The Chinese dream: challenges and impacts for China's foreign policy

The Chinese Dream was first introduced by Xi Jinping in 2012. Since then, the concept is being used as a common goal of the nation, serving as a way of increasing nationalism inside China, as well as drawing legitimacy to the CCP. So, the Chinese Dream is usually perceived as more of a national then international concept. However, the concept is often used internationally as well, when addressing other countries: terms such as the "African Dream" and the "World Dream" started to appear in speeches delivered by Chinese Leaders, standing as a soft power tool. Often, the dream is portrayed as a peaceful concept and is used to relate to other nations. The concept requires, as many times emphasized by many Chinese leaders, a peaceful world and good external relations, especially regionally. But the contradiction between this need and the increasing pressure of the population to defend Chinese interests abroad and the dependence of CCP's legitimacy on the realization of the dream may cause a conflict of interests within the concept. So, in order to understand the divergent and converging points of the international and national dimension of the Chinese Dream, and further answer the question "how does the Chinese Dream impact Chinese Foreign Policy", the research analysis both national and international discourses delivered by the CCP leaders and related to the concept. The aim is to understand the contradiction and obstacles of the concept and relate them to the implications they have for Chinese foreign policy.O sonho chinês foi apresentado pela primeira vez por Xi Jinping em 2012. Desde então, o conceito tem sido utilizado como um objectivo comum da nação, servindo como uma forma de aumentar o nacionalismo dentro da China, bem como de conferir legitimidade ao PCC. Por isso, o Sonho Chinês é geralmente visto como um conceito mais nacional do que internacional. Contudo, o conceito é frequentemente utilizado também internacionalmente, quando se dirige a outros países: termos como o "Sonho Africano" e o "Sonho Mundial" começaram a aparecer em discursos proferidos por Líderes chineses, usados como uma ferramenta de "soft power". Muitas vezes, o sonho é retratado como um conceito pacífico e é utilizado para estabelecer relação com outras nações. O conceito requer, como muitas vezes enfatizado por muitos líderes chineses, um mundo pacífico e boas relações externas, especialmente a nível regional. Mas a contradição entre esta necessidade e a crescente pressão da população para defender os interesses chineses no estrangeiro e a dependência da legitimidade do PCC na realização do sonho pode causar um conflito de interesses dentro do conceito. Assim, a fim de compreender os pontos divergentes e convergentes da dimensão internacional e nacional do Sonho Chinês, e responder à pergunta "como é que o Sonho Chinês afecta a Política Externa Chinesa", a análise investiga tanto discursos nacionais como internacionais emitidos pelos líderes do PCC e relacionados com o conceito. O objectivo é compreender a contradição e os obstáculos do conceito e relacioná-los com as implicações que têm para a política externa chinesa

Bio-Radar: sistema de aquisição de sinais vitais sem contacto

The Bio-Radar system is capable to measure vital signs accurately, namely the respiratory and cardiac signal, using electromagnetic waves. In this way, it is possible to monitor subjects remotely and comfortably for long periods of time. This system is based on the micro-Doppler effect, which relates the received signal phase variation with the distance change between the subject chest-wall and the radar antennas, which occurs due to the cardiopulmonary function. Considering the variety of applications where this system can be used, it is required to evaluate its performance when applied to real context scenarios and thus demonstrate the advantages that bioradar systems can bring to the general population. In this work, a bio-radar prototype was developed in order to verify the viability to be integrated in specific applications, using robust and low profile solutions that equally guarantee the general system performance while addressing the market needs. Considering these two perspectives to be improved, different level solutions were developed. On the hardware side, textile antennas were developed to be embedded in a car seat upholstery, thus reaching a low profile solution and easy to include in the industrialization process. Real context scenarios imply long-term monitoring periods, where involuntary body motion can occur producing high amplitude signals that overshadow the vital signs. Non-controlled monitoring environments might also produce time varying parasitic reflections that have a direct impact in the signal. Additionally, the subject's physical stature and posture during the monitoring period can have a different impact in the signals quality. Therefore, signal processing algorithms were developed to be robust to low quality signals and non-static scenarios. On the other hand, the bio-radar potential can also be maximized if the acquired signals are used pertinently to help identify the subject's psychophysiological state enabling one to act accordingly. The random body motion until now has been seen as a noisy source, however it can also provide useful information regarding subject's state. In this sense, the acquired vital signs as well as other body motions were used in machine learning algorithms with the goal to identify the subject's emotions and thus verify if the remotely acquired vital signs can also provide useful information.O sistema Bio-Radar permite medir sinais vitais com precisão, nomeadamente o sinal respiratório e cardíaco, utilizando ondas eletromagnéticas para esse fim. Desta forma, é possível monitorizar sujeitos de forma remota e confortável durante longos períodos de tempo. Este sistema é baseado no efeito de micro-Doppler, que relaciona a variação de fase do sinal recebido com a alteração da distância entre as antenas do radar e a caixa torácica do sujeito, que ocorre durante a função cardiopulmonar. Considerando a variedade de aplicações onde este sistema pode ser utilizado, é necessário avaliar o seu desempenho quando aplicado em contextos reais e assim demonstrar as vantagens que os sistemas bio-radar podem trazer à população geral. Neste trabalho, foi desenvolvido um protótipo do bio radar com o objetivo de verificar a viabilidade de integrar estes sistemas em aplicações específicas, utilizando soluções robustas e discretas que garantam igualmente o seu bom desempenho, indo simultaneamente de encontro às necessidades do mercado. Considerando estas duas perspetivas em que o sistema pode ser melhorado, foram desenvolvidas soluções de diferentes níveis. Do ponto de vista de hardware, foram desenvolvidas antenas têxteis para serem integradas no estofo de um banco automóvel, alcançando uma solução discreta e fácil de incluir num processo de industrialização. Contextos reais de aplicação implicam períodos de monitorização longos, onde podem ocorrer movimentos corporais involuntários que produzem sinais de elevada amplitude que se sobrepõem aos sinais vitais. Ambientes de monitorização não controlados podem produzir reflexões parasitas variantes no tempo que têm impacto direto no sinal. Adicionalmente, a estrutura física do sujeito e a sua postura durante o período de monitorização podem ter impactos diferentes na qualidade dos sinais. Desta forma, foram desenvolvidos algoritmos de processamento de sinal robustos a sinais de baixa qualidade e a cenários não estáticos. Por outro lado, o potencial do bio radar pode também ser maximizado se os sinais adquiridos forem pertinentemente utilizados de forma a ajudar a identificar o estado psicofisiológico do sujeito, permitindo mais tarde agir em conformidade. O movimento corporal aleatório que foi até agora visto como uma fonte de ruído, pode no entanto também fornecer informação útil sobre o estado do sujeito. Neste sentido, os sinais vitais e outros movimentos corporais adquiridos foram utilizados em algoritmos de aprendizagem automática com o objetivo de identificar as emoções do sujeito e assim verificar que sinais vitais adquiridos remotamente podem também conter informação útil.Programa Doutoral em Engenharia Eletrotécnic

Adherence to Glucose Monitoring with intermittently scanned Continuous Glucose Monitoring in patients with Type 1 Diabetes

Objetivo: Este estudo tem como objetivo prever o comportamento da adesão ao Intermittently scanned continuous glucose monitoring (isCGM) de pacientes com diabetes tipo 1. Métodos: A população em estudo foram pacientes com Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 1 seguidos na consulta de "Bombas infusoras de insulina" do Centro Hospitalar de São João e que utilizam o Sistema FreeStyle Libre(r) (FL), um dispositivo isCGM. Foram avaliados quanto à caracterização sociodemográfica e clínica, crenças e preocupações sobre Diabetes Mellitus, bem como as perceções quanto ao isCGM. Os dados da monitorização da glicose foram colhidos para caracterizar os padrões de monitorização e para avaliar a adesão ao isCGM - média de scans/dia com o FL. Resultados: Participaram neste estudo 72 pacientes com média de 30,36 anos (sd=11,35). Foram realizados uma média de 7 scans/dia. Os preditores de adesão encontrados foram: Idade (β=0,191, p=0,006), Tempo em alvo (β= 0,530, p=0,002), Necessidade isCGM (β=2,631, p=0,048), Índice de Massa Corporal (β=-0,549, p=0,017) e Sexo (β=-3,996; p=0,011). Conclusão: Este estudo enfatiza a relevância da adesão à monitorização da glicose no controlo da Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 1 e conclui que homens de idades mais jovens, com níveis de índice de massa corporal mais altos, menor tempo no alvo e que relatam menor necessidade de isCGM aderem menos ao isCGM. Assim, esses pacientes devem ser acompanhados de perto e objeto de estratégias personalizadas que promovam a adesão ao tratamento.Purpose: This study aims to predict the Intermittently scanned continuous glucose monitoring (isCGM) adherence behavior of patients with Type 1 Diabetes. Methods: Patients with Type 1 Diabetes mellitus using FreeStyle Libre(r) System (FL), a isCGM device, that attended the "Insulin Infusion Pump clinic" at Centro Hospitalar de São João were enrolled and evaluated for sociodemographic and clinical characterization, beliefs and concerns about Diabetes Mellitus, as well as isCGM's perceptions. Intermittently scanned continuous glucose monitoring data were collected to characterize monitoring patterns and to measure isCGM's adherence - FL average of scans/day. Results: Seventy-two patients with a mean of 30.36 years (sd=11.35) participate in this study. A median of 7 scans/day was performed. The adherence predictors found was Age (β=0.191, p=0.006), Time in target (β= 0.530, p=0.002), isCGM Necessity (β=2.631, p=0.048), Body Mass Index (β=-0.549, p=0.017) and Sex (β=-3.996; p=0.011). Conclusions: This study emphasizes the relevance of glucose monitoring adherence in disease control and shows that males of younger ages, presenting with higher body mass index levels, lower time in target, and reporting lower isCGM necessity are less adherent to isCGM. Therefore, these patients should be closely followed and object of personalized strategies to promote treatment adherence

Battery electric and hybrid electric vehicles : an economic and environmental evaluation

Mestrado em EconomiaA mobilidade elétrica pode ser um fator importante na promoção de um crescimento económico mais sustentável, mais inteligente e mais inclusivo. O objetivo deste estudo é analisar a viabilidade económica e ambiental dos Veículos Elétricos e Híbridos, em Portugal. Para isso, são estimados os custos totais suportados durante a vida útil do veículo em três perspetivas: consumidor, sociedade e emissão de Dióxido de Carbono; para três tecnologias distintas: elétrica, híbrida e convencional. É também realizada uma análise de sensibilidade. Os resultados obtidos indicam que nem o veículo elétrico nem o veículo híbrido são competitivos no mercado automóvel português, por enquanto.This paper aims to estimate the costs and the performance of an electrically powered and a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) in relation to a conventional internal combustion engine car in the consumer, society and the exhaust Well-to-Wheel (WtW) carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, using portuguese data. This goal will be achieved by building a total ownership cost model. A sensibility analysis is also conducted to assess the impact of alterations on the values of the key parameters. The results of this study suggest that neither the hybrid electric vehicle neither the battery electric vehicle (BEV) are yet competitive with the internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) in the Portuguese market

Gluten Immunogenic Peptides as Standard for the Evaluation of Potential Harmful Prolamin Content in Food and Human Specimen

Gluten is a complex mixture of storage proteins in cereals like wheat, barley, and rye. Prolamins are the main components of gluten. Their high content in proline and glutamine makes them water-insoluble and difficult to digest in the gastrointestinal tract. Partial digestion generates peptide sequences which trigger immune responses in celiac and gluten-sensitive patients. Gluten detection in food is challenging because of the diversity, in various food matrices, of protein proportions or modifications and the huge number of immunogenic sequences with differential potential immunoactivity. Attempts to develop standard reference materials have been unsuccessful. Recent studies have reported the detection of a limited number of dominant Gluten Immunogenic Peptides (GIP) that share similarities to epitopes presented in the α-gliadin 33-mer, which showed to be highly proteolytic resistant and is considered to be the most immunodominant peptide within gluten in celiac disease (CD). GIP were detectable and quantifiable in very different kind of difficult to analyze food, revealing the potential immunogenicity by detecting T-cell activity of celiac patients. But GIP were also found in stool and urine of celiac patients on a supposedly gluten-free diet (GFD), showing the capacity to resist and be absorbed and excreted from the body, providing the first simple and objective means to assess adherence to the GFD. Methods to specifically and sensitively detect the most active GIP in food and biological fluids are rational candidates may use similar analytical standard references for determination of the immunopathological risk of gluten exposure in gluten-related diseases.España, MINECO AGL2013-48946-CEspaña, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades y Corporación Tecnológica de Andalucía (CTA

Marine algae extracts as source of natural antileishmanial compounds

This thesis aimed to identify Cystoseira macroalgae compounds displaying antileishmanial activity. Concerning the need to ensure the identification of the samples used for the drug screening, a second aim was determined to evaluate the usefulness of mitochondrial markers for identification of Cystoseira. A comprehensive review showed that marine algae, and in particular Cystoseira, are important sources of bioactive compounds, which can be used as antiparasitic agents (Chapter I and II). This work revealed that these algae contains compounds with antileishmanial activity. Forty five extracts from 15 species was submitted to bio-guided fractionation and its activity against L. infantum promastigotes and their cytotoxicity evaluated. Among the studied algae, Cystoseira extracts (C. baccata, C. barbata, C. nodicaulis and C. tamariscifolia) displayed the most interesting activities against this parasite (Chapter III). C. baccata baccatabaccata hexane extract was hexane extract was hexane extract was hexane extract was hexane extract was hexane extract was hexane extract was hexane extract was hexane extract was hexane extract was hexane extract was hexane extract was further investigated, to the isolation of two active active active active active meroterpenoids meroterpenoids meroterpenoids meroterpenoids : the the (3R)- and (3S)-tetraprenyltoluquinone with an unknown structure, and the (3R)- and (3S)-tetraprenyltoluquinol previously isolated and active against Leishmania intracellular amastigote forms. Promastigote ultrastructural alterations, DNA fragmentation and mitochondrial potential variations suggest that the mechanism of action of these compounds interfere with the mitochondrial metabolism (Chapters IV). Moreover, the investigation of the chemical composition of the Cystoseira crude extracts showed that these algae contain fatty acids, triacylglycerols, carotenoids, steroids and meroterpenoids (Chapter III). This characterization complement published data, suggesting that these compounds might also be involved in the antileishmanial activity here unravelled (Chapter II). Concerning the identification of Cystoseira, samples from twenty-two Cystoseira species were analysed generating 135 new sequences of three mitochondrial regions (COI, 23S and mt-spacer). This work demonstrated that these three markers are suitable to distinguish these species. The results allowed for the correct identification of Cystoseira samples used for drug screening, encouraging the study of taxonomy and evolutionary elucidation of these brown algae using genetic tools (Chapter V)

Perceived organizational support and engagement : the moderating roles of well-being and mindfulness

This study examines the effects of perceived organizational support on employee engagement, moderated by well-being and mindfulness. Building on organizational support theory, we proposed an integrative research model. The promotion of a corporate culture that favors the well-being and happiness of individuals and positive behaviors have become, in recent years, a central concern for organizations. We decided to inspect the moderating roles of well-being and mindfulness on the relationship between perceived organizational support and engagement. The sample consists of a total of 334 participants, of which 287 (63.1%) were female and 111 (24.4%) were male, with ages ranging between 18-75 years old (M = 40.32; SD = 12.56). The descriptive statistics of the variables revealed that participants are above average in terms of the four variables under study, showing statistically significant differences when compared to other means. Also, it was confirmed that perceived organizational support predicts engagement. Our postulated model allowed us to advance that all the variables under study are significant predictors of engagement. However, variables that could have a moderating effect were not shown to have significant results. Nevertheless, the project was relevant in the sense that it is pertinent to continue to carry out studies in this area since the study’s findings can contribute to the promotion of employees’ welfare by providing recommendations for future projects.Este estudo examina os efeitos do suporte organizacional percebido no envolvimento no trabalho dos funcionários, moderado pelo bem-estar e atenção plena. Com base na teoria do suporte organizacional e na teoria de conservação de recursos, propusemos um modelo de investigação integrativo. A promoção de uma cultura organizacional que favorece o bem-estar e felicidade dos indivíduos e comportamento positivo no trabalho tornou-se, nos últimos anos, uma preocupação central das organizações. Decidimos analisar o impacto da moderação do bem-estar e atenção plena na relação entre o suporte organizacional percebido e o envolvimento no trabalho. A amostra é composta por um total de 334 participantes, sendo 287 (63,1%) do sexo feminino e 111 (24,4%) do sexo masculino, com idades compreendidas entre 18 e 75 anos (M = 40,32; DP = 12,56). A estatística descritiva das variáveis revelou que os participantes estão acima da média nas quatro variáveis em estudo, apresentando diferenças estatisticamente significativas quando comparadas às médias de outras populações. Além disso, foi confirmado que o suporte organizacional percebido prediz o envolvimento. O modelo postulado permitiu avançar que todas as variáveis em estudo são preditores do envolvimento no trabalho. No entanto, as variáveis que poderiam ter um efeito moderador não apresentaram resultados significativos. Não obstante, o projeto foi relevante no sentido de que é pertinente continuar a realizar estudos nesta área, uma vez que os resultados do estudo contribuem para a promoção do bem-estar dos colaboradores, fornecendo recomendações para projetos futuros

Effector specificity mutants of the transcriptional activator NahR of naphthalene degrading Pseudomonas define protein sites involved in binding of aromatic inducers

This work reports a genetic analysis of the interactions between NahR, the LysR-type regulator of the NAH operons for biodegradation of naphthalene in Pseudomonas, and its aromatic effectors. Six mutants encoding NahR variants responsive to salicylate analogs such as benzoate, which is not an inducer for the wild type regulator, were isolated with a polymerase chain reactionbased saturation mutagenesis protocol. Most mutants displaying a specific change of effector profile bore single amino acid substitutions within a short protein segment of 60 residues located at the central portion of the NahR sequence. Some of the protein variants exhibited an increased affinity for salicylate and also for otherwise suboptimal effectors, with apparent Ks * values 5–100-fold lower than those of the wild type NahR protein. In addition, all mutants were activated by inducers bearing novel substituents at positions 1 or 2 of the aromatic ring and displayed also an enhanced tolerance to changes at positions 3 and 4. Correlation between mutations in NahR and the structures of the new effectors suggested that protein sites Met116, Arg132, Asn169, and Arg248 are involved in effector recognition and binding during the earlier steps of the process leading to transcriptional activation of cognate NAH promoter

Comparison of filtering methods for real-time extraction of the volitional EMG component in electrically stimulated muscles

Objective Recorded electromyograms (EMG) of electrically stimulated muscles can contain both an exogenous-evoked potential (M-wave) and an endogenous, or volitional, component. This study evaluated the effectiveness of three filtering methods (i.e., high-pass, adaptive, and comb), commonly used in neurorehabilitation, in extracting the volitional component of simulated and experimental EMG during upper-limb tasks. Methods Volitional EMG and M-wave were simulated through a physiological model of muscle recruitment, comprising of a motor neuron pool and associated muscle fibres, superimposed to a stimulation artefact. Experimental EMG data during different levels of volitional muscle contraction in isometric and dynamic tasks were recorded from five unimpaired individuals. Electrical stimulation artefact was removed with different techniques (i.e., none, removing samples, blanking, and interpolation) to assess filter performance across time and frequency domains, and information content (i.e., Kolmogorov-Smirnov D-value). Results The experimental results agreed with the simulations, wherein the adaptive filter outperformed the other filters when using no artefact removal or removing artefact samples from the signal, while for the blanking and interpolation artefact removal methods, the adaptive and comb filters outperformed the high-pass filter. Conclusion The adaptive and comb filters best estimated volitional muscle activity in electrically stimulated muscles. Significance Results from this study will enable the enhanced design of real-time neuroprosthesis control.This study was supported by the Motor Accident Insurance Commission, Queensland, Australia (BioSpine project) and by a Griffith University Postgraduate Research Scholarship. The authors would like to thank Prof David Lloyd for the stimulating discussions that allowed us to refine our study design and analyses.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version