No abstract

A novel dressing material-silk fibroin fabric (SF)-l-Cysteine (l-Cys)-is here developed to be used as standard treatment for atopic dermatitis (AD), which combines comfort, thermic, and tensile strength properties of silk materials with antioxidant and antimicrobial effects of l-Cys. A careful understanding about the linking strategies is needed in order not to compromise the bioavailability of l-Cys and deplenish its bioactivity. Durability was also addressed through washing cycles and compared with hospital requirements, according to international Standard EN ISO 105-C06:2010. The present research also analyze the interactions between Staphylococcus aureus and SF-l-Cys under simulating conditions of AD and demonstrated the effectiveness of a double covalent grafting, with the importance of SF tyrosine (Tyr) covalent linkage with l-Cys (SF-g-l-Cys/Tyr-g-l-Cys) even after several washing cycles, twenty five, whereas for a disposable application a single covalent mechanism of grafting l-Cys proved to be sufficient (SF-g-l-Cys). Results showed effective antimicrobial activities exhibiting higher inhibition ratios of 98.65% for SF-g-l-Cys after 5 washing cycles, whereas 97.55% for SF-g-l-Cys/Tyr-g-l-Cys after 25 washing cycles, both at pH 9.5 grafting strategy. Furthermore, it is also reported a non-protumoral effect of l-Cys. A new advance is herein achieved at the world of medical antimicrobial textiles tailored to address wound moisture environment and exudate self-cleaning, which may open novel applications as complementary therapy for AD disease.

Limited fitness for practice may result from a mismatch between education and practice. Aiming to meet the common interests of academics and practitioners, the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society (PPS) developed the Education and Practice Platform (EPP). The EPP includes one representative from each pharmacy faculty, and all Councils of Speciality Boards of Practice. Brainstorming with involved parties enabled sharing of interests, concerns and identifying a common path. Aims, mission, vision and values were set. The EPP’s mission is to: act as an enabler to foster the quality and adequacy of education through sharing best practices, ultimately leading to facilitate professional integration, and to foster quality development in teaching practices with recognition for autonomy in freedom to teach and to learn. Its vision is an alignment of education and practice with the PPS’ statutes to ensure validation of the competences defined for each practice area, and compliance with international guidance. Key performance indicators (KPIs) were set. Activities developed include the creation of a national forum to discuss education and practice, development of workshops on teaching methods and pharmacy internships, enhanced representation in international events and response to global and national requests. Ongoing work focuses on the creation of a common training framework in hospital and community pharmacy practice adapted to Portugal. The EPP is a worldwide case study, encouraging the development of discussion contributing to an open climate of sharing best practices, indirectly leading to foster a better alignment between education and practice. Many of these results are so far intangible in scientific terms but worth describing.

Currently, in biomedicine and biotechnology fields, there is a growing need to develop and produce biomolecules with a high degree of purity. To accomplish this goal, new purification methods are being developed looking for higher performance, efficiency, selectivity, and cost-effectiveness. Affinity chromatography is considered one of the most highly selective methods for biomolecules purification. The purpose of this work is to explore a new type of a structurally simple ligand immobilized onto an agarose matrix to be used in affinity chromatography. The ligand in this study, 3,3'-diamino-N-methyldipropylamine has shown low toxicity and low cost of preparation. Moreover, the ability of the ligand to be used in affinity chromatography to purify proteins and nucleic acids was verified. An increasing sodium chloride gradient, using salt concentrations up to 500 mM, was suitable to accomplish the purification of these biomolecules, meaning that the new support allows the recovery of target biomolecules under mild conditions. Thus, the 3,3'-diamino-N-methyldipropylamine ligand is shown to be a useful and versatile tool in chromatographic experiments, with very good results either for proteins or supercoiled plasmid isoform purification.