Search

O Relatório descreve o percurso desenvolvido durante os estágios I e estágio final num departamento de saúde mental e psiquiátrico de um Hospital do sul do país. Tem como temática “Gestão da ansiedade com recurso a mediadores expressivos na pessoa com perturbação mental grave internada”. A Ansiedade está descrita como a perturbação mental mais prevalente e presente na vida adulta, e é, também, uma das perturbações de saúde mental mais diagnosticadas em pessoas com perturbação mental internadas. A nível mundial, 301 milhões de pessoas sofrem com esta perturbação que pode ter múltiplas causas, devendo por isso, ser analisada individualmente com base na história pessoal e social de cada pessoa. Como principal objetivo, pretendemos aprofundar o cuidado relacional de ajuda como alicerce das intervenções psicoterapêuticas não farmacológicas a realizar, com vista à capacitação da pessoa na gestão da sua ansiedade. Neste sentido, tivemos como opção metodológica o processo de cuidados de enfermagem tendo por base um programa de intervenção composto por seis sessões. Todas as sessões foram complementadas pelo uso de mediadores de expressão com o intuito de aumentar conhecimentos, informar, explicar, ensinar sobre a ansiedade da pessoa com perturbação mental internada, capacitando-a para a sua gestão. The report describes the pathway developed during Stage I and Final Stage in a mental and psychiatric health department of a Southern Hospital. It has as its theme “Management of anxiety with the use of expressive mediators in the person with serious mental disorder interned”. Anxiety is described as the most prevalent and present mental disorder in adult life and is also one of the most diagnosed mental health disorders in people with hospitalized mental disturbances. Globally, 301 million people suffer from this disorder, which can have multiple causes, and should therefore be analyzed individually based on the personal and social history of each person. As the main objective, we intend to deepen relational care of help as the foundation of the non-pharmacological psychotherapeutic interventions to be carried out, with a view to empowering the person in the management of their anxiety. In this sense, we had as a methodological option the nursing care process based on a program of intervention consisting of six sessions. All sessions were complemented by the use of expression mediators with the aim of increasing knowledge, informing, explaining, teaching about the anxiety of the person with interned mental disorder, empowering them for their management.

The computation of productive efficiency provides key insights for firm managers and policymakers towards improvements in the competitiveness of businesses and industries, namely those that observe firm heterogeneity and high competition, as is the case of wine. Benefiting from Portuguese wineries panel data, this research measures firms’ productive efficiency, decomposing it into transient and persistent. Results allow us to conclude that wineries can boost overall performance through better input management and long-term policies, such as improvements in market regulation and public firm support.

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina Veterinária, área científica de Sanidade Animal Os tumores cardíacos são raros, tanto nos cães como nos gatos. Nos cães, o hemangiossarcoma é o mais frequentemente observado, estando o quemodectoma, o linfoma e o carcinoma da tiróide ectópica também entre as neoplasias cardíacas mais frequentemente reportadas. Nos gatos, o linfoma representa o tumor cardíaco mais comum. Para o diagnóstico de neoplasias cardíacas, pode recorrer-se a diferentes exames, mas, muitas vezes, o diagnóstico clínico baseia-se unicamente nas informações ecocardiográficas, nomeadamente, na localização da massa. Uma vez que a abordagem terapêutica mais adequada varia com o tipo de lesão presente, considerou-se relevante avaliar a acuidade do diagnóstico presuntivo com base na localização da mesma à ecocardiografia quando comparado com o diagnóstico histopatológico post-mortem num conjunto de casos com suspeita ecocardiográfica de massa cardíaca. Este estudo incidiu sobre um conjunto de 20 casos (18 cães e 2 gatos) com suspeita de massa cardíaca à ecocardiografia e diagnóstico histopatológico post-mortem. Os animais foram necropsiados pelos médicos-veterinários clínicos, que procederam ao envio dos órgãos/tecidos considerados relevantes para o Laboratório de Patologia Veterinária – VetPat ou para o Laboratório de Anatomia Patológica da Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária da Universidade de Lisboa. Em 50% (10/20) dos casos, não foi possível atribuir um diagnóstico presuntivo com base na localização da lesão à ecocardiografia e só em 50% (5/10) dos casos em que foi possível atribuí-lo é que este foi concordante com o diagnóstico histopatológico. A descrição ecocardiográfica da localização da lesão foi concordante com a descrição da mesma ao exame post-mortem do coração em apenas 50% (9/18) dos casos. O diagnóstico citológico coincidiu com o diagnóstico histopatológico em 40% (4/10) dos casos, discordou em 10% (1/10) e foi inconclusivo nos 50% restantes. Em dois dos quatro casos em que o diagnóstico citológico e histopatológico coincidiram, a análise imunohistoquímica não confirmou o diagnóstico morfológico. Os resultados obtidos revelam a fragilidade do diagnóstico clínico quando o único parâmetro considerado é a localização da lesão à ecocardiografia, sendo necessário o estudo de novos critérios e a introdução de novas metodologias que confiram maior segurança aos diagnósticos clínicos atribuídos. ABSTRACT - CARDIAC TUMORS IN DOMESTIC CANIDS AND FELIDS - Cardiac tumors are rare, both in dogs and cats. In dogs, hemangiosarcoma is the most frequently diagnosed cardiac tumor, while chemodectoma, lymphoma and ectopic thyroid carcinoma are also among commonly reported cardiac neoplasms. In cats, lymphoma is the most common cardiac tumor. Different techniques can be used in the diagnosis of cardiac neoplasms, but clinical diagnosis is often based solely on echocardiographic information, namely, location of the mass. Since the best therapeutic approach varies with the type of tumor, it was considered relevant to assess the accuracy of presumptive diagnosis based on location of the lesion on echocardiography when compared with post-mortem histopathological diagnosis in a group of cases with a suspected cardiac mass on echocardiography. This study focused on a group of 20 cases (18 dogs and 2 cats) with a suspected cardiac mass on echocardiography and post-mortem histopathological diagnosis. The animals were necropsied by the clinical veterinarians, who sent the organs/tissues considered relevant to the Veterinary Pathology Laboratory – VetPat or to the Laboratory of Pathological Anatomy of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon. A presumptive diagnosis could not be assigned based on lesion location on echocardiography in 50% of cases (10/20). Only in 50% (5/10) of cases in which a presumptive diagnosis could be assigned based on the lesion location on echocardiography was this diagnosis concordant with the histopathological diagnosis. Only in 50% (9/18) of cases was echocardiographic description of lesion location concordant with its description on post-mortem examination. Cytological diagnosis agreed with histopathological diagnosis in 40% (4/10) of cases, disagreed in 10% (1/10) of cases, and was inconclusive in the remaining 50%. In two of the four cases in which the cytological and histopathological diagnosis coincided, immunohistochemical analysis did not confirm morphological diagnosis. These results reveal the fragility of clinical diagnosis when the only parameter considered is the location of the lesion on echocardiography, highlighting the need to study new criteria and new methods that can provide greater certainty when attempting a clinical diagnosis. N/A

Funding Information: The present study was funded by IPOLFG EPE and by iNOVA4Health (UID/Multi/04462/2019) a program finan‑ cially supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT)/Ministério da Educação e Ciência, through national funds. The PhD fellowship of FLC was funded by FCT (PD/BD/128337/2017). Cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) are vascular malformations characterized by the abnormal growth of vascular structures in the central nervous system. However, the precise mechanism(s) responsible for the development of CCM vascular abnormalities remain poorly understood. Although the mechanisms of action of propranolol in CCM have not yet been fully explored it is not commonly prescribed, it has been shown to be effective in children and appears to play a protective role in the prevention of CCM-derived hemorrhage in adults. The present study performed in vitro and ex vivo assays in order to examine the effects of propranolol on endothelial cells (ECs). The percentage of CD14+/CD31+ cells and the levels of VEGF in the peripheral blood (PB) of a child patient with CCM, with recurrent seizures and hemorrhages, who was maintained under propranolol therapy, were also analyzed. In addition to the effects of propranolol on differentiated ECs, and the decrease angiogenic-related features in vitro and ex vivo, it was observed that in the PB of this patient, propranolol administration decreased the percentage of circulating cells sharing monocytic and EC features (CD14+/CD31+ cells), as well as the VEGF levels; this was concomitant with a good prognosis and with the reversion of CCM lesions. A decrease in VEGF levels by propranolol may also be involved in the impairment of the recruitment of CD14+/CD31+ monocytes functioning as endothelial progenitor cells to sustain the vascular lesion. On the whole, the present study demonstrates that propranolol impairs angiogenesis in vitro and may thus be a useful tool for the clinical management of CCM. Moreover, the present study highlights the monitorization of the levels of CD14+/CD31+ monocytes and VEGF levels as a useful tool for predicting the clinical efficacy of propranolol in patients with CCM. publishersversion published

Direito e Justi��a, v. 14 n. 2 (2000)

The wine industry is an example of how globalisation is reshaping the market structure, on both sides. The supply side has registered an increase in competition, as a result of new entrants. On the...

STUDY QUESTION Do children born after vitrified–thawed embryo transfers (ETs) using donated oocytes have worse perinatal outcomes when compared with fresh ET? SUMMARY ANSWER No significant difference in birthweight and prematurity rates between fresh or frozen embryo transfers (FETs) in newborns after oocyte donation was found. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Autologous singletons born after fresh ET have been previously associated with higher rates of preterm birth and low birthweight, while FETs seem to confer a higher risk of hypertensive disorders during pregnancy and macrosomia. However, studies comparing these outcomes using autologous oocytes are unable to adequately disentangle the putative detrimental consequences of embryo vitrification from the possible effects that ovarian stimulation and endometrial preparation may have on endometrial receptivity prior to ET. The oocyte donation model is, for this reason, a more appropriate setting to study these hypotheses; however so far, the information available regarding neonatal outcomes in this patient population is limited to either small and/or heterogeneous studies. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION We performed a multicentre retrospective cohort study including 5848 singletons born between 2009 and February 2020 following oocyte donation and single blastocyst transfer, subdivided according to whether a fresh ET or FET was performed. We also performed two additional sensitivity analyses, subgrouping the sample according to the type of endometrial preparation (natural versus artificial) and whether the donated oocytes had previously been vitrified or not. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS Patients with a first singleton livebirth after single blastocyst transfer were compared using multivariable regression analysis to account for potential confounding factors. The primary outcome was birthweight. Secondary outcomes were birthweight z-scores and percentiles, small/large for gestational age, gestational age at delivery, gender, prematurity ( MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE There was no significant difference between the fresh ET and FET groups in terms of mean birthweight (3215 g versus 3200 g) and birthweight z-scores (0.03 versus 0.1), in both the unadjusted and confounder-adjusted models. However, artificial endometrial preparation was associated with a higher birthweight (3220 g versus 3105 g) and birthweight z-scores (0.06 versus −0.13) when compared with a transfer in a natural cycle. Although a 1-day statistically significant difference in gestational age at birth (275 versus 274 days) was detected, premature birth rates ( LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION This study is limited by its retrospective design and lack of information regarding congenital malformations. Moreover, the sample selection criteria that were used may limit the generalizability of our results. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Perinatal outcomes did not seem to be affected significantly by the embryo vitrification process in an oocyte donation model. Hence, other factors may contribute to the hindered perinatal outcomes described in ART, particularly the potential effect that ovarian stimulation and endometrial preparation may have on endometrial receptivity. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) No specific funding was obtained for this study. All authors have no conflicts to declare. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER N/A.

This study examines the macroeconomic determinants of exports, taking quality into account through vertical differentiation and using data on Portuguese Douro wines. Based on a gravity model from 2006 to 2015 and covering a range of 192 potential trade partners, estimations show that quality influences export performance. However, quality differences are not assimilated in the same way in all international markets, resulting in an export surplus of the best categories of wine to some world regions (West Europe and AngloSaxon countries) and a correspondingly export deficit to other regions (Middle East, North Africa, East Europe and Central Asia).

Assuming horizontal differentiation and using an expanded gravity model, the main objective of this article is to assess the determinants of Portuguese wine exports. Horizontal differentiation is considered, with still and fortified wines being distinguished, as well as three distinct designations of origin: Vinho Verde, Douro, and Port wines. The results from the period between 2006 and 2016 suggest that wineries and private and public agencies should focus their commercial and policy efforts on countries with high purchasing power and/or with great potential for growth, regardless of whether the customs costs are higher. Moreover, it is concluded that horizontal differentiation influences the export determinants, suggesting there should exist different internationalization strategies for distinct types of wine. (JEL Classifications: F10, F14, L66)

This paper presents a quadratically constrained programming (QCP) model to tackle the optimal power flow (OPF) problem in distribution networks. The proposed model is fast, reliable, and precise enough to be embedded into the multi-temporal power system analysis. The proposed model benefits from a standard QCP to solve the branch active and reactive power flows. The second-order conic programming (SOCP) approach has been applied to address the quadratic constraints. The nonconvex feature of the OPF problem has been relaxed utilizing the McCormick envelopes. To find the minimum current of each branch, the lossless power flow model has been first solved and the obtained results have been considered for solving the OPF problem. The IEEE 33-bus test system has been selected as the benchmark to verify the efficient performance of the proposed OPF model. The simulation study confirms that the McCormick envelopes used in the QCP approach lead to precise results with a very fast convergence time. Overall, the presented model for the OPF can be extended for both planning and operation purposes in distribution system studies.

Over the last decades, the European wine industry has been object of increased international competition, which has implications for the dynamics of wine production. This paper examines the underlying factors of wine production in the European Union (EU) from a macroeconomic perspective. We apply an expanded Cobb-Douglas production function, which includes monetary indicators. A dynamic panel data GMM approach along with pooled OLS and fixed effect model for the period from 1999-2014 are applied to estimate the model. We find a positive impact from labour, capital and wine export and a negative impact from interest rate to wine production; however, no robust and significant impact is observed from wine import as well as from inflation and exchange rates. Our results indicate that EU wine production is influenced by monetary policy, which could be a useful instrument for policy makers promoting wine production in this region.

This paper extends the traditional gravity model to explain the effect of digitalization on international tourism flows to five Southern European countries, where tourism plays an important economic role. The analysis is based on balanced panel data covering the period 2004–2019. Internet-user statistics and Google Trends search data are used as a proxy for digital adoption and virtual proximity, respectively, by source markets. Results lend support to the notion that virtual proximity rather than digital adoption aided international travel, demonstrating that digitalization cannot be interpreted as a fluid and vague concept that exerts a consistent effect. Results also present evidence that Southern European countries should not be treated as a block of homogenous destinations. These findings inform stakeholders regarding the significance of digital platforms as strategic tools to empower consumers.

Power systems rely on ancillary services (ASs) to ensure system security and stability. Until recently, only the conventional power generation resources connected to the transmission grids were allowed to provide these ASs managed by the transmission system operators (TSOs), while distribution system operators (DSOs) had a more passive role, focused on guaranteeing distribution capacity to bring power to final consumers with enough quality. Now, with the decarbonization, digitalization and decentralization processes of the electrical networks, the growing integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) in distribution grids are displacing conventional generation and increasing the complexity of distribution networks’ operation, requiring the implementation of new active and coordinated management strategies between TSOs and DSOs. In this context, DERs are becoming potential new sources of flexibility for both TSOs and DSOs in helping to manage the power system. This paper proposes a systematic characterization of both traditional and potentially new ASs for TSOs, and newly expected DSO local system services to support the new distribution grid operation paradigm, reviewing, in addition, the main TSO-DSO coordination mechanisms.

This study proposes the role of leader’s commitment to export activities as an antecedent of specific organizational skills. In particular, this research investigates whether the leaders’ commitment to exporting affects firm performance, through the mediating effect of entrepreneurial orientation, network competence, and dynamic capabilities of a firm, using survey data collected from 976 companies in Portugal. Results from the structural equation model show that leaders’ commitment to exporting, defined as a positive attitude towards the internationalization of their firms, acts as an antecedent of entrepreneurial orientation and network competence. Additionally, we conclude that the relation between this commitment and firm performance is mediated through entrepreneurial orientation, network competence, and dynamic capabilities. This study contributes to the understanding of the mediating effect of these specific organizational skills in the proposed relationship between leaders’ commitment to exporting and firm performance and provides a new insight into the important role of the entrepreneur or top manager. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This study analyses recent trends (2006-2018) in Port and Douro wine exports and estimates their macroeconomic determinants. The results of the gravity equation reveal that the purchasing power in importing countries is the most important export determinant of Port and Douro wines. Therefore, in order to increase exports, the strategic decision-makers concerned with the industry should pay special attention to the markets in wealthier countries or with a high potential for economic growth, taking into account issues such as market access, adaptation to the market to wine consumption, and regulation.

A presente Tese de Mestrado tem como principal objetivo a criação de um programa de fidelização para os clientes da empresa Fisiotorres - Centro Clínico e de Fisioterapia, localizada em Torres Vedras. A empresa é uma sociedade por cotas, constituída por duas fisioterapeutas desde 2009. A principal oportunidade identificada, através de uma cuidada análise à concorrência e à tendência do consumidor na área da saúde, surgiu na criação de um serviço que colmatasse uma das principais dificuldades da empresa: fidelização de clientes e consequente consistência na faturação. Esta análise foi complementada com uma avaliação interna, evidenciando-se os pontos fracos e fortes da empresa, e com a aplicação de um questionário, de forma a perceber a recetividade do cliente perante o novo serviço. A revisão da literatura permitiu enquadrar a necessidade das empresas do setor da saúde a apostarem numa estratégia de fidelização de clientes planeada e estruturada para rentabilizarem os atuais clientes. Através da criação de um programa de fidelização, concluímos que existe a possibilidade de criar um serviço diferenciador, com uma oferta personalizada que traz benefícios para o cliente, de forma a melhorar a sua saúde, prevenir a sua doença e reduzir os custos com as despesas de saúde. This master thesis aims at developing a Loyalty Program for the clients of Fisiotorres - Clinic and Physiotherapy Center, in Torres Vedras. Fisiotorres is a private limited company, owned by two physiotherapists since 2009. Through a thorough analysis of the competitive market and of the clients tendency in the healthcare sector, the main identified opportunity suggested the creation of a service that might present a solution to one of the company's biggest difficulties: customer loyalty and consequent consistent billing. An internal evaluation was added to this analysis, as to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the company. A survey was also conducted, as to understand the clients' acceptance of our service. The literary study that accompanied this thesis enabled the overall framing of a necessity shared by companies within the healthcare sector. That is, of engaging in a loyalty-building strategy to monetise their customers. By creating a loyalty program, you are to conclude that there is a possibility of developing a differentiating service, with a custom offer for each client. One that they will benefit from, because it will contribute to improving their health, preventing illness and reducing healthcare costs.

The behavior of cancer is undoubtedly affected by stroma. Macrophages belong to this microenvironment and their presence correlates with reduced survival in most cancers. After a tumor-induced "immunoediting", these monocytes/macrophages, originally the first line of defense against tumor cells, undergo a phenotypic switch and become tumor-supportive and immunosuppressive.The influence of these tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) on cancer is present in all traits of carcinogenesis. These cells participate in tumor initiation and growth, migration, vascularization, invasion and metastasis. Although metastasis is extremely clinically relevant, this step is always reliant on the angiogenic ability of tumors. Therefore, the formation of new blood vessels in tumors assumes particular importance as a limiting step for disease progression.Herein, the once unsuspected roles of macrophages in cancer will be discussed and their importance as a promising strategy to treat this group of diseases will be reminded.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate international trade determinants, paying special attention to variables related to climate change and non-tariff measures (NTMs), as they shape more and more world trade flows, with particular incidence on globalised goods, such as wine.Design/methodology/approachBased on panel data of Port wine exports to 60 countries, between 2006 and 2018, a gravity model has been estimated through Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood. Explanatory variables include NTMs, mean temperature, temperature anomaly, gross domestic product (GDP), exchange rate, ad valorem equivalent tariffs and home bias.FindingsThe findings show that exports are inversely related to both mean temperature and temperature anomaly in importing countries. Regarding NTMs, it is found that only part of them are trade deterrent. Additionally, purchasing power in importing countries is one of the main determinants of Port wine exports.Research limitations/implicationsThe results show that, besides traditional economic variables, policymakers and wineries should include in their exports' decisions the impact of variables related to climate change and NTMs.Originality/valueThe novelty of this paper is to incorporate the impact of climatic variability of importing countries as a determinant of international trade of wine. Most former studies inspired of the gravity model consider explanatory variables such as GDP and exchange rate, and more recent ones started to consider NTMs too, however, this study may be the first paper to include the impact of climate change (quantified by mean temperature and temperature anomaly in importing countries) on exports.

The project was funded by IPOLFG, EPE, by iNOVA4Health (UID/Multi/04462/2019) a program financially supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia/Ministério da Educação e Ciência, through national funds and co-funded by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and by Fundação para a Ciência eTecnologia (PhD student fellowship: PD/BD/128337/2017). Bone marrow contains endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) that, upon pro-angiogenic stimuli, migrate and differentiate into endothelial cells (ECs) and contribute to re-endothelialization and neo-vascularization. There are currently no reliable markers to characterize EPCs, leading to their inaccurate identification. In the past, we showed that, in a panel of tumors, some cells on the vessel wall co-expressed CD14 (monocytic marker) and CD31 (EC marker), indicating a putative differentiation route of monocytes into ECs. Herein, we disclosed monocytes as potential EPCs, using in vitro and in vivo models, and also addressed the cancer context. Monocytes acquired the capacity to express ECs markers and were able to be incorporated into blood vessels, contributing to cancer progression, by being incorporated in tumor neo-vasculature. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) push monocytes to EC differentiation, and this phenotype is reverted by cysteine (a scavenger and precursor of glutathione), which indicates that angiogenesis is controlled by the interplay between the oxidative stress and the scavenging capacity of the tumor microenvironment. publishersversion published

The behavior of cancer is undoubtedly affected by stroma. Macrophages belong to this microenvironment and their presence correlates with reduced survival in most cancers. After a tumor-induced "immunoediting", these monocytes/macrophages, originally the first line of defense against tumor cells, undergo a phenotypic switch and become tumor-supportive and immunosuppressive.The influence of these tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) on cancer is present in all traits of carcinogenesis. These cells participate in tumor initiation and growth, migration, vascularization, invasion and metastasis. Although metastasis is extremely clinically relevant, this step is always reliant on the angiogenic ability of tumors. Therefore, the formation of new blood vessels in tumors assumes particular importance as a limiting step for disease progression.Herein, the once unsuspected roles of macrophages in cancer will be discussed and their importance as a promising strategy to treat this group of diseases will be reminded.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the macroeconomic determinants of Port wine exports, taking into account the diversity and various quality levels associated with this product.Design/methodology/approachPort wine is a fortified wine only produced in Portugal. In the period 2006-2014, an extended gravity model is applied to data on the exports of the top 20 importing countries, accounting for 94 per cent of total exports. The authors base their empirical strategy on the Hausman–Taylor estimator (1971), overcoming endogeneity and accounting for time invariant variables. They estimate the impact of several factors on the total trade of Port wine, namely: gross domestic product (GDP), GDP per capita, tariffs, exchange rates, distance from original supplier, mutual language familiarity, landlockedness, wine consumption per capita and presence of Portuguese emigrants, all measured in volume and value terms, and for each of the four categories (Standard, High Standard, Vintage and Aged).FindingsThe findings show that the quantity and value of total Port wine exports are positively determined by overall GDP per capita, the presence of a Portuguese emigrant community (which implies that to some degree a common language and culture are shared), while exports are negatively influenced by landlockedness. In contrast to the traditional gravity model, distance from the source of supply does not appear to be a significant determinant, a fact explained by the specific and singular nature of Port wine and by the long tradition of this product in international markets. In addition, the results revealed specific determinants for specific product categories – such as GDP for aged Port and wine consumption per capita for high standard, vintage and aged Port, suggesting that Portugal needs to increase its exports of high-quality Port wine to markets that exhibit a tendency towards increased wine consumption per capita and are coming to be considered large and fast-growing economies.Originality/valueThis paper extends the literature, by respecifying the typical gravity model for aggregate goods to permit the analysis of wine exports. There has been relatively little application of this model to assess the determinants of the wine trade, and when it has been used, generally it has been in studies focusing on aggregate wine trade between countries. This paper seeks to fill this gap by focusing on the determinants of exports of a specific wine – Port wine, which is an internationally recognised product, with a clear internal product differentiation according to distinct quality levels – and in this regard provides new insights into the international patterns of trade in wine.

// Filipa Lopes-Coelho 1, 2 , Carolina Nunes 1, 2 , Sofia Gouveia-Fernandes 1, 2 , Rita Rosas 3 , Fernanda Silva 1, 2 , Paula Gameiro 4 , Tânia Carvalho 5 , Maria Gomes da Silva 4 , Jose Cabecadas 6 , Sergio Dias 5 , Luis G. Goncalves 3 and Jacinta Serpa 1, 2 1 Centro de Estudos de Doencas Cronicas da Faculdade de Ciencias Medicas da Universidade NOVA (CEDOC-FCM-UNL), Lisbon, Portugal 2 Unidade de Investigacao em Patobiologia Molecular do Instituto Portugues de Oncologia de Lisboa Francisco Gentil (IPOLFG), Lisbon, Portugal 3 Instituto de Tecnologia Quimica e Biologica Antonio Xavier (ITQB Nova), Oeiras, Portugal 4 Servico de Hemato-Oncologia, IPOLFG, Lisbon, Portugal 5 Instituto de Medicina Molecular da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal 6 Servico de Anatomia Patologica, IPOLFG, Lisbon, Portugal Correspondence to: Jacinta Serpa, email: jacinta.serpa@fcm.unl.pt Keywords: metabolic switch, MCT1, lactate, VEGF, BM microenvironment Received: February 08, 2017 Accepted: June 27, 2017 Published: August 16, 2017 ABSTRACT Dysregulation of glucose/lactate dynamics plays a role in cancer progression, and MCTs are key elements in metabolic remodeling. VEGF is a relevant growth factor in the maintenance of bone marrow microenvironment and it is also important in hematological diseases. Our aim was to investigate the role of VEGF in the metabolic adaptation of Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells by evaluating the metabolic profiles and cell features according to the AML lineage and testing lactate as a metabolic coin. Our in vitro results showed that AML promyelocytic (HL60) and monocytic (THP1) (but not erythroid- HEL) lineages are well adapted to VEGF and lactate rich environment. Their metabolic adaptation relies on high rates of glycolysis to generate intermediates for PPP to support cell proliferation, and on the consumption of glycolysis-generated lactate to supply biomass and energy production. VEGF orchestrates this metabolic network by regulating MCT1 expression. Bromopyruvic acid (BPA) was proven to be an effective cytotoxic in AML, possibly transported by MCT1. Our study reinforces that targeting metabolism can be a good strategy to fight cancer. MCT1 expression at the time of diagnosis can assist on the identification of AML patients that will benefit from BPA therapy. Additionally, MCT1 can be used in targeted delivery of conventional cytotoxic drugs.

Business cycle synchronisation and the similarity in the sectoral structure of exports are key conditions for the successful implementation of common monetary policy, as shown by the theory of Optimum Currency Areas. This paper examines the degree of correlation between the aggregate euro area and 12 member states’ business cycles and the role of their exports specialisation dynamics vis-à-vis the euro area over the period 1981–2012, focusing in particular on Southern European countries. Overall, we find that since the inception of the European Monetary Union, the business cycles of euro area member states have been increasingly synchronised with the aggregate euro area cycle, with the exception of Greece. We also document that changes in the Greek, Portuguese, and Spanish export structures brought these countries closer to the euro area structure as a whole. Furthermore, we find a positive and significant relationship between the similarity of export structures and GDP cyclical correlations.

Made available in DSpace on 2020-01-22T16:54:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 6928_14725.pdf: 905122 bytes, checksum: 648793821ed90bffd821a61033d76024 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2019-06-27