Suchergebnisse

UID/PAM/00417/201 ; This essay aims at presenting a historical study about one of the most significant artistic event during the Portuguese dictatorship in the twentieth century. We examine how, in that political and artistic context, a range of ten exhibitions – Exposições Gerais de Artes Plásticas (General Exhibitions of Plastic Arts) – designed and made by a new generation of artists who opposed the authoritarian government and wanted to transform the country through art and culture accessible to all, marks the Portuguese artistic and political panorama; in particular, as the Second General Exhibition of Fine Arts which occurred in the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes (National Society of Fine Arts) in 1947 in Lisbon becomes a symbol, probably the greatest symbol of political repression and censorship in the creation and exhibition of visual arts during the years of dictatorship in Portugal. The confiscation of art works in this exhibition, all of them with a markedly social realist figuration, and the sequent interrogations to opposition artists by the political police of the regime, while denoting an exercise of power by the authorities, also patent emblematically an attitude of resistance and onslaught of the united front of the artists against the Estado Novo (New State). ; publishersversion ; published

Image classification stands as an essential tool for automated mapping, that is demanded by agencies and stakeholders dealing with geospatial information. Decreasing costs or UAV-based surveying and open access to high resolution satellite images such as that provided by European Union's Copernicus programme are the basis for multi-temporal landscape analysis and monitoring. Besides that, invasive alien species are considered a risk for biodiversity and their inventory is needed for further control and eradication. In this work, a methodology for semi-automatic detection of invasive alien species through UAV surveying and Sentinel 2 satellite monitoring is presented and particularized for Acacia dealbata Link species in the province of Pontevedra, in NW Spain. We selected a scenario with notable invasion of Acaciae and performed a UAS surveying to outline feasible training areas. Such areas were used as bounds for obtaining a spectral response of the cover from Sentinel 2 images with a level of processing 2A, that was used for invasive area detection. Sparse detected areas were treated as a seed for a region growing step to obtain the final map of alien species.

Image classification stands as an essential tool for automated mapping, that is demanded by agencies and stakeholders dealing with geospatial information. Decreasing costs or UAV-based surveying and open access to high resolution satellite images such as that provided by European Union's Copernicus programme are the basis for multi-temporal landscape analysis and monitoring. Besides that, invasive alien species are considered a risk for biodiversity and their inventory is needed for further control and eradication. In this work, a methodology for semi-automatic detection of invasive alien species through UAV surveying and Sentinel 2 satellite monitoring is presented and particularized for Acacia dealbata Link species in the province of Pontevedra, in NW Spain. We selected a scenario with notable invasion of Acaciae and performed a UAS surveying to outline feasible training areas. Such areas were used as bounds for obtaining a spectral response of the cover from Sentinel 2 images with a level of processing 2A, that was used for invasive area detection. Sparse detected areas were treated as a seed for a region growing step to obtain the final map of alien species.

Cisplatin-based chemotherapeutic regimens are the most frequently used (neo)adjuvant treatments for the majority of solid tumors. While platinum-based chemotherapeutic regimens have proven effective against highly proliferative malignant tumors, significant relapse and progression rates as well as decreased overall survival are still observed. Currently, it is known that sub-populations of chemoresistant cells share biological properties with cancer stem cells (CSC), which are believed to be responsible for tumor relapse, invasion and ultimately disease dissemination through acquisition of mesenchymal cell traits. In spite of concentrated efforts devoted to decipher the mechanisms underlying CSC chemoresistance and to design targeted therapeutics to these cells, proteomics has failed to unveil molecular signatures capable of distinguishing between malignant and non-malignant stem cells. This has hampered substantial developments in this complex field. Envisaging a novel rationale for an effective therapy, the current review summarizes the main cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying cisplatin resistance and the impact of chemotherapy challenge in CSC selection and clinical outcome. It further emphasizes the growing amount of data supporting a role for protein glycosylation in drug resistance. The dynamic and context-dependent nature of protein glycosylation is also comprehensively discussed, hence highlighting its potentially important role as a biomarker of CSC. As the paradigm of cancer therapeutics shifts towards precision medicine and patient-tailored therapeutics, we bring into focus the need to introduce glycomics and glycoproteomics in holistic pan-omics models, in order to integrate diverse, multimodal and clinically relevant information towards more effective cancer therapeutics. ; This work was supported by European Union funds (FEDER/COMPETE) and by national funds (FCT, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) under the projects with the references FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER 028188 (PTDC/BBB-EBI/0786/2012) and PTDC/BBB-EBI/0567/2014. C.R. acknowledges the support by Gastric Glyco Explorer Initial Training Network (Seventh Framework Programme grant no. 316929). IPATIMUP integrates the i3S Research Unit, which is partially supported by FCT, (PEst-C/SAU/LA0003/2013). Grants were received from FCT: SFRH/BPD/111048/2015 to J.A.F and SFRH/BD/111242/2015 to A.P. FCT is co-financed by European Social Fund (ESF) under Human Potential Operation Programme (POPH) from National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF).

There is a complex relation between roads and fires. Several major wildfires were ignited near to roads (Morrison 2007) and how they progressed is an important role to understand the importance to forest management in this environment. Nowadays, a sustainable forest management is necessary both for environment and politics. One of the reasons of road management is that these infrastructures provide an effective firewall in case of forest fires and an escape route for the population. Forest management optimization in road surroundings would improve wildfires prevention and mitigate their effects. One of the main indicators of road safety is the distance between road and vegetation. The aim of this work is to develop a methodology to determine what areas do not obey current laws about safety distances between forest and roads. The acquisition of LiDAR data is done by Lynx Mobile Mapper System from University of Vigo. The methodology is automated using LiDAR data processing. The developed algorithms are based in height and length segmentation of the road. The objective is classifying vegetation groups by height and calculate the distance to the edges of road. The vegetation is divided in groups of height of 5, 10, 15 and 30 m. The minimum distance calculation is 2 m, for the vegetation of 5 m height and a maximum of 60 m for vegetation 30 m height. The height of vegetation has a directly relation with the distance separation with the road.

There is a complex relation between roads and fires. Several major wildfires were ignited near to roads (Morrison 2007) and how they progressed is an important role to understand the importance to forest management in this environment. Nowadays, a sustainable forest management is necessary both for environment and politics. One of the reasons of road management is that these infrastructures provide an effective firewall in case of forest fires and an escape route for the population. Forest management optimization in road surroundings would improve wildfires prevention and mitigate their effects. One of the main indicators of road safety is the distance between road and vegetation. The aim of this work is to develop a methodology to determine what areas do not obey current laws about safety distances between forest and roads. The acquisition of LiDAR data is done by Lynx Mobile Mapper System from University of Vigo. The methodology is automated using LiDAR data processing. The developed algorithms are based in height and length segmentation of the road. The objective is classifying vegetation groups by height and calculate the distance to the edges of road. The vegetation is divided in groups of height of 5, 10, 15 and 30 m. The minimum distance calculation is 2 m, for the vegetation of 5 m height and a maximum of 60 m for vegetation 30 m height. The height of vegetation has a directly relation with the distance separation with the road.

Cardiac dysfunction secondary to cancer may exert a negative impact in patients' tolerance to therapeutics, quality of life, and survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential therapeutic effect of exercise training on the heart in the setting of cancer, after diagnosis. Thus, the molecular pathways harbored in heart mitochondria from a murine model of chemically-induced urothelial carcinoma submitted to 8-weeks of high intensity treadmill exercise were characterized using mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Data highlight the protective effects of high intensity exercise training in preventing left ventricle diastolic dysfunction, fibrosis, and structural derangement observed in tumor-bearing mice. At the mitochondrial level, exercise training counteracted the lower ability to produce ATP observed in the heart of animals with urothelial carcinoma and induced the up-regulation of fatty acid oxidation and down-regulation of the biological process "cardiac morphogenesis". Taken together, our data support the prescription of exercise training after cancer diagnosis for the management of disease-related cardiac dysfunction. ; This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), European Union, QREN, FEDER and COMPETE for funding the QOPNA (UID/QUI/00062/2013), CIAFEL (UID/DTP/00617/2013), iBiMED (UID/BIM/04501/2013), Unidade de Investigação Cardiovascular (UID/IC/00051/2013) research units and the research projects (EXPL/DTP-DES/1010/2013, FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-041115, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007628). R.V. and D.M.G. are supported by individual fellowship grants (IF/00286/2015 and SFRH/BPD/90010/2012, respectively). The authors would like to thank Celeste Resende for their assistance in sample preparation for morphological analysis.

Background Terminal a2-3 and a2-6 sialylation of glycans precludes further chain elongation, leading to the biosynthesis of cancer relevant epitopes such as sialyl-Lewis X (SLe X ). SLe X overexpression is associated with tumor aggressive phenotype and patients' poor prognosis. Methods MKN45 gastric carcinoma cells transfected with the sialyltransferase ST3GAL4 were established as a model overexpressing sialylated terminal glycans. We have evaluated at the structural level the glycome and the sialoproteome of this gastric cancer cell line applying liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. We further validated an identified target expression by proximity ligation assay in gastric tumors. Results Our results showed that ST3GAL4 overexpression leads to several glycosylation alterations, including reduced O-glycan extension and decreased bisected and increased branched N-glycans. A shift from a2-6 towards a2-3 linked sialylated N-glycans was also observed. Sialoproteomic analysis further identified 47 proteins with significantly increased sialylated N-glycans. These included integrins, insulin receptor, carcinoembryonic antigens and RON receptor tyrosine kinase, which are proteins known to be key players in malignancy. Further analysis of RON confirmed its modification with SLe X and the concomitant activation. SLe X and RON co-expression was validated in gastric tumors. Conclusion The overexpression of ST3GAL4 interferes with the overall glycophenotype of cancer cells affecting a multitude of key proteins involved in malignancy. Aberrant glycosylation of the RON receptor was shown as an alternative mechanism of oncogenic activation. General significance This study provides novel targets and points to an integrative tumor glycomic/proteomic-profiling for gastric cancer patients' stratification. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Glycans in personalised medicine" Guest Editor: Professor Gordan Lauc. ; We acknowledge the support from the European Union, Seventh Framework Programme, Gastric Glyco Explorer initial training network: grant number 316929. IPATIMUP integrates the i3S Research Unit, which is partially supported by FCT, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. This work is funded by FEDER funds through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors-COMPETE (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER028188) and National Funds through the FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology, under the projects: PEst-C/SAU/LA0003/2013, PTDC/BBB-EBI/0786/2012, and PTDC/BBB-EBI/0567/2014 (to CAR). This work was also supported by"Glycoproteomics" project grant number PCIG09-GA-2011-293847(to DK) and the Danish Natural Science Research Council and a generous grant from the VILLUM Foundation to the VILLUM Center for Bioanalytical Sciences at the University of Southern Denmark (to MRL). Grants were received from FCT, POPH (Programa Operacional Potencial Humano) and FSE (Fundo Social Europeu): SFRH/BPD/75871/2011 to AM; SFRH/BPD/111048/2015 to JAF; SFRH/BPD/96510/2013 to CG. The UPLC instrument was obtained with a grant from the Ingabritt and Arne Lundbergs Research Foundation (to NK). C.J. was supported by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. The mass spectrometer (LTQ) was obtained by a grant from the Swedish Research Council (342-2004-4434) (to NK).