Proposal of an approach for the design and implementation of a data mesh

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia e Gestão de Sistemas de InformaçãoAtualmente existe uma tendência, cada vez mais acentuada, para a utilização de software por parte da esmagadora maioria da população (aplicações de caráter social, software de gestão, plataformas e-commerce, entre outros), identificando-se a criação e armazenamento de dados que, devido às suas características (volume, variedade e velocidade), fazem emergir o conceito de Big Data. Nesta área, e para suportar o armazenamento dos dados, Big Data Warehouses e Data Lakes são conceitos cimentados e implementados por várias organizações, de forma a servirem a sua necessidade de tomada de decisão. No entanto, apesar de serem conceitos estabelecidos e aceites pela maioria da comunidade científica e por diversas organizações a nível mundial, tal não elimina a necessidade de melhoria e inovação. É, este contexto, que origina o surgimento do conceito de Data Mesh, propondo arquiteturas de dados decentralizadas. Após a análise das limitações demonstrados pelas arquiteturas monolíticas (e.g., dificuldade em mudar as tecnologias de armazenamento usadas para implementar o sistema de dados), é possível concluir sobre a necessidade de uma mudança de paradigma que tornará as organizações verdadeiramente orientadas aos dados. A Data Mesh consiste, na implementação de uma arquitetura onde os dados se encontram intencionalmente distribuídos por vários nós da Data Mesh e onde não existe caos, uma vez que existem estratégias centralizadas de governança de dados e a garantia de que os princípios fundamentais dos domínios são partilhados por toda a arquitetura. A presente dissertação propõe uma abordagem para a implementação de uma Data Mesh, procurando definir o modelo de domínios do conceito. Após esta definição é proposta de uma arquitetura concetual e tecnológica, que visam a auxiliar a materialização dos conceitos apresentados no modelo de domínios e assim auxiliar na conceção e implementação de uma Data Mesh. Posteriormente é realizada uma prova de conceito, de forma a validar os supracitados modelos, contribuindo com conhecimento técnico e científico relacionado com este conceito emergente.Currently there is an increasingly accentuated trend towards the use of software by most of the population (social applications, management software, e-commerce platforms, among others), identifying the creation and storage of data that, due to its characteristics (volume, variety, and speed), make the concept of Big Data emerge. In this area, and to support data storage, Big Data Warehouses and Data Lakes are solid concept and implemented by various organizations to serve their decision-making needs. However, despite being established and accepted concepts by most of the scientific community and by several organizations worldwide, this does not eliminate the need for improvement and innovation in the field. It is this context that gives rise to the emergence of the Data Mesh concept, proposing decentralized data architectures. After analyzing the limitations demonstrated by monolithic architectures (e.g., difficulty in changing the storage technologies used to implement the data system), it is possible to conclude on the need for a paradigm shift that will make organizations truly data driven. Data Mesh consists, in the implementation of an architecture where data is intentionally distributed over several nodes of the Data Mesh, and where there is no chaos, since there are centralized data governance strategies and the assurance that the fundamental principles of the domains are shared throughout the architecture. This master thesis proposes an approach for the implementation of a Data Mesh, seeking to define the domain model of the concept. After this definition, a conceptual and technological architecture is proposed, which aim to help materialize the concepts presented in the domain model and thus assist in the design and implementation of a Data Mesh. Afterwards a proof-of-concept is carried out, to validate the aforementioned models, contributing with technical and scientific knowledge related to this emerging concept

Data Mesh: concepts and principles of a paradigm shift in data architectures

Inherent to the growing use of the most varied forms of software (e.g., social applications), there is the creation and storage of data that, due to its characteristics (volume, variety, and velocity), make the concept of Big Data emerge. Big Data Warehouses and Data Lakes are concepts already well established and implemented by several organizations, to serve their decision-making needs. After analyzing the various problems demonstrated by those monolithic architectures, it is possible to conclude about the need for a paradigm shift that will make organizations truly data-oriented. In this new paradigm, data is seen as the main concern of the organization, and the pipelining tools and the Data Lake itself are seen as a secondary concern. Thus, the Data Mesh consists in the implementation of an architecture where data is intentionally distributed among several Mesh nodes, in such a way that there is no chaos or data silos, since there are centralized governance strategies and the guarantee that the core principles are shared throughout the Mesh nodes. This paper presents the motivation for the appearance of the Data Mesh paradigm, its features, and approaches for its implementation.- (undefined

Type II Abernethy Malformation: A Rare Cause of Hepatic Encephalopathy in Adulthood

Abernethy malformation is a rare congenital extrahepatic portosystemic shunt with variable clinical manifestations, mainly associated with the portosystemic shunt. Hepatic encephalopathy can be the first manifestation. We present the case of a 50-year-old woman with hepatic encephalopathy without liver dysfunction. Further evaluation with contrast-enhanced abdominal computed tomography was performed, showing a large-calibre portocaval shunt from the left portal branch, suggestive of type 2 Abernethy malformation. The patient improved with lactulose and rifaximin but maintained rare encephalopathy episodes. She is therefore currently awaiting surgical treatment. Despite being a rare cause of hepatic encephalopathy, Abernethy malformation should be considered in patients with unexplained hyperammonaemia. Since it is potentially reversible, and early diagnosis and treatment may improve outcome, raising awareness of this malformation is essential

Efetividade das Vacinas contra COVID-19 nos Militares da Marinha Portuguesa

Autores: Equipa do Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge: Ausenda Machado, Irina Kislaya, Verónica Gómez. Equipa da Marinha Portuguesa: CFR EN-AEL Pedro Luís Araújo Costa; CTEN MN Sílvia Silva; CTEN TSN-EIO Rui Gonçalves Deus; 2TEN TS Luís Miguel Nunes Ramos; 2TEN MN Ludovico Emanuel Ferreira e Ferreira; STEN TSN (EIO) Laura Pinguicha Ferreira; ASPOF TN (EIO) Inês Coelho.Enquadramento e objetivos: No âmbito da campanha de vacinação para controlar a pandemia da COVID-19, importou medir o efeito da vacinação contra a COVID-19, em condições reais. Os Militares da Marinha Portuguesa, devido às suas funções de defesa e apoio à população no âmbito da pandemia, foram considerados população em elevado risco de exposição, tendo sido elegíveis para vacinação a partir de dezembro de 2020. A toma da dose de reforço teve início em novembro de 2021. Através de dados de registos eletrónicos de saúde da Marinha Portuguesa, este estudo pretendeu estimar a efetividade da vacina contra a infeção por SARS-CoV-2 confirmada laboratorialmente, globalmente e por tempo desde conclusão do esquema primário de vacinação e dose de reforço, nos Militares da Marinha Portuguesa. Métodos: Foi estabelecida uma coorte retrospetiva com a duração de 20 meses (dezembro de 2020 a junho de 2022), de militares no ativo e da reserva da Marinha Portuguesa, elegíveis para vacinação contra COVID-19 que consentiram participar neste estudo. O convite foi feito por e-mail e o consentimento foi obtido para ligar dados eletrónicos de saúde e de vacinação dos registos da Marinha Portuguesa. O estado vacinal foi definido como parâmetro variável no tempo e os participantes foram considerados como vacinados com vacinação primária completa se receberam uma dose de Janssen ou duas doses de qualquer combinação de Comirnaty, Moderna ou Astrazeneca, há pelo menos 14 dias. A toma de dose de reforço foi, também, considerada. Foi utilizada a regressão de Cox com dependência temporal para cada outcome e grupo em análise. A efetividade foi estimada através de 100%*(1-hazard ratio), ajustada para idade, sexo e presença de doença crónica. Resultados: Um total de 860 militares da Marinha Portuguesa aceitou participar no estudo. Destes, 83,6% eram do sexo masculino, com idade compreendida entre os 21 e os 63 anos de idade, sendo que 31,6% tinham pelo menos uma doença crónica. De entre os militares vacinados, 38,7% foram inoculados com a vacina Comirnaty, 33,0% com AstraZeneca, 24,5% com Janssen e 3,8% com Moderna. A efetividade geral do esquema de vacinação primária completo foi de 54,0% (-5,7 a 79,9) após 14 dias da toma da última dose. Esta estimativa foi de 73% (16,5 a 90,1), 14 a 97 dias após a conclusão do esquema de vacinação primário e um efeito decrescente foi observado entre 98 a 181 dias e 182+ dias após conclusão de esquema de vacinação primária: 47,6% (-43,5 a 80,9) e 37,8% (-60,4 a 75,9), respetivamente. A efetividade geral, 14 dias após esquema primário completo e dose de reforço foi de 21,4% (-84,7 a 66,5). Conclusão: Em relação às estimativas globais da efetividade da vacina contra SARS-CoV-2 confirmado laboratorialmente, de acordo com o tempo desde a vacinação completa, observamos um efeito decrescente, semelhante à população em geral. Esses resultados devem ser interpretados com cautela dada a alta incerteza das estimativas.info:eu-repo/semantics/draf

Calpastatin Overexpression Preserves Cognitive Function Following Seizures, While Maintaining Post-Injury Neurogenesis

In the adult mammalian brain, new neurons continue to be produced throughout life in two main regions in the brain, the subgranular zone (SGZ) in the hippocampus and the subventricular zone in the walls of the lateral ventricles. Neural stem cells (NSCs) proliferate in these niches, and migrate as neuroblasts, to further differentiate in locations where new neurons are needed, either in normal or pathological conditions. However, the endogenous attempt of brain repair is not very efficient. Calpains are proteases known to be involved in neuronal damage and in cell proliferation, migration and differentiation of several cell types, though their effects on neurogenesis are not well known. Previous work by our group has shown that the absence of calpastatin (CAST), the endogenous inhibitor of calpains, impairs early stages of neurogenesis. Since the hippocampus is highly associated with learning and memory, we aimed to evaluate whether calpain inhibition would help improve cognitive recovery after lesion and efficiency of post-injury neurogenesis in this region. For that purpose, we used the kainic acid (KA) model of seizure-induced hippocampal lesion and mice overexpressing CAST. Selected cognitive tests were performed on the 3rd and 8th week after KA-induced lesion, and cell proliferation, migration and differentiation in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus of adult mice were analyzed using specific markers. Cognitive recovery was evaluated by testing the animals for recognition, spatial and associative learning and memory. Cognitive function was preserved by CAST overexpression following seizures, while modulation of post-injury neurogenesis was similar to wild type (WT) mice. Calpain inhibition could still be potentially able to prevent the impairment in the formation of new neurons, given that the levels of calpain activity could be reduced under a certain threshold and other harmful effects from the pathological environment could also be controlled.Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal); FCT [SFRH/BD/78050/2011, SFRH/BD/79308/2011]; COMPETE; FEDER [PTDC/SAU-NMC/112183/2009, UID/NEU/04539/2013, UID/BIM/04773/2013]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

THE HEALTH SCHOOL PROGRAMME: A HEALTH PROMOTION STRATEGY IN PRIMARY CARE IN BRAZIL

Introduction: the Health School Programme (HSP) should be understood as a permanent development process. In this context, the actions of a policy aimed at children and adolescentsare paramount in the HSP. Objective: to identify and describe the actions developed by the Family Health Group in the HSP, from the National Programme for ImprovingAccess and Quality of Primary Care (PIPCAQ). Methods: this cross-sectional research used secondary data collected fromthe 17,202 groups who joined PIPCAQ in 2012. Results: all regions showed significant results concerning the execution of school activities. the Northern region was the one that performed most school actions (80.5%), followed by the Northeast, Midwest, South and Southeast, respectively. However, some items, such as professional training in education and health work need to be streng the ned. Conclusion: HSP in Brazil has mobilised significant actions, even though it has not happened in homogeneously in all Brazilian regions

a detailed view of the methodology

Rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMD) are prevalent and leading causes of disability and consumption of healthcare and social resources. EpiReumaPt is a national population-based survey developed by the Portuguese Society of Rheumatology that aimed to estimate the prevalence of RMDs and determine their impact on function, quality of life, mental health and use of healthcare resources. This article describes in detail the design, methodology and planned analyses of EpiReumaPt. Recruitment started in September 2011 and finished in December 2013. This study involved a three-stage approach. The first step was a face-to-face survey performed by trained interviewers at the household of 10,661 subjects who where randomly selected by a stratified multistage sampling. A highly sensitive screening questionnaire for RMDs was used. Secondly, participants who screened positive (64%) for at least one RMD as well as 20% of individuals with a negative screening were invited for assessment by a rheumatologist. In total, 3,877 subjects participated in this second phase, where they were also invited to donate a blood sample to be stored at the Biobanco-IMM. History and physical examination, followed by appropriate laboratory and imaging tests were performed. At the end of the visit, the rheumatologist established a diagnosis. Finally, a team of three experienced rheumatologists reviewed all the clinical data and defined the diagnoses according to previously validated criteria. The EpiReumaPt dataset, containing data from several questionnaires, various clinical measurements and information from laboratory and imaging tests, comprises an invaluable asset for research. The large amount of information collected from each participant and the large number of participants, with a wide age range covering and being representative of the adults from the entire country, makes EpiReumaPt the largest study of RMDs performed in Portugal.publishersversionpublishe

The effect of the electric field on lag phase, β-galactosidase production and plasmid stability of a recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain growing on lactose

Ethanol and β-galactosidase production from cheese whey may significantly contribute to minimise environmental problems while producing value from lowcost raw materials. In this work, the recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae NCYC869-A3/pVK1.1 flocculent strain expressing the lacA gene (coding for β-galactosidase) of Aspergillus niger under ADHI promoter and terminator was used. This strain shows high ethanol and β-galactosidase productivities when grown on lactose. Batch cultures were performed using SSlactose medium with 50 gL−1 lactose in a 2-L bioreactor under aerobic and microaerophilic conditions. Temperature was maintained at 30 °C and pH 4.0. In order to determine the effect of an electric field in the fermentation profile, titanium electrodes were placed inside the bioreactor and different electric field values (from 0.5 to 2 Vcm−1) were applied. For all experiments, β-galactosidase activity, biomass, protein, lactose, glucose, galactose and ethanol concentrations were measured. Finally, lag phase duration and specific growth rate were calculated. Significant changes in lag phase duration and biomass yield were found when using 2 Vcm−1. Results show that the electric field enhances the early stages of fermentation kinetics, thus indicating that its application may improve industrial fermentations’ productivity. The increase in electric field intensity led to plasmid instability thus decreasing β-galactosidase production.The authors gratefully acknowledge Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Portugal) for the scholarships SFRH/BD/11230/2002 and SFRH/BDP/63831/2009 granted to authors I. Castro and C. Oliveira, respectively

New endoperoxides highly active in vivo and in vitro against artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum

Background: The emergence and spread of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to artemisinin-based combination therapy in Southeast Asia prompted the need to develop new endoperoxide-type drugs. Methods: A chemically diverse library of endoperoxides was designed and synthesized. The compounds were screened for in vitro and in vivo anti-malarial activity using, respectively, the SYBR Green I assay and a mouse model. Ring survival and mature stage survival assays were performed against artemisinin-resistant and artemisinin-sensitive P. falciparum strains. Cytotoxicity was evaluated against mammalian cell lines V79 and HepG2, using the MTT assay. Results: The synthesis and anti-malarial activity of 21 new endoperoxide-derived compounds is reported, where the peroxide pharmacophore is part of a trioxolane (ozonide) or a tetraoxane moiety, flanked by adamantane and a substituted cyclohexyl ring. Eight compounds exhibited sub-micromolar anti-malarial activity (IC50 0.3–71.1 nM), no cross-resistance with artemisinin or quinolone derivatives and negligible cytotoxicity towards mammalian cells. From these, six produced ring stage survival < 1% against the resistant strain IPC5202 and three of them totally suppressed Plasmodium berghei parasitaemia in mice after oral administration. Conclusion: The investigated, trioxolane–tetrazole conjugates LC131 and LC136 emerged as potential anti-malarial candidates; they show negligible toxicity towards mammalian cells, ability to kill intra-erythrocytic asexual stages of artemisinin-resistant P. falciparum and capacity to totally suppress P. berghei parasitaemia in mice.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio