Centro Histórico de Vila Real de Santo António: passado, presente e futuro

O presente artigo tem como objetivo a apresentação e análise crítica de algumas das principais problemáticas que afetam, hoje em dia, o centro histórico da cidade de Vila Real de Santo António, isto é, o conjunto edificado correspondente ao núcleo de fundação pombalina. Nesse âmbito, e num primeiro momento, será apresentada uma breve resenha histórica relativa à fundação da vila (lembrando os propósitos que estiveram na génese da iniciativa), após a qual se fará uma descrição formal da sua matriz urbanística. Seguidamente, serão abordadas, numa perspetiva cronológica, algumas questões técnicas relacionadas com o núcleo histórico em causa, nomeadamente as relativas à sua delimitação física, ao processo legislativo que culminou com a garantia da sua proteção legal ou à criação de uma equipa multidisciplinar, constituída por técnicos especializados dedicados às questões da reabilitação urbana e valorização do centro histórico. Por último, e com todas as dificuldades inerentes à tarefa, será apresentada uma perspetiva em relação àquilo que é, a partir da situação atual, a expectável evolução do centro histórico de Vila Real de Santo António, dando especial relevo à necessidade de continuar a adotar estratégias e metodologias já anteriormente experimentadas com sucesso, e de apostar, cada vez mais, na sensibilização e na mobilização das autoridades locais e da população civil para a indispensabilidade de salvaguardar um conjunto edificado de características únicas

Cocoa Bar Antioxidant Profile Enrichment with Underutilized Apples Varieties

The impact of dried apples (Malus x domestica Borkh.) addition on improving the antioxidant characteristics of dark chocolate was evaluated. The antioxidant activity was measured through DPPH scavenging activity and showed an increase in the cocoa bar with 'Nesta' dry apple (17.3% vs. 46.8%) in comparison to cocoa mass. The 15 polyphenols analyzed by UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS indicated great variability among the apple varieties. Quercetin was detected in the highest concentrations (ranged from 753.3 to 1915.5 mu g g(-1)), while the lowest were for kaempferol 7-O-glucoside, measured only in 'Mora' and 'Nesta' cocoa bars (from 0.034 to 0.069 mu g g(-1), respectively). P-coumaric acid, trans-ferulic acid, and chlorogenic acid contribute largely to the antioxidant activity in cocoa bars. Principal component analysis shows that a cocoa bar with the addition of 'Nesta' dry apple differ from others due to its higher content of polyphenols (1614 +/- 61.8 mg gallic acid equivalents per 100 g). In conclusion, data confirm that cocoa bars with dry apples might be considered as a polyphenol-enriched food

Can maternal physical activity modulate the nutrition-induced fetal programming?

Existe considerável evidência para a indução de diferentes fenótipos em reposta às variações no ambiente fetal e neonatal. O aporte inadequado de nutrientes no período crítico do desenvolvimento está associado ao risco alto de doenças metabólicas na vida adulta, este fenômeno biológico é chamado de programação. A atividade física durante a gestação resulta em adaptações fisiológicas da mãe e no aumento da disponibilidade de nutrientes e oxigênio no espaço feto-placentário. Este trabalho tem como objetivo discutir os mecanismos da indução de programação fetal pela nutrição e o provável efeito modulador da atividade física durante a gestação. Foram utilizadas as bases de dados do Medline Pubmed, Lilacs e Bireme, com publicações entre 1990 até 2008. Os termos de indexação utilizados foram: nutrition, fetal programming, gestation, physical activity, physical exercise, metabolism. Em conclusão, o aporte inadequado de nutrientes programa o aparecimento de doenças metabólicas na vida adulta, enquanto que a atividade física durante a gestação aumenta a disponibilidade de nutrientes e oxigênio, repercutindo positivamente no crescimento fetal e no peso ao nascer.There is considerable evidence for the induction of different phenotypes by variations in fetal and neonatal environment. Undernutrition during this critical development period is associated with risk of metabolic disease in adult life; this biological phenomenon is termed programming. Physical activity during gestation results in maternal physiological adaptations and increased oxygen and nutrients in the fetoplacental compartment. The main goal of this work is to discuss the mechanisms of fetal programming induced by nutrition and the probable modulating effect of physical activity during gestation. Papers published between 1990 and 2008 listed in the Medline Pubmed, Lilacs and Bireme databases were used. The search keywords were: nutrition, fetal programming, gestation, physical activity, physical exercise, and metabolism. In conclusion, undernutrition can program the onset of metabolic diseases in adult life, while physical activity during gestation increases the availability of nutrients and oxygen for the fetus, thereby positively impacting fetal growth and birth weight

A Conceptual Algorithm to Link Police and Hospital Records Based on Occurrence of Values

Road safety research, in particular road and traffic safety evaluation research, is highly applied and carried out mostly to help reducing the number of road accidents and the injuries resulting from them. This subject has been continuously studied, and in developed countries road safety is improved in a way that, more and more, new measures have less visible impact. Although measures are usually taken directly in the source, which makes all the sense, it is possible to reduce the accident impact if improvements are made "a posteriori"; this is, improving the emergency system to minimize the socioeconomic impact of the accident. In order to study accidents impact it is necessary to merge two different datasets - police and hospital. This process is known as data linkage and besides a manual linkage process there are three main numerical methodologies: deterministic record linkage, fuzzy matching and probabilistic record linkage. Because these types of datasets are usually protected by anonymity, unique identifiers are not possible to achieve, thus the probabilistic record linkage is usually the chosen method. This paper presents a concept for an algorithm based on the databases' demographics. By analyzing the various demographic fields it is possible for the algorithm to calculate individual weights that depend on the occurrence of each fields' values among a specific dataset. The demographics are based on the case of Gaia's city road record accidents. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

Submarine Navigation using Neutrinos

Neutrinos are among the most abundant particles in the universe, nearly massless, travel at speeds near the speed of light and are electrically neutral. Neutrinos can be generated through man-made sources like particle accelerators or by natural sources like the sun. Neutrinos only interact via the weak force and gravity. Since gravitational interaction is extremely weak and the weak force has a very short range, neutrinos can travel long distances unimpeded through matter, reaching places inaccessible to GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) signals such as underwater locations. The main objective of this work is to sketch an early high-level design of a Neutrino PNT (Position, Navigation and Timing) mission and analyze its feasibility for submarine navigation since there is a need to improve current navigation technologies for submarines. The high-level preliminary concept proposes Cyclotrons or Linear Accelerators based on the physical process Pion Decay at Rest as neutrino sources. For detecting such isotropic neutrino fluxes user equipment must be composed of a high-performance clock synchronized with the system, a detector and possibly additional sensors such as IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit). A feasibility analysis of the recommended system option is performed based on simulations for determining the neutrino detection rate and on a PNT tool to estimate the PNT performances. Although the submarine navigation application is in the limit of being feasible with current technology, it could be realized with some important but reasonable progress in source and neutrino detector technology.Comment: 10pages, 12 figure

Analysis of disturbance-induced "virtual" perturbations in chirped pulse φ-OTDR

When a disturbance acts on a fiber it induces a change in the local refractive index that influences the fiber backscattering trace. If a chirped pulse φ-OTDR setup is used to interrogate the fiber, this refractive index change appears as a local shift of the received trace, linear to the acting perturbation. However, the refractive index change influences the round trip time of all the backscattering components generated by further fiber sections as well. Due to the high sensitivity of chirped pulse φ-OTDR, the change in the round trip time of the backscattering components, which is usually negligible, may appear as a virtual perturbation in certain conditions. In this letter we derive a mathematical model for the virtual perturbation induced by a disturbance acting on the fiber, when the measurement is performed by a chirped pulse φ-OTDR. We experimentally validate the model by inducing a temperatura change on a known span of fiber while monitoring its effects in a further fiber section kept at rest. The experimental results are then analyzed and compared with the theoretical ones.European CommissionMinisterio de Economía y CompetitividadMinisterio de Ciencia, Innovación y UniversidadesComunidad de Madri

Maternal Moderate Physical Training during Pregnancy Attenuates the Effects of a Low-Protein Diet on the Impaired Secretion of Insulin in Rats: Potential Role for Compensation of Insulin Resistance and Preventing Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

The effects of pregestational and gestational low-to-moderate physical training on insulin secretion in undernourished mothers were evaluated. Virgin female Wistar rats were divided into four groups as follows: control (C, n = 5); trained (T, n = 5); low-protein diet (LP, n = 5); trained with a low-protein diet (T + LP, n = 5). Trained rats ran on a treadmill over a period of 4 weeks before mate (5 days week(-1) and 60 min day(-1), at 65% of VO2max). At pregnancy, the intensity and duration of the exercise were reduced. Low-protein groups were provided with an 8% casein diet, and controls were provided with a 17% casein diet. At third day after delivery, mothers and pups were killed and islets were isolated by collagenase digestion of pancreas and incubated for a further 1 h with medium containing 5.6 or 16.7 mM glucose. T mothers showed increased insulin secretion by isolated islets incubated with 16.7 mM glucose, whereas LP group showed reduced secretion of insulin by isolated islets when compared with both C and LP + T groups. Physical training before and during pregnancy attenuated the effects of a low-protein diet on the secretion of insulin, suggesting a potential role for compensation of insulin resistance and preventing gestational diabetes mellitus.National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq)National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq)Foundation to Support Science and Research from Pernambuco State (FACEPE)Foundation to Support Science and Research from Pernambuco State (FACEPE)Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Level Personnel (CAPES)Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Level Personnel (CAPES)Deans Office for Research/University of Sao PauloDean's Office for Research/University of Sao Paul

Unraveling the effect of silent, intronic and missense mutations on VWF splicing: contribution of next generation sequencing in the study of mRNA

Large studies in von Willebrand disease patients, including Spanish and Portuguese registries, led to identification of >250 different mutations. It is a challenge to determine the pathogenic effect of potential splice site mutations on VWF mRNA. This study aimed to elucidate the true effects of 18 mutations on VWF mRNA processing, investigate the contribution of next-generation sequencing to in vivo mRNA study in von Willebrand disease, and compare the findings with in silico prediction. RNA extracted from patient platelets and leukocytes was amplified by RT-PCR and sequenced using Sanger and next generation sequencing techniques. Eight mutations affected VWF splicing: c.1533+1G>A, c.5664+2T>C and c.546G>A (p.=) prompted exon skipping; c.3223-7_3236dup and c.7082-2A>G resulted in activation of cryptic sites; c.3379+1G>A and c.7473G>A (p.=) demonstrated both molecular pathogenic mechanisms simultaneously; and the p.Cys370Tyr missense mutation generated two aberrant transcripts. Of note, the complete effect of 3 mutations was provided by next generation sequencing alone because of low expression of the aberrant transcripts. In the remaining 10 mutations, no effect was elucidated in the experiments. However, the differential findings obtained in platelets and leukocytes provided substantial evidence that 4 of these would have an effect on VWF levels. In this first report using next generation sequencing technology to unravel the effects of VWF mutations on splicing, the technique yielded valuable information. Our data bring to light the importance of studying the effect of synonymous and missense mutations on VWF splicing to improve the current knowledge of the molecular mechanisms behind von Willebrand disease.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio