Application of chitosan in the control of fungal infections by dermatophytes

Os dermatófitos são um grupo de fungos que conseguem invadir as superfícies queratinizadas de humanos e outros animais e originar uma infeção - dermatofitose. Estas infeções são um importante problema de saúde pública e, para as controlar, é necessário terapia prolongada. No entanto, os medicamentos existentes parecem exibir efeitos secundários e o uso frequente e prolongado destes compostos é responsável pela existência de estirpes resistentes a antifúngicos, o que representa um risco potencial para o ambiente e saúde humana. Por isso, são necessárias novas drogas biocompatíveis para usos prolongados. O quitosano é um polissacarídeo catiónico e biocompatível que possui atividade antimicrobiana. Assim, o principal objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a atividade antifúngica do quitosano sobre alguns dermatófitos e algumas espécies de Aspergillus sp. Para isso, a concentração mínima inibitória dos quitosanos foi determinada e os resultados mostraram que o quitosano possui atividade antifúngica contra T. rubrum e M. canis, apresentando CMIs que variam entre 1.1 e 2.2 mg/mL. Para as espécies de Aspergillus, não foi possível determinar as CMIs do quitosano. A concentração mínima fungicida também foi obtida para os dermatófitos, apresentando os mesmos valores obtidos para as CMIs. Como os dermatófitos são responsáveis por infeções das superfícies queratinizadas, é preciso compreender se o quitosano exerce algum efeito na atividade fúngica. A análise de imagens de microscopia eletrónica de varimento mostou que o quitosano parece ter um efeito protetor do substrato usado, o cabelo, quando este foi infetado com dermatófitos. O estudo do efeito do quitosano na atividade enzimática usando protease K revelou uma atividade importante na prevenção da ação das proteases. O efeito do quitosano na degradação de queratina por M. canis e T. rubrum também foi estudado pelo teste da “keratinazure” e os resultados indicaram que a libertação de cor era menor quando o quitosano estava presente no meio de cultura. A análise microscópica da superfície da “keratin-azure” quando o quitosano estava presente no meio de cultura corroborou as conclusões anteriores porque a superfície da “keratin-azure” tratada com quitosano mostrou-se intacta, apesar da existência de estruturas fúngicas à sua volta. Com base nestes resultados, é possível concluir que o quitosano apresenta uma atividade antifúngica relevante contra os dermatófitos, mostrando-se uma alternativa promissora aos tratamentos comuns para a tinha.Dermatophytes are a goup of fungi that can invade keratinized tissues of humans and other animals and produce an infection - dermatophytosis. Dermatophytic infections are an important public health problem and to control them a prolonged therapy is required. But, the existing drugs seem to exhibit side effects and the frequent and prolonged use of these compounds is responsible for strain resistance, representing a potential risk for the environment and human health. Because of this features, new drug biocompatible formulations for long term use are required. Chitosan is a cationic, biocompatible polysaccharide that possess antimicrobial action. So, the main objective of this work was to evaluate the antifungal activity of chitosan upon some dermatophytes (T. rubrum and M. canis ) and some Aspergillus (A. terreus, A. niger, A. flavus and A. fumigatus). For this, the MIC of chitosans was determined and the results showed that chitosan possesses antifungal activity against T. rubrum and M. canis, presenting MIC ranging from 1.1 to 2.2 mg/mL. For Aspergillus species, in the range of tested concentrations it was not possible to determine the chitosan's MICs. Minimum fungicidal concentrations were also obtained for both dermatophytes, corresponding in both cases to the values obtained for MIC. As dermatophytes are responsible for infections of keratinized surfaces, is crucial to understand if chitosan exert any effect on fungi activity. The analysis of SEM images showed that chitosan seems to have a protective effect of the hair (substract), when this was infected with dermatophytes. The study of the effect of chitosan on enzymatic activity using protease K showed an important activity in preventing proteases action. The effect of chitosan on keratin degradation by M. canis and T. rubrum, was also studied by keratin-azure test and the results showed that the dye release is reduced when chitosan is present in culture media. A microscopic analysis of keratin-azure surface when chitosan was present in the culture media corroborated the previous conclusion, because keratin-azure surface treated with chitosan showed no damage, despite the existence of fungal structures around them. Based on the obtained results, it´s possible to conclude that chitosan showed relevant antifungal activity against dermatophytes, which opens good prospects to chitosan as an alternative for the usual tinea treatments

Assessing User Expertise in Spoken Dialog System Interactions

Identifying the level of expertise of its users is important for a system since it can lead to a better interaction through adaptation techniques. Furthermore, this information can be used in offline processes of root cause analysis. However, not much effort has been put into automatically identifying the level of expertise of an user, especially in dialog-based interactions. In this paper we present an approach based on a specific set of task related features. Based on the distribution of the features among the two classes - Novice and Expert - we used Random Forests as a classification approach. Furthermore, we used a Support Vector Machine classifier, in order to perform a result comparison. By applying these approaches on data from a real system, Let's Go, we obtained preliminary results that we consider positive, given the difficulty of the task and the lack of competing approaches for comparison.Comment: 10 page

Implementation of the general regulation on data protection– In the intermunicipal community of Douro, Portugal

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union law that came into force in May 2018 and aims to ensure the protection of EU citizens’ personal data. The GDPR sets out a number of obligations for organiza tions processing personal data, including obtaining data subjects’ explicit consent to process their data, ensuring that data is only used for specific purposes and implementing appropriate security measures to protect data. The regulation also gives data subjects the right to request access to, correct or delete their personal data, as well as the right to object to the processing of their data and data porta bility. The GDPR applies to all organizations that process personal data of EU citizens, regardless of their location, and has significant global reach, affecting businesses around the world that handle personal data of individuals in the EU. In this context, this study focused more specifically on the area covered by the Intermunicipal Community of Douro (CimDouro) in order to assess the state of implementation of the GDPR in Local Public Administration, particularly in the municipalities that constitute this Cim.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Absenteeism and job satisfaction in a portuguese municipality

Absenteeism has a direct impact on the quality of the service provided by the municipality to its citizens. Therefore, the objective of this research is to analyse the correlation between work absenteeism at the Bragança municipality, Portugal and job satisfaction; to identify factors concerning the type of work as well as the worker’s attitudes, behaviours and values which may be correlated to job satisfaction. To achieve these objectives, it was developed a quantitative and cross-sectional study based on a survey directly administered to the municipality workers. Spearman’s test was used to study the correlation at a 5% level of significance. From the 71 workers surveyed, 28 had already been absent from the workplace. Workers justified their absence with short-term sickness (14.1), family caregiving (12.7%) and long-term sickness (7.0%). The correlation between absenteeism and job satisfaction was not verified. However, correlations were observed between job satisfaction and type of work (Sig.< 0.05). Although no statistically significant correlation was found between job satisfaction and absenteeism, there are some factors associated with the type of work and with workers’ attitudes, behaviours and goals which showed to be correlated to job satisfaction. Therefore, it is recommendable that executive managers continue to improve work conditions in order to increase the productivity, quality and efficiency of the service provided to citizens.This work is supported by: the European Structural and Investment Funds in the FEDER component, through the Operational Competitiveness and Internationalisation Programme (COMPETE 2020) [Project No. 006971 (UID/SOC/04011)]; and national funds, through the FCT – Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the project UID/SOC/04011/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The consultancy field in Europe: A comparative approach

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and EconomicsThis paper analyses the European consultancy industry and its evolution during the last decade. The current situation of the European consulting industry is compared with its long-term development since the 1980s, as well as with some perspective on its future evolution. Former literature on the field suggested that consulting in Europe would become less diverse in the early twentieth century (“convergence hypothesis”) and dominated by global American firms (“Americanization hypothesis”). The main conclusions point in a different direction. The European consulting market still has much national diversity and there is not a clear convergence trend in the industry. On the contrary, there is evidence suggesting an increasing diversity between countries over the last decade. Finally, the “Americanization hypothesis” is not confirmed. The European firms increased their number among the largest consultancies operating in Europe

A perspectiva dos consumidores portugueses sobre os medicamentos de marca vs medicamentos genéricos

Os medicamentos são considerados a principal “ferramenta” terapêutica para a prevenção, recuperação ou manutenção das condições de saúde pública1. Existem inúmeros medicamentos destinados para o mesmo fim, por este motivo, compete à Indústria Farmacêutica desenvolver alternativas de mercado, suficientemente capazes de competir com os outros medicamentos pré-existentes. Um medicamento genérico é um medicamento com a mesma substância activa, forma farmacêutica, dosagem e a mesma indicação terapêutica que o medicamento original, de marca, que serviu de referência, sendo identificados pela sigla (MG). Os medicamentos genéricos para além da mesma qualidade, têm igual, eficácia, segurança, biodisponibilidade e bioequivalência, mas a um preço inferior ao do medicamento original

Resistance to metal contamination by historically-stressed populations of Ceriodaphnia pulchella: Environmental influence versus genetic determination

Field populations of daphnids historically-stressed by metal contamination may show increased resistance to those contaminants. This study was undertaken aiming to confirm/infirm three main hypotheses: (1) field populations living in historically-impacted environments are more tolerant to metal stress than populations from reference sites; (2) resistance differences are genetically-determined, i.e., differences persist after controlling for environmental and maternal effects, by acclimating cloned lineages to similar conditions; and (3) resistance to stress in field populations living in historically-impacted environments is due to the disappearance of sensitive individuals rather than the appearance of highly resistant ones, i.e., the shift in the central tendency of resistance is linked to a decrease in the range of population resistance and not to an increased upper limit of the population resistance. Three populations of the cladoceran Ceriodaphnia pulchella Sars in Southern Portugal were sampled; one of which has been historically-stressed by acid mine drainage (AMD) from an abandoned cupric-pyrite mine and two from reference sites within the same watershed. To assess if resistance differences were genetically-determined, the three populations were acclimated for at least five generations under the same controlled conditions. Assays with AMD contaminated water samples were performed with both non-acclimated and acclimated individuals from all studied populations. Reproduction results in sub-lethal assays revealed significant differences between the reference and stressed populations. Significant differences in resistance to lethal levels of toxicity were observed for both non-acclimated and acclimated populations, individuals from population I being more resistant than those from reference populations. The existence of genetically-determined sensitivity differences was attested by the presence of significant differences in resistance to lethal levels of toxicity in acclimated individuals from reference and stressed populations. Results from cumulative mortality assays revealed that sensitive individuals were most probably present in the original population, but no conclusion could be draw about the presence of extreme resistant individuals in the historically-stressed population. Finally, it was shown that responses among populations converged from high to low levels of contamination.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V74-4G05M6B-5/1/1296fbdbc8b8e0e8820be6136216200

Espiritualidade nos cuidados de saúde: perspectiva bioética

A pessoa compreende várias dimensões - bio-psico-social, afectiva, espiritual, política, cultural, económica -, é um ser de relação que se realiza na interacção com o outro, necessitando desse outro para a sua sobrevivência. Tem consciência de si, sabe como actuar para atingir o seu )m e é, pela dimensão espiritual, que toma consciência da realidade vivida. Esta consciência espiritual constitui um factor determinante para o modo como vive a sua própria vida, as suas crenças e os seus valores, face às diversas realidades, concretamente face ao sofrimento e à doença, pois é um ser intrinsecamente vulnerável e finito. Partindo desta realidade, surge uma inquietação pessoal sobre o modo de ser e de estar dos enfermeiros na atenção à pessoa, cliente em cuidados de saúde. Daí a re/exão e a pesquisa efectuadas, incluindo a bibliográfica e publicações online, sobre temas como a bioética, cuidados de saúde, espiritualidade, qualidade de vida na doença, com o objectivo de constituir instrumento de re/exão para o agir do profissional no cuidado integral à pessoa. O profissional de saúde, porque pessoa ao serviço da vida, está intrinsecamente ligado à fragilidade/doença. Tem por dever o respeito pelos princípios e valores da pessoa humana, pela promoção do bem para com o outro tal como ele o compreende, estar atento ao sofrimento total e às suas necessidades como ser humano. É na relação com o outro que se gera um movimento de transcendência pelo qual o indivíduo sai de si e pode ter vivência positiva do sofrimento. Neste contexto, emerge a pertinência de re/exão sobre a espiritualidade, pretendendo- se também motivar os profissionais de saúde, concretamente os enfermeiros, a incluir esta dimensão nos focos de atenção à pessoa que necessita de cuidados de saúde, como meio para promover a vida e particularmente a qualidade de vida, face à vulnerabilidade da pessoa humana.The person has several dimensions - bio-psycho-social, emotional, spiritual, political, cultural and economic – it is a being of relation that depends on the relationship with the other for its own survival. It is aware of itself, knows how to act to achieve their goal and it is aware of the reality through the spiritual dimension. This “spiritual awareness” is the determining factor for how the person lives its own life, its beliefs and values given the diverse realities, namely when facing suffering and disease, because it is an intrinsically vulnerable and finite being. From this fact arises a personal concern about the way of being of nurses in the care of the person and healthcare customer. Hence the re/ection and research being done, including literature and online publications on topics such as bioethics, health care, spirituality, quality of life in illness, with the purpose of forming a reflection tool for the healthcare professional act when treating a person. For his service to life, the healthcare professional is intrinsically linked to weakness and disease. He has the duty to respect the principles and values of the human person, to promotion of good for other as he understands it, to be aware of suffering and its needs as a human being.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impact of worker motivation and work environment on job happiness: case study of an organization that develops social support activities.

The last decades have witnessed an intensification of research on positive affective experiences in the workplace. Happiness in the workplace is paramount to improve productivity in any organization since happy people are naturally people who care about the quality of the work they develop and therefore, they are more productive and more efficient. The aim of this study was to measure the impact of the factors motivation at work and work environment on happiness in the workplace. The study population involved collaborators from various professional categories from an institution for social solidarity, located in the municipal district of Bragança, Portugal. Among a total of 353 workers, 186 were selected randomly and a response rate of 52.7% was obtained. The results showed that motivation at work and work environment are both predictors of happiness at work. However, it is motivation at work that most contributes to happiness at work. Within this context, keeping work environments that promote positive and healthy relationships among professionals and investing in workers’ motivation and wellbeing improves their professional performance, thus contributing to the success of the organization.The authors are grateful to (a) the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and the ERDF under the program PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2019) and (b) CETRAD, funded UI & D by national funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under project UID/SOC/04011/2019. This research is financed by national funds, through the FCT – Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the UID/SOC/04011/2019 Project.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio