Intervenção precoce em Portugal : evidências e consequências

Neste artigo, enquadraremos um Estudo de Investigação Nacional sobre a Avaliação das Práticas Centradas na Família nos Projectos de Intervenção Precoce em Portugal (continente e ilhas), bem como os seus principais resultados e respectivas recomendações

Data quality in biofilm high-throughput routine analysis: intralaboratory protocol adaptation and experiment reproducibility

Biofilm research is growing more diverse and dependent on high-throughput technologies and the large-scale production of results aggravates data substantiation. In particular, it is often the case that experimental protocols are adapted to meet the needs of a particular laboratory and no statistical validation of the modified method is provided. This paper discusses the impact of intra-laboratory adaptation and non-rigorous documentation of experimental protocols on biofilm data interchange and validation. The case study is a non-standard, but widely used, workflow for Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm development, considering three analysis assays: the crystal violet (CV) assay for biomass quantification, the XTT assay for respiratory activity assessment, and the colony forming units (CFU) assay for determination of cell viability. The ruggedness of the protocol was assessed by introducing small changes in the biofilm growth conditions, which simulate minor protocol adaptations and non-rigorous protocol documentation. Results show that even minor variations in the biofilm growth conditions may affect the results considerably, and that the biofilm analysis assays lack repeatability. Intra-laboratory validation of non-standard protocols is found critical to ensure data quality and enable the comparison of results within and among laboratories.We thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit. The authors also acknowledge the support by FCT and the European Community fund FEDER, through Program COMPETE, under the scope of the Projects AntiPep PTDC/SAU-SAP/113196/2009 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-016012), RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462), the Projects "BioHealth-Biotechnology and Bioengineering approaches to improve health quality," NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000027, co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2-O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER, and the Agrupamento INBIOMED from DXPCTSUG-FEDER unha maneira de facer Europa (2012/273). The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme FP7/REGPOT-2012-2013.1 under grant agreement No. 316265, BIOCAPS. This document reflects only the author's views, and the European Union is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein. The authors also acknowledge the Ph.D. Grant of Paula Jorge, Ref. SFRH/BD/88192/2012

Antimicrobial combination therapies : a network perspective

The growing number of resistant strains and biofilm-related infections emerging in healthcare settings and in the general community is a major biomedical concern. Currently, antimicrobial studies are revisiting the potential of old products and looking for new products with alternative modes of action. Most notably, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are receiving a lot of attention because of the widespread availability, multiple mechanisms of action, non-specific molecular targets, and anti-biofilm capabilities. Considering that most of the results obtained in these studies lay in scientific literature, and manual curation is time and resource consuming, the development of bioinformatics approaches for the systematic screening of the literature is of obvious interest. In particular, the reconstruction of drug interaction networks reflecting in vitro and in vivo results is considered useful to identify the most promising candidates for the development of alternative antimicrobial therapies, such as antimicrobial combinations. Such networks can aid in profiling and interpreting the activity of AMPs and the added value of antimicrobial combinations, and thus, help exploit their potential. As a first contribution to this line of analysis, this work presents a novel network reconstruction for results obtained by AMP-drug combinations in fighting Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. This network contains information about strains, combination methodologies, mode of growth, compound description (with drug and AMP database cross-linking) and quantification values (MICs, FICs, log reduction, etc.). So far, the network comprises 239 combinations, such that 83 % of the interactions pair an AMP with a non-AMP compound (antibiotics, enzymes, etc.), mainly traditional antibiotics. The majority (82 %) of the studies focused on the use of combinations on planktonic cells, and surprisingly enough, only 3 % of the studies tested the combination in biofilms. Furthermore, the network is dominated by a small number of highly connected nodes, namely the peptides colistin and polimyxin B. These are the products that are more often tested in antimicrobial combinations. The network is publicly available, and may be further explore using graph-based analysis tools. Hopefully, this will be a valuable resource to the design of new experiments, unveiling different mechanisms of action and helping in the prediction of new combinations

A supervisão das práticas de autoavaliação na aplicação do modelo CAF

Dissertação de Mestrado em Supervisão Pedagógica apresentada à Universidade AbertaA autoavaliação das escolas tem vindo a assumir um papel de destaque no discurso educativo, dos últimos tempos, associada a uma obrigação, no cumprimento de normativos, a uma prestação de contas à sociedade e como uma necessidade interna das escolas para a sua autorregulação. Através de uma recolha e tratamento da informação, efetuada de forma sistemática, a autoavaliação proporciona uma tomada de consciência dos níveis de eficiência e eficácia, criando condições para uma reflexão, no interior da escola, capaz de ajudar na tomada de decisões de carácter pedagógico, administrativo e organizacional e de uma mudança, no sentido da melhoria. Assim entendida a autoavaliação converge com os objetivos de uma supervisão promotora do desenvolvimento individual e organizacional da escola e dos seus atores, capazes de desenvolver uma participação e responsabilização coletiva, no âmbito da autonomia. Com o presente estudo, centrado na forma como foi implementado o modelo de avaliação Common Assessment Framework [CAF], num Agrupamento de Escolas da Direção Regional de Educação do Norte, pretendemos, num olhar supervisivo, compreender o processo seguido, no ano letivo de 2008/2009, no desenvolvimento da sua autoavaliação, contribuindo para promover uma reflexão junto de todos os atores educativos e eventualmente gerar mudanças nas práticas. Para tal, no nosso estudo, adotou-se uma metodologia de carácter qualitativo, com um design de estudo de caso, recorrendo-se à análise documental, à entrevista e às notas de campo, como técnicas de recolha de dados. Da análise da implementação da CAF pudemos identificar a presença de alguns aspetos congruentes com o preconizado pelo modelo – a constituição de uma equipa e de várias subequipas, com os respetivos coordenador e líderes, a escala de pontuação utilizada –, e a ausência de outros – nomeadamente dos planos de melhoria e de comunicação, formação dos membros das equipas, envolvimento de toda a comunidade educativa.Schools self-assessment has been assuming recently a prominent role in the educational discourse, associated to an obligation, in the normative fulfillment, to social accountability and as an internal need of schools for its regulation. Through a collection and treatment of information, done systematically, self- assessment provides an awareness of efficiency and effectiveness levels, creating conditions for a reflection inside the school which helps pedagogical, administrative and organizational decisions and can change things for the best considering self-assessment this way, it leads to the aims of a supervision of the individual development, school organization and of its stakeholders, capable of developing a collective participation and responsibility in their autonomy. With this study, focused in the form as it was implemented the model of assessment CAF Common Assessment Framework [CAF], in the Agrupamento de Escolas da Direção Regional de Educação do Norte, we intend, in a supervision angle, understand the process followed, during the 2008/2009 schoolyear, contributing to promote a reflexion among all the educational stakeholders and eventually generate practice changes. For this, in our study, we adopted a qualitative methodology with a design of a case’s study using a documental analysis, interviews and field notes, as data collection techniques. From Caf implementation analysis we could identify the presence of some congruent aspects with the previewed model – the establishment of a team and of several sub-teams, with its respective coordinator and leaders, the punctuation scale used- and the absence of others – namely the improvement and communication formation of the team members, and the unvolvement of the whole school community

Pupils with intellectual disabilities : expectations, perspectives and inclusive education practices for a transition to adulthood

This future research is related to the preparation for school-to-work transition and adulthood of students with intellectual disabilities who are attending the ninth grade in regular public schools in the north of Portugal. Therefore, in this paper we will present the design which was developed in order to conduct this research

Perspectivas e práticas educacionais e sociais inclusivas e transição para a vida activa de jovens com problemas intelectuais

O presente poster versa a apresentação do projecto de doutoramento em curso: Expectativas, Perspectivas e Práticas Educacionais Inclusivas e Transição para a Vida Activa de alunos com Problemas Intelectuais. O seu enfoque ilustrará as realizações dos participantes, alunos com problemas intelectuais, quanto às práticas educativas que auferem, ao Plano Individual de Transição que desenvolvem e às suas perspectivas e expectativas educativas e de futuro

Antimicrobial peptide combinations against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus

Today, we are facing a major challenge regarding the development of new strategies and the discovery of new compounds with effective antimicrobial outcomes. The emergence of resistance is a preoccupant health threat and conventional antibiotics are being rendered ineffective. Researchers are now focusing in alternatives, such as the discovery of new antimicrobials with different modes of action, and the combination of agents potentiating their efficacy. AMPs are an example of new antimicrobials with promising applications, since they have different and sometimes unspecific mechanisms of action compared to traditional antibiotics, reducing the chance of acquired resistance. This work analyses AMP combinations against major pathogenic bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, currently great contributors for resistance development and responsible for chronic infections, such as cystic fibrosis pneumonia. We present a screening of combinations of colistin with temporin A, citropin 1.1, tachyplesin I, lactoferricin B, magainin II and G10KHc, against these pathogens, including references and clinical isolate strains. Results show that most combinations have synergetic activities, which means that AMP combinations should be a viable way for the development of new antimicrobial treatments, thus reducing their toxicity and side effects, while maintaining efficacy. Some of the best combinations will be tested on biofilms of these bacteria, in order to test their prophylactic and therapeutic action against this different and more resilient mode of growth

Benefits of manual therapy in temporomandibular joint dysfunction treatment

Poster presented at the 2nd International Congress of CiiEM - Translational Research and Innovation in Human and Health Science. 11-13 June, 2017, Campus Egas Moniz, Monte de Caparica, PortugalN/

Anti-biofilm peptide combinations in the eradication of pre-established biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus

The emergence of resistance is a preoccupant health threat and the development of new strategies and the use of novel compounds are in demand. Specifically, biofilm infections are a serious threat, causing chronic, nosocomial and biomaterial related infections, being related to dissemination of antibiotic resistance. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus are great developers of resistance and their ability to form biofilms makes them responsible for severe chronic infections. In this work, we associated the use of novel compounds antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with a combination strategy. The AMP/antibiotic colistin was combined with three other AMPs (linear tachyplesin I; temporin A; citropin 1.1). Previous results showed the ability of these AMPs to combine synergistically against these bacteria. Here, we test these combinations against single pre-established biofilms and the results show promise. Currently, we are testing these combinations on mixed biofilms to assess their use in polymicrobial infections