Avaliação dos cursos de graduação da Universidade Federal da Bahia: a biblioteca universitária em foco, de 2010 a 2017

This article, a partial result of research, has as objectives: (1) to know the contribution of libraries in the evaluation by INEP of the undergraduate courses at the Federal University of Bahia, focusing on basic and complementary bibliographies and specialized journals; (2) demonstrate the modus operandi of the evaluators and their impact on the outcome of the evaluation of undergraduate courses. The grades assigned to UFBA undergraduate courses by the evaluators were analyzed during the on-site visits between 2010 and 2017. The study is configured as a qualitative and quantitative research of descriptive nature, based on the pertinent literature and a document collection regarding the INEP instruments as well as the evaluation reports of the courses, prepared by the evaluators. The data analysis - comparatively to the "known-reality" and the reality experienced by UFBA libraries - has revealed that the evaluation criteria registered by the evaluators are often subjective, not revealing with reliability the actual state of the libraries. It is concluded that having both basic bibliography and complementary bibliography and specialized journals as the only evaluation indicators of university libraries is not a sufficient measure to determine whether it fulfils its function within the academic community. In addition, the weight of its contribution in the total outcome of the evaluation of the courses is insignificant, since it integrates a list of items of the Infrastructure dimension. Given this scenario, it is proposed that the university library be transformed into a fourth dimension to be evaluated - alongside the Didactic-Pedagogical Organization, Teaching and Tutorial Staff and Infrastructure - in the perspective that it is representative in the total evaluation, due to its function of structure of the Institution as well as to justify the investments made.Este artículo es el resultado parcial de una investigación y tiene como objetivos (1) conocer la contribución de la biblioteca en los resultados de la evaluación de los estudios de grado de la Universidad Federal de Bahía por el INEP, centrándose en las bibliografías básicas y complementarias, y las revistas especializadas; (2) presentar el modus operandi de los evaluadores y cómo afecta en el resultado de la evaluación de los estudios de grado. Se analizaron las valoraciones atribuidas por los evaluadores en las visitas in loco a los estudios de grado de la UFBA, entre los años 2010 y 2017. El estudio se configura como una investigación cualitativa y cuantitativa, de carácter descriptivo, fundamentada en la literatura pertinente y en el análisis documental de los instrumentos del INEP y de los informes de evaluación de dichos estudios, elaborados por los evaluadores. El análisis de los datos, comparándolos a la realidad conocida y constatada por las bibliotecas de la UFBA, reveló que los criterios de evaluación registrados por los evaluadores se presentan muchas veces subjetivos, no revelando con idoneidad el estado real de las bibliotecas. Se concluye que tener como únicos indicadores de evaluación de la biblioteca universitaria las bibliografías básicas y complementarias y las revistas especializadas no es una medida suficiente para determinar si cumple su misión con la comunidad académica. Además, es ínfimo el peso de su contribución en el cómputo total de la evaluación, ya que integra un elenco de ítems del apartado Infraestructura. Ante este escenario, se propone que la biblioteca universitaria sea transformada en un cuarto apartado a ser evaluado ”“ al lado de la Organización Didáctico-pedagógica, Cuerpo Docente y Tutorial, e Infraestructura ”“ en la perspectiva que la biblioteca universitaria tenga un peso significativo en el total de la evaluación, por su función de integrar la estructura fundacional de la Institución y para justificar las inversiones realizadas.Este artigo, resultado parcial de pesquisa, tem como objetivos (1) conhecer a contribuição da biblioteca na avaliação, pelo INEP, dos cursos de graduação da Universidade Federal da Bahia, tendo como foco as bibliografias básicas e complementares e os periódicos especializados; (2) demonstrar o modus operandi dos avaliadores e seu impacto no resultado da avaliação dos cursos de graduação. Analisaram-se as notas atribuídas aos cursos de graduação da UFBA pelos avaliadores, nas visitas in loco, entre os anos de 2010 a 2017. O estudo se configura como uma pesquisa qualitativa e quantitativa, de caráter descritivo, baseada na literatura pertinente e em levantamento documental referente aos instrumentos do INEP e aos relatórios de avaliação dos cursos, elaborados pelos avaliadores. A análise dos dados, comparativamente à realidade conhecida e vivenciada pelas bibliotecas da UFBA, revelou que os critérios de avaliação registrados pelos avaliadores se apresentam muitas vezes subjetivos, não revelando com fidedignidade o estado real das bibliotecas. Conclui-se que ter como únicos indicadores de avaliação da biblioteca universitária as bibliografias básicas e complementares e os periódicos especializados não é uma medida suficiente para configurar se ela cumpre sua função junto à comunidade acadêmica. Ademais, o peso de sua contribuição no cômputo total da avaliação do curso é ínfimo, uma vez que ela integra um elenco de itens da dimensão Infraestrutura. Ante esse cenário, propõe-se que a biblioteca universitária seja transformada numa quarta dimensão a ser avaliada ”“ ao lado da Organização Didático-pedagógica, Corpo Docente e Tutorial e Infraestrutura ”“ na perspectiva que ela tenha representatividade no total da avaliação, por sua função de estrutura fundante da Instituição e para justificar os investimentos feitos

Circulating low density neutrophils of breast cancer patients are associated with their worse prognosis due to the impairment of T cell responses

Funding: This work was supported by Liga Portuguesa Contra o Cancro; Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (PD/BD/114023/2015, SFRH/BD/148422/2019 and 2021.08031.BD); and iNOVA4Health (UIDB/04462/2020 and DAI/2019/46).Neutrophils are prominent immune components of tumors, having either anti-tumor (N1) or pro-tumor activity (N2). Circulating neutrophils, divided into high density neutrophils (HDN) and low density neutrophils (LDN), functionally mirror those N1 and N2 cells, respectively. LDN are rare in non-pathological conditions, but frequent in cancer, exhibiting a pro-tumor phenotype. These findings have been mainly demonstrated in animal models, thus proper validation in humans is still imperative. Here, we observed that LDN were increased in the blood of breast cancer (BC) patients, particularly with metastatic disease. Within the population of non-metastatic patients, LDN were more prevalent in patients with poor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy than patients with a good response. The higher incidence of LDN in BC patients with severe disease or resistance to treatment can be explained by their pro-tumor/immunosuppressive characteristics. Moreover, the percentage of LDN in BC patients' blood was negatively correlated with activated cytotoxic T lymphocytes and positively correlated with immunosuppressive regulatory T cells. The ability of LDN to spoil anti-tumor immune responses was further demonstrated ex vivo. Hence, this study reveals the potential of LDN as a biomarker of BC response to treatment and opens new avenues for developing new immunotherapies.publishersversionpublishe

Intrathecal injection of the secretome from ALS motor neurons regulated for miR-124 expression prevents disease outcomes in SOD1-G93A mice

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease with short life expectancy and no effective therapy. We previously identified upregulated miR-124 in NSC-34-motor neurons (MNs) expressing human SOD1-G93A (mSOD1) and established its implication in mSOD1 MN degeneration and glial cell activation. When anti-miR-124-treated mSOD1 MN (preconditioned) secretome was incubated in spinal cord organotypic cultures from symptomatic mSOD1 mice, the dysregulated homeostatic balance was circumvented. To decipher the therapeutic potential of such preconditioned secretome, we intrathecally injected it in mSOD1 mice at the early stage of the disease (12-week-old). Preconditioned secretome prevented motor impairment and was effective in counteracting muscle atrophy, glial reactivity/dysfunction, and the neurodegeneration of the symptomatic mSOD1 mice. Deficits in corticospinal function and gait abnormalities were precluded, and the loss of gastrocnemius muscle fiber area was avoided. At the molecular level, the preconditioned secretome enhanced NeuN mRNA/protein expression levels and the PSD-95/TREM2/IL-10/arginase 1/MBP/PLP genes, thus avoiding the neuronal/glial cell dysregulation that characterizes ALS mice. It also prevented upregulated GFAP/Cx43/S100B/vimentin and inflammatory-associated miRNAs, specifically miR-146a/miR-155/miR-21, which are displayed by symptomatic animals. Collectively, our study highlights the intrathecal administration of the secretome from anti-miR-124-treated mSOD1 MNs as a therapeutic strategy for halting/delaying disease progression in an ALS mouse model.This research was funded by Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa: ELA-2015-002 (to DB); Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT): PTDC/MED-NEU/31395/2017 (to D.B.), UIDB/UIDP/04138/2020, and UID/DTP/04138/2019-2020 (to iMed.ULisboa); Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa and the Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-031395 (to D.B.); La Caixa Foundation and Francisco Luzón Foundation through project HR21-00931 (to D.B.); and an individual fellowship from FCT: SFRH/BD/129586/2017 (to M.B.). This work was also funded by the ICVS Scientific Microscopy Platform, a member of the national infrastructure of PPBI—Portuguese Platform of Bioimaging (PPBI-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022122)

The central nervous system source modulates microglia function and morphology in vitro

The regional heterogeneity of microglia was first described a century ago by Pio del Rio Hortega. Currently, new information on microglia heterogeneity throughout central nervous system (CNS) regions is being revealed by high-throughput techniques. It remains unclear whether these spatial specificities translate into different microglial behaviors in vitro. We cultured microglia isolated from the cortex and spinal cord and analyzed the effect of the CNS spatial source on behavior in vitro by applying the same experimental protocol and culture conditions. We analyzed the microglial cell numbers, function, and morphology and found a distinctive in vitro phenotype. We found that microglia were present in higher numbers in the spinal-cord-derived glial cultures, presenting different expressions of inflammatory genes and a lower phagocytosis rate under basal conditions or after activation with LPS and IFN-γ. Morphologically, the cortical microglial cells were more complex and presented longer ramifications, which were also observed in vivo in CX3CR1+/GFP transgenic reporter mice. Collectively, our data demonstrated that microglial behavior in vitro is defined according to specific spatial characteristics acquired by the tissue. Thus, our study highlights the importance of microglia as a source of CNS for in vitro studies.This work was funded by the Santa Casa Neuroscience Awards—Prize Melo e Castro for Spinal Cord Injury Research (MC-18-2021), and it was partially funded by the Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation (WFL-ES-03/19). This work was also funded by national funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)—projects UIDB/50026/2020, UIDP/50026/2020, and EXPL/MED-PAT/0931/2021, and by the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000039, supported by the Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020) under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). We would like to acknowledge the support given by the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology to AGP (2020.07534.BD), AM (UMINHO/BIL-CNCG/2022/16), SM (CEECIND/01902/2017), and NAS (CEECIND/04794/2007)

Avaliação das ações de vigilância sanitária: construção participativa de mecanismos para o monitoramento do desempenho da gestão

  Introduction: Evaluation focused on use is an important theoretical framework to be observed in proposing a pathway among those of the feld of evaluation to support the qualifcation of health management. Performance monitoring is considered a driving strategy for rationalizing management and decisions. Objective: To present the pathway carried out by the Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária and the Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz in the participatory construction process of mechanisms for monitoring management performance in subnational instances, as part of the implementation of the action – structural and technical mechanisms – that makes part of the frst line of execution of the Institutionalization of the project “Evaluative Practices: strategic management of the evidence-based health surveillance”. Method: Description of the participatory construction process of mechanisms for monitoring management performance in subnational instances, considering two dimensions – the involvement of the main stakeholders in the perspective of the use of monitoring and the building of theoretical and operational tools and utilization strategies. Results: The project was  implemented in four health surveillance institutions. It was permeated by the participatory feature since the strategy conception, to the modeling, to the formulation of the management devices and instruments of analysis and interpretation of the indicators. Conclusions: The project enabled the development of an institutional learning locus that valued not only the appreciation of results, but also the information production process itself. Therefore, it contributes to the institutionalization of changes and innovations in the execution of actions.Introdução: A avaliação focada na utilização constitui-se em referencial teórico importante a ser observado na proposição de um caminho entre tantos que o campo da avaliação oferece como suporte à qualifcação da gestão em saúde. O monitoramento do desempenho é considerado uma estratégia impulsionadora à racionalização da gestão e das decisões. Objetivo: Apresentar o caminho percorrido pela Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária e pelo Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz no processo de construção participativa de mecanismos para o monitoramento do desempenho da gestão em instâncias subnacionais, como parte da implantação da ação – mecanismos estruturais e técnicos – integrante da primeira linha de execução do projeto Institucionalização de Práticas Avaliativas: a gestão estratégica da vigilância sanitária baseada em evidências. Método: Descrição do processo de construção participativa de mecanismos para o monitoramento do desempenho da gestão em instâncias subnacionais, considerando duas dimensões – o envolvimento dos principais interessados na perspectiva do uso do monitoramento e a estruturação do instrumental teórico e operacional e de estratégias de utilização. Resultados: Projeto implantado em quatro instituições de Vigilância Sanitária, permeado pelo caráter participativo, desde a elaboração da  estratégia, à modelagem, à formulação dos dispositivos gerenciais e de instrumentos de análise e interpretação dos indicadores. Conclusões: O projeto viabilizou a instituição de um espaço de aprendizado institucional que valorizou não só a apreciação dos resultados, mas, também, o próprio processo de produção da informação, contribuindo, assim, com a instituição de mudanças e inovações na execução das ações

SARS-CoV-2 introductions and early dynamics of the epidemic in Portugal

Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal was rapidly implemented by the National Institute of Health in the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, in collaboration with more than 50 laboratories distributed nationwide. Methods By applying recent phylodynamic models that allow integration of individual-based travel history, we reconstructed and characterized the spatio-temporal dynamics of SARSCoV-2 introductions and early dissemination in Portugal. Results We detected at least 277 independent SARS-CoV-2 introductions, mostly from European countries (namely the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, and Switzerland), which were consistent with the countries with the highest connectivity with Portugal. Although most introductions were estimated to have occurred during early March 2020, it is likely that SARS-CoV-2 was silently circulating in Portugal throughout February, before the first cases were confirmed. Conclusions Here we conclude that the earlier implementation of measures could have minimized the number of introductions and subsequent virus expansion in Portugal. This study lays the foundation for genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Portugal, and highlights the need for systematic and geographically-representative genomic surveillance.We gratefully acknowledge to Sara Hill and Nuno Faria (University of Oxford) and Joshua Quick and Nick Loman (University of Birmingham) for kindly providing us with the initial sets of Artic Network primers for NGS; Rafael Mamede (MRamirez team, IMM, Lisbon) for developing and sharing a bioinformatics script for sequence curation (https://github.com/rfm-targa/BioinfUtils); Philippe Lemey (KU Leuven) for providing guidance on the implementation of the phylodynamic models; Joshua L. Cherry (National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health) for providing guidance with the subsampling strategies; and all authors, originating and submitting laboratories who have contributed genome data on GISAID (https://www.gisaid.org/) on which part of this research is based. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the view of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government. This study is co-funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Agência de Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica (234_596874175) on behalf of the Research 4 COVID-19 call. Some infrastructural resources used in this study come from the GenomePT project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184), supported by COMPETE 2020 - Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Lisboa Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa2020), Algarve Portugal Regional Operational Programme (CRESC Algarve2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Functional characterization of Hippo pathway in planarians

Dissertação de Mestrado em Genética Molecular Comparativa e TecnológicaA via Hippo tem vindo a emergir como uma via de sinalização conservada essencial para coordenar a proliferação e a morte celular de forma a limitar o tamanho dos orgãos. Descobertas recentes sugerem que a via Hippo pode ainda desempenhar um importante papel na regulação das células estaminais ao nível da sua auto-renovação e expansão. Com o objetivo de compreender e caraterizar a via Hippo em planárias procedeu-se à identificação e caraterização funcional dos elementos que compõem a via Hippo em Schmidtea mediterramea. Os resultados preliminares demonstraram que a estádios iniciais de regeneração a proliferação aumenta e a apoptose diminui na ausência dos genes Smed-sav, Smed-hpo e Smed-wts. Para, além disso, observou-se que a regeneração de tecidos diferenciados como o cérebro, sistemas visual e digestivo era afetada. A inibição do gene Smed-yki não altera significativamente a proliferação, contudo é possível observar o aumento de células apoptóticas e a sua deslocalização. Além disso, os animais iniciam um processo de avolumação. Em homeostase os animais submetidos a RNAi, Smed-sav, Smed-hpo and Smed-wts mantêem o seu nível de proliferação e é observada uma redução ao nível da apoptose originando o aparecimento de sobre-crescimentos e à não reposição celular dos tecidos diferenciados. Por outro lado a inibição do Smed-yki origina um aumento da proliferação enquanto que a apoptose mantêm-se. Durante a homeostase, estes animais apresentam uma forte desorganização ao nível dos tecidos e tal como nos regenerantes exibem um fenótipo avolumado. Estes resultados sugerem que a via Hippo desempenha um importante papel tanto no processo de regeneração como durante a homeostase em planárias. Contudo, um estudo mais aprofundado necessita de ser realizado para caraterizar esta via em planárias.The Hippo pathway has emerged as a conserved signaling pathway essential to coordinate both cell proliferation and death in order to limit organ size. Recent evidences suggest that the Hippo pathway may regulate stem cell and progenitor cell self-renewal and expansion. In order to understand and characterize the Hippo pathway in planarians – flatworms with striking regenerative abilities – we identified and performed a functional analysis of the Hippo pathway elements in the planarian specie Schmidtea mediterranea. The preliminary results show that at early stages of regeneration the proliferation increases and the apoptosis is reduced in the absence of Smed-sav, Smed-hpo and Smed-wts. Furthermore was observed that the regeneration of differentiated tissues as the brain, visual and digestive systems is affected. In the absence of Smed-yki, proliferation and apoptotic rates are not severally altered, although animals show a dramatic blotted phenotype. During homeostasis RNAi animals for Smed-sav, Smed-hpo and Smed-wts maintained the proliferation rate and the apoptosis was reduced, which leads to the generation of overgrowths and improper cell replacement of differentiated tissues. On the other hand, the proliferation is highly increased in Smed-yki RNAi animals whereas the apoptosis is maintained. During homeostasis Smed-yki RNAi planarians are also blotted and show severe affectation of the tissue organization. These results suggest that the Hippo pathway plays an important role in both regeneration and homeostasis processes in planarians. However, deeper studies need to be performed in order to further characterize this pathway in planarians

Fatores de risco e tipologias dos agressores conjugais

A dissertação tem como objetivos centrais identificar a presença de fatores de risco numa amostra de agressores conjugais acompanhados pelo sistema de justiça penal, diferenciar esses agressores através da construção de uma tipologia e distinguir os tipos encontrados com base nos fatores de risco relevantes para a violência conjugal. Para o efeito, recorreu-se à análise documental de 59 processos de violência conjugal referentes a sujeitos do sexo masculino a cumprir medida na comunidade e aos quais foi imposta a frequência do Programa para Agressores de Violência Doméstica (PAVD). Com base na literatura revista, organizou-se a informação em três grandes níveis de análise - exosistema, microsistema e nível ontogénico - que integram variáveis que têm sido relacionadas com a violência conjugal

Transgenic corn oil for biodiesel production via enzymatic catalysis with ethanol

This work aims to study the production of fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) from a transgenic corn oil,through transesterification using supported enzymes as catalyst (Lipozyme TL IM from Novozymes)and ethanol as reagent. First, the corn oil was characterized for its acid value (0.26 mg KOH/g oil),iodine number (127 g iodine/100 g oil), kinematic viscosity at 40 ºC (36.27 mm2/s), density at 20 ºC(919 kg/m3) and water content (749 mg/kg). Second, the best operating conditions to perform thetransesterification reaction were determined, by testing the following experimental conditions: oil/alcohol molar ratio (1:3, 1:6 and 1:9), catalyst/ oil mass ratio (2.3, 2.8 and 3.3 wt%), reaction time (8and 12 h) and reaction temperature (35 and 45 ºC). Results showed that although some of the qualityparameters analyzed were out of the EN 14214:2009 standard limits (namely the kinematic viscosity,water content, acid value and group I metals) the best operating conditions for a good biodiesel quality(with 69.2 wt% of FAEE content) and the highest reaction yield (98.95 wt%) are an oil/ alcohol molarratio of 1:6, a catalyst/ oil mass ratio of 2.8 wt%, a reaction time of 12 h and a reaction temperature of35 ºC

Molecular impact of launch related dynamic vibrations and static hypergravity in planarians

Although many examples of simulated and real microgravity demonstrating their profound effect on biological systems are described in literature, few reports deal with hypergravity and vibration effects, the levels of which are severely increased during the launch preceding the desired microgravity period. Here, we used planarians, flatworms that can regenerate any body part in a few days. Planarians are an ideal model to study the impact of launch-related hypergravity and vibration during a regenerative process in a "whole animal" context. Therefore, planarians were subjected to 8.5 minutes of 4 g hypergravity (i.e. a human-rated launch level) in the Large Diameter Centrifuge (LDC) and/or to vibrations (20-2000 Hz, 11.3 Grms) simulating the conditions of a standard rocket launch. The transcriptional levels of genes (erg-1, runt-1, fos, jnk, and yki) related with the early stress response were quantified through qPCR. The results show that early response genes are severely deregulated after static and dynamic loads but more so after a combined exposure of dynamic (vibration) and static (hypergravity) loads, more closely simulating real launch exposure profiles. Importantly, at least four days after the exposure, the transcriptional levels of those genes are still deregulated. Our results highlight the deep impact that short exposures to hypergravity and vibration have in organisms, and thus the implications that space flight launch could have. These phenomena should be taken into account when planning for well-controlled microgravity studies