Bacterial biofilms, antibiotic resistance and healthcare-associated infections: a dangerous connection

In 2012, were estimated 6.7 million cases of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) either in long-term care facilities or acute-care hospitals from which result 37,000 deaths configuring a serious public health problem [1]. The etiological agents are diverse and often resistant to antimicrobial agents. One of the mechanisms responsible for the emergence of drug resistance is biofilm assembly. Biofilms are defined as thin layers of microorganisms adhering to the surface of a structure, which may be organic or inorganic, together with the polymers that they secrete [2]. They are dynamic structures which experience different stages of organization with the ageing and are linked to an increase in bacterial resistance to host defense mechanisms, antibiotics, sterilization procedures other than autoclaving, persistence in water distribution systems and other surfaces. The understanding of bacteria organization within the biofilm and the identification of differences between planktonic and sessile forms of bacteria will be a step forward to fight HAIs. Bacterial isolates were grown in adequate medium. Antibiotic susceptibility was evaluated by broth microdilution method and interpreted according to NCCLS guidelines. A similar assay was performed to evaluate biofilm susceptibility to antibiotics. Bacteria ability to assemble biofilms was assayed by the microtiter-plate test [3] being tested in both abiotic (materials present in healthcare units) and biotic (Hella cells) surfaces. The biofilm structure was assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in either backscattered electron diffraction or secondary electrons mode. The kinetic of biofilm assembly depends on bacteria growth rate, incubation temperature and medium. Furthermore, the SEM analysis of planktonic and sessile forms of the same bacteria allowed the identification of structural differences which may be involved in virulence (Fig. 1). Bacteria ability to assemble biofilms seems to be independent of the abiotic structure (Fig.2). The same is not observed in biotic surfaces. This fact suggests that biofilm assembly in vivo is dependent of bacteria tropism. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determine for bacteria organized in biofilms is higher than for their planktonic forms. The increase ranges from 2 to 200 folds and is proportional to the ability of bacteria to assemble biofilms. Further studies will be conducted in order to prevent biofilm assembly within healthcare units which will result in a decrease of HAI and emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria

Exploring dangerous connections between Klebsiella pneumoniae biofilms and healthcare-associated infections

Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are a huge public health concern,particularly when the etiological agents are multidrug resistant. The ability of bacteria to develop biofilm is a helpful skill, both to persist within hospital units and to increase antibiotic resistance. Although the links between antibiotic resistance, biofilms assembly and HAI are consensual, little is known about biofilms. Here, electron microscopy was adopted as a tool to investigate biofilm structures associated with increased antibiotic resistance. The K. pneumoniae strains investigated are able to assemble biofilms, albeit with different kinetics. The biofilm structure and the relative area fractions of bacteria and extracellular matrix depend on the particular strain, as well as the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) for the antibiotics. Increased values were found for bacteria organized in biofilms when compared to the respective planktonic forms, except for isolates Kp45 and Kp2948, the MIC values for which remained unchanged for fosfomycin. Altogether, these results showed that the emergence of antimicrobial resistance among bacteria responsible for HAI is a multifactorial phenomenon dependent on antibiotics and on bacteria/biofilm features

As if economics mattered: market failure, positive externalities, HEI and the contributions from philosophy of education

Trabalho apresentado em 1º Encontro de Economia Política, 25-27 Janeiro de 2018, Lisboa, PortugalN/

Concepções do tempo e do real em the Great Gatsby e the Catcher in the Rye

Partindo de uma distinção entre tempo objectivamente medido e tempo subjectivo, pretende-se dar conta da importância da questão temporal em The Great Gatsby e The Catcher in the Rye. Num primeiro momento são analisadas questões ligadas à forma narrativa, nomeadamente a cronologia dos acontecimentos narrados e a importância do tempo atmosférico. Seguidamente, é analisada a visão do tempo das diferentes personagens. Tudo irá convergir na percepção de que a concepção do tempo de uns e outros tem implicações directas no seu destino: sobrevivência ou colapso

Requalificação de frentes de água : avaliação de três casos do Grande Porto

Tese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Civil (especialização em Planeamento). Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 200

Diagnostic assessment of the comfort of palliative patients: scoping review protocol

Introduction: The competence to evaluate is essential in any profession in the health area. The concept of comfort is intrinsically linked to palliative care, being a concern shared by any health professional. These, when analyzing, must know what they are looking for and what they should expect to find. Objectives: To map how health professionals assess people's comfort in palliative and end-of-life situations. Methods: will follow the methodology proposed by the Johanna Briggs Institute (JBI) for scoping reviews. Considered studies in Spanish, English and Portuguese, without temporal definition. Databases to search: MEDLINE Complete, Academic Search Complete, CINAHL Complete and Mediclatina (EBSCOhost), Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection. For unpublished studies, the RCAAP (open access repository in Portugal) will be used. Two independent reviewers will evaluate the articles and extract the data using a specific tool created. In case of discrepancies, a third reviewer will be requested. Results: It is expected to map the data used by health professionals in assessing the comfort of people in palliative care. Conclusions: This review will make it possible to identify instruments used to collect data and what is the professional competence of the group that has in its practice the assessment of comfort. This can form the basis for a systematic review and/or help identify gaps where it may be important to invest in the future. This protocol was registered on the OSF platform with the DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/UF52X.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A realidade na arte: o compromisso humanista na representação pictórica (1936 - 1961)

Esta investigação centra-se numa proposta de compreensão crítica das artes plásticas, concretamente das representações pictóricas vinculadas a um compromisso humanista, nas décadas centrais do século XX, em Portugal. Num contexto histórico, social e político, internacional e nacional, de guerras e de ditaduras, emerge a necessidade de uma ruptura vanguardista estética, de resistência e oposição ética. Sustentada num pensamento e discurso ideológico, busca-se, em vários países, uma nova estética, alicerçada numa nova atitude do artista, consciente e comprometida, manifestando-se numa praxis artística participada e em linguagens visuais ancoradas na realidade social e na figuração. Partindo da análise compreensiva dos pressupostos teóricos fundadores de um debate estético, dos subsídios e influências, ideológicos, artísticos e visuo-plásticos, contributivos de uma estética do realismo humanista, para um estudo analítico das intervenções e experimentações artísticas, nas suas múltiplas expressões, intenta-se uma investigação e reflexão aprofundadas para uma reavaliação crítica da arte neo-realista, nomeadamente da sua importância na história da arte portuguesa contemporânea.This research focuses on a proposal for critical understanding of visual arts, specifically the pictorial representations linked to a humanistic commitment during the midtwentieth century in Portugal. In a historical social and political international and national context, of wars and dictatorships, emerges the need for an avant-garde aesthetical break, a resistance and ethical opposition. Based on an ideological thinking and discourse, a new aesthetic is sought in many countries. Such aesthetic is based on a new conscious committed attitude of the artist manifested in a participatory artistic praxis and in visual languages anchored in social reality and figuration. From a comprehensive analysis of the theoretical grounds for an aesthetical debate, of the ideological, artistic and visual-plastic grant and influences, which contribute for an aesthetical humanist realism, we progress to an analytical study of the artistic interventions and experimentations in their multiple expressions, we attempt a comprehensive research and reflection directed to a critical reappraisal of the neo-realist art, particularly regarding its importance in the history of Portuguese contemporary art

A systematic review protocol: Examining the evidence of whole body vibration produced by mining equipment

Whole body vibration (WBV) is an emerging issue for the mining industry, occuring from the exposure due to many mining operations. This systematic review protocol intends to give answer to the question "what mining equipment contributes the most to occupational whole body vibration and under what conditions?". For that, the main engineering and health databases were selected (i.e Scopus, Science Direct and PubMed) and a set of keywords was defined to latter combination. The selection process of the papers was also described in an attempt to contribute to the general research on this field. All of the data treatment is detailed, including the risk of bias and attempts to deal with it.*x0D; The protocol for the systematic review is registered in PROSPERO under the code CRD42018087629.*x0D;  </jats:p

your t0, interior design project

The following article refers to an interior design Project, fulfilled by students of the 12th grade for the elective class “oficina de artes”. The project intends to give students knowledge and pratical skills in the area of design and architecture. It’s foundation is built upon each students aesthetic beliefs and values in order to best communicate through the design, mockup and respective folder. Through rigorous design of a prototype, the students were asked to customize their “own space”, employing the different techniques, style cues and methods they have acquired through creative thinking in order to bring to life the portrait of their ideal “T0”info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio