Assessing the Potential of FT-IR to Identify Clinical Strains of Candida spp

Produto de um estágio curricular21 clinical isolates of Candida spp were examined by FT-IR in order to compare identification using FT-IR with biochemical identification (bioMerieux®). FT-IR revealed itself as a fast and effective method for identification of the strains tested as all were placed into the appropriate species, including one which was misidentified by the biochemical method.Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorg

Avaliação do controlo situacional, adesão terapêutica e qualidade de vida em jovens e adultos com condições crónicas de saúde

Orientação: Neuza SilvaObjectivos: Este estudo pretendeu comparar a avaliação do controlo situacional, a adesão terapêutica e a qualidade de vida (QdV) entre indivíduos com condições crónicas de saúde em dois grupos desenvolvimentais distintos, e analisar as relações directas e indirectas, via adesão terapêutica, entre avaliação cognitiva e QdV. Método: A amostra foi constituída por61 jovens (18-25 anos) e 55 adultos (26-64 anos) com diagnóstico de uma doença crónica e a realizarem tratamentos. Os participantes preencheram um questionário de dados sociodemográficos e clínicos e instrumentos de avaliação do controlo da doença (Stress Appraisal Measure), adesão aos tratamentos (Medida de Adesão aos Tratamentos), e QdV (EUROHIS-QOL-8). Resultados: Não foram encontradas diferenças significativas na avaliação do controlo da doença, adesão ao tratamento e QdV entre jovens e adultos. A avaliação da doença como controlável pelo próprio ou pelos outros associou-se a melhor QdV, enquanto a avaliação da doença como não controlável associou-se a menor adesão e menor QdV. Estas associações directas foram invariantes em função do grupo etário. Conclusão: Os resultados permitem uma maior compreensão dos processos envolvidos na adaptação, contribuindo para a planificação de intervenções psicossociais focadas na avaliação cognitiva da doença, com vista à promoção da adesão terapêutica e da QdV dos jovens adultos e adultos com condições crónicas.Objectives: This study was aimed at comparing the perceptions of situational control (secondary cognitive appraisal), adherence to treatments and quality of life (QoL) between youths and adults with chronic health conditions, as well as examining the direct and indirectlinks, via adherence to treatments, between secondary cognitive appraisal and QoL. Method:The sample included 61 youth (18-25year-olds) and 55 adults (26-64year-olds) with a chronic health condition and receiving treatments. Participants completed a sociodemographic and clinical datasheet and self-reported questionnaires assessing perceptions of situational control (Stress Appraisal Measure), adherence to treatment (Adherence to Treatment Measure) and QoL (EUROHIS-QOL-8).Results: There were no significant differences in the secondary cognitive appraisal, adherence to treatments and QoL between youths and adults. The disease appraisal as controllable by self or by others was linked to better QoL, whilst the perception of the disease as uncontrollable was associated with lower levels of adherence to treatments and lower QoL. These direct associations were invariant across age groups. Conclusion: The results allow a better understanding of the adaptation processes, thus contributing for the development of psychosocial interventions targeting the cognitive appraisal, in order to promote the adherence to treatment and the QoL of youths and adults with chronic health conditions

Regulating lesbian motherhood: gender, sexuality and medically assisted reproduction in Portugal

This article analyses juridical discourses about Medically Assisted Reproduction (MAR) in Portugal, focusing specifically on the access of lesbians to this type of intervention. Empirical data refer to an exploratory research that combined the analysis of legislation with non-directive interviews to five judges from Family and Juvenile Courts of Law of the Northern Region of Portugal. One argues that the representation of motherhood present in the law reinforces and reproduces normative sexuality and femininity while simultaneously justifies the exclusion of lesbians from MAR. As such, although Portuguese legislation emerges as a mechanism of partial deregulation of the gender regime since it appears to weaken the practical and causal association between sexuality and procreation, in fact, it ends up reinforcing dominant ideas of femininity and family. As for the judges who were interviewed, their representations of motherhood are broad enough to encompass medically assisted motherhood and/or motherhood accomplished within a lesbian couple. This is achieved through a process of normalisation of the lesbian and/or of lesbian motherhood, which may resort to five different assumptions: (i) parenthood as a desire inherent to every human being; (ii) motherhood as a defining element of femininity; (iii) motherhood as a project framed by a stable conjugal relationship; (iv) lesbian motherhood as something that can be accomplished through “natural” means; (v) parenthood as a mechanism of social reproduction of the gender regime. These assumptions are differently combined and support different positions regarding lesbian motherhood: although some judges seem to concur with the preservation of heteronormativity, most favour legal changes to encompass other models of sexuality and family

Public Accountability and Sunshine Healthcare Regulation

The lack of economic sustainability of most healthcare systems and a higher demand for quality and safety has contributed to the development of regulation as a decisive factor for modernisation, innovation and competitiveness in the health sector. The aim of this paper is to determine the importance of the principle of public accountability in healthcare regulation, stressing the fact that sunshine regulation—as a direct and transparent control over health activities—is vital for an effective regulatory activity, for an appropriate supervision of the different agents, to avoid quality shading problems and for healthy competition in this sector. Methodologically, the authors depart from Kieran Walshe’s regulatory theory that foresees healthcare regulation as an instrument of performance improvement and they articulate this theory with the different regulatory strategies. The authors conclude that sunshine regulation takes on a special relevance as, by promoting publicity of the performance indicators, it contributes directly and indirectly to an overall improvement of the healthcare services, namely in countries were citizens are more critical with regard to the overall performance of the system. Indeed, sunshine regulation contributes to the achievement of high levels of transparency, which are fundamental to overcoming some of the market failures that are inevitable in the transformation of a vertical and integrated public system into a decentralised network where entrepreneurialism appears to be the predominant culture

Dynamic approach for assessing food quality and safety characteristics: the case of processed foods

Thermal processes applied to foods focus on destruction of target microorganisms. Besides these processes often occur under time-varying temperature environments, microbial inactivation is commonly assessed under isothermal conditions. The development of mathematical models that describe microbial kinetics in dynamic conditions is important for processes design. Another process that occurs under time-varying temperature conditions is frozen storage of foods.Thermal inactivation of Listeria innocua (surrogate of L. monocytogenes) in parsley, and quality degradation of vegetables under frozen conditions were used as case-studies.Developed models that include timetemperature effects accurately described inactivation/degradation of the characteristics analyzed both under isothermal and dynamic conditions

Thermal inactivation of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris spores in fruit product processing

Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris spores were recently proposed to be used as design criterion for thermal processes of acid fruit products. This microorganism has been found in commercial pasteurized acid fruit juices, such as orange and apple. Although being non-pathogenic and not easy to detect visually, it is responsible for off-flavours development. On the other hand, the first thermal inactivation kinetic studies confirmed that these spores are much more resistant than the usual spoilage microorganisms in acid foods. Therefore, in 2000 it was firstly proposed to be used in the design of hot-filling and continuous pasteurization conditions of a tropical fruit pulp and juice, respectively. This work presents a critical review on inactivation kinetics of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris spores. The available studies were obtained under thermal treatments, and studied the effects of temperature, pH and soluble solids. Those effects were quantified in terms of decimal reduction time (first order model) and z-values (Bigelow model). Furthermore, they were obtained under isothermal conditions. Future challenges in this field are to quantify the inactivation kinetics behaviour under dynamic conditions, using thermal and non-thermal treatments, such as ozonation, ultrasonication or high pressure. These alternative treatments have the advantage of minimizing quality attributes degradation and improving products. Moreover, predictive microbiology skills are suggested as a valuable tool for process design and optimization

Comment on Baltic provenance of top-Famennian siliciclastic material of the northern Rhenish Massif, Rhenohercynian zone of the Variscan orogen, by Koltonik et al., International Journal of Earth Sciences (2018) 107:2645–2669

Koltonik et al. (Int J Earth Sci 107:2645–2669, 2018) evidence that the Late Devonian siliciclastic rocks from the Rheno- Hercynian Zone, in Germany, derived from Baltica and Scandinavian Caledonides. This finding together with what is known about the provenance of the Pulo do Lobo and South Portuguese zones, in Portugal and Spain, reinforces the probability that Late Devonian basins may have been sourced from distinct terranes placed along the Variscan suture. Our comment intends to underline changes in the provenance of the Late Devonian basins along the active margin of Laurussia, and also, to improve the correlation model for the Variscan tectonic units from SW Iberia and Germany