5,273 research outputs found
(un)childhood: performing the voices and times of childhood through relational video-making
This practice-based PhD is comprised of two interrelated elements: (i) â(un)childhoodâ, a 53â video-essay shown on two screens; and (ii) a 58286 word written thesis. The project, which is contextualised within the tradition of artists working with their own children on time-based art projects, explores a new approach to timebased artistic work about childhood. While Stan Brakhage (1933-2003), Ernie Gher (1943-), Erik Bullot (1963-) and Mary Kelly (1941-) all documented, photographed and filmed their children over a period of years to produce art projects (experimental films and a time-based installation), these projects were implicitly underpinned by a construction of childhood in which children, shown as they grow, represent the abstract primitive subject. The current project challenges the convention of representing children entirely from the adultâs point of view, as aesthetic objects without a voice, as well as through the artistâs chronological approach to time. Instead, this project focuses on the relational joining of the childâs and adultâs points of view. The artist worked on a video project with her own son over a four-and-a-half year period (between the ages of 5 and 10) through which she developed her ârelational video-makingâ methodology. The video-essay (un)childhood performs the relational voices of childhood as resulting from the verbal interactions of both children and adults. The non-chronological nature of(un)childhood offers an alternative to the linear-temporal approach to the representation of childhood. Through montage and a number of literal allusions to time in its dialogue, (un)childhood performs the relational times of childhood by combining childrenâs lives in the present with the temporal dimensions that have traditionally constructed childhood: past, future and timeless
EPIDURAL BLOOD PATCH IN SPONTANEOUS INTRACRANIAL HYPOTENSION
Background: Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension (SIH) is a rare condition caused by a spinal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak. It is usually described as an orthostatic headache, frequently associated with neck pain, nausea, vomiting, diplopia, blurred vision and distorted hearing. Initial treatment consists of bed rest, fluid supplementation, caffeine and analgesics. If conservative treatment fails, an epidural blood patch (EBP) therapy should be considered.
Methods: A healthy 31-year-old female patient presented with a spontaneous occipital headache during the expulsive period of a miscarriage. Six days later, she was referred to Neurology due to worsening symptoms (orthostatic headache, vertigo and diplopia). CAT scan, lumbar puncture and carotid ecodoppler were normal. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) revealed an epidural CSF collection suggesting a CSF fistula. After 21 days of conservative treatment and no clinical improvement, she was referred to Anaesthesiology to perform a lumbar EBP. Hospital discharged occurred five days later with no symptoms. The follow-up MRI was normal.
Discussion: Treatment of SIH aims to maintain CSF volume. The effect of EBP is twofold: an early effect related to volume replacement and a latent effect that results from sealing the leak. Symptomatic relief is usually obtained in few days but EBP may be repeated if symptoms recur. Complications such as transient paraesthesia, radicular pain, repeated inadvertent dural puncture and epidural infection are possible but rare.
Conclusions: The high success rate and the low incidence of complications have established the EBP as the best available treatment of SIH refractory to conservative measures
Association between calcium intake and body fat among pre-school Portuguese children
Obesity is the condition in which abnormally large body fat mass accumulates and causes a broad range of health problems. Some studies with children have reported an inverse asso ciation between dietary calcium intake and adiposity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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Climatic change emphasize the importance of biodiversity maintenance, Suggesting that germplasm adapted to organic, low input, or conventional conditions is needed to face future demands. This Study presents: I - The two steps genesis of the synthetic maize population Fandango, A) NUTICA creation: in 1975, Miguel Mota and Silas Pego, initiated a new type of polycross method involving 77 yellow elite inbred lines (dent and flint; 20% Portuguese and 80% North American germplasm) from the NUMI programme (NUcleo de melhoramento de Milho, Braga, Portugal). These inbreds were intermated in natural isolation and progenies submitted to intensive selection for both parents during continued cycles; B) From NUTICA to Fandango: Tandango was composed of all the crosses that resulted from a North Carolina Design I matting design (1 male crossed with 5 females) applied to NUTICA. II - The diversity evolution of Fandango under a Participatory Breeding project at the Portuguese Sousa Valley region (VASO) initiated in 1985 by Pego, with CIMMYT support. Morphological, fasciation expression, and yield trials were conducted in Portugal (3 locations, 3 years) and in the USA (4 locations, I year) using seeds obtained from five to seven cycles of mass selection (MS). The selection across cycles wits clone by the breeder (until cycle 5) and farmer (before cycle II in present). ANOVA and regression analysis on the rate of direct response to selection were performed when the assumption of normality was positively confirmed. Otherwise the non parametric Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) was performed. Response to mass selection in lowa showed significant decrease in yield, while in Portugal a significant increase for time of silking, plant and ear height, ear diameters 2, 37 4, kernel number, cot) diameters, and rachis was observed. At this location also a significant decrease was observed for thousand kernel weight and ear length. These results showed that mass selection were not effective for significant yield increase, except when considered Lousada with breeder selection (3.09% of gain per cycle per year). Some non-para metric methods (MARS, decision trees and random forests) were used to get insights on the causes that explain yield in Fandango. Kernel weight and ear weight were the most important traits, although row numbers, number of kernels per row, ear length, and ear diameter were also of some importance influencing Fandango yield
UCP2 and ANT differently modulate proton-leak in brain mitochondria of long-term hyperglycemic and recurrent hypoglycemic rats
A growing body of evidence suggests that mitochondrial
proton-leak functions as a regulator of reactive
oxygen species production and its modulation may limit
oxidative injury to tissues. The main purpose of this work
was to characterize the proton-leak of brain cortical mitochondria
from long-term hyperglycemic and insulininduced
recurrent hypoglycemic rats through the modulation
of the uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) and adenine nucleotide
translocator (ANT). Streptozotocin-induced diabetic
rats were treated subcutaneously with twice-daily insulin
injections during 2 weeks to induce the hypoglycemic episodes.
No differences in the basal proton-leak, UCP2 and
ANT protein levels were observed between the experimental
groups. Mitochondria from recurrent hypoglycemic rats
presented a decrease in proton-leak in the presence of
GDP, a specific UCP2 inhibitor, while an increase in
proton-leak was observed in the presence of linoleic acid,
a proton-leak activator, this effect being reverted by the
simultaneous addition of GDP. Mitochondria from longterm
hyperglycemic rats showed an enhanced susceptibility
to ANT modulation as demonstrated by the complete inhibition
of basal and linoleic acid-induced proton-leak caused
by the ANT specific inhibitor carboxyatractyloside. Our
results show that recurrent-hypoglycemia renders mitochondria
more susceptible to UCPs modulation while the protonleak
of long-term hyperglycemic rats is mainly modulated
by ANT, which suggest that brain cortical mitochondria
have distinct adaptation mechanisms in face of different
metabolic insults.The authorsâ work is supported by the Fundação
para a CiĂȘncia e a Tecnologia (FCT) (PTDC/SAU-NEU/103325/2008)
co-funded by Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER)
via Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade (COMPETE).
Susana Cardoso has a PhD fellowship from the Portuguese Foundation
for Science and Technology (SFRH/BD/43968/2008)
Resveratrol affects differently rat liver and brain mitochondrial bioenergetics and oxidative stress in vitro: Investigation of the role of gender
Resveratrol (3,5,40-trihydroxy-trans stilbene) is commonly recognized by its antioxidant properties.
Despite its beneficial qualities, the toxic effects of this natural compound are still unknown. Since mitochondria
are essential to support the energy-dependent regulation of several cell functions, the objective
of this study was to evaluate resveratrol effects on rat brain and liver mitochondrial fractions from male
and females regarding oxidative stress and bioenergetics. No basal differences were observed between
mitochondrial fractions from males and females, except in liver mitochondria, the generation of H2O2
by the respiratory chain is lower for female preparations. Resveratrol inhibited lipid peroxidation in preparations
from both genders and organs. Furthermore, brain mitochondria in both gender groups appeared
susceptible to resveratrol as seen by a decrease in state 3 respiration and alterations in mitochondrial
membrane potential fluctuations during ADP phosphorylation. As opposed, liver mitochondria were less
affected by resveratrol. Our data also demonstrates that resveratrol inhibits complex I activity in all
mitochondrial preparations. The results suggest that brain mitochondria appear to be more susceptible
to resveratrol effects, and gender appears to play a minor role. It remains to be determined if resveratrol
effects on brain mitochondria contribute to deterioration of mitochondrial function or instead to mediate
hormesis-mediated events.This work is supported by PTDC/AGR-ALI/108326/2008 to M.S.S.
from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, FEDER/
Compete/National Funds. A.C.M., A.M.S. and V.A.S. are recipient
of SFRH/BD/33892/2009, SFRH/BD/76086/2011 and SFRH/BPD/
31549/2006 fellowships, respectively
Evaluation of the Structure-Activity Relationship of Hemoproteins through Physicochemical Studies: Hemoglobins as a Prototype of Biosensor
In the present work, we have studied a group of prerequisites in terms of âstructure-function relationshipâ of hemoproteins, especially hemoglobins, emphasizing the role of the heme and its chemical environment in the biochemical and physicochemical properties of the biomolecule. We have discussed the ferrous center and its properties as coordination center; the macrocyclic ligands, especially the porphyrins; the esterochemical and electronic properties of the iron-porphyrins (heme groups); and the interaction between heme groups and globins, which is related to several redox and oligomeric properties of hemoprotein systems and its potential applications with respect to novel materials. One of the main uses of hemoglobins in new materials is also discussed, which is its employment as a biosensor. Therefore, we have discussed the development of novel biosensors based on hemoglobins and their physico-chemical properties as well as on the main molecules of biological relevance that have been detected by these biosensors, such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), nitric oxide (NO), and cholesterol, among others. Indeed, several important biomolecules and biological processes can be detected and/or evaluated by devices that present hemoglobins as leading chemical components. Different apparatus are covered with respect to distinct characteristics, such as chemical stability, sensitivity, selectivity, reproducibility, durability, optimum conditions of measurements, etc. and their respective characteristics are analyzed
2DPHOT: A Multi-purpose Environment for the Two-dimensional Analysis of Wide-field Images
We describe 2DPHOT, a general purpose analysis environment for source
detection and analysis in deep wide-field images. 2DPHOT is an automated tool
to obtain both integrated and surface photometry of galaxies in an image, to
perform reliable star-galaxy separation with accurate estimates of
contamination at faint flux levels, and to estimate completeness of the image
catalog. We describe the analysis strategy on which 2DPHOT is based, and
provide a detailed description of the different algorithms implemented in the
package. This new environment is intended as a dedicated tool to process the
wealth of data from wide-field imaging surveys. To this end, the package is
complemented by 2DGUI, an environment that allows multiple processing of data
using a range of computing architectures.Comment: Accepted to PAS
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