Pollen-producing plants of allergenic interest

El incremento de la sensibilidad humana a los alergenos, en particular al polen, tiene relación con factores medioambientales y con el estilo de vida. La cantidad total de polen observado en el aire está creciendo debido a los cambios climáticos. En Europa la floración de muchos árboles y hierbas empieza antes y dura más que hace 10 años, debido a la interacción entre el aumento de la temperatura y la concentración de CO2. Además, los contaminantes químicos del aire pueden modificar las características de los alergenos, entre los que se incluye el polen, aumentando la sensibilidad y las respuestas alérgicas de la población. El tipo de alergia respiratoria más frecuente es causado por la presencia de polen en el aire y se denomina polinosis. Las plantas polinizan durante el día, pero el polen queda en suspensión muchas horas. La concentración de polen en el aire decrece con la distancia, por lo que un solo árbol en un jardín puede tener más repercusiones en la salud que un bosque a 10 km de distancia. Las redes aerobiológicas mundiales realizan observaciones sistemáticas de la concentración de polen en el aire, advirtiendo a las personas alérgicas para adaptar a corto plazo sus actividades al aire libre y la medicación preventiva, reduciendo los efectos adversos sobre su salud. La selección de plantas ornamentales no alergológicas en las calles y jardines podría reducir significativamente la exposición a los alergenos polínicos. El corte periódico de ciertas hierbas reduciría la emisión de polen y las alergias respiratorias estacionales, mejorando la calidad de vida de la población susceptible. El objetivo de este trabajo es revisar las especies mundiales productoras de pólenes de interés alergológico, clasificarlas por su abundancia en los diferentes continentes y vincularlas con su incidencia sobre la salud de la población.Increased sensitivity to allergens, particularly pollen, is related to environmental factors and lifestyle. The total amount of pollen found in the air is growing due to climate change. In Europe the flowering of many trees and grasses starts earlier and it is longer than 10 years ago, due to the interaction between increased temperature and CO2 concentration. In addition, air chemical contaminants can modify the allergens characteristics, such as pollens, increasing human sensitivity to them and allergic responses. The most widespread type of respiratory allergy is caused by the presence of pollen in the air and it is called hay fever. Plants pollinate during the day but pollen keep suspended for many hours. The air pollen concentration decreases with distance, so a single tree in a garden can have more impact on health than a large forest 10 km away. Aerobiological global networks make systematic observations of the concentration of pollen in the air in order to warning people with allergies to adapt their short-term outdoor activities and to use the preventive medication, reducing the effects of pollen on the population health. The selection of ornamental no allergenic plants in the streets and gardens could significantly reduce exposure to pollen allergens. The periodic cut of certain herbs would reduce the emission of pollen and seasonal respiratory allergies frequency, improving the quality of life of a significant portion of the world population. The aim of this paper is review pollen-producing plants all over the word, and classify them by their abundance in different continents, and their relationship with the incidence on the population respiratory health.Fil: Barcia, Cristina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Laboratorio de Bromatología; ArgentinaFil: Veríssimo Pires, Paula C.. Universidad de Coimbra. Facultad de Ciencias E Tecnología. Departamento de Ciencias Da Vida; PortugalFil: Barberis, Sonia Esther. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Física Aplicada "Dr. Jorge Andrés Zgrablich". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Física Aplicada "Dr. Jorge Andrés Zgrablich"; Argentin

Miniature cheeses made with blends of chymosin and a vegetable rennet from flowers of Silybum marianum: Enzymatic characterization of the flower-coagulant peptidase

Binary blends of S. marianum–flower extract and chymosin, as coagulant preparations, enabled the manufacture of miniature cheeses with distinctive characteristics compared to those of chymosin-renneted cheeses. The physicochemical parameters, sensory attributes of the cheeses, and in-vitro water-soluble antioxidant activity were analyzed and compared to those properties obtained from control chymosin-renneted cheeses. The preponderant proteolytic constituent in the flower extract was isolated in a two-step-purification protocol. The thus purified aspartic peptidase was maximally active at acidic pHs and exhibited a preference for peptide bonds between hydrophobic residues. Enzymologic characterization revealed differences in the kinetic parameters and specificity compared to other enzymes employed, such as rennet. S. marianum–flower extract, as a source of peptidase with distinctive characteristics, is a suitable substitute for chymosin in miniature-cheese production. The addition of vegetable rennet contributed to the development of an intense aroma and conferred antioxidant activity to the cheeses and wheys.Fil: Colombo, Maria Laura. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Fernández, Agustina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Cimino, Cecilia Verónica. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Liggieri, Constanza Silvina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Bruno, Mariela Anahí. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Faro, Carlos. Universidad de Coimbra; PortugalFil: Veríssimo, Paula C.. Universidad de Coimbra; PortugalFil: Vairo Cavalli, Sandra Elizabeth. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentin

SARS-CoV-2 introductions and early dynamics of the epidemic in Portugal

Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal was rapidly implemented by the National Institute of Health in the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, in collaboration with more than 50 laboratories distributed nationwide. Methods By applying recent phylodynamic models that allow integration of individual-based travel history, we reconstructed and characterized the spatio-temporal dynamics of SARSCoV-2 introductions and early dissemination in Portugal. Results We detected at least 277 independent SARS-CoV-2 introductions, mostly from European countries (namely the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, and Switzerland), which were consistent with the countries with the highest connectivity with Portugal. Although most introductions were estimated to have occurred during early March 2020, it is likely that SARS-CoV-2 was silently circulating in Portugal throughout February, before the first cases were confirmed. Conclusions Here we conclude that the earlier implementation of measures could have minimized the number of introductions and subsequent virus expansion in Portugal. This study lays the foundation for genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal, and highlights the need for systematic and geographically-representative genomic surveillance.We gratefully acknowledge to Sara Hill and Nuno Faria (University of Oxford) and Joshua Quick and Nick Loman (University of Birmingham) for kindly providing us with the initial sets of Artic Network primers for NGS; Rafael Mamede (MRamirez team, IMM, Lisbon) for developing and sharing a bioinformatics script for sequence curation (https://github.com/rfm-targa/BioinfUtils); Philippe Lemey (KU Leuven) for providing guidance on the implementation of the phylodynamic models; Joshua L. Cherry (National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health) for providing guidance with the subsampling strategies; and all authors, originating and submitting laboratories who have contributed genome data on GISAID (https://www.gisaid.org/) on which part of this research is based. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the view of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government. This study is co-funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Agência de Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica (234_596874175) on behalf of the Research 4 COVID-19 call. Some infrastructural resources used in this study come from the GenomePT project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184), supported by COMPETE 2020 - Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Lisboa Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), Algarve Portugal Regional Operational Programme (CRESC Algarve2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

BacHBerry: BACterial Hosts for production of Bioactive phenolics from bERRY fruits

BACterial Hosts for production of Bioactive phenolics from bERRY fruits (BacHBerry) was a 3-year project funded by the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) of the European Union that ran between November 2013 and October 2016. The overall aim of the project was to establish a sustainable and economically-feasible strategy for the production of novel high-value phenolic compounds isolated from berry fruits using bacterial platforms. The project aimed at covering all stages of the discovery and pre-commercialization process, including berry collection, screening and characterization of their bioactive components, identification and functional characterization of the corresponding biosynthetic pathways, and construction of Gram-positive bacterial cell factories producing phenolic compounds. Further activities included optimization of polyphenol extraction methods from bacterial cultures, scale-up of production by fermentation up to pilot scale, as well as societal and economic analyses of the processes. This review article summarizes some of the key findings obtained throughout the duration of the project

Sand-Dune Plants from the Atlantic Coast of the Iberian Peninsula: Features and Applications

Plants with one or more consumable parts are considered edible. Although many plants have been classified as edible (about 27 thousand species), few are used as food. Nonetheless, to overcome food scarcity and excessive dependence on the same plant species, humans have always consumed wild plants, either through direct intake, or as spices, condiments, or oils. Thus, edible wild plants are part of a cultural and genetic heritage assigned to different geographical areas, as well as important sources of essential oils, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and special flavours. Therefore, edible wild plants have been the subject of a growing interest, not only due to their nutritional and medicinal value, but also as a way of diversifying eating habits and of promoting biodiversity and ecological sustainability. The Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula is characterized by rocky cliffs, sandy dunes, and maritime pine forests, where several halophyte wild plants flourish and thrive. Different endemic species such as Corema album (“Camarinha”), Crithmum maritimum (“Funcho-do-mar”), Eryngium maritimum (“Cardo-marítimo”), Helichrysum italicum (“Perpétua-das-areias”) and Otanthus maritimus (“Cordeiros-da-praia”) prosper in these sand-dune environments and are known to present important bioactive compounds, which also show relevant antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties. Here, we review on the several special features and characteristics presented by this group of autochthonous plants, that show great potential, both in terms of agri-food applications, as well as in terms of cosmetics and other biotechnological uses.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

In memoriam. Farewell Milton

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Metabolic and Genetic Diversity of Mesophilic and Thermophilic Bacteria Isolated from Composted Municipal Sludge on Poly-e-caprolactones

Thirty mesophilic and thermophilic bacteria were isolated from thermobiotically digested sewage sludge in culture medium supplemented with poly-e-caprolactone (PCL). The ability of each purified isolate to degrade PCL and to produce polymer-degrading extracellular enzymes was assessed. Isolates were characterized based on random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), 16S rDNA sequence-based phylogenetic affiliation and carbohydrate-based nutritional versatility. Mesophilic isolates with ability to degrade PCL were attributed to the genera Acinetobacter, Burkholderia, Pseudomonas, and Staphylococcus. Thermophilic isolates were members of the genus Bacillus. Despite the restricted phylogenetic and genotypic diversity observed for thermophiles, their metabolic versatility and wide range of growth temperatures suggest an important activity of these organisms during the whole composting process

Adolescência e institucionalização numa perspectiva de vinculação Adolescence and institutionalization in attachment perspective

O presente artigo procura problematizar as implicações da institucionalização de jovens em Portugal, dando relevância à qualidade das relações e laços afectivos na reorganização interna da esfera emocional. A vinculação é entendida enquanto processo contínuo, em que as relações com figuras afectivamente significativas permitem reestruturar bases seguras nos jovens. A institucionalização em casas de abrigo ou orfanatos é geradora de sentimentos de perda e abandono, podendo a integração ser ainda mais dificultada pela desconfiança e pelo medo do desconhecido. Sublinha-se o carácter transformador das relações afectivamente estáveis dentro e fora das instituições que poderão promover a adaptação psicossocial e a construção de representações mais favoráveis acerca de si e do mundo ao longo do ciclo vital.<br>The present paper aims to discuss the implications of the adolescent's institutionalization in Portugal, giving relevance to the quality of affective relations and bonds for the internal reorganization of the emotional sphere. Attachment is understood as a continuous process, where the relationships with significant emotional figures allow reorganization of secure bases in adolescents and young adults. The institutionalization in shelter houses or orphanages generates feelings of loss and abandonment in the adolescents, and the process of integration is accompanied by mistrust and the fear of the unknown. An emphasis is put on the reconstructive character of stable affective relations developed with members of the institutions and outer contexts, promoting psychosocial adaptation and the construction of more favourable representations of self and the world along the life cycle