Objective: The objective of this review is to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to prevent or treat prolonged grief symptoms among families of patients who die in the intensive care unit (ICU). Introduction: Up to 52% of families of patients who die in an ICU may be at risk of experiencing prolonged grief symptoms. This psychological morbidity should be addressed as early as possible through effective...
"Background: The incidence of mosquito-borne infections has increased worldwide. Mainland Portugal's characteristics might favour the (re)emergence of mosquito-borne diseases. This study aimed to characterize the spatial distribution of vectors and notification rates of imported cases of mosquito-borne infections in mainland Portugal and demarcate the areas where these geographies overlap. Methods: We used data...
Background and objective Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a prevalent and life-threatening infection that causes significant morbidity and mortality. Biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), can help to diagnose, monitor, and prognose patients with this condition. This study aimed to analyze the disease course, the CRP peak concentration, its relationship with prognosis, and its variation in hospitali...
Surface bioconjugation of antimicrobial peptides (AMP) onto nanoparticles (AMP-NP) is a complex, multistep, and time-consuming task. Herein, a microfluidic system for the one-pot production of AMP-NP was developed. Norbornene-modified chitosan was used for NP production (NorChit-NP), and thiolated-AMP was grafted on their surface via thiol-norbornene "photoclick" chemistry over exposure of two parallel UV LEDs....
Infection is one of the main causes of orthopedic implants failure, with antibiotic-resistant bacteria playing a crucial role in this outcome. In this work, antimicrobial nanogels were developed to be applied in situ as implant coating to prevent orthopedic-device-related infections. To that regard, a broad-spectrum antimicrobial peptide, Dhvar5, was grafted onto chitosan via thiol-norbornene "photoclick" chemi...
Impaired angiogenesis in skin chronic wounds prolongs inflammation and compromises wound healing. Several strategies have been attempted to improve vascularization, such as application of growth factors, like the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). However, VEGF is expensive, has a short half-life in vivo and has been associated to tumorigenesis when used in high concentrations. QK peptide is a shorter (...
Background & aims: Legumes intake is known to be associated with several health benefits the origins of which is still a matter of debate. This paper addresses a pilot small cohort to probe for metabolic aspects of the interplay between legumes intake, human metabolism and gut microbiota. Methods: Untargeted nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomics of blood plasma and fecal extracts was carried out, in tan...
The sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816) (Echinodermata: Echinoidea) is an important economic resource in Europe, but intense harvesting has led to the collapse of several natural populations. Echinoculture, associated with restocking and stock enhancement practices, is an alternative to this problem. In these procedures, reliable individual identification through tagging is a valuable source of inf...