The Impact of Motivational Interviewing and MOTIVE Tool Use by Pharmacists on Vaccine Acceptance.

Vaccines have played a significant role in reducing infectious disease burden. However, vaccine hesitancy remains a persistent challenge in public health, including for pharmacists who often interact with patients regarding vaccines. Thus, this study assesses the impact of motivational interviewing (MI) training and the MI-based vaccine hesitancy discussion tools (MOTIVE) on pharmacists' management of vaccine hesitancy.

Discarded substrates from soilless hydroponic horticulture as potential amendments for metal-contaminated soils.

Soil contamination with metals is a major threat for the environment and public health since most metals are toxic to humans and to non-human biota, even at low concentrations. Thus, new sustainable remediation approaches are currently needed to immobilize metals in soils to decrease their mobility and bioavailability. In this work, we explore the application of discarded substrates from hydroponic cultivation, namely coconut shell and a mixture of coconut shell and pine bark, for immobilization of metals (Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb, Hg, Sb and As) in a naturally contaminated soil from a mining region in Portugal.

Meaningful Connections: Exploring the Relationship Between Empathy and Professional Identity Formation.

Objective: To describe the literature on the connections between empathy and professional identity formation (PIF) in pharmacy and other health professions education. A PRISMA-Scoping Review methodology was used for this study. Searches were conducted in PubMed and CINAHL from 2010 to January 12, 2023, with English added as a limiter.

Unravelling the combined impacts of drought and Cu in barley plants - double trouble?

The occurrence of drought in soils, particularly in those contaminated by metals, poses a current threat to crops, as these factors can interact and induce unique stress responses. Therefore, this study mainly focused on understanding the crosstalk between drought and copper (Cu) stress in the physiology of the barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) plant.

Beach wrack: Discussing ecological roles, risks, and sustainable bioenergy and agricultural applications.

The equilibrium of the marine ecosystem is currently threatened by several constraints, among which climate change and anthropogenic activities stand out. Indeed, these factors favour the growth of macroalgae, which sometimes end up stranded on the beaches at the end of their life cycle, forming what is known as beach wrack. Despite its undeniable important ecological role on beaches, as it is an important source of organic matter (OM), and provides food and habitat for several invertebrates, reptiles, small mammals, and shorebirds, the overaccumulation of beach wrack is often associated with the release of greenhouse gases, negatively impacting tourist activities, and generating economic expenses for its removal.

Nanobiopesticides: Are they the future of phytosanitary treatments in modern agriculture?

The world's population is continuously increasing; therefore, food availability will be one of the major concerns of our future. In addition to that, many practices and products used, such as pesticides and fertilizers have been shown harmful to the environment and human health and are assumed as being one of the main factors responsible for the loss of biodiversity. Also, climate change could agravate the problem since it causes unpredictable variation of local and regional climate conditions,which frequently favor the growth of diseases, pathogens and pest growth.

A methodology for the systematic identification of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM).

Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) are present worldwide and under certain circumstances (e.g., human activities) may give radiation exposure to workers, local public or occasional visitors and non-human biota (NHB) of the surrounding ecosystems.

Preparation, Characterization, and Environmental Safety Assessment of Dithiocarbazate Loaded Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles.

Dithiocarbazates comprise an important class of Schiff bases with remarkable biological applications due to the imine group present in their structure. However, full exploitation of the biological activity of 3-methyl-5-phenyl-pyrazoline-1-(-benzyldithiocarbazate) (DTC) is limited due to its easy degradation and poor solubility in aqueous solutions. The loading of DTC into mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSiNPs) can be an excellent strategy to improve the solubility of DTC in the aqueous medium.

Untargeted metabolomic profiling of fresh and dried leaf extracts of young and mature trees indicates differences in the presence of specialized metabolites.

Aqueous extracts from leaves contain a wide variety of specialized metabolites, mainly polyphenols and appreciable amounts of volatile compounds, which are responsible for their diverse biological activities, such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, and allelopathic features. For this reason, several studies have been conducted to explore the composition of leaf extracts for multiple therapeutic and commercial applications. However, so far, the available bibliographic reports only refer to the chemical composition of extracts prepared with leaves from mature trees, leaving much to clarify about the composition of juvenile eucalyptus leaf extracts.

Ecotoxicological relevance of glyphosate and flazasulfuron to soil habitat and retention functions - Single vs combined exposures.

Glyphosate (GLY) and flazasulfuron (FLA) are two non-selective herbicides commonly applied together. However, research focused on their single and combined ecotoxicological impacts towards non-target organisms is still inconclusive. Therefore, this study aimed to test their single effects on soil's habitat and retention functions, and to unravel their combined impacts to earthworms and terrestrial plants.

Environmental Safety Assessments of Lipid Nanoparticles Loaded with Lambda-Cyhalothrin.

Lipid nanoparticles (LN) composed of biodegradable lipids and produced by green methods are candidates for the encapsulation of pesticides, potentially contributing to decreasing their release in the environment. From a safety-by-design concept, this work proposes LN for the encapsulation of insecticide active ingredients (AI). However, given the complexity of nanoparticles, ecotoxicological studies are often controversial, and a detailed investigation of their effects on the environment is required.

Nano-FeO as a tool to restore plant growth in contaminated soils - Assessment of potentially toxic elements (bio)availability and redox homeostasis in Hordeum vulgare L.

This work aimed to evaluate the potential of FeO nanoparticles (nano-FeO) to alleviate potentially toxic elements (PTEs) - induced stress in barley plants (Hordeum vulgare L.), focusing on bioaccumulation patterns and on plant growth and redox homeostasis. To achieve this goal, plants grew in two agricultural soils, contaminated by different levels of PTEs, collected from an industrial area, previously amended, or not, with 1% (w/w) nano-FeO.

Foliar Application of Sodium Nitroprusside Boosts L. Tolerance to Glyphosate by Preventing Redox Disorders and Stimulating Herbicide Detoxification Pathways.

Strategies to minimize the effects of glyphosate (GLY), the most used herbicide worldwide, on non-target plants need to be developed. In this context, the current study was designed to evaluate the potential of nitric oxide (NO), provided as 200 µM sodium nitroprusside (SNP), to ameliorate GLY (10 mg kg soil) phytotoxicity in tomato plants. Upon herbicide exposure, plant development was majorly inhibited in shoots and roots, followed by a decrease in flowering and fruit set; however, the co-application of NO partially prevented these symptoms, improving plant growth.

Silicon Improves the Redox Homeostasis to Alleviate Glyphosate Toxicity in Tomato Plants-Are Nanomaterials Relevant?

Given the widespread use of glyphosate (GLY), this agrochemical is becoming a source of contamination in agricultural soils, affecting non-target plants. Therefore, sustainable strategies to increase crop tolerance to GLY are needed. From this perspective and recalling silicon (Si)'s role in alleviating different abiotic stresses, the main goal of this study was to assess if the foliar application of Si, either as bulk or nano forms, is capable of enhancing L.

Herbicidal Effects and Cellular Targets of Aqueous Extracts from Young Labill. Leaves.

Labill. is a widespread exotic species that contributes to the formation of fire-prone environments, a great concern under climate change conditions. Therefore, sustainable practices to help locals managing eucalyptus stands are needed.

Development of an ecotoxicological test procedure for soil microalgae.

Since the 80s, ISO and OECD organizations have been developing guidelines for assessing the toxicity of new and existing chemical substances to soil biota. Up to now, any of these guidelines had soil algae as test organisms. Nevertheless, microalgae are relevant components of soil microbial communities and soil biological crusts (BSC) with a great contribution to different soil functions and ecosystem services.

Ecotoxicity to Freshwater Organisms and Cytotoxicity of Nanomaterials: Are We Generating Sufficient Data for Their Risk Assessment?

The aim of the present study was to investigate the eco-cytotoxicity of several forms of nanomaterials (NM), such as nano-CuO, nano-TiO, nano-SiO and nano-ZnO, on different aquatic species (, and ) following standard protocols and on human cell lines (Caco-2, SV-80, HepG2 and HaCaT). Predicted no-effect concentrations (PNEC) or hazard concentrations for 5% of the species (HC) were also estimated based on the compilation of data available in the literature. Most of the NM agglomerated strongly in the selected culture media.

Application of a standard risk assessment scheme to a North Africa contaminated site (Sfax, Tunisia) -Tier 1.

Phosphorus is a critical element to agriculture, consequently global phosphate rock demand will remain rising to feed a growing world population. The beneficiation of phosphorous ore gives rise to several tons of a waste by-product [phosphogypsum (PG)] which valorisation is limited, within other reasons, by the risks posed to environment and human health. Although threatening, the accumulation in stacks is the only procedure so far practiced by several countries as a means to get rid of this industrial externality.

Potential of Eucalyptus globulus for the phytoremediation of metals in a Moroccan iron mine soil-a case study.

The contamination left by abandoned mines demands sustainable mitigation measures. Hence, the aim of this study was to examine the phytoremediator ability of Eucalyptus globulus Labill. to be used for cleaning up metal-contaminated soils from an African abandoned iron (Fe) mine (Ait Ammar, Oued Zem, Morocco).

Glyphosate-dependent effects on photosynthesis of Solanum lycopersicum L.-An ecophysiological, ultrastructural and molecular approach.

This study aimed to assess the toxicity of glyphosate (GLY; 0, 10, 20 and 30 mg kg) in Solanum lycopersicum L., particularly focusing on the photosynthetic metabolism. By combining ecophysiological, ultrastructural, biochemical and molecular tools, the results revealed that the exposure of tomato plants to GLY led to alterations in leaf water balance regulation [increasing stomatal conductance (g) and decreasing water use efficiency (WUE) at higher concentrations] and induced slight alterations in the structural integrity of cells, mainly in chloroplasts, accompanied by a loss of cell viability.

Chemical availability versus bioavailability of potentially toxic elements in mining and quarry soils.

Abandoned mining and quarry areas are sources of potentially toxic elements (PTEs), through lixiviates or transfer processes of bioavailable fractions from mining wastes and tailings. In this study, earthworms (Eisenia fetida Savigny, 1826) were exposed for 28 days to two mining soils from a lead/zinc mine and two quarry soils from an old serpentine quarry. Despite their pseudo total metal contents, a previous characterization of these soils pointed out for a low chemical availability of PTEs.

The critical role of the dispersant agents in the preparation and ecotoxicity of nanomaterial suspensions.

This work reports the role of different dispersants, namely, polyethylene glycol (PEG 200 2%), ethylene glycol 5%, ethanol 2%, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO 5%), and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA 5%) in the toxicity profile of several commercial nanomaterials (NM), such as hydrophilic and hydrophobic TiO, hydrophilic SiO, SiO in aqueous suspension (aq), and ZnO towards the bioluminescent bacterium Aliivibrio fischeri. The majority of NM showed tendency to form agglomerates in the different dispersants. Although some particle agglomeration could be detected, DMSO at 5% was the best dispersant for hydrophobic TiO NM while PVA at 5% was the most effective dispersant for the other types of NM.

The influence of salinization on seed germination and plant growth under mono and polyculture.

Sea level rise induced-salinization is lowering coastal soils productivity. In order to assess the effects that increased salinity may provoke in terrestrial plants, using as model species: Trifolium pratense, Lolium perenne, Festuca arundinacea and Vicia sativa, two specific objectives were targeted: i) to determine the sensitivity of the selected plant species to increased salinity (induced by seawater-SW or by NaCl, proposed as a surrogate of SW) and, ii) to assess the influence of salinization in total biomass under different agricultural practices (mono- or polycultures). The four plant species exhibited a higher sensitivity to NaCl than to SW.

Dataset of the preparation and characterization of an artificial sludge for ecotoxicological purposes.

This work describes the protocol developed for preparing an artificial digested sludge to be used for the ecotoxicological evaluation and risk assessment of chemical substances that are previewed to attain the soil through sewage sludge applications for fertilization (e.g. pharmaceutical compounds).