Improvement of Cutaneous Wound Healing via Topical Application of Heat-Killed Lactococcus chungangensis CAU 1447 on Diabetic Mice

Cutaneous wound healing comprises a complex systemic network. Probiotics, naturally extracted substances, medicine, and chemical compounds have been used for wound healing, but the application of postbiotics as therapeutic agents has yet to be explored. Our study shows potential beneficial effects of heat-killed Lactococcus chungangensis CAU 1447 on type 1 diabetic mice. The postbiotic strain significantly decreased the skin wound size. The activity of myeloperoxidase secreted from neutrophils also decreased. The molecular mechanism of wound healing was adjusted by important mediators, growth factors, chemokines, and cytokines. These elements regulated the anti-inflammatory activity and accelerated wound healing. To determine the role of the postbiotic in wound repair, we showed a similar taxonomic pattern as compared to the diabetic mice using skin microbiome analysis. These findings demonstrated that heat-killed Lactococcus chungangensis CAU 1447 had beneficial effects on wound healing and can be utilized as postbiotic therapeutic agents.

Unaccompanied Migrant Minors and Shared Transnational Protection: Limits and Hopes

When talking about the reception of young migrants, “complexity management” is a quite recurring topic.This is due to the fact the migrant reception is always seen – and consequently investigated – as a “systemic network”, with a focus on the minor’s potential development and on the reception context, but without a real connection with the minor's personal history.“Talking about the reception of young migrants means talking about contaminations and conflicts for which shifting of attention is needed, as well as the ability to deal with situations involving events that are constantly evolving, as they take on meanings that are so different that are often incomprehensible, and almost not related to each other”.The idea to implement a shared protection process – although not always feasible – is definitely a new approach to child protection

O ENREDO DAS AULAS EXPERIMENTAIS NO ENSINO FUNDAMENTAL: CONCEPÇÕES DE PROFESSORES SOBRE ATIVIDADES PRÁTICAS NO ENSINO DE CIÊNCIAS

Resumo: A literatura especializada vem apontando mudanças no ensino de ciências e exprime a experimentação como uma alternativa para o processo de construção de saberes científicos por meio da reflexão e investigação. No contexto nacional, o cenário escolar mantém práticas pedagógicas ainda resistentes às mudanças relacionadas a alfabetização científica mediadas por práticas experimentais. Assim, a presente pesquisa objetivou investigar a concepção de professores de ciências sobre de implementação de práticas experimentais em escolas da rede pública de Ensino Fundamental. Com base nos aspectos metodológicos de uma abordagem qualitativa, os dados foram tratados por análise de conteúdo e organizados na perspectiva de uma rede sistêmica. Os resultados obtidos revelaram que os professores de ciências compreendem a importância da utilização da experimentação para construção de saberes científicos, porém, os planejamentos escolares não contemplam a inserção efetiva dessas atividades, tendo como principais fatores a falta de recursos e espaço próprio destinado à prática experimental.Palavras-chave: Ensino de Ciências; Práticas Experimentais; Professores de Ciências. Abstract: The specialized literature has pointed out changes in science education and expresses experimentation as an alternative to the process of building scientific knowledge through reflection and investigation. In the national context, the school scenario maintains pedagogical practices that are still resistant to changes related to scientific literacy mediated by experimental practices. Thus, the present research aimed to investigate the conception of science teachers about the implementation of experimental practices in public elementary schools. Based on the methodological aspects of a qualitative approach, the data were treated by content analysis and organized from the perspective of a systemic network. The results obtained revealed that science teachers understand the importance of using experimentation to build scientific knowledge, however, school planning does not include the effective insertion of these activities, having as main factors the lack of resources and proper space for experimental practice.Keywords: Science Teaching; Experimental Practices; Science Teachers.

Design of an ecosystem to foster systemic eco-innovation

The current global environmental situation, with its interconnected problems, requires holistic approaches to provide a cultural paradigm shift and a different economy to overcome the linear one. Systemic Design (SD) can represent a solution creating opportunities for eco- and system innovation, especially in the manufacturing sector, which will soon face a revolution in the production model. Thus, SD can help achieve environmental and economic sustainability at the local level. A multiple case study analysis on SD projects was developed to understand the significant eco-entrepreneurial opportunities that have emerged and the barriers for their implementation. Finally, an ecosystem is designed to foster systemic innovation based on helix innovation models and identify the facilitator for its creation, namely, the ‘local systemic network booster’.

O TEMA VACINAS EM LIVROS DIDÁTICOS DE CIÊNCIAS NATURAIS: UMA ANÁLISE SOB A ÓTICA DA HISTÓRIA DAS CIÊNCIAS

Resumo: A presente pesquisa teve por objetivo analisar de forma qualitativa a abordagem histórica dada ao tema “vacinas” nos discursos científicos e pedagógicos apresentados em livros didáticos de Ciências utilizados no Ensino Fundamental – II. O percurso metodológico baseou-se em análise de conteúdo, buscando identificar e interpretar o discurso textual de livros do 7º ano utilizados em uma amostragem de escolas da rede pública da cidade de Codó – Maranhão, pontualmente da zona urbana. Fundamentou-se a discussão com base no caminho metodológico proposto nos trabalhos de Mohr (1995) e Vidal & Porto (2012), com as devidas adequações nos critérios de interesse desta pesquisa. Nessa ótica, foram construídos três blocos de análises organizados em uma rede sistêmica suscitando as questões norteadoras da pesquisa que se pautaram nas seguintes vertentes: Perfil dos Personagens, Perfil dos Fatos e Feitos e Perfil da Função Social. Os resultados mostraram que o conteúdo “vacinas” está presente em todos os livros analisados, porém a abordagem histórica ainda é rasa, não sendo, portanto, satisfatória quando se pensa em explorar a potencialidade dessa vertente para a promoção de uma educação para a saúde destinada a estudantes em formação, para atender as necessidades instrutivas de pessoas socialmente críticas e participativas.Palavras-chave: Vacinas. Livro Didático. Ensino de Ciências. História da Ciência. Abstract: The present research aimed to qualitatively analyze the historical approach given to the theme "vaccines" in the scientific and pedagogical discourse presented in science textbooks used in Elementary Education - II Stage. The methodological course was based on content analysis, seeking to identify and interpret the textual discourse of 7th grade books used in a sample of schools in the public network of Codó - Maranhão, specifically from the urban area of the city. The discussion was based on the methodological path proposed in the works of Mohr (1995) and Vidal and Porto (2012), with the appropriate adjustments in the criteria of interest of this research. From this point of view, three blocks of analysis were constructed in a systemic network, raising the questions guiding the research that were based on the following aspects: Profile of the Characters, Profile of Facts and Facts and Profile of the Social Function. The results showed that the "vaccines" content is present in all the books analyzed, but the historical approach is still shallow and therefore not satisfactory when considering the potential of this aspect for the promotion of a health education aimed at to students in training to meet the instructional needs of socially critical and participatory people.Keywords: Vaccines. Textbook. Science Teaching. Science History.

Agent-based model of multicellular tumor spheroid evolution including cell metabolism

Computational models aiming at the spatio-temporal description of cancer evolution are a suitable framework for testing biological hypotheses from experimental data, and generating new ones. Building on our recent work [J Theor Biol 389, 146-158 (2016)] we develop a 3D agent-based model, capable of tracking hundreds of thousands of interacting cells, over time scales ranging from seconds to years. Cell dynamics is driven by a Monte Carlo solver, incorporating partial differential equations to describe chemical pathways and the activation/repression of “genes”, leading to the up- or down-regulation of specific cell markers. Each cell-agent of different kind (stem, cancer, stromal etc.) runs through its cycle, undergoes division, can exit to a dormant, senescent, necrotic state, or apoptosis, according to the inputs from their systemic network. The basic network at this stage describes glucose/oxygen/ATP cycling, and can be readily extended to cancer-cell specific markers. Eventual accumulation of chemical/radiation damage to each cell’s DNA is described by a Markov chain of internal states, and by a damage-repair network, whose evolution is linked to the cell systemic network. Aimed at a direct comparison with experiments of tumorsphere growth from stem cells, the present model will allow to quantitatively study the role of transcription factors involved in the reprogramming and variable radio-resistance of simulated cancer-stem cells, evolving in a realistic computer simulation of a growing multicellular tumorsphere.