There is a wide heterogeneity in assessment criteria for mHealth apps. It is necessary to define the exact meanings and degree of distinctness of each criterion. This will help to improve the existing tools and may lead to achieve a better comprehensive mHealth app assessment tool.

The need for alternative strategies to fight bacteria is evident from the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. To that respect, photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy steadily rises in bacterial eradication by using light, a photosensitizer and oxygen, which generates reactive oxygen species that may kill bacteria. Herein, we report the encapsulation of 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-21H,23H-porphyrin into acetylated lignin water-dispersible nanoparticles ( THPP@AcLi ), with characterization of those systems by standard spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. We observed that THPP@AcLi retained porphyrin’s photophysical/photochemical properties, including singlet oxygen generation and fluorescence. Besides, the nanoparticles demonstrated enhanced stability on storage and light bleaching. THPP@AcLi were evaluated as photosensitizers against two Gram-negative bacteria, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa , and against three Gram-positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus , Staphylococcus epidermidis , and Enterococcus faecalis . THPP@AcLi were able to diminish Gram-positive bacterial survival to 0.1% when exposed to low white LED light doses (4.16 J/cm 2 ), requiring concentrations below 5 μM. Nevertheless, the obtained nanoparticles were unable to diminish the survival of Gram-negative bacteria. Through transmission electron microscopy observations, we could demonstrate that nanoparticles did not penetrate inside the bacterial cell, exerting their destructive effect on the bacterial wall; also, a high affinity between acetylated lignin nanoparticles and bacteria was observed, leading to bacterial flocculation. Altogether, these findings allow to establish a photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy alternative that can be used effectively against Gram-positive topic infections using the widely available natural polymeric lignin as a drug carrier. Further research, aimed to inhibit the growth and survival of Gram-negative bacteria, is likely to enhance the wideness of acetylated lignin nanoparticle applications.

During the last 20 years, the Amazon region has been at the same time a place of massive ecological and social change and a laboratory of experiments aimed at promoting sustainable development. Policies and project initiatives involving diverse social groups and environmental contexts have been implemented across the region. They have resulted in mixed outcomes and trade-offs between social and environmental dimensions, making their impact at the local level difficult to assess and their successes difficult to generalize. The objective of the DURAMAZ research project was to provide a better understanding of these impacts. It produced a multi-dimensional indicator system designed to allow a holistic view of sustainable development at local and subregional levels and a comparative perspective across 12 research sites, from an isolated indigenous village to smallholders and agribusiness areas in Mato Grosso. The results of the first observation campaign (2007–2009) show that despite the claim of promoting sustainable development, no project was able to untie the ‘Gordian knot’ of development in the Amazon. Communities continue to face the old dilemma of either enjoying a preserved ecosystem but enduring adverse life conditions, or enjoying better living at the expense of forest cover. Another finding is that the subregional context is very important in shaping the impacts of regional policies. Thus, the same policy will not always have the same effect, depending on in which context it is applied. Finally, we found that cultural factors and a sense of place play a more important role than economic factors when it comes to the way people evaluate their own situation. This research provides the basis for a second phase of the project (2012–2016) in which we will continue to expand our sample and to refine our methodologies with the goal of transforming the initiative into a network of observatories of sustainable development in the Amazon.

Solid waste management is by consensus one of the premises for urban sustainability in the world. In Brazil, the main legal framework for this area is the National Solid Waste Policy. Established in August 2010, this policy institutes guidelines, plans and targets for all units of the Federation. Considering the outstanding precarious sanitation in the North of the country, this study chose to develop an assessment of solid waste management systems in three Amazon municipalities: Iranduba, Manacapuru and Novo Airão. For that, were applied nine sustainability indicators, with predominantly qualitative features, adapted from two predecessor researches under the same approach. As a result, the study concluded that the three municipalities had below-average results and recommends some priority actions.

Nowadays, lignins are receiving an increasing interest from the scientific community. Indeed, this biopolymer, formerly considered a waste‐product of the paper industry, appears today as an interesting oil equivalent in many fields. In this context, many chemical modifications of lignins have been presented to valorize this attractive feedstock. However, spectroscopic properties of these modified materials remain poorly studied, in particular their capacity to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) under light irradiation. Thus, the purpose of this work is to monitor the production of singlet oxygen and superoxide anion under light irradiation of three different acetylated lignins. The results obtained show that those modified lignins can generate ROS levels, allowing to consider a use of these materials as photosensitizers for applications such as photodynamic treatments.

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Lignins are an underused and abundant bio-sourced polymer with various potential applications. An attractive one is the development of nanoparticles for bioactive compound delivery. Here, we optimized the synthesis of...

Participatory community monitoring programs (PCM) have become an important methodological innovation for the management of biodiversity conservation in protected areas. Based on the participation of the local communities, they are presented as less costly programs than conventional ones. However, in practical terms, such programs pose serious implementation challenges. In this article, we identify the achievements, obstacles, and perspectives of four PCM implemented in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. Based on bibliographical and documentary research, direct observations and in-person interviews with program managers and specialists, we qualitatively evaluated these programs with respect to participation, data production and retrieval, and financing. We found that the performances of these programs were not yet adequate to their protected areas management priorities and that they had not yet generated perceptible benefits enough to enhance community trust and full appropriation of the programs' outcomes by resource users and by conservation unit management teams.