Gold nanoparticles synthesis and antimicrobial effect on fibrous materials

Depositing nanoparticles in textiles have been a promising strategy to achieve multifunc- tional materials. Particularly, antimicrobial properties are highly valuable due to the emergence of new pathogens and the spread of existing ones. Several methods have been used to functionalize textile materials with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Therefore, this review highlighted the most used methods for AuNPs preparation and the current studies on the topic in order to obtain AuNPs with suitable properties for antimicrobial applications and minimize the environmental concerns in their production. Reporting the detailed information on the functionalization of fabrics, yarns, and fibers with AuNPs by different methods to improve the antimicrobial properties was the central objective. The studies combining AuNPs and textile materials have opened valuable opportunities to develop antimicrobial materials for health and hygiene products, as infection control and barrier material, with improved properties. Future studies are needed to amplify the antimicrobial effect of AuNPs onto textiles and minimize the concerns related to the synthesis.FEDER funds through the Operational Competitiveness Program—COMPETE and by National Funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT)—under the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007136 and UID/CTM/00264/2019. I.R. (SFRH/BD/137668/2018) acknowledges FCT, Portugal, for its doctoral grant financial support. A.Z. also acknowledges financial support of the FCT project PTDC/CTM-TEX/28295/2017 financed by FCT, FEDER, and POC

Testing, characterisation and regulations of antimicrobial textiles

Nowadays, antimicrobial textile has been widely applied in several sectors, including hospitals and healthcare centres, food industry, clothing industry and in domestic environment. Antimicrobial textiles are particularly used in active patches and dressings for wound healing, infection prevention and control (IPC) articles, deodorization and anti-fungi clothing, among other applications. This chapter reviews the characterization, standard testing methods as well as existing regulations in Europe and the United States for antimicrobial textiles. Antimicrobial textiles were characterized based on their application area. A summary of the efficacy testing standards on antimicrobial textiles was presented and critically discussed. Safety evaluation, comprising the risk assessment was also introduced. The increasing use of antimicrobial textiles is in need of further development of regulations and international testing standards for safety and efficacy evaluation in vitro including preclinical testing if applicable. Moreover, particular attention was given to the development of durability test standards.The authors would like to acknowledge the project PLASMAMED - PTDC/CTMTEX/28295/2017 financed by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), FEDER and POCI in the frame of the Portugal 2020 program. In addition, Xinyu Song and Ana Isabel Ribeiro acknowledge FCT PhD grants SFRH/BD/130028/2017 and SFRH/BD/137668/2018, respectivel

Development of antimicrobial polyester fabric by a green in situ synthesis of copper nanoparticles mediated from chitosan and ascorbic acid

The antimicrobial functionalization of polyester fabrics (PES) is useful to provide protection from pathogens and reducing odors. Copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) have been widely applied due to their antimicrobial properties and higher biocompatibility compared with other metal nanoparticles. However, the inherent instability of CuNPs under atmospheric conditions and the use of harmful chemicals during their synthesis limit their use. Thus, the development of efficient and safe methods for the CuNPs synthesis and their stabilization onto surfaces present high interest. In this work, PES was functionalized with CuNPs via in situ synthesis using cost-effective and safe chemicals in the presence and absence of chitosan. In sample without chitosan, the CuNPs showed a suitable stabilization onto PES due to the doubled stabilization of ascorbic acid (AA) and cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). In sample with chitosan, less CuNPs were retained by the PES but also less CuNPs agglomeration was observed. Both samples presented excellent antibacterial effect against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) as well as laundering durability.(undefined

Shiftwork schedules: from effect’s evaluation to intervention possibilities

Ancorado numa investigação mais alargada sobre os efeitos do trabalho por turnos, o presente trabalho propõe-se contribuir para a discussão de possibilidades de intervenção nesta problemática, considerando especialmente o papel do contexto organizacional. Tal discussão é feita a partir da referência a três estudos realizados em empresas industriais, nos quais, foram avaliados alguns dos efeitos tipicamente associados ao trabalho por turnos na saúde, vida familiar e social e avaliação da satisfação com o próprio turno de trabalho. No conjunto das três empresas estiveram envolvidos 859 trabalhadores/as por turnos. Os dados foram recolhidos através de questionário, integrando este escalas publicadas na literatura ou desenvolvidas pela equipa de investigação. As análises de correlações efetuadas indicaram uma associação estatisticamente significativa e no sentido esperado entre a perceção do suporte do contexto organizacional e os efeitos avaliados. Especificamente, tal associação oscilou entre -.19 com os “problemas de sono” e .47 com a interface com a “vida fora da empresa”. Além da relevância das práticas de gestão que podem ser usadas pelas organizações, são apresentadas/discutidas outras possibilidades de intervenção. Em ambos os casos, o enfoque permanece no suporte que pode ser proporcionado pelo contexto organizacional na promoção da adaptação a esta modalidade horária de trabalho.Anchored on a wider research on the shiftwork effects, this study aims to contribute to the discussion of intervention possibilities in this issue considering, in particular, the role of the organizational context. This discussion is made with reference to three studies conducted in industrial companies which assessed some of the effects that are typically associated with shiftwork: effects on health, family and social life and satisfaction with the work shift. In the three companies 859 shift workers were involved. Data were gathered from a survey (the scales used in the survey included scales published in the literature and other developed by the research team). The correlation analysis indicated a statistically significant association between the perception of organizational support and the assessed effects. This association varied between -.19 with “sleep problems” and .47 with the interface with “life outside the company”. Beyond the relevance of management practices that can be used by organizations, other possibilities of intervention are presented/discussed. In both cases, the focus remains on the support that may be provided by the organizational context by promoting the adaptation to this work schedule

Sistemas de discriminação positiva na Europa: facilitadores ou detractores da equidade?

O conceito de igualdade de oportunidades pressupõe que todas as pessoas têm acesso às mesmas oportunidades independentemente da sua etnia ou género, o que nem sempre acontece. Registam-se inúmeros casos em que algumas pessoas são alvo de discriminação devido a aspectos como o género, a etnia, a orientação sexual, a deficiência e a idade. Algumas Sociedades, conscientes dos escassos efeitos da simples proclamação da igualdade de oportunidades, optaram por implementar medidas activas de tratamento preferencial com vista à reposição da equidade social. A equidade compreende a aplicação de medidas de forma a evitar a perpetuação de estados de equilíbrio social intrinsecamente injustos. Em contexto de emprego, estas medidas configuram-se naquelas que visam assegurar a representação proporcional de determinados grupos ou a retribuição, assente apenas em critérios meritocráticos. O presente estudo procura verificar se os sistemas de discriminação positiva para as minorias étnicas produzem efeitos na reposição da equidade social ou se apenas operam no domínio retórico. Para tal, agrupámos países Europeus com sistemas de discriminação positiva para minorias étnicas, no acesso ao emprego, num cluster e países sem estes sistemas num outro e testámos eventuais diferenças entre variáveis que considerámos relevantes na apreciação dos efeitos a que se destinam as medidas. Os resultados indicam que o sistema de discriminação positiva surte efeitos positivos no acesso ao emprego qualificado para as minorias étnicas. Conclui-se pela eficácia dos sistemas de discriminação positiva pois parecem estar a servir o propósito a que se destinam: atingir a equidade social.The concept of equal opportunities assumes that every one has the same opportunities disregard of their race, ethnicity or gender. This assumption is far from being demonstrated. Some people are prejudiced due to aspects such as gender, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, handicap or age. Some countries, aware of the ineffectiveness of the simple proclamation of equal opportunities, adopted active measures of preferential treatment in order to achieve social equity. Equity means applying measures as fair as possible in order to avoid injustice. In working environment, measures that aim to ensure proportional representation of targeted groups, based only on meritocratic criteria, must be considered. This study aims to verify if positive action measures contribute to uphold social equity or if they are mere rhetoric. In order to do so, we have clustered some European countries known to have positive action measures in the working context, and their counterpart in another cluster: countries that have generic equality of opportunity measures. Results show that positive action measures do have positive effects granting ethnic minorities’ access to qualified jobs. Positive action measures are fulfilling their purpose: that of attaining social equity

Electrospun Fibers in Composite Materials for Medical Applications

Sem PDF conforme Despacho. The authors acknowledge Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT-MCTES) for the financial support through the Strategic Project PEstC/CTM/LA0025/2013-14. Ana C. Baptista also acknowledges FCT-MCTES for the doctoral grant SFRH/BD/69306/2010.The development of nanoscaled materials has deserved a remarkable interest for biomedical applications. Biological tissues are essentially composite materials with particular mechanical properties that should be carefully considered during the design of innovative biomedical scaffolds. Electrospun membranes are often found in medical applications due to its high specific surface which creates a 3D porous structure that mimics the native extracellular matrix. These electrospun membranes can also be designed to have enhanced mechanical properties, biocompatibility and cellular response making them appealing and inspiring to be used in composites materials. This paper reviews the new insights in the development of advanced nanostructured composites materials based on electrospun fibers. From tissue engineering to bioelectronics, these composite materials can be found in the most promising research developments for the medical applications.publishersversionpublishe

Cellulose-Based Bioelectronic Devices

The authors work was partially supported by Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT-MCTES) through the Strategic Project PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2011. Ana Baptista also acknowledges FCT-MCTES for the doctoral grant SFRH/BD/69306/2010.publishersversionpublishe

Bio-synthesised fibrous-based meshes for abdominal hernia with enhanced mechanical and antimicrobial properties

Abdominal hernia (AH) encompasses the most prevalent types of hernia: inguinal, umbilical and incisional. Notwithstanding current hernia complications represent a low death toll (nearly 0.001 % in developed countries), non-reducible hernias are the most severe cases, which require urgent surgical intervention due to their life-threatening nature. In a single year, at the United States of America, more than 800 thousand surgeries are performed to repair inguinal hernias. Abdominal hernia ubiquitous symptoms include pain, which may represent a mild discomfort or even an impairing morbidity. Nevertheless, some patients suffer from morbidity in the post-operative period. Recurrence was reduced when the application of a propylene mesh replaced primary suture repair more than 60 years ago. Surprisingly, currently the most prevalent hernia mesh materials are based on petrochemical plastics such as polypropylene, polyester, polystyrene and expanded polytetrafluoroethylene. Unfortunately, despite the plethora of commercial hernia meshes, an improvement of the hernia meshes is still warranted, since petrochemical materials exhibit a deterioration over time which generate complications and recurrence. This project envisages the complete replacement of the conventional plastic-based material of hernia meshes by a fully bio- based material with superior mechanical properties: bacterial nanocellulose (BNC). BNC is synthesized by bacteria and is composed of a 3D matrix of 100 % nanofibrils of cellulose, each with a diameter ranging between 20 to 100 nm. When BNC producing bacterium are cultured in static culture, the BNC is formed as membrane (nanoporous mesh comprising pores of 100 to 300 nm in diameter) at the surface of the culture medium and adopts the shape of the available surface. Therefore, it is easy to control the membrane surface shape, as well as its thickness, which can be controlled by the incubation time (longer incubation time will result in a larger thickness). The selection of the most adequate bacterium for the production of the hernia mesh will be performed Nevertheless, for a hernia mesh to be viable it requires pores with a specific diameter to allow the permeability of leukocytes, fibroblasts, and permit the arrangement of collagen and blood vessels. Per se, the BNC mesh does not possess such large specific pores with the required diameter (> 75 μm), thus it is proposed the design and development of a template to achieve a AH mesh that meets the necessary requirements. Furthermore, due to the high complexity of hernia mesh infection, which is extremely difficult to adequately treat without removing the mesh, this project envisages the functionalization of BNC AH mesh with antimicrobial properties. Two approaches will be considered for the BNC AH mesh functionalization, namely: in situ synthesis and adsorption through filtration. NPs optimal concentration and functionalization process will be examined and tailored to obtain a BNC AH mesh with effective antimicrobial activity and negligible cytotoxicity. According the AH implantation site, three different hernia meshes classes are usually applied: low, medium and high weight, thus the optimal antimicrobial BNC meshes of each class will be patented to represent a viable commercial alternative, by displaying superior mechanical properties, biocompatibility and low infection propensity, to considerably improve AH patience overall wellbeing.FEDER funds under the COMPETE program and by National Funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) under the project POCI-01- 0145-FEDER-007136 and UID/CTM/00264/2013. PLASMAMED project PTDC/CTMTEX/28295/2017 funded by FCT, FEDER e POCI through the program Portugal 202

Descriptive Analysis of Adverse Drug Reactions Reports of the Most Consumed Antibiotics in Portugal, Prescribed for Upper Airway Infections

Funding: This research was funded by the project PTDC/SAU-SER/31678/2017, supported by the Operational Program on Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI) in its FEDER/FNR component, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031678, and by the Foundation for Science and Technology in its state budget component (OE).Adverse drug reactions (ADR) significantly impact mortality and morbidity and lead to high healthcare costs. Reporting ADR to regulatory authorities allows for monitoring the safety and efficacy profile of medicines on the market and for assessing the benefit–risk ratio. This retrospective study aims to characterize the ADR profile of the most consumed antibiotics in Portugal that are prescribed for upper airway infections and submitted to the EudraVigilance database. The variables were analyzed in an exploratory perspective, through absolute and relative frequencies, with emphasis on serious ADR. A total of 59,022 reports were analyzed of which 64.4% were classified as suspected serious ADR. According to serious ADR, the female sex (52.2%) and 18–64 age group (47.5%) prevail. Health professionals reported 87.8% of suspected serious ADR and European Economic Area (EEA) countries represented 50.8% of the reports. “Skin and subcutaneous tissue connections” (15.9%), “general disorders and administrations site conditions” (12%), and “gastrointestinal disorders” (9.8%) are the prevalent system organ classes. In 4.5% of the reports, patients had a fatal outcome. A periodic evaluation of the safety of the antibiotic should be performed to facilitate the development of guidelines and policies to reduce the frequency of serious ADR.publishersversionpublishe

Spatial epidemiology: New approaches to old questions

Spatial Epidemiology is used to describe, quantify and explain the geographical variations of diseases, to evaluate the association between the incidence of diseases and potential risk factors and to identify spatial clusters of diseases. This article goes through the main aspects of spatial epidemiology, starting with an explanation of the importance of mapping health data, an historical perspective of the development of the discipline, a description of spatial data types, some methods of spatial statistics, and the importance of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in the analysis of spatially-referenced data. Some applications of GIS regarding oral health are presented.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio