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This work presents a new approach to the application of essential oils, exposure to the vapor phase, which can be considered a first approach for the development of a complementary or alternative form of vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) treatment. VVC is a significant infection caused by Candida species and remains a common disease that affects millions of women every year. Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is one of the most prevalent vaginal infectious diseases. The increasing incidence of drug-resistant Candida strains and the limited therapeutic options make the discovery of effective alternative therapies fundamental. Essential oils (EOs) have been suggested as a promising alternative, and interestingly, vapor-phase essential oils (VP-EOs) present more advantages than their direct application. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the effect of oregano VP-EO (VP-OEO) on biofilms of antifungal-resistant vaginal isolates of Candida species (Candida albicans and Candida glabrata) and determine its mode of action. CFU, membrane integrity, and metabolic activity were evaluated. Furthermore, a reconstituted vaginal epithelium was used to mimic vaginal conditions and evaluate the effect of VP-OEO on Candida species infection, analyzed by DNA quantification, microscopy, and lactate dehydrogenase activity. The results revealed high VP-OEO antifungal activity. There was a significant reduction (\>4 log CFU) in Candida species biofilms. Furthermore, the results show that the mechanisms of action of VP-OEO are related to membrane integrity and metabolic activity. The epithelium model confirms the effectiveness of VP-OEO. This study suggests that VP-EO can be considered a first approach for the development of an alternative form of VVC treatment. IMPORTANCE This work presents a new approach to the application of essential oils, exposure to the vapor phase, which can be considered a first approach for the development of a complementary or alternative form of vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) treatment. VVC is a significant infection caused by Candida species and remains a common disease that affects millions of women every year. The great difficulty in treating VVC and the extremely limited effective therapeutic options make the development of alternative treatments crucial. In this scope, this study aims to contribute to the development of effective, inexpensive, and nontoxic strategies for the prevention and treatment of this infectious disease, based on natural products. Moreover, this new approach has several advantages for women, such as lower costs, easy access, an easier mode of application, avoidance of skin contact, and, therefore, fewer negative impacts on womens health., This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of the UIDB/04469/2020 unit and grant 2020.05720.BD to L.F. Also, this study was supported by LABBELS-Associate Laboratory in Biotechnology, Bioengineering, and Microelectromechanical Systems LA/P/0029/2020, and M.E.R. thanks the FCT for funding through program DL 57/2016-Norma Transitoria. S.C.-D.-O. acknowledges national funds through the FCT, IP, within the scope of the project RISE-LA/P/0053/2020., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Introduction : Vulvovaginal candidiasis is a disease that affects millions of women worldwide. Oral formulations, topical creams or ointments are the conventional dosage forms, with an increase in drug administration through vaginal via. The use of simulated biological fluids (e.g. vaginal fluid) in the evaluation of antifungal therapies may better mimic the real biological environments and therefore provide a better understanding of the behavior of the antifungal. Methods : The main objective of this work was to compare planktonic growth and biofilm formation of Candida species, on common growth medium, Sabouraud Dextrose Broth (SDB) and on vaginal simulation conditions, Simulated Vaginal Fluid (SVF), through the optical density determination, colony-forming units and scanning electron microscopy. In addition, under the same conditions this study also evaluated the ability of vapor phase of oregano and white thyme essential oils (VP-EOs), potential alternative treatment, to inhibit biofilm formation and to destroy mature biofilms of vaginal isolates, through the colony-forming units determination. Results : Candida isolates maintained the same biofilm formation capacity and morphology in both media (SVF and SDB). Furthermore, the results obtained in this work related with VP-EOs effect agree with results acquired, previously, with SDB. This means that the effect of VP-EOs is not affected by the SVF medium, and that this fluid allows the dissolution of the volatile and bioactive compounds. Conclusions : These results can predict the in vivo behaviour, suggesting a potential effective application of VP-EOs as prophylactic or therapeutic treatment for biofilm-related vulvovaginal candidiasis., This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and grant ref 2020.05720.BD for Liliana Fernandes. Also, this study was supported by LABBELS — Associate Laboratory in Biotechnology, Bioengineering and Microelectromechanical Systems, LA/P/0029/2020 and Maria Elisa Rodrigues thanks FCT for funding through program DL 57/2016—Norma transitória, info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Relat?rio Final de Pr?tica de Ensino Supervisionada do Mestrado em Ensino do 1? Ciclo do Ensino B?sico e de Portugu?s e Hist?ria e Geografia de Portugal no 2? Ciclo do Ensino B?sico apresentado na Escola Superior de Educa??o do Instituto Polit?cnico de Viana do Castelo O presente relat?rio final da PES retrata o percurso acad?mico vivido no decorrer do ano letivo de 2021/2022, no ?mbito do Mestrado em Ensino do 1? ciclo do Ensino B?sico e de Portugu?s e Hist?ria e Geografia de Portugal no 2? ciclo do Ensino B?sico. Este relat?rio inclui o enquadramento das duas interven??es educativas realizadas: uma no primeiro ciclo do ensino b?sico e a seguinte no segundo ciclo do ensino b?sico, integrando, do mesmo modo, a carateriza??o de cada contexto, como atividades pertinentes realizadas, assim como recursos did?ticos utilizados nas interven??es. Apesar do enquadramento, ? apresentada a proposta pedag?gica numa turma de 6.? ano do 2.? CEB. Estas propostas destacam-se pela tem?tica da Educa??o para a Cidadania Global cruzada com as quest?es de g?nero e a condi??o feminina em Portugal antes do 25 de Abril de 1974 e durante o per?odo democr?tico. Para realizar a investiga??o, foram utilizados diversos instrumentos de recolha de dados, nomeadamente o question?rio, a entrevista, a observa??o direta, bem como trabalhos de sala de aula e jogos. O estudo realizou-se numa turma de vinte alunos do 6.? ano de escolaridade e com os seus respetivos encarregados de educa??o. S? foi poss?vel este trabalho devido ? coopera??o da professora cooperante da unidade curricular de Hist?ria e Geografia de Portugal. O presente estudo parte de uma metodologia de investiga??o qualitativa que tem como objetivo entender as conce??es e opini?es dos discentes em torno das quest?es de g?nero e, sobretudo, da condi??o feminina na Hist?ria do Portugal Contempor?neo. Sobressaem desta interven??o pedag?gica algumas surpresas/novos conhecimentos dos discentes face ? tem?tica central, visto que n?o imaginavam que a caminhada das mulheres na luta por mais e melhores direitos c?vicos e sociais tivesse sido t?o dura e atribulada, bem como o desnivelamento existente entre fun??es de g?nero no decurso do s?culo XX. Este relat?rio ? conclu?do com uma reflex?o global sobre este percurso acad?mico, assim como a nossa perspetiva e pontos de vista destes anos da realiza??o da licenciatura e do mestrado. This final PES report portrays the academic path lived during the 2021/2022 school year, in the context of the Master's degree in Teaching of the Elementary Education, 1st stage - from the 1st grade to the 4th grade: and Portuguese and History and Geography of Portugal, in the 2nd stage- 5th and 6th grades. The implementation of this report was based on the structure of other reports of the same kind and thus this began by including the framework of the two educational interventions carried out throughout the school year. One in the first stage of basic education and the following in the second stage of basic education, integrating in the same way the characterization of each context, as relevant activities performed, as well as the didactic resources used in the interventions. Despite the framework, the pedagogical proposal is presented in a 6th grade class of the 2nd stage. These proposals stand out for the theme of Education for Global Citizenship, gender equality in Portugal before April 25, 1974, and during the democratic period. To perform the research, data collection was used, using the questionnaire, interview, classroom work and games. Data collection was carried out for a class of twenty 6th graders and their parents/tutors. This work was only possible due to the cooperation of the cooperating professor of the Curricular Unit of History and Geography of Portugal. This study is based on a qualitative methodology that aims to understand the conceptions and opinions of students on the theme of gender equality. This report concludes with a comprehensive reflection on this academic path, as well as our perspective and views of these years of the bachelor's degree and master's degree.

O aumento substancial do envelhecimento populacional e o crescente número de pessoas com demência, leva a que muitas vezes os familiares se tornem prestadores de cuidados. Os sintomas comportamentais e psicológicos da demência têm sido indicados como um dos aspetos mais desafiadores para cuidadores de doentes com demência, assim como um preditor de distúrbios de saúde mental e maior sobrecarga nos cuidadores informais. Neste estudo pretendemos compreender de que forma os sintomas comportamentais e psicológicos da demência impactam nos níveis de depressão, ansiedade e sobrecarga dos cuidadores informais. Para tal, foram avaliadas as mudanças comportamentais e psicológicas dos doentes através do Inventário Neuropsiquiátrico (NPI) e os sintomas de depressão e de ansiedade dos cuidadores informais pelo Inventário de Depressão de Beck (BDI) e o Inventário de Ansiedade de Beck (BAI), respetivamente. Por fim, utilizamos a Entrevista de Zarit para a Sobrecarga do Cuidador para estudar a sobrecarga dos prestadores de cuidados. Neste estudo, observámos uma correlação positiva entre os sintomas neuropsiquiátricos e os níveis de depressão, ansiedade e sobrecarga dos cuidadores informais. Constatámos que a agitação e a desinibição são possíveis preditores de sintomatologia depressiva de forma independente, e que os delírios, as alucinações, a agitação e a desinibição são isoladamente indicadores de ansiedade no cuidador informal. Ademais, observámos que os delírios, alucinações, agitação, apatia, desinibição, irritabilidade e comportamento motor aberrante são possíveis sintomas preditores de sobrecarga no prestador de cuidados. Por último, demonstrámos que na ausência da variável sobrecarga, a agitação e desinibição apresentam uma correlação superior com os sintomas de depressão do cuidador e os delírios, as alucinações, a agitação e a desinibição com os sintomas ansiosos do prestador de cuidados informais de doentes com demência, comparativamente à verificada quando o efeito da sobrecarga estava presente. Em conclusão, os nossos dados suportam a importância de compreender detalhadamente os fatores preditores de sofrimento clinicamente significativo no cuidador, de modo a intervir sobre estes fatores de forma a assegurar o bem-estar dos cuidadores informas e, consequentemente, dos doentes com demência. The population ageing and the increase of people living with dementia, sometimes leads to family members become caregivers. The behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia is one of the most challenging aspects for caregivers of people with dementia, as well as a predictor of mental health disorders and greater burden on caregivers. In this study, we aim to understand how the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia affect the levels of anxiety, depression, and burden of informal caregivers. The patients' behavioral and psychological changes were evaluated using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and caregivers' depression and anxiety symptoms using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), respectively We also used the Zarit Burden Interview to analyze the caregiver burden. In this study, we observed a positive correlation between neuropsychiatric symptoms and levels of depression, anxiety, and burden in informal caregivers. We found that agitation and disinhibition are possible independent predictors of depressive symptomatology, and that delusions, hallucinations, agitation, and disinhibition are isolated indicators of anxiety in informal caregivers. Furthermore, we showed that delusions, hallucinations, agitation, apathy, disinhibition, irritability, and aberrant motor behavior are possible predictive symptoms of caregiver burden. Finally, in the absence of the burden variable, we observed an increase in the correlation between the agitation and disinhibition and the caregiver's depression symptoms, as well as between the delusions, hallucinations, agitation, and disinhibition with the anxious symptoms of the informal caregiver when compared with the presence of burden effect. In conclusion, our results support the importance of understand the predictors of clinically distress in the caregiver to intervene on these factors for ensure the well-being of informal caregivers and, consequently, of patients with dementia Mestrado em Psicologia da Saúde e Reabilitação Neuropsicológica

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Psicologia, Nas últimas décadas, tem-se assistido à diversificação dos horários de trabalho em virtude de mudanças de vária ordem. No contexto desta diversificação de horários, foram implementados os horários não padronizados, no qual estão inseridos os horários de trabalho irregulares, que se encontram associados a diversos efeitos na vida do(a) trabalhador(a). Neste sentido, esta investigação procurou avaliar os impactos que os horários de trabalho irregulares de diferentes tipos (i.e., em função do seu grau de irregularidade) têm no(a) trabalhador(a), especificamente ao nível da saúde, da esfera familiar e social, e da satisfação com o horário de trabalho. Participaram no estudo 119 trabalhadores(as), todos submetidos a um horário de trabalho irregular. Os dados foram recolhidos através de um questionário online. Os resultados indicam diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre os grupos ao nível da esfera familiar e social, e da satisfação com o horário de trabalho. Especificamente, tanto ao nível da esfera familiar, como da satisfação com o horário de trabalho, o grupo constituído por trabalhadores(as) com um horário mais irregular, apresentam-se menos satisfeitos, e o grupo constituído por trabalhadores(as) com um horário menos irregular, mostram-se mais satisfeitos. No entanto, estas diferenças não foram observadas ao nível da saúde, nomeadamente, do bem-estar., In recent decades, there has been a diversification of working hours due to various changes. In the context of this diversification of hours, non-standard hours were implemented, in which irregular working hours are inserted, which are associated with different effects on the worker's life. In this sense, this investigation sought to assess the impacts that irregular working hours of different types (i.e., depending on their degree of irregularity) have on the worker, specifically in terms of health, family and social spheres, and satisfaction with working hours. A total of 119 workers participated in the study, all of whom were subject to irregular working hours. Data was collected through an online questionnaire. The results indicate statistically significant differences between the groups in terms of the family and social sphere and satisfaction with working hours. Specifically, both in terms of the family sphere and satisfaction with working hours, the group made up of workers with a more irregular schedule is less satisfied than the group made up of workers with a more irregular schedule. They are less irregular, they are more satisfied. However, these differences were not observed in terms of health, namely, well-being.

Projeto de mestrado em Gestão de Recursos Humanos, Nos últimos dois anos, o mundo deparou-se com uma crise pandémica como não era vista desde a gripe espanhola, a meados do século XX (Woods et al., 2020). Considerando que vivemos numa era de globalização, transferências de conhecimentos e transações de bens a nível mundial, claro está que a pandemia causou efeitos negativos no tecido empresarial de todos os países (Slavković et al., 2021). Com a implementação de medidas de contenção para controle da disseminação da covid-19, as organizações sofreram vários reveses, tanto a nível organizacional como também a nível de relações interpessoais (Foss, 2020). Portanto, o clima organizacional foi naturalmente impactado com a aplicação das medidas de contenção da pandemia, uma vez que ocorreram mudanças de paradigma ao nível de procedimentos, políticas e práticas (Foss, 2020; Slavković et al., 2021), bem como na perceção sobre o impacto psicológico que os trabalhadores tiveram em relação ao seu posto de trabalho (Boiral et al., 2021). Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o impacto da covid-19 no clima organizacional no seio empresarial do dstgroup. Para tal, recorreu-se ao estudo de caso, sendo que foram utilizadas técnicas de recolha de dados tanto qualitativas como também quantitativas. Assim, as conclusões deste estudo permitiram analisar o estado da arte do clima organizacional no grupo empresarial em estudo, bem como o impacto que a pandemia teve neste mesmo clima. Por meio dos resultados obtidos, verifica-se que o clima da organização é visto como positivo por parte dos trabalhadores, todavia ainda passível de ser aprimorado por meio de uma maior e mais eficaz comunicação interna entre todos os membros da organização., In the last two years, the world had experienced a pandemic crisis that it is not been seen since the Spanish flu in the middle XX century (Woods et al., 2020). Considering that we live in a globalization era, where knowledge shifts and the transfer of assets on a global scale occurs on a daily basis, it is possible to verify that the pandemic have caused significant negative effects in the business world (Slavković et al., 2021). With the implementation of the contention measures to control the covid-19 dissemination, the organizations have suffered several changes to adjust. The difficulties were recognized not only in the economic/financial level, but also in the interpersonal relationships (Foss, 2020). Thus, the organizational climate was impacted by the implementation of the pandemic’s contingency measures through changes in the internal paradigm in terms of procedures, politics, and acts. (Foss, 2020; Slavković et al., 2021). Furthermore, the covid-19 also provoked changes concerning the perceptions of the psychological impact of this disease in the employee’s workplace (Boiral et al., 2021). In this regard, this project aimed to evaluate the covid-19’ impact on the organizational climate within dstgroup. For that, it was selected a methodological strategy – a case study, that included quantitative and qualitative methodologies. In summary, this study allowed to analyse the organizational climate, as well as the pandemic’s impact in the dstgroup company. The results from this work highlighted that the employees have a positive view regarding the organizational climate from the dstgroup after the covid19 pandemic. Nevertheless, this organizational climate can be improved through a higher internal communication between all the organizational members.

Functional electrospun fibers incorporating ionic liquids (ILs) present a novel approach in the development of active microenviroments due to their ability to respond to external magnetic fields without the addition of magnetic particles. In this context, this work reports on the development of magnetically responsive magneto-ionic fibers based on the electroactive polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride) and the magnetic IL (MIL), bis(1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium) tetrathiocyanatocobaltate ([Bmim]2[(SCN)4Co]). The PVDF/MIL electrospun fibers were prepared incorporating 5, 10 and 15 wt.% of the MIL, showing that the inclusion of the MIL increases the polar β-phase content of the polymer from 79% to 94% and decreases the crystallinity of the fibers from 47% to 36%. Furthermore, the thermal stability of the fibers decreases with the incorporation of the MIL. The magnetization of the PVDF/MIL composite fibers is proportional to the MIL content and decreases with temperature. Finally, cytotoxicity assays show a decrease in cell viability with increasing the MIL content., This research was funded by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/FIS/04650/2020, and project PTDC/BTM-MAT/28237/2017. Moreover, the authors thank FCT for the research grant SFRH/BD/145345/2019 (LMC), SFRH/BD/148655/2019 (RMM), and D.M.C. and CR thank the FCT for the contract under the Stimulus of Scientific Employment 2020.02915.CEECIND and 2020.04163.CEECIND, respectively., The authors acknowledge funding by Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERFD) through the project PID2019-106099RB-C43/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and from the Basque Government Industry Departments under the ELKARTEK program. Technical and human support provided by IZO-SGI, SGIker (UPV/EHU, MICINN, GV/EJ, ERDF and ESF) is gratefully acknowledged.

Background: Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a disease with high incidence, a huge impact on the quality of life and health of women, and which represents a great challenge to treat. The growing need to apply antifungal intensive therapies have contributed to an emergence of drug-resistant Candida strains. Thus, effective therapeutic options, to meet the antifungal-resistance challenge and to control high resilient biofilms, are urgently needed. This study aimed to investigate the antifungal activity of essentials oils (EOs) on drug-resistant Candida vaginal isolates. Method: Therefore, the antimicrobial effect of tea tree, niaouli, white thyme, and cajeput EOs on the planktonic growth of Candida isolates was initially evaluated by an agar disc diffusion method. Then, the vapor-phase effect of tea tree EO (VP-TTEO) on biofilm formation and on pre-formed biofilms was evaluated by crystal violet staining, XTT reduction assay, colony forming units’ enumeration, and scanning electron microscopy. Results: The results revealed high antifungal activity of EOs against drug-resistant Candida isolates. Additionally, the VP-TTEO showed a significant inhibitory effect on the biofilm formation of all tested isolates and was able to provoke an expressive reduction in mature Candida albicans biofilms. Conclusions: Overall, this study suggests that the VP-EO may be a promising solution that is able to prevent biofilm-related VVC caused by antifungal-resistant strains., This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and grant ref 2020.05720.BD for Liliana Fernandes. Also, this study was supported by LABBELS—Associate Laboratory in Biotechnology, Bioengineering and Microelectromechanical Systems, LA/P/0029/2020 and Maria Elisa Rodrigues thanks FCT for funding through program DL 57/2016—Norma transitória., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Depois de ter ingressado na vida profissional, exatamente no ano de 2017, vários foram os desafios quais os quais me deparei, no que respeita ao tratamento da propriedade rústica, especificamente com a sua identificação e delimitação, e diversas foram as espectativas que fui criando com em torno da temática do cadastro, dado que, também por essa data um novo projeto nascia. Ao longo do tempo fui acompanhando a evolução do Sistema de Informação Cadastral Simplificada, quer através da análise das produções legislativas que o iam regulando, quer através de formações no âmbito da georreferenciação dos prédios, quer através do contacto com profissionais que o iam pondo em prática no seu dia-a-dia. Daí surge a ideia de me debruçar sobre a análise do mesmo, dada a novidade e a ânsia de conhecimento para o meu dia-a-dia enquanto profissional na área da Solicitadoria

Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) films incorporating 40 %wt. of different types of imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) comprising different magnetic anions (tetrachloroferrate [FeCl4] - , tetrathiocyanatocobaltate [(SCN)4Co]2 - and tetrachlorocobaltate [CoCl4] - ) and imidazolium cation chain lengths 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium and 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium, have been developed for humidity sensing applications. The influence of the different ILs into the morphology of the IL/PVDF-HFP composites has been evaluated, being observed a porous structure independently of the IL anion type and cation chain length. The inclusion of the ILs into PVDF-HFP induces the polymer crystallization into the electroactive β phase, being the increase more noticeable for PVDF-HFP/[Bmim][FeCl4], which reaches a β phase content of 85%. The degree of crystallinity slightly decreases with the incorporation of the filler, the incorporation of [Bmim]2[CoCl4], [Bmim]2[Co(SCN)4], and [Emim]2[Co(SCN)4] leading to a degree of crystallinity between 11 and 13%. A decrease in the thermal stability and the yield strength is observed in the hybrid samples with respect to neat PVDF-HFP, being this decrease more noticeable for the PVDF-HFP/[Bmim]2[Co(SCN)4] samples. Further, the highest magnetization has been obtained for the PVDF-HFP/[Bmim]2[Co(SCN)4] and PVDF-HFP/[Bmim][FeCl4] composites with similar filler concentrations. The suitability of the developed materials for humidity sensing has been evaluated by analysing the impedance variation with varying relative humidity from 30% to 85%. [Bmim]2[CoCl4]/PVDF-HFP displays the highest relative humidity (RH) sensing response of -2245 ±240 Ω/RH. Finally, the applicability of the developed hybrid IL/polymer composites has been demonstrated by the development of a real time breathing monitoring device., This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under strategic funding UIDB/04650/2020, UID/FIS/04650/2020, UID/QUI/0686/2020, UIDB/50006/2020, UIDP/50006/2020 and LA/P/0008/2020UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020, project PTDC/FIS-MAC/28157/2017, and grants 2021.08158.BD (J. S.), SFRH/BD/145345/2019 (L.C.F.), SFRH/BD/131729/2017 (N.P), and Investigator FCT Contract 2020.02915.CEECIND (D.M.C) and 2020.04028.CEECIND (C.M.C.). The authors acknowledge funding by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERFD) through the project PID2019-106099RBC43/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. The authors also acknowledge funding from the Basque Government Industry Department under the ELKARTEK program. Technical and human support provided by SGIker (UPV/EHU, MICINN, GV/EJ, EGEF and ESF) is gratefully acknowledged.