Proposing a model for foreign market selection in the ground engineering slurries industry: the special case of Ground Tech

JEL Classification : M10 - Business Administration, General; M16 – Business Administration, International Business AdministrationSMEs that develop their business in niche markets need to look to opportunities in other markets (foreign countries) in order to be able to sustain overtime the business growth. This work proposes a model for foreign market selection in the industry of Ground Engineering soil stabilisation slurries. This study based on the Hollensen’s international market selection model, the author proposes an adapted and expanded model for foreign market selection. Above all, the aim of this work is to propose a practical implementation of the model in order to support decision making for foreign market selection.As PME’s que desenvolvem o seu negócio num nicho de Mercado, precisam de procurar oportunidades em outros mercados (países estrangeiros) no sentido de garantir um crescimento sustentado do negócio ao longo do tempo. Este trabalho, propõe um modelo para selecção de mercados internacionais, na indústria dos fluidos de estabilização de solo para uso em Geotecnia. Com base no modelo de selecção de mercados internacionais de Hollensen, o autor propõe um modelo adaptado e expandido para selecção de mercados internacionais. Acima de tudo, o objectivo deste trabalho é propor uma implementação prática do modelo no sentido de suportar a decisão de selecção de mercados internacionais

Laboratórios remotos: interação remota com braços robóticos e integração com plataformas de e-learning

A realização de atividades práticas em contexto laboratorial desempenha um papel essencial no ensino das engenharias e de outras áreas científicas. Neste sentido, os laboratórios remotos e virtuais estão a ganhar importância e destaque nas escolas e universidades, pois permitem a redução de custos em equipamentos e manutenção, possibilitam a realização de experiências práticas no ensino à distância e permitem a partilha de recursos entre instituições de ensino. Todavia, a avaliação e acompanhamento de atividades em contextos não tradicionais é um processo complexo e demorado, que traz novos desafios para os professores. Facto que pode limitar a adoção generalizada deste tipo de ferramentas. A presente dissertação descreve o processo de análise, conceção, desenvolvimento e avaliação de um protótipo de um laboratório remoto para o ensino de redes de computadores, integrado com a plataforma Inven!RA. Esta, permite a recolha de analytics relevantes durante a realização de planos de atividades, possibilitando assim, que os professores consultem dashboards de acompanhamento que os auxiliem no processo de avaliação da sua intervenção pedagógica, de acordo com o progresso dos alunos, num ambiente integrado com uma plataforma de e-learning. Os resultados obtidos revelam que o protótipo do laboratório criado, permite o desenvolvimento de diversas atividades de redes de computadores, oferece um contributo efetivo ao acompanhamento dos alunos por parte dos professores, acolhe novas dinâmicas de trabalho dentro e fora da sala de aula e promove metodologias ativas de aprendizagem.The realization of practical activities in a laboratory context plays an essential role in the education of engineering and other scientific areas. The use of remote and virtual laboratories has become increasingly popular solutions in schools and universities. Its use allows for a reduction in equipment and maintenance costs, makes it possible to carry out practical experiences in distance learning contexts and allows the sharing of resources between educational institutions. However, the evaluation and monitoring of activities in non-traditional contexts is a complex and time-consuming process, which brings new challenges for instructors. This fact may limit the widespread adoption of this type of tools. This dissertation describes the process of analysis, design, development and evaluation of a prototype for a remote laboratory for computer network education, integrated with the Inven!RA platform. This enables the collection of relevant analytics during the execution of activity plans, which allows teachers to consult monitoring dashboards that helps them in the process of evaluating their pedagogical intervention, according to the student’s progress, in an integrated environment with an e-learning platform. The obtained results reveal that the created prototype of the laboratory, allows the development of several activities for computer networks, offers an effective contribution to the monitoring of students by instructors, welcomes new dynamics of work inside and outside the classroom and promotes active learning methodologies

HER2-Targeted immunotherapy and combined protocols showed promising antiproliferative effects in feline mammary carcinoma cell-based models

Research Areas: OncologyABSTRACT - Feline mammary carcinoma (FMC) is a highly prevalent tumor, showing aggressive clinicopathological features, with HER2-positive being the most frequent subtype. While, in human breast cancer, the use of anti-HER2 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) is common, acting by blocking the extracellular domain (ECD) of the HER2 protein and by inducing cell apoptosis, scarce information is available on use these immunoagents in FMC. Thus, the antiproliferative effects of two mAbs (trastuzumab and pertuzumab), of an antibody–drug conjugate compound (T-DM1) and of combined treatments with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (lapatinib) were evaluated on three FMC cell lines (CATMT, FMCm and FMCp). In parallel, the DNA sequence of the her2 ECD (subdomains II and IV) was analyzed in 40 clinical samples of FMC, in order to identify mutations, which can lead to antibody resistance or be used as prognostic biomarkers. Results obtained revealed a strong antiproliferative effect in all feline cell lines, and a synergistic response was observed when combined therapies were performed. Additionally, the mutations found were not described as inducing resistance to therapy in breast cancer patients. Altogether, our results suggested that anti-HER2 mAbs could become useful in the treatment of FMC, particularly, if combined with lapatinib, since drug-resistance seems to be rare.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Anaplastic mammary carcinoma in cat

Research Areas: Veterinary SciencesClinical, pathological, and immunohistochemical findings related to a feline mammary tumor with similar features to canine anaplastic mammary carcinoma are herein described for the first time. A female cat was presented for clinical evaluation with gastrointestinal signs, oedema, erythema, and painful lesion in the right inguinal region. Three weeks later, the mass had doubled in size and radiographic revaluation of the thoracic cavity revealed a metastatic pattern. Due to the poor prognosis and decline of the clinical status the owners decided for euthanasia. Post-mortem examination exposed a mammary tumoral mass with subcutaneous oedema, an enlargement of the right inguinal lymph node, and nodules in several organs. Histological analysis confirmed the presence of large pleomorphic epithelial cells, often grouped in small clusters with bizarre nuclei. Immunohistochemical study of the different lesions was performed and both primary tumor and regional metastasis showed tumor cells to be negative estrogen receptor alpha, positive progesterone receptor, positive HER-2, and positive pan-cytokeratin. Given that the clinical history was compatible with an inflammatory mammary carcinoma, the cyclooxygenase-2 expression levels were evaluated and presented a weak immunoreactivity. Regarding the distant metastatic lesions, tumor cells were negative for ER-α and PR and, positive both for HER-2 and pan-cytokeratin.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Diagnostic value of VEGF-A, VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 in feline mammary carcinoma

Research Areas: OncologyVascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A) plays an essential role in tumor-associated angiogenesis, exerting its biological activity by binding and activating membrane receptors, as vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 and 2 (VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2). In this study, serum VEGF-A, VEGFR1, and VEGFR-2 levels were quantified in 50 cats with mammary carcinoma and 14 healthy controls. The expression of these molecules in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and in cancer cells was evaluated and compared with its serum levels. Results obtained showed that serum VEGF-A levels were significantly higher in cats with HER2-positive and Triple Negative (TN) Normal-Like subtypes, when compared to control group (p = 0.001, p = 0.020). Additionally, serum VEGFR-1 levels were significantly elevated in cats presenting luminal A, HER2-positive and TN Normal-Like tumors (p = 0.011, p = 0.048, p = 0.006), as serum VEGFR-2 levels (p = 0.010, p = 0.046, p = 0.005). Moreover, a positive interaction was found between the expression of VEGF-A, VEGFR-1, and VEGFR-2 in TILs and their serum levels (p = 0.002, p = 0.003, p = 0.003). In summary, these findings point to the usefulness of VEGF-A and its serum receptors assessment in clinical evaluation of cats with HER2-positive and TN Normal-Like tumors, suggesting that targeted therapies against these molecules may be effective for the treatment of these animals, as described in human breast cancer.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Serum and tissue expression levels of leptin and leptin receptor are putative markers of specific feline mammary carcinoma subtypes

Research Areas: Veterinary SciencesABSTRACT - Obesity is an established risk factor for breast cancer in post-menopausal women, being associated with elevated serum levels of leptin. Although overweight is a common condition in cat, the role of leptin and its receptor in feline mammary carcinoma remains unsettled. In this study, serum leptin and leptin receptor (ObR) levels were investigated in 58 cats with mammary carcinoma and compared with those of healthy animals, as were the expression levels of leptin and ObR in tumor tissues. The results showed that the Free Leptin Index is significantly decreased in cats with mammary carcinoma (p = 0.0006), particularly in those with luminal B and HER2-positive tumors, and that these animals also present significantly lower serum leptin levels (p < 0.0001 and p < 0.005, respectively). Interestingly, ulcerating tumors (p = 0.0005) and shorter disease-free survival (p = 0.0217) were associated to serum leptin levels above 4.17 pg/mL. In contrast, elevated serum ObR levels were found in all cats with mammary carcinoma (p < 0.0001), with levels above 16.89 ng/mL being associated with smaller tumors (p = 0.0118), estrogen receptor negative status (p = 0.0291) and increased serum levels of CTLA-4 (p = 0.0056), TNF-alpha (p = 0.0025), PD-1 (p = 0.0023), and PD-L1 (p = 0.0002). In tumor samples, leptin is overexpressed in luminal B and triple-negative carcinomas (p = 0.0046), whereas ObR is found to be overexpressed in luminal B tumors (p = 0.0425). Altogether, our results support the hypothesis that serum levels of leptin and ObR can be used as biomarkers of specific feline mammary carcinoma subtypes, and suggests the use of leptin antagonists as a therapeutic tool, reinforcing the utility of the cat as a cancer model.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

MAC protocol for low-power real-time wireless sensing and actuation

This paper presents LPRT, a new medium access control (MAC) protocol for wireless sensing and actuation systems. Some of the characteristics of the proposed protocol are low power consumption, support for real-time and loss intolerant traffic through contention-free operation and a retransmission scheme, flexibility, and high throughput efficiency. The LPRT protocol was implemented it in the MICAz motes, a platform for the development of wireless sensor networks. We also briefly describe a wireless hydrotherapy application that benefits from the use of the proposed protocol. This paper also provides experimental results and comparison of the proposed protocol with the CSMA/CA protocol of IEEE 802.15.4.Agência de Inovação (ADI)Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Serum PD-1/PD-L1 levels, tumor expression and PD-L1 somatic mutations in HER2-positive and triple negative normal-like feline mammary carcinoma subtypes

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Tumor microenvironment has gained great relevance due to its ability to regulate distinct checkpoints mediators, orchestrating tumor progression. Serum programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) levels were compared with healthy controls and with serum cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) levels in order to understand the role of PD-1/PD-L1 axis in cats with mammary carcinoma. PD-1 and PD-L1 expression was evaluated in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and cancer cells, as the presence of somatic mutations. Results showed that serum PD-1 and PD-L1 levels were significantly higher in cats with HER2-positive (p = 0.017; p = 0.032) and triple negative (TN) normal-like mammary carcinomas (p = 0.004; p = 0.015), showing a strong positive correlation between serum CTLA-4 and TNF-α levels. In tumors, PD-L1 expression in cancer cells was significantly higher in HER2-positive samples than in TN normal-like tumors (p = 0.010), as the percentage of PD-L1-positive TILs (p = 0.037). PD-L1 gene sequencing identified two heterozygous mutations in exon 4 (A245T; V252M) and one in exon 5 (T267S). In summary, results support the use of spontaneous feline mammary carcinoma as a model for human breast cancer and suggest that the development of monoclonal antibodies may be a therapeutic strategy.This research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal) through the projects PTDC/CVT-EPI/3638/2014 and CIISA-UIDP/CVT/00276/2020. C.N. is receipt of a PhD fellowship from University of Lisbon (ref.C00191r) and A.G. is receipt of a PhD fellowship from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (ref. SFRH/BD/132260/2017).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Delirium diagnostic and screening instruments in the emergency department: An up-to-date systematic review

Background: Emergency care systems are at the core of modern healthcare and are the “point-of-entry/admission” into the hospital for many older/elderly patients. Among these, it is estimated that 15% to 30% will have delirium on admission and that over 50% will develop it during their stay. However, appropriate delirium diagnostic and screening still remains a critical area of need. The goal of this review is to update the field, exploring target areas in screening methods for delirium in the Emergency Department (ED), and/or acute care units, in the older population. Methods: A systematic review was conducted to search screening/diagnostic methods for delirium in the ED and/or acute care units within the ED. Results: Seven different scales were identified. Of the identified instruments, the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) for the Intense Care Unit (CAM-ICU) was the most widely used. Of note, a brief two-step approach for delirium surveillance was defined with the Delirium Triage Screen (DTS) and the Brief Confusion Assessment Method (bCAM), and the diagnostic accuracy of the Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS) for delirium had a good sensitivity and specificity in older patients. Conclusion: The CAM-ICU appears as the potential reference standard for use in the ED, but research in a global approach of evaluation of actual and past cognitive changes is still warranted.This work was funded by the European Commission (FP7): “SwitchBox” (Contract HEALTH-F2-2010-259772), and co-financed by the Portuguese North Regional Operational Program (ON.2—O Novo Norte), under the National Strategic Reference Framework (QREN), through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), and by the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Portugal) (Contract grant number: P-139977; project “Better mental health during ageing based on temporal prediction of individual brain ageing trajectories (TEMPO)”). TCC is a recipient of a doctoral fellowship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal; SFRH/BD/90078/2012) and NCS of a Research Assistantship by FCT through the “FCT Investigator Programme (200 Ciência)”.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fatty acids composition in yellow-legged (Larus michahellis) and lesser black-backed (Larus fuscus) gulls from natural and urban habitats in relation to the ingestion of anthropogenic materials

Research Areas: Environmental Sciences & EcologyUrban habitats offer spatially and temporally predictable anthropogenic food sources for opportunistic species, such as several species of gulls that are known to exploit urban areas and take advantage of accessible and diverse food sources, reducing foraging time and energy expenditure. However, human-derived food may have a poorer nutritional quality than the typical natural food resources and foraging in urban habitats may increase birds' susceptibility of ingesting anthropogenic debris materials, with unknown physiological consequences for urban dwellers. Here we compare the fatty acids (FA) composition of two opportunistic gull species (the yellow-legged gull, Larus michahellis, and the lesser black-backed gull, Larus fuscus) from areas with different levels of urbanization, to assess differences in birds' diet quality among foraging habitats, and we investigate the effects of ingesting anthropogenic materials, a toxicological stressor, on gulls' FA composition. Using GC–MS, 23 FAs were identified in the adipose tissue of both gull species. Significant differences in gulls' FA composition were detected among the three urbanization levels, mainly due to physiologically important highly unsaturated FAs that had lower percentages in gulls from the most urbanized habitats, consistent with a diet based on anthropogenic food resources. The deficiency in omega (ω)-3 FAs and the higher ω-6:ω-3 FAs ratio in gulls from the most urbanized location may indicate a dietinduced susceptibility to inflammation. No significant differences in overall FA composition were detected between gull species.While we were unable to detect any effect of ingested anthropogenic materials on gulls' FA composition, these data constitute a valuable contribution to the limited FA literature in gulls.We encourage studies to explore the long-term physiological effects of the lower nutritional quality diet for urban dwellers, and to detect the sub-lethal impacts of the ingestion of anthropogenic materialsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio