Manuel Castells and Informationalism

Understanding how the social appropriation of information and communication technologies came to define the contemporary period is critical for researchers and practitioners of innovation, business and management. This paper explores how the work of Manuel Castells as a social theorist provides the intellectual tools and the encompassing lenses to enable the study and navigate the process of structural transformation in which our lives have been engulfed from the 1970s onwards. Castells’ procedure of considering technology, social usages and structural history leads him to a key conceptual result: the introduction of the “Network Society” concept. His ideas have most notably been applied to the field of communications studies, which he analyses through the prism of power. However, these insights are not containable in one single discipline as the implications of informationalism stretch in a variety of directions, making other dimensions of society amenable to the network perspective. Organisational studies are one topic in which this line of enquiry may fruitfully be pursued.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

A METHOD TO DEFINE THE SPATIAL STATIONS LOCATION IN A CARSHARING SYSTEM IN SÃO PAULO – BRAZIL

Sharing mobility systems have become part of a sociodemographic trend that has pushed shared modes from the fringe to the mainstream of the transportation systems. Carsharing is a mode of shared transport, where a service is offered in which several people share the access and use of a set of vehicles. This is a relatively new mode of urban transport, which gives users access for short periods of rental, thus providing the benefits of using private vehicles, while avoiding the inherent property charges of a vehicle. The objective of the article searches for the identification and selection of preferred areas in the São Paulo City (Brazil) to implement a prototype of a carsharing system. The adopted methodology of demand analysis identifies the spatial patterns of the intervening variables of socioeconomic information, transportation and land use, in order to understand the current panorama of the demand for transport in São Paulo. The analysis made it possible to identify and select preferred areas in São Paulo for the implementation of a prototype. The study indicated the most favorable places to receive the service stations to operate a carsharing system

A rádio em Portugal: dinâmicas concorrenciais de audiências e publicidade 2002-2016

O relatório A Rádio em Portugal é, a par dos relatórios sectoriais A Televisão em Portugal e A Imprensa em Portugal , um dos relatórios mais abrangentes e completos produzidos pelo OberCom, com o intuito de estudar um segmento do mercado dos media em Portugal. Actualizando estudos anteriores com os dados relativos ao ano de 2016, é possível continuar a acompanhar a evolução das dinâmicas do mercado radiofónico português. A presente edição tira partido dos dados contidos no Anuário de Media & Publicidade - 2016 da Marktest, bem como de dados relativos ao Investimento Publicitário – 2016, coligidos pela Omnicom Media Group e pelo INE. Este estudo procede à actualização da análise evolutiva das audiências1 para a Rádio e das dinâmicas de investimento publicitário neste sector para o período que decorre entre os anos de 2002 e 2016. Tal como para o sector da Imprensa, o quotidiano radiofónico português não se esgota unicamente na actividade dos grupos que gerem estações de rádio nacionais, sendo também as rádios que operam a nível regional/local um importante segmento no mercado radiofónico português. Assim, a tarefa de recensear e conhecer todos estes recursos seria a única forma de compreender a fundo o ecossistema radiofónico em Portugal. No entanto, na impossibilidade de se conhecer mais a fundo o panorama das rádios regionais, por impossibilidade de obtenção de indicadores mensuráveis para este segmento específico, o presente relatório terá em consideração apenas o panorama das rádios de alcance nacional.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Enhanced survival of mice infused with bone marrow-derived as compared with adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Aim: Less invasive therapies using mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are being developed to treat patients with severe liver cirrhosis. MSC constitute a promising cell source for regenerative therapy and are frequently isolated from bone marrow (BMSC) or adipose tissue (ASC). Therefore, this study assessed the characteristics of these two cell types and their safety for cell infusion. Methods: In vitro, exhaustive genetic analysis was performed using human (h)BMSC and hASC. Subsequently, the expression of mRNA and protein was evaluated. In vivo, mouse (m)BMSC or mASC was infused into serial mice via the peripheral vein, and 24-h survival rate, prothrombin time and cause of death were analyzed. Results: On polymerase chain reaction, western blotting, enzyme-linked immunoassay and fluorescence-activated cell sorting, tissue factor was found to be expressed at higher levels in hASC than in hBMSC. Prothrombin time in mice infused with mASC (>120s) was markedly longer than that of untreated mice (6.5±1.7s) and that of mice infused with BMSC (6.7±0.8s) (P<0.001), indicating that pro-coagulation activity was potently enhanced after ASC infusion. The 24-h survival rates in the mASC- and mBMSC-infused groups were 46.4% (13/28) and 95.5% (21/22), respectively; in the former, the rate decreased with increasing number of infused mASC. This cell number-dependent effect was not observed with mBMSC. A histopathological analysis of mice that died immediately following mASC infusion revealed multiple thrombi in the blood vessels of the lungs. Conclusion: These results indicate that BMSC are a superior and safer cell source for regenerative therapy

Linear stability analysis of hypersonic boundary layers computed by a kinetic approach: a semi-infinite flat plate at 4.5 <= M-infinity <= 9

Linear stability analysis is performed using a combination of two-dimensional Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method for the computation of the basic state and solution of the pertinent eigenvalue problem, as applied to the canonical boundary layer on a semi-infinite flat plate. Three different gases are monitored, namely nitrogen, argon and air, the latter as a mixture of 79\% Nitrogen and 21\% Oxygen at a range of free-stream Mach numbers corresponding to flight at an altitude of 55km. A neural network has been utilised to predict and smooth the raw DSMC data; the steady laminar profiles obtained are in very good agreement with those computed by (self-similar) boundary layer theory, under isothermal or adiabatic wall conditions, subject to the appropriate slip corrections computed in the DSMC method. The leading eigenmode results pertaining to the unsmoothed DSMC profiles are compared against those of the classic boundary layer theory. Small quantitative, but no significant qualitative differences between the results of the two classes of steady base flows have been found at all parameters examined. The frequencies of the leading eigenmodes at all conditions examined are practically identical, while perturbations corresponding to the DSMC profiles are found to be systematically more damped than their counterparts arising in the boundary layer at the conditions examined, when the correct velocity slip and temperature jump boundary conditions are imposed in the base flow profiles; by contrast, when the classic no-slip boundary conditions are used, less damped/more unstable profiles are obtained, which would lead the flow to earlier transition. On the other hand, the DSMC profiles smoothed by the neural network are marginally more stable than their unsmoothed counterparts

Potential cardiovascular risk protection of bilirubin in end-stage renal disease patients under hemodialysis

We evaluated the potential cardiovascular risk protection of bilirubin in hemodialysis (HD) patients. An enlarged set of studies were evaluated in 191 HD patients, including hematological study, lipid profile, iron metabolism, nutritional, inflammatory markers, and dialysis adequacy. The TA duplication screening in the UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1 A1 (UGT1A1) promoter region was also performed. The UGT1A1 genotype frequencies in HD patients were 49.2%, 42.4%, and 8.4% for 6/6, 6/7, and 7/7 genotypes, respectively. Although no difference was found in UGT1A1 genotype distribution between the three tertiles of bilirubin, significant differences were found with increasing bilirubin levels, namely, a decrease in platelet, leukocyte, and lymphocyte counts, transferrin, oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL), ox-LDL/low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, apolipoprotein (Apo) A, Apo B, and interleukin-6 serum levels and a significant increased concentration of hemoglobin, hematocrit, erythrocyte count, iron, transferrin saturation, Apo A/Apo B ratio, adiponectin, and paraoxonase 1 serum levels. After adjustment for age these results remained significant. Our data suggest that higher bilirubin levels are associated with beneficial effects in HD patients, by improving lipid profile and reducing the inflammatory grade, which might contribute to increase in iron availability. These results suggest a potential cardiovascular risk protection of bilirubin in HD patient

Modelos de negócio e comunicação social: “telcos”, legacy media, novos media e start-ups jornalísticas em navegação digital: estudo prospectivo (2015-2020)

Este não é um estudo “chave na mão” que solucione os problemas do sector da comunicação social portuguesa, do sector em outros países ou à escala global. O estudo é “apenas” um contributo para a identificação de tendências e de metodologias para reduzir a incerteza na gestão de empresas e redacções, procurando oferecer aquilo que, mais à frente, definimos enquanto uma “tecnologia de racionalidade”. É um estudo híbrido quanto à sua forma e conteúdos. Híbrido entre a dimensão de investigação universitária e a prestação de serviços de consultoria, e que não esconde o objectivo, por entender ser na construção dessas pontes que pode produzir mais-valias para o sector da comunicação social em Portugal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

MKX-AS1 Gene Expression Associated with Variation in Drug Response to Oxaliplatin and Clinical Outcomes in Colorectal Cancer Patients

Oxaliplatin (OXAL) is a commonly used chemotherapy for treating colorectal cancer (CRC). A recent genome wide association study (GWAS) showed that a genetic variant (rs11006706) in the lncRNA gene MKX-AS1 and partnered sense gene MKX could impact the response of genetically varied cell lines to OXAL treatment. This study found that the expression levels of MKX-AS1 and MKX in lymphocytes (LCLs) and CRC cell lines differed between the rs11006706 genotypes, indicating that this gene pair could play a role in OXAL response. Further analysis of patient survival data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and other sources showed that patients with high MKX-AS1 expression status had significantly worse overall survival (HR = 3.2; 95%CI = (1.17–9); p = 0.024) compared to cases with low MKX-AS1 expression status. Alternatively, high MKX expression status had significantly better overall survival (HR = 0.22; 95%CI = (0.07–0.7); p = 0.01) compared to cases with low MKX expression status. These results suggest an association between MKX-AS1 and MKX expression status that could be useful as a prognostic marker of response to OXAL and potential patient outcomes in CRC