Cultural accessible pedestrian ways. The case of Faro historic centre

In a historic city the existence of accessible pedestrian routes constitutes an essential feature to a true access to culture heritage, contributing for processes of social inclusion. It is necessary to create accessible pedestrian infrastructures network to hold a set of attributes that guarantee usability for all citizens. The creation and design of an accessible physical environment should be considered as a criterion of urban quality, which will make walking more pleasant not only for the elderly and people with disabilities but, also, for the entire resident population and tourists. In this case study it is ascertainable whether the physical characteristics of pedestrian infrastructures of cultural interest, located in the Historical Centre of Faro (Portugal), comply with the requirements of the National Law of Accessibility. There has, therefore, been created a methodology for evaluating the accessibility of pedestrian infrastructure through the construction of performance indicators. The analysis is achieved through a model of evaluation of the degree of conformity of the spaces, and presented, spatially, with appeal to a Geographical Information System, which is a tool to support the decision taking in the processes of urban rehabilitation, thus contributing to the choice of priority areas of intervention in the field of accessibility. The diagnosis confirms the existence of inaccessible pedestrian infrastructure and concludes the need to trigger processes of urban renovation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Online Scientific Volunteering: the technological immersion for the co-construction of knowledge, employability, entrepreneurship and innovation in a logic of inclusion

“We all have something to learn and something to share” is the motto of this project, through which we aim to assess the impact of a multilingual platform which combines and makes the most of the potentials of digital environments and favours inclusion, in the co-construction of knowledge in learning/practice, in employability, entrepreneurism and innovation. In this article we will introduce an ongoing project which is founded on the principle of openness to the research community. Its philosophy is Online Scientific Volunteering for the co-construction of knowledge about learning best practices. The platform that will emerge from the project will be open access. The academic community, whether national or international, can contribute with content and knowledge to the platform, through interaction and discussions around relevant and emerging topics. The community may also exploit, without encumbrance, the contents of the platform for their own benefit. This way students and scientific expertise can share in a common knowledge space, and together build a comprehensive knowledge base.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A obesidade infantil: um problema emergente

A obesidade é um dos problemas de saúde mais graves que afecta crianças e adolescentes a nível mundial. As evidências sugerem que o problema está a agravar-se rapidamente. O aumento da prevalência de obesidade infantil pode fazer com que a próxima geração apresente indicadores de obesidade no adulto superiores aos indicadores actuais. Pelo facto de a obesidade estar intimamente associada a diferentes patologias crónicas faz com que estejamos perante um enorme desafio para o sistema de cuidados de saúde. A definição de obesidade em crianças é dificultada pelo facto de ser um processo caro e pouco prático. O índice de massa corporal (IMC) é utilizado como indicador de obesidade no adulto. Nas crianças e adolescentes, é consensual a utilização dos percentis obtidos estatisticamente através de uma população de referência. O tratamento recomendado para que crianças e adolescentes com excesso de peso consigam atingir um peso mais saudável utiliza quatro estratégias comportamentais primárias: redução do aporte energético, aumento do gasto energético, participação activa dos pais e educadores no processo de mudança e ajuda do ambiente familiar de suporte. A prevenção do excesso de peso é critica para um tratamento com sucesso devido aos resultados a longo prazo. Factores genéticos, ambientais ou a combinação de factores de risco que predispõem a criança ou adolescente para a obesidade podem e devem ser identificados. As famílias devem ser educadas antecipadamente para reconhecer o impacto que têm nos hábitos alimentares e de actividade física na vida das crianças e adolescentes. Práticas alimentares que incentivem a moderação em vez do consumo excessivo devem ser promovidas, enfatizando escolhas alimentares saudáveis em vez de padrões alimentares restritivos. Actividade física regular deve ser promovida de forma prioritária no ambiente familiar, escolar e comunitário. O caminho ideal para a prevenção é aliar a intervenção dietética com a actividade física. As crianças e adolescentes devem ser ajudados precocemente a desenvolver hábitos alimentares e de actividade física, porque as intervenções tornam-se mais efectivas quando os hábitos comportamentais se estão a formar. Neste artigo são apresentadas a epidemiologia, a avaliação, o tratamento e a prevenção associado a este fenómeno de saúde pública

Global city: the occupational layer

Nowadays discussion on global cities concept is being addressed on European level. The concept is a consequence of multiplicities of globalization processes adding different layers according to social, economic and environmental requirements. Cities must also be seen as working systems, with the same needs and requirements in terms of safety and well-being that are considered for other systems. In this paper Authors address the evidences that support the importance of this additional layer. Different sources were used in order to obtain the data related to working systems and their relation to the global cities concept. The conducted systematic review indicate that the search words: sustainability, occupational and global city were not crossed for research. Furthermore, challenges that cities are facing must be understood as additional source of motivation and innovation towards a global city. Cities must also be seen as working systems, with the same needs and requirements in terms of safety and well-being that are considered for other systems

O Profissional de Comunicação na Gestão de Projetos de engenharia – uma área de inovação

Os desafios que se colocam aos profissionais de comunicação organizacional da atualidade são múltiplos, face à crescente complexidade dos mercados. Analisaremos neste trabalho um desses desafios, que pode constituir uma área de inovação e crescimento: a integração de profissionais (e investigadores) de comunicação nas equipas de gestão de projetos de engenharia. Para isso, promoveremos uma visão interdisciplinar, a partir dos campos da Comunicação Organizacional e da Gestão de Projetos de engenharia, na procura de novas soluções de comunicação relevantes para as organizações; e refletiremos sobre os desafios que se colocam ao profissional de comunicação na formação e acompanhamento das equipas de projeto. Esta análise será feita a partir do estudo de um departamento de gestão de projetos de industrialização numa empresa multinacional com fábrica em Portugal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Folic acid-tagged protein nanoemulsions with controllable size for cancer therapy

XII Spanish-Portuguese Conference on Controlled Drug DeliveryCancer is one of the most devastating diseases and the conventional chemotherapeutics agents distribute nonspecifically in the body, inducing a number of drawbacks [1, 2]. Protein-based nanoparticles have gained considerable interest as drug delivery devices due to their exceptional characteristics [3, 4]. Additionally, protein-based nanoparticles can also be easily amenable for surface modification and covalent attachment of drugs and targeting ligands [3, 5]. The aim of this work was the development of albumin nanoemulsions as drug delivery systems for cancer therapy. The production of albumin nanoemulsions was achieved by high pressure homogenization of an aqueous solution with an organic solvent (vegetable oil), subjecting the mixture to varying number of homogenization cycles at high pressure. In order to determine the best formulation for therapeutic applications, physicochemical and biological (in vitro and in vivo) characterizations were performed. Albumin nanoemulsions were produced by high pressure homogenization with and without a tri-block copolymer (Poloxamer 407), which presents a central hydrophobic chain of polyoxypropylene (PPO) and two identical lateral hydrophilic chains of polyethylene glycol (PEG). We observed a linear correlation between tri-block copolymer concentration and size – the use of 5 mg/mL of Poloxamer 407 yields nanoemulsions smaller than 100 nm. Molecular dynamics and fluorescent tagging of the tri-block copolymer highlight their mechanistic role on the size of emulsions. Folic acid (FA)-tagged protein nanoemulsions were shown to promote specific folate receptor (FR)-mediated targeting in FR positive cells. Carbon monoxide releasing molecule-2 (CORM-2) was incorporated in the oil phase of the initial formulation. FA-tagged nanoemulsions loaded with CORM-2 exhibited a considerable antitumor effect and an increased survival of BALB/c mice bearing subcutaneous A20 lymphoma tumors (Figure 1). The developed nanoemulsions also demonstrated to be well tolerated by these immunocompetent mice. The novel strategy presented here enables the construction of highly stable, size controlled, functionalized protein-based nanoemulsions with excellent characteristics for active targeting in cancer therapy.Ana Loureiro thanks for a scholarship (SFRH/BD/81479/2011) from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT). This work has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement NMP4-LA-2009-228827 NANOFOL. This work was supported by FEDER through POFC – COMPETE and by Portuguese funds from FCT through the project PEst-OE/BIA/UI4050/2014. The authors also thank the FCT Strategic Project of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684), BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER000004) funded by European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte and the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement NMP-06-2015- 683356 FOLSMART.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Size controlled protein nanoemulsions for cancer therapy

Book of Abstracts of CEB Annual Meeting 2017info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fragile X syndrome: intergenerational allele instability and associated phenotypes in families

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common hereditary form of intellectual disability with an estimated frequency of 1/4000 males and 1/8000 females. This disease is caused by a (CGG)n expansion in the 5’UTR of the FMR1 gene, which as a result is methylated and gene silenced. Four classes of alleles can be found based on CGG repeat length: normal (5-44), intermediate (45-54), premutation (55-200) and full mutation (>200). In premutation carriers, both FMR1-related primary ovarian insufficiency (FXPOI) and fragile-X associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS) have been described. To gain insights into instability of FMR1 CGG repeats and associated phenotypes, we studied 541 individuals from 128 FXS Portuguese families. DNA samples were genotyped by PCR and Southern blot analysis. Additional clinical evaluation was performed in premutation carriers. Among FXS families, 5.3% intermediate, 29.9% premutation and 26.6% full mutation alleles were found. Normal and intermediate alleles were stable upon transmission. For 115 maternal premutation transmissions, 26 (23%) with alleles ranging 60-98 CGGs remained in premutation size with an average expansion of 17 repeat units, whereas 89 (77%) with alleles ranging from 66-199 CGGs expanded to full mutation. In 44 transmissions of maternal full mutation, the offspring inherited alleles in the full mutation range. For 10 paternal transmissions of premutations, ranging 56-120 CGGs, all daughters inherited a premutation allele, with an average expansion of 7 repeat units. After clinical evaluation of 7 premutation carriers, 1 male with FXTAS and 2 females with FXPOI were identified; however the remaining premutation individuals were not yet examined. In Portuguese FXS families, allele instability upon transmission is in agreement with previous reports. The risk of premutation to full mutation expansion increases with maternal premutation size.FCT Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologi

Análise da acessibilidade de percursos culturais em Faro. Um contributo para a regeneração urbana e o turismo acessível

O Turismo Acessível para Todos atende ao desenvolvimento de atividades de lazer e tempo livre por todo o tipo de pessoas, independentemente das suas condições físicas, sensoriais, sociais ou culturais. Acontece que na sociedade há um conjunto de barreiras físicas que limitam a atividade turística das pessoas com mobilidade reduzida, sobretudo as com deficiência. Os princípios do Design Universal devem incorporar-se no desenho urbano das cidades, na arquitetura dos edifícios, nos meios de transporte e nas tecnologias de informação e comunicação, de forma a promover a inclusão social e qualidade de vida de todos. Com esta comunicação pretende-se apresentar a análise e o diagnóstico das condições de acessibilidade universal da rede de percursos pedonais, de interesse cultural, localizada no Centro Histórico da cidade de Faro. Pretende averiguar-se se as suas características físicas respeitam as exigências do Regime Jurídico Na-cional da Acessibilidade. O diagnóstico é concretizado através de um modelo de avaliação do grau de conformidade dos espaços considerando parâmetros de acessibilidade urbanística. A metodologia aplicada, através de um Sistema de Informação Geográfica, constitui um instrumento de apoio à decisão nos processos de regeneração urbana. Os resultados apontam para situações de inacessibilidade nos percursos culturais comprometendo os objeti-vos do turismo acessível e sustentável.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Técnicas de recolha de dados em investigação qualitativa

As Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC) estão a provocar alterações importantes na sociedade, em particular no modo como comunicamos, consultamos informação e a recolhemos. E na investigação qualitativa, haverá alterações provocadas pelas TIC? Esta pergunta orientou o presente artigo de revisão bibliográfica onde se concluiu que não havendo alterações significativas na forma das investigações, as TIC contribuem para facilitar a recolha e o tratamento de informação e aumentar o potencial universo de participantes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio