Democracy and Economic Development: a Fuzzy Classification Approach

The aim of this work is to (1) analyse whether countries differ on political indicators (democracy, rule of law, government effectiveness and corruption) and (2) study whether countries with different political profiles are associated with different levels of economic, human development and gender-related development indicators. Using a fuzzy classification approach (fuzzy k-means algorithm), we propose a typology of 124 countries based on 10 political variables. Six segments are identified; these political groups implicate the access to different levels of economic and human development. In this study evidence of a positive but not perfect relationship between democracy and economic and human development is observed, thus presenting new insights for the understanding of the heterogeneity of behaviors relatively to political indicators.Democracy, Economic Development, Fuzzy k-means

Analysis of the concept of industrial foundations in the South of Europe

Industrial Foundations are foundations which ownbusiness companies (Thomsen, 2012),and theseare very common in the NorthernEurope.Foundations areperceivedaslong-term shareholders,thus,this modelarisesas a sustainable and rationalsolution to avoid short-termism.This thesiscontributes to the existing literature by exploringthe application of this type of ownership in the SouthernEurope, namely in Portugal and Spain. In Portugal, there are some examples of charitable industrial foundations with small dimension, whereas in Spain the model and its benefits havebeen, recently, recognized and adopted bylarge corporates, nonetheless, still existin a small amount

Assessment of the elderly’s functional ability to manage theirmedication: a systematic literature review

Background The evaluation of the elderly’s ability to manage medication through the use of a validated tool can be a significant step in identifying inabilities and needs, with the objective of increasing their self-care skills, and promoting successful aging. Aim of the review To identify studies assessing the elderly’s functional ability to manage their own medication. Method For the search strategy, the PICO method was used: P—Population(elderly), I—Instruments (tools for assessing medication management ability), C—Context (community) and O—Outcomes (functional ability to manage medication). Thefinal search query was run in MEDLINE/PubMed,CINAHL Plus, ISI Web of Science and Scopus. The whole process was developed according to the PRISMA statement. Results The search retrieved 8051 records. In each screening stage, the selection criteria were applied to eliminate records where at least one of the exclusion criteria was verified. At the end of this selection, we obtained a total of 18 papers (17 studies). The results allow the conclusion to be drawn that studies use several different instruments, most of them not validated. The authors agree that medication management abilities decrease as cognitive impairment increases, even if a lot of studies assess only the physical dimension. DRUGS was the instrument most often used. Conclusion Older adults’ ability to manage their medication should be assessed using tools specifically built and validate for the purpose. DRUGS (which uses the real regimen taken by the elderly) was the most widely used assessment instrument in the screened studies

Insights into Candida world: the extracellular milieu

Over the last years Candida species, including Candida albicans, Candida dubliniensis, Candida glabrata, Candida krusei, Candida parapsilosis, and Candida tropicalis, have emerged as significant pathogens. This work aimed at bringing insights into Candida species world by the analyses of compounds released into the extracellular medium namely extracellular DNA (eDNA) and alcohol compounds. Concerning eDNA, our results present evidence that this is a key element of the C. albicans biofilm extracellular matrix, contributing to biofilm integrity and antifungal resistance. With respect to extracellular alcohols, the results presented herein show that Candida species secrete a cohort of alcohols that are able to regulate their virulence traits (in vitro and in vivo). Taken together, these studies represent an important contribution to our understanding of the composition of the extracellular milieu of Candida species and its relationship with the regulation of Candida biology, opening the possibility of the development of new treatment and/ or diagnostic strategies to combat candidiasis

foRMAtion international curriculum for future Research Managers and Administrators

The Intellectual Output 2 (IO2) is the international curriculum developed within the framework of the foRMAtion project, designed to be tested and accredited by each partner university and targeted to provide an overview of the main RMA tasks and roles for university students. The curriculum is named Research Manager as a profession in the EU ecosystem: concepts, tools and practice and consists of 24 lessons that will be taught over 2 semesters. The lessons are organized into 4 Modules: Module 1: Research Methodology and Design Module 2: Research Funding, Policy and Governance Module 3: Project Integration and Management Module 4: Research Impact and Public Engagement. Based on the partner universities' rules and national accreditation procedures, the curriculum will be accredited with 3 ECTS per semester. It will be available for all students as an elective course, focusing on bachelor students but open to all (when allowed by the rules of the university hosting the course). Through the curriculum, the students will engage with the EU Research and Innovation Ecosystem where they will gather an overview of RMA work at large, including the broad aspects and technical areas, but also by actively participating in real-case activities and developing transferable competencies. The international curriculum was developed in articulation with IO3 (teaching materials) to integrate the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) approach, combining knowledge, skills, and attitudes in the context of RMA's main tasks and roles. This document includes the definition of learning outcomes in terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and autonomy, plus the detailed content of all 24 curricula units (lessons).publishersversionpublishe

O desempenho das curvas do Intergrowth 21st no diagnóstico de leve e grande para a idade gestacional em recém-nascido de termo e pré-termo

Copyright © Ordem dos Médicos 2020Introduction: Birth weight is a major contributor to neonatal morbidity and mortality and is associated with chronic diseases in adulthood. This study aimed to evaluate the use of Intergrowth 21st instead of the Fenton & Kim 2013 growth charts in the diagnosis of small and large for gestational age in a group of Portuguese newborns. Material and Methods: We conducted an analytical and retrospective study to evaluate birth weight of term and preterm newborns using both growth charts. Groups studied: ‘Term-weeks’ and ‘Term-days’ (term newborns with gestational age in weeks and days, respectively), ‘Preterm-weeks’ and ‘Preterm-days’ (preterm newborns with gestational age in weeks and days, respectively). Results: A total of 14 056 newborns were included, 6% preterm. Using the Intergrowth 21st growth charts, the groups ‘Term-weeks’ (n = 12 081), ‘Term-days’ (n = 1118), ‘Preterm-weeks’ (n = 617) and ‘Preterm-days’ (n = 240), classified as small for gestational age according to the Fenton & Kim 2013 growth charts were adequate for gestational age in 52.8%, 57.8%, 37.7% and 9.3% respectively; and 9.2%, 9.2%, 5.9% and 0.6% of adequate for gestational age newborns were large for gestational age, respectively. In the ‘Pretermdays’ group, 7.9% of adequate for gestational age newborns were small for gestational age and 22.2% of large for gestational age newborns were adequate for gestational age, all with gestational age below 231 days. Discussion: The use of the Intergrowth 21st growth charts in this sample resulted in a lower number of newborns being classified as small for gestational age, except in very preterm newborns. Conclusion: Considering the results obtained, we suggest that Portuguese maternity hospitals use the Intergrowth 21st instead of the Fenton & Kim 2013 growth charts. However, more studies are needed to confirm these results.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis planktonic/biofilm quorum sensing molecules on yeast morphogenesis

One of the aims of this work was to study the effect of farnesol, a quorum sensing molecule for Candida albicans, on morphologic inhibition of Candida dubliniensis. The second goal of this work was to confirm if Candida dubliniensis also excreted quorum sensing molecules, on both planktonic and biofilm forms. The results clearly demonstrate that Candida dubliniensis undergoes morphological alterations triggered by farnesol. It was also found that supernatants of Candida dubliniensis and Candida albicans grown in both planktonic or biofilm forms contain molecules that are capable of suppressing pseudohyphae formation on Candida dubliniensis cells grown in RPMI 1640. It can be concluded that both Candida dubliniensis and Candida albicans produces quorum sensing molecules either in planktonic or biofilm forms, which regulates Candida dubliniensis morphology