Nanotechnology applied to medical biofilms control

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (N&N) are new approaches to research phenomena at atomic, molecular and macromolecular scales, where properties differ significantly from those at a larger scale. This new approach can be applied to microbial biofilms, which are formed when bacterial and/or yeast cells adhere to abiotic and biotic surfaces. It is well known that microorganisms in biofilms have a different behaviour from their planktonic counterparts, demonstrating a general recalcitrance to medical therapy. Therefore, biofilm-associated infections on indwelling medical devices, such as catheters and prostheses, may persist even after suspension of antibiotic therapy and hence may require the removal of the device. In order to reduce patient`s morbidity and mortality, as well as high economical costs associated to medical biofilms, several attempts have been made to develop novel mechanisms of biofilm prevention and/or elimination. In this mini-review, the current knowledge on the features of biofilm formation and their relevance to medical device-associated infections are enclosed, as well as the new anti-biofilm approaches based on nanotechnology.The support by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology through the grants SFRH/BPD/47693/2008 and SFRH/BPD/20987/2004 is gratefully acknowledged

Planejamento na atenção básica

O exercício sistemático do planejamento potencializa o alcance dos objetivos por reduzir as incertezas envolvidas no processo decisório. Trata-se de um processo contínuo de pensar o futuro, o que implica tomada de decisão permanente dentro de um contexto que sofre influências constantes. Sua riqueza está no processo de análise de uma realidade, que permite a identificação do que se deseja alcançar e das decisões a serem tomadas para produzir os resultados esperados. Isso envolve modos de pensar a realidade, questionamentos para melhor compreendê-la e um processo de decisão continuado sobre o que, como e quando fazer, quais os responsáveis pelas ações e os custos envolvidos. Planejar, portanto, passa a ser uma necessidade cotidiana, um processo permanente para que se possa garantir direcionalidade às ações desenvolvidas, corrigindo rumos, enfrentando imprevistos e buscando sempre caminhar em direção aos objetivos que se quer alcançar. Neste módulo você teve a oportunidade de conhecer as características do planejamento em saúde, com enfoque no Planejamento Estratégico, identificando o processo histórico em que se insere e sua aplicabilidade como ferramenta de gestão dos processos de trabalho da equipe da Atenção Básica.1.0Ministério da Saúde/OPAS/OM

A actividade de observação turística de cetáceos no arquipélago dos Açores : contribuição para o seu desenvolvimento sustentável

Dissertação de Mestrado em Gestão e Conservação da Natureza.A actividade de observação turística de cetáceos no arquipélago dos Açores começou em 1993 e tem crescido rapidamente nos últimos dez anos. Este trabalho surgiu perante a necessidade de caracterizar a situação actual da actividade. Assim, pretende caracterizar sócio-economicamente a actividade, identificar os seus potenciais riscos e contribuir para o seu desenvolvimento sustentável, através de recomendações e/ou sugestões. A recolha de informação foi efectuada através de inquéritos às empresas de observação turística de cetáceos e aos turistas desta actividade. Foram analisados 15 inquéritos das empresas e 146 de turistas. Em 2004, existiam15 empresas licenciadas, 35 embarcações, 85 postos de trabalho e cerca de 30.000 clientes (predominantemente nos meses de Julho e Agosto). A actividade no grupo central começou em Abril e terminou em Outubro e no grupo oriental em Janeiro e Dezembro. As nacionalidades dos turistas mais representativas foram portuguesa, alemã, inglesa e francesa. As espécies de cetáceos mais avistados pelas empresas foram, por ordem decrescente: golfinho-comum, cachalote, roaz-corvineiro, golfinho-pintado e grampo. No entanto, as observações parecem ser selectivas para os cachalotes, através de um maior esforço de observação dirigido a esta espécie. A maioria dos inquiridos eram mulheres, tinham idades, mais frequentemente, entre os 35 e 44 anos, possuíam formação superior, viajavam na companhia de amigos ou familiares e permaneceram cerca de 7 dias no arquipélago. O nível de satisfação dos inquiridos que fizeram observação de cetáceos foi bastante elevado. O método do custo de viagem foi aplicado para determinar o excedente do consumidor total de 2004. O valor obtido foi de 1.522.959,69€, que corresponde à valoração da actividade pela sociedade em 2004. As empresas têm a possibilidade de aumentar os seus benefícios através da diversificação da oferta, nomeadamente quanto às espécies-alvo, e também de minimizar os impactos através do cumprimento da legislação existente.ABSTRACT: The Azorean whale watching activity started in 1993 and it has been growing very rapidly during the last 10 years. This work arose from the need of characterization of present activity. The aim of this work is the social-economic characterization of the whale watching activity, the identification of the potential impacts on cetaceans and the contribution to the sustainability of the activity through some recommendations or suggestions. The sample survey was made through enterprise’s and tourist’s inquiries. Fifteen enterprise’s and 146 tourist’s inquiries were analysed. In 2004 there were records of 15 licensed operators, 35 boats, 85 job positions and around 30.000 clients (mainly in July and August). On the central group of the islands the whale watching activity started on April and ended on October, and on the eastern group in January and December. The most representative tourist’s nationalities were portuguese, german, english and french. The most frequently sighted cetacean species were: common dolphin, sperm whale, bottlenose dolphin, spotted dolphin and Risso’s dolphin. However, the sightings reveal some selectiveness on the observational effort towards the sperm whale. The majority of the inquired tourists were women, had between 35 and 44 years old (most frequently), had an university level background, travelled in the company of friends or family and stayed in the Azores around 7 days. The satisfaction level of the tourists that experienced a whale watching trip was very high. From the travel cost method analysis, the consumer surplus was 1.522.959,69€, which is the society valuation of the activity in 2004. The whale watching enterprises may increase their benefits through a demand diversification, namely on the target-species, and also by minimising the impacts on cetaceans through the accomplishment of the present legislation

Relatório de prática de ensino supervisionada realizada no Conservatório Regional de Évora: a motivação na aprendizagem do piano no nível básico em regime articulado

O presente relatório surge na sequência da Prática de Ensino Supervisionada, realizada no Conservatório Regional de Évora sob a orientação da Professora Doutora Ana Telles Béreau (orientadora interna) e do orientador cooperante Professor Tito Murta Gonçalves. Na primeira secção é apresentado o enquadramento histórico e organizacional da instituição, bem como a descrição dos alunos, das aulas assistidas e lecionadas. Na segunda secção é abordada a problemática da falta de motivação na aprendizagem do piano no ensino básico em regime articulado, com o objetivo de atenuar as suas consequências: insucesso e consequente diminuição de alunos no ensino complementar. Do ponto de vista metodológico, foi efetuada uma pesquisa bibliográfica que permitisse fazer o enquadramento teórico da questão; procedeu-se a observação direta no exercício da atividade e à coleta de dados, através de um questionário aplicado aos alunos do ensino básico. Os resultados obtidos nesta investigação revelam a necessidade de adaptação do sistema de ensino às atuais necessidades educativas, no âmbito do ensino especializado da música; Abstract: Supervised Teaching Practice undertaken at Conservatório Regional de Évora: Motivation within the learning of piano in the Articulated regime of the Elementary Education. The present report reflects the Supervised Teaching Practice undertaken at Conservatório Regional de Évora under the supervision of both the Professor Adviser Ana Telles Béreau (internal adviser) and the Cooperating Professor Tito Murta Gonçalves. The first section of this report presents a historical and organizational framework of the institution as well as the description of the students, of the lessons supervised and delivered. The second section approaches the lack of motivation in the piano learning at the articulated regime of the Elementary Education. The main goal of this analysis was to mitigate the consequences of this lack of motivation, namely this schooling underachievement and the decrease of students in the Complementary Education. From the methodological point of view, a bibliographical research was made which allowed the theoretical framework for the issues analysed and the direct observation of the learning/teaching activity was made, and data were collected by applying a questionnaire to the students of the Elementary Education. The results obtained reveal the need to adapt the schooling system to the real educational needs within the Specialized Teaching of Music

Behavioural ecology of the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus in the North Atlantic Ocean

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências do Mar, especialidade em Ecologia Marinha.[...]. Os Açores e o Canhão de Andøya (ao largo de Andenes no norte da Noruega) são habitats para os cachalotes. Os Açores são uma zona de reprodução e alimentação que é caracterizada pela presença de cachalotes fêmea, juvenis e crias e, ocasionalmente, machos adultos. O Canhão de Andøya é uma zona de alimentação em latitudes elevadas, onde os machos de grande porte passam a maior parte do seu tempo em alimentação. Neste estudo utilizaram-se diferentes tipos de marcas (computadores de mergulho, "TDRs"; e marcas digitais acústicas, "Dtags") para estudar o comportamento alimentar, de repouso e social dos cachalotes nos Açores e ao largo de Andenes. Desta forma, pretendeu-se fornecer novos contributos para o conhecimento da ecologia comportamental desta espécie. [...].ABSTRACT: [...]. The Azores and the Andøya Canyon (off Andenes, northern Norway) are known habitats for sperm whales. The former is a breeding and foraging ground, characterized by the presence of groups of females, immatures and calves, where mature males occur occasionally. The second location is a high latitude foraging ground where mature males spend the majority of their time feeding. In the present study we used different types of tags (time-depth recorders and digital acoustic recording tags) to investigate the foraging, resting and social behaviours of sperm whales both at the Azores and off Andenes, with the ultimate goal of providing new insights into the behavioural ecology of the species. [...].Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through my PhD fellowship SFRH/BD/37668/2007 and the research project TRACE-PTDC/MAR/74071/2006, Fundo Regional da Ciência, Tecnologia (FRCT) for funding the research project MAPCET-M2.1.2/F/012/2011 [FEDER, the Competitiveness Factors Operational (COMPETE), QREN European Social Fund, and Proconvergencia Açores/EU Program], Danish Research Council, the Carlsberg Foundation, and the support from Department of Oceanography and Fisheries (University of the Azores), Centro do IMAR da Universidade dos Açores, University of Southern Denmark, Aarhus University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and University of La Laguna. I also acknowledge funds provided by FCT to LARSyS Associated Laboratory & IMAR-University of the Azores/the Thematic Area D & E of the Strategic Project PEst-OE/EEI/LA0009/2011-1012 and 2013-2014 (OE & Compete) and by the FRCT – Government of the Azores pluriannual funding

Pathway-dependent effects on the formation of bioreducible polycation-DNA polyplexes in saline media

This research is supported by Microfluidic Layer-by-layer Assembly of Cationic Liposome - Nucleic Acid Nanoparticles for Gene Delivery project (032520) co-funded by FCT and the ERDF through COMPETE2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

NaOCl effect on biofilm produced by Staphylococcus aureus isolated from the milking environment and mastitis infected cows

Biofilms constitute a physical barrier, protecting the encased bacteria from detergents and sanitizers. The objective of this work was to analyze the effectiveness of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) against strains of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from raw milk of cows with subclinical mastitis and Staphylococcus aureus isolated from the milking environment (blowers and milk conducting tubes). The results revealed that, in the presence of NaOCl (150ppm), the number of adhered cells of the twelve S. aureus strains was significantly reduced. When the same strains were evaluated in biofilm condition, different results were obtained. It was found that, after a contact period of five minutes with NaOCl (150ppm), four strains (two strains from milk , one from the blowers and one from a conductive rubber) were still able to grow. Although with the increasing contact time between the bacteria and the NaOCl (150ppm), no growth was detected for any of the strains. Concerning the efficiency of NaOCl on total biofilm biomass formation by each S. aureus strain, a decrease was observed when these strains were in contact with 150 ppm NaOCl for a total period of 10 minutes. This study highlights the importance of a correct sanitation protocol of all the milk processing units which can indeed significantly reduce the presence of microorganisms, leading to a decrease of cow´s mastitis and milk contamination.This study was supported by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the grant SFRH/BPD/20987/2004 attributed to Cláudia Botelho and thanks to FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) for the scholarship attributed to Poliana de C. Melo

Satisfação e fidelização dos turistas na hotelaria: aplicação ao caso de São Miguel, Açores

Este artigo analisa a influência da qualidade do serviço na satisfação e fidelização dos clientes. Foi realizado um inquérito por questionário aos turistas e, com base nos dados recolhidos, procedeu-se à construção de um modelo de equações estruturais para testar a perceção de qualidade, satisfação e lealdade posterior de turistas. Os resultados sugerem que as principais variáveis que influenciam a satisfação são a qualidade do serviço oferecido e o modo como a gestão do hotel com as reclamações. Os fatores que mais contribuíram para a fidelização do turista foram o comprometimento afetivo, satisfação, preço, gestão de reclamações e a imagem do próprio hotel. Estes resultados apontam para fatores que podem ser usados, pelos gestores, como indicadores de como poderão gerar valor acrescentado para os seus clientes.ABSTRACT: This paper analyses the influence of service quality on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Questionnaires were used to retrieve data were used to construct a model of structural equations to test the perception of quality, satisfaction and subsequent loyalty of tourists. The results suggest that the main influential variables of satisfaction were the quality of service offered and how management dealt with complaints. The factors that contributed most to tourist loyalty were affective commitment, satisfaction, price, complaint management and the image of the hotel itself. The findings highlight factors that can be used as indicators of how managers can generate added value for their customers

Serum C-Reactive Protein and Periodontitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Periodontitis has been associated with low-grade inflammation as assessed by C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and its treatment can decrease CRP serum levels. The aim of this systematic review was to critically appraise the evidence comparing CRP serum levels (standard and high-sensitivity [hs]) of otherwise healthy patients suffering from periodontitis when compared to controls. The impact of intensive and non-intensive nonsurgical periodontal treatment (NSPT) on hs-CRP was also investigated. Four electronic databases (Pubmed, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials [CENTRAL], EMBASE and Web of Science) were searched up to February 2021 and the review was completed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines (PROSPERO No. CRD42020167454). Observational and intervention studies that: 1) evaluated CRP and hs-CRP serum levels in patients with and without periodontitis, and; 2) hs- CRP levels after NSPT were included. Following risk of bias appraisal, both qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed. Pooled estimates were rendered through ratio of means (RoM) random-effects meta-analyses. After screening 485 studies, 77 case-control studies and 67 intervention trials were included. Chronic and aggressive periodontitis diagnoses were consistently associated with higher levels of CRP and hs-CRP (p<0.001). Patients with aggressive periodontitis exhibited on average more than 50% higher levels of CRP (RoM [95% confidence interval [CI]]: 1.56 [1.15; 2.12], p=0.0039) than patients with chronic periodontitis. Intensive NSPT induced an immediate increase of hs-CRP followed by a progressive decrease whilst non-intensive NSPT consistently decreased hs-CRP after treatment up to 180 days (p<0.001). These findings provide robust evidence that periodontitis is associated with systemic inflammation as measured by serum CRP levels. Periodontitis treatment induces a short-term acute inflammatory increase when performed in an intensive session, whilst a progressive reduction up to 6 months was demonstrated when performed in multiple visits

Exploiting the potential of bioactive molecules extracted by ultrasounds from avocado peelsfood and nutraceutical applications

Natural bioactive compounds from food waste have fomented interest in food and pharmaceutical industries for the past decade. In this work, it purposed the recovery of bioactive avocado peel extract using an environmentally friendly technique: the ultrasound assisted extraction. The response surface methodology was applied in order to optimize the conditions of the extraction, ethanol-water mixtures and time. The optimized extracts (ethanol 38.46%, 44.06 min, and 50 °C) were chemically characterized by HPLC-ESI-MS and FTIR. Its antioxidant ability, as well as, its effect on cell metabolic activity of normal (L929) and cancer (Caco-2, A549 and HeLa) cell lines were assessed. Aqueous ethanol extracts presented a high content in bioactive compounds with high antioxidant potential. The most representative class of the phenolic compounds found in the avocado peel extract were phenolic acids, such as hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids. Another important chemical group detected were the flavonoids, such as flavanols, flavanonols, flavones, flavanones and chalcone, phenylethanoids and lignans. In terms of its influence on the metabolic activity of normal and cancer cell lines, the extract does not significantly affect normal cells. On the other hand, it can negatively affect cancer cells, particularly HeLa cells. These results clearly demonstrated that ultrasound is a sustainable extraction technique, resulting in extracts with low toxicity in normal cells and with potential application in food, pharmaceutical or nutraceutical sectors.The authors acknowledge the financial support received from “Xunta de Galicia” (GRC ED431C 2017/62-GRC, and Project ED431F 2020/03). These projects are partially funded by the FEDER Program of the European Union (“Unha maneira de facer Europa”). This research was also funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit. Beatriz Gullón would like to express her gratitude to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for her postdoctoral grant (Reference RYC2018-026177-I).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio