Conservação do medronho em fresco e em geleia

O medronheiro (Arbutus unedo L.) é um arbusto nativo da região mediterrânica, estando distribuído por todo o território nacional. Na medicina tradicional, diversas partes da planta têm sido usadas, nomeadamente as folhas, frutos, casca e raízes, no tratamento de uma grande diversidade de doenças. Neste momento a utilização principal dos frutos do medronheiro é para aguardente de medronho, sendo de importância procurar meios para a sua valorização através de utilizações alternativas. Assim, este trabalho pretende contribuir para essa valorização, estudando a qualidade do fruto para utilização em fresco e em geleias. Para o estudo do fruto fresco e da geleia foram utilizadas amostras homogéneas de medronhos (Arbutus unedo. L), no estado óptimo de maturação à colheita definido pela coloração e pela firmeza apresentadas. No caso do fruto realizaram-se duas colheitas, em meados de Outubro (1ºEnsaio) e no final de Novembro (2ºEnsaio). Os frutos foram armazenados em cuvetes de polietileno expandido e cobertas por dois tipos de película, uma de polietileno linear de baixa densidade com 10 μm de espessura e outra película perfurada com 10 mm de diâmetro, tendo cada cuvete 8 furos. Cada cuvete continha 15 frutos e representava um replicado. Por fim, as cuvetes foram armazenadas em varias câmaras de refrigeração a 0ºC, 3ºC e 6ºC. Ao fim de 0, 3, 7 e 10 dias (1ºEnsaio) e 0, 4, 10 e 15 dias (2ºEnsaio), os frutos foram retirados para análise. Para o processo de fabrico da geleia foi utilizado 1 kg de Medronho, 500mL de água e 1 kg de açúcar. Foram feitos 2 tipos de geleia, tradicional ( só com medronho e açucar) e juntando-se ácido cítrico (0.1%) e pectina (1%). Após a transformação, a geleia foi armazenada em frascos de vidro, e procedeu-se à sua pasteurização. A geleia foi armazenada à temperatura ambiente e a 6ºC. As análises foram realizadas após 0, 2, 4 e 6 meses. Em todos os ensaios e após o tempo de armazenamento, foram analisadas as características qualitativas. Cor (L*, a*, b*), firmeza, ºBrix, actividade antioxidante pelos métodos TEAC (Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity), ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) e oxigénio singleto, compostos fenólicos (fenóis totais, antocioaninas, taninos), ácido ascórbico, carotonóides (β-Caroteno), açúcares (glucose e frutose) e etanol. Foram também feitos painéis de provadores.No caso da geleia efectuou-se ainda análise microbiológica (microrganismos mesófilos, psicrófilos e fungos e leveduras). A utilização dos frutos, para fresco ou para transformação, apresenta-se como uma alternativa viável de rendimento em complemento à produção de aguardente de medronho. Em relação à temperatura de conservação para frutos frescos verifica-se que a 0ºC apresenta resultados nas análises físicas e químicas mais estáveis ao longo do tempo de conservação, pelo que foi considerada a temperatura óptima de conservação.Quanto às películas utilizadas não se verificou diferenças significativas entre ambas, tendo em atenção o tempo máximo de conservação no presente estudo (15 dias). No caso da geleia de medronho, verifica-se que a geleia tradicional apresenta resultados nas análises físicas e químicas mais estáveis ao longo do tempo de conservação. Nesta situação a utilização de acido cítrico e pectina teve beneficio, pelo que não não se justifica a sua adição. Em relação à temperatura de conservação da geleia, não existe necessidade de coloca-la no frio (6ºC), podendo ser conservada à temperatura ambiente (20-23 ºC) pelo menos durante 6 meses

Innovative edible coatings to improve storage of small fruits and fresh-cut

Tese de doutoramento, Ciências Agrárias, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2016Edible coatings enriched with essential oils or their constituents have been studied for their effect on increasing food storage life. The objective of the present study was to find the best edible coating formulations based on polysaccharides enriched with essential oils compounds to increase storage life of small fruit and fresh-cut. In the first year of this study, edible coating formulations based on alginate and pectin enriched with citral and eugenol were tested on Arbutus unedo berries, strawberries, raspberries and fresh-cut „Bravo de Esmolfe‟apples. General quality parameters [color CIE (L*hºC*), firmness, soluble solids content (SSC), weight loss, trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), microbial growth and taste panels] were evaluated through cold storage. From them, two edible coatings which better preserved shelf-life for each polysaccharide (alginate and pectin) were chosen. The previous selected edible coatings were tested for cytotoxicity, then applied to the same fruit for studying their effect on nutritional and sensory parameters [color CIE (L*hºC*), firmness, soluble solids content, weight loss, microbial growth, taste panels, phenol compounds (total phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins), sugars, organic acids, antioxidant activity (TEAC, ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) and DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and taste panels]. Ethylene and CO2 production as well as ethanol and acetaldehyde were also measured. The edible coating which better preserved fruit quality while increasing storage life was selected for commercial recommendation. Those were for arbutus berries alginate 1% + eugenol 0.1% + citral 0.15%, for fresh-cut „Bravo de Esmolfe‟ apple was alginate 2% + eugenol 0.1% plus dip in ascorbic acid, strawberries was alginate 2% + citral 0.15 % + eugenol 0.1% and for raspberrieswas pectin 1% + citral 0.15%+ eugenol 0.1%

A study on the influence of prosthetic interface material in transtibial amputees’ gait

Interfaces of transtibial prosthesis have an important role in the transmission of ground reaction forces, damping gait loads and tissue protection.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Regulamento dos Laboratórios de Ortoprotesia

O Laboratório é um espaço vocacionado para a prática de Técnicas de Reabilitação e Ortoprotesia, quer seja no âmbito do ensino, investigação ou prestação de serviços à comunidade. Este regulamento destina-se a estabelecer as regras de funcionamento e boa prática dos Laboratórios afetos à Área Departamental de Ortoprotesia da UAlg por parte dos utilizadores.info:eu-repo/semantics/draf

Regulamento do funcionamento do Ginásio de Fisioterapia da ESSUAlg

O presente regulamento destina-se a estabelecer as regras de funcionamento e utilização do Ginásio do Curso de Licenciatura em Fisioterapia da Escola Superior de Saúde da Universidade do Algarve (ESSUAlg) por parte dos utilizadores. O Ginásio é um espaço vocacionado para a aprendizagem e prática de estratégias de intervenção de Fisioterapia na área das condições cardiorrespiratórias, musculo esqueléticas, neuro musculares, saúde da mulher, condições especiais, quer seja no âmbito do ensino, quer da investigação ou prestação de cuidados.info:eu-repo/semantics/draf

Evidence of sharing of Klebsiella pneumoniae strains between healthy companion animals and cohabiting humans

Research Areas: MicrobiologyThis study aimed to characterize the fecal colonization and sharing of Klebsiella pneumoniae strains between companion animals and humans living in close contact. Fecal samples were collected from 50 healthy participants (24 humans, 18 dogs, and 8 cats) belonging to 18 households. Samples were plated onto MacConkey agar (MCK) plates with and without cefotaxime or meropenem supplementation. Up to five K. pneumoniae colonies per participant were compared by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) after XbaI restriction. K. pneumoniae strains with unique pulse types from each participant were characterized for antimicrobial susceptibility, virulence genes, and multilocus sequence type (MLST). Fecal K. pneumoniae pulse types were compared to those of clinical K. pneumoniae strains from animal and human patients with urinary tract infections (n = 104). K. pneumoniae colonization was detected in nonsupplemented MCK in around 38% of dogs (n = 7) and humans (n = 9). K. pneumoniae strains isolated from dogs belonged to sequence type 17 (ST17), ST188, ST252, ST281, ST423, ST1093, ST1241, ST3398, and ST3399. None of the K. pneumoniae strains were multidrug resistant or hypervirulent. Two households included multiple colonized participants. Notably, two colonized dogs within household 15 (H15) shared a strain each (ST252 and ST1241) with one coliving human. One dog from H16 shared one PFGE-undistinguishable K. pneumoniae ST17 strain with two humans from different households; however, the antimicrobial susceptibility phenotypes of these three strains differed. Two main virulence genotypes were detected, namely fimH-1 mrkD ycfM entB kfu and fimH-1 mrkD ycfM entB kpn. These results highlight the potential role of dogs as a reservoir of K. pneumoniae to humans and vice versa. Furthermore, to our best knowledge, this is the first report of healthy humans and dogs sharing K. pneumoniae strains that were undistinguishable by PFGE/MLST.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Human and companion animal proteus mirabilis sharing

Research Areas: MicrobiologyProteus mirabilis is an important pathogen that is associated with urinary tract infections. This study aims to determine the colonization and sharing of P. mirabilis between healthy companion animals and humans that are living together and to evaluate the clonal relatedness of the fecal and clinical stains. Eighteen households (24 humans, 18 dogs, 8 cats) with at least one human–animal pair were studied. Fecal samples were plated onto MacConkey and Hektoen agar and P. mirabilis PFGE analysis (NotI; Dice/UPGMA; 1.5% tolerance) was conducted for the households with multiple positive participants. Antimicrobial-resistance was tested according to CLSI. The fecal P. mirabilis pulse-types were compared with uropathogenic clinical strains (n = 183). Forty-nine P. mirabilis were isolated from eight households. The percentage of colonization in the dogs (44.4%, n = 8/18) was significantly higher (p = 0.0329) than in the humans (12.5%, n = 3/24). Three households had multiple colonized participants. One human–dog pair shared related P. mirabilis strains, which clustered with a clinical strain of animal origin (82.5%). One fecal P. mirabilis strain, from a dog, clustered with two human community-acquired clinical strains (80.9%, 88.9%). To our knowledge, this is the first report of dogs and humans living in close contact and sharing related P. mirabilis strains. The high frequency of colonization in the dogs underlines their possible role as P. mirabilis reservoirs for humans and other dogs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Clonal relatedness of Proteus mirabilis strains causing urinary tract infections in companion animals and humans

Research Areas: Microbiology. Veterinary SciencesABSTRACT - Proteus mirabilis is a major cause of urinary tract infection (UTI) in humans and companion animals. This study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial resistance, virulence and clonal relatedness of P. mirabilis isolated from dogs, cats and humans with UTI. P. mirabilis isolated from companion animals (N = 107) and humans (N = 76) with UTI were compared by PFGE analysis after overnight Nod macro-restriction using Dice/UPGMA with a 1.5% tolerance. Strains were characterized for antimicrobial resistance by disk diffusion. Twenty-four resistance genes and four virulence genes were screened by PCR. Thirty-nine clusters (similarity > 80%) and 73 single pulse-types were detected. Nine clusters included P. mirabilis isolated from community and hospital patients, including strains with 100% similarity. A high number of clusters (43.6%, n = 17/39) included strains from companion animals and humans. Similarity between some companion animal and human strains varied between 80-100%. One strain from a dog was 100% similar to one human community-acquired P. mirabilis. One P. mirabilis from a cat was found to be 94.7% and 92.4% similar to community and hospital patient strains, respectively. P. mirabilis CMY-2-producers did not cluster all together. Nevertheless, cluster C36 included five P. mirabilis from companion animals (similarity 85.8%-95.7%), of which, four (80%) were multidrug-resistant CMY-2-producers. This study shows that companion animals and humans become infected with closely related P. mirabilis strains. The high number of clusters containing companion animals and human strains points to the zoonotic nature of P. mirabilis. These results underline the potential role of companion animals as reservoirs and in the dissemination of uropathogenic P. mirabilis to humans and vice versa.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

TERT promoter mutations are a major indicator of poor outcome in differentiated thyroid carcinomas

Context: Telomerase promoter mutations (TERT) were recently described in follicular cell-derived thyroid carcinomas (FCDTC) and seem to be more prevalent in aggressive cancers. Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the frequency of TERT promoter mutations in thyroid lesions and to investigate the prognostic significance of such mutations in a large cohort of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinomas (DTCs). Design: This was a retrospective observational study. Setting and Patients: We studied 647 tumors and tumor-like lesions. A total of 469 patients with FCDTC treated and followed in five university hospitals were included. Mean follow-up (±SD) was 7.8 ± 5.8 years. Main Outcome Measures: Predictive value of TERT promoter mutations for distant metastasization, disease persistence at the end of follow-up, and disease-specific mortality. Results: TERT promoter mutations were found in 7.5% of papillary carcinomas (PTCs), 17.1% of follicular carcinomas, 29.0% of poorly differentiated carcinomas, and 33.3% of anaplastic thyroid carcinomas. Patients with TERT-mutated tumors were older (P < .001) and had larger tumors (P = .002). In DTCs, TERT promoter mutations were significantly associated with distant metastases (P < .001) and higher stage (P < .001). Patients with DTC harboring TERT promoter mutations were submitted to more radioiodine treatments (P = .009) with higher cumulative dose (P = .004) and to more treatment modalities (P = .001). At the end of follow-up, patients with TERT-mutated DTCs were more prone to have persistent disease (P = .001). TERT promoter mutations were significantly associated with disease-specific mortality [in the whole FCDTC (P < .001)] in DTCs (P < .001), PTCs (P = .001), and follicular carcinomas (P < .001). After adjusting for age at diagnosis and gender, the hazard ratio was 10.35 (95% confidence interval 2.01–53.24; P = .005) in DTC and 23.81 (95% confidence interval 1.36–415.76; P = .03) in PTCs. Conclusions: TERT promoter mutations are an indicator of clinically aggressive tumors, being correlated with worse outcome and disease-specific mortality in DTC. TERT promoter mutations have an independent prognostic value in DTC and, notably, in PTC.We acknowledge GENZYME for funding our work through a research project. This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology through PhD Grant SFRH/BD/81940/2011 (to J.V.); PhD Grant SFRH/BD/87887/2012 (to C.T.); PhD Grant SFRH/BD/79135/2011 (to A.A.); and the Scientific Investigation Project PIC/IC/83037/2007. Further funding was obtained from the project “Microenvironment, Metabolism and Cancer,” partially supported by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2-O Novo Norte), under the Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional, and through the European Regional Development Fund. The work of J.M.C.-T. was supported by Grant PI12/00749-FEDER from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Madrid, Spain). The Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto (IPATIMUP) is an associate laboratory of the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology, and Higher Education, which is partially supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology

TERT promoter mutations are a major indicator of poor outcome in differentiated thyroid carcinomas

Funding: This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology through PhD Grant SFRH/BD/81940/ 2011 (to J.V.); PhD Grant SFRH/BD/87887/2012 (to C.T.); PhD Grant SFRH/BD/79135/2011 (to A.A.); and the Scientific Investigation Project PIC/IC/83037/2007. Further funding was obtained from the project “Microenvironment, Metabolism and Cancer,” partially supported by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2-O Novo Norte), under the Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional, and through the European Regional Development Fund. The work of J.M.C.-T. was supported by Grant PI12/00749-FEDER from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Madrid, Spain). The Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto (IPATIMUP) is an associate laboratory of the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology, and Higher Education, which is partially supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology.Context: Telomerase promoter mutations (TERT) were recently described in follicular cell-derived thyroid carcinomas (FCDTC) and seem to be more prevalent in aggressive cancers. Objectives:Weaimed to evaluate the frequency of TERT promoter mutations in thyroid lesions and to investigate the prognostic significance of such mutations in a large cohort of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinomas (DTCs). Design: This was a retrospective observational study. Setting and Patients: We studied 647 tumors and tumor-like lesions. A total of 469 patients with FCDTC treated and followed in five university hospitals were included. Mean follow-up (±SD) was 7.8 ± 5.8 years. Main Outcome Measures: Predictive value of TERT promoter mutations for distant metastasization, disease persistence at the end of follow-up, and disease-specific mortality. Results: TERT promoter mutations were found in 7.5% of papillary carcinomas (PTCs), 17.1% of follicular carcinomas, 29.0% of poorly differentiated carcinomas, and 33.3% of anaplastic thyroid carcinomas. Patients with TERT-mutated tumors were older (P < .001) and had larger tumors (P = .002). In DTCs, TERT promoter mutations were significantly associated with distant metastases (P< .001) and higher stage (P < .001). Patients with DTC harboring TERT promoter mutations were submitted to more radioiodine treatments (P = .009) with higher cumulative dose (P = .004) and to more treatment modalities (P=.001). At the end of follow-up, patients with TERT-mutated DTCs were more prone to have persistent disease (P=.001). TERT promoter mutations were significantly associated with disease-specific mortality [in the whole FCDTC (P < .001)] in DTCs (P < .001), PTCs (P = .001), and follicular carcinomas (P < .001). After adjusting for age at diagnosis and gender, the hazard ratio was 10.35 (95% confidence interval 2.01-53.24; P = .005) in DTC and 23.81 (95% confidence interval 1.36-415.76; P = .03) in PTCs. Conclusions: TERT promoter mutations are an indicator of clinically aggressive tumors, being correlated with worse outcome and disease-specific mortality in DTC. TERT promoter mutations have an independent prognostic value in DTC and, notably, in PTC.publishersversionpublishe