Polymorphisms in base excision repair genes and thyroid cancer risk

We wish to thank Luisa Manso Oliveira, Lylliane Luz, Silvia Morgado Amaro and Maria Catarina Soveral for technical support. This study was supported by the Center for Research in Human Molecular Genetics (CIGMH), Projects PTDC/SAU-OSM/105572/2008, PTDC/SAU-ESA/102367/2008 and PTDC/QUI/67522/2006 from Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) and Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian (Grant 76438/2006). The grants to M. Pingarilho (SFRH/BD/22612/2005) from FCT are also acknowledgedThyroid cancer (TC) is the most frequent endocrine malignancy, accounting however for only 1-2\% of all human cancers, and tilt: best-established risk factor for TC is radiation exposure, particularly during childhood. Since the BER pathway seems to play an important role in the repair of DNA damage induced by IR and other genotoxicants, we carried out a hospital-based case-control study in order to evaluate the potential modifying role of 6 BER polymorphisms on the individual susceptibility to non-familial TC in 109 TC patients receiving iodine-131, and 217 controls matched for age ( 2 years), gender and ethnicity. Our results do not reveal a significant involvement of XRCCI Arg194Trp and Arg399Gln, OGGI Ser326Cys, APEXI Asp148Glu, MUTYH Gln335His and,PARPI Val762Ala polymorphisms on the individual susceptibility towards TC, mostly in aggreement with the limited available evidence. By histological stratification analyis, we observed that the association between the presence of heterozygozity in the MUTYH Gln335His polymorphism and TC risk almost reached significance for the papillary subtype of TC. This was the first time that the putative association between this polymorphism and TC susceptibility was evaluated. However, since the sample size was modest, the possibility of a type I error should not be excluded and this result should, therefore, be interpreted with caution. More in depth studies involving larger populations should be pursued in order to further clarify the potential usefulness of the MUTYH Gln335His genotype as a predictive biomarker of susceptibility to TC and the role of the remaining BER polymorphisms on TC susceptibility.publishersversionpublishe

Numerical simulation of capillary rise in millimetric cylindrical tubes

[Excerpt] Capillarity can be used in engineering nature-inspired slip-resistant surfaces, containing millimetric grooves, to provide an efficient grip on a solid floor with a small amount of liquid layer. Although literature has substantially reported analytical analysis and experimental data on capillary filling, numerical formulations provide the closest representation of the actual capillary filling process. Thus, in this work, a numerical model was developed to closely represent the natural filling of single-phase water inside a milli-metric-sized conduit of cylindrical shape, that demonstrates a single unit of the anti-slip surface matrix. A phase field numerical model was used to simulate the capillary imbibition of water inside the groove. [...]This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) project Bio Insole - Multi-Functional Bioinspired Slip Resistant Shoe-Sole (PTDC/EME-EME/7860/2020), and by the FCT reference projects UIDB/04436/2020 and UIDP/04436/2020. Susana O. Catarino thanks FCT for her contract funding provided through 2020.00215.CEECIND (DOI:10.54499/2020.00215.CEECIND/CP1600/CT0009

Health survey among people living near an abandoned mine. A case study: Jales mine, Portugal

Campo de Jales is a village surrounding the abandoned Jales mine. The area is heavily contaminated with heavy metals and dusts from large tailings piles as result of centuries of mining operations. The aim of this study is to investigate potential health threats associated with site contamination. The population studied comprised two groups: people living in Campo de Jales (n = 229) and a control group – people living in Vilar de Macada (n = 234). Lead and cadmium exposure and symptoms survey were carried out. The results showed a significant higher levels of blood lead and cadmium between the Campo de Jales residents (lead: 9.5 microgr/dl versus 7.7 microgr/dl; cadmium: 0.84 microgr/dl versus 0,65 microgr/dl) as well as to a higher prevalence of respiratory and irritation symptoms and great concern about his own health. In conclusion: community is the scene of long-term health problems resulting from the site environmental contamination

Propriedades tecnológicas e probióticas das bactérias isoladas do queijo do Pico

A secção Biologia é coordenada pelo Professor Universitário Armindo Rodrigues.[…]. A listéria é o agente patogénico responsável pela listeriose, uma infeção rara, mas grave nos seres humanos. Leite e produtos lácteos têm sido implicados na maioria dos surtos relatados de listeriose, embora o tratamento térmico elimine esta bactéria durante o processo de pasteurização. Isto indica que estes produtos podem ser contaminados em fases posteriores de produção. Desta forma, a contaminação do queijo com listéria é um problema recorrente e uma preocupação constante para a indústria dos lacticínios. A utilização de bactérias que possam combater este agente patogénico pode ser uma mais-valia na aplicação a este tipo de produtos. Assim, um dos grandes objetivos consiste em identificar novas estirpes com atividade antimicrobiana para utilização na produção de queijos mais seguros e de melhor qualidade. […].info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A portuguese perspective

Commentary on the Nuffield Report from a Portuguese Perspective (Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2007). The forensic use of bioinformation: ethical issues. Cambridge (18 September) (retrieved from http://www.nuffieldbioethics.org/fileLibrary/pdf/ The_forensic_use_of_bioinformation_-_ethical_issues.pdf).This is a document which is of considerable interest to professionals working in the criminal justice system, to key stakeholders, and to scholars and students focused on the forensic applications of bioinformation.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)

Identification of genetic determinants associated with susceptibility and therapeutic efficacy in Philadelphia-negative Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

Poster presented at the Scientific Toxomics Meeting, 28 September 2015, Lisbon, Portugal

The role of GSTA2 polymorphisms and haplotypes in breast cancer susceptibility: A case-control study in the Portuguese population

We wish to thank Luisa Manso Oliveira, Lylliane Luz, Silvia Morgado Amaro and Maria Catarina Soveral for technical support. Center for Research in Human Molecular Genetics (CIGMH), Projects POCTI/QUI/57110/2004 from Fundacao da Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) and Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian (Grant 69405) support our current research. The PhD grant SFRH/BD/17828/2004 from FCT is also acknowledged.Glutathione-S-transferases (GSTs) are a superfamily of phase II metabolizing enzymes that catalyse the detoxification of a large range of endogenous and exogenous toxic compounds, playing an important role in protecting cells against damage, through glutathione conjugation with electrophilic substances. Polymorphic variation in these enzymes that affect its activity seems to be related to individual susceptibility to various human diseases, including cancer. Of the GST super-family, the alpha class GSTs have commonly been described as one of the most versatile class, since it is responsible for detoxification of compounds such as bilirubin, bile acids and penicillin, thyroid and steroid hormones, allowing its solubilization and storage in the liver. Among the alpha class, GSTA1 and GSTA2 isoforms are the most widely expressed in human tissues. Additionally, these enzymes can catalyse conjugation of the nitrogen mustard group of alkylating anticancer drugs, some heterocyclic amines and alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes. Since some risk factors for increased breast cancer risk could be related to high production of reactive oxygen species during the metabolism of estrogens by catechol estrogens, or to the exposure to genotoxic compounds, and some of these toxic compounds are usually metabolized by GSTA2, we carried out a hospital based case-control study in a Caucasian Portuguese population (291 breast cancer patients without familiar history of breast cancer and 547 controls matched for age, sex and ethnicity) in order to evaluate the potential modifying role of three non-synonymous polymorphisms in the GSTA2 gene (P110S Ex 5+56C>T;, rs2234951; S112T Ex5+63G>C, rs2180314 and E210A Ex7+83A>C, rs6577) on the individual susceptibility to breast cancer. Our data show that the Studied polymorphisms are in strong linkage disequilibrium, but no association was observed between individual GSTA2 polymorphisms and haplotypes and individual susceptibility to breast cancer.publishersversionpublishe

Effect of processing conditions on electromagnetic shielding and electrical resistivity of injection-molded polybutylene terephthalate compounds

This research introduces an analysis of the anisotropic electrical resistivity (ER) and its relation to the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (EMSE) for two injection-molded carbon-fiber-reinforced polybutylene terephthalates (PBTs). The properties were measured for 2-mm thick injection moldings considering the effect of melt temperature, injection velocity, and flow distance. The results for one compound showed an EMSE in the range of 30–40 dB, while EMSE for a compound with lower filler content is in the range of 45–75 dB. A combination of higher temperature and higher velocity leads to an increase of EMSE for both compounds in the range of 3%–8.5%. However, the increase in flow path reduced the EMSE for both compounds up to 10%. A novel experimental apparatus was used to measure the anisotropic ER in the three directions, that is, parallel, perpendicular, and transversal to flow. It is evident that injection molding induced high anisotropy for both compound specimens, and, depending on the processing conditions, produced similar longitudinal resistivity (0.2–4 Ω.cm) but higher transversal resistivity (8–22 Ω.cm). ER properties were compared with EMSE, evidencing an inverse relation as expected. Furthermore, it was found that the longitudinal resistivity is the main contributor to the specimens shielding.The authors would like to acknowledge all the associates from University of Minho, Centre for Innovation in Polymer Engineering (PIEP and Bosch Car Multimedia who had an active part in the development of this research and acknowledge that this project, INNOVCAR, was supported by the European Structural and Investment Funds in the FEDER component, through the Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Program (COMPETE 2020) [Project no 002797; Funding Reference: POCI-01-0247-FEDER-002797]