Marriage and care of a spouse with dementia: a cross-cultural study Brazil-Portugal

This study aimed to analyze the meaning of marriage and care of the spouse from the perspective of Brazilian and Portuguese caregivers of elderly people with Alzheimer Disease (AD). Twelve women participated in the study, being the sample obtained by convenience using the snowball technique. We used a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview, data were analyzed by the Bardin content analysis technique. The results pointed out that although the cultural differences between Brazil and Portugal, some meanings related to marriage and care of the spouse in the context of AD were similar for Brazilian and Portuguese wives. Despite marital changes related to dementia, most wives felt well performing their role of caregiver, perhaps because among other variables, this is a task traditionally and culturally expected to be performed by women of both countries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Telecommuting potential analysis

Commuting is a problem for developed societies that translates into economic, social and environmental losses. This study is set to explore the potential of telecommuting. The empirical study started with interviews to build a survey that was answered by 126 Lisbon commuters. Results show interviewees perceived telecommuting consequences are in line with extant research and that attitudes towards telecommuting (productivity, and cost savings) are predictors of the intention to accept telecommuting offers. Likewise, professional tenure and work-to-home stress foster a more favourable attitude related to productivity / quality of working life while displacement mode (active) and home-to-work stress foster a more favourable attitude related with cost savings. The study concludes that there is considerable potential for telecommuting and that the process of implementing telecommuting as an HRM policy is doable based on the attitudes identified in the model developed.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Molecular model of TriBP1, a protein involved in nuclear import.

Further structural analysis will be performed in order to understand the biological properties and roles of TriBP1 and TriBP2.X-meeting 2007

Experimental and modeling studies of a micro direct methanol fuel cell

The Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) has attracted much attention due to its potential applications as a power source for transportation and portable electronic devices. Based on the advantages of the scaling laws, miniaturization promises higher efficiency and performance of power generating devices and the MicroDMFC is therefore an emergent technology. In this work, a set of experiences with a MicroDMFC of 2.25 cm2 active area are performed in order to investigate the effect of important operating parameters. Maximum power density achieved was 32.6 mW/cm2 using 4M mehanol concentration at room temperature. Polarization curves are compared with mathematical model simulations in order to achieve a better understanding of how parameters affect performance. The one-dimensional model used in this work takes in account coupled heat and mass transfer, along with the electrochemical reactions occurring in a direct methanol fuel cell and was already developed and validated for DMFC in previous work [1-3]. The model is also used to predict some important parameters to analyze fuel cell performance, such as water transport coefficient and methanol crossover. This easy to implement simplified model is suitable for use in real-time MicroDMFC simulations

Determinação do tamanho e da virulência de variantes estáveis (Many Polyhedra) do vírus Anticarsia gemmatalis MNPV.

Entre as limitações relacionadas à produção de baculovírus em cultivos celulares, a mais considerável é a perda de virulência devido a mutações ocasionadas pela passagem serial do vírus. Uma estratégia para a otimização da produção in vitro é a seleção de variantes geneticamente mais estáveis denominados Many Polyhedra (MP). Neste trabalho foi feita a determinação do tamanho dos poliedros e da virulência de seis variantes MP selecionados a partir da passagem do vírus Anticarsia gemmatalis MNPV (AgMNPV) em células BTI-Tn5-B1-4. O cálculo do comprimento dos poliedros foi feito em microscópio eletrônico de varredura DSM 962, Zeiss. O tamanho médio dos clones MPs variou de 1,72??m (MP1) a 2,18 ?m (MP5). O inoculo original AgMNPV-2D, utilizado com referência, apresentou valor de 2,09?m. O tratamento estatístico dos dados, pela Análise de Variância (ANOVA) e teste de Tukey-Kramer, revelou que não existe diferença significante entre os variantes MP2, MP3, MP5, MP6 e AgMNPV-2D. Os variantes MP4 e MP1 foram distintos dos outros clones em relação ao tamanho, o que foi confirmado pelo método de Dunnett’s. Foi feita a avaliação da virulência, por Análise de Regressão Probit, após incorporação do vírus em dieta artificial oferecida a larvas de 3º instar de Anticarsia gemmatalis. Os parâmetros de Concentrações Letais CL50 e CL99 e de Tempo Médio de Mortalidade (TM) das amostras foram determinados. Entre os dados obtidos foi observado que os clones MP4 e MP3 apresentam uma alta virulência, com CL50 de 173 e 504 OBs/ml de dieta e com TM de 7,02 e 7,78 dias, respectivamente. Por outro lado, o clone MP5, com a média maior de tamanho, apresenta uma virulência mais baixa, com CL50 de 1787 OBs/ml de dieta e com TM de 9,34 dias. Não foi possível estabelecer uma correlação entre o tamanho dos poliedros (variação no número de virions) e sua virulência. Os resultados indicam que a virulência está relacionada às características intrínsecas dos genótipos virais que compõem o corpo de oclusão

Modeling and simulation of micro direct methanol Fuel Cells

Fuel cells have unique technological attributes: efficiency, absence of moving parts and low emissions. The Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) has attracted much attention due to its potential applications as a power source for transportation and portable electronic devices. With the advance of micromachining technologies, miniaturization of power sources became one of the trends of evolution of research in this area. Based on the advantages of the scaling laws, miniaturization promises higher efficiency and performance of power generating devices, so, MicroDMFC is an emergent technology. Models play an important role in fuel cell development since they facilitate a better understanding of parameters affecting the performance of fuel cells. In this work, a steady state, one-dimensional model accounting for coupled heat and mass transfer, along with the electrochemical reactions occurring in a fuel cell, already developed and validated for DMFC in [1-3], is used to predict Micro DMFC performance. The model takes in account all relevant phenomena occurring in a DMFC. Polarization curves predicted by the model are compared with experimental data existing in literature and the model shows good agreement, mainly for lower current densities. The model is used to predict some important parameters to analyze fuel cell performance, such as water transport coefficient and leakage current density. This easily to implement simplified model is suitable for use in real-time MicroDMFC simulations