Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2020-02"
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- Comparative cost-effectiveness analysis of avelumab plus axitinib versus pembrolizumab plus axitinib, ipilimumab plus nivolumab, and sunitnib for advanced renal cell carcinoma in the UK perspectivePublication . De Mello, Ramon Andrade; Ayoub, Emili; Castelo-Branco, Pedro; De Almeida Zia, Victor Andre; Savio, Andre; Pozza, Daniel Humberto; Tadokoro, Hakaru; Teich, Nelson
- Effect of EDTA enriched diets on farmed fish allergenicity and muscle quality; a proteomics approachPublication . Raposo de Magalhães, Cláudia; Schrama, Denise; Fonseca, Flavio; Kuehn, Annette; Morisset, Martine; Ferreira, Sara; Goncalves, Amparo; Rodrigues, PedroFish is one of the most common elicitors of food-allergic reactions worldwide. These reactions are triggered by the calcium-binding muscle protein beta-parvalbumin, which was shown to have reduced immunoglobulin E (IgE)-binding capacity upon calcium depletion. This work aimed to reduce gilthead seabream allergenicity using diets supplemented with a calcium chelator. Three experimental feeds were tested, differing in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) supplementation, and its effects on muscle and parvalbumin's IgE-reactivity were analyzed. Chromatographic determination of EDTA showed no accumulation in the muscle and sensory results demonstrated that the lowest concentration did not affect fish quality as edible fish. Proteomics revealed one protein related to muscle contraction with significantly different relative abundance. Immunoblot assays performed with fish-allergic patients sera indicated a 50% reduction in IgE-reactivity upon EDTA presence. These preliminary results provide the basis for the further development of a non-GMO approach to modulate fish allergenicity and improve safety of aquaculture fish.
- CROUP: Estridor laríngeo.Publication . Pereira, Rita Justo; Dias, Filipa; Virtuoso, Maria JoãoCroup é a designação de laringotraqueíte aguda e consiste na obstrução da via aérea superior, secundária a infecção viral e caracterizada pela presença de estridor inspiratório, tosse rouca e dificuldade respiratória. É uma das principais causas de obstrução das vias aéreas superiores na idade pediátrica, mais frequente entre os 6 meses e os 3 anos de idade, consequência da inflamação e edema da laringe e traqueia. O início abrupto dos sintomas, com agravamento nocturno e a exacerbação por agitação e choro, fazem com que o croup seja motivo frequente de apresentação no Serviço de Urgência Pediátrica. Apesar da adrenalina nebulizada ser eficaz no alívio sintomático imediato, os corticóides são o tratamento base para todos os graus de gravidade da doença. O croup apresenta evolução e prognóstico favoráveis.
- Bioproducts from forest biomass: Essential oils and hydrolates from wastes of Cupressus lusitanica Mill. and Cistus ladanifer L.Publication . Tavares, Claudia S.; Martins, Alice; Faleiro, L; Miguel, Maria; Duarte, Luis C.; Gameiro, Jose A.; Roseiro, Luisa B.; Cristina Figueiredo, A.Unattended forest wastes are, among others, a potential source of wildfires, as well as a growth media for forest pests. As a way of lowering the detrimental effect of these wastes, it is important to convert these under-valued resources into a value-generating market forest wastes use. Essential oils (EOs) and hydrolates (Hs) from Cupressus lusitanica and Cistus ladanifer waste products, resulting from forest landscaping in Portugal, were evaluated for chemical composition and biological activity. Essential oils and Hs were obtained by steam-distillation (SD) and hydrodistillation (HD). Essential oils and Hs volatiles were analysed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC MS). The antimicrobial activity of EOs was studied by disk agar diffusion method against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. Antioxidant activity of EOs and Hs was evaluated by 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) free radical, superoxide anion radical formation, xanthine oxidase and chelating metal ions assays. Antiinflammatory activity of Hs was assessed by albumin denaturation assay. Monoterpene hydrocarbons and oxygen-containing monoterpenes dominated C. lusitanica EO (SD, 82-86 %, HD, 80-85 %) and Hs volatiles (SD, 93-94 %; HD 64-81 %), respectively. alpha-Pinene (14-36 %), limonene (8-21 %), delta-3-carene (8-19 %) and sabinene (6-18 %) were the main EO constituents. Hydrolates volatiles were dominated by cis-3-hexen-1-ol (0.1-13 %), camphor (1-11 %), umbellulone (t-48 %), p-cymene-8-ol (11-16 %) and terpinen-4-ol (21-31 %). C. ladanifer EOs were dominated by monoterpene hydrocarbons (SD, 48-80 % and HD, 29 %) and Hs by oxygen containing monoterpenes (SD, 38-43 %, HD, 39 %). The EO major constituents were alpha-pinene (13-28 %) and camphene (5-25 %), whereas 2,6,6-trimethyl cyclohexanone (2-12 %) and trans-pinocarveol (5-13 %) dominated the Hs volatiles. This study reports for the first time the chemical composition of the hydrolate volatiles of these two species and their anti-inflammatory properties. Among the studied biological activities, the EOs showed the best antioxidant properties while Hs demonstrated higher anti-inflammatory activity.
- Stanniocalcin-1 protein expression profile and mechanisms in proliferation and cell death pathways in prostate cancerPublication . Costa, Bruna Pasqualotto; Schein, Vanessa; Zhao, R.; Santos, Andressa Schneiders; Kliemann, Lucia Maria; Nunes, Fernanda Bordignon; Cardoso, João CR; C. Félix, Rute; Canario, Adelino; Brum, Ilma Simoni; Branchini, GiseleProstate cancer (PCa) is one of the most prevalent male tumours. Stanniocalcin-1 (STC1) is a glycoprotein and, although the role of STC1 in human cancer is poorly understood, it is suggested to be involved in the development and progression of different neoplasms. This study investigated the protein expression profile of STC1 in PCa and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) samples and STC1 signalling during cell proliferation and cell death in vitro using cell lines. We found higher levels of STC1 in PCa when compared to BPH tissue and that STC1 inhibited forskolin stimulation of cAMP in PC-3 cells. A monoclonal antibody against STC1 was effective in reducing cell proliferation, in promoting cell cycle arrest, and in increasing apoptosis in the same cells. Since STC1 acts as a regulator of prostatic tissue signalling, we suggest that this protein is a novel candidate biomarker for prostate tumour clinical progression and a potential therapeutic target.
- Inhalable locust bean gum microparticles co-associating isoniazid and rifabutin: therapeutic assessment in a murine model of tuberculosis infectionPublication . Grenha, Ana; Alves, Ana D.; Guerreiro, Filipa; Pinho, Jacinta; Simões, Sandra; Almeida, António José; Gaspar, Maria ManuelaTuberculosis is a leading cause of death worldwide. Although the development of new antimycobacterial drugs is an obvious and necessary strategy to address the disease, improving the therapeutic performance of drugs already approved constitutes a valuable alternative approach. As the lung is the most affected organ, where M. tuberculosis is able to survive and proliferate, the direct pulmonary delivery of antitubercular drugs comprises a highly promising therapeutic strategy. In this work, spray-dried locust bean gum (LBG) microparticles were used to deliver a combination of two first line antitubercular drugs, isoniazid (INH) and rifabutin (RFB), to the alveolar zone, where macrophages hosting the bacteria reside. LBG is expected to mediate favoured macrophage uptake of microparticles, leading to enhanced therapeutic effect. The therapeutic effect of LBG/INH/RFB microparticles was evaluated in a murine model infected with M. tuberculosis, strain H37Rv and compared with oral co-therapy of INH and RFB in the free form. The pulmonary administration of LBG/INH/RFB microparticles 5 times per week was the only treatment schedule that provided negative growth index values in lung (-0.22), spleen (-0.14) and liver (-0.26) even using a lower therapeutic dose for both antibiotics. For the control group, the respective values were +1.95, +0.75 and +0.96.
- A Proteomics and other Omics approach in the context of farmed fish welfare and biomarker discoveryPublication . Raposo de Magalhães, Cláudia; Cerqueira, Marco; Schrama, Denise; Moreira, Márcio; Boonanuntanasarn, Surintorn; Rodrigues, PedroThe rapid and intensive growth of aquaculture over the last decade, poses a tremendous challenge to this industry in order to comply with the latest guidelines, established to minimise its negative effects on the environment, animal welfare and public health. Farmed fish welfare has become one of the main priorities towards sustainable aquaculture production with several initiatives launched by the European Union within the framework of the 2030 agenda. It is clear that an unbiased and reliable way to access farmed fish welfare needs to be implemented due to the lack of reliable indicators and standardised methods that are used at present. In this review, we start by addressing the status quo of animal and fish welfare definition in particular, describing the methods and assays currently used to measure it. We then explain why we believe these methods are unreliable and why there is a need to establish new ones that will promote productivity and consumer's acceptance of farmed fish. The establishment of a new type of welfare biomarkers using cutting-edge technologies like proteomics and other omics technologies is proposed as a solution to this issue. Therefore, we provide a brief description of these new methodologies, describing for each one how they can improve our scientific knowledge and the role they can play in farmed fish welfare biomarker discovery.
- Environmental drivers of rhodolith beds and epiphytes community along the South Western Atlantic coastPublication . Carvalho, Vanessa F.; Assis, Jorge; Serrao, Ester; Nunes, Jose M.; Anderson, Antonio B.; Batista, Manuela B.; Barufi, Jose B.; Silva, João; Pereira, Sonia M. B.; Horta, Paulo A.Environmental conditions shape the occurrence and abundance of habitat-building organisms at global scales. Rhodolith beds structure important hard substrate habitats for a large number of marine benthic organisms. These organisms can benefit local biodiversity levels, but also compete with rhodoliths for essential resources. Therefore, understanding the factors shaping the distribution of rhodoliths and their associated communities along entire distributional ranges is of much relevance for conservational biology, particularly in the scope of future environmental changes. Here we predict suitable habitat areas and identify the main environmental drivers of rhodoliths' variability and of associated epiphytes along a large-scale latitudinal gradient. Occurrence and abundance data were collected throughout the South-western Atlantic coast (SWA) and modelled against high resolution environmental predictors extracted from Bio-Oracle. The main drivers for rhodolith occurrence were light availability and temperature at the bottom of the ocean, while abundance was explained by nitrate, temperature and current velocity. Tropical regions showed the highest abundance of rhodoliths. No latitudinal pattern was detected in the variability of epiphytes abundance. However, significant differences were found between sampled sites regarding the composition of predominant taxa. The predictors influencing such differences were temperature and nitrate. The Tropical region is abundant in species with warm-water affinities, decreasing toward warm temperate region. The expressive occurrence of tropical species not referred before for warm temperate beds indicate a plausible tropicalization event.
- Strong upwelling conditions drive differences in species abundance and community composition along the Atlantic coasts of Morocco and Western SaharaPublication . Lourenco, Carla R.; Nicastro, Katy; McQuaid, Christopher D.; Krug, Lilian; Zardi, Gerardo I.Upwelling strongly influences the composition and dynamics of coastal communities by affecting species abundances, recruitment, dispersal and distribution. Coastal upwelling areas are key model regions to study the responses of coastal species to climate change because they are characterized by cooler water conditions and experience lower warming rates than adjacent regions, making them effective 'control' or refuge sites. This is particularly true for the benthic species of rocky shores in upwelling areas because they are sedentary, inhabit the interface between marine and terrestrial habitats, are exposed to extremely severe and variable environmental conditions and often live near their tolerance limits. We sampled roughly 2000 km of the Atlantic coast of Morocco and Western Sahara to assess the influence of upwelling cells on patterns of diversity and abundance of northern African rocky shore species. We recorded 186 taxa, providing clarification of the distribution of 141 algae and documenting nine new species records for Morocco and Western Sahara. The results emphasize the influence of upwelling on the abundance and distribution of these organisms. The contrast between non-upwelling and upwelling areas highlights the direct and indirect importance of water temperature in shaping these communities, pointing to the consequences of large-scale warming. Such warming is likely to threaten intertidal species that already live close to their thermal tolerance limits and are not buffered by the effects of upwelling.
- A note on vanishing Morrey -> VMO result for fractional integrals of variable orderPublication . Rafeiro, Humberto; Samko, StefanIn the limiting case of Sobolev-Adams theorem for Morrey spaces of variable order we prove that the fractional operator of variable order maps the corresponding vanishing Morrey space into VMO.