Entrepreneurial attitude, geographical isolation and university students - some evidence from the Atlantic

Some regions like Island of Madeira show high levels of firm birth rate. But the entrepreneurial experience is quite different from the European reality given the high level of micro-business owing o subsistence reasons, as a response to the reduced opportunity costs, the lack of profitable employment options and the high levels of unemployment. As a consequence the high level of entrepreneurship is only partially related to high tech innovative firms, qualified employment growth and economic diversification. The majority of the new firms are linked with traditional sectors (restaurants, boutiques, personal services and civil construction. Firm creation is also a result of the EU integration and cohesion policies. On the other hand infra-structure development policies explain the increasing importance of the public administration in terms of employment and consequently the low levels of unemployment. Traditionally, in the islands, the government intervention in terms of employment, economic planning is considered excessive. The island economies have been able to benefit from large streams of international solidarity in terms of high external aid per capita especially due to their strategic relevance. But the global economic and political change associated with the globalisation put increasing pressure on the island forcing them to reformulate their economic, social and political options. International donors and institutions like World Bank stresses issues such as economic diversification, economic and social modernisation and macroeconomic policies focused o supply side effects and the development of economic growth determining factors. Due to the reduced levels of international aid, islands are obliged to diminish levels of government intervention connected to public employment and direct production activities and to enhance private initiatives and entrepreneurship. In what concerns the outermost regions the EU enlargement demands increasing levels of competitivity, financial autonomy, economic diversification and entrepreneurial attitude. Given the lack of studies in this geographical area, the on-going economic, social and cultural modernisation induced by the integration in The EU sphere and the widespread perception about the changing times, we intend in this study to give some answers to the following questions: .how is the entrepreneurial attitude affected by the historical record of high levels of government intervention and public employment? .what kind of impacts results from the perceived “island penalty”, in terms of propensity towards entrepreneurship? .What is the main obstacle to the entrepreneurial event? .Should one wish to create a firm, what is the probability of the stated preference is in the high tech sectors? What kind of support will be required and welcomed from the public institutions? Studies and academic studies in islands have some advantages. The agglomeration of institutions, populations, firms and social networks in a reduced geographical space enable us to capture in some detail a vast group of variables, relationships and cause effects linked to a specific subject. Islands societies have a large and cohesive social capital, and share a homogenous set of values and cultural attitudes, which facilitates experiences of collective action. To conduct an empirical test in order to find out the most influential variables in the entrepreneurship attitude we use logit equations. The sample is made up of local university students, theoretically the most apt in developing innovative firms. We investigate also the differences between economics and managements and humanities students in terms of entrepreneurship propensity. An important matter in isolated, peripheral and underdeveloped regions is the diffusion of innovations. Consequently, student’s sources of information and knowledge regarding the overall tendencies of profitable, innovative and fashionable entrepreneurial experiences must be identified. Therefore, this paper describes the changing and uncertain economic and political environment faced by islands societies. A contextualisation of the relationship between entrepreneurship, economic growth and insular penalty is stretched and lastly, we provide an empirical study related to the entrepreneurial attitude in an insular region: The Island of Madeira.

Female preponderance in genetic generalized epilepsies

Introduction: Epilepsy is more prevalent in men but Genetic Generalized Epilepsies (GGE) seem to be more common in women. A predominant maternal inheritance has been previously described in GGE. Our objective was to determine sex and inheritance patterns in a GGE population compared to mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLEHS). Methods: We performed a prospective observational study including adult GGE and MTLEHS patients followed up at a tertiary epilepsy center from January 2016 to December 2019. Patients' familial history was obtained by a detailed questionnaire. Clinical and demographic data was retrieved from clinical notes. Results: A cohort of 641 patients, 403 with GGE and 238 with MTLEHS, was analyzed. GGE was more common in women than MTLEHS (58.8% vs 44.5%, OR=1.63, p = 0.004). Compared to MTLEHS patients, more GGE patients had familial history of epilepsy (45.4% vs 25.2%; p<0.001). The GGE group had a higher percentage of female relatives with epilepsy (55% vs 37%; p = 0.006). The prevalence of maternal inheritance was not different between GGE and MTLEHS groups (62.9% vs 57.7%; p = 0.596). Photosensitivity was more common in females than in males (44.7% vs 34.3%, p = 0.036). Conclusion: There is a female preponderance in GGE when compared to MTLEHS, as both GGE patients and their affected relatives are more frequently women. The prevalence of maternal inheritance was not higher in GGE than in MTLEHS.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Automatic verification of design rules in PCB manufacturing

Nowadays, electronics can be found in almost every available device. At the core of electronic devices there are Printed Circuit Boards (PCB). To create a suitable PCB there is the need of complying with several constraints, both concerning electrical and layout design. Thus, the design rules related to the PCB manufacturing and assembly are very important since these restrictions are fundamental to ensure the creation of a viable physical PCB. Electrical Computer Aided Design (ECAD) tools are able to automatically verify such rules, but they only consider a subset of the total required rules. The remaining rules are currently manually checked, which may increase the occurrence of errors and, consequently, increase the overall costs in designing and in the manufacturing process of a PCB. Being the design a crucial phase in the manufacturing procedure, a software system that automatically verifies all design rules and produce the corresponding assessment report is fundamental. Such software system is addressed in this paper.This work was funded by the project “iFACTORY: Novas Capacidades de Industrialização”, with reference 002814 supported by FEDER trough “Portugal2020 Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização” (COMPETE2020). This work has been supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043and FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/201

Toxicodependência: uma perspectiva global

Escolhemos porque pensamos, pensamos porque vemos, vemos porque sem o mínimo de esforço se apresentam aos nossos olhos rostos pesados, marcados, risos que demostram o “contentamento descontente” de quem submergiu no reino dos (im)possíveis sonhos e acordou na rua a “arrumar carros” ou na nossa porta a pedir dinheiro. A escolha desta temática fez-se em primeiro lugar, porque tomou-se um cenário que já não podemos ignorar, porque estes corpos deambulam nas ruas e cantos da cidade, porque com eles convivemos e os seus olhos “opacamente” sorriem para nós. É por isso que merecem o lugar nesta investigação. Falamos de toxicodependentes, corpos que são pessoas, pessoas cuja figura oscila no nosso imaginário entre a representação do doente e do delinquente. É destes mesmos que nos ocuparemo

Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (MTLE) Drug-Refractoriness Is Associated With P2X7 Receptors Overexpression in the Human Hippocampus and Temporal Neocortex and May Be Predicted by Low Circulating Levels of miR-22

Objective: ATP-gated ionotropic P2X7 receptors (P2X7R) actively participate in epilepsy and other neurological disorders. Neocortical nerve terminals of patients with Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy with Hippocampal Sclerosis (MTLE-HS) express higher P2X7R amounts. Overexpression of P2X7R bolsters ATP signals during seizures resulting in glial cell activation, cytokines production, and GABAergic rundown with unrestrained glutamatergic excitation. In a mouse model of status epilepticus, increased expression of P2X7R has been associated with the down-modulation of the non-coding micro RNA, miR-22. MiR levels are stable in biological fluids and normally reflect remote tissue production making them ideal disease biomarkers. Here, we compared P2X7R and miR-22 expression in epileptic brains and in the serum of patients with MTLE-HS, respectively. Methods: Quantitative RT-PCR was used to evaluate the expression of P2X7R in the hippocampus and anterior temporal lobe of 23 patients with MTLE-HS and 10 cadaveric controls. Confocal microscopy and Western blot analysis were performed to assess P2X7R protein amounts. MiR-22 expression was evaluated in cell-free sera of 40 MTLE-HS patients and 48 healthy controls. Results: Nerve terminals of the hippocampus and neocortical temporal lobe of MTLE-HS patients overexpress (p 3) anti-epileptic drug (AED) regimens. Conclusion: Data show that there is an inverse relationship between miR-22 serum levels and P2X7R expression in the hippocampus and neocortex of MTLE-HS patients, which implies that measuring serum miR-22 may be a clinical surrogate of P2X7R brain expression in the MTLE-HS. Moreover, the high area under the ROC curve (0.777; 95% CI 0.629-0.925; p = 0.001) suggests that low miR-22 serum levels may be a sensitive predictor of poor response to AEDs among MTLE-HS patients. Results also anticipate that targeting the miR-22/P2X7R axis may be a good strategy to develop newer AEDs.This research was partial funded by a BICE Tecnifar Grant. The work performed in PC-S’s Lab was partially supported by UP/Santander Totta and Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, POCTI PTDC/SAU-PUB/28311/2017—EPIRaft grant and Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional—FEDER funding and COMPETE—MedInUP projects Pest-OE/SAU/UI215/2014, UID/BIM/4308/2016, UIDB/04308/2020 and UIDP/04308/2020). Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine (UMIB) is funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) Portugal (grant numbers UIDB/00215/2020 and UIDP/00215/2020) and ITR—Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health (LA/P/0064/2020). RM-F was in receipt of an FCT PhD studentship (SFRH/BD/137900/2018).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

High-intensity infrasound efect on glucose metabolismo in rats

Abstract Recent focus has been given on the effects of high-intensity infrasound (HII) exposure, and whether it induces changes in pancreatic morphology and glucose metabolism is still unknown. As such, we have studied the impact of HII exposure on glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, pancreatic islet morphology, muscle GLUT4 and plasma insulin and corticosterone levels. Normal and glucose intolerant wild-type Wistar rats were randomly divided in two groups: one group not exposed to HII and the other continuously exposed to HII. Animals were sacrificed at three timepoints of exposure (1, 6 or 12 weeks). An intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test was performed, blood samples were collected and the pancreas and the quadriceps femoris muscle were excised. Circulating insulin and corticosterone levels were determined and pancreatic and muscular tissue were routinely processed for histochemistry and immunohistochemistry with an anti-GLUT4 antibody. Animals exposed to HII had higher corticosterone levels than animals not exposed. No differences were found on insulin concerning HII exposure or glucose intolerance. Glucose intolerant animals had pancreatic islet fibrosis and no differences were found in GLUT4 ratio concerning HII exposure. In conclusion, we found that continuous exposure to HII increases stress hormone levels without inducing glucose intolerance in rats

CHADS2 and CHA2DS2VASc scores as predictors of cardioembolic sources in secondary stroke prevention

Introdução e objetivos: A cardioembolia representa uma das causas mais frequentes de lesões cerebrovasculares isquémicas, com prevalência estimada de 20-30% e implicações terapêuticas diretas que obrigam à sua correta avaliac¸ão. Apesar de a validação das escalas de risco cardioembólico (CHADS2 e, mais recentemente, CHA2DS2-VASc) em populações heterogéneas de doentes com fibrilhac¸ão furicular, desconhece-se ainda a sua validade em contexto de prevenc¸ão secundária cerebrovascular. É objetivo deste trabalho estudar a sensibilidade e especificidade diferencial das escalas de risco cardioembólico como preditoras de fonte cardioembólica documentada por ecocardiograma transesofágico (ETE) numa população de doentes com AVC isquémico. Métodos: Aplicámos as escalas CHADS2 e CHA2DS2-VASc a todos os doentes internados por evento cerebrovascular isquémico na Unidade de AVC/Enfermaria de Neurologia de um hospital central português com diagnóstico de fibrilhação auricular (prévio ou obtido durante/após o internamento), que realizaram ETE entre janeiro e agosto de 2011. Definimos como presença de fonte cardioembólica a observação em ETE de autocontraste espontâneo na aurícula e apêndice auricular esquerdo ou trombos nas cavidades cardíacas esquerdas. Resultados: Analisámos 94 doentes, 66,0% do sexo masculino, idade média: 64,4 anos (desvio padrão: 14,2). Foi detetada fonte cardioembólica em 20 doentes. A análise de curva Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) identifica como preditores de fonte cardioembólica pontuação CHADS2 ≥ 4; sensibilidade: 75,0%, especificidade: 66,0%, p = 0,014 e pontuac¸ão CHA2DS2-VASc ≥ 5; sensibilidade: 83,3%, especificidade: 58,0%, p = 0,009.Introduction and objectives: Cardioembolism is one of the most common causes of ischemic stroke, with an estimated prevalence of 20-30%, and correct diagnosis is essential given the therapeutic implications. Although stroke risk scores (CHADS2 and more recently CHA2DS2- VASc) have been validated in heterogeneous populations of patients with atrial fibrillation, their accuracy has not been ascertained for secondary stroke prevention. We set out to assess the sensitivity and specificity of the CHADS2 and CHA2DS2-VASc stroke risk scores as predictors of cardioembolic sources, documented by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in a population with ischemic stroke. Methods: The CHADS2 and CHA2DS2-VASc scores were applied to all patients admitted to the stroke unit/neurology ward of a Portuguese tertiary hospital with atrial fibrillation (diagnosed previously or during or after admission) who underwent TEE between January and August 2011. The presence of a cardioembolic source was defined as the observation by TEE of spontaneous echo contrast in the left atrium and atrial appendage or thrombi in the left cardiac chambers. Results: We studied 94 patients, 66.0% male, mean age 64.4 years (standard deviation 14.2). A cardioembolic source was detected in 20 patients. ROC curve analysis identified as predictors of cardioembolic source CHADS2 score ≥4 (sensitivity of 75.0%, specificity of 66.0%, p=0.014) and CHA2DS2-VASc score ≥5 (sensitivity of 83.3%, specificity of 58.0%, p=0.009). Conclusions: Both scores showed acceptable sensitivity as predictors of embolic risk in the context of secondary prevention of cardioembolic stroke. The CHA2DS2-VASc score has higher sensitivity than CHADS2 but lower specificity

A Primeira Guerra Mundial : na Batalha de La Lys

O livro presentemente disponibilizado em formato e-book, por opção dos editores, constituí o resultado dos trabalhos de autor apresentados e desenvolvidos no âmbito do Congresso Internacional sobre a Primeira Guerra Mundial. No centenário da Batalha de la Lys que reuniu, nas instalações da Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais da Universidade Fernando Pessoa, nos passados dias 9 a 11 de abril de 2018, mais de duas dezenas de investigadores nacionais e estrangeiros com o intuito de proceder a uma análise multidisciplinar dos motivos, implicações, ocorrências e análises de um dos maiores acontecimentos bélicos da primeira metade do século XX. O congresso foi desenvolvido em associação com o Instituto da Defesa Nacional. A estrutura de apresentação dos textos obedece a uma subdivisão orgânica e temática, partindo de unidades temáticas de âmbito geral e problematizante para unidades temáticas específicas relacionadas, mormente com o contexto, o âmbito e as dimensões da participação portuguesa na Batalha de La Lys, estabelecendo uma relação de complementaridade entre ambas. Por conseguinte, a ordem de apresentação principia com um I capítulo intitulado “A problematização da Primeira Grande Guerra” e um II capítulo, especificamente dedicado à participação de “Portugal na Guerra - A Batalha de La Lys”. De igual modo, no III capítulo, intitulado “A guerra nas colónias” inserem-se todos os trabalhos que abordam, nomeadamente, a projeção do conflito nos domínios africanos portugueses, com destaque para a questão esclavagista e as ameaças anglófonas e germânicas, o papel de defesa da armada portuguesa em Cabo Verde, e, finalmente, a intimidação alemã na região de Tanganica (África Oriental). O IV capítulo é inteiramente dedicado à historiografia da guerra, incluindo estudos sobre a construção das imagens da participação de Portugal no conflito, as mudanças concetuais e as direções investigativas do discurso historiográfico, ao longo do século XX, e por último, as imagens da guerra na imprensa portuguesa. No V capítulo inserem-se os posters apresentados a congresso, abordando respetivamente o papel da Cruz Vermelha e o impacto da Primeira Guerra Mundial na cidade de Porto. Para fechar, no último capítulo (VI), foram reunidos todos os trabalhos que abordam problemáticas diversas relacionadas com o fenómeno guerra, mas que se encontram de algum modo mais distanciadas do núcleo temático principal do livro.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Primeira Guerra Mundial : na Batalha de La Lys

O livro presentemente disponibilizado em formato e-book, por opção dos editores, constituí o resultado dos trabalhos de autor apresentados e desenvolvidos no âmbito do Congresso Internacional sobre a Primeira Guerra Mundial. No centenário da Batalha de la Lys que reuniu, nas instalações da Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais da Universidade Fernando Pessoa, nos passados dias 9 a 11 de abril de 2018, mais de duas dezenas de investigadores nacionais e estrangeiros com o intuito de proceder a uma análise multidisciplinar dos motivos, implicações, ocorrências e análises de um dos maiores acontecimentos bélicos da primeira metade do século XX. O congresso foi desenvolvido em associação com o Instituto da Defesa Nacional. A estrutura de apresentação dos textos obedece a uma subdivisão orgânica e temática, partindo de unidades temáticas de âmbito geral e problematizante para unidades temáticas específicas relacionadas, mormente com o contexto, o âmbito e as dimensões da participação portuguesa na Batalha de La Lys, estabelecendo uma relação de complementaridade entre ambas. Por conseguinte, a ordem de apresentação principia com um I capítulo intitulado “A problematização da Primeira Grande Guerra” e um II capítulo, especificamente dedicado à participação de “Portugal na Guerra - A Batalha de La Lys”. De igual modo, no III capítulo, intitulado “A guerra nas colónias” inserem-se todos os trabalhos que abordam, nomeadamente, a projeção do conflito nos domínios africanos portugueses, com destaque para a questão esclavagista e as ameaças anglófonas e germânicas, o papel de defesa da armada portuguesa em Cabo Verde, e, finalmente, a intimidação alemã na região de Tanganica (África Oriental). O IV capítulo é inteiramente dedicado à historiografia da guerra, incluindo estudos sobre a construção das imagens da participação de Portugal no conflito, as mudanças concetuais e as direções investigativas do discurso historiográfico, ao longo do século XX, e por último, as imagens da guerra na imprensa portuguesa. No V capítulo inserem-se os posters apresentados a congresso, abordando respetivamente o papel da Cruz Vermelha e o impacto da Primeira Guerra Mundial na cidade de Porto. Para fechar, no último capítulo (VI), foram reunidos todos os trabalhos que abordam problemáticas diversas relacionadas com o fenómeno guerra, mas que se encontram de algum modo mais distanciadas do núcleo temático principal do livro.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio