CONVERSION to ORGANIC FARMING in MAINLAND PORTUGAL

The objectives of the research were: i) to assess the in-conversion period as a barrier impeding farms conversion to organic; ii) to assess the potential of conversion-grade markets in removing this barrier; iii) to identify other barriers (drives) along the food chain impeding (easing) farms conversion in mainland Portugal. Results show that the in-conversion period is not the major barrier to conversion nor is a good idea the set-up of conversion grade markets to help Portuguese farms’ conversion. Conversion feasibility depends of the organic market premium prices, in intensive farms, and of the CAP organic agri-environmental area payments, in extensive farms.organic farming, conversion, conversion grade markets, market premium prices, CAP payments.

Development of a Nanoscale-Sensitive DNA Sensor using Functionalized Graphene Substrates and Fluorescence Lifetime Characterization

Fluorescence Lifetime Image Microscopy (FLIM) of nanostructured graphene substrates was used to measure the recently observed nanoscale distance-scaling of the fluorescence lifetime of dyes located in the vicinity of graphene sheets, at distances up to about 30 nm. The results were compared with a Resonant Energy Transfer (RET) theoretical model and used to establish an experimental fluorescence lifetime-to-nanoscale distance conversion function. In the following, this nano-optical relation was used for the design of a Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) biosensor. Graphene was functionalized with fluorescently labeled DNA molecular beacons that unfold during hybridization with complementary DNA, and thereby change the distance of the fluorescent dye from the graphene surface. The spatial distribution of DNA molecular beacons binding to the surface of a graphene flake was studied, as well as the temporal kinetics of the hybridization reaction using time-lapse FLIM measurements. The results showed a vertical ascent of a fluorescent label relative to the graphene surface with a distance extension that is in accordance with the expected molecular length of the specific DNA sequence used. Interestingly, an intermediate state associated to a distance of a few nanometers was identified with a lifespan of about 85 minutes. The developed graphene-based DNA sensor was shown to enable optical detection of nanoscale distances in liquid media. These findings indicate that the fluorescence lifetime-based detection coupled with nanoscale interaction effects may find applications in various biosensing applications such as health and food-quality tracing. For the processing of FLIM data, several fluorescence lifetime calculation algorithms were compared and integrated into a specially designed and implemented analysis software toolbox in MATLAB.Imagens de Microscopia de Tempo de Vida de Fluorescência (FLIM) de substratos de grafeno nano-estruturados foram usadas para a medição da recentemente observada alteração do tempo de vida de fluorescência de corantes quando localizados na vizinhança de grafeno para distâncias até cerca de 30 nm. Os resultados foram comparados com um modelo teórico de Transferência Ressonante de Energia (RET) e utilizados para o estabelecimento de uma função de calibração experimental entre tempo de vida de fluorescência e distâncias à nano-escala. Posteriormente, esta relação nano-ótica foi utilizada para o desenvolvimento de um biossensor de Ácido Desoxirribonucleico (ADN). Substratos de grafeno foram funcionalizados com sinais moleculares (molecular beacons) de ADN que se desdobram durante a hibridização com ADN complementar, alterando a distância do corante fluorescente à superfície de grafeno. A distribuição espacial da ligação de sinais moleculares de ADN à superfície do grafeno foi estudada, bem como a cinética de reação de hibridização, usando medições de FLIM por lapso de tempo. Os resultados mostraram a ascensão vertical dos marcadores fluorescentes relativamente à superfície, com uma deslocamento total que está de acordo com o comprimento molecular esperado para a sequência de ADN utilizada. Curiosamente, um estado intermedio associado a uma distância de alguns nanómetros foi identificado, tendo este uma duração de cerca de 85 minutos. Foi então demonstrado que o sensor de ADN desenvolvido permite a deteção ótica de distâncias à nano-escala em meio líquido. Estes resultados indicaram que a deteção baseada em tempo de vida de fluorescência, acoplada aos efeitos desta interação ótica à nano-escala pode ser utilizada em várias aplicações de biodeteção, tal como na saúde e no rastreamento da qualidade alimentar. Para o tratamento de dados de FLIM, vários algoritmos de cálculo de tempo de vida foram comparados e integrados num programa de análise especificamente desenhado e implementado para o efeito, em ambiente MATLAB.International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory – IN

Conversion to organic farming in mainland Portugal

Paper prepared for presentation at the 11th Congress of the EAAE: Conversion to Organic Farming in Mainland Portugal, Copenhagen, Denmark, 24-27 August, 2005The objectives of the research were: i) to assess the in-conversion period as a barrier impeding farms conversion to organic; ii) to assess the potential of conversion-grade markets in removing this barrier; iii) to identify other barriers (drives) along the food chain impeding (easing) farms conversion in mainland Portugal. Results show that the in-conversion period is not the major barrier to conversion nor is a good idea the set-up of conversion grade markets to help Portuguese farms' conversion. Conversion feasibility depends of the organic market premium prices, in intensive farms, and of the CAP organic agri-environmental area payments, in extensive farms

Evaluation of postoperative pain in patients submitted to periodontal surgeries

Abstract in proceedings of the Fourth International Congress of CiiEM: Health, Well-Being and Ageing in the 21st Century, held at Egas Moniz’ University Campus in Monte de Caparica, Almada, from 3–5 June 2019.This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Interventions and outcomes in bronchiolitis clinical trials

Tese de doutoramento, Medicina (Pediatria), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Medicina, 2015Acute viral bronchiolitis is the most common acute infection of the lower respiratory tract during the first year of life. It is a major cause of clinical morbidity and financial health burden, and encompasses a spectrum of disease severity. This thesis addresses the uncertainties of current evidence on two widely used treatments for bronchiolitis, i.e. bronchodilators and corticosteroids, and how this evidence is limited by shortcomings in key areas of clinical trial design, namely disease definition and outcome selection and measurement. The thesis specific aims were: 1. to assess the comparative efficacy and safety of bronchodilators and corticosteroids, used alone or in combination; 2. to identify outcomes reported in previous clinical trials in bronchiolitis, and a. to assess which outcomes are considered most important to different physicians, and b. to study the measurement properties of two commonly used respiratory distress scales (Respiratory Distress Assessment Instrument - RDAI, and the Respiratory Assessment Change Score - RACS); and 3. to study how physicians define bronchiolitis. Chapter 1 presents an overview of relevant epidemiological, clinical and pathophysiological findings in bronchiolitis, preceded by a historical perspective. Chapter 2 describes the results of a comprehensive comparative effectiveness systematic review of bronchodilators and corticosteroids, including 48 trials (4897 patients and 13 comparisons), with network meta-analysis. Chapter 3.1 presents an exploratory study to identify outcome domains and measurement instruments reported in 90 clinical trials of bronchiolitis included in 11 Cochrane systematic reviews. In Chapter 3.2, we report on a measurement study which evaluates the validity, reliability and responsiveness of RDAI and RACS, including data from up to 1765 infants with bronchiolitis enrolled in pediatric emergency departments. Finally, in Chapter 4 we present results from a nationwide electronic survey of pediatricians and general practitioners, where we assessed physician perspectives on both definition of bronchiolitis, and relevant outcomes and outcome domains for future bronchiolitis trials.A bronquiolite aguda é a mais frequente infecção das vias aéreas inferiores durante o primeiro ano de vida, e tem um impacto clínico e económico substancial. Esta tese avalia a evidência actual sobre o uso de broncodilatadores e corticoesteróides, e de que forma essa evidência está limitada por dois aspectos metodológicos chave para o desenho de ensaios clínicos nesta área: a definição de bronquiolite, e a escolha e medição de “outcomes”. Os objectivos específicos incluem: 1. avaliar a eficácia e segurança comparativas de broncodilatadores e corticoesteróides, usados isoladamente ou em combinação; 2. identificar os “outcomes” reportados em ensaios clínicos de bronquiolite, e a. avaliar que “outcomes” são considerados mais relevantes por médicos, e b. estudar as propriedades de medida de duas escalas de dificuldade respiratória frequentemente usadas (Respiratory Distress Assessment Instrument - RDAI, e Respiratory Assessment Change Score - RACS); e 3. avaliar perspectivas médicas sobre a definição de bronquiolite. No Capítulo 1 revemos aspectos epidemiológicos, fisiopatológicos e clínicos da bronquiolite, enquadrados numa perspectiva histórica. No Capítulo 2 descrevemos os resultados de uma revisão sistemática comparativa sobre a eficácia e segurança de broncodilatadores e corticoesteróides, incluindo 48 ensaios (4897 doentes e 13 comparações), com meta-análise em rede. O Capítulo 3.1 apresenta um estudo exploratório que identifica domínios de “outcomes” e instrumentos de medida reportados em 90 ensaios clínicos de bronquiolite incluídos em 11 revisões sistemáticas Cochrane. No Capítulo 3.2 descrevemos um estudo de medição em que se avaliam a validade, fiabilidade e responsividade das escalas RDAI e RACS, incluindo dados de até 1765 crianças no contexto de bronquiolite na urgência pediátrica. Por fim, no Capítulo 4 apresentamos os resultados de um inquérito electrónico nacional a médicos pediatras e de medicina geral e familiar, avaliando as perspectivas médicas sobre definição de bronquiolite, e sobre quais os “outcomes” considerados relevantes para futuros ensaios clínicos nesta área

Semantic Search of Mobile Applications Using Word Embeddings

This paper proposes a set of approaches for the semantic search of mobile applications, based on their name and on the unstructured textual information contained in their description. The proposed approaches make use of word-level, character-level, and contextual word-embeddings that have been trained or fine-tuned using a dataset of about 500 thousand mobile apps, collected in the scope of this work. The proposed approaches have been evaluated using a public dataset that includes information about 43 thousand applications, and 56 manually annotated non-exact queries. Our results show that both character-level embeddings trained on our data, and fine-tuned RoBERTa models surpass the performance of the other existing retrieval strategies reported in the literature

Jogos cooperativos em Educação Física: um estudo de caso

Orientação: Maria do Carmo ClímacoEste estudo, de natureza qualitativa, tem como objectivo reflectir sobre o papel das actividades lúdicas cooperativas no processo de aperfeiçoamento do relacionamento interpessoal no contexto escolar, na visão dos alunos e professores, tendo em conta aspectos como o facto da inserção do jogo cooperativo no contexto escolar ser ainda bastante menosprezada. No entanto, Kishimoto (1993) evidencia-lhe duas importantes funções quando utilizado como elemento pedagógico, sendo uma a dimensão lúdica, ligada à diversão e ao prazer, e a outra, como complemento do conhecimento oferecido ao indivíduo. Esta fundamentação é também partilhada por Soler (2006) que defende que as práticas que apontem para os valores humanos relevantes e coerentes a serem desenvolvidos nas aulas de Educação Física devem partir do envolvimento do grupo em práticas cooperativas. O autor defende também que na aprendizagem cooperativa os alunos deverão trabalhar em pequenos grupos heterogéneos, com o objectivo de ser possível a partilha de experiências, aprendizagens e conhecimentos comuns. Pretende-se desta forma envolver todos os alunos no processo de aprendizagem, sendo essa heterogeneidade o agente facilitador. A investigação teve como base a oferta de actividades de carácter cooperativo, organizadas para uma população alvo composta por 46 alunos de 3º ciclo, mais concretamente duas turmas de 7ºano da Escola E.B. 2,3 Telheiras nº1. A recolha de dados acompanhou a realização destas actividades através da entrega de questionários sociométricos aos alunos em questão, no sentido de apurar até que ponto os objectivos propostos de integração dos alunos mais rejeitados nas turmas foram bem-sucedidos ou não. Finalizado este processo, é possível concluir a importância dos jogos colaborativos como estratégia/ferramenta pedagógica facilitadora da integração de alunos desenquadrados da turma.This study of qualitative nature, aims to reflect the role of cooperative activities in the process of improvement interpersonal relationships in schools, in the view of students and teachers, taking into account aspects such as the fact that the inclusion of cooperative games on a school context is still much underrated. However, Kishimoto (1993) points out two important functions of these cooperative games, when used as an educational element, one connected to a playful dimension, linked to fun and pleasure, and the other to supplement the knowledge provided to the individual. That reasoning is shared by Soler (2006) who argues that the practices that point to relevant and coherent human values to be developed in physical education classes should reflect the group's involvement in cooperative practices. In cooperative learning students should work in small heterogeneous groups in order to be able to share experiences and common knowledge. The aim is thus to involve all students in the learning process, where the heterogeneity of the groups work as the facilitator.The research was based on the provision of activities of a cooperative type, organized for a target population constituted by students of the 3rd cycle, namely the 7th year from School E.B. 2,3 Telheiras nº1. Data collection followed the completion of these activities through the delivery of sociometric questionnaires to the students involved, in order to ascertain the extent to which the proposed objectives of integrating the most rejected students in the class were successful or not

Organic farming take off in Portugal

Organic farming is booming in Portugal. CAP subsidies are the main reason beyond this boom. Converted farms are still a small proportion of the country’s total farms. They are mostly extensive (low input) Mediterranean farms located in the mainland interior and less developed regions. Large farms and highly educated farmers are the ones converting. Olive oil is the main organic production. The market for organic products in Portugal is segmented and distribution channels are narrow. In general, people are not aware of organic products and/or lack the money to pay the required price premium. However, a segment of highly educated consumers with above average income do exist. Two private bodies provide certification for organic products under the supervision of the Government. Several national and regional Associations provide technical support, training and education to farmers but they face many barriers. The lack of public environmental education and the lack of research on the sector constitute other important institutional barriers to the Portuguese organic sector development

Incommensurability-Induced Enhancement of Superconductivity in One Dimensional Critical Systems

We show that incommensurability can enhance superconductivity in one dimensional quasiperiodic systems with s-wave pairing. As a parent model, we use a generalized Aubry-Andr\'e model that includes quasiperiodic modulations both in the potential and in the hoppings. In the absence of interactions, the model contains extended, critical and localized phases for incommensurate modulations. Our results reveal that in a substantial region inside the parent critical phase, there is a significant increase of the superconducting critical temperature compared to the extended phase and the uniform limit without quasiperiodic modulations. We also analyse the results for commensurate modulations with period close to the selected incommensurate one. We find that while in the commensurate case, the scaling of the critical temperature with interaction strength follows the exponentially small weak-coupling BCS prediction for a large enough system size, it scales algebraically in the incommensurate case within the critical and localized parent phases. These qualitatively distinct behaviors lead to a significant incommensurability-induced enhancement of the critical temperature in the weak and intermediate coupling regimes, accompanied by an increase in the superconducting order parameter at zero temperature.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure