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Freezing of gait (FoG) is one of the most disabling motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease, which is described as a symptom where walking is interrupted by a brief, episodic absence, or marked reduction, of forward progression despite the intention to continue walking. Although FoG causes are multifaceted, they often occur in response of environment triggers, as turnings and passing through narrow spaces such as a doorway. This symptom appears to be overcome using external sensory cues. The recognition of such environments has consequently become a pertinent issue for PD-affected community. This study aimed to implement a real-time DL-based door detection model to be integrated into a wearable biofeedback device for delivering on-demand proprioceptive cues. It was used transfer-learning concepts to train a MobileNet-SSD in TF environment. The model was then integrated in a RPi being converted to a faster and lighter computing power model using TensorFlow Lite settings. Model performance showed a considerable precision of 97,2%, recall of 78,9% and a good F1-score of 0,869. In real-time testing with the wearable device, DL-model showed to be temporally efficient (~2.87 fps) to detect with accuracy doors over real-life scenarios. Future work will include the integration of sensory cues with the developed model in the wearable biofeedback device aiming to validate the final solution with end-users., This work was supported by FCT National Funds, under the National support to R & D units grant, through the reference project UIDB/04436/2020 and UIDP/04436/2020, and under the Reference Scholarship under grant SFRH/BD/136569/2018.

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Dissertação de Mestrado em Ciências Jurídico-Forenses apresentada à Faculdade de Direito A evolução científica e tecnológica da medicina, aliada ao progresso da consciencialização a nível individual da dignidade da pessoa humana, conduziu a que se deixasse de seguir de forma irrefletida a opinião médica, interiorizando-se o respeito pelo direito à autodeterminação dos pacientes, passando o indivíduo a assumir um papel dominante na relação médico-paciente em termos de cuidados de saúde. Nesta medida, poder-se-á, hoje, afirmar que mais do que salvar uma vida, importa, igualmente, garantir a sua qualidade.Deste novo paradigma de atuação não poderá dissociar-se a reconhecida complexidade das matérias em estudo, encontrando-se em causa o confronto de diversos direitos fundamentais, aparentemente em colisão e cuja harmonização se impõe - do direito à vida e dos direitos de personalidade, como o direito à integridade física e pessoal, à autodeterminação e, sobretudo, o direito à saúde - intimamente ligados ao desenvolvimento e realização plena da pessoa humana.Foi perante questões tão delicadas que a ciência médica passou a debater a condição humana numa nova perspetiva, clamando pela existência de normas objetivas adstritas a princípios definidos e rigorosos, que norteiem e delimitem o campo de atuação da intervenção médica, sobretudo quando o próprio doente não tem mais condições para manifestar a sua vontade pessoal. É neste conspecto que surge no nosso ordenamento jurídico a consagração das diretivas antecipadas de vontade (DAV) como um instrumento jurídico-legal que visa assegurar a possibilidade do paciente em plenas capacidades mentais declarar a priori a sua vontade consciente, livre e esclarecida no que concerne aos cuidados de saúde a que deseja (ou não) ser sujeito caso fique impossibilitado de manifestar a sua vontade de viver com dignidade e qualidade.Denote-se, então, que as DAV tratam de proteger o direito ao consentimento informado, mesmo em situação de perda de competências do paciente para tal, e bem assim, de reconhecer e respeitar o seu direito individual a ter a sua própria visão sobre a morte.Deste modo, para além dos consentimentos efetivo e presumido é admitida uma nova forma de manifestação de vontade que permite a estipulação prospetiva de cuidados médicos que mantém a individualidade de cada paciente.No ordenamento jurídico português a Lei n.º 25/2012, de 16 de julho é o diploma que define as diretivas antecipadas de vontade (DAV), sob a forma de testamento vital (TV), como o documento unilateral e livremente revogável (a qualquer momento), através do qual o indivíduo maior e capaz manifesta antecipadamente a sua vontade consciente, livre e esclarecida, relativamente aos cuidados de saúde que deseja ou não receber, caso venha a encontrar-se incapaz de expressar a sua vontade pessoal de modo autónomo, e/ou nomeia um procurador de cuidados de saúde (PCS) que tomará as decisões por conta do doente, tendo em vista as eventuais situações de incapacidade, criando também o Registo Nacional do Testamento Vital (RENTEV).Com a consagração desta figura jurídica procurou respeitar-se a noção de dignidade que cada um tem de acordo com os seus valores e aceitar que perante a doença grave ou a grave diminuição da qualidade de vida, tanto é legítima a esperança fundada da pessoa doente como a sua desistência, não podendo o Estado de Direito impor uma conceção moral, ética ou ideológica. Contudo, apesar de em Portugal já ter sido publicada e se encontrar em vigor a legislação reguladora das diretivas antecipadas de vontade, as DAV constituem ainda um assunto da atualidade, que suscitam questões de diversa índole, não estritamente jurídicas, cujas respostas estão longe de ser pacíficas, sendo crucial continuar a promover-se o debate pluridisciplinar, no sentido de se proporcionar uma antevisão e planificação do final da vida cada vez mais provida da dignidade e da serenidade possível.Na verdade, este tema é muitas vezes erradamente debatido pela população em geral – ou por não se conhecer a sua base, ou por esta nova figura não ser de fácil apreensão – sendo essencial à sua eficácia a divulgação das DAV através de mecanismos que potenciem um elevado nível de esclarecimento à população em geral, o que no nosso entendimento justificou a pouca recetividade inicial às DAV no seio da comunidade, sendo o número de testamentos vitais registados no RENTEV nos primeiros anos muito abaixo do que era expectável. No que respeita à questão de saber se esta nova realidade jurídica das diretivas antecipadas de vontade (testamento vital e procurador de cuidados de saúde) - que se distingue de todas as outras realidades pelas suas especificidades e que por tal motivo se tornou tão controversa - configura um instrumento que intermediará a legalização da morte medicamente assistida num futuro próximo, sendo nesta perspetiva as DAV uma antecâmara à implementação da ideia de “eutanásia” no seio do direito português, diremos que não se deverá confundir a questão das diretivas antecipadas com nenhuma. The scientific and technological evolution of medicine, coupled with the progress of awareness regarding the dignity of the human person, has led to the failure to follow the medical opinion without reflecting, internalizing the respect for the patients' right to self-determination, becoming the individual the one that assumes a dominant role in the doctor-patient relationship in terms of health care.To this extent, it can be said today that more than saving a life, it is also important to guarantee its quality.From this new paradigm, the recognized complexity of the subjects under study cannot be dissociated, leading to the confrontation of several fundamental rights at stake, apparently in collision and whose harmonization is necessary - the right to live and the rights of personality itself, as the right to physical and personal integrity, self-determination and, above all, the right to health - closely linked to the development and full realization of the human person.It was facing such delicate issues that medical science began to debate the human condition in a new perspective, calling for the existence of objective norms attached to defined and rigorous principles, which guide and delimit the field of action of medical intervention, especially when the patient himself is no longer able to express his personal will.It is in this context that the advance directives of will (ADW) emerge in our legal system as a legal instrument that aim to ensure the possibility of the patient in its full mental capacity to declare his conscious, free and clarified will regarding health care to which he wishes (or not) to be subject if he becomes unable to express his desire to live with dignity and quality.It should be noted that ADW try to protect the right to informed consent, even in a situation of loss of the patient's competence to do so, and, to recognize and respect their individual right to have their own view about death.This way, in addition to the actual and presumed consent, it is assumed a new form of manifestation of will that allows the prospective stipulation of medical care that ensures the maintenance of the individuality of each patient.In the Portuguese legal system, the Law nº. 25/2012, of 16th of July, is the diploma that defines the advance directives of will (ADW), in the form of vital will (VW), as the unilateral and freely revocable document (at any time), through which the individual expresses his conscious, free and informed will in advance, regarding the health care he wishes or not to receive, in case he finds himself unable to express his personal will autonomously , and / or appoints a health care attorney (HCA) who will take decisions on behalf of the patient, counting on possible situations of disability, creating the National Register of Vital Will (RENTEV)With the consecration of this legal figure, efforts were made to respect the notion of dignity that each one has according to their values and accept that, when facing a serious illness or a severe decrease in the quality of life, both the founded hope of the sick person and its withdrawal are legitimate, and the estate law cannot impose a moral, ethical or ideological conception.However, despite the fact that in Portugal the legislation regulating the advance directives of will has already been published, the ADW are still a current issue, which raise questions of different nature, not strictly legal, whose answers are far from being answered, being crucial to continue promoting the multidisciplinary debate, in order to provide a preview and planning of the end of life provided with dignity and serenity.In fact, this topic is often mistakenly debated by the population in general - either because its base is not known, or because this new figure is not easily understood – being essential to its effectiveness the dissemination of ADW through mechanisms that enhance a high level of clarification to the population, which in our view justified the initial low receptivity to the ADW within the community, with the number of vital wills registered in RENTEV in the first years much lower than expected.Regarding the question of whether this new legal reality of the advance directives of will (vital will and health care attorney) - which is distinguished from all other realities by its specificities and for which has become so controversial – is an instrument that will mediate the legalization of medically assisted death in the near future, being in this perspective the ADW an antechamber to the implementation of the idea of “euthanasia” within Portuguese law, we can say that the issue of advance directives should not be confused with any of the conceptions of assisted death, because in practice it is not a medical team causing the death of the patient, but rather the disease itself (natural death). However, it must be admitted that the final goals might be very similar: granting death to an individual who suffers from.

Background: Wearable monitoring devices based on inertial sensors have the potential to be used as a quantitative method in clinical practice for continuous assessment of gait disabilities in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Methods: This manuscript introduces a new gait monitoring system adapted to patients with PD, based on a wearable monitoring device. To eliminate inter- and intra-subject variability, the computational method was based on heuristic rules with adaptive thresholds and ranges and a motion compensation strategy. The experimental trials involved repeated measurements of walking trials from two cross-sectional studies: the first study was performed in order to validate the effectiveness of the system against a robust 3D motion analysis with 10 healthy subjects; and the second-one aimed to validate our approach against a well-studied wearable IMU-based system on a hospital environment with 20 patients with PD. Results: The proposed system proved to be efficient (Experiment I: sensitivity = 95,09% and accuracy = 93,64%; Experiment II: sensitivity = 99,53% and accuracy = 97,42%), time-effective (Experiment I: earlies = 13,71 ms and delays = 12,91 ms; Experiment II: earlies = 12,94 ms and delays = 12,71 ms), user and user-motion adaptable and a low computational-load strategy for real-time gait events detection. Further, it was measured the percentage of absolute error classified with a good acceptability (Experiment I: 3,02 ≤ ε%≤12,94; Experiment II: 2,81 ≤ ε%≤13,45). Lastly, regarding the measured gait parameters, it was observed a reflection of the typical levels of motor impairment for the different disease stages. Conclusion: The achieved outcomes enabled to verify that the proposed system can be suitable for gait analysis in the assistance and rehabilitation fields., This work was supported by FCT national funds, under the national support to R&D units grant, through the reference project UIDB/04436/2020 and UIDP/04436/2020, and under the Reference Scholarship under grant SFRH/BD/136569/2018.

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada no ISPA – Instituto Universitário para obtenção de grau de Mestre na especialidade de Psicologia Social e das Organizações Mandar a beata para o chão é um comportamento social que se verifica em vários países, incluindo Portugal, e vários são os danos provocados por este comportamento, nomeadamente sujidade dos espaços exteriores e diversas implicações ambientais. Diversas medidas têm sido postas em prática para diminuir este comportamento: legislação, campanhas publicitárias, etc. Porém, as beatas de tabaco são ainda uma problemática atual, desta forma mostra-se pertinente estudar este comportamento com maior profundidade a fim de obter novo conhecimento passível de ser aplicado na intervenção desta problemática. A mudança de comportamento trata-se de um desafio complexo para a psicologia social, contudo o recurso a modelos teóricos tem mostrado pertinência e resultados. Nomeadamente a Teoria do Comportamento Planeado tem sido amplamente utilizada para compreender e prever comportamentos. Assim, este estudo propõe-se a prever e compreender o comportamento de mandar a beata para chão à luz da teoria do comportamento planeado, por via da intenção de comportamento constituída por três dimensões: atitude, normas subjetivas e perceção de controlo. Neste estudo o modelo não se demonstrou preditivo do comportamento de mandar a beata para chão, uma vez que apenas a dimensão da perceção de controlo apresentou significativa na amostra total, bem como especificamente no grupo de fumadores. The cigarette butt disposal it is a social behaviour seen in many countries, including Portugal, and there are many consequences resulting from that, as uncleanness of the places and numerous environment implications. Several measures have been taken to decrease this behavior: laws, advertising campaigns, etc. Despite that, the cigarette butts are still a nowadays problem. However, the cigarette buts disposal is still an issue, as so, study this behavior in more detail reveals to be relevant to obtain more knowledge valuable in intervention in this situation. Changing behaviours is a hudge challenge in social psychology, nevertheless theoretical frameworks application had shown results. Particularly, the Planned Behaviour Theory have been widely applied to understand and predict behaviours. Thereby, this study intends to understand and predict the cigarette butts disposal on the floor applying the Planed Behaviour Theory, thru behaviour intentions that is composed by those three dimensions: attitudes, subjective norms and perceived control. In this research, the model did not predict the disposal behavior of the cigarette butts, once that only perceived control dimension showed significance in all participants and specifically in smokers.

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Freezing of Gait (FOG) is arguably the most disabling motor dysfunction in Parkinson’s Disease (PD), being pharmacological an unfeasible approach in the long-run, which justifies the emergence of non-pharmacological solutions. In fact, patients easily overcome FOG when it is provided a rhythmical temporal information (external cues), favoring a goal-directed gait (biofeedback systems). In this paper, it was intended to assess the tolerability and acceptability of a healthy group towards an augmented reality interface which aims to apply visual cues in temporal synchrony with heel-strike event by an augmented reality glasses. It is intended to be later assessed, the visual cues ability to facilitate motor activity in PD patients. The experimental setup comprised a group of 15 healthy subjects, being those instructed to perform a 30 m straight-walking along an unobstructed walkway, both in the presence of external cues and without any feedback applied. Questionnaires proven visual feedback to be perceived by the users with ease. Users reported interest and curiosity towards the system and proved to be keen to integrate the system into their daily life if they would ever face this disease., Research supported in part by the FEDER Funds through the COMPETE 2020—Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) and P2020 with the Reference Project EMLunder GrantPOCI-01-0247-FEDER-033067 and through the COMPETE 2020—Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI)—with the Reference Project under Grant POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006941.

As faces assumem um papel proeminente, especialmente nas etapas mais precoces do desenvolvimento. As expressões faciais de emoção (FEE) representam uma ferramenta primordial para a comunicação bilateral, permitindo que as crianças compreendam regras e estabeleçam relações prolíficas. No domínio do processamento de informação afetiva, existem dois modelos dominantes: os modelos categoriais e os modelos dimensionais. Resultados prévios obtidos com crianças e adultos sugerem que o processamento de FEE é mais dimensional do que categorial, mas é necessária mais investigação para compreender estes processos em crianças em idade escolar. No presente estudo, pretendemos explorar os correlatos cerebrais do processamento de FEE em crianças em idade escolar, controlando a variação nas dimensões afetivas (valência e ativação). 35 crianças (8-11 anos), foram estimuladas com expressões faciais de raiva e alegria, de baixa e alta ativação, e expressões de calma e surpresa, de valência positiva e negativa, com o objetivo de avaliar a modulação nos ERPs provocada por esta manipulação. Os resultados revelam uma modulação dos componentes mais precoces pela valência, com faces de calma e surpresa de valência negativa a elicitarem maiores amplitudes de P1 quando comparadas com faces de valência positiva. Também observamos maiores amplitudes e menores latências de pico de VPP para faces de surpresa de valência negativa quando comparadas com faces de calma de valência negativa. Estes resultados apontam para um processamento mais configurativo das FEE nesta fase de desenvolvimento, fornecendo nova informação sobre o processamento de FEE durante o desenvolvimento.

Freezing of Gait (FOG) is one of the most disabling gait disorders in Parkinson’s Disease (PD), for which the efficacy of the medication is reduced, highlighting the use of non-pharmacological solutions. In particular, patients present less difficulties in overcoming FOG when using feedback and especially with Biofeedback Systems. In this study it is intended to detect the frequency threshold and the minimum interval of perception of the vibrotactile feedback, through a proposed wearable system, a waistband. Experimental tests were carried out that considered a temporal, spatial and spatiotemporal context, for which 15 healthy and 15 PD patients participated. It was detected as threshold frequency 180 Hz and for minimum interval of vibration perception 250 ms. The identification of this threshold frequency and this interval will allow us to select the frequency and the minimum interval of vibration to be used in a Vibrotactile Biofeedback Device for patients with PD, in order to help them to overcome FOG., This work was supported by the FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - with the reference project UID/EEA/04436/ 2013, by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) - with the reference project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006941.

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina Veterinária As neoplasias mamárias representam a neoplasia mais frequente em cadelas não esterilizadas, assumindo grande importância em clínica veterinária. Neste estudo foram analisados carcinomas mamários de cadela por imunohistoquímica (IHQ) para quantificação e avaliação da expressão da Topoisomerase IIα (TOPIIA). Objetivo: Quantificar a expressão da TOPIIA em carcinomas mamários de cadela, e correlacionar a expressão desta com variáveis como o Ki-67, a expressão de HER-2, a dimensão, o grau de malignidade e o tipo histológico do carcinoma. Materiais e métodos: Cinquenta e seis carcinomas mamários e cinco amostras de tecido mamário normal, foram submetidos a IHQ para avaliar a expressão de TOPIIA, e em cada caso foram classificadas 1000 células de marcação negativa, fraca, moderada ou forte. Resultados: Dos 56 tumores mamários analizados, 53,57% foram considerados positivos para a expressão da TOPIIA. Comprovou-se a existência de correlação positiva entre a sobreexpressão da TOPIIA e do Ki-67 (p=0,0364), e entre a sobreexpressão da proteína e menor tempo de sobrevivência (p=0,0264). Contudo, não foi demonstrada correlação entre as variáveis grau de malignidade, dimensão, tipo histológico do tumor e a sobreexpressão do HER-2. Conclusões: Este estudo sugere que a expressão da TOPIIA é maior nas células de carcinomas mamários do que nas células de tecido mamário normal, sendo que as cadelas com tumores classificados como positivos apresentaram menor tempo de sobrevivência, podendo este marcador ser considerado como fator de prognóstico. Contudo é indispensável a realização de mais estudos sobre este assunto, que contribuam para um maior conhecimento da importância desta proteína em oncologia veterinária assim como em medicina humana. ABSTRACT- Topoisomerase IIα expression in canine mammary tumors - Mammary tumors are the most common neoplasm in intact female dogs; therefore they are extremely important in veterinary clinic. The aim of this study was to assess Topoisomerase IIα (TOPIIA) expression in canine mammary carcinomas by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Objective: To quantify the expression of TOPIIA in mammary carcinomas in female dogs, and correlate its expression with other factors such as Ki-67, HER-2, tumor size, histologic grade and type. Patients and methods: Fifty six mammary carcinomas and five samples of normal breast tissue were analyzed by IHC, and in each case, 1000 cells were classified accordingly to their labeling intensity: negative, weak, moderate or strong. Results: 53,57% of the 56 mammary tumors were considered to have increased expression of TOPIIA. A positive correlation between positive TOPIIA tumors and Ki-67 overexpression (p=0,0364) and an inferior survival time (p=0,0264) was found. However, there was no correlation between TOPIIA expression and histologic grade, tumor size and HER-2 positivity. Conclusions: This study supports the idea that mammary tumors cells have higher TOPIIA expression than normal breast tissue cells, and animals with those considered to be positive tumors, have a lower survival time, which can indicate that TOPIIA expression may be considered as a prognostic factor. It is however important that more studies be performed, to assess the importance of this protein in veterinary oncology as well in human medicine. CIISA (Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar em Sanidade Animal) N/A

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The continuous monitoring of human gait would allow to more objectively verify the abnormalities that arise from the most common pathologies. Therefore, this manuscript proposes a real-time tool for human gait detection from lower trunk acceleration. The vertical acceleration signal was acquired through an IMU mounted on a waistband, a wearable device. The proposed algorithm was based on a finite state machine (FSM) which includes a set of suitable decision rules and the detection of Heel-Strike (HS), Foot-flat (FF), Toe-off (TO), Mid-Stance (MS) and Heel-strike (HS) events for each leg. Results involved 7 healthy subjects which had to walk 20 m three times with a comfortable speed. The results showed that the proposed algorithm detects in real-time all the mentioned events with a high accuracy and time-effectiveness character. Also, the adaptability of the algorithm has also been verified, being easily adapted to some gait conditions, such as for different speeds and slopes. Further, the developed tool is modular and therefore can easily be integrated in another robotic control system for gait rehabilitation. These findings suggest that the proposed tool is suitable for the real-time gait analysis in real-life activities., FCT -Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia(PEst/UID/CEC/00027/2013)

Parkinson’s Disease is a neurodegenerative disorder for which there is still no cure affecting the non-motor and motor systems. One of the most serious gait disorders are the freezing episodes, denominated by freezing of gait. This paper address the development and validation of a neurofeedback vibrotactile system through a belt for patients with Parkinson’s Disease overcome the freezing episodes, aiming to detect the most perceived frequency. It was verified that the higher frequencies (above 160 Hz) are easily perceived independently of the time interval of vibrotactile feedback., This work is supported by the FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - with the reference project UID/EEA/04436/2013, by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) - with the reference project POCI-01- 0145-FEDER-006941

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Biomédica (área de especialização em Eletrónica Médica), Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder of the Central Nervous System (CNS) affecting the nigrostriatal system, with motor and non-motor symptoms. One of the most critical gait disturbances are the "freezing" episodes, denominated by freezing of gait (FOG). FOG corresponds to a temporary, sudden and involuntary disability to ongoing motor movement. To overcome FOG, two approaches can be considered: the pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods. Regarding to the pharmacological methods, firstly, there have been no significant scientific advances and these methods do not alter the course of PD symptom, and consequently, do not prevent FOG. Thereby, this pharmacological barrier has encouraged new researches based on non-pharmacological approaches. In fact, the non-pharmacological methods are a non-invasive and efficient solution for patients to overcome FOG, with an increasingly innovative character. However, some non-pharmacological methods are more efficient than others and in particular, patients present less difficulties in overcoming FOG when using feedback and especially Neurofeedback Systems. In particular, Vibrotactile Neurofeedback can be perceived in any environment and easily accepted by patients. However, the current Vibrotactile Neurofeedback Systems have some limitations for the patients: are not ergonomic or robust, constrain the freedom of movement, are uncomfortable and not easy to use. Therefore, in this thesis, it is presented a solution, aiming to develop and validate a Wearable Neurofeedback Vibrotactile Device in order to help PD patients to overcome FOG. The developed system is composed by a sensory acquisition system, a processing unit and an actuation system (the vibrotactile motors). The sensory acquisition system includes an accelerometer which data is used to detect the gait event. When this event is detected, the actuation system is activated and provides the vibrotactile feedback. The implemented system was validated in healthy and in PD patients in Hospital of Braga. The results allowed to conclude that the system is able to provide vibrotactile Neurofeedback according to the motion of each user and, more importantly, the patients showed a good acceptability in using the system while walking., A doença de Parkinson (DP) é uma doença neurodegenerativa do Sistema Nervoso Central (SNC) que afeta o sistema nigrostriatal, com sintomas motores e não motores. Um dos distúrbios de marcha mais críticos são os episódios de "congelamento", denominados pelo freezing of gait (FOG). O FOG corresponde a uma incapacidade temporária, repentina e involuntária de oferecer continuidade ao movimento. Para superar o FOG, duas abordagens podem ser consideradas: os métodos farmacológicos e não farmacológicos. Em relação aos métodos farmacológicos, em primeiro lugar, não houveram avanços científicos significativos e esses métodos não alteram o curso do sintoma de DP e, consequentemente, não impedem o FOG. Deste modo, esta barreira farmacológica incentivou novas pesquisas baseadas em abordagens não farmacológicas. De fato, os métodos não-farmacológicos são uma solução não-invasiva e eficiente para que os pacientes superem FOG, com um caráter cada vez mais inovador. No entanto, alguns métodos não farmacológicos são mais eficientes do que outros e, em particular, os pacientes apresentam menos dificuldades em ultrapassar o FOG ao utilizar feedback, especialmente através de Sistemas de Neurofeedback. Em particular, o Neurofeedback Vibrotátil pode ser percebido em qualquer ambiente e facilmente aceito pelos pacientes. No entanto, os atuais sistemas de Neurofeedback Vibrotátil têm algumas limitações para os pacientes: não são ergonômicos ou robustos, limitam a liberdade de movimento, são desconfortáveis e não são fáceis de usar. Portanto, nesta tese, é apresentada uma solução, com o objetivo de desenvolver e validar um Dispositivo Wearable de Neurofeedabck Vibrotátil para ajudar pacientes PD a superar FOG. O sistema desenvolvido é composto por um sistema de aquisição sensorial, uma unidade de processamento e um sistema de atuação (os motores vibrotáteis). O sistema de aquisição sensorial inclui um acelerómetro, onde os dados adquiridos são usados para detetar um evento da marcha em particular. Quando este evento é detetado, o sistema de atuação é ativado e fornece o feedback vibrotátil. O sistema implementado foi validado em pacientes saudáveis e em pacientes com DP no Hospital de Braga. Os resultados permitiram concluir que o sistema é capaz de fornecer Neurofeedback vibrotátil de acordo com o movimento de cada usuário e, mais importante, os pacientes mostraram uma boa aceitação no uso do sistema durante a caminhada.

Este artigo apresenta uma abordagem sobre os aspectos religiosos, simbólicos e cúlticos presentes no festival romano das Saturnais. Foi destacada a estrutura social e religiosa da Roma antiga, a mitologia em torno do deus Saturno e a festa a ele dedicada. A pesquisa bibliográfica privilegiou a obra do escritor romano Macróbio, do século IV. Destaca-se a continuidade cultural entre antiguidade e contemporaneidade nas dimensões do sagrado e do festivo.

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Ciências da Comunicação (área de especialização em Publicidade e Relações Públicas), A inovação científica e tecnológica é uma temática que está na ordem do dia. Todos os dias a sociedade é confrontada com o surgimento de inovações deste âmbito que podem influenciar mudanças na forma de estar e agir das pessoas, desde as telecomunicações até aos têxteis técnicos e inteligentes. Neste sentido, o presente relatório pretende compreender de que forma as organizações científicas e tecnológicas comunicam estrategicamente com os seus públicos de forma a alcançarem os objetivos a que se propõem, dando como exemplo o trabalho desenvolvido na Plataforma Internacional Fibrenamics da Universidade do Minho. Este trabalho está estruturado de maneira a fazer uma pequena contextualização teórica sobre a temática da inovação, passando pela definição de comunicação organizacional e estratégica, e pela comunicação da ciência e da tecnologia. Após essa abordagem teórica é apresentada a questão de partida que dá o mote ao presente estudo. De forma a obter respostas a essa questão recorreu-se a uma metodologia de estudo de caso com recurso a observação direta e participante, fruto dos seis meses de estágio realizados na Plataforma Internacional Fibrenamics, e a entrevistas exploratórias ao coordenador da plataforma e ao responsável pela coordenação de grupo de comunicação, marketing e multimédia da Fibrenamics. As respostas à questão de partida são dadas a partir da reflexão acerca das tarefas desenvolvidas ao longo do período de estágio e dos resultados obtidos, sendo descritas as dificuldades e constrangimentos encontrados, ao mesmo tempo que são propostas soluções e alternativas para superação dos obstáculos encontrados. Deste estudo pôde facilmente perceber-se que a temática da comunicação estratégica das inovações cientifico-tecnológicas está já a ser debatida, principalmente no que concerne à aplicação e adequação da linguagem científica para os diferentes públicos, no entanto ainda existe alguma reticência por parte das entidades científicas em contratar recursos humanos especializados em comunicação. Por outro lado, da parte dos meios de comunicação social subsiste também alguma dificuldade em colocar em agenda temas relacionados com a ciência, muito fruto da falta da especialização dos jornalistas nesta área., Scientific and technological innovation is a prevailing issue at the present time. Our society is faced daily with the emergence of innovations, from telecommunications to technical and smart textiles, which may lead to changes in people’s behaviour. This report aims to understand how scientific and technological organizations strategically communicate with their publics in order to reach their objectives, focusing on work carried out at the Fibrenamics International Platform of University of Minho. The report’s structure encompasses, first of all, a short theoretical contextualization of the theme of innovation, including the definition of organizational and strategic communication and an analysis of science and technology communication. Afterwards the research question it is revealed the starting point that underpins this study is presented. In order to respond to it, a case study methodology was employed, involving direct and participant observation in the course of a six months-long training internship at the Fibrenamics International Platform. Exploratory interviews to the platform’s coordinator and the person responsible for the coordination group of communication, marketing and media at Fibrenamics were also conducted. Answers to the research question are based on reflection on the tasks carried out during the internship and the results that were obtained. Difficulties and constraints found are discussed, and solutions and alternatives to overcome them are proposed. The study shows that the theme of strategic communication of scientific and technological innovation is already being discussed, especially regarding the application and adaptation of scientific language to different audiences. However there is still some resistance on the part of scientific institutions to hire specialized human resources in communication. As far as the media are concerned, there still seems to be some difficulty in putting science-related issues on the agenda, mainly because of the lack of specialization of journalists in this area.

Submitted by Jagundo Delfina (fina@ese.ipp.pt) on 2016-10-04T13:41:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DM_Helena Alves_2016.pdf: 270060706 bytes, checksum: c181291dd9355bf2d4503fc6480a05bb (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-04T13:41:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DM_Helena Alves_2016.pdf: 270060706 bytes, checksum: c181291dd9355bf2d4503fc6480a05bb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016

Prune dwarf virus (PDV) is an Ilarvirus systemically infecting almond trees and other Prunus species and spreading through pollen, among other means. We have studied strategies based on coat protein (cp) gene to block PDV replication in host plant cells. A Portuguese isolate of PDV was obtained from infected almond leaves and used to produce the cDNA of the cp gene. Various constructs were prepared based on this sequence, aiming for the transgenic expression of the original or modified PDV coat protein (cpPDVSense and cpPDVMutated) or for the expression of cpPDV RNA (cpPDVAntisense and cpPDVwithout start codon). All constructs were tested in a PDV host model, Nicotiana benthamiana, and extensive molecular characterization and controlled infections were performed on transformants and their progenies. Transgenic plants expressing the coat protein RNA were able to block the proliferation of a PDV isolate sharing only 91% homology with the isolate used for cpPDV cloning, as evaluated by DAS-ELISA on newly developed leaves. With cp expression, the blockage of PDV proliferation in newly developed leaves was only achieved with the construct cpPDV Mutated, where the coat protein has a substitution in the 14th aa residue, with arginine replaced by alanine. This result points to a possible role of the mutated amino acid in the virus ability to replicate and proliferate. This work reveals the possibility of achieving protection against PDV through either coat protein RNA or mutated cp sequence.

Trabalho Final de Mestrado Integrado, Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Farmácia, 2014 Submitted by Repositório FFUL (repositorio@ff.ul.pt) on 2016-12-30T17:54:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 MICF_Helena_Perdigao.pdf: 2070958 bytes, checksum: 70242c519f3d92ad1313d2291b6efd11 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2017-01-04T17:35:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MICF_Helena_Perdigao.pdf: 2070958 bytes, checksum: 70242c519f3d92ad1313d2291b6efd11 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014

Background. We have previously reported a continuous activation of caspase-1 and increased interleukin (IL)-1βlevels in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). These observations raised the hypothesis that drugs targeting the IL-1βpathway, in addition to tumour necrosis factor (TNF), may be particularly effective for early RA treatment. We have recently identified gambogic acid as a promising therapeutic candidate to simultaneously block IL-1βand TNF secretion. Our main goal here was to investigate whether gambogic acid administration was able to attenuate inflammation in antigen-induced arthritis (AIA) rats.Methods. Gambogic acid was administered to AIA rats in the early and late phases of arthritis. The inflammatory score, ankle perimeter, and body weight were evaluated during the period of treatment. Rats were sacrificed after 19 days of disease progression and paw samples were collected for histological and immunohistochemical evaluation.Results. We found that inflammation in joints was significantly suppressed following gambogic acid administration. Histological and immunohistochemical evaluation of treated rats revealed normal joint structures with complete abrogation of the inflammatory infiltrate and cellular proliferation.Conclusions. Our results suggest that gambogic acid has significant anti-inflammatory properties and can possibly constitute a prototype anti-inflammatory drug with therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as RA.

Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved., Severe sepsis remains a poorly understood systemic inflammatory condition with high mortality rates and limited therapeutic options in addition to organ support measures. Here we show that the clinically approved group of anthracyclines acts therapeutically at a low dose regimen to confer robust protection against severe sepsis in mice. This salutary effect is strictly dependent on the activation of DNA damage response and autophagy pathways in the lung, as demonstrated by deletion of the ataxia telangiectasia mutated (Atm) or the autophagy-related protein 7 (Atg7) specifically in this organ. The protective effect of anthracyclines occurs irrespectively of pathogen burden, conferring disease tolerance to severe sepsis. These findings demonstrate that DNA damage responses, including the ATM and Fanconi Anemia pathways, are important modulators of immune responses and might be exploited to confer protection to inflammation-driven conditions, including severe sepsis., L.F.M. receives support from FLAD and FCT (grants PTDC/SAU-IMU/110303/2009, PTDC/SAU-MII/100780/2008, and PTDC/SAU-IMU/110303/2009), A.C. receives support from FCT (PTDC/SAU-IMU/110303/2009), J.A.F. receives support from a Gulbenkian grant (96526/2009), and P.P. is an FCT fellow (SFRH/BD/45502/2008).

We have previously reported an increase in interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-17 levels, and a continuous activation of caspase-1 in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. These results suggest that drugs targeting IL-1β regulatory pathways, in addition to tumor necrosis factor (TNF), may constitute promising therapeutic agents in early RA. We have recently used a THP-1 macrophage-like cell line to screen 2320 compounds for those that down-regulate both IL-1β and TNF secretion. Celastrol was one of the most promising therapeutic candidates identified in that study. Our main goal in the present work was to investigate whether administration of celastrol is able to attenuate inflammation in a rat model of adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA). Moreover, since IL-1β is known to play a role in the polarization of Th17 cells, we also investigate whether administration of digoxin, a specific inhibitor of Th17 cells polarization, is able to attenuate inflammation in the same rat model. We found that celastrol administration significantly suppressed joint inflammation. The histological and immunohistochemical evaluation revealed that celastrol-treated rats had a normal joint structure with complete abrogation of the inflammatory infiltrate and cellular proliferation. In contrast, we observed that digoxin administration significantly ameliorated inflammation but only if administrated in the early phase of disease course (after 4 days of disease induction), and it was not efficient at inhibiting the infiltration of immune cells within the joint and in preventing damage. Thus, our results suggest that celastrol has significant anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative properties and can constitute a potential anti-inflammatory drug with therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases such as RA. Furthermore, we find that early inhibition of Th17 cells polarization ameliorates arthritis but it is not as effective as celastrol.

© 2012 Gomes-Santos et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited., Plasmodium sporozoites are transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes and infect hepatocytes, where a single sporozoite replicates into thousands of merozoites inside a parasitophorous vacuole. The nature of the Plasmodium-host cell interface, as well as the interactions occurring between these two organisms, remains largely unknown. Here we show that highly dynamic hepatocyte actin reorganization events occur around developing Plasmodium berghei parasites inside human hepatoma cells. Actin reorganization is most prominent between 10 to 16 hours post infection and depends on the actin severing and capping protein, gelsolin. Live cell imaging studies also suggest that the hepatocyte cytoskeleton may contribute to parasite elimination during Plasmodium development in the liver., The work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) of the Portuguese Ministry of Science (PTDC/SAU-GMG/100313/2008), the Federal German Ministry of education and Science (Biofuture) C.S.S.G-S. was supported by an FCT fellowship (SFRH/BD/15888/2005). M.A.I. was funded by the EU FP 7 Marie Curie Initial Training Network ‘‘Intervention Strategies against Malaria (InterMalTraining)’’, contract no. 215281. L.F.M. is a Young Investigator from the Human Frontier Science Program and receives support from Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (PTDC/SAU-MII/69280/2006 and PTDC/SAU-MII/78333/2006). F.F. thanks the Chica and Heinz Schaller Foundation for support. M.M.M. and F.F. are members of the EU FP7 Network of Excellence EVIMalaR

We have previously reported an increase in interleukin (IL)-1β levels and a continuous activation of caspase-1 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in the early phase of the disease. This result suggests that drugs targeting IL-1β regulatory pathways, in addition to tumor necrosis factor (TNF), may constitute promising therapeutic agents in early RA. We have recently used a THP-1 macrophage-like cell line to screen 2320 compounds for those which down-regulate IL-1β and TNF secretion. Gambogic acid, celastrol and pristimerin were three of the most promising therapeutic candidates identified in that study.

The generation of diversity and plasticity of transcriptional programs are key components of effective vertebrate immune responses. The role of Alternative Splicing has been recognized, but it is underappreciated and poorly understood as a critical mechanism for the regulation and fine-tuning of physiological immune responses. Here we report the generation of loss-of-function phenotypes for a large collection of genes known or predicted to be involved in the splicing reaction and the identification of 19 novel regulators of IL-1β secretion in response to E. coli challenge of THP-1 cells. Twelve of these genes are required for IL-1β secretion, while seven are negative regulators of this process. Silencing of SFRS3 increased IL-1β secretion due to elevation of IL-1β and caspase-1 mRNA in addition to active caspase-1 levels. This study points to the relevance of splicing in the regulation of auto-inflammatory diseases.