ESTSchedule

O projeto ESTSchedule é uma ferramenta desenvolvida no sentido de suportar a criação de previsões do número de estudantes para as unidades curriculares dos vários cursos da ESTSetúbal/IPS. A escolha do tema ESTSchedule e consequente desenvolvimento desta solução, deriva da vontade do estudante aplicar os conhecimentos adquiridos ao longo do curso, aliada à colmatação de eventuais necessidades da Instituição. As previsões são geradas tendo por base o histórico de inscrições nos anos letivos anteriores. Assim sendo, o projeto ESTSchedule tem uma componente que permite fazer gestão a nível de cursos/ramos e unidades curriculares, e – aliado às estatísticas existentes por curso/ramo e unidade curricular - podem-se gerar previsões de número de alunos para um determinado ano letivo. Desenvolveu-se um projeto de raiz (full-stack), modelando uma base de dados e criando as camadas de serviço e de visualização. Estes três módulos são independentes uns dos outros, permitindo adaptar a novas tecnologias de uma maneira eficaz. A aplicação é acessível com qualquer dispositivo com um nagevador de Internet e uma conexão à mesma. Nas várias secções deste documento estão explicados em detalhe os diversos conceitos necessários à implementação, desde a parte técnica, à parte do negócio em si, com exemplos reais da aplicação em funcionamento. Durante o desenvolvimento do projeto, as maiores dificuldades encontradas foram na determinação e implementação das regras de negócio. A parte técnica, como ficou bem planeada antes da implementação, não precisou de sofrer grandes alterações.The ESTSchedule project is a tool developed on the sense of allowing the creation of predictions of the number of students for the course units of the ESTSetúbal/IPS courses. The theme ESTSchedule and respective development of the solution derives from the willness of applying all the knowledge acquired throughout the course by the student, hence bridging with eventual necessities of the Institution. The predictions are done having in account the historical data of student assignments to the previous years. Having that, the ESTSchedule project has a component that allows the management at the courses/branches and unit courses level and – allied to the existing statistics per course/branch and unit course – it is allowed to generate predictions of the number of students for a given course year. A full-stack project was developed from scratch, modelling a database and creating the service and visualization layers. These three modules are independent from each other, allowing to embrace new technologies in an effective manner. The web application is accessible from any device with an Internet browser and connection to it. In the various sections of this document are explained in detail all the many concepts required for the implementation, starting with the architecture to the business itself, with real examples of the productionized version of the application. During the development of the project, the biggest upsets were during the requirement and implementation phase of the business rules. The technical part, since it was well planned before the implementation, didn’t require any major changes

A pair of non-optimal codons are necessary for the correct biosynthesis of the Aspergillus nidulans urea transporter, UreA

In both prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes, synonymous codons are unevenly used. Such differential usage of optimal or non-optimal codons has been suggested to play a role in the control of translation initiation and elongation, as well as at the level of transcription and mRNA stability. In the case of membrane proteins, codon usage has been proposed to assist in the establishment of a pause necessary for the correct targeting of the nascent chains to the translocon. By using as a model UreA, the Aspergillus nidulans urea transporter, we revealed that a pair of non-optimal codons encoding amino acids situated at the boundary between the N-terminus and the first transmembrane segment are necessary for proper biogenesis of the protein at 37°C. These codons presumably regulate the translation rate in a previously undescribed fashion, possibly contributing to the correct interaction of ureA-translating ribosome-nascent chain complexes with the signal recognition particle and/or other factors, while the polypeptide has not yet emerged from the ribosomal tunnel. Our results suggest that the presence of the pair of non-optimal codons would not be functionally important in all cellular conditions. Whether this mechanismwould affect other proteins remains to be determined

Comparative genomics reveals high biological diversity and specific adaptations in the industrially and medically important fungal genus Aspergillus

Incluye más de 100 autoresBackground: The fungal genus Aspergillus is of critical importance to humankind. Species include those with industrial applications, important pathogens of humans, animals and crops, a source of potent carcinogenic contaminants of food, and an important genetic model. The genome sequences of eight aspergilli have already been explored to investigate aspects of fungal biology, raising questions about evolution and specialization within this genus. Results: We have generated genome sequences for ten novel, highly diverse Aspergillus species and compared these in detail to sister and more distant genera. Comparative studies of key aspects of fungal biology, including primary and secondary metabolism, stress response, biomass degradation, and signal transduction, revealed both conservation and diversity among the species. Observed genomic differences were validated with experimental studies. This revealed several highlights, such as the potential for sex in asexual species, organic acid production genes being a key feature of black aspergilli, alternative approaches for degrading plant biomass, and indications for the genetic basis of stress response. A genome-wide phylogenetic analysis demonstrated in detail the relationship of the newly genome sequenced species with other aspergilli. Conclusions: Many aspects of biological differences between fungal species cannot be explained by current knowledge obtained from genome sequences. The comparative genomics and experimental study, presented here, allows for the first time a genus-wide view of the biological diversity of the aspergilli and in many, but not all, cases linked genome differences to phenotype. Insights gained could be exploited for biotechnological and medical applications of fungi

SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity are associated with genetic variants affecting gene expression in a variety of tissues

Variability in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity between individuals is partly due to genetic factors. Here, we identify 4 genomic loci with suggestive associations for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and 19 for COVID-19 disease severity. Four of these 23 loci likely have an ethnicity-specific component. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals in 11 loci colocalize with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) associated with the expression of 20 genes in 62 tissues/cell types (range: 1:43 tissues/gene), including lung, brain, heart, muscle, and skin as well as the digestive system and immune system. We perform genetic fine mapping to compute 99% credible SNP sets, which identify 10 GWAS loci that have eight or fewer SNPs in the credible set, including three loci with one single likely causal SNP. Our study suggests that the diverse symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 observed between individuals is associated with variants across the genome, affecting gene expression levels in a wide variety of tissue types