Genetic mapping of a new heart rate QTL on chromosome 8 of spontaneously hypertensive rats

BACKGROUND: Tachycardia is commonly observed in hypertensive patients, predominantly mediated by regulatory mechanisms integrated within the autonomic nervous system. The genetic loci and genes associated with increased heart rate in hypertension, however, have not yet been identified. METHODS: An F2 intercross of Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR) × Brown Norway (BN) linkage analysis of quantitative trait loci mapping was utilized to identify candidate genes associated with an increased heart rate in arterial hypertension. RESULTS: Basal heart rate in SHR was higher compared to that of normotensive BN rats (365 ± 3 vs. 314 ± 6 bpm, p < 0.05 for SHR and BN, respectively). A total genome scan identified one quantitative trait locus in a 6.78 cM interval on rat chromosome 8 (8q22–q24) that was responsible for elevated heart rate. This interval contained 241 genes, of which 65 are known genes. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that an influential genetic region located on the rat chromosome 8 contributes to the regulation of heart rate. Candidate genes that have previously been associated with tachycardia and/or hypertension were found within this QTL, strengthening our hypothesis that these genes are, potentially, associated with the increase in heart rate in a hypertension rat model

A Big Data system architecture to support the monitoring of paved roads

Today, everything is connected, including the exchange of data and the generation of new information. As a result, large amounts of data are being collected at an ever-increasing rate and in a variety of forms, a phenomenon now known as Big Data. Recent developments in information and communication technologies are driving the generation of significant amounts of data from multiple sources, namely sensors. In response to these technological advances and data challenges, this paper proposes a Big Data system architecture for paved road monitoring and implements part of this architecture on a section of road in Portugal as a case study. The challenge in the case study architecture is to collect and process sensor data in real time, at a rate of 500 records per second, producing 15 GBytes of data per day, using a real-time data stream for real-time monitoring and a batch data stream for deeper analysis. This allows users to obtain instant updates on road conditions such as the number of vehicles, loads, weather, and pavement temperatures on the road. They can monitor what is happening on the road in real time, receive alerts, and even gain insight into historical data, such as analysing the condition of structures or identifying traffic patterns.This work was also partly financed by FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) under the R&D Unit Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), under reference UIDB/04029/2020, and under the Associate Laboratory Advanced Production and Intelligent Systems ARISE, under reference LA/P/0112/2020. This work was also partly supported by the FCT under the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020

Durability of bond in NSM CFRP-concrete systems under different environmental conditions

This paper addresses the durability of bond between concrete and carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips installed according to the near-surface mounted (NSM) technique (NSM CFRP-concrete systems) under the effects of two main groups of environmental conditions: (i) laboratory-based ageing conditions; (ii) real outdoor ageing conditions. The bond degradation was evaluated by carrying out direct pullout tests on aged specimens that were previously subjected to distinct environmental conditions for different periods of exposure. Moreover, the degradation of the mechanical properties of the involved materials was investigated. The digital image correlation (DIC) method was used to document the evolution of the deformation fields at the surface over the whole region of interest consisting of concrete and epoxy adhesive at the ligament region. This information supported the discussion about the evolution of the bond resistant mechanism developed in NSM CFRP-concrete specimens during testing, as well as the assessment of the bond quality of the system. In general, the results obtained from the durability tests conducted have shown that the different exposure environments, which may be considered as quite severe, did not result in significant damage on NSM CFRP-concrete system. The maximum decrease of about 12% on bond strength was obtained for real outdoor environments. Conversely, a maximum increase of 8% on bond strength was obtained on the specimens exposed to the temperature cycles between –15 °C and +60 °C. DIC allowed to document the stress transfer mechanisms established between the CFRP and the concrete substrate, revealing the crack patterns and the influence widths of the CFRP reinforcement strips, which were shown to be important for avoiding group effect when using multiple parallel strengthening CFRP strips.FEDER funds through the Operational Program for Competitiveness Factors - COMPETE and National Funds through FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the projects CutInDur FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-014811 (PTDC/ECM/112396/2009), FRPLongDur POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016900 (PTDC/ECM-EST/1282/2014) and partly financed by the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007633. The authors also like to thank all the companies that have been involved supporting and contributing for the development of this study, mainly: S&P Clever Reinforcement Ibérica Lda., Artecanter - Indústria de Transformação de Granitos, Lda., Vialam – Indústrias Metalúrgicas e Metalomecânicas, Lda.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fully automated countrywide monitoring of fuel break maintenance operations

PTDC/CCI-COM/30344/2017 PCIF/SSI/0102/2017 UIDB/00239/2020 UIDB/00066/2020Fuel break (FB) networks are strategic locations for fire control and suppression. In order to be effective for wildfire control, they need to be maintained through regular interventions to reduce fuel loads. In this paper, we describe a monitoring system relying on Earth observations to detect fuel reduction inside the FB network being implemented in Portugal. Two fast automated pixel-based methodologies for monthly monitoring of fuel removals in FB are developed and compared. The first method (M1) is a classical supervised classification using the difference and postdisturbance image of monthly image composites. To take into account the impact of different land cover and phenology in the detection of fuel treatments, a second method (M2) based on an innovative statistical change detection approach was developed. M2 explores time series of vegetation indices and does not require training data or user-defined thresholds. The two algorithms were applied to Sentinel-2 10 m bands and fully processed in the cloud-based platform Google Earth Engine. Overall, the unsupervised M2, which is based on a Welch t-test of two moving window averages, gives better results than the supervised M1 and is suitable for an automated countrywide fuel treatment detection. For both methods, two vegetation indices, the Modified Excess of Green and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, were compared and exhibited similar performances.publishersversionpublishe

Las competencias para el siglo XXI en la perspectiva de los docentes. Un estudio en la región centro oeste de Portugal

Los desafíos a los que se enfrenta la sociedad contemporánea en el ámbito de la gestión de la información y la empleabilidad, en medio de una creciente incertidumbre con respecto al futuro, han llevado a un aumento de estudios internacionales sobre la necesidad de adecuar los sistemas educativos a esta nueva realidad. Algunas de las preguntas que se han utilizado en estos estudios se refieren a la relación entre la globalización y la tecnología: en una sociedad cada vez más interconectada, ¿debe la escuela seguir manteniendo un modelo pedagógico y didáctico fundamentado sobre las bases de la transmisión del conocimiento? Ante las nuevas formas de economías emergentes y el perfil requerido para los individuos que la deben servir, la escuela está bajo presión para un cambio de paradigma teórico de su acción y una revisión profunda de su praxis colectiva. ¿Cuál es la percepción de los docentes portugueses frente a este nuevo plan social? ¿Cuáles son las competencias que sienten que deben desarrollar para que puedan ser agentes de cambio con sus alumnos? Este estudio, que fue llevado a cabo por un equipo de investigadores portugueses y brasileños en colaboración con dos centros de formación de la región centro oeste de Portugal, tiene por objeto comprender la importancia atribuida a través de una muestra de docentes (N = 472): 1) a un conjunto de 13 competencias a desarrollar en los alumnos y 2) un conjunto de 13 competencias que deben integrarse en su perfil profesional y que, en ambos casos, se consideran relevantes en los estudios internacionales, en particular los promovidos por la OCDE (2009; 2014), UNESCO (2015) y la UE (2010; 2014)

Círculo epistemológico digital: uma proposta metodológica

Este artigo discute o círculo epistemológico em sua versão digital, uma proposta metodológica de pesquisa que consiste na apropriação reconfiguradade conceitos freirianos, sobretudo os fundantes dos círculos de cultura. Enquanto este último tem como foco o processo de formação, o círculo epistemológico assume uma modalidade substantivamente investigativa. Para tanto, faz-se necessário estabelecer duas condições fundamentais. A primeirarefere-se a uma dimensão de natureza técnico-operacional, na qual devem ser garantidos os instrumentos necessários ao acesso de pesquisadores(as)às ferramentas digitais. A segunda diz respeito à dimensão gnosiológica, pela qual são percorridos conceitos da tradição freiriana, dentre os outros,incompletude, inconclusão, inacabamento, diálogo e comunicação, os quais servem tanto para caracterizar sujeitos da pesquisa, quanto a realidade pesquisada e os achados de tal estudo. O diálogo configura-se como o principal instrumento, seja para a investigação, seja para o tratamento dos dados coletados. Para a construção do conhecimento dialógico, neste contexto, torna-se necessário a abertura para um novo processo pedagógico que se instaura,sobretudo, em decorrência da educação remota no contexto da pandemia da Covid-19. Assim, no círculo epistemológico digital, os(as) pesquisadores(as)devem estar atentos para um comportamento facilitador das práticas dialógicas, enfrentando e superando os discursos hegemônicos e fundamentalistas,já que qualquer atitude antidialógica compromete o próprio processo da pesquisa. Este estudo, metodologicamente, configura-se, portanto, numaleitura teórica, a partir do referencial freiriano, sobre as possibilidades e desafios da investigação científica, por meio da ressignificação do círculo decultura, que, na experiência estudada, converte-se em círculo epistemológico digital

Círculo epistemológico digital: uma proposta metodológica

Este artigo discute o círculo epistemológico em sua versão digital, uma proposta metodológica de pesquisa que consiste na apropriação reconfiguradade conceitos freirianos, sobretudo os fundantes dos círculos de cultura. Enquanto este último tem como foco o processo de formação, o círculo epistemológico assume uma modalidade substantivamente investigativa. Para tanto, faz-se necessário estabelecer duas condições fundamentais. A primeirarefere-se a uma dimensão de natureza técnico-operacional, na qual devem ser garantidos os instrumentos necessários ao acesso de pesquisadores(as)às ferramentas digitais. A segunda diz respeito à dimensão gnosiológica, pela qual são percorridos conceitos da tradição freiriana, dentre os outros,incompletude, inconclusão, inacabamento, diálogo e comunicação, os quais servem tanto para caracterizar sujeitos da pesquisa, quanto a realidade pesquisada e os achados de tal estudo. O diálogo configura-se como o principal instrumento, seja para a investigação, seja para o tratamento dos dados coletados. Para a construção do conhecimento dialógico, neste contexto, torna-se necessário a abertura para um novo processo pedagógico que se instaura,sobretudo, em decorrência da educação remota no contexto da pandemia da Covid-19. Assim, no círculo epistemológico digital, os(as) pesquisadores(as)devem estar atentos para um comportamento facilitador das práticas dialógicas, enfrentando e superando os discursos hegemônicos e fundamentalistas,já que qualquer atitude antidialógica compromete o próprio processo da pesquisa. Este estudo, metodologicamente, configura-se, portanto, numaleitura teórica, a partir do referencial freiriano, sobre as possibilidades e desafios da investigação científica, por meio da ressignificação do círculo decultura, que, na experiência estudada, converte-se em círculo epistemológico digital

MHARS: A mobile system for human activity recognition and inference of health situations in ambient assisted living

This paper presents MHARS (Mobile Human Activity Recognition System), a mobile system designed to monitor patients in the context of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), which allows the recognition of the activities performed by the user as well as the detection of the activities intensity in real time. MHARS was designed to be able to gather data from different sensors, to recognize the activities and measure their intensity in different user mobility scenarios. The system allows the inference of situations regarding the health status of the patient and provides support for executing actions, reacting to events that deserve attention from the patient’s caregivers and family members. Experiments demonstrate that MHARS presents good accuracy and has an affordable consumption of mobile resources.Keywords: Ambient Assisted Living, Human Activity Recognition, situation inference, mobile computing