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Em março de 2020, a Organização Mundial de Saúde declarou a COVID-19 como pandemia. O seu surgimento e propagação contribuiu para aumentar os desafios existentes no quotidiano dos profissionais de saúde, impelindo o desenvolvimento de uma parceria entre o Serviço Nacional de Saúde e Privados para prestar uma resposta otimizada ao tratamento da doença, em Portugal. O stress ocupacional, traduzido no medo e preocupação de ser infetado e infetar, devido às jornadas laborais extensas e falta de materiais e recursos no combate ao vírus, leva a presente investigação a ter como objetivo a análise da perceção das condições de trabalho e dos níveis de stress ocupacional percecionados pelos profissionais de saúde nos contextos hospitalares público e privado durante a pandemia. Tratou-se de um estudo quantitativo e transversal, composto por um total de 97 profissionais de saúde do setor público e privado. Os resultados revelaram que, apesar da média dos valores de sobrecarga horária entre setores ser semelhante, os profissionais de saúde trabalharam significativamente mais horas do que as estipuladas/previstas. De igual modo, o nível de stress ocupacional entre os profissionais dos diferentes contextos foi similar. Por fim, aferiu-se que as condições físicas e materiais de trabalho são preditoras de stress ocupacional, ao invés da sobrecarga horária. Este estudo demonstra que é importante que as instituições de saúde, sejam elas públicas ou privadas, disponibilizem aos seus trabalhadores as melhores condições de trabalho físicas e materiais possíveis, sobretudo face às exigências de um contexto pandémico., Gestão e Desenvolvimento, n. 31 (2023)

© 2023 The Authors. Neurourology and Urodynamics published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made., Introduction: Age-related white matter hyperintensities (ARWMHs) on brain magnetic resonance imaging have been associated with lower urinary tract symptoms/dysfunction (LUTS/LUTD), namely overactive bladder (OAB) and detrusor overactivity. We aimed to systematically review existing data on the association between ARWMH and LUTS and which clinical tools have been used for this assessment. Materials and methods: We searched PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and clinicaltrials.gov (from 1980 to November 2021) and considered original studies reporting data on ARWMH and LUTS/LUTD in patients of both sexes aged 50 or above. The primary outcome was OAB. We calculated the unadjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for the outcomes of interest using random-effects models. Results: Fourteen studies were included. LUTS assessment was heterogeneous and mainly based on the use of nonvalidated questionnaires. Urodynamics assessment was reported in five studies. ARWMHs were graded using visual scales in eight studies. Patients with moderate-to-severe ARWMHs were more likely to present with OAB and urgency urinary incontinence (UUI; OR = 1.61; 95% CI: 1.05-2.49, p = 0.03), I2 = 21.3%) when compared to patients with similar age and absent or mild ARWMH. Discussion and conclusions: High-quality data on the association between ARWMH and OAB is scarce. Patients with moderate to severe ARWMH showed higher levels of OAB symptoms, including UUI, when compared to patients with absent or mild ARWMH. The use of standardized tools to assess both ARWMH and OAB in these patients should be encouraged in future research.

[Background and Purpose] Recent studies suggested an increased incidence of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We evaluated the volume of CVT hospitalization and in-hospital mortality during the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the preceding year., [Methods] We conducted a cross-sectional retrospective study of 171 stroke centers from 49 countries. We recorded COVID-19 admission volumes, CVT hospitalization, and CVT in-hospital mortality from January 1, 2019, to May 31, 2021. CVT diagnoses were identified by International Classification of Disease-10 (ICD-10) codes or stroke databases. We additionally sought to compare the same metrics in the first 5 months of 2021 compared to the corresponding months in 2019 and 2020 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04934020)., [Results] There were 2,313 CVT admissions across the 1-year pre-pandemic (2019) and pandemic year (2020); no differences in CVT volume or CVT mortality were observed. During the first 5 months of 2021, there was an increase in CVT volumes compared to 2019 (27.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 24.2 to 32.0; P, [Conclusions] During the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic, CVT hospitalization volume and CVT in-hospital mortality did not change compared to the prior year. COVID-19 diagnosis was associated with higher CVT in-hospital mortality. During the first 5 months of 2021, there was an increase in CVT hospitalization volume and increase in CVT-related mortality, partially attributable to VITT., The study was funded by the Society of Vascular and Interventional Neurology research pilot grant.

Methanogenic archaea are main contributors to methane emissions, and thus play a crucial role in carbon cycling and global warming. Until recently, methanogens were confined to the phylum Euryarchaeota, but metagenomic studies revealed the presence of genes encoding the methyl coenzyme M reductase complex in other archaeal clades, thereby opening up the premise that methanogenesis is taxonomically more widespread. Nevertheless, laboratory cultivation of these non-Euryarchaeal methanogens was missing to allow the study of their physiology and to corroborate their potential methanogenic capability. Here we describe a thermophilic co-culture from an oil field, containing a single archaeon (strain LWZ-6) belonging to the proposed order Candidatus Verstraetearchaeia, together with a H2-producing Acetomicrobium sp. CY-2. Strain LWZ-6, for which we propose the name Verstraetearchaeum methanopetracarbonis, is a H2-dependent methylotrophic methanogen. Although previous metagenomic studies speculated on the fermentative potential of Verstraetearchaeial methanogens, strain LWZ-6 does not ferment sugars, peptides, and amino acids. Its energy metabolism is linked to methanogenesis, with methanol and monomethylamine as electron acceptors and H2 as electron donor. Comparative (meta)genome analysis revealed that H2-dependent methylotrophic methanogenesis is a shared trait among Verstraetearchaeia. Our findings corroborate that the diversity of methanogens expands beyond the classical Euryarchaeota and change our current conception of the global carbon cycle.

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-eso-10.1177_23969873231185213 for Sex differences in cerebral venous sinus thrombosis after adenoviral vaccination against COVID-19 by Adrian Scutelnic, Anita van de Munckhof, Katarzyna Krzywicka, Mayte Sánchez van Kammen, Erik Lindgren, Charlotte Cordonnier, Timothy J Kleinig, Thalia S Field, Sven Poli, Robin Lemmens, Saskia Middeldorp, Sanjith Aaron, Afshin Borhani-Haghighi, Antonio Arauz, Johanna A Kremer Hovinga, Albrecht Günther, Jukka Putaala, Mohammad Wasay, Adriana Bastos Conforto, Diana Aguiar de Sousa, Katarina Jood, Turgut Tatlisumak, José M Ferro, Jonathan M Coutinho, Marcel Arnold, Mirjam R Heldner

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-eso-10.1177_23969873231186042 for Delivery of acute ischaemic stroke treatments in the European region in 2019 and 2020 by Diana Aguiar de Sousa, Arlene Wilkie, Bo Norrving, Chris Macey, Claudio Bassetti, Cristina Tiu, Greg Roth, Grethe Lunde, Hanne Christensen, Jens Fiehler, Francesca Romana Pezzella, Martin Dichgans, Melinda B Roaldsen, Peter Kelly, Robert Mikulik, Simona Sacco, Valeria Caso and Urs Fischer in European Stroke Journal

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-wso-10.1177_17474930231182901 for Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis due to vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia in middle-income countries by Anita van de Munckhof, Afshin Borhani-Haghighi, Sanjith Aaron, Katarzyna Krzywicka, Mayte Sánchez van Kammen, Charlotte Cordonnier, Timothy J Kleinig, Thalia S Field, Sven Poli, Robin Lemmens, Adrian Scutelnic, Erik Lindgren, Jiangang Duan, Yıldız Arslan, Eric CM van Gorp, Johanna A Kremer Hovinga, Albrecht Günther, Katarina Jood, Turgut Tatlisumak, Jukka Putaala, Mirjam R Heldner, Marcel Arnold, Diana Aguiar de Sousa, Mohammad Wasay, Antonio Arauz, Adriana Bastos Conforto, José M Ferro and Jonathan M Coutinho in International Journal of Stroke

© 2022 American Academy of Neurology, Background and objectives: Declines in stroke admission, IV thrombolysis (IVT), and mechanical thrombectomy volumes were reported during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a paucity of data on the longer-term effect of the pandemic on stroke volumes over the course of a year and through the second wave of the pandemic. We sought to measure the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the volumes of stroke admissions, intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), IVT, and mechanical thrombectomy over a 1-year period at the onset of the pandemic (March 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021) compared with the immediately preceding year (March 1, 2019, to February 29, 2020). Methods: We conducted a longitudinal retrospective study across 6 continents, 56 countries, and 275 stroke centers. We collected volume data for COVID-19 admissions and 4 stroke metrics: ischemic stroke admissions, ICH admissions, IVT treatments, and mechanical thrombectomy procedures. Diagnoses were identified by their ICD-10 codes or classifications in stroke databases. Results: There were 148,895 stroke admissions in the 1 year immediately before compared with 138,453 admissions during the 1-year pandemic, representing a 7% decline (95% CI [95% CI 7.1-6.9]; p < 0.0001). ICH volumes declined from 29,585 to 28,156 (4.8% [5.1-4.6]; p < 0.0001) and IVT volume from 24,584 to 23,077 (6.1% [6.4-5.8]; p < 0.0001). Larger declines were observed at high-volume compared with low-volume centers (all p < 0.0001). There was no significant change in mechanical thrombectomy volumes (0.7% [0.6-0.9]; p = 0.49). Stroke was diagnosed in 1.3% [1.31-1.38] of 406,792 COVID-19 hospitalizations. SARS-CoV-2 infection was present in 2.9% ([2.82-2.97], 5,656/195,539) of all stroke hospitalizations. Discussion: There was a global decline and shift to lower-volume centers of stroke admission volumes, ICH volumes, and IVT volumes during the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the prior year. Mechanical thrombectomy volumes were preserved. These results suggest preservation in the stroke care of higher severity of disease through the first pandemic year.

The Scientific Dissemination Texts (SDT) disseminate science in a clear and accessible way to the public, allowing the articulation of scientific knowledge with society in general. Thus, proposals for including SDT in the school environment have stood out as a viable way to meet different recurrent learning needs in Basic Education. In this work, we investigate the potential of using SDT in High School as a didactic resource for the teaching of Chemistry. To this end, we developed and applied a didactic strategy based on the use of the SDT of the Ciência Hoje Magazine, section O Leitor Pergunta: Can the starch bag be a less harmful solution to the environment than traditional bags? (Edition 305, July/2013, n. 53). The choice of SDT was guided, considering the relevance of the subject and the discussion of the question, to facilitate the study of polymer content. The analysis and feasibility of using the SDT were carried out using a Likert questionnaire, in addition to discursive questions. The sum of the positive analysis indexes presented a value close to 90%. From a pedagogical point of view, SDT enabled debates based on the systematization of scientific knowledge associated with the discussion of polymer content, integrating social issues such as environmental pollution, disposal, recycling, plastics, and garbage that are present in discussions of polymer content, contributing to the exercise of citizenship by students, based on a greater environmental awareness using plastic bags., Los Textos de Divulgación Científica (TDC) difunden la ciencia de forma clara y accesible al público en general, permitiendo la articulación del conocimiento científico con la sociedad en general. Así, las propuestas de inclusión de la TDC en el ámbito escolar se han destacado como una vía viable para atender distintas necesidades recurrentes de aprendizaje en la Educación Básica. En este trabajo, investigamos el potencial del uso de TDC en la Educación Secundaria como recurso didáctico para la enseñanza de la Química. Para ello, desarrollamos y aplicamos una estrategia didáctica basada en el uso de la TDC de la Revista Ciência Hoje, sección O Leitor Pregunta, ¿Puede la bolsa de almidón ser una solución menos dañina para el medio ambiente que las bolsas tradicionales? (Edición 305, julio/2013, nº 53). La elección de la TDC fue guiada, considerando la relevancia del tema y la discusión, como forma de facilitar el estudio del polímeros. El análisis y factibilidad de uso de las TDC se realizó mediante un cuestionario en formato Likert, además de preguntas discursivas. La suma de los índices de análisis positivos presentó un valor cercano al 90%. Desde un punto de vista pedagógico, la TDC permitió debates del conocimiento científico asociado a la discusión del contenido de polímeros, integrando cuestiones sociales como la contaminación ambiental, disposición, reciclaje, plásticos y basura que están presentes en las discusiones sobre polímeros, contribuyendo al ejercicio de la ciudadanía, a partir de una mayor conciencia ambiental a través del uso de bolsas plásticas., Os Textos de Divulgação Científica (TDC) divulgam a ciência de forma clara e acessível para o público em geral, permitindo a articulação dos saberes científicos com a sociedade em geral. Assim, propostas de inclusão de TDC no ambiente escolar têm se destacado como um caminho viável para atender diferentes necessidades de aprendizagem recorrentes na Educação Básica. Neste trabalho, investigamos o potencial do uso de TDC no Ensino Médio como um recurso didático para o ensino da Química. Para tanto, elaboramos e aplicamos uma estratégia didática pautada no uso do TDC da Revista Ciência Hoje, seção O Leitor Pergunta A sacola de amido pode ser uma solução menos danosa ao ambiente, do que as sacolas tradicionais? (Edição 305, julho/2013, nº. 53). A escolha do TDC foi orientada, considerando a relevância do assunto e a discussão da pergunta, como forma de facilitar o estudo do conteúdo de polímeros. A análise e a viabilidade da utilização dos TDC foram realizadas pelo uso de questionário no formato Likert, além de questões discursivas. O somatório dos índices positivos de análise apresentou valor próximo a 90%. Sob o ponto de vista pedagógico, o TDC possibilitou debates a partir da sistematização dos conhecimentos científicos associados à discussão do conteúdo polímeros, integrando problemáticas sociais, como a poluição ambiental, descarte, reciclagem, plásticos e lixo que estão presentes nas discussões do conteúdo polímeros, contribuindo para o exercício da cidadania dos estudantes, a partir de uma maior consciência ambiental sob a utilização de sacolas plásticas.

Doctoral Thesis (Doctoral Program Bioengineering), O cancro é uma das principais causas de morbidade e mortalidade a nível mundial, e as suas metástases são responsáveis por cerca de 90% das mortes. As atuais abordagens terapêuticas têm baixas taxas de sucesso em casos de doença metastática e a maioria dos pacientes não pode ser curada. Portanto, é crucial encontrar novas estratégias para desenvolver terapias eficientes dirigidas ao alvo. As tecnologias baseadas na seleção de aptâmeros facilitaram a descoberta de novos biomarcadores, especialmente através da tecnologia cell-SELEX, que permite a identificação de ligandos para um tipo específico de células. Deste modo, essa tecnologia foi usada para identificar um aptâmero específico para a linha celular metastática de osteossarcoma MG-63. O aptâmero mais promissor (OS-7.9) foi selecionado através de análise bioinformática, e os ensaios in vitro demonstraram a sua alta afinidade para as células-alvo, bem como para células de órgãos para os quais o osteossarcoma tem tendência a metastizar. Além disso, a tecnologia cell-SELEX foi utilizada em combinação com a sequenciação de nova geração e análise bioinformática para identificar sequências de aptâmeros (Apt1 e Apt2) com alta afinidade e especificidade para a linha celular metastática de cancro de mama (CM) MDA-MB-231. A possível translação clínica também ficou demonstrada para o Apt2 através da utilização de secções de tecido de CM. No que diz respeito aos nanossistemas de entrega de agentes terapêuticos, os sistemas não virais foram os selecionados devido à sua segurança para aplicações biomédicas. Sistemas de lipossomas catiónicos foram avaliados para o transporte de plasmídeos CRISPR/Cas9 e consequente terapia genética na linha celular usada para validação, as HEK 293T. Ensaios in vitro demonstraram elevada eficiência de transfeção e capacidade de disrupção de genes por lipoplexos à base de lípido MVL5. Estudos sobre a disrupção do microRNA-155 na linha metastática de CM Hs 578T revelaram uma ativação dos marcadores apoptóticos, bem como um aumento da paragem do ciclo celular na fase G2/M e inibição da migração. Também foram usados exossomas para a entrega de plasmídeos CRISPR/Cas9, devido à capacidade natural destas vesículas de transportar material genético. Os exossomas foram modificados com um péptido que reconhece especificamente o recetor EGFR (péptido GE11) para melhorar a internalização celular em células de CM que expressam este recetor. No geral, os resultados obtidos nesta dissertação contribuíram para o objetivo de desenvolver novas abordagens terapêuticas para cancro metastático através da identificação de novos ligandos específicos para posterior incorporação em nanossistemas de entrega, tais como lipossomas e exossomas que têm capacidade de transportar plasmídeos CRISPR/Cas9 para a aplicações de terapia genética em cancro., Cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and metastasis accounts for about 90% of cancer-related deaths. Current therapeutic approaches have poor outcomes in metastatic disease and most patients cannot be cured. Therefore, finding novel strategies is crucial for the development of new effective targeted therapies. Aptamer-based technologies have facilitated biomarker discovery, especially through cell-SELEX technology, through the identification of cell-specific ligands. Hence, this technology was used to generate an aptamer homing the highly metastatic MG-63 osteosarcoma cell line. The most promising aptamer (OS-7.9) was selected through bioinformatic analysis and in vitro assays demonstrating high affinity against the target cells, as well as against cells from common OS-metastatic sites. Moreover, the combination of cell-SELEX technology with high-throughput sequencing aided by bioinformatic analysis led to the identification of aptamer sequences (Apt1 and Apt2) with high affinity and specificity towards the metastatic breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. Additionally, clinical translational applicability was proven for Apt2 using breast tumor tissue sections. Regarding drug delivery systems, non-viral delivery systems were exploited due to their biosafety. Therefore, different cationic liposome formulations were evaluated for the loading of CRISPR/Cas9 plasmids and consequent gene therapy in the proof-of-concept cell line HEK 293T. In vitro assays demonstrated high transfection efficiency and gene knockout ability by MVL5-based cationic lipoplexes. Next, some preliminary data on the disruption of miR-155 in the metastatic cancer cell line Hs 578T by CRISPR/Cas9 technology showed an activation of apoptotic markers as well as an induction of G2/M cell cycle arrest, and cell migration inhibition. Ultimately, exosomes were also used as gene delivery platforms due to their natural ability to transfer genetic material. Exosomes were successfully modified with a peptide that targets EGFR receptor (GE11 peptide) to improve the cellular uptake to efficiently deliver CRISPR/Cas9 plasmids in EGFRexpressing breast cancer cells. Overall, the results gathered in this thesis contributed to the goal of developing novel therapeutic approaches for metastatic cancers through the identification of novel specific ligands for highly metastatic cancer, for posterior incorporation into gene delivery platforms such as multivalent cationic liposomes and exosomes that can carry CRISPR/Cas9 plasmids for gene cancer therapy., Acknowledge my fellowship (PD/BD/139083/2018 and COVID/BD/152644/2022) supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), as well as the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit. I would also like to thank the Centre of Biological Engineering (CEB), School of Engineering and University of Minho for providing the necessary working conditions.

BackgroundCerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is a rare disease that frequently occurs in young women of childbearing age, with variable clinical presentation in regions with limited access to diagnostic imaging or specialized neurological care. In the last decade, there has been an increase in the number of studies on CVT in Latin America, which may contribute to a better epidemiological description of the disease in this region and, consequently, its early diagnosis.ObjectivesOur study aims to review the risk factors, clinical and radiological characteristics of CVT in Latin America, being critically compared with data from world literature.MethodsPubMed, ScienceDirect, BVS, and Scopus were searched to identify studies reporting CVT in Latin American countries published up to July 2022. We excluded case reports and case series reporting ResultsWe identified a total of 3714 studies and 26 qualified for the quantitative analysis, which described 1486 cases of CVT. Headache was the most frequent symptom (82.1%) and the use of oral contraceptives in women was the main risk factor (46.7%). The transverse sinus was the most frequent location of the thrombus (52%). The treatment used most in the acute phase was heparin (88.5%) and oral anticoagulation was widely used at hospital discharge (67.8%). The mortality was low (6.5%), and most patients achieved complete recovery (75.3%).ConclusionDespite considerable dissimilarities in studies between countries, particularities were identified in the risk factors of CVT in Latin America compared to other regions of the world.