Contribuciones a la adaptación ante la aparición de una situación de trastorno neurocognitivo en la familia

Background: The family is the main resource of patients, and family members take on the role of family caregivers. Objective: To identify the variables influencing the impact of a neurocognitive disorder (NCD) on family members and characterize the caregivers of people living with a NCD. Methodology: Quantitative, descriptive, and correlational study with a sample of 262 family members of people living with a NCD. Results: Caregivers revealed an association between the emotional dimension (r = 0.526; n = 102; p < 0.01), economic dimension (r = 0.292; n = 102; p < 0.01), support-seeking (r = 0.279; n = 102; p < 0.01), the healthcare-seeking dimension (r = 0.375; n = 102; p < 0.01) and a higher perceived burden. Among family members, the greater the impact of perceived family relations, the greater the perceived social support (r = 0.219; n = 104; p < 0.05); the greater the emotional impact, the greater the need to seek support (r = 0.303; n = 104; p < 0.01); and the greater the perceived impact on the economic dimension, the greater the need to seek support (r = 0.319; n = 104; p < 0.01). Conclusion: The family’s functioning, the patient’s level of dependence, the education level, the gender, and the degree of kinship seem to influence family adaptation.Enquadramento: A família é o principal recurso da pessoa que adoece, assumindo-se, os seus constituintes, como cuidadores familiares. Objetivo: Identificar as variáveis que influenciam o impacto da perturbação neurocognitiva nos familiares e caracterizar os cuidadores de pessoas com PNC. Metodologia: Estudo quantitativo, descritivo e correlacional, com 262 familiares de pessoas com perturbação neurocognitiva. Resultados: Os cuidadores evidenciam uma associação entre as dimensões impacto emocional (r = 0,526; n = 102; p < 0,01), económica (r = 0,292; n = 102; p < 0,01), procura de suporte (r = 0,279; n = 102; p < 0,01), prestação de cuidados (r = 0,375; n = 102; p < 0,01) com maior sobrecarga percecionada. Entre os membros da família, quanto maior o impacto das relações familiares percebidas, maior o suporte social percebido (r = 0,219; n = 104; p < 0,05); quanto maior o impacto emocional, maior a necessidade de procura de suporte (r = 0,303; n = 104; p < 0,01); e quanto maior o impacto percebido na dimensão económica, maior a necessidade de procura de suporte (r = 0,319; n = 104; p < 0,01). Conclusão: O grau de funcionalidade da família, a dependência da pessoa cuidada, a escolaridade, o género e o grau de parentesco parecem ter influência na adaptação das famílias.Marco contextual: La familia es el principal recurso de la persona que cae enferma y sus miembros se consideran cuidadores familiares. Objetivo: Identificar las variables que influyen en el impacto del trastorno neurocognitivo en los familiares y caracterizar a los cuidadores de personas con PNC. Metodología: Estudio cuantitativo, descriptivo y correlacional, con 262 familiares de personas con trastorno neurocognitivo. Resultados: Los cuidadores observan una asociación entre las dimensiones impacto emocional (r = 0,526, n = 102, p < 0,01), económica (r = 0,292, n = 102, p < 0,01), búsqueda de apoyo (r = 0,279, n = 102, p < 0,01), prestación de cuidados (r = 0,375, n = 102, p < 0,01) con una mayor carga percibida. Entre los miembros de la familia, cuanto mayor es el impacto de las relaciones familiares percibidas, mayor es el apoyo social percibido (r = 0,219, n = 104, p < 0,05); cuanto mayor es el impacto emocional, mayor es la necesidad de buscar apoyo (r = 0,303, n = 104, p < 0,01), y cuanto mayor es el impacto percibido en la dimensión económica, mayor es la necesidad de buscar apoyo (r = 0,319, n = 104, p < 0,01). Conclusión: El grado de funcionalidad de la familia, la dependencia de la persona cuidada, la educación, el género y el grado de parentesco parecen influir en la adaptación de las familias.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Validación de encuesta de evaluación del impacto de la demencia en la familia

Objective: To validate a questionnaire to assess the impact of dementia on one of the household members. Methods: Methodological study. The instrument was designed based on literature review, expert opinion, and researchers’ experience and then applied to a non-probability convenience sample consisting of 262 family members who live daily with a person with dementia. The construct validity was studied by exploratory factor analysis, principal components method, with varimax rotation of the items. Results: An instrument with 30 items was obtained, distributed in four dimensions: “Emotional dimension,” “Economic dimension,” “Family relations dimension,” and “Support-seeking dimension.” Factor analysis revealed a total explained variance of 54.96% and a total Cronbach’s alpha of .899. Conclusions: The instrument presents high internal consistency, grouped into four dimensions, all closely related to the family’s adaptation to the onset of dementia in one of its members.Objetivo: Validar um questionário de avaliação do impacto da demência num dos membros do agregado familiar. Métodos: Estudo metodológico. O instrumento foi construído, com base na revisão da literatura, na opinião de peritos e na experiência dos investigadores. Foi aplicado a uma amostra não probabilística de conveniência constituída por 262 familiares de pessoas que coabitam diariamente com a pessoa com demência. A validade de constructo foi estudada pela análise fatorial exploratória, método dos componentes principais, com rotação varimax dos itens. Resultados: Obteve-se um instrumento com 30 itens distribuídos por quatro dimensões “Dimensão emocional”, “Dimensão económica”, “Dimensão relações familiares” e “Dimensão procura de suporte”. A análise fatorial revelou uma variância explicada total de 54,96% e um alfa de Cronbach total de ,899. Conclusões: O instrumento apresenta uma consistência interna elevada agrupando-se em quatro dimensões, todas elas intimamente ligadas à adaptação da família ao aparecimento da demência num dos seus membros.Objetivo: Validar encuesta de evaluación del impacto de la demencia en uno de los miembros del agregado familiar. Métodos: Estudio metodológico. El instrumento fue construido basado en la revisión de la literatura, opinión de peritos y experiencia de los investigadores y, en seguida, aplicado a una muestra no probabilística de conveniencia constituida por 262 familiares que cohabitan diariamente con una persona con demencia. La validez de constructo fue estudiada por análisis factorial exploratorio, método de los componentes principales, con rotación varimax de los ítems. Resultados: Obtuvo un instrumento con 30 ítems, distribuidos en cuatro dimensiones: “Emocional”, “Económica”, “Relaciones familiares” y “Búsqueda de soporte”. El análisis factorial reveló variancia explicada total de 54.96% y alfa de Cronbach total de .899. Conclusiones: El instrumento presenta consistencia interna elevada agrupándose en cuatro dimensiones, todas íntimamente relacionadas a la adaptación de la familia delante el aparecimiento de la demencia en uno de sus miembros.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Bienestar psicológico y afrontamiento (coping) en estudiantes de enfermería durante la cuarentena por la COVID-19

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has brought about changes in the lives of higher education students that may influence their psychological well-being. Objective: To analyze the association between nursing students’ coping strategies and their psychological well-being during the COVID-19 quarantine. Methodology: Cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational study using a convenience sample of 136 students. Data were collected online using the Portuguese version of the Échelle de Mesure des Mani-festations du Bien-être Psychologique and the Brief COPE. Results: Students in the last years of their undergraduate studies used the instrumental support (p = 0.015) and emotional support (p = 0.009) coping strategies more often and had higher levels of psychological well-being (p = 0.012). Psychological well-being is associated with household income changes (p = 0.024), as well as with religion (r = 0.36; p ≤ 0.01), positive reframing (r = 0.47; p ≤ 0.01), and humor (r = 0.37; p ≤ 0.01) coping strategies. Conclusion: Students’ coping strategies seem to be associated with their psychological well-being during the COVID-19 quarantine.Enquadramento: A crise pandémica da COVID-19 acarretou mudanças na vida académica dos estudantes do ensino superior, o que poderá afetar o seu bem-estar psicológico. Objetivo: Analisar a relação entre estratégias de coping utilizadas e o bem-estar psicológico em estudantes de enfermagem durante a quarentena pela COVID-19. Metodologia: Estudo transversal, descritivo-correlacional, utilizando uma amostra de 136 estudantes. Colheita de dados online, com recurso à Escala de Medida de Manifestação de Bem-estar Psicológico e à Brief COPE. Resultados: Os estudantes dos últimos anos de curso utilizam mais frequentemente a estratégia de coping suporte instrumental (p = 0,015) e emocional (p = 0,009), apresentam ainda, maiores níveis de bem-estar psicológico (p = 0,012). As alterações no rendimento familiar estão associadas ao bem-estar psicológico (p = 0,024), assim como as estratégias de coping religião (r = 0,36; p ≤ 0,01), reinterpretação positiva (r = 0,47; p ≤ 0,01) e humor (r = 0,37; p ≤ 0,01). Conclusão: As estratégias de coping adotadas pelos estudantes parecem estar relacionadas com o bem- -estar psicológico durante a quarentena.Marco contextual: La crisis provocada por la pandemia de la COVID-19 produjo cambios en la vida académica de los estudiantes de educación superior, que pueden afectar su bienestar psicológico. Objetivo: Analizar la relación entre las estrategias de afrontamiento utilizadas y el bienestar psicológico en estudiantes de enfermería durante la cuarentena por la COVID-19. Metodología: Estudio transversal, descriptivo-correlacional, con una muestra de 136 estudiantes. La recopilación de datos se realizó en línea mediante la Escala de Medición de la Manifestación del Bienestar Psicológico y el Brief COPE. Resultados: Los estudiantes de los últimos cursos utilizan con más frecuencia la estrategia de afrontamiento apoyo instrumental (p = 0,015) y emocional (p = 0,009), y también tienen mayores niveles de bienestar psicológico (p = 0,012). Los cambios en los ingresos familiares se asocian con el bienestar psicológico (p = 0,024), así como con las estrategias de afrontamiento religión (r = 0,36; p ≤ 0,01), reinterpretación positiva (r = 0,47; p ≤ 0,01) y estado de ánimo (r = 0,37; p ≤ 0,01). Conclusión: Las estrategias de afrontamiento adoptadas por los estudiantes parecen estar relacionadas con el bienestar psicológico durante la cuarentena.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Embelin potentiates venetoclax-induced apoptosis in acute myeloid leukemia cells

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) belongs to a group of hematological cancer whose relapse cases are often associated with chemoresistance that impairs treatment success and contributes to a poor outcome. For this reason, there is an urgent need for the development of new therapeutic strategies. Herein, we explore the combination of venetoclax, a BCL2 inhibitor, and embelin, an XIAP inhibitor, in the AML cell lines. Combinatory treatment of venetoclax and embelin potentiated cytotoxic effects of these drugs, demonstrating that both in combination present lower IC50 values than single treatment of either venetoclax or embelin alone in both cell lines analyzed. The combinatory treatment further increased the apoptosis-inducing properties of both compounds. Computer simulations suggest that embelin binds to both BIR2 and BIR3 domains of XIAP, reinforcing this inhibitory apoptosis protein as an embelin target. Although all AML cell lines presented similar basal levels of XIAP, the combinatory treatment effectively inhibited XIAP expression in OCI-AML3 cells. In conclusion, the inhibition of both apoptosis inhibitory players, BCL2 and XIAP, by venetoclax and embelin, respectively, potentiated their cytotoxic effects in AML cell lines.The authors want to express their acknowledgements to Prof. Dr. Eduardo Magalhaes Rego (University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil) for providing leukemia cell lines. We are also grateful for the embelin HPLC analysis by Prof. Marcelo Jose Pena Ferreira (IB-USP). This work was supported by Fundaçao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP), Brazil, under processes 2019/23864-7, 2018/ 06522-2, 2017/09022–8, and 2015/17177–6. This study was financed in part by the Coordenaçao de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001.Postprint (author's final draft

XIAP (X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis)

X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP), also referred to as BIRC4 or IAP3, is one of the most studied members among the proteins known as Inhibitors of Apoptosis Proteins (IAPs). This protein family portrays its main role by preventing apoptotic cell death through direct or indirect inhibition of caspase activity. All members of the IAPs carry at least one BIR domain in their structure, which are generally responsible for caspase interaction. XIAP has three BIR domains, enabling interaction with both initiation and effector caspases. Moreover, it is also structured with a RING finger domain, which functions as a ubiquitin ligase (E3), and one UBA domain, for binding to ubiquitin, further rendering XIAP a central role in the ubiquitination process and, thus, implicating such IAP in multiple signaling pathways, including cell death, autophagy, immunity, inflammation, cell cycle, and cell migration. XIAP overexpression is found in a variety of cancer types and is frequently associated with chemoresistance and increased risk of relapse. Furthermore, there are many evidences that XIAP inhibition may sensitize tumor cells to chemotherapy agents, which make this protein a potential target in cancer

Clonal expansion across the seas as seen through CPLP-TB database: A joint effort in cataloguing Mycobacterium tuberculosis genetic diversity in Portuguese-speaking countries

This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY/4.0/).Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major health problem within the Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries (CPLP). Despite the marked variation in TB incidence across its member-states and continued human migratory flux between countries, a considerable gap in the knowledge on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure and strain circulation between the countries still exists. To address this, we have assembled and analysed the largest CPLP M. tuberculosis molecular and drug susceptibility dataset, comprised by a total of 1447 clinical isolates, including 423 multidrug-resistant isolates, from five CPLP countries. The data herein presented reinforces Latin American and Mediterranean (LAM) strains as the hallmark of M. tuberculosis populational structure in the CPLP coupled with country-specific differential prevalence of minor clades. Moreover, using high-resolution typing by 24-loci MIRU-VNTR, six cross-border genetic clusters were detected, thus supporting recent clonal expansion across the Lusophone space. To make this data available to the scientific community and public health authorities we developed CPLP-TB (available at http://cplp-tb.ff.ulisboa.pt), an online database coupled with web-based tools for exploratory data analysis. As a public health tool, it is expected to contribute to improved knowledge on the M. tuberculosis population structure and strain circulation within the CPLP, thus supporting the risk assessment of strain-specific trends.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Tuberculosis across the seas: CPLP-TB - a joint effort in cataloguing mycobacterium tuberculosis genetic diversity in the lusophone space

The Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries (CPLP) comprises nine countries across four continents, accounting for 7.2% of the world’s land area, and where tuberculosis (TB) is still a cause of public health concern. A marked variation in TB incidence (23 to 551 cases per 100 000 habitants) can be observed across the different member-states and, despite of this, a considerable gap in the knowledge on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure and country-level geospatial distribution still exists. To address this we have gathered a comprehensive set of molecular and phenotypic drug susceptibility data on approximately 1150 different clinical isolates, from different partners, across 5 distinct portuguesespeaking countries. This initial dataset comprises molecular genotypic data obtained by either 12, 15 or 24-loci Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Unit – Variable Number of Tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) and/or Spoligotyping. The complete dataset therefore includes M. tuberculosis clinical isolates from Portugal (n≈370), Angola (n≈80), Guinea-Bissau (n≈13), Mozambique (n≈14) and Brazil (n≈680). To make this data available to the scientific community and public health authorities we have developed CPLP-TB, an online database coupled with webbased tools that enable exploratory data analysis. This new tool specifically directed at CPLP countries include advanced data analysis capability together with graphical visualization tools (e.g. dendrogram and choropleth mapping). As a public health tool, it is expected to contribute for a deeper knowledge on the combined population structure and strain circulation between countries, thus enabling the assessment of strain specific trends in a broader macroepidemiological context. Furthermore, this new tool provides a new framework for interlaboratory cooperation on TB molecular epidemiology.N/

Innovation of Textiles through Natural By-Products and Wastes

Nowadays, the competitiveness of the textile industry and the consumers’ interest have been increasing the demand for innovative and functional textiles. Allied to this, sustainable developments are playing an increasingly important role in the textile industry. Such concerns led to a new development strategy based on the valorization of bio-based wastes and by-products of different industries, inserting this in the circular economy paradigm. These bio-based wastes and by-products come from several industries, as the agri-food industry. These resources present an enormous potential for valorization in the textile finish due to their intrinsic properties (antimicrobial, prebiotic, antioxidant activity, among others). This chapter will review the latest innovation and textile product development through different by-products and wastes, their main properties and characteristics and the advantages that they offer to the textile industry

Clonal expansion across the seas as seen through CPLP-TB database: A joint effort in cataloguing Mycobacterium tuberculosis genetic diversity in Portuguese-speaking countries.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major health problem within the Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries (CPLP). Despite the marked variation in TB incidence across its member-states and continued human migratory flux between countries, a considerable gap in the knowledge on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis population structure and strain circulation between the countries still exists. To address this, we have assembled and analysed the largest CPLP M. tuberculosis molecular and drug susceptibility dataset, comprised by a total of 1447 clinical isolates, including 423 multidrug-resistant isolates, from five CPLP countries. The data herein presented reinforces Latin American and Mediterranean (LAM) strains as the hallmark of M. tuberculosis populational structure in the CPLP coupled with country-specific differential prevalence of minor clades. Moreover, using high-resolution typing by 24-loci MIRU-VNTR, six cross-border genetic clusters were detected, thus supporting recent clonal expansion across the Lusophone space. To make this data available to the scientific community and public health authorities we developed CPLP-TB (available at http://cplp-tb.ff.ulisboa.pt), an online database coupled with web-based tools for exploratory data analysis. As a public health tool, it is expected to contribute to improved knowledge on the M. tuberculosis population structure and strain circulation within the CPLP, thus supporting the risk assessment of strain-specific trends