133 research outputs found
Co-creation on Active Aging Challenges in Portugal
With a rapid increase in aging population worldwide, there is a need to ensure good health and wellbeing for the elderly. Healthcare system in Portugal supports opportunities and addresses challenges of its aging population by well-maintained associations between its government and private institutes. In order to stimulate an innovation ecosystem in the region, Innovation Think Tank (ITT), a part of Siemens Healthineers (SHS), has been actively engaging in various interdisciplinary projects by collaborating with local healthcare institutions. Following an invitation from the University of Evora and SHS Portugal, ITT at Evora was institutionalized. As a part of this association, a certification program was organized at Evora University, in association with Espirito Santo Hospital, Portugal. The goal of this program was to 1) train the participants on the ITT methodology 2) capture and validate healthcare trends and solutions concerning aging challenges in Portugal 3) deep dive and tackle the most prominent healthcare and aging challenges in Portugal with a focus on five key areas of Lifespan and Health, Lifespan and Demographics, Lifespan and Arts, Lifespan and Ethics & Citizenship, Lifespan and Economy.
Over 30 multidisciplinary participants comprising of researchers, students, professors, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs, representing over 20 hospitals, universities, and consultancies worldwide participated in this two-week hybrid program where they learnt to apply the innovative thinking approach by working on real life problems and proposed solutions with a focus on the aging challenges and future of healthcare in Portugal. The consolidated results were presented at the outcome exhibition which included a feedback session and panel discussion with healthcare experts from Portugal and other locations worldwide. The overall outcomes of the program comprised for the definition of some of the research areas for the Lifespan Chair, academic training proposals and community intervention proposals. With its global network and infrastructure, ITT envisions to boost future research at the university, and hospital by collaborating in projects that impact the future of healthcare in Portugal and globally, as well as identifying grants and partners for implementation
Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory
A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding
eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers
with zenith angles greater than detected with the Pierre Auger
Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum
confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above
eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law with
index followed by
a smooth suppression region. For the energy () at which the
spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence
of suppression, we find
eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory
The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger
Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers.
These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of
the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray
energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30
to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of
the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is
determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated
using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due
to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components.
The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of
the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the
AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air
shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy
-- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy
estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the
surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator
scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent
emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for
the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at
least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Measurement of the Radiation Energy in the Radio Signal of Extensive Air Showers as a Universal Estimator of Cosmic-Ray Energy
We measure the energy emitted by extensive air showers in the form of radio
emission in the frequency range from 30 to 80 MHz. Exploiting the accurate
energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we obtain a radiation energy of
15.8 \pm 0.7 (stat) \pm 6.7 (sys) MeV for cosmic rays with an energy of 1 EeV
arriving perpendicularly to a geomagnetic field of 0.24 G, scaling
quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy. A comparison with predictions from
state-of-the-art first-principle calculations shows agreement with our
measurement. The radiation energy provides direct access to the calorimetric
energy in the electromagnetic cascade of extensive air showers. Comparison with
our result thus allows the direct calibration of any cosmic-ray radio detector
against the well-established energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DOI.
Supplemental material in the ancillary file
Marine algal flora of Santa Maria Island, Azores
Este artículo contiene 41 páginas, 4 tablas, 15 figuras.Background
The algal flora of the Island of Santa Maria (eastern group of the Azores archipelago) has
attracted interest of researchers on past occasions (Drouët 1866, Agardh 1870, Trelease
1897, Schmidt 1931, Ardré et al. 1974, Fralick and Hehre 1990, Neto et al. 1991, Morton
and Britton 2000, Amen et al. 2005, Wallenstein and Neto 2006, Tittley et al. 2009,Wallenstein et al. 2009a, Wallenstein et al. 2010, Botelho et al. 2010, Torres et al. 2010,
León-Cisneros et al. 2011, Martins et al. 2014, Micael et al. 2014, Rebelo et al. 2014, Ávila
et al. 2015, Ávila et al. 2016, Machín-Sánchez et al. 2016, Uchman et al. 2016, Johnson et
al. 2017, Parente et al. 2018). Nevertheless, the Island macroalgal flora is not well-known
as published information reflects limited collections obtained in short-term visits by
scientists. To overcome this, a thorough investigation, encompassing collections and
presence data recording, was undertaken at both the littoral and sublittoral levels down to a
depth of approximately 40 m, covering an area of approximately 64 km . The resultant
taxonomic records are listed in the present paper which also provides information on
species ecology and occurrence around the Island, improving, thereby, the knowledge of
the Azorean macroalgal flora at both local and regional scales.
New information
A total of 2329 specimens (including some taxa identified only to genus level) belonging to
261 taxa of macroalgae are registered, comprising 152 Rhodophyta, 43 Chlorophyta and
66 Ochrophyta (Phaeophyceae). Of these, 174 were identified to species level (102
Rhodophyta, 29 Chlorophyta and 43 Ochrophyta), encompassing 52 new records for the
Island (30 Rhodophyta, 9 Chlorophyta and 13 Ochrophyta), 2 Macaronesian endemics
(Laurencia viridis Gil-Rodríguez & Haroun; and Millerella tinerfensis (Seoane-Camba)
S.M.Boo & J.M.Rico), 10 introduced (the Rhodophyta Acrothamnion preissii (Sonder)
E.M.Wollaston, Antithamnion hubbsii E.Y.Dawson, Asparagopsis armata Harvey,
Bonnemaisonia hamifera Hariot, Melanothamnus harveyi (Bailey) Díaz-Tapia & Maggs,
Scinaia acuta M.J.Wynne and Symphyocladia marchantioides (Harvey) Falkenberg; the
Chlorophyta Codium fragile subsp. fragile (Suringar) Hariot; and the Ochrophyta
Hydroclathrus tilesii (Endlicher) Santiañez & M.J.Wynne, and Papenfussiella kuromo
(Yendo) Inagaki) and 18 species of uncertain status (11 Rhodophyta, 3 Chlorophyta and 4
Ochrophyta).This research was supported by several projects, expeditions and campaigns (see Funding
above) and lately by the project “ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072” funded the
Operational Programme Azores 2020 (85% ERDF and 15% regional funds).Manuela
I. Parente was supported by a postdoctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/34246/2006) awarded by
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT). Eva Cacabelos was supported by a
postdoctoral grant (Project M1420-09-5369-FSE-000001) from ARDITI (Regional Agency
for Development of Research, Technology and Innovation of Madeira). Afonso C.L. Prestes
was supported by a PhD grant (M3.1.a/F/083/2015) awarded by Fundo Regional da
Ciência e Tecnologia (FRCT). Rita F. Patarra was supported by a Science and Technology
Management Fellowship grant (SFRH/BGCT/135478/2018) awarded by Fundação para a
Ciência e a Tecnologia, IP.Peer reviewe
Identification and developmental expression of the full complement of Cytochrome P450 genes in Zebrafish
© The Authors, 2010. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in BMC Genomics 11 (2010): 643, doi:10.1186/1471-2164-11-643.Increasing use of zebrafish in drug discovery and mechanistic toxicology demands knowledge of cytochrome P450 (CYP) gene regulation and function. CYP enzymes catalyze oxidative transformation leading to activation or inactivation of many endogenous and exogenous chemicals, with consequences for normal physiology and disease processes. Many CYPs potentially have roles in developmental specification, and many chemicals that cause developmental abnormalities are substrates for CYPs. Here we identify and annotate the full suite of CYP genes in zebrafish, compare these to the human CYP gene complement, and determine the expression of CYP genes during normal development. Zebrafish have a total of 94 CYP genes, distributed among 18 gene families found also in mammals. There are 32 genes in CYP families 5 to 51, most of which are direct orthologs of human CYPs that are involved in endogenous functions including synthesis or inactivation of regulatory molecules. The high degree of sequence similarity suggests conservation of enzyme activities for these CYPs, confirmed in reports for some steroidogenic enzymes (e.g. CYP19, aromatase; CYP11A, P450scc; CYP17, steroid 17a-hydroxylase), and the CYP26 retinoic acid hydroxylases. Complexity is much greater in gene families 1, 2, and 3, which include CYPs prominent in metabolism of drugs and pollutants, as well as of endogenous substrates. There are orthologous relationships for some CYP1 s and some CYP3 s between zebrafish and human. In contrast, zebrafish have 47 CYP2 genes, compared to 16 in human, with only two (CYP2R1 and CYP2U1) recognized as orthologous based on sequence. Analysis of shared synteny identified CYP2 gene clusters evolutionarily related to mammalian CYP2 s, as well as unique clusters. Transcript profiling by microarray and quantitative PCR revealed that the majority of zebrafish CYP genes are expressed in embryos, with waves of expression of different sets of genes over the course of development. Transcripts of some CYP occur also in oocytes. The results provide a foundation for the use of zebrafish as a model in toxicological, pharmacological and chemical disease research.This work was supported by NIH grants R01ES015912 and P42ES007381 (Superfund Basic Research Program at Boston University) (to JJS). MEJ was a Guest Investigator at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and was supported by grants from the Swedish research council Formas and Carl Trygger's foundation. AK was a Post-doctoral Fellow at WHOI, and was supported by a fellowship from the Japanese Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS). JZ and TP were Guest Students at the WHOI and were supported by a CAPES Ph.D. Fellowship and CNPq Ph.D. Sandwich Fellowship (JZ), and by a CNPq Ph.D. Fellowship (TP), from Brazil
Marine algal flora of São Miguel Island, Azores
Este artículo contiene 52 páginas, 4 tablas, 15 figuras.Background
The macroalgal flora of the Island of São Miguel (eastern group of the Azores Archipelago)
has attracted the interest of many researchers in the past, the first publications going back
to the nineteenth century. Initial studies were mainly taxonomic, resulting in the publication
of a checklist of the Azorean benthic marine algae. Later, the establishment of the
University of the Azores on the Island permitted the logistic conditions to develop both
temporal studies and long-term research and this resulted in a significant increase on
research directed at the benthic marine algae and littoral communities of the Island and
consequent publications.
Prior to the present paper, the known macroalgal flora of São Miguel Island comprised
around 260 species. Despite this richness, a significant amount of the research was never
made public, notably Masters and PhD theses encompassing information regarding
presence data recorded at littoral and sublittoral levels down to a depth of approximately
40 m around the Island and the many collections made, which resulted in vouchers
deposited in the AZB Herbarium Ruy Telles Palhinha and the LSM- Molecular Systematics
Laboratory at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of the Azores.
The present publication lists the macroalgal taxonomic records, together with information
on their ecology and occurrence around São Miguel Island, improving the knowledge of the
Azorean macroalgal flora at local and regional scales.
New information
A total of 12,781 specimens (including some identified only to genus) belonging to 431 taxa
of macroalgae are registered, comprising 284 Rhodophyta, 59 Chlorophyta and 88
Ochrophyta (Phaeophyceae). Of these, 323 were identified to species level (212
Rhodophyta, 48 Chlorophyta and 63 Ochrophyta), of which 61 are new records for the
Island (42 Rhodophyta, 9 Chlorophyta and 10 Ochrophyta), one an Azorean endemic
(Predaea feldmannii subsp. azorica Gabriel), five are Macaronesian endemisms (the red
algae Botryocladia macaronesica Afonso-Carrillo, Sobrino, Tittley & Neto, Laurencia viridis
Gil-Rodríguez & Haroun, Millerella tinerfensis (Seoane-Camba) S.M.Boo & J.M.Rico,
Phyllophora gelidioides P.Crouan & H.Crouan ex Karsakoff and the green alga Codium
elisabethiae O.C.Schmidt), 19 are introduced species (15 Rhodophyta, two Chlorophyta
and two Ochrophyta) and 32 are of uncertain status (21 Rhodophyta, five Chlorophyta and
six Ochrophyta).This research was supported by several projects, expeditions and campaigns (see Funding
above) and lately by the project “ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072” funded the
Operational Programme Azores 2020 (85% ERDF and 15% regional funds). Thanks are
due to the campaign teams for their critical involvement in this project (Abel Sentíes, Aina
del Alcázar, Ana Alfaya, Ana Belén Villalba Lapeña, Ana Santos, Ana Sofia Carreiro, André
Amaral, Andrea Tracana, Ane Laborda, Anna Lloveras Armengol, António Brigos Plafon,
Berta Solé Nadal, Camille Fontaine, Carlos Rius, Carles Mir, Caroline Terral, Catarina
Santos, Cláudia Hipólito, Daniela Gabriel, Edward Hehre, Emanuel Xavier, Eduardo
García, Enrique Almira, Esteban Belles, Eunice Nogueira, Fátima Vaz Pinto, Francisco
Wallenstein, Gustavo M Martins, Heather Baldwin, Isadora Moniz, Jana Verdura, Joana
Pombo, João Brum, João Faria Santos, João Ferreira, Laura Busquier, Marco Enoch,
Maria Ana Dionísio, Maria Machín-Sánchez, Maria Vale, Marlene Terra, Mónica Martínez,
Mutue Toyota Fujii, Patrícia Madeira, Pedro Raposeiro, Richard Fralick, Richard
Thompson, Rocío Sánchez, Ruben Couto, Rubén Mosquera, Rui Sousa, Sara Peres,
Tarso Costa, Tito Silva, Valeria Cassano, Virginie Leyendecker). Edgar Rosas Alquicira
and Karla León Cisneros were supported by the Programme AlBan, the European Union
Programme of High Level Scholarships for Latin America (through scholarships
E05D060221MX and E05D060520MX), “Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología”
(doctoral scholarships 176162 and 157904) and the UNAMUNO Programme of PhD
Scholarships for Europe. Eva Cacabelos was supported by a postdoctoral grant (Project
M1420-09-5369-FSE-000002) from ARDITI (Regional Agency for Development of
Research, Technology and Innovation of Madeira). Andrea Z. Botelho was supported by a
PhD grant (M3.1.a/F/083/2015), awarded by Fundo Regional da Ciência e Tecnologia
(FRCT). Afonso C.L. Prestes was supported by a PhD grant (M3.1.a/F/083/2015), awarded
by Fundo Regional da Ciência e Tecnologia (FRCT). Rita F. Patarra was supported by a
Science and Technology Management Fellowship grant (SFRH/BGCT/135478/2018),
awarded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT I.P.). Manuela I. Parente was
supported by a Postdoc grant (SFRH/BPD/34246/2006), awarded by Fundação para a
Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).Peer reviewe
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