Estudo observacional de lesões oculares em gatos errantes na região de Lisboa : a propósito de 40 casos clínicos

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina VeterináriaOs gatos errantes (Felis silvestris catus) que habitam preferencialmente em meio urbano, estão mais expostos aos perigos da via pública e são mais propensos a terem comportamentos de risco que poderão levar ao aparecimento de lesões, nomeadamente a nível ocular. Este estudo observacional teve como objetivos contribuir para a caracterização do tipo de lesões oculares presentes em gatos errantes, possível relação com o seu modo de vida e suas implicações na visão do animal. Foram incluídos 40 animais provenientes de colónias de gatos errantes, examinados em três instalações de abrigo na zona de Lisboa e também gatos errantes presentes à consulta no Hospital Veterinário Arco do Cego (HVAC). Todos os gatos foram submetidos a um exame oftalmológico, tendo sido recolhida informação relacionada com variáveis como a idade, o género, o estado reprodutivo, o estado vacinal e o rastreio de FIV e FeLV. Da população em estudo, 55% (22/40) dos felídeos exibiam alterações oculares. A maioria das lesões oculares verificaram-se em machos (69%; 9/13), sendo que também se verificou uma maior prevalência de alterações em gatos inteiros (80%; 4/5). Relativamente às classes etárias afetadas, os adultos e seniores ( 3 anos) foram os que apresentaram uma maior percentagem de lesões oculares (67%; 12/18). Dos gatos errantes que exibiam lesões oculares, 54,5% dos animais (12/22) apresentavam conjuntivite, seguidos por 18% (4/22) com úlceras na córnea, 13,6% (3/22) exibiam melanose difusa da íris, 13,6% (3/22) perda do globo ocular, 9% (2/22) entrópion e, por último, foi observado apenas um caso de estrabismo (4,5%; 1/22). Do total de gatos com lesões oculares, 82% (18/22) estavam possivelmente associadas a trauma. A maior parte dos gatos que apresentavam sintomatologia ocular eram FIV positivos (67%; 6/9) e FeLV negativos (55%; 21/38). Os gatos errantes incluídos no estudo apresentaram uma elevada incidência de lesões oculares, estando a maior parte das vezes relacionadas com possíveis traumatismos. Neste estudo a conjuntivite foi a doença mais frequentemente diagnosticada. Tendo em mente a preocupação crescente atual com a problemática dos gatos errantes, pretende-se consciencializar os cuidadores de colónias e os responsáveis pelos abrigos e programas CED (Captura, Esterilização e Devolução) para a importância dum rastreio oftalmológico e para as lesões oculares mais frequentes neste contexto, bem como para as possíveis implicações para a visão e modo de vida destes animais.ABSTRACT - OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF EYE INJURIES IN STRAY CATS IN THE LISBON REGION – FOLLOWING 40 CASES - Stray cats (Felis silvestris catus) that preferentially live in urban areas, are more exposed to the dangers of public roads and are more likely to present risky behaviours that may lead to injuries, particularly at ocular level. This observational study aimed to contribute to the characterization of the type of ocular injuries present in stray cats, to investigate the possibility of a possilbe relationship with their way of life and their implications in the animal's vision. In this study, 40 animals from colonies of stray cats examined in three shelters from the Lisbon region were included, as well as stray cats that presented to consultation at the Veterinary Hospital Arco do Cego. All cats underwent an ophthalmological examination and information related to variables such as age, gender, reproductive status, vaccination status and screening for FIV and FeLV, was collected. The majority of the animals (50%; 22/40) revealed ocular changes. Most ocular injuries occurred in males (69%; 9/13), and there was also a higher prevalence of alterations in intact cats (80%; 4/5). Regarding the affected age groups, adults and seniors ( 3 years old) presented the highest percentage of ophthalmic injuries (67%; 12/18). From the total of stray cats exhibiting ocular injuries, 54.5% (12/22) of the animals had conjunctivitis, followed by corneal ulcers in 18% (4/22) of the cats, diffuse iris melanosis in 13.6% (3/22), eyeball loss in 13.6% (3/22), entropion in 9% (2/22) and strabismus in 4.5% (1/22) of the cases. From the total of cats with ocular injuries, 82% (18/22) were possibly associated with trauma. Most of the cats that presented ocular symptoms were FIV positive (67%; 6/9) and FeLV negative (55%; 21/38). Stray cats included in this study presented a high incidence of ophtalmic injuries, possibly related to trauma. In this study, conjunctivitis was the most frequently diagnosed disease. Bearing in mind the current general public awareness with the stray cats’ problematic, we aim to raise awareness of colony caregivers and those responsible for shelters and TNR programs (Trap-Neuter-Return) for the importance of eye screening and for the most frequent ocular injuries in this context, as well as for the possible implications for the vision and way of living of these animals.N/

Comparison with adult-onset rheumatic diseases

Objective To compare physical disability, mental health, fatigue and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) across juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) categories in adulthood and between JIA and adult-onset rheumatic diseases. Methods Cross-sectional analysis nested in a cohort of adult patients with JIA registered in the Rheumatic Diseases Portuguese Register (Reuma.pt). Physical disability (Health Assessment Questionnaire - Disability Index), mental health symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), fatigue (Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy - Fatigue Scale (FACIT-F)) and HRQoL (EuroQol-5D (EQ5D) and Short Form (SF-36)) were compared across JIA categories. Patients with polyarticular JIA and enthesis-related arthritis (ERA) JIA were compared respectively to patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA), matched for gender and age, adjusted for disease duration and activity. Results 585 adult patients with JIA were included. Comparison across JIA categories showed that persistent oligoarthritis and patients with ERA reported a higher score in EQ5D and SF-36 physical component when compared with other JIA categories. Polyarticular JIA reported less disability and fatigue than patients with RA (median Health Assessment Questionnaire of 0.25 vs 0.63; p<0.001 and median FACIT-F score 42 vs 40; p=0.041). Polyarticular JIA had also better scores on EQ5D and all domains of SF-36, than patients with RA. Patients with ERA reported less depression and anxiety symptoms (0% vs 14.8%; p=0.003% and 9% vs 21.3%; p=0.002) and less fatigue symptoms (45 vs 41; p=0.01) than patients with SpA. Conclusion Persistent oligoarticular JIA and ERA are the JIA categories in adulthood with better HRQoL. Overall, adult polyarticular and patients with ERA JIA have lower functional impairment and better quality-of-life than patients with RA and SpA.publishersversionpublishe

Relatório de Primavera 2022

publishersversionpublishe

Results from the portuguese register

Objective Our aims were to evaluate the correlation between Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score 27-joint reduced count (JADAS27) with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and JADAS27 with C-reactive protein (CRP) scores and to test the agreement of both scores on classifying each disease activity state. We also aimed at verifying the correlation of the 2 scores across juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) categories and to check the correlation between JADAS27-ESR and clinical JADAS27 (JADAS27 without ESR). Methods A nationwide cohort of patients with JIA registered in the Portuguese Register, Reuma.pt, was studied. JADAS27-CRP was adapted by replacing ESR with CRP level as the inflammatory marker. JADAS27-CRP was calculated similarly to JADAS27-ESR as the simple linear sum of its 4 components. Pearson's correlations and K statistics were used in the analyses. Results A total of 358 children had full data to calculate JADAS27; 65.4% were female and the mean ± SD disease duration was 11.8 ± 9.1 years. The correlation coefficient between JADAS27-ESR and JADAS27-CRP was 0.967 (P < 0.0001), although the correlation coefficient between ESR and CRP level was 0.335 (P < 0.0001). The strong correlation between JADAS27-ESR and JADAS27-CRP was maintained when compared within each JIA category. The agreement between JADAS27-ESR and JADAS27-CRP across the 4 activity states was very good, showing 91.1% of the observations in agreement; K = 0.867 (95% confidence interval 0.824-0.91). The correlation between JADAS27 with ESR and JADAS27 without ESR was high (r = 0.97, P < 0.0001). Conclusion JADAS27 based on CRP level correlated closely with JADAS27-ESR across all disease activity states and JIA categories, indicating that both measures can be used in clinical practice. Moreover, the correlation of JADAS27 with and without ESR was also high, suggesting that this tool might be useful even in the absence of laboratorial measures.publishersversionpublishe

Effectiveness and long-term retention of anti-tumour necrosis factor treatment in juvenile and adult patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: data from Reuma.pt

Methods. We prospectively collected patient and disease characteristics from patients with JIA who started biological therapy. Adverse events were collected during the follow-up period. Predictors of response at 1 year and drug retention rates were assessed at 4 years of treatment for the first biologic agent.Results. A total of 812 JIA patients [65% females, mean age at JIA onset 6.9 years (s.d. 4.7)], 227 received biologic therapy; 205 patients (90.3%) were treated with an anti-TNF as the first biologic. All the parameters used to evaluate disease activity, namely number of active joints, ESR and Childhood HAQ/HAQ, decreased significantly at 6 months and 1 year of treatment. The mean reduction in Juvenile Disease Activity Score 10 (JADAS10) after 1 year of treatment was 10.4 (s.d. 7.4). According to the definition of improvement using the JADAS10 score, 83.3% respond to biologic therapy after 1 year. Fourteen patients discontinued biologic therapies due to adverse events. Retention rates were 92.9% at 1 year, 85.5% at 2 years, 78.4% at 3 years and 68.1% at 4 years of treatment. Among all JIA subtypes, only concomitant therapy with corticosteroids was found to be univariately associated with withdrawal of biologic treatment (P = 0.016).Conclusion. Biologic therapies seem effective and safe in patients with JIA. In addition, the retention rates for the first biologic agent are high throughout 4 years

Práticas artísticas no ensino básico e secundário

O crescimento carece de uma pedagogia, e educar é ao mesmo tempo algo de muito antigo, e de muito diferente. Neste ensejo, assinalam-se dois polos: o professor, os alunos. Mas a educação faz-se num contexto social, cultural, tecnológico, ambiental. Sobre isto conhecem-se alguns pontos de fixação que tornam a educação mais consequente e humanista. A Matéria-Prima, na Educação Artística, é exatamente o que parece: os materiais à espera de serem utilizados, os processos experimentados, as vivências significadas e sentidas. O professor de artes tem uma grande possibilidade de diferença.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL : A data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in P ortugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with 26% of all species being includedin the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associatedwith habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mam-mals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion formarine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems func-tionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is cru-cial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS INPORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublishedgeoreferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mam-mals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira thatincludes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occur-ring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live obser-vations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%),bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent lessthan 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrowsjsoil moundsjtunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animaljhairjskullsjjaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8),observation in shelters, (9) photo trappingjvideo, (10) predators dietjpelletsjpine cones/nuts, (11) scatjtrackjditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalizationjecholocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and100 m (76%). Rodentia (n=31,573) has the highest number of records followedby Chiroptera (n=18,857), Carnivora (n=18,594), Lagomorpha (n=17,496),Cetartiodactyla (n=11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n=7008). The data setincludes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened(e.g.,Oryctolagus cuniculus[n=12,159],Monachus monachus[n=1,512],andLynx pardinus[n=197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate thepublication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contrib-ute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting onthe development of more accurate and tailored conservation managementstrategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite thisdata paper when the data are used in publications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mammals in Portugal: a data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in Portugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with ~26% of all species being included in the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associated with habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mammals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion for marine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems functionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is crucial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublished georeferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mammals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira that includes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occurring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live observations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%), bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent less than 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrows | soil mounds | tunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animal | hair | skulls | jaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8), observation in shelters, (9) photo trapping | video, (10) predators diet | pellets | pine cones/nuts, (11) scat | track | ditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalization | echolocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and 100 m (76%). Rodentia (n =31,573) has the highest number of records followed by Chiroptera (n = 18,857), Carnivora (n = 18,594), Lagomorpha (n = 17,496), Cetartiodactyla (n = 11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n = 7008). The data set includes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened (e.g., Oryctolagus cuniculus [n = 12,159], Monachus monachus [n = 1,512], and Lynx pardinus [n = 197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate the publication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contribute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting on the development of more accurate and tailored conservation management strategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications

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

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries