Consulting project for the marketing oil department of Galp Energia evaluation of marketing campaigns

Field lab: Consulting la

Linking emotional intelligence and transformational leadership: an application to technology sector firms’ leaders

This study aims to analyze the relationship between emotional intelligence and transformational leadership.This exploratory and transversal study takes a quantitative methodological approach based on survey data from 180 Portuguese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) technology sector leaders. Data analysis was performed using the structural equation model (SEM).The results demonstrated a positive and significant relationship between three emotional intelligence dimensions (SEA - self-emotion appraisal, OEA - others emotion appraisal and UE - use of emotions) and transformational leadership (TL). However, the relationship between intelligence dimension regulation of emotions (RE) and transformational leadership was not supported.This study differs from the others as it seeks to establish relationships between emotional intelligence dimensions’ and transformational leadership rather than treating the emotional intelligence’s construct as a whole. Therefore, considering the scarce literature relating to the mentioned constructs fills the literature’s lack. Its applicability in the Portuguese technology sector SMEs is also an innovative factor. We recommend that future studies explore the relevance of digital services for the enhancement of the linkage between emotional intelligence and transformational leadership

Companion animals-An overlooked and misdiagnosed reservoir of carbapenem resistance

Research Areas: Infectious Diseases ; Pharmacology & PharmacyABSTRACT - The dissemination of antimicrobial-resistance is a major global threat affecting both human and animal health. Carbapenems are human use β-lactams of last resort; thus. the dissemination of carbapenemase-producing (CP) bacteria creates severe limitations for the treatment of multidrugresistant bacteria in hospitalized patients. Even though carbapenems are not routinely used in veterinary medicine, reports of infection or colonization by carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales in companion animals are being reported. NDM-5 and OXA-48-like carbapenemases are among the most frequently reported in companion animals. Like in humans, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae are the most represented CP Enterobacterales found in companion animals, alongside with Acinetobacter baumannii. Considering that the detection of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales presents several difficulties, misdiagnosis of CP bacteria in companion animals may lead to important animal and public-health consequences. It is of the upmost importance to ensure an adequate monitoring and detection of CP bacteria in veterinary microbiology in order to safeguard animal health and minimise its dissemination to humans and the environment. This review encompasses an overview of the carbapenemase detection methods currently available, aiming to guide veterinary microbiologists on the best practices to improve its detection for clinical or research purposes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Targeting cells with cathelicidin nanomedicines improves insulin function and pancreas regeneration in type 1 diabetic rats

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an incurable condition with an increasing incidence worldwide, in which the hallmark is the autoimmune destruction of pancreatic insulin-producing β cells. Cathelicidin-based peptides have been shown to improve β cell function and neogenesis and may thus be relevant while developing T1D therapeutics. In this work, a cathelicidin-derived peptide, LLKKK18, was loaded in poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs), surface-functionalized with exenatide toward a GLP-1 receptor, aiming the β cell-targeted delivery of the peptide. The NPs present a mean size of around 100 nm and showed long-term stability, narrow size distribution, and negative ζ-potential (−10 mV). The LLKKK18 association efficiency and loading were 62 and 2.9%, respectively, presenting slow and sustained in vitro release under simulated physiologic fluids. Glucose-stimulated insulin release in the INS-1E cell line was observed in the presence of the peptide. In addition, NPs showed a strong association with β cells from isolated rat islets. After administration to diabetic rats, NPs induced a significant reduction of the hyperglycemic state, an improvement in the pancreatic insulin content, and glucose tolerance. Also remarkable, a considerable increase in the β cell mass in the pancreas was observed. Overall, this novel and versatile nanomedicine showed glucoregulatory ability and can pave the way for the development of a new generation of therapeutic approaches for T1D treatment.C.C., S.P., and J.M. acknowledge FCT for the granted scholarships SFRH/BD/139402/2018, SFRH/BD/144719/2019, and PD/BD/145149/2019, respectively. The authors acknowledge the support of the i3S Scientific Platform Histology and Electron Microscopy (HEMS), member of the national infrastructure PPBI─Portuguese Platform of Bioimaging (PPBI-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022122), in particular, Nuno Mendes for performing the immunohistochemistry assay, and Tiago Bordeira Gaspar for the blind analysis of the tissue sections and for the antiglucagon antibody used in immunohistochemistry analysis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

ENHANCED BALANCE AND BONE MINERAL DENSITY ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENT EXERCISE TRAINING PROGRAMS IN OLDER WOMEN

The purpose of this study was to compare the alterations in postural stability and bone mineral density (BMD) after 3 different exercise interventions. 94 women were randomly assigned to either a resistance exercise group (RE), aerobic exercise group (AE), combined weight-bearing exercise group (CE) or control group. Training was performed for 8 months. RE and AE interventions were conducted 3 days/week and CE only 2 days/week. After 8 months, all exercise training groups had improved dynamic and static balance. RE significantly improved BMD at the trochanter while CE significantly improved femoral neck BMD. In summary, all exercise interventions demonstrate to protect against postural instability that is strongly related to fall risk. Moreover, 8 months of RE may be more effective than AE and CE for inducing favourable changes in BMD and lean mass

A new chalcone derivative with promising antiproliferative and anti-invasion activities in glioblastoma cells

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and most deadly primary malignant brain tumor. Current therapies are not effective, the average survival of GBM patients after diagnosis being limited to few months. Therefore, the discovery of new treatments for this highly aggressive brain cancer is urgently needed. Chalcones are synthetic and naturally occurring compounds that have been widely investigated as anticancer agents. In this work, three chalcone derivatives were tested regarding their inhibitory activity and selectivity towards GBM cell lines (human and mouse) and a non-cancerous mouse brain cell line. The chalcone 1 showed the most potent and selective cytotoxic effects in the GBM cell lines, being further investigated regarding its ability to reduce critical hallmark features of GBM and to induce apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. This derivative showed to successfully reduce the invasion and proliferation capacity of tumor cells, both key targets for cancer treatment. Moreover, to overcome potential systemic side effects and its poor water solubility, this compound was encapsulated into liposomes. Therapeutic concentrations were incorporated retaining the potent in vitro growth inhibitory effect of the selected compound. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that this new formulation can be a promising starting point for the discovery of new and more effective drug treatments for GBM.This research was funded by FCT to the PhD grant of DM fellowship (PD/BD/143038/2018) and the projects PATH (PD/00169/2013), FROnTHERA (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023), Cells4_IDs (PTDC/BTM-SAL/28882/2017) and the NORTE 2020 Structured Project, co-funded by Norte2020 (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000021). This research was also supported by the Strategic Funding UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020 (Group of Natural Products and Medicinal ChemistryCIIMAR) through national funds provided by the FCT and ERDF, within the framework of the program PT2020. Joana Moreira acknowledges her grant (SFRH/BD/135852/2018)

Pre-selection of fibroblasts subsets prompt prevascularization of tissue engineered skin analogues

The papillary and reticular dermis harbors phenotypically distinct fibroblasts, whose functions such as maintenance of skin's microvasculature are also distinct. Thus, we hypothesized that pre-selection of the subpopulations of fibroblasts would benefit the generation of skin tissue engineered (TE) constructs, promoting their prevascularization in vitro. We first isolated papillary and reticular fibroblasts using fluorescence-activated cell sorting and studied the effect of their secretome and extracellular matrix (ECM) on human dermal microvascular endothelial cell (hDMEC) organization. Subsequently, we developed a bilayered 3D polymeric structure with distinct layer-associated features to house the subpopulations of fibroblasts, to generate a skin analogue. Both papillary and reticular fibroblasts were able to stimulate capillary-like network formation in a Matrigel assay. However, the secretome of the two subpopulations was substantially different, being enriched in VEGF, IGF-1, and Angio-1 in the case of papillary fibroblasts and in HGF and FGF-2 for the reticular subset. In addition, the fibroblast subpopulations deposited varied levels of ECM proteins, more collagen I and laminin was produced by the reticular subset, but these differences did not impact hDMEC organization. Vessel-like structures with lumens were observed earlier in the 3D skin analogue prepared with the sorted fibroblasts, although ECM deposition was not affected by the cell's pre-selection. Moreover, a more differentiated epidermal layer was obtained in the skin analogue formed by the sorted fibroblasts, confirming that its whole structure was not affected. Overall, we provide evidence that pre-selection of papillary and reticular fibroblasts is relevant for promoting the in vitro prevascularization of skin TE constructs.The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the Consolidator Grant “ECM_INK” (ERC-2016- COG-726061), to the FSE/POCH (Fundo Social Europeu através do Programa Operacional do Capital Humano) under the scope of the PD/169/2013, NORTE-08-5369-FSE-000037 (H.R. M.)

Human and companion animal proteus mirabilis sharing

Research Areas: MicrobiologyProteus mirabilis is an important pathogen that is associated with urinary tract infections. This study aims to determine the colonization and sharing of P. mirabilis between healthy companion animals and humans that are living together and to evaluate the clonal relatedness of the fecal and clinical stains. Eighteen households (24 humans, 18 dogs, 8 cats) with at least one human–animal pair were studied. Fecal samples were plated onto MacConkey and Hektoen agar and P. mirabilis PFGE analysis (NotI; Dice/UPGMA; 1.5% tolerance) was conducted for the households with multiple positive participants. Antimicrobial-resistance was tested according to CLSI. The fecal P. mirabilis pulse-types were compared with uropathogenic clinical strains (n = 183). Forty-nine P. mirabilis were isolated from eight households. The percentage of colonization in the dogs (44.4%, n = 8/18) was significantly higher (p = 0.0329) than in the humans (12.5%, n = 3/24). Three households had multiple colonized participants. One human–dog pair shared related P. mirabilis strains, which clustered with a clinical strain of animal origin (82.5%). One fecal P. mirabilis strain, from a dog, clustered with two human community-acquired clinical strains (80.9%, 88.9%). To our knowledge, this is the first report of dogs and humans living in close contact and sharing related P. mirabilis strains. The high frequency of colonization in the dogs underlines their possible role as P. mirabilis reservoirs for humans and other dogs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Enrichment of IFN- producing cells in different murine adipose tissue depots upon infection with an apicomplexan parasite.

Here we report that lean mice infected with the intracellular parasite Neospora caninum show a fast but sustained increase in the frequency of IFN-γ-producing cells noticeable in distinct adipose tissue depots. Moreover, IFN-γ-mediated immune memory could be evoked in vitro in parasite antigen-stimulated adipose tissue stromal vascular fraction cells collected from mice infected one year before. Innate or innate-like cells such as NK, NK T and TCRγδ(+) cells, but also CD4(+) and CD8(+) TCRβ(+) lymphocytes contributed to the IFN-γ production observed since day one of infection. This early cytokine production was largely abrogated in IL-12/IL23 p40-deficient mice. Moreover, production of IFN-γ by stromal vascular fraction cells isolated from these mice was markedly lower than that of wild-type counterparts upon stimulation with parasite antigen. In wild-type mice the increased IFN-γ production was concomitant with up-regulated expression of genes encoding interferon-inducible GTPases and nitric oxide synthase, which are important effector molecules in controlling intracellular parasite growth. This increased gene expression was markedly impaired in the p40-deficient mice. Overall, these results show that NK cells but also diverse T cell populations mediate a prompt and widespread production of IFN-γ in the adipose tissue of N. caninum infected mice