Olive mill wastewater as a renewable resource

The olive mill wastewater (OMW) is a stable emulsion composed by water, olive pulp and residual oil. An approach for using this waste as a renewable resource is of greater interest. Several authors have been studding physicochemical treatment methods. However, the biological treatments allow not only the treatment, but also the effluent valorization, by producing several valuable products. This effluent is also a source of natural antioxidants and its extraction is economically attractive. The ideal OMW valorization process could be achieved by the combination of methods, for instance the use of physical-chemical methods as pretreatment can highly reduce the pollutants concentrations and allows better production efficiency by microorganisms

Eating disorders and non-suicidal self-injury: cluster analysis considering eating pathology, emotion dysregulation, and negative urgency

Research on the interplay between eating pathology, emotion dysregulation and negative urgency is needed to inform intervention approaches for patients with eating disorders and non-suicidal self-injury. This study aimed to investigate the characterization of patients with eating disorders and non-suicidal self-injury considering eating pathology, emotion dysregulation and negative urgency. This cross-sectional study evaluated 73 outpatients with eating disorders and non-suicidal self-injury (14-55 years; 68 women). A cluster analysis was performed using eating pathology, emotion dysregulation and negative urgency. Differences between clusters were explored on sociodemographic/ psychological variables, eating disorder diagnostics and past/current non-suicidal self-injury engagement. Three clusters were identified. Cluster 1 (n=29) (moderate severity) was characterized by high levels of eating pathology, but moderate emotion dysregulation and negative urgency. Cluster 2 (n=29) (high severity) was characterized by the highest scores in eating pathology, emotion dysregulation and negative urgency, and included more patients with current non-suicidal self-injury. Cluster 3 (n=15) (low severity) was characterized by the lowest levels of eating pathology, emotion dysregulation and negative urgency, and included more patients with past non-suicidal self-injury. These profiles highlight the importance of emotion dysregulation and negative urgency as treatment targets for eating disorders patients with current non-suicidal self-injury.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Satisfação dos utentes com o atendimento prestado nas farmácias comunitárias

A satisfação dos utentes é considerada uma medida importante com efeitos nos resultados de cuidados de saúde. Objetivos: Determinar o grau de satisfação dos utentes com o atendimento nas farmácias comunitárias, e verificar se o grau de satisfação é igual, independentemente, da idade e do género do utente. Material e Métodos: Este estudo de caracter transversal, observacional e correlacional teve como base uma amostra não probabilística acidental, constituída por 525 inquiridos. O questionário foi aplicado no período de Outubro de 2012 a Janeiro de 2013 em quatro localidades seleccionadas por conveniência na zona norte de Portugal, foi utilizada a escala “Pharmacy Services Questionnaire” (FSQ) validada para a língua portuguesa, desenvolvida por Larson et al. (2002). Em relação ao género dos inquiridos, verificou-se que 60,62% pertenciam ao sexo feminino e 39,38% eram do sexo masculino. Com idades compreendidas entre os 18 e os 83 anos, com uma média de 41,81 anos (D.P.±16,262, o que permite concluir que a amostra não é homogénea relativamente à idade). Em relação à escolaridade dos inquiridos, 2,9% não possuíam estudos; 16,8% tinham entre 1 a 4 anos de escolaridade; 9,5% possuíam o 2º ciclo; 12,4% possuíam o 3º ciclo; 31,6% concluíram o ensino secundário e 23,2% possuíam habilitações superiores. Resultados: Os indicadores de validade da análise fatorial mostraram um KMO=0,972. Foram identificados duas dimensões, nomeadamente, o atendimento e acompanhamento farmacoterapêutico, que explicavam no conjunto 64,230% da variância total. O Alfa Cronbach total foi de 0,962, o que indica uma fiabilidade da consistência interna muito boa. A contribuição das dimensões para a satisfação global dos utentes foi por ordem de importância, o atendimento (r=0,864; p<0,01) e acompanhamento farmacoterapêutico (r=0,848; p<0,01). O grau de satisfação dos utentes com os serviços das farmácias comunitárias foi o seguinte: reduzido para 5,3%, médio para 39%, bom para 46,1% e muito bom para 9%. Tendo em conta o fator atendimento por género, o feminino registou um grau de satisfação mais elevado, enquanto que, no fator acompanhamento farmacoterapêutico não se verificou qualquer diferença entre géneros. Relativamente à classe etária, verificou-se que são os utentes com idades mais avançadas, que registam um grau de satisfação mais elevado. Discussão e Conclusão: Concluiu-se que, de um modo geral, os utentes se encontram satisfeitos com o atendimento nas farmácias comunitárias, sendo o sexo feminino e os utentes com idades mais avançadas, os que apresentam um grau de satisfação superior. O aspeto a melhorar para o aumento da satisfação dos utentes, relativamente ao acompanhamento farmacoterapêutico, é “O modo como o profissional de farmácia lhe explica os possíveis efeitos secundários”. Em relação ao atendimento o aspeto a melhorar é “O modo como o profissional de farmácia responde às suas perguntas”

Users satisfaction regarding the service provided in community pharmacies

During the last century, the pharmacy professionals have significantly being professionalized, the user is a high priority and not just limited to the sale of pharmaceuticals. As such, it is necessary to know the users, their needs and expectations, their opinions and preferences. This transversal study, observational, correlational, aimed to: determine the degree of satisfaction with the attendance in community pharmacies, if there is a relationship between factors of a personal nature (age and gender) and satisfaction, trying to identify which aspects improve in order to increase satisfaction levels. The sample consisted of 525 respondents. Data collection was conducted in the period from October 2012 to January 2013 in four locations in northern Portugal. It was used a questionnaire consisting of three parts: the first contained items of personal characterization, the second consisted of the scale "Pharmacy Services Questionnaire" (FSQ) validated for the Portuguese language, developed by Larson et al. (2002) and the last had questions about the respondents' opinion. The results showed that the degree of satisfaction with the services of community pharmacies was in majority an average to 39 % and good for 46,1% . Having in mind the factor by gender, females showed a higher degree of satisfaction. Regarding the age group, older users had the highest degree of satisfaction. It was concluded that, generally, community pharmacies bring a higher degree of satisfaction in the older and the female users. "How the pharmacy professionals explain possible side effects" and "how the pharmacy professional answers your questions.", are the two aspects that must be improved to achieve a higher degree of satisfaction. KEYWORDS Satisfaction, Users, Customer Service, Pharmacotherapy Monitoring, Community Pharmacie

Engineering ligament scaffolds based on PLA/graphite nanoplatelet composites by 3D printing or braiding

The development of scaffolds for tissue-engineered growth of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a promising approach to overcome the limitations of current solutions. This work proposes novel biodegradable and biocompatible scaffolds matching the mechanical characteristics of the native human ligament. Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLA) scaffolds reinforced with graphite nano-platelets (PLA+EG) as received, chemically functionalized (PLA+f-EG), or functionalized and decorated with silver nanoparticles [PLA+((f-EG)+Ag)], were fabricated by conventional braiding and using 3D-printing technology. The dimensions of both braided and 3D-printed scaffolds were finely controlled. The results showed that the scaffolds exhibited high porosity (>60%), pore interconnectivity, and pore size suitable for ligament tissue ingrowth, with no relevant differences between PLA and composite scaffolds. The wet state dynamic mechanical analysis at 37 °C revealed an increase in the storage modulus of the composite constructs, compared to neat PLA scaffolds. Either braided or 3D-printed scaffolds presented storage modulus values similar to those found in soft tissues. The tailorable design of the braided structures, as well as the reproducibility, the high speed, and the simplicity of 3D-printing allowed to obtain two different scaffolds suitable for ligament tissue engineering.This research was funded by FCT through the National Funds Reference UIDB/05256/2020 and UIDP/05256/2020, the FCT and European Program FEDER/COMPETE through the project PTDC/BTM-MAT/28123/2017, and the FCT, European Union and European Social Fund (FSE) through the PhD Grant Reference SFRH/BD/138244/2018

Synthesis and Characterization of Water Stable η3-Allyl Dicarbonyl Complexes of Molybdenum(II)

Trabalho apresentado nas VIII Jornadas CICECO, 18-19 de março 2011, Aveiro, PortugalN/

C4b-binding protein binds to necrotic cells and DNA, limiting DNA release and inhibiting complement activation

After cell death, via apoptosis or necrosis, the uptake of dead cells by neighboring cells or phagocytes prevents the release of intracellular content. An array of molecules, including initiation molecules of the complement system, are involved in marking dead cells for uptake. After binding of these molecules, complement activation takes place, which when uncontrolled might result in a proinflammatory state. In the current study we demonstrate that complement inhibitor, C4b-binding protein (C4BP), binds strongly to necrotic cells, irrespective of the cell type used or the method of induction. After binding of the C4BP–protein S (PS) complex to necrotic cells via PS-phosphatidylserine and C4BP-DNA interactions, C4BP-PS inhibits complement activation on these cells. C4BP binds DNA via a patch of positively charged amino acids, mainly on the second complement control domain of the C4BP α-chain (affinity constant: 190 nM). Furthermore, C4BP limits DNA release from necrotic cells and inhibits DNA-mediated complement activation in solution. The C4BP–necrotic cell interaction also occurs in vivo as necrotic areas of arteriosclerotic plaques and of various cancers stain strongly positive for C4BP. This study describes a novel mechanism in which C4BP limits the inflammatory potential of necrotic cells

EcDBS1R4, an antimicrobial peptide effective against Escherichia coli with in vitro fusogenic ability

©2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open accessarticle distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution(CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Discovering antibiotic molecules able to hold the growing spread of antimicrobial resistance is one of the most urgent endeavors that public health must tackle. The case of Gram-negative bacterial pathogens is of special concern, as they are intrinsically resistant to many antibiotics, due to an outer membrane that constitutes an effective permeability barrier. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been pointed out as potential alternatives to conventional antibiotics, as their main mechanism of action is membrane disruption, arguably less prone to elicit resistance in pathogens. Here, we investigate the in vitro activity and selectivity of EcDBS1R4, a bioinspired AMP. To this purpose, we have used bacterial cells and model membrane systems mimicking both the inner and the outer membranes of Escherichia coli, and a variety of optical spectroscopic methodologies. EcDBS1R4 is effective against the Gram-negative E. coli, ineffective against the Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and noncytotoxic for human cells. EcDBS1R4 does not form stable pores in E. coli, as the peptide does not dissipate its membrane potential, suggesting an unusual mechanism of action. Interestingly, EcDBS1R4 promotes a hemi-fusion of vesicles mimicking the inner membrane of E. coli. This fusogenic ability of EcDBS1R4 requires the presence of phospholipids with a negative curvature and a negative charge. This finding suggests that EcDBS1R4 promotes a large lipid spatial reorganization able to reshape membrane curvature, with interesting biological implications herein discussed.This research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia—Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (FCT-MCTES, Portugal), Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (MSCA-RISE, European Union) project INPACT (call H2020-MSCA-RISE-2014, grant agreement 644167), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, Brazil), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES, Brazil), Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Distrito Federal (FAPDF, Brazil) and Fundação de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento do Ensino, Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul (FUNDECT, Brazil). M.M. and M.R.F. also acknowledge FCT-MCTES fellowships SPRH/BD/128290/2017 and SPRH/BD/100517/2014, respectively.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Intercalation of (η5-Pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)trioxomolybdenum(VI) in a Layered Double Hydroxide

A Zn,Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) with [Cp*MoO3]– (Cp* = η5‐C5Me5) anions in the interlayer has been prepared by a direct coprecipitation method. The intercalated LDH and the mixed metal oxide (MMO) obtained after its calcination were characterized by elemental and thermogravimetric analyses, powder X‐ray diffraction (PXRD), FT‐IR and FT‐Raman spectroscopy, 13C and 27Al MAS NMR, and scanning electron microscopy. The observed basal spacing of 17.1 Å for the LDH Zn,Al‐Cp*MoO3 (corresponding to a gallery height of 12.3 Å) suggests that the guest anions self‐assemble into dimers via offset face‐to‐face Cp*···Cp* interactions, which facilitates hydrogen‐bonding interactions between the oxido ligands of the complexes and the layer hydroxyl groups, while positioning the hydrophobic aromatic rings towards the center of the galleries. Calcination of Zn,Al‐Cp*MoO3 at 550 °C under air gave an MMO comprising well‐dispersed ZnO, α‐ZnMoO4 and ZnAl2O4 (spinel) oxides in a molar of ca. 1.4:1.6:1. The MMO exhibited catalytic activity for the epoxidation of cis‐cyclooctene with tert‐butylhydroperoxide (TBHP) as terminal oxidant, with quantitative yield of the epoxide being achieved within 24 h at 85 °C.publishe

Desulfurization of liquid fuels by extraction and sulfoxidation using H2O2 and [CpMo(CO)3R] as catalysts

Efficient and recyclable liquid–liquid extraction and catalytic oxidative desulfurization (ECODS) systems for the removal of refractory sulfur compounds from liquid fuels are reported that use the cyclopentadienyl molybdenum tricarbonyl complexes [CpMo(CO)3Me] (1), [CpMo(CO)3(CH2-pC6H4-CO2Me] (2) and [CpMo(CO)3CH2COOH] (3) as catalyst precursors. An ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, was used as both extractant and reaction medium, entrapping the active homogeneous MoVI catalysts that are formed in situ under the operating catalytic conditions (aqueous H2O2 as oxidant, 50 °C). The high sulfoxidation activity of the catalyst formed from 1 was largely responsible for enabling >99% desulfurization within 1 h of a model oil containing 1-benzothiophene, dibenzothiophene, 4-methyldibenzothiophene and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (2000 ppm S). The IL/catalyst phase could be repeatedly recycled with no loss of desulfurization efficiency. By sequentially performing extractive desulfurization and ECODS steps, 83–84% sulfur removal was achieved for untreated real diesel and jet fuel samples with initial sulfur contents of ca. 2300 and 1100 ppm, respectively.publishe