Guia de Malaga

IndiceCopia digital. realizada por la Biblioteca de Andalucí

Protein interface classification by evolutionary analysis

Background Distinguishing biologically relevant interfaces from lattice contacts in protein crystals is a fundamental problem in structural biology. Despite efforts towards the computational prediction of interface character, many issues are still unresolved. Results We present here a protein-protein interface classifier that relies on evolutionary data to detect the biological character of interfaces. The classifier uses a simple geometric measure, number of core residues, and two evolutionary indicators based on the sequence entropy of homolog sequences. Both aim at detecting differential selection pressure between interface core and rim or rest of surface. The core residues, defined as fully buried residues (>95% burial), appear to be fundamental determinants of biological interfaces: their number is in itself a powerful discriminator of interface character and together with the evolutionary measures it is able to clearly distinguish evolved biological contacts from crystal ones. We demonstrate that this definition of core residues leads to distinctively better results than earlier definitions from the literature. The stringent selection and quality filtering of structural and sequence data was key to the success of the method. Most importantly we demonstrate that a more conservative selection of homolog sequences - with relatively high sequence identities to the query - is able to produce a clearer signal than previous attempts. Conclusions An evolutionary approach like the one presented here is key to the advancement of the field, which so far was missing an effective method exploiting the evolutionary character of protein interfaces. Its coverage and performance will only improve over time thanks to the incessant growth of sequence databases. Currently our method reaches an accuracy of 89% in classifying interfaces of the Ponstingl 2003 datasets and it lends itself to a variety of useful applications in structural biology and bioinformatics. We made the corresponding software implementation available to the community as an easy-to-use graphical web interface at http://www.eppic-web.org.ISSN:1471-210

Credit Guarantee and the Impact in Financial Structure of the Portuguese SMEs

The aim of this work is to show the relevance of guarantees provided by the Mutual Credit Guarantee System (MCGS - the Portuguese Society of Credit Guarantee SPGM) as an instrument used in the financing of SMEs, especially in restructuring long-term debt (LTD) and bank loans. The study provides empirical evidence and puts forward an explanatory model of the influence of the mutual credit guarantees on the financing of SMEs. The results obtained show that long-term debt (LTD) financing is positively influenced by the guarantees provided by the MCGS to SMEs as it allows greater debt capacity, especially in the medium and long term, for firms that usually cannot obtain this type of financing. The results also suggest that this type of guarantees creates an environment of confidence among all stakeholders involved.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF INNOVATION, ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY, PUBLIC FINANCIAL SUPPORT AND DETERMINANTS OF THE INNOVATIVE PERFORMANCE OF ENTERPRISE

The aim of this paper is to better understand whether cooperation, absorptive capacity and public financial support for innovation activities, how they influence the innovative performance of Portuguese enterprise. The literature review focuses the importance of these three factors both drivers as the limiters process of business innovation, influencing the innovative performance of enterprise. Based on a review of the literature, hypotheses are formulated, which are tested with secondary data resources from the Community Innovation Survey 2010. This questionnaire was implemented under the supervision of EUROSTAT. The method used is the logistic regression model. The results obtained confirm that the implementation of cooperation with partners belonging to internal sources of business has a significant influence on the innovations achieved at the level of both products and processes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Conditioned Medium From Early-outgrowth Bone Marrow Cells Is Retinal Protective In Experimental Model Of Diabetes

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Bone marrow-derived cells were demonstrated to improve organ function, but the lack of cell retention within injured organs suggests that the protective effects are due to factors released by the cells. Herein, we tested cell therapy using early outgrowth cells (EOCs) or their conditioned media (CM) to protect the retina of diabetic animal models (type 1 and type 2) and assessed the mechanisms by in vitro study. Control and diabetic (db/db) mice (8 weeks of age) were randomized to receive a unique intravenous injection of 5x10(5)EOCs or 0.25 ml thrice weekly tail-vein injections of 10x concentrated CM and Wystar Kyoto rats rendered diabetic were randomized to receive 0.50 ml thrice weekly tail-vein injections of 10x concentrated CM. Four weeks later, the animals were euthanized and the eyes were enucleated. Rat retinal Muller cells (rMCs) were exposed for 24 h to high glucose (HG), combined or not with EOC-conditioned medium (EOC-CM) from db/m EOC cultures. Diabetic animals showed increase in diabetic retinopathy (DR) and oxidative damage markers; the treatment with EOCs or CM infusions significantly reduced this damage and re-established the retinal function. In rMCs exposed to diabetic milieu conditions (HG), the presence of EOC-CM reduced reactive oxygen species production by modulating the NADPH-oxidase 4 system, thus upregulating SIRT1 activity and deacetylating Lys-310-p65-NF.B, decreasing GFAP and VEGF expressions. The antioxidant capacity of EOC-CM led to the prevention of carbonylation and nitrosylation posttranslational modifications on the SIRT1 molecule, preserving its activity. The pivotal role of SIRT1 on the mode of action of EOCs or their CM was also demonstrated on diabetic retina. These findings suggest that EOCs are effective as a form of systemic delivery for preventing the early molecular markers of DR and its conditioned medium is equally protective revealing a novel possibility for cell-free therapy for the treatment of DR.112Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) [2008/57560-0, 2010/11514-7, 2013/04331-1]Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq)FAPESPCNPqFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Determinant Factors of the Organizational Innovative Performance: Cooperation, Absorptive Capacity and Public Policy

This paper aims to analyze the determinants of the innovative performance of the Portuguese firms which, in the context of this research are: cooperation, public policies to stimulate innovation and absorptive capacity. Indeed, the set of approaches that have come to appear as a reference of the subject of innovation are assumed of conceptual importance, leading to an empirical basis that allows to analyze the determinants of innovative performance, using the available data from the Community Innovation Survey CIS 2010 and the application of statistical patterns, through logistic regression modelsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Guia de Malaga : detallada descripcion de la capital y de la provincia

IndiceCopia digital. realizada por la Biblioteca de Andalucí

Barriers to innovation activities as determinants of ongoing activities or abandoned

Purpose – This paper aims to analyses barriers as a determinant of ongoing or abandoned innovation activities. The literature exploits barriers as the nature of innovation and its influence on firm’s. The main focus is the Portuguese SMEs and the impacts that act as barriers in the development of innovation activities. Design/methodology/approach – The database was obtained through the Community Innovation Survey 2010 (CIS 2010) that was coordinated by EUROSTAT. In this sense, a logistic regression model is proposed, which makes it possible to analyse the relations between three or more variables, depending on whether the relationship is one of dependence or interdependence, thus allowing the application of distinct statistical techniques, using 6,160 firms Findings – There are several sources of information that are associated with the development of innovation projects. Practical implications – The importance of barriers to the development of innovation activities, as well as it being a decisive factor in the impediment to and abandon of the same, was noted. Originality/value – This study also demonstrated that each case is different and that a barrier in one firm can at the same time be a window of opportunity for another firm.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Lack of maintenance of motorway fences works against their intended purpose with potential negative impacts on protected species

Linear infrastructure intrusions into natural ecosystems, such as motorways and high-speed railways, causes direct loss of habitat but also impacts fauna through collisions. Wildlife road mortality is well documented and extensive conservation legislation exists in many countries to minimise the negative impact of these infrastructures. However, although these measures are implemented because of legislation, these structures are often not adequately maintained. Here we present data on the functionality of perimeter fences along two motorways in Malaga province (southern Spain) erected to prevent collisions with the common chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon). We sampled the fences along the 14 km of the two motorways included in the 17 1 × 1 km squares of the study area. Our results show that the reptile fence is permeable throughout at those points where the metal sheeting was absent and where the vegetation had overgrown around the fence, hence allowing chameleons to cross. Given our results, we conclude that this situation is likely to be similar in other regions of Spain and in other countries. This is because construction/concessionary companies do not consider the environmental impact of construction projects in the medium and long term, and environmental authorities do not ensure that companies comply with the legislation

An efficient web authentication mechanism preventing man-in-the-middle attacks in industry 4.0 supply chain

The fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) is transforming the next generation of the supply chain by making it more agile and efficient compared with the traditional supply chain. However, data communication across the partners in the Industry 4.0 supply chain can be the target of a wide spectrum of attackers exploiting security breaches in the internal/external environment of the partners due to its heterogeneous and dynamic nature as well as the fact that the non-professional users in security issues usually operate their information systems. Attackers can compromise the data communication between legitimate parties in the Industry 4.0 Supply Chain, and thus, jeopardizing the delivery of services across the partners as well as the continuity of the service provision. Consequently, secure data communications across the partners in the Industry 4.0 Supply Chain are of utmost importance. Toward this direction, TLS protocol, which is the de facto standard for secure Internet communications, is employed to ensure secure communication between a user's web browser and a remote web server located in the premises of the same or another partner. However, over the last few years, there have been several serious attacks on TLS, including man-in-the-middle attacks in web applications using TLS to secure HTTP communication. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an efficient TLS-based authentication mechanism, which is resistant against MITM in web applications