Instituto Politécnico de Leiria

Significance: The regeneration of healthy and functional skin remains a huge challenge due to its multilayer structure and the presence of different cell types within the extracellular matrix in an organized way. Despite recent advances in wound care products, traditional therapies based on natural origin compounds, such as plant extracts, honey, and larvae, are interesting alternatives. These therapies offer new possibilities for the treatment of skin diseases, enhancing the access to the healthcare, and allowing overcoming some limitations associated to the modern products and therapies, such as the high costs, the long manufacturing times, and the increase in the bacterial resistance. This article gives a general overview about the recent advances in traditional therapies for skin wound healing, focusing on the therapeutic activity, action mechanisms, and clinical trials of the most commonly used natural compounds. New insights in the combination of traditional products with modern treatments and future challenges in the field are also highlighted. Recent Advances: Natural compounds have been used in skin wound care for many years due to their therapeutic activities, including anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and cell-stimulating properties. The clinical efficacy of these compounds has been investigated through in vitro and in vivo trials using both animal models and humans. Besides the important progress regarding the development of novel extraction methods, purification procedures, quality control assessment, and treatment protocols, the exact mechanisms of action, side effects, and safety of these compounds need further research. Critical Issues: The repair of skin lesions is one of the most complex biological processes in humans, occurring throughout an orchestrated cascade of overlapping biochemical and cellular events. To stimulate the regeneration process and prevent the wound to fail the healing, traditional therapies and natural products have been used with promising results. Although these products are in general less expensive than the modern treatments, they can be sensitive to the geographic location and season, and exhibit batch-to-batch variation, which can lead to unexpected allergic reactions, side effects, and contradictory clinical results. Future Directions: The scientific evidence for the use of traditional therapies in wound healing indicates beneficial effects in the treatment of different lesions. However, specific challenges remain unsolved. To extend the efficacy and the usage of natural substances in wound care, multidisciplinary efforts are necessary to prove the safety of these products, investigate their side effects, and develop standard controlled trials. The development of good manufacturing practices and regulatory legislation also assume a pivotal role in order to improve the use of traditional therapies by the clinicians and to promote their integration into the national health system. Current trends move to the development of innovative wound care treatments, combining the use of traditional healing agents and modern products/practices, such as nanofibers containing silver nanoparticles, Aloe vera loaded into alginate hydrogels, propolis into dressing films, and hydrogel sheets containing honey.

Experience economy is the last segment in the evolution of the market, and it is characterized by the fact that consumers do not acquire goods, products or services, but experiences that they integrate in their biography, and consequently in their identity. Customer Experience, possibly the latest revolution in business thinking along with the digital transformation, seeks the design and management of truly customer-centric experiences. This revolution is spreading across different sectors, among which the health sector should necessarily be considered. This talk covers the fundamental ideas within the concept of customer experience, as well as it provides information and suggestions about how to design and deliver an optimal patient experience.

The world population growth is increasing the demand for food production. Furthermore, the reduction of the workforce in rural areas and the increase in production costs are challenges for food production nowadays. Smart farming is a farm management concept that may use Internet of Things (IoT) to overcome the current challenges of food production. This work uses the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews (PRISMA) methodology to systematically review the existing literature on smart farming with IoT. The review aims to identify the main devices, platforms, network protocols, processing data technologies and the applicability of smart farming with IoT to agriculture. The review shows an evolution in the way data is processed in recent years. Traditional approaches mostly used data in a reactive manner. In more recent approaches, however, new technological developments allowed the use of data to prevent crop problems and to improve the accuracy of crop diagnosis.

Anticoagulants are a mainstay of cardiovascular therapy, and parenteral anticoagulants have widespread use in cardiology, especially in acute situations. Parenteral anticoagulants include unfractionated heparin, low-molecular-weight heparins, the synthetic pentasaccharides fondaparinux, idraparinux and idrabiotaparinux, and parenteral direct thrombin inhibitors. The several shortcomings of unfractionated heparin and of low-molecular-weight heparins have prompted the development of the other newer agents. Here we review the mechanisms of action, pharmacological properties and side effects of parenteral anticoagulants used in the management of coronary heart disease treated with or without percutaneous coronary interventions, cardioversion for atrial fibrillation, and prosthetic heart valves and valve repair. Using an evidence-based approach, we describe the results of completed clinical trials, highlight ongoing research with currently available agents, and recommend therapeutic options for specific heart diseases.

To develop reliable models for the densities and viscosities of biodiesel fuel, reliable data for the pure fatty acid esters are required. Densities and viscosities were measured for seven ethyl esters and eight methyl esters, at atmospheric pressure and temperatures from (273.15 to 363.15) K. A critical assessment of the measured data against the data previously available in the literature was carried out. It is shown that the data here reported presents deviations of less than 0.15 % for densities and less than 5 % for viscosities. Correlations for the densities and viscosities with temperature are proposed. The densities and viscosities of the pure ethyl and methyl esters here reported were used to evaluate three predictive models. The GCVOL group contribution method is shown to be able to predict densities for these compounds within 1 %. The methods of Ceriani and Meirelles (CM) and of Marreiro and Gani (MG) were applied to the viscosity data. It is shown that only the first of these methods is able to provide a fair description of the viscosities of fatty acid esters.

Plant survival under environmental stress requires the integration of multiple signaling pathways into a coordinated response, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this integration are poorly understood. Stress-derived energy deprivation activates the Snf1-related protein kinases1 (SnRK1s), triggering a vast transcriptional and metabolic reprogramming that restores homeostasis and promotes tolerance to adverse conditions. Here, we show that two clade A type 2C protein phosphatases (PP2Cs), established repressors of the abscisic acid (ABA) hormonal pathway, interact with the SnRK1 catalytic subunit causing its dephosphorylation and inactivation. Accordingly, SnRK1 repression is abrogated in double and quadruple pp2c knockout mutants, provoking, similarly to SnRK1 overexpression, sugar hypersensitivity during early seedling development. Reporter gene assays and SnRK1 target gene expression analyses further demonstrate that PP2C inhibition by ABA results in SnRK1 activation, promoting SnRK1 signaling during stress and once the energy deficit subsides. Consistent with this, SnRK1 and ABA induce largely overlapping transcriptional responses. Hence, the PP2C hub allows the coordinated activation of ABA and energy signaling, strengthening the stress response through the cooperation of two key and complementary pathways.

Sodium alginate films with aloe vera extract were prepared by the casting/solvent evaporation technique. The resulting films were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and mechanical and water absorption tests. The in vitro degradation of the films was also investigated over 14 days. Results show that aloe vera contributes to both enhancing the thermal and mechanical properties of the films and decreasing the weight loss during in vitro degradation.

Importance: The incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer (younger than 50 years) is rising globally, the reasons for which are unclear. It appears to represent a unique disease process with different clinical, pathological, and molecular characteristics compared with late-onset colorectal cancer. Data on oncological outcomes are limited, and sensitivity to conventional neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy regimens appear to be unknown. The purpose of this review is to summarize the available literature on early-onset colorectal cancer. Observations: Within the next decade, it is estimated that 1 in 10 colon cancers and 1 in 4 rectal cancers will be diagnosed in adults younger than 50 years. Potential risk factors include a Westernized diet, obesity, antibiotic usage, and alterations in the gut microbiome. Although genetic predisposition plays a role, most cases are sporadic. The full spectrum of germline and somatic sequence variations implicated remains unknown. Younger patients typically present with descending colonic or rectal cancer, advanced disease stage, and unfavorable histopathological features. Despite being more likely to receive neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy, patients with early-onset disease demonstrate comparable oncological outcomes with their older counterparts. Conclusions and Relevance: The clinicopathological features, underlying molecular profiles, and drivers of early-onset colorectal cancer differ from those of late-onset disease. Standardized, age-specific preventive, screening, diagnostic, and therapeutic strategies are required to optimize outcomes.

Essential oils are secondary metabolites with a key‐role in plants protection, consisting primarily of terpenes with a volatile nature and a diverse array of chemical structures. Essential oils exhibit a wide range of bioactivities, especially antimicrobial activity, and have long been utilized for treating various human ailments and diseases. Cancer cell prevention and cytotoxicity are exhibited through a wide range of mechanisms of action, with more recent research focusing on synergistic and antagonistic activity between specific essential oils major and minor components. Essential oils have been shown to possess cancer cell targeting activity and are able to increase the efficacy of commonly used chemotherapy drugs including paclitaxel and docetaxel, having also shown proimmune functions when administered to the cancer patient. The present review represents a state‐of‐the‐art review of the research behind the application of EOs as anticancer agents both in vitro and in vivo . Cancer cell target specificity and the use of EOs in combination with conventional chemotherapeutic strategies are also explored.

In 2014, a joint consensus document dealing with the management of antithrombotic therapy in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and/or undergoing percutaneous coronary or valve interventions was published, which represented an effort of the European Society of Cardiology Working Group on Thrombosis, European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI), and European Association of Acute Cardiac Care (ACCA) endorsed by the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) and Asia-Pacific Heart Rhythm Society (APHRS). Since publication of this document, additional data from observational cohorts, randomized controlled trials, and percutaneous interventions as well as new guidelines have been published. Moreover, new drugs and devices/interventions are also available, with an increasing evidence base. The approach to managing AF has also evolved towards a more integrated or holistic approach. In recognizing these advances since the last consensus document, EHRA, WG Thrombosis, EAPCI, and ACCA, with additional contributions from HRS, APHRS, Latin America Heart Rhythm Society (LAHRS), and Cardiac Arrhythmia Society of Southern Africa (CASSA), proposed a focused update, to include the new data, with the remit of comprehensively reviewing the available evidence and publishing a focused update consensus document on the management of antithrombotic therapy in AF patients presenting with ACS and/or undergoing percutaneous coronary or valve interventions, and providing up-to-date consensus recommendations for use in clinical practice.

As aging continues to grow in our society, sarcopenia and associated fall risk is considered a public health problem since falling is the third cause of chronic disability. Falls are negatively related to functionality and independence and positively associated with morbidity and mortality. The cost of treatment of secondary injuries related to falls is high. For example, one in ten fall incidents leads to bone fractures and several other comorbidities. As demonstrated by several experimental studies, adopting a more active lifestyle is critical for reducing the number of fall episodes and their consequences. Therefore, it is essential to debate the proven physical exercise methods to reduce falls and fall-related effects. Since muscle mass, muscle strength, bone density, and cartilage function may play significant roles in daily activities, resistance training may positively and significantly affect the elderly. This narrative review aimed to examine current evidence on existing resistance training using resistance machines and bodyweight or low-cost equipment for the elderly and how they are related to falls and fall-related consequences. We provide theoretical links between aging, sarcopenia, and falls linking to resistance training and offer practical suggestions to exercise professionals seeking to promote regular physical exercise to promote quality of life in this population. Exercise programs focusing on strength may significantly influence muscle mass and muscle strength, minimizing functional decline and risk of falling. Resistance training programs should be customized to each elderly according to age, sex, and other fundamental and individual aspects. This narrative review provides evidence to support recommendations for practical resistance training in the elderly related to intensity and volume. A properly designed resistance training program with adequate instructions and technique is safe for the elderly. It should include an individualized approach based on existing equipment (i.e., body weight, resistance machines). Existing literature shows that exercise performance towards 2-3 sets of 1-2 exercises per major muscle group, performing 5-8 repetitions or achieving intensities of 50-80% of 1RM, 2-3 times per week should be recommended, followed by training principles such as periodization and progression. Bearing this in mind, health and exercise professionals should combine efforts focusing on efficient strategies to reduce falls among the elderly and promote higher experiences of well-being at advanced stages in life.

Polycaprolactone (PCL) is widely used in tissue engineering due to its interesting properties, namely biocompatibility, biodegradability, elastic nature, availability, cost efficacy, and the approval of health authorities such as the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The PCL degradation rate is not the most adequate for specific applications such as skin regeneration due to the hydrophobic nature of bulk PCL. However, PCL electrospun fiber meshes, due to their low diameters resulting in high surface area, are expected to exhibit a fast degradation rate. In this work, in vitro and in vivo degradation studies were performed over 90 days to evaluate the potential of electrospun PCL as a wound dressing. Enzymatic and hydrolytic degradation studies in vitro, performed in a static medium, demonstrated the influence of lipase, which promoted a rate of degradation of 97% for PCL meshes. In an in vivo scenario, the degradation was slower, although the samples were not rejected, and were well-integrated in the surrounding tissues inside the subcutaneous pockets specifically created.

Clade A protein phosphatases type 2C (PP2Cs) are negative regulators of abscisic acid (ABA) signaling that are inhibited in an ABA-dependent manner by PYRABACTIN RESISTANCE1 (PYR1)/PYR1-LIKE (PYL)/REGULATORY COMPONENTS OF ABA RECEPTORS (RCAR) intracellular receptors. We provide genetic evidence that a previously uncharacterized member of this PP2C family in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), At5g59220, is a negative regulator of osmotic stress and ABA signaling and that this function was only apparent when double loss-of-function mutants with pp2ca-1/ahg3 were generated. At5g59220-green fluorescent protein and its close relative PP2CA-green fluorescent protein showed a predominant nuclear localization; however, hemagglutinin-tagged versions were also localized to cytosol and microsomal pellets. At5g59220 was selectively inhibited by some PYR/PYL ABA receptors, and close relatives of this PP2C, such as PP2CA/ABA-HYPERSENSITIVE GERMINATION3 (AHG3) and AHG1, showed a contrasting sensitivity to PYR/PYL inhibition. Interestingly, AHG1 was resistant to inhibition by the PYR/PYL receptors tested, which suggests that this seed-specific phosphatase is still able to regulate ABA signaling in the presence of ABA and PYR/PYL receptors and therefore to control the highly active ABA signaling pathway that operates during seed development. Moreover, the differential sensitivity of the phosphatases At5g59220 and PP2CA to inhibition by ABA receptors reveals a functional specialization of PYR/PYL ABA receptors to preferentially inhibit certain PP2Cs.

We investigated the effect of electrode area and inter-electrode distance on the spatial distribution of the current density in transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). For this purpose, we used the finite element method to compute the distribution of the current density in a four-layered spherical head model using various electrode montages, corresponding to a range of electrode sizes and inter-electrode distances. We found that smaller electrodes required slightly less current to achieve a constant value of the current density at a reference point on the brain surface located directly under the electrode center. Under these conditions, smaller electrodes also produced a more focal current density distribution in the brain, i.e. the magnitude of the current density fell more rapidly with distance from the reference point. The combination of two electrodes with different areas produced an asymmetric current distribution that could lead to more effective and localized neural modulation under the smaller electrode than under the larger one. Focality improved rapidly with decreasing electrode size when the larger electrode sizes were considered but the improvement was less marked for the smaller electrode sizes. Also, focality was not affected significantly by inter-electrode distance unless two large electrodes were placed close together. Increasing the inter-electrode distance resulted in decreased shunting of the current through the scalp and the cerebrospinal fluid, and decreasing electrode area resulted in increased current density on the scalp under the edges of the electrode. Our calculations suggest that when working with conventional electrodes (25-35 cm(2)), one of the electrodes should be placed just 'behind' the target relative to the other electrode, for maximum current density on the target. Also electrodes with areas in the range 3.5-12 cm(2) may provide a better compromise between focality and current density in the scalp than the traditional electrodes. Finally, the use of multiple small return electrodes may be more efficient than the use of a single large return electrode.

Abstract The growing demand for fish products and the dwindling productivity of marine fish stocks due to the overexploitation of fisheries place the aquaculture industry as a key contributor to the global fish supply. The intensive development of aquaculture has raised a range of environmental concerns such as effluent discharge, excessive use of resources and dependence on commercial feed. In this context, the development of sustainable aquaculture systems is becoming the cornerstone for long‐term aquaculture expansion, and to achieve environmental sustainability. Integrated multitrophic aquaculture ( IMTA ) is regarded as a suitable approach to limit aquaculture nutrients and organic matter outputs through biomitigation. The cocultured species are used as biofilters, and each level has its own independent commercial value, providing both economic and environmental sustainability. Here, environmental issues of aquaculture and the current status of IMTA are reviewed and its future prospects discussed. Also, the opportunities to expand this systems’ complexity with increased added‐value and trophic levels are introduced.

This paper proposes a novel method for controlling the convergence rate of a particle swarm optimization algorithm using fractional calculus (FC) concepts. The optimization is tested for several well-known functions and the relationship between the fractional order velocity and the convergence of the algorithm is observed. The FC demonstrates a potential for interpreting evolution of the algorithm and to control its convergence.

This paper presents a parametric study of square loop and square slot frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) aimed at their equivalent circuit (EC) model optimization. Consideration was given to their physical attributes, i.e., the unit cell dimensions and spacing, substrate thickness and dielectric properties, for several frequencies and plane wave incident angles. Correlation analysis and evaluation of the influence of physical related input parameters on the FSS performance are presented. Subsequent optimization factor for the square loop classical EC model is analyzed, and a novel EC model formulation for the square slot FSS is proposed. The performance of the proposed EC model was assessed against results obtained from appropriate electromagnetic (EM) simulations, based on a root-mean-square error (RMSE) criteria. Results demonstrate the validity of the optimized EC model, in which good estimations of the frequency response of FSS structures were obtained. Significant reduction of the resonant frequency offsets, in the order of 650 (from 910 to 260) and 460 (770 to 310) MHz, was obtained for square loops and square slots, respectively. The models were further validated against measurements performed on two physical FSS prototypes inside an anechoic chamber at 2.4 GHz. Relatively good agreement was obtained between measurements of real FSS prototypes and results obtained with the EC model. Finally, this work is sought to provide the necessary refinement of elementary models for further studies with more complex and novel FSS structures.

Marine environment has demonstrated to be an interesting source of compounds with uncommon and unique chemical features on which the molecular modelling and chemical synthesis of new drugs can be based with greater efficacy and specificity for the therapeutics. Cancer is a growing public health threat, and despite the advances in biomedical research and technology, there is an urgent need for the development of new anticancer drugs. In this field, it is estimated that more than 60% of commercially available anticancer drugs are natural biomimetic inspired. Among the marine organisms, algae have been revealed to be one of the major sources of new compounds of marine origin, including those exhibiting antitumour and cytotoxic potential by mediating specific inhibitory activities on a number of key cellular processes, including apoptosis pathways, angiogenesis, migration and invasion processes, in both in vitro and in vivo models, revealing their potential to be used as anti-cancer drugs. This review will focus on the bioactive molecules from algae with antitumour potential, from their origin to their potential uses, with special emphasis to Sphaerococcus coronopifolius algae as a producer of cytotoxic compounds.

ABSTRACT Three‐dimensional (3D) bioprinting comprises a group of biofabrication technologies for the additive manufacturing of 3D constructs by precisely printing biocompatible materials, cells and biochemicals in predesigned spatial positions. These technologies have been successfully applied to fabricate biodegradable 3D constructs with intricate architectures and heterogeneous composition, assuming a pivotal role in the field of tissue engineering. However, the full implementation of bioprinting strongly depends on the development of novel biomaterials exhibiting fast crosslinking schemes and appropriate printability, cell‐compatibility and biomechanical properties. Photocrosslinkable hydrogels are attractive materials for bioprinting as they provide fast polymerization under cell‐compatible conditions and exceptional spatiotemporal control over the gelation process. Photopolymerization can also be performed during the bioprinting to promote the instantaneous formation of hydrogel with high well‐defined architecture and structural stability. In this review paper, we summarize the most recent developments on bioprinting of photocrosslinkable biodegradable hydrogels for tissue engineering, focusing on the chemical modification strategies and the combination of photocrosslinking reactions with other gelation modalities. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132 , 42458.

This cross-sectional study aimed to characterize the lifestyle habits, anxiety levels and basic psychological needs (BPN), in Portuguese adults during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, including a comparison between genders and age groups. In total, 1404 adults (36.4 ± 11.7 years; 69.6% female) answered sociodemographic data and three instruments: the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, the Basic Need General Satisfaction Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Males revealed higher values for the total energy expenditure (z = −2.26; p = 0.024; η 2 = 0.004) and for the level of satisfaction of competence (z = −2.62; p = 0.009; η 2 = 0.005). Females showed higher scores for the anxiety state (z = −7.87; p ≤ 0.001; η 2 = 0.044) and anxiety trait (z = −6.49; p ≤ 0.001; η 2 = 0.030). Regarding age, higher values for the anxiety trait (p ≤ 0.001; η H 2 = 0.030) were found in the 18–34 years-old group compared to all the other age groups, also presenting significantly higher values of total energy expenditure (χ² = 13.93; p = 0.008; η H 2 = 0.007) when compared to the 35–44 years-old group. Significant differences were observed between the 18–34 years-old group and the other age groups for the satisfaction of competence (χ² = 40.97; p ≤ 0.001; η H 2 = 0.026), except for the >65 years-old group. Strategies for promoting well-being during periods of social isolation should consider the role of psychological dimensions and lifestyle habits according to the gender or age group.