Accumulation and elimination dynamics of the hydroxybenzoate saxitoxin analogues in mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis exposed to the toxic marine Dinoflagellate Gymnodinium catenatum

Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) is a severe food-borne illness, caused by the ingestion of seafood containing paralytic shellfish toxins (PST), which are naturally produced by marine dinoflagellates and accumulate in shellfish during algae blooms. Novel PST, designated as hydroxybenzoate analogues (also known as GC toxins), was relatively recently discovered in Gymnodinium catenatum strains worldwide. However, to date, there have been no studies examining their accumulation in shellfish. In this study, mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) were exposed to G. catenatum for five days and then exposed to a non-toxic diet for 24 h, to investigate the toxin's accumulation/elimination dynamics. As determined by UHPLC-HILIC-MS/MS, the hydroxybenzoate analogues, GC1 to GC6, comprised 41% of the algae toxin profile and only 9% in mussels. Elimination of GC toxins after 24 h was not evident. This study highlights that a relevant fraction of PST in mussels are not routinely analysed in monitoring programs and that there is a need to better understand the toxicological potential of the hydroxybenzoate analogues, in order to properly address the risk of G. catenatum blooms.Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science - contract code DP402; Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia - PD/BD/113484/2015; FCT Investigator; Mar2020 - SNMB-INOV: Innovation for a more competitive shellfish sector, co-financed by the Operational Program Mar 2020, Portugal 2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Desempenho cognitivo em idosos com e sem défice cognitivo ligeiro: efeito da hora do dia e sua relação com o cronótipo

The influence of different times of day and cognitive status, in the cognitive performance is still mostly not investigated. In the literature it has been described peaks of cognitive performance throughout the day, for older adults.Besides, there seems to exist a relationship between aging and time of day effects, in the cognitive performance of older adults. It is expected that this relationship would be evident in MCI groups. 34 Caucasian older adults (one MCI group and a normative group) forming a morning group and an afternoon group completed the Wisconsin card sorting test, the digit span task, the choice response time, the Halstead category test and the attentional network task. There was no time of day effect for the cognitive tasks. There were time of day and cognitive status interaction for choice response time and backwards digit span. It was found some interesting patterns of larger time of day effects for MCI group, with better performance in the morning period in tasks that required inhibitory control, learning from feedback and timed tasks. However, some of these patterns did not reach statistical significance. The present study suggests that there might be a larger time of day effect for MCI population, with better performance in the morning period. Is also suggests that there might be a larger time of day effect for normative population, on the backwards digit span, with better performance in the afternoon. Future research should investigate the relationship of cognitive decline and time of day effects, in some cognitive functions, such as inhibitory control, learning from feedback, abstract reasoning and processing speed, in older adults with MCI and more advanced cognitive decline states and young adults as well.A influência de diferentes horas do dia e estado cognitivo, no desempenho cognitivo encontra-se largamente por estudar. Na literatura têm sido descritos picos de desempenho cognitivo ao longo do dia, para populações idosas. Além disto, parece existir uma relação de envelhecimento com efeitos de hora do dia, no desempenho cognitivo de idosos. Espera-se que esta relação seja evidente em casos de DCL. 34 idosos portugueses caucasianos (um grupo com DCL e um grupo normativo) formando grupos de manhã e de tarde, completaram o Wiscosin card sorting test, o span de dígitos, o choice response time, o Halstead category test e o attentional network task. Não se verificaram efeitos de hora do dia, para nenhuma tarefa. Interações do efeito de hora do dia foram significantes para o span de dígitos inverso e o Choice Response Time. Emergiram alguns padrões interessantes de maior efeito de hora do dia para o grupo DCL, com melhores desempenhos de manhã para tarefas que requeriam capacidade de inibição, aprendizagem do feedback e tarefas temporizadas. No entanto, algumas destas interações não alcançaram significância estatística. O presente estudo sugere que pode existir um efeito de hora do dia maior para população DCL, com melhores desempenhos durante a manhã. Também sugere que para o span de dígitos inverso a população normativa poderá ter maior efeito de hora do dia, com melhores desempenhos durante a tarde. Sugere-se que no futuro se explorem a relação de efeito de hora do dia e declínio cognitivo aprofundadamente na capacidade de inibição, de aprendizagem do feedback, raciocínio abstrato e velocidade de processamento, em amostras de adultos idosos com DCL e estados de declínio cognitivo mais avançado, bem como em jovens adultos.Mestrado em Psicologia da Saúde e Reabilitação Neuropsicológic

Disentangling the representativeness heuristic from the availability heuristic

Tese de doutoramento, Psicologia (Cognição Social), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Psicologia, 2015Most judgments, predictions and decisions rely on simplifying reasoning heuristics, such as representativeness and availability heuristics. Representativeness heuristic relies on a judgment of similarity between a categorical prototype and a target. Availability heuristic relies on the accessibility of instances. A crucial assumption of Heuristics and Biases research program (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974) was that systematic and characteristic biases were unmistakably associated with each heuristic. Unfortunately, often the same biases can be explained by different heuristics (e.g., Anderson, 1990; Gigerenzer, 1991). This problem is particularly striking in the case of availability and representativeness. The main goal of this dissertation is to conceptually clarify and empirically disentangle these heuristics, thus defining conditions for the use of one or the other. This dissertation explores three variables that have the potential to determine when people will use representativeness or availability: the level of construal, the computational speed of the heuristics, and directional motivation. The first empirical chapter (Chapter II) explores whether the representativeness heuristic relies on more abstract information than the availability heuristic, and uses the construal level theory (e.g., Trope & Liberman, 2000) as a framework to explore and manipulate different levels of abstraction. Chapters III and IV explore whether representativeness heuristic takes longer to compute using a paradigm about predictions of binary random events, where both heuristics can be applied in the same judgment. The last empirical chapter (Chapter V) explores the role of directional motivation on the heuristic processes. The motivation to observe a certain outcome should affect people’s representation of a target event, and consequently lead to self-serving predictions. The role of directional motivation is thus discussed as a variable that could be used in order to determine the use representativeness or availability heuristic. The consequences of the proposed differences between representativeness and availability, for psychological models of judgment and decision making are discussed.Muitos julgamentos, previsões e decisões são tomadas com base em heurísticas de julgamento como as heurísticas da representatividade e da disponibilidade. A heurística da representatividade baseia-se num julgamento de semelhança entre um protótipo e o alvo. A heurística da disponibilidade baseia-se na acessibilidade de ocorrências específicas. Um ponto essencial do programa Heuristicas e Enviesamentos (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974) seria que enviesamentos específicos e sistemáticos estariam inequivocamente associados a diferentes heurísticas. Infelizmente, muitas vezes o mesmo enviesamento poderia ser explicado por diferentes heurísticas. Este problema é particularmente grave no caso da representatividade e da disponibilidade. O objectivo desta tese é clarificar e dissociar empiricamente estas heurísticas, definindo, assim, condições para o uso de uma ou da outra. Esta tese explora três variáveis que poderão ajudar a determinar quando usamos a heurística da representatividade ou da disponibilidade: nível de abstracção; velocidade computacional e motivação direccional. O primeiro capítulo empírico (Capítulo II) explora se a heurística da representatividade depende de informação mais abstracta que a heurística da disponibilidade, partindo da “construal level theory” (e.g., Trope & Liberman, 2000) para explorar e manipular níveis de abstracção. Os Capítulos III e IV exploram se a heurística da representatividade demora mais tempo a ser computada que a heurística da disponibilidade quando ambas as heurísticas podem ser aplicadas a uma tarefa de previsão binária de eventos aleatórios. O Capítulo V explora o papel da motivação para observar um resultado nos processos heurísticos. O desejo de observar determinado resultado deverá afectar a representação dos eventos e levar a prever o resultado que se deseja observar. O potencial papel da motivação direccional na determinação do uso das heurísticas da representatividade ou da disponibilidade é discutido.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), SFRH/BD/73378/201

Mercado de trabalho e salário mínimo na China

Este artigo analisa a evolução da política de salário mínimo na China desde o estabelecimento da “sociedade harmoniosa” do ex-presidente Hu Jintao e durante o atual “sonho chinês” de Xi Jinping, examinando-a no contexto geral de funcionamento do mercado de trabalho chinês. A elevada heterogeneidade no desenvolvimento socioeconômico do país está por trás da relativa complexidade da política de salários mínimos na China, onde não existe um dado oficial de mínimo nacional tal como no Brasil. Diante disso, esse artigo contribui empiricamente para o debate ao desenvolver um cálculo próprio do salário mínimo nacional na China de forma a analisar o comportamento do salário mínimo em relação ao salário médio, discutindo sua variação regional e seus potenciais efeitos na distribuição de renda nacional

Youth Entrepreneurship Among Higher Education Students – A Qualitative Research of Entrepreneurial Intention and Education

The area of entrepreneurship education is developing rapidly, potentially conveying positive effects to business education, innovation and economies. Our paper seeks to analyse the entrepreneurial intention of a group of higher education students, and the data includes 29 interviews, administered to students of Portuguese higher education institutions. The results obtained allowed to confirm some of the aspects described in the literature, although a few divergences were also found. It was also possible to clarify some of the theories associated with barriers to entrepreneurship. The main limitations are related with the sample size, opening space for future research with larger samples. The most important implications relate to the identified need for very specific topics in entrepreneurship education. However, the key contribution of the paper also lies in its qualitative research approach.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Estándares territoriales de innovación : análisis de las regiones de Portugal

Competitiveness among regions and innovation dynamics are intimately related and depend on a solid and effective innovation system. This study aims to measure innovativeness in different Portuguese regions and to evaluate the nature of the innovation process and the relationship between innovativeness and its region of origin. To characterize the territorial innovation processes and to identify innovation patterns by regions, it analyzes their main distinctive factors, based on the Community Innovation Survey results for each region. Thus, it compares the Portuguese regions by verifying the existence of subjacent clusters and finding out the characteristics that distinguish the different groups of regions. The results point to the existence of four groups of regions, and the factors identified are related to the innovation process, namely objectives of innovation, sources of innovation, collaborative networks, triple helix performance, and obstacles to innovation.RESUMEN: La competitividad entre las regiones y la dinámica de la innovación están íntimamente relacionadas y dependen de un sistema de innovación sólida y eficaz. Este estudio tiene como objetivo medir la capacidad de innovación en diferentes regiones portuguesas y evaluar la naturaleza del proceso de innovación y la relación entre la capacidad de innovación y su región de origen. Para la caracterización de los procesos de innovación territoriales y identificar estándares de innovación en las regiones, este artículo analiza sus factores distintivos principales, con base en los resultados de las encuestas comunitarias sobre innovación para cada región. Por lo tanto, se comparan las regiones portuguesas mediante la verificación de la existencia de agrupaciones subyacentes y descubrir las características que distinguen a los diferentes grupos de regiones. Los resultados apuntan a la existencia de cuatro grupos de regiones, y los factores identificados están relacionados con el proceso de innovación, es decir, los objetivos de la innovación, las fuentes de innovación, redes de colaboración, el funcionamiento de la triple hélice, y los obstáculos a la innovación.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Dynamics of innovation in European regions

There is interest in both academic literature and regional governments about the innovativeness of regions and the drivers of that competitiveness, especially if considering the impact on economic development and social progress. Innovation is the base for the global competitiveness. Innovative capacity enables regions to increase their productivity and attract investments, thereby sustaining continuous progress in the quality and standard of living. This study aims to measure regions’ innovativeness in different European regions and to evaluate the nature of the innovation process and the relationship existing between its innovativeness’ and its region of origin. It proceeds from the assumption that the competitiveness of a region is reflected in its innovation capacity or innovation dynamic. The literature review regarding regions’ innovativeness produces some insights regarding to the effect of contextual elements on regions performance. Thus, the objective is to compare the European regions to verify the existence of subjacent clusters and find out the characteristics that distinguish the different group of regions. The innovative capacity is considered in terms of innovative output and several factors are analysed to identify and differentiate the dynamics of innovations of the regions. The results point to the existence of five groups of regions, and the factors identified are related to innovation process, namely forms of innovation, factors and objectives of innovation and with aspects related to the innovation framework such as tertiary education and life-long learning, business and public R&D expenses, and level of collaboration for innovating.

A Semi-Supervised Self-Organizing Map with Adaptive Local Thresholds

In the recent years, there is a growing interest in semi-supervised learning, since, in many learning tasks, there is a plentiful supply of unlabeled data, but insufficient labeled ones. Hence, Semi-Supervised learning models can benefit from both types of data to improve the obtained performance. Also, it is important to develop methods that are easy to parameterize in a way that is robust to the different characteristics of the data at hand. This article presents a new method based on Self-Organizing Map (SOM) for clustering and classification, called Adaptive Local Thresholds Semi-Supervised Self-Organizing Map (ALTSS-SOM). It can dynamically switch between two forms of learning at training time, according to the availability of labels, as in previous models, and can automatically adjust itself to the local variance observed in each data cluster. The results show that the ALTSS-SOM surpass the performance of other semi-supervised methods in terms of classification, and other pure clustering methods when there are no labels available, being also less sensitive than previous methods to the parameters values