Smart Mobility: a multimodal services study in the metropolitan area of Lisbon

Citizens’ mobility brings great challenges to the cities and smart city\u27s initiatives. This study main goal is to disclosure the current situation of the metropolitan area of Lisbon regarding smart mobility and multimodal mobility systems. The methodological approach of this study consist of collect data from citizens of the metropolitan area of Lisbon, through a survey. We report here empirical study results on citizen awareness of information systems solutions, and their level of usage in their daily lives. Our study results demonstrated the citizens of the metropolitan area of Lisbon are highly unhappy with the available mobility systems and use mainly the private car as transport mode and the importance of multimodal mobility systems were confirmed

A multimodal services study in the metropolitan area of Lisbon

Bernardo, M. R., de Castro Neto, M., & Aparicio, M. (2019). Smart mobility: A multimodal services study in the metropolitan area of Lisbon. In Atas da Conferencia da Associacao Portuguesa de Sistemas de Informacao 2019: 19ª Conferencia da Associacao Portuguesa de Sistemas de Informacao, CAPSI 2019 [19th Conference of the Portuguese Association for Information Systems, CAPSI 2019], Lisboa; Portugal; 11 October 2019 through 12 October 2019 (pp. 20). Associação Portuguesa de Sistemas de Informação.Citizens’ mobility brings great challenges to the cities and smart city's initiatives. This study main goal is to disclosure the current situation of the metropolitan area of Lisbon regarding smart mobility and multimodal mobility systems. The methodological approach of this study consist of collect data from citizens of the metropolitan area of Lisbon, through a survey. We report here empirical study results on citizen awareness of information systems solutions, and their level of usage in their daily lives. Our study results demonstrated the citizens of the metropolitan area of Lisbon are highly unhappy with the available mobility systems and use mainly the private car as transport mode and the importance of multimodal mobility systems were confirmed.authorsversionpublishe

Smart cities – smart mobility : the impact of multimodal mobility services in the metropolitan area of Lisbon

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Information Systems and Technologies ManagementThe urbanization phenomenon brings great challenges to the cities and smart city's initiatives, for example smart mobility solutions, are being put in place as a strategy to mitigate the effects. With this study we intend to disclosure the current situation of the metropolitan area of Lisbon regarding smart mobility and multimodal mobility systems: with the development of the present work we gathered examples of smart passenger transport and multimodal solutions, acknowledge the level to which the citizens of the metropolitan area are aware of these solutions and committed to incorporate it in their daily lives and understood how the metropolitan area of Lisbon compares to other European cities regarding smart mobility theme. The methodology adopted was the analysis of an existent European dataset related to the preferences of the European citizens on emerging technology-based passenger transport solutions and the development of a survey custom made to the citizens of the metropolitan area of Lisbon. The results demonstrated the citizens of the metropolitan area of Lisbon are highly unhappy with the available mobility systems and use mainly the private car as transport mode and the importance of multimodal mobility systems were confirmed.O fenómeno da urbanização traz grandes desafios às cidades e as iniciativas de cidades inteligentes, das quais fazem parte as soluções mobilidade inteligente, estão a ser utilizadas como estratégias para mitigar os efeitos deste fenómeno. Com este estudo pretendemos apresentar a situaçã atual da área metropolitana de Lisboa relativamente a mobilidade inteligente e a sistemas de mobilidde multimodal: no decorrer do estudo foram reunidos vários exemplos de soluções inteligentes de transporte de passageiros, foi avaliado o nível de conhecimento dos cidadãos acerca deste tipo de soluções e a sua disponibilidade e compromisso de adopção das mesmas no seu dia-a-dia e foi ainda feita uma comparação do tema da mobilidade inteligente na área metropolitana de Lisboa face outras cidades semelhantes na Europa. A metodologia adoptada passou pela análise de um dataset Europeu relativo às preferências dos cidadãos europeus acerca de soluções inovadoras alanvacadas pelas tecnologias emergentes e pelo desenvolvimento de um questionário para os cidadãos da área metropolitana de Lisboa. Os resultados mostram que existe um descontentamento dos cidadãos da área metropolitana de Lisboa com os sistemas de mobilidade existentes e que o carro pessoal é o meio de transporte mais utilizado; os resultados suportam ainda a importância do tema da mobilidade multimodal para a área metropolitana de Lisboa

Unraveling the genetic background of individuals with a clinical familial hypercholesterolemia phenotype

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a common genetic disorder of lipid metabolism caused by pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants in LDLR, APOB, and PCSK9 genes. Variants in FH-phenocopy genes (LDLRAP1, APOE, LIPA, ABCG5, and ABCG8), polygenic hypercholesterolemia, and hyperlipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] can also mimic a clinical FH phenotype. We aim to present a new diagnostic tool to unravel the genetic background of clinical FH phenotype. Biochemical and genetic study was performed in 1,005 individuals with clinical diagnosis of FH, referred to the Portuguese FH Study. A next-generation sequencing panel, covering eight genes and eight SNPs to determine LDL-C polygenic risk score and LPA genetic score, was validated, and used in this study. FH was genetically confirmed in 417 index cases: 408 heterozygotes and 9 homozygotes. Cascade screening increased the identification to 1,000 FH individuals, including 11 homozygotes. FH-negative individuals (phenotype positive and genotype negative) have Lp(a) >50 mg/dl (30%), high polygenic risk score (16%), other monogenic lipid metabolism disorders (1%), and heterozygous pathogenic variants in FH-phenocopy genes (2%). Heterozygous variants of uncertain significance were identified in primary genes (12%) and phenocopy genes (7%). Overall, 42% of our cohort was genetically confirmed with FH. In the remaining individuals, other causes for high LDL-C were identified in 68%. Hyper-Lp(a) or polygenic hypercholesterolemia may be the cause of the clinical FH phenotype in almost half of FH-negative individuals. A small part has pathogenic variants in ABCG5/ABCG8 in heterozygosity that can cause hypercholesterolemia and should be further investigated. This extended next-generation sequencing panel identifies individuals with FH and FH-phenocopies, allowing to personalize each person’s treatment according to the affected pathway

Effects of pre-operative isolation on postoperative pulmonary complications after elective surgery: an international prospective cohort study an international prospective cohort study

We aimed to determine the impact of pre-operative isolation on postoperative pulmonary complications after elective surgery during the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We performed an international prospective cohort study including patients undergoing elective surgery in October 2020. Isolation was defined as the period before surgery during which patients did not leave their house or receive visitors from outside their household. The primary outcome was postoperative pulmonary complications, adjusted in multivariable models for measured confounders. Pre-defined sub-group analyses were performed for the primary outcome. A total of 96,454 patients from 114 countries were included and overall, 26,948 (27.9%) patients isolated before surgery. Postoperative pulmonary complications were recorded in 1947 (2.0%) patients of which 227 (11.7%) were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients who isolated pre-operatively were older, had more respiratory comorbidities and were more commonly from areas of high SARS-CoV-2 incidence and high-income countries. Although the overall rates of postoperative pulmonary complications were similar in those that isolated and those that did not (2.1% vs 2.0%, respectively), isolation was associated with higher rates of postoperative pulmonary complications after adjustment (adjusted OR 1.20, 95%CI 1.05–1.36, p = 0.005). Sensitivity analyses revealed no further differences when patients were categorised by: pre-operative testing; use of COVID-19-free pathways; or community SARS-CoV-2 prevalence. The rate of postoperative pulmonary complications increased with periods of isolation longer than 3 days, with an OR (95%CI) at 4–7 days or ≥ 8 days of 1.25 (1.04–1.48), p = 0.015 and 1.31 (1.11–1.55), p = 0.001, respectively. Isolation before elective surgery might be associated with a small but clinically important increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Longer periods of isolation showed no reduction in the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. These findings have significant implications for global provision of elective surgical care. We aimed to determine the impact of pre-operative isolation on postoperative pulmonary complications after elective surgery during the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We performed an international prospective cohort study including patients undergoing elective surgery in October 2020. Isolation was defined as the period before surgery during which patients did not leave their house or receive visitors from outside their household. The primary outcome was postoperative pulmonary complications, adjusted in multivariable models for measured confounders. Pre-defined sub-group analyses were performed for the primary outcome. A total of 96,454 patients from 114 countries were included and overall, 26,948 (27.9%) patients isolated before surgery. Postoperative pulmonary complications were recorded in 1947 (2.0%) patients of which 227 (11.7%) were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients who isolated pre-operatively were older, had more respiratory comorbidities and were more commonly from areas of high SARS-CoV-2 incidence and high-income countries. Although the overall rates of postoperative pulmonary complications were similar in those that isolated and those that did not (2.1% vs 2.0%, respectively), isolation was associated with higher rates of postoperative pulmonary complications after adjustment (adjusted OR 1.20, 95%CI 1.05–1.36, p = 0.005). Sensitivity analyses revealed no further differences when patients were categorised by: pre-operative testing; use of COVID-19-free pathways; or community SARS-CoV-2 prevalence. The rate of postoperative pulmonary complications increased with periods of isolation longer than 3 days, with an OR (95%CI) at 4–7 days or ≥ 8 days of 1.25 (1.04–1.48), p = 0.015 and 1.31 (1.11–1.55), p = 0.001, respectively. Isolation before elective surgery might be associated with a small but clinically important increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Longer periods of isolation showed no reduction in the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. These findings have significant implications for global provision of elective surgical care

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field