Estudo comparativo das complicações maculares, após facoemulsificação com implante de lente intraocular, entre doentes normais e diabéticos

Introdução: A catarata contribui para cerca de 50% da cegueira mundial e o seu desenvolvimento pode ter etiologia congénita, ou ser secundário à presença de doenças sistémicas como a diabetes mellitus. Atualmente, o tratamento curativo standard para esta patologia consiste na cirurgia de facoemulsificação com implante de lente intraocular, na qual se procede à remoção do cristalino por microfragmentação e aspiração, com consequente implante da lente. Esta abordagem cirúrgica apresenta como principal vantagem a diminuída invasão ocular que se repercute numa baixa incidência de complicações pós-operatórias. Contudo, o desenvolvimento de edema macular cistoide, após a intervenção cirurgia, é uma possível complicação que consiste na acumulação de líquido e formação de cistos no espaço extracelular, secundários às alterações agudas que ocorrem na vasculatura retiniana pelo trauma cirúrgico. Um dos fatores de risco apontados na literatura para o desenvolvimento tanto da catarata como do edema macular é a diabetes mellitus, uma doença crónica e multissistémica que pode comprometer a longo prazo a normal anatomia e fisiologia da retina, pelo desenvolvimento de alterações no endotélio vascular, que se manifestam na forma de retinopatia diabética. Objetivo: Com base nestes conhecimentos, surgiu o interesse em comparar, com recurso à tomografia de coerência ótica, a incidência do desenvolvimento de edema macular entre doentes saudáveis e doentes diabéticos, ambos com diagnóstico de cataratas, após facoemulsificação com implante de lente intraocular. Métodos: Utilizou-se uma amostra de 32 doentes (64 olhos) submetidos a facectomia e seguidos na Clínica Oftalmológica das Antas - Porto. Os indivíduos em estudo foram divididos em 2 grupos: diabéticos sem retinopatia diabética e não diabéticos, formados por, respetivamente, 14 e 18 elementos, os quais se subdividiram por sexo (M/F) e por idades (<65 anos; ≥65 anos). Através dos resultados obtidos por tomografia de coerência ótica realizada aos dois olhos antes e depois da cirurgia, procedeu-se à análise comparativa dos valores da espessura média da depressão foveal (área C) e das áreas periféricas da mácula (áreas A1 a A4 e B1 a B4). Resultados / Conclusão: Os resultados alcançados permitiram concluir que, contrariamente ao que é apresentado em grande parte da bibliografia, o desenvolvimento de edema macular pós-cirúrgico ocorre de forma semelhante nos doentes saudáveis e nos diabéticos. Apesar de o valor médio da espessura macular não ter apresentado diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre estes dois grupos, a espessura média no grupo dos não diabéticos foi ligeiramente superior.Background: Cataract accounts for approximately 50% of global blindness and its development can have congenital etiology, or be secondary to the presence of systemic diseases such as diabetes mellitus. Currently, the standard curative treatment for this condition is phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation, in which the lens is removed by microfragmentation and vacuum, with subsequent implantation of the intraocular lens. This surgical approach presents as major advantage its low ocular invasion, which is reflected in a decreased incidence of postoperative complications. However, the development of cystoid macular edema after surgical intervention is a possible complication, and it consists in the accumulation of fluid and cysts formation in the extracellular space, secondary to acute changes that occur in the retinal vasculature by surgical trauma. One of the risk factors mentioned in the literature for the development of both cataracts and macular edema is diabetes mellitus, a chronic and multisystemic illness that may compromise in long-term the normal anatomy and retinal physiology, with consequent development of changes in its vascular endothelium , presented in the form of diabetic retinopathy. Purpose: Based on this acquirement, it became relevant to compare, using the optical coherence tomography, the incidence of developing macular edema between healthy patients and diabetic patients, both diagnosed with cataracts, after phacoemulsification with implantation of intraocular lens. Methods: To do this, we used a sample of 32 patients (64 eyes) who were underwent to phacoemulsification surgery and were followed in Clinica Oftalmológica das Antas - Porto. The studied pacients were divided into two groups: diabetic patients without retinopathy and non-diabetic formed by, respectively, 14 and 18 elements, which are subdivided by gender (M/F) and age ( <65; =65 years). With the results obtained by tomography optical coherence performed to both eyes before and after surgery, we proceeded to the comparative analysis of the average thickness values of foveal depression (region C) and peripheral areas of the macula (areas A1 to A4 and B1 to B4). Results / Conclusions: The obtained results led to the conclusion that, in contrast to what is shown in most of the literature, the incidence of macular edema after surgery is similiar between healthy patients and diabetic ones. Although the average macular thickness have not shown significant estatistic differences between these two groups, the average thickness of the non-diabetic group was slightly higher

Vacinação Anti-Sarampo, Parotidite e Rubéola na criança com alergia ao ovo

Introduction: Egg allergy is one of the most common food allergies in childhood. Administration of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is recommended in pediatric age. Despite the presence of traces of egg protein in its composition, the literature recommends MMR vaccine administration regardless of the patient’s past egg allergy history, identifying cases in which the administration should occur in hospital setting. Purpose: To characterize the pediatric population referred to the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Department of Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Porto for MMR vaccine administration and investigate vaccination safety in children with egg allergy or sensitization. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study of clinical records of children with confirmed or suspected egg allergy referred to the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Department for administration of the MMR vaccine between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2019. Results: Among 60 children studied, 90% presented symptoms upon egg intake, with cutaneous reactions being the most prevalent (67%) and four reported cases of anaphylaxis. Allergy to cow’s milk protein (55%), followed by allergy to other foods (45%) were the most frequent personal histories of allergic diseases. Asthma was identified in 10% of patients and was controlled in all cases. Among children referred for vaccination booster dose, one had had a reaction to the previous MMR vaccine dose. Three children developed late local skin reactions, and one had a late systemic reaction after vaccination. All children had negative oral food challenge. Conclusion: MMR vaccine administration is safe and recommended in pediatric age, regardless of egg allergy history. However, immunization should be performed in hospital setting in children with a history of anaphylaxis due to egg allergy, previous anaphylactic reaction to MMR vaccine or one of its constituents, uncontrolled asthma with documented egg allergy, and uncontrolled asthma with allergy to a previous MMR vaccine dose.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Community intervention programs for sex offenders: a systematic review

Sexual violence is a phenomenon that negatively impacts the victims' physical and psychological health and well-being. Sex offenders tend not to take responsibility for their actions, have difficulties in emotion regulation and impulse control, paraphilias or other disorders, so they are a difficult group to treat. In addition, the available psychological treatment programs tend to have inconsistent and, sometimes, undesirable results. This systematic review aimed to analyse the recidivism rates of sex offenders treated in community settings. According to the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search in three databases, EBSCOhost, PubMed, and Web of Science, and a manual search was performed. A total of 319 empirical studies using quantitative methodologies were identified, 27 of which were selected for full-text analysis. In the end, 15 studies were included, published between 1996 and 2020. The objectives, intervention approach, instruments used, and the main results and conclusions were extracted from each study. The studies explored different types of sex offenders, such as: violent sex offenders (e.g., rapists), child abusers, and child abusers with pedophilia (and/or other paraphilias). Results showed that most of the programs had a cognitive-behavioral approach (n = 13). Overall, the interventions appear to be effective in reducing recidivism rates, and some of them led to improvements in other outcomes, such as cognitive distortions, accepting responsibility, victim awareness and empathy, emotional regulation, and offense supportive attitudes. Limitations and implications for future studies were discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of batch and fed-batch growth modes on biofilm formation by Listeria monocytogenes at different temperatures

The influence of Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) biofilm formation feeding conditions (batch and fed-batch) at different temperatures on biofilm biomass and activity was determined. Biofilm biomass and cellular metabolic activity were assessed by Crystal Violet (CV) staining and 2,3-bis(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide inner salt (XTT) colorimetric method, respectively. Live/Dead staining was also performed in order to get microscopic visualization of the different biofilms. Results revealed that at refrigeration temperature (4°C) a higher amount of biofilm was produced when batch conditions were applied, while at higher temperatures the fed-batch feeding condition was the most effective on biofilm formation. Moreover, independently of the temperature used, biofilms formed under fed-batch conditions were metabolically more active than those formed in batch mode. In conclusion, this work shows that different growth modes significantly influence L. monocytogenes biofilm formation on abiotic surfaces as well as the metabolic activity of cells within biofilms.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - PPCDT/AGR/59358/2004, SFRH/ BD/28887/2006, SFRH/BPD/26803/200

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Evaluation of the Perceived Ability to Cope With Trauma Scale in Portuguese Patients With Breast Cancer

Funding: RL was supported by the 2018 Scientific Employment Stimulus from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal (CEECIND/04157/2018). DF, BS, and AO-M were supported by the BOUNCE project (grant agreement no. 777167), and AO-M was supported by the FAITH project (grant agreement no. 875358), both funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme.Background: The impact of a cancer diagnosis may be traumatic, depending on the psychological resources used by patients. Appropriate coping strategies are related to better adaptation to the disease, with coping flexibility, corresponding to the ability to replace ineffective coping strategies, demonstrated to be highly related with self-efficacy to handle trauma. The Perceived Ability to Cope with Trauma (PACT) scale is a self-rated questionnaire that assesses the perceived ability to cope with potentially traumatic events, providing a measure of coping flexibility. The current study aimed at examining the psychometric properties of the PACT Scale in Portuguese patients with breast cancer. Methods: The study included 172 patients recently diagnosed with early breast cancer. Participants completed a Portuguese version of the PACT scale, and instruments of self-efficacy for coping with cancer (Cancer Behavior Inventory-Brief Version-CBI-B), of quality of life (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core-30-QLQ-C30), and of psychological distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-HADS) that were used as convergent and divergent measures, thus assessing construct validity. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to test the factor structure of the Portuguese version of PACT scale and reliabilities were examined. Results: Results from the CFA confirmed the two-factor structure, consistent with the original Forward and Trauma focus subscales. The two subscales demonstrated high internal consistencies. Convergent and divergent validities were confirmed: the PACT scale was related to high self-efficacy to cope with cancer (CBI-B), to high perceived quality of life (QLQ-C30), and to low psychological distress (HADS). Discussion: Overall, the current results support and replicate the psychometric properties of the PACT scale. The scale was found to be a valid and reliable self-reported measure to assess Portuguese breast cancer patients regarding beliefs about their capabilities in managing the potentially traumatic sequelae of cancer. The PACT is a simple and brief measure of coping flexibility to trauma, with potential relevance for application in clinical and research settings.publishersversionpublishe

Mothers' eating styles influence on their feeding practices and on their children's appetite traits

Background: Overweight and obesity in children and adolescents has become an important public health concern in the last decades. To study the way mothers and childrens behavioral factors interact with each other, influencing eating and body weight, may provide information to be used in preventive and treatment strategies.Goals: To study the association of mothers eating style on their feeding behavior and on their childrens eating behavior.Methods: Cross-sectional observational study with a non-probabilistic sample of mother and child dyads (from three schools). Mothers eating behavior (assessed with Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire scale; DEBQ) was classified and they were grouped into three eating styles: restrictive, emotional-external or neutral styles. Mothers feeding restriction, pressure to eat and concern about childs weight were assessed (through the Child Feeding Questionnaire; CFQ). Finally, mothers classified their childs appetite behaviors (with the Childrens Eating Behaviour Questionnaire; CEBQ).Results: Overall, participated 279 mothers, aged between 23 and 59 years (Mean= 38.03 years, SD=5.09) and respective children (n=279), aged between 6 and 13 years (Mean= 9.43 years, SD= 1.35), 140 of those were females (50.2 %). Associations between mothers eating style, their feeding behaviors and childrens appetite traits showed that restrictive and emotional-external eating mothers had higher scores of CFQ and CEBQ items related with obesity, when compared to neutral eating style mothers. Mothers feeding restriction and childrens weight concern associated positively with childrens food approach behaviors (enjoyment of food, food responsiveness, emotional over-eating), and negatively with food avoidance behaviors (satiety responsiveness and slowness in eating). On the contrary, pressure to eat associated positively with food avoidance behaviors and negatively with food approach behaviors. Mothers concern about child weight and feeding restriction were positively associated with CEBQ subscales that reflect food approach and negatively associated with subscales that reflect food avoidance. Pressure to eat had the symmetric associations. Discussion: Results support the hypothesis of the transmission of eating behaviors that promote obesity from mothers to children, and have implications both for prevention and children and adolescents obesity treatment. Therefore, mothers should be a part of the intervention when treating their children obesity</jats:p

Hardy kiwifruit leaves (Actinidia arguta): an extraordinary source of value-added compounds for food industry

The present study reports for the first time the identification and quantification of phenolic compounds, the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities as well as the in vitro radical scavenging activity and intestinal cell effects of A. arguta leaves extracts. Extractions were carried out under water, water:ethanol (50:50) and ethanol. The highest antioxidant activity were obtained in alcoholic extract (IC50 = 53.95 ± 3.09 μg/mL for DPPH; 6628.42 ± 382.49 µmol/mg dry weight basis for FRAP) while the phenolic profile confirmed by HPLC analysis revealed highest amounts of phenolic acids (hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives) and flavonoids (flavan-3-ol and flavonols derivatives). An excellent scavenging activity against reactive oxygen and nitrogen species were determined for all extracts as well as no adverse effects on Caco-2 and HT29-MTX cells in concentrations below 100 μg/mL and 1000 μg/mL, respectively. These results highlight the potentialities of hardy kiwi leaves valorization.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Internal loading potential of phosphorus in reservoirs along a semiarid watershed.

All rights reserved. Sediments are important to nutrient dynamics, especially due to phosphorus internal loading. Several studies have observed that internal loading could prevent water quality from improving in lakes, even when external phosphorus loading is significantly decreased. Therefore, there is an urgent need to assess the potential release of phosphorus contained in the sediment, and thus, its potential to impact water quality. In this study, the vertical and horizontal distributions of distinct phosphorus forms in the bottom sediments of artificial reservoirs, located at Forquilha watershed (Ceará, Brazil), were investigated through sequential chemical fractionation. The reservoirs Lagoa Cercada (R#1), Riacho do Algodão (R#2), Riacho Verde (R#3), Cachoeira (R#4), Chagas Manu (R#5), Quandu (R#6) and Balanças (R#7) were investigated. Reservoirs R#1 (most downstream reservoir of the watershed) and R#7 (most upstream reservoir of the watershed) had higher concentrations of total phosphorus (PT) and lower pH values, potentially exerting greater influence in phosphorus concentration in the water column. Reservoirs R#3 and R#4 presented a predominance of residual phosphorus (PRe), the least available fractions of phosphorus and thus, presented a lower potential for internal loading. Reservoirs R#5, R#1 and R#2 showed a tendency of decreasing total phosphorus (PT) as the sediment depth increased, probably indicating an increase of allochthonous phosphorus loading along time. Reservoir R#6 showed the predominance of PFeAl and PCa fractions on points A and B, respectively, showing that the characteristics of the sediments may vary in the same reservoir. Mobile (PM) and iron and aluminum-bound phosphorus (PFeAl) were the least and the most abundant fractions in most of the samples analyzed, respectively

Immune tumor microenvironment in ovarian cancer ascites

Ovarian cancer (OC) has a specific type of metastasis, via transcoelomic, and most of the patients are diagnosed at advanced stages with multiple tumors spread within the peritoneal cavity. The role of Malignant Ascites (MA) is to serve as a transporter of tumor cells from the primary location to the peritoneal wall or to the surface of the peritoneal organs. MA comprise cellular components with tumor and non-tumor cells and acellular components, creating a unique microenvironment capable of modifying the tumor behavior. These microenvironment factors influence tumor cell proliferation, progression, chemoresistance, and immune evasion, suggesting that MA play an active role in OC progression. Tumor cells induce a complex immune suppression that neutralizes antitumor immunity, leading to disease progression and treatment failure, provoking a tumor-promoting environment. In this review, we will focus on the High-Grade Serous Carcinoma (HGSC) microenvironment with special attention to the tumor microenvironment immunology.This work was supported by Fundacão para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior and European Union through a PhD fellowship (2021.05081.BD) cosponsored by Fundo Social Europeu (FSE) through Programa Operacional Regional Norte (Norte 2020)

Disclosing the complexity involved in phage-biofilm interaction: the case study of a Sep1virus phage infecting S. epidermidis

Book of Abstracts of CEB Annual Meeting 2017[Excerpt] Staphylococcus epidermidis is a major causative agent of nosocomial infections, mainly associated with the use of indwelling devices, on which this bacterium forms structures known as biofilms. Due to biofilms high tolerance to antibiotics, virulent bacteriophages have been suggested as novel anti-biofilm therapeutic agents. In this study, we used the S. epidermidis-specific phage phiIBB-SEP1 (SEP1) [1] and evaluated its activity against biofilms. Despite its broad host spectrum and high activity against exponential phase cells, the same was not observed for cells encased in a biofilm structure. To understand the underlying factors impairing SEP1 inefficacy against biofilms, we tested this phage against distinct bacterial populations. Interestingly, SEP1 was able to infect late stationary-phase (dormant), persister and biofilm-released cells, suggesting that the inefficacy for biofilm control resulted from the biofilm structure. To demonstrate this hypothesis, SEP1 activity was tested against clusters of cells from scraped biofilms resulting in a 2 orders-of-magnitude reduction in the number of viable cells, after six hours of infection. Additionally, LIVE/DEAD staining allowed the observation that stationaryphase cells responded to phage addition, as determined by the increase in SYBR medium fluorescence intensity, which can be related with an increase on the cell metabolic activity. [...]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio