Primary Dysmenorrhea Induced Using Diethylstilbestrol and Oxytocin Induces Impaired Uterine Reactivity in Virgin Female Wistar Rats.

Unlabelled: Primary dysmenorrhea (DysP) is a prevalent gynecological condition characterized by painful uterine contractions. However, the underlying mechanism of action of dysmenorrhea has not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to standardize an animal model of dysmenorrhea using diethylstilbestrol and oxytocin to mimic pathophysiological mechanisms in female Wistar rats.

Biodegradable Antioxidant Composites with Almond Skin Powder.

Almond skin (AS) from industrial almond peeling is considered an agri-food waste with adequate composition to obtain composite films for food packaging due to its richness in polysaccharides, proteins, and phenolic compounds. Composite films based on amorphous polylactic acid (PLA) or partially acetylated polyvinilalcohol (PVA) were obtained by melt blending and compression moulding, incorporating different ratios of defatted AS powder (0, 5, 10, and 15 wt.%).

In Vivo Evaluation of NLRP3 Inflammasome and IL-1β Cytokine in Periapical Lesion Progression Using Wild-Type and TLR2 Knockout Mice.

This study aimed to investigate the role of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) in the progression of periapical lesions by evaluating NLRP3 inflammasome and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) expression in wild-type (WT) and TLR2 knockout (KO) mice. A total of 55 mice (28 WT, 27 TLR2-KO) underwent pulpal exposure of mandibular first molars and were euthanised at 7, 21, or 42 days post-exposure. Histological and immunohistochemical analyses were performed.

Polysaccharide-based screen-printed colorimetric sensor for amines detection in packaged fish.

Generic expiration dates continue to serve as freshness indicators for highly perishable foods such as fish. In fact, "best before" dates are a prediction of the estimated limit of safe quality. Therefore, they do not provide real-time information of the fish freshness, resulting in an inaccurate assessment of its quality.

Beeswax-enriched tricalcium phosphate/hydroxyapatite/sodium alginate/thymol 3D-printed scaffolds for application in bone tissue engineering.

Tissue engineering, particularly bone tissue engineering (BTE), continues to pose significant challenges to modern medicine. In this work, a rapid prototyping technique was explored to create 3D scaffolds using a Fab@Home 3D-Plotter extruder. For that purpose, a novel composite mixture containing tricalcium phosphate (TCP), hydroxyapatite (HAp), sodium alginate (SA), beeswax (BW), and thymol (TM) was formulated.

Order picking dataset from a warehouse of a footwear manufacturing company.

This dataset originates from a real-world footwear manufacturing warehouse and provides a comprehensive foundation for benchmarking research in warehouse order-picking operations. Data was collected via SQL queries on the company's Warehouse Management System (WMS), resulting in diverse formats such as CSV files, CAD layouts, and Python scripts. The dataset includes geometric representations of the warehouse layout, with Cartesian-mapped storage locations, aisles, and central depots, detailed product classifications, storage positions, picking wave information, and routing paths.

Upcycling onion peels for enhanced gas barrier and antioxidant bioplastics based on starch from potato processing slurries.

The upcycling of food waste into high-value materials presents a key opportunity for sustainable waste management. While onion peel (OP) extracts have been investigated as additives for bioplastics, this study explores the direct incorporation of whole powdered OP (5-20 wt%) into starch-based films, eliminating extraction steps and fully valorizing this agro-industrial by-product. Using starch recovered from potato processing slurries as the polymeric matrix, the influence of OP on film structure, mechanical performance, water resistance, gas permeability, and antioxidant activity was evaluated.

A novel short-course, low-intensity blood-flow-restricted exercise (BFRE) regimen to study satellite cell function in critical illness survivors with sustained muscle atrophy following intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICUAW).

Introduction: ICU-acquired weakness (ICUAW) develops in critically ill patients and can persist after hospital discharge, resulting in physical disability. Decreased satellite cell content is reported in the atrophic muscle of critical illness survivors, suggesting that the sustained muscle wasting results from satellite cell dysfunction and impaired muscle regeneration. Intense resistance exercise stimulates satellite cell proliferation and can be used to study the satellite cell role in persisting muscle atrophy following ICU discharge; however, the intensity of exercise required can be intolerable for older or frail ICU survivors.

Adolescents Suffering from Long-term Cyberbullying Victimisation: Peer Pressure and Anger Dysregulation as Risk Factors.

Episodes of cyberbullying victimisation have serious consequences among adolescents, which worsen when their involvement is perpetuated over time. It is therefore important to understand what factors lead to long-term cybervictimisation to prevent it. This one-year longitudinal study examines significant socioemotional factors in the origin and dynamics of cybervictimisation, not yet jointly explored in its perpetuation.

Bio-Based Polyurethane Foams: Feedstocks, Synthesis, and Applications.

Polyurethanes (PUs) are extremely versatile materials used across different industries. Traditionally, they are synthesized by reacting polyols and isocyanates, both of which are petroleum-derived reagents. In response to the demand for more eco-friendly materials, research has increasingly focused on developing new routes for PU synthesis using renewable feedstocks.

Salt pan brine water sulphated polysaccharides retrieved at pilot scale: ability to stimulate in vitro human macrophages and salmon head kidney cells.

Marine environments are the warehouse of a variety of novel bioactive compounds prone to be explored by food and feed industry. The growing interest in sulphated polysaccharides has led to the search for new sustainable sources, such as seawater. These compounds are naturally concentrated in salt pan brine water due to their evaporation by wind and sunlight.

Self-Assembly Pathway Influence on Dehydropeptide-Based Gel Properties and Drug Release.

Low-molecular-weight peptide-based hydrogels formed through self-assembly have emerged as promising candidates for biomedical applications. While the self-assembly process is known to affect the network morphology, its impact on mechanical properties and drug delivery remains poorly understood. In this work, it is explored how different gelation conditions influence the morphology, properties, and drug release profiles of dehydropeptide-based gels.

Advances in Cervical Cancer Diagnostics Based on Immunosensors: Innovative Approaches and Tumor Biomarkers.

Immunosensors are promising analytical tools for screening and diagnosis of cervical cancer (CC) due to being practical, rapid and economical as compared with conventional methods. Choosing a sensible and specific tumor marker (TM) serving as target which is immobilized on sensor surface is a crucial step for a CC immunosensor. In addition, the transducer design involving optical, piezoelectric or electrochemical converting of antigen-antibody interaction in the analytical signals could be projected to achieve a maximal sensitivity, guarantying accuracy in the detection of CC.

Tripeptides Featuring Dehydrophenylalanine and Homophenylalanine: Homo- Versus Hetero-Chirality and Sequence Effects on Self-Assembly and Gelation.

Over the years, our research group developed dehydrodipeptides -capped with aromatic moieties as protease-resistant efficacious hydrogelators, affording self-assembled hydrogels at low (critical) concentrations. Dehydrotripeptides, with different dipeptide sequences and (,) stereochemistry, open a wider chemical space for the development of self-assembled soft nanomaterials. In this work, a small library of -succinylated dehydrotripeptides containing a -terminal dehydrophenylalanine (∆Phe) residue and a scrambled dipeptide sequence with phenylalanine (Phe) and homophenylalanine (Hph) (-Phe-,-Hph and ,-Hph--Phe) was synthesized and characterized as a potential hydrogelator.

Inequalities in Drug Access for Advanced Melanoma: The Prognostic Impact Resulting From the Approval Delay of the Combined Ipilimumab/Nivolumab Treatment in Portugal.

Introduction A combination of ipilimumab/nivolumab has demonstrated a median overall survival (mOS) of 71.9 months in advanced melanoma, establishing it as the standard first-line (1L) therapy. However, the approval of this combination by the Portuguese Regulatory Authority occurred 76 months after its approval by the European Authority, leaving tyrosine kinase inhibitors as the only 1L option available for the BRAF-mutated melanoma population.

Synthesis of - and ,-Heterocycle-Dipeptide Conjugates for Supramolecular Hydrogel Formation.

Small peptides with aromatic nuclei at the -terminus have been shown to form bioactive, biocompatible, and biodegradable supramolecular peptide hydrogels. Novel heterocycle-dipeptide conjugates with potential biological activity or application as drug carriers were synthesized by using (benzo[]thiophene) and ,(thieno [2,3-]pyridine and thieno[2,3-]quinoline) heterocycles as -protective groups for dipeptides l-Phe-l-Phe and l-Phe-l-Leu. The synthesis involved coupling heterocyclic carboxylic acids with trifluoroacetate salts of ethyl l-phenylalanyl-l-phenylalaninate and ethyl l-phenylalanyl- l-leucinate using HBTU and EtN, producing the corresponding six -heterocycle-dipeptide ester conjugates, which were then hydrolyzed to the carboxylic acids.

Orthodontic retainers: are they all the same?

Introduction: It is known that the stability of the results obtained with orthodontic treatment depends, in addition to the functional and aesthetic aspects, also on the adequate planning of the retention devices, the patient's compliance with this new phase, and the physiological changes that the human body experiences over the years, throughout the craniofacial aging process.

Objective: This article discusses the importance of the orthodontic retention phase and the influence of diagnosis, planning and execution of corrective treatment of malocclusions, in order to achieve the expected success.

Methods: Throughout the text, different types of retainers and approaches during this phase will be presented, with the aim of ensuring the stability of the results obtained after correcting problems in the vertical, transverse and anteroposterior directions.

An Innovative Intervention Model for Children and Young People in Residential Care: The D'ART-TE Project.

(1) Background: Residential care (RC) for children and youth should provide a holistic experience of growing up. Currently, RC homes face many challenges, highlighting the need for validated, innovative interventions. D'AR-TE is a pilot project aimed at creating an innovative intervention model for children and youth in RC, promoting protective factors through activities designed to enhance personal skills, socialization, and relationship building.

Impact of Regulatory Risk Communication on Thrombosis With Thrombocytopenia Syndrome for COVID-19 Adenovirus Vector Vaccines on European Healthcare Professionals.

Purpose: The European Medicines Agency (EMA) issued regulatory actions and communications in 2021 on thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) associated with adenovirus vector vaccines Vaxzevria or Jcovden. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of these actions on awareness, knowledge and implementation in practises of healthcare professionals (HCP).

Methods: Web-based cross-sectional surveys were conducted on HCPs engaged in the vaccination, monitoring or counselling about the vaccines.

Cyberbullying Experiences: Whether and How Do the Need for Popularity and Emotional Intelligence Dimensions Affect Them?

The need for popularity and emotional intelligence (EI) have been shown to be relevant factors in relation to aggressive behavior, including cyberbullying. However, the need for popularity and EI have not yet been explored together in relation to cyberbullying victimization and perpetration in adolescence. This research attempts to examine whether the need for popularity was a relevant mediating variable in the link between EI dimensions and both cybervictimization and cyberbullying perpetration, and to identify possible gender differences.

New Supramolecular Hydrogels Based on Diastereomeric Dehydrotripeptide Mixtures for Potential Drug Delivery Applications.

Self-assembly of peptide building blocks offers unique opportunities for bottom-up preparation of exquisite nanostructures, nanoarchitectures, and nanostructured bulk materials, namely hydrogels. In this work we describe the synthesis, characterization, gelation, and rheological properties of new dehydrotripeptides, Cbz--Lys(Cbz)-,-Asp-∆Phe-OH and (2-Naph)--Lys(2-Naph)-,-Asp-∆Phe-OH, containing a -terminal lysine residue --capped with carboxybenzyl (Cbz) and 2-Naphthylacetyl (2-Naph) aromatic moieties, an aspartic acid residue (Asp), and a -terminal dehydrophenylalanine (∆Phe) residue. The dehydrotripeptides were obtained as diastereomeric mixtures (,, and ,,Z), presumably via aspartimide chemistry.

Renewable Photo-Cross-Linkable Polyester-Based Biomaterials: Synthesis, Characterization, and Cytocompatibility Assessment.

The present work consist of the synthesis of photo-cross-linkable materials, based on unsaturated polyesters (UPs), synthesized from biobased monomers from renewable sources such as itaconic acid and 1,4-butanediol. The UPs were characterized to assess the influence of polycondensation reaction temperature and cross-linking time on their final properties. For this purpose, different UV irradiation exposure periods were tested.

Tomographic diagnosis of alveolar bone coverage impact in orthodontic planning: cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Alveolar bone coverage can be diagnosed through cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and this information can prevent orthodontic tooth movement beyond the biological limit.

Objective: This study evaluated the impact of the bone coverage (BC) diagnosis by CBCT in the orthodontists' planning.

Methods: One hundred fifty-nine Brazilian orthodontists suggested treatment plans for six patients at two different times, using two sequential questionnaires.

Could P2X7 receptor be a potencial target in neonatal sepsis?

The United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNIGME) estimates that every year 2.5 million neonates die in their first month of life, accounting for nearly one-half of deaths in children under 5 years of age. Neonatal sepsis is the third leading cause of neonatal mortality.

Multifunctional magneto-plasmonic lipogel based on peptide hydrogel for application in combined cancer therapy.

Supramolecular hydrogels, particularly low-molecular-weight peptide hydrogels, are promising drug delivery systems due to their ability to change the solubility, targeting, metabolism and toxicity of drugs. Magneto-plasmonic liposomes, in addition to being remotely controllable with the application of an external magnetic field, also increase the efficiency of encapsulated drug release through thermal stimulation, for example, with magnetic and optical hyperthermia. Thus, the combination of those two materials-giving magneto-plasmonic lipogels-brings together several functionalities, among which are hyperthermia and spatiotemporally controlled drug delivery.