Estereótipos e representações sociais acerca do envelhecimento e da velhice

O estudo que se apresenta neste documento, sobre as estereótipos e representações sociais acerca do envelhecimento e da velhice, tem como objetivo analisar as perceções das crianças de educação pré-escolar sobre o processo de envelhecimento e da velhice, bem como analisar as perceções que os educadores sociais têm sobre o seu papel na promoção de representações sociais positivas sobre o processo de envelhecimento e da velhice. O presente estudo é fundamentado numa pesquisa bibliográfica e documental. Para aceder às perceções das crianças e dos educadores sociais, realizou-se um estudo de natureza qualitativa, utilizando a entrevista semiestruturada e o desenho livre como instrumentos de recolha de dados. Para a análise dos dados obtidos aptou-se pela análise de conteúdo. Os participantes no estudo foram 21 crianças, 12 com 4 anos de idade, seis do sexo feminino e seis do sexo masculino, nove de 5 anos de idade, três do sexo masculino e nove do sexo feminino, de um jardim de infância de Bragança e três educadores sociais do sexo feminino que trabalhavam com crianças em instituições do distrito de Bragança. Os resultados obtidos permitem verificar que as crianças que participaram neste estudo possuem representações sobre o processo de envelhecimento e sobre a velhice, pois revelam que se trata de um processo contínuo e diferenciado e, que a velhice é a última etapa deste processo de envelhecimento. Revelam ainda algumas representações negativas acerca do processo de envelhecimento, mas também salientam representações positivas. No que se refere às conceções dos educadores sociais sobre o seu papel na formação de representações positivas sobre o envelhecimento e da velhice, os resultados indicam que, apesar de já se verificarem algumas medidas de intervenção que possam ajudar a reconfigurar os estereótipos e as representações sociais acerca do envelhecimento e da velhice, estas devem ser ampliadas. Este estudo conclui que as crianças apresentam representações negativas e positivas sendo necessário que se inicie desde cedo uma intervenção, por parte dos educadores sociais, ajudando-as a construir visões realistas sobre este processo.The study presented in this dissertation about the stereotypes and representations social about aging and old age, aims to analyze the perceptions of pre-school children about the aging process and old age, as well as to analyze the preceptions that social educators have on their role in promoting positive social representations on the aging process and old age. The present study is based on a bibliographical and documental research, based on studies and theories on social representations. To access the perceptions of children and social educators, a qualitative study was carried out, using the semi-structured interview as a data collection instrument. For data analysis, the content analysis technique was used. Participants in the study were 21 children, 12 with 4 years of age, six females and six males and nine 5-year-old, three males and nine females from a Bragança kindergarten and three female social educators working with children in institutions in the district of Bragança. The results obtained allow us to verify that the children who participated in this study have several representations about the aging process and about old age, as they reveal that it is a continuous and differentiated process between people and that old age is the last stage of this process of aging. The children reveal some negative representations about the aging process but also show positive representations. Considering the conceptions of social educators about their role in shaping positive representations on aging and old age, the results indicate that although there are already some intervention measures that may help to reconfigure stereotypes and social representations about aging and old age they should be expanded. This study concluded that children have positive and negative representations being necessary to start early intervention on the part of educators to help them build realistic views about this process

Influence of social adversity on perceived health status and depressive symptoms among portuguese older people

This study aims to investigate how exposure to poverty, food insecurity, and abuse at older ages relates to health outcomes. A questionnaire collecting data on sociodemographic and economic characteristics, health status, depressive symptoms, food insecurity, and abuse was administered to a sample of 677 older adults. Logistic regression was used to quantify the association of poverty, food insecurity, and abuse with perceived health status and depressive symptoms. If the older person only reported experiences of abuse, it was more likely to report the presence of depressive symptoms, even after adjustment for covariates. If it was only reported the experience of food insecurity, it was more likely to report a worse health status. Older people exposed to at least two factors of vulnerability were significantly more likely to report (very) poor perceived health status (OR: 7.11, 95% CI: 2.77-18.25) and the presence of relevant depressive symptoms (OR: 4.34; 95% CI: 2.04-9.22). Thus, the combined effect of vulnerabilities was significantly associated with worse health among older people. Public health policies to mitigate these adverse exposures should be developed to promote health and well-being in this population

Vertebrate embryos as tools for anti-angiogenic drug screening and function

Shaunna Beedie is a recipient of a Wellcome Trust-NIH PhD Studentship (Grant number 098252/Z/12/Z). Alexandra J. Diamond is a recipient of a BBSRC EastBIO DTP PhD Scholarship. Lucas Rosa Fraga is a recepient of a PhD scholarship from the Science Without Borders program – CNPq Brazil – INAGEMP/ Grant CNPq 573993/2008-4 Shaunna Beedie and William D. Figg are supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organization imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.Peer reviewedPostprin

Preparation and biological evaluation of ethionamide-mesoporous silicon nanoparticles against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Ethionamide (ETH) is an important second-line antituberculosis drug used for the treatment of patients infected with multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Recently, we reported that the loading of ETH into thermally carbonized-porous silicon (TCPSi) nanoparticles enhanced the solubility and permeability of ETH at different pH-values and also increased its metabolization process. Based on these results, we synthesized carboxylic acid functionalized thermally hydrocarbonized porous silicon nanoparticles (UnTHCPSi NPs) conjugated with ETH and its antimicrobial effect was evaluated against Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv. The activity of the conjugate was increased when compared to free-ETH, which suggests that the nature of the synergy between the NPs and ETH is likely due to the weakening of the bacterial cell wall that improves conjugate-penetration. These ETH-conjugated NPs have great potential in reducing dosing frequency of ETH in the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER (European Union) for funding through UID/MULTI/04378/2013, project grant IF/00092/2014 and IF2014 position. Thanks are also due to “Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Norte (CCDR-N)/NORTE2020/Portugal 2020” for funding through project DESignBIOtechHealth (ref. Norte-01-0145-FEDER-000024). H.A.S. acknowledges financial support from the Academy of Finland (decision nos. 252215 and 281300), the University of Helsinki Research Funds, the Biocentrum Helsinki, and the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007–2013, Grant No. 310892). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the FCT or CCDR-Ninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Spontaneous healing of Mycobacterium ulcerans lesions in the guinea pig model

Buruli Ulcer (BU) is a necrotizing skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans infection. BU is characterized by a wide range of clinical forms, including non-ulcerative cutaneous lesions that can evolve into severe ulcers if left untreated. Nevertheless, spontaneous healing has been reported to occur, although knowledge on this process is scarce both in naturally infected humans and experimental models of infection. Animal models are useful since they mimic different spectrums of human BU disease and have the potential to elucidate the pathogenic/protective pathway(s) involved in disease/healing. In this time-lapsed study, we characterized the guinea pig, an animal model of resistance to M. ulcerans, focusing on the macroscopic, microbiological and histological evolution throughout the entire experimental infectious process. Subcutaneous infection of guinea pigs with a virulent strain of M. ulcerans led to early localized swelling, which evolved into small well defined ulcers. These macroscopic observations correlated with the presence of necrosis, acute inflammatory infiltrate and an abundant bacterial load. By the end of the infectious process when ulcerative lesions healed, M. ulcerans viability decreased and the subcutaneous tissue organization returned to its normal state after a process of continuous healing characterized by tissue granulation and reepethelialization. In conclusion, we show that the experimental M. ulcerans infection of the guinea pig mimics the process of spontaneous healing described in BU patients, displaying the potential to uncover correlates of protection against BU, which can ultimately contribute to the development of new prophylactic and therapeutic strategies.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement No 241500 (BuruliVac). This work was additionally financed from the Health Services of the Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian under the grant Proc.No94776 LJ; from the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT), cofunded by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2-O Novo Norte); from the Quadro de Referencia Estrategico Nacional (QREN) through the Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) and from the Projeto Estrategico - LA 26 - 2013-2014 (PEst-C/SAU/LA0026/2013). A.G. Fraga and G. Trigo received an individual FCT fellowship (SFRH/BPD/68547/2010 and SFRH/BPD/64032/2009), C.M. Goncalves received an individual QREN fellowship (UMINHO/BPD/40/2013), and E. Marcq received funding from the Life Long Learning Erasmus program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Purification and characterization of a thrombolytic enzyme produced by a new strain of Bacillus subtilis

Fibrinolytic enzymes with a direct mechanism of action and safer properties are currently requested for thrombolytic therapy. This paper reports on a new enzyme capable of degrading blood clots directly without impairing blood coagulation. This enzyme is also non-cytotoxic and constitutes an alternative to other thrombolytic enzymes known to cause undesired side effects. Twenty-four Bacillus isolates were screened for production of fibrinolytic enzymes using a fibrin agar plate. Based on produced activity, isolate S127e was selected and identified as B. subtilis using the 16S rDNA gene sequence. This strain is of biotechnological interest for producing high fibrinolytic yield and consequently has potential in the industrial field. The purified fibrinolytic enzyme has a molecular mass of 27.3 kDa, a predicted pI of 6.6, and a maximal affinity for Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe. This enzyme was almost completely inhibited by chymostatin with optimal activity at 48°C and pH 7. Specific subtilisin features were found in the gene sequence, indicating that this enzyme belongs to the BPN group of the S8 subtilisin family and was assigned as AprE127. This subtilisin increased thromboplastin time by 3.7% (37.6 to 39 s) and prothrombin time by 3.2% (12.6 to 13 s), both within normal ranges. In a whole blood euglobulin assay, this enzyme did not impair coagulation but reduced lysis time significantly. Moreover, in an in vitro assay, AprE127 completely dissolved a thrombus of about 1 cc within 50 min and, in vivo, reduced a thrombus prompted in a rat tail by 11.4% in 24 h compared to non-treated animals.This work was supported by Direcao Regional da Ciencia e Tecnologia - DRCT-Acores (Medida 2.2.2/I/025/2008) . Duarte Toubarro received a post-doctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/77483/2011; M3.1.a/F/050/2016) from FundacAo para a Ciencia e Tecnologia, Portugal; Jorge Frias received a doctoral grant (SFRH/BD/131698/2017) . The authors are grateful to Dr. Teresa Sampaio and Nelia Arruda, from Dr. Forjaz Sampaio Medical Center, for helping with the plasma anticoagulation assays. Duarte Toubarro and Nelson Simoes designed the study and helped with the paper's redaction. Jorge Frias performed the experiments, analyzed the data and wrote the paper. Alexandra Fraga and Jorge Pedrosa performed thrombolytic assays in a rat model. Claudia Botelho and Jose Teixeira participated in the discussion and redaction of the paper.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Immune-evasion strategies of mycobacteria and their implications for the protective immune response

Mycobacteria are intracellular pathogens that have macrophages as their main host cells. However, macrophages are also the primary line of defense against invading microorganisms. To survive in the intracellular compartment, virulent mycobacteria have developed several strategies to modulate the activation and the effector functions of macrophages. Despite this, antigen-specific T cells develop during infection. While T cell responses are critical for protection they can also contribute to the success of mycobacteria as human pathogens, as immunopathology associated with these responses facilitates transmission. Here, we provide a brief overview of different immune-evasion strategies of mycobacteria and their impact on the protective immune response. This understanding will further our knowledge in host-pathogen interactions and may provide critical insights for the development of novel host-specific therapies.Our work is funded by the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER); Infect-ERA grant BU_SPONT_HEAL; and the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through the FCT investigator grant IF/01390/2014 to E.T. and the postdoctoral grant SFRH/BPD/112903/2015 to A.G.F.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A hint for the obesity paradox and the link between obesity, perirenal adipose tissue and Renal Cell Carcinoma progression

Increasing evidence supports a role for local fat depots in cancer outcomes. Despite the robust positive association of obesity with renal cell carcinoma (RCCa) diagnosis, increased adiposity is inversely related to RCCa oncological outcomes. Here, we sought to ascertain whether imagiologically assessed local fat depots associate with RCCa progression and survival and account for this apparent paradox. A retrospective cohort of renal carcinoma patients elective for nephrectomy (n = 137) were included. Beyond baseline clinicopathological characteristics, computed tomography (CT)-scans at the level of renal hilum evaluated areas and densities of different adipose tissue depots (perirenal, subcutaneous, visceral) and skeletal muscle (erector spinae, psoas and quadratus lumborum muscles) were analyzed. Univariate and multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were estimated following empirical analysis using stepwise Cox regression. Age, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) area and body mass index (BMI) predicted tumour-sided perirenal fat area (R-2 = 0.584), which presented upregulated UCP1 expression by 27-fold (P = 0.026) and smaller adipocyte areas, compared with subcutaneous depot. Multivariate analyses revealed that increased area of perirenal adipose tissue (PRAT) on the contralateral and tumour side associate with improved progression-free survival (HR = 0.3, 95CI = 0.1-0.8, P = 0.019) and overall survival (HR = 0.3, 95CI = 0.1-0.7, P = 0.009). PRAT measurements using CT, might become a possible tool, well correlated with other measures of obesity such as VAT and BMI, that will improve determination of obesity and contribute to assess the risk for disease progression and mortality in renal cancer patients. Present data supports the obesity paradox in RCCa, assumed that larger PRAT areas seem to protect from disease progression and death