Insights into nanomedicine for head and neck cancer diagnosis and treatment

Head and neck cancers rank sixth among the most common cancers today, and the survival rate has remained virtually unchanged over the past 25 years, due to late diagnosis and ineffective treatments. They have two main risk factors, tobacco and alcohol, and human papillomavirus infection is a secondary risk factor. These cancers affect areas of the body that are fundamental for the five senses. Therefore, it is necessary to treat them effectively and non-invasively as early as possible, in order to do not compromise vital functions, which is not always possible with conventional treatments (chemotherapy or radiotherapy). In this sense, nanomedicine plays a key role in the treatment and diagnosis of head and neck cancers. Nanomedicine involves using nanocarriers to deliver drugs to sites of action and reducing the necessary doses and possible side effects. The main purpose of this review is to give an overview of the applications of nanocarrier systems to the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer. Herein, several types of delivery strategies, radiation enhancement, inside-out hyperthermia, and theragnostic approaches are addressed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

GeoloGIS-BH: An Information System for Using the Built Heritage for Geological Teaching

There are examples of using stones of the cultural heritage for teaching purposes. Information systems have found several potential uses in the promotion and preservation of cultural heritage. In this paper is considered the conceptual framework of an information system concerning features of geological interest (FGI) in the built heritage (without any consideration in terms of its software implementation). This FGI concept is used here in a very wide sense to encompass characteristics of geological materials that can be recognized with the naked eye and analogies of geological processes in the built environment. Two perspectives are considered for information organization: occurrences of FGIs in the built heritage (more suitable for Earth Sciences teaching) and FGIs as components of built heritage elements (more suitable for humanities teaching). The main issue that arises from the ensuing discussion was found to be the findability of a given FGI, depending on its visual contrast and the characteristics of the built heritage element. It is argued that, in this way, geological concepts can contribute to the promotion and conservation of the built heritageThis work is included in the activities of the project Lab2PT - Landscapes, Heritage and Territory laboratory - AUR/04509, which has financial support of the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through national funds and when applicable of the FEDER co-financing, in the aim of the new partnership agreement PT2020 and COMPETE2020 - POCI 01 0145 FEDER 007528.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Breast cancer: biomarkers and biosensors

This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology ( under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/ 04469 2020 unit 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 Ana Cláudia Pereira is recipient of fellowships supported by a doctoral advanced training (call NORTE 69 2015 15 funded by the European Social Fund under the scope of Norte 2020 Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Agricultural land systems importance for supporting food security and sustainable development goals: a systematic review

Agriculture provides the largest share of food supplies and ensures a critical number of ecosystem services (e.g., food provisioning). Therefore, agriculture is vital for food security and supports the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) 2 (SDG 2 - zero hunger) as others SDG's. Several studies have been published in different world areas with different research directions focused on increasing food and nutritional security from an agricultural land system perspective. The heterogeneity of the agricultural research studies calls for an interdisciplinary and comprehensive systematization of the different research directions and the plethora of approaches, scales of analysis, and reference data used. Thus, this work aims to systematically review the contributions of the different agricultural research studies by systematizing the main research fields and present a synthesis of the diversity and scope of research and knowledge. From an initial search of 1151 articles, 260 meet the criteria to be used in the review. Our analysis revealed that most articles were published between 2015 and 2019 (59%), and most of the case studies were carried out in Asia (36%) and Africa (20%). The number of studies carried out in the other continents was lower. In the last 30 years, most of the research was centred in six main research fields: land-use changes (28%), agricultural efficiency (27%), climate change (16%), farmer's motivation (12%), urban and peri-urban agriculture (11%), and land suitability (7%). Overall, the research fields identified are directly or indirectly linked to 11 of the 17 SDGs. There are essential differences in the number of articles among research fields, and future efforts are needed in the ones that are less represented to support food security and the SDGs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Trehalose alleviates the phenotype of Machado–Joseph disease mouse models

Machado-Joseph disease (MJD), also known as spinocerebellar ataxia type 3, is the most common of the dominantly inherited ataxias worldwide and is characterized by mutant ataxin-3 aggregation and neuronal degeneration. There is no treatment available to block or delay disease progression. In this work we investigated whether trehalose, a natural occurring disaccharide widely used in food and cosmetic industry, would rescue biochemical, behavioral and neuropathological features of an in vitro and of a severe MJD transgenic mouse model.This work was funded by BioBlast Pharma, the ERDF through the Regional Operational Program Center 2020, Competitiveness Factors Operational Program (COMPETE 2020) and National Funds through FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology) - SFRH/BD/87404/2012, BrainHealth2020 projects (CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000008), ViraVector (CENTRO-01-0145FEDER-022095), CortaCAGs (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016719), SpreadSilenc‑ing POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029716 and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007440, as well as the SynSpread, ESMI and ModelPolyQ under the EU Joint ProgramNeurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND), the last two co-funded bythe European Union H2020 program, GA No. 643417; by National Ataxia Foundation (USA), the American Portuguese Biomedical Research Fund (APBRF) and the Richard Chin and Lily Lock Machado–Joseph Disease Research Fund.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Loss of proteostasis induced by amyloid beta peptide in brain endothelial cells

AbstractAbnormal accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide in the brain is a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In addition to neurotoxic effects, Aβ also damages brain endothelial cells (ECs) and may thus contribute to the degeneration of cerebral vasculature, which has been proposed as an early pathogenic event in the course of AD and is able to trigger and/or potentiate the neurodegenerative process and cognitive decline. However, the mechanisms underlying Aβ-induced endothelial dysfunction are not completely understood. Here we hypothesized that Aβ impairs protein quality control mechanisms both in the secretory pathway and in the cytosol in brain ECs, leading cells to death. In rat brain RBE4 cells, we demonstrated that Aβ1–40 induces the failure of the ER stress-adaptive unfolded protein response (UPR), deregulates the ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS) decreasing overall proteasome activity with accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins and impairs the autophagic protein degradation pathway due to failure in the autophagic flux, which culminates in cell demise. In conclusion, Aβ deregulates proteostasis in brain ECs and, as a consequence, these cells die by apoptosis

pH-induced modulation of Vibrio fischeri population life cycle

Commonly used as biological chemosensors in toxicity assays, Vibrio fischeri bacteria were systematically characterized using complementary physicochemical and biological techniques to elucidate the evolution of their properties under varying environmental conditions. Changing the pH above or below the optimal pH 7 was used to model the long-term stress that would be experienced by V. fischeri in environmental toxicology assays. The spectral shape of bioluminescence and cell-surface charge during the exponential growth phase were largely unaffected by pH changes. The pH-induced modulation of V. fischeri growth, monitored via the optical density (OD), was moderate. In contrast, the concomitant changes in the time-profiles of their bioluminescence, which is used as the readout in assays, were more significant. Imaging at discrete timepoints by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and helium-ion microscopy (HIM) revealed that mature V. fischeri cells maintained a rod-shaped morphology with the average length of 2.2 ± 1 µm and diameter of 0.6 ± 0.1 µm. Detailed morphological analysis revealed subpopulations of rods having aspect ratios significantly larger than those of average individuals, suggesting the use of such elongated rods as an indicator of the multigenerational environmental stress. The observed modulation of bioluminescence and morphology supports the suitability of V. fischeri as biological chemosensors for both rapid and long-term assays, including under environmental conditions that can modify the physicochemical properties of novel anthropogenic pollutants, such as nanomaterials and especially stimulus-responsive nanomaterials.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI‐ 01‐0145‐FEDER‐006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE‐01‐0145‐FEDER‐000004) funded by European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 Programa Operacional Re‐ gional do Norte. A.R.S. holds an FCT fellowship SFRH/BD/131905/2017. Measurements using the helium‐ion microscope were supported by the Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility (KNMF) of the Karls‐ ruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) under projects 2016‐015‐010689 and 2018‐019‐021475info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Late Cretaceous post-rift magma emplacement offshore the West Iberian Margin [Abstract]

ABSTRACT: The West Iberian Margin is a prime example of a magma-poor hyperextended continental margin. However, the margin is punctuated by three discrete Mesozoic magmatic events, from which the last, occurring 20-40 M.a. after complete lithospheric breakup of the Iberia-Newfoundland conjugate margin, is related to the late Cretaceous Atlantic Alkaline Province. It is characterised onshore by multiple outcropping intrusive (Sintra, Sines and Monchique) and extrusive (e.g., the Lisbon Volcanic Complex) alkaline suites of magmatism, and offshore by conspicuous and enigmatic magnetic anomalies, suggesting additional magmatic features.N/

Proteolysis in model portuguese cheeses: Effects of rennet and starter culture

To shed further light onto the mechanisms of proteolysis that prevail throughout ripening of Portuguese cheeses, model cheeses were manufactured from bovine milk, following as much as possible traditional manufacture practices – using either animal or plant rennet. The individual role upon proteolysis of two (wild) strains of lactic acid bacteria – viz. Lactococcus lactis and Lactobacillus brevis, which are normally found to high viable numbers in said cheeses, was also considered, either as single or mixed cultures. Our experimental results confirmed the influence of rennet on the proteolysis extent, but not on proteolysis depth. On the other hand, the aforementioned strains clearly improved release of medium- and small-sized peptides, and contributed as well to the free amino acid pool in cheese

The effect of transport density and gender on stress indicators and carcass and meat quality in pigs

A total of 168 finishing pigs were used to investigate the effects of gender (barrows and gilts) and transport densities for slaughter (236, 251, and 275 kg/m²) on stress indicators and carcass and pork quality. The animals transported at 251 kg/m² (T251) presented cortisol values below those at 236 kg/m2 (T236), but no different from those at 275 kg/m2 (T275). The lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) values in pigs transported at T236 were the lowest. The blood components did not differ between T236 and T275. The pH values at 45 min (pH45) and at 24 h (pH24) postmortem were higher for pigs subjected to T236. However, the pH45 was higher at T251 than at T275, but pH24 was lower at T251 than at T275. The lightness values in the muscles of the pigs transported at T236 and T251 were higher than those at T275. Lower drip loss values were observed in the muscle of animals at T251. Carcasses of pigs at T236 contained more 1–5 cm lesions while those at T275 contained more 5–10 cmlesions in sections of loin. No significant effects of gender were found on the stress indicators, blood components, pH45, pH24, color, drip loss or carcass lesions in general. These results indicate that the pre-slaughter transport of pigs at densities of 251 kg/m² generates less physiological damage and smaller losses on carcass and pork quality irrespective of gender