Agricultura Familiar, Manejos Rurais, Turismo no Espaço Rural, mudança de hábitos
A proposta que existe dentro do segmento intitulado de turismo rural carece de análises, visto que os seus operadores e idealizadores ainda buscam formas de se transmitir ao visitante, em menor ou maior escala, um sentido ou uma experimentação das vivências do espaço rural. Por isso, este estudo objetiva-se a analisar se a exposição do turista à rotina do campo é capaz de proporcionar mudanças em seus hábitos e a importância da participação do visitante aos manejos rurais neste processo. Para atingir a este objetivo foram realizadas entrevistas com uso de um roteiro semiestruturado, tomando como procedimento metodológico a história oral. As conversas foram analisadas e organizadas em categorias temáticas, dando condições de obter um maior vislumbre das ofertas as quais os turistas entrevistados se expuseram e as quais eles atribuem mudanças, ressignificações ou abandonos de hábitos e mentalidades no retorno ao cotidiano. Os resultados apontaram para algumas convergências e pontos em comum entre alguns contextos de história de vida dos entrevistados e também nas rotinas rurais em que participaram; diferentes entrevistados atribuíram respectivas influências que culminaram em adoção ou abandonos de hábitos e mentalidades. Acredito que estudiosos do campo de estudos turísticos devem realizar mais pesquisas sobre este tema, pois ainda não me parece possível distinguir se as mudanças relatadas pelos turistas foram fruto apenas da participação nos manejos. Contudo, este trabalho também contribui para uma reflexão quanto a concepção da oferta turística no espaço rural com vistas a propostas de vivências de ruralidades contidas no que se entende por turismo rural.
Programa de Pós-Graduação Interdisciplinar em Estudos do lazer
https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/licere/article/view/34972
A facile inhibitor screening of SARS coronavirus N protein using nanoparticle-based RNA oligonucleotide
Changhyun RohDivision of Biotechnology, Advanced Radiation Technology Institute (ARTI), Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), Jeongeup, Republic of KoreaAbstract: Hundreds of million people worldwide have been infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and the rate of global death from SARS has remarkably increased. Hence, the development of efficient drug treatments for the biological effects of SARS is highly needed. We have previously shown that quantum dots (QDs)-conjugated RNA oligonucleotide is sensitive to the specific recognition of the SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) nucleocapsid (N) protein. In this study, we found that a designed biochip could analyze inhibitors of the SARS-CoV N protein using nanoparticle-based RNA oligonucleotide. Among the polyphenolic compounds examined, (-)-catechin gallate and (-)-gallocatechin gallate demonstrated a remarkable inhibition activity on SARS-CoV N protein. (-)-catechin gallate and (-)-gallocatechin gallate attenuated the binding affinity in a concentrated manner as evidenced by QDs-conjugated RNA oligonucleotide on a designed biochip. At a concentration of 0.05 µg mL–1, (-)-catechin gallate and (-)-gallocatechin gallate showed more than 40% inhibition activity on a nanoparticle-based RNA oligonucleotide biochip system.Keywords: SARS, RNA oligonucleotide, quantum dots, inhibitor, screening
A Fast Alignment-Free Approach for De Novo Detection of Protein Conserved Regions.
BACKGROUND:Identifying conserved regions in protein sequences is a fundamental operation, occurring in numerous sequence-driven analysis pipelines. It is used as a way to decode domain-rich regions within proteins, to compute protein clusters, to annotate sequence function, and to compute evolutionary relationships among protein sequences. A number of approaches exist for identifying and characterizing protein families based on their domains, and because domains represent conserved portions of a protein sequence, the primary computation involved in protein family characterization is identification of such conserved regions. However, identifying conserved regions from large collections (millions) of protein sequences presents significant challenges. METHODS:In this paper we present a new, alignment-free method for detecting conserved regions in protein sequences called NADDA (No-Alignment Domain Detection Algorithm). Our method exploits the abundance of exact matching short subsequences (k-mers) to quickly detect conserved regions, and the power of machine learning is used to improve the prediction accuracy of detection. We present a parallel implementation of NADDA using the MapReduce framework and show that our method is highly scalable. RESULTS:We have compared NADDA with Pfam and InterPro databases. For known domains annotated by Pfam, accuracy is 83%, sensitivity 96%, and specificity 44%. For sequences with new domains not present in the training set an average accuracy of 63% is achieved when compared to Pfam. A boost in results in comparison with InterPro demonstrates the ability of NADDA to capture conserved regions beyond those present in Pfam. We have also compared NADDA with ADDA and MKDOM2, assuming Pfam as ground-truth. On average NADDA shows comparable accuracy, more balanced sensitivity and specificity, and being alignment-free, is significantly faster. Excluding the one-time cost of training, runtimes on a single processor were 49s, 10,566s, and 456s for NADDA, ADDA, and MKDOM2, respectively, for a data set comprised of approximately 2500 sequences.
Armen Abnousi, Shira L. Broschat, Ananth Kalyanaraman
A fast and agnostic method for bacterial genome-wide association studies: Bridging the gap between k-mers and genetic events.
Genome-wide association study (GWAS) methods applied to bacterial genomes have shown promising results for genetic marker discovery or detailed assessment of marker effect. Recently, alignment-free methods based on k-mer composition have proven their ability to explore the accessory genome. However, they lead to redundant descriptions and results which are sometimes hard to interpret. Here we introduce DBGWAS, an extended k-mer-based GWAS method producing interpretable genetic variants associated with distinct phenotypes. Relying on compacted De Bruijn graphs (cDBG), our method gathers cDBG nodes, identified by the association model, into subgraphs defined from their neighbourhood in the initial cDBG. DBGWAS is alignment-free and only requires a set of contigs and phenotypes. In particular, it does not require prior annotation or reference genomes. It produces subgraphs representing phenotype-associated genetic variants such as local polymorphisms and mobile genetic elements (MGE). It offers a graphical framework which helps interpret GWAS results. Importantly it is also computationally efficient-experiments took one hour and a half on average. We validated our method using antibiotic resistance phenotypes for three bacterial species. DBGWAS recovered known resistance determinants such as mutations in core genes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and genes acquired by horizontal transfer in Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa-along with their MGE context. It also enabled us to formulate new hypotheses involving genetic variants not yet described in the antibiotic resistance literature. An open-source tool implementing DBGWAS is available at https://gitlab.com/leoisl/dbgwas.
Magali Jaillard, Leandro Lima, Maud Tournoud, Pierre Mahé, Alex van Belkum, Vincent Lacroix, Laurent Jacob
A FEIRA-LIVRE DA AGRICULTURA FAMILIAR DE VENDA NOVA DO IMIGRANTE/ES EM TEMPOS DE COVID-19: A PERCEPÇÃO PROTAGONISTA DOS FEIRANTES
Políticas Públicas, desenvolvimento, pandemia
No artigo analisa-se a percepção e as estratégias de comercialização da produção adotadas pelos trabalhadores da Feira-livre de Venda Nova do Imigrante diante das medidas de contenção da Covid-19 pela prefeitura. Com a vulnerabilidade humana frente à pandemia, a prefeitura suspendeu preventivamente o funcionamento local da Feira-livre, abrindo a modalidade delivery, possibilitando a continuidade da comercialização com adequação, bem como o uso de tickets da política pública de fomento à agricultura familiar. Na metodologia, priorizou-se a abordagem qualitativa, com referenciais acadêmicos e oficiais à compreensão temática e à caracterização do recorte. Após diálogo prévio com representantes da Administração da Feira-livre, realizou-se o contato com os sujeitos da pesquisa (membros da Associação da Feira-livre) para se encaminhar perguntas e obter respostas por aplicativo de celular. O protagonismo e a capacidade de organização dos feirantes revelaram-se no retorno flexibilizado da Feira-Livre, embora as condições individuais de comercialização suscitem o arrefecimento da coletividade.
Jonadable Alves Palmeira, Frederico Castro de Carvalho, Rodrigo da Costa Caetano
Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte
http://www2.ifrn.edu.br/ojs/index.php/HOLOS/article/view/11662
A first look at Android applications in Google Play related to COVID-19.
coronavirus, statistics, covid-19, Android apps
Due to the convenience of access-on-demand to information and business solutions, mobile apps have become an important asset in the digital world. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, app developers have joined the response effort in various ways by releasing apps that target different user bases (e.g., all citizens or journalists), offer different services (e.g., location tracking or diagnostic-aid), provide generic or specialized information, etc. While many apps have raised some concerns by spreading misinformation or even malware, the literature does not yet provide a clear landscape of the different apps that were developed. In this study, we focus on the Android ecosystem and investigate Covid-related Android apps. In a best-effort scenario, we attempt to systematically identify all relevant apps and study their characteristics with the objective to provide a first taxonomy of Covid-related apps, broadening the relevance beyond the implementation of contact tracing. Overall, our study yields a number of empirical insights that contribute to enlarge the knowledge on Covid-related apps: (1) Developer communities contributed rapidly to the COVID-19, with dedicated apps released as early as January 2020; (2) Covid-related apps deliver digital tools to users (e.g., health diaries), serve to broadcast information to users (e.g., spread statistics), and collect data from users (e.g., for tracing); (3) Covid-related apps are less complex than standard apps; (4) they generally do not seem to leak sensitive data; (5) in the majority of cases, Covid-related apps are released by entities with past experience on the market, mostly official government entities or public health organizations.
Jordan Samhi, Kevin Allix, Tegawendé F Bissyandé, Jacques Klein
A flare up of idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome due to COVID-19.
Vahideh Laleh Far, Seyed Reza Najafizadeh, Masoud Eslami, Reza Mollazadeh
A flexible, open, and interactive digital platform to support online and blended experiential learning environments: Thinglink and thin sections
This study investigates the potential value of, and provides a method for, the creation of flexible, digital, and asynchronous platforms to create student-centred materials for use in an online and/or blended learning environment. We made use of Thinglink to create a “virtual microscope” resource for geology and associated courses in higher education. This is achieved through the dissemination of a simple learning resource comprising interactive imagery and audio. The visual analysis of rocks under the microscope, termed thin-section petrography, is a fundamental component in geology programmes in higher education, with key skills which are transferable with other fields such as material science, biology, and forensic science. However, learning environments and activities in this field are often dictated by the requirement for access to microscope facilities and supplementary resources which are highly variable in their academic level, availability, design, and scale, ranging from traditional textbooks to online resources. A resource was created which allows individuals to experience some of the aspects of petrographic microscopy in a digital manner. In particular, specific features of the materials observed and how microscopes work were included. The resource was disseminated to a population of learners and educators, who provided responses to a questionnaire. Responses were overwhelmingly positive and indicate considerable interest from learner and teacher alike. Critical areas for improvement include the need for clarity in the user interface and the inclusion of a recorded human voice rather than automated text narration. This study highlights the need for, and benefits of, interactive online learning resources in petrology and associated fields. This type of resource has positive implications for the flexibility, inclusivity, and accessibility of teaching materials. Such resources may prove particularly valuable when distance learning is unavoidable (e.g. the COVID-19 crisis) and/or hybrid, blended learning environments are being deployed. The method and platform used in this study are highly transferable to other subject areas (or other areas of the geosciences).
A. J. Jeffery, S. L. Rogers, K. L. A. Jeffery, L. Hobson
Science, Geography. Anthropology. Recreation
A Follow-Up Investigation of Mental Health Among Discharged COVID-19 Patients in Wuhan, China
Anxiety, quarantine, covid-19, Depression, insomnia
Objective: To understand the mental health status and its risk factors among discharged COVID-19 patients during the first month of centralized quarantine and the subsequent home isolation.Methods: The scales of the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) were used to measure the symptoms of insomnia, anxiety, and depression in 782 COVID-19 patients during the first month of centralized quarantine (March 16 to 26, 2020) and then during home isolation (April 3 to 10, 2020).Results: During the centralized quarantine, the prevalence rates of insomnia, anxiety, and depressive symptoms were 44.37, 31.59, and 27.62%, respectively, and those during the home isolation decreased significantly at 27.11, 17.26, and 16.11%, respectively. In both waves, women showed a higher prevalence of symptoms of poor mental health compared to men, and middle-aged (40–59 years old) and elderly (≥60 years old) showed a higher risk of symptoms of poor mental health compared to the younger. In addition, the severity of COVID-19 revealed no significant relationship to symptoms of poor mental health, whereas, the interaction analysis revealed that those with other underlying diseases showed more symptoms of poor mental health during the centralized quarantine and a greater decrease during the follow-up home isolation.Conclusion: The discharged COVID-19 patients suffered from mental health problems such as, insomnia, depression, and anxiety, and this was especially so for women, the middle-aged and elderly, and those with underlying diseases, but along with the rehabilitation and the environmental change from centralized quarantine to home isolation, all the mental symptoms were significantly alleviated. Based on a follow-up investigation, the current results provide critical evidence for mental health and early rehabilitation upon the discharged COVID-19 patients.
Michael Shengtao Wu, Li Li, Junxiu Tao, Weijun Wang, Jing He, Ru Liu, Juan Guo, Yun Chen, Kejian Li, Shilong Li, Bo Qi, Buxin Han
A formação de um sindicalismo de agricultores familiares no Sul do Brasil
Agricultura Familiar, FETRAF, Reconhecimento, Região Sul, Sindicalismo
Este trabalho objetiva analisar como ocorreu o processo de formação de um sindicalismo específico de agricultores familiares na região Sul do Brasil. Por meio de análise documental e de entrevistas com lideranças e assessores sindicais busca-se resgatar a trajetória do novo sindicalismo rural no Sul. Parte-se de um debate no setor rural da CUT nos anos de 1980 e início dos 1990 sobre a possibilidade de formação de sindicatos específicos de pequenos produtores e de assalariados rurais, analisa-se como esse debate foi levado para dentro da CONTAG no processo de unificação formal do sindicalismo dos trabalhadores rurais em meados da década de 1990, os conflitos de posições gerados nesta nova condição e a formação de uma dissidência no Sul que levou a construção de um sindicalismo de agricultores familiares por meio da fundação da FETRAF-Sul em 2001. Da análise do campo de forças no sindicalismo, procura-se compreender como foi sendo gestada a possibilidade de formação, primeiramente, de um movimento pela afirmação social e política da agricultura familiar na região Sul e, posteriormente, de uma estrutura sindical específica de agricultores familiares no país, oportunizando a criação de novos canais de manifestação de demandas e identidades e de reconhecimento social.
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul