Electrospun Polycaprolactone/Aloe Vera_Chitosan Nanofibrous Asymmetric Membranes Aimed for Wound Healing Applications

Today, none of the wound dressings available on the market is fully capable of reproducing all the features of native skin. Herein, an asymmetric electrospun membrane was produced to mimic both layers of skin. It comprises a top dense layer (manufactured with polycaprolactone) that was designed to provide mechanical support to the wound and a bottom porous layer (composed of chitosan and Aloe Vera) aimed to improve the bactericidal activity of the membrane and ultimately the healing process. The results obtained revealed that the produced asymmetric membranes displayed a porosity, wettability, as well as mechanical properties similar to those presented by the native skin. Fibroblast cells were able to adhere, spread, and proliferate on the surface of the membranes and the intrinsic structure of the two layers of the membrane is capable of avoiding the invasion of microorganisms while conferring bioactive properties. Such data reveals the potential of these asymmetric membranes, in the near future, to be applied as wound dressings

A Influência das tecnologias self-service bancárias no comportamento dos clientes residentes nos Açores

Nos últimos anos tem-se assistido a uma significativa diversificação dos canais de distribuição e de comunicação do setor da banca mediante a introdução de tecnologias self-service, como as ATM’s, Internet Banking e Mobile Banking, que permitem aos clientes acederem às suas áreas financeiras de forma autónoma, intemporal e a partir de qualquer local. Nesta investigação analisa-se a influência da utilização frequente dessas tecnologias no comportamento dos seus utilizadores, com base numa amostra de 450 residentes nos Açores. Verifica-se que os utilizadores mais frequentes apresentam comportamentos mais positivos perante a instituição financeira relativamente aos utilizadores menos frequentes. As conclusões apontam para a importância da construção e aplicação de indicadores relevantes para as instituições financeiras locais, que possam contribuir para o desenvolvimento e aperfeiçoamento da qualidade dos serviços prestados e o aumento da satisfação dos clientes.ABSTRACT: Over the past few years there has been a significant diversification of the distribution and communication channels used within the banking sector, specifically induced by self-service technologies such as ATMs, Internet Banking, and Mobile Banking, which enable the clients to access their personal financial accounts at any location and at any time. This study investigates the influence of the frequent utilization of the three aforementioned self-service banking technologies on their users’ behaviour, considering the analysis of a sample comprising 450 respondents living in the Azores. The research reveals that more frequent users have more positive attitudes towards their banks compared with less frequent users of these technologies. This study recognizes the importance of constructing and using relevant indicators that can be used by local financial institutions in order to improve and develop service quality and consequent customer satisfaction.N/

Biofilm formation among clinical and food isolates of Listeria monocytogenes

Objective. A total of 725 Listeria monocytogenes isolates, 607 from various foods and 118 from clinical cases of listeriosis, were investigated concerning their ability to form biofilms, at 4°C during 5 days and at 37°C during 24 h. Methods. Biofilm production was carried out on polystyrene tissue culture plates. Five L. monocytogenes isolates were tested for biofilm formation after being exposed to acidic and osmotic stress conditions. Results. Significant differences ( ) between clinical and food isolates were observed. At 37°C for 24 h, most food isolates were classified as weak or moderate biofilm formers whereas all the clinical isolates were biofilm producers, although the majority were weak. At 4°C during 5 days, 65 and 59% isolates, from food and clinical cases, respectively, were classified as weak. After both sublethal stresses, at 37°C just one of the five isolates tested was shown to be more sensitive to subsequent acidic exposure. However, at 4°C both stresses did not confer either sensitivity or resistance. Conclusions. Significant differences between isolates origin, temperature, and sublethal acidic stress were observed concerning the ability to form biofilms. Strain, origin, and environmental conditions can determine the level of biofilm production by L. monocytogenes isolates.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Depressão pós-parto: detecção precoce e fatores associados

A depressão pós-parto (DPP) é um transtorno de humor que se manifesta em mulheres duas semanas após o parto, caracteriza-se por humor deprimido ou perda de interesse e prazer por quase todas as atividades. Assim, com o intuito de realizar uma revisão bibliográfica foram pesquisados 5 artigos que abordam o tema DPP, através da plataforma Google Acadêmico, com o objetivo de apresentar os fatores relacionados e os métodos de prevenção da Depressão Pós-parto. A partir deste estudo foi identificado que o principal agente causador de DPP foi a gravidez não planejada, mas existem outros fatores desencadeantes assim como fatores preventivos de fundamental importância como a orientação, acompanhamento e pré-natal diagnóstico. Dessa forma o presente artigo tem a finalidade de prestar informações e conhecimentos sobre a DPP, para um possível pré-diagnóstico e prevenção da mesma

8-Amide and 8-carbamate substitution patterns as modulators of 7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin's antidepressant profile: Synthesis, biological evaluation and docking studies

Psychiatric and neurological disorders affect millions of people worldwide. Currently available treatments may help to improve symptoms, but they cannot cure the diseases. Therefore, there is an urgent need for potent and safe therapeutic solutions. 8-Amide and 8-carbamatecoumarins were synthetized and evaluated as human monoamine oxidase A and B (hMAO-A and hMAO-B) inhibitors. Comparison between both scaffolds has been established, and we hypothesized that the introduction of different substituents can modulate hMAO activity and selectivity. N-(7-Hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin-8-yl)-4-methylbenzamide (9) and ethyl N-(7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin-8-yl)carbamate (20) proved to be the most active and selective hMAO-A inhibitors (IC = 15.0 nM and IC = 22.0 nM, respectively), being compound 9 an irreversible hMAO-A inhibitor twenty-four times more active in vitro than moclobemide, a drug used in the treatment of depression and anxiety. Based on PAMPA assay results, both compounds proved to be good candidates to cross the blood-brain barrier. In addition, these compounds showed non-significant cytotoxicity on neuronal viability assays. Also, the best compound proved to have a t of 6.84 min, an intrinsic clearance of 195.63 μL min mg protein, and to be chemically stable at pH 3.0, 7.4 and 10.0. Docking studies were performed to better understand the binding affinities and selectivity profiles for both hMAO isoforms. Finally, theoretical drug-like properties calculations corroborate the potential of both scaffolds on the search for new therapeutic solutions for psychiatric disorders as depression.This research was funded by Consellería de Cultura, Educacion ´ e Ordenacion ´ Universitaria (EM2014/016), Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion ´ (PID2020-116076RJ-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and Fundaçao ˜ para a Ciˆencia e Tecnologia (PTDC/ASP-PES/28397/ 2017, CEECIND/02423/2018, UIDB/00081/2020, LA/P/0056/2020 and EXPL/BIA-BQM/0492/2021). Financial support from the Xunta de Galicia (Centro de investigacion ´ de Galicia accreditation 2019–2022) and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund - ERDF), is also gratefully acknowledged. M.I.R.-F. acknowledges the economic support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; Spanish Research Agency; and European Regional Development Funds (grant PID2021-122650OB-I00) and from CSIC (PIE202080E118)

MarinEye - A tool for marine monitoring

This work presents an autonomous system for marine integrated physical-chemical and biological monitoring – the MarinEye system. It comprises a set of sensors providing diverse and relevant information for oceanic environment characterization and marine biology studies. It is constituted by a physicalchemical water properties sensor suite, a water filtration and sampling system for DNA collection, a plankton imaging system and biomass assessment acoustic system. The MarinEye system has onboard computational and logging capabilities allowing it either for autonomous operation or for integration in other marine observing systems (such as Observatories or robotic vehicles. It was designed in order to collect integrated multi-trophic monitoring data. The validation in operational environment on 3 marine observatories: RAIA, BerlengasWatch and Cascais on the coast of Portugal is also discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

8-Amide and 8-carbamate substitution patterns as modulators of 7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin's antidepressant profile: Synthesis, biological evaluation and docking studies

Psychiatric and neurological disorders affect millions of people worldwide. Currently available treatments may help to improve symptoms, but they cannot cure the diseases. Therefore, there is an urgent need for potent and safe therapeutic solutions. 8-Amide and 8-carbamatecoumarins were synthetized and evaluated as human monoamine oxidase A and B (hMAO-A and hMAO-B) inhibitors. Comparison between both scaffolds has been established, and we hypothesized that the introduction of different substituents can modulate hMAO activity and selectivity. N-(7-Hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin-8-yl)-4-methylbenzamide (9) and ethyl N-(7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin-8-yl)carbamate (20) proved to be the most active and selective hMAO-A inhibitors (IC50 = 15.0 nM and IC50 = 22.0 nM, respectively), being compound 9 an irreversible hMAO-A inhibitor twenty-four times more active in vitro than moclobemide, a drug used in the treatment of depression and anxiety. Based on PAMPA assay results, both compounds proved to be good candidates to cross the blood-brain barrier. In addition, these compounds showed non-significant cytotoxicity on neuronal viability assays. Also, the best compound proved to have a t1/2 of 6.84 min, an intrinsic clearance of 195.63 μL min−1 mg−1 protein, and to be chemically stable at pH 3.0, 7.4 and 10.0. Docking studies were performed to better understand the binding affinities and selectivity profiles for both hMAO isoforms. Finally, theoretical drug-like properties calculations corroborate the potential of both scaffolds on the search for new therapeutic solutions for psychiatric disorders as depressionThis research was funded by Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria (EM2014/016), Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2020-116076RJ-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (PTDC/ASP-PES/28397/2017, CEECIND/02423/2018, UIDB/00081/2020, LA/P/0056/2020 and EXPL/BIA-BQM/0492/2021). Financial support from the Xunta de Galicia (Centro de investigación de Galicia accreditation 2019–2022) and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund - ERDF), is also gratefully acknowledged. M.I.R.-F. acknowledges the economic support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; Spanish Research Agency; and European Regional Development Funds (grant PID2021-122650OB-I00) and from CSIC (PIE-202080E118)S

Toxicological and anti-tumor effects of a linden extract (Tilia platyphyllos Scop.) in a HPV16-transgenic mouse model

Tilia platyphyllos Scop. is a popular broad-leaved tree, native to Central and Southern Europe. Hydroethanolic extracts rich in phenolic compounds obtained from T. platyphyllos Scop. have shown in vitro antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antitumor properties. The aim of this work was to evaluate the therapeutic properties of a hydroethanolic extract obtained from T. platyphyllos in HPV16-transgenic mice. The animals were divided into eight groups according to their sex and phenotype. Four groups of female: HPV+ exposed to linden (HPV linden; n = 6), HPV+ (HPV water; n = 4), HPV- exposed to linden (WT linden; n = 5) and HPV- (WT water; n = 4) and four groups of male: HPV+ exposed to linden (HPV linden; n = 5), HPV+ (HPV water; n = 5), HPV- exposed to linden (WT linden; n = 5) and HPV- (WT water; n = 7). The linden (Tilia platyphyllos Scop.) extract was orally administered at a dose of 4.5 mg/10 mL per animal (dissolved in water) and changed daily for 33 days. The hydroethanolic extract of T. platyphyllos consisted of protocatechuic acid and (-)-epicatechin as the most abundant phenolic acid and flavonoid, respectively, and was found to be stable during the studied period. In two male groups a significant positive weight gain was observed but without association with the linden extract. Histological, biochemical, and oxidative stress analyses for the evaluation of kidney and liver damage support the hypothesis that the linden extract is safe and well-tolerated under the present experimental conditions. Skin histopathology does not demonstrate the chemopreventive effect of the linden extract against HPV16-induced lesions. The linden extract has revealed a favourable toxicological profile; however, additional studies are required to determine the chemopreventive potential of the linden extract. This journal isThis work was supported by the project IBERPHENOL, project number 0377_IBERPHENOL_6_E; Interact R&D project, operation number NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000017, National Funds by FCT – Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UIDB/04033/2020 (CITAB), and project UIDB/ CVT/00772/2020 (CECAV) and the post-graduation grant SFRH/ BD/136747/2018 and 2020.04789.BD; the authors are also grateful to FCT, Portugal and FEDER under programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020) and L. Barros acknowledges the national funding by FCT, P. I., through the institutional scientific employment program-contract. The authors would like to thank Cantinho das Aromáticas organic farmers from Vila Nova de Gaia (Portugal) for providing the samples. This work was financially supported by: Base Funding - UIDB/00511/2020 of the Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy – LEPABE - funded by national funds through the FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Jornadas Internacionais de Enfermagem Comunitária 2014: Livro de resumos

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio