O rural através de dois olhares no filme. Viajo porque preciso, volto porque te amo

Esta análise se detém sobre as representações do rural nordestino brasileiro no filme Viajo porque preciso, volto porque te amo, dos diretores Karim Aïnouz e Marcelo Gomes, lançado em 2009. Aqui partimos do pressuposto que uma obra cinematográfica, mesmo que resultante da visão subjetiva de seu narrador fílmico, ao ser entendida como um produto cultural de uma sociedade, também carrega em seu discurso representações dessa sociedade e de seu tempo histórico. Neste artigo, o exame dessas representações será realizado por meio da análise dos elementos significantes da linguagem cinematográfica (enquadramentos, iluminação, movimentos de câmera etc.) utilizados na construção da narrativa do filme em questão, já que acreditamos que é a partir da escolha de cada elemento de linguagem que um filme pode revelar a seus espectadores as representações estéticas e ideológicas de determinado tempo social.This analysis focuses on rural representations of the Brazilian northeastern backwoods in the movie “I travel because I need it, I return because I love you”, directed by Karim Aïnouz and Marcelo Gomes and released in 2009. We assume that a cinematographic work, even if resulting from the subjective vision of a cinematographic narrator, when we understood as a society cultural product, also carries in its discourse representations of that society and its historical time. In this article, the examination of these representations will be performed through the analysis of the significant elements of cinematographic language (framing, lighting, camera movements, etc.) used in the narrative construction, since we believe that it is from the choice of every element of language that a movie can reveal to its viewers the aesthetic and ideological representations of a given social time

(UN)RECONCILED SELVES: AMERICAN BORN CHINESE THROUGH THE LENS OF DU BOISIAN THOUGHT

Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel, American Born Chinese, has entered the syllabus of several North American classrooms as a starting point for discussions on racial stereotyping and identity formation. Despite having been compared to how African American authors explore the consequences of negative stereotyping, critics of Yang’s work have directed their attention mostly towards the reality of members from the Asian American community. Yet, this article aims at comprehending how the concepts of “double consciousness” and “two-ness” developed by W.E.B. Du Bois in The Souls of Black Folk (1903) can be used in order to better understand the experience of contemporary Chinese American youths as it has been represented in American Born Chinese. By utilizing Du Bois’s understanding of the psychological impacts of negative stereotyping on his black subjects this work argues that a parallel can be drawn between this African American author’s theory of split consciousness, together with its resulting feeling of otherness, and several narrative elements of Yang’s graphic novel, as well as its tripartite structure. Furthermore, it also examines how both authors present their readers with similar solutions in order for conflicting selves to achieve a state of undivided self-consciousness

Omni-channel retail strategies in the luxury world: trends and the case of fartetch

It’s impossible to neglect the changes that internet and e-commerce caused in the retail sector, by increasing customers’ expectations and forcing retailers to adapt the business to the new digital era. Internet is characterized by the increase in accessibility to everyone, which can be good or not so. For instance, luxury products rely on the sense of exclusivity, instead of being accessible to everyone. Hence, internet represents a challenge for luxury brands once, although they are able to provide a fullness service to their customers, they need to maintain the exclusiveness in which luxury is sustained. Consequently, the appearance of omni-channel was more than a challenge for the luxury sector, in particular, given the need to provide a full integrated experience through different channels. The aim of this dissertation is to find out how important is omni-channel, even in the luxury industry, and how it’s actually implemented based on the case of one of the most successful companies on luxury fashion e-commerce industry – Farfetch. Even though the company started in London, its founder is a Portuguese entrepreneur, and it’s in Portugal where most of its employees work, divided in two offices – Guimarães e Porto. Therefore, a literature review was written on relevant concepts and ideas about luxury, e-commerce and the different channels’ approaches. There were formulated five propositions that were after discussed according to the information gathered about the company and its strategies. In the end, it was possible to identify which propositions are in accordance with theory and which are not, as well as understand which are the most important strategies and trends about omni-channel in the luxury fashion e-commerce sector

Valérius growth trajectory : a case study on competitive advantage in the portuguese textile and clothing industry

This dissertation, written in a form of case study, aims to address how a firm operating in the Portuguese textile and clothing industry was able to survive the challenges posed by the dynamics felt in the industry. It serves as a teaching instrument since it provides tools for the study of a real-life situation and application of theoretical frameworks learned in class. Valérius is a Portuguese company operating in the textile and clothing industry dedicated to the production of knitwear garments for the high premium segment, being able to craft a growth trajectory over the last years. Why is Valérius able to survive while many other companies are failing? What is on the basis of its competitive advantage? The options the company made, when facing difficult decisions in order to cope with changes on the external environment, creates a set of interesting issues to address in strategy courses, to further deepen students’ knowledge on theoretical concepts. The proposed case study delivers the base for a critical analysis of the company in order to understand where lies its competitive advantage, particularly with the study of the dynamic capabilities approach.Esta dissertação, escrita na forma de um estudo de caso, tem como objetivo compreender como é que uma empresa que atua na industria têxtil e de vestuário portuguesa, conseguiu assegurar a sua sobrevivência face aos desafios da dinâmica constante sentida na indústria. Este serve como um instrumento de ensino, pois permite estudar uma situação real e posteriormente aplicar as teorias aprendidas em aula. A Valérius é uma empresa portuguesa que opera na indústria têxtil e de vestuário portuguesa, dedicada à confeção de vestuário exterior, especialmente de malhas, para o sector médio/alto. A empresa conseguiu construir uma trajetória de crescimento ao longo dos anos. Porque é que a Valérius consegue sobreviver, enquanto muitas outras empresas falharam? O que está na base da sua vantagem competitiva? As opções tomadas pela empresa, aquando de difíceis decisões, para se enquadrarem nas mudanças sentidas no ambiente externo, cria uma serie de tópicos interessantes para abordar nos cursos de estratégia, de forma a aprofundar o conhecimento dos estudantes relativamente aos conceitos teóricos. O estudo de caso aqui proposto, dá uma base para que seja feita uma análise crítica da empresa de forma a perceber de que forma é alcançada a vantagem competitiva, particularmente através do estudo das capacidades dinâmicas

Inertial sensor based full body 3D kinematics in the differential diagnosis between Parkinson’s Disease and mimics

The differential diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) remains challenging with frequent mis and underdiagnosis. DAT-Scan has been a useful technique for assessing the lost integrity of the nigrostriatal pathway in PD and differentiating true parkinsonism from mimics. However, DAT-Scan remains unavailable in most non-specialized clinical centres, making imperative the search for other easy and low-cost solutions. This dissertation aimed to investigate the role of inertial sensors in distinguishing between the denervated and the non-denervated individuals. In this dissertation, we've used Inertial Sensor Based 3D Full Body Kinematics (FBK) and tested if this technique was able to distinguish between patients with changes in the DAT-Scan from those without. This was divided into two parts, being that firstly, a group of individuals was referred by the attending physician for DAT-Scan (123I-FP-CIT SPECT) to be able to compare FBK in those with and without evidence of dopaminergic depletion. Second, it was tested whether FBK could be used as a metric for the severity of dopaminergic depletion. Twenty-one patients participated in this study, being recruited from the Nuclear Medicine Unit in the Champalimaud Clinical Centre (CCC), Lisbon. Within these 21 patients, 10 of them had denervation (mean age, 68.4 ± 7.8 years) and the remaining 11 (mean age, 66.6 ± 7.4 years) did not present denervation. The analysis between the worst uptake ratio features and dimensional features, as well as the asymmetry indexes in the striatum revealed significant differences between denervated and non-denervated individuals. On the contrary, the kinematics did not do it. Overall, based on the collected kinematics data, it was identified that there was not any significant correlation between the kinematics and the DAT-Scan. What means that these kinematics variables were not able to explain the DAT-Scan. On the other hand, it was also checked that the kinematics data were strongly correlated to the motor symptoms (MDS-UPDRS III). This way, it was concluded that the classical biomechanics did not distinguish denervated from non-denervated individuals. Therefore, the kinematics could not give the same answer as the DAT-Scan. In spite of these results it would be relevant to keep researching other methods in order to find out the distinction between the denervation and no denervation in a low-cost way

Crescimento de Ulva rigida C. Agardh em condições de stress de macronutrientes

Dissertação de Mestrado em Biodiversidade e Biotecnologia VegetalA utilização de Ulva rigida estende-se para diversas áreas, designadamente como alimento no cultivo de invertebrados e.g. Patella e Haliotis, como fertilizante, biofiltro, bem como na alimentação tradicional nos Açores. O presente estudo visou compreender o crescimento de Ulva rigida quando sujeita a stress dos macronutrientes Nitrato e Fosfato, tendo como referência que um dos macronutrientes ou ambos iriam possivelmente desempenhar papel de fator limitante. Pretendeu-se determinar valores extremos para o crescimento da alga em estudo, bem como encontrar um meio para o seu crescimento ótimo. Foram utilizadas câmaras de cultivo, onde se fixaram a intensidade luminosa (16200Lux), fotoperíodo (12:12h) e temperatura (20ºC) sendo as algas submetidas a diferentes combinações dos macronutrientes em estudo. A combinação N32P2 (ppm) revelou ser o meio adequado para o crescimento in vitro de Ulva rigida, sendo o Nitrato um fator limitante do crescimento desta espécie.ABSTRACT: The usability of Ulva rigida , extends over several areas, namely: as source of food in the breathing of invertebrates e.g. Patella and Haliotis, as fertilizer, biofilter, as well as complement ingredient in the traditional food of Azores islands. The study here presented aimed the understanding about Ulva rigida growth, when exposed to the stress of the macronutrients Nitrate and Phosphate, knowing that one or both macronutrients would possibly play a limiting factor role. It was intended to determine extreme values to the growth of the alga in study, as well as finding a way to its optimal growth. For the study in question we used growing chambers, in which we set the luminous intensity (16200Lux), photoperiod (12:12h) and temperature (20ºC). The algae were submitted to various combinations of the macronutrients in study. The N32P2 combination (ppm) has proven to be the way to grow Ulva rigida in vitro, were the Nitrate is a factor constraint in the growth of this species

microRNAs in Cancer: biological effects of microRNAs in colorectal cancer

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências da SaúdeNon-coding RNAs are a class of RNA transcripts that do not codify for protein. Included in this class are the microRNAs, small RNAs with approximately 20 nucleotides in length. microRNAs act post-transcriptionally by binding to 5´- ultraconserved regions, coding regions or 3´-ultraconserved regions of messenger RNAs and inhibit its translation or cause messenger RNA cleavage. Additionally, microRNAs can also bind to pseudogenes and are involved in RNA decoy functions. A single microRNA can bind to several RNAs and a single RNA can be targeted by different microRNAs. Therefore, microRNAs constitute master regulators of gene expression and major key players in the control of cellular functions. microRNAs are deregulated in all tumor types and can act as tumor suppressors or as oncogenes in a tissue- and cell-specific manner. microRNAs control biological mechanisms essential for cancer cells, such as proliferation, cell death, cell cycle, metabolism, hypoxia, angiogenesis, inflammation, migration, invasion, metastasis and cancer stem cells self-renewal. Besides microRNAs´ importance as diagnostic and prognostic tools in cancer, and due to their involvement in cancer biology, microRNAs have been regarded as new therapeutic targets. This thesis focuses on the role of microRNAs on colorectal cancer. Despite the great improvement in therapeutics, colorectal cancer is still one of the most commonly diagnosed tumor types and a frequent cause of cancer-related death. We intend to understand the biological effects of miR-28 in this tumor type. To achieve this goal both in vitro and in vivo approaches were used. In the microRNA biogenesis pathway, usually a primary-microRNA is processed into a precursor-microRNA, which originates a single mature microRNA. However, in some cases, two mature miRNAs are processed. This occurs with the precursor-miR-28 that is processed into two mature microRNAs that were named miR-28-5p and miR-28- 3p. We identified for the first time that both mature forms of miR-28 were deregulated in colorectal cancer. Contrary to some tumor and cell types in which miR-28 was found to be upregulated, in colorectal cancer miR-28 is downregulated in tumor compared with normal colorectal tissue. However, the two mature forms have distinct functions. Our in vitro results revealed that miR-28-5p overexpression decreased proliferation, increased apoptosis, caused a G1-arrest in the cell cycle, and decreased migration and invasion, while miR-28-3p overexpression had no effect on proliferation but increased migration and invasion. This was the first description of miR-28 dual role in colorectal cancer cells. As miR-28 mature forms are transcribed together, we analyzed the overall result in vivo. Xenografts of colorectal cancer cells overexpressing miR-28 caused a slower tumor growth in mice, while increased metastasis, when compared with the control group. In this thesis we also discuss the strategies to inhibit or restore microRNAs function. The dual role of miR-28 has great impact on the design of therapies using microRNAs, in particular for upregulation of microRNA levels using expression vectors. Variation in expression levels of microRNAs has a tremendous impact on the intracellular signaling networks. We determined that miR-28-5p targets Cyclin D1, an important regulator of cell cycle progression, in particular of the G1-S phase transition. Additionally, miR-28-5p directly targets HOXB3, a transcription factor described to be upregulated in colon cancer. On the other hand, miR-28-3p directly regulates the expression of NM23-H1, an anti-metastatic gene. miR-28 is part of an extensive number of microRNAs deregulated in colorectal cancer. It is essential to understand the effect of the microRNAs in cancer to be able to interfere with the tumor biology and consequently generate therapeutic strategies based on microRNAs as an approach to fight cancer.RNAs não codificantes são uma classe de transcritos de RNA que não codificam proteína. Dentro desta classe encontram-se os microRNAs, pequenos RNAs com 20 nucleótidos de comprimento. Os microRNAs actuam após a transcrição e ligam-se por complementariedade de bases a RNAs mensageiros, nas suas regiões 5´- ou 3´-ultraconversadas e nas regiões codificantes. Os microRNAs inibem a tradução ou causam a degradação do RNA mensageiro. Além disso, os microRNAs podem também ligar-se a pseudo-genes e estar envolvidos em funções de RNA “decoy”. Um único microRNA pode ligar-se a vários RNAs, e um único RNA pode ser o alvo de vários microRNAs. Assim sendo, os microRNAs constituem excelentes reguladores da expressão genética e são elementos chave no controlo das funções celulares. Os microRNAs estão desregulados em todos os tipos de tumor e podem actuar como supressores tumorais ou como oncogenes, dependendo do tipo de tecido e de célula. Os microRNAs controlam mecanismos biológicos essenciais para as células neoplásicas, incluindo a proliferação, a morte e o ciclo celular, o metabolismo, a hipoxia, a angiogénese, a inflamação, a migração, a invasão, a metastização e a autorenovação das células estaminais tumorais. Para além da importância dos microRNAs como ferramentas de diagnóstico e prognóstico oncológico, e devido ao seu envolvimento na biologia tumoral, os microRNAs têm sido apresentados como novos alvos terapêuticos. Esta tese analisa o papel dos microRNAs no cancro colorectal. Apesar dos significativos avanços terapêuticos, o cancro colorectal continua a ser um dos tipos tumorais mais diagnosticados e uma frequente causa de morte por cancro. No trabalho aqui apresentado, pretende-se analisar o efeito biológico do miR-28 neste tipo tumoral. Para atingir este objectivo utilizámos ferramentas in vitro e in vivo.Geralmente, na via da biogénese dos microRNAs, um microRNA-primário é processado constituindo o microRNA-precursor que, por sua vez, origina um único microRNA maduro. No entanto, em alguns casos, são originados dois microRNAs maduros. Esta situação ocorre com o precursor do miR-28 que é processado em dois microRNAs maduros designados de miR-28-5p e miR-28-3p. Identificámos, pela primeira vez, ambas as formas do miR-28 maduro como estando desreguladas em cancro colorectal. Contrariamente a outros tipos de tumores/células nas quais o miR- 28 está sobreexpresso, no cancro colorectal o miR-28 está subexpresso no tumor quando comparado com os seus níveis de expressão no tecido colorectal normal. No entanto, as duas formas maduras têm funções distintas. Os estudos in vitro revelaram que a sobreexpressão do miR-28-5p diminui a proliferação, aumenta a apoptose, impede a progressão do ciclo celular na fase G1, e diminui a migração e a invasão; enquanto que a sobreexpressão do miR-28-3p não tem efeito na proliferação mas aumenta a migração e a invasão. Esta é a primeira descrição do duplo papel do miR-28 em neoplasia colorectal. Visto que as formas maduras do miR-28 são transcritas conjuntamente, analisámos o resultado global da expressão do miR-28 in vivo. A injecção, em murganhos, de células neoplásicas colorectais que sobreexpressam miR- 28 causou um crescimento mais lento dos tumores, mas provocou um aumento no número de metastases, quando comparámos com o grupo control. Nesta tese, discutimos as estratégias para inibir ou restaurar a função dos microRNAs. O duplo papel do miR-28 tem um vasto impacto no desenho de terapias que recorram a microRNAs, em particular na sobreexpressão dos níveis de microRNAs usando vectores de expressão. A variação dos níveis de microRNAs tem um impacto tremendo na rede de sinalização intracellular. Observámos que o miR-28-5p tem como alvo a Cyclin D1, um importante regulador da progressão no ciclo celular, em particular na transição G1-S. Além disso, o miR-28-5p tem como alvo directo o HOXB3, um factor de transcrição descrito como estando sobreexpresso no cancro do colon. Por outro lado, o miR-28-3p regula directamente a expressão de NM23-H1, um gene anti-metastático. O miR-28 faz parte de um extenso número de microRNAs que está desregulado em neoplasias. Compreender o efeito dos microRNAs no cancro é essencial para interferir com a sua biologia e, consequentemente, gerar estratégias terapêuticas utilizando microRNAs na luta contra esta doença devastadora

Lexical Studies in Focus

Na descrição e análise linguística de um texto, não só a expressão de valores como também posicionamentos sócio-históricos devem estar no foco do pesquisador. Elementos extralinguísticos como a situação, o contexto, os papéis sociais assumidos revelam não só a intencionalidade discursiva, mas também os valores ideológicos. São os diferentes efeitos de sentido produzidos, revelados pelas escolhas lexicais, que mostram a intenção do autor e seu posicionamento frente ao contexto