Envolvimento académico : confronto de expectativas e comportamentos em universitários do 1º ano

No presente trabalho analisam-se as expectativas dos estudantes acerca do seu envolvimento em diversas dimensões associadas à vida académica, assim como os comportamentos vivenciados uns meses após essa entrada tomando as mesmas dimensões. A amostra considerada é formada por 314 estudantes do 1º ano de três agrupamentos de cursos (Ciências e Engenharia; Ciências Económicas; e Ciências Sociais e Humanas) da Universidade do Minho. Estes alunos responderam, no início do ano e a meados do 2º semestre, ao Questionário de Envolvimento Académico (QEA; Soares & Almeida, 2001) nas suas versões de expectativas (Versão A) e comportamentos (Versão B). Os resultados sugerem níveis elevados de expectativas iniciais dos es- tudantes no momento da sua entrada na Universidade, registando-se uma diminuição significativa de tais índices no segundo momento da avaliação, em particular nas subescalas de envolvimento institucional e de envolvimento vocacional. Algumas oscilações nos resultados foram encontradas tomando os alunos de acordo com o agrupamento do curso frequentado, com o género, os níveis escolares dos pais ou o facto de frequentarem ou não um curso de 1º opção.This paper analyses students’ initial expectations concerning personal investment in different domains of academic life, as well as behaviours some months later in those same dimensions. The sample included 314 first year students of the University of Minho from three graduations areas: science and engineering, economic sciences, and social sciences and humanities. A questionnaire of academic involvement (QEA; Soares & Almeida, 2001) was applied to students at entrance (expectations version) and at middle of first semester (behaviours version). Results suggest higher levels of initial expectations at the entrance in the university, and a significant decrease of those levels some months later, namely in the institutional and vocational subscales. Some significant changes have been found considering the domain and option of graduation studies, gender and academic level of parents.Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian - Programa de Apoio a Projectos de Pesquisa no Domínio Educativo (2001/04) - projecto “Transição, adaptação e sucesso académico de jovens no Ensino Superior

Assessing the antibiotic susceptibility of freshwater Cyanobacteria spp.

Freshwater is a vehicle for the emergence and dissemination of Antibiotic resistance. Cyanobacteria are ubiquitous in freshwater, where they are exposed to antibiotics and resistant organisms, but their role on water resistome was never evaluated. Data concerning the effects of antibiotics on cyanobacteria, obtained by distinct methodologies, is often contradictory. This emphasizes the importance of developing procedures to understand the trends of antibiotic susceptibility in cyanobacteria. In this study we aimed to evaluate the susceptibility of four cyanobacterial isolates from different genera (Microcystis aeruginosa, Aphanizomenon gracile, Chrisosporum bergii, Planktothix agradhii), and among them nine isolates from the same specie (M.aeruginosa) to distinct antibiotics (amoxicillin, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, kanamycine, gentamicine, tetracycline, trimethoprim, nalidixicacid, norfloxacin). We used a method adapted from the bacteria standard broth microdilution. Cyanobacteria were exposed to serial dilution of each antibiotic (0.0015–1.6mg/L) in Z8 medium (20±1◦C; 14/10hL/D cycle; light intensity 16±421μEm−s−). Cell growth was followed overtime (OD450nm/microscopic examination) and the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were calculated for each antibiotic/ isolate. We found that β-lactams exhibited the lower MICs, aminoglycosides, tetracycline and norfloxacine presented intermediate MICs; none of the isolates were susceptible to trimethoprim and nalidixic acid. The reduced susceptibility of all tested cyanobacteria to some antibiotics suggests that they might be naturally non-susceptible to these compounds, or that they might became non-susceptible due to antibiotic contamination pressure, or to the transfer of genes from resistant bacteria present in the environment.ED, VM, and DJ have received research funding from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia via grants SFRH/BPD/77981/2011, SFRH/BPD/77486/2011, and SFRH/BD/80001/2011, respectively. The authors thank Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) for project grant PEst-OE/AGR/UI0211/2011-2014, Strategic Project UI211-2011-2014

Synthesis and evaluation of tumor cell growth inhibition of Methyl 3-Amino-6-[(hetero)arylethynyl]thieno[3,2-b]pyridine-2-carboxylates: structure-activity relationships, effects on the cell cycle and apoptosis

The methyl 3-amino-6-bromothieno[3,2-b]pyridine-2-carboxylate, recently reported by some of us, was reacted in Sonogashira couplings with several (hetero)arylacetylenes. The growth inhibitory activity of the novel methyl 3-amino-6-[(hetero)arylethynyl]thieno[3,2-b]pyridine-2-carboxylates obtained was evaluated on three human tumor cell lines (MCF-7, NCI-H460, A375-C5). The para-methoxyphenyl and the ortho and para-aminophenyl derivatives were the most promising compounds, and their effects were further studied regarding alterations in the normal cell cycle distribution and induction of apoptosis in the NCI-H460 cell line. All three compounds altered cell cycle distribution and the ortho-aminophenyl derivative was further shown to induce apoptosis in the same cell line.Associate Laboratory of the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher EducationFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - (Bruker Avance III 400) REDE/1517/RMN/2005, PTDC/QUI-QUI/111060/2009, SFRH/BD/29274/2006, SFRH/BPD/29112/2006European Social Fund

La colaboración terapéutica en casos de abandono en terapia narrativa: un estudio exploratorio

With this study, we aimed to describe the interaction within the therapeutic dyads involved in dropout cases of narrative therapy, once the quality of interaction in therapy appears to constitute a critical factor in clients’ decisions regarding its discontinuation. Seven dropout cases of narrative therapy, which were conducted by the same therapist, were analysed using the Therapeutic Collaboration Coding System. The coding procedure required two trained and independent judges along with an auditing process. Overall, the findings demonstrated that independent of the clients’ responses, the therapist tended to increase the challenging interventions and decrease the supporting interventions over time. In turn, the clients oscillated between having experiences of safety and experiences of intolerable risk. The results will be discussed in terms of their theoretical and empirical relevance in relation to clinical implications.Con este estudio se ha pretendido describir la interacción entre díadas terapéuticas en casos de abandono en terapia narrativa, una vez que la calidad de la interacción terapéutica parece ser un factor crítico en las decisiones de los clientes para abandonar sus procesos. Siete casos de abandono en terapia narrativa, acompañados por el mismo terapeuta, fueron analizados utilizando el Sistema de Codificación de la Colaboración Terapéutica. El procedimiento ha incluido la codificación de todas las sesiones de los casos por dos jueces independientes con formación sobre el sistema, así como su posterior auditoría. En general, los resultados mostraron que, independiente de las respuestas de los clientes, el terapeuta ha tendido a aumentar sus intervenciones de desafío y a reducir las de apoyo, a lo largo del tiempo. A su vez, los clientes oscilaron en presentar experiencias de seguridad y experiencias de riesgo intolerable. Los resultados serán debatidos de acuerdo con su relevancia teórica y empírica y sus implicaciones clínicas.This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the PhD Grant with the reference SFRH/BD/82583/2011. This study was conducted at Psychology Research Centre (PSI/01662), University of MInho, and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education through national funds, and co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER007653)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Synthesis of aminodiarylamines in the thieno[3,2-b]pyridine series and effects on tumor cell growth inhibition, cell cycle and apoptosis

Several series of compounds that include the thienopyridine scaffold have been reported as inhibitors of known cancer therapeutic targets or as inhibitors of cell proliferation in tumor cell lines [1,2]. Our research group has already synthesized several thieno[3,2-b]pyridine derivatives by Pd-catalyzed C-C (Suzuki and Sonogashira) and C-N (Buchwald-Hartwig) couplings and some of them have presented tumor cell growth inhibitory activity in cell lines [3- 5]

Low frequency of CD4+CD25+ Treg in SLE patients: a heritable trait associated with CTLA4 and TGFβ gene variants

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>CD4⁺CD25⁺regulatory T cells play an essential role in maintaining immune homeostasis and preventing autoimmunity. Therefore, defects in Treg development, maintenance or function have been associated with several human autoimmune diseases including Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by loss of tolerance to nuclear components and significantly more frequent in females.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To investigate the involvement of Treg in SLE pathogenesis, we determined the frequency of CD4⁺CD25⁺CD45RO⁺T cells, which encompass the majority of Treg activity, in the PBMC of 148 SLE patients (76 patients were part of 54 families), 166 relatives and 117 controls. SLE patients and their relatives were recruited in several Portuguese hospitals and through the Portuguese Lupus Association. Control individuals were blood donors recruited from several regional blood donor centers. Treg frequency was significantly lower in SLE patients than healthy controls (z = -6.161, <it>P </it>< 0.00001) and intermediate in the relatives' group. Remarkably, this T cell subset was also lower in females, most strikingly in the control population (z = 4.121, <it>P </it>< 0.001). We further ascertained that the decreased frequency of Treg in SLE patients resulted from the specific reduction of <it>bona fide </it>FOXP3⁺CD4⁺CD25⁺Treg. Treg frequency was negatively correlated with SLE activity index (SLEDAI) and titers of serum anti-dsDNA antibodies. Both Treg frequency and disease activity were modulated by IVIg treatment in a documented SLE case. The segregation of Treg frequency within the SLE families was indicative of a genetic trait. Candidate gene analysis revealed that specific variants of <it>CTLA4 </it>and <it>TGFβ </it>were associated with the decreased frequency of Treg in PBMC, while <it>FOXP3 </it>gene variants were associated with affection status, but not with Treg frequency.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>SLE patients have impaired Treg production or maintenance, a trait strongly associated with SLE disease activity and autoantibody titers, and possibly resulting from the inability to convert FOXP3⁺CD25^-into FOXP3⁺CD25⁺T cells. Treg frequency is highly heritable within SLE families, with specific variants of the <it>CTLA4 </it>and <it>TGFβ </it>genes contributing to this trait, while <it>FOXP3 </it>contributes to SLE through mechanisms not involving a modulation of Treg frequency. These findings establish that the genetic components in SLE pathogenesis include genes related to Treg generation or maintenance.</p

Prevalence of asymptomatic Leishmania infection and knowledge, perceptions, and practices in blood donors in mainland Portugal

Funding Information: This paper has been sponsored by Elanco Animal Health in the framework of the CVBD®World Forum Symposium. The authors would like to acknowledge all the blood donors who agreed to participate in this study for contributing with their answers to the questionnaire and their blood samples. The authors would also like to acknowledge all the professionals of the following institutions that contributed to organization of physical equipment, presentation of the study to potential participants, obtaining of informed consent, separation and storage of samples and questionnaires: Instituto Português do Sangue e da Transplantação; Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve; Hospital do Espírito Santo de Évora; Unidade Local de Sáude do Norte Alentejano; Unidade Local de Saúde do Baixo Alentejo and Unidade Local de Saúde do Litoral Alentejano. Lastly, the authors would like to acknowledge the researcher Regina Loesch for her contribution to filling in the electronic database with answers to the paper questionnaires, and the researcher Ana Rita Goes for her contributions to designing the questionnaire for this study. Funding Information: RR was supported by the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science (via Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.—FCT) through a PhD grant (UI/BD/151067/2021). The authors would also like to acknowledge FCT for funding through contracts with GHTM (UID/Multi/04413/2020, UIDB/00006/2020 and UIDP/00006/2020) and LA-REAL (LA/P/0117/2020). This project was also funded by the Tropical Clinic Unit (Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine [IHMT]). Publisher Copyright: © 2023, BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.Background: Asymptomatic infection is the most common outcome of exposure to Leishmania parasites. In the Mediterranean region, where Leishmania infantum is endemic, studies on the prevalence of asymptomatic infection have often relied on serological testing in blood donors. In Spain, regional studies have shown seroprevalence in blood donors between 1 and 8%; in Portugal, values of 0 and 2% were suggested by two localized studies, in different populations. The purpose of this study was (i) to estimate the prevalence of asymptomatic Leishmania infection in blood donors in mainland Portugal, and (ii) to study the association between the detection of antibodies to Leishmania and sociodemographic factors, and also the knowledge, perceptions and practices (KPP) of the blood donors regarding leishmaniasis. Methods: A cross-sectional study targeted the population of people who donated blood in mainland Portugal. Participants, distributed proportionally by municipality and aged between 18 and 65 years, were selected randomly in 347 blood collection points between February and June 2022, and completed a sociodemographic and a KPP questionnaire. Detection of anti-Leishmania antibodies in serum was performed using an ELISA commercial kit. Individual KPP scores were calculated by adding grades defined for each question. Results: Globally, 201/3763 samples were positive. The estimated national true seroprevalence was 4.8% (95% CI 4.1–5.5%). The proportion of positive results was significantly different between NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) regions. Models suggested that seropositivity was significantly higher in male sex, people older than 25 years, or residing in the Centro NUTS2 region, but not in dog owners nor people with lower KPP scores. Overall, 72.3% of participants had previously heard of leishmaniasis and, in multivariate analysis, a higher Knowledge score was associated with age 25–40 years, female sex, ownership of dogs, and higher education. Conclusions: Global estimated true seroprevalence (4.8%) was similar to previous regional studies in blood donors in neighboring Spain. Higher seroprevalence values in the NUTS2 Centro region were consistent with incidence data from humans and seroprevalence studies in dogs. On the other hand, the low values in the Alentejo and the high values in the northern subregions may be the result of geographical shifts in parasite circulation due to climate change and should prompt localized and integrated, vector, canine, and human research, following a One Health approach. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].publishersversionpublishe

Aminodi(hetero)arylamines in the thieno[3,2-b]pyridine series: synthesis, effects in human tumor cells growth, cell cycle analysis, apoptosis and evaluation of toxicity using non-tumor cells

Three aminodi(hetero)arylamines were prepared via a palladium-catalyzed C-N Buchwald-Hartwig coupling of methyl 3-aminothieno[3,2-b]pyridine-2-carboxylate with different bromonitrobenzenes, followed by reduction of the nitro groups of the coupling products to the corresponding amino compounds. The aminodi(hetero)arylamines thus obtained were evaluated for their growth inhibitory effect on four human tumor cell lines MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), A375-C5 (melanoma), NCI-H460 (non-small cell lung cancer) and HepG2 (hepatocellular carcinoma). The toxicity to non-tumor cells was also evaluated using a porcine liver primary cell culture (PLP1), established by us. The aminodi(hetero)arylamine with the NH2 group in the ortho position and an OMe group in the para position to the NH of the di(hetero)arylamine, is the most promising compound giving the lowest GI50 values (1.30–1.63 μM) in all the tested human tumor cell lines, presenting no toxicity to PLP1 at those concentrations. The effect of this compound on the cell cycle and induction of apoptosis was analyzed in the NCI-H460 cell line. It was observed that it altered the cell cycle profile causing a decrease in the percentage of cells in the G0/G1 phase and an increase of the apoptosis levels.Foundation for the Science and Technology (FCT–Portugal) for financial support through the NMR Portuguese network (Bruker 400 Avance III-Univ Minho). FCT and FEDER (European Fund for Regional Development) for financial support through the research centers PEst-C/QUI/UI686/2011and PEst-OE/AGR/UI0690/2011, the research project PTDC/QUI-QUI/111060/2009 and the post-Doctoralgrants attributed to R.C.C. and R.T.L. (SFRH/BPD/68344/2010 and SFRH/BPD/68787/2010, respectively). IPATIMUP is an Associate Laboratory of the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education and is partially supported by FCT

António Pinheiro

Editores literários da obra: Maria João Brilhante e Ana Isabel VasconcelosAntónio Pinheiro (1867-1943), considerado um dos atores portugueses mais inteligentes e instruídos da sua geração, foi a personalidade escolhida para o oitavo volume da coleção “Biografias do Teatro Português”. Com base em provas documentais, algumas das quais inéditas, é-nos apresentado o longo e riquíssimo percurso artístico de Pinheiro, são recordados aspetos marcantes da sua vida pessoal, sublinhado o seu empenho na luta associativa em defesa da classe teatral, tudo isto inserido num contexto social e profissional que nos permite avaliar a relação de Pinheiro com os seus pares bem como o seu posicionamento relativamente às tendências estéticas da época. Competências múltiplas, espírito versátil e trabalho afincado fizeram com que a sua presença no teatro fosse além da representação, tendo desempenhado as funções de diretor de cena, ensaiador, marcador de peças e «metteur-en-place». Ainda ligado à atividade teatral, foi professor do Conservatório, onde deu a sua última aula aos 70 anos. Para a posteridade, António Pinheiro publicou várias obras que testemunham toda uma época e que constitui «o mais relevante conjunto memorialístico do teatro em Portugal».info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio