Who are they? The Parliamentary deputies in Portugal, 11th-13th legislatures. Social and political outline

The study combines the assumptions of the elite’s studies with the dynamics of democratic societies, starting with the empirical collection of data on the Portuguese parliamentary elites from the 11th to the current legislature (13th), with the purpose of building a prosopographic database. The data processing was carried out by legislature, aiming to identify and analyze statistically the relevant quantities of biographic data about the MPs. The study was a cross-sectional survey in which political and sociodemographic issues of the Portuguese deputies where explored and correlated to define the group's profile. In this way, the collected data provided a comparative evaluation of the three legislatures (2009-2011, 2011-2015 and 2015 to present) and created an interrelation between two main analysis dimensions: the sociodemographic one (age, gender representation, educational credentials and occupation) and the political one (parliamentary group, previous held positions (political or party background); career paths – local and / or central power, ex-ministers, number of terms on office). The profile of the members of Parliament as a whole become visible, and the variances marked by electoral processes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Who are they? The Parliamentary deputies in Portugal, 11th-13th legislatures. Social and political outline

The study combines the assumptions of the elite’s studies with the dynamics of democratic societies, starting with the empirical collection of data on the Portuguese parliamentary elites from the 11th to the current legislature (13th), with the purpose of building a prosopographic database. The data processing was carried out by legislature, aiming to identify and analyze statistically the relevant quantities of biographic data about the MPs. The study was a cross-sectional survey in which political and sociodemographic issues of the Portuguese deputies where explored and correlated to define the group's profile. In this way, the collected data provided a comparative evaluation of the three legislatures (2009-2011, 2011-2015 and 2015 to present) and created an interrelation between two main analysis dimensions: the sociodemographic one (age, gender representation, educational credentials and occupation) and the political one (parliamentary group, previous held positions (political or party background); career paths – local and / or central power, ex-ministers, number of terms on office). The profile of the members of Parliament as a whole become visible, and the variances marked by electoral processes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Immune Response in Ovarian Cancer: How Is the Immune System Involved in Prognosis and Therapy: Potential for Treatment Utilization

Ovarian cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death among women. Resistance to the disease occurs in more than 70% of the cases even after treated with chemotherapy agents such as paclitaxel- and platinum-based agents. The immune system is increasingly becoming a target for intense research in order to study the host's immune response against ovarian cancer. T cell populations, including NK T cells and Tregs, and cytokines have been associated with disease outcome, indicating their increasing clinical significance, having been associated with prognosis and as markers of disease progress, respectively. Harnessing the immune system capacity in order to induce antitumor response remains a major challenge. This paper examines the recent developments in our understanding of the mechanisms of development of the immune response in ovarian cancer as well as its prognostic significance and the existing experience in clinical studies

OMiR: Identification of associations between OMIM diseases and microRNAs

AbstractA large number of loci for genetic diseases have been mapped on the human genome and a group of hereditary diseases among them have thus far proven unsuccessful to clone. It is conceivable that such "unclonable" diseases are not linked to abnormalities of protein coding genes (PCGs), but of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). We developed a novel approach termed OMiR (OMIM and miRNAs), to test whether microRNAs (miRNAs) exhibit any associations with mapped genetic diseases not yet associated with a PCG. We found that "orphan" genetic disease loci were proximal to miRNA loci more frequently than to loci for which the responsible protein coding gene is known, thus suggesting that miRNAs might be the elusive culprits. Our findings indicate that inclusion of miRNAs among the candidate genes to be considered could assist geneticists in their hunt for disease genes, particularly in the case of rare diseases

Genetic mapping of novel modifiers for ApcMin induced intestinal polyps’ development using the genetic architecture power of the collaborative cross mice

Abstract Background Familial adenomatous polyposis is an inherited genetic disease, characterized by colorectal polyps. It is caused by inactivating mutations in the Adenomatous polyposis coli (Apc) gene. Mice carrying a nonsense mutation in the Apc gene at R850, which is designated Apc Min/+ (Multiple intestinal neoplasia), develop intestinal adenomas. Several genetic modifier loci of Min (Mom) were previously mapped, but so far, most of the underlying genes have not been identified. To identify novel modifier loci associated with Apc Min/+ , we performed quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis for polyp development using 49 F1 crosses between different Collaborative Cross (CC) lines and C57BL/6 J-Apc Min/+ mice. The CC population is a genetic reference panel of recombinant inbred lines, each line independently descended from eight genetically diverse founder strains. C57BL/6 J-Apc Min/+ males were mated with females from 49 CC lines. F1 offspring were terminated at 23 weeks and polyp counts from three sub-regions (SB1–3) of small intestinal and colon were recorded. Results The number of polyps in all these sub-regions and colon varied significantly between the different CC lines. At 95% genome-wide significance, we mapped nine novel QTL for variation in polyp number, with distinct QTL associated with each intestinal sub-region. QTL confidence intervals varied in width between 2.63–17.79 Mb. We extracted all genes in the mapped QTL at 90 and 95% CI levels using the BioInfoMiner online platform to extract, significantly enriched pathways and key linker genes, that act as regulatory and orchestrators of the phenotypic landscape associated with the Apc Min/+ mutation. Conclusions Genomic structure of the CC lines has allowed us to identify novel modifiers and confirmed some of the previously mapped modifiers. Key genes involved mainly in metabolic and immunological processes were identified. Future steps in this analysis will be to identify regulatory elements – and possible epistatic effects – located in the mapped QTL

Pythagoras project: Development of an innovative training package on Indoor Environment Quality

The aim of the Pythagoras project is the development and assessment of Greek national training material in the sector of indoor environmental quality. The need for education in this specific sector is dictated by the significant indoor environment deterioration and associated health hazards, which are caused by low ventilation levels, combined with the use of many modern building materials that aggravate pollutants emissions. Early in the project, a review is undertaken of the international literature and the syllabuses of foreign research and educational institutions active in indoor environment quality issues. At the same time, the requirements of the Greek educational and broader society, related to issues of indoor pollution and health, are determined. A training methodology is consequently developed, with the objective to optimally cover all the parameters associated with the indoor environment quality, for trainees of various disciplines. The training material is produced both in printed (book) and integrated electronic (e-learning) format. Additionally, four seminars are organized covering the respective sections of the training package. The training package is being assessed both by the trainees but also by international experts in the sector of indoor environment quality