Estratégias para retomada do ensino superior em saúde frente a COVID-19 / Strategies for resuming higher education in health in relation to covid-19

Refletir sobre a adoção de estratégias a serem implementadas pelas Instituições de Ensino Superior que oferecem cursos da área de saúde para continuidade das suas atividades acadêmicas durante a pandemia pela COVID-19, primando pela saúde física e mental dos seus docentes e discentes. Método: Trata-se de um estudo teórico reflexivo estruturado em três eixos temáticos, cujo levantamento bibliográfico abrangeu livros, documentos oficiais do Ministério da Saúde do Brasil, artigos científicos nacionais e internacionais presentes nas bases de dados da PUBMED/MEDLINE, Web of Science, LILACS e SciELO. Foram selecionados mediante o uso de combinações de palavras-chave relacionadas ao tema"COVID-19", "ensino online", "biossegurança", "aprendizado online", "estresse", "práticas integrativas e complementares em saúde". Resultados: O primeiro eixo destaca a adoção de estratégias virtuais para evitar aglomerações e o risco de contaminação pela COVID-19; o segundo, a utilização de medidas de biossegurança para a realização de atividades acadêmicas presenciais; e o terceiro, as ações de enfrentamento do estresse emocional experimentado pelos docentes e discentes nesse mesmo contexto. Conclusões: Evidencia-se imprescindível adoção de estratégias pedagógicas na tentativa de encontrar soluções criativas e responsáveis pelas Instituições de Ensino Superior em Saúde a fim de minimizar o comprometimento do ensino-aprendizagem e evitar danos à saúde física e mental daqueles que são protagonistas desse processo

To reflect on the adoption of strategies to be implemented by Higher Educational Institutions that offer courses in the health field to continue their academic activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the physical and mental health of their professors and students. Methods: This is a reflective theoretical study structured in three thematic axes, whose bibliographic survey covered books, official documents from the Ministry of Health of Brazil, national and international scientific articles from the databases of PUBMED/MEDLINE, Web of Science, LILACS and SciELO. The selection was conducted using combinations of keywords related to the issue: "COVID-19", "online teaching", "biosafety", "online learning", "stress", "integrative and complementary healthcare practices". Results: The first axis highlights the adoption of virtual strategies to avoid agglomerations and the risk of contamination by COVID-19; the second, the use of biosafety measures to carry out on-site academic activities; and the third, actions to cope with the emotional stress experienced by professors and students in this context. Conclusions: It is essential to adopt pedagogical strategies in an attempt to find creative and responsible solutions for Higher Educational Institutions in Health in order to minimize teaching-learning weakening and avoid damage to the physical and mental health of those who are protagonists of this process.

The CD4-CD8- MAIT cell subpopulation is a functionally distinct subset developmentally related to the main CD8+ MAIT cell pool.

Mucosa-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are unconventional innate-like T cells that recognize microbial riboflavin metabolites presented by the MHC class I-like protein MR1. Human MAIT cells predominantly express the CD8α coreceptor (CD8+), with a smaller subset lacking both CD4 and CD8 (double-negative, DN). However, it is unclear if these two MAIT cell subpopulations distinguished by CD8α represent functionally distinct subsets. Here, we show that the two MAIT cell subsets express divergent transcriptional programs and distinct patterns of classic T cell transcription factors. Furthermore, CD8+ MAIT cells have higher levels of receptors for IL-12 and IL-18, as well as of the activating receptors CD2, CD9, and NKG2D, and display superior functionality following stimulation with riboflavin-autotrophic as well as riboflavin-auxotrophic bacterial strains. DN MAIT cells display higher RORγt/T-bet ratio, and express less IFN-γ and more IL-17. Furthermore, the DN subset displays enrichment of an apoptosis gene signature and higher propensity for activation-induced apoptosis. During development in human fetal tissues, DN MAIT cells are more mature and accumulate over gestational time with reciprocal contraction of the CD8+ subset. Analysis of the T cell receptor repertoire reveals higher diversity in CD8+ MAIT cells than in DN MAIT cells. Finally, chronic T cell receptor stimulation of CD8+ MAIT cells in an in vitro culture system supports the accumulation and maintenance of the DN subpopulation. These findings define human CD8+ and DN MAIT cells as functionally distinct subsets and indicate a derivative developmental relationship.

Factors Influencing Functional Heterogeneity in Human Mucosa-Associated Invariant T Cells.

Mucosa-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are unconventional innate-like T cells that recognize microbial riboflavin metabolites presented by the monomorphic MHC class I-related (MR1) molecule. Despite the high level of evolutionary conservation of MR1 and the limited diversity of known antigens, human MAIT cells and their responses may not be as homogeneous as previously thought. Here, we review recent findings indicating that MAIT cells display microbe-specific response patterns with multiple layers of heterogeneity. The natural killer cell receptor CD56 marks a MAIT cell subset with distinct response profile, and the T cell receptor ß-chain diversity influences responsiveness at the single cell level. The MAIT cell tissue localization also influences their response profiles with higher IL-17 in tissue-resident MAIT cells. Furthermore, there is emerging evidence that the type of antigen-presenting cells, and innate cytokines produced by such cells, influence the quality of the ensuing MAIT cell response. On the microbial side, the expression patterns of MR1-presented antigenic and non-antigenic compounds, expression of other bioactive microbial products, and of innate pattern recognition ligands all influence downstream MAIT cell responses. These recent findings deepen our understanding of MAIT cell functional diversity and adaptation to the type and location of microbial challenge.

A review on antifungal activity of mushroom (basidiomycetes) extracts and isolated compounds.

The present review reports the antifungal activity of mushroom extracts and isolated compounds including high (e.g. peptides and proteins) and low (e.g. sesquiterpenes and other terpenes, steroids, organic acids, acylcyclopentenediones and quinolines) molecular weight compounds. Most of the studies available on literature focused on screening of antifungal activity of mushroom extracts, rather than of isolated compounds. Data indicate that mushroom extracts are mainly tested against different Candida species, while mushroom compounds are mostly tested upon other fungi. Therefore, the potential of these compounds might be more useful in food industry than in clinics. Oudemansiella canarii and Agaricus bisporus methanolic extracts proved to be the most active mushroom extracts against Candida spp. Grifolin, isolated from Albatrellus dispansus, seemed to be the most active compound against phytopathogenic fungi. Further studies should be performed in order to better understand the mechanism of action of this and other antifungal compounds as well as safety issues.

A review on antimicrobial activity of mushroom (Basidiomycetes) extracts and isolated compounds.

Despite the huge diversity of antibacterial compounds, bacterial resistance to first-choice antibiotics has been drastically increasing. Moreover, the association between multiresistant microorganisms and nosocomial infections highlight the problem, and the urgent need for solutions. Natural resources have been exploited in the last years and among them, mushrooms could be an alternative source of new antimicrobials. In this review, we present an overview of the antimicrobial properties of mushroom extracts and highlight some of the active compounds identified, including low- and high-molecular weight (LMW and HMW, respectively) compounds. LMW compounds are mainly secondary metabolites, such as sesquiterpenes and other terpenes, steroids, anthraquinones, benzoic acid derivatives, and quinolines, but also primary metabolites such as oxalic acid. HMW compounds are mainly peptides and proteins. Data available from the literature indicate a higher antimicrobial activity of mushroom extracts against gram-positive bacteria. Among all the mushrooms, Lentinus edodes is the most studied species and seems to have a broad antimicrobial action against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Plectasin peptide, obtained from Pseudoplectania nigrella, is the isolated compound with the highest antimicrobial activity against gram-positive bacteria, while 2-aminoquinoline, isolated from Leucopaxillus albissimus, presents the highest antimicrobial activity against gram-negative bacteria.

Production of biodiesel from acid waste lard.

The objective of the present work was: (i) to enable biodiesel production from acid waste lard; (ii) to study the esterification reaction as possible pre-treatment at different temperatures, catalyst amount and reaction times; (iii) to evaluate biodiesel quality according to EN 14214 after basic transesterification of the pre-treated fat; and (iv) to predict the impact of using such waste as raw material in mixture with soybean oil. Temperature and catalyst amount were the most important reaction conditions which mostly affected biodiesel quality, namely viscosity and purity. The selected pre-treatment conditions were 65 degrees C, 2.0 wt% H(2)SO(4) and 5 h, which allowed obtaining a product with a viscosity of 4.81 mm(2) s(-1) and a purity of 99.6 wt%. The proposed pre-treatment was effective to enable acid wastes as single raw materials for biodiesel production with acceptable quality; however, low yields were obtained (65 wt%). Alkali transesterification of a mixture of waste lard and soybean oil resulted in a product with a purity of 99.8 wt% and a yield of 77.8 wt%, showing that blending might be an interesting alternative to recycle such wastes. Also, because in addition to using conventional and relatively economical processes, some biodiesel properties depending on the raw material composition (such as the iodine value) might even be improved.

Waste materials for activated carbon preparation and its use in aqueous-phase treatment: a review.

Commercial activated carbon is a preferred adsorbent for the removal of micropollutants from the aqueous phase; however, its widespread use is restricted due to high associated costs. To decrease treatment costs, attempts have been made to find inexpensive alternative activated carbon (AC) precursors, such as waste materials. Some reviews report the use of waste materials for the preparation of AC; however, these studies are restricted to either type of wastes, preparation procedures, or specific aqueous-phase applications. The present work reviews and evaluates literature dedicated both to the preparation of AC by recycling different types of waste materials and also to its application in various aqueous-phase treatments. It is clear that conventional (from agriculture and wood industry) and non-conventional (from municipal and industrial activities) wastes can be used to prepare AC, that can be applied in various aqueous treatment processes, namely to remove organic pollutants, dyes, volatile organic compounds, and heavy metals. Moreover, high surface areas can be obtained using either physical or chemical activation; however, combined treatments might enhance the surface properties of the adsorbent, therefore increasing its adsorption capacity. It is evident from the revision made that AC prepared from both conventional and non-conventional wastes might effectively compete with the commercial ones. This happens mostly when the activation procedures are optimized considering both the raw material used to produce the carbons and the contaminants to be removed.