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- Foveal avascular zone area measurement in diabetic patients: superficial, deep or combined retinal vascular complex?Publication . Pereira, Bruno; Faria, Ross; Domingues, Cátia; Barros, Ana; Varandas, Teresa; Henriques, José; Nascimento, João; Carolino, Elisabete; Camacho, PedroPurpose: To compare differences in the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area, measured in the Superficial Vascular Complex (SVC), Deep Vascular Complex (DVC), and a combined analysis of both (SDVC), using two Spectral Domain OCT angiography (OCT-A) protocols, High Speed (HS) and High Resolution (HR). Methods: A total of 26 eyes of diabetic patients, with and without macular oedema, were examined with two different fovea-centered OCT-A volume scans. The two protocols were HS and HR volume scans, and the foveal avascular zone was manually measured in the SVC, DVC, and SDVC slabs by two masked investigators. Inter and intraoperator variability was analysed using Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and differences were compared between the HR and HS acquisitions throughout the different vascular slabs. Results: Intraoperator variability was low in all slabs (ICC > 0.9) and interoperator variability was lower for HR (ICC 0.835-0.911) compared to HS (ICC between 0.604 and 0.865). Comparing HS and HR measurements for the same slab, the correlation was only moderate in SVC and DVC (ICC was 0.640 and 0.568 respectively) but was good in the SDVC (ICC = 0.823). FAZ area measurement in SDVC also showed the smallest bias (mean difference 0.009 mm2) and the narrowest limits of agreement (-0.175 to 0.193 mm2). Conclusions: Even in cases of diabetic macular oedema, when measuring the FAZ area, the reproducibility was better between HS and HR protocols when using the SDVC slab, compared to the SVC or DVC slabs alone. Further studies should evaluate the use of the combined SDVC slab for the FAZ assessment, compared to the SVC and DVC slabs alone, in detecting and progressing different retinal diseases.
- LIS postsecondary and undergraduate educationPublication . Sanches, Tatiana; Antunes, Maria Da Luz; Lopes, CarlosAn overview of the evolution, challenges, and future trends in Library and Information Science (LIS) education is presented. Traces the historical development of LIS worldwide, emphasizing the shift from practical training to academic recognition. The LIS programs’ structure is discussed, fundamentally covering undergraduate courses. Essential skills for LIS professionals include knowledge organization, use of technology, management, and customer service. Future trends highlight the importance of aligning curriculum with global changes in digital literacy, emerging technologies, and diversity. The profession׳s commitment to ethical values and user-centered services is emphasized, ensuring graduates are well-equipped for the complexities of the information age.
- The International Collaboration of Pharmacy Journal Editors (ICPJE) formally constituted to foster quality around clinical and social pharmacy practice research publicationsPublication . Alves da Costa, F.; Fernandez-Llimos, Fernando; Desselle, S.; Arnet, I.; Babar, Z.; Bond, C.; Cordina, M.; Garcia Cardenas, V.; El Hajj, M. S.; Jacobsen, R.; Law, A. V.; Nørgaard, L. S.; Polidori, C.; Shcherbakova, N.; Stewart, D.; Tonin, Fernanda; Weidmann, A. E.The Granada statements were a result of the need to strengthen clinical, social, and administrative pharmacy practice as an area of knowledge that translates into practice, research,h and policy. As a response, a group of clinical and social pharmacy practice journal editors launched an initiative in Granada in 2023, to discuss ways to improve the quality of publications in this area, culminating in the Granada statements. Eighteen statements were developed, clustered into six main domains: (1) the appropriate use of terminology; (2) developing impactful abstracts; (3) having the required peer reviews; (4) journal scattering; (5) more effective and wiser use of journal and article performance metrics; and (6) authors’ selection of the most appropriate pharmacy practice journal to submit their work. The full Granada statements have been published in 14 journals. These pioneering statements are rooted in similar endeavors undertaken by scholars in other health professions groups, fostering the concept of interdisciplinary consensus and advancing the scientific paradigm.
- Neurodegeneration and choroidal vascular features on OCT in the progression to advanced age-related macular degenerationPublication . Costa, Inês; Carvalho, Ana; Andrade, Helton; Pereira, Bruno; Camacho, PedroAim: To quantify and compare longitudinal thickness changes of the ganglion cell complex (GCC) and the choroid in patients with different patterns of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) progression. Methods: Retrospective cohort analysis of anonymized data from participants aged 50y or more and diagnosed with early/intermediate AMD in at least one eye (with no evidence of advanced AMD). A total of 64 participants were included from the Instituto de Retina de Lisboa (IRL) study (IPL/2022/MetAllAMD_ESTeSL) and divided into 4 groups according to the Rotterdam classification for AMD. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) was used to assess and quantify GCC and choroid thickness at two-time points (first visit vs last visit) with a minimum interval of 3y. Results: In the GCC inner ring, a thinner thickness (P=0.001) was observed in the atrophic AMD group (51.3±21.4 µm) compared to the early AMD (84.3±11.5 µm), intermediate AMD (77.6±16.1 µm) and neovascular AMD (88.9±16.3 µm) groups. Choroidal thickness quantification showed a generalized reduction in the central circle (P=0.002) and inner ring (P=0.001). Slight reductions in retinal thickness were more accentuated in the inner ring in the atrophic AMD (-13%; P<0.01). Conclusion: The variation of the analyzed structures could be an indicator of the risk of progression with neurodegenerative (GCC) or vascular (choroid) patterns in the intermediate and atrophic AMD. The quantification of both structures can provide important information about the risk of disease progression in the early and intermediate stages but also for the evolution pattern into late stages (atrophic or neovascular).
- The International Collaboration of Pharmacy Journal Editors (ICPJE) formally constituted to foster quality around clinical and social pharmacy practice research publicationsPublication . Alves da Costa, Filipa; Fernandez-Llimos, Fernando; Desselle, Shane; Arnet, Isabelle; Babar, Zaheer; Bond, Christine; Cordina, Maria; Garcia Cardenas, Victoria; El Hajj, Maguy S.; Jacobsen, Ramune; Law, Anandi V.; Norgaard, Lotte S.; Polidori, Carlo; Shcherbakova, Natalia; Stewart, Derek; Weidmann, Anita E.; Tonin, FernandaThe Granada statements were a result of the need to strengthen clinical, social, and administrative pharmacy practice as an area of knowledge that translates into practice, research, and policy. As a response, a group of clinical and social pharmacy practice journal editors launched an initiative in Granada in 2022 to discuss ways to improve the quality of publications in this area, which culminated in the Granada statements. Eighteen statements were developed, clustered into six main domains: 1) the appropriate use of terminology; 2) developing impactful abstracts; 3) having the required peer reviews; 4) preventing journal scattering; 5) more effective and wiser use of journal and article performance metrics; and 6) authors’ selection of the most appropriate pharmacy practice journal to submit their work. The full Granada statements have been published in 14 journals. These pioneering statements are rooted in similar endeavours undertaken by scholars in other health professions groups, fostering the concept of interdisciplinary consensus and advancing scientific paradigm.
- Comparing international guidelines for the remission of hypertension after bariatric surgeryPublication . Dias, Carina Vieira; Silva, Ana Lúcia; Dias, Joana; Cardoso, paulo; Castanheira, Rute; Fernandes, Andreia; Nunes, Filipa; Sanai, Tina; Sanchez, Mercedes; Maia-Teixeira, João; Sousa-Coelho, Ana Luísa deBackground/Objectives: Obesity remains a global health concern and is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease overall. Dissimilar hypertension guidelines are available for clinicians, namely those prepared by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), which may lead to a distinctive appreciation of health outcomes of patients with obesity after bariatric and metabolic surgery, such as hypertension remission. The main goal of this study was to compare the effects of applying stricter (AHA) versus looser (ESC) blood pressure criteria on hypertension diagnosis pre-bariatric surgery and remission assessment one-year post-op. Methods: A retrospective analysis of clinical data from patients who underwent surgical treatment for obesity at a single university hospital was performed. To evaluate the hypertension improvement or remission, two different types of blood pressure (BP) categorization were considered (based on AHA and ESC guidelines), in which each patient would fit according to their BP values pre- (m0) and 12 months postoperative (m12). Results: From a sample of 153 patients submitted for surgical treatment of obesity, more patients were considered with hypertension based on the AHA guideline (130 vs. 102; p < 0.001), while a higher rate of hypertension remission at 12 months after bariatric surgery was observed when following the ESC guideline (58.82 vs. 53.08%). Baseline patients’ clinical characteristics based on each hypertension outcome were mostly independent of the guideline used (p > 0.05), where only age and systolic blood pressure were relatively higher in “ESC groups”. Conclusions: We conclude that only minor differences exist between the two guidelines used. If evaluated based on ESC guidelines, it is expected that fewer patients are considered with hypertension, and the remission rate may be, at least numerically, higher.
- DNA methyltransferase expression (DNMT1, DNMT3a, and DNMT3b) as a potential biomarker in age-related macular degenerationPublication . Camacho, Pedro; Ribeiro, Edna; Pereira, Bruno; Nascimento, João; Rosa, Paulo Caldeira; Henriques, José; Barrão, Sandra; Sadio, Silvia; Quendera, Bruno; Delgadinho, Mariana; Ginete, Catarina; Neves Delgadinho, Mariana Isabel; Honrado Ginete, Ana Catarina; Silva, Carina; Brito, MiguelBackground/Objectives: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a global cause of vision loss, with limited therapeutic options highlighting the need for effective biomarkers. This study aimed to characterize plasma DNA methyltransferase expression (DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B) in AMD patients and explore divergent expression patterns across different stages of AMD. Methods: Thirty-eight AMD patients were prospectively enrolled and stratified by disease severity: eAMD, iAMD, nAMD, and aAMD. Comprehensive ophthalmological assessments included best-corrected visual acuity, digital color fundus photographs, and Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography. Peripheral blood samples were collected for RNA extraction and qRT-PCR to access epigenetic effectors’ transcriptional expression, namely DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B genes. The collected data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 29. Results: DNMT1 expression was significantly downregulated in late AMD (−0.186 ± 0.341) compared to early/intermediate AMD (0.026 ± 0.246). Within late AMD, aAMD exhibited a marked downregulation of DNMT1 (−0.375 ± 0.047) compared to nAMD (0.129 ± 0.392). DNMT3A and DNMT3B showed similar divergent expression patterns, correlating with disease stage. Conclusions: This study identified stage-specific transcriptional differences in DNMT expression, emphasizing its potential as a biomarker for AMD progression and a target for future research into personalized therapeutic strategies.
- La International Collaboration of Pharmacy Journal Editors (ICPJE) se constituye formalmente para fomentar la calidad en torno a las publicaciones de investigación sobre farmacia práctica, clínica y socialPublication . Alves da Costa, Filipa; Fernandez-Llimos, Fernando; Desselle, Shane; Arnet, Isabelle; Babar, Zaheer; Bond, Christine; Cordina, Maria; Garcia Cardenas, Victoria; El Hajj, Maguy S.; Jacobsen, Ramune; Law, Anandi V.; Nørgaard, Lotte S.; Polidori, Carlo; Shcherbakova, Natalia; Stewart, Derek; Tonin, Fernanda; Weidmann, Anita E.La declaración de Granada fue el resultado de la necesidad de fortalecer la farmacia práctica clínica, social y administrativa como un área de conocimiento que se materialice en la práctica, la investigación y la política. Para ello, un grupo de editores de revistas de farmacia práctica, clínica y social puso en marcha en el año 2022 en Granada una iniciativa para discutir formas de mejorar la calidad de las publicaciones en esta área, y que culminó en el documento denominado Declaración de Granada. Se desarrollaron dieciocho recomendaciones, agrupadas en seis ámbitos principales: 1) uso apropiado de la terminología; 2) elaborar resúmenes impacto 3) necesidad de las revisiones por pares; 4) limitar la dispersión de revistas; 5) uso más efectivo y adecuado de las métricas de impacto de revistas y artículos; y 6) selección por los autores de la revista de farmacia práctica más apropiada para publicar su trabajo. La declaración de Granada ha sido publicada íntegramente en 14 revistas. Este documento pionero tiene sus antecedentes en otras iniciativas similares desarrolladas por académicos de otros grupos de profesiones de la salud, fomentando el concepto de consenso interdisciplinar y avanzando en el paradigma científico.
- Signature cytokine-associated transcriptome analysis of effector γδ T cells identifies subset-specific regulators of peripheral activationPublication . Inácio, Daniel; Amado, Tiago; Pamplona, Ana; Sobral, Daniel; Cunha, Carolina; Santos, Rita F.; Oliveira, Liliana; Rouquié, Nelly; Carmo, Alexandre M.; Lesourne, Renaud; Gomes, Anita; Silva-Santos, Brunoγδ T cells producing either interleukin-17A (γδ17 cells) or interferon-γ (γδIFN cells) are generated in the mouse thymus, but the molecular regulators of their peripheral functions are not fully characterized. Here we established an Il17a-GFP:Ifng-YFP double-reporter mouse strain to analyze at unprecedented depth the transcriptomes of pure γδ17 cell versus γδIFN cell populations from peripheral lymph nodes. Within a very high fraction of differentially expressed genes, we identify a panel of 20 new signature genes in steady-state γδ17 cells versus γδIFN cells, which we further validate in models of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and cerebral malaria, respectively. Among the signature genes, we show that the co-receptor CD6 and the signaling protein Themis promote the activation and proliferation of peripheral γδIFN cells in response to T cell antigen receptor stimulation in vitro and to Plasmodium infection in vivo. This resource can help to understand the distinct activities of effector γδ T cell subsets in pathophysiology.
- Impact of neutrophil-activating protein conservation on diagnostic tests and vaccine designPublication . Diogo Gonçalves, Lídia Maria; Almeida, António J.; Calado, CecíliaBACKGROUND: The neutrophil activating protein (NAP) is a highly immunogenic and virulence factor of Helicobacter pylori, presenting inflammatory and immunomodulatory activity. Consequently, NAP has been explored as a diagnostic and therapeutic target. However, when evaluating a target protein to design diagnostic methods or vaccines, it is critical to determine the protein conservation among the bacterial population, as well the impact of alterations of amino acid residues on the protein antigenic profile. RESULTS: In the present work, NAP conservation and theoretical antigenicity were determined among 51 sequences from H. pylori isolated from patients worldwide. A high NAP conservation (83%) was observed, where 17 amino acid residues, among the 144 residues of the protein, were polymorphic. Alterations at these polymorphic sites had a theoretically low impact on predicted antigenicity, where only 5 NAPs out of 51 NAPs presented a slightly different antigenic profile in relation to the consensus sequence. According to that, it was possible to recognize in western blotting 93% of NAP from different bacteria (n = 15) using polyclonal antibodies developed against a specific NAP. CONCLUSIONS: It was predicted that when working with polyclonal antibodies or large NAP fragments for diagnostic and vaccine design, slight variation in protein sequence will have a minimal impact on NAP recognition. However, if a NAP monoclonal antibody or small NAP epitopes are considered, it is critical to select the most conserved and antigenic NAP regions, to maximize the coverage of NAP variants.