Relatório de estágio profissional

No âmbito da Unidade Curricular do Estágio Profissional I, II e III foi-nos solicitado a elaboração de um Relatório de Estágio Curricular Profissional. Pelo facto de ter realizado o mestrado em Educação Pré - Escolar e em ensino do1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, este relatório contém as observações realizadas em ambos. O relatório é o último momento de avaliação e o que dará habilitação para o exercício da minha profissão

Revisão sistemática: o uso de probióticos gera benefícios para pacientes em tratamento de doenças inflamatórias intestinais?

Objetivos: Revisar a literatura que avalia se o uso de probióticos gera benefícios para indivíduos com DII e descrever os mecanismos de ação dos probióticos na patogênese da doença inflamatória intestinal. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo classificado como revisão sistemática. As publicações selecionadas foram submetidas aos critérios da Escala de Jadad para avaliação da qualidade metodológica. Foram selecionados 15 artigos. Resultados: Dos cinco ensaios clínicos que utilizaram placebo, apenas 1 não apresentou benefícios com o uso da terapia probiótica. O restante apresentou redução de sinais e sintomas e reagentes de fase aguda ou indução de remissão nos grupos tratados com probióticos em relação ao placebo. Conclusão: A presente revisão sistemática sugere que o uso de probióticos é benéfico em pacientes com DII.Objectives: To review the literature that assesses whether the use of probiotics generates benefits for individuals with IBD and to describe the mechanisms of action of probiotics in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease. Methods: This is a study classified as a systematic review. The selected publications were submitted to the Jadad Scale criteria to assess methodological quality. 15 articles were selected. Results: Of the five clinical trials that used placebo, only 1 did not show benefits from the use of probiotic therapy. The remainder showed a reduction in signs and symptoms and acute phase reagents or induction of remission in the groups treated with probiotics compared to placebo. Conclusion: The present systematic review suggests that the use of probiotics is beneficial in patients with IBD

Safe use of ozone gas in enamel adhesion

Purpose: Evaluate the shear bond strength of a self-etching system to enamel pretreated with ozone and its type of fracture. Matherial and methods: Thirty sound bovine incisors were bisected and polished just before the application of the adhesive system. The adhesion area was limited to a 3-mm diameter. The specimens were randomly assigned to the experimental groups (n = 15) and composite resin cylinders were added to the tested surfaces, after the application of the adhesive according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Group G1 (AdheSE® with ozone) was previously prepared with ozone gas from the HealOzone unit (Kavo®) for 20 s, groups G2 (AdheSE®) was used as control. The specimens were stored in distilled water for 24 h at 37 ◦C with 100% humidity, before being thermocycled. The type of fracture was analyzed under scanning electronic microscope and the data were submitted to Shapiro–Wilk, Student’s t-test and Chi-squared statistical analyses. Results: The mean bond strengths were G1: 15.0 MPa (77.8% of adhesive fractures between enamel and adhesive) and G2: 13.1 MPa (36.4% of adhesive fractures between enamel and adhesive). Conclusion: The shear bond strength of a self-etching system was not influenced by the previous application of ozone gas.Objectivo: Avaliar as forças de resistência adesiva de um sistema adesivo auto-condicionador no esmalte pré-tratado com ozono e o tipo de fractura. Material e métodos: Trinta incisivos hígidos de origem bovina foram seccionados de forma a separar a coroa da raiz e polidos antes da colocação do sistema adesivo. A área de adesão foi limitada a 3 mm de diâmetro. Os espécimes foram aleatoriamente divididos (n = 15) e cilindros de resina composta foram adicionados às superfícies de teste após cada sistema adesivo ter sido aplicado de acordo com as instruções do fabricante. O grupo G1 (AdheSE® com ozono) foi condicionado com gás de ozono gerado pelo aparelho HealOzone (Kavo®),durante 20 segundos, G2 (AdheSE®) funcionou como controlo. Os espécimes foram mantidos em água destilada durante 24 horas numa estufa a 37 ◦C com 100% de humidade, antes da termociclagem. O tipo de fractura analisado ao MEV e os dados submetidos à análise estatística Shapiro–Wilk, Student’s t-test e Chi-squared. Resultados: As médias de resistência adesiva foram: G1:15,0 MPa (77,8% de fracturas adesivas entre o esmalte e o adesivo) e G4: 13,1 MPa (36,4% de fracturas adesivas entre o esmalte e o adesivo). Conclusão: Os valores de resistência adesiva do sistema adesivo auto-condicionador não foram influenciados pela aplicação prévia de gás de ozono.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects of desloratadine on activated sludge: behaviour of EPS and sludge properties

"Available online 8 August 2022"Desloratadine (DESL), a second generation of antihistamines, is an important anti-allergic pharmaceutical used to treat allergic rhinitis, hay fever and urticaria. In this study, the overall performance, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) production, and sludge properties were assessed in a sequencing batch reactor wastewater treatment process with activated sludge during 139 days, under the presence of DESL (1, 5, and 10mgL-1). DESL at 10mgL-1 impacted biomass activity decreasing the chemical oxygen demand removal (78%) and the ammonium removal (71%). The removal of DESL was of 63%. Tightly bound EPS (TB-EPS) was significantly higher (149.5mg gMLVSS-1) at the end of operation. Peaks attributed to protein-like fluorophores clearly predominated along the experimental phases using three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3D-EEM) fluorescence. The peak locations and intensities in the EPS fluorescence revealed the difference in the chemical structures of the EPS caused by DESL exposure. Quantitative image analysis results clearly demonstrated the formation of large aggregates. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed a positive relationship between TB-EPS components, and large aggregates. Moreover, the results allowed to distinguish the different operational phases, emphasizing the effect of DESL on EPS and aggregates.The authors thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/ 04469/2020 unit, and by LABBELS – Associate Laboratory in Biotechnology, Bioengineering and Microelectromechanical Systems, LA/P/ 0029/2020. The authors also acknowledge the financial support to Antonio Melo through the grant number 240-20170220 provided by Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia de Pernambuco (IFPE). Daniela P. Mesquita and Cristina Quintelas thank FCT for funding through program DL 57/2016 – Norma transitoria.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

EPS and aggregates changes on activated sludge under atrazine exposure

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) play a vital role in biological wastewater treatment systems, affecting their performance in aggregates settling, structure and arrangement, and interacting with micropollutants present in wastewater. In this study, the effects of herbicide atrazine (ATZ) on the EPS yield and composition and aggregates structure were investigated on activated sludge (AS) in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The results demonstrated that TB-EPS and LB-EPS increased under ATZ exposure, indicating that microorganisms release EPS as a self-mechanism of defense against environmental changes. Above 5.5 mg L-1 of ATZ aggregates become larger. Principal component analysis (PCA) was useful in highlighting biomass changes during the experimental phases, and Pearson correlation revealed that TB-EPS content correlate well with large aggregates (0.996).The authors thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit, and by LABBELS – Associate Laboratory in Biotechnology, Bioengineering and Microelectromechanical Systems, LA/P/0029/2020. The authors also acknowledge the financial support to A. Melo through the grant 240-20170220 provided by Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Pernambuco (IFPE). D.P. Mesquita and C. Quintelas acknowledge FCT funding under DL57/2016 Transitory Norm Programme.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Culture, education and water resources management: a literature review highlighting new research opportunities

Given that water is a conditioning and irreplaceable element to the existence of life on Earth, equally present and future populations also depend on water to ensure their continuity and economic activities, biological and sociocultural factors that develop. Based on a review of the scientific literature available in EBSCO and Web of Science databases, this study aimed to investigate and discuss the existing relationships between culture and education in the context of water resources management. We conducted a systematic literature review technique in conjunction with a bibliometric analysis with the support of Rayyan, Microsoft Excel, and VOSviewer software. For the data collection, we evaluated the sample regarding the number of annual publications, the mapping of publications, and the relations network between the keywords created to identify new trends and a research agenda. The results highlighted the complexity of the relationship between culture, education, and water resources, revealing the need to deepen and advance research on the subject. In the analysis, we identified the need to consider man as the leading actor in a new structure in which education will be the leading mobilizer for constructing a new cultural perspective on water resource management

An in vitro dynamic model of catheter-associated urinary tract infections to investigate the role of uncommon bacteria on the Escherichia coli microbial consortium

About 9% of nosocomial infections are attributed to catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs). Uncommon bacteria (Delftia tusurhatensis) have been isolated in CAUTIs in combination with wellestablished pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli. Nonetheless, the reason why E. coli coexists with other bacteria instead of outcompeting and completely eliminating them are unknown. As such, a flow cell reactor simulating the hydrodynamic conditions found in CAUTIs (shear rate of 15 s-1) was used to characterize the microbial physiology of E. coli and D. tsuruhatensis individually and in consortium, in terms of growth kinetics and substrate uptake. Single-species biofilms showed that up to 48 h the CFU counts significantly increased for both species (p<0.05). After 48 h, both species stabilized with similar CFU values reaching log 6.24 CFU.cm2 for E. coli and log 6.31 CFU.cm2 for D. tsuruhatensis (p>0.05). The assessment of spatial distribution of dual-species biofilms by LNA/2´OMe-FISH revealed that E. coli and D. tsuruhatensis coexist and tend to co-aggregate over time, which implies that bacteria are able to cooperate synergistically. Substrate uptake measurements revealed that in artificial urine medium the bacteria metabolized lactic acid, uric acid (E. coli and D. tsuruhatensis) and citric acid (D. tsuruhatensis). In the consortium, D. tsuruhatensis consumed citric acid more rapidly, presumably leaving more uric acid available in the medium to be used by E. coli. In conclusion, metabolic cooperation between E. coli and uncommon species seems to occur when these species share the same environment, leading to the formation of a stable microbial community

Helicobacter pylori prophages: screening, detection, induction and potential therapeutic use

Helicobacter pylori is a microaerophilic bacterium that chronically infects the human gastric mucosa. Infections caused by this pathogen are difficult to treat, mainly due to the increased resistance of this species to conventional antibiotics. Therefore, it is important to develop antibiotic alternative or complementary approaches to tackle H. pylori infections. Bacterio(phages) have proven to be efficient antibacterial agents, however it is very difficult to isolate strictly lytic phages infecting H. pylori. Nevertheless, this bacterial species presents prophages in their genomes and although strictly lytic phages have been consensually preferred for phage therapy purposes, temperate prophages holds a great but an exploited potential. In the present work, we developed a new PCR-based screening method to detect the presence of prophages genes in a set of H. pylori Portuguese clinical strains. The genomes of selected strains were then sequenced using a combined Illumina platform and MinION nanopore-based sequencing strategy. Prophages content was then analysed using the PHASTER tool. After sequencing analysis, UV light was used to induce phages, from which one was further characterized in terms of morphology, host range, stability on an in vitro gastric model, genome analysis and efficacy against a H. pylori culture. The complementarity between Illumina and Nanopore results, allowed us to identify a total of 10 intact, 7 questionable and 47 incomplete prophages on the 14 sequenced strains. One predicted intact prophage was induced successfully, and presents a genome length of 31 162 bp with 37.1 % G+C content. Interestingly, this new podovirus infects five H. pylori strains, and in the gastric in vitro model only a small loss of phage titer was observed in the gastric phase, suggesting that this phage could be adapted to the stomach environment. Farther, this phage demonstrated to be capable of maintaining the H. pylori population at low levels for up to 24 h post-infection with MOIs of 0.01, 0.1 and 1. Overall, a new PCR screening method was developed to detect prophages on H. pylori and positive correlations with sequencing results were observed. Moreover, this new isolated phage seems to have therapeutic potential to treat H. pylori gastric infections.This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit, and Project PTDC/SAU-PUB/29182/2017 [POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029182]. Rute Ferreira is recipient of a FCT PhD grant with the reference SFRH/BD/146496/2019info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio