The European project has enjoyed considerable support from both elite and masses in Portugal. Since the country joined the EEC in 1986, the main political parties have been strong supporters of the Europe project. In recent years, however, this has been undermined by both political and economic crises. In this paper, we produce a preliminary analysis of the competition dimensions in the forthcoming 2014 European elections. We make an empirical analysis of the position held by the five most important Portuguese political parties in relation to European integration, the Euro, debt renegotiation, Eurobonds, and changes in pensions in a context that fosters contestation of European integration and its outputs. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion
In: Alcohol and alcoholism: the international journal of the Medical Council on Alcoholism (MCA) and the journal of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (ESBRA), Band 46, Heft 5, S. 558-560
Purpose of the studyThis study intends to characterize a Portuguese patient population with chronic HCV and HIV coinfection, followed at our Research Unit, underline the importance of early treatment and incorporate the importance of DDA for retreatment of HCV infection.MethodsRetrospective, observational analysis of medical records of 348 HCV/HIV coinfected patients from 2001 to 2011. Demographic, epidemiological, clinical and laboratory data and virologic response were collected.Summary of resultsReview of 348 HCV/HIV coinfected patients, 121 of those (34.7%) under treatment, predominantly male (77.0%) and Caucasians (94.8%) with a median age of 44 yrs old (min 25; max 77 yrs). Intravenous drug use was the main route of HCV infection, in 71.3% of patients, and 8.3% were related with MSM. Frequent morbidities were alcohol abuse (46.8%), illicit drug use (70.1%), methadone (25.6%) and mental disturbances (12.3%) of patients. Regarding HIV infection, six were HIV‐2 and 342 HIV‐1; 36.1% were stage A and 29.6% were stage C (CDC Atlanta), 94.8% on antiretroviral treatment and only 21.9% of them with more than 350 TCD4 cell count. Genotype 1 was the most prevalent (58.1%–117 genotype 1a, 26 genotype 1b); 1.6% were genotype 2, 22.8% genotype 3 and 17.5% genotype 4. Previous to treatment initiation, HCV ARN was above 600.000 IU/mL in 56.9% patients. Fibrosis was evaluated by fibroelastography in 41.1% and hepatic biopsy in 26.3% of patients; in those, 44.0% had a score above F2 (METAVIR) and ALT was elevated 2 times the limit in 38.0%, with an average value of 94 UI/L. IL 28B testing was performed in only 35 patients at the time, with 45.7% CC and 17.1% CT genotype. Treatment was started in 34.8% of patients, with 1.7 treatments per individual, and regimen was based on peguilated interferon with ribavirin in 93.6% of cases (72.1% with peginterferon alfa 2a). The SVR rate was 51.2%, with 28.9% non responders, 3 relapsers and 9 treatment interruptions due to major toxicities.ConclusionsOur data presents a low HCV treatment initiation, illustrated by 65.2% patients who did not begin any treatment. The majority completed treatment and the SVR rate was similar to literature. Individualized approach is essential to determine the optimal time to initiate HCV treatment, to assess patient adherence and adverse events management, in order to optimize treatment and reserve DDA drugs to experienced patients with worse predictive factors.
The latest transposition into Portuguese legislation of the European Directive on the energy performance of buildings (EPBD) has considerably increased the requirements for both new buildings and rehabilitation. In old buildings, architectural and existing materials features condition the available solutions. The most effective energetic refurbishment solution often involves identifying and combining strategies that lead to a cost-optimal solution. To identify the best options within the possible lines of action (at the scale of the envelope, passive strategies, equipment, renewable energy systems), in order to optimize the intervention and improve thermal performance and comfort conditions, it is necessary to perceive the real performance of this type of buildings. Therefore, this paper presents the preliminary results of the study on thermal performance and comfort of a set of case studies located in Ovar. Monitoring included the measurement of hygrothermal parameters and surveys on occupants? thermal sensation. ; A última transposição para a legislação portuguesa da diretiva europeia sobre o desempenho energético de edifícios (EPBD), aumentou consideravelmente os requisitos exigidos tanto a edifícios novos como a reabilitações. Nos edifícios antigos, as características arquitetónicas e dos materiais existentes condicionam as soluções disponíveis. A solução de reabilitação energética mais eficaz passa muitas vezes por identificar e combinar estratégias que conduzam à solução de custo-ótimo. Para identificar as melhores opções dentro das linhas de intervenção possíveis (à escala das envolventes; estratégias passivas; equipamentos; sistemas de energia renovável), por forma a otimizar a intervenção e a melhorar o desempenho térmico e as condições de conforto, é necessário perceber o real desempenho deste tipo de edifícios. Neste âmbito, este artigo apresenta os resultados preliminares do estudo de desempenho térmico e de conforto de um conjunto de casos de estudo localizados em Ovar. As monitorizações incluíram a ...
In: Alcohol and alcoholism: the international journal of the Medical Council on Alcoholism (MCA) and the journal of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (ESBRA), Band 38, Heft 1, S. 79-83
Three novel borosilicate bioactive glasses (BBGs) were prepared and used to investigate their bioactive and antibacterial properties. The BBGs were prepared by melt quenching using different glass modifiers, i.e. Mg2+, Ca2+ and Sr2+, and their amorphous nature was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy allowed the visualization of apatite-like structures upon 7 days of immersion in simulated body fluid. BBG-Ca generated surface structures with a Ca/P ratio â 1.67, while the surface of the BBG-Sr was populated with structures with a Sr/P ratio â 1.7. Moreover, bacterial tests showed that the BBG-Mg and BBG-Sr glasses (at concentrations of 9, 18, 36 and 72 mg/mL) present antibacterial characteristics. In particular, BBG-Sr, at concentrations of 9 mg/mL, exhibited bacteriostatic activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and at concentrations â ¥ 18 mg/mL it was able to eradicate this bacterium. These results evidence an antibacterial activity dependent on the BBGs composition, concentration and bacterial species. Cellular studies showed that the developed BBGs do not present statistically significant cytotoxic effect against Saos-2 cells after 3 days of culture showing better performance (in the cases of BBG-Ca and BBG-Sr) than commercial 45S5 Bioglass up to 7 days of culture. Overall, this study demonstrates that BBGs can be effectively designed to combine bioactivity and intrinsic antibacterial activity targeting bone tissue engineering applications. ; The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (Ph.D. grant BD/73162/2010 to JSF); European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007−2013) under Grant No. REGPOT-CT2012-31633-POLARIS to RAP and MM; and QREN project (RL3 − TEC1 − NORTE-01-0124-FEDER000020) cofinanced by North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (ON.2 − O Novo Norte), under the NSRF, through the ERDF (to MM); and the European Research Council under grant agreement ...
Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) signaling plays a key role in learning and memory processes. While the effects of IGF-I on neurons have been studied extensively, the involvement of astrocytes in IGF-I signaling and the consequences on synaptic plasticity and animal behavior remain unknown. We have found that IGF-I induces long-term potentiation (LTP) of the postsynaptic potentials that is caused by a long-term depression of inhibitory synaptic transmission in mice. We have demonstrated that this long-lasting decrease in the inhibitory synaptic transmission is evoked by astrocytic activation through its IGF-I receptors (IGF-IRs). We show that LTP not only increases the output of pyramidal neurons, but also favors the NMDAR-dependent LTP, resulting in the crucial information processing at the barrel cortex since specific deletion of IGF-IR in cortical astrocytes impairs the whisker discrimination task. Our work reveals a novel mechanism and functional consequences of IGF-I signaling on cortical inhibitory synaptic plasticity and animal behavior, revealing that astrocytes are key elements in these processes. ; This work was supported by Grants BFU2016-80802-P from Agencia Estatal de Investigación Spain/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, and from the European Union [Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)] to D.F.d.S.; Grants R01-NS-097312 and R01-DA-048822 from National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to A.A.; and grants from Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED) and Grant SAF2016-76462-C2-1-P from MINECO to I.T.-A. J.A.Z.-V. was supported by the National Council of Science, Technology and Technological Innovation (CONCYTEC, Perú) through the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT, Perú). J.F. received a postdoctoral fellowship from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP; Grants #2017/14742-0 and #2019/03368-5). We thank the University of Minnesota Viral Vector and Cloning Core for production of some of the viral vectors used in this study; and Dr. G. Perea and Dr. Washington Buño for helpful comments.
Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) signaling plays a key role in learning and memory processes. While the effects of IGF-I on neurons have been studied extensively, the involvement of astrocytes in IGF-I signaling and the consequences on synaptic plasticity and animal behavior remain unknown. We have found that IGF-I induces long-term potentiation (LTP) of the postsynaptic potentials that is caused by a long-term depression of inhibitory synaptic transmission in mice. We have demonstrated that this long-lasting decrease in the inhibitory synaptic transmission is evoked by astrocytic activation through its IGF-I receptors (IGF-IRs). We show that LTP not only increases the output of pyramidal neurons, but also favors the NMDAR-dependent LTP, resulting in the crucial information processing at the barrel cortex since specific deletion of IGF-IR in cortical astrocytes impairs the whisker discrimination task. Our work reveals a novel mechanism and functional consequences of IGF-I signaling on cortical inhibitory synaptic plasticity and animal behavior, revealing that astrocytes are key elements in these processes. ; This work was supported by Grants BFU2016-80802-P from Agencia Estatal de Investigación Spain/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, and from the European Union [Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)] to D.F.d.S.; Grants R01-NS-097312 and R01-DA-048822 from National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to A.A.; and grants from Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED) and Grant SAF2016-76462-C2-1-P from MINECO to I.T.-A. J.A.Z.-V. was supported by the National Council of Science, Technology and Technological Innovation (CONCYTEC, Perú) through the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FONDECYT, Perú). J.F. received a postdoctoral fellowship from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP; Grants #2017/14742-0 and #2019/03368-5). We thank the University of Minnesota ...
Published Article ; Robots are increasingly being used in the industry. Businesses that use robots can produce products and provide services at lower costs and with higher quality. Some industries, like automotive manufacturing, have become dependent on robots. The impact of robots on society and the greater economy is not clear. Robots threaten the jobs of lowskilled workers and even middle-skilled workers. While researchers and governments are trying to understand the impact of robots on the economy, it is commonly accepted that robots will be used more widely across all industries. With this in mind, it is useful to consider the current research in robotics at South African research institutions. This paper is such a review. It is not exhaustive, but it provides a sense of the robotics research being done in South African research institutions. It appears that research institutions do not work on common themes, yet many research groups relate their work to Industry 4.0. The review suggests that each research group is working on topics of interest to them. The implication of this is that a wide variety of robotic themes are being researched in South Africa.