Recensão crítica do livro 'Exposição a fungos dos trabalhadores dos ginásios com piscina', de Carla S. C. Viegas

A amplitude e diversidade dos agentes micóticos, fatores de risco profissional de um grupo particular de trabalhadores, é claramente esplanada na revisão bibliográfica que, de uma forma pedagógica e descritiva, refere as características essenciais das espécies fúngicas patogénicas para o Homem, nomeadamente fungos dermatófilos, leveduras e fungos filamentosos não dermatófilos. A prevalência de Tínea pedis e onicomicose, os fatores predisponentes e o contexto profissional dos ginásios com piscina são alvo de análise exaustiva com valorização dos fatores intrínsecos, extrínsecos profissionais e não profissionais e conclui com todo um capítulo dedicado à exposição profissional por via de exposição aérea e por contacto.

Homogeneous and heterogenised new gold C-scorpionate complexes as catalysts for cyclohexane oxidation

Gold(III) complexes of type [AuCl2{eta(2)-RC(R'pz)(3)}]Cl [R = R' = H (1), R = CH2OH, R' = H (2) and R = H, R' = 3,5-Me-2(3), pz = pyrazol-1-yl] were supported on carbon materials (activated carbon, carbon xerogel and carbon nanotubes) and used for the oxidation of cyclohexane to cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone, with aqueous H2O2, under mild conditions.

eRF3a/GSPT1 12-GGC allele increases the susceptibility for breast cancer development

It is now widely recognized that translation factors are involved in cancer development and that components of the translation machinery that are deregulated in cancer cells may become targets for cancer therapy. The eukaryotic Release Factor 3 (eRF3) is a GTPase that associates with eRF1 in a complex that mediates translation termination. eRF3a/GSPT1 first exon contains a (GGC)n expansion coding for proteins with different N-terminal extremities. Herein we show that the longer allele (12-GGC) is present in 5.1% (7/137) of the breast cancer patients analysed and is absent in the control population (0/135), corresponding to an increased risk for cancer development, as revealed by Odds Ratio analysis. mRNA quantification suggests that patients with the 12-GGC allele overexpress eRF3a/GSPT1 in tumor tissues relative to the normal adjacent tissues. However, using an in vivo assay for translation termination in HEK293 cells, we do not detect any difference in the activity of the eRF3a proteins encoded by the various eRF3a/GSPT1 alleles. Although the connection between the presence of eRF3a/GSPT1 12-GGC allele and tumorigenesis is still unknown, our data suggest that the presence of the 12-GGC allele provides a potential novel risk marker for various types of cancer.

Sequencing of a 17.6 kb segment on the right arm of yeast chromosome VII reveals 12 ORFs, including CCT, ADE3 and TR-I genes, homologues of the yeast PMT and EF1G genes, of the human and bacterial electron-transferring flavoproteins (beta-chain) and of the Escherichia coli phosphoserine phosphohydrolase, and five new ORFs.

A 17.6 kb DNA fragment from the right arm of chromosome VII of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been sequenced and analysed. The sequence contains twelve open reading frames (ORFs) longer than 100 amino acids. Three genes had already been cloned and sequenced: CCT, ADE3 and TR-I. Two ORFs are similar to other yeast genes: G7722 with the YAL023 (PMT2) and PMT1 genes, encoding two integral membrane proteins, and G7727 with the first half of the genes encoding elongation factors 1gamma, TEF3 and TEF4. Two other ORFs, G7742 and G7744, are most probably yeast orthologues of the human and Paracoccus denitrificans electron-transferring flavoproteins (beta chain) and of the Escherichia coli phosphoserine phosphohydrolase. The five remaining identified ORFs do not show detectable homology with other protein sequences deposited in data banks. The sequence has been deposited in the EMBL data library under Accession Number Z49133.

A gestão dos custos da qualidade: Modelo A.B.Q.C. aplicado à Mercauto

Mestrado em Controlo e Gestão dos Negócios

Hierarchical wrinkling on elastometric Janus spheres

Hierarchical wrinkling on elastomeric Janus spheres is permanently imprinted by swelling, for different lengths of time, followed by drying the particles in an appropriate solvent. First-order buckling with a spatial periodicity (lambda(11)) of the order of a few microns and hierarchical structures comprising of 2nd order buckling with a spatial periodicity (lambda(12)) of the order of hundreds of nanometers have been obtained. The 2nd order buckling features result from a Grinfeld surface instability due to the diffusion of the solvent and the presence of sol molecules.

Solubilities of C‑Tetraalkylcalix[4]resorcinarenes in SCCO2: experimental measurements, characterization, and correlation

The solubilities of two C-tetraalkylcalix[4]resorcinarenes, namely C-tetramethylcalix[4]resorcinarene and C-tetrapentylcalix[4]resorcinarene, in supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2) were measured in a flow-type apparatus at a temperature range from (313.2 to 333.2) K and at pressures from (12.0 to 35.0) MPa. The C-tetraalkylcalix[4]resorcinarenes were synthesized applying our optimized procedure and fully characterized by means of gel permeation chromatography, infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The solubilities of the C-tetraalkylcalix[4]resorcinarenes in SCCO2 were determined by analysis of the extracts obtained by HPLC with ultraviolet (UV) detection methodology adapted by our team. Four semiempirical density-based models, and the SoaveRedlichKwong cubic equation of state (SRK CEoS) with classical mixing rules, were applied to correlate the solubility of the calix[4]resorcinarenes in the SC CO2. The physical properties required for the modeling were estimated and reported.

Molecular details of INH-C-10 binding to wt KatG and Its S315T mutant

Isoniazid (INH) is still one of the two most effective antitubercular drugs and is included in all recommended multitherapeutic regimens. Because of the increasing resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to INH, mainly associated with mutations in the katG gene, new INH-based compounds have been proposed to circumvent this problem. In this work, we present a detailed comparative study of the molecular determinants of the interactions between wt KatG or its S315T mutant form and either INH or INH-C10, a new acylated INH derivative. MD simulations were used to explore the conformational space of both proteins, and results indicate that the S315T mutation did not have a significant impact on the average size of the access tunnel in the vicinity of these residues. Our simulations also indicate that the steric hindrance role assigned to Asp137 is transient and that electrostatic changes can be important in understanding the enzyme activity data of mutations in KatG. Additionally, molecular docking studies were used to determine the preferred modes of binding of the two substrates. Upon mutation, the apparently less favored docking solution for reaction became the most abundant, suggesting that S315T mutation favors less optimal binding modes. Moreover, the aliphatic tail in INH-C10 seems to bring the hydrazine group closer to the heme, thus favoring the apparent most reactive binding mode, regardless of the enzyme form. The ITC data is in agreement with our interpretation of the C10 alkyl chain role and helped to rationalize the significantly lower experimental MIC value observed for INH-C10. This compound seems to be able to counterbalance most of the conformational restrictions introduced by the mutation, which are thought to be responsible for the decrease in INH activity in the mutated strain. Therefore, INH-C10 appears to be a very promising lead compound for drug development.