The importance of subclasses of chitin synthase enzymes with myosin-like domains for the fitness of fungi

Acknowledgements TG and CF are funded by FEDER funds through the Operational Programme Competitiveness Factors – COMPETE and national funds by FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology under the strategic project UID/NEU/04539/2013. C.F. is a recipient of a postdoctoral fellowship from FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (SFRH/BPD/63733/2009). NG is funded by The Wellcome Trust (080088, 086827, 075470, 099215 & 097377), the FungiBrain Marie Curie Network and the Medical Research Council (UK).Peer reviewedPostprin

The antifungal activity of extracts of Osmundea pinnatifida, an edible seaweed, indicates its usage as a safe environmental fungicide or as a food additive preventing post-harvest fungal food contamination

In the present work, we explored the antifungal activity of the wild edible seaweed Osmundea pinnatifida (Rhodophyta) collected from the Portuguese coast, which is used as a food seasoning in Scotland, Ireland and Portugal. We performed a sequential extraction of the seaweed components with methanol, dichloromethane and n-hexane. These extracts showed an antifungal activity against Alternaria infectoria and Aspergillus fumigatus. The n-hexane fraction of the seaweed inhibited the sporulation of Alternaria infectoria at 30 μg mL −1 and induced a statistically significant decrease in β-glucan content. Furthermore, liquid cultures of Aspergillus fumigatus supplemented with 10 μg mL −1 of the n-hexane fraction showed abnormal conidiophores, completely devoid of phialides and conidia associated with a decrease of 18.3% in the chitin content. The n-hexane fraction analysis by GC-MS revealed that it includes palmitic acid (29.6%), phytol isomer 1 (12.8%), oleic acid (9.6%), stearic acid (6.2%) and D-(−)-tagatofuranose (4.1%), among other compounds present at lower concentrations. The present study reveals Osmundea pinnatifida as a promising source of biologically active compounds inhibiting fungal growth and conidiation, the main dispersal mechanism of filamentous fungi as Aspergillus fumigatus and Alternaria alternata, revealing its utility both as an environmental fungicide against fungal diseases and as a food preservative against fungal post-harvest food contamination.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and the FEDER under Programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/ AGR/00690/2013) and L. Barros contract. This study was partly supported by FEDER funds through the Operational Programme Competitiveness Factors-COMPETE and national funds by FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology under the strategic project UID/NEU/04539/ 2013. C. Fernandes is a recipient of a postdoctoral fellowship from FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (SFRH/ BPD/63733/2009). The authors also acknowledge financial support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, through the strategic project UID/MAR/04292/ 2013 granted to MARE.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Dietary intake of young portuguese handball players

The aim of this study was to analyse dietary intake (macronutrients and micronutrients) in young female and male handball athletes. A transversal study was performed with young handball players from sub 16 and 18 Portuguese Handball Federation, who volunteered to participate in this study. Anthropometric (weight and height measure), nutritional intake (using food frequency questionnaire) and position in the game were evaluated. The final sample comprised 64 athletes (48.4% female and 51.6% male). The mean age was 16± 1 years, average body mass index was higher in females (24.1± 3.5kg/m2) than males (23.8± 3.0 kg/m2). Mean energy intake per day was significantly lower in females than males 2167.4± 1185.0 and 2952.9± 1315.8 kcal/day (p= 0.015, 95CI), respectively. According to the recommendations from food, most of the young handball athletes reported a generally higher dietary intake (protein intake was near to the upper recommendation limit; the carbohydrate intake was below and the fat intake higher) and a lower for some micronutrients. A process to identify the athletes that need nutritional support should be considered by handball coaches to optimise their performance and safeguard their healthTo all athletes and their coaches who contributed to the study and to the Portuguese Handball Federationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pyomelanin synthesis in alternaria alternata inhibits DHN-Melanin synthesis and decreases cell wall chitin content and thickness

The genus Alternaria includes several of fungi that are darkly pigmented by DHNmelanin. These are pathogenic to plants but are also associated with human respiratory allergic diseases and with serious infections in immunocompromised individuals. The present work focuses on the alterations of the composition and structure of the hyphal cell wall of Alternaria alternata occuring under the catabolism of L-tyrosine and L-phenylalanine when cultured in minimal salt medium (MM). Under these growing conditions, we observed the released of a brown pigment into the culture medium. FTIR analysis demonstrates that the produced pigment is chemically identical to the pigment released when the fungus is grown in MM with homogentisate acid (HGA), the intermediate of pyomelanin, confirming that this pigment is pyomelanin. In contrast to other fungi that also synthesize pyomelanin under tyrosine metabolism, A. alternata inhibits DHN-melanin cell wall accumulation when pyomelanin is produced, and this is associated with reduced chitin cell wall content. When A. alternata is grown in MM containing L-phenylalanine, a L-tyrosine percursor, pyomelanin is synthesized but only at trace concentrations and A. alternata mycelia display an albino-like phenotype since DHN-melanin accumulation is inhibited. CmrA, the transcription regulator for the genes coding for the DHN-melanin pathway, is involved in the down-regulation of DHN-melanin synthesis when pyomelanin is being synthetized, since the CMRA gene and genes of the enzymes involved in DHN-melanin synthesis pathway showed a decreased expression. Other amino acids do not trigger pyomelanin synthesis and DHN-melanin accumulation in the cell wall is not affected. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy show that the cell wall structure and surface decorations are altered in L-tyrosine- and L-phenylalanine-grown fungi, depending on the pigment produced. In summary, growth in presence of L-tyrosine and L-phenylalanine leads to pigmentation and cell wall changes, which could be relevant to infection conditions where these amino acids are expected to be available.This study was partly supported by the FEDER funds through the Operational Programme Competitiveness Factors-COMPETE and national funds by FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology under the strategic projects UIDB/00285/2020 and UID/NEU/04539/2013 the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Centro 2020 Regional Operational Programme under project CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000012 and project CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-022095:ViraVector, and through the COMPETE 2020—Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation and Portuguese national funds via FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, under project UIDB/04539/2020, and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Centro 2020 Regional Operational Programme: project CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER- 000012-HealthyAging 2020, the COMPETE 2020—Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation, and the Portuguese national funds via FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.: project POCI-01-0145-FEDER- 007440. IF thank the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER under Program PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2013), LB (SFRH/BPD/107855/2015) and MD (SFRH/BD/84485/2012) grants. To POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006984 (LA LSRE-LCM), funded by ERDF, through POCI-COMPETE2020 and FCT. AC was supported in part by 5R01HL059842, 5R01AI033774, 5R37AI033142, and 5R01AI052733.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Is the chlorophyll derivative Zn(II)e6Me a good photosensitizer to be used in root canal disinfection?

The aim of this study was to assess antimicrobial efficacy and cytotoxic outcomes of a chlorophyll based photosensitizer (PS) Zn(II)chlorin e6 methyl ester (Zn(II)e6Me), when applied to human dentin discs and root blocks infected with 48 h biofilms. The results were compared with the ones obtained with FotoSan® (commercial Toluidine Blue O formulation) and 3% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl).publishe

Occurrence of non-toxic bioemulsifiers during polyhydroxyalkanoate production by Pseudomonas strains valorizing crude glycerol by-product

While screening for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) producing strains, using glycerol rich byproduct as carbon source, it was observed that extracellular polymers were also secreted into the culture broth. The scope of this study was to characterize both intracellular and extracellular polymers, produced by Pseudomonas putida NRRL B 14875 and Pseudomonas chlororaphis DSM 50083, mostly focusing on those novel extracellular polymers. It was found that they fall into the class of bioemulsifiers (BE), as they showed excellent emulsion stability against different hydrocarbons/oils at various pH conditions, temperature and salinity concentrations. Cytotoxicity tests revealed that BE produced by P. chlororaphis inhibited the growth of highly pigmented human melanoma cells (MNT-1) by 50% at concentrations between 150-200 μg/mL, while no effect was observed on normal skin primary keratinocytes and melanocytes. This is the first study reporting mcl-PHA production by P. putida NRRL B-14785 and bioemulsifier production from both P. putida and P. chlororaphis strains

FATORES QUE IMPACTARAM A GESTÃO EM ENTIDADE DO TERCEIRO SETOR NA PANDEMIA DA COVID-19

O presente trabalho visou abordar os aspectos da gestão devido à pandemia em entidades de atendimento a idosos de longa duração. Com isso, o objetivo foi analisar e reconhecer as principais dificuldades enfrentadas pelos administradores no planejamento, organização, direção e controle de uma entidade do terceiro setor em meio à pandemia da Covid-19. Como objetivos específicos buscou caracterizar o perfil socioeconômico de uma OTS; identificar as dificuldades dos administradores no planejamento, organização, direção e controle de uma organização do terceiro; verificar as relações que caracterizam uma boa gestão nas organizações sem fins lucrativos; observar os desafios de gestão da organização, através das dimensões na obtenção de recursos durante a pandemia da Covid-19. A metodologia de pesquisa foi exploratória, com estudo de caso, através de uma análise qualitativa por meio de entrevistas não estruturadas aos responsáveis pelas instituições: Casa São José, Abrigo São Lucas e a Entidade Frederico Ozanam. De acordo com os resultados observados, os principais fatores que impactaram a gestão durante a pandemia nas entidades foram: as mudanças de hábitos; isolamento; proibição de visitas presenciais aos idosos; modificação na forma de conseguir doações; o planejamento estratégico; e o controle financeiro

Environmental representativity in marine protected area networks over large and partly unexplored seascapes

Converting assemblages of marine protected areas (MPAs) into functional MPA networks requires political will, multidisciplinary information, coordinated action and time. We developed a new framework to assist planning environmental representativity in a network across the marine space of Portugal, responding to a political commitment to protect 14% of its area by 2020. An aggregate conservation value was estimated for each of the 27 habitats identified, from intertidal waters to the deep sea. This value was based on expert-judgment scoring for environmental properties and features relevant for conservation, chosen to reflect the strategic objectives of the network, thus providing an objective link between conservation commitments and habitat representativity in space. Additionally, habitats' vulnerability to existing anthropogenic pressures and sensitivity to climate change were also scored. The area coverage of each habitat in Portugal and within existing MPAs (regionally and nationally) was assigned to a scale of five orders of magnitude (from 10%) to assess rarity and existing representation. Aggregate conservation value per habitat was negatively correlated with area coverage, positively correlated with vulnerability and was not correlated with sensitivity. The proposed framework offers a multi-dimensional support tool for MPA network development, in particular regarding the prioritization of new habitats to protect, when the goal is to achieve specific targets while ensuring representativity across large areas and complex habitat mosaics. It requires less information and computation effort in comparison to more quantitative approaches, while still providing an objective instrument to scrutinize progress on the implementation of politically set conservation targets.Agência financiadora Número do subsídio Oceanic Observatory of Madeira M1420-01-0145-FEDER-000001-OOM national funds through FCT UID/BIA/00329/2013 UID/Multi/04326/2013 Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia SFRH/BPD/95334/2013 CESAM - FCT/MEC through national funds UID/AMB/50017 - POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007638 FEDER FCT SFRH/BPD/94320/2013 MARE - UID/MAR/04292/2019 EU through the Cohesion Fund POSEUR-03-2215-FC-000046 POSEUR-03-2215-FC-000047 FCT national funds ECO/28687/2017info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impact of safety-related dose reductions or discontinuations on sustained virologic response in HCV-infected patients: Results from the GUARD-C Cohort

BACKGROUND: Despite the introduction of direct-acting antiviral agents for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, peginterferon alfa/ribavirin remains relevant in many resource-constrained settings. The non-randomized GUARD-C cohort investigated baseline predictors of safety-related dose reductions or discontinuations (sr-RD) and their impact on sustained virologic response (SVR) in patients receiving peginterferon alfa/ribavirin in routine practice. METHODS: A total of 3181 HCV-mono-infected treatment-naive patients were assigned to 24 or 48 weeks of peginterferon alfa/ribavirin by their physician. Patients were categorized by time-to-first sr-RD (Week 4/12). Detailed analyses of the impact of sr-RD on SVR24 (HCV RNA <50 IU/mL) were conducted in 951 Caucasian, noncirrhotic genotype (G)1 patients assigned to peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin for 48 weeks. The probability of SVR24 was identified by a baseline scoring system (range: 0-9 points) on which scores of 5 to 9 and <5 represent high and low probability of SVR24, respectively. RESULTS: SVR24 rates were 46.1% (754/1634), 77.1% (279/362), 68.0% (514/756), and 51.3% (203/396), respectively, in G1, 2, 3, and 4 patients. Overall, 16.9% and 21.8% patients experienced 651 sr-RD for peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, respectively. Among Caucasian noncirrhotic G1 patients: female sex, lower body mass index, pre-existing cardiovascular/pulmonary disease, and low hematological indices were prognostic factors of sr-RD; SVR24 was lower in patients with 651 vs. no sr-RD by Week 4 (37.9% vs. 54.4%; P = 0.0046) and Week 12 (41.7% vs. 55.3%; P = 0.0016); sr-RD by Week 4/12 significantly reduced SVR24 in patients with scores <5 but not 655. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, sr-RD to peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin significantly impacts on SVR24 rates in treatment-naive G1 noncirrhotic Caucasian patients. Baseline characteristics can help select patients with a high probability of SVR24 and a low probability of sr-RD with peginterferon alfa-2a/ribavirin

Atypical Development of Attentional Control Associates with Later Adaptive Functioning, Autism and ADHD Traits

Funder: H2020 European Research Council; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010663Funder: Research Foundation FlandersFunder: Universiteit Gent; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004385Funder: Marguerite-Marie DelacroixFunder: Autistica; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100011706Funder: Riksbankens Jubileumsfond; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004472; Grant(s): NHS14-1802:1Funder: K.F. Hein FondsFunder: Scott Family Junior Research FellowshipAbstract: Autism is frequently associated with difficulties with top-down attentional control, which impact on individuals’ mental health and quality of life. The developmental processes involved in these attentional difficulties are not well understood. Using a data-driven approach, 2 samples (N = 294 and 412) of infants at elevated and typical likelihood of autism were grouped according to profiles of parent report of attention at 10, 15 and 25 months. In contrast to the normative profile of increases in attentional control scores between infancy and toddlerhood, a minority (7–9%) showed plateauing attentional control scores between 10 and 25 months. Consistent with pre-registered hypotheses, plateaued growth of attentional control was associated with elevated autism and ADHD traits, and lower adaptive functioning at age 3 years