Experiência profissionalizante na vertente de farmácia comunitária, hospitalar e investigação

A presente dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Ciências Farmacêuticas encontra-se dividida em três capítulos, sendo o Capítulo I referente à componente de investigação, e o Capítulo II e III relativos à experiência profissionalizante na vertente hospitalar e comunitária, respetivamente. O Capítulo I refere-se à componente de investigação, tendo-se desenvolvido um método analítico específico para a quantificação de melatonina em cinco variedades de cereja da Cova da Beira: Burlat, Saco, Summit, Sunburst e Sweetheart. Para tal, foi necessário realizar uma etapa de extração da amostra, na qual se obtiveram extratos metanólicos secos das cinco variedades de cereja. Estes extratos sofreram posteriormente uma extração em fase sólida (do inglês SPE), utilizando-se cartuchos de extração Oasis® HLB (do inglês Hydrophilic-Lipofilic-Balanced), de forma a minimizar o número de interferentes e a maximizar o processo de extração do analito de interesse. Por fim, as amostras foram analisadas por cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência acoplada a um detetor eletroquímico coulométrico. Este método analítico foi validado tendo em conta os critérios de aceitação das guidelines internacionais de validação de métodos analíticos (Food and Drug Administration e International Conference on Harmonisation). O processo de validação incluiu vários parâmetros fundamentais, tais como, seletividade, curva de calibração e linearidade, limite de deteção e quantificação, precisão e exatidão, recuperação e efeito carryover. O método desenvolvido mostrou ser linear na gama de concentração de 0,025 – 4,0 µg/mL com um valor de coeficiente de determinação próximo de 1 (0,9974 ± 0,0016). Relativamente à recuperação com SPE, os valores obtidos variaram entre 61,42 e 75,26%. Todos os parâmetros analisados cumpriram os critérios de aceitação estabelecidos pelas guidelines internacionais. As concentrações de melatonina determinadas nas cinco variedades de cereja estão compreendidas no intervalo de 11,36 a 27,62 ng/g de cereja fresca, sendo a maior concentração encontrada na variedade Burlat e a menor na variedade Summit. No Capítulo II descreve-se o estágio curricular em farmácia hospitalar realizado nos Serviços Farmacêuticos do Centro Hospitalar do Médio Tejo, E.P.E.. Este estágio teve a duração de oito semanas e decorreu entre o dia 26 de janeiro de 2015 e o dia 21 de março de 2015, sob orientação da Dra. Carla Oliveira e restante equipa. Neste capítulo estão descritas as atividades desenvolvidas e as competências adquiridas ao longo do estágio nas diversas áreas dos serviços farmacêuticos, as quais são fundamentais tanto como aluna como futura farmacêutica. O Capítulo III aborda a experiência profissional adquirida na vertente de farmácia comunitária, que se realizou na Farmácia Ribeiro dos Santos, na cidade de Tomar. Este estágio decorreu entre o dia 23 de março de 2015 e o dia 12 de junho de 2015, tendo a duração de doze semanas, sob orientação da Dra. Ana Maria Ribeiro dos Santos e da sua excelente equipa. Durante o período de estágio, foram vários os conhecimentos e competências adquiridos, sendo estes descritos de forma sucinta neste capítulo. Considero que as três vertentes abordadas nesta dissertação (investigação, farmácia hospitalar e farmácia comunitária) são imprescindíveis tanto para o meu percurso académico como para o meu futuro profissional.The present dissertation for obtaining the master's degree in pharmaceutical sciences is divided into three chapters. The first chapter concerns the research component, while Chapter II and III concern with the vocational experience in hospital pharmacy and community pharmacy, respectively. Chapter I refer to the research component. It was developed a specific analytical method for the quantification of melatonin in five cultivars of cherries of Cova da Beira region: Burlat, Saco, Summit, Sunburst and Sweetheart. For this purpose, it was necessary to conduct a sample extraction step, to obtain methanolic dry extracts of the five cultivars of cherries. These extracts were subsequently subjected to a solid phase extraction (SPE), using Oasis® HLB extraction cartridges (Hydrophilic-Lipofilic-Balanced), in order to minimize the number of interferences and maximize the extraction process of the analyte of interest. Finally, the samples were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a coulometric electrochemical detector. This analytical method was fully validated according to the guiding principles of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and International Conference on Harmonization (ICH). The validation process included several basic parameters, such as selectivity, calibration and linearity, detection and quantification limit, precision and accuracy, recovery and carryover effect. The method proved to be linear in the concentration range of 0.025 – 4.0 µg/mL with a correlation coefficient of about 1 (0.9974 ± 0.0016). Relatively to the recovery with SPE, the values obtained ranged from 61.42% to 75.26%. All the analyzed parameters fulfilled the acceptance criteria established by the international guidelines. Melatonin concentrations determined in the five cherry cultivars were in the range of 11.36 to 27.62 ng/g of fresh cherry, being the highest concentration found in the Burlat cultivar and the lowest one in the Summit cultivar. Chapter II describes the curricular internship in a hospital pharmacy of the pharmaceutical services of the Centro Hospitalar do Médio Tejo, E.P.E.. This internship lasted eight weeks and ran from January 26, 2015 to March 21, 2015, under the guidance of Dr. Carla Oliveira and team. This chapter describes the activities and skills acquired during the internship in the various areas of the pharmaceutical services, which are fundamental both as a student and as a future pharmacist. Chapter III deals with the professional experience acquired at a community pharmacy, Farmácia Ribeiro dos Santos in the city of Tomar. This internship took place between 23 March 2015 and 12 June 2015, having a duration of 12 weeks, under the guidance of Dr. Ana Maria Ribeiro dos Santos and her excellent team. During this period, several skills and knowledge were acquired, and they are described briefly in this chapter. The three components addressed in this dissertation (research, hospital pharmacy and community pharmacy) are indispensable for both my academic and for my professional future

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

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora