care. Module 5 for the Application of learning discipline (lesson plan elaboration and lesson plan report). Four classes were offered from 2018 to 2022 with 4,645 vacancies and 14,850 registered candidates, nationwide course; 4,518 students enrollments and 1,656 students approved.

This study investigated the role of oral health‐related functional limitations and social well‐being, self‐perceived health, psychosocial factors, and social support in mediating the impact of malocclusion on health‐related quality of life (HRQoL). A school‐based 6‐month cohort study was conducted with 376 12‐year‐old deprived adolescents. Measures at baseline included malocclusion (DAI score), dental caries, sociodemographic characteristics, psychosocial traits (self‐esteem, sense of coherence, oral health beliefs), and social support. The oral health‐related functional limitations and symptoms (social well‐being) domains of the CPQ 11‐14 , self‐perceived health, and HRQoL (Kiddo‐KINDL) were evaluated at the 6‐month follow‐up. Associations between observed and latent variables (social support, psychosocial factors, and HRQoL) were evaluated using structural equation modelling, according to the Wilson and Cleary theoretical model. Malocclusion was indirectly associated with worse HRQoL, mediated by functional limitations, social well‐being, and self‐perceived health. Better psychosocial status was directly associated with better HRQoL, and higher social support was indirectly associated with better HRQoL via psychosocial factors. Dental caries experience, female sex, and lower family income were indirectly associated with worse HRQoL. The impact of malocclusion on HRQoL was mediated by oral health‐related functional limitations, social well‐being, and self‐perceived health. Sociodemographic and psychosocial factors, and social support also impacted HRQoL.

Software teams increasingly adopt different tools and communication channels to aid the software collaborative development model and coordinate tasks. Among such resources, software development forums have become widely used by developers. Such environments enable developers to get and share technical information quickly. In line with this trend, GitHub announced GitHub Discussions—a native forum to facilitate collaborative discussions between users and members of communities hosted on the platform. Since GitHub Discussions is a software development forum, it faces challenges similar to those faced by systems used for asynchronous communication, including the problems caused by related posts (duplicated and near-duplicated posts). These related posts can add noise to the platform and compromise project knowledge sharing. Hence, this article addresses the problem of detecting related posts on GitHub Discussions. To achieve this, we propose an approach based on a Sentence-BERT pre-trained general-purpose model: the RD-Detector . We evaluated RD-Detector using data from three communities hosted in GitHub. Our dataset comprises 16,048 discussion posts. Three maintainers and three Software Engineering (SE) researchers manually evaluated the RD-Detector results, achieving 77–100% of precision and 66% of recall. In addition, maintainers pointed out practical applications of the approach, such as providing knowledge to support merging the discussion posts and converting the posts to comments on other related posts. Maintainers can benefit from RD-Detector to address the labor-intensive task of manually detecting related posts.

In this chapter we will present the step-by-step procedure of in-office whitening (or in-office bleaching) and the respective efficacy and side effects. We will also address other characteristics of in-office bleaching, including the number of clinical appointments required to reach effective whitening, the concentration of the peroxide-based bleaching products, and the effects of dentin dehydration and demineralization on the outcome, as well as bleaching-induced tooth sensitivity. Some frequently asked questions (FAQ) will be answered at the end of the chapter.

Context: Parkinson's disease is a chronic neurodegenerative condition that has no cure, characterized by the progressive degeneration of specific brain cells responsible for producing dopamine, a crucial neurotransmitter for controlling movement and muscle coordination. Parkinson's disease is estimated to affect around 1% of the world's population over the age of 60, but it can be diagnosed at younger ages. One of the treatment strategies for Parkinson's disease involves the use of drugs that aim to increase dopamine levels or simulate the action of dopamine in the brain. A class of commonly prescribed drugs are the so-called monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) inhibitors due to the fact that this enzyme is responsible for metabolizing dopamine, thus reducing its levels in the brain. Studies have shown that berberine-derived alkaloids have the ability to selectively inhibit MAO-B activity, resulting in increased dopamine availability in the brain. In this context, berberine derivatives 13-hydroxy-discretinine and 7,8-dihydro-8-hydroxypalmatine, isolated from Guatteria friesiana, were evaluated via density functional theory followed by ADME studies, docking and molecular dynamic simulations with MAO-B, aiming to evaluate their anti-Parkinson potential, which have not been reported yet. Docking simulations with HSA were carried out aiming to evaluate the transport of these molecules through the circulatory system. Methods: The 3D structures of the berberine-derived alkaloids were modeled via the DFT approach at B3LYP-D3(BJ)/6-311 + + G(2df, 2pd) theory level using Gaussian 09 software. Solvation free energies were determined through Truhlar's solvation model. MEP and ALIE maps were generated with Multiwfn software. Autodock Vina software was used for molecular docking simulations and analysis of the interactions in the binding sites. The 3D structure of MAO-B was obtained from the Protein Data Bank website under PDB code 2V5Z. For the interaction of studied alkaloids with human serum albumin (HSA) drug sites, 3D structures with PDB codes 2BXD, 2BXG, and 4L9K were used. Molecular dynamics simulations were carried out using GROMACS 2019.4 software, with the GROMOS 53A6 force field at 100 ns simulation time. The estimation of the ligand's binding free energies was obtained via molecular mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MM-PBSA) method.

Three yeast isolates were obtained from soil and rotting wood samples collected in an Amazonian rainforest biome in Brazil. Comparison of the intergenic spacer 5.8S region and the D1/D2 domains of the large subunit rRNA gene showed that the isolates represent a novel species of the genus Saccharomycopsis . A tree inferred from the D1/D2 sequences placed the novel species near a subclade containing Saccharomycopsis lassenensis , Saccharomycopsis fermentans , Saccharomycopsis javanensis , Saccharomycopsis babjevae , Saccharomycopsis schoenii and Saccharomycopsis oosterbeekiorum , but with low bootstrap support. In terms of sequence divergence, the novel species had the highest identity in the D1/D2 domains with Saccharomycopsis capsularis , from which it differed by 36 substitutions. In contrast, a phylogenomic analysis based on 1061 single-copy orthologs for a smaller set of Saccharomycopsis species whose whole genome sequences are available indicated that the novel species represented by strain UFMG-CM-Y6991 is phylogenetically closer to Saccharomycopsis fodiens and Saccharomycopsis sp. TF2021a (= Saccharomycopsis phalluae ). The novel yeast is homothallic and produces asci with one spheroidal ascospore with an equatorial or subequatorial ledge. The name Saccharomycopsis praedatoria sp. nov. is proposed to accommodate the novel species. The holotype of Saccharomycopsis praedatoria is CBS 16589 T . The MycoBank number is MB849369. S. praedatoria was able to kill cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by means of penetration with infection pegs, a trait common to most species of Saccharomycopsis .

We present QNNRepair, the first method in the literature for repairing quantized neural networks (QNNs). QNNRepair aims to improve the accuracy of a neural network model after quantization. It accepts the full-precision and weight-quantized neural networks, together with a repair dataset of passing and failing tests. At first, QNNRepair applies a software fault localization method to identify the neurons that cause performance degradation during neural network quantization. Then, it formulates the repair problem into a MILP, solving neuron weight parameters, which corrects the QNN’s performance on failing tests while not compromising its performance on passing tests. We evaluate QNNRepair with widely used neural network architectures such as MobileNetV2, ResNet, and VGGNet on popular datasets, including high-resolution images. We also compare QNNRepair with the state-of-the-art data-free quantization method SQuant [22]. According to the experiment results, we conclude that QNNRepair is effective in improving the quantized model’s performance in most cases. Its repaired models have 24% higher accuracy than SQuant’s in the independent validation set, especially for the ImageNet dataset.

The electronics industry is one of the fastest evolution, innovative, and competitive industries. Quality standards have been improved to meet the high demands of modern products, and new technologies have been applied for defect detection to meet customers’ requirements. The importance of image processing tools becomes inevitable. This work deals with images obtained through X-ray for inspection in PCBA to identify non-conformities and provides assertive interpretation in less time. Software associated with the database of images collected from the product will be applied, and the criteria from IPC standards will be used to verify compliance.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death from malformations in the first year of life and carries a significant burden to the family when the diagnosis is made in the prenatal period. We recognize the significance of family counseling following a fetal CHD diagnosis. However, we have observed that most research focuses on assessing the emotional state of family members rather than examining the counseling process itself. The objective of this study was to identify and summarize the findings in the literature on family counseling in cases of diagnosis of CHD during pregnancy, demonstrating gaps and suggesting future research on this topic. Eight databases were searched to review the literature on family counseling in cases of CHD diagnosis during pregnancy. A systematic search was conducted from September to October 2022. The descriptors were “congenital heart disease”, “fetal heart”, and “family counseling”. The inclusion criteria were studies on counseling family members who received a diagnosis of CHD in the fetus (family counseling was defined as any health professional who advises mothers and fathers on the diagnosis of CHD during the gestational period), how the news is expressed to family members (including an explanation of CHD and questions about management and prognosis), empirical and qualitative studies, quantitative studies, no publication deadline, and any language. Out of the initial search of 3719 reports, 21 articles were included. Most were cross-sectional (11) and qualitative (9) studies, and all were from developed countries. The findings in the literature address the difficulties in effectively conducting family counseling, the strengths of family counseling to be effective, opportunities to generate effective counseling, and the main challenges in family counseling.

The proliferation of legal documents in various formats and their dispersion across multiple courts present a significant challenge for users seeking precise matches to their information requirements. Despite notable advancements in legal information retrieval systems, research into legal recommender systems remains limited. A plausible factor contributing to this scarcity could be the absence of extensive publicly accessible datasets or benchmarks. While a few studies have emerged in this field, a comprehensive analysis of the distinct attributes of legal data that influence the design of effective legal recommenders is notably absent in the current literature. This paper addresses this gap by initially amassing a comprehensive session-based dataset from Jusbrasil, one of Brazil’s largest online legal platforms. Subsequently, we scrutinize and discourse key facets of legal session-based recommendation data, including session duration, types of recommendable legal artifacts, coverage, and popularity. Furthermore, we introduce the first session-based recommendation benchmark tailored to the legal domain, shedding light on the performance and constraints of several renowned session-based recommendation approaches. These evaluations are based on real-world data sourced from Jusbrasil.

Due to the visible abundance of plastic improperly disposed of in the environment, the number of investigations has increased worldwide in different water bodies and biota. Despite this, studies of contamination by microplastics in freshwater environments in the Amazon are scarce. This study investigated microplastic contamination in sediment samples of bathing areas in the Central Amazon, in Itacoatiara, Amazonas, Brazil. A total of 202 microplastic particles were recorded in the five investigated areas that are used for recreation. These results indicate no significant difference in the number of microplastic particles among the establishments; however, the size of the microplastic particles differed significantly between the establishments. Both blue and red microplastic particles were recorded, with blue particles being the most abundant. The microplastic particles were in the form of fibers and fragments. The number of microplastic particles was significantly different between the areas within and adjacent to the bathing areas, though the size of the microplastic particles was not significantly different in the areas within and adjacent to the bathing areas. There was no significant correlation in the establishments in regard to their frequency of use and contamination (number of microplastic particles). This is the first study that indicates the anthropogenic impacts associated with microplastic contamination in recreation areas within the Amazon Forest, an area considered by the world to be of vital importance for conservation. The results of this study indicate that microplastics are present in these bathing areas of the Central Amazon and that contamination in areas used for recreation may be significantly higher than in areas not used for this purpose.

JAK2V617F (dbSNP: rs77375493) is the most frequent and most-studied variant in BCR::ABL1 negative myeloproliferative neoplasms and in the JAK2 gene. The present study aimed to molecularly characterize variants in the complete coding region of the JAK2 gene in patients with BCR::ABL1 negative chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms. The study included 97 patients with BCR::ABL1 negative myeloproliferative neoplasms, including polycythemia vera (n=38), essential thrombocythemia (n=55), and myelofibrosis (n=04). Molecular evaluation was performed using conventional PCR and Sanger sequencing to detect variants in the complete coding region of the JAK2 gene. The presence of missense variants in the JAK2 gene including rs907414891, rs2230723, rs77375493 (JAK2V617F), and rs41316003 were identified. The coexistence of variants was detected in polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia. Thus, individuals with high JAK2V617F variant allele frequency (≥50% VAF) presented more thrombo-hemorrhagic events and manifestations of splenomegaly compared with those with low JAK2V617F variant allele frequency (<50% VAF). In conclusion, individuals with BCR::ABL1 negative neoplasms can display >1 variant in the JAK2 gene, especially rs2230722, rs2230724, and rs77375493 variants, and those with high JAK2V617F VAF show alterations in the clinical-laboratory profile compared with those with low JAK2V617F VAF.

This multicenter study aimed to evaluate cases of non-syndrome and syndromic odontogenic keratocyst, as well as cases of recurrence within these two groups. This descriptive, analytical, retrospective cross-sectional study evaluated the sex, age and presence of multiple lesions in 1,169 individuals seen at 10 Brazilian oral and maxillofacial pathology centers. Of these, 1,341 odontogenic keratocysts were analyzed regarding clinical diagnosis, size, site, imaging appearance, signs and symptoms, type of biopsy, treatment, and recurrence. There was a similar distribution by sex. The median age of non-syndromic and syndromic patients was 32 and 17.5 years, respectively. The posterior mandible was the site most affected by small and large lesions in both groups and in recurrent cases. Unilocular lesions were more frequent, also in recurrent cases. Mainly small lesions showed this imaging appearance. Signs and symptoms were absent in most cases. Conservative treatment was the most frequent modality in all age groups, regardless of the patient’s condition and recurrence. Recurrences were uncommon. This study showed a higher frequency of non-syndromic keratocysts in the population. Clinicopathological features related to the involvement of multiple sites, age, and recurrence may differ between syndromic and non-syndromic cases. Furthermore, we found an association between lesion size and some clinical features and between the time interval to recurrence and the syndromic spectrum. To contribute to a better understanding of the distribution and association between clinical, imaging, and sociodemographic characteristics in each spectrum of the lesion.