Transcriptional control of vertebrate neurogenesis by the proneural factor Ascl1

Proneural transcription factors (TFs) such as Ascl1 function as master regulators of neurogenesis in vertebrates, being both necessary and sufficient for the activation of a full program of neuronal differentiation. Novel insights into the dynamics of Ascl1 expression at the cellular level, combined with the progressive characterization of its transcriptional program, have expanded the classical view of Ascl1 as a differentiation factor in neurogenesis. These advances resulted in a new model, whereby Ascl1 promotes sequentially the proliferation and differentiation of neural/stem progenitor cells. The multiple activities of Ascl1 are associated with the activation of distinct direct targets at progressive stages along the neuronal lineage. How this temporal pattern is established is poorly understood. Two modes of Ascl1 expression recently described (oscillatory vs. sustained) are likely to be of importance, together with additional mechanistic determinants such as the chromatin landscape and other transcriptional pathways. Here we revise these latest findings, and discuss their implications to the gene regulatory functions of Ascl1 during neurogenesis.FCT grants: (PTDC/SAU-BID/117418/2010, PTDC/NEU-NMC/0315/2012), Marie Curie CIG, FCT fellowships: (SFRH/BD/51178/2010, IF/00413/2012)

Robotics and their impact in Healthcare Workforce Management

New technologies are increasingly appearing across all sectors. In healthcare, the implementation and growth of robotics is already a reality in several hospitals and is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years. Therefore, organizations have to prepare and rethink their human resources strategies and activities to cope with this new thematic. This qualitative case study focuses on understanding in what extent hospitals are or are not preparing their workforce for the implementation of robots. Through the combination of the existing literature and the interviews conducted, it was possible to identify that there is a clear distinction between the public and private sectors regarding the implementation and growth of robotics in the healthcare sector. While the private sector invests in training, reorganization of teams and creation of taskforces, the public sector does not have as a priority to rethink its human resources strategies and activities because the Public Ministry does not do or plan to do, in the short term, any kind of investment in robotics. Moreover, the fear of losing the human side with the patient allied to the fear of robots replacing human delays the implementation of robotics in hospitals. There are still some workers who are resilient to change and not very supporters of new technologies. This thesis aims to give recommendations to different stakeholders and identifies future opportunities to study the impact of robotics on the workforce.Cada vez mais tem aparecido novas tecnologias transversalmente a todos os setores. Na saúde, a implementação e o crescimento da robótica já é uma realidade em vários hospitais e prevê se que cresça exponencialmente nos próximos anos. Por isto, as organizações têm de preparar e repensar as suas estratégias e atividades de recursos humanos para fazerem face a esta nova temática. Este caso de estudo qualitativo foca-se em perceber até que ponto é que os hospitais estão ou não a preparar a sua força-de-trabalho para a implementação de robôs. Através da combinação da literatura existente e das entrevistas realizadas, foi possível identificar que existe uma clara distinção entre o setor pulico e o setor privado no que toca a implementação e crescimento da robótica no setor da saúde. Enquanto o setor privado investe em formação, reorganização das equipas e criação de taskforces, o setor publico não tem como prioridade repensar as suas estratégias e atividades de recursos humanos porque o Ministério Público não faz nem prevê fazer, no curto prazo de tempo, qualquer tipo de investimento em robótica. Ainda mais, o medo de se perder o lado humano com o paciente aliado ao medo dos robôs substituírem os humanos atrasa a implementação de robótica em hospitais. Ainda há alguns trabalhadores resilientes à mudança e pouco adeptos a novas tecnologias. Esta tese visa dar recomendações aos diferentes stakeholders e identifica futuras oportunidades de estudo do impacto da robótica na força de trabalho

Effect of artificial warren size on a restocked European wild rabbit population

From the time since the decline of the wild rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus in southern Europe, various techniques and methods have been explored with a view to restoring wild rabbit populations or increasing rabbit resilience, for both conservation and game purposesRabbit restocking and habitat management are among the measures most often appliedSome efforts have been made to increase refuges for wild rabbits, mainly through the construction of artificial warrensThe present study evaluates the response of a wild rabbit population introduced to artificial warrens of varying sizesThis involves comparisons of the density of rabbits in the warrens, rabbit density change between seasons of low and high rabbit population density and the productivity index for large and small warrens in rabbit populations living under semi-natural conditionsOur results show that large warrens had higher rabbit abundance than had small warrens, but significantly lower rabbit densityNo differences in density increase or productivity index were found with respect to warren sizeThe results suggest that it is preferable to build many small warrens for conservation of wild rabbit populations, but, in the event that only a few warrens are built, it is advisable that they be large.C. Rouco was supported by a postdoctoral grant from the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha (JCCM) and the European Social Fund. Funding was provided by the projects by Confederacion Hidrografica del Guadalquivir, by the Projects CGL2005-02340/BOS, CGL2009-11665, FAU2006-0014-C-02-02, POII09-0099-2557 and PEII09-0097-436.Peer Reviewe

A longer confinement period favors European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) survival during soft releases in low-cover habitats

Rabbit restocking is widely used in Spain for conservation and/or hunting purposes; however, the success of rabbit restocking is generally low. Thus, many studies have assessed ways to reduce this problem, one of which is the use of a ¿soft-release¿ procedure whereby rabbits are acclimated to their release site for a variable time period prior to release. This study assessed the short-term effects of two soft-release confinement periods on the survival of rabbits during an experimental restocking program carried out in southwest Spain. The post-release survival rate of rabbits confined at the release site for six nights was significantly higher than that of rabbits confined for three nights. The longer acclimation period after rabbit translocation minimized mortality while rabbits adapted to their new environment.C. Rouco was supported by a postdoctoral grant from the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha (JCCM), and the European Social Fund. Funding was provided by the projects by Confederación Hidrográfica del Guadalquivir, by the Projects CGL2005-02340/BOS, FAU2006-0014-C-02-02, PAI06-170, and PREG-05-022.Peer Reviewe

INFRAESTRUTURA E INDICADORES DE ADESÃO À HIGIENE DAS MÃOS EM UNIDADE DE TERAPIA INTENSIVA

Objetivo: avaliar a infraestrutura e medir indicadores de adesão à higiene das mãos em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva. Método: estudo de caso descritivo-exploratório, utilizando três instrumentos estruturados para registrar as características dos profissionais, a infraestrutura disponível e a adesão à higiene das mãos. Aplicado teste Quiquadrado. Resultados: as preparações alcoólicas eram insuficientes e as torneiras inadequadas. Foram monitoradas 516 oportunidades de observação e ocorreram 337 ações de higiene das mãos, obtendo-se média de adesão de 65,3%, majoritariamente higiene simples. Existiu diferença da adesão entre os profissionais, com maior taxa dos médicos (77,9%), seguida dos fisioterapeutas (73,8%), enfermeiros (72,1%) e técnicos de enfermagem (57,7%). O momento anterior ao contato com o paciente e antes da realização de procedimentos assépticos apresentaram menor adesão. Evidenciada maior adesão durante a manhã, e sem diferença entre dias da semana. Conclusão: a infraestrutura insuficiente refletiu na baixa adesão à fricção antisséptica.Descritores: Higiene das Mãos. Unidades de Terapia Intensiva. Avaliação em Saúde. Padrão de Cuidado. Segurança do Paciente

Business cycles, nature of firms’ assets, and financing decisions

As more advanced economies are being transformed into knowledge-based economies, intangible capital has become a fundamental input for the future competitiveness and growth of these economies and the firms that operate in them. Despite the economic importance of intangible assets, the prevailing opinion among managers and scholars is that intangible assets cannot support debt as tangible assets do. However, recent trends show the opposite, and an increasing proportion of secured syndicated loans in the U.S. include intangible assets as loan collateral. In fact, using data on U.S. firms from 1980 to 2021, this dissertation finds a statistically significant positive relationship between a firm-level measure of intangible assets and financial leverage. Another interesting question is: How does the relationship of tangible and intangible assets with leverage behave across the business cycle? Using data on the three most recent business cycles (2001-2006; 2007-2019; 2020-2021), in most cases, intangible assets enter the standard leverage regression with a higher coefficient during expansion periods than in contraction periods. For tangible assets, the opposite trend is found. These results suggest that firms with more intangible assets find it more difficult to issue debt during contraction periods. In addition, the results might also imply that the relationship between asset tangibility and financial leverage is stronger during contraction periods which is consistent with the literature.Enquanto as economias mais desenvolvidas se vão tornando “economias do conhecimento”, os ativos intangíveis tornaram-se um input fundamental à competitividade e crescimento futuros destas economias e das empresas que nelas operam. Apesar da elevada importância económica dos ativos intangíveis, a opinião predominante entre gestores e estudiosos é de que este tipo de ativos não é capaz de auxiliar o acesso ao crédito como os ativos tangíveis. No entanto, as tendências recentes mostram o contrário, uma proporção crescente de empréstimos sindicalizados nos EUA incluem os ativos intangíveis como garantia de empréstimo. De facto, utilizando dados de empresas americanas entre 1980 e 2021, esta dissertação encontra uma relação positiva e estatisticamente significativa entre uma medida ativos intangíveis ao nível da empresa e a alavancagem financeira. Outra pergunta que pode ser colocada é: De que forma a relação dos ativos tangíveis e intangíveis com o nível de alavancagem se desenvolve ao longo do ciclo económico? Utilizando a informação dos três ciclos económicos mais recentes (2001- 2006; 2007-2019; 2020-2021), na maioria dos casos, os ativos intangíveis entram na regressão com um coeficiente mais elevado durante os períodos de expansão do que nos períodos de contração, relativamente aos ativos tangíveis verifica-se a tendência oposta. Estes resultados sugerem que as empresas com mais ativos intangíveis poderão ter mais dificuldade em emitir dívida durante os períodos de contração. Adicionalmente, os resultados podem também implicar que a relação entre tangibilidade dos ativos e alavancagem financeira é mais forte durante períodos de contração, o que é consistente com a literatura

La mediación comunitaria y su impacto en la prevención social del delito desde la transformación de conflictos vecinales.

La Mediación Comunitaria es un proceso por medio del cual se solucionan los conflictos derivados de la convivencia vecinal como una herramienta para la prevención social de los delitos. Para esta investigación se realizó un análisis conceptual varios autores, estudiosos de la materia, estudios de documentos de mediación comunitaria, de prevención del delito y su transformación de conflictos, de convivencia vecinal, cursos, libros y conferencias, entre otros, teniendo la necesidad de clasificar para una mejor comprensión los conflictos más frecuentes en la comunidad, así como los sectores informados en los reportes del INEGI como de mayor incidencia de conflictos comunitarios, entendiendo como ámbito comunitario la zona metropolitana de Monterrey, Nuevo León, que está integrada por los municipios de Monterrey, Guadalupe, Apodaca, San Nicolás de los Garza, General Escobedo, Santa Catarina, Benito Juárez, García, San Pedro Garza García, Cadereyta Jiménez, Santiago y Salinas Victoria

Mediación comunitaria como bienestar social y generadora de paz en conflictos sociales

This article named “Community Mediation as a Social Welfare and Peacemaker in social conflicts” had as objective the social approach applying the community mediation and its impact on the prevention of crime since the transformation of the conflicts of neighboring coexistence, the approach was a mixed methodology, based on the technique of documentary review, in the study, comparative analysis in different municipalities of the metropolitan area, supporting the analysis in several authors such as García Máynez, Lederach, Gorjón Gómez, Gutiérrez Vázquez, among others, also indexed journals, obtained vLex, Eirene, books, electronic books, conferences, videos, citizen interview, to ensure the veracity of the information collected, it was found that the normative design to resolve conflicts of the community mediation, is not a method that can be used in a traditional judicial process, and there is no community law as such to be applied in this context.  Concluding in this research that justice must be citizenship through community mediation, so that mediation is disseminated and known to the most distant communities of each municipality in the State of Nuevo León.Este artículo titulado “Mediación Comunitaria como bienestar social y generadora de paz en conflictos sociales” tuvo como objetivo el enfoque social aplicando  la mediación comunitaria y su impacto en la prevención del delito desde la transformación de los conflictos de convivencia vecinal, se siguió el enfoque de metodología mixta, basado en la técnica de revisión documental, en el estudio, análisis comparativo en diferentes municipios del área metropolitana,  apoyando el análisis en varios autores como García Máynez, Lederach, Gorjón Gómez, Gutiérrez Vázquez, entre  otros, también revistas Indexadas, obtenidas vLex, Eirene, libros, libros electrónicos, conferencias, videos, entrevistas ciudadanas, para asegurar la veracidad de la información recopilada, se encontró que el diseño normativo para resolver los conflictos de la Mediación comunitaria, no es un métodos que  puede llevarse en un Proceso Judicial tradicional, además  no existe una ley comunitaria como tal para aplicarse en este contexto. Concluyendo en esta investigación de que se debe ciudadanizar la justicia a través de la mediación comunitaria, para que se difunda y se conozca la mediación hasta las comunidades más lejanas de cada municipio del Estado de Nuevo León