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- Self-Disinfecting Surfaces and Infection ControlPublication . Querido, Micaela Machado; Aguiar, Lívia; Neves, Paula; Pereira, Cristiana Costa; Teixeira, João PauloAccording to World Health Organization, every year in the European Union, 4 million patients acquire a healthcare associated infection. Even though some microorganisms represent no threat to healthy people, hospitals harbor different levels of immunocompetent individuals, namely patients receiving immunosuppressors, with previous infections, or those with extremes of age (young children and elderly), requiring the implementation of effective control measures. Public spaces have also been found an important source of infectious disease outbreaks due to poor or none infection control measures applied. In both places, surfaces play a major role on microorganisms' propagation, yet they are very often neglected, with very few guidelines about efficient cleaning measures and microbiological assessment available. To overcome surface contamination problems, new strategies are being designed to limit the microorganisms' ability to survive over surfaces and materials. Surface modification and/or functionalization to prevent contamination is a hot-topic of research and several different approaches have been developed lately. Surfaces with anti-adhesive properties, with incorporated antimicrobial substances or modified with biological active metals are some of the strategies recently proposed. This review intends to summarize the problems associated with contaminated surfaces and their importance on infection spreading, and to present some of the strategies developed to prevent this public health problem, namely some already being commercialized.
- Deficiencia de glicerolcinasa: una causa metabólica de retraso global del desarrolloPublication . Ribeiro, A.I.; Pinto, S.; Ayres-Pereira, I.; Vieira, A.; Valongo, C.; Passas, A.; Lopes, A.; Santos, H.La deficiencia de glicerolcinasa (GKD) es un raro trastorno recesivo ligado al X, caracterizado por la pérdida de la función del enzima glicerolcinasa (GK), que cataliza la fosforilación dietética del glicerol a glicerol-3-fosfato, necesario en la síntesis de lípidos y en la gluconeogénesis [1,2]. La pérdida de actividad enzimática conduce a una acumulación de glicerol en suero (hiperglicerolemia) y orina (gliceroluria). (...)
- The comet assay in animal models: From bugs to whales – (Part 1 Invertebrates)Publication . Gajski, Goran; Žegura, Bojana; Ladeira, Carina; Pourrut, Bertrand; Del Bo’, Cristian; Novak, Matjaž; Sramkova, Monika; Milić, Mirta; Gutzkow, Kristine Bjerve; Costa, Solange; Dusinska, Maria; Brunborg, Gunnar; Collins, AndrewThe comet assay, also called single cell gel electrophoresis, is a sensitive, rapid and low-cost technique for quantifying and analysing DNA damage and repair at the level of individual cells. The assay itself can be applied on virtually any cell type derived from different organs and tissues of eukaryotic organisms. Although it is mainly used on human cells, the assay has applications also in the evaluation of DNA damage in yeast, plant and animal cells. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to give an extensive overview on the usage of the comet assay in animal models from invertebrates to vertebrates, covering both terrestrial and water biota. The comet assay is used in a variety of invertebrate species since they are regarded as interesting subjects in ecotoxicological research due to their significance in ecosystems. Hence, the first part of the review (Part 1) will discuss the application of the comet assay in invertebrates covering protozoans, platyhelminthes, planarians, cnidarians, molluscs, annelids, arthropods and echinoderms. Besides a large number of animal species, the assay is also performed on a variety of cells, which includes haemolymph, gills, digestive gland, sperm and embryo cells. The mentioned cells have been used for the evaluation of a broad spectrum of genotoxic agents both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, the use of invertebrate models and their role from an ecotoxicological point of view will also be discussed as well as the comparison of the use of the comet assay in invertebrate and human models. Since the comet assay is still developing, its increasing potential in assessing DNA damage in animal models is crucial especially in the field of ecotoxicology and biomonitoring at the level of different species, not only humans.