Variações climáticas e "input" terrígeno no prodelta do Tejo durante os últimos 13,5 ka

Mestrado em Geoquímica AmbientalEste trabalho com o título: Variações climáticas e inputs terrigenos no Prodelta do Tejo durante os últimos 13.5ky, insere-se no projecto de investigação Paleoceanografia e Ambiente em desenvolvimento no DGM do IGM, tem como principal objectivo a condução da investigação cientifica necessária à documentação das mudanças globais, regionais e locais inscritas nos sedimentos da margem continental Portuguesa, com vista a um melhor conhecimento da paleoceanografia do Oceano Atlântico, e contribuir para avaliar as alterações devidas a fenómenos naturais e à actividade humana. É neste contexto que surge. Para a concretização dos objectivos propostos, realizou-se: a) A caracterização de sedimentos depositados na Plataforma Continental adjacente ao rio Tejo, no que respeita à abundância relativa de n-alcanos, n-alcoois e alcanonas; b) A avaliação do input terrigeno provenientes do Tejo a partir da análise de n-alcanos e n-alcanois; c) A determinação da Temperatura da Superfície dos Oceanos (SST) utilizando as alcanonas como indicador. em duas sequencias sedimentares (cores) (D13882 e D13902), recolhidos durante a campanha Discovery 249 em 2000 e um boxcore PO286-26-1B recolhido durante a campanha PALEO 1 em Maio de 2002. Foram analisadas 152 amostras de sedimentos marinhos (56 amostras do core D13902; 63 do core D13882 e 33 amostras do boxcore PO287-26-1B) segundo os procedimentos de análise do Laboratório de Química Ambiental do Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (ICER – CSIC- Barcelona). Para além destes procedimentos foi também realizada a análise granulométrica e elementar CHNS, segundo os procedimentos do Laboratório de Geologia Marinha – IGM, neste caso a 598 amostras do Core D13902, 33 amostras do boxcore PO287-26-1B e a 56 amostras do core D13882. Os três cores analisados constituem uma sequência sedimentar que regista os últimos 13,5cal. ka Age. BP. Os resultados obtidos demonstram uma elevada concentração de n-alcanos e n-alcanois, face à concentração de alcanonas o que indica uma componente terrigena importante e o rio como principal fonte de material depositado na área. Os registos de n-alcanos e de n-alcoois revelam a mesma distribuição indicando uma boa preservação de matéria orgânica ao longo de toda a sequência sedimentar. Os registros de temperatura de superfície do oceano (SST) revelam máximos na ordem de 19ºC e mínimos de 8ºC. Durante o Holocénico a SST varia entre os 15 e os 19 ºC exibindo os valores mínimos durante o evento conhecido como Pequena Idade do Gelo (Little Ice Age – LIA) (período entre 1300 a 1800 anos AD). As temperaturas mínimas (8ºC e 9ºC) foram registadas durante Younger Dryas, evento centrado há aproximadamente 12 ka BP. Estes intervalos de baixa temperatura são marcados por um aumento na concentração total de alcanonas e em carbono orgânico, o que reflecte um aumento da produtividade. As amostras utilizadas para identificação e contagem de cocolitóforos dão indicação de um domínio do género Gephyrocapsid no qual se destacam a espécie G. oceânica e um grupo de “Small” Gephyrocapsid como responsáveis pela produção de alcanonas na área. A presença da alcanona tetrainsaturada (C37:4) associada a mínimos de temperatura poderá estar relacionado com as entradas de água doce reflectindo as alterações na influência das águas vindas do rio Tejo.Sea surface temperatures and river input have been reconstructed from long chain alkenones and n-alkanes respectively, for a 13,5kyr sedimentary sequence recovered from the Portuguese Margin on the Tagus prodelta (38ºN, 9ºW; PO287-26-1B; D13902; D13882). The age model has been constructed from five 14C AMS 1 data and a correlation to core SU8118. The surface sediment was dated by 210Pb. In the upper part of this sequence (2001 cal. Age to 11,5ky BP) temperatures ranged between 15ºC and 19ºC, exhibiting the lowest values during the Little Ice Age. This low temperature interval is marked by a general increase in organic carbon and total alkenones concentration pointing to increased productivity. Minima sea surface temperature occured during the Younger Dryas (8ºC) This minima corresponded to an increase in the proportion of the tetra unsaturated alkenone (%C37:4), possibly reflecting the influence of less saline waters originated from iceberg melting, as proposed by Bard et al. (Nature 2000). N-alkanes and n-alcohols show a parallel downcore trend indicating a common origin for terrigenous material and very good preservation of organic matter throughout the sequence. In addition, the paralleslim of these two molecular markers with C37 alkenones suggest that river input was the main source of nutrients to the area and the responsible factor for increased coccolithophore production during the last 13,5 ky cal. Age BP. In terms of coccolith assemblages, G. oceanica and other small gephyrocapsid, were the dominant species

Espaços para a interculturalidade e narrativas com e sobre o Outro. Reflexão sobre o estágio curricular no Intitute for Cultural Diplomacy

A diplomacia cultural enquanto disciplina académica abrange uma área de estudo ampla e orienta-se para a pesquisa de questões relacionadas com diversidade, interculturalidade e identidade política e a forma como estas se intersetam. Interroga a utilização ou evocação das artes e da cultura em geral enquanto expressão de unidade social, cultural ou política. Partindo desta perspetiva, através dos atributos culturais e artísticos produzidos, são construídas narrativas que levam, implicitamente, a um maior conhecimento sobre grupos particulares e, nesse sentido, podem ampliar o entendimento entre unidades socioculturais distintas. Enquanto prática, a diplomacia cultural materializa-se num leque de manifestações públicas da cultura, produzidas por atores com estatuto diverso. Entre estes, encontram-se organizações criadas por comunidades socioculturais locais, instituições que visam promover visões particulares de cultura à escala internacional ou atores individuais, que se movem em esferas transnacionais, revelando como a experiência migratória faz parte da construção de tais narrativas. É no sentido de acolher formas de representação pública de diferentes comunidades culturais e políticas que surge o Institute for Cultural Diplomacy. Considerando que uma maior compreensão e aproximação intra e intercultural são necessárias num mundo progressivamente interdependente, este pretende promover a paz, a estabilidade e a justiça globais. Este relatório visa refletir sobre o estágio curricular realizado no Institute for Cultural Diplomacy. Procura-se compreender, numa perspetiva holística, o papel da organização na criação de espaços e canais para a interculturalidade, na construção de narrativas com ou sobre o “Outro”, bem como refletir sobre as limitações de tal projetoCultural diplomacy as an academic discipline comprehends a broad field of study oriented to the investigation of issues related to diversity, interculturalism and political identity as well as how these concepts intersect. It questions the usage or evocation of the arts and culture as reliable portraits of social, cultural or political units. From this perspective, when producing these cultural and artistic features, narratives are constructed, implicitly leading to a deepening of knowledge of particular groups, opening up the possibility for understanding between distinct sociocultural entities. As a practice, cultural diplomacy is materialized in a range of public manifestations of culture, produced by actors from diverse localities. Amongst these, one can find organisations created by local sociocultural communities, institutions whose aim is to promote particular visions of culture at an international level and individual actors. These agents circulate in transnational public spheres, revealing how the migration experience influences the production of such narratives. The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy was created with the view of being a platform for such public representations of cultural and political identities. Whilst considering that intra and intercultural comprehension is necessary in a progressively interdependent world, the ICD intends to endorse peace, stability and justice globally. This report proposes to reflect on the curricular internship completed at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy. It will analyse, in an holistic perspective, the role the organisation undertakes in the creation of spaces and channels for fostering interculturalism, in constructing narratives with or about the “Other”, as well as a reflecting on the limitations of the project

The young mayor project in Portugal: the effect of the quality of participation experiences on perceptions of the project's impact

Purpose: To investigate the effect of Quality of Participation Experiences (QPE) on young people’s perceptions about the Young Mayor project’s impact. Design/methodology/approach: This study explores statistical analyses (i.e., cluster analysis and linear regression analysis) of a survey sample (N = 961) involving young people aged between 12 and 18 years to assess differences between groups reporting different levels of QPE (i.e., low, medium and high). Findings: Participants who had participation experiences with higher developmental quality (i.e., with effective and meaningful opportunities for action and reflection) are more involved in the Young Mayor project, have more positive perceptions about it, and report more civic and political participation experiences in their communities. Research limitations/implications: The cross-sectional design of this study does not allow to make causal inferences. Therefore, a longitudinal study should be conducted to clarify the relationship between the dimensions under analysis, promoting a better understanding of the impacts of the Young Mayor project on young people’s attitudes and perceptions. Practical implications: Local projects should promote participation experiences with higher developmental quality to foster their impacts on young people

Body mass index and neuropsychological and emotional variables : joint contribution for the screening of sleep apnoea syndrome in obese

© This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International LicenseObjective: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is the most common sleep disorder and its prevalence has increased with the obesity pandemic. We aimed to explore the presence of OSA in severe obesity and to evaluate the association of body mass index (BMI) with sleep architecture, cognition, emotional distress and comorbidities in OSA versus non-OSA patients. Methods: A sample of 61 patients performed a neuropsychological battery that included tasks of attention, memory, perceptual/visuospatial ability, vocabulary, inhibition, cognitive flexibility and distress symptomatology, before overnight polysomnography. Results: More than half of the sample had OSA. Excessive daytime sleepiness was not a prominent complaint. Sleep architecture was worse in the OSA than in the non-OSA group, and hypertension was increased with OSA, especially in the severe OSA group. A higher BMI was associated with cognitive distress and sleep variables and with type 2 diabetes. The apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) was correlated with gender and cognitive measurements. Cognitive complaints were associated with enhanced distress in both OSA and nonOSA patients. Discussion: OSA is considerably present in severely obese patients. The BMI was strongly associated with other important anthropometric measurements along with worsening sleep architecture and lower executive functioning, both of which may contribute to weight gain. The AHI was significantly higher in men and affected memory and maintaining sets on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test which may represent a barrier to treatment adherence for this disorder. The substantial presence of cognitive complaints in OSA and non-OSA patients suggests the need for psychological intervention focused on adaptive coping strategies, mostly for depressive symptoms. Given the current obesity epidemic, these results support the need for routine sleep investigation in obese people, particularly in primary care settings. BMI, neuropsychological and emotional screening can provide crucial information about asymptomatic and high-risk patients who require prompt sleep intervention and obesity treatment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Aquisição da língua gestual portuguesa em crianças em idade pré-escolar com deficiência auditiva num jardim de infância bilingue na Região Norte

Dissertação de mestrado em Educação Especial (área de especialização em Intervenção Precoce)Este estudo tem como finalidade a análise dos vocábulos nomeados verbal e/ou gestualmente, em crianças com diferentes tipos e graus de deficiência auditiva (DA), de forma a perceber qual a língua primária escolhida por estas crianças. Para tal serão consideradas as variáveis independentes: a idade, o género, o tipo e o grau de DA. Para a elaboração deste estudo foi construído e desenvolvido um instrumento de avaliação, designado por Bateria de Nomeação Semântica. Esta bateria é constituída per 100 vocábulos e imagens correspondentes, existentes dentro das duas categorias e com a finalidade de avaliar a aquisição do léxico e da escolha da primeira língua, a Língua Portuguesa (LP) ou a Língua Gestual Portuguesa (LGP). Esta escolha será feita após as crianças terem sido expostas às duas línguas (LP e LGP). Como variáveis dependentes serão considerados os resultados brutos das duas categorias (nomes e verbos) da bateria. A amostra é constituída por 10 crianças, com idades compreendidas entre os 4 e os 5 anos, que frequentam um jardim de infância de referência para crianças com DA, na região Norte. Os resultados deste estudo indicam que: a) as crianças com DA moderada nomearam 80% vocábulos espontaneamente e as crianças com DA severa nomearam 79% vocábulos, utilizando a LP e a LGP em simultâneo, podemos, também, salientar que quando nomeiam empregando, apenas, uma língua as crianças com DA moderada usam a língua oral e as de DA severa usam a língua gestual; b) existem diferenças estatisticamente significativas na aquisição de novos gestos ou no desenvolvimento da oralidade de acordo com a língua que menos utilizam, após um ano no Jardim-de- Infância de referência; c) o tipo e o grau de DA influenciam a escolha da criança para a sua primeira língua, nomeadamente as crianças com DA moderada utilizam mais frequentemente a LP e as crianças com DA severa utilizam a LGP; e d) no que refere à aquisição de novos gestos ou de novos vocábulos, verificou-se um aumento progressivo no desempenho das crianças com DA moderada e DA severa, ou seja, uma diminuição no uso de pistas (visual, semântica e/ou fonológica) fornecidas às crianças. Estas pistas têm objectivo auxiliar as crianças caso tivessem dificuldades em nomear o vocábulo.This exploratory study aims to analyse the oral and/or sign language named vocabulary in children with different types and degrees of hearing loss (HL) in order to understand what the primary language is chosen by these children. For such independent variables will be considered: age, gender, the type and degree of HL. An assessment tool was developed, referred to as Semantic Naming Battery. This battery consists of 100 words and corresponding images existing within the two categories (nouns and verbs), with the aim of assessing the acquisition of the lexicon and the choice of first language, Portuguese Language (PL) or the Portuguese Sign Language (PSL). This choice will be made after the children have been exposed to two languages (PL and PSL). The dependent variables considered will be the battery raw results. The sample consisted of ten pre-school children, aged between four and five years old who attend a pre-school of reference to children with HL, in the North Region of Portugal. The results of this study indicate that: a) children with moderate HL spontaneously named 80% and children with severe HL named 79% of the vocabulary, using the PL and PSL simultaneously, we also noted that when employing only one, children with moderate HL use oral language and severe HL use sign language; b) there are statistically significant differences in the acquisition of new signs or the development of oral language according to the language they use less, after a year in pre-school; c) the type and degree of HL influence the choice of the child to their first language, particularly children with moderate HL use more often the PL and children with severe HL use the PSL; and d) as regards of the acquisition of new signs or new words, there was a progressive increase in the performance of children with moderate and severe HL, in other words, a decrease in the use of cues (visual, semantic and/or phonological) provided to children. These clues help children if they have difficulties in naming the target word

Cx43 can form functional channels at the nuclear envelope and modulate gene expression in cardiac cells

Conexina 43; Expresión génica; Translocación nuclearConnexina 43; Expressió gènica; Translocació nuclearConnexin 43; Gene expression; Nuclear translocationClassically associated with gap junction-mediated intercellular communication, connexin43 (Cx43) is increasingly recognized to possess non-canonical biological functions, including gene expression regulation. However, the mechanisms governing the localization and role played by Cx43 in the nucleus, namely in transcription modulation, remain unknown. Using comprehensive and complementary approaches encompassing biochemical assays, super-resolution and immunogold transmission electron microscopy, we demonstrate that Cx43 localizes to the nuclear envelope of different cell types and in cardiac tissue. We show that translocation of Cx43 to the nucleus relies on Importin-β, and that Cx43 significantly impacts the cellular transcriptome, likely by interacting with transcriptional regulators. In vitro patch-clamp recordings from HEK293 and adult primary cardiomyocytes demonstrate that Cx43 forms active channels at the nuclear envelope, providing evidence that Cx43 can participate in nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of small molecules. The accumulation of nuclear Cx43 during myogenic differentiation of cardiomyoblasts is suggested to modulate expression of genes implicated in this process. Altogether, our study provides new evidence for further defining the biological roles of nuclear Cx43, namely in cardiac pathophysiology.This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Operational Program for Competitiveness Factors (COMPETE) under the projects HealthyAging2020 CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000012-N2323, CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-032179, CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-032414, EXPL/MED-OUT/0590/2021, UIDB/04539/2020 and PPBI-Portuguese Platform of BioImaging (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022122). This work was also supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement MIA-Portugal no. 857524 and the Comissão de Coordenação da Região Centro (CCDRC) through the Centro2020 Program. T.A. acknowledges funding from Instituto de Salud Carlos III, grant PI16/00772 co-financed by the ERDF, and Fundación Científica Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (IDEAS20039AASE). This work used the platforms of the Grenoble Instruct-ERIC center (ISBG; UAR 3518 CNRS-CEA-UGA-EMBL) within the Grenoble Partnership for Structural Biology (PSB), supported by FRISBI (ANR-10-INBS-0005-02) and GRAL, financed within the University Grenoble Alpes graduate school (Ecoles Universitaires de Recherche) CBH-EUR-GS (ANR-17-EURE-0003), and the Microscopy and Bioimaging Lab (iLAB) at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra (Coimbra, Portugal). The IBS Electron Microscope facility is supported by the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Region, the Fonds Feder, the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale and GIS-IBiSA. Super-resolution microscopy experiments benefited from access to CBI/IGBMC (Illkirch, France) and were supported by FRISBI (ANR-10-INBS-0005). Financial support was provided by Instruct-ERIC (PID 14677)

Understanding fish larvae’s feeding biology to improve aquaculture feeding protocols

Knowing that food ingestion and digestion are processes under neuroendocrine regulation, it is important to understand how fish larvae regulate these processes, when the digestive system itself is under development. This study aimed to analyze how gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) larval feeding incidence and intensity were affected by time, light, and water temperature, through the analysis of gut content and how this affected cholecystokinin (CCK) content. Three short-term experiments were done: (A) 27 and 42 days post-hatch (DPH) larvae were analyzed at different intervals for 80 min, after feeding; (B) 38 and 48 DPH larvae were kept under different light intensities (0, 400, 1000 lux) for 30 min; (C) 41 DPH larvae were kept at 17, 19, 25 °C for 30 min. Feeding incidence below 100% was observed for 27 DPH larvae, and for 38 DPH larvae fed at 0 lux. Feeding intensity was several fold higher at older ages. However, the number of prey in the gut was lower at 0 lux, and higher at 25 °C. Overall, no clear pattern was observed for CCK, but at older ages increasing gut content resulted in higher CCK content. In conclusion, until 38 DPH light is important for gilthead sea bream larval feeding ability, and maturing functionality of CCK was only observed at later stages.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Implementation of a dashboard for security forces data visualization

In the current model of democratic rule of law, security is assumed as a basic right of citizens. Optimal resources allocation and budgetary constraints oblige an increasingly careful strategic management, adapted to demographic reality. The SIM4SECURITY project aims to build a technological solution to support decision making regarding security, based on the development of a GIS model and in the implementation of demographic scenarios. This model will allow policy makers, leaders and forces of command units and services in the planning and rational affectation of resources adjusted to local dynamics in crime prevention and crime fighting. To communicate the SIM4SECURITY results, dashboards containing the various dimensions and perspectives of the information were elaborated and are presented. The obtained outcomes show that dashboards are an important visual tool in the decision-making process by providing meaningful insights regarding security and in the location-allocation of security forces

Metodologia e Resultados

O presente WP tem como objetivo apresentar o exercício prospetivo demográfico levado a cabo para Portugal Continental no âmbito do projeto SIM4SECURITY, para o período 2011-2040. A primeira parte inclui a descrição da metodologia utilizada no exercício. A segunda parte apresenta os quatro cenários construídos, assim como os valores dos respetivos índices. Na terceira e última parte apresentam-se os resultados das projeções e ainda uma análise da variação entre os resultados e a contagem oficial mais recente da população portuguesa, realizada nos Censos 2011.publishersversionpublishe

Clinical and radiological analysis of a series of periapical cysts and periapical granulomas diagnosed in a Brazilian population

Periapical cysts (PC) and periapical granulomas (PG) are the two most common chronic inflammatory periapical diseases, but their clinicoradiological characteristics can vary depending on the methods employed in each study. The aim of the present work was to analyze the clinical and radiological profile of a series of PC and PG diagnosed in a Brazilian population. The files of two Oral Pathology laboratories were reviewed and all cases diagnosed as PG and PC were selected for the study. Clinical and radiological information were retrieved and data were tabulated and descriptively and comparatively analyzed. Final sample was composed by 647 inflammatory periapical lesions, including 244 PG (38%) and 403 PC (62%). The number of women affected by PG was significantly higher than the number of women affected by PC (p=0.037). Anterior region of the maxilla was the most common affected area for both entities (39% of the cases), but the most common anatomical location of PG (anterior maxilla and posterior maxilla) was different from PC (anterior maxilla and posterior mandible) (p<0.0001). Upper lateral incisor was the most affected tooth. The mean radiological size of the PC was larger than the mean radiological size of the PG (p<0.0001) and PC showed well-defined radiological images more frequently than PG (p<0.0001). PC were more common than PG, both showed predilection for adult females, most lesions affected predominantly the anterior maxilla and PC presented larger mean radiological diameter and well-defined images when compared with PG