Short-latency responses in chronic ankle instability

Ankle proprioceptive impairments after ankle sprain appear to be in the origin of the neuromuscular dysfunction in Chronic Ankle Instability (CAI), however the analysis of this condition has been focused on a unilateral approach. Considering that proprioceptive information have a determinant role in ipsilesional limb responses but also the contralesional ones, the present study aims to analyze the bilateral Short Latency Responses (SLR) in response to an unilateral perturbation in individuals with CAI. Two groups of athletes participated in the present study. One was composed by participants presenting CAI (CAI group, n = 16), while the other was composed by participants not presenting ankle sprain episodes (control group, n = 20). The electromyographic activity of the Peroneal Brevis and Longus (PB and PL), Tibialis Anterior (TA) and Soleus (SOL) muscles was collected during a unilateral sudden inversion perturbation in both the support and perturbed limbs. The timing of muscle activation of both limbs was used for analysis. Delayed SLR of TA (p = 0.009) and in SOL (p = 0.042) muscles were observed in the contralesional limb of the CAI group in the support position compared to the control group. In CAI group, delayed SLR of PB (p = 0.023) and SOL (p = 0.004) muscles was found in the contralesional limb in the support position compared to the ipsilesional one. The rehabilitation of individuals with CAI should also be focused on the contralesional limb while assuming a support position and also, contralesional limb should not be considered a reference for comparison between limbs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Psychosocial and psychopathological predictors of HIV-risk injecting behavior among drug users in Portugal

Abstract Despite the introduction of needle and syringe exchange programs (NSPs), sharing of syringes and other materials remains common among injection drug users (IDUs) worldwide. For this reason, IDUs are at high-risk of HIV transmission. This paper studies the psychosocial and psychopathological determinants of sharing among IDUs. Understanding the relationship between psychological morbidity, HIV knowledge, HIV risk perception, and sharing behaviors is important to developing campaigns to curb sharing among IDUs. We recruited 120 male (76.7%) and female (23.3%) IDUs at a public outpatient treatment service in northern Portugal whose age average was 34 (sd=7.56). They were characterized for sociodemographic, clinical, and behavioral variables, as well as for knowledge on HIV transmission and prevention, HIV risk perception, and psychopathological symptoms. Almost all patients (95.8%) were tested for HIV and 31.7% were HIV positive. Half of them had a chronic disease (50.8%) and declared to engage in sharing (51.7%). Most had accurate knowledge of HIV transmission and prevention. A great majority deemed HIV risk to be high in their communities (80.8%) but deemed their personal risk to be zero or low (72.5%). Statistical analysis showed that sociodemographic variables (female sex, lower education, living alone) and psychopathological symptoms (obsession-compulsion and somatization) predict sharing. We conclude that the development and implementation of campaigns to reduce sharing among IDUs should focus more on women, IDUs living alone, as well as early assessment and intervention on psychopathological disorders.   Keywords: HIV-risk injecting behavior, HIV knowledge, HIV risk perception, psychopathology, injection drug users (IDUs), Portuga

Avaliação da Actividade Muscular com e sem utilização de calçado instável e aplicação de um desequilíbrio

Objectivo: Este estudo visa avaliar a influência de sapatilhas MBT na actividade electromiográfica do tibial anterior, gastrocnémio, recto femoral e bicípite femoral, aplicando um desequilíbrio. Metodologia: A amostra foi constituída por 30 indivíduos do sexo feminino, com idades entre os 21 e os 57 anos. Os dados foram recolhidos através de electromiografia, tendo sido utilizada a plataforma de forças e dinamómetro para monitorizar o desequilíbrio. Resultados: Não foram encontradas diferenças estatisticamente significativas no tempo de início de activação muscular com calçado MBT e descalço. Conclusão: O uso de MBT, comparando com descalço, não influenciou os tempos de início de activação muscular.Objective: The main purpose of this project were to study the infl uence of MBT in electromyographi c activity of, Tibialis Anterior, Gastrocnemius, Rectus femoris and Biceps femoris during an external pertubation . Metodology : 30 subjects (female) with ages between 21 and 57 years old participate in this study. EMG activities were recorded during an exte rnal perturbation by surface electromyography, and monitorized using a platform and a dynamometer to measure the force . Results: Results showed no statistically significative differences in the initial time muscular activation, comparing the use of MBT and with bare feet Conclusion: The use of MBT doesn’t influenciate the initial time of muscular activation

Impact of tRNA modifications and tRNA-modifying enzymes on proteostasis and human disease

Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are key players of protein synthesis, as they decode the genetic information organized in mRNA codons, translating them into the code of 20 amino acids. To be fully active, tRNAs undergo extensive post-transcriptional modifications, catalyzed by different tRNA-modifying enzymes. Lack of these modifications increases the level of missense errors and affects codon decoding rate, contributing to protein aggregation with deleterious consequences to the cell. Recent works show that tRNA hypomodification and tRNA-modifying-enzyme deregulation occur in several diseases where proteostasis is affected, namely, neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases. In this review, we discuss the recent findings that correlate aberrant tRNA modification with proteostasis imbalances, in particular in neurological and metabolic disorders, and highlight the association between tRNAs, their modifying enzymes, translational decoding, and disease onset.publishe

A Comparative Genomic Analysis of Energy Metabolism in Sulfate Reducing Bacteria and Archaea

The number of sequenced genomes of sulfate reducing organisms (SRO) has increased significantly in the recent years, providing an opportunity for a broader perspective into their energy metabolism. In this work we carried out a comparative survey of energy metabolism genes found in 25 available genomes of SRO. This analysis revealed a higher diversity of possible energy conserving pathways than classically considered to be present in these organisms, and permitted the identification of new proteins not known to be present in this group. The Deltaproteobacteria (and Thermodesulfovibrio yellowstonii) are characterized by a large number of cytochromes c and cytochrome c-associated membrane redox complexes, indicating that periplasmic electron transfer pathways are important in these bacteria. The Archaea and Clostridia groups contain practically no cytochromes c or associated membrane complexes. However, despite the absence of a periplasmic space, a few extracytoplasmic membrane redox proteins were detected in the Gram-positive bacteria. Several ion-translocating complexes were detected in SRO including H+-pyrophosphatases, complex I homologs, Rnf, and Ech/Coo hydrogenases. Furthermore, we found evidence that cytoplasmic electron bifurcating mechanisms, recently described for other anaerobes, are also likely to play an important role in energy metabolism of SRO. A number of cytoplasmic [NiFe] and [FeFe] hydrogenases, formate dehydrogenases, and heterodisulfide reductase-related proteins are likely candidates to be involved in energy coupling through electron bifurcation, from diverse electron donors such as H2, formate, pyruvate, NAD(P)H, β-oxidation, and others. In conclusion, this analysis indicates that energy metabolism of SRO is far more versatile than previously considered, and that both chemiosmotic and flavin-based electron bifurcating mechanisms provide alternative strategies for energy conservation

application in C-H activation catalysis

This work was supported by the Spanish Government, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). We also thank Dr Martinez from Novozymes. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 RSC.The effect of the temperature in the synthesis of Pd nanoparticles in the metal-enzyme biohybrids is evaluated. The effect on the formation, size, and morphology of nanoparticles was evaluated using C. antarctica B lipase as the protein scaffold. XRD analyses confirmed the formation of crystalline Pd(0) as the metal species in all cases. TEM analyses revealed spherical crystalline nanoparticles with average diameter size from 2 nm at 4 °C synthesis to 10 nm obtained at 50 °C synthesis. The thermal phenomenon was also critical in the final hybrid formation using more complex enzymes, where the relation of the protein structure and temperature and the influence of the latter has been demonstrated to be critical in the reducing efficiency of the enzyme in the final Pd nanoparticle formation, in the metal species, or even in the final size of the nanoparticles. Different Pd biohybrids were evaluated as catalysts in the C-H activation of protected l-tryptophan under mild conditions. Pd@CALB4 showed the best results, with >99% conversion for C-2 arylation in methanol at room temperature with a TOF value of 64 min−1, being 2 or 4 times higher than that of the other synthesized hybrids. This catalyst showed a very high stability and recyclability, maintaining >95% activity after three cycles of use.publishersversionpublishe

Cancer Models on Chip:Paving the Way to Large Scale Trial Applications

Cancer kills millions of individuals every year all over the world (Global Cancer Observatory). The physiological and biomechanical processes underlying the tumor are still poorly understood, hindering researchers from creating new, effective therapies. Inconsistent results of preclinical research, in vivo testing, and clinical trials decrease drug approval rates. Three-dimensional tumor-on-chip models integrate biomaterials, tissue engineering, fabrication of microarchitectures, and sensory and actuation systems in a single device, enabling reliable studies in fundamental oncology and pharmacology. This review includes a critical discussion about their ability to reproduce the tumor microenvironment, the advantages and drawbacks of existing tumor models and architectures, and major components and fabrication techniques. The focus is on current materials and micro/nanofabrication techniques used to manufacture reliable and reproducible microfluidic tumor-on-chip models for large-scale trial applications.</p

Perceptions of Public Officers Towards the Effects of Climate Change on Ecosystem Services: A Case-Study From Northern Portugal

ASV was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Spain) through the 2018 Juan de la Cierva-Formación program (contract reference FJC2018-038131-I) and the FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology through Stimulus of Scientific Employment, Individual support (reference 2020.01175.CEECIND). JRV was supported as a post-doc researcher at ICETA CIBIO/InBIO by the national funds through FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology, DL57/2016/ICETA/EEC2018/13. CC-S was supported by the “Contrato-Programa” UIDP/04050/2020 funded by national funds through the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia I.P.We thank Cristiana Manuela Barros and Manuela Alves for their help on the organization of the workshops.All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.How institutional stakeholders perceive the supply and demand of ecosystem services (ES) under distinct contexts determines which planning actions are deemed priority or not. Public officers play a crucial role in social-ecological management and decision-making processes, but there is a paucity of research exploring their perceptions on ES supply and demand under a changing climate. We address this gap through an exploratory study that analyses the views of public officers on the potential impacts of climate-change related drivers on multiple ES in a major administrative region from Portugal (EU NUTS 3). We combined qualitative spatial data from participatory maps and semi-quantitative answers from questionnaire-based surveys with 22 officers from public institutions contributing to territorial planning. Contrary to other similar studies, public officers shared a common view on the importance of ES. This view aligns with scientific projections on how a changing climate is expected to influence ES in the region over the next decade. In agreement with other observations in Mediterranean regions, the most perceivably valued ES concerned tangible socio-economic benefits (e.g., periurban agriculture and wine production). Surprisingly, despite the region's potential for cultural ES, and considering the impacts that climate change may hold on them, recreation and tourism did not seem to be embedded in the officers' views. We explore the implications of our findings for territorial planning and social-ecological adaptation, considering that the way stakeholders manage the territory in response to climate change depends on the extent to which they are aware and expect to experience climatic consequences in the future.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades (Spain) FJC2018-038131IPortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology 2020.01175.CEECIND- DL57/2016/ICETA/EEC2018/13Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia I.P. UIDP/04050/202

Predictable phenotypic, but not karyotypic, evolution of populations with contrasting initial history

This study was financed by Portuguese National Funds through FCT - ‘Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia’ within the projects PTDC/BIA-BEC/098213/2008, PTDC/BIA-BIC/2165/2012 and cE3c Unit FCT funding UID/BIA/00329/2013. I.F. had a PhD grant (SFRH/BD/60734/2009), P.S. has a Post Doc grant (SFRH/BPD/86186/2012) and S.G.S. has a Post Doc grant (SFRH/BPD/108413/2015) from FCT. M.S. is funded by grant CGL2013-42432-P from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain) and grant 2014 SGR 1346 from Generalitat de Catalunya. The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available in the figshare repository, at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4797550.The relative impact of selection, chance and history will determine the predictability of evolution. There is a lack of empirical research on this subject, particularly in sexual organisms. Here we use experimental evolution to test the predictability of evolution. We analyse the real-time evolution of Drosophila subobscura populations derived from contrasting European latitudes placed in a novel laboratory environment. Each natural population was sampled twice within a three-year interval. We study evolutionary responses at both phenotypic (life-history, morphological and physiological traits) and karyotypic levels for around 30 generations of laboratory culture. Our results show (1) repeatable historical effects between years in the initial state, at both phenotypic and karyotypic levels; (2) predictable phenotypic evolution with general convergence except for body size; and (3) unpredictable karyotypic evolution. We conclude that the predictability of evolution is contingent on the trait and level of organization, highlighting the importance of studying multiple biological levels with respect to evolutionary patterns.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Descriptive?Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) in adults with imported severe Plasmodium falciparum?malaria: A 10 year-study in a Portuguese tertiary care hospital

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a severe complication of malaria that remains largely unstudied. We aim to describe the development of ARDS associated with severe P. falciparum malaria, its management and impact on clinical outcome.B910-DDDF-6BB2 | Lu?s Carlos Carvalho da Gra?aN/