A review of the order mysida in marine ecosystems: What we know what is yet to be known.

Mysids have a high ecological importance, particularly by their role in marine food chains as a link between the benthic and pelagic realms. Here we describe the relevant taxonomy, ecological aspects such as distribution and production, and their potential as ideal test organisms for environmental research. We also highlight their importance in estuarine communities, trophic webs, and their life history, while demonstrating their potential in addressing emergent problems. This review emphasizes the importance of mysids in understanding the impacts of climate change and their role in the ecology of estuarine communities. Although there is a dearth of research in genomic studies, this review emphasizes the relevance of mysids and their potential as a model organism in environmental assessment studies of prospective or retrospective nature and highlights the need for further research to enhance our understanding of this group's ecological significance.

An affinity-enhanced, broadly neutralizing heavy chain-only antibody protects against SARS-CoV-2 infection in animal models.

Broadly neutralizing antibodies are an important treatment for individuals with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Antibody-based therapeutics are also essential for pandemic preparedness against future Sarbecovirus outbreaks. Camelid-derived single domain antibodies (VHHs) exhibit potent antimicrobial activity and are being developed as SARS-CoV-2­neutralizing antibody-like therapeutics. Here, we identified VHHs that neutralize both SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2, including now circulating variants. We observed that the VHHs bound to a highly conserved epitope in the receptor binding domain of the viral spike protein that is difficult to access for human antibodies. Structure-guided molecular modeling, combined with rapid yeast-based prototyping, resulted in an affinity enhanced VHH-human immunoglobulin G1 Fc fusion molecule with subnanomolar neutralizing activity. This VHH-Fc fusion protein, produced in and purified from cultured Chinese hamster ovary cells, controlled SARS-CoV-2 replication in prophylactic and therapeutic settings in mice expressing human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 and in hamsters infected with SARS-CoV-2. These data led to affinity-enhanced selection of the VHH, XVR011, a stable anti­COVID-19 biologic that is now being evaluated in the clinic.

The Modified Caregiver Strain Index: Portuguese version.

The Modified Caregiver Strain Index is a widely used tool to screen for caregiver strain in family caregivers. This study presents the Portuguese version of the Modified Caregiver Strain Index and explores its psychometric properties in a sample of 347 informal caregivers of older dependent individuals. Factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure and indicated satisfactory internal consistency. Criterion-related validity was supported by positive significant correlations with the emotional health of the caregiver (psychological distress). The findings show evidence of reliability and validity of the Portuguese version of the Modified Caregiver Strain Index encouraging its use in clinical and research fields.

Consumo de bebidas alcoólicas durante a gravidez / Consumption of alcoholic beverages during pregnancy

O consumo de bebidas alcoólicas está presente na história da humanidade há milhares de anos. Estes dados referentes ao consumo de álcool nas mulheres em idade fértil levam ao questionamento sobre o risco de ocorrência de gravidezes, expostas ao álcool (Balsa, Vidal e Urbano, 2014), uma vez que não está ainda definido qual a quantidade máxima que uma mulher grávida pode consumir de álcool, sem este ter um efeito teratogénico. O consumo excessivo de álcool, na gravidez, está associado ao Síndrome Alcoólico Fetal (SAF). Este estudo tem como objectivos, determinar a prevalência do consumo de bebidas alcoólicas durante a gravidez em utentes do Centro Hospitalar do Algarve, E.P.E.; caracterizar o consumo de bebidas alcoólicas durante a gravidez nesta população e caracterizar os fatores demográficos e referentes à última gravidez na mesma população. O tratamento de toda a informação recolhida através dos questionários foi realizado por computador através do programa Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Neste estudo, a amostra foi constituída por 135 puérperas, que estavam internadas no serviço de obstetrícia do Centro Hospitalar do Algarve, E.P.E, unidade de Faro, em que 17,8% das inquiridas respondeu que consumiu bebidas alcoólicas durante a gravidez. 58,4% das puérperas que consumiram bebidas alcoólicas durante a gravidez, acha que é seguro beber um copo por semana de qualquer bebida alcoólica e apenas 20,8% acha que nenhuma quantidade é segura. Dados preocupantes tendo em conta que ainda não é conhecido o limiar de segurança de quantidade de álcool que não provoca alterações no feto.

Chronic stress disrupts neural coherence between cortico-limbic structures.

Chronic stress impairs cognitive function, namely on tasks that rely on the integrity of cortico-limbic networks. To unravel the functional impact of progressive stress in cortico-limbic networks we measured neural activity and spectral coherences between the ventral hippocampus (vHIP) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in rats subjected to short term stress (STS) and chronic unpredictable stress (CUS). CUS exposure consistently disrupted the spectral coherence between both areas for a wide range of frequencies, whereas STS exposure failed to trigger such effect. The chronic stress-induced coherence decrease correlated inversely with the vHIP power spectrum, but not with the mPFC power spectrum, which supports the view that hippocampal dysfunction is the primary event after stress exposure. Importantly, we additionally show that the variations in vHIP-to-mPFC coherence and power spectrum in the vHIP correlated with stress-induced behavioral deficits in a spatial reference memory task. Altogether, these findings result in an innovative readout to measure, and follow, the functional events that underlie the stress-induced reference memory impairments.