Manifold-Marketing:a new marketing archetype for the information age, applied to the adoption of oral contraceptives and other drugs by end-users

Taking into account the new communication paradigm of Social Media this paper proposes an original marketing archetype for the information age named by the authors as “ManifoldMarketing”. The conducted study explores the contribution of participating in social networks on the Internet for the adoption process of oral contraceptives (OCs) and other drugs by their end users. Empirical data for this research was collected from a sample of 1162 respondents of a target population formed by Portuguese women, current or potential users of OCs who had reached a level of college education. The results obtained after applying a package of statistical techniques involving descriptive statistics, nonparametric tests and multivariate analysis show that the use of the Internet as well as the participation in the social network Facebook can contribute to the adoption process of OCs. Market segments which are relevant to pharmaceutical marketing were identified based on criteria that associate the information and communication technologies (ICT) with the adoption process of OCs carried out by the consumers themselves. This study also demonstrates that the adoption model and segmentation proposed can be generalized to other markets in the health sector. Considering the obtained results and the proposed "Manifold Marketing", innovative pharmaceutical marketing guidelines are presented.N/

O efeito de acumulação de piruvato em transaminações com levedura

Mestrado em Biotecnologia - Biotecnologia MolecularO interesse na biocatálise para a síntese de aminas quirais tem aumentado durante a última década. Tal interesse deve-se ao seu potencial para síntese de fármacos cardiovasculares, anti-hipertensivos e antieméticos tal como para a síntese de ácidos carboxílicos oticamente puros. Dois métodos têm sido reportados para a síntese de aminas quirais por ómegatransaminases: a síntese assimétrica e a resolução cinética. Durante a resolução cinética o piruvato é consumido como aceitador de amina e convertido em L-alanina. A acumulação de piruvato da via glicolítica pode fazer-se por Engenharia metabólica, originando o aumento da velocidade da reacção para a formação da respectiva cetona. Piruvato descarboxilase (PDC) é a enzima responsável pela conversão de piruvato em acetaldeído que por sua vez é o percursor do etanol. Estudos anteriores mostram que a acumulação de piruvato é superior através da inibição ou deleção da PDC. Seguiram-se duas abordagens para inibir a PDC sendo uma a deleção de dois genes estruturais, PDC1 e PDC5, e a outra a deleção do gene THI2 que é responsável pela síntese do co-factor da PDC, tiamina. Neste trabalho a ω-transaminase de Capsicum chinense foi expressa em estirpes de S. cerevisiae manipuladas metabolicamente, para acumulação de piruvato, de forma a melhorar a resolução cinética de uma mistura racémica de R,S-feniletilamina (R,S-PEA). Ambas as estirpes foram construídas com sucesso e confirmadas por PCR e comportamentos fenotípicos. Porém, apenas a estirpe com a deleção de THI2 foi isolada e mantida em glycerol com sucesso. A concentração de tiamina durante a cultura préfermentativa demonstrou ser crucial para a acumulação de piruvato durante as fermentações. A concentração mínima de tiamina, de forma a obter um bom rácio entre obtenção de biomassa e acumulação de piruvato foi de 0.05 μM. Realizaram-se fermentações anaeróbicas e aeróbicas em meio Verduyn, contendo 20 g/L e 50 g/L de glucose, para confirmar o fenótipo de acumulação de piruvato e para verificar o efeito da concentração de tiamina. A acumulação máxima de piruvato atingida em meio Verduyn foi de 1.31 g/L. A acumulação de piruvato aumentou 5,7 vezes em comparação a estirpe controlo durante fermentações anaeróbicas contendo células obtidas em meio com a concentração mínima de tiamina. Após confirmação do fenótipo desejado, realizaram-se fermentações anaeróbicas e aeróbicas e verificou-se a resolução cinética de R,S-PEA em tampão fosfato. O fenótipo de acumulação de piruvato também foi observado em tampão fosfato, contudo, a resolução cinética não foi afetada possivelmente por uma concentração inicial de aminas demasiado baixa.The interest in biocatalytic approaches for the synthesis of chiral amines has increased during the last decades due to their potential in the synthesis of cardiovascular, antihypertensive and antiemetic drugs and for the preparation of optically pure carboxylic acids. Two methods have been reported for the synthesis of chiral amines by ω- transaminases: asymmetric synthesis and kinetic resolution. During kinetic resolution pyruvate is required as amine acceptor and is further converted into L-alanine. Pyruvate is the end metabolite of the glycolytic pathway. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, pyruvate is further catabolized using either pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) that converts pyruvate into acetaldehyde that is the precursor of ethanol or via pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH). The inhibition or deletion of PDC has been reported to promote pyruvate accumulation. In the present study, two approaches were followed to decrease the PDC activity: (i) deleting the major structural encoding genes, PDC1 and PDC5, or (ii) deleting THI2 which encodes the enzyme responsible for the synthesis of PDC’s co-factor thiamine. Both strategies were attempted in a S. cerevisiae strain carrying the ω- transaminase from Capsicum chinense for the kinetic resolution of a R,S-phenylethylamine racemate (R,S-PEA). The desired strains were successfully constructed and confirmed through PCR and phenotypic behaviors. However, only the THI2 deleted strain expressing the heterologous ω-transaminase was successfully isolated. The thiamine concentration during growth prior to fermentation was crucial for the pyruvate accumulation during the fermentations. The minimal thiamine concentration to achieve a good ratio between pregrowth and pyruvate accumulation was 0.05 μM. Anaerobic fermentations and aerobic cultivations were performed in Verduyn medium to confirm the pyruvate accumulative phenotype and screen the thiamine concentration effect with 20 g/L and 50 g/L of glucose. The maximum pyruvate titer of 1.31 g/L was achieved. The pyruvate titer was improved 5.7 when compared to the control strain during anaerobic fermentations in Verduyn medium. After confirmation of the desired phenotype, kinetic resolution of R,S-PEA was performed in phosphate buffer under anaerobic and aerobic conditions. Despite increased pyruvate accumulation, the kinetic resolution was not improved possibly due to a low initial amine concentration. The reasons for such assumption are related with similar ethanol titers observed in kinetic resolution reactions and pyruvate accumulation fermentations and also the residual pyruvate accumulation during kinetic resolution reactions

Desenvolvimento de sistemas de interação audiovisual em recetores de TV para assistência a idosos

Este relatório descreve o trabalho desenvolvido no âmbito do projeto VITASENIORMT, uma solução de teleassistência para idosos, com interação baseada em TV com a utilização do comando existente. A solução de interação proposta, pretende colmatar a resistência que a população idosa tem às novas tecnologias, utilizando um equipamento com o qual estão familiarizados. No âmbito do projeto VITASENIOR-MT, foram desenvolvidos vários subprojectos, desde, a VITABOX, um sistema baseado em microcomputador que faz a gestão de todo o sistema em casa do utilizador, a interação com TV com comando, a ligação de uma rede de sensores ambientais, a ligação automática de sensores biométricos e a ligação com os serviços cloud que dão suporte a todo o sistema. Sendo um projeto com várias componentes e em colaboração com várias pessoas e entidades, são apresentadas as contribuições individuais para o seu desenvolvimento, nomeadamente a implementação de interfaces de interação com o utilizador usando o comando da TV, nos seus modos básico e avançado, incluindo as interfaces de configurações, de informações de alertas, da página de boas-vindas com informações úteis e notificações ao utilizador, a ligação automática de wifi, assim como de um serviço de áudio-descrição em modo offline. Adicionalmente, foi implementado o envio e receção de dados e de notificações da VITABOX para a cloud e vice-versa, assim como a gestão e troca de dados entre a VITABOX e a rede de sensores ambientais. O trabalho apresentado e os resultados obtidos contribuíram para uma versão estável do sistema, pronta a ser testada e validada em ambiente realInstituto Politécnico de Toma

Telehealth monitoring of a hypertensive elderly patient with the new VITASENIOR-MT system: a case study

Telehealth technologies providing remote monitoring of health parameters are a promising approach for the management of arterial hypertension in the elderly. The VITASENIOR-MT platform was developed as a telehealth solution designed to contribute to improve the health condition and quality of life, promoting safe and independent living of the old adult. It is an 'internet-of-things'-based solution relying on the interaction of the old adult with a TV-set to record biometric parameters and to receive warning and recommendations related to health and environmental sensor recordings. We present a pilot study with a male hypertensive patient, aged 81 years old, under anti-hypertensive treatment, with epilepsy, arthritis and paroxistic atrial fibrillation as major comorbidities. The VITASENIOR-MT was installed at the patient's assisted-dwelling house and a remote follow-up was implemented for 2 months, monitoring daily blood pressure and heart rate, as well as weight and indoor environmental parameters.This work has been partially financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the partnership agreement Portugal2020 - Regional Operation Program CENTRO2020, under the project CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-023369 AGA@4life: AGA - Comprehensive Geriatric approach to promote an active and healthy aging - implementation of an integrated and multidisciplinary intervention program, and the project CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-023659 VITASENIOR-MT - Senior healthcare assistance in Medio Tejo.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Controlo difuso de um AGV

Neste trabalho pretende-se introduzir os conceitos associados à lógica difusa no controlo de sistemas, neste caso na área da robótica autónoma, onde é feito um enquadramento da utilização de controladores difusos na mesma. Foi desenvolvido de raiz um AGV (Autonomous Guided Vehicle) de modo a se implementar o controlador difuso, e testar o desempenho do mesmo. Uma vez que se pretende de futuro realizar melhorias e/ou evoluções optou-se por um sistema modular em que cada módulo é responsável por uma determinada tarefa. Neste trabalho existem três módulos que são responsáveis pelo controlo de velocidade, pela aquisição dos dados dos sensores e, por último, pelo controlador difuso do sistema. Após a implementação do controlador difuso, procedeu-se a testes para validar o sistema onde foram recolhidos e registados os dados provenientes dos sensores durante o funcionamento normal do robô. Este dados permitiram uma melhor análise do desempenho do robô. Verifica-se que a lógica difusa permite obter uma maior suavidade na transição de decisões, e que com o aumento do número de regras é possível tornar o sistema ainda mais suave. Deste modo, verifica-se que a lógica difusa é uma ferramenta útil e funcional para o controlo de aplicações. Como desvantagem surge a quantidade de dados associados à implementação, tais como, os universos de discurso, as funções de pertença e as regras. Ao se aumentar o número de regras de controlo do sistema existe também um aumento das funções de pertença consideradas para cada variável linguística; este facto leva a um aumento da memória necessária e da complexidade na implementação pela quantidade de dados que têm de ser tratados. A maior dificuldade no projecto de um controlador difuso encontra-se na definição das variáveis linguísticas através dos seus universos de discurso e das suas funções de pertença, pois a definição destes pode não ser a mais adequada ao contexto de controlo e torna-se necessário efectuar testes e, consequentemente, modificações à definição das funções de pertença para melhorar o desempenho do sistema. Todos os aspectos referidos são endereçados no desenvolvimento do AGV e os respectivos resultados são apresentados e analisados.This work introduces the concepts associated with fuzzy logic control systems, in this case applied to autonomous robotics, where was made a contextualization of fuzzy controllers in this area. An AGV (Autonomous Guided Vehicle) was developed from scratch in order to implement the fuzzy controller, and test its performance. In order to incorporate future improvements, it was adopted a modular structure where each module is responsible for a particular task. In this work there are three modules that are responsible for velocity control, the acquisition of sensor data, and by the implementation of the fuzzy controller. After implementing the fuzzy controller, the system was tested in order to validate the collected and recorded data from the sensors during normal operation of the robot. This data enabled the analysis of the performance of the robot. Fuzzy logic allows a smooth transition between the decisions, and increasing the number of rules the system becomes smoother. Thus, we conclude that fuzzy logic is a useful and functional tool for control applications. The disadvantage arises in the amount of data associated with the implementation, such as the universes of discourse, the membership functions and rules. When the number of control rules increases, there is also an increase of the membership functions for each linguistic variable considered, which leads to an increase in the required memory and complexity in the implementation because of the amount of data that must be addressed. The major difficulty in the design of a fuzzy controller is the definition of the linguistic variables through their universes of discourse and their membership functions, since the definition of these may not be the most appropriate to the context of control and it becomes necessary to make tests, and consequently, changes in the definition of the membership functions to improve the system performance. All these issues were addressed in the design of the AGV, and the obtained results are presented and analyzed

VITASENIOR-MT: A distributed and scalable cloud-based telehealth solution

VITASENIOR-MT is a telehealth platform that allows to remotely monitor biometric and environmental data in a domestic environment, designed specifically to the elderly population. This paper proposes a highly scalable and efficient architecture to transport, process, store and visualize the data collected by devices of an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario. The cloud infrastructure follows a microservices architecture to provide computational scalability, better fault isolation, easy integration and automatic deployment. This solution is complemented with a pre-processing and validation of the collected data at the edge of the Internet by using the Fog Computing concept, allowing a better computing distribution. The presented approach provides personal data security and a simplified way to collect and present the data to the different actors, allowing a dynamic and intuitive management of patients and equipment to caregivers. The presented load tests proved that this solution is more efficient than a monolithic approach, promoting better access and control in the data flowing from heterogeneous equipment.This work has been financially supported by the IC&DT project VITASENIOR-MT CENTRO-01-0145- FEDER-023659 with FEDER funding through programs CENTRO2020 and FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Numerical 3D modeling of heat transfer in human tissues for microwave radiometry monitoring of Brown fat metabolismo

Background: Brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays an important role in whole body metabolism and could potentially mediate weight gain and insulin sensitivity. Although some imaging techniques allow BAT detection, there are currently no viable methods for continuous acquisition of BAT energy expenditure. We present a non-invasive technique for long term monitoring of BAT metabolism using microwave radiometry. Methods: A multilayer 3D computational model was created in HFSS™ with 1.5 mm skin, 3-10 mm subcutaneous fat, 200 mm muscle and a BAT region (2-6 cm3) located between fat and muscle. Based on this model, a log-spiral antenna was designed and optimized to maximize reception of thermal emissions from the target (BAT). The power absorption patterns calculated in HFSS™ were combined with simulated thermal distributions computed in COMSOL® to predict radiometric signal measured from an ultra-low-noise microwave radiometer. The power received by the antenna was characterized as a function of different levels of BAT metabolism under cold and noradrenergic stimulation. Results: The optimized frequency band was 1.5-2.2 GHz, with averaged antenna efficiency of 19%. The simulated power received by the radiometric antenna increased 2-9 mdBm (noradrenergic stimulus) and 4-15 mdBm (cold stimulus) corresponding to increased 15-fold BAT metabolism. Conclusions: Results demonstrated the ability to detect thermal radiation from small volumes (2-6 cm3) of BAT located up to 12 mm deep and to monitor small changes (0.5°C) in BAT metabolism. As such, the developed miniature radiometric antenna sensor appears suitable for non-invasive long term monitoring of BAT metabolism

VITASENIOR–MT: Architecture of a Telehealth Solution

This poster was awarded the Best Poster Award at the Portuguese Conference Gestão & Tecnologi@ - Criação de Valor em Saúde.VITASENIOR-MT is a telehealth solution under development that aims to monitor and improve the healthcare of elderly people living in the region of Médio Tejo. This solution performs both remote and local monitoring of biometric parameters of the elderly, and also of environmental parameters of their homes. The biometric variables include heart rate and temperature measurements collected automatically, by means of a bracelet, throughout the day. Blood pressure, body weight, and other biometric parameters are measured on a daily basis by the senior’s own initiative, and automatically recorded. The environmental parameters include temperature, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide measurements. A TV set is used as a mean of interaction between the user and the medical devices. The TV set is also used to receive medical warnings and recommendations according to clinical profiles, and to receive environmental alerts. All data and alerts can be accessible to senior’s family and healthcare providers. In alarm situations, an automatic operational procedure will be triggered establishing communication to predefined entities.This work has been financially supported by the IC&DT project VITASENIOR-MT Programa operacional regional do centro CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-023659.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Reference Scenarios and Key Performance Indicators for 5G Ultra-dense Networks

The so-called 5G will revolutionize the way we live, and work. In order to demonstrate the profound changes, we can expect to experience within the next 5 to 10 years, we present use cases for the planned research within the TeamUp5G project. Some use cases are strongly linked to the network layer and aim at developing solutions capable of optimizing the main promising benefits of 5G: extremely low latency and extremely high bandwidth (e.g., handle video streams, traffic congestion, user profiles), in the most efficient way possible. Other use cases focus on commercial applications that make use of middleware applications to enhance their performance. The latter fall into two main areas: real-time virtual reality and live video streaming, which are extremely demanding in terms of latency and bandwidth to provide an acceptable QoE/QoS to multiple users. The use cases presented are built assuming that 5G is essential for their support with appropriate QoE/QoS. Key performance indicators and their range of variation are also identified.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

VITASENIOR-MT: a telehealth solution for the elderly focused on the interaction with TV

Remote monitoring of health parameters is a promising approach to improve the health condition and quality of life of particular groups of the population, which can also alleviate the current expenditure and demands of healthcare systems. The elderly, usually affected by chronic comorbidities, are a specific group of the population that can strongly benefit from telehealth technologies, allowing them to reach a more independent life, by living longer in their own homes. Usability of telehealth technologies and their acceptance by end-users are essential requirements for the success of telehealth implementation. Older people are resistant to new technologies or have difficulty in using them due to vision, hearing, sensory and cognition impairments. In this paper, we describe the implementation of an IoT-based telehealth solution designed specifically to address the elderly needs. The end-user interacts with a TV-set to record biometric parameters, and to receive warning and recommendations related to health and environmental sensor recordings. The familiarization of older people with the TV is expected to provide a more user-friendly interaction ensuring the effectiveness integration of the end-user in the overall telehealth solution.This work has been financially supported by the IC&DT project VITASENIOR-MT CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER- 023659 with FEDER funding through programs CENTRO2020 and FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio