Stimulation of Piezo1 by mechanical signals promotes bone anabolism

Mechanical loading, such as caused by exercise, stimulates bone formation by osteoblasts and increases bone strength, but the mechanisms are poorly understood. Osteocytes reside in bone matrix, sense changes in mechanical load, and produce signals that alter bone formation by osteoblasts. We report that the ion channel Piezo1 is required for changes in gene expression induced by fluid shear stress in cultured osteocytes and stimulation of Piezo1 by a small molecule agonist is sufficient to replicate the effects of fluid flow on osteocytes. Conditional deletion o

Prediction of road accident severity using the ordered probit model

The ordered probit model is used to examine the contribution of several factors to the injury severity faced by motor-vehicle occupants involved in road accidents. The estimated results suggest that motor-vehicle occupants travelling in light-vehicles, at two-way roads, and on dry road surfaces tend to suffer more severe injuries than those who travel in heavy-vehicles, at one-way roads, and on wet road surfaces. Additionally, the driver's seat is clearly the safest seating position, urban areas seem to originate less serious accidents than rural areas, and women tend to be more likely to suffer serious or fatal injuries than men

Ensino interdisciplinar das ciências: um contributo para a valorização do património natural e cultural

No ensino das ciências, quer a interdisciplinaridade quer as abordagens multidisciplinares têm vindo a ganhar protagonismo por trazerem uma melhoria significativa na assimilação, sedimentação e aplicação dos conhecimentos adquiridos. Porém, ainda se mantém o hábito de trabalhar e estudar cada disciplina à parte das outras. Não se sugere que essa prática seja abandonada, mas sim que seja enriquecida com a interação entre as várias disciplinas científicas. À expressão "saída de campo" associamos de imediato uma atividade de biologia ou de geologia. Mas esta forma de observar, de recolher amostras ou outro tipo de informação, de estudar, pode ir muito além da biologia ou da geologia, podendo constituir-se uma estratégia de ensino simultaneamente para a biologia, a física, a geologia, a matemática e a química. E se imaginação não faltar, outras áreas do conhecimento são muito bem-vindas a integrar uma viagem pela odisseia da curiosidade, imaginação e engenho humanos. Apresentamos vários exemplos de saídas de campo e de atividades de laboratório construídas de raiz com os contributos de biólogos, físicos, geólogos, matemáticos e químicos, cujos conteúdos não estão etiquetados por disciplina científica: pretendeu-se abordar uma série de questões e de problemas sob vários pontos de vista relevantes e complementares. Para a preparação e realização destes trabalhos, foram constituídas equipas integradas por diversos docentes de todos os departamentos da Escola de Ciências da Universidade do Minho e, portanto, foi o Minho a região geográfica que serviu de base às várias viagens de exploração do meio ambiente, mas também a Serra da Estrela nos deu bons motivos de observação e reflexão. A experiência adquirida com a realização destas atividades multidisciplinares e interdisciplinares e a boa receptividade junto dos públicos-alvo foram incentivos bastantes para nos levar a editar em livro o resultado destas interações, pretendendo assim dar testemunho de abordagens mais holísticas adaptáveis a todos os graus de ensino. Parece-nos, assim, que uma abordagem integrada dos assuntos pode promover um conhecimento mais alargado com benefício, tanto para os especialistas, como para o público em geral, bem como cada disciplina científica e cultural beneficiará em muito da sua abertura a outras áreas do conhecimento. É-nos ainda muito grato constatar que tanto entre os membros das equipas de trabalho como entre as muitas pessoas envolvidas na realização das atividades descritas, aumentou o apreço pelas áreas de estudos que não são as suas; o modo de olhar para uma praia, para o céu, para um simples grão de areia foi algo que se modificou em cada um de nós após cada uma destas viagens e, por extensão, todo e qualquer elemento do património natural ou cultural é um bem precioso simultaneamente de todos e de cada cidadão

Ies we can: web-based gamified learning for social entrepreneurship and innovation

In the Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation course of the Occupational Therapy degree (School of Health, Polytechnic University of Porto) a gamification method was employed to complement the teaching-learning process.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Geographic variation in phenology behavior and response to drought of cork oak populations is crucial to cope with climate change

Cork oak is widely distributed in the Western Mediterranean region, spanning a range of different environmental conditions, and frequently dominating open woodlands of high conservation and socioeconomic value. Cork oak woodlands spread-out for over 715000 ha in Portugal, covering 21% of the national forested area and 30% of the world’s cork producing area. Cork oak is well adapted to the seasonal drought of Mediterranean climate, following several decades of warming- up and frequent drought years. However, since the 70's, maximum and minimum temperatures have risen in Portugal about 0.5 ºC each decade, corresponding to twice the average world temperature increment. In addition, since longer, more frequent, and more intense drought periods are expected, stress caused by the expansion of arid and semi-arid climate throughout the country will affect the species distribution. Consequently, not only established stands may be prone to tree mortality, but also the current reforestation effort may be jeopardized by low survival rates attributed to the use of unsuitable genetic material. It is expected that, through genetic adaptation and/or phenotypic plasticity, cork oak populations may have developed significant differences in fitness and the traits related to it. In this context, provenance trials are the best resource of material to assess the variability between and within populations from seed sources sampled in a wide range of locations (stands) covering the geographical distribution of the species. This will enable to assess the levels and patterns of genetic variation for growth and traits determining adaptation to a specific environment, hence providing crucial information to select appropriate seed sources for planting, as well as to develop sustainable breeding and gene conservation programs. In 1998, multi-site provenance trials were established at three locations in Portugal, as a part of the “European Network for the Evaluation of Genetic Resources of Cork Oak for Appropriate Use in Breeding and Gene Conservation Strategies”. Results from these field trials at 7 years from planting pointed out that seed origin must be considered in reforestation programs, since survival, growth and adaptive traits (phenology, water use efficiency - wue) showed significant differences among populations. Responses to drought (a major limitation to cork oak regeneration) of four contrasting populations, selected according to their field performance for growth, phenology and wue, were further studied under controlled-environment conditions where drought stress was induced. In addition, morphological (total height, root/shoot biomass), physiological (wue, water potential, relative water content and gas exchange) and biochemical (maximum quantum yield of PSII) traits were assessed in 6-month seedlings produced from acorns collected in the stands representing the four contrasting provenances. Results from the controlled experiment provided an indication that drought adaptation was mainly related to early stomatal closure and root investment, with these traits showing significant differences between the studied populations. We have also observed significant differences in growth rhythm, as well as dissimilar temporal drought responses, in the populations under study. In conclusion, both field trials and controlled environment showed consistent results and indicated an important influence of geographic origin on growth performance and wue.projeto PTDC/AGR-AAM/104364/200

Tailoring carbon nanotubes surface chemistry for the purification of antileukemic drugs

Biopharmaceuticals have been used to overcome fatal diseases related with aging. L-aspariginase (LA), in particular, has shown evidences of being efficient for leukemia therapy. The LA production and purification require several steps increasing the cost of the process. In this work, functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were studied as a cost-effective support to purify LA. It was shown that CNTs have strong affinity for the target biopharmaceutical, meaning that can be a promising alternative for the adsorption and purification of LA.publishe

Antioxidant properties and fruit quality during long-term storage of “rocha” pear: effects of maturity and storage conditions

Free radical scavenging activity and the content of ascorbic acid and glutathione were investigated during long-term storage of the pear (Pyrus communis L. ‘Rocha’) fruit harvested at different maturity stages, stored in air or under controlled atmosphere and subjected to postharvest treatments with diphenylamine (DPA) and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP). Harvest maturity had a significant effect on storage disorders, fruit firmness, soluble solids content and acidity. Differences in ascorbate content and free radical scavenging activity at harvest did not persist during storage. Controlled atmosphere and DPA strongly reduced the incidence and severity of browning disorders and superficial scald, whereas 1-MCP provided the most effective control. Neither DPA nor 1-MCP affected the free radical scavenging activityinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Current Trends in Cancer Nanotheranostics: Metallic, Polymeric, and Lipid-Based Systems

Theranostics has emerged in recent years to provide an efficient and safer alternative in cancer management. This review presents an updated description of nanotheranostic formulations under development for skin cancer (including melanoma), head and neck, thyroid, breast, gynecologic, prostate, and colon cancers, brain-related cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma. With this focus, we appraised the clinical advantages and drawbacks of metallic, polymeric, and lipid-based nanosystems, such as low invasiveness, low toxicity to the surrounding healthy tissues, high precision, deeper tissue penetration, and dosage adjustment in a real-time setting. Particularly recognizing the increased complexity and multimodality in this area, multifunctional hybrid nanoparticles, comprising different nanomaterials and functionalized with targeting moieties and/or anticancer drugs, present the best characteristics for theranostics. Several examples, focusing on their design, composition, imaging and treatment modalities, and in vitro and in vivo characterization, are detailed herein. Briefly, all studies followed a common trend in the design of these theranostics modalities, such as the use of materials and/or drugs that share both inherent imaging (e.g., contrast agents) and therapeutic properties (e.g., heating or production reactive oxygen species). This rationale allows one to apparently overcome the heterogeneity, complexity, and harsh conditions of tumor microenvironments, leading to the development of successful targeted therapies.The authors acknowledge Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) for financial support through Projects UID/DTP/04138/2013, PTDC/MED-QUI/31721/2017 and for financial support through PhD fellowship SFRH/BD/117586/2016.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A new strategy for using banana as an ingredient in the brewing process

Beer is a traditionally fermented beverage made from malted grains of barley, hops, yeast, and water, while banana is an important food crop cultivated widely in tropical and subtropical areas and is one of the major fruits in Brazil. Besides, the banana is also very favorable to food industry (e.g. fermented beverages) due to its rich content on soluble solids, presence of minerals, and providing low acidity. In this context, the objective of this work was to evaluate a new strategy for using banana as adjunct to increase the fermentable sugars and to supply a specific aroma in pilot-plant brewing experiments. For this, static fermentations were conducted in a 180 L cylindrical-conical reactor using 140 L as working volume. Addition of banana was evaluated when changing the concentration of the wort from 10 to 12 ºP and from 10 to 13.5 ºP (ºP is the weight of the extract or the sugar equivalent in 100 g solution, at 20 ºC) and fermented under a constant temperature of 10 and 12.5 ºC, respectively. The results showed that the increment in the initial sugar concentration (12 to 13.5 ºP, due to the use of banana juice as adjunct), and in the temperature (10 to 12.5 ºC), increased approximately 17% the ethanol productivity. Thus, it was concluded that by using of simple preparation techniques of banana juice, banana can be used as adjunct in brewing processes, helping in the development of new products as well as in the elaboration of more concentrated worts when compared the traditional brewing worts.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Malteria do ValeCorn Products BrasilWallerstein Industrial e ComercialDiverseyLever (Brazil)Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)CAPES/GRICES (Brazil/Portugal

High voltage wiring harness test equipment

Projeto n.º 2013/34065 (Divmac - Projectos Automatismos e Periféricos Industriais, SA)[Excerto introdução] Este relatório tem por objetivo descrever as atividades desenvolvidas pela Associação Universidade - Empresa para o Desenvolvimento – TecMinho, no âmbito do projeto “High Voltage Wiring Harness Test Equipment”. (...)União Europeia - Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento RegionalQuadro de Referência Estratégica Nacional (QREN