Portuguese version of the Swedish Occupational Fatigue Inventory (SOFI) among assembly workers: Cultural adaptation, reliability and validity

Objectives: Reliable and valid instruments are essential for understanding fatigue in occupational settings. This study analyzed the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Swedish Occupational Fatigue Inventory (SOFI). Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 218 workers from an automotive industry involved in assembly tasks for fabrication of mechanical cables. Convergent and discriminant validity, internal consistency reliability and confirmatory factor analysis were performed. Results: Results showed adequate fit to data, yielding a 20-item, 5-factor structure (all intercorrelated): Chi2 /df (ratio Chi2 and degrees of freedom) = 2.530, confirmatory fit index (CFI) = 0.919, goodness of fit index (GFI) = 0.845, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.084. The SOFI presented an adequate internal consistency, with the sub-scales and total scale presenting good reliability values (Cronbach’s α values from 0.742 to 0.903 and 0.943 respectively). Conclusions: Findings suggest that the Portuguese version of the SOFI may be a useful tool to assess fatigue and prevent work-related injuries. In future research, other instruments should be used as an external criterion to correlate with the SOFI dimensions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Local, national and international dialogues

UID/SOC/04647/2013 SFRH/BPD/112462/2015; SFRH/BPD/77611/2011Although the institutionalization of sociology in Portugal was only made possible after the revolution of 1974, it is currently characterized by a remarkable vitality, apparent for instance in the number and diversity of members of the Associação Portuguesa de Sociologia as well as that of participants at its national conferences. However, significant challenges have also emerged, stemming not only from the expansion and diversification of sociologists, but also from the economic crisis, austerity policies, the enlargement of social science specializations, and the pressures in politics and the media to give advantage to business, law and engineering professionals, courses and research. The present paper will be organized in three sections. Firstly, we will analyse the existing courses of sociology in Portugal (at BA, master and PhD level) as well as the regional location, activity sectors and professional positions of those who have graduated in sociology. Secondly, we will discuss the participation of those different profiles in the Associação Portuguesa de Sociologia throughout time and the ongoing efforts to improve such participation. According to Burawoy’s typology, we suggest that, despite some tensions, academic and critical sociologies have been developed and working together in Portugal, but the connection with a large group of applied sociologists has weakened over time. Public sociology may be the missed link to foster a dialogue among sociologists and other sectors of society. Our national association’s current strategy to develop such links will be sketched. Thirdly, we will present a broad overview of the internationalization of Portuguese sociology, through collaboration in projects and networks, especially with Europe and Portuguese-speaking countries like Brazil and Angola.publishersversionpublishe

Influenza severe cases in hospitals, between 2014 and 2016 in Portugal

Rede Portuguesa de Laboratórios para o Diagnóstico da GripeBackground: Since 2009, the Portuguese Laboratory Network (PLNID) for Influenza Diagnosis has integrated 15 Laboratories in mainland and Atlantic Islands of Azores and Madeira. This PLNID added an important contribute to the National Influenza Surveillance Program regarding severe and hospitalized influenza cases. The present study aims to describe influenza viruses detected in influenza like illness (ILI) cases: outpatients (Outp), hospitalized (Hosp), and intensive care units (ICU), between 2014 and 2016. Methods: The PLNID performs influenza virus diagnosis by biomolecular methodologies. Weekly reports to the National Influenza Reference Laboratory ILI cases tested for influenza. Reports include data on detecting viruses, hospital assistance, antiviral therapeutics, and information on death outcome. Were reported during two winter seasons 8059 ILI cases,being 3560 cases in 2014/15 (1024 in Outp, 1750 Hosp, and 606 in ICU) and 4499 cases in 2015/2016 (1933 in Outp, 1826 Hosp, and 740 in ICU). Results: The higher percentage of influenza positive cases were detected in Outp in both seasons, 18% during 2014/15 and 20% in 2015/16. In 2014/15,influenza cases were more frequent in individuals older than 65 years old and these required more hospitalizations,even in ICU. In 2015/16,the influenza cases were mainly detected in individuals between 15-64 years old. A higher proportion of influenza positive cases with hospitalization in ICU were observed in adults between 45-64 years old.During the study period,the predominant circulating influenza viruses were different in the two seasons: influenza B and A(H3) co-circulated in 2014/15,and influenza A(H1)pdm09 was predominant during 2015/16. Even when influenza A is notthe dominant virus, A(H3) and A(H1)pdm09 subtypes correlate with higher detection rate in hospitalized cases (Hosp and UCI), with higher frequencies in adults older than 45. Influenza B,detected in higher proportion in outpatients, was frequently relatedwith influenza cases in younger age groups: 0-4 and 5-14 years old. Conclusions: This study highlights the correlation of theinfluenza virus type/subtype that circulates in each season with the possible need for hospitalization and intensive care in special groups of the population. Circulation of influenza A subtypes can cause more frequentdisease in individuals older than 45, with need of hospitalization including intensive care. On the other hand, influenza B is more frequently associated with less severe cases and with infection in children and younger adults. Influenza B circulation might predict lower number of hospitalizations.The identification of influenza type in circulation,byPLNID ineach season, could guide action planning measures in population health care.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impact of TGF-ß1 -509C/T and 869T/C polymorphisms on glioma risk and patient prognosis

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-ß) plays an important role in carcinogenesis. Two polymorphisms in the TGF-ß1 gene (-509C/T and 869T/C) were described to influence susceptibility to gastric and breast cancers. The 869T/C polymorphism was also associated with overall survival in breast cancer patients. In the present study, we investigated the relevance of these TGF-ß1 polymorphism in glioma risk and prognosis. A case-control study that included 114 glioma patients and 138 cancer-free controls was performed. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were evaluated by polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to calculate odds ratio (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI). The influence of TGF-ß1 -509C/T and 869T/C polymorphisms on glioma patient survival was evaluated by a Cox regression model adjusted for patients' age and sex and represented in Kaplan-Meier curves. Our results demonstrated that TGF-ß1 gene polymorphisms -509C/T and 869T/C are not significantly associated with glioma risk. Survival analyses showed that the homozygous -509TT genotype associates with longer overall survival of glioblastoma (GBM) patients when compared with patients carrying CC + CT genotypes (OR, 2.41; 95 % CI, 1.06-5.50; p = 0.036). In addition, the homozygous 869CC genotype is associated with increased overall survival of GBM patients when compared with 869TT + TC genotypes (OR, 2.62; 95 % CI, 1.11-6.17; p = 0.027). In conclusion, this study suggests that TGF-ß1 -509C/T and 869T/C polymorphisms are not significantly associated with risk for developing gliomas but may be relevant prognostic biomarkers in GBM patients.This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal (PTDC/SAU-GMG/113795/2009 and SFRH/BPD/33612/2009 to B.M.C.; SFRH/BD/88121/2012 to J.V.C.; SFRH/BD/92786/2013 to C.S.G.; PTDC/SAU-ONC/115513/2009 to R.R.)

SARS-CoV-2 introductions and early dynamics of the epidemic in Portugal

Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal was rapidly implemented by the National Institute of Health in the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, in collaboration with more than 50 laboratories distributed nationwide. Methods By applying recent phylodynamic models that allow integration of individual-based travel history, we reconstructed and characterized the spatio-temporal dynamics of SARSCoV-2 introductions and early dissemination in Portugal. Results We detected at least 277 independent SARS-CoV-2 introductions, mostly from European countries (namely the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, and Switzerland), which were consistent with the countries with the highest connectivity with Portugal. Although most introductions were estimated to have occurred during early March 2020, it is likely that SARS-CoV-2 was silently circulating in Portugal throughout February, before the first cases were confirmed. Conclusions Here we conclude that the earlier implementation of measures could have minimized the number of introductions and subsequent virus expansion in Portugal. This study lays the foundation for genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal, and highlights the need for systematic and geographically-representative genomic surveillance.We gratefully acknowledge to Sara Hill and Nuno Faria (University of Oxford) and Joshua Quick and Nick Loman (University of Birmingham) for kindly providing us with the initial sets of Artic Network primers for NGS; Rafael Mamede (MRamirez team, IMM, Lisbon) for developing and sharing a bioinformatics script for sequence curation (https://github.com/rfm-targa/BioinfUtils); Philippe Lemey (KU Leuven) for providing guidance on the implementation of the phylodynamic models; Joshua L. Cherry (National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health) for providing guidance with the subsampling strategies; and all authors, originating and submitting laboratories who have contributed genome data on GISAID (https://www.gisaid.org/) on which part of this research is based. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the view of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government. This study is co-funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Agência de Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica (234_596874175) on behalf of the Research 4 COVID-19 call. Some infrastructural resources used in this study come from the GenomePT project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184), supported by COMPETE 2020 - Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Lisboa Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), Algarve Portugal Regional Operational Programme (CRESC Algarve2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Rede Portuguesa de Laboratórios para o Diagnóstico da Gripe: inverno 2013/2014

A Rede Portuguesa de Laboratórios para o Diagnóstico da Gripe (RPLDG) integra, atualmente, 15 laboratórios maioritariamente hospitalares e é coordenada pelo Laboratório Nacional de Referência para o Vírus da Gripe (LNRVG) do Departamento de Doenças Infecciosas do Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, I.P. A RPLDG realiza o diagnóstico laboratorial do vírus da gripe assim como de outros vírus respiratórios, permitindo um conhecimento mais preciso da etiologia das infeções respiratórias, particularmente em casos hospitalizados de infeção respiratória aguda grave, constituindo um complemento valioso para o PNVG. Os casos de SG provenientes de emergências hospitalares e casos de Infecção Respiratória Aguda Grave, incluindo casos com internamento em unidade de cuidados intensivos, foram notificados pelos laboratórios da Rede ao LNRVG. Dos 15 laboratórios da Rede, 13 notificaram casos de doença respiratória durante a época de 2013/2014. Os dados recolhidos foram inseridos em suporte informático tendo as bases de dados sido agregadas numa base de dados comum submetida a um processo de validação de congruência de dados. Os dados analisados correspondem ao período que decorreu entre a semana 38 de 2013 e a semana 21 de 2014. Foram notificados pelos Laboratórios da Rede um total de 3790 casos de infeção respiratória. O maior número de notificações foi observado no mês de janeiro e fevereiro (semanas 2/2014 a 8/2014), com um pico de ocorrência na semana 4/2014 com a notificação de 454 casos de infeção respiratória. O vírus da gripe foi detetado em 822 casos de infeção respiratória. O vírus influenza A foi identificado em 807 (98,2%) dos casos positivos, destes 403 (49,0%) pertencem ao subtipo A(H1)pdm09, 98 (12,0%) ao subtipo A(H3) e 306 (37,0%) vírus influenza A não foram subtipados. O vírus influenza B foi detetado em 14 (2,0%) casos. Foi identificada 1 infecção mista por vírus influenza A(H1)pdm09 e A(H3) (0,1%). A maior percentagem de casos de gripe foi observada em indivíduos entre os 15 e os 64 anos sendo o vírus influenza A(H1)pdm09 o predominantemente detetado. Nas crianças com menos de 4 anos o vírus influenza foi detetado numa proporção reduzida, apenas em 8,8% dos casos analisados laboratorialmente, sendo o agente mais detetado neste grupo etário, o vírus sincicial respiratório (dados não mostrados). A Rede Portuguesa de Laboratórios para o Diagnóstico da Gripe permitiu a deteção dos vírus da gripe em meio hospitalar, incluindo doentes em internamento e UCI. Os vírus influenza A foram predominantes e detetados em maior percentagem nos jovens e adultos

The impact of surgical delay on resectability of colorectal cancer: An international prospective cohort study

AIM: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to explore the impact of surgical delays on cancer resectability. This study aimed to compare resectability for colorectal cancer patients undergoing delayed versus non-delayed surgery. METHODS: This was an international prospective cohort study of consecutive colorectal cancer patients with a decision for curative surgery (January-April 2020). Surgical delay was defined as an operation taking place more than 4 weeks after treatment decision, in a patient who did not receive neoadjuvant therapy. A subgroup analysis explored the effects of delay in elective patients only. The impact of longer delays was explored in a sensitivity analysis. The primary outcome was complete resection, defined as curative resection with an R0 margin. RESULTS: Overall, 5453 patients from 304 hospitals in 47 countries were included, of whom 6.6% (358/5453) did not receive their planned operation. Of the 4304 operated patients without neoadjuvant therapy, 40.5% (1744/4304) were delayed beyond 4 weeks. Delayed patients were more likely to be older, men, more comorbid, have higher body mass index and have rectal cancer and early stage disease. Delayed patients had higher unadjusted rates of complete resection (93.7% vs. 91.9%, P = 0.032) and lower rates of emergency surgery (4.5% vs. 22.5%, P < 0.001). After adjustment, delay was not associated with a lower rate of complete resection (OR 1.18, 95% CI 0.90-1.55, P = 0.224), which was consistent in elective patients only (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.69-1.27, P = 0.672). Longer delays were not associated with poorer outcomes. CONCLUSION: One in 15 colorectal cancer patients did not receive their planned operation during the first wave of COVID-19. Surgical delay did not appear to compromise resectability, raising the hypothesis that any reduction in long-term survival attributable to delays is likely to be due to micro-metastatic disease

Síntese de nanopartículas superparamagnéticas de sílica mesoporosa para mediar estratégias antitumorais

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Engenharia Química apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências e TecnologiaO objetivo do presente trabalho é a obtenção de partículas com um core superparamagnético, constituído por óxido de ferro, e uma shell mesoporosa de sílica. Conjugando as propriedades magnéticas com a mesoporosidade destas nanopartículas, estas apresentam potencial para serem utilizadas para entrega magneticamente controlada de fármacos antitumorais, bem como em outras áreas da biomedicina.Neste trabalho, três tipos de nanopartículas foram sintetizadas: IO-OAm/mSiO2, IO-APTES/mSiO2 e IO/SiO2/mSiO2. Nas duas primeiras, o óxido de ferro (IO) for produzido por decomposição térmica, ficando com uma camada protetora de oleilamina (OAm). Estes dois tipos de nanopartículas diferem apenas no método utilizado para transferir o óxido de ferro para a fase aquosa antes da reação sol-gel em que se obtém a shell de sílica mesoporosa (mSiO2): no caso de IO-OAm/mSiO2, foi utilizado um surfatante, enquanto que, no caso de IO-APTES/mSiO2, as moléculas de OAm foram substituídas por aminopropiltrietóxissilano (APTES). Por fim, no caso de IO/SiO2/mSiO2, as nanopartículas de óxido de ferro foram sintetizadas por microemulsão e uma shell de sílica não porosa (SiO2) foi obtida para proteger o óxido de ferro de oxidação, antes de se obter a shell de sílica mesoporosa (mSiO2).As nanopartículas sintetizadas foram caracterizadas quanto às suas propriedades físicas, químicas e magnéticas. Para além disso, para avaliar o seu potencial para mediar estratégias antitumorais, foram também testadas quanto ao encapsulamento e libertação de epirrubicina, um fármaco modelo para o tratamento de cancro.A presença de óxido de ferro e sílica foi confirmada por FTIR e EDS. Por outro lado, a caracterização das nanopartículas por TEM e SEM permitiu a determinação do seu tamanho. Enquanto as nanopartículas IO-OAm/mSiO2 e IO-APTES/mSiO2 tinham um tamanho médio de 61.3±12.3 nm e 32.9±5.6 nm, as partículas IO/SiO2/mSiO2 tinham um tamanho muito superior, com um diâmetro médio de 371.6±159.4 nm. As imagens obtidas por TEM permitiram também confirmar a existência de porosidade nos três tipos de partículas sintetizadas.A análise de VSM revelou que todas as partículas sintetizadas tinham comportamento superparamagnético a 300 K. Para além disso, mostrou também que a magnetização de saturação das nanopartículas diminuiu consideravelment em comparação com os cores de óxido de ferro produzidos por decomposição térmica, tendo-se obtido 4.0 e 1.8 emu.g-1 para as nanopartículas IO-OAm/mSiO2 and IO-APTES/mSiO2, respetivamente. Esta diminuição não foi tão significativa no caso do óxido de ferro produzido por microemulsão e das partículas IO/SiO2/mSiO2, que tinham uma magnetização de saturação de 10.2 emu.g-1. O estudo do potencial destas nanopartículas para aplicação como veículos de entrega de fármacos levou a resultados promissores. O encapsulamento de epirrubicina, dado pelo loading content, foi 3.06±0.22, 3.31±0.87 e 3.37±0.11%, para IO-OAm/mSiO2, IO-APTES/mSiO2 e IO/SiO2/mSiO2, respetivamente, o que está de acordo com os valores encontrados na literatura. A libertação do fármaco encapsulado nestas nanopartículas foi estudada durante 48 horas numa solução de tampão fosfato-salino (PBS) a pH=7.4 e levou à libertação de 19.0±2.8, 23.6±5.6 e 31.6±3.3%, respetivamente. Os valores obtidos para a libertação foram superiores aos encontrados na literatura para fármacos semelhantes. Assim, os bons resultados obtidos, tanto no encapsulamento como na libertação, confirmam a aplicabilidade destas nanopartículas na entrega de fármacos. Adicionalmente, os perfis de libertação foram ainda modelados com o modelo de Korsmeyer-Peppas, levando a valores de n mais pequenos que o limite inferior estabelecido pelo modelo (0.221, 0.288 e 0.187, respetivamente), o que está de acordo com outros valores de n encontrados na literatura para nanopartículas.The aim of the present thesis is to obtain nanoparticles with a superparamagnetic core, made of iron oxide, and a mesoporous shell, made of silica. Combining the magnetic properties and the mesoporosity of these nanoparticles, they can potentially be used for magnetically targeted delivery of antitumour drugs, as well as in other areas of biomedicine.In this work, three different types of nanoparticles were obtained: IO-OAm/mSiO2, IO-APTES/mSiO2 and IO/SiO2/mSiO2. In the first two, iron oxide (IO) was obtained by thermal decomposition, being this phase coated with oleylamine (OAm). These two types of nanoparticles differ only in the method to transfer iron oxide into water before the sol-gel reaction to obtain the mesoporous silica shell (mSiO2): while for IO-OAm/mSiO2 a surfactant was used, for IO-APTES/mSiO2 the OAm molecules were exchanged with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES). Finally, in the case of IO/SiO2/mSiO2, iron oxide nanoparticles were obtained by microemulsion and a non-porous silica shell (SiO2) was first formed to protect iron oxide from oxidation, before the mesoporous silica shell was obtained (mSiO2).The synthesised nanoparticles were characterized in terms of their physical, chemical and magnetic properties. Additionally, in order to assess their potential to mediate antitumour strategies, they were tested in loading and release of epirubicin, a model anticancer drug.The presence of iron oxide and silica in the nanoparticles was confirmed by FTIR and EDS. On the other hand, the characterization of the synthesised nanoparticles by TEM and SEM led to the determination of their size. While IO-OAm/mSiO2 and IO-APTES/mSiO2 had an average size of 61.3±12.3 nm and 32.9±5.6 nm, the IO/SiO2/mSiO2 were much bigger, having a mean diameter of 371.6±159.4 nm. The TEM images of the synthesised nanoparticles also confirmed the existence of porosity in the three types of nanoparticles.VSM analysis showed that all the synthesised particles had superparamagnetic behaviour at 300 K. Furthermore, it also showed that the saturation magnetization of the synthesised nanoparticles decreased considerably in comparison with the iron oxide cores produced by thermal decomposition, leading to 4.0 and 1.8 emu.g-1 for the IO-OAm/mSiO2 and IO-APTES/mSiO2 nanoparticles, respectively. This decrease was not as significant in the case of iron oxide obtained by microemulsion and the IO/SiO2/mSiO2 particles, which had a saturation magnetization of 10.2 emu.g-1. The potential application of these nanoparticles as drug carriers led to promising results. The loading content of epirubicin was 3.06±0.22, 3.31±0.87 and 3.37±0.11% for IO-OAm/mSiO2, IO-APTES/mSiO2 and IO/SiO2/mSiO2, respectively, which is in accordance with the results found in the literature. The release of the loaded drug from these nanoparticles was studied for 48 hours in a solution of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) at pH=7.4 and led to the release of 19.0±2.8, 23.6±5.6 and 31.6±3.3%, respectively. The values obtained for the release were higher than those found in the literature for similar drugs. Therefore, the good results obtained both in loading and release confirm the applicability of these nanoparticles for drug delivery. Additionally, the release profiles were also modelled with the Korsmeyer-Peppas model, leading to n values smaller than the lower limit established by the model (0.221, 0.288 and 0.187, respectively), which agrees with other n values found in the literature for nanoparticles

Simultaneous Monitoring of Outdoor PAHs and Particles in a French Peri-Urban Site during COVID Restrictions and the Winter Saharan Dust Event

International audienceThe presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and particulate matter (PM) in air is known to provoke deleterious effects on human health. This work focused on the monitoring of PM and PAHs in the air over four weeks in a peri-urban site in Strasbourg (France), using a three-stage cascade impactor and a particle analyser allowing PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 discrimination. Meteorological conditions were monitored to study their influence on the pollutant levels. The average PM10 concentration of the cascade impactor and particle analyser varied from 11.8 to 80.2 µg/m3 and 10.6 to 220.2 µg/m3, respectively. The PAH total concentration ranged in 1.1–7.6 ng/m3 and a predominance of 5- and 6-ring PAHs was observed. PAHs were also more abundant in finer particles (PM1). Specifically, identified PAHs are traffic tracers suggesting that vehicular emission was one of its main sources. Two pollution episodes, associated with either a Saharan dust wind episode or traffic pollution, were observed, and led to PM10 and PM2.5 surpassing the daily limit values established by the European Union despite the traffic limitations according to the COVID restrictions. The total PAH concentrations were the highest during these periods suggesting PAHs might be bound to and transported via dust particles