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The promotion of angiogenesis is a fundamental step for efficient organ/tissue reconstitution and replacement. Thus, several strategies to promote vascularization of scaffolds were studied to satisfy this unsolved clinical need. The interface between cells and substrates is a determinant for the success of tissue engineering (TE) strategies. Substrateâ s topography is reported to play a key role in influencing endothelial cell behavior, namely, on its proliferation, metabolic activity, morphology, migration, and secretion of cytokines and chemokines. Therefore, surface topography of the biomaterial-based grafts is a crucial property that is considered in the development of a new TE approach. Herein, we hypothesize that the surface of Rubus fruticosus leaf plays a crucial role in driving angiogenesis since its architecture resembles the vascular structures at a biologically relevant size scale. For this, we produced biomimetic polycaprolactone (PCL) membranes (BpMs) replicating the surface topography of a R. fruticosus leaf by replica molding and nanoimprint lithography. Our results showed an enhanced performance in terms of proliferation of the human endothelial cell line on top of the BpM. Moreover, an asymmetric cellular spatial distribution among the surface of the BpM was observed. These cells seem to have higher density for longer time periods in the region that replicates the leaf veins. Finally, we assess the angiogenic capacity through a chick chorioallantoic membrane assay, revealing that BpMs are more prone to support angiogenesis than flat PCL membranes. We strongly believe that this strategy can bring new insights into developing TE strategies with an enhanced performance in terms of the vascular integration between the host and the scaffolds implanted., This work is a result of the project FROnTHERA (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023), supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the doctoral programme in Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells (PD/59/2013 and PD/BD/128087/2016), and by the project Cells4_IDs (PTDC/BTM-SAL/28882/2017). The authors would like to acknowledge "BLUEBIOLAB.Laboratorio Transfronterizo de Biotecnologia Marina".0474_BLUEBIO-LAB_1_E financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

Prebiotics are interesting compounds able to modulate the gut microbiota by inducing the growth or activity of beneficial bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract, while the pathogenic ones are inhibited. Several carbohydrates have been considered prebiotics including xylooligosaccarides (XOS). XOS are the only nutraceuticals that can be produced from lignocellulosic biomass. Indeed, XOS can be produced from agro-residues, which is encouraging to the food ingredient industries, as these raw materials are inexpensive, abundant and renewable in nature. In particular, the coffee agro-industry generates million tonnes of solid residues yearly worldwide, including coffee sliver skin (CSS). The use of coffee agro-industry residues for XOS production through a sustainable process is undoubtably aligned with the concept of circular economy. In this work, the production potential of XOS was evaluated for CSS and CSS pellets (CP), using one-pot fermentation by recombinant Bacillus subtills. In previous work, this strain was genetically modified to express the xylanase gene (xyn2) from Trichoderma reesei. CP presented the highest potential for XOS production. After process optimization, the highest reducing sugars yield (63 ± 3 mg.gCP-1) was achieved at 8 h, 45 °C, pH 7.0 and 10 g.L-1 of CP. One-pot fermentation proved to be a promising strategy for XOS production from CP, presenting advantages over the use of commercial enzymes. This study provides important insights for novel bioprocess integration approaches using agro-residues towards production cost reduction., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Nanomaterials offer a broad spectrum of applications in biomedicine. The shapes of gold nanoparticles could modulate tumor cell behavior. Spherical (AuNPsp), stars (AuNPst) and rods (AuNPr) shapes of polyethylene glycol coated-gold nanoparticles (AuNPs-PEG) were synthesized. Metabolic activity, cellular proliferation, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured and the impact of AuNPs-PEG in metabolic enzymes function was evaluated by RT-qPCR in PC3, DU145, and LNCaP prostate cancer cells. All AuNPs were internalized, and the different morphologies of AuNPs showed to be an essential modulator of metabolic activity. For PC3 and DU145, the metabolic activity of AuNPs was found to rank in the following order from lowest to highest: AuNPsp-PEG, AuNPst-PEG, and AuNPr-PEG. Regarding LNCaP cells, the AuNPst-PEG were less toxic, followed by AuNPsp-PEG and AuNPr-PEG, but it seems not to be dose-dependent. The proliferation was lower in AuNPr-PEG in PC3 and DU145 cells but was stimulated around 10% in most conditions (0.001–0.1 mM) in LNCaP cells (not statistically significant). For 1 mM, LNCaP cells showed a significant decrease in proliferation only for AuNPr-PEG. The outcomes of the current study demonstrated that different AuNPs conformations influence cell behavior, and the correct size and shape must be chosen considering its final application in the field of nanomedicine., The author is grateful for the financial support of Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through project reference—2022.09032.PTDC and also to FCT through COMPETE to the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-024325., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Marketing Intelligence Cultural assets are physical or intangible artifacts that embody humanity’s expressions of individual and collective experience, and supportively contribute to education and knowledge dissemination. Yet, it is fathomed that “underdeveloped countries” experience a multitude of structural barriers that limit their citizens from accessing these important cultural artifacts. In pursuits of an interdisciplinary approach, this study first intends to identify the cultural, historical, and international paradigms that devise these limitations, and pinpoint the existing cultural democratization barriers that these nations withstand. Moreover, it hopes to acknowledge the value of ethical cultural democratization projects and mindful partnerships between organizations, governments, and institutions as potentiators of equality, and economic and social growth. That being said, grounded on a Design Science Research Methodology, the main objective of this research is the construction of an inclusive framework that aids in the democratization of access to cultural assets in “underdeveloped countries”. Essentially, this artifact should function as an accessible tool that supports decision-makers in the creation of cultural democratization projects, by providing them strategies for problem-solving through innovative approaches and recommending the available technological solutions for mitigating cultural democratization barriers. All throughout contemplating the capacities and necessities of each setting. Additionally, this study acknowledges the prevailing power dynamics and oppressive colonial control that looms over underdeveloped nations. With that in mind, it entirely rejects the ideals of cultural dominance in favor of supporting the democratic principles of cultural reciprocity.

RESUMO Objetivo O estudo teve como objetivos o desenvolvimento e validação de conteúdo de um Programa de Intervenção em Processamento Auditivo, destinado a crianças em idade escolar, com perturbação do processamento auditivo, falantes do português europeu. Método A primeira etapa consistiu no desenvolvimento do programa e respetivo manual de instruções, que inclui objetivos, atividades, procedimentos, materiais, reforços, instruções e estímulos verbais utilizados, para as competências auditivas de discriminação auditiva, atenção auditiva, memória auditiva, fechamento, figura-fundo; separação binaural, integração binaural e fusão binaural; a segunda etapa consistiu na validação de conteúdo, por dois painéis de peritos que analisaram o programa, através de um questionário. A validade de conteúdo foi calculada usando o índice de validade de conteúdo. Resultados A avaliação do programa revela uma excelente validade de conteúdo. Alguns itens foram modificados depois da análise dos comentários e sugestões dos peritos (ex: instruções, desníveis de intensidade, personagem principal). Conclusão O estudo permitiu o desenvolvimento e validação de um programa de intervenção em processamento auditivo, com estímulos verbais, selecionados de acordo com critérios linguísticos rigorosos. Futuramente, está prevista a realização de estudos de aceitabilidade e eficácia do programa junto da população alvo. ABSTRACT Purpose The study aimed at the development and content validation of an Auditory Processing Intervention Program for school-aged European Portuguese speaking children with Auditory Processing Disorder. Methods The first step was the program’s development and its instructions manual, which includes objectives, activities, procedures, materials, reinforcement, instructions, and verbal stimuli used, for the following auditory skills: auditory discrimination, auditory attention; auditory memory; auditory closure; figure-ground; auditory separation; auditory integration; binaural fusion; content validation was performed next, with two expert panels analyzing the program, through the use of a questionnaire. Content validity was calculated using the content validity index. Results Program evaluation shows an excellent content validity. Some items were modified after analyzing the experts’ comments and suggestions (e.g. instructions, intensity differences, main character). Conclusion This work allowed the development and content validation of an auditory processing intervention program, with verbal stimuli, selected according to strict linguistic criteria. In the future, the acceptability and efficacy of this program with the target population should be analyzed.

Agradecimientos. Este trabajo ha sido financiado por los proyectos: PID2021-126717NB-C31, PID2021-126717NBC32 y PID2021-126717NB-C33. Presentamos un trabajo enmarcado en la teoría antropológica de lo didáctico que aborda la relación entre los resultados de la investigación didáctica sobre el estudio escolar de cierto dominio de las matemáticas y el problema docente relativo al qué enseñar y cómo hacerlo en relación con dicho dominio. Nos centramos en el ámbito de la modelización funcional y del cálculo diferencial elemental y proponemos una estrategia de formación del profesorado que culmina en la construcción de una posible praxeología para la enseñanza, como punto de partida para un cambio de paradigma didáctico en la institución escolar, tan necesario como aplazado. This is a paper framed within the anthropological theory of the didactic that addresses the relationship between the results of didactic research on the school study of a certain domain of mathematics and the teaching problem of what to teach and how to do it in relation to that domain. We focus on the field of functional modelling and elementary differential calculus and propose a teacher training strategy that culminates in the construction of a possible praxeology for teaching, as a starting point for a change in the didactic paradigm in the school institution, as necessary as it has been long overdue.

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are promising prebiotics in the relevant and increasing market of functional food. However, to achieve a more sustainable process, the industrial production of FOS should use cheap substrates. Zymomonas mobilis (ZM) has great potential for the production of FOS due to the presence of native enzymes (levansucrase) capable of metabolizing sucrose. In addition, ZM can use different carbon sources, such as molasses and sugarcane juice, which make the FOS production process cost-effective. In this study, sugarcane molasses (a potential replacement of sucrose) and corn step liquor (CSL) (a potential replacement of yeast extract (YE)), were used as nutrients for FOS production using ZM in an in vivo bioprocess approach. FOS production process from sucrose was first optimized and 52 g/L of FOS with a yield of 0.16 g/g was obtained. Afterwards, molasses and CSL were used as alternative nutrients. After studying different combinations of CSL and YE, the highest amount of FOS (54 g/L, with a yield of 0.18 g/g) was obtained with 12 g/L of CSL and 8 g/L of YE. In addition, 45 g/L of FOS were produced from molasses containing 200 g/L of sucrose, with a yield of 0.3 g/g. With this approach, it was possible to reduce around 5.5-times the cost associated with the FOS production medium. Moreover, this study proposed a sustainable process for the valorization of agro-industrial wastes contributing to the future Circular (Bio)Economy and the EU Green Deal., Cláudia Amorim, João Rainha, Beatriz B. Cardoso and Daniela Gomes acknowledge their grants (2020.0029.CEECIND, SFRH/BD/138325/2018, SFRH/BD/132324/2017 and SFRH/BD/04433/2020, respectively) from Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). The study received financial support from Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and by LABBELS – Associate Laboratory in Biotechnology, Bioengineering and Microelectromechanical Systems, LA/P/0029/2020., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

A avaliação é algo recorrente na rotina das instituições de ensino, sendo uma ferramenta de grande importância para diagnótiscos e desenvolvimento dos alunos e ela sempre será questionada e discutida, na tentativa de buscar a melhor forma. Por ser de grande importância, o tema foi amplamente estudado para o embasamento teórico da pesquisa. Sendo assim, a pesquisa tem caráter bibliográfico e também de metodologia empírica, pois a coleta de dados aconteceu com 10 profissionais da escola campo de estágio, Escola Municipal Doutor Severino Alves de Sá, na cidade de Salgueiro-PE, através de um questionário, contendo 10 perguntas. O estudo tem natureza quantitativa e qualitativa. O questionário foi idealizado para conhecer as dificuldades e as perspectivas das docentes dos anos iniciais e os resultados foram transformados em percentual para uma melhor análise dos dados. Um dos dados obtidos com o questionário é que 90% dos professores sentem dificuldades de avaliar o aluno de forma remota e outro dado alarmante é que na escola campo, devido a pandemia, os alunos regrediram no processo de aprendizagem, devido a ausência de responsáveis para o acompanhamento, a carência de acesso a meios tecnológicos, e a ausência do contato entre professor e aluno. Percebe-se que para atingir resultados positivos com os alunos, a escola necessita de uma maior participação dos pais na vida escolar de seus filhos.---Assessment is something recurrent in the routine of educational institutions, being a very important tool for diagnosis and student development, and it will always be questioned and discussed, in an attempt to find the best way. Because it is of great importance, the topic has been extensively studied for the theoretical basis of the research. Thus, the research has a bibliographic character and also an empirical methodology, as the data collection took place with 10 professionals from the internship field school, Doutor Severino Alves de Sá Municipal School, in the city of Salgueiro-PE, through a questionnaire containing 10 questions. The study is quantitative and qualitative in nature. The questionnaire was designed to understand the difficulties and perspectives of teachers in the early years and the results were transformed into percentages for a better data analysis. One of the data obtained from the questionnaire is that 90% of teachers have difficulties in evaluating the student remotely and another alarming fact is that in the field school, due to the pandemic, students regressed in the learning process, due to the absence of guardians for monitoring, lack of access to technological means, and lack of contact between teacher and student. It is noticed that to achieve positive results with students, the school needs greater participation by parents in their children's school life

To determine the impact of COVID-19 pandemic (COVID-19-P) on clinical and health organisational variables of patients evaluated by Liaison Psychiatry (LP).Revision of all collaboration requests (CR) to LP for patients hospitalised in a Portuguese General Hospital during the second wave of COVID-19-P, from 1 October to 31 December of 2020. Medical charts were analysed and selected variables were compared with those of the homologous non-pandemic period. Data were statistically analysed.There was a 22.3% decrease in the number of CR in 2020. The most frequently given reasons for CR were depressive symptoms, psychomotor agitation, and difficulties in adapting to the disease in both years. However, 5.9% more patients reported suicidal ideation in 2020. The hospitalisation length before CR was smaller in 2020 than in 2019 (9 vs 11). There was a higher proportion of patients followed in a psychiatric consultation and previously taking psychotropic medication before hospitalisation in 2020 than in 2019. After the assessment, the trend was that both groups did not meet diagnostic criteria for any disorder and no pharmacological adjustment was needed.This study highlights the need to better characterise the indirect repercussion of COVID-19-P, and focus on the prevention and treatment of mental illness particularly in adverse contexts.Key PointsFewer collaboration requests to liaison psychiatry during the second wave of COVID-19;Collaboration requests were made earlier in the hospitalisation;For patients with more medical comorbidities, psychiatric history, and psychotropic medication;Most because of depressive symptoms and more with suicidal ideation;Fewer collaboration requests to liaison psychiatry during COVID-19;Made earlier in the hospitalisation;For patients with more medical comorbidities, psychiatric history, and medication;Most because of depressive symptoms and more with suicidal ideation.

Resumo Este artigo é o resultado de um projeto realizado nas turmas dos cursos de Licenciatura em Engenharia no Ensino Superior Politécnico em Portugal, no período em que as aulas foram lecionadas de forma remota. Para adaptar o processo de ensino-aprendizagem a esta nova realidade, diferentes abordagens e métodos de avaliação foram implementados no âmbito do ensino de cálculo. A constatação de que uma avaliação tradicional no modelo online poderia ter as suas potencialidades reduzidas devido à possibilidade de o aluno utilizar diferentes ferramentas de auxílio quando é avaliado à distância, nos levou a colocar em prática um modelo de avaliação assente em trabalhos de grupo fundamentado na aprendizagem baseada em problemas. Considerando a aplicabilidade da determinação de máximos e mínimos de uma função no dia a dia, foram criadas várias situações-problema. Para a sua resolução seriam necessários conhecimentos de Geometria e de Modelagem Matemática: envolvendo a formulação de hipóteses, o questionamento por parte do aluno e a sua capacidade de análise. Com a intenção de incrementar os conhecimentos tecnológicos dos alunos, foi utilizado no projeto o software GeoGebra para relacionar de um modo mais visual e dinâmico o cálculo diferencial com a Geometria. Os resultados obtidos e o feedback positivo dos grupos de alunos revelaram que o projeto é uma boa alternativa ao modelo de avaliação tradicional, podendo mesmo servir de referencial para o trabalho de outros professores. Abstract This paper is the result of a project carried out in classes of Engineering Degree courses in Polytechnic Higher Education in Portugal, in the period when classes were taught remotely. To adapt the teaching-learning process to this new reality, different approaches and evaluation methods were implemented in the calculus teaching. The realization that a traditional evaluation in the online model could have its potentialities reduced due to the possibility of the student using different aid tools when being assessed at a distance, led us to put in practice an evaluation model based on group work founded in problem-based learning. Considering the applicability of the determination of maxima and minima of a function in everyday life, several problem situations were created. To solve them it would be necessary to have geometry and mathematical modelling knowledge: involving hypothesis formulation, questioning by the student and their analysis capacity. With the intention of increasing the students’ technological knowledge, the GeoGebra software was used in the project to relate differential calculus with geometry in a more visual and dynamic way. The results obtained and the positive feedback from the student groups revealed that the project is a good alternative to the traditional assessment model and may even serve as a reference for the work of other teachers.

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Mecânica, A presente dissertação, realizada em parceria com a empresa HAKEN WELT, LDA, tem como objetivo a melhoria das características técnicas de portas corta-fogo, nomeadamente da porta corta fogo em estudo ainda em desenvolvimento, fabricada e comercializada pela empresa. Este estudo apoia-se na simulação numérica, tendo-se utilizado o Método dos Elementos Finitos (MEF) no programa ANSYS Mechanical. Inicialmente foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica acerca de portas corta-fogo disponíveis no mercado, bem como das normas existentes no âmbito da resistência ao fogo, tanto no que diz respeito ao ensaio de certificação como da posterior classificação. Por último, foi também feita uma pesquisa acerca de trabalhos já realizados no âmbito das portas corta-fogo, focando a implementação destes estudos no ambiente de simulação numérica. No que concerne ao caso em estudo, foi estudado detalhadamente todo o conjunto porta-aro, tendo sido necessário determinar as propriedades térmicas do Halspan e do fenólico, ambos materiais presentes na porta. Relativamente à simulação numérica, foi necessário determinar a variação do coeficiente de transferência de calor por convecção ao longo do tempo na face não exposta da porta, como também realizar um estudo acerca da influência da resistência de contacto e da condutância no contacto entre a porta e o aro. Quanto às simulações realizadas, foram efetuadas diferentes análises de forma a estudar a influência de determinados parâmetros no comportamento da porta, permitindo assim realizar escolhas no que diz respeito a materiais, geometrias e disposições de elementos. Começando pelo estudo do material do aro, este estudo permitiu descartar o alumínio, comparativamente ao aço inoxidável e à madeira. Selecionado este último material, verificou-se a necessidade de um aro com uma maior espessura e, por isso, mais robusto. Quanto à disposição dos isolamentos no interior do aro e aos materiais a colocar, de entre soluções com resultados bastante próximos, a colocação de fibra de vidro no isolamento central junto à porta demonstrou ser a melhor opção. Por último, direcionando o estudo para a melhoria da porta, constatou-se que aumentando apenas a espessura da porta em 10mm o desempenho desta melhorava largamente, tanto no que diz respeito às temperaturas do aro e da porta, como das deformações dos cantos superior e inferior., The present dissertation, carried out in partnership with the company HAKEN WELT, LDA, aims at improving the technical characteristics of fire doors, namely the fire door under study under development, manufactured and marketed by the company. This study is based on numerical simulation, using the Finite Element Method (FEM) in ANSYS Mechanical software. Initially, a bibliographic review of the fire doors available in the market was carried out, as well as of the existing standards in the field of fire resistance, both with regard to the certification test and the subsequent classification. Finally, research on previous studies on fire doors was also carried out, focusing on the implementation of these studies in the numerical simulation environment. Regarding the case under study, the entire door-frame assembly was studied in detail, and it was necessary to determine the thermal properties of Halspan and phenolic, both materials present in the door. Regarding the numerical simulation, it was necessary to determine the variation of the convective heat transfer coefficient over time on the unexposed side of the door, as well as to study the influence of contact resistance and conductance on the contact between the door and the frame. As for the simulations performed, different analyses were carried out in order to study the influence of certain parameters on the door behaviour, thus allowing choices to be made regarding materials, geometries and element arrangements. Starting with the study of the frame material, this study allowed to discard aluminium, compared to stainless steel and wood. Having selected the latter material, the need for a frame with a greater thickness and therefore more robust was verified. As for the insulation arrangement inside the frame and the materials to be used, among solutions with very similar results, the use of fibreglass in the central insulation next to the door proved to be the best option. Finally, directing the study towards the improvement of the door, it was found that only increasing the door thickness by 10mm greatly improved its performance, both with regard to the temperatures of the frame and the door, as well as the deformations of the upper and lower corners.

The Iberian ribbed newt (Pleurodeles waltl) constitutes a central model for probing the basis of regeneration. Here, we present the sequencing and chromosome-scale assembly of the 20.3GbP.waltlgenome, which exhibits the highest level of contiguity and completeness among giant genomes. We uncover that DNA transposable elements are the major contributors to its expansion, with hAT transposons comprising a large portion of repeats. Several hATs are actively transcribed and differentially expressed during adultP.waltllimb regeneration, along with domesticated hAT transposons of the ZBED transcription factor family. Despite its size, syntenic relationships are conserved across the genome. As an example we show the high degree of conservation of the regeneration-associated Tig1 locus with several neighbouring genes. Together, theP.waltlgenome provides a fundamental resource for the study of regenerative, developmental and evolutionary principles.