Creative project oriented learning strategy: teaching information and communication technologies for future health professionals

Digital native learners arrived at Higher Education Institutions. Digital skills are fundamental to the future health professionals, improving their academic performance and prepares them for their integration into the labor market.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Production of polymer filament-shaped piezoelectric sensors for e-textiles applications

This work aims at the development of piezoelectric materials for flexible sensors produced with various geometries, at low cost and high production rates, adequate for the industrial scale. In particular the filament form, appropriate for integration into textiles, is described, but other geometries, such as tape, are also being studied. The filaments are produced by co-extrusion of multiple layers with piezoelectric and electrically conductive polymer composites.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - PTDC/CTM/108801/200

Piezoelectric filaments produced by coextrusion

Considering the significant interest of both the academic and industrial communities in the fields of i/e-textiles (interactive/electronic textiles), the number of developed applications is far below the expected. This fact is mainly related to the difficulties on the development of production methodologies adequate to industrial scale processes. In this areas the integration of piezoelectric materials, that possess sensing/actuating capabilities, such as poly(vinylidene fluoride), PVDF, and can be processed using conventional processing techniques, is very promising and has encouraged a large number of research works. However, until now, most of the developed production methodologies are difficult to adapt to the industrial scale. This work reports recent developments achieved, in the framework of a research project, on the production of piezoelectric filament by coextrusion of PVDF and electrical conductive layers. The developed production methodology involves a conventional coextrusion line, for which a coextrusion die was designed to produce a multilayer filament. This filament comprises an inner layer of an electrically conductive Polypropylene grade and a middle layer of PVDF and is coated with an electrical conductive ink. The piezoelectric response of the produced filaments will be also presentedFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)- FCT PTDC/CTM/108801/200

Study of the effect of friction between the ossicles of the middle ear

The human ear is a complex biomechanical system and is divided by three parts: outer, middle and inner ear. The middle ear is formed by three ossicles (malleus, incus and stapes), ligaments, muscles and tendons, that amplify the sound, sending the sound waves to the inner ear. In this work, a finite element modelling of the middle ear and ligaments was made. The connection between ossicles was achieved using contact formulation. The modelling of ligaments was based in a hyperelastic model. Studies based in the displacement field of the eardrum and footplate were made, as well as the rotation of the footplate. The stress field in the ligaments to the exterior of the ossicular chain was still analyzed. These studies were done for different friction rates, between the ossicles, and for different acoustic pressure values applied in the eardrum. We can conclude that the connection between the ossicles may be assigned by contact formulation including friction. For simulation proposes, we can assume a quasi-rigid connection between ossicles.Peer Reviewe

Coextrusion of polymeric piezoelectric filaments

The difficulties related to the development of industrial scalable production methodologies have limited the number of applications currently available in the field of interactive/electronic textiles, which are far below the anticipated a few years ago. In these areas the integration of piezoelectric materials, that possess sensing/actuating capabilities, such as poly(vinylidene fluoride), PVDF, and can be processed using conventional processing techniques, is very promising and has encouraged a large number of research works. However, until now, most of the developed production methodologies are difficult to adapt to the industrial scale. This work reports recent developments achieved in the framework of a research project, on the production of piezoelectric filament by coextrusion of PVDF and an electrically conductive thermoplastic. The developed production methodology is based on a conventional coextrusion line, for which a coextrusion die was designed to produce a multilayer filament, which comprises an inner layer of an electrically conductive Polypropylene grade and a middle layer of PVDF and is coated with an electrical conductive ink. The sensing capabilities of the produced filaments are also characterized.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)- FCT PTDC/CTM/108801/200

Human-AI Co-Creation Approach to Find Forever Chemicals Replacements

Generative models are a powerful tool in AI for material discovery. We are designing a software framework that supports a human-AI co-creation process to accelerate finding replacements for the ``forever chemicals''-- chemicals that enable our modern lives, but are harmful to the environment and the human health. Our approach combines AI capabilities with the domain-specific tacit knowledge of subject matter experts to accelerate the material discovery. Our co-creation process starts with the interaction between the subject matter experts and a generative model that can generate new molecule designs. In this position paper, we discuss our hypothesis that these subject matter experts can benefit from a more iterative interaction with the generative model, asking for smaller samples and ``guiding'' the exploration of the discovery space with their knowledge.Comment: 5 pages, Generative AI and HCI (GenAICHI) Workshop at CHI 23 (ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Evaluation of a model photo-caged dehydropeptide as a stimuli-responsive supramolecular hydrogel

Short peptides capped on the N-terminus with aromatic groups are often able to form supramolecular hydrogels, via self-assembly, in aqueous media. The rheological properties of these readily tunable hydrogels resemble those of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and therefore have potential for various biological applications, such as tissue engineering, biosensors, 3D bioprinting, drug delivery systems and wound dressings. We herein report a new photo-responsive supramolecular hydrogel based on a “caged” dehydropeptide (CNB-Phe-ΔPhe-OH 2), containing a photo-cleavable carboxy-2-nitrobenzyl (CNB) group. We have characterized this hydrogel using a range of techniques. Irradiation with UV light cleaves the pendant aromatic capping group, to liberate the corresponding uncaged model dehydropeptide (H-Phe-ΔPhe-OH 3), a process which was investigated by 1H NMR and HPLC studies. Crucially, this cleavage of the capping group is accompanied by dissolution of the hydrogel (studied visually and by fluorescence spectroscopy), as the delicate balance of intramolecular interactions within the hydrogel structure is disrupted. Hydrogels which can be disassembled non-invasively with temporal and spatial control have great potential for specialized on-demand drug release systems, wound dressing materials and various topical treatments. Both 2 and 3 were found to be non-cytotoxic to the human keratinocyte cell line, HaCaT. The UV-responsive hydrogel system reported here is complementary to previously reported related UV-responsive systems, which are generally composed of peptides formed from canonical amino acids, which are susceptible to enzymatic proteolysis in vivo. This system is based on a dehydrodipeptide structure which is known to confer proteolytic resistance. We have investigated the ability of the photo-activated system to accelerate the release of the antibiotic, ciprofloxacin, as well as some other small model drug compounds. We have also conducted some initial studies towards skin-related applications. Moreover, this model system could potentially be adapted for on-demand “self-delivery”, through the uncaging of known biologically active dehydrodipeptides.This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the framework of the Strategic Funding of CQUM (UID/QUI/00686/2019) and of IPC (UID/CTM/50025/2019). L.H. acknowledges funding from the FCT Investigator Programme through grant IF/00606/2014. FCT, FEDER, PORTUGAL2020 and COMPETE2020 are also acknowledged for funding under research project PTDC/QUI-QOR/29015/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029015)

ANALYSIS OF DISCRIMINATORY GAME VARIABLES BETWEEN WINNERS AND LOSERS IN WOMEN’S HANDBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS FROM 2007 TO 2017

The aim of this study was to identify game variables that discriminated winning from losing teams and to understand how these variables contributed to victory by observing goal differences in matches of the women’s handball world championships. The sample comprised 471 WCh’s games played between 2007 and 2017. The games were grouped into three clusters: balanced games – difference of 1-8 goals; unbalanced games – difference of 9-20 goals; and very unbalanced games – difference of > 20 goals. Generally, the performance of winning teams was significantly higher (in most variables), or lower in the case of the number of technical faults (p<.05). In the balanced games, there was a greater contribution of defensive variables (stolen balls, blocked throws, and goalkeeper’s efficiency indicators) in relation to attack variables (attack efficiency and throw efficiency indicators). For victory, the number of technical faults reduce the chances of winning. Games with the unbalanced and very unbalanced goal differences seem to follow the same tendency; however, in the very unbalanced games, there were more assists, yellow cards and 2-min suspensions. We concluded that the decisive variables for victory in the balanced games showed a greater weight, with a special emphasis on stolen balls followed by offensive variables (throw efficiency indicators, attack efficiency, and technical faults). There was an equal tendency for the games with unbalanced and very unbalanced outcomes

Solid polymer electrolytes based on lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide/poly(vinylidene fluoride -co-hexafluoropropylene) for safer rechargeable lithium-ion batteries

The increasing use of electronic portable systems and the consequent energy demand, leads to the need to improve energy storage systems. According to that and due to safety issues, high-performance non-flammable electrolytes and solid polymer electrolytes (SPE) are needed.SPE containing different amounts of lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide (LiTFSI) into a poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene), PVDF-HFP, polymer matrix have been prepared by solvent casting. The addition of LiTFSI into PVDF-HFP allows to tailor thermal, mechanical and electrical properties of the composite.In particular, the ionic conductivity of the composites increases with LiTFSI content, the best ionic conductivities of 0.0011 mS/cmat 25 degrees C and 0.23 mS/cmat 90 degrees C were obtained for the PVDF-HFP/LiTFSI composites with 80 wt % of LiTFSI.This solid electrolyte allows the fabrication of Li metallic/SPE/C-LiFePO4 half-cells with a discharge capacity of 51.2 mAh/ g at C/20. Further, theoretical simulations show that the discharge capacity value depends on the lithium concentration and percentage of free ions and is independent of the solid polymer electrolyte thickness. On the other hand, the voltage plateau depends on the SPE thickness. Thus, a solid electrolyte is presented for the next generation of safer solid-state batteries.The authors thank the FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) for financial support under the framework of Strategic Funding grants UID/FIS/04650/2013, UID/EEA/04436/2013 and UID/QUI/0686/2016; and project no. PTDC/FIS-MAC/28157/2017. The authors also thank the FCT for financial support under grant SFRH/BPD/112547/2015 (C.M.C.). Financial support from the Basque Government Industry Department under the ELKARTEK and HAZITEK programs is also acknowledged. JMMD and JLGR acknowledge funding by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through the project MAT2016-76039-C4-1 and 3-R (including the FEDER financial support) CIBER-BBN is an initiative funded by the VI National R&D&i Plan 2008–2011, Iniciativa Ingenio 2010, Consolider Program, CIBER Actions and financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III with assistance from the European Regional Development Fund

Calein C, a Sesquiterpene Lactone Isolated From Calea Pinnatifida (Asteraceae), Inhibits Mitotic Progression and Induces Apoptosis in MCF-7 Cells

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer represents approximately 75% of diagnosed cases, while 15–20% of them are triple-negative (TN). Although there have been improvements in the therapeutic approach, the mortality rate remains elevated. Thus, it is necessary to identify new chemotherapeutic agents. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of calein C, a sesquiterpene lactone isolated from Calea pinnatifida, on breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 (ER+), Hs578T (TN) and MDA-MB-231 (TN). Calein C significantly reduced the viability of all cell lines; however, MCF-7 cells were more responsive than MDA-MB-231 or Hs578T cells. Thus, the MCF-7 cell line was selected for further investigation. We demonstrated that calein C inhibited cell cycle progression in MCF-7 cells at M-phase. Increased frequency of mitosis was observed in calein C-treated samples compared to the control group, especially of the cell population in initial stages of the mitosis. These events were associated with the ability of calein C to modulate expression levels of critical regulators of mitosis progression. We observed a significant reduction in the relative mRNA abundance of PLK1 and AURKB along with a concomitant increase in CDKN1A (p21) in treated samples. In addition, calein C induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells due to, at least in part, its ability to reduce the BCL2/BAX ratio. Therefore, our data provide evidence that calein C is an important antimitotic agent and should be considered for further in vivo investigations