A esperança do doente em contexto de cuidados continuados

Enquadramento: Actualmente existe um elevado números de pessoas em situação de dependência, com algum tipo de incapacidade funcional ou em risco de perda de funcionalidade, que necessitam ingressar na Rede Nacional de Cuidados Continuados com o intuito de se promover uma melhoria das condições de vida e bem-estar das pessoas, através da prestação de cuidados continuados de saúde e de apoio social. Aceitando a vulnerabilidade da pessoa humana, a doença revela-se como um período de fragilidade circunstancial às condições decorrentes da sua existência. O utente/família deparam-se com a desmoralização, a ameaça, o desamparo e a perda de sentido, podendo levar o mesmo a uma profunda tristeza, desespero e sofrimento. Neste sentido e tendo em conta que a esperança influencia o bem-estar e uma vez que se encontra ligada à existência, tanto física como emocional e espiritual é fundamental percebermos até que ponto a esperança pode ajudar a pessoa a lidar com o futuro. Objetivos: Avaliar níveis de esperança nos Doentes internados em Cuidados Continuados, e identificar determinantes socio-demográficos, clínicas e psicossociais correlacionadas com essa esperança. Métodos: O estudo foi realizado,na Unidade de Cuidados Continuados da Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Seia, nas unidades de internamento de Média Duração e Reabilitação e Unidade de Longa Duração e Manutenção. O questionário foi aplicado a 46 doentes, com idades compreendidas entre os 46 e os 92 anos de idade ( x =74.39 anos). Trata-se de um estudo não experimental, quantitativo, do tipo transversal, descritivo e correlacional. O instrumento de recolha de dados integrou um Questionário de caracterização sócio-demográfica e clínica, a escala da Esperança (Herth Hope Index), uma escala para a avaliação da Qualidade de Vida – Functinal Assessement of Cancer Therapy – General e o Questionário de Sono de Oviedo. Resultados: Os dados mostram que 45,7% dos participantes apresenta esperança reduzida, 39,1% esperança elevada e 15,2% esperança moderada. Constatámos ainda que apenas o “bem-estar funcional” da escala da QDV e os “fenómenos adversos” da escala do sono se correlacionam significativamente (p=0,000; p=0,035) com a esperança explicando respetivamente 55,2% e 31,1% da variância explicada. Já o género, idade, estado civil, situação profissional, escolaridade, rendimento mensal, tipologia e número de internamentos, mostraram não estar relacionados com a esperança dos nossos doentes. Conclusão: A esperança é uma crença ou virtude inerente ao Homem, que pode assumir níveis diferenciados, que acompanha o ser humano no seu processo de viver e de morrer condicionando ajustes nos momentos de crise, afectando e/ou sendo afetada pelo bem-estar e a qualidade de vida. Palavras-chave: Cuidados Continuados, Esperança, Qualidade de Vida, Doentes, Sono.ABSTRACT Context: Today there is a large number of people with functional incapacities or in risk of losing total functionality, thus dependent of others. These people need to be assisted by the National continuous health-care network to ensure better care, improvement in their quality of life, living conditions and general wellness through continuous health-care and social support. Once acknowledged one's vulnerabilities, the disease leads to a serious period of circumstantial fragility and weakness inherent to one's existence. The patient and his family find themselves confronted with demoralization, the threat of the disease, the lack of support , the loss of overall sense and meaning of Life which in all may lead the patient to deep sadness, despair and suffering. Having these issues into perspective and considering that Hope has a significant influence to the well-being and is linked to the existence both on the emotional and spiritual level, it is crucial to comprehend to what extent Hope can help the person to address the future. Aims: Assess the levels of Hope in patients receiving continuous health-care. It is our intention to assess patients’ levels of hope as well to identify socio-demographic, clinical and psycho-social determiners associated to hope. Methodology: The study was conducted at the Continuous health-care Unit at Santa Casa da Misericórdia of Seia, in the mid-duration and rehabilitation wards and the long term maintenance wards. Forty-six patients, ranging from the ages of 46 to 92 (=74.39 years), were surveyed. The study was non-experimental, quantifiable, transversal, descriptive and correlational. The data collection tools used were a questionnaire to determine socio-demographic and clinical status, the Herth Hope Index, the Functional Assessment of cancer Therapy, General and the Oviedo Sleep questionnaire. Results: 45,7% of the participants showed reduced levels of hope, 39,1% elevated hope and 15,2% moderate hope. We also observed that 'Functional wellness' measured in the scale of QVD and adverse phenomena of the Sleep Scale correlate significantly (p=0,000; p=0,035) with Hope explaining respectively 55,2% and 31,1% of variance. One’s gender, age, marital status, professional situation, academic level, monthly income, typology and number of previous hospital admissions do not influence the patients’ levels of hope. Conclusion: Hope is a belief or a virtue inherent to Man that may assume differentiated levels that follow the Human Being throughout his life time and at death. It can condition how he adjusts to life during crisis, affecting or being affected by his wellness and quality of life. Key words: Continuous Health-care, Hope, Quality of Life, Patients, Slee

Análise da aplicação do Sistema Oracle na empresa Kemet Electronics Portugal, S.A.

O presente trabalho corresponde à etapa final de um percurso académico orientado para a obtenção do grau de mestre em Gestão com especialização em Contabilidade e Auditoria. Este estudo tem como objetivo analisar a aplicação do sistema Oracle na empresa Kemet Electronics Portugal, S.A., principalmente no departamento da contabilidade, na realização das tarefas de conferência e contabilização de faturas e notas de crédito de fornecedores. Com o intuito de atingir o objetivo proposto, a primeira parte do estudo inclui uma análise teórica aos temas da harmonização internacional contabilística e dos sistemas de informação contabilísticos. A segunda parte do trabalho é essencialmente dedicada às aplicações do sistema Oracle na referida empresa. O estágio, que decorreu entre outubro de 2009 e abril de 2010, possibilitou o contacto com a realidade empresarial, permitindo o confronto entre os ensinamentos teóricos e a sua aplicação prática, no sentido de facilitar uma futura integração profissional. O trabalho permitiu também compreender a importância da utilização dos sistemas de informação nas empresas multinacionais, ou seja, de que forma o sistema apoia a atividade e o desenvolvimento de todos os departamentos da empresa; ABSTRACT: This work corresponds to the final stage of the Master's degree in Management - specialization in Accounting and Auditing. This study aims to analyze the application of Oracle system in the Kemet Electronics Portugal, S.A., namely in the accounting department, in accomplishing the task of verifying and accounting of invoices and credit notes from suppliers. In order to achieve this purpose, the first part of the study includes a theoretical analysis of the issues of international accounting harmonization and information accounting systems. The second part of the work includes the analysis of the Oracle system in the company. The internship, which took place between October 2009 and April 2010, provided some contact with the business reality, allowing the comparison between the theoretical knowledge and the practical application to facilitate the future professional integration. The work also enabled to understand the importance of using information systems in multinational corporations, i.e., how the system support the activity and the development of all departments of the company

A esperança em doentes internados em unidades de cuidados continuados

CONTEXTO: A vulnerabilidade da pessoa humana emerge quando a doença surge como uma ameaça, provocando desmoralização, desespero e sofrimento. O binómio saúde/doença parece ser afetado de forma positiva pela esperança, ajudando a pessoa/família a lidar com as incertezas do futuro de uma forma mais eficaz OBJETIVOS: Avaliar níveis de esperança em doentes internados em Unidades de Cuidados Continuados (UCCs), e identificar determinantes sociodemográficas, clínicas e psicossociais correlacionadas com esse constructo. METODOLOGIA: Estudo quantitativo, transversal, descritivo e correlacional. Foi realizado em duas UCCs da região Centro de Portugal e o questionário foi aplicado a 92 doentes, com uma média de idade de 74,39 anos. O instrumento de recolha de dados integrou, variáveis sociodemográficas, clínicas, a escala de Esperança (Herth Hope Index), a escala de Qualidade de Vida (Functinal Assessement of Cancer Therapy) e o Questionário de Sono de Oviedo RESULTADOS: Os dados mostram que 45,7% dos inquiridos apresentam esperança reduzida, 39,1% esperança elevada e 15,2% esperança moderada. Apenas o “bem-estar funcional” da QDV e os “fenómenos adversos” da escala do sono se correlacionam significativamente (p=0,000; p=0,035) com a esperança explicando respetivamente 55,2% e 31,1% da sua variância. Já o género, idade, estado civil, situação profissional, escolaridade, rendimento mensal, tipologia e número de internamentos, mostraram não se correlacionar com a esperança. CONCLUSÕES: A esperança é uma crença ou virtude inerente ao Homem, que assume níveis diferenciados, e acompanha o ser humano no seu processo de viver e de morrer condicionando ajustes nos momentos de crise, afetando e/ou sendo afetada pelo bem-estar e a qualidade de vida.RESUMEN CONTEXTO: Una vulnerabilidad da pessoa humana surge cuando una enfermedad surge como una amenaza, provocando desmoralización, desespero y sofrimento. O binómio saúde/ enfermedad parece estar afectado de forma positiva por la esperanza, ayudando a persona e familia a lidar com las incertezas de futuro de una forma más eficaz. OBJETIVOS: Avaliar los niveles de esperanza en los internados en UCCs, identificando determinantes sociodemográficas, clínicas y psicossociales correlacionadas con este constructo. METODOLOGÍA: Estudo cuantitativo, transversal, descritivo y correlacional. Se realizó en dos UCCs de la región Centro de Portugal y se aplicó un cuestionario a 92 pacientes, con una media de edad de 74,39 años. El instrumento de recogida de datos integrava, variables sociales y clínicas, una escala de esperanza, una escala de calidad de vida y el cuestionario de Sono de Oviedo. RESULTADOS: Los datos muestran que 45,7% de los enfermos presentan esperanza reducida, 39,1% esperanza elevada y 15,2% esperanza moderada. Sólo el bienestar funcional de la QDV y los fenómenos adversos de la escala del sueño se correlacionam significativamente (p=0,000; p=0,035) con la esperanza explicando respetivamente 55,2% y 31,1% de su variância. Ya el género, edad, estado civil, situación profesional, escolaridad, rendimiento mensual, tipología y número de internamentos, mostraron no se correlacionar con la esperanza. CONCLUSIONES: La esperanza es una creencia o virtud inherente al Hombre, que asume niveles diferenciados, y acompaña el ser humano en su proceso de vivir y de morir condicionando ajustes en los momentos de crisis, afectando y/o siendo afectada por el bienestar y la calidad de vida. Descriptores: Esperanza; Enfermos; Cuidados Continuados; Calidad de VidaABSTRACT BACKGROUND: The vulnerability of the human person emerges when the disease appears as a threat, causing demoralization, despair and suffering. The binomial health / disease appears to be affected positively by hope, helping the person / family to deal with the uncertainties of the future more effectively. AIM: To assess levels of hope in patients admitted to Continuous Care Units (CCU), and to identify sociodemographic, clinical, and psychosocial determinants correlated with this construct. METHODS: Quantitative, transversal, descriptive and correlational study. It was performed in two CCU of the central region of Portugal and the questionnaire was applied to 92 patients, with a mean age of 74.39 years. The data collection instrument integrated, sociodemographic, clinical, Hope Scale (Herth Hope Index), the Quality of Life Scale (Functinal Assessement of Cancer Therapy) and Sleep Questionnaire Oviedo. RESULTS: The data show that 45.7% of the respondents present less hope, 39.1% high hope and 15.2% moderate hope. Only the Quality of Life, "functional well-being" and the "adverse phenomena" of the sleep scale correlate significantly (p = 0.000; p = 0.035) with the expectation explaining respectively 55.2% and 31.1% of their variance. The gender, age, marital status, professional status, schooling, monthly income, typology and number of hospitalizations showed no correlation with hope. CONCLUSIONS: Hope is a belief or virtue inherent in man, which assumes different levels, and accompanies the human being in the process of living and dying conditioning adjustments in times of crisis, affecting and / or being affected by the well-being and quality of life.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Innate immune evasion revealed in a colorectal zebrafish xenograft model

Funding Information: We thank Champalimaud Foundation, LPCC-Terry Fox prize 2018, Congento (LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-022170, co-financed by FCT/Lisboa2020) for funding. FCT fellowships for V.P. (SFRH/BD/118252/2016), M.M.L. (PD/BD/138203/2018), A.R.G. (CEECIND/ 02699/2017), and D.S. (PTDC/MED-ONC/28660/2017). We are grateful for M.G. Fer-reira’s initial support of this project; M.G. Carvalho for co-supervising MD bioinformatic analysis; all members of the Fior Lab for critical discussions; R. Mendes, M. Negrão, and B. Costa for sharing data; the Surgery Digestive Units from Champalimaud Clinical Center (CCC, Dr. N. Figueiredo) and Hospital Professor Fernando Fonseca (HPFF, Dr. V. Nunes and Dr. A. Gomes); The Histopathology Units of CCC (Dr. A. Beltran) and HPFF (Dr. A. Alves); Champalimaud Foundation (CF) Imaging (D. Accardi) and Flow Cytometry Platform (A. Vieira and R. Colaço) for support. We also thank Dr. M. Castillo-Martin, Director of the CF Biobank (CFB), and all the CFB team for human specimens procurement and advice; the CF Fish Platform (C. Certal, J. Monteiro et al.) and Vivarium Rodent Platform (I. Campos) for excellent animal care. We thank M.F. Moraes-Fontes, P. Moura Alves, and D. Henrique for the critical reading of the manuscript; Single Cell Discoveries (M. Muraro) for help with the scRNAseq initial data analysis and the generosity of the zebrafish community for sharing fish (S. Renshaw, F. Djouad, and Z. Wen). Finally, we would like to specially thank Professor Maria de Sousa (1939–2020) for her mentoring, support, enthusiasm, and critical reading of the manuscript.Cancer immunoediting is a dynamic process of crosstalk between tumor cells and the immune system. Herein, we explore the fast zebrafish xenograft model to investigate the innate immune contribution to this process. Using multiple breast and colorectal cancer cell lines and zAvatars, we find that some are cleared (regressors) while others engraft (progressors) in zebrafish xenografts. We focus on two human colorectal cancer cells derived from the same patient that show contrasting engraftment/clearance profiles. Using polyclonal xenografts to mimic intra-tumor heterogeneity, we demonstrate that SW620_progressors can block clearance of SW480_regressors. SW480_regressors recruit macrophages and neutrophils more efficiently than SW620_progressors; SW620_progressors however, modulate macrophages towards a pro-tumoral phenotype. Genetic and chemical suppression of myeloid cells indicates that macrophages and neutrophils play a crucial role in clearance. Single-cell-transcriptome analysis shows a fast subclonal selection, with clearance of regressor subclones associated with IFN/Notch signaling and escaper-expanded subclones with enrichment of IL10 pathway. Overall, our work opens the possibility of using zebrafish xenografts as living biomarkers of the tumor microenvironment.publishersversionpublishe

Selanylimidazopyridine Prevents Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Depressive-Like Behavior in Mice by Targeting Neurotrophins and Inflammatory/Oxidative Mediators

Inasmuch, as the major depressive disorder (MDD) has been characterized as a heterogeneous disease as the inflammatory processes, neurotrophic factors’ dysfunction and oxidative/nitrosative stress are believed to play a vital role in its establishment. Organoselenium compounds stand out due to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and antidepressant effects. In this sense, the present study investigated the effect of 3-((4-methoxyphenyl)selanyl)-2-phenylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine (MPI; 20 and 50 mg/kg, intragastrically) pretreatment [30 min prior lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge (0.83 mg/kg)] on acute LPS induced depressive-like behavior, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress. MPI was able to prevent the increased immobility time induced by LPS on the forced swimming test (FST), the increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines’ expression in the hippocampus (HC) of mice after LPS challenge via NFkB downregulation, and the increase of the reactive oxygen species generation and lipid peroxidation in the prefrontal cortex and HC of mice. It was observed that at the doses tested, MPI protected against reducing levels of BDNF in the cortex and HC of mice challenged with LPS. These observations suggest that the antidepressant-like effect of MPI depends on its capacity to modulate the inflammatory, antioxidant, and neurotrophic systems

RNA-seq analysis to unravel the molecular players involved in implantation/ rejection of human tumor cells in zebrafish

Tese de mestrado em Bioinformática e Biologia Computacional, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 2020Nos últimos anos, a imunoterapia surgiu como um tratamento promissor ao cancro. No entanto, nem todos os doentes respondem com sucesso a essa terapia. O problema poderá residir noutros mecanismos imuno-supressores presentes no microambiente tumoral. Rita Fior e colegas, identificaram um par de linhas celulares de cancro colorectal humano derivadas do mesmo paciente (SW480 primário versus metástase linfonodal - SW620), que apresentam comportamentos contrastantes quando transplantadas para peixe-zebra. Enquanto que as SW480 são rejeitadas pelo sistema imune inato do peixe zebra, as SW620 implantam de uma forma muito eficiente. De modo a descobrir os mecanismos moleculares envolvidos na rejeição/ implantação destas células, os tumores foram dissecados e enviados para sequenciação de mRNA (mRNA-seq). O presente trabalho focou-se na análise e comparação dos dados de mRNA destes tumores. Uma vez que as nossas amostras de RNA contêm RNA humano (células tumorais) e de peixe-zebra, um dos grandes desafios foi evitar mapear as reads ao genoma errado. Desta forma, decidimos comparar o desempenho de dois métodos de alinhamento e contagem de reads diferente. Escolhemos um método que inclui a dupla HISAT2 com featureCounts. O HISAT2 produz um alinhamento clássico e featureCounts, conta as reads atribuídas a um certo gene. O outro método é o Salmon, que produz um "pseudo-alinhamento" e que estima as contagens das reads. Em ambos os métodos duas alternativas foram usadas, numa usou-se o genoma / transcriptoma humano e noutra um genoma / transcriptoma “híbrido”, isto é, a combinação do genoma / transcriptoma humano com o do peixe-zebra. Grupos de genes com expressão diferencial entre os dois tipos de “xenografts” SW480 e SW620 foram identificados e foi feita a análise de enriquecimento funcional. A abordagem feita pelo Salmon parece discriminar melhor as hipóteses alternativas que explicam o fenómeno de implantação/rejeição das células tumorais. Estes resultados suportam a existência de uma conversa cruzada entre as células tumorais e o microambiente tumoral. Descobrimos que os genes diferencialmente expressos estão principalmente enriquecidos em três processos biológicos em ambos os grupos: resposta imune, metabolismo e sinalização. Enquanto que os xeno-enxertos de SW480 estão enriquecidos em categorias funcionais envolvidas na transição epitélio-mesenquimal (EMT), por outro lado, os xeno-enxertos de SW620 estão especialmente enriquecidos em processos como proliferação e hipóxia / angiogénese. Também várias vias de sinalização relacionadas com o sistema imune, em particular a doença do enxerto contra o hospedeiro, sinalização de IL6 e vias de rejeição de xeno-enxertos, estão enriquecidas nos tumores de SW480. Em contraste, os “xenografts” de SW620 são caracterizados por um enriquecimento na via de sinalização de ROS, bem como na sinalização de NOTCH. Estes resultados sugerem que os tumores SW480 realmente expressam sinais que estimulam a “clearance”, enquanto que os tumores SW620 não parecem expressar vias relacionadas à rejeição. Além disso, construímos duas redes com o geneMANIA para prever interações entre os genes diferencialmente expressos dos tumores SW480 e outros 70 genes relacionados, e uma segunda rede para prever as interações entre os tumores SW620 e 60 genes adicionais. Em seguida, submetemos cada grupo de genes no ClueGO. A nossa análise também sugere que as células tumorais SW620 poderão estar a conseguir escapar à vigilância imunológica, através de processos complexos, como desgranulação das plaquetas e coagulação, que poderão favorecer a proteção das células cancerígenas contra o reconhecimento e ação do sistema imunitário. Também as metalotioneínas (MTs), que parecem ter múltiplas funções no cancro, em concerto com a polarização dos macrófagos em direção a um fenótipo M2 pró-tumoral poderão desempenhar um papel na evasão tumoral, resultando no desenvolvimento tumoral. Estes genes diferencialmente expressos que foram descobertos nesta análise irão ser estudados por ensaios de perda e ganho de função de forma a determinar a sua relevância para os fenótipos de implantação/rejeição tumoral. A descoberta destes novos mecanismos de implantação/rejeição tumoral poderá no futuro dar origem a novas terapias e novas descobertas sobre evasão tumoral.Over the last few years, immunotherapy has emerged as a very promising cancer treatment. However, not all patients successfully respond to this therapy. This problem may reside in other suppressor mechanisms present in the tumor microenvironment. Fior and colleagues, identified a pair of human colorectal cancer cell lines derived from the same patient (primary-SW480 vs lymph-node metastasis SW620), with contrasting engraftment /clearance behaviors in zebrafish xenografts. The results suggest that some human cancer cells are cleared from the host (regressors), while others can evade/suppress innate immunity (progressors). To discover the molecular mechanisms involved in this tumor-host interaction, we did an unbiased mRNA transcriptome comparative analysis (mRNA-seq) between SW480 and SW620 xenografts. The focus of this work was to perform a differential expression analysis of these tumors. Since our RNA samples contain both human and zebrafish RNA, one of the biggest challenges was to avoid mapping reads to the wrong genome. So, we have decided to use two different methods to map and count the reads. We chose a method that includesthe duo HISAT2 with featureCounts. HISAT2 produces a classic alignment and featureCounts, counts reads assigned to a gene. The other method is Salmon, which produces a “pseudo-alignment” and estimates transcript abundance. In both methods, two options were used, one applying the human genome / transcriptome and the other a “hybrid” genome / transcriptome, the combination of the human and zebrafish genome / transcriptome. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between SW480 and SW620 xenografts were identified and functional enrichment analysis was performed. Salmon's approach seemed to better highlight the alternative hypothesis that explain the tumor cell implantation / rejection phenotype. Our results support a crosstalk between tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME) in both xenografts. We found that DEGs were enriched mainly in three biological process in both groups: immune response, metabolism and signaling. Pre-rank gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed that SW480 xenografts are enriched in functional categories involved in Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) and SW620 xenografts are specially enriched in proliferation and hypoxia/angiogenesis. We also identified several immune related pathways, in particular, graft-versus host disease, IL6 signaling and allograft rejection pathways enriched in SW480 xenografts. In contrast, SW620 xenografts were characterized by an enrichment in ROS pathway as well as NOTCH signaling. These results suggest that SW480 tumors may express signals that stimulate clearance, while SW620 tumors do not express rejection-related pathways. Additionally, two networks were constructed with geneMANIA to predict interactions between the SW480 DEGs and additional 70 related genes, and a second network to predict the interactions between SW620 and 60 additional genes. Next, we submitted each group of genes to ClueGO and showed that SW480 xenografts apparently generate a more effective immune surveillance system, which may involve immune cells such as NK cells and granulocytes (neutrophils). In SW620 tumors, the genes/pathways that emerge, point to mechanisms of immune escape, through intricated processes like platelet degranulation and coagulation. Also, metallothioneins emerge as major players in SW620 xenografts. These molecules appear to have multiple functions in cancer, and, in concert with the polarization of macrophage towards a pro-tumoral M2 phenotype, may possibly contribute to immune evasion and tumorigenesis. The DEGs found in this analysis will be tested by loss and gain of function experiments to determine their relevance for tumor implantation / rejection phenotypes. The discovery of these new tumor implantation / rejection mechanisms can possibly be used in the future to find new therapeutics to enhance immunotherapy

CNME a math narrative-based serious game

The teaching method has varied and evolved over the years. The year 2020 is a milestone in this variability. The COVID-19 pandemic unleashed the strict need for a radical adaptation of teaching processes that, worldwide, become exclusively or almost exclusively at a distance. The impact of the digital world on our lives has been and is being felt like never before. Non-formal teaching processes gain crucial importance in this scenario. Serious games are engaging and provide a stimulating environment in which students can explore and discover in a fun and interactive way, improving student’s motivation and performance in mathematics and making them active learners. The adoption in the educational process of serious games, promoting the development of critical thinking, and its interest, as a research topic, by scientists from various areas, namely, mathematics, have gained increasing prominence. With regard to mathematics, despite its recognized importance in the intellectual human development, children and adolescents usually believe that it is a difficult subject, both at a conceptual and procedural level, leading to a lack of motivation and high failure rates. In this paper, based on a solid and recent literature review, we look at the role that serious games play in the learning and motivation of children and adolescents, especially the narrative educational games focused on mathematics. A narrative interactive serious game is defined as a serious game, in which the story exists to improve the gameplay. Within this context, the Thematic Line Geometrix of the Center for Research and Development of Mathematics and Applications (CIDMA) of the University of Aveiro developed the narrative serious game CNME based on the historical event “The Magellan - Elcano circumnavigation around the world”. This game runs on every platform that has a recent browser and it also has an application for Android and iOS. In the CNME digital and interactive game there are two game modes, the generic and the academic mode, depending on the player's profile. The generic modality was designed to promote mathematical literacy and is aimed at any citizen. The academic modality was designed to promote critical and creative thinking and is aimed at young people with mathematical knowledge at the level of the 3rd Cycle of the Portuguese Basic Education. In short, CNME is an interactive mathematical narrative game, aiming at mathematical learning in an interactive, playful and motivating way, anchored in a notable and true historical event conceived under a set of scrutinized scientific evidence.publishe

Convenient Michael addition/beta-elimination approach to the synthesis of 4-benzyl- and 4-aryl-selenyl coumarins using diselenides as selenium sources

A concise and efficient, two-step approach toward 4-organoselenyl coumarin derivatives from the easily available 4-hydroxycoumarins, is reported. The synthesis was based on conventional tosylation followed by a tandem selena-Michael addition/β-elimination reaction of an aryl-/benzyl-selenolate anion on the corresponding 4-tosyloxycoumarins. The selenolate anions were conveniently generated in situ by exposure of the corresponding diselenides to NaBH4. Selected compounds demonstrated to exhibit antioxidant properties in mice cortex and hippocampus.Fil: Padilha, Gustavo. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria; BrasilFil: Birmann, Paloma T.. Universidade Federal de Pelotas; BrasilFil: Domingues, Micaela. Universidade Federal de Pelotas; BrasilFil: Kaufman, Teodoro Saul. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Química Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas. Instituto de Química Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Savegnano, Lucielli. Universidade Federal de Pelotas; BrasilFil: Silveira, Claudio. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria; Brasi

Growth-Promoting Treatment Screening for Corticospinal Neurons in Mouse and Man

Neurons of the central nervous system (CNS) that project long axons into the spinal cord have a poor axon regenerative capacity compared to neurons of the peripheral nervous system. The corticospinal tract (CST) is particularly notorious for its poor regeneration. Because of this, traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition that remains as yet uncured. Based on our recent observations that direct neuronal interleukin-4 (IL-4) signaling leads to repair of axonal swellings and beneficial effects in neuroinflammation, we hypothesized that IL-4 acts directly on the CST. Here, we developed a tissue culture model for CST regeneration and found that IL-4 promoted new growth cone formation after axon transection. Most importantly, IL-4 directly increased the regenerative capacity of both murine and human CST axons, which corroborates its regenerative effects in CNS damage. Overall, these findings serve as proof-of-concept that our CST regeneration model is suitable for fast screening of new treatments for SCI