Index de la chronique de jurisprudence. Liste des titres

A utilização de plantas para fitorremediação do solo requer que a concentração do poluente esteja dentro dos limites de tolerância da planta para que o tratamento seja eficaz. O rebrotamento e crescimento da herbácea aquática Echinochloa polystachya em solo de várzea contaminado por petróleo de Urucu foram estudados por meio do plantio de propágulos em frascos com 2 L de solo contaminado pela mistura de 7 dosagens de petróleo, distribuídas entre 0 e 0,46 L m-2. O experimento foi realizado em Casa de Vegetação e as plantas foram monitoradas durante 70 dias. Em resposta ao aumento da dosagem do petróleo, houve diminuição da biomassa aérea, da proporção de biomassa aérea viva/aérea total, do comprimento da folha e do número de folhas. A interação entre dosagem e tempo de exposição levou à diminuição do número de folhas, comprimento da folha, altura de inserção da primeira folha e aumento do número de folhas com comprometimento fitossanitário. A utilização de E. polystachya para fitorremediação pode estar limitada a solos com baixas dosagens de petróleo de Urucu.The use of plants for the phytoremediation of contaminated soils requires that the concentrations of the pollutant lay within the limits of tolerance of the plant in order to ensure the efficacy of the treatment. The vegetative propagation and growth of the aquatic herbaceous plant Echinochloa polystachya were studied by planting parts of stems in 2 L of várzea soils previously contaminated by crude oil from Urucu, in 7 different dosages of oil ranging from 0 to 0.46 L m-2. The experiment took place in a green house and the plants were monitored during a 70 days period. Increasing the oil concentration lead to the decrease of the above-ground biomass, the ratio alive aerial biomass/total aerial biomass, leaf length and number of leaves. The interaction between dosage and time of exposition contributed for a reduction in the number and length of leaves, height of insertion of the first leaf, and increase of the number of unhealthy leaves. The use of E. polystachya for phytoremediation may be limited to soils with lower concentrations of crude oil from Urucu

Estudo da resistência aos anti-maláricos: desenvolvimento de um novo teste de sensibilidade do Plasmodium spp., baseado na detecção de hemozoína

Tese de mestrado, Bioquímica (Bioquímica Médica), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2009A malária é conhecida pela sua elevada morbilidade e mortalidade. Estima-se que em 2006, tenha havido 247 milhões de casos de malária e um milhão de mortes. O número de casos esta a aumentar, associado à um aumento da resistência aos fármacos antimaláricos. Por causa disso, é de extrema importância que se desenvolvam métodos rápidos para o estudo da sensibilidade do P. falciparum. Com o presente estudo pretendeu-se desenvolver uma nova metodologia para a detecção do pigmento malárico, baseado na citometria de fluxo. A ideia é desenvolver um teste de sensibilidade do Plasmodium spp aos anti-maláricos que funciona sem adição de reagentes. Foi utilizada a espécie P.berghei ANKA, transfectados com a proteína GFP, uma espécie que infecta ratinhos. Nos eritrócitos parasitados estudou-se o efeito da cloroquina, para o estabelecimento de curvas dose – resposta ao fármaco. O sangue de ratinho foi colhido e incubado com diferentes concentrações de fármaco. As células foram analisadas após incubação de uma, duas, três horas e overnight. O efeito inibitório da cloroquina foi detectado por determinação de eritrócitos que expressaram uma despolarização elevada, e por análise do grau da expressão da GFP. Com base na detecção da despolarização, verifica-se um efeito inibitório logo após a primeira hora de incubação, por análise das curvas dose-resposta da cloroquina. Este efeito aumenta até às 3 horas de incubação. Ao contrário disso, nenhum efeito é visível na análise do GFP. Este trabalho mostra que é possível observar o efeito inibitório da cloroquina em células infectadas com P. berghei ANKA, com base na detecção de hemozoína. Este método por ser rápido e robusto, pode ser a base de um novo teste de susceptibilidade in vitro de Plasmodium spp a anti-maláricos.Malaria is well known for its high morbidity and mortality rates. In 2006, an estimated 246 Million cases occurred, causing around 1 million deaths. Yet, the number of cases is still rising, associated to an increasing problem of resistance to antimalarial drugs. Because of this, the development of rapid methods to detect drug resistance is of paramount importance. The present study had has objective the redevelopments of a novel method to detect the malarial pigment, based on flow cytometric principles. The idea was to develop a new sensitivity test for antimalarial drugs for Plasmodium spp. , that would work without additional reagents. The murine P. berghei ANKA strain, a strain that has been transfected with green fluorescent protein (GFP) was used. The parasitized erythrocytes were studied to establish a dose-response curve of the drug. The blood of infected mice was incubated with different concentrations of the drug. The cells were analysed after 1, 2, 3 and overnight incubation. The inhibitory effect of choloroquine was detected measuring the expression of depolarization in infected erythrocytes, as well as the GFP expression. V Based on the depolarization an inhibitory effect was noted after only one hour, and the effect was more pronounced at three hours. Contrary to this, no effect was observed when the GFP expression was analysed. This study shows that it is possible to observe the inhibitory effect of choloroquine on P. berghei ANKA infected erythrocytes, based on the detection of hemozoin. This method may be a rapid and robust way to develop a novel in-vitro sensitivity test for Plasmodium spp

Pathogen Strategies to Evade Innate Immune Response: A Signaling Point of View

An effective host defense against pathogens requires appropriate recognition of the invading microorganism by immune cells, conducing to an inflammatory process that involves recruitment of leukocytes to the site of infection, activation of antimicrobial effector mechanisms and induction of an adaptive immune response that ultimately will promote the clearance of infection. All these events require the coordination of multiple signaling pathways, initially triggered by the contact of the pathogen with innate immune cells. The “signal alarm” is normally triggered by ligation of microorganism, or microorganism’s components, to pattern-recognition receptors, causing their phosphorylation and recruitment of adapter molecules, which in turn will activate second messengers within the cytosol of the cells, allowing the transduction of the signal. The second messengers are often protein kinases that in a cascade process ultimately activate the transcription factors responsible for the expression of effector molecules like, cytokines, chemokines and reactive oxygen species, crucial elements to mount an adequate immune response. The activity of such critical intracellular signaling pathways is a process extremely well controlled by a balance of positive and negative regulation, being the activation of a given protein kinase normally counterbalanced by the activation of its opposing phosphatase. However, as part of their pathogenic strategies, several microorganisms exploit host cell signaling mechanisms by distorting this balance between positive and negative signals. They hijack crucial immunecell signaling pathways, subverting the immunogenic abilities of these cells and evading this way the host immune response. In the last few years a great effort has gone into understanding the molecular mechanisms behind this subversion, and various signaling cascades were identified as main targets of pathogens and virulence factors. Among these targets, assume particular importance the transcription factor nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), a cornerstone of innate immunity and inflammatory responses, as well as the mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs), signaling cascades implicated in the regulation of crucial aspects of immunity. Overall in this chapter, we will provide an overview of the current understanding of how pathogens interact with host cells and how these microorganisms exploit host immune response in a signaling point of view

Impairments: Materiality and fiscal impact on Cape Verde’ major contributors

This study aims to evaluate the material level of impairment losses registered by the Cape Verdean companies, as well as to analyze its fiscal impact. For this purpose, we ran the Cape Verdean’ accounting standards about this subject and studied the tax procedures on impairment registration in the country. In the empirical study, we performed an analysis of the annual report and accounts for 2012 and 2011 of fifty-seven large companies in Cape Verde. These were the benchmark years for establishing the country's major contributors and the normative framework on impairment’ application. Evidences showed that, in its vast majority, companies registered impairment losses, namely on customer debts and inventories. We also found that, empirically, impairment value was materially relevant and had impact on tax level, giving the meaningful association between payed taxes (negative association) and turnover (positive association), and registered impairment. In a future work, already in progress, we intended to verify the impairment registration’ during the period between 2013 and 2016. We will also try to understand if there is a greater social responsibility by Cape Verde’ major contributors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Uma proposta da moda como conhecimento para a formação do olhar do estudante de medicina no agreste pernambucano

Este artigo consiste na apresentação da disciplina Moda, Corpo e Visibilidade como um elemento no processo de formação do olhar dos estudantes de medicina do Campos Acadêmico do Agreste – CAA – da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco – UFPE. Discutiremos os conteúdos disponibilizados, a metodologia e o resultado final na formação em saúde dos alunos.

Sales model: a preliminary approach and methodology

This work project aims at supporting managers in explaining and predicting sales of specificproducts based on a devised methodology. Product sales time series were analysed andprocessed in order to select the best model type: explanatory models (through ordinary leastsquares method), univariate models (Box Jenkins methodology) or dynamic models mixing upthe two previous approaches. An automatic procedure to put the methodology in practice wasimplemented using Python, due to the huge amount of product sales to be modelled. Theprocess was tested using data from more than 1500 products from Beiersdorf Lisbon. For thesake of confidentiality, the names of the products were modified. The most accurate models aredescribed and analyzed

Cognitive computing in the travel and tourism industry

Cognitive computingemergedfromamixtureofcognitivescience and computer science. Although cognitive computing is seen as a challenge for com panies, it is an opportunity that raises the bar for the services provided, allowing companies that are committed to investing in innovation, and in this particular case in the travel and tourism sector, being able to stand out from the compe tition by adopting new technologies that make it possible to offer revolutionary and value-added experiences. Whether optimizing processes or developing new services, this technology is the key to innovation and competitiveness in the travel and tourism sector. With the user’s history and previous search data, cognitive systems, even before the user realizes it, present specific options according to their profile\preferences. In this sense, the system has the ability to automatically restrict the entire travel package. The main objective of this work is to explore the area of Cognitive computing in the context of Travel and Tourism Industry.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Current extraction techniques towards bioactive compounds from brewers spent grain A review

Background: Brewers spent grain is one of the most abundant by-products of the brewing industry and is rich in various bioactive compounds (phenolic acids, insoluble dietary fiber and proteins). While at the present brewers spent grain is mainly used as animal feed its rich nutritional content makes it an interesting alternative for food applications. Scope and approach: As the range of applications of the bioactive compounds extracted from by-products has been growing in recent years, there is the need to obtain and characterize these bioactive compounds. Extraction methods (supercritical carbon dioxide, autohydrolysis, alkaline hydrolysis, solvent extraction, ultrasound assisted extraction, dilute acid hydrolysis, enzymatic hydrolysis, microwave assisted extraction) have been developed and are always being subjected to new approaches to allow better extraction yields of the bioactive compounds. Key findings and conclusions: This review aims to provide a better understanding of the current advantages and limitations of brewers spent grain extraction processes and to provide a background of brewers spent grain composition and applications.The authors would like to thank to the projects Co-promoção,NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004 and OCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684.Furthermore, the authors would also acknowledge the FCT projects UID/Multi/50016/2019, UID/BIO/04469/2013. The author T. Bonifácio-Lopes would also like to acknowledge the grant UMINHO/BD/11/2016.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio