São Paulo Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology

About: São Paulo Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology is a education organization based out in São Paulo, Brazil. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Computer science. The organization has 1707 authors who have published 2374 publications receiving 11333 citations.

Web-based authoring of multimedia intervention programs for mobile devices: a case study on elderly digital literacy

Abstract: As mobile devices become accessible to a large part of the population, they can be used by professionals and researchers to conduct remote personalized interventions and data collection. However, developing mobile applications is not a trivial task as it requires a wide variety of programming skills. For professionals and researchers from areas such as health and education, this usually means that they dependent on software developers to create the mobile applications they need. Aiming to provide tools to help health and education domain experts to independently conduct interventions, data collection and analyses using smartphones, we developed (a) an authoring interface, which allows end-users to create personalized interventions as programs that collect data or define intervention-focused tasks, and (b) a mobile player, which interpret the programs so as to present the interventions according to the specifications. In this paper we present these tools and report on a case study in a mobile digital literacy course for older adults. The participants used the mobile player as a digital assistant that presented tasks designed by the instructors as reinforcement activities associated with the content presented in traditional classes. Results indicate that the elderly benefited from the reminders and activities sent by the instructors via the mobile player, thereby increasing their learning and engagement in the course, as well as their autonomy in the use of mobile devices.

Assessing the impact of urban environment and green infrastructure on mental health: results from the São Paulo Megacity Mental Health Survey.

Abstract: Background Different land cover types in cities, including green areas, have impacts on mental health. Few studies, however, have been conducted in megacities in low-/middle-income countries, which have extremely complex urban arrangements. Objective We analyzed land cover using the population database of the Sao Paulo Megacity Mental Health Survey (n = 4287) and the associations with the diagnosis of depression/anxiety. Methodology Automatic classification of the orthophotos of the metropolitan area was performed using the random forest algorithm to provide land cover variables. The association of mental health data with land cover was determined with logistic regression and multilevel regression models. Results The percentage of different green spaces, mainly grassed areas, within districts was negatively associated with the presence of anxiety (OR 0.994, 0.968, 0.994, respectively), while roofs, asphalt and shadow (OR 1.007, 1.021, 1.085, 1.021, 1.014, respectively) were positively associated with the presence of anxiety. These results were more significant in green areas within the fourth quartile [-0.352 (0.158) and -0.347 (0.155), respectively] and in the roofs in the fourth quartile [0.321 (0.159)]. No significant results were found for depression. Significance Our data indicate the need for intensive greenery in spaces with different vegetation compositions in urban environments, especially megacities, to improve the mental health of urban dwellers.

Diamond Nanoparticles-Porphyrin mTHPP Conjugate as Photosensitizing Platform: Cytotoxicity and Antibacterial Activity

Abstract: Conjugation of photosensitizers (PS) with nanoparticles has been largely used as a strategy to stabilize PS in the biological medium resulting in photosensitizing nanoparticles of enhanced photoactivity. Herein, (Meso-5, 10, 15, 20-tetrakis (3-hydroxyphenyl) phorphyryn (mTHPP) was conjugated with diamond nanoparticles (ND) by covalent bond. Nanoconjugate ND-mTHPP showed suitable stability in aqueous suspension with 58 nm of hydrodynamic diameter and Zeta potential of −23 mV. The antibacterial activity of ND-mTHPP was evaluated against Escherichia coli for different incubation times (0–24 h). The optimal activity was observed after 2 h of incubation and irradiation (660 nm; 51 J/cm2) performed right after the addition of ND-mTHPP (100 μg/mL) to the bacterial suspension. The inhibitory activity was 56% whereas ampicillin at the same conditions provided only 14% of bacterial growth inhibition. SEM images showed agglomerate of ND-mTHPP adsorbed on the bacterial cell wall, suggesting that the antimicrobial activity of ND-mTHPP was afforded by inducing membrane damage. Cytotoxicity against murine embryonic fibroblast cells (MEF) was also evaluated and ND-mTHPP was shown to be noncytotoxic since viability of cells cultured for 24 h in the presence of the nanoconjugate (100 μg/mL) was 78%. Considering the enhanced antibacterial activity and the absence of cytotoxic effect, it is possible to consider the ND-mTHPP nanoconjugate as promising platform for application in antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT).

Dynamic adaptation of droop control curves for microgrid connected inverters with variable input power

Abstract: In this work a strategy for response dynamic optimization of a microgrid composed of an infinite bus (utility) and two inverters is proposed. Through the differential evolution technique, the optimized parameters of the droop control characteristics for operation in several equilibrium points are obtained. With an artificial neural network, these parameters are corrected for each operating point in order to ensure the stability as well as reduced settling time and damped response free of overshoot. The stability after changes in the operation point and the generalized dynamic response optimization are evaluated through simulation results using the software Matlab/Simulink® and experimental results of the proposed microgrid.

Effects of the lower energy and pulse stacking in carbon dioxide laser skin treatment: an objective analysis using second harmonic generation.

Abstract: Purpose To evaluate the effect of fractional carbon dioxide (CO2) laser treatment using lower power associated with pulse stacking within collagen fibers, using second harmonic generation microscopy and computerized image analysis. Methods Twenty male Wistar rats aging eight weeks were used. Each treatment area received a single-pass CO2 fractional laser with different parameters. The 20 animals were divided into two groups and euthanized after 30 and 60 days. Second harmonic generation images were obtained and program ImageJ was utilized to evaluate the collagen organization within all areas. Collagen anisotropy, entropy and optical density were quantified. Results Increased anisotropy over time was observed in all four areas, but only reached statistical significance (p = 0.0305) when the mildest parameters were used (area four). Entropy decreased over time in all areas, but without significance(p = 0.1779) in area four. Density showed an overtime increase only in area four, but no statistical significance was reached (p = 0.6534). Conclusions When combined, the results obtained in this study regarding anisotropy, entropy and density tend to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve collagen remodeling with the use of lower power levels associated with stacked pulses.