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Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical

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2016

Medicinal plants of Guinea-Bissau: Therapeutic applications, ethnic diversity and knowledge transfer

The rich flora of Guinea-Bissau, and the widespread use of medicinal plants for the treatment of various diseases, constitutes an important local healthcare resource with significant potential for research and development of phytomedicines. The goal of this study is to prepare a comprehensive documentation of Guinea-Bissau’s medicinal plants, including their distribution, local vernacular names and their therapeutic and other applications, based upon local notions of disease and illness.
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Chitosan-based nanoparticles as drug delivery systems for doxorubicin: optimization and modelling

In the present work, two drug delivery systems were produced by encapsulating doxorubicin into chitosan and O-HTCC (ammonium-quaternary derivative of chitosan) nanoparticles. The results show that doxorubicin release is independent of the molecular weight and is higher at acidic pH (4.5) than at physiological pH.
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Whole-Cell SYBR Green I Assay for Antimalarial Activity Assessment

Malaria parasite growth assessment assays using nucleic acid dye SYBR GreenI are frequently compromised by high background readings due to haemoglobin and detergents in lysis buffer. Here, we have assessed and further validated an intact-cell SYBR Green I-based fluorescence assay (Cell-MSF) for antimalarial activity assessment even of highly fluorescent compounds.
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Towards the development of multifunctional chitosan-based iron oxide nanoparticles: Optimization and modelling of doxorubicin release

In the present work composite nanoparticles with a magnetic core and a chitosan-based shell were produced as drug delivery systems for doxorubicin (DOX). The results show that composite nanoparticles with a hydrodynamic diameter within the nanometric range are able to encapsulate more DOX than polymeric nanoparticles alone corresponding also to a higher drug release. Moreover the synthesis method of the iron oxide nanoparticles influences the total amount of DOX released and a high content of iron oxide nanoparticles inhibits DOX release. The modelling of the experimental results revealed a release mechanism dominated by Fickian diffusion.
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Iron oxide nanoparticles stabilized with a bilayer of oleic acid for magnetic hyperthermia and MRI applications

Iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4, IONPs) are promising candidates for several biomedical applications such as magnetic hyperthermia and as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, their colloidal stability in physiological conditions hinders their application requiring the use of biocompatible surfactant agents.
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Thermal and magnetic properties of chitosan-iron oxide nanoparticles

Chitosan is a biopolymer widely used for biomedical applications such as drug delivery systems, wound healing, and tissue engineering. Chitosan can be used as coating for other types of materials such as iron oxide nanoparticles, improving its biocompatibility while extending its range of applications.

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Ion Channel Blockers as Antimicrobial Agents, Efflux Inhibitors, and Enhancers of Macrophage Killing Activity against Drug Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Given the ability of M. tuberculosis to survive as an intracellular pathogen and its propensity to develop resistance to the existing antituberculosis drugs, its treatment requires new approaches. Here the antimycobacterial properties of verapamil, thioridazine, chlorpromazine, flupenthixol and haloperidol were investigated against a panel of drug resistant M. tuberculosis strains, both in vitro and on human-infected macrophages.
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Lean na Gestão da Saúde: Uma Oportunidade para Fomentar a Centralidade do Doente, o Respeito pelos Profissionais e a Qualidade nos Serviços de Saúde

Os casos de Flinders Medical Center (Austrália), Royal Bolton (UK), ThedaCare e Virginia Mason (USA) são exemplos de hospitais que conseguiram melhorar o seu desempenho através da utilização de metodologias Lean. Todavia, nem sempre o processo é tão fácil como aparenta. Não é que a aplicação do Lean seja difícil mas exige condições especiais.
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Recombination in pe/ppe genes contributes to genetic variation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineages

Approximately 10 % of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome is made up of two families of genes that are poorly characterized due to their high GC content and highly repetitive nature. The PE and PPE families are typified by their highly conserved N-terminal domains that incorporate proline-glutamate (PE) and proline-proline-glutamate (PPE) signature motifs. They are hypothesised to be important virulence factors involved with host-pathogen interactions, but their high genetic variability and complexity of analysis means they are typically disregarded in genome studies.
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The impact of global health initiatives on the health system in Angola

We assessed the impact of global health initiatives (GHIs) on the health care system of Angola, as a contribution to documenting how GHIs, such as the Global Fund, GAVI and PEPFAR, influence the planning and delivery of health services in low-income countries and how national systems respond.
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