Relação entre taxas de juros e mercados financeiros

Dissertação de mestrado em Matemática Económica e FinanceiraUsando a análise com wavelets poderá representar-se de um modo eficiente uma série temporal com uma dinâmica complexa. A chamada análise de wavelets, desenvolvida a partir da década de 1980, pelas suas capacidades de localização no plano tempo-frequência com uma resolução não constante, veio fornecer uma ferramenta alternativa à tradicional análise de Fourier. O uso das wavelets tem vindo a ser utilizado pelos economistas nos últimos anos, para a análise de dados económicos e financeiros, fazendo uso da chamada transformada discreta da wavelet. Com a introdução de novos conceitos, na década de 1990, acabaram por surgir generalizações da teoria das wavelets. Esses novos conceitos, tal como a transformada de wavelet contínua ou coerência da wavelet cruzada, permitem a análise das dependências tempo-frequência de duas séries. Neste trabalho pretende-se observar se existe relação entre taxas de juros e mercados financeiros, para isso, propôs-se a análise de wavelets com incidência no comportamento do índice Dow Jones Industrial Average e a taxa de juro Effective Federal Funds Rate. Recorreu-se para tal, aos espectros das ôndulas e de seguida, à coerência e à diferença de fase entre as duas séries.Using the wavelets one can represent time series with a complex dynamics in an efficient way. The so-called wavelet analysis, developed in the 1980s, thanks to its location capabilities in time-frequency plane, came to provide an alternative tool to traditional Fourier analysis. The use of wavelets has been used by economists in recent years for the analysis of economic and financial data, making use of so-called discrete wavelet transform. With the introduction of new concepts in the 1990s, eventually emerged generalizations of the theory of wavelets. These new concepts, such as the continuous wavelet transform or the cross-wavelet coherency, allow for the analysis of time-frequency dependencies of two series. This work aims to test whether there is a relationship between interest rates and financial markets with wavelet analysis. We use wavelet analysis, in particular the wavelet spectrum and wavelet coherency, to focus on the behavior of The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the rate on Federal Funds Effective Rate

Volatilomics reveals potential biomarkers for identification of renal cell carcinoma: an in vitro approach

The identification of noninvasive biomarkers able to detect renal cell carcinoma (RCC) at an early stage remains an unmet clinical need. The recognition that altered metabolism is a core hallmark of cancer boosted metabolomic studies focused in the search for cancer biomarkers. The present work aims to evaluate the performance of the volatile metabolites present in the extracellular medium to discriminate RCC cell lines with distinct histological subtypes (clear cell and papillary) and metastatic potential from non-tumorigenic renal cells. Hence, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and volatile carbonyl compounds (VCCs) were extracted by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Multivariate and univariate analysis unveiled a panel of metabolites responsible for the separation between groups, mostly belonging to ketones, alcohols, alkanes and aldehydes classes. Some metabolites were found similarly altered for all RCC cell lines compared to non-tumorigenic cells, namely 2-ethylhexanol, tetradecane, formaldehyde, acetone (increased) and cyclohexanone and acetaldehyde (decreased). Furthermore, significantly altered levels of cyclohexanol, decanal, decane, dodecane and 4-methylbenzaldehyde were observed in all metastatic RCC cell lines when compared with the non-metastatic ones. Moreover, some alterations in the volatile composition were also observed between RCC histological subtypes. Overall, our results demonstrate the potential of volatile profiling for identification of noninvasive candidate biomarkers for early RCC diagnosis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

HER Family Receptors are Important Theranostic Biomarkers for Cervical Cancer: Blocking Glucose Metabolism Enhances the Therapeutic Effect of HER Inhibitors

Persistent HPV infection alone is not sufficient for cervical cancer development, which requires additional molecular alterations for tumor progression and metastasis ultimately leading to a lethal disease. In this study, we performed a comprehensive analysis of HER family receptor alterations in cervical adenocarcinoma. We detected overexpression of HER protein, mainly HER2, which was an independent prognostic marker for these patients. By using in vitro and in vivo approaches, we provided evidence that HER inhibitors, allitinib and lapatinib, were effective in reducing cervical cancer aggressiveness. Furthermore, combination of these drugs with glucose uptake blockers could overcome the putative HIF1-a-mediated resistance to HER-targeted therapies. Thus, we propose that the use of HER inhibitors in association with glycolysis blockers can be a potentially effective treatment option for HER-positive cervical cancer patients.FINEP (MCTI/FINEP/MS/SCTIE/DECIT-BIOPLAT (1302/13), Brazil and co-funded by the project “ON.2 SR&TD Integrated Program (NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000017)” co-funded by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2- O Novo Norte), Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional (QREN), through Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER). OM is recipient of a post-doc fellowship (SFRH/BPD/108351/2015) from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal. FC is recipient of a master fellowship (2014/03684-0) from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP). VMG is recipient from a PhD fellowship (SFRH/BD/51997/2012) from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugalinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Magnetic responsive cell-based strategies for diagnostics and therapeutics

The potential of magnetically assisted strategies within the remit of cell-based therapies is increasing, creating new opportunities for biomedical platforms and in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Among the magnetic elements approached for building magnetically responsive strategies, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) represent tunable and precise tools whose properties can be modelled for detection, diagnosis, targeting and therapy purposes. The most investigated clinical role of SPIONs is as contrast imaging agents for tracking and monitoring cells and tissues. Nevertheless, magnetic detection also includes biomarker mapping, cell labelling and cell/drug targeting to monitor cell events and anticipate the disruption of homeostatic conditions and the progression of disease. Additionally, the isolation and screening techniques of cell subsets in heterogeneous populations or of proteins of interest have been explored in a magnetic sorting context. More recently, SPION-based technologies have been applied to stimulate cell differentiation and mechanotransduction processes and to transport genetic or drug cargo to study biological mechanisms and contribute to improved therapies. Magnetically based strategies significantly contribute to magnetic tissue engineering (magTE), in which magnetically responsive actuators built from magnetic labelled cells or magnetic functionalized systems can be remotely controlled and spatially manipulated upon the actuation of an external magnetic field for the delivery or target of TE solutions. SPION functionalities combined with magnetic responsiveness in multifactorial magnetically assisted platforms can revolutionize diagnosis and therapeutics, providing new diagnosis and theranostic tools, encouraging regenerative medicine approaches and having potential for more effective therapies. This review will address the contribution of SPION-based technologies as multifunctional tools in boosting magnetically assisted cell-based strategies to explore diagnostics and tracking solutions for the detection and analysis of pathologies, and to generate improved treatments and therapies, envisioning precise and customized answers for the management of numerous diseases.The authors acknowledge the BPD_RL2_DECEMBER_2017fellowship of AIG and the assistant researcher contract (RL1) of MTR from the project ‘Accelerating Tissue Engineering and Personalized Medicine Discoveries by the Integration of Key Enabling Nanotechnologies, Marine-derived Biomaterials and Stem Cells’, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The authors also thank the financial support from FCT for the grant of MSM (SFRH/BPD/110868/2015). The authors acknowledge the financial support from the European Union Framework Programme for Research and Innovation HORIZON 2020, under the TEAMING grant agreement no. 739572—the Discoveries CTR.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Remote triggering of TGF-β/Smad2/3 signaling in human adipose stem cells laden on magnetic scaffolds synergistically promotes tenogenic commitment

Injuries affecting load bearing tendon tissues are a significant clinical burden and efficient treatments are still unmet. Tackling tendon regeneration, tissue engineering strategies aim to develop functional substitutes that recreate native tendon milieu. Tendon mimetic scaffolds capable of remote magnetic responsiveness and functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) targeting cellular mechanosensitive receptors are potential instructive tools to mediate mechanotransduction in guiding tenogenic responses. In this work, we combine magnetically responsive scaffolds and targeted Activin A type II receptor in human adipose stem cells (hASCs), under alternating magnetic field (AMF), to synergistically facilitate external control over signal transduction. The combination of remote triggering TGF-β/Smad2/3 using MNPs tagged hASCs, through magnetically actuated scaffolds, stimulates overall expression of tendon related genes and the deposition of tendon related proteins, in comparison to non-stimulated conditions. Moreover, the phosphorylation of Smad2/3 proteins and their nuclear co-localization was also more evident. Overall, biophysical stimuli resulting from magnetic scaffolds and magnetically triggered cells under AMF stimulation modulate the mechanosensing response of hASCs towards tenogenesis, holding therapeutic promise.Authors acknowledge the project “Accelerating tissue engineering and personalized medicine discoveries by the integration of key enabling nanotechnologies, marine-derived biomaterials and stem cells”, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and the FCT Project MagTT PTDC/CTM-CTM/29930/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-29930). Authors acknowledge the HORIZON 2020 for the Achilles Twinning Project No. 810850. Authors also thank the European Research Council COG MagTendon No. 772817 and the ADG DYNACEUTICS No. 789119. Prof. Bernardo Almeida from Physics Department, University of Minho, is also acknowledged for assisting in the magnetic system assembling. Authors also acknowledge the INL - International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (Braga, Portugal) for the magnetization analysis

Antitumoral and antiangiogenic activity of Portuguese propolis in in vitro and in vivo models

Propolis, a natural product, has important biological properties, however, studies with Portuguese propolis are scarce. Thus, we aimed to characterize the chemical composition and the antitumoural and antiangiogenic activities of a sample from Pereiro (Portugal). The chemical profile of our propolis sample (P10.EE) is similar to the poplar propolis type. P10.EE decreased cell viability of different tumour cells, being less cytotoxic against non-tumoural cells. P10.EE decreased MDA-MB-231 and DU145 cell proliferation and migration, with cell cycle changes and increased cell death. The increased glucose consumption and lactate production in MDA-MB-231 cells is explained by an increased expression of different metabolism-related proteins. P10.EE induced a decrease in HBMEC cells total biomass and proliferation and decreased vessel sprouting in the chicken chorioallantoic membrane. Additionally, P10.EE potentiates paclitaxel effect in MDA-MB-231 and DU145 cells. Concluding, P10.EE can be a good candidate for cancer drug development since it affects different characteristics that dictate tumorigenesis.This work was supported by the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute, University of Minho, Portugal, and Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) (SFRH/BD/5199712012 to V.M.G.), through Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional-QREN-COMPETE, projects PTDC/AAC-CLI1098308/2008 and PTDC/AAC-CLI/11809212010 and also CERNAS (project PEst-OE/AGR/UI0681/2011)

Portuguese propolis disturbs glycolytic metabolism of human colorectal cancer in vitro

Propolis is a resin collected by bees from plant buds and exudates, which is further processed through the activity of bee enzymes. Propolis has been shown to possess many biological and pharmacological properties, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, immunostimulant and antitumor activities. Due to this bioactivity profile, this resin can become an alternative, economic and safe source of natural bioactive compounds.Antitumor action has been reported in vitro and in vivo for propolis extracts or its isolated compounds; however, Portuguese propolis has been little explored. The aim of this work was to evaluate the in vitro antitumor activity of Portuguese propolis on the human colon carcinoma cell line HCT-15, assessing the effect of different fractions (hexane, chloroform and ethanol residual) of a propolis ethanol extract on cell viability, proliferation, metabolism and death. METHODS: Propolis from Angra do Heroísmo (Azores) was extracted with ethanol and sequentially fractionated in solvents with increasing polarity, n-hexane and chloroform. To assess cell viability, cell proliferation and cell death, Sulforhodamine B, BrDU incorporation assay and Anexin V/Propidium iodide were used, respectively. Glycolytic metabolism was estimated using specific kits. RESULTS: All propolis samples exhibited a cytotoxic effect against tumor cells, in a dose- and time-dependent way. Chloroform fraction, the most enriched in phenolic compounds, appears to be the most active, both in terms of inhibition of viability and cell death. Data also show that this cytotoxicity involves disturbance in tumor cell glycolytic metabolism, seen by a decrease in glucose consumption and lactate production. CONCLUSION: Our results show that Portuguese propolis from Angra do Heroísmo (Azores) can be a potential therapeutic agent against human colorectal cancer.We thank the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) for VMG fellowship (ref. SFRH/BI/33503/2008). The authors thank Mr. Antonio Marques from Frutercoop - Azores, who kindly collected and provided the propolis sample for the study

Práticas artísticas no ensino básico e secundário

A educação pela arte faz-se através dos seus materiais, da sua operação, da transformação das matérias em ideias novas, em novas coisas. No seu sucesso está implicada uma literacia, uma capacidade interpretativa, ou crítica, sobre a semiosfera cada vez mais povoada, saturada de mensagens parasitárias. A educação implica uma leitura do mundo (Paulo Freire), que se projeta na interpretação de todas as camadas de expressão contemporânea, muitas vezes massificada, por vezes ainda identitária e significativa. Fala-se aqui de valorizar a identidade, exercer a pedagogia da diferença através de uma capacidade problematizadora. No seu contexto, podem exercer-se pedagogias que exploram a visão crítica do artista em interação com a escola, o artista em residência, no movimento A/ R/ Tography. Ou também exercer-se uma pedagogia triangular, centrando a arte, o contexto, a produção e a sua leitura como uma metodologia (Ana Mae Barbosa). O contexto contemporâneo é pós digital, os conteúdos não pesam nos suportes, e transmitem-se por “dentes azuis” ou redes com muitos Gs (G de Geração sem peso que sucede ao peso da aceleração gravítica). Neste campo pode delinear-se uma metodologia que alicerça o projeto ancorado nos estudos críticos sobre Cultura Visual (Fernando Hernández). Digamos que as práticas pedagógicas se cruzam em diversas direções, tacteando eficácias, expressões, capacidades, inovação. O contexto é cada vez mais voraz: a pele da cultura gosta de massagens (Kerkhove; McLuhan). A Matéria-Prima de que se fala nesta revista é aquela que devolve ao seu lugar um ponto crítico da pós modernidade: o do significante. Os sintagmas são sempre processos, e neles se formam as subjectividades, ou seja, as identidades: no desenrolar do ser, onde se produz verdadeiramente o sentido, bem junto do aqui-e-agora onde está a Matéria-Prima (Foucault).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

ATLANTIC EPIPHYTES: a data set of vascular and non-vascular epiphyte plants and lichens from the Atlantic Forest

Epiphytes are hyper-diverse and one of the frequently undervalued life forms in plant surveys and biodiversity inventories. Epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, have high endemism and radiated recently in the Pliocene. We aimed to (1) compile an extensive Atlantic Forest data set on vascular, non-vascular plants (including hemiepiphytes), and lichen epiphyte species occurrence and abundance; (2) describe the epiphyte distribution in the Atlantic Forest, in order to indicate future sampling efforts. Our work presents the first epiphyte data set with information on abundance and occurrence of epiphyte phorophyte species. All data compiled here come from three main sources provided by the authors: published sources (comprising peer-reviewed articles, books, and theses), unpublished data, and herbarium data. We compiled a data set composed of 2,095 species, from 89,270 holo/hemiepiphyte records, in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, recorded from 1824 to early 2018. Most of the records were from qualitative data (occurrence only, 88%), well distributed throughout the Atlantic Forest. For quantitative records, the most common sampling method was individual trees (71%), followed by plot sampling (19%), and transect sampling (10%). Angiosperms (81%) were the most frequently registered group, and Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae were the families with the greatest number of records (27,272 and 21,945, respectively). Ferns and Lycophytes presented fewer records than Angiosperms, and Polypodiaceae were the most recorded family, and more concentrated in the Southern and Southeastern regions. Data on non-vascular plants and lichens were scarce, with a few disjunct records concentrated in the Northeastern region of the Atlantic Forest. For all non-vascular plant records, Lejeuneaceae, a family of liverworts, was the most recorded family. We hope that our effort to organize scattered epiphyte data help advance the knowledge of epiphyte ecology, as well as our understanding of macroecological and biogeographical patterns in the Atlantic Forest. No copyright restrictions are associated with the data set. Please cite this Ecology Data Paper if the data are used in publication and teaching events. © 2019 The Authors. Ecology © 2019 The Ecological Society of Americ

Controlling Macrophage Polarization to Modulate Inflammatory Cues Using Immune-Switch Nanoparticles

The persistence of inflammatory mediators in tissue niches significantly impacts regenerative outcomes and contributes to chronic diseases. Interleukin-4 (IL4) boosts pro-healing phenotypes in macrophages (Mφ) and triggers the activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6). Since the IL4/STAT6 pathway reduces Mφ responsiveness to inflammation in a targeted and precise manner, IL4 delivery offers personalized possibilities to overcome inflammatory events. Despite its therapeutic potential, the limited success of IL4-targeted delivery is hampered by inefficient vehicles. Magnetically assisted technologies offer precise and tunable nanodevices for the delivery of cytokines by combining contactless modulation, high tissue penetration, imaging features, and low interference with the biological environment. Although superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) have shown clinical applicability in imaging, SPION-based approaches have rarely been explored for targeted delivery and cell programming. Herein, we hypothesized that SPION-based carriers assist in efficient IL4 delivery to Mφ, favoring a pro-regenerative phenotype (M2φ). Our results confirmed the efficiency of SPION-IL4 and Mφ responsiveness to SPION-IL4 with evidence of STAT6-mediated polarization. SPION-IL4-treated Mφ showed increased expression of M2φ associated-mediators (IL10, ARG1, CCL2, IL1Ra) when compared to the well-established soluble IL4. The ability of SPION-IL4 to direct Mφ polarization using sophisticated magnetic nanotools is valuable for resolving inflammation and assisting innovative strategies for chronic inflammatory conditions