Can the complex mixture of sediment contaminants cause endocrine disruption on a benthic fish? A case study with Solea senegalensis

Pollution in coastal ecosystems is a serious threat to the biota and human populations there residing. Anthropogenic activities in these ecosystems are the main cause of contamination by endocrine disruption compounds (EDCs), which can interfere with hormonal regulation and cause adverse effects to growth, stress response and reproduction. Although the chemical nature of many EDCs is unknown, it is believed that most are organic contaminants. Under an environmental risk assessment for a contaminated estuary (the Sado, SW Portugal), the present work intended to detect endocrine disruption in a flatsfish, Solea senegalensis Kaup, 1858, and its potential relationship to organic toxicants. Animals were collected from two areas in the estuary with distinct influences (industrial and rural) and from an external reference area. To evaluate endocrine disruption, hepatic vitellogenin (VTG) concentrations in males and gonad histology were analysed. As biomarkers of exposure to organic contaminants, cytochrome P450 (CYP1A) induction and the ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity were determined. The results were contrasted to sediment contamination levels, which are overall considered low, although the area presents a complex mixture of toxicants. Either males or females were found sexually immature and showed no significant evidence of degenerative pathologies. However, hepatic VTG concentrations in males from the industrial area in estuary were superior than those from the Reference, even reaching levels comparable to those in females, which may indicate an oestrogenic effect resulting from the complex contaminant mixture. These individuals also presented higher levels of CYP1A induction and EROD activity, which is consistent with contamination by organic substances. The combination of the results suggest that the exposure of flatfish to an environment contaminated by mixed toxicants, even at low levels, may cause endocrine disruption, therefore affecting populations, which implies the need for further research in identification of potential EDCs, their sources and risks at ecosystem scale.

Leveraging facebook’s open graph to develop an environmental persuasive application

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática

Coherent structures in open channel flows with bed load transport over an hydraulically rough bed

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Civil – Perfil de Estruturas

Serial heart rate changes in rats inoculated by conjunctival instillation of Trypanosoma cruzi obtained from bug faeces

The cardiac effects of experimentally induced myocarditis, when the parasite is obtained from mouse blood, are well known. However, the consequences of the infection when the parasites are obtained from bug faeces are less well defined. In the present investigation, we have used the "Y" strain of Trypanosoma cruzi, which was maintained in Rhodnius prolixus by repeated passages in mice. The faeces of 30 infected bugs were collected, the number of parasites counted and 4,000 parasites inoculated by the conjunctival route in 60 rats. Twenty-nine other rats received faeces from noninfected bugs (sham-inoculated controls) and 40 were used as normal controls. The heart rate of the three groups of animals was recorded under general anesthesia with ether. The heart rate, at day 0 pre-inoculation, was similar in the three groups of animals (Controls: 379 ± 27 beats/min Mean ± SD; Sham-inoculated: 366 ± 31; Infected: 351 ± 29) (p> 0.05). In the infected animals, the mean heart rate began to increase significantly by day 12 following infection (375 ± 31), reaching the highest values between days 18 (390 ± 33) and 21 (403 ± 33) and returned to baseline by day 30 (359 ± 28) (p< 0.05). The heart rate changes were statistically different from those observed in the sham-inoculated controls and in the control animals. Therefore, these heart rate changes were provoked by the Trypanosoma cruzi-induced infection. Thus, it appears that irrespective of the source of the parasite and route of inoculation Trypanosoma cruziacute infection provokes a transient sinus tachycardia.

The use of protein hydrolysate improves the protein intestinal absorption in undernourished mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni

Patients residing in endemic areas for schistosomiasis in Brazil are usually undernourished and when they develop the hepatosplenic clinical form of the disease should usually receive hospital care, many of them being in need of nutritional rehabilitation before specific treatment can be undertaken. In the mouse model, investigations carried out in our laboratory detected a reduced aminoacid uptake in undernourished animals which is aggravated by a superimposed infection with Schistosoma mansoni. However, in well-nourished infected mice no dysfunction occurs. In this study, we tried to improve the absorptive intestinal performance of undernourished mice infected with S. mansoni by feeding them with hydrolysed casein instead of whole casein. The values obtained for the coefficient of protein intestinal absorption (cpia) among well-nourished mice were above 90% (either hydrolysed or whole protein). In undernourished infected mice, however, the cpia improved significantly after feeding them with hydrolysed casein, animals reaching values close to those obtained in well-nourished infected mice.

Training-related accidents during teacher-student-assistance activities of medical students

A survey was done to determine the most common hospital accidents with biologically contaminated material among students at the Medical College of the Federal University of Minas Gerais. Six hundred and ninety-four students (between fifth and twelfth semesters of the college course) answered the questionnaire individually. Three-hundred and forty-nine accidents were reported. The accident rate was found to be 33.9% in the third semester of the course, and increased over time, reaching 52.3% in the last semester. Sixty-three percent of the accidents were needlestick or sharp object injuries; 18.3% mucous membrane exposure; 16.6% were on the skin, and 1.7% were simultaneously on the skin and mucous membrane exposure. The contaminating substances were: blood (88.3%), vaginal secretion (1.7%), and others (9.1%). The parts of the body most frequently affected were: hands (67%), eyes (18.9%), mouth (1.7%), and others (6.3%). The procedures being performed when the accidents occurred were: suture (34.1%), applying anesthesia (16.6%), assisting surgery (8.9%), disposing of needles (8.6%), assisting delivery (6.3%), and others (25.9%). Forty-nine percent of those involved reported the accident to the accident control department. Of these 29.2% did not receive adequate medical assistance. Eight percent of those involved used antiretroviral drugs and of these 86% discontinued the treatment on receiving the Elisa method applied to the patient (HIV-negative); 6.4% discontinued the treatment due to its side-effects; and 16% completed the treatment.

Report of a traineeship : audit of antidepressant prescribing in Primary and Mental Care: how to address appropriateness and keep a curb on costs. A tool suitable for all contexts?

RESUMO: Este é o relatório de um estágio realizado na Autoridade de Saúde Local de Bolonha com o objectivo de desenvolver capacidades e competências na área de projectos orientados para a avaliação com base epidemiológica. As prescrições de anti-depressivos aumentaram consideravelmente em todo o mundo durante as últimas décadas. O uso cada vez maior dos agentes mais dispendiosos desempenha um papel na subida do custo dos tratamentos. A Autoridade de Saúde Local de Bolonha implementou um processo de auditoria com o objectivo de melhorar a adequação das prescrições de pacientes externos, centrando-se em dois anti-depressivos de marca ainda protegidos por patente, Escitalopram e Duloxetine. Os Departamentos de Cuidados de Saúde Primários e de Cuidados de Saúde Mental, assim como o Departamento Farmacêutico e a Unidade de Gestão Clínica, estiveram envolvidos na fase de planeamento da auditoria. O grupo da auditoria, maioritariamente composto por médicos de clínica geral e psiquiatras, reuniu e analisou provas da eficácia e segurança dos anti-depressivos. Os dados sobre as prescrições das Unidades de Cuidados de Saúde Primários e dos Centros de Saúde Mental Comunitários da Autoridade de Saúde Local (866.294 habitantes) foram comparados, em particular as taxas de consumo de Escitalopram e Duloxetine. O grupo da auditoria definiu os standards a serem abordados, os indicadores a serem avaliados e as medidas a empreender para atingir os objectivos definidos. As directrizes do NICE sobre a depressão foram escolhidas como referência. O objectivo da auditoria foi definido como evitar o Escitalopram e Duloxetine como medicamentos de primeira escolha num tratamento anti-depressivo. De modo a verificar a eficácia das medidas empreendidas foi seleccionado um indicador, consistindo numa redução de 25% das prescrições de ambos os anti-depressivos na prática clínica de pacientes externos e numa redução de 20% da variabilidade nas Unidades de Cuidados de Saúde Primários. O relatório retrospectivo pré-auditoria (Janeiro a Abril de 2012) revelou que os tratamentos com anti-depressivos para pacientes externos eram prescritos pelos médicos de clínica geral em mais de90% dos casos. As medidas da auditoria foram implementadas entre Novembro de 2012 e Maio de 2013. Algumas medidas relevantes foram integradas com a revisão da auditoria, tais como reuniões educacionais de pequena escala com os médicos de clínica geral e psiquiatras, visitas de apoio do assessor de prescrições da Autoridade de Saúde Local aos médicos de clínica geral e Centros de Saúde Mental Comunitários, panfletos para profissionais com informação retirada das directrizes clínicas do NICE, implementação de um serviço de consulta na Web para médicos de clínica geral sobre provas relativas a anti-depressivos. O relatório de feedback é aguardado em Novembro de 2013 depois de se verificar nos standards atingidos a eficácia das medidas implementadas. Foi realizada uma análise SWOT para comprovar as forças e fraquezas, as oportunidades e ameaças do processo. Como identificação de fraquezas poderá ser útil identificar estratégias relevantes para melhoria interna, para que o conhecimento das ameaças possa amortizar factores que possam ter impactos adversos que fujam ao controlo do Departamento de Saúde Mental. Uma melhor compreensão das forças e das oportunidades facilita a consecução dos objectivos estabelecidos no projecto. O primeiro, mas não o último, resultado deste processo consistiu numa maior integração entre os Cuidados de Saúde Primários e de Saúde Mental, permitindo assim que a Autoridade de Saúde Local coloque as alterações em prática.------------ABSTRACT: This is the report of a traineeship held in the Local Health Authority of Bologna with the aim to develop skills and competencies in the field of epidemiogically based evaluation oriented projects. Antidepressants prescriptions have considerably increased all over the world in the last decades. The increasing use of the most expensive agents plays a part in the rising cost of treatments. The Local Health Authority of Bologna has implemented an audit process aimed at improving the appropriateness of outpatient prescriptions focusing on the two branded antidepressants still protected by patent, Escitalopram and Duloxetine. The Primary Care and the Mental Health Care Departments, as well as the Pharmaceutical Department and the Clinical Governance Unit, were involved in the planning phase of the audit. The audit group, mainly composed of general practitioners and psychiatrists, collected and analyzed scientific evidence on effectiveness and safety of antidepressants. Data on prescriptions of Primary Care Units and Community Mental Health Centers of the Local Health Authority (866.294 inhabitants) were compared, in particular consumption rates of Escitalopram and Duloxetine. The audit group defined the standards to be addressed, the indicators to be evaluated and the actions aimed at reaching the defined goals. NICE guidelines on depression were chosen as reference. The aim of the audit was settled as avoiding Escitalopram and Duloxetine as first choice drugs starting an AD treatment. In order to check the efficacy of the actions undertaken an indicator was selected, consisting in a reduction of 25% of prescriptions of both ADs in outpatient practice and in a 20% reduction of To develop skills and competencies across Primary Care Units. The pre-audit retrospective report (January-April 2012) showed that outpatient antidepressant treatments were prescribed by GPs in over 90% of cases. Audit actions were implemented between November 2012 and May 2013. Some relevant actions have been integrated with the audit review, such as small-scale educational meetings with GPs and psychiatrists, outreach visits of the LHA prescribing adviser to GPs and CMHCs,leaflets for professionals with information extracted from NICE clinical guidelines, implementation of a web consultation service for GPs about evidence on antidepressants. The feedback report is expected in November 2013 after checking through the standards attained the effectiveness of actions implemented. A SWOT Analysis was carried out to evidence the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the process. As identification of weaknesses may be useful to identify relevant strategies for internal improvement, so the knowledge of threats can amortize factors that may have adverse impacts beyond the control of the Mental Health Department. Better understanding of the strengths and the opportunities facilitates the achievement of the goals set in the project. The first and not least upshot of this process has consisted in further integration between Primary and Mental Health Care, thus enabling the LHA to put the change into practice.

Young audiences and fans of celebrities in Portugal

While young people are not the exclusive audience of celebrity culture, they certainly take up a special place within this commercial media culture and are often evoked as a justification for media producers pursuing more commercial strategies, some of which involve the use of celebrity material. However, that is precisely what often drives young people away from the media (Buckingham 2000). We propose to analyse the relationship between young people and celebrity culture in Portugal to throw into the spotlight the interaction between global and local cultures while simultaneously, through reaching out beyond the most visible fans, we seek to assess the complex, ambiguous and varying attitudes young audiences display towards celebrity.

Ionic liquids as catalysts of lignocellulosic biomass processing

The present work is devoted to study the pre-treatment of lignocellulosic biomass, especially wheat straw, by the application of the acidic ionic liquid (IL) such as 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulphate. The ability of this IL to hydrolysis and conversion of biomass was scrutinised. The pre-treatment with hydrogen sulphate-based IL allowed to obtain a liquor rich in hemicellulosic sugars, furans and organic acids, and a solid fraction mainly constituted by cellulose and lignin. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the produced liquors were made by capillary electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography. Pre-treatment conditions were set to produce xylose or furfural. Specific range of temperatures from 70 to 175 °C and residence times from 20.0 to 163.3 min were studied by fixing parameters such as biomass/IL ratio (10 % (w/w)) and water content (1.25 % (w/w)) in the pre-treatment process. Statistical modelling was applied to maximise the xylose and furfural concentrations. For the purpose of reaction condition comparison the severity factor for studied ionic liquid was proposed and applied in this work. Optimum conditions for xylose production were identified to be at 125 °C and 82.1 min, at which 16.7 % (w/w) xylose yield was attained. Furfural was preferably formed at higher pre-treatment temperatures and longer reaction time (161 °C and 104.5 min) reaching 30.7 % (w/w) maximum yield. The influence of water content on the optimum xylose formation was also studied. Pre-treatments with 5 and 10 % (w/w) water content were performed and an increase of 100 % and 140 % of xylose yield was observed, respectively, while the conversion into furfural maintained unchanged.

Predictive markers for hepatitis C virus infection among Brazilian inmates

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has quite high prevalence in the prison system, reaching rates of up to 40%. This survey aimed to estimate the prevalence of HCV infection and evaluate risk factors for this exposure among male inmates at the Ribeirão Preto Prison, State of São Paulo, Brazil, between May and August 2003. A total of 333 participants were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire and underwent immunoenzymatic assaying to investigate anti-HCV. The prevalence of HCV infection among the inmates was 8.7% (95% CI: 5.7-11.7). The participants'mean age was 30.1 years, and the prevalence was predominantly among individuals over 30 years of age. Multivariate analysis showed that the variables that were independently associated with HCV infection were age > 30 years, tattooing, history of previous hepatitis, previous injection drug use and previous needle-sharing.

Nanostructuring silicon probes via electrodeposition: characterization of electrode coatings for acute in vivo neural recordings

Understanding how the brain works will require tools capable of measuring neuron elec-trical activity at a network scale. However, considerable progress is still necessary to reliably increase the number of neurons that are recorded and identified simultaneously with existing mi-croelectrode arrays. This project aims to evaluate how different materials can modify the effi-ciency of signal transfer from the neural tissue to the electrode. Therefore, various coating materials (gold, PEDOT, tungsten oxide and carbon nano-tubes) are characterized in terms of their underlying electrochemical processes and recording ef-ficacy. Iridium electrodes (177-706 μm2) are coated using galvanostatic deposition under different charge densities. By performing electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in phosphate buffered saline it is determined that the impedance modulus at 1 kHz depends on the coating material and decreased up to a maximum of two orders of magnitude for PEDOT (from 1 MΩ to 25 kΩ). The electrodes are furthermore characterized by cyclic voltammetry showing that charge storage capacity is im-proved by one order of magnitude reaching a maximum of 84.1 mC/cm2 for the PEDOT: gold nanoparticles composite (38 times the capacity of the pristine). Neural recording of spontaneous activity within the cortex was performed in anesthetized rodents to evaluate electrode coating performance.

Validation of a case definition for leptospirosis diagnosis in patients with acute severe febrile disease admitted in reference hospitals at the State of Pernambuco, Brazil

INTRODUCTION: Leptospirosis is often mistaken for other acute febrile illnesses because of its nonspecific presentation. Bacteriologic, serologic, and molecular methods have several limitations for early diagnosis: technical complexity, low availability, low sensitivity in early disease, or high cost. This study aimed to validate a case definition, based on simple clinical and laboratory tests, that is intended for bedside diagnosis of leptospirosis among hospitalized patients. METHODS: Adult patients, admitted to two reference hospitals in Recife, Brazil, with a febrile illness of less than 21 days and with a clinical suspicion of leptospirosis, were included to test a case definition comprising ten clinical and laboratory criteria. Leptospirosis was confirmed or excluded by a composite reference standard (microscopic agglutination test, ELISA, and blood culture). Test properties were determined for each cutoff number of the criteria from the case definition. RESULTS: Ninety seven patients were included; 75 had confirmed leptospirosis and 22 did not. Mean number of criteria from the case definition that were fulfilled was 7.8±1.2 for confirmed leptospirosis and 5.9±1.5 for non-leptospirosis patients (p<0.0001). Best sensitivity (85.3%) and specificity (68.2%) combination was found with a cutoff of 7 or more criteria, reaching positive and negative predictive values of 90.1% and 57.7%, respectively; accuracy was 81.4%. CONCLUSIONS: The case definition, for a cutoff of at least 7 criteria, reached average sensitivity and specificity, but with a high positive predictive value. Its simplicity and low cost make it useful for rapid bedside leptospirosis diagnosis in Brazilian hospitalized patients with acute severe febrile disease.

Functional MRI of stimulus interference on auditory processing in normal listeners and tinnitus patients

We are constantly immersed in stimuli. Upon reaching our senses, stimuli are processed within various brain systems along various pathways into the brain, and eventually turned into a percept. However, there are percepts that do not result from responses to external source stimuli. A particular case of this situation is the auditory percept known as tinnitus. Tinnitus can be seen as a task-irrelevant auditory percept, commonly reported to interfere with normal daily tasks. This is known from reports made by tinnitus sufferers that refer to their phantom percept as distracting, and that it diverts their focus from the task-relevant stimuli.(...)

Perceptions of the usefulness of external support to immunization coverage in Guinea-Bissau: a Delphi analysis of the GAVI-Alliance cash-based support

INTRODUCTION: Although many countries have improved vaccination coverage in recent years, some, including Guinea-Bissau, failed to meet expected targets. This paper tries to understand the main barriers to better vaccination coverage in the context of the GAVI-Alliance (The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) cash-based support provided to Guinea-Bissau. METHODS: The analysis is based on a document analysis and a three round Delphi study with a final consensus meeting. RESULTS: Consensus attributed about 25% of the failure to perform better to implementation problems; and about 10% to governance and also 10% to scarce resources. The qualitative analysis validates the importance of implementation issues and upgraded the relevance of the human resources crisis as an important drawback. The recommendations were balanced in their upstream-downstream focus but were blind to health information issues and logistical difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: It is commendable that such a fragile state, with all sorts of barriers, manages to sustain a slow steady growth of its vaccination coverage. Not reaching the targets set reflects the inappropriateness of those targets rather than a lack of commitment of the health workforce. In the unstable context of countries such as Guinea-Bissau, the predictability of the funds from global health initiatives like the GAVI-Alliance seem to make all the difference in achieving small consistent health gains even in the presence of other major bottlenecks.

Analysis of metabolic flux distributions in relation to the extracellular environment in Avian cells

Continuous cell lines that proliferate in chemically defined and simple media have been highly regarded as suitable alternatives for vaccine production. One such cell line is the AG1.CR.pIX avian cell line developed by PROBIOGEN. This cell line can be cultivated in a fully scalable suspension culture and adapted to grow in chemically defined, calf serum free, medium [1]–[5]. The medium composition and cultivation strategy are important factors for reaching high virus titers. In this project, a series of computational methods was used to simulate the cell’s response to different environments. The study is based on the metabolic model of the central metabolism proposed in [1]. In a first step, Metabolic Flux Analysis (MFA) was used along with measured uptake and secretion fluxes to estimate intracellular flux values. The network and data were found to be consistent. In a second step, Flux Balance Analysis (FBA) was performed to access the cell’s biological objective. The objective that resulted in the best predicted results fit to the experimental data was the minimization of oxidative phosphorylation. Employing this objective, in the next step Flux Variability Analysis (FVA) was used to characterize the flux solution space. Furthermore, various scenarios, where a reaction deletion (elimination of the compound from the media) was simulated, were performed and the flux solution space for each scenario was calculated. Growth restrictions caused by essential and non-essential amino acids were accurately predicted. Fluxes related to the essential amino acids uptake and catabolism, the lipid synthesis and ATP production via TCA were found to be essential to exponential growth. Finally, the data gathered during the previous steps were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA), in order to assess potential changes in the physiological state of the cell. Three metabolic states were found, which correspond to zero, partial and maximum biomass growth rate. Elimination of non-essential amino acids or pyruvate from the media showed no impact on the cell’s assumed normal metabolic state.