https://hdl.handle.net/10216/143070 2026-07-18T14:01:05Z 2026-07-18T14:01:05Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/164632 2025-01-11T07:23:55Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Role of phthalates on adiposity: Epidemiological evidence Abstract: Overweight and obesity in adults have become a priority many decades ago, however, it remains one of the critical problems in public health around the world. It is also increasingly prevalent in children and adolescents and in the last three decades child obesity rates have tripled to approximately 17% in children aged between 2 to 19 years, and to 32% of overweight and obesity combined. Phthalates are classified as endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs). The EDCs compounds interfere with the endocrine system, and their potential to interfere in metabolic processes regulating and promoting adipogenesis has been described. However, most of the information regarding EDCs potential to promote obesity is based on in vitro or animal models and the knowledge regarding their impact on human samples is inconsistent. Although there are concerns regarding the use of phthalates, its use is highly widespread in products used in daily life such as adhesives, detergents, food packaging, plastic bottles, children's toys, flame retardants, and personal care products including perfume, hair gels, hair sprays, body lotion, deodorant, and nail polish. The concerns over the potential adverse health effects related to phthalates exposure had led to the implementation of legislative procedures to minimize the risks, namely in children's products. These procedures drive the search for alternative compounds such as 1,2-Cyclohexane dicarboxylic acid diisononyl ester (DINCH), however, its impacts on health are still largely uncharacterized. Therefore, this chapter aims to discuss current developments in phthalates exposures and metabolic health in children and adults. We aimed to summarize the available epidemiological data on this topic, presenting the results through a critical approach to clarify the possible causal relationship between exposure to phthalates and adiposity and its consequences. The five following topics are addressed: Phthalates' chemical structure; Phthalates as endocrine disruptors; Sources of phthalate exposure in human populations; Association between phthalates exposure and obesity; and Association between phthalates exposure and other metabolic alterations. © 2022 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/163585 2024-12-03T07:19:56Z 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Wildland firefighters: A crucial weapon for forest fire management: Which health risks do they face? Abstract: Fire when uncontrolled can become a destructive force that risks wildlife, property, and human lives. Global warming has contributed to the increase and severity of wildfires in the last decades, requiring greater political and local authority involvement to protect people. Wildland firefighters are an essential tool for the management of any forest fire. However, they face unique occupational risks characterized by physically demanding tasks, long hours in severe conditions, and exposure to various health risks (e.g., burning, fractures, smoke inhalation), including exposure to carcinogenic pollutants emitted from smoke. These pollutants, including particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and volatile organic compounds, can cause acute adverse health effects but also long-term effects, such as cancer. Yet, evidence linking wildland firefighters’ occupational exposure and health outcomes is limited. The increasing risk of wildfire occurrences and longer fire seasons highlight the need for occupational studies among these professionals commonly exposed to hazardous pollutants. Scientific evidence has contributed to the establishment of measures related to firefighters’ health promotion. Regular monitoring, surveillance and health promotion activities, innovative firefighting techniques, safer personal protective equipment, and the implementation of written policies and procedures, such as decontaminating fire station equipment and spaces, are crucial to reduce firefighters’ adverse health effects.

2024-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/159930 2024-07-26T06:18:17Z 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Distribution, transport and fate of pollutants Abstract: Soil is a complex dynamic system of critical importance for life on Earth. As natural and anthropogenic processes continuously use soil as sink or pathway to potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and organic pollutants (OPs), it is crucial to understand their distribution, transport, and fate. This chapter provides a brief and focused overview about the migration of PTEs and OPs in soil. The physical, chemical, and biological mechanisms of soil were analyzed and discussed, due to the influence that exert on the pollutants behavior (form, availability, and toxicity), as well as in the release and retention processes that affect their migration. Thus, the fate of these pollutants is outlined by the pollutants intrinsic characteristics and by the action of soil abiotic and biotic mechanisms. Modeling pollutants in soil is a key tool to the study and understanding of the complex leaching and transport processes involved on this. © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/159929 2024-07-26T06:18:11Z 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Vitamin C, B-complex vitamins and inflammation

2012-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/158019 2024-04-13T06:17:21Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Biomonitoring Abstract: Biomonitoring refers to the systematic measurement of compounds and/or detection of cell or cell molecules alterations in living organisms with the purpose of identifying or assessing potential hazardous exposure and effects to chemicals or other hazardous agents. The goal of this chapter is to provide an overview on biomonitoring, both from the environmental and human health perspectives. Therefore, the main concepts of environmental and human biomonitoring are here described, alongside a few considerations on its application, limitations and challenges. © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/158018 2024-04-13T06:17:20Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Comet assay Abstract: The comet assay is a sensitive, inexpensive, fast, and easy-to-use method widely used in genotoxicity testing and biomonitoring studies. It can be applied using a few cells and on almost every cell type to assess a range of different DNA lesions, DNA repair activity and even DNA methylation levels, at the individual cell level. The principle is simple, during electrophoresis relaxed DNA strands move toward the anode away from the nucleoid core, appearing like a “comet”, hence the name of the assay. Incubation with lesion specific enzymes allows the detection of specific types of DNA lesions such as DNA oxidative damage, repair efficiency and methylation. The distribution of DNA within the comet relates to the extent of DNA damage present in the cell. © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/158017 2024-04-13T06:17:21Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Biomarkers, human health Abstract: The term “biomarker” comes from the Greek term “βιο-“, meaning life, in combination with “mark”, Old English of “mearcere”, meaning “writer, notary”, or literally “one who marks”. In scientific literature the word first emerged in the 1970s, but the concept has been part of biomedical research for decades. Various definitions were established over the years, the simplest describes it as a “biological endpoint (or change of) measured in the organism” used as an indicator in clinical practice, drug development and risk assessment research. As a result, several subtypes have been defined according to the field/subject of the study in question. © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/154629 2023-11-21T18:03:01Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Protecting the most vulnerable: Tuberculosis in immunocompromised individuals Abstract: The interaction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with components of the innate and acquired immune system has significant implications for the clinical outcome of infection (clearance, latency or progression to active disease). Thus, the risk of progressing from LTBI to active TB is greater in some populations. Understanding which populations are at increased risk of TBI and of TB disease is essential to understand who we should screen and treat for TBI. In the past decades, much new knowledge on epidemiology, risk factors and treatment of TBI has been gathered, which is summarised in this chapter. © ERS 2023.

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/153652 2023-11-21T18:04:38Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Toxicological Aspects of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Abstract: Iron oxide nanoparticles (ION), with unique magnetic properties, have attracted huge scientific attention for a wide variety of uses, mostly in the biomedical field, due to their high biocompatibility, ability to cross biological membranes, appropriate surface architecture and easy conjugation with targeting ligands. Their current applications include diagnostic imaging, cell labelling, site-directed drug delivery and anticancer hyperthermia therapy. The ION surface may be modified by coating with different materials, aiming to stabilize the nanoparticles in different environments, to allow biomolecule binding favouring surface attachments with several molecules, and to prolong the recognition time by the immune system. Although the potential benefits of ION are considerable, and more and more ION are being manufactured to meet the demands of the rapidly proliferating field of nanomedicine, there is an urgent need to define their toxicological profile in order to avoid any potential health risks associated with their exposure and to reach optimal benefits of their use. The purpose of this chapter is to de-scribe the current knowledge on the ION toxicological features, addressing their structure and physicochemical characteristics, main exposure pathways and toxicokinetic aspects, interaction with cells, and their toxic effects, with special attention to those at the cellular and molecular level. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/153650 2023-11-21T17:42:55Z 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Bioconcentration, Bioaccumulation, and Biomagnification of Volatile Methylsiloxanes in Biota Abstract: Volatile methylsiloxanes (VMS) are synthetic chemicals that have been extensively used in the manufacture of many industrial and consumer products and in the formulation of personal and health-care products. Due to their extensive use, VMS have been found in a diversity of abiotic media (air, soil, water, sediments) and in a wide range of aquatic and terrestrial organisms. The ubiquitous presence of VMS has raised concerns regarding whether these chemicals are prone to accumulate in aquatic and terrestrial life to levels higher than those found in the environment and ultimately to affect human and ecosystem health. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the studies that have been developed to understand if VMS have the potential to bioconcentrate, bioaccumulate, and biomagnify. Key factors affecting bioaccumulation of VMS by different organisms will be described, including physicochemical properties, environmental conditions, characteristics of the exposed organism, and the respective food chains. A review of the studies reporting VMS in different biota samples will be provided

2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/153649 2023-11-08T07:16:22Z 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Cellular and Molecular Toxicity of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Abstract: Iron oxide nanoparticles (ION) have attracted much attention because of their particular physico-chemical properties, including superparamagnetism. These features make them suitable for many purposes and several interesting biomedical applications, such as to increase contrast in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as drug delivery systems and as hyperthermia agents. However, they have also shown to be easily accumulated in diverse tissues and induce toxicity at different levels. This chapter reviews the different cellular and molecular effects induced by ION reported from in vitro studies with human and non-human cell lines. Those effects are mainly dependent on ION type and concentration, time of exposure, presence and nature of coating, and cell type evaluated. They include decreases in viability, plasmatic membrane disruption, oxidative damage, mitochondrial alterations, cell cycle impairments, cytoskeleton disruption, cell death, and alterations in cell motility, and in cell integrity. Despite these negative effects, the numerous advantages of ION together with their promising applications in biomedicine, make it necessary to clearly define their toxicity in order to discard potential health risks and to reach optimal benefits of their use.

2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/151690 2023-10-31T11:16:13Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Healthier and Sustainable Food Systems: Integrating Underutilised Crops in a ‘Theory of Change Approach’ Abstract: Increasingly, consumers are paying attention to healthier food diets, “healthy” food attributes (such as “freshness”, “naturalness” and “nutritional value”), and the overall sustainability of production and processing methods. Other significant trends include a growing demand for regional and locally produced/supplied and less processed food. To meet these demands, food production and processing need to evolve to preserve the raw material and natural food properties while ensuring such sustenance is healthy, tasty, and sustainable. In parallel, it is necessary to understand the influence of consumers’ practices in maintaining the beneficial food attributes from purchasing to consumption. The whole supply chain must be resilient, fair, diverse, transparent, and economically balanced to make different food systems sustainable. This chapter focuses on the role of dynamic value chains using biodiverse, underutilised crops to improve food system resilience and deliver foods with good nutritional and health properties while ensuring low environmental impacts, and resilient ecosystem functions. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/151688 2023-10-31T11:16:02Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Food and water security and safety for an ever-expanding human population Abstract: The growing human population creates challenges not only related to the epidemiology of disease in highly populated spaces, but also on how to guarantee the access to safe food and water. Besides health effects of dehydration and emaciation, this chapter will explore the challenge of the growing need for food and water resources for an expanding human population accompanied by environmental degradation, increased habitat loss and interface with wildlife, and their roles as vector of diseases potentiated by limited access and increased demand. The interaction between these factors will be explored in the context of One Health.

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/151689 2023-10-31T11:16:31Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Risks and benefits of the interaction with companion animals Abstract: Human-animal interactions can either negatively or positively influence psychological and physiological parameters that are critical to human health and well-being. This chapter provides a comprehensive review on the psychological effects of the presence of companion animals and the connections between animal ownership, physical activity and health outcomes, while also covering the potential harms of human-animal contacts, including infectious and parasitic diseases. In addition, this chapter highlights the new perspective of animal sentinel surveillance as a key component of the public health risk assessment, with companion animals being useful to identify sources of environmental pollution, food contaminants, infectious disease transmission and other harmful exposures. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/151687 2023-10-31T11:16:52Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: We Know One Health, but We also Need One Communication Abstract: The One Health concept was developed globally as a strategy to expand interdisciplinary collaborations in all aspects of human, animal, and environmental health. Although health communication is a well-recognized discipline in human health, it is not yet being applied in the context of One Health. This is a potentially wasted opportunity for building bridges between health (human, animal, and environmental) and social sciences, addressing cross-cutting issues in the holistic perspective required in the twenty-first century, keeping in mind that one solution does not fit all societies. One Communication allows communication to be made in several ways, using different channels and reaching different contexts and populations. In this chapter, the authors highlight some opportunities for One Communication in the context of food safety, zoonoses, and environmental health as well as the barriers perceived by them to the implementation of One Communication, taking into account the state-of-the-art and their own experience in recent projects and case studies. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/151686 2023-10-31T11:16:25Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Potential role of pulses in the development of functional foods modulating inflammation and oxidative stress Abstract: Inflammation and oxidative stress-related metabolic disorders are on the genesis of several highly prevalent noncommunicable diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, which currently represent the leading cause of premature death worldwide. However, evidence suggests that healthy dietary habits may exert positive antiinflammatory and antioxidant effects by preventing the onset or modulating such chronic conditions. In this context, pulse-based functional foods and ingredients have emerged as versatile and convenient vehicles to promote higher nutritional intake with additional health benefits. In this chapter, we describe the potential use of pulses and their bioactive compounds in the development of functional foods and ingredients capable of modulating inflammation and oxidative stress, discussing challenges and opportunities for both the scientific community and food industry. The most promising bioactive compounds appear to comprise carbohydrates and nondigestible components, proteins and bioactive peptides, tocopherols and carotenoids, phytosterols, saponins, and polyphenols. Both the direct and indirect influences of these compounds over inflammation and oxidative stress-related health disorders have been reported. Nevertheless, the development of functional foods incorporating pulse-based ingredients poses several challenges. The largest difficulty relates to ensuring the sustenance of biologic activity throughout food supply chain and after consumption. More research regarding the optimization of growing and processing conditions that lead to better functional properties of pulses and pulse-based products is needed. Pulse flours, as well as their fiber and protein fractions, have become a convenient choice as pulse-based functional ingredients, mainly incorporated into baked products, providing important metabolic benefits. However, the bioavailability, efficacy and safety of pulse bioactive compounds require more thorough investigation, particularly during shelf-life periods. Also, since lentils, chickpeas, and beans have the highest concentrations of bioactive compounds (particularly their colorful cultivars), increased attention of researchers and food industry to these foods is justified. Lastly, more human controlled clinical trials testing the biological effects of pulse-based novel foods are required. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/151685 2023-10-31T11:16:47Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The role of biomarkers in the assessment of potential health risks of wildland firefighters' occupational exposure: An overview Abstract: Worldwide, wildfires are among the most common forms of natural disasters. In recent decades, these events have become more frequent and burn more intensely and widely than they have in the past fueled by climate-related changes. The proximity of firefighters to fires exposes them to high levels of toxic compounds, making this occupation one the most dangerous in the world. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classified occupational exposure as a firefighter as possibly carcinogenic to humans. However, little is known about the biological mechanisms related with wildland firefighters' occupational exposure. Woodsmoke is a complex mixture of gases and particles with the potential to cause short-and long-term deleterious health effects. Previous studies have shown that the inhalation of woodsmoke promotes systemic oxidative stress, higher levels of molecular and inflammatory biomarkers and excretion of exposure-related biometabolites. The exposure to smoke has been related to the incidence of cardiorespiratory diseases and with the increased risk of developing site-specific cancers. In addition to inhalation exposure, transdermal absorption has been postulated as an important route of exposure for certain smoke compounds. The integration of exposure data with biological monitoring information is of great importance to predict risks and prevent diseases related to hazardous exposures. This chapter resumes the existing knowledge of the role of biomarkers to assess potential health risks, in particular the most recent findings related to wildland firefighters' biomonitoring. Principal strengths and limitations identified in this field will also be discussed. This overview reveals the need for further research in this area, as well as the importance of public/decision-makers awareness for the health protection of this professionals. Surveillance (bio)monitoring, along with policies and recommendations may constitute an important tool to prevent short-and long-term adverse health effects related to occupational firefighting. © 2022 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/149744 2023-10-31T11:16:39Z 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Solving Multiobjective Engineering Design Problems Through a Scalarized Augmented Lagrangian Algorithm (SCAL) Abstract: In this paper, a set of multiobjective engineering design problems is solved using a methodology that combines an Augmented Lagrangian technique to deal with the constraints and the Augmented Weighted Tchebycheff method to tackle the multiobjective nature of the problems to find the Pareto frontier. In order to compare and validate the performance of this strategy, the problems were also solved with gamultiobj from MATLAB™. We present the algorithm, as well as some results that seem very promising.

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/10216/143074 2022-08-20T02:30:32Z 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: COVID-19 e as pessoas em situação de sem-abrigo: Ninguém pode ser deixado para trás Abstract: A infeção pode ocorrer em qualquer idade, mas são as pessoas mais velhas ou com doenças crónicas que estão em maior risco de complicações graves e morte devido à doença. O SARS-CoV-2 pode-se transmitir de pessoa para pessoa por gotículas respiratórias, contacto direto com secreções infetadas e por aerossóis gerados por procedimentos terapêuticos, não havendo ainda evidência clara de transmissão por via aérea. As gotículas podem ainda depositar-se em superfícies ou objetos que se transmitem após contacto direto das mãos seguindo-se de contactos com a boca, nariz ou olhos. Neste sentido e tratando-se de um problema de saúde pública, é necessário um olhar preocupado para com um grupo muito específico da população, com dificuldades especiais e condições que podem facilitar a transmissão da doença: as pessoas em situação de sem-abrigo.

2020-01-01T00:00:00Z