Insights into cell wall synthesis and cell division in Staphylococcus aureus

Dissertation presented to obtain the Ph.D degree in BiologyStaphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive bacterial pathogen that besides persistently colonizing healthy individuals, is responsible for a large number of hospital-associated bacterial infections. The extraordinary capacity of S. aureus to acquire resistance to antibiotics led to the emergence of highly resistant strains, mainly methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains, that are a major cause of soft skin and tissue infections and bacteremia. In one third of European countries, including Portugal, more than 25% of S. aureus infections are caused by MRSA strains. The capacity of MRSA strains to resist β-lactam antibiotics (such as penicillin) is mainly due to the acquisition of an extra-species penicillin-binding protein (PBP), PBP2A. PBPs are bacterial enzymes involved in the synthesis of the cell wall polymer peptidoglycan. Besides PBP2A, which is present only in MRSA strains, S. aureus has 4 native PBPs (PBP1-4), which catalyze the polymerization (transglycosylation) and the cross-linking (transpeptidation) of glycan chains, forming a strong yet flexible structure that protects the cell from the high internal osmotic pressure. Peptidoglycan is unique to the bacterial kingdom and its biosynthesis is the target of a vast number of clinically important antibiotics such as β-lactams and glycopeptides. β-lactam antibiotics target the transpeptidase domain of PBPs, halting peptidoglycan synthesis and eventually leading to cell lysis. However, in MRSA strains the existence of PBP2A, which has a low affinity for β-lactams, enables cell wall synthesis to continue even in the presence of these antibiotics. Under these conditions, the transpeptidase domain of PBP2A functionally cooperates with the transglycosylase domain of the unique bifunctional PBP, PBP2, to ensure continued cell wall synthesis and cell survival.(...

General Idea as the Mark of Habit in the C.S. Peirce's Work

[Abstract] In the article How to Make Our Ideas Clear, published in 1878 by Popular Science Montly, Peirce presents his classical pragmatic maximum «Consider whatever effects, which could conceivably have practical consequences, we imagine inherent to the purpose of our conception». The conception of such effects establishes the whole of our conception of the object, pointing to a sense of intellectual meaning and differs from the idea of pragmatism in the current utilitarian sense at that time. Peirce did not mean that actions could be the purpose or the proper and adequate interpretation of any symbol (CP 5.402) provided that he was not in favor of life under the sole objective of the action detached from a rational thought or purpose (CP 5.429). Subsequently, between 1892 and 1893, his manuscripts The Law of Mind (1892), and Evolutionary Love (1893) provide the foundation in 1898, for the structure of the Habit, presented at the sixth and seventh Cambridge Conferences. In Habit, in 1898, Peirce argues about the one and the multiple, and the real character of the universal, pointing to the question that the principle of retroduction leads in the sense of pursuing the unity between the physical and the mental as much as possible. Consequently, establishing the conceptual link among concept, general idea, concept and habit for the constitution of the embodiment process of habits by the repetition of the general idea, or the composite idea, or the quality brought to consciousness. This article will bring the research in the cognitive scope of habit as a result of he repeated occurrence from the general idea brought to consciousness, introducing the terms «conception» and «concept» to achieve a rereading of the embodiment process of the habits by general ideas from one hand, and understand the general idea as the mark of habit (CP 7.498 1898)

A acção da escola na promoção das aprendizagens de todos os alunos

O mandato da escola pública tem evoluído ao longo das últimas décadas no sentido de proporcionar melhores aprendizagens a todos os alunos. Contudo, parece haver ainda uma diferença substantiva entre os objectivos deste seu novo mandato e a sua consecução. A luta contra o insucesso e abandono escolares não pode deixar de ser uma prioridade na agenda educativa

Extremal dichotomy for uniformly hyperbolic systems

We consider the extreme value theory of a hyperbolic toral automorphism $T: \mathbb{T}^2 \to \mathbb{T}^2$ showing that if a H\"older observation $\phi$ which is a function of a Euclidean-type distance to a non-periodic point $\zeta$ is strictly maximized at $\zeta$ then the corresponding time series $\{\phi\circ T^i\}$ exhibits extreme value statistics corresponding to an iid sequence of random variables with the same distribution function as $\phi$ and with extremal index one. If however $\phi$ is strictly maximized at a periodic point $q$ then the corresponding time-series exhibits extreme value statistics corresponding to an iid sequence of random variables with the same distribution function as $\phi$ but with extremal index not equal to one. We give a formula for the extremal index (which depends upon the metric used and the period of $q$). These results imply that return times are Poisson to small balls centered at non-periodic points and compound Poisson for small balls centered at periodic points.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure

Media Education Competitions: An Efficient Strategy for Digital Literacies?

In this paper we present results from research in Portugal about competitions in schools that involve digital education (2010-2015). The aim of this study is to discuss its effectiveness as a strategy for developing Media Education. The 16 activities we have collected are mostly targeted at the school population and show an emphasis on media production, a dimension that is often not considered part of formal learning, which is more focused on reading than on writing. The results lead us to raise questions about the importance of non-formal education. Interestingly, most of these initiatives have been designed to take place in the school context and are, in various ways, supported by the Ministry of Education, a situation which blurs the boundaries between formal and non-formal learning. The analysis of the data leads us to this specific recommendation: these initiatives should be formally evaluated in order to understand their real impact on the acquisition of news media education skills.ESF -European Science Foundation(SFRH/BPD/92204/2013)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fazer rádio online com crianças e jovens: Manual de sugestões

A estrutura do Manual está organizada de acordo com o fluxo que seguimos na implementação do RadioActive, e que identifica diferentes momentos e tarefas para os dinamizadores de projetos semelhantes. Na primeira secção, Conhecer o grupo, falaremos sobre os princípios norteadores do RadioActive, inspirados pela filosofia do pedagogo Paulo Freire, em que a aprendizagem não-formal que o projeto busca promover por meio do desenvolvimento de uma rádio na internet, se assenta no direito dos jovens à inclusão, à posse de uma voz e à expressão por meio desta, entre outras características de trabalho e princípios éticos e profissionais. Na secção seguinte, Começar, apresenta-se uma breve introdução sobre a história da rádio e seu consumo, atualmente, em Portugal e no mundo para, em seguida, indicar os primeiros passos para a implementação do projeto de rádio com jovens. Primeiro, é necessário que os jovens compreendam as especificidades deste meio e aqui são sugeridas atividades, como visita a canais de televisão e rádio e o planeamento de entrevistas. Aborda-se a importância de um modelo editorial e de uma identidade sonora para qualquer rádio, mostrando o exemplo da RadioActive101. Também há uma breve explicação sobre as características do jornalismo radiofónico e dos géneros jornalísticos, e da necessidade do planeamento da programação, atentando-se para questões de periodicidade e temáticas. Em Financiar e legalizar, pensando na fundamental questão do financiamento e da sustentabilidade financeira do projeto, são sugeridas diferentes abordagens, como o crowdsourcing. Referem-se também os procedimentos necessários para se implementar uma rádio online de perfil semi-profissional e com funcionamento legal em Portugal. Na secção Equipar, apresentamos os equipamentos que compõem o(s) estúdio(s), semi-profissional, da RadioActive101 e descrevemos brevemente como o montar. Também dedicamos especial atenção aos microfones, tão fundamentais na rádio, com a descrição dos seus diferentes modelos (que também fazem parte do estúdio do RadioActive) e a forma correta de utilizá-los. Em seguida, Aos microfones fala de cuidados a ter com a voz e de técnicas vocais, já que esse é um instrumento para a comunicação radiofónica. Nessa secção introduzem-se alguns aspetos relacionados à sonoplastia, como os diferentes tipos de sons que compõem uma rádio, software que se pode utilizar para criar e editar sons, e os podcasts

Cuidados paliativos pediátricos domiciliários centrados na família: Contributos para uma Orientação salutogénica.

O presente artigo tem como objetivo abordar os cuidados paliativos pediátricos domiciliários centrados na família numa perspetiva salutogénica. A pesquisa efetuada em plataformas de bases de dados e em revistas científicas revelou um número limitado de estudos centrados no paradigma salutogénico em cuidados paliativos. Os cuidados paliativos pediátricos têm como principal objetivo a prestação de cuidados domiciliários centrados na família, indo ao encontro das necessidades das famílias, com impacte positivo na qualidade de vida da criança. A Associação Europeia de Cuidados Paliativos reconhece a importância de centrar os cuidados nas competências e nos recursos da criança e da família e não exclusivamente nas suas dificuldades, ou seja, da orientação salutogénica nos cuidados paliativos. Esta nova orientação nos cuidados de saúde tem vindo a emergir progressivamente como resultado do desenvolvimento de diversos constructos, nomeadamente do sentido interno de coerência e da resiliência. Conclui-se que esta mudança de paradigma é fundamental para a melhoria da qualidade de vida da criança e da família ao longo do curso da doença

Corporate management in the eighteenth century in the Company of Commerce of Pernambuco and Paraiba

Artigo publicado em revista científica internacionalThis study is based on the management model carried out by Companhia Geral de Comércio de Pernambuco e Paraíba — CGCPP (General Company of Commerce of Pernambuco and Paraiba), founded in 1759 by the government of the Marquis of Pombal, for the exclusive trade rights in Brazil between the kingdom of Portugal and the captaincies of Pernambuco and Paraíba. The results of this research revealed that CGCPP’s management adopted policies and practices of governance structure similars to the current ones, focused on ethics and transparency, aiming at the security of shareholders and the well-being of Captaincies. This survey also brought to light that the monitoring of CGCPP’s internal control system was carried out through accounting reports issued by its “Contadoria” (Accounting department), and were subject to systematic review by its Inspection of Accounts unit, whose the assignments in the Company were similar to those of an internal audit. The main objectives of this accounting review were to ensure the safety of internal controls of the GCPP and to detect possible irregularities for immediate correction and adjustments, thus allowing the regular flow of operations of the Company.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Built Heritage Research and History of Architecture: Light and Acoustic in the Cistercian Monastic Church of S. Bento de Cástris (Portugal)

The research on the Cistercian legacy in Portugal is an innovative multidisciplinary study. Consequently, the results achieved in this research have many different approaches: the former monasteries and their architecture are the main subjects concerning morphology, architectonic rehabilitation but also acoustics, thermal comfort, or natural light. This research, carried out at the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture of the University of Beira Interior (DECA-UBI), was developed in connection with two other research centres - Lab2PT (Landscape, Heritage and Territory Laboratory) and CIDEHUS (Interdisciplinary Centre for History, Culture and Societies). In 2015, the curriculum of the Integrated Master Degree in Architecture of the University of Beira Interior underwent revision. Consequently, it was needed to allocate more time to the teaching of History of Architecture and the requirement to assign specific syllabus to the Portuguese History of Architecture, which is emphasized by the specific and multidisciplinary research performed linking with other sciences of engineering. The natural light in the Cistercian churches is closely linked not only with the liturgical requirements at the officium but also with the canonical hours based on the "ora et labora" dictated by the Rule of St. Benedict. The Cistercian Monastery of São Bento de Cástris (13th-19th centuries), in Évora, Portugal, includes a church, at the south-eastern corner. This church presents an unusual space setting with two choirs which seems to favour different positions for coral groups supporting liturgical and musical expression activities within the research scope of a Research Project. As the light in the Cistercian Monasteries, mainly, in their churches, is mostly related to the fulfilment of liturgical needs, this paper analyses the relationship between daylight conditions within the monastic choirs located within the monastic church. The chant was a very important way of oration and thus of the liturgy. This was the ORFEUS Project – “The Tridentine Reform and music in the cloistral silence: The Monastery of S. Bento de Cástris” which was based on a multidisciplinary approach around the Tridentine Reform with reflexes in the musical Cistercian feminine matrix between the 16th and 18th centuries on Cistercian Monasteries. This paper describes the objectives and methodology applied to the case study thus linking Built Heritage Research and History of Architecture, i.e., Research and Education.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio