O sítio da Ponte da Azambuja 2 (Portel, Évora) e a emergência dos recintos de fossos no SW peninsular nos finais do 4º milénio A.N.E.

Tese de doutoramento, Arqueologia, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Universidade do Algarve, 2015O estudo da Pré-história recente no atual território português assistiu, a partir dos finais da década de 1990, a uma “verdadeira revolução empírica” (Valera, 2008: 112) na qual se encontra a temática dos recintos de fossos, cujo boom na sua identificação, associada às problemáticas subjacentes, a isolaram como unidade de estudo específica datada de entre finais do 4.º e todo o 3.º milénio a.n.e. “Quais os motivos que levaram as sociedades dos finais do 4.º milénio a.n.e. a construírem recintos de fossos no SW Peninsular?” foi a questão de partida que alicerçou a presente dissertação. A construção de uma resposta coerente ao problema colocado passou pela implementação de um questionário prévio e análise de dados empíricos obtidos no sítio da Ponte da Azambuja 2 (Portel, Évora). Após a revisão da literatura, esta dissertação centrou-se neste sítio arqueológico, efetuando-se: a caracterização das condições de implantação; a descrição da intervenção arqueológica e a leitura interpretativa da estratigrafia e das estruturas identificadas; a análise da cultura material, adotando um perspetiva que visa não só o enquadramento tipológico dos artefactos mas também a tecnologia da sua execução; a discussão dos processos de formação do registo arqueológico e das inferências sociais daí resultantes; a reconstrução paleoambiental e consequentes estratégias de subsistência, providenciando o cenário da ação destes grupos. A partir da comparação com outros dez recintos coevos conclui-se que o surgimento deste novo paradigma de apropriação do espaço estará relacionado com fenómenos de agregação social, impulsionados por um aumento demográfico (deduzido pelo megalitismo funerário), que consequentemente necessita de modos de produção mais eficazes e eficientes. As condições paleoclimáticas associadas aos movimentos populacionais em curso desde os períodos antecedentes, originaram um novo modelo de organização territorial, regulador de uma sociedade mais complexa do que é tradicionalmente assumido

Stresse e Emoções dos Profissionais de Saúde numa Unidade de Cuidados Continuados Intensivos e Lar de Idosos

Cada vez se torna mais difícil para os profissionais de saúde, conseguir lidar com as emoções sentidas e vividas em diversos contextos de saúde, como lares de idosos e unidades de cuidados continuados, devido ao grau de exigência de que é necessitado por partes dos idosos nos diversos contextos de saúde em que se encontram. O objetivo deste estudo é perceber como os profissionais de saúde lidam com as várias emoções e mesmo situações de stresse nos contextos de saúde. Na presente investigação foi recolhida uma amostra de profissionais de saúde a exercer a sua atividade profissional em contexto de unidade de cuidados continuados e lar de idosos da Santa casa da Misericórdia de Cantanhede. De um universo de 75 profissionais, 50 participantes acederam a participar voluntariamente no estudo. Como instrumentos de avaliação, recorreu-se á Escala de Afeto Positivos e Negativo (PANAS - Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, à Escala de Ansiedade, Depressão e Stresse (EADS-21), ao Questionário de Stresse nos Profissionais de Saúde (QSPS) e a um questionário sociodemográfico. Conclui-se, relativamente à atividade profissional exercida, que a maioria são ajudantes de lar, e os restantes técnicos de saúde (enfermeiros, terapeutas, e técnicas de serviço social e psicóloga). Em relação à idade foi possível observar que que esta se correlaciona negativamente com os níveis de stresse. No que respeita à questão da necessidade da formação, observa-se que a maioria dos participantes consideram este aspeto importante. Quanto ao tipo de vínculo pode concluir-se que a maioria pertence ao quadro, outra parte menor tem contrato a termo e os restantes, e a minoria são prestadores de serviços. Finalmente e no que respeita às variáveis relativas a tempo na área e ao número de horas semanais obteve-se uma correlação positiva com o stresse. / It is becoming more difficult for health professionals cope with felt and experienced feelings in different health contexts, such as nursing homes and continuing care units, due to the level of care that is needed for parts of older people in several health contexts in which they are. The aim of this study is to understand how health professionals deal with various emotions and even situations of stress in health contexts. In the present investigation was taken in a sample of health professionals to carry out their professional activity in the context of continuing care unit and nursing home of the Holy House of Mercy Cantanhede. A universe of 75 professionals, 50 participants agreed to voluntarily participate in the study, both health professionals and not everyone who has direct contact with the elderly. As assessment tools, we used the PANAS (emotions) and EADS (anxiety, depression and stress), QSPS (occupational stress) and a sociodemographic questionnaire. It is concluded that in relation to professional activity carried out it appears that most are home helpers, and other health professionals (nurses, therapists, and social service techniques and psychologist, in thier age was observed that the higher the younger is stress. With regard to the question of the need for training is observed that most of the respondents said yes, considering important this aspect. As for the type of bond can be concluded that the majority belongs to the table, elsewhere have lower forward contract and the other, and the minority are service providers. Finally, as regards the variables relating to time in the area and the number of hours per week obtained a result of increased stress

Dual antibiotherapy of tuberculosis mediated by inhalable locust bean gum microparticles

Despite the existence of effective oral therapy, tuberculosis remains a deadly pathology, namely because of bacterial resistance and incompliance with treatments. Establishing alternative therapeutic approaches is urgently needed and inhalable therapy has a great potential in this regard. As pathogenic bacteria are hosted by alveolar macrophages, the co-localisation of antitubercular drugs and pathogens is thus potentiated by this strategy. This work proposes inhalable therapy of pulmonary tuberculosis mediated by a single locust bean gum (LBG) formulation of microparticles associating both isoniazid and rifabutin, complying with requisites of the World Health Organisation of combined therapy. Microparticles were produced by spray-drying, at LBG/INH/RFB mass ratio of 10/1/0.5. The aerodynamic characterisation of microparticles revealed emitted doses of more than 90% and fine particle fraction of 38%, thus indicating the adequacy of the system to reach the respiratory lung area, thus partially the alveolar region. Cytotoxicity results indicate moderate toxicity (cell viability around 60%), with a concentration-dependent effect. Additionally, rat alveolar macrophages evidenced preferential capture of LBG microparticles, possibly due to chemical composition comprising mannose and galactose units that are specifically recognised by macrophage surface receptors. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.National Portuguese funding through FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia [PTDC/DTP-FTO/0094/2012, UID/BIM/04773/2013, UID/Multi/04326/2013, UID/QUI/00100/2013, PEst-OE/QUI/UI4023/2011

Microaerophilic growth characteristics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa importance to the successful treatment of chronic infections in cystic fibrosis lungs

Patients with CF lung disease are susceptible to chronic infections by various pathogens, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This pathogen is able to adaptat to the environment in CF lungs, characterized by inflammatory defences, oxygen restriction, and poor nutrient availability. It is well established that, once P. aeruginosa infection is installed in the lungs, it is almost impossible to eradicate, due to sophisticated genotypic and phenotypic adaptation mechanisms that develop according to the stage of infection. Understanding those changes and the identification of specific characteristics that allow P. aeruginosa eradication before the onset of chronic infection is urgent. In this work, P. aeruginosa adaptation under microaerophilic and anaerobic conditions was assessed in terms of phenotypic charatceristics, antibiotic susceptibility and expression of antibiotic resistance mechanisms (mexAB operon). Results showed, when compared with aerobic conditions, similar growth and emergence of intermediate resistance profiles for ciprofloxacin and imipenem, but no significant variation in operon mexAB expression. It was also observed an increase of colony morphotypes with the decrease of oxygen availability, mainly in 5% O2. Nevertheless oxygen depletion has no significant effect on P. aeruginosa growth and mexAB expression, affecting, however, the phenotypic characteristics and antibiotic susceptibility profiles. Despite the overall observations, the microaerophilic environment with 5% O2, seems to demonstrate a transient distinct behaviourwhich can be a point of evolution into chronic infection and as such a possible treatment target

Caracóis endémicos dos Açores : estivação como mecanismo de resposta aos fatores ambientais

A secção Biologia é coordenada pelo Professor Universitário Armindo Rodrigues.[…] Estudos realizados sobre caracóis terrestres endémicos dos Açores têm revelado que estes, ao contrário do observado noutras espécies de moluscos da América do Sul e do Norte, tem a capacidade de se reproduzir durante todo o ano, o que tem sido atribuído a características climáticas propicias verificadas no arquipélago, em termos de temperatura, precipitação ou humidade do solo. A montanha do Pico (Ilha do Pico) é o melhor “laboratório” dos Açores para avaliar como fatores abióticos, que variam ao longo de um gradiente altitudinal, podem desencadear respostas fisiológicas e comportamentais numa espécie, com significado na sua reprodução e sobrevivência. […]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Synergistic antimicrobial interaction of honey and bacteriophage in Escherichia coli biofilms

I Simpósio de Bioquímica AplicadaWound colonization by biofilms-forming bacteria is one of the main obstacles to the treatment of chronic wounds, causing a number of biological and financial problems. Biofilms are structured communities of bacterial cells enclosed in a self-produced polymeric matrix, adhered to inert or living surfaces, blocking antibiotics and patients immune cells from reaching bacteria. Bacterio(phages), viruses infecting exclusively bacteria, and honey are being considered as valuable alternatives to treat a variety of infections (Table 1). Phages are harmless to mammalian cells, specific for target bacteria therefore not affecting commensal microflora, have the ability to selfreplicate as long as the host is present, and are effective against antibiotic resistant bacteria. Honey is a complex substance with broad spectrum antimicrobial activity, essentially attributed to the high sugar content, low pH, the presence of hydrogen peroxide and methylglyoxal that reacts with important biological molecules (RNA, DNA and proteins). Honey had yet the potential to promote tissue regeneration, cicatrization, decrease inflammation, improving wound healing. In this work the combination of those two antimicrobial agents was considered in the control E. coli biofilms.Hospital Escala Braga (Braga,Portugal) for providing the clinical isolate. This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope off the strategic funding of the UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020(POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte 2020-Programa Operacional Regional do Norte and the Project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012(FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462) and the project PTDC/CVT-EPI/4008/2014(POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016598). Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the SFRH/BPD/69356/2010 and SFRH/BD/93078/2013. FCT (IF/01413/2013)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Integrated functional genomics for improved manufacture of recombinant enveloped virus

Dissertation presented to obtain the Ph.D degree in Engineering and Technology Sciences-BiotechnologyBiopharmaceuticals derived from recombinant viruses comprise a plethora of prophylactic and therapeutic products from vaccines to gene therapy vectors. Retroviruses occupy an important segment of this market. Replication-defective vectors have extensively been used as delivery vehicles in gene therapy protocols. Retrovirus-like-particles have shown promising results in vaccinology as immunogen display platforms. Replication-competent particles have efficiently been used as oncolytic agents. (...

Impacto da idade parental e do género na maturidade intelectual das crianças

El objetivo del presente estudio ha sido determinar si la madurez intelectual de los niños depende de sus padres de acuerdo a la edad y el género. Hemos utilizado la Prueba del dibujo de figura humana y social-demográficos Goodenough-Harris (1926). Los participantes fueron 35 alumnos (23 mujeres y 12 varones) de 8 a 10 años de edad, que asisten al 4º grado de una escuela pública. Se propuso la hipótesis de que: (1) las niñas deberían tener más madurez que los niños, que no ha sido confirmada; y (2) los niños con los padres ancianos deben contar con una mayor madurez intelectual en comparación con aquellos con padres jóvenes, que fue verificada. La importancia de profundizar y especificar los aspectos positivos asociados a los padres de más edad se describe con el fin de poner en práctica y promoverlos a través de la formación de los padres, y para reducir la falta de estimulación intelectual de los niños.The present study was aimed at determining whether children intellectual maturity depended upon their parents’ age and gender. We used the Goodenough-Harris’ (1926) Human Figure Drawing Test and a social-demographic query. Participants were 35 pupils (23 females and 12 males) from 8- to 10 years old, attending the 4th grade of a public school. It was hypothesized that: (1) female children should have more maturity than male, that was not confirmed; and (2) children with older parents should have a superior intellectual maturity compared to those with younger parents, which was verified. The importance to deepen and specify the positive aspects associated with older fathers is discussed in order to operationalize and promote them through parental training, and to reduce the lacks in children intellectual of stimulation.O presente estudo teve como objetivo estudar a maturidade intelectual das crianças em função do género e da idade dos pais. Para tal, utilizou-se o teste do Desenho da Figura Humana, de Goodenough-Harris (1926), e um questionário sócio-demográfico. Participaram no estudo 35 alunos, das quais 23 são do sexo feminino e 12 do sexo masculino, do 4º ano do 1º ciclo do ensino básico, entre os 8 e os 10 anos de idade. Perspetivava-se que, nesta idade, as crianças do sexo feminino teriam uma maturidade intelectual superior às do sexo masculino, o que não se confirmou; e que as crianças com pais mais velhos apresentariam uma maior maturidade intelectual relativamente às crianças com pais mais jovens, o que foi possível verificar nos resultados obtidos. Discute-se a relevância de aprofundar e especificar os aspetos positivos associados aos país com mais idade, de forma a que estes possam ser operacionalizados e promovidos, nomeadamente através da formação parental, no sentido de compensar as lacunas que possam existir em relação à estimulação da maturidade intelectual das crianças

Development of a platform to align education and practice: bridging academia and the profession in Portugal

Limited fitness for practice may result from a mismatch between education and practice. Aiming to meet the common interests of academics and practitioners, the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society (PPS) developed the Education and Practice Platform (EPP). The EPP includes one representative from each pharmacy faculty, and all Councils of Speciality Boards of Practice. Brainstorming with involved parties enabled sharing of interests, concerns and identifying a common path. Aims, mission, vision and values were set. The EPP's mission is to: act as an enabler to foster the quality and adequacy of education through sharing best practices, ultimately leading to facilitate professional integration, and to foster quality development in teaching practices with recognition for autonomy in freedom to teach and to learn. Its vision is an alignment of education and practice with the PPS' statutes to ensure validation of the competences defined for each practice area, and compliance with international guidance. Key performance indicators (KPIs) were set. Activities developed include the creation of a national forum to discuss education and practice, development of workshops on teaching methods and pharmacy internships, enhanced representation in international events and response to global and national requests. Ongoing work focuses on the creation of a common training framework in hospital and community pharmacy practice adapted to Portugal. The EPP is a worldwide case study, encouraging the development of discussion contributing to an open climate of sharing best practices, indirectly leading to foster a better alignment between education and practice. Many of these results are so far intangible in scientific terms but worth describing.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Behavioral characterization of the 6-hydroxidopamine model of Parkinson's disease and pharmacological rescuing of non-motor deficits

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative condition that is characterized by motor symptoms as a result of dopaminergic degeneration, particularly in the mesostriatal pathway. However, in recent years, a greater number of clinical studies have focused on the emergence of non-motor symptoms in PD patients, as a consequence of damage on the mesolimbic and mesocortical dopaminergic networks, and on their significant impact on the quality of life of PD patients. Herein, we performed a thorough behavioral analysis including motor, emotional and cognitive dimensions, of the unilateral medial forebrain bundle (MFB) 6-hydroxidopamine (6-OHDA)-lesioned model of PD, and further addressed the impact of pharmacological interventions with levodopa and antidepressants on mood dimensions. RESULTS: Based on apomorphine-induced turning behaviour and degree of dopaminergic degeneration, animals submitted to MFB lesions were subdivided in complete and incomplete lesion groups. Importantly, this division also translated into a different severity of motor and exploratory impairments and depressive-like symptoms; in contrast, no deficits in anxiety-like and cognitive behaviors were found in MFB-lesioned animals. Subsequently, we found that the exploratory and the anhedonic behavioural alterations of MFB-lesioned rats can be partially improved with the administration of both levodopa or the antidepressant bupropion, but not paroxetine. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that this model is a relevant tool to study the pathophysiology of motor and non-motor symptoms of PD. In addition, the present data shows that pharmacological interventions modulating dopaminergic transmission are also relevant to revert the non-motor behavioral deficits found in the disease.We would like to acknowledge the funds attributed by Fundacao Calouste de Gulbenkian to A.J. Salgado under the scope of the The Gulbenkian Program to Support Research in the Life Sciences, and Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology: Ciencia 2007 Program to A.J. Salgado; the PhD scholarships to M. M. Carvalho (SFRH/BD/51061/2010) and F. L. Campos (SFRH/BD/47311/2008), and the Post-Doctoral Fellowship to A.J. Rodrigues (SFRH/BPD/33611/2009) We want to further acknowledge Carina Cunha, Fabio Teixeira, Joao Bessa and Joao Cerqueira for their contribution to this work