Beyond black boxes: using explainable causal artificial intelligence to separate signal from noise in pharmacovigilance.

Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly machine learning (ML), is increasingly influencing pharmacovigilance (PV) by improving case triage and signal detection. Several studies have reported encouraging performance, with high F1 scores and alignment with expert assessments, suggesting that AI tools can help prioritize reports and identify potential safety issues faster than manual review. However, integrating these tools into PV raises concerns.

Artificial intelligence in pharmacovigilance: a narrative review and practical experience with an expert-defined Bayesian network tool.

Background: Pharmacovigilance is vital for monitoring adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and ensuring drug safety. Traditional methods are slow and inconsistent, but artificial intelligence (AI), through automation and advanced analytics, improves efficiency and accuracy in managing increasing data complexity.

Aim: To explore AI's practical applications in pharmacovigilance, focusing on efficiency, process acceleration, and task automation.

Sex-specific cortical networks drive social behavior differences in an autism spectrum disorder model.

Social behavior is highly sensitive to brain network dysfunction caused by neuropsychiatric conditions like autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Some studies suggest that autistic females show fewer social skill impairments than autistic males. However, the relationship between sex differences in social behavior and sexually dimorphic brain neurophysiology in ASD remains unclear.

Chronic stress and cytogenesis ablation disrupt hippocampal neuron connectivity, with fluoxetine restoring function with sex-specific effects.

Hippocampal Adult-Born neurons (hABNs) play a critical role in maintaining brain homeostasis, exhibiting unique properties during their maturation. The absence of hABNs impacts surrounding neuronal networks, but the mechanisms are not fully understood. In this study, we examined how perturbations to adult hippocampal cytogenesis affect the neuronal inputs to adult-born and mature neurons in the dentate gyrus.

Socioeconomic Factors Associated With the Use of Telehealth in Primary Care Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Introduction: The main objective of this study was to assess whether socioeconomic factors were associated with the use of telehealth in primary care services in Portugal during the COVID-19.

Methods: A questionnaire was administered to patients in primary healthcare units during the pandemic. The set of variables used in this study was part of a larger patient satisfaction questionnaire.

Columnar cholinergic neurotransmission onto T5 cells of Drosophila.

Several nicotinic and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) are expressed in the brain of Drosophila melanogaster. However, the contribution of different AChRs to visual information processing remains poorly understood. T5 cells are the primary motion-sensing neurons in the OFF pathway and receive input from four different columnar cholinergic neurons, Tm1, Tm2, Tm4, and Tm9.

Health economic evaluation evidence of interventions for peripartum depression: A scoping review.

This scoping review provides a broad overview of the existing literature on economic evaluations of preventive, screening, and treatment programmes for peripartum depression (PPD). PPD is one of the leading causes of disease-related disability among women. However, PPD often goes undiagnosed and untreated, with as many as half of cases not being identified.

Actinomycetota isolated from the sponge Hymeniacidon perlevis as a source of novel compounds with pharmacological applications: diversity, bioactivity screening, and metabolomic analysis.

Aims: To combat health conditions, such as multi-resistant bacterial infections, cancer, and metabolic diseases, new drugs need to be urgently found and, in this respect, marine Actinomycetota have a high potential to produce secondary metabolites with pharmacological importance. We aimed to study the cultivable Actinomycetota community associated with a marine sponge from the Portuguese coast, Hymeniacidon perlevis, and investigate the potential of the retrieved isolates to produce compounds with antimicrobial, anticancer and anti-obesity properties.

Methods And Results: The analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed 79 Actinomycetota isolates affiliated with 12 genera-Brachybacterium, Dietzia, Glutamicibacter, Gordonia, Micrococcus, Micromonospora, Nocardia, Nocardiopsis, Paenoartrhobacter, Rhodococcus, Streptomyces, and Tsukamurella, most of which affiliated with the genus Streptomyces.

Impact of ultrasound settings on lung vertical artefacts: an observational study in mechanically ventilated patients.

Introduction: The number of vertical artefacts (VAs) in lung ultrasound (LUS) impacts patients' clinical management. This study aimed to demonstrate the influence of ultrasound settings on the number of VAs in patients under invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV).

Methods: Patients under IMV were recruited for LUS, including three breathing cycles with a motionless curvilinear probe on the thoracic region with the most VAs.

A Prospective Observational Cohort Study Comparing High-Complexity Against Conventional Pelvic Exenteration Surgery.

Conventional pelvic exenteration (PE) comprises the removal of all or most central pelvic organs and is established in clinical practise. Previously, tumours involving bone or lateral sidewall structures were deemed inoperable due to associated morbidity, mortality, and poor oncological outcomes. Recently however high-complexity PE is increasingly described and is defined as encompassing conventional PE with the additional resection of bone or pelvic sidewall structures.

Quality of Informed Consent in Phase III Clinical Trials in Portugal: The Participants' Perspective.

Introduction: Some studies show that participants do not always fully understand the informed consent form (ICF), which is one of the reasons for dropouts. This study aimed to adapt the Quality of Informed Consent (QuIC) questionnaire into a valid instrument to be applied to the Portuguese population and to measure its reliability and validity in the Portuguese population, by applying it to a sample of participants in controlled trials.

Methods: The QuIC questionnaire was developed to assess the quality of informed consent in clinical trials and consists of two parts, addressing both the objective (part A) and the subjective (part B) understanding.

Human-Deer Relations during Late Prehistory: The Zooarchaeological Data from Central and Southern Portugal in Perspective.

Human-animal relations have been a fruitful research topic worldwide. The importance of deer in hunter-gatherer societies is undeniable, with cervids being commonly found in archaeological and past artistic records, with a notable amount of information recovered in the Iberian Peninsula. This relevance continues during Late Prehistory, but the attempt to discuss cervids under broader perspectives and based on different types of data is not as common.

sp. nov., a novel marine actinobacterium isolated from deep-sea sediment of Madeira Archipelago, Portugal.

A novel strain, MA3_2.13, was isolated from deep-sea sediment of Madeira Archipelago, Portugal, and characterized using a polyphasic approach. This strain produced dark brown soluble pigments, bronwish black substrate mycelia and an aerial mycelium with yellowish white spores, when grown on GYM 50SW agar.

Knowledge about type 2 diabetes: its impact for future management.

Diabetes can cause several long-term complications. Knowledge about this disease can play an important role in reducing diabetes-related complications. In addition, the lack of awareness leads to misconceptions, which joined with inadequate knowledge, are relevant barriers to proper diabetes management.

Informal waste pickers in guayaquil: Recycling rates, environmental benefits, main barriers, and troubles.

Systems for managing municipal solid waste are typically ineffective in developing nations because of governments' deficient financial and administrative frameworks, poor rules, and a lack of suitable infrastructure and human resources. The informal sector plays an essential role in these systems by reprocessing waste into secondary raw materials, reducing collection and disposal costs, and, most importantly, benefiting the environment by avoiding incineration and landfilling. However, their actual contributions remain unknown.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the clinical assistance to breast cancer patients.

Purpose: We aimed to disclose the impact of the pandemic on breast cancer patients in a specialized breast cancer center (BCC).

Methods: A total of 501 breast cancer patients with a first appointment in the BCC from April 1st, 2019 to March 31st, 2021 were divided into four consecutive periods of 6 months. Data from the homologous semesters was compared.

Corrigendum: Actinobacteria from Arctic and Atlantic deep-sea sediments-Biodiversity and bioactive potential.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.

Actinobacteria from Arctic and Atlantic deep-sea sediments-Biodiversity and bioactive potential.

The deep-sea covers over 70% of the Earth's surface and harbors predominantly uncharacterized bacterial communities. Actinobacteria are the major prokaryotic source of bioactive natural products that find their way into drug discovery programs, and the deep-sea is a promising source of biotechnologically relevant actinobacteria. Previous studies on actinobacteria in deep-sea sediments were either regionally restricted or did not combine a community characterization with the analysis of their bioactive potential.

Empowerment and Knowledge as Determinants for Quality of Life: A Contribution to a Better Type 2 Diabetes Self-Management.

The purpose of this study was to assess how knowledge and empowerment impact the quality of life (QoL) of a person with type 2 diabetes, leading to better communication and disease management. We conducted a descriptive and observational study of individuals with type 2 diabetes. The Diabetes Empowerment Scale-Short Form (DES-SF), Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT), and EQ-5D-5L were used, in addition to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.

Performance of Aptima-HPV in the cervical cancer screening program of Portugal: a cost-analysis.

Background: Cervical cancer is a major concern to women's health, being the fourth most common cancer worldwide. A great percentage of these cancer is consequence of an HPV infection, namely from specific genotypes such as 16/18. Portuguese screening program subjects women to a reflex cytology triage every 5 years.

StressMatic: A Novel Automated System to Induce Depressive- and Anxiety-like Phenotype in Rats.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a multidimensional psychiatric disorder that is estimated to affect around 350 million people worldwide. Generating valid and effective animal models of depression is critical and has been challenging for neuroscience researchers. For preclinical studies, models based on stress exposure, such as unpredictable chronic mild stress (uCMS), are amongst the most reliable and used, despite presenting concerns related to the standardization of protocols and time consumption for operators.

Bioprocess Economic Modeling: Decision Support Tools for the Development of Stem Cell Therapy Products.

Over recent years, the field of cell and gene therapy has witnessed rapid growth due to the demonstrated benefits of using living cells as therapeutic agents in a broad range of clinical studies and trials. Bioprocess economic models (BEMs) are fundamental tools for guiding decision-making in bioprocess design, being capable of supporting process optimization and helping to reduce production costs. These tools are particularly important when it comes to guiding manufacturing decisions and increasing the likelihood of market acceptance of cell-based therapies, which are often cost-prohibitive because of high resource and quality control costs.