Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2013-05"
Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Childhood depression in a portuguese sample: towards an emerging prevention programPublication . Correia, Liliana; Gianformaggio, Rafael; Douglas, Kissungo; Teixeira, Ricardo J.; Prudêncio, CristinaDepression can be defined as a constant shifting of one’s humor. Children’s depression results from the interaction between environmental variables and genetic predisposition factors. Depression has increased notably in the past century in this population. In Portugal, data concerning depression in children are very scarce.
- Portugal's special education law: implementing the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health in policy and practicePublication . Sanches-Ferreira, Manuela; Simeonsson, Rune J; Silveira-Maia, Mónica; Alves, Sílvia; Tavares, Ana; Pinheiro, SaraThe International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) was introduced in Portuguese education law as the compulsory system to guide eligibility policy and practice in special education. This paper describes the implementation of the ICF and its utility in the assessment process and eligibility determination of students for special education.
- Rational medication use: a portuguese-angolan comparative studyPublication . Fernandes, Sara; Monteiro, Daniela; Pais, Patrick; Serra, Cristina; Teixeira, Ricardo J.; Prudêncio, Cristina; Samba, NsévoloDespite the information available about medication use, some risk behaviours persist, such as self-medication, poly-medication, non-adherence, and the disrespect for the health professional recommendations. Literature supports that informing people, through health education strategies alerting to risk behaviors, could promote a better use of medication.
- Cytotoxicity of picocyanobacteria strains of the genera Cyanobium on osteosarcoma cellsPublication . Martins, Rosário; Costa, Margarida; Garcia, Mónica; Barros, Piedade; Costa-Rodrigues, João; Vasconcelos, Vítor; Fernandes, MariaMarine cyanobacteria have been recognized as an important source of bioactive compounds. The cytotoxicity on cancer cell lines has been extensively explored and several cyanobacteria metabolites are already described as potential anticancer compounds or are considered useful templates for the design of new anticancer drugs. The majority of compounds have been isolated from filamentous or colonial cyanobacteria that growth in high densities along shores. In contrast, picoplanktonic forms have rarely been explored since, for these strains, there is a need for culture for biomass production. From our LEGE cyanobacteria culture collection we selected a panel of seven strains of the picocyanobacteria genera Cyanobium in order to explore it’s potential as anticancer agents. Strains were cultured under laboratory conditions. Freeze-dried biomass was extracted using methanol and dichloromethane to a crude extract and then fractionated using hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol. The cytotoxicity of crude extracts and fractions was evaluated in the osteosarcoma cell line MG63 by the reduction of the bromide 3-(4,5-dimetil-tiazol-2-il)-2,5-difenil-tetrazolio (MTT) and confirmed by the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay. From the results, four of the seven Cyanobium strains were found to induce a significant decrease in cell viability. The highest percentage of inhibition of tumor cells growth was observed within the ethyl acetate, which is therefore, promising in terms of isolation of bioactive compounds
- Oral hygiene and health education: implications for public healthPublication . Magro, Cátia; Silva, Liliana; Louçano, Marta; Brito, Paula; Teixeira, Ricardo J.; Prudêncio, CristinaDental caries, a progressive infection caused by microorganisms, remain one of the most common diseases throughout the world. The mouth is an ideal environment for bacteria, and one of the best-known for being responsible for dental caries is the Streptococcus mutans.
- The characteristic time of glucose diffusion measured for muscle tissue at optical clearingPublication . Oliveira, L M; Carvalho, M I; Nogueira, E M; Tuchin, V VThe study of agent diffusion in biological tissues is very important to understand and characterize the optical clearing effects and mechanisms involved: tissue dehydration and refractive index matching. From measurements made to study the optical clearing, it is obvious that light scattering is reduced and that the optical properties of the tissue are controlled in the process. On the other hand, optical measurements do not allow direct determination of the diffusion properties of the agent in the tissue and some calculations are necessary to estimate those properties. This fact is imposed by the occurrence of two fluxes at optical clearing: water typically directed out of and agent directed into the tissue. When the water content in the immersion solution is approximately the same as the free water content of the tissue, a balance is established for water and the agent flux dominates. To prove this concept experimentally, we have measured the collimated transmittance of skeletal muscle samples under treatment with aqueous solutions containing different concentrations of glucose. After estimating the mean diffusion time values for each of the treatments we have represented those values as a function of glucose concentration in solution. Such a representation presents a maximum diffusion time for a water content in solution equal to the tissue free water content. Such a maximum represents the real diffusion time of glucose in the muscle and with this value we could calculate the corresponding diffusion coefficient.