Being a minority: predictors of relative ingroup prototypicality and strategies to achieve social change

Previous research on relative ingroup prototypically (RIP) has shown that a complex representation of a (positive) superordinate category (SC) decreases ingroup projection for members of higher-status groups. Very little is known about the role of complexity perceptions for members of lower-status groups, and for categories that are negatively valued. Three studies (Studies 1 to 3) tested the hypothesis that the effect of complex representations of (positive) self-relevant SC on RIP is moderated by status. Two other studies (Studies 4 and 5) tested the interaction of group status and complexity of SCs in perceptions of RIP, also within negative SC’s. Overall, we expected and found with natural (Study 1, N = 192) and with artificial groups (Study 2, N = 106, Study 3, N = 76), that in contrast to higher-status groups, for lower-status groups, a more complex representation of a positive SC increases RIP. In study 4 (N = 163) Black-Portuguese (lower-status) were perceived as more prototypical of the SC “Criminals” than White-Portuguese (higher-status) but more equal prototypicality perceptions were achieved when a complex representation of that category was primed. Finally, in Study 5 (N = 160) valence (positive vs. negative) and complexity (simple vs. complex) of the SC were manipulated. In line with Study 4, prototypicality perceptions were constraint by standing status differences: Lower-status groups perceived themselves and were perceived as less prototypical of a positive, but more prototypical of a negative SC than members of the higher-status group. Overall, in both studies complexity helped members of the lower status groups to distance themselves from the negative SC by claiming less RIP. The conclusion that complexity can be used by lower-status groups as a strategy to achieve a better social position and to promote social change is discussed.investigação que tem sido realizada sobre a prototipicalidade endogrupal relativa (PER) tem mostrado que uma representação complexa de uma categoria supraordenada (CS) (positiva) diminui a projecção endogrupal de membros de grupos de estatuto elevado. Pouco se sabe, no entanto, sobre o papel da complexidade para membros de grupos de baixo estatuto e para categorias negativas. Três estudos (Estudos 1 a 3) testam a hipótese de que o efeito de representações complexas para categorias supraordenadas (positivas) na percepção de prototipicalidade é moderado pelo estatuto. Dois outros estudos (Estudos 4 e 5) testam a interacção das variáveis estatuto e complexidade das CS nas percepções de PER também para CS negativas. De uma maneira geral, tal como esperado, verifica-se – quer com grupos naturais (Estudo 1, N = 192), quer com grupos artificiais (Estudo 2, N = 106, Estudo 3, N = 76) – que, em comparação com os grupos de estatuto elevado, para os grupos de baixo estatuto uma representação complexa de uma CS positiva aumenta a PER. No Estudo 4 (N = 163) os participantes Portugueses de origem Africana (baixo estatuto) foram percebidos como sendo mais prototípicos da CS “delinquentes em Portugal” do que os Luso-Portugueses. No entanto, uma representação complexa dessa categoria conduz a uma PER mais igual entre os dois grupos. No estudo 5 (N = 160) foram manipuladas as variáveis valência (positiva vs. negativa) e complexidade (simples vs. complexa) da CS. Os resultados indicam, e no seguimento do Estudo 4, que as percepções de prototipicalidade dependem das diferenças de estatuto entre os grupos: o grupo de baixo estatuto percebe-se e é percebido como sendo menos prototípico da CS positiva, mas mais prototípico do que o grupo de estatuto elevado quando essa categoria é negativa. Em geral e em ambos os estudos uma representação complexa da CS permite que os grupos de baixo estatuto se distanciem da CS negativa ao diminuirem a sua PER para essa categoria. No final deste trabalho será discutido o papel que a complexidade poderá ter para grupos de baixo estatuto enquanto estratégia de promoção e de mudança social

Desenvolvimento de modelos de regressão logística para a avaliação de novas tecnologias de mobilidade urbana

Trabalho de projecto de mestrado, Estatística e Investigação Operacional (Estatística), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2015Atualmente a mobilidade elétrica, mundialmente, está em ascensão devido à necessidade, cada vez mais elevada, de se reduzir a emissão de gases de efeito de estufa. Portugal, sendo um dos países líder nas energias renováveis, possui os recursos necessários para a meta de eficiência energética, abrangendo o setor de transportes, para além dos sistemas de arrefecimento/aquecimento e produção de eletricidade. Relativamente ao setor de transportes e, em particular nas cidades, torna-se imperativo reduzir o uso dos veículos equipados com motor de combustão interna convencional promovendo, assim, a utilização de veículos elétricos (exemplo: bicicletas elétricas) como uma alternativa de transporte inovadora de baixo teor de carbono, mais benéfica para a saúde e com menores custos sociais ambientais. A presente tese tem como objetivo estudar o papel futuro da mobilidade elétrica de duas rodas nas deslocações de curta distância, designadamente nas deslocações casa/escola, e identificar quais os atributos das bicicletas elétricas considerados mais relevantes para os seus potenciais utilizadores. O presente estudo foi efetuado a partir da análise de um conjunto de dados recolhidos pelo LNEC em duas escolas secundárias localizadas no Município de Águeda (Escola Secundária Marques de Castilho e Adolfo Portela). A análise foi constituída por duas fases, sendo que na primeira foi feita uma análise exploratória ao conjunto de dados e na segunda foi utilizada uma metodologia estatística denominada de regressão logística, onde foram utilizados os software SPSS version 22 e R studio version 3.1, respetivamente. Na obtenção do modelo final de regressão logística, foram utilizadas diversas técnicas de seleção de covariáveis (atributos); nomeadamente o método de seleção de covariáveis Hosmer and Lemeshow e o método stepwise. Uma vez obtido o modelo foi necessário proceder a uma análise de resíduos, com o fim de se verificar o seu ajuste ao conjunto de dados, e avaliada a sua capacidade preditiva. O modelo revelou 9 covariáveis associadas à variável resposta (choice), automóvel (choice=0) ou bicicleta elétrica (choice=1), que foram: diferença de custo entre a bicicleta e o automóvel, ausência ou existência de pista ciclável, a ausência ou presença das novas tecnologias de informação e comunicação, a diferença do tempo de viagem entre a bicicleta e o automóvel, a escola secundária, a experiência anterior em bicicleta, o nível socioeconómico, a interacção entre a escola secundária e as novas TIC e a interacção entre a escola secundária e a ausência ou existência de pista ciclável. A análise efetuada sobre o modelo final de regressão logística permitiu identificar as covariáveis (atributos) associadas à escolha entre o automóvel e a bicicleta elétrica e saber quais aqueles que são determinantes para a escolha da bicicleta elétrica, tendo como alternativa o automóvel.Nowadays electric mobility, globally, is increasing due to the need of reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. Portugal, being a leader in renewable energy, owns the necessary resources to attain energetic efficiency, including the transport setor and also the cold/heating systems and electricity production. Regarding the transport setor, and particularly in cities, it is imperative to reduce the use of conventional internal combustion motor vehicles promoting, therefore, the use of electric vehicles (e.g. electric bikes) as an innovate low carbon transport option, healthier and with lower environmental social costs. Most of the studies showed that the promotion in using electric bikes (e-bikes) produces good results, fulfilling the goals related with health and environment. This thesis aims to study the future role of electric two-wheeled mobility when traveling short distance, particularly in home-school travel, and identify which attributes of electric bikes are considered more relevant. This study was based on the analysis of a collected set of data from two high schools located in the city of Águeda (Marques de Castilho High School and Adolfo Portela High School). After the explanatory data analysis, Logistic Regression Models were used to identify the covariates that may influence the choice of the electric bike. The software for this analysis were the SPSS version 22 and R studio version 3.1, respectively. Until the final logistic regression model was obtained, various techniques of selection of covariates (attributes) were used; particularly covariate selection Hosmer and Lemeshow method and the stepwise method. Once obtained the model, it is necessary a residual analysis, in order to check their fit to the data, and to evaluate their predictive ability. The model revealed 9 covariates associated with the response variable (choice), car (choice = 0) or electric bicycle (choice = 1), which were: cost difference between bike and car, absence or existence of cycle path, the absence or presence of the new technologies of information and communication, the difference in travel time between bicycle and car, high school, previous experience in riding a bicycle, socio-economic level, interaction between high school and the new technologies of information and communication and interaction between high school and the absence or existence of cycle path. Examining the final logistic regression model, it is possible to identify the covariates (attributes) which are determinants for the selection of the electric bicycle, when the car is the alternative mode available

A kinetic model of the central carbon metabolism for acrylic acid production in Escherichia coli

Acrylic acid (AA) is an important chemical that can be used in the production of a broad spectrum of products used on a daily basis, such as diapers, coatings paints, adhesives, textiles, detergents and plastic additives [1]. In addition, this chemical can also be used in the production of a superabsorbent polymer, which further increases its worldwide demand and commercial value in the industrial business [2]. However, most of the AA currently commercialized is produced by the oxidation of propylene or propane [3]. The production of AA contributes to the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere and relies on the worlds petroleum reserves, which are not renewable and are in rapid decline [2, 4]. Hence, the need for the development of innovative, clean and sustainable biological methods for the production of AA has attracted considerable attention from the scientific community [2, 5, 6]. In the last few years, there has been an effort to optimize the bio-based production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) by Escherichia coli. In this process, 3-HP is purified and converted to AA by catalytic dehydration. Despite such efforts, this method is still energetically demanding and has high production costs, associated with the catalytic process that takes place in the final step. Hence, the current process for the production of AA is not ideal [2]. A method that does not require the catalytic dehydration of 3-HP was put forward to overcome this issue. This method allows producing AA through fermentation by recombinant E. coli [2, 5]. The aim of this work was to perform the in silico insertion of different alternatives of the heterologous pathways for AA production in kinetic models of the central carbon metabolism of E. coli, which will allow to select the best approach to be implemented in vivo. Five models namely, the Chassagnole [7], the Jaham [8], the Kadir [9], the Peskov [10] and the Khodayari [11] models, were evaluated to select the one that better complies with the requirements of this project. The selected model was used to test the different knock-in strategies. References 1. Rolf Beerthuis, Gadi Rothenberg, and Raveendran Shiju. Catalytic routes towards acrylic acid, adipic acid and -caprolactam starting from biorenewables. Green Chemistry, 17(3):13411361, 2015. 2. Hun Su Chu, Jin Ho Ahn, Jiae Yun, In Suk Choi, TaeWook Nam, and Kwang Myung Cho. Direct fermentation route for the production of acrylic acid. Metabolic Engineering, 32:23 29, 2015. 3. Avelino Corma, Sara Iborra, and Alexandra Velty. Chemical routes for the transformation of biomass into chemicals. Chemical Reviews, 107(6):24112502, 2007. 4. Rojan John, Madhavan Nampoothiri, and Ashok Pandey. Fermentative production of lactic acid from biomass: an overview on process developments and future perspectives. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 74(3):524534, 2007. 5. Wenhua Tong, Ying Xu, Mo Xian, Wei Niu, Jiantao Guo, Huizhou Liu, and Guang Zhao. Biosynthetic pathway for acrylic acid from glycerol in recombinant Escherichia coli. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 100(11):49014907, 2016. 6. Zhijie Liu and Tiangang Liu. Production of acrylic acid and propionic acid by constructing a portion of the 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate cycle from Metallosphaera sedula in Escherichia coli. Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology, 43(12):1659 1670, 2016. 7. Christophe Chassagnole, Naruemol Noisommit-Rizzi, Joachim W. Schmid, Klaus Mauch, and Matthias Reuss. Dynamic modeling of the central carbon metabolism of Escherichia coli. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 79(1): 5373, 2002. 8. Nusrat Jahan, Kazuhiro Maeda, Yu Matsuoka, Yurie Sugimoto, and Hiroyuki Kurata. Development of an accurate kinetic model for the central carbon metabolism of Escherichia coli. Microbial Cell Factories, 15(1): 112, 2016. 9. Tuty Kadir, Ahmad Mannan, Andrzej Kierzek, Johnjoe McFadden, and Kazuyuki Shimizu. Modeling and simulation of the main metabolism in Escherichia coli and its several singlegene knockout mutants with experimental verification. Microbial Cell Factories, 9(1): 88, 2010. 10. Kirill Peskov, Ekaterina Mogilevskaya, and Oleg Demin. Kinetic modelling of central carbon metabolism in Escherichia coli. FEBS Journal, 279(18): 33743385, 2012. 11. Ali Khodayari, Ali Zomorrodi, James Liao, and Costas Maranas. A kinetic model of Escherichia coli core metabolism satisfying multiple sets of mutant flux data. Metabolic Engineering, 25: 5062, 2014Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/ 04469 / 2019 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE - 01 - 0145 - FEDER - 000004 ) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte 2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norteinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

What is the present role for general practitioners in dementia care? Experiences of general practitioners, patients and family carers in Portugal

Background: Governments are being challenged to integrate at least part of dementia care into primary care. However, little is known about the current role of general practitioners (GPs) regarding dementia care, especially in countries that do not have dementia strategies in place. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of GPs, persons with dementia and their family carers in Portuguese primary care settings, to better understand GPs’ contribution to dementia care. Methods: A qualitative interview study of participants recruited from six practices in different social contexts within the Lisbon metropolitan area was carried out. Purposive sampling was used to recruit GPs, persons with dementia and carers. Interviews with GPs explored dementia care comprehensiveness, including satisfactory and challenging aspects. Interviews with patients and carers explored the experience of talking to GPs about cognitive impairments and related difficulties and the type of help received. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts was carried out using the framework approach. Results: Five major themes were identified: GPs have a limited contribution to dementia care, the case of advanced dementia, doctor–patient relationships, doctor–carer relationships and management of chronic conditions other than dementia. Conclusion: General practitioners seemed to contribute little to dementia care overall, particularly regarding symptom management. The exception was patients with advanced stages of dementia, given that specialists no longer followed them up. Remarkably, GPs seemed to be alone within primary care teams in providing dementia care. These findings strongly suggest that Portuguese primary care is not yet prepared to comply with policy expectations regarding the management of dementia.publishersversionpublishe

Understanding the genome architecture and evolution of Shiga toxin encoding bacteriophages of Escherichia coli

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is an important foodborne pathogen, and its major virulence factor is their ability to produce Shiga toxins. This toxin is coded by the stx gene, acquired through the insertion of a prophage into their genome. In our study, 179 STEC genomes were analysed for their serotype, distribution, and stx gene variants. Stx phages were also analysed and grouped based on shared gene content. We show that most STEC were isolated from different sources and geographical regions and belong to the non-O157 serotypes (73%). While the majority of STEC encode a single stx gene (61%), strains coding for two (35%), three (3%) and four (1%) stx genes were also found, being stx2a the most prevalent gene variant. PHASTER analysis found stx genes in intact prophage regions, indicating they are phage-borne. Stx phages from our dataset were grouped into four clusters (A, B, C and D), three subclusters (A1, A2 and A3) and one singleton, in agreement with the predicted virion morphologies. Stx phage genomes are highly diverse with a vast number of 1,838 gene phamilies (phams) of related sequences (of which 677 are orphams i.e. unique genes) and although having high mosaicism, they are generally organized into three major transcripts (structural, metabolism, lysis and virulence). There is a strong selective pressure to maintain the stx genes location in close proximity to the lytic cassette composed of predicted SAR-endolysin and pin-holin lytic proteins. Taken together, we demonstrate that Stx phages genomes are highly diverse, with several lysislysogeny regulatory systems identified but with a conserved lytic system always adjacent to stx genes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Insights into the genome architecture and evolution of Shiga toxin encoding bacteriophages of Escherichia coli

Background: A total of 179 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) complete genomes were analyzed in terms of serotypes, prophage coding regions, and stx gene variants and their distribution. We further examined the genetic diversity of Stx-converting phage genomes (Stx phages), focusing on the lysis-lysogeny decision and lytic cassettes. Results: We show that most STEC isolates belong to non-O157 serotypes (73 %), regardless the sources and geographical regions. While the majority of STEC genomes contain a single stx gene (61 %), strains containing two (35 %), three (3 %) and four (1 %) stx genes were also found, being stx2 the most prevalent gene variant. Their location is exclusively found in intact prophage regions, indicating that they are phage-borne. We further demonstrate that Stx phages can be grouped into four clusters (A, B, C and D), three subclusters (A1, A2 and A3) and one singleton, based on their shared gene content. This cluster distribution is in good agreement with their predicted virion morphologies. Stx phage genomes are highly diverse with a vast number of 1,838 gene phamilies (phams) of related sequences (of which 677 are orphams i.e. unique genes) and, although having high mosaicism, they are generally organized into three major transcripts. While the mechanisms that guide lysis–lysogeny decision are complex, there is a strong selective pressure to maintain the stx genes location close to the lytic cassette composed of predicted SAR-endolysin and pin-holin lytic proteins. The evolution of STEC Stx phages seems to be strongly related to acquiring genetic material, probably from horizontal gene transfer events. Conclusions: This work provides novel insights on the genetic structure of Stx phages, showing a high genetic diversity throughout the genomes, where the various lysis-lysogeny regulatory systems are in contrast with an uncommon, but conserved, lytic system always adjacent to stx genes.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and the project PhageSTEC PTDC/CVT-CVT/29628/2017 [POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029628] funded by FEDER through COMPETE2020 (Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização) and by National Funds thought FCT. GP is recipient of a FCT PhD grant with the reference SFRH/BD/117365/2016. The funding body had no role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscriptinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

“Aventuras do Búzio e da Coral” – Benefícios do jogo de prevenção universal do abuso sexual para crianças em idade escolar

Sexual abuse is a high prevalence problematic that has a very significative and negative impact in a child or young person’s life, its family and the community. Disseminating the usage of universal prevention programs is fundamental. The aim of this study is to analyze whether the game “Vamos prevenir! As aventuras do Búzio e da Coral” (Agulhas et al., 2016), designed to be played by children between 6 and 10 years old, promotes the acquisition of knowledge to deal with eventual sexual abuse situations. We developed a quantitative study (with pre and post test), with a sample of 101 children from that age group, male and female, which had played the game. The results show that children evaluated the game in a very positive way; statistically significant differences in the number of incorrect and uncertain answers were found from the pre to the post test. Although modest, these results show the importance of increasing children’s understanding about sexual abuse enhancing protection factors.O abuso sexual é uma problemática com elevada prevalência e com um impacto negativo muito significativo na vida de uma criança ou jovem, da sua família e da comunidade. Neste contexto, é fundamental disseminar a utilização de materiais de prevenção universal. No presente artigo procurou-se avaliar em que medida o jogo “Vamos prevenir! As aventuras do Búzio e da Coral” (Agulhas et al., 2016), destinado a crianças com idades compreendidas entre os 6 e os 10 anos de idade, promove um conjunto de conhecimentos para lidar com a problemática do abuso sexual. Para o efeito, foi levado a cabo um estudo quantitativo (com pré e pós teste), com uma amostra de 101 crianças dessa faixa etária e de ambos os sexos, que jogaram o jogo. Os resultados demonstram que as crianças avaliam o jogo de uma forma muito positiva, verificando-se uma diminuição estatistica­mente significativa de respostas incorretas e de respostas incertas do pré-teste (i.e., antes de jogar o jogo) para o pós-teste (i.e., após jogar o jogo). Ainda que modestos, estes resultados apontam para a importância de apostar em materiais que procurem aumentar a compreensão das crianças sobre os riscos e potenciar fatores de proteção no âmbito da problemática do abuso sexual

Endolysin binding domain is highly conserved in staphylococcal phage genomes

Bacteriophages are the most predominant and diverse entities in any ecosystem, mostly driven by constant predatorprey evolution dynamics and horizontal gene transfer. Phage population remains an untapped and uncharacterized source of genetic diversity with highly mosaic genomes and no universal genes. To better understand the genetic diversity and the evolutionary relationships of staphylococci infecting phages, we performed an in silico comparative study of all phage genomes infecting Staphylococcus genus. A total of 205 genomes, encoding 20579 proteins which could be sorted into 2137 phamilies (phams) of related sequences, 742 of which possessing only a single (orphams) unrelated sequence, where analysed. Based on shared gene content, phages could be grouped into 4 clusters (A, B, C and D), 14 subclusters (A1-A2, B1-B5, C1-C6 and D) and few singletons. Strikingly, we found that the endolysin molecular organization is shared by most members, showing an intriguing selective pressure that resists the endless cycle of coevolution between phages and the diversified staphylococcal hosts. The endolysin structure is highly conserved regardless the 3 distinct phage morphologies, the 5 endolysin synthesis modes (single gene with and without inter-lytic secondary translation site, two genes spliced by group I intron, two genes adjacent and non- adjacent) and 11 different host genera found in the analysed dataset. We found that staphylococcal phages endolysins have several catalytic domains (AMI2, AMI3, GLUCO, PET-M23, CHAP, being the latter present in 95% of the cases) but only one cell wall binding domain identified (SH3, Src homology 3). Thus, SH3 domain is an intriguing biological marker of Staphylococcus-infecting viruses. Overall, we give a high-resolution and update view of the staphylococcal viral genetic diversity, providing novel insights into their evolution. This analysis included a significant number of phages infecting coagulase-negative species that were limited so far and that have helped to revise previously classifications. The highly conserved endolysin binding domain represents a peculiar evolution pathway to bind the host peptidoglycan at the end of the phage lytic cycle.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A kinetic model of the central carbon metabolism for acrylic acid production in Escherichia coli

Acrylic acid is an economically important chemical compound due to its high market value. Nevertheless, the majority of acrylic acid consumed worldwide its produced from petroleum derivatives by a purely chemical process, which is not only expensive, but it also contributes towards environment deterioration. Hence, justifying the current need for sustainable novel production methods that allow higher profit margins. Ideally, to minimise production cost, the pathway should consist in the direct bio-based production from microbial feedstocks, such as Escherichia coli, but the current yields achieved are still too low to compete with conventional method. In this work, even though the glycerol pathway presented higher yields, we identified the malonyl-CoA route, when using glucose as carbon source, as having the most potential for industrial-scale production, since it is cheaper to implement. Furthermore, we also identified potential optimisation targets for all the tested pathways, that can help the bio-based method to compete with the conventional process.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology(FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit. This article is also a result of the project 22231/01/SAICT/2016: “Biodata.pt – Infraestrutura Portuguesa de Dados Biolo´gicos”, by Lisboa Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Alexandre Oliveira holds a doctoral fellowship (2020.10205.BD) provided by the FCT. Oscar Dias acknowledge FCT for the Assistant Research contract obtained under CEEC Individual 2018. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

ATIVIDADE FÍSICA DO RECREIO PARA A PROMOÇÃO DE COMPETÊNCIAS SOCIAIS

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio