The effect of income on the energy mix: Are democracies more sustainable?

This paper shows that the effect of income on the energy mix depends on the democracy level. We find that more democratic countries tend to depart from the hydroelectric power, oil, and geothermal sources of energy to rely on coal, natural gas, and modern renewable sources (nuclear, biomass, wind, and others). Less democratic countries tend to become more dependent on oil and natural gas with their own development. Moreover, the energy ladder transition from hydroelectric sources to natural gas appears to be escalated more quickly for less democratic countries. These transitions are thus more environmental friendly for more democratic countries than for less democratic ones. An extended multinomial fractional regression model is proposed to test and deal with the endogeneity of income.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Avaliação de risco em património - Estratégias de inventariação e gestão de informação

A inventariação e a gestão da informação relativa ao património edificado têmuma importância inquestionável na sociedade moderna. Neste contexto, a utilidade dasferramentas baseadas em Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIG) na gestão einventariação do edificado é demonstrada pela sua versatilidade em permitir a análise, amanipulação, o armazenamento e o mapeamento dum volume elevado de informação. Nesteâmbito, o artigo proposto apresenta e discute a aplicação de ferramentas baseadas em SIGenvolvendo diferentes tipos de inventariação e de gestão da sendo apresentadas propostasno domínio da inventariação de materiais e danos em construções patrimoniai

Modulation of Vasomotive Activity in Rabbit External Ophthalmic Artery by Neuropeptides

Purpose. To investigate the vasomotive activity upon the external ophthalmic artery of vasointestinal peptide (VIP) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) using a previously developed model. Methods. Isolated rabbit eyes (n = 12) were perfused in situ with tyrode through the external ophthalmic artery. Effects of intra-arterial injections of NPY 200 μg/ml (Group A; n = 6) and VIP 200 μg/ml (Group B; n = 6) on the recorded pressure were obtained. For statistical analysis, Student's paired t-test and Fast Fourier Transform were used. Results. Spontaneous oscillations were observed before any drug administration in the 12 rabbit models. NPY produced an increase in total vascular resistance and a higher frequency and amplitude of oscillations, while VIP evoked the opposite effects. Conclusions. This study provides evidence of vasomotion in basal conditions in rabbit external ophthalmic artery. Concerning drug effects, NPY increased arterial resistance and enhanced vasomotion while VIP produced opposite effects which demonstrates their profound influence in arterial vasomotion

Inspecção e diagnóstico. Sistematização de informação. Casos práticos

No âmbito da aplicação de novas tecnologias ao tratamento da informação obtida nas diversas inspecções técnicas que o Núcleo de Conservação e Reabilitação de Edifícios e Património (NCREP) da Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto (FEUP) tem efectuado, este nú- cleo tem vindo a desenvolver CDs multimédia como meios adicionais para a sistematização e divulgação da informação. Estas aplicações têm como objectivo disponibilizar a informação de uma forma simples e elucidativa, abrangendo descrições da estrutura, das patologias e dos materiais que constituem os imóveis em causa, e também de técnicas de construção e do enquadramento urbano do imóvel. No parque edificado dos centos das cidades que usualmente se agrupa em quarteirões, as construções integrantes de um mesmo quarteirão tendem a interactuar umas com as outras, dado que se encontram ligadas entre si através das paredes meeiras que são comuns a cada par de casas. Este aspecto condiciona o comportamento individual de cada uma de per si e o do conjunto, originando que qualquer intervenção realizada numa das construções tenha de ter em consideração os efeitos favoráveis ou desfavoráveis que poderá originar nas outras. Por outro lado, a forma em planta e em alçado do quarteirão introduz problemas estruturais de comportamento que interessa analisar no caso de centros históricos situados em zonas sísmicas

O Papel da Transferência, da Contratransferência e da Interpretação da Transferência no Processo Psicoterapêutico: um estudo qualitativo

Este estudo é parte de um projeto cujo objetivo é o aprofundamento do conhecimento teórico-empírico sobre os mecanismos de identificação pré-consciente e de reconhecimento consciente da transferência e da contratransferência e sobre as condições de formulação da interpretação da transferência no tratamento psicanalítico. O estudo empírico qualitativo baseia-se na análise temático-categorial do material clínico de um processo de supervisão em grupo. Depois de uma breve revisão teórica dos conceitos psicanalíticos em investigação foi realizada a análise do material narrativo decorrente de sessões de supervisão clínica selecionadas e previamente registadas em áudio. A partir da análise e discussão dos resultados da investigação é possível identificar tanto as caraterísticas destes fenómenos inconscientes da relação terapeuta-paciente, como as diferenças de expressão em duas modalidades diferentes de tratamento psicanalítico, psicoterapia psicanalítica em “face-a-face” e em “cadeira-divã” sofá no caso deste estudo. / This study is part of a project aimed at deepening the theoretical-empirical knowledge not only on the pre-conscious identification and conscious recognition of transference and countertransference, but also on the process of formulating transference interpretation in psychoanalytic treatment. The qualitative empirical study is based on the thematic-categorical analysis of clinical material issued from a group supervision process. After a brief theoretical review of the psychoanalytic concepts in study, narrative analyses of the material issued from audio recorded sessions were performed. The goals of the study were met, meaning that it was possible to categorize the main features of these unconscious phenomena, as well as to and to identify some differences in their expression across two different modalities of psychoanalytic treatment, “face-to-face and couch psychoanalytic psychotherapy in the case of this study

International consensus on antinuclear antibody patterns in Portugal

Introduction: Screening for autoantibodies in HEp-2 cells by indirect immunofluorescence is currently accepted as the gold-standard test for the diagnosis of systemic autoimmune diseases. The main objective of the International Consensus on ANA Patterns is to achieve a consensus on the nomenclature and description of antinuclear antibody morphological patterns. This work aims to build on the International Consensus on ANA Patterns project to establish a nomenclature consensus in Portugal, thus contributing to harmonization in autoimmune diagnosis and promoting diagnostic quality in autoimmune systemic rheumatic diseases. Material and Methods: Participating laboratories identified all the nuclear and cytoplasmic pattern designations in the International Consensus on ANA Patterns (including the anti-cell pattern code), and matched them with the corresponding Portuguese nomenclature in use. The results were aggregated and used as a foundation for nomenclature harmonization work. Consensus meetings followed an iterative process, until a final consensual proposal was drafted. Results: Prior agreement between laboratories was over 75% for 23 of the total 29 anti-cell patterns. The degree to which each laboratory is aligned with the International Consensus on ANA Patterns international reference ranges from 22.1% to 100%. It was possible to write a consensual version of the International Consensus on ANA Patterns nomenclature for Portugal. Discussion: There was a good consensus basis for the nomenclature in the International Consensus on ANA Patterns, despite relevant differences with some translations. The study highlights the need for collaboration among laboratories towards an unambiguous description of laboratory results. Conclusion: This study shows that there is good potential for collaboration between laboratories in order to produce the consensus needed to improve diagnosis and patient follow-up.publishersversionpublishe

Integrative epigenomics in Sjögren´s syndrome reveals novel pathways and a strong interaction between the HLA, autoantibodies and the interferon signature

Primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by lymphocytic infiltration and damage of exocrine salivary and lacrimal glands. The etiology of SS is complex with environmental triggers and genetic factors involved. By conducting an integrated multi-omics study, we confirmed a vast coordinated hypomethylation and overexpression effects in IFN-related genes, what is known as the IFN signature. Stratified and conditional analyses suggest a strong interaction between SS-associated HLA genetic variation and the presence of Anti-Ro/SSA autoantibodies in driving the IFN epigenetic signature and determining SS. We report a novel epigenetic signature characterized by increased DNA methylation levels in a large number of genes enriched in pathways such as collagen metabolism and extracellular matrix organization. We identified potential new genetic variants associated with SS that might mediate their risk by altering DNA methylation or gene expression patterns, as well as disease-interacting genetic variants that exhibit regulatory function only in the SS population. Our study sheds new light on the interaction between genetics, autoantibody profiles, DNA methylation and gene expression in SS, and contributes to elucidate the genetic architecture of gene regulation in an autoimmune population

Complement component C4 structural variation and quantitative traits contribute to sex-biased vulnerability in systemic sclerosis

Altres ajuts: Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), "A way of making Europe".Copy number (CN) polymorphisms of complement C4 play distinct roles in many conditions, including immune-mediated diseases. We investigated the association of C4 CN with systemic sclerosis (SSc) risk. Imputed total C4, C4A, C4B, and HERV-K CN were analyzed in 26,633 individuals and validated in an independent cohort. Our results showed that higher C4 CN confers protection to SSc, and deviations from CN parity of C4A and C4B augmented risk. The protection contributed per copy of C4A and C4B differed by sex. Stronger protection was afforded by C4A in men and by C4B in women. C4 CN correlated well with its gene expression and serum protein levels, and less C4 was detected for both in SSc patients. Conditioned analysis suggests that C4 genetics strongly contributes to the SSc association within the major histocompatibility complex locus and highlights classical alleles and amino acid variants of HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DPB1 as C4-independent signals