Extraction of opinionated profiles from comments on web news

Tese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Informática e Computação. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 201

Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria in Diabetic Foot Infections: Experience from a Portuguese Tertiary Centre

In recent years, the emergence of antibiotic resistant pathogens made increasingly difficult to establish appropriate empiric antimicrobial therapy protocols for acute diabetic foot infection (DFI) treatment. Early recognition of the population at-risk for multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infection is of paramount importance in order to decrease large-spectrum antibiotic overuse. This study used retrospective cohort study in a multidisciplinary tertiary diabetic foot unit. Patients with severe DFI were included and divided according to their infection resistance profile (susceptible vs MDR bacteria). Data regarding their comorbidities and length of hospital stay were collected. The primary endpoint was to determine the risk factors for MDR infections and to evaluate if these were associated with an increased length of stay (LOS). A total of 112 microbial isolates were included. Predominance of Gram-positive bacteria was observed and 22.3% of isolated bacteria were MDR. Previous hospitalisation was associated with a higher likelihood of MDR infection. MDR bacterial infection was also associated with an increased LOS (P = .0296). Our study showed a high incidence of MDR bacteria in patients with a DFI, especially in those who had a recent hospitalisation. MDR infections were associated with a prolonged LOS and represent a global public health issue for which emergent measures are needed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ergonomics applied to the development and evaluation of insoles for protective footwear

Knowledge of ergonomics/human factors plays an important role in the creation and design of safety shoes and insoles, contributing to worker protection, comfort, and stability. The purpose of this study is to compare previous insole designs and analyze the plantar pressure and gait pattern kinematics using the Oxford foot model protocol. The tests were performed comparing the environments on the three rockers of the gait, represented by the heel, midfoot, and forefoot, according to the classification of foot type. The analysis of plantar pressure, regarding its total and maximum distribution, showed that the innovative insole presents a better load distribution in terms of the maximum plantar pressure exerted in the hindfoot and forefoot regions. In the biomechanical analysis of gait, the five variables studied did not show variation in the normal mechanics of the foot in any of the three environments considered. The hallux joint was the one that presented the greatest divergences with the barefoot in terms of amplitude and variability, as expected.SHOE@FUTURE: Technological Solutions for Professional Footwear, POCI-01-0247-FEDER-033835, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) through the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Program under the “Portugal 2020” Program. This work has been supported by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020

Somos Bibliotecas. Públicas, Municipais, De Todos! Campanha de Promoção das Bibliotecas Públicas

Da iniciativa do Grupo de Trabalho das Bibliotecas Públicas da Associação Portuguesa de Bibliotecários, Arquivistas e Documentalistas (BAD) a Campanha Somos Bibliotecas: Públicas, Municipais, De Todos! tem como objetivo lançar uma ação de advocacy, que se pretende à escala nacional, com intuito de apresentar e promover os serviços e atividades das Bibliotecas Públicas e Municipais ao público em geral e despertar a atenção dos decisores para esta temática.Como elemento central de comunicação, a campanha terá como principal eixo um website que contém toda a informação relativa à campanha, incluindo: o manifesto das bibliotecas municipais, cartazes e folhetos sobre a campanha, uma aplicação de simulação de cálculo do valor da biblioteca, um mapa interativo das bibliotecas públicas em Portugal e um repositório de materiais, que inclui vídeos, fotografias, testemunhos e opiniões. Será ainda criada uma petição dirigida à Associação Nacional de Municípios Portugueses e à Assembleia da República como forma de alertar para a situação atual das Bibliotecas Públicas portuguesas e apelar à necessidade de criação de um enquadramento normativo que defina os requisitos mínimos para as Bibliotecas Municipais.Pretende-se uma campanha prolongada no tempo, que irá recolher testemunhos e opiniões de utilizadores das bibliotecas e demais cidadãos, profissionais da área Informação e Documentação e áreas afins, bem como de personalidades conhecidas do grande público. Desta forma, procura-se contribuir para a valorização e relevância social destes equipamentos, aproximando as bibliotecas públicas dos cidadãos e colocando-as num lugar de destaque na sociedade

Unlocking the potential of snake venom-based molecules against the malaria, Chagas disease, and leishmaniasis triad

Funding Information: This work received financial support from PT national funds ( FCT/MCTES , Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior) through the project CIRCNA/BRB/0281/2019 . Funding Information: This work received financial support from PT national funds (FCT/MCTES, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior) through the project CIRCNA/BRB/0281/2019.The authors further thank FCT/MCTES for supporting Research Units LAQV-REQUIMTE (UIDB/50006/2020), GHTM (UID/Multi/04413/2020). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The AuthorsMalaria, leishmaniasis and Chagas disease are vector-borne protozoal infections with a disproportionately high impact on the most fragile societies in the world, and despite malaria-focused research gained momentum in the past two decades, both trypanosomiases and leishmaniases remain neglected tropical diseases. Affordable effective drugs remain the mainstay of tackling this burden, but toxicicty, inneficiency against later stage disease, and drug resistance issues are serious shortcomings. One strategy to overcome these hurdles is to get new therapeutics or inspiration in nature. Indeed, snake venoms have been recognized as valuable sources of biomacromolecules, like peptides and proteins, with antiprotozoal activity. This review highlights major snake venom components active against at least one of the three aforementioned diseases, which include phospholipases A2, metalloproteases, L-amino acid oxidases, lectins, and oligopeptides. The relevance of this repertoire of biomacromolecules and the bottlenecks in their clinical translation are discussed considering approaches that should increase the success rate in this arduous task. Overall, this review underlines how venom-derived biomacromolecules could lead to pioneering antiprotozoal treatments and how the drug landscape for neglected diseases may be revolutionized by a closer look at venoms. Further investigations on poorly studied venoms is needed and could add new therapeutics to the pipeline.publishersversionepub_ahead_of_prin

Pensar, dialogar e capacitar : a missão do Centro do Atlântico

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Portuguese recommendations for the use of biological and targeted synthetic diseasemodifying antirheumatic drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis – 2020 update

Objective: To update the recommendations for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with biological and targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs and tsDMARDs), endorsed by the Portuguese Society of Rheumatology (SPR). Methods: These treatment recommendations were formulated by Portuguese rheumatologists taking into account previous recommendations, new literature evidence and consensus opinion. At a national meeting, in a virtual format, three of the ten previous recommendations were re-addressed and discussed after a more focused literature review. A first draft of the updated recommendations was elaborated by a team of SPR rheumatologists from the SPR rheumatoid arthritis study group, GEAR. The resulting document circulated among all SPR rheumatologists for discussion and input. The level of agreement with each of all the recommendations was anonymously voted online by all SPR rheumatologists. Results: These recommendations cover general aspects such as shared decision, treatment objectives, systematic assessment of disease activity and burden and its registry in Reuma.pt. Consensus was also achieved regarding specific aspects such as initiation of bDMARDs and tsDMARDs, assessment of treatment response, switching and definition of persistent remission. Conclusion: These recommendations may be used for guidance of treatment with bDMARDs and tsDMARDs in patients with RA. As more evidence becomes available and more therapies are licensed, these recommendations will be updated.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

In vivo antileishmanial efficacy of a naphthoquinone derivate incorporated into a Pluronic? F127-based polymeric micelle system against Leishmania amazonensis infection.

New therapeutic strategies against leishmaniasis are desirable, since the treatment against disease presents problems, such as the toxicity, high cost and/or parasite resistance. As consequence, new antileishmanial compounds are necessary to be identified, as presenting high activity against Leishmania parasites, but low toxicity in mammalian hosts. Flau-A is a naphthoquinone derivative recently showed to presents an in vitro effective action against Leishmania amazonensis and L. infantum species. In the present work, the in vivo efficacy of Flau-A, which was incorporated into a Poloxamer 407-based micelle system, was evaluated in a murine model against L. amazonensis infection. Amphotericin B (AmB) and Ambisome? were used as controls. The animals were infected and later treated with the compounds. Thirty days after the treatment, parasitological and immunological parameters were evaluated. Results showed that AmB, Ambisome? , Flau-A or Flau-A/M-treated animals presented significantly lower average lesion diameter and parasite burden in tissue and organs evaluated, when compared to the control (saline and micelle) groups. Flau-A or Flau-A/M-treated mice were those presenting the most significant reductions in the parasite burden, when compared to the others. These animals developed also a more polarized antileishmanial Th1 immune response, which was based on significantly higher levels of IFN-?, IL-12, TNF-?, GM-CSF, and parasite-specific IgG2a isotype; associated with low levels of IL-4, IL10, and IgG1 antibody. The absence of toxicity was found in these animals, although mice receiving AmB have showed high levels of renal and hepatic damage markers. In conclusion, results suggested that the Flau-A/M compound may be considered as a possible therapeutic target to be evaluated against human leishmaniasis

Vaccination with a CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell epitopes-based recombinant chimeric protein derived from Leishmania infantum proteins confers protective immunity against visceral leishmaniasis.

Vaccination seems to be the best approach to control visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Resistance against infection is based on the development of a Th1 immune response characterized by the production of interferons-? (IFN-?), interleukin-12 (IL-12), granulocyte-macrophage-colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and tumor necrosis factor-? (TNF-?), among others. A number of antigens have been tested as potential targets against the disease; few of them are able to stimulate human immune cells. In the present study, 1 prediction of MHC class I and II molecules-specific epitopes in the amino acid sequences of 3 Leishmania proteins: 1 hypothetical, prohibitin, and small glutamine-rich tetratricopeptide repeat-containing proteins, was performed using bioinformatics tools, and a T-cell epitopes-based recombinant chimeric protein was constructed, synthetized and purified to be evaluated in invitro and in vivo experiments. The purified protein was tested regarding its immunogenicity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy subjects and VL patients, as well as to its immunogenicity and protective efficacy in a murine model against Leishmania infantum infection. Results showed a Th1 response based on high IFN-? and low IL-10 levels derived from in chimera-stimulated PBMCs in both healthy subjects and VL patients. In addition, chimera and/or saponin-immunized mice presented significantly lower parasite burden in distinct evaluated organs, when compared to the controls, besides higher levels of IFN-?, IL-2, IL-12, and GM-CSF, and an IgG2a isotype-based humoral response. In addition, the CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell subtypes contributed to IFN-? production in the protected animals. The results showed the immunogenicity in human cells and the protective efficacy against L. infantum in a murine model, and well indicate that this recombinant chimera can be considered as a promising strategy to be used against human disease

Recent updates and perspectives on approaches for the development of vaccines against visceral leishmaniasis

All rights reserved. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is one of the most important tropical diseases worldwide. Although chemotherapy has been widely used to treat this disease, problems related to the development of parasite resistance and side effects associated with the compounds used have been noted. Hence, alternative approaches for VL control are desirable. Some methods, such as vector control and culling of infected dogs, are insufficiently effective, with the latter not ethically recommended. The development of vaccines to prevent VL is a feasible and desirable measure for disease control, for example, some vaccines designed to protect dogs against VL have recently been brought to market. These vaccines are based on the combination of parasite fractions or recombinant proteins with adjuvants that are able to induce cellular immune responses, however, their partial efficacy and the absence of a vaccine to protect against human leishmaniasis underline the need for characterization of new vaccine candidates. This review presents recent advances in control measures for VL based on vaccine development, describing extensively studied antigens, as well as new antigenic proteins recently identified using immuno-proteomic techniquesThis work was supported by grants from Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Nano-Biofarmacêutica, Rede Nanobiotec/Brasil-Universidade Federal de Uberlândia/CAPES, PRONEX-FAPEMIG (APQ-01019-09), FAPEMIG (CBB-APQ-00819-12 and CBB-APQ-01778-2014), and CNPq (APQ-482976/2012-8, APQ-488237/2013-0, and APQ-467640/2014-9). EAFC and LRG are recipients of the grant from CNPq. MACF is the recipient of grants from FAPEMIG/CAPE