O Desafio de Pesquisar e Publicar em Revistas Científicas: A Perspectiva de Editores e Revisores Internacionais

Estudantes de doutorado e pesquisadores em todo o mundo enfrentam o connundrum do publish or perish. A generalidade dos países ocidentais tem ou está a implementar sistemas de avaliação dos professores-pesquisadores e invariavelmente focam a sua produtividade medida pelos artigos publicados em revistas académicas reputadas. No entanto, publicar nestas revistas está a tornar-se progressivamente mais difícil, o prazo médio entre o recebimento e a avaliação até à publicação alarga-se, e as taxas de rejeição são, em muitas revistas, superiores a 90% dos artigos recebidos. Neste artigo, discutimos a dificuldade de publicar e identificamos alguns dos principais motivos para a rejeição de artigos na área de administração ? quer do lado das revistas e do processo de revisão, quer dos autores e das suas competências. Apoiados em entrevistas a revisores e editores de revistas de referência, mostramos as suas opiniões e avançamos com sugestões para melhorar a qualidade dos artigos, nomeadamente a necessidade de conterem uma contribuição teórica significativa e seguirem os formalismos, nomeadamente de organização, essenciais.Pesquisa, Publicar, Administração, Periódicos internacionais.

Enhancement of the thermo-oxidative degradability of polystyrene by chemical modification

A comparative study, conducted into the thermooxidative degradation of polystyrene (PS) and PS modified by insertion of CH2(C=O)CH2CH2 units (MPS), showed that the degradability of PS was enhanced

Clitocybe alexandri extract induces apoptosis in a lung cancer cell line: identification of phenolic acids with cytotoxic potential

Natural products which grow in adverse conditions, such as fungi, are a possible rich source of biologically active compounds with potential for drug discovery [1,2]. We have recently reported the growth inhibitory activity of extracts from Clitocybe alexandri, a wild mushroom collected from the northwest of Portugal, in human tumour cell lines (NCI-H460, MCF-7, HCT-15 and AGS) [3]. The ethanolic extract was the most potent one, particularly in NCI-H460 cells (GI50 24.8 ± 2.3 μg/ml) [3]. The aim of this work was to further study the potential of this extract as a possible source of cytotoxic compounds. In order to understand the mechanism of action of this extract in the NCI-H460 cells, the effects on cell cycle (following PI labelling) and apoptosis (following AnnexinV/PI labelling) were evaluated by flow cytometry. Furthermore, the involvement of proteins related to cellular apoptosis was investigated by Western blot. The ethanolic extract was characterized regarding its phenolic composition by HPLC-DAD/ESI. The isolated compounds were also studied regarding their growth inhibitory activity, by SBR assay. The effect of isolated or combined compounds on viable cell number was also evaluated using the Trypan blue exclusion assay. It was observed that the Clitocybe alexandri extract induced an S-phase cell cycle arrest and increased the percentage of apoptotic cells. In addition, treatment with the GI50 concentration for 48h caused an increase in the levels of wt p53, cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved PARP. The main components identified in this extract were protocatechuic acid (16.4 ± 2.2 mg/kg dw), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (8.3 ± 0.4 mg/kg) and cinnamic acid (6.4 ± 0.3 mg/kg). Cinnamic acid was found to be the most potent compound regarding cell growth inhibition. Finally, it was verified that their concomitant use provided the strongest decrease in viable cell number

Pilares da Estratégia: uma Proposta de Dimensões para Análise e Dimensionamento dos Recursos Estratégicos

As pesquisas em estratégia têm evoluído substancialmente nos últimos 50 anos na tentativa de explicar as origens da vantagem competitiva. O caráter evolucionário e complementar dos estudos realizados resultou em diferentes escolas e abordagens. Dentre as diversas escolas teóricas nos concentraremos neste trabalho na perspectiva Resource-Based View of the Firm ? ?RBV? que emergiu a partir da década de 80. Embora esta vertente seja uma das perspectivas contemporâneas mais utilizadas para as pesquisas de conteúdo estratégico segundo Foss (1998), há ainda uma carência de estudos que especifiquem quais são os recursos organizacionais com caráter estratégico e de que forma estes recursos influenciam o desempenho competitivo. Nesse contexto, o objetivo desse trabalho é identificar dimensões para análise e dimensionamento dos recursos estratégicos. A pesquisa de caráter descritivo e exploratório foi desenvolvida por meio de uma extensa pesquisa bibliográfica seguida por um estudo multicasos. A partir da análise qualitativa e longitudinal dos casos selecionados, foi possível identificar que recursos comuns foram determinantes para o sucesso das empresas estudadas, destacando-se quatro dimensões a que designamos de pilares da estratégia: líder e equipe executiva, foco estratégico, aposta para o futuro e sustentação pelos recursos.Estratégia, Pilares da stratégia, RBV

Does proteostasis get lost in translation? Implications for protein aggregation across the lifespan

Protein aggregation is a phenomenon of major relevance in neurodegenerative and neuromuscular disorders, cataracts, diabetes and many other diseases. Research has unveiled that proteins also aggregate in multiple tissues during healthy aging yet, the biological and biomedical relevance of this apparently asymptomatic phenomenon remains to be understood. It is known that proteome homeostasis (proteostasis) is maintained by a balanced protein synthesis rate, high protein synthesis accuracy, efficient protein folding and continual tagging of damaged proteins for degradation, suggesting that protein aggregation during healthy aging may be associated with alterations in both protein synthesis and the proteostasis network (PN) pathways. In particular, dysregulation of protein synthesis and alterations in translation fidelity are hypothesized to lead to the production of misfolded proteins which could explain the occurrence of age-related protein aggregation. Nevertheless, some data on this topic is controversial and the biological mechanisms that lead to widespread protein aggregation remain to be elucidated. We review the recent literature about the age-related decline of proteostasis, highlighting the need to build an integrated view of protein synthesis rate, fidelity and quality control pathways in order to better understand the proteome alterations that occur during aging and in age-related diseases.publishe

Clitocybe alexandri extract induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in a lung cancer cell line: identification of phenolic acids with cytotoxic potential

Mushrooms are a possible rich source of biologically active compounds with potential for drug discovery. The aim of this work was to gain further insight into the citotoxicity mechanism of action of Clitocybe alexandri ethanolic extract against a lung cancer cell line (NCI-H460 cells). The effects on cell cycle profile and levels of apoptosis were evaluated by flow cytometry, and the effect on the expression levels of proteins related to cellular apoptosis was also investigated by Western blot. The extract was characterized regarding its phenolic composition by HPLC-DAD, and the identified compounds were studied regarding their growth inhibitory activity, by sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. The effect of individual or combined compounds on viable cell number was also evaluated using the Trypan blue exclusion assay. It was observed that the Clitocybe alexandri extract induced an S-phase cell cycle arrest and increased the percentage of apoptotic cells. In addition, treatment with the GI50 concentration (concentration that was able to cause 50% of cell growth inhibition; 24.8 µg/ml) for 48h caused an increase in the levels of wt p53, cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). The main components identified in this extract were protocatechuic, p-hydroxybenzoic and cinnamic acids. Cinnamic acid was found to be the most potent compound regarding cell growth inhibition. Nevertheless, it was verified that the concomitant use of the individual compounds provided the strongest decrease in viable cell number. Overall, we found evidence for alterations in cell cycle and apoptosis, involving p53 and caspase-3. Furthermore, our data suggests that the phenolic acids identified in the extract are at least partially responsible for the cytotoxicity induced by this mushroom extract

In vitro growth inhibitory activity of the Portuguese wild mushroom Clitocybe alexandri in human tumour cell lines

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Graphene Oxide Thin Films with Drug Delivery Function

Funding Information: Funding: Funding was obtained through the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through the projects iNOVA4Health, Translational Medicine program—UIDB/Multi/04462/2020; UIDB/50008/2020 and PTDC/CTM-REF/2679/2020.Graphene oxide has been used in different fields of nanomedicine as a manager of drug delivery due to its inherent physical and chemical properties that allow its use in thin films with biomedical applications. Several studies demonstrated its efficacy in the control of the amount and the timely delivery of drugs when it is incorporated in multilayer films. It has been demonstrated that oxide graphene layers are able to work as drug delivery or just to delay consecutive drug dosage, allowing the operation of time-controlled systems. This review presents the latest research developments of biomedical applications using graphene oxide as the main component of a drug delivery system, with focus on the production and characterization of films, in vitro and in vivo assays, main applications of graphene oxide biomedical devices, and its biocompatibility properties.publishersversionpublishe

Bioactive properties of Clitocybe alexandri

Some mushrooms are known to have strong antioxidant capacity [1]. There is an accepted relationship between the physiopathology of several chronic diseases and oxidative stress. Therefore, the use of foods such as those mushrooms with antioxidant capacity, as phytochemical protectors, may be relevant for the prevention of oxidative stress related diseases such as cancer. Additionally, mushrooms have been described as a source of potential antitumour molecules, making them attractive candidates for drug discovery [2,3]. However, there are no such studies on the Portuguese wild mushroom Clitocybe alexandri

Bioactive properties of Clitocybe alexandri

Some mushrooms are known to have strong antioxidant capacity [1]. There is an accepted relationship between the physiopathology of several chronic diseases and oxidative stress. Therefore, the use of foods such as those mushrooms with antioxidant capacity, as phytochemical protectors, may be relevant for the prevention of oxidative stress related diseases such as cancer. Additionally, mushrooms have been described as a source of potential antitumour molecules, making them attractive candidates for drug discovery [2,3]. However, there are no such studies on the Portuguese wild mushroom Clitocybe alexandri