SARS-CoV-2 - SYNOPTIC CHART OF THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF VIRUS, PATHOGENESIS, IMMUNE RESPONSE, IMMUNOPROPHYLAXIS

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are viruses of zoonotic origin, transmitted from person to person mainly via the respiratory tract. Seven types of CoVs have succeeded in making the leap from animals to humans. Among them, four produce the common cold, while the other three, more recently emerged CoVs, cause the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and exhibit a high epidemic/pandemic potential: SARS-CoV, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2. The new SARS-CoV-2 is the etiological agent of the current and unprecedented pandemic, associated with a unique pathology named Corona-virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). These viruses belong to the Coronaviridae family - classified by ICTV (International Committee for Taxonomy of Viruses) in the fourth Class, that of enveloped viruses with a positive-strand RNA genome, infectious for both birds and mammals. As an airborne pathogen, its high infectivity is intensified by the widespread expression of its specific entry receptors (ACE-2, TMPRSS2) in various human organs and tissues, SARS-CoV-2 has spread rapidly from China throughout the whole world, causing numerous infections (approximately 128 million), with a relatively high lethality (approximately 2.8 million). The particular feature of the severe evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 infection is its association with Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS), mainly in older patients or those with comorbidities. In the absence of a standard therapeutic protocol, the medical systems worldwide have been challenged to continuously improve the COVID-19 treatment, based on emerging data from rapidly initiated clinical trials. At the same time, specialists in virology, immunology, and vaccinology have collaborated at an unprecedented pace to design and implement effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. In this review we highlight the most important advances made in understanding the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2, including the viral replication cycle, as well as COVID-19 pathogenesis, immune responses mounted by the host following natural infection (with various forms, from moderate to severe and lethal ones) and vaccines.

Fulbright English Teaching Assistants: preparação conjunta de aulas e codeswitching numa comunidade de prática do programa idiomas sem fronteiras

This article discusses codeswitching in a community of practice generated by the Languages without Borders Program in a large public university in Southern Brazil. The corpus presented in this article consists of a synoptic chart with the description of 15 events involving at least one English Teaching Assistant (ETA) and has codeswitching as an integral feature, as well as the transcription ofone prototypical interactional event in which codeswitching happens. Ourinterpretation of the data suggests that (1) codeswitching is a central resource in these interactions, and that (2) these interactions seem to culminate in: (a) student teachers practicing and learning English and English-speaking culture from the ETAs, (b) ETAs practicing and learning Portuguese and Brazilian culture from the student teachers. In addition to that, codeswitching seems to be a style that demonstrates engagement in the community.

Infusion pumps and red blood cell damage in transfusion therapy: an integrative revision of the academic literature

ABSTRACT Objectives: to obtain information from scientific literature concerning infusion pumps used in administering erythrocyte (red blood cells) and to evaluate the implications in the practical use of this equipment by nurses when conducting transfusions. Method: an integrative revision of the following scientific databases: Pubmed/Medline, Scopus, the Virtual Library for Health, SciELO, Web of Science and Cochrane. The following descriptors were used: "infusion pumps", "blood transfusion", "transfused erythrocyte" and "hemolyis". There were no restrictions on the scope of the initial data and it was finalized in December 2014. 17 articles were identified in accordance with the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: all of the publications included in the studies were experimental in vitro and covered the use of infusion pumps in transfusion therapy. A summary of the data was presented in a synoptic chart and an analysis of it generated the following categories: cellular damage and the infusion mechanism. Conclusion: infusion pumps can be harmful to erythrocytes based on the infusion mechanism that is used, as the linear peristaltic pump is more likely to cause hemolysis. Cellular damage is related to the plasmatic liberation of markers that largely dominate free hemoglobin and potassium. We reiterate the need for further research and technological investments to guide the development of protocols that promote safe practices and that can contribute to future clinical studies.

The design of solar synoptic chart for space weather forecast

The Sun drives most events of space weather in the vicinity of the Earth. Because the activities of the Sun are complicated, a visualized chart with key objects of solar activities is needed for space weather forecast. This work investigates the key objects in research during the past forty years and surveys a variety of solar observational data. We design the solar synoptic chart (SSC) that covers the key objects of solar activities, i.e., active regions, coronal holes, filaments/prominences, flares and coronal mass ejections, and synthesizes images from different heights and temperatures of solar atmosphere. The SSC is used to analyze the condition of the Sun in March 2012 and October 2014 as examples. The result shows that the SSC is timely, comprehensive, concise and easy to understand. It has the potentiality for space weather forecast and can help in improving the public education.