From psychopathology to optimal functioning: contributions to therapy in depressed adolescents

Adolescent depression has alarming prevalence rates, mainly due to consequences of depression on the psychosocial functioning of adolescents (Hankin et al. 2015). Some authors have suggested combining strategies from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Positive Psychological Interventions (PPI) to increase depression treatment success (Karwoski et al., 2017). This dissertation aimed to develop a manualized individual therapy, entitled “Optimal Functioning Therapy for Adolescent” (OFTA, Teixeira & Freire, 2014) for the treatment of depression. OFTA focus simultaneously on decreasing depressive symptoms and achieving adolescent optimal functioning, by integrating and adapting strategies from CBT and PPI. The second aim was to evaluate the contents and strategies of OFTA and its structure. For this, we first conducted a case study with a female adolescent diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder. The assessment of OFTA was made using retrospective measures and the Experience Sampling Method (ESM, Csikszentmihalyi & Larson, 1987) from baseline to a 4-month follow-up. Findings showed an improvement in positive trait characteristics and reduction of depressive symptoms; higher levels of momentary positive mood and self-satisfaction and lower levels of momentary negative mood; as well as increased engagement and diversification of life contexts (activities, places, and companies). Then, OFTA was assessed in a pilot study with 22 clinically depressed adolescents recruited in a public hospital. This study also followed a longitudinal design using retrospective measure. Results showed a statistically significant decrease of depressive symptoms and negative affect and an increase of positive affect, self-esteem, and life satisfaction from baseline to follow-up. In this pilot study, only 12 participants answered to ESM questionnaires. Findings from those participants showed a decrease of depressive symptoms and negative affect and an increase in positive affect (measured retrospectively and momentarily). Results on external contexts, showed that participants increased time spent at home and in passive leisure activities. In general, this dissertation shows promising results of OFTA for the treatment of adolescent depression and optimal functioning enhancement, revealing the importance of integrating CBT and PPI strategies.A depressão na adolescência tem taxas de prevalência alarmantes, principalmente devido às consequências da depressão no funcionamento psicossocial dos adolescentes (Hankin et al. 2015). Alguns autores sugerem que combinar estratégias da Terapia Cognitivo-Comportamental (TCC) com Intervenções da Psicologia Positiva (IPP) aumenta a probabilidade de sucesso do tratamento da depresssão (Karwoski et al., 2017). Esta dissertação procura, primeiramente, desenvolver uma intervenção individual manualizada para o tratamento da depressão, intitulada de “Terapia para o Funcionamento Ótimo de Adolescentes” (OFTA, Teixeira & Freire, 2014). A OFTA foca-se tanto na redução de sintomatologia depressiva como na promoção do funcionamento ótimo de adolescentes, através da integração da TCC e da IPP. O segundo objetivo é avaliar os conteúdos, as estratégias e a estrutura da OFTA. Para isso, primeiramente, realizou-se um estudo de caso como uma adolescente diagnosticada com Perturbação Depressiva Major. Foram usadas medidas retrospetivas e em tempo real, mais especificamente o Experience Sampling Method (ESM, Csikszentmihalyi & Larson, 1987), desde o momento pré-teste ao follow-up. Os resultados mostram aumentos nas dimensões positivas e uma redução nos sintomas depressivos; níveis mais elevados de afeto positivo momentâneo e autossatisfação; além de níveis mais baixos de afeto negativo momentâneo, bem como um maior envolvimento e diversificação dos contextos de vida (atividades, lugares e companhias). De seguida, foi realizado um estudo piloto com 22 adolescentes clinicamente deprimidos recrutados num hospital público. Este estudo segue um design longitudinal com medidas retrospetivas. Os resultados mostram uma diminuição estatisticamente significativa dos sintomas depressivos e do afeto negativo, e um aumento do afeto positivo, autoestima e satisfação com a vida, desde o pré-teste ao follow-up. Dos 22 participantes, apenas 12 responderam ao ESM no estudo piloto. Os resultados mostram uma diminuição dos sintomas depressivos e do afeto negativo, e um aumento do afeto positivo (retrospetivamente e em tempo real). Em relação aos contextos externos, os resultados mostram que os participantes aumentaram o tempo passado em casa e em atividades de lazer passivas. No geral, esta dissertação mostra resultados promissores da OFTA tanto para o tratamento da depressão em adolescentes como para a melhoria do seu funcionamento ótimo, através da integração da TCC e da IPP

Shelf-life extension of squid and shrimp skewers through the application of vinegar solutions

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Organizational enablers to the governance of collaborative university-industry R&D Programs

Governance has a significant impact on the success of programs and projects. However, governance of collaborative university-industry projects and programs in literature, is a rather scarce topic. Based on an ethnographic study of a large university-industry collaboration, this paper proposes a conceptual framework of Organizational Enablers (OEs) to improve the governance of collaborative university-industry RD programs. An exploratory research was carried out, aiming to learn from the experience of program and project managers and other program stakeholders of the case under study. Qualitative data was collected using participant observation and document analysis. The framework highlights nine OEs: 'Established governance policies and values', 'Formal Governance support structures', 'Flexible organization structures', 'Standardization of program and project management practices', 'Different management approaches to fit the project needs', 'Clearly defined roles and responsibilities', 'Different means of communication and interaction', 'Top management Support' and 'Projects strategic alignment within the industry and university roadmaps'.INCT-EN - Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia para Excitotoxicidade e Neuroproteção(UIDB/50014/2020)

Inhibition of several bacterial species isolated from squid and shrimp skewers by different natural edible compounds

Seafood is an excellent source of nutrients, essential for a healthy diet, ranging from proteins and fatty acids to vitamins and minerals. Seafood products are highly perishable foods due to their nutritional characteristics and composition. The application of nontoxic, natural, and edible preservatives to extend the shelf-life and inhibit bacterial proliferation of several foods has been a hot topic. Consequently, this work aimed to perform the microbiological characterization of squid and shrimp skewers during their shelf-life (five days) and evaluate the susceptibility of randomly isolated microorganisms to several natural edible compounds so that their application for the preservation and shelf-life extension of the product might be analyzed in the future. The product had considerably high total microorganisms loads of about 5 log CFU/g at day zero and 9 log CFU/g at day five. In addition, high bacterial counts of Pseudomonas spp., Enterobacterales, and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were found, especially on the last day of storage, being Pseudomonas the dominant genus. However, no Escherichia coli or Listeria monocytogenes were detected on the analyzed samples. One hundred bacterial isolates were randomly selected and identified through 16s rRNA sequencing, resulting in the detection of several Enterobacterales, Pseudomonas spp., and LAB. The antibacterial activity of carvacrol, olive leaf extract, limonene, Citrox®, different chitosans, and ethanolic propolis extracts was evaluated by the agar diffusion method, and the minimum inhibitory concentration was determined only for Citrox® since only this solution could inhibit all the identified isolates. At concentrations higher than or equal to 1.69% (v/v), Citrox® demonstrated bacteriostatic and bactericidal activity to 97% and 3% of the isolates, respectively. To our knowledge, there are no available data about the effectiveness of this commercial product on seafood isolates. Although preliminary, this study showed evidence that Citrox® has the potential to be used as a natural preservative in these seafood products, improving food safety and quality while reducing waste. However, further studies are required, such as developing a Citrox®-based coating and its application on this matrix to validate its antimicrobial effect.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Knowledge and practices of community pharmacists in topical dermatological treatments

The connection between pharmacists’ knowledge and practice on the provided information to patients about dermatoses and their treatment is insufficiently characterized. Furthermore, pharmacists’ contributions in counselling and in promoting adherence to topical treatment is not fully understood. This study has three main objectives. It aims to identify the knowledge and practices of pharmacists about dermatoses and their treatment, and to compare the perspective of pharmacists with that of patients regarding treatment information, with the future goal of establishing guidelines on the communication of dosage regimen instructions to dermatological patients and promotion of adherence to treatment, filling a gap. A cross-sectional, exploratory, and descriptive study was carried out. Based on experts’ prior knowledge and extensive collected literature information, two questionnaire protocols, one for pharmacists and another one for patients, were designed. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were carried out in relation to the pharmacists’ questionnaire for instrument validation. The results indicate that knowledge of pharmacists regarding dermatoses and their treatment is considered acceptable. Most of the pharmacists were reported to provide information to patients. Oppositely, patients reported not to have receive it. This is an important issue because pharmacists play a primary role in the management of several diseases. As non-adherence can be triggered by poor understanding of the dosing instructions, pharmacists’ communication practices play an important role in improving this hinderance. Results from this study identified pharmacist–patient communication gaps, so the development of guidelines to improve the transmission of clear dosage regimen instructions and knowledge about patient’s disease are of paramount importance. Training programs for continuous education of pharmacist should be implemented to solve the identified communication problems found in this study.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

O verde da economia no campo: desafios à pesquisa e às políticas públicas para a promoção da saúde no avanço da modernização agrícola.

Neste ensaio, é feita a pergunta de quem deve, pode e quer promover a saúde no campo hoje. Foi eleito, prioritariamente, o campo da ciência e o das políticas públicas como foco de diálogo. Configurou-se oito lições aprendidas sob a perspectiva dos direitos à saúde a um ambiente saudável, aqui compartilhadas: (1) para além de um risco químico isolado, a relação entre agrotóxicos e saúde deve ser estudada no contexto da modernização agrícola conservadora; (2) é necessário e urgente que se proceda ao desvelamento dos agravos à saúde relacionados aos agrotóxicos; (3) o Estado tem tido significativa eficácia no apoio ao agronegócio e ignificativa ineficácia nas políticas sociais de garantia de direitos dos trabalhadores e da população; (4) setores da sociedade ligados às organizações do campo vêm desempenhando importante papel na política pública de combate aos agrotóxicos e de proteção da saúde; (5) é importante que os estudos contribuam para a desconstrução dos mitos que sustentam o modelo da Revolução Verde; (6) se está diante do desafio de contribuir na construção de um paradigma emergente de ciência, fundado no compromisso ético-político com os mais vulneráveis; (7) comunidades camponesas vêm construindo alternativas agroecológicas de vida no semiárido

Improving functional maturation of human pluripotent stem cells derived cardiomyocytes through metabolic understanding

In vitro differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) is a crucial process to enable their application in cell therapy and drug discovery. Nevertheless, despite the remarkable efforts over the last decade towards the optimization of cardiac differentiation protocols, generated hPSC-CMs are still immature, closely reminiscent of fetal cardiomyocytes in what regards structure, metabolism and function. In this study, we aim to overcome this hurdle by devising a novel metabolic-based strategy to improve hPSC-CMs generation and functionality. Noteworthy, we integrated structural and functional analyses of hPSC-CM with powerful “omics” technologies (proteomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics and fluxomics) as complementary analytical tools to support process optimization and product characterization. We relied on the aggregation of hPSC-derived cardiac progenitors to establish a scalable differentiation protocol capable of generating highly pure CM aggregate cultures. Whole-transcriptome analysis and 13C-metabolic flux analysis demonstrated that a three-dimensional (3D) and agitated-based culture environment enhances metabolic maturation of hPSC-CMs. When compared to static monolayer, 3D cultures of hPSC-CMs displayed down-regulation of genes involved in glycolysis and lipid biosynthesis and increased expression of genes involved in OXPHOS. Accordingly, 3D hPSC-CMs had lower fluxes through glycolysis and fatty acid synthesis and increased TCA-cycle activity. We then assessed if alteration of culture medium composition to mimic in vivo substrate usage during cardiac development improved further hPSC-CM maturation in vitro. Our results showed that shifting hPSC-CMs from glucose-containing to galactose- and fatty acid-containing medium promotes their fast maturation into adult-like CMs with higher oxidative metabolism, transcriptional signatures closer to those of adult ventricular tissue, higher myofibril density and alignment, improved calcium handling, enhanced contractility, and more physiological action potential kinetics. “-Omics” analyses showed that addition of galactose to culture medium improves total oxidative capacity of the cells and ameliorates fatty acid oxidation avoiding the lipotoxicity that results from cell exposure to high fatty acid levels. This study demonstrated that metabolic shifts during differentiation/maturation of hPSC-CM are a cause, rather than a consequence, of the phenotypic and functional alterations observed. The metabolic-based strategy established herein holds technical and economic advantages over the existing protocols due to its scalability, simplicity and ease of application. Improved maturation and functionality of in vitro generated hPSC-CM will excel their application in cell therapy, drug discovery and cardiac disease modeling. Funding: This work was supported by FCT-funded projects CardioRegen (HMSP-ICT/0039/2013), NETDIAMOND (SAICTPAC/0047/2015) and MetaCardio (Ref.032566). iNOVA4Health Research Unit (LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-007344) is also acknowledged

Sexualidade e género nas revistas juvenis : o caso da Bravo

Publicado em "Sexualidade e educação sexual : políticas educativas, investigação e práticas", ISBN 978-972-8746-91-9CIDTFF-Universidade de Aveir

Investigating the role of symptom valorisation in tuberculosis patient delay in urban areas in Portugal

URBANTB group: Patrícia Soares (Representative of the consortium), Mário Carreira, Sofia Pereira, Catarina Alves, Filipe Alves, Ana Rodrigues, Ana Moreira, Márcia Cardoso, Sandra Mota, Ana Gomes, Liliana Ferreira, Marta Lopes, Isabel Correia, Juan Rachadell, Maria Gameiro, Ângela Dias, Manuel Pereira, Jorge Gonçalves, Maria Gonçalves, Adriana Taveira, Celene Neves, Lucinda Silva, Maria Mendes, Maria Teixeira, Maria Pereira, Milena Piedade, Antónia Teixeira & Carlos Carvalho.Background: Diagnosis delay contributes to increased tuberculosis (TB) transmission and morbimortality. TB incidence has been decreasing in Portugal, but median patient delay (PD) has risen. Symptom valorisation may determine PD by influencing help-seeking behaviour. We aimed to analyse the association between symptom valorisation and PD, while characterising individuals who disregarded their symptoms. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among TB patients in Lisbon and Oporto in 2019 - 2021. Subjects who delayed seeking care because they did not value their symptoms or thought these would go away on their own were considered to have disregarded their symptoms. PD was categorised using a 21-day cut-off, and a 30-day cut-off for sensitivity analysis. We estimated the effect of symptom valorisation on PD through a directed acyclic graph. Then, a multivariable regression analysis characterised patients that disregarded their symptoms, adjusting for relevant variables. We fitted Poisson regression models to estimate crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (PR). Results: The study included 75 patients. Median PD was 25 days (IQR 11.5-63.5), and 56.0% of participants had PD exceeding 21 days. Symptom disregard was reported by 38.7% of patients. Patients who did not value their symptoms had higher prevalence of PD exceeding 21 days compared to those who valued their symptoms [PR 1.59 (95% CI 1.05-2.42)]. The sensitivity analysis showed consistent point estimates but wider confidence intervals [PR 1.39 (95% CI 0.77-2.55)]. Being a smoker was a risk factor for symptom disregard [PR 2.35 (95% CI 1.14-4.82)], while living in Oporto [PR 0.35 (95% CI 0.16-0.75)] and having higher household incomes [PR 0.39 (95% CI 0.17-0.94)] were protective factors. Conclusions: These findings emphasise the importance of symptom valorisation in timely TB diagnosis. Patients who did not value their symptoms had longer PD, indicating a need for interventions to improve symptom recognition. Our findings also corroborate the importance of the socioeconomic determinants of health, highlighting tobacco as a risk factor both for TB and for PD.This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) [Grant: PTDC/SAU-PUB/31346/2017]. The present publication was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) national support through Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC) [UIDP/04923/2020].info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

In situ immune response in human dermatophytosis: possible role of Langerhans cells (CD1a+) as a risk factor for dermatophyte infection

Dermatophytosis is a cutaneous mycosis caused by a plethora of keratinophilic fungi, but Trichophyton rubrum is the most common etiological agent. Despite its high prevalence worldwide, little is known about the host defense mechanisms in this infection, particularly the in situ immune response. Using an immunohistochemistry approach, we investigated the density of CD1a+, factor XIIIa+ and CD68+ cells in the skin of dermatophytosis patients. Langerhans cells (CD1a+ cells) were significantly decreased in the epidermis of patients, both in affected and unaffected areas. In the dermis, however, no differences in the density of macrophages (CD68+ cells) and dermal dendrocytes (factor XIIIa+ cells) were observed. These results suggest that the decreased number of Langerhans cells may be a risk factor for development of dermatophytosis