The capsid protein gene of three Egyptian CTV isolates from two locations was amplified by immuno... more The capsid protein gene of three Egyptian CTV isolates from two locations was amplified by immunocapture RT-PCR and analysed by single stranded conformation polymorphism and sequencing. The CTV isolates studied did not differ significantly in sequence composition and each isolate consisted of very similar haplotypes. Comparison with reference sequences from isolates elsewhere in the world showed that these haplotypes clustered very close to the severe strain T3 from Florida causing quick decline and stem pitting. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence showed the epitope characteristic of reactivity with the MCA13 antibody. Sequence comparison with the sequence of an Egyptian isolate (Qaha) available in the Genbank showed a distance of about 8%, suggesting that it had a different origin.
Apesar de ainda ser um conceito relativamente novo, a investigacao sobre a logistica inversa ja p... more Apesar de ainda ser um conceito relativamente novo, a investigacao sobre a logistica inversa ja percorreu um longo caminho nos ultimos 15 anos. No entanto, ainda ha aspetos que exigem um maior esforco de investigacao por parte da comunidade academica. Entre essas questoes encontra-se a forma como as empresas implementam sistemas de logistica inversa ou desenvolvem atividades de recuperacao de produtos em fim de vida, especificamente, quais sao as razoes para o desenvolvimento destes sistemas, quais os fatores que favorecem a sua implementacao e que barreiras podem ser identificadas. Desta forma, esta investigacao centra-se em analisar estas questoes no âmbito empresarial Portugues. Para isso, sao descritos tres estudos de caso sobre as experiencias empresariais no desenvolvimento da logistica inversa. A partir dos resultados, pode-se enfatizar a importância que as empresas atribuem as razoes tradicionalmente descritas na literatura como razoes para a implementacao desses sistemas de...
European journal of human genetics : EJHG, Jan 11, 2018
Bio-geographic ancestry is an area of considerable interest in the medical genetics, anthropology... more Bio-geographic ancestry is an area of considerable interest in the medical genetics, anthropology and forensics. Although genome-wide panels are ideal as they provide dense genotyping data, small sets of ancestry informative marker provide a cost-effective way to investigate genetic ancestry and population structure. Here, we investigate the performance of a reduced marker set that combine different types of autosomal markers through haplotype analysis. In particular, recently described DIP-STR markers should offer the advantage of comprising both, low mutation rate Indels (DIPs), to study human history over longer time scale; and high mutation rate STRs, to trace relatively recent demographic events. In this study, we assessed the ability of an initial set of 23 DIP-STRs to distinguish major population groups using the HGDP-CEPH reference samples. The results obtained applying the STRUCTURE algorithm show that the discrimination capacity of the DIP-STRs is comparable to currently u...
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part H, Journal of engineering in medicine, Jan 2, 2016
The ear is one of the most complex organs in the human body. Sound is a sequence of pressure wave... more The ear is one of the most complex organs in the human body. Sound is a sequence of pressure waves, which propagates through a compressible media such as air. The pinna concentrates the sound waves into the external auditory meatus. In this canal, the sound is conducted to the tympanic membrane. The tympanic membrane transforms the pressure variations into mechanical displacements, which are then transmitted to the ossicles. The vibration of the stapes footplate creates pressure waves in the fluid inside the cochlea; these pressure waves stimulate the hair cells, generating electrical signals which are sent to the brain through the cochlear nerve, where they are decoded. In this work, a three-dimensional finite element model of the human ear is developed. The model incorporates the tympanic membrane, ossicular bones, part of temporal bone (external auditory meatus and tympanic cavity), middle ear ligaments and tendons, cochlear fluid, skin, ear cartilage, jaw and the air in external...
Nowadays water demand already exceeds supply and water scarcity is a global problem. So it is nec... more Nowadays water demand already exceeds supply and water scarcity is a global problem. So it is necessary to develop novel technologies to be able to use poorer quality source waters for drinking water production. Once considered as an expensive, ultimate solution for water supply, desalination is becoming affordable. The two most commonly used seawater desalination methods are Multi-stage Flash Distillation (MSF) and Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO). SWRO is less energy demanding compared to MSF, which makes it economically attractive. However there is no backpulsing of the expensive and delicate reverse osmosis (RO) membranes with air or water, so they are susceptible to fouling, causing the loss of their performance. Therefore cleaning the feed water to the highest level possible by nanofiltration, before it reaches the RO membranes would highly increase the efficiency of the process. Nanofiltration (NF) as a feed pre-treatment step is a pressure driven membrane separation process t...
Electrospinning allows the production of polymer fibres with diameters in the sub-micron size ran... more Electrospinning allows the production of polymer fibres with diameters in the sub-micron size range, through the application of an external electric field, keeping intact the bulk properties of the polymers. Electrospun membranes possess some unique structural features, such as a high surface to volume ratio and very good mechanical performance, properties that are determinant to their use in several applications such as air and liquid filtration, tissue engineering, optical and chemical sensors [1]. In this work, alkali and acid biopolysaccharides blended with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were electrospinned into a polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) basal microfiltration membrane, with the goal of developing a mid-layer nanofibrous porous support for exploitable thin-film composite (TFC) membranes for water filtration. The alkali and acid biopolysaccharides chosen were, respectively, chitosan (CS), a cationic polyelectrolyte (in this case with deacetylation degree around 85), and cyanobac...
Considering the simultaneous occurrence of events that we consider highly improbable, the so call... more Considering the simultaneous occurrence of events that we consider highly improbable, the so called coincidences, we all get surprised. However the search for the explanation of this occurrence can be made by many different approaches. According to Diaconis & Mosteller, coincidences are not as unusual as we think, being sufficient to consider a large enough number of events for the frequency of coincidences to be significant. The birthday paradox illustrates the idea that something highly improbable from the individual point of view may, however, occurs a considerable amount of times in general, because the “individual case experiment” is performed a large number of times.
Na sociedade moderna, são inúmeras as circunstâncias em que temos que recorrer às probabilidades,... more Na sociedade moderna, são inúmeras as circunstâncias em que temos que recorrer às probabilidades, seja para a interpretação de informação de cariz probabilístico ou para a tomada de decisão perante situações de incerteza. A formação em Probabilidades e Estatística tornou-se assim imprescindível em grande parte das áreas do conhecimento, passando, nos últimos anos, a fazer parte dos currículos escolares de todos os graus de ensino. A estreita ligação existente entre variados problemas da Teoria das Probabilidades e situações correntes do dia-a-dia promove a tentativa da sua resolução baseada apenas no senso comum e na intuição. Contudo, apesar de a intuição poder ser um auxiliar precioso para a compreensão de alguns conceitos da Teoria das Probabilidades, existem muitos outros que, por serem contrários a essa mesma intuição, se tornam de difícil aceitação. De entre os conceitos de probabilidade que mais ideias erradas despoletam nos alunos está o de probabilidade condicionada verific...
The capsid protein gene of three Egyptian CTV isolates from two locations was amplified by immuno... more The capsid protein gene of three Egyptian CTV isolates from two locations was amplified by immunocapture RT-PCR and analysed by single stranded conformation polymorphism and sequencing. The CTV isolates studied did not differ significantly in sequence composition and each isolate consisted of very similar haplotypes. Comparison with reference sequences from isolates elsewhere in the world showed that these haplotypes clustered very close to the severe strain T3 from Florida causing quick decline and stem pitting. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence showed the epitope characteristic of reactivity with the MCA13 antibody. Sequence comparison with the sequence of an Egyptian isolate (Qaha) available in the Genbank showed a distance of about 8%, suggesting that it had a different origin.
Apesar de ainda ser um conceito relativamente novo, a investigacao sobre a logistica inversa ja p... more Apesar de ainda ser um conceito relativamente novo, a investigacao sobre a logistica inversa ja percorreu um longo caminho nos ultimos 15 anos. No entanto, ainda ha aspetos que exigem um maior esforco de investigacao por parte da comunidade academica. Entre essas questoes encontra-se a forma como as empresas implementam sistemas de logistica inversa ou desenvolvem atividades de recuperacao de produtos em fim de vida, especificamente, quais sao as razoes para o desenvolvimento destes sistemas, quais os fatores que favorecem a sua implementacao e que barreiras podem ser identificadas. Desta forma, esta investigacao centra-se em analisar estas questoes no âmbito empresarial Portugues. Para isso, sao descritos tres estudos de caso sobre as experiencias empresariais no desenvolvimento da logistica inversa. A partir dos resultados, pode-se enfatizar a importância que as empresas atribuem as razoes tradicionalmente descritas na literatura como razoes para a implementacao desses sistemas de...
European journal of human genetics : EJHG, Jan 11, 2018
Bio-geographic ancestry is an area of considerable interest in the medical genetics, anthropology... more Bio-geographic ancestry is an area of considerable interest in the medical genetics, anthropology and forensics. Although genome-wide panels are ideal as they provide dense genotyping data, small sets of ancestry informative marker provide a cost-effective way to investigate genetic ancestry and population structure. Here, we investigate the performance of a reduced marker set that combine different types of autosomal markers through haplotype analysis. In particular, recently described DIP-STR markers should offer the advantage of comprising both, low mutation rate Indels (DIPs), to study human history over longer time scale; and high mutation rate STRs, to trace relatively recent demographic events. In this study, we assessed the ability of an initial set of 23 DIP-STRs to distinguish major population groups using the HGDP-CEPH reference samples. The results obtained applying the STRUCTURE algorithm show that the discrimination capacity of the DIP-STRs is comparable to currently u...
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part H, Journal of engineering in medicine, Jan 2, 2016
The ear is one of the most complex organs in the human body. Sound is a sequence of pressure wave... more The ear is one of the most complex organs in the human body. Sound is a sequence of pressure waves, which propagates through a compressible media such as air. The pinna concentrates the sound waves into the external auditory meatus. In this canal, the sound is conducted to the tympanic membrane. The tympanic membrane transforms the pressure variations into mechanical displacements, which are then transmitted to the ossicles. The vibration of the stapes footplate creates pressure waves in the fluid inside the cochlea; these pressure waves stimulate the hair cells, generating electrical signals which are sent to the brain through the cochlear nerve, where they are decoded. In this work, a three-dimensional finite element model of the human ear is developed. The model incorporates the tympanic membrane, ossicular bones, part of temporal bone (external auditory meatus and tympanic cavity), middle ear ligaments and tendons, cochlear fluid, skin, ear cartilage, jaw and the air in external...
Nowadays water demand already exceeds supply and water scarcity is a global problem. So it is nec... more Nowadays water demand already exceeds supply and water scarcity is a global problem. So it is necessary to develop novel technologies to be able to use poorer quality source waters for drinking water production. Once considered as an expensive, ultimate solution for water supply, desalination is becoming affordable. The two most commonly used seawater desalination methods are Multi-stage Flash Distillation (MSF) and Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO). SWRO is less energy demanding compared to MSF, which makes it economically attractive. However there is no backpulsing of the expensive and delicate reverse osmosis (RO) membranes with air or water, so they are susceptible to fouling, causing the loss of their performance. Therefore cleaning the feed water to the highest level possible by nanofiltration, before it reaches the RO membranes would highly increase the efficiency of the process. Nanofiltration (NF) as a feed pre-treatment step is a pressure driven membrane separation process t...
Electrospinning allows the production of polymer fibres with diameters in the sub-micron size ran... more Electrospinning allows the production of polymer fibres with diameters in the sub-micron size range, through the application of an external electric field, keeping intact the bulk properties of the polymers. Electrospun membranes possess some unique structural features, such as a high surface to volume ratio and very good mechanical performance, properties that are determinant to their use in several applications such as air and liquid filtration, tissue engineering, optical and chemical sensors [1]. In this work, alkali and acid biopolysaccharides blended with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were electrospinned into a polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) basal microfiltration membrane, with the goal of developing a mid-layer nanofibrous porous support for exploitable thin-film composite (TFC) membranes for water filtration. The alkali and acid biopolysaccharides chosen were, respectively, chitosan (CS), a cationic polyelectrolyte (in this case with deacetylation degree around 85), and cyanobac...
Considering the simultaneous occurrence of events that we consider highly improbable, the so call... more Considering the simultaneous occurrence of events that we consider highly improbable, the so called coincidences, we all get surprised. However the search for the explanation of this occurrence can be made by many different approaches. According to Diaconis & Mosteller, coincidences are not as unusual as we think, being sufficient to consider a large enough number of events for the frequency of coincidences to be significant. The birthday paradox illustrates the idea that something highly improbable from the individual point of view may, however, occurs a considerable amount of times in general, because the “individual case experiment” is performed a large number of times.
Na sociedade moderna, são inúmeras as circunstâncias em que temos que recorrer às probabilidades,... more Na sociedade moderna, são inúmeras as circunstâncias em que temos que recorrer às probabilidades, seja para a interpretação de informação de cariz probabilístico ou para a tomada de decisão perante situações de incerteza. A formação em Probabilidades e Estatística tornou-se assim imprescindível em grande parte das áreas do conhecimento, passando, nos últimos anos, a fazer parte dos currículos escolares de todos os graus de ensino. A estreita ligação existente entre variados problemas da Teoria das Probabilidades e situações correntes do dia-a-dia promove a tentativa da sua resolução baseada apenas no senso comum e na intuição. Contudo, apesar de a intuição poder ser um auxiliar precioso para a compreensão de alguns conceitos da Teoria das Probabilidades, existem muitos outros que, por serem contrários a essa mesma intuição, se tornam de difícil aceitação. De entre os conceitos de probabilidade que mais ideias erradas despoletam nos alunos está o de probabilidade condicionada verific...
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