Comorbidity, Treatment, and Service Utilization Patterns in Difficult-to-Treat Depression Patients: A Retrospective Study in a Portuguese Community Mental Health Team.

: Observational studies with data from real-world clinical practice with patients with difficult-to-treat depression (DTD) are rare. This study aims to collect observational data from the real-world clinical practice of a Portuguese community mental health team (CMHT) on the prevalence of DTD and to explore differences between DTD and non-DTD groups. : We conducted a retrospective chart review study using data from Electronic Health Records (EHRs) of adult patients with psychiatric disorders followed by a CMHT from the Department of Psychiatry of the Coimbra Local Health Unit (between 1 December 2020-31 December 2022).

Large-scale production of non-conventional edible plants for biodiverse school meals.

Introduction: School feeding programs are important for ensuring food security and promoting child health and development, particularly in low-income countries. In view of this importance, it is possible to increase the quality of these meals by diversifying the vegetables offered and incorporating underutilized plants to improve dietary diversity and nutritional quality into school meals.

Methods: This study was carried out using the action research methodology following the implementation and development of the "Inova na Horta" project in the city of Jundiaí, São Paulo, Brazil.

Cdc42 activation is necessary for heterosynaptic cooperation and competition.

Synapses change their weights in response to neuronal activity and in turn, neuronal networks alter their response properties and ultimately allow the brain to store information as memories. As for memories, not all events are maintained over time. Maintenance of synaptic plasticity depends on the interplay between functional changes at synapses and the synthesis of plasticity-related proteins that are involved in stabilizing the initial functional changes.

Independent neural circuits encode the dynamics of social interaction in rats.

A study in PLOS Biology by Rojek-Sito and colleagues demonstrates a key role of the central amygdala and specific circuits projecting to and from this brain area in the initiation versus maintenance of positive social interactions.

Emotional interference and attentional control in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders: The special case of neutral faces.

Background And Objectives: Schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSD) are characterized by impaired emotion processing and attention. SSD patients are more sensitive to the presence of emotional distractors. But despite growing interest on the emotion-attention interplay, emotional interference in SSD is far from fully understood.

Carotid Body Resection Prevents Short-Term Spatial Memory Decline in Prediabetic Rats Without Changing Insulin Signaling in the Hippocampus and Prefrontal Cortex.

Individuals who develop type 2 diabetes (T2D) at an early age are at higher risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. A shared dysfunctional characteristic between T2D and these neurodegenerative disorders is insulin resistance. Recently, it was shown that prediabetes animals and patients exhibited increased carotid body (CB) activity.

Brain Hemispheric Asymmetry in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder.

Background: This study aimed to compare brain asymmetry in patients with schizophrenia (SCZ), bipolar disorder (BPD), and healthy controls to test whether asymmetry patterns could discriminate and set boundaries between two partially overlapping severe mental disorders.

Methods: We applied a fully automated voxel-based morphometry (VBM) approach to assess structural brain hemispheric asymmetry in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) anatomical scans in 60 participants (SCZ = 20; BP = 20; healthy controls = 20), all right-handed and matched for gender, age, and education.

Results: Significant differences in gray matter asymmetry were found between patients with SCZ and BPD, between SCZ patients and healthy controls (HC), and between BPD patients and HC.

Assessment of calcinosis in Portuguese patients with systemic sclerosis - a multicenter study.

Introduction/objectives: The study aims to define the clinical and subclinical calcinosis prevalence, the sensitivity of radiographed site and clinical method for its diagnosis, and the phenotype of Portuguese systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients with calcinosis.

Method: A cross-sectional multicenter study was conducted with SSc patients fulfilling Leroy/Medsger 2001 or ACR/EULAR 2013 classification criteria, registered in the Reuma.pt.

Psychological burden in Portuguese university students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: University students are a risk population for mental health problems. This study aims to evaluate the psychological burden of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portuguese university students and to uncover factors associated with worse psychological indicators.

Methods: We used an online survey to perform a cross-sectional study that evaluated students' perceptions, lifestyle, and psychological well-being during the pandemic.

Added value of lymphocyte subpopulations in the classification of Sjögren's syndrome.

Sjögren's Syndrome (SjS) is a chronic systemic immune-mediated inflammatory disease characterized by lymphocytic infiltration and consequent lesion of exocrine glands. SjS diagnosis and classification remains a challenge, especially at SjS onset, when patients may have milder phenotypes of the disease or uncommon presentations. New biomarkers are needed for the classification of SjS, thus, we aimed to evaluate the added-value of lymphocyte subpopulations in discriminating SjS and non-Sjögren Sicca patients.

Hepatitis C treatment program in Maputo, Mozambique, the challenge of genotypes and key populations: A 5-year retrospective analysis of routine programmatic data.

Background And Aims: Hepatitis C (HCV) programs face challenges, especially linked to key populations to achieve World Health Organization (WHO) goals of eliminating hepatitis. Médecins Sans Frontières and Mozambique's Ministry of Health first implemented HCV treatment in Maputo, in 2016 and harm reduction activities in 2017.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed routine data of patients enrolled between December 2016 and July 2021.

Systemic sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis overlap syndrome - management of severe cardiac, pulmonary and articular involvement.

Introduction: The presence of another rheumatological condition in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) is not uncommon. To report a case of a patient with SSc-RA overlap and perform a review of the cases reported in the literature.

Material And Methods: A chart review of the present case report was performed.

Telemedicine compared to standard face-to-face care for continuous positive airway pressure treatment: real-world Australian experience.

Study Objectives: We tested a telemedicine model of care to initiate continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) living in remote Western Australia.

Methods: A prospective study comparing telemedicine for CPAP initiation in a remote population versus standard face-to-face CPAP initiation in a metropolitan population. The primary outcome was average nightly CPAP use in the final week of a CPAP trial.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Anxious and Depressive Symptomatology in the Postpartum Period.

Background: Women in the postpartum period may be particularly vulnerable to the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on postpartum depression and anxiety levels and the role of the fear of COVID-19 in its development. Methods: Women who delivered at the Bissaya Barreto Maternity Hospital, between 16 March and 16 June 2020 (Group 1: Birth in COVID-19 period, n = 207), recruited in the postpartum period, filled in a set of self-reported validated questionnaires: Perinatal Depression Screening Scale, Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale, Profile of Mood States, Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire, Dysfunctional Beliefs Towards Maternity Scale, and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale.

Risk Factors for Infection, Predictors of Severe Disease, and Antibody Response to COVID-19 in Patients With Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases in Portugal-A Multicenter, Nationwide Study.

Objective: To identify risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection and for severe/critical COVID-19, and to assess the humoral response after COVID-19 in these patients.

Methods: Nationwide study of adult patients with inflammatory RMDs prospectively followed in the Rheumatic Diseases Portuguese Register-Reuma.pt-during the first 6 months of the pandemic.

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on MS-Based Proteomics Applied to Human Peripheral Fluids to Assess Potential Biomarkers of Bipolar Disorder.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a clinically heterogeneous condition, presenting a complex underlying etiopathogenesis that is not sufficiently characterized. Without molecular biomarkers being used in the clinical environment, several large screen proteomics studies have been conducted to provide valuable molecular information. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based techniques can be a powerful tool for the identification of disease biomarkers, improving prediction and diagnosis ability.

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Mass Spectrometry Proteomics Applied to Human Peripheral Fluids to Assess Potential Biomarkers of Schizophrenia.

Mass spectrometry (MS)-based techniques can be a powerful tool to identify neuropsychiatric disorder biomarkers, improving prediction and diagnosis ability. Here, we evaluate the efficacy of MS proteomics applied to human peripheral fluids of schizophrenia (SCZ) patients to identify disease biomarkers and relevant networks of biological pathways. Following PRISMA guidelines, a search was performed for studies that used MS proteomics approaches to identify proteomic differences between SCZ patients and healthy control groups (PROSPERO database: CRD42021274183).

Portuguese Version of the Stigma Scale: Preliminary Psychometric Characteristics.

Introduction: Stigma is associated with poor prognosis of illness and reduced help-seeking behavior, self-esteem and treatment compliance. The aims of this study were to study the reliability and construct validity of the King's et al Stigma Scale, and its association with Illness and Help-Seeking Behaviors scale (IHSBS) scores.

Material And Methods: One hundred and forty mental health patients filled out the Stigma scale and the Illness and Help-Seeking Behaviors scale.

ER-mitochondria communication is involved in NLRP3 inflammasome activation under stress conditions in the innate immune system.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, which are key events in the initiation and/or progression of several diseases, are correlated with alterations at ER-mitochondria contact sites, the so-called "Mitochondria-Associated Membranes" (MAMs). These intracellular structures are also implicated in NLRP3 inflammasome activation which is an important driver of sterile inflammation, however, the underlying molecular basis remains unclear. This work aimed to investigate the role of ER-mitochondria communication during ER stress-induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation in both peripheral and central innate immune systems, by using THP-1 human monocytes and BV2 microglia cells, respectively, as in vitro models.