ABSTRACT The “Adopt a Bacterium” project is based on the use of social network as a tool in Microbiology undergraduate education, improving student learning and encouraging students to participate in collaborative learning. The approach involves active participation of both students and teachers, emphasizing knowledge exchange, based on widely used social media. Students were organized in groups and asked to adopt a specific bacterial genus and, subsequently, submit posts about “adopted genus”. The formative assessment is based on posting information on Facebook®, and the summative assessment involves presentation of seminars about the adopted theme. To evaluate the project, students filled out three anonymous and voluntary surveys. Most of the students enjoyed the activities and positively evaluated the experience. A large amount of students declared a change in their attitude towards the way they processed information, especially regarding the use of scientific sources. Finally, we evaluated knowledge retention six months after the end of the course and students were able to recall relevant Microbiology concepts. Our results suggest that the “Adopt a Bacterium” project represents a useful strategy in Microbiology learning and may be applied to other academic fields.

Resumo Identificaram-se padrões dietéticos em idosos e associaram-se com características sociodemográficas de saúde e estilo de vida. Este foi um estudo transversal descritivo com amostra não probabilística de 295 idosos residentes no município de São Caetano do Sul, São Paulo, Brasil, usuários de unidades públicas de saúde, de ambos os sexos. Os padrões dietéticos foram identificados, considerando-se 44 itens alimentares oriundos de Recordatório de 24 horas. Utilizou-se análise fatorial pelo método de componentes principais, adotando-se como ponto de corte cargas superiores a 0,25, seguida de rotação ortogonal Varimax. As associações foram realizadas pelo método de regressão linear, sendo selecionadas as variáveis que obtiveram p<0,20 na regressão univariada, e mantidas no modelo multivariado aquelas com p<0,05. Observou-se maior percentual de idosos do sexo feminino (85,1%) e na faixa etária de 60 a 69 anos (46,4%). Foram identificados três padrões dietéticos: o padrão Tradicional, associado com sexo masculino (β=0,59, p<0,001) e praticantes de atividade física (β=0,39, p=0,020); o padrão Massa, carne suína e doce, o qual se associou com o sexo masculino (β=0,38, p=0,025) e idosos aposentados (β=0,55, p=0,017); e o padrão Café com leite e pão com manteiga, que se associou a faixa etária de 80 anos ou mais (β=0,55, p=0,004) e idosos que apresentavam dificuldade de mastigação (β=0,38, p=0,013). Os padrões dietéticos identificados demonstram que os idosos tendem a manter os hábitos alimentares similares aos da população brasileira em geral, e a dieta é alterada na medida em que as condições de saúde e de vida se modificam.

Abstract The aim of the present study was to identify dietary patterns among the elderly, and associate the same with sociodemographic characteristics, health and lifestyle. A cross-sectional study was carried out with a non-probabilistic sample of 295 elderly residents of both genders of the city of São Caetano do Sul, São Paulo, Brazil, who were users of public health units. Dietary patterns were identified considering 44 food items identified through 24-hour dietary recall. Factor analysis by the principal components method was used, adopting loads greater than 0.25 as the cut-off point, followed by Varimax orthogonal rotation. The associations were analyzed by the linear regression method, with variables with p<0.20 in univariate regression selected, and those with p<0.05 maintained in the multivariate model. There was a greater percentage of elderly females (85.1%) and those aged 60-69 years (46.4%). Three dietary patterns were identified: the "traditional" pattern was associated with the male gender (β=0.59, p<0.001) and physically active individuals (β=0.39, p=0.020); the "Pastas, pork and sweets" pattern was associated with the male gender (β=0.38, p=0.025) and retired individuals (β=0.55, p=0.017); and the "Coffee with milk and bread and butter" pattern was associated with an age of 80 years or older (β=0.55, p=0.004) and elderly persons who had difficulty chewing (β=0.38, p=0.013). The dietary patterns identified show that the elderly tend to maintain similar eating habits to the Brazilian population in general, and that diet changes to a similar degree as health and life style conditions.

O derivado nitroimidazol-tiodiazol CL64,855 tem uma alta atividade anti-Trypanosoma cruzi. O CL64,855 induziu uma resposta mutagênica nas linhagens TA98 e TA98dnp6, mas não na linhagem deficiente em nitrorredutase do tipo I TA98nr. Esta perda da ativação mutagênica foi acompanhada pelo aumento da sobrevivência celular aos efeitos citotóxicos da droga. A presença da fração microssomal S9 não restaurou a resposta mutagênica da TA98nr. Adicionalmente, o CL64,855 foi reduzido in vitro pela nitrorredutase I proficiente TA98, mas não pela TA98nr. Atividade mutagência foi detectada em amostras de soro pelas linhagens proficientes em nitrorredutase TA98 e TA98dnp6, mas não pela linhagem deficiente TA98nr. Em amostras de urina, a atividade mutagênica foi observada por todas as três linhagens testadas, sugerindo uma ativação metabólica in vivo do CL64,855 por diferentes rotas metabólicas.

CL64,855 is a nitroimidazole-thiodiazole derivate with high anti-Trypanosoma cruzi activity. CL64,855-induced mutagenesis in the Salmonella/microsome test was detected by TA98 and TA98dnp6 strains, but not by the nitroreductase I-deficient TA98nr strain. The lack of mutagenic response of TA98nr was connected with its extreme resistance to the killing effect of the drug. Presence of S9 mix did not restore mutagenic activity of CL64,855 to the TA98nr strain. Additionally, CL64,855 was reduced in vitro by the nitroreductase I-proficient TA98 strain, mainly in the presence of oxygen, but not by the TA98nr strain. Mutagenic activity was detected in serum samples of treated guinea pigs by nitroreductase-proficient strains TA98 and TA98dnp6, but not by nitroductase-deficient strain TA98nr. In the case of urine, mutagenic activity was observed with all three tested strains, suggesting an in vivo metabolic activation of the drug by a distinct metabolic pathway.