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- Algae and Fish Farming: An EPS@ISEP 2022 ProjectPublication . Blomme, Rose-Farah; Domissy, Zoé; Dylik, Zuzanna; Hidding, Thomas; Röhe, Alina; Duarte, Abel J.; Malheiro, Benedita; Ribeiro, Cristina; Justo, Jorge; Silva, Manuel; Ferreira, Paulo; Guedes, Pedro; Duarte, Abel J.; BENEDITA CAMPOS NEVES MALHEIRO, MARIA; JUSTO, Jorge; Ferreira, Paulo; Guedes, Pedro; Auer, Michael E.; Rüütmann, TiiaThe European Project Semester (EPS) at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) is a capstone engineering design program where students, organised in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams, create a solution for a proposed problem, bearing in mind ethical, sustainability and market concerns. The project proposals are usually aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). New sustainable food production methods are essential to cope with the continuous population growth and aligned with SDG2 and SDG12. In this context, this paper describes the research and work done by a team of Erasmus students enrolled in EPS@ISEP during the spring of 2022. Since sustainable algae farming can be a suitable source of food, the team's goal was the design and develop a proof-of-concept prototype, named GREEN·flow, of a symbiotic aquaponic system to farm algae and fish. The smart GREEN·flow concept comprises a modular structure and an app for control and supervision. The proposed design was driven by state-of-the-art research, targeted to a specific market niche based on a market analysis, and considering sustainability and ethics concerns, all of which are described in this manuscript. A proof-of-concept prototype was built and tested to verify that it worked as intended.
- Secondary metabolites of cyanobacteria from Cape Verde Archipelago act as NO donors with potential application in dermatology and cosmeticsPublication . Morone, Janaína; Hentschke, Guilherme Scotta; Oliveira, Isabel Benta; Vasconcelos, Vítor; Martins, Rosário; Lopes, Graciliana; Martins, RosárioNitric oxide (NO) is a versatile mediator implicated in a variety of physiological processes, with the ultimate goal of maintaining organism homeostasis. In the present work, aqueous extracts from ten cyanobacteria strains isolated from the Cape Verde archipelago were explored as potential NO donors. None of the strains are toxin producers, as demonstrated by PCR and LC-MS analysis. The extracts were mainly composed by phycobiliproteins (9.1 to 43.8 %), followed by polysaccharides (7.7 to 35.1 %), phenols (1.49 to 3.3 %) and chlorophylls (0 to 0.45 %). All the extracts revealed antioxidant potential, with Salileptolyngbya sp. LEGE 181184 presenting the lowest IC 1 50 value for superoxide anion radical scavenging (46.50 μ g mL ), and ability to inhibit the proinflammatory enzyme lipoxygenase (LOX), Salileptolyngbya sp. LEGE 181150 presenting an IC positive control quercetin (28.49 and 31.77 μ g mL 1 25 similar to the , respectively), highlighting the potential of cyanobacteria extracts as natural ingredients for LOX inhibition. All the extracts were able to increase the NO produced by the macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 through iNOS modulation (from concentrations starting in 12.5 μ g mL 1 ), in a similar mechanism and superior extend to that of LPS. None of the extracts induced cytotoxicity to RAW 264.7 cells and to the endothelial hCMEC/d3, the fibroblast 3 T3/L1 and the keratinocytes HaCaT cell lines, and no environmental hazard is predicted, as demonstrated through the zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo acute toxicity test (zFET). This pioneer study points-out cyanobacteria aqueous extracts as innovative and biobased natural antimicrobial ingredients which, through a NO-donating mechanism, may potentially act against important antibiotic-resistant strains, thus being worth of consideration as therapeutic agents in dermatology.
- Smart Pill Dispenser for Children - An EPS@ISEP 2024 ProjectPublication . Ehrenhofer, Lena; Borowski, Łukasz; Oliveira, Noé; Steyaert, Stijn; Kronshagen, Tamara; Clauwaert, Tibo; Duarte, Abel J.; Malheiro, Benedita; Ribeiro, Cristina; Justo, Jorge; Silva, Manuel; Ferreira, Paulo; Guedes, Pedro; Auer, Michael E.; Rüütmann, TiiaPeople around the globe struggle with health issues requiring regular medication. Children, in particular, suffer more and more from chronic illnesses. In 2024, a team of six EPS@ISEP students chose to design a solution for this problem, followed by the assembly and testing of the corresponding proof-of-concept prototype. The aim was to design a solution for children to take the right medication, at the right time and in the right dose, in a pleasant and engaging way, based on technical, ethical, sustainability and market analyses. Focusing on children between the ages of 8 and 12, the team decided to incorporate a motivational system based on rewards to ensure that they take their medication correctly. The outcome is billy, a pill dispenser controlled via an app which allows carers to plan doses and release rewards, and children to autonomously take their medication. The system dispenses up to 21 doses of medication to the child through fingerprint authentication, and photographs the child taking the medication to reassure carers.
- Physical activity level in women with primary dysmenorrhea: A cross-sectional observational studyPublication . Naia, Zeltia; Santos, Paula Clara; Bello, Olalla; Santos, Paula ClaraPrimary dysmenorrhea (PD), menstrual pain in the absence of pathology, is the main cause of gynecological consultation in young women. There are many studies that suggest a possible relationship between a low level of physical activity (PA) and a greater intensity of menstrual pain, and others that find no relationship between these variables. To identify the level of PA and menstrual pain intensity among women with PD, as well as the relationship between these variables. An observational, cross-sectional study was carried out on a cohort of adult population. Data collection instrument was an online self-administered questionnaire. Main variables were pain intensity (Numeric Rating Scale; McGill Pain Questionnaire, short version) and PA level (International Physical Activity Questionnaire). A total number of 216 responses from the total responses obtained were considered PD cases. A 38% of women did not perform any intense PA during the last 7 days, and a 32.4% did not perform any moderate PA. No significant differences were found in menstrual pain intensity during the three last menstruations among women who performed PA, moderate, or intense. Nor were significant differences found between women who performed PA less than 3 days a week, compared with those ones who did it at least three times a week, or more. Menstrual pain intensity does not differ between the types of PA. A large number of participants did not perform any PA in the last 7 days.
- The prevalence of post-therapy epilepsy in patients treated for high-grade glial tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysisPublication . Ferreira, Marta Pereira; Carvalho, Ruben Lopes; Soares, Joana Isabel; Casalta‑Lopes, João; Borges, Daniel Filipe; Borges, Daniel Filipe; Soares, Joana I.Gliomas are the most prevalent type of primary brain tumor of the adult central nervous system. High-grade gliomas (HGG) are the most common type of glioma. Epilepsy is often the first clinical manifestation of HGG. Since epilepsy leads to increased morbidity and mortality rates, seizure control is one of the main therapeutic goals for patients with glioma-related epilepsy. Post-therapy epilepsy is observed in a significant percentage of patients, hence, this work aimed to quantify the prevalence of post-therapy epilepsy after HGG treatment. Our search was conducted across PubMed®, EMBASE®, Web of Science™, Cochrane Library, Sicelo and Scopus, adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. This review included articles published in Portuguese or English that evaluate adult patients with newly diagnosed HGG, who were treated with at least surgery or radiation. Thirty-six studies reporting on 4036 HGG patients were included in our meta-analysis. The mean age ranged from 44 to 73 years. Glioblastoma was the most commonly observed HGG, representing 77,8% of all glioma patients. The pre-treatment seizure frequency was observed in 21,2%. All patients underwent surgery as the main therapy, and 1842 patients received standard adjuvant therapy. We also observed a pooled prevalence of post-therapy seizures of 25.5% (95% confidence interval of [19.9%; 31.1%]). Substantial heterogeneity in all assessed variables was observed. Conducting larger prospective studies with suitable epilepsy diagnostic methods would help provide a more precise estimate of the number of HGG patients who develop post-therapy epilepsy.
- Warfarin pharmacogenomics: Designing electrochemical DNA-based sensors to detect CYP2C9*2 gene variationPublication . Barbosa, Tiago; Morais, Stephanie L.; Pereira, Eduarda; Magalhães, Júlia M. C. S.; Domingues, Valentina F.; Ferreira-Fernandes, Hygor; Pinto, Giovanny; Santos, Marlene; Barroso, Maria Fátima; Santos, MarleneThe CYP2C9 enzyme is involved in the metabolism of warfarin. The CYP2C9 gene harbors several single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including CYP2C9*2 (rs1799853), which is known to affect warfarin’s therapeutic response. So, it is important to develop analytical tools capable of genotyping these SNPs to adjust warfarin’s therapeutic outcomes. In this work, an electrochemical DNA-based sensor was constructed and optimized for the detection of the CYP2C9*2 polymorphism. Methods: Using bioinformatic database platforms, two 71 base pair DNA target probes with the polymorphic variants A and G were chosen and designed. A DNA-based sensor was composed by mercaptohexanol and the CYP2C9*2 DNA capture probe in a self-assembled monolayer connected to screen-printed gold electrodes. Two independent hybridization events of the CYP2C9*2 allele were designed using complementary fluorescein-labeled DNA signaling to improve selectivity and avoid secondary structures. Three human samples with the homozygous variant (G/G) and non-variant (A/A) and heterozygous (G/A) genotypes were amplified by PCR and then applied to the developed genosensor. Results: Chronoamperometry measurements were performed for both polymorphic probes. A calibration curve in the 0.25 to 2.50 nM (LOD of 13 pM) and another in the 0.15 to 5.00 nM range (LOD of 22.6 pM) were obtained for the homozygous non-variant and variant probes, respectively. This innovative tool was capable of identifying the hybridization reaction between two complementary strands of immobilized DNA, representing a genotyping alternative to the classical PCR methodology. Conclusions: The developed electrochemical DNA-based sensor was able to discriminate two synthetic SNP target sequences (Target-A and Target-G) and detect, with specificity, the three patients’ genotypes (G/G, G/A, and A/A). This tool is therefore a promising, sensitive, and cost-effective analytical way to determine and discriminate an individual’s genotype and predict the appropriate warfarin dose.