Identifying evoked potential response patterns using independent component analysis and unsupervised learning

Independent Component Analysis(ICA) is a pre-processing step widely used in brain studies. One of the most common problems in artifact elimination or brain activity related studies is the ordering and identification of the independent components(ICs). In this work, a novel procedure is proposed which combines ICA decomposition at trial level with an unsupervised learning algorithm (K-means) at participant level in order to enhance the related signal patterns which might represent interesting brain waves. The feasibility of this methodology is evaluated with EEG data acquired with participants performing on the Halstead Category Test. The analysis shows that it is possible to find the Feedback Error Negativity (FRN) Potential at single-trial level and relate its characteristics with the performance of the participant based on their knowledge of the abstract principle underlying the task.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Acidente Vascular Cerebral isquémico nas crianças: conhecimentos dos enfermeiros do serviço de Pediatria de um Hospital Central do Grande Porto

Projeto de Graduação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Licenciada em EnfermagemO Acidente Vascular Cerebral (AVC) é a primeira causa de morte em Portugal e a principal causa de morbilidade e de incapacidade prolongada na Europa. Apesar da sua ocorrência antes dos 18 anos de idade ser considerada um evento raro, encontra-se entre as dez principais causas de morte na infância. (Pedro Louro, 2010). Para que a equipa de enfermagem responda com competência e possa interagir no contexto da equipa multidisciplinar, quer seja na prevenção da doença, quer na educação para a saúde e promoção da qualidade de vida do doente, torna-se importante abordar este tema – Acidente Vascular Cerebral Isquémico (AVCI) nas crianças, com a finalidade de avaliar os conhecimentos dos enfermeiros do serviço de Pediatria de um Hospital Central do Grande Porto. Desta forma, foram pertinentes para serem colocadas as seguintes questões de investigação: • Quais os conhecimentos dos enfermeiros do serviço de Pediatria de um Hospital Central do Grande Porto sobre AVCI nas crianças? • Quais os conhecimentos dos enfermeiros do serviço de Pediatria de um Hospital Central do Grande Porto sobre os fatores de risco de AVCI nas crianças? • O contacto com doentes vítimas de AVC isquémico em criança influencia os conhecimentos dos enfermeiros do serviço de Pediatria de um Hospital Central do Grande Porto? Trata-se de um estudo do tipo descritivo, com abordagem quantitativa. Utilizou-se um questionário, com respostas abertas e fechadas, como instrumento de colheita de dados, que foi aplicado aos enfermeiros do serviço de Pediatria de um Hospital Central do Grande Porto. A amostra selecionada é constituída por 21 enfermeiros do serviço de Pediatria de um Hospital Central do Grande Porto. Os resultados obtidos tentam dar resposta às questões de investigação anteriormente levantadas. Relativamente à caracterização da amostra podemos dizer: • A média de idades é de 32 anos, sendo o mínimo de 24 anos e o máximo de 51 anos de idade. • Quanto ao género são maioritariamente do sexo feminino com 95% e apenas 5% do sexo masculino. • A maioria da amostra (55,6%) respondeu que os fatores de risco para que aconteça AVCI nas crianças são os fatores genéticos. • Quando questionados se já tinham cuidado de uma criança vítima de AVC isquémico, apenas 38% afirmaram que sim. Já 62% dos inquiridos responderam que não. Mediante a análise dos dados obtidos podemos concluir que os enfermeiros que fizeram parte da amostra, demonstraram, de uma forma geral, conhecimentos em relação ao AVCI nas crianças. The Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA) is the leading cause of death in Portugal and a leading cause of disease and long-term disability in Europe. In spite of its onset before 18 years old to be considered an uncommon event, is among the ten leading causes of death in childhood. (Pedro Louro, 2010). For the nursing staff to respond with competence and could interact in the context of the multidisciplinary team, either in disease prevention, both in health education and promotion of quality of life of patients, it becomes important to approach this subject - Cerebral Vascular Accident Ischemic (CVAI) brain in children, for the purpose of evaluate nurses' knowledge of the service of a Central Hospital Pediatric Grand Oporto. This way, to be relevant was asked the following research questions: • What is the knowledge of nurses in service of a Central Hospital Pediatric Grand Oporto about CVAI in children? • What is the knowledge of nurses in service of a Central Hospital Pediatric Grand Oporto about the risk factors for CVAI in children? • The contact with patients who suffered ischemic stroke in child influencing the nurses' knowledge of the service of a Central Hospital Pediatric Grand Oporto? This is a descriptive study with a quantitative approach. It was used a questionnaire with open questions and closed as a tool for collecting data that was applied to nursing service of a Central Hospital Pediatric Grand Oporto. The selected sample is composed by 21 nurses from the pediatric service of a Central Hospital Pediatric Grand Oporto. The results obtained attempt respond to the research questions raised earlier. For the sample characterization we can say: • The average age is 32 years with a minimum of 24 years and maximum 51 years old. • As for the gender are mostly female with 95% and only 5% were male. • Most of the sample (55.6%) answered that the risk factors for CVAI happen in children are genetic factors. • When asked if they already took care of a child who suffered of ischemic stroke only 38% said yes. Already 62% of respondents answered no. Through the analyzing the data obtained we can conclude that the nurses interviewed showed in a general way knowledge in relation to CVAI in children

Acidente Vascular Cerebral isquémico nas crianças: conhecimentos dos enfermeiros do serviço de pediatria de um hospital central do grande Porto

Projeto de Graduação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Licenciada em EnfermagemO Acidente Vascular Cerebral (AVC) é a primeira causa de morte em Portugal e a principal causa de morbilidade e de incapacidade prolongada na Europa. Apesar da sua ocorrência antes dos 18 anos de idade ser considerada um evento raro, encontra-se entre as dez principais causas de morte na infância. (Pedro Louro, 2010). Para que a equipa de enfermagem responda com competência e possa interagir no contexto da equipa multidisciplinar, quer seja na prevenção da doença, quer na educação para a saúde e promoção da qualidade de vida do doente, torna-se importante abordar este tema – Acidente Vascular Cerebral Isquémico (AVCI) nas crianças, com a finalidade de avaliar os conhecimentos dos enfermeiros do serviço de Pediatria de um Hospital Central do Grande Porto. Desta forma, foram pertinentes para serem colocadas as seguintes questões de investigação: • Quais os conhecimentos dos enfermeiros do serviço de Pediatria de um Hospital Central do Grande Porto sobre AVCI nas crianças? • Quais os conhecimentos dos enfermeiros do serviço de Pediatria de um Hospital Central do Grande Porto sobre os fatores de risco de AVCI nas crianças? • O contacto com doentes vítimas de AVC isquémico em criança influencia os conhecimentos dos enfermeiros do serviço de Pediatria de um Hospital Central do Grande Porto? Trata-se de um estudo do tipo descritivo, com abordagem quantitativa. Utilizou-se um questionário, com respostas abertas e fechadas, como instrumento de colheita de dados, que foi aplicado aos enfermeiros do serviço de Pediatria de um Hospital Central do Grande Porto. A amostra selecionada é constituída por 21 enfermeiros do serviço de Pediatria de um Hospital Central do Grande Porto. Os resultados obtidos tentam dar resposta às questões de investigação anteriormente levantadas. Relativamente à caracterização da amostra podemos dizer: • A média de idades é de 32 anos, sendo o mínimo de 24 anos e o máximo de 51 anos de idade. • Quanto ao género são maioritariamente do sexo feminino com 95% e apenas 5% do sexo masculino. • A maioria da amostra (55,6%) respondeu que os fatores de risco para que aconteça AVCI nas crianças são os fatores genéticos. • Quando questionados se já tinham cuidado de uma criança vítima de AVC isquémico, apenas 38% afirmaram que sim. Já 62% dos inquiridos responderam que não. Mediante a análise dos dados obtidos podemos concluir que os enfermeiros que fizeram parte da amostra, demonstraram, de uma forma geral, conhecimentos em relação ao AVCI nas crianças. The Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA) is the leading cause of death in Portugal and a leading cause of disease and long-term disability in Europe. In spite of its onset before 18 years old to be considered an uncommon event, is among the ten leading causes of death in childhood. (Pedro Louro, 2010). For the nursing staff to respond with competence and could interact in the context of the multidisciplinary team, either in disease prevention, both in health education and promotion of quality of life of patients, it becomes important to approach this subject - Cerebral Vascular Accident Ischemic (CVAI) brain in children, for the purpose of evaluate nurses' knowledge of the service of a Central Hospital Pediatric Grand Oporto. This way, to be relevant was asked the following research questions: • What is the knowledge of nurses in service of a Central Hospital Pediatric Grand Oporto about CVAI in children? • What is the knowledge of nurses in service of a Central Hospital Pediatric Grand Oporto about the risk factors for CVAI in children? • The contact with patients who suffered ischemic stroke in child influencing the nurses' knowledge of the service of a Central Hospital Pediatric Grand Oporto? This is a descriptive study with a quantitative approach. It was used a questionnaire with open questions and closed as a tool for collecting data that was applied to nursing service of a Central Hospital Pediatric Grand Oporto. The selected sample is composed by 21 nurses from the pediatric service of a Central Hospital Pediatric Grand Oporto. The results obtained attempt respond to the research questions raised earlier. For the sample characterization we can say: • The average age is 32 years with a minimum of 24 years and maximum 51 years old. • As for the gender are mostly female with 95% and only 5% were male. • Most of the sample (55.6%) answered that the risk factors for CVAI happen in children are genetic factors. • When asked if they already took care of a child who suffered of ischemic stroke only 38% said yes. Already 62% of respondents answered no. Through the analyzing the data obtained we can conclude that the nurses interviewed showed in a general way knowledge in relation to CVAI in children

Novel and simple test plating for screening relative transfructosylation activity of fungi

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) have received particular attention recently because of their excellent biological and functional properties, namely, as prebiotic compounds that promote the growth of intestinal microflora. They are also low calorie non-carcinogenic sweeteners with numerous suggested health benefits. These include immune system activation, resistance to infections, synthesis of Bcomplex vitamins, calcium absorption. They can be used as a treatment for breast cancer, diarrhoea, and constipation. Although FOS are present in trace amounts in fruits, vegetables and honey as natural products, its mass production is limited by seasonal restrictions and the inherent inefficiencies of these systems. Hence, microbial FOS production by fungi in bioreactors is more realistic. Several microorganisms are reported to have transfructosylation activity due to fructosyltransferase (EC 2.4.1.9) and/or fructofuranosidase (EC 3.2.1.26) activities. However, the search for other fungi with higher transfructosylation activity is still a challenge. So, a presumptive and indirect colorimetric plate assay for the evaluation of transfructosylation activity in fungi was developed by the simultaneous determination in the same plate of glucose and fructose released from sucrose. The method entailed the coupling of two dye systems, namely the glucose oxidase-peroxidase coupled reaction using phenol and 4-aminoantipyrine for determination of glucose; and the fructose dehydrogenase oxidation in the presence of a tetrazolium salt for determination of fructose. In order to have a standard assay, the fungi were grown on Czapek Dox (CD) agar. 1 disc of mycelium (8 mm diameter) was cut from the edge of each colony and then put in contact with CD agar plates. After incubation at 25 ºC for 72 h each assay plate was overlaid with soft agar containing the reagents. The presence of enzymes with transfructosylation activity was identified by the formation of pink (presence of glucose) and blue (presence of fructose) halos around the discs. In conclusion, the results showed that the method is suitable for screening a large number of fungi due to its simplicity, reproducibility and rapidity.Agência de Inovação (AdI) - project BIOLIFE ref. PRIME 03/347

Yeast Toxicogenomics: Genome-Wide Responses to Chemical Stresses with Impact in Environmental Health, Pharmacology, and Biotechnology

The emerging transdisciplinary field of Toxicogenomics aims to study the cell response to a given toxicant at the genome, transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome levels. This approach is expected to provide earlier and more sensitive biomarkers of toxicological responses and help in the delineation of regulatory risk assessment. The use of model organisms to gather such genomic information, through the exploitation of Omics and Bioinformatics approaches and tools, together with more focused molecular and cellular biology studies are rapidly increasing our understanding and providing an integrative view on how cells interact with their environment. The use of the model eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae in the field of Toxicogenomics is discussed in this review. Despite the limitations intrinsic to the use of such a simple single cell experimental model, S. cerevisiae appears to be very useful as a first screening tool, limiting the use of animal models. Moreover, it is also one of the most interesting systems to obtain a truly global understanding of the toxicological response and resistance mechanisms, being in the frontline of systems biology research and developments. The impact of the knowledge gathered in the yeast model, through the use of Toxicogenomics approaches, is highlighted here by its use in prediction of toxicological outcomes of exposure to pesticides and pharmaceutical drugs, but also by its impact in biotechnology, namely in the development of more robust crops and in the improvement of yeast strains as cell factories

Participatory Action Research in Higher Education Training

By fostering a direct engagement of those involved in solving problems or needs in a context of real situations, participatory action research (PAR) offers great potentialities for the academic training of future and even current professionals. However, there is a weak implementation of PAR as a pedagogical training strategy in higher education. Hence, this paper seeks to be a contribution to answering the following question: What potentialities and challenges can arise from the implementation of PAR in higher education? To this end, the following elements are addressed: what PAR consists of, and the contributions it can offer for higher education training, concluding with the presentation of some challenges and difficulties that seem to emerge from the use of PAR at the institutional, students and teachers’ levels, and which may help understanding its little use

Estudo do comportamento de fogos florestais com base no modelo FARSITE

Mestrado em Engenharia do AmbienteO trabalho central desta dissertação consistiu na análise do comportamento de diferentes fogos florestais, recorrendo ao modelo de progressão de fogo FARSITE. Este simula a progressão de um fogo e assim calcula a área ardida, permite também testar a sua extinção através de várias técnicas de combate. Na sequência da estimativa da área ardida, calcularam-se ainda as emissões de compostos para a atmosfera pelos fogos florestais em estudo. Estas foram determinadas tendo em consideração a eficiência de combustão, o tipo de vegetação (carga combustível), os factores de emissão relativos a cada poluente e a área ardida, em cada uma das ocorrências. Ao longo deste trabalho procurou-se evidenciar que os incêndios florestais constituem uma fonte de emissão de compostos gasosos e particulados que afectam a saúde humana, em particular dos bombeiros, significativamente expostos no decorrer do seu combate.The focus of this dissertation was to examine the behavior of different forest fires, using the model of fire progression FARSITE. The FARSITE simulates the progression of a fire and calculates the burned area; it also allows testing the efficiency of fighting techniques. The burned estimated area is the base for the calculation of forest fire emission to the atmosphere. Therefore emissions of pollutants during forest fires were determined using the combustion efficiency, the type of vegetation (fuel load), the emission factors for each pollutant and the area burned in each fire event. This work highlights that forest fires are a source of gaseous compounds and particles to the atmosphere, which affect human health. Firefighters are particularly affected due to their exposure to smoke along fire fighting activities

Investigação de um gene cfr-like em Clostridium

Mestrado em Biotecnologia - Biotecnologia MolecularThe aim of this project was, primarily, to clone, express and investigate the function of a cfr-like gene from Clostridium sporogenes (clcs) in E. coli and, subsequently, to investigate the function of the clcs gene in C. sporogenes, its natural host, and ascertain possible variations in function. The cfr and cfr-like genes were cloned into a plasmid, which allowed their constitutive expression in E. coli. The ClCs protein was not able to mediate changes in the antibiotic susceptibility of E. coli compared to the PhLOPSA phenotype conferred by the Cfr methyltransferase. The lack of function of the expressed protein was also investigated by combining parts of the cfr and clcs genes, but no MIC changes were observed. Attending to the Cfr methyltransferase function, the verification of the presence or absence of the RNA methylation at A2503 in 23S rRNA from E. coli was checked by primer extension, showing that the ClCs-containing strain E. coli JW2501-1 does not give rise to any stop at A2503, revealing that the Cfr-like protein from C. sporogenes does not methylate E. coli 23S RNA, which is consistent with the MIC results. Since it was not possible to conclude that ClCs does not have a Cfr-like function, further investigation was required to determine if ClCs could be able to methylate C. sporogenes 23S RNA and act as Cfr. Two C. sporogenes strains reported as cfr-like gene carriers were investigated. The attempts to amplify the cfr-like genes revealed that the assumption that both these C. sporogenes strains contained a cfr-like gene seemed to be true for only one of them. MICs showed that the cfr-like gene-containing C. sporogenes strain has lower susceptibility to all the PhLOPSA antibiotics tested than the presumably Cfr-lacking C. sporogenes strain. The uncertain function of the ClCs protein was then investigated by primer extension to look for an indication of modification at A2503 23S RNA from C. sporogenes (E. coli numbering). As a similar stop was observed for both strains, mass spectrometry was performed revealing a mono-methylation at A2503, probably caused by the housekeeping RlmN protein and not by Cfr. Another possible modification in the area around A2503 was detected and should be further analyzed.O objectivo deste projeto foi, inicialmente, clonar, expressar e investigar a função de um gene cfr-like de Clostridium sporogenes (clcs) em E. coli e, posteriormente, investigar a função do gene clcs em C. sporogenes, o seu hospedeiro original, verificando possíveis variações na sua função. Os genes cfr e cfr-like foram clonados num plasmídeo, o que permitiu a expressão constitutiva dos genes em E. coli. A proteína ClCs não mediou alterações na susceptibilidade de E. coli aos antibióticos, em comparação com o fenótipo PhLOPSA conferido pela metiltransferase Cfr. A ausência de função das proteínas expressas foi também investigada através da combinação de partes dos genes cfr e clcs, contudo não foram observadas alterações nas MICs. Tendo em conta a função da metiltransferase Cfr, a verificação da presença ou ausência da metilação na posição A2503 do rRNA 23S de E. coli foi analisada por primer extension, mostrando que a estirpe E. coli JW2501-1 que compreende a proteína ClCs não dá origem a qualquer stop na posição A2503, demonstrando que a proteína Cfr-like de C. sporogenes não metila o RNA 23S de E. coli, o que é consistente com os resultados das MICs. Uma vez que não foi possível concluir que a proteína ClCs não possui a função de uma proteína Cfr-like, foi necessária uma investigação mais aprofundada para determinar se a proteína ClCs poderia metilar o RNA 23S de C. sporogenes e funcionar como Cfr. Duas estirpes de C. sporogenes apontadas como portadoras do gene cfr-like foram investigadas. As tentativas para amplificar os genes cfr-like revelaram que a hipótese de ambas as estirpes conterem um gene cfr-like parecia ser verdade para apenas uma delas. As MICs mostraram que a estripe C. sporogenes que compreende o gene cfr-like tem menor susceptibilidade a todos os antibióticos PhLOPSA testados do que a presumível estirpe de C. sporogenes que não possui a proteína Cfr. A função dúbia da proteína ClCs foi então investigada por primer extension na tentativa de encontrar alguma modificação na posição A2503 do RNA 23S de C. sporogenes (numeração em E. coli). Como foi observado um stop semelhante em ambas as estirpes, foi realizada espectrometria de massa, revelando uma mono-metilação na posição A2503, provavelmente causada pela proteína housekeeping RlmN e não pela Cfr. Uma outra possível modificação em torno da posição A2503 foi detectada e deverá ser posteriormente analisada

Framework to Enable Heterogeneous Systems Interoperability

The electricity markets have been suffering profound changes over the years. Nowadays, the European Union comes to reformulate its politics related with renewable energy sources, in order to encourage microgeneration, having demand response as one of the biggest challenges. Various simulators have been developed that intend to give decision support to the various entities. However, they present the limitation of being designed to answer specific problems. This paper proposes the framework Tools Control Center (TOOCC) as the mechanism to integrate various independent and heterogeneous simulators, so they operate as a unique simulation tool and become capable of answering to more complex problems.This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 641794 (project DREAM-GO) and from FEDER Funds through COMPETE program and from National Funds through FCT under the project UID/EEA/00760/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio