Insights of the AD 1755 Lisbon tsunami in the estuary of the Alcabrichel River (Portuguese western coast)

Studies on extreme marine inundations that affected the Portuguese coast refer mainly to the tsunami of AD 1775, considered the most devastating that affected the Portuguese coast. This work is focused on the recognition of a tsunami deposit in Alcabrichel River estuary and presents the analysis of a sediment core CF2. Lithostratigraphic, sedimentological, geochemical, morphoscopic and microtextural analyses revealed a peculiar deposit, a massive layer (10cm), essentially sandy (>90%), interposed between fine sediments and the radiocarbon dating performed under the scope of R&D Project PTDC/CTE-GIX/104035/2008, placing this event in the chronological proximity of the AD 1755 Lisbon tsunami.N/

Psychosocial risks prevention: Perspectives from Portuguese SMEs

Introduction: This paper presents the Portuguese results from the first phase of the PPPSER project, which has a qualitative nature. Micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) represent 99.9% of the Portuguese business setting. According to national sources, there are 1,167,811 SMEs in Portugal, with a combined turnover of 220 billion euros. Therefore, the main goal of this phase was to gather data from relevant SMEs stakeholders about what they perceived as psychosocial risks, their main causes and consequences, the general level of awareness about the issue, the main obstacles to prevention and intervention and specific actions developed considering those risks.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Provision of academic data for research: a step for academic success

One of the most widely researched issue on higher education relates to exposed paths that lead to academic success. Nowadays information systems represent an essential part of the education sector in many universities. In particular, the increasing of the number of students in higher education in Portugal leads to the progressive increase of student’s data contained in institutional information systems. This article aims to include the use of student data contained in the Fénix information system of a Portuguese higher educational institution, turning their information in an internal tool, to assist analysis and studies of internal academic success. Providing relevant data for queries can offer a clearer explanation of the paths to success in higher education. It can also help the identification of problems and failures aiming to support a more effective intervention of institutions and researchers to improve the academic success.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Optimal control model of immunotherapy for autoimmune diseases

In this work, we develop a new mathematical model to evaluate the impact of drug therapies on autoimmunity disease. We describe the immune system interactions at the cellular level, using the kinetic theory approach, by considering self-antigen presenting cells, self-reactive T cells, immunosuppressive cells and Interleukin-2 (IL-2) cytokines. The drug therapy consists of an intake of Interleukin-2 cytokines which boosts the effect of immunosuppressive cells on the autoimmune reaction. We also derive the macroscopic model relative to the kinetic system and study the wellposedness of the Cauchy problem for the corresponding system of equations. We formulate an optimal control problem relative to the model so that the quantity of both the self-reactive T cells that are produced in the body and the Interleukin-2 cytokines that are administrated is simultaneously minimized. Moreover, we perform some numerical tests in view of investigating optimal treatment strategies and the results reveal that the optimal control approach provides good-quality approximate solutions and shows to be a valuable procedure in identifying optimal treatment strategies.This work is partially supported by the Portuguese FCT Projects UIDB/00013/2020 and UIDP/00013/2020 of CMAT-U

A novel imidazole derivative: synthesis, characterization and chemosensory ability for ions

Imidazoles have been explored over the years as optical chemosensors for their ability to coordinate with analytes, through specific binding sites, especially for ions, provided by the nitrogen heteroatom. Consequently, a novel 2,4,5-triheteroarylimidazole was synthetized bearing indolyl and furyl moieties. The compound was characterized by the usual spectroscopic techniques, and the preliminary chemosensory ability was carried out in acetonitrile and acetonitrile/water (25:75) in the presence of ions with biological, medicinal and environmental relevance. In an aqueous medium, the new compound showed a slight enhancement of fluorescence in the presence of HSO4−. As for cations, an enhancement of the fluorescence was observed upon interaction with Fe2+, Sn2+, Fe3+ and Al3+. On the other hand, a quenching of fluorescence was observed in the presence of Cu2+.This research was funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for financial support to CQ/UM (UID/QUI/00686/2020). Thanks are also due to FCT for financial support to the Portuguese NMR Network (PTNMR, Bruker Avance III 400-Univ. Minho)

National trends in the use of oral chemotherapy over 13 years

Funding Information: To the expert panel who validated the CDDs for the three indications and INFARMED I.P. for making data available. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 Moreira, Bernardo, Ramos, Aguiar and Alves da Costa.Background: Systemic cancer therapy has traditionally been administered using an intravenous (IV) route, implying patients’ frequent visits to hospitals to access to their therapy. If we consider the actual pipeline in oncology, oral chemotherapy will be the main component of cancer treatment in the next few years. This shift in the administration route requires different care models in order to guarantee treatment efficacy and safety. Objective: To analyze time trends in oral chemotherapy consumption in Portugal. Method: Oral chemotherapy consumption over a 13-year period (2008–2020) was analyzed, considering dispensed units by the administration route with respective costs, resorting to the drug regulatory agency (INFARMED I.P.) database. Oral consumption patterns were further explored using common daily doses (CDD) for three conditions, including chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and breast cancer (BC), to adjust for the effect of varying doses. Data were analyzed descriptively resorting to Microsoft Office Excel 2010. Results: Overall chemotherapy consumption increased +Δ54.7%, with the highest contribution in units observed in oral forms (+Δ58.8%). The total expenditure increased +Δ96.5%, and despite the increase in oral forms (+Δ221.6%), intravenous forms continued to be the major cost driver, with an important contribution from immunotherapy. Much of the increase was led by the approval of 40 new IV and 48 new oral cancer medications with higher costs introduced in the market. Using CDD as an alternative metric to units had varying impacts by indication. The observed increases seemed to focus on specific cancer sites with varying effect; in CML, there was a 2.39-fold increase, compared to 4.41 for NSCLC and 1.86 for BC. However, for BC, two distinct sub-patterns were observed for hormone therapy (increasing 1.83) and for the novel tyrosine kinase inhibitors (increasing 40.8). Conclusion: The growing use of oral chemotherapy is obvious and calls for investments in supporting patients in managing medication adherence and adverse events. The shifts in the healthcare system are complex and need to be prioritized. Our data suggest that priority could be attributed to cancer sites driving innovation, namely, advanced breast cancer.publishersversionpublishe

Functionalisation of terpenoids at C-4 via organopalladium dimers: cyclopropane formation during oxidation of homoallylic sigma-organopalladium intermediates with lead tetraacetate

The synthesis of new potential adjuvant saponin aglycons was investigated by selective palladium mediated C-H functionalisation of appropriately functionalised derivatives of lanosterol, cholesterol, and friedelin. The desired equatorial aldehyde functionality was successfully introduced into the lanosterol skeleton as expected. Cyclopalladation of a cholesterol derivative proceeded as expected, but during oxidation of the organopalladium intermediate, participation of the adjacent alkene functionality led to stereoselective formation of a cyclopropane and introduction of an acetate group into the steroid backbone at C-6. Further investigation of this unusual cyclopropane formation on a model decalin system confirmed the result, but C-H activation on a related open chain system was prevented by complexation of the alkene functionality to the palladium. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Synthesis, characterization, and preliminary chemosensory ability of a novel 2,4,5-Tri(Hetero)Arylimidazole based on an 8-Hydroxy-Quinoline group

2,4,5-Trisubstituted imidazole derivatives with heteroaromatic groups are versatile heterocyclic compounds exhibiting a wide range of biological activities, as well as very interesting thermal, optical, electronic, and redox properties. In recent years, this type of imidazole derivatives has been explored as colorimetric and fluorimetric chemosensors due to their ability to coordinate with ions of biological and environmental relevance. In order to continue the work developed by the research group, we report the synthesis and characterization using usual spectroscopic techniques (NMR, absorption and emission spectroscopies) of a new imidazole derivative, sub-stituted at position 2 of the imidazole with an 8-hydroxy-quinoline group. Furthermore, to com-plement the characterization of the synthesized imidazole, a preliminary study as an optical chemosensor was carried out in acetonitrile in the presence of ions with biological, medicinal, and environmental relevance.This research was funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for financial support to CQ/UM (UID/QUI/00686/2020). Thanks are also due to FCT for financial support to the Portuguese NMR Network (PTNMR, Bruker Avance III 400-Univ. Minho)

Prejudice, Vulnerability, Adhesion Process, Religiousness Regarding the Life Routine with AIDS: Life Stories

Objective: To communicate life stories of people who suffer from acquired immunodeficiency-syndrome with a higher vulnerability registered at the Municipal Secretary of Social Assistance and the diagnostic’s influence on their daily routine. Method: Descriptive and exploratory study based on oral life history. Thirteen people with AIDs took part in the study via a semi-structured interview. The narratives were analyzed using Bardin’s thematic content analysis. Results: Three thematic axes emerged from Bardin’s content analysis: prejudice and discrimination regarding the life routine with aids; Reaction when facing the diagnostic and the adhesion process for the antiretroviral treatment; Confrontation of religion and religiousness on people with aids. Conclusion: The people living with aids, a chronic and stigmatizing disease, need the support of multidisciplinary teams and an improvement in relation to the access, the coverage and the meaning assigned to the disease, besides a better quality of life and social assistance. We conclude that religion did not contribute to facing these people’s conditions. It brought blame, incorrect information that may impair the treatment and their follow-up. One infers that health education regarding HIV/AIDS needs to be remodeled on all of society’s segments

Using profanity and negative sentiments: An analysis of ultimate fighting championship fighters’ trash talk on fans’ social media engagement and viewership habits

The rise in popularity of combat sports has afforded fighters an enhanced celebrity status, especially across online platforms that provide fans the opportunity to engage with and discuss their favorite athletes. Given this growth, fighters’ behaviors, both inside and outside of the arena, can have a strong influence on fans’ consumption and social media activity. To evaluate this relationship, this study investigated the effect of combat sports fighters’ trash talking on subsequent fans’ behaviors by collecting and analyzing 516 fighter responses during prefight press conferences and 32,360 fan tweets on Twitter during Ultimate Fighting Championship events. Results demonstrated that fights featuring polarizing and popular athletes generated the highest pay-per-view numbers, and higher levels of profanity speech during trash talking were associated with higher engagement in pay-per-view consumption and Twitter usage.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio