Study of the Risk of Ankle Injury During Impact on the Ground and Definition of Support Orthoses

This work studies the effect of different orthoses on preventing injuries in the ankle-foot joint. It was carried out using OpenSim and the available ankle-foot musculoskeletal model and AFO orthoses models. The motion situation assessed is related to placing the foot on the ground. It is also analyzed how a passive ankle-foot orthosis, muscles reflexes and muscle coactivation influence the risk of injury, namely during ankle inversion. Results indicate that muscle coactivation and the use of an AFO can reduce injury risk. Thus, an average stiffness AFO is best suited for preventing ankle injuries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Interfollicular epidermal stem cells: boosting and rescuing from adult skin

Publicado na série "Methods in Molecular Biology", vol. 989 (2013), ISSN 1064-3745Epidermal stem cells isolation struggle remains, mainly due to the yet essential requirement of well-defined approaches and markers. The herein proposed methodology integrates an assemblage of strategies to accomplish the enrichment of the interfollicular epidermal stem cells multipotent fraction and their subsequent separation from the remaining primary human keratinocytes culture. Those include rapid adherence of freshly isolated human keratinocytes to collagen type IV through the β 1-integrin ligand and Rho- Associated Protein Kinase Inhibitor Y- 27632 administration to the cultures, followed by an immunomagnetic separation to obtain populations based in the combined CD49f bri /CD71 dim expression. Flow cytometry is the supporting method to analyze the effect of the treatments over the expression rate of early epidermal markers keratins19/5/14 and in correlation to CD49f bri /CD71 dim subpopulations. The stepby- step methodology herein described indulges the boosting and consecutive puri fi cation and separation of interfollicular epidermal stem cells from human keratinocytes cultures.(undefined

Skin Tissue Models

Skin Tissue Models provides a translational link for biomedical researchers on the interdisciplinary approaches to skin regeneration. As the skin is the largest organ in the body, engineered substitutes have critical medical application to patients with disease and injury - from burn wounds and surgical scars, to vitiligo, psoriasis and even plastic surgery. This volume offers readers preliminary description of the normal structure and function of mammalian skin, exposure to clinical problems and disease, coverage of potential therapeutic molecules and testing, skin substitutes, models as study platforms of skin biology and emerging technologies. The editors have created a table of contents which frames the relevance of skin tissue models for researchers as platforms to study skin biology and therapeutic approaches for different skin diseases, for clinicians as tissue substitutes, and for cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries as alternative test substrates that can replace animal models. Offers descriptions of the normal structure/function of mammalian skin, exposure to clinical problems, and more Presents coverage of skin diseases (cancer, genodermatoses, vitiligo and psoriasis) that extends to clinical requirements and skin diseases in vitro models Addresses legal requirements and ethical concerns in drugs and cosmetics in vitro testing Edited and authored by internationally renowned group of researchers, presenting the broadest coverage possible. © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Development and characterization of osteogenic cell sheets in an in vivo model

[Excerpt] Despite some successes in the tissue engineering field its evolution seems to be tampered by limitations such as cell sourcing and the lack of adequate scaffolds to support cell growth and differentiation. The use of stem cells combined with cell sheet engineering technology seems a promising way to overcome these limitations. In this work bone marrow cells were flushed from 3 weeks old Wistar rat femurs and cultured in basal DMEM medium until subconfluence. Cells were then transferred to thermo-responsive dishes (3 x10⁵ cells/dish) and cultured for 3 weeks in osteogenic medium. [...]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects Of A Physical Exercise Program In Patients Diagnosed With Schizophrenia

Objectives: To report the effects of a pilot physical exercise program on the quality of life, physical capacity, psychopathological symptoms, body constitution and biochemical parameters in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: In October 2013, a protocol was established between the Sports Department of the University of Évora and the Mental Health Department of Espírito Santo Hospital. A pilot study was initiated to promote physical and psychological rehabilitation of schizophrenic outpatients. Ten patients accepted to participate on the present research. The exercise program consisted of 20 training sessions with 60 minutes each, within a 20-week period. All sessions were supervised by a professional on physical activity. Baseline data were collected prior to intervention and include: a) quality of life assessed with the Functional Assessment Staging Scale, with the Brief Symptom Inventory and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale b) health related battery of tests; c) body composition with a DXA; d) blood analysis. The same data will be collected by the end of the intervention (June 2014). Initial and final results will be then correlated and used to investigate associations among quantitative independent variables. Results: By the end of the program (June 2014) it is expected for the participants to show an improvement in physical performance, body composition and the reduction of cardiovascular risk. Concerning psychopathological features, it is expected an improvement in Quality of Life and Functional Assessment, a significant decrease in the Brief Symptom Inventory and in the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale. Conclusions: Schizophrenia is a disease with serious physical repercussions, caused not only by the disease itself but also because of antipsychotics side effects. This pilot physical exercise program, despite its methodological limitations, emphasized the relevance of including serious mentally ill patients in rehabilitation programs in order to promote the recovery of functional abilities

Functional cell microcarriers: a new platform for cell separation and expansion

Publicado em "Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine", vol. 7, supp. 1 (2013)The success of many stem cell applications in the biomedical field is highly dependent on the development of separation techniques for isolation and purification of cells with a very high yield and purity. Despite all the achievements made in the field over the past several years, new systems for effective cell separation are still needed. Previous work from our group demonstrated that functional chitosan films grafted with antibodies promote selective cell adhesion. 1 Herein we developed chitosan microparticles able to capture a specific cell types based in the concept of antibody coating for cell sorting. Our goal was to create new biomaterial surfaces capable of recruit a specific cell population within a mixture, reducing cell manipulation and time-consuming allowing at the same time cell expansion. Such system acts as a microcarrier for cell expansion of a specific cell target. Microcarrier culture system offers the advantage of providing a larger surface area for the growth of anchorage-dependent cells in a suspension culture system. Chitosan was chosen due to the excellent biocompatibility, gel forming properties, chemistry surface and low cell adhesion. This allows the modification with specific biochemical cues, for a controllable cell attachment. Here we develop functional biotinylated microparticles, such system allows tailoring microparticles to a variety of functional biomolecules. Here we tested the immobilization of antibodies to target specific cell types, CD31 for endothelial cells and CD90 for adipose stem cells. Primarily designed for an application in tissue engineering, two main challenges are accomplished with the herein presented microparticles: separation and scale-up expansion of specific cell type. The herein developed polymeric microparticles can also be used for directly deliver cells in vivo to repair and regenerate tissues

Functional chitosan microcarriers for selective cell attachment and expansion

The success of many stem cell applications in the biomedical field is highly dependent on the development of reliable techniques either for isolation or selection of specific cell populations with a very high yield and purity.1 In this work we propose the use of chitosan microparticles (μPs) to capture a specific cell type based in the concept of antibody-antigen binding. Our goal was to create new biomaterials capable of selecting within a heterotypic cell suspension, a specific sub-population, and supporting subsequent cell expansion. Such system simultaneously allows the selection and acts as a microcarrier for a specific target, thus reducing cell manipulation and time-consumption