Este artigo apresenta a última versão do Academic, uma ferramenta integrada ao portal URI Online Judge. O Academic, ambiente de gerenciamento de trabalhos e listas de exercícios, foi criado em 2013 com o objetivo de facilitar as atividades didáticas de professores e coaches de algoritmos e linguagens de programação. Entre as ferramentas existentes para correção de problemas na área de Computação o URI Online Judge é pioneiro ao integrar uma ferramenta onde o professor pode fazer o acompanhamento da prática e evolução dos estudantes. Por seu caráter inédito, crescente número de adesões e feedback positivo por parte dos usuários, o Academic consolida-se como uma ferramenta didática de interface agradável que propicia aulas dinâmicas e interativas, com benefícios visíveis tanto a estudantes quanto a professores.

Tumor-associated macrophages are widely recognized for their importance in guiding pro-tumoral or antitumoral responses. Mediating inflammation or immunosuppression, these cells support many key events in cancer progression: cell growth, chemotaxis, invasiveness, angiogenesis and cell death. The communication between cells in the tumor microenvironment strongly relies on the secretion and recognition of several molecules, including damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Extracellular ATP (eATP) and its degradation products act as signaling molecules and have extensively described roles in immune response and inflammation, as well as in cancer biology. These multiple functions highlight the purinergic system as a promising target to investigate the interplay between macrophages and cancer cells. Here, we reviewed purinergic signaling pathways connecting cancer cells and macrophages, a yet poorly investigated field. Finally, we present a new tool for the characterization of macrophage phenotype within the tumor. Image cytometry emerges as a cutting-edge tool, capable of providing a broad set of information on cell morphology, expression of specific markers, and its cellular or subcellular localization, preserving cell-cell interactions within the tumor section and providing high statistical strength in small-sized experiments. Thus, image cytometry allows deeper investigation of tumor heterogeneity and interactions between these cells.

Colorimetric assays have been often applied to determine cell viability or cytotoxicity due to fastness, reliability, and low cost. Most common assays include tetrazolium salts, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), sulforhodamine B (SRB), crystal violet (CV), and neutral red uptake (NRU).Overall, choosing a suitable method is needed to obtain reliable results. Sometimes, different assays should be combined to achieve meaningful data. This review describes an overview of colorimetric assays and the corresponding protocols, advantages, and limitations related to cell culture on monolayer, and 3D systems.