Development of pharmaceutical care tools for people living with HIV treated at a medium- and high-complexity hospital

The exposure of people living with HIV (PLHIV) to antiretrovirals (ARV) can cause significant adverse effects, contributing to their low adherence to treatment. The pharmacist can contribute to the optimization of PLHIV drug therapy through pharmacotherapeutic monitoring, favoring adherence to ARV therapy and, consequently, suppression of the viral load. The objective of the present study was to develop a pharmacotherapeutic monitoring routine for PLHIV in outpatient follow-up at a medium- and high-complexity hospital in the city of Rio de Janeiro. This is an experimental development project that consists of using knowledge from practical experience and research from the specialized literature to subsidize the structuring of a new service to support PLHIV. The work was divided into three parts: development of the necessary instruments for pharmaceutical care, elaboration of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for patient care, and testing of routines and work tools. The educational leaflets for patients and information boards were developed through a literature search, whereas the pharmaceutical documentation instruments and SOP were developed through adaptations of the Dáder Method. All work instruments were subjected to a test to evaluate the need for changes to improve the service.

Framing Studies Evolution in the Social Media Era. Digital Advancement and Reorientation of the Research Agenda

Framing studies remain a powerful line of research in political communication. However, in recent years, coinciding with the emergence of social media, theoretical and operational advances have been detected, as well as a significant reorientation of its research agenda. The interaction between media and platforms such as Twitter or Facebook has built a clearly hybrid communicative environment and profoundly transformed the organization of public debate. This is the case, especially, with processes such as the setting of the public agenda or the construction of interpretive frames. Based on a systematic review of the international reference literature (2011–2021), this article analyses the influence of social media on the evolution of framing studies. Moreover, specifically, the beginning of a new stage of digital development is contextualized, and a triple research impact is explored. The main contributions of the text are that it (1) identifies advances in the theoretical and empirical organization of these studies; (2) explores its reorientation of content towards a greater balance between the analysis of media and political frames; and (3) reviews the recent experimental development of effects studies. Finally, the main challenges for future research in this field are detailed.

Motivation and Results of Modernization of Multipurpose Computer-Aided Simulator of Robotic Systems.

The paper discusses the features of creating a multi-purpose computer-aided simulator of robotic systems (UKS RTS) at the Cosmonaut Training Center, analyzes its experimental development and use in the process of training of cosmonauts, and identifies the reasons for further modernization. The results of updating the constituent parts of the RCS RTS and retrofitting the simulator with new elements that provide an expansion of its functionality are presented.

Representation of gas metal arc pulsed welding process behavior on bead geometry: a study of leading variables

Gas metal arc welding is one of the most influential processes in the production and repair of structures and equipment; therefore, the need to improve the productivity and quality of welded joints has led to the development of techniques for good control of welding parameters. Also, the development of semi-automatic welding processes led to the control of one of the variables such as pulsed current; this technique is characterized by a lower heat input and lower energy expenditure, which directly influences the structural quality of the welded joint and the geometry of the weld bead. This work focused on evaluating the effects of various welding operating parameters using the central composite design tool based on the response surface methodology; next, the experimental development employed an inverter type power source for weld depositions, a commercial grade Stargold clean 96% Ar and 4% CO2 shielding gas at the rate of 15 L/min stationary arc, a 1.2 mm metal cored wire for welding deposit and a carbon steel base plate with a thickness of 6 mm. During the welding process, the torch was kept at a 90° inclination and a 16 mm stroke. To examine the adequacy of the empirical models and the significance of the regression coefficients, the variance analysis was employed. Consequently, the graphs were obtained through the determination of the model; from the statistical results obtained, it was shown that the above models were adequate to predict the weld width, bead height, and penetration within the range of variables studied. Furthermore, it was observed that the wire feed rate it has a very marked effect on weld bead geometry, followed by frequency pulse and peak current; finally, the effectiveness of employing these methodologies for the management of variables attributing to the execution of welding tasks with higher accuracy was demonstrated.

Epigenetic Measurement of Key Vertebrate Population Biology Parameters

The age, sex, and sexual maturity of individual animals are key parameters in assessing wild populations and informing conservation management strategies. These parameters represent the reproductive potential of a population and can indicate recovery rates or vulnerabilities. Natural populations of wild animals are difficult to study; logistically, economically, and due to the impacts of invasive biomonitoring. Genetic and epigenetic analyses offer a low impact, low cost, and information-rich alternative. As epigenetic mechanisms are intrinsically linked with both biological aging and reproductive processes, DNA methylation can be used as a suitable biomarker for population biology study. This review assesses published research utilizing DNA methylation analysis in relation to three key population parameters: age, sex, and sexual maturity. We review studies on wild vertebrates that investigate epigenetic age relationships, with successful age estimation assays designed for mammals, birds, and fish. For both determination of sex and identification of sexual maturity, very little has been explored regarding DNA methylation-based assays. Related research, however, confirms the links between DNA methylation and these processes. Future development of age estimation assays for underrepresented and key conservation taxa is suggested, as is the experimental development and design of DNA methylation-based assays for both sex and sexual maturity identification, further expanding the genomics toolkit for population biology studies.

Historical and Modern Bridges over the Elbe-Vltava Waterway

The Elbe-Vltava Waterway (EVW) consists of continuously navigable sections of the Vltava and Elbe rivers in the Czech Republic comprising a total length of over 300 km. Most of the length of this waterway was obtained by building a system of interconnected weir basins using the canalization method. Detailed plans for making this waterway navigable started in the early 19th century, and the construction of the structures was enabled by the Austro-Hungarian Water Act of 1869. So, most locks along this waterway constitute a part of industrial heritage. Among its main structures are weirs, hydroelectric power stations and locks designed by pre-eminent Czech architects of the 19th and early-20th centuries. Many of them are excellent examples of modernist industrial architecture. Since the beginning of construction of the weir system along the EVW, bridge construction also came into focus in order to provide transportation access to both banks of the Elbe and Vltava rivers in this historically heavily urbanised area of Bohemia. This article deals with the historical development of bridge constructions over the EVW, systematically categorising them as road, railway and pedestrian bridges. Focus is on the basic technical aspects of the bridge design and technical solution, but also on their historical value and the need for a sensitive approach to their modernisation. The goal of the research is to complete the current web application www.lvvc.cz devoted to the EVW structures with the architectonically and technically most interesting bridges, including their histories. The system has been designed as an expert system, making the archived historical documents, maps, plans and photographs available for use by government institutions as well as by the general public for education and for the protection of this technical cultural heritage. The research was conducted as part of project no. DG18P02OVV004 entitled “Documentation and presentation of technical cultural heritage along the Elbe-Vltava Waterway” within a support programme for applied research and experimental development of national and cultural identity, funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.

The politics of scaling

A fixation on ‘scaling up’ has captured current innovation discourses and, with it, political and economic life at large. Perhaps most visible in the rise of platform technologies, big data and concerns about a new era of monopolies, scalability thinking has also permeated public policy in the search for solutions to ‘grand societal challenges’, ‘mission-oriented innovation’ or transformations through experimental ‘living labs’. In this paper, we explore this scalability zeitgeist as a key ordering logic of current initiatives in innovation and public policy. We are interested in how the explicit preoccupation with scalability reconfigures political and economic power by invading problem diagnoses and normative understandings of how society and social change function. The paper explores three empirical sites – platform technologies, living labs and experimental development economics – to analyze how scalability thinking is rationalized and operationalized. We suggest that social analysis of science and technology needs to come to terms with the ‘politics of scaling’ as a powerful corollary of the ‘politics of technology’, lest we accept the permanent absence from key sites where decisions about the future are made. We focus in on three constitutive elements of the politics of scaling: solutionism, experimentalism and future-oriented valuation. Our analysis seeks to expand our vocabulary for understanding and questioning current modes of innovation that increasingly value scaling as an end in itself, and to open up new spaces for alternative trajectories of social transformation.