Instituto Politécnico da Guarda

The aim of this study was to evaluate beliefs about and attitudes towards COVID-19 booster vaccination among subjects who had received the complete vaccination schedule but had not received the booster. We conducted a qualitative study using online focus groups made up of participants from all parts of Spain who had received the primary vaccination schedule but had subsequently refused any of the booster doses. Individuals were recruited by snowball sampling. The study used 5 focus groups having a total of 30 participants. The thematic analysis identified 10 themes and 32 subthemes. Gynaecological problems and long-term adverse effects were associated with booster hesitancy. Participants perceived the vaccine as less necessary, as they considered it incapable of halting transmission and believed that the risk was much lower than at the onset of the pandemic. Rapid development of the COVID vaccine as compared to that of traditional vaccines, coupled with continuous changes in information, generated distrust and contributed to booster vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine hesitancy can appear at any time and with any vaccine despite its evident public health benefits, as is the case of COVID-19 booster doses. Policy-makers should therefore focus on generating trust and responsibility when it comes to booster vaccinations.

Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) and CPAP can be initiated either at home or in a sleep laboratory, aiming to optimize adherence and outcomes. Home initiation offers convenience and lower costs, while lab initiation ensures close monitoring. Evidence on whether adaptation site affects long-term adherence, efficacy, or survival is limited. We retrospectively analyzed patients initiated on NIV/CPAP during hospital admission in 2024, classified by adaptation site (home vs lab). Outcomes were adherence (≥4 h/night, mean hours), efficacy (residual AHI, mean SpO₂, T90), and mortality. Group comparisons used chi-square or Mann-Whitney. Of 157 patients (mean age 69.3 years, 54.1% male; 56.7% OSA, 35.7% non-OSA), 86 (54.8%) were adapted at home and 71 (45.2%) in-lab. Lab patients had more nightly use hours (8.0 vs 5.0 h, p<0.001). Adherence ≥4 h/night was 79% in-lab vs 61% at home (p=0.065). Residual AHI was similar at home vs lab (1.2/h vs 1.4/h, p=0.815); normalization (AHI<5/h) occurred in 83% vs 76% (p=0.456). Mean SpO₂ did not differ (89.9% at home vs 86.5% in lab, p=0.512). T90 was worse in lab patients (70% vs 31%, p<0.001), likely reflecting underlying disease. Mortality was 10% at home vs 12% in-lab (p=0.81). Kaplan–Meier analysis showed no survival difference (log-rank p=0.79). In this real-world cohort, home and lab adaptation yielded comparable outcomes. Lab adaptation was linked to higher nightly use, but rates of adherence ≥4 h/night, residual AHI correction, oxygenation, and mortality were similar. These findings suggest that home adaptation is safe and effective for selected patients, while lab adaptation remains important for patients with complex respiratory disease.

Infectious thyroiditis is a rare condition, and it is more prevalent in children due to anatomical abnormalities. The main cause is the presence of a pyriform sinus fistula derived from the remnants of the third or fourth branchial arch. This article presents a case of a five-year-old boy with infectious thyroiditis complicated by a cervical abscess. Despite temporary improvement with oral antibiotics, the complaints recurred, and a new course of intravenous antibiotic therapy was necessary. A cervical ultrasound, MRI, and direct laryngoscopy were performed in order to diagnose an anatomical malformation. It was only during surgery that the existence of a fourth branchial arch fistula was observed, complicated by an infected prethyroidal cyst and proximity thyroiditis. After surgery, the patient was discharged and followed up in the pediatric endocrinology consultation, with particular attention to growth, intellectual development, thyroid function, and imaging. This case underscores the importance of thorough imaging of infectious thyroiditis to find out the underlying cause and its surgical resolution to prevent complications and ensure proper thyroid function.

In today's world, cancer remains a major public health problem. Consequently, there has been a focused investigation of alternative therapeutic approaches to address this ongoing health concern. In this study, PLGA-gold nanomaterials were produced through various processes to determine whether these variations affected their structural integrity and, consequently, their physicochemical properties. The PLGA-gold nanomaterials were produced through an oil-in-water (O/W) process (Formulation A) or a water-in-oil-in-water (W1/O/W2) process (Formulation B). The nanomaterials' physiscochemical properties were characterized by electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and UV-vis. Photothermal studies were performed using a 808 nm NIR laser and the PLGA-gold nanomaterials cytocompatibility was evaluated using resazurin. Both methods originated particles with similar size and charge, 276.8 and -19.6 mV for formulation A and 317.5 nm and -18.6 mV for formulation B. Nevertheless, the TEM images revealed structural differences, with formulation A presenting the gold spheres clustered in the particle nucleus, whereas in formulation B the gold spheres were found in the outer PLGA shell. Moreover, upon irradiation with a NIR laser (808 nm, 1.7 W cm-2, 10 min), the particles showed a concentration dependent photothermal effect, promoting a temperature increase of 21 °C and 13.9 °C for formulation A and B at 400 μg/mL, respectively. Additionally, preliminary cellular assays demonstrated that the PLGA-gold nanoparticles are cytocompatible, with both FibH and HeLa cells exhibiting a cellular viability of approximately 100%. Thus, these results underline the potential the PLGA-gold nanoparticles, particularly formulation A, for advanced applications in nanomedicine. In the future the encapsulation of drugs will be evaluated in order to characterise both the uptake and the cytotoxic capacity of this multifunctional nanomaterial. Additionally, the utilization of more complex in vitro models, such as tumor spheroids and animal models, will then be essential to determine the therapeutic potential of PLGA/gold nanoparticles.

Abstract The dissemination of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has altered how society functions, creating the denominated information society. Consequently, digital technologies are significantly reducing information asymmetries between customers and providers. The evolving of internet-based applications improves marketing efforts by enabling organisations to implement innovative forms of communication besides moving for ‘co-creating’ content with customers. Digital marketing strategies offer marketers new ways to cultivate customer relationships, which can lead to increased customer loyalty. This is important because the effects of customer loyalty on health and wellness profitability are known to be significant. Therefore, this study discusses the digital marketing strategies that health and wellness tourism organisations must master to ‘conquer’ and retain customers. Considering that, a semi-systematic secondary research method was used based on the existing literature. This method explores digital marketing and how it can be adapted to the sector of health and wellness tourism. Essentially, this first stage consists of a reflexive work that uses different approaches and meanings to define conceptual analytical dimensions. The second stage consisted of an overview on Southern Europe real-world examples analyses; considering its possible contribution to consolidating our results and questioning, our option was taken. This chapter formulates a series of recommendations for the sector that may help improve decision-making in the digital marketing implementation and practice of digital marketing. The study also contributes to address the existing lack of literature. We conclude the chapter by identifying, providing and discussing possible avenues for future research.

Background: Evidence suggests that physical activity and fitness tend to decline during the transition to higher education, yet the influence of institutional environment on these variables remains unclear. Objectives: This study aimed to compare physical fitness and physical activity levels between first-year students from two higher education institutions within the same national context. Methods: Fifty-eight male university students (IPB (Instituto Politécnico de Bragança): n = 31; IPG (Instituto Politécnico da Guarda): n = 27; mean age IPB = 19.2 ± 1.8 years; IPG = 19.8 ± 5.5 years) were assessed for body composition, handgrip strength, mid-thigh pull, standing long jump, stork balance, flexibility, and estimated VO2max (StepTest4all). Physical activity levels were determined using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and were classified as low, moderate, or high. Between-group comparisons were performed using independent samples t-tests, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Results: Students from IPB presented significantly higher IPAQ scores (2.97 ± 0.18) compared with those from IPG (2.56 ± 0.64; t = 3.235, p = 0.003, d = 0.90), along with superior standing long jump performance (1.95 ± 0.15 m vs. 2.12 ± 0.24 m; t = −3.239, p = 0.002, d = 0.85). No significant differences were observed for body composition, strength, flexibility, balance, psychological well-being or VO2max (all p > 0.05), although small effects were noted for flexibility (d = 0.50) and VO2max (d = 0.48). The distribution of physical activity categories revealed that 96.8% of IPB students were classified as highly active, whereas IPG students were more evenly distributed across high (63.0%), moderate (28.6%), and low (7.4%) activity levels. Conclusions: These findings indicate that institutional environment and access to exercise opportunities may influence physical activity behavior and lower-limb power in university students. Promoting structured physical activity programs and recreational opportunities within higher education may help sustain adequate fitness and health in this population.

Immersive didactic resources have been gaining popularity, with researchers and educators seeking to align their practices with students’ affinity for technology. Digital Game-based Learning (DGBL) has emerged as a promising learning opportunity, occupying a prominent place in the global discussion about the modernisation of education. This stems from the benefits of educational video games, namely their ability to foster learner engagement, an igniter of meaningful learning experiences. Nonetheless, their use and rigorous assessment in Humanities subjects, in interventions where secondary education students co-design didactic material, remain a gap in current investigation. There is also a tendency for research to describe standardised instruments for each subject. As such, this study seeks to describe instruments specifically created to assess students’ level of engagement in co-designing a type of story-driven video games – Visual Novels – in the context of Literary Education. The underlying goal is to present tools that evaluate actions devoted to engaging students in a domain which is often perceived as demotivating. The resulting instruments will be used in a case study aimed at fostering Portuguese secondary education learners’ engagement in Literary Education by having them co-design educational Visual Novels inspired by a Portuguese classic literary work, “Os Maias” by Eça de Queirós. To meet our goals, we subjected two questionnaires (pre- and post-intervention) and a class observation grid to a qualitative analysis. We considered the feedback of a multidisciplinary team of experts and implemented their suggested changes. Afterwards, we conducted a pretest of the first questionnaire with a sample of students, obtaining their feedback and calculating Cronbach’s alpha for measuring reliability. The second questionnaire, identical to the first but centred on the upcoming video game intervention was not pretested. Experts and students’ perspectives suggested a favourable appraisal of the instruments, while contributing to its improvement. Concerning the questionnaire, the Cronbach’s alpha obtained is above 0.7, implying a high level of consistency among items. By making these instruments available, we endeavour to promote more efforts of implementation of rigorously designed activities destined to the co-design of video games in the field of Humanities.