Prospection of the use of encapsulation in food packaging.

Food safety and extended shelf life linked to convenience were the major reasons for the development of the packaging field. However, advances in material science and the widespread encapsulation technologies are allowing the establishment of new concepts for packages, such as intelligent and active packages. Particulate systems have been developed in recent years for the most diverse area with several purposes that can be employed to improve packaging performance mainly focusing on the modification of barrier properties.

Is conformation a fundamental descriptor in QSAR? A case for halogenated anesthetics.

An intriguing question in 3D-QSAR lies on which conformation(s) to use when generating molecular descriptors (MD) for correlation with bioactivity values. This is not a simple task because the bioactive conformation in molecule data sets is usually unknown and, therefore, optimized structures in a receptor-free environment are often used to generate the MD´s. In this case, a wrong conformational choice can cause misinterpretation of the QSAR model.

Contributions of national health conferences to the definition of public environmental and health information policy.

The relationship between health and the environment has been the object of increased interest from researchers in recent decades with information being the phenomenon that makes it possible to construct a tessitura between the 2 areas. The goal of this article is to examine how the recommendations of the National Health Conferences treat the issue of the environment and information and how they link these two areas with health. The present study is a documentary investigation of a qualitative nature.

Information literacy: perceptions of Brazilian HIV/AIDS researchers.

Background: Information literacy has evolved with changes in lifelong learning. Can Brazilian health researchers search for and use updated scientific information?

Objectives: To describe researchers' information literacy based on their perceptions of their abilities to search for and use scientific information and on their interactions with libraries.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews and focus group conducted with six Brazilian HIV/AIDS researchers.

[Accessibility to primary health care by black families in a poor neighborhood of Salvador, Northeastern Brazil].

Objective: To analyse the accessibility of primary health care for black families from a poor neighbourhood.

Methods: Ethnographic study with an interpretative anthropological approach, carried out with 18 families selected from a poor neighbourhood of Salvador, Northeastern Brazil, over a period of two years. Criteria for inclusion included being resident in the neighbourhood and classifying themselves as black.

Why do we need alternative tools to control mosquito-borne diseases in Latin America?

In this opinion paper, we discuss the potential and challenges of using the symbiont Wolbachia to block mosquito transmitted diseases such as dengue, malaria and chikungunya in Latin America.

[National poison information system: the challenge of the data standardization].

Human poisoning is a serious public health issue around the world. Readily available and reliable information in this field are essential to the full implementation of epidemiological and sanitary surveillance and to establish efficient and effective strategies of control. The continuous improvement of data quality and consistency % no doubt, a permanent challenge % has a key role in the definition of public policies.

[Geography of science makes a difference: an appeal for public health].

This article introduces a perspective for analyzing the relationship between geographic space and scientific practice and the possible contribution by the geography of science to understanding and developing strategies in favor of public health. Contributions by the field of social studies of science, specifically from the Actor-Network Theory and its concept of translation, and the geography of Milton Santos, form the theoretical framework that allows exploring the spatial dimensions of the production and circulation of scientific knowledge. The article discusses how this approach both enriches and challenges the recent international policies in favor of knowledge translation.