Evaluating the resistance to sunn pest (Eurygaster integriceps Put) and its relationship with high-molecular-weight glutenin subunit in wheat

Trabalho final de mestrado integrado em Medicina, apresentado à Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Coimbra.Em consequência de um fenómeno global de envelhecimento populacional, é expectável um aumento na prevalência de demência. A demência vascular é a segunda causa mais comum de demência, depois da doença de Alzheimer. Trata-se de uma entidade clínica bastante heterogénea, sendo o acidente vascular cerebral (AVC) um dos seus mecanismos subjacentes. No entanto, nem todos os doentes desenvolvem demência após AVC, e nem sempre ela é do tipo vascular. Idade avançada, características do AVC, as suas complicações, e evidências neuro-imagiológicas de lesão cerebral acrescida, parecem determinar o desenvolvimento de demência. Evitar a recorrência do AVC, através do controlo de fatores de risco vasculares é, por enquanto, a única forma reconhecida de prevenção.As people live longer, an increase in prevalence and burden of dementia is to be expected worldwide. Vascular dementia is the second most common cause of dementia, second to Alzheimer’s disease. It is a heterogeneous clinical entity, with stroke being one of the responsible mechanisms. However, not all stroke patients develop dementia, and not always in the vascular form. Older age, stroke-related factors, its complications and other neuroimaging changes, seem to determine the occurrence of dementia after a stroke. Avoiding recurrence of stroke by careful monitoring and treatment of vascular risk factors is, for now, the only recognized preventive strategy of poststroke dementia

Determination of relationship between HMW glutenin subunits and bread making quality in bread wheat

Dissertação de mestrado em Contabilidade e Finanças (Auditoria), apresentada à Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra, sob a orientação de José Manuel Bernardo Vaz Ferreira.Este estudo tem como objetivo analisar a situação das empresas da Região Autónoma da Madeira no difícil contexto atual. As falências nas empresas têm acontecido com regularidade, devido às diversas alterações conjunturais, que provocam mudanças no contexto do sistema de controlo interno. Este estudo foi realizado com o objetivo de verificar se os procedimentos do controlo interno estão a ser aplicados corretamente nas empresas madeirenses e verificar se as empresas estão fragilizadas devido às condições atuais que o país atravessa, mais concretamente na situação desta região insular que, no ano de 2011 sofreu um aumento do IVA (Imposto sobre o Valor Acrescentado) em seis pontos percentuais. Deste modo, este estudo pretende verificar os pontos fracos do controlo interno em concordância com outros três fatores externos (pagamentos por parte do Estado às empresas, aumento do IVA para 22% e aparecimento de novas superfícies/concorrência). Os resultados do estudo revelam que as empresas da Madeira ainda cometem algumas falhas no controlo interno, de natureza multifatorial. Em relação ao Estado, este tem um papel pouco significativo na situação das empresas (17,2%), o mesmo não sucedendo com o impacto do aumento do IVA, já que, cerca de 96,9% das empresas referem que os clientes estão a consumir menos, o que é preocupante. Em resultado desta situação, 26,7% da amostra coloca em hipótese a falência associada a este último fator. No que diz respeito à concorrência, os resultados demonstram que metade (50%) das empresas inquiridas, sentiram um impacto negativo no seu negócio após a entrada das grandes superfícies na Região. Por último, as empresas madeirenses, neste momento, sofrem um forte impacto de componentes externos ao controlo interno, sendo necessária uma reestruturação, essencialmente no IVA

Mathematical model of immune response to hepatitis B

A new detailed mathematical model for dynamics of immune response to hepatitis B is proposed, which takes into account contributions from innate and adaptive immune responses, as well as cytokines. Stability analysis of different steady states is performed to identify parameter regions where the model exhibits clearance of infection, maintenance of a chronic infection, or periodic oscillations. Effects of nucleoside analogues and interferon treatments are analysed, and the critical drug efficiency is determined

Suicide ideation, planning, and attempts: the case of the Latinx LGB youth

Background: Guided by an ecological systems theory (EST) framework, the purpose of the present study was to investigate how multiple micro, mezzo, and macro factors influence the suicidality continuum from suicidal ideation to suicide attempt among Latinx LGB (lesbian, gay, and bisexual) youth living in the United States. Methods: Data for this cross sectional-study included 451 participants who self-identified as Latinx LGB on the 2017-National Youth Risk Behavioral Survey. The analysis explored micro, mezzo, and macro-level factors’ association with three suicidality outcomes (ideation, planning, and attempt) at the bivariate and multivariate level. Since the outcome variables were dichotomized, univariate logistic regressions and backward elimination logistic regressions were used. Results: The most commonly reported suicidal behavior was ideation (n = 173; 40%), followed by planning (n = 150; 34%), and then attempt (n = 64; 21%). Findings from the backward elimination logistic regression on suicidal ideation suggest the best set of independent variables are being bullied at school (odds ratio [OR] = 2.81; CI: 1.61–4.89), experiencing sexual assault (OR = 2.32; CI: 1.32–4.07), experiencing depressive symptoms (OR = 1.99; CI: 1.07– 3.69), being cannabis use (OR = 1.76; CI: 1.08–2.89), and being female (OR = 1.72; CI: 1.01–2.93). For suicide planning the model suggested, experiencing depressive symptoms (OR = 3.21; CI: 1.74–5.91), cannabis use (OR = 2.46; CI: 1.49–4.07), being bullied at school (OR = 2.04; CI: 1.17–3.58), and experiencing sexual assault (OR = 1.88; CI: 1.07–3.31) exhibited the strongest relationships. Suicide attempt was significantly associated with cannabis use (OR = 3.12; CI: 1.60–6.08), experiencing depression (OR= 2.89; CI: 1.30–6.43), experiencing sexual assault (OR = 2.77; CI: 1.34–5.71), and being bullied at school (OR = 2.34; CI: 1.12–4.91). Conclusion: Given the findings of this study, it is essential that tailored suicide prevention efforts be established that uniquely address the intersections of race/ethnicity and sexual orientation and how this intersection influences micro, mezzo, and macro factors associated with suicide ideation, planning, and attempt among Latinx LGB adolescents

Expression of TRPV1 receptors increased in hippocampus following pentylenetetrazole-induced kindling in male rats

Background: The exact pathogenesis of epilepsy is not clear well. Recent studies showed the possible involvement of transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) receptors in this disease. Objectives: The aim of this study was to measure the expression of TRPV1 receptors in hippocampus following pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced kindling in male rats. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 14 male Wistar rats were allocated into two groups of experimental and control (seven rats in each group). The kindling group received a subconvulsive dose of PTZ (35 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) every 48 hours for 15 sessions, while the control rats were injected with an equal dose of saline. At the end of the injections, rats were decapitated, and their brains were removed. TRPV1 receptor expression in hippocampus region was assessed by real-time polymerase chain reaction method. Results: The results of the current study showed that expressions of TRPV1 receptors were increased in hippocampus following PTZ-induced kindling in male rats. Conclusions: Since the expression of TRPV1 receptors increased in hippocampus of epileptic rats, the TRPV1 receptors may be good candidates for epilepsy treatment. � 2016, Tehran University of Medical Sciences

Comparing antiviral strategies against COVID-19 via multiscale within-host modelling

Within-host models of COVID-19 infection dynamics enable the merits of different forms of antiviral therapy to be assessed in individual patients. A stochastic agent-based model of COVID-19 intracellular dynamics is introduced here, that incorporates essential steps of the viral life cycle targeted by treatment options. Integration of model predictions with an intercellular ODE model of within-host infection dynamics, fitted to patient data, generates a generic profile of disease progression in patients that have recovered in the absence of treatment. This is contrasted with the profiles obtained after variation of model parameters pertinent to the immune response, such as effector cell and antibody proliferation rates, mimicking disease progression in immunocompromised patients. These profiles are then compared with disease progression in the presence of antiviral and convalescent plasma therapy against COVID-19 infections. The model reveals that using both therapies in combination can be very effective in reducing the length of infection, but these synergistic effects decline with a delayed treatment start. Conversely, early treatment with either therapy alone can actually increase the duration of infection, with infectious virions still present after the decline of other markers of infection. This suggests that usage of these treatments should remain carefully controlled in a clinical environment