Tuning graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) electrocatalysts for efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER)

Nowadays, energy conversion and storage technologies are essential research topics due to the necessity of more sustainable processes. Specifically, water splitting is highly affected by slow kinetics and limited knowledge of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). This work envisages the preparation of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) electrocatalysts for efficient OER by a facile one-pot method. The impact of the preparation temperature (450–650 ◦C) of g-C3N4 was assessed for the first time on water splitting processes and explained by different characterisation techniques. The unique crystal structure, surface chemistry, and electronic properties of the material prepared at 550 ◦C lead to a remarkable OER efficiency, with an overpotential of 355 mV at 10 mA cm− 2 and a Tafel slope of 46.8 mV dec− 1. Interestingly, three major differences were observed when comparing the material prepared at 550 ◦C with those obtained at other temperatures: the reduced structural distortion, the superior composition in oxygen and the presence of terminal functional groups. Also, compared to other metalfree g-C3N4 electrocatalysts reported in the literature, we achieved lower Tafel slope values without additional post-treatments or co-catalysts. Hence, for the first time a metal-free catalyst defeats benchmark IrO2. The prepared electrodes were stable for up to 45 h, even when increasing the applied current density to 100 mA cm− 2 for 15 h. Thus, this work provides a simple route for the fabrication of highly-efficient and long-lasting electrocatalysts for a remarkable OER performance.Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. PID2020-113667 GB-I00Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. UIDB/50020/2020Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. UIDP/50020/2020Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED481D-2023/015Universidade de Vigo/CISU

SARS-CoV-2 introductions and early dynamics of the epidemic in Portugal

Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal was rapidly implemented by the National Institute of Health in the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, in collaboration with more than 50 laboratories distributed nationwide. Methods By applying recent phylodynamic models that allow integration of individual-based travel history, we reconstructed and characterized the spatio-temporal dynamics of SARSCoV-2 introductions and early dissemination in Portugal. Results We detected at least 277 independent SARS-CoV-2 introductions, mostly from European countries (namely the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, and Switzerland), which were consistent with the countries with the highest connectivity with Portugal. Although most introductions were estimated to have occurred during early March 2020, it is likely that SARS-CoV-2 was silently circulating in Portugal throughout February, before the first cases were confirmed. Conclusions Here we conclude that the earlier implementation of measures could have minimized the number of introductions and subsequent virus expansion in Portugal. This study lays the foundation for genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal, and highlights the need for systematic and geographically-representative genomic surveillance.We gratefully acknowledge to Sara Hill and Nuno Faria (University of Oxford) and Joshua Quick and Nick Loman (University of Birmingham) for kindly providing us with the initial sets of Artic Network primers for NGS; Rafael Mamede (MRamirez team, IMM, Lisbon) for developing and sharing a bioinformatics script for sequence curation (https://github.com/rfm-targa/BioinfUtils); Philippe Lemey (KU Leuven) for providing guidance on the implementation of the phylodynamic models; Joshua L. Cherry (National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health) for providing guidance with the subsampling strategies; and all authors, originating and submitting laboratories who have contributed genome data on GISAID (https://www.gisaid.org/) on which part of this research is based. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the view of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government. This study is co-funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Agência de Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica (234_596874175) on behalf of the Research 4 COVID-19 call. Some infrastructural resources used in this study come from the GenomePT project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184), supported by COMPETE 2020 - Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Lisboa Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), Algarve Portugal Regional Operational Programme (CRESC Algarve2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Competência em informação para comunidades: empoderamento e protagonismo social

Resumo Apresenta resultado de pesquisa, que objetivou desenvolver competências em informação em moradores da Comunidade Santa Clara, em João Pessoa, por meio de estratégias de mediação, agindo com base no diálogo e na alteridade. Para tal, implementou-se uma ação de informação concretizada através de um projeto de capacitação denominado preparatório para entrevista de trabalho, produzido a partir de experiência vivenciada durante doutorado-sanduíche na Itália. O percurso metodológico foi pautado na aplicação da abordagem qualitativa, pesquisa participante, observação participante, além do uso de entrevistas. Para tratar os dados coletados, utilizou-se a análise de conteúdo e recursos de codificação de dados em três níveis: antes, durante e após a capacitação. Os resultados demonstram que as estratégias de mediação da informação forneceram subsídios teóricos para transitar na Ciência da Informação, possibilitando o exercício da reflexão e a potencialização do protagonismo social nos moradores, ao passarem por alguns estágios de empoderamento da informação, ao se apropriarem dela e a utilizarem para desenvolver competências em informação. Conclui-se que a ação de informação realizada para e com os moradores produzem conhecimentos, principalmente, a interação dos sujeitos com o meio onde vivem, a partir da carga cultural e histórica que eles trazem, o que está intrinsicamente ligado à prática social

Estudo observacional prospetivo de infeções associadas a cuidados de saúde relacionadas com cateteres venosos centrais em três hospitais terciários de Lisboa

As Infeção Associada aos Cuidados de Saúde (IACS) constituem um importante problema de saúde publica que afeta 4 milhões de pacientes/ano na Europa e contribuiu para o aumento dos gastos em saúde. As infeções da corrente sanguínea associadas a cateteres venosos centrais (ICSCVC) são um grupo particularmente importante de IACS, com maior incidência (87%) nas unidades de cuidados intensivos (UCI) onde são responsáveis por 23% dos óbitos. Este estudo observacional prospetivo, visa documentar a ocorrência de ICVCVC, está em curso há 2 anos e até à data identificou 40 casos. O agente etiológico (identificação e perfil de resistência aos antimicrobianos), unidade de saúde (dimensão, serviço), paciente (idade, proveniência, antibioterapia) e CVC (local de inserção, tempo de permanência no paciente, material) foram caraterizados.FCT/487/15/01/2019/SN/

Prospective observational study of health care associated infections with central venous catheters in three tertiary hospitals in Lisbon, Portugal

Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) are a major public health problem affecting 4 million patients per year in Europe and contribute increase the costs associated with healthcare. Cathether related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) are an important group of HAIs registering high incidence (87%) and mortality rates (23%) particulary in intensive care units (ICUs). In this work, an observational prospective study aiming at documenting the occurrence of CRBSI in three hospitals in Lisbon was performed. The study has been ongoing for 2 years and have identified 40 cases of CRBSI. The etiological agent, health unit, patient and central venous catheter (CVC) were characterized. The majority of the CRBSI (92.5%) have as etiological agent a bacterium resistant to at least one antibiotic (28/37); however, 3 cases (7.5%) of Candida spp. infections were identified. Two cases of infection are due to 2 bacteria. It should be noted that 67% of the infections are caused by staphylococci, of which 55.6% are coagulase negative (14 S. epidermidis and 1 S. haemolyticus) and 44.4% coag positive (12 S. aureus). It was not possible to associate a particular microorganism with one of the 3 hospitals. This may be due, in part, to sample dimension. The distribution of cases according to the inpatient service was as follows: intensive care units (35%), medical specialties (32.5%), surgical specialties (17%), general surgery (10%) and internal medicine (5%). The adults (mean age 58 years: 14/40) and the elderly (mean age 74 years: 22/40) were the age groups with the highest number of cases. The remainder were recorded in newborns (<1 month: 2/40) and young adults (2/40). More than half of the CVCs were inserted into the patient's jugular and remained there for less than 4 weeks (75%). The results obtained demonstrate that coagulase negative staphylococci are major players in CRBSI and antibiotic resistance. Cases due to more than one etiological agent may be associated with colonization of CVCs by biofilms. This aspect is being investigated by researching these structures in the CVCs. The collection of more data and its statistical treatment will allow to establish / exclude possible relationships between the different factors that determine the establishment of HAI. This, together with a greater knowledge of the etiological agents resulting from the sequencing of its genome, will increase our knowledge and, in the long term, establish more effective methods of control and prevention of HAIs.FCT/487/15/01/2019/SN/

Infeção sanguinea associada a cateteres venosos centrais: um estudo observacional prospetivo

Nos últimos anos, as infeções associadas aos cuidados de saúde (HAIs) têm sido referenciadas como um importante problema de saúde pública. A infeção sanguínea associada aos cateteres venosos centrais (CRBSI) é uma HAIs responsável por elevadas taxas de morbilidade e mortalidade em pacientes críticos; ou seja, pacientes internados em unidades de cuidados intensivos. Além do risco de vida para o paciente, estas infeções têm impacto económico contribuindo para aumentar os custos associados ao internamento. No último relatório divulgado pelo ECDC o Staphylococcus spp foi identificado como o principal agente etiológico de CRBSI, sendo os Staphylococcus coagulase negativo (como S. epidermidis) e S. aureus responsáveis por 25,3% e 12,1% dos casos, respetivamente. A formação de biofilmes nos cateteres venosos centrais (CVC) constitui um fator de risco adicional. Uma vez que as infeções associadas a biofilmes são mais resistentes ao tratamento com antibióticos, bem como à própria resposta imunitária do hospodeiro pode-se evoluir para uma condição crónica. O presente estudo tem como objetivos documentar a ocorrência de CRBSIs, determinar quais são os seus agentes etiológicos mais frequentes e o papel desempenhado pela formação de biofilmes nos CVCs no estabelecimento e progressão destas infeções. Para tal, foi desenhado um estudo observacional prospetivo que está a decorrer desde março de 2017 num centro hospitalar localizado em Lisboa, Portugal. Os resultados preliminares aqui apresentados são referentes às amostras colhidas entre março e novembro de 2017. Neste período foram recolhidos 41 CVCs com cultura positiva. Em 19 casos o mesmo microrganismo foi isolado simultaneamente do CVC e da hemocultura confirmando a existência de uma CRBSI. Os microrganismos isolados foram os seguintes: S. aureus (n=8), S. epidermidis (n=5), Enterobacter (n=2), K. pneumoniae (n=2), P. aeruginosa (n=1) e C. parapsilosis (n=1). Estes resultados estão de acordo com os publicados pelo ECDC que identificam o S. aureus e o S. epidermidis como principais agentes etiológicos. A média de idades dos casos de CRBSI é de 65 anos confirmando a maior propensão de indivíduos com o sistema imunitário diminuído para contraírem este tipo de infeção. Numa próxima fase iremos analisar, por microscopia eletrónica de varrimento os CVC, para determinar se existem biofilmes nos mesmos e averiguar a possibilidade de existir uma infeção associada aos biofilmes. Uma caracterização detalhada do microrganismo isolado do sangue e do CVC será também efetuada de forma a identificar eventuais fatores que predisponham para a ocorrência deste tipo de infeções.N/

Management practices for postdural puncture headache in obstetrics : a prospective, international, cohort study

Background: Accidental dural puncture is an uncommon complication of epidural analgesia and can cause postdural puncture headache (PDPH). We aimed to describe management practices and outcomes after PDPH treated by epidural blood patch (EBP) or no EBP. Methods: Following ethics committee approval, patients who developed PDPH after accidental dural puncture were recruited from participating countries and divided into two groups, those receiving EBP or no EBP. Data registered included patient and procedure characteristics, headache symptoms and intensity, management practices, and complications. Follow-up was at 3 months. Results: A total of 1001 patients from 24 countries were included, of which 647 (64.6%) received an EBP and 354 (35.4%) did not receive an EBP (no-EBP). Higher initial headache intensity was associated with greater use of EBP, odds ratio 1.29 (95% confidence interval 1.19-1.41) per pain intensity unit increase. Headache intensity declined sharply at 4 h after EBP and 127 (19.3%) patients received a second EBP. On average, no or mild headache (numeric rating score <= 3) was observed 7 days after diagnosis. Intracranial bleeding was diagnosed in three patients (0.46%), and backache, headache, and analgesic use were more common at 3 months in the EBP group. Conclusions: Management practices vary between countries, but EBP was more often used in patients with greater initial headache intensity. EBP reduced headache intensity quickly, but about 20% of patients needed a second EBP. After 7 days, most patients had no or mild headache. Backache, headache, and analgesic use were more common at 3 months in patients receiving an EBP