Proteomic approach to the caracterization of unknown origin male infertility

Infertility affects around 50 million couples worldwide, where male infertility contributes for half of all cases. When no clear causesfor infertilitycanbe found, it is designated of unknown origin(UOMI), including idiopathic(ID)and unexplained male infertility (UMI). Diagnosis of male infertility isfirstlybased on routine semen analysis, an evaluationthat has been shown to havepoor prognostic value. This is especially evident in men with UMI that, despite presenting a normal seminal analysis, arestill infertile,stressing the need to deepen the analysis of sperm functionality in these patients to clarify what might be behind their infertility state.In this project,wefocusedon a detailed characterization of sperm function,that goes far beyondthe conventional analysis, to clarifythis issue. Besidesanalysing functional and bioenergetic parameters such as spermcapacitation, acrosome reaction, chromatin status and mitochondrial functionality, a sperm proteomic analysis was alsoperformedusing sequential window acquisition of all theoretical mass spectra (SWATH-MS). In addition, lifestyle and medical history of patients were assessed by survey. Symptomsof anxiety and depression were also evaluated through proper surveys.In this study, ID patients besides having significantly decreased sperm concentration, motility and morphology, also presented significantly decreased sperm viability, chromatin integrity and percentage of capacitated cells,comparing to healthy men, with the proteomic results further supporting the differences among these groups.Furthermore, ID patients had significantly increased incidence of urogenital infections and varicocele. Regarding UMI patients, we observedthat their sperm functionality is very similar to that of the healthy individuals, but significantly different from ID patients, whichwas also mirroredat the proteomic level.UMI patients were also observed to have increased incidence of diagnosed depression, when comparing to healthy individuals and ID patients. Finally, the proteins annexin A5, α-crystallin B chain, apolipoprotein H, destrin, NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase 3, platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase IB subunit α1and transthyretinwere found, for the first time, to significantly differentiate the 3patient groups,hence being good candidates for further studies on UOMI.Overall, this study entailinga unique complete and integrated analysis of 3 groups of individuals’ sperm functionality and proteome, accuratelycategorized, providednew insights and add knowledge on these patients’ infertility unknown aetiology, opening road to future studies in the field

Atividades de marketing e comunicação : a loja EXPERT em Ponta Delgada

O estágio decorreu na empresa Susiarte, mais precisamente numa das suas lojas, a de Ponta Delgada. A sua principal atividade é o comércio de eletrodomésticos, aparelhos de rádio e de televisão. O estágio teve duração de 12 meses, iniciando-se em 2 de janeiro de 2012 e com o termo a 31 de Dezembro de 2012. Os objetivos do estágio tiveram como finalidade a realização de atividades de marketing inerentes à empresa para obtenção do grau de mestre. Na última parte deste relatório são apresentadas algumas lacunas da loja. Após detetar questões a melhorar é feito todo um processo de planeamento e a realização de atividades de marketing na loja EXPERT, em Ponta Delgada, visando o aumento de vendas anuais.ABSTRACT: The internship had place at Susiarte, more precisely at one of their branch office in Ponta Delgada. Their principal activity is the trade of electrical household appliances like televisions and sound systems. The duration of the internship was 12 months starting at January 2nd of 2012 and have finished on December 31st of the same year. The internship goals was the realization of marketing activities inherent in the company for my master’s degree achievement. I found some gaps in the company that is mentioned on the last part of this report and so, after searching for some things to improve in the store, a plan of marketing activities is made for the EXPERT branch office in Ponta Delgada in order to raising the annual sales

Contributos das actividades práticas em ciências para a inovação pedagógica e didáctica no ensino das ciências: perspectivas dos professores

Dissertação mest., Biologia e Geologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2007It is the aim of this study to know the perceptions of a group of teachers of the ?3? Ciclo do Ensino B?sico? about the contribution of practical activities in Science for the pedagogic and didactic innovation in teaching this discipline. In order to do so, a group of teachers of those school levels was interviewed. The interview, applied individually to the six subjects who make up the sample, was a semi- structured one. The collected data were the object of a qualitative analysis and the results show that this group of teachers validates the official curriculum of Physical and Natural Sciences for those levels of education, especially in what concerns the compulsory implementation of practical scientific activities, suggesting implementation through scenarios favouring mainly cooperative and constructivist working methods, but also recognizing the importance of the more interactive forms of the delivery mode of teaching . Simultaneously, the subjects recognise the importance of scientific activities as a valuable practice for the process of teaching and learning, not only because of their intrinsic qualities, but also because they give the students the possibility of learning how to learn, of thinking scientifically and developing important attitudes and competences, stimulating students and teacher to become more autonomous and more motivated for practicing action-research. The study also reveals the subjects? perceptions about some of the aspects they think can make the implementation of scientific activities in class easier or more difficult. In the first group of factors, the very nature of science and the scientific attitude of the teacher stand out; the latter factors consist, mainly, of the length of curricula, the poor logistics and the reality of classes at our schools. Finally, there is a discussion of the conclusions of this study, where innovative aspects found in the practice of scientific activities, and consequences of their application, are analysed. The real classroom situation, according to the teachers? perception, is confronted with the ideal situation. Finally, a reflection is made on the meaning of the present study, as well as some suggestions for further investigation

The "Second Lost Generation": a Reading of Suburban Emptiness in Richard Yates's Revolutionary Road

Tendo como ponto de partida uma abordagem em torno da paisagem suburbana na década de 50 do século XX enquanto responsável por um mal-estar e ansiedade generalizados, resultantes da estratégia de conformismo e domesticidade, que marcou o pós-Segunda Guerra Mundial nos Estados Unidos da América, propomos aqui uma leitura crítica do romance Revolutionary Road (1961) de Richard Yates. É no romance de Yates Young Hearts Crying (1984), na intervenção súbita de Al Damon, personagem cuja função parece ser somente a chamada de atenção para o facto de a geração dos subúrbios do pós-Segunda Guerra Mundial ser uma "segunda geração perdida", que se sustenta a nossa problematização do romance Revolutionary Road. Discutiremos o sentimento de claustrofobia e de vida mundana trazido pelos subúrbios; uma paisagem de onde os personagens em Revolutionary Road sonham poder escapar, parecendo assim regressar aos passos da boémia Geração Perdida dos anos 20, também ela armadilhada. Na sua biografia de Richard Yates, intitulada A Tragic Honesty: The Life and Work of Richard Yates, Blake Bailey refere o autor como um "unabashed worshipper" de F. Scott Fitzgerald, para quem The Great Gatsby representa uma "formal introduction to the craft" e um "definitive milestone of his apprenticeship". Revolutionary Road é sem dúvida um romance que explora as contradições da busca por sonhos e fantasias; um romance onde, como afirma Steven Goldleaf, encontramos um "persistent theme of characters striving toward some ideal of behaviour and always falling short of achieving that ideal."Paying close attention to the suburban landscape of the 1950s as conducive to a generalized malaise and anxiety caused by the strategy of conformity and domesticity in post-World War II America, this text offers a critical reading of the novel Revolutionary Road (1961), by Richard Yates (1926-1992). Taking as a starting point Yates's understanding that the post-World War suburban generation was a "second lost generation", as stated in his novel Young Hearts Crying, we will discuss the claustrophobia and the inescapable mundanity caused by the suburbs, from where the characters in Revolutionary Road dream to escape, seeming thus to follow the path of the bohemian Lost Generation of the 1920s. In his biography of Richard Yates, entitled A Tragic Honesty: The Life and Work of Richard Yates, Blake Bailey describes the author as an "unabashed worshipper" of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and The Great Gatsby as Yates's "formal introduction to the craft" and "the definitive milestone of his apprenticeship". Revolutionary Road is a novel that explores the contradictions in pursuing dreams and fantasies, where, as Steven Goldleaf states, "[we find a] persistent theme of characters striving toward some ideal of behaviour and always falling short of achieving that ideal.

Development of pH-sensitive magnetoliposomes containing shape anisotropic magnetic nanoparticles for applications in dual cancer therapy

In this work, anisotropic magnetic nanoparticles of mixed calcium/magnesium ferrite were synthesized and characterized. These nanoparticles were encapsulated in pH-sensitive liposomes loaded with doxorubicin, and the resulting nanosystems were characterized by DLS. Fluorescence emission assays were performed to elucidate the structural characterization and study the release profile of doxorubicin at different pH values and promising results were obtained for application in combined cancer therapy.FCT under Strategic funding of CF-UM-UP (UIDB/04650/2020)

Impeachment of the Paraguayan President: Discursive Event and Cartoons

Indexación: Revista UNABEl presente artículo se ocupa de analizar caricaturas referidas al evento político “impeachment paraguayo”, que sucedió en el año 2012 en Paraguay. Varias noticias fueron transmitidas en diferentes blogs y sitios de internet, pero nos detuvimos a analizar tan solo las caricaturas humorísticas. Estas fueron seleccionadas por presentar características peculiares al género y, principalmente, por expresar dichos acerca del acontecimiento político. Para los análisis fueron utilizados conocimientos teóricos del Análisis del Discurso de línea francesa y fundamentación teórica de los estudios semióticos. Tenemos por objetivo presentar una forma de lectura que logre deconstruir los discursos estereotipados y artificiales que fueron naturalizados a lo largo del tiempo en la sociedad.This paper is concerned with analyzing political cartoons about the “Paraguayan impeachment” event, which took place in Paraguay in 2012. Many different news were diffused on blogs and websites, but we limited ourselves here to analyze only the humoristic cartoons. These ones were chosen because they have specific characteristics of this genre and they express specific sayings about that political event. For that, we searched theoretical knowledge for the analysis at the French Discourse theory of semiotics. We aim to present a way of reading which may deconstruct stereotypes and artificial discourses that somehow have been accepted naturally in society.http://revistahumanidades.unab.cl/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Art%C3%ADculo-IMPEACHMENT-Carolina-Samara.pd

Efeitos do Salário Mínimo nos Componentes do PIB: O caso de Portugal

O presente trabalho estuda os efeitos económicos que o aumento do Salário Mínimo Nacional (SMN) provoca em cada componente do Produto Interno Bruto (PIB), em Portugal. Para este propósito foram estimadas 5 (cinco) regressões com cada uma das componentes do PIB como variáveis dependentes, incluindo a variável SMN como variável explicativa de interesse, contando também com outras variáveis de controlo, apontadas pela literatura analisada em estudo. Estudar os efeitos em cada componente da variável de crescimento económico é fundamental para se perceber se o aumento de salário mínimo traz vantagens ou desvantagens económicas a longo prazo, para Portugal. A política de salário mínimo foi incorporada nas diversas economias com o objetivo claro de beneficiar trabalhadores com níveis mais baixos de remuneração e, em prol disso, fortalecer o mercado de trabalho em termos de produtividade. Para que tal seja possível, a sua aplicação tem de ser apoiada por estratégias que permitam expandir os conhecimentos dos trabalhadores e por consequência, aumentar a sua capacidade produtiva. Se tal não for tido em atenção, os custos fiscais desta medida podem ser superiores ao seus benefícios (Thimoteo, 2014). Os resultados obtidos confirmaram que o SMN apresenta um alto nível de significância na explicação dos agregados macroeconómicos que definem o PIB. Neste contexto, foi possível apurar que o aumento do salário mínimo gera efeitos positivos no consumo das famílias, nas importações e nas exportações nacionais; e, efeitos negativos na despesa pública. No caso do investimento os resultados não foram estatisticamente significativos, podendo concluir-se que o SMN não reflete no investimento das empresas nenhum impacto significativo, em Portugal.The present work studies the economic effects that the increase in the National Minimum Wage (SMN) provokes in each component of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Portugal. For this purpose, 5 (five) regressions were estimated with each of the GDP components as dependent variables, including the NMS variable as the explanatory variable of interest, also counting on other control variables, pointed out by the literature observed in the study. Studying the effects on each component of the economic growth variable is essential to understand whether the increase in the minimum wage brings benefits or economic savings in the long term for Portugal. The minimum wage policy was built in the different economies with the clear objective of benefiting workers with lower levels of remuneration and, as a result, strengthening the labor market in terms of productivity. For this to be possible, its application must be supported by strategies that can expand workers' knowledge and, consequently, increase their productive capacity. If this is not taken into account, the fiscal costs of this measure may be greater than its benefits (Thimoteo, 2014). The results obtained confirm that the SMN presents a high level of significance in explaining the macroeconomic aggregates that define the GDP. In this context, it was possible to determine that the increase in the minimum wage generates positive effects on household consumption, national and international exports; and, negative effects on public spending. In the case of investment, the results were not statistically tested, and it can be concluded that the SMN does not reflect any significant impact on company investment in Portugal

Fatores subjacentes às escolhas sociométricas de crianças em idade pré-escolar

Esta investigação, de carácter qualitativo, pretendeu analisar as justificações espontâneas das crianças em idade pré-escolar no contexto de tarefas de nomeação/avaliação sociométrica, no sentido de compreender os fatores subjacentes às suas escolhas. Participaram neste estudo 149 crianças em idade pré-escolar da Região de Lisboa. Segundo os resultados obtidos, através de uma análise de conteúdo, os meninos forneceram mais justificações para as suas nomeações/avaliações sociométricas do que as meninas e, de uma maneira geral, registaram-se mais justificações para as nomeações/avaliações negativas. Os dados obtidos revelam que o principal fator, verbalizado pelas crianças, para as nomeações/avaliações positivas foi a Experiência de aceitação. No que diz respeito às nomeações/avaliações negativas, as categorias mais frequentes foram a Experiência de rejeição e o Comportamento antissocial. Não se apurou uma relação entre o sexo da criança que faz a nomeação/avaliação e as categorias que emergiram das justificações espontâneas. Constatou-se uma relação significativa entre a categoria Ausência de brincadeira e a idade da criança que faz a nomeação/avaliação. As justificações fornecidas pelas crianças não variaram em função do estatuto de incapacidade da criança. Estes resultados permitem identificar características e comportamentos passíveis de aumentar a probabilidade de rejeição social, podendo apoiar o desenvolvimento de estratégias de prevenção.This qualitative study aimed to analyze the spontaneous justifications of preschool-aged children during sociometric nomination/rating tasks in order to understand the factors underlying their choices. Participated in this study 149 preschool-aged children from the Lisbon region. According to the results obtained through content analysis, boys provided more justifications for their sociometric nominations/ratings than girls and there were more justifications for negative nominations/ratings. The main factor verbalized by children for justifying positive nominations/ratings was Acceptance Experience while the main categories for justifying negative nominations/ratings were Rejection Experience and Antisocial Behavior. Also, in this study, there was no relation between the sex of the child making the nominations/ratings the categories that emerged from the spontaneous justifications. On the other hand, there was a significant relation between Absence of Play and the age of the child making the nomination/rating. The justifications provided by children did not vary according as a function of the disability status of the target children. These results allow the identification of caractheristics and behaviors which increase the odds of social rejection, supporting the development of prevention strategies

Bairro de casas económicas de Faro - Bairro do Bom João, Faro, Algarve. Requalificação da zona da Calheta e Porto de Pesca de Sines

Este trabalho pretende analisar as caraterísticas arquitetónicas do Bairro do Bom João em Faro, nomeadamente no que se refere às suas influências e contextualização no âmbito do Programa das Casas Económicas do Estado Novo. Ao longo do estudo efetuado foram-se destacando os elementos arquitetónicos que lhe conferem uma identidade própria e as alterações que foram acontecendo no decurso dos anos e que colocam em perigo o seu caráter identitário. No fnal são dadas algumas sugestões sobre os elementos a preservar em renovações que venham a ser efetuadas, por forma a manter a sua estrutura como Bairro.The present work aims to analyse the architectural features of the Bom João Neighborhood in Faro, specially with regard to their influences and context within the program of the New State Economic Houses. Throughout this study, the author highlights architectural elements that give a particular identity and, also, the changes that have happened over the years and which endanger their identity core. At the end some suggestions are given concerning the elements to preserve in renovations that may be made, in order to maintain its structure as a Neighborhood