Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2019-07-24"
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- Papel da histeroscopia diagnóstica e terapêutica na abordagem da infertilidade femininaPublication . Fernandes, João Samuel da Silva; Meyer, Jayson WilliamA infertilidade é uma doença complexa com importantes implicações médicas, psicossociais, demográficas e económicas. Esta doença tem sido considerada pela Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS) como um problema de saúde pública. A histeroscopia é, hoje, um método diagnóstico e terapêutico fundamental na abordagem das patologias/anomalias uterinas subjacentes à infertilidade feminina. O objetivo desta revisão consiste em abordar a infertilidade feminina e destacar as patologias/anomalias mais frequentemente causadoras deste problema. Proceder a uma revisão do papel da histeroscopia no diagnóstico e tratamento destas patologias/anomalias. Fazer, sempre que possível, uma comparação da abordagem histeroscópica com outros meios diagnósticos, atendendo às vantagens e limitações da histeroscopia e ao seu impacto na saúde reprodutiva da mulher. Explorar as vantagens da técnica “Endometrial Scratching” no aumento das taxas de gravidez em mulheres inférteis. A fertilidade define-se como a capacidade de se estabelecer uma gravidez clínica.(1) Para que possa ocorrer uma gravidez são necessários diversos passos: a formação e libertação de um óvulo a partir dos ovários, a sua chegada através das trompas até ao útero, a junção com o esperma masculino e a fixação do óvulo fecundado na parede do útero (implantação). Por vezes, diversas alterações uterinas podem colocar em causa a normalidade deste processo, sendo causadoras de infertilidade. Estas alterações que afetam a parede uterina podem ser pólipos, miomas, septos, sinequias ou outras e, com recurso à histeroscopia, as mesmas podem ser corrigidas. Esta correção pode, consequentemente, aumentar a probabilidade de se conseguir uma gravidez, quer espontaneamente quer após tratamentos de procriação medicamente assistida. Em jeito de conclusão, existem diversas anomalias subjacentes à infertilidade feminina - pólipos, miomas, sinéquias…, tendo cada uma destas maior ou menor influência como causa de infertilidade. Em muitas destas anomalias, apesar de não existir uma completa evidência, a histeroscopia parece ser o meio complementar de diagnóstico e terapêutico que apresenta melhores resultados, melhorando as taxas de conceção em períodos de tempo mais curtos. Contudo, esta técnica ainda não está completamente estabelecida como procedimento de 1ª linha na abordagem da infertilidade feminina. A técnica “Endometrial Scratching”, antes da estimulação ovárica controlada, tem vindo a estar associada ao melhoramento das taxas de implantação e os resultados da gravidez. Contudo, são necessários mais estudos que comprovem a eficácia desta técnica, uma vez que este tema é controverso, havendo já quem a descredibilize. (2)
- Tolerância a Falhas em Computação Móvel na CloudPublication . Catumbela, Euclides João Mujanga; Sousa, Maria Paula Prata deApesar de os periféricos móveis possuírem cada vez mais capacidade de computação e armazenamento, a ligação da computação móvel com a computação na nuvem (cloud) é também, cada vez mais, forte. Aplicações móveis que processem ou partilhem grandes quantidades de dados usam a nuvem para superar a limitação de recursos imposta por smartphones e tablets. Estes sistemas trazem novos desafios em termos de tolerância a falhas. Por um lado funcionam com baterias cuja carga tem duração limitada e por outro lado, a mobilidade do utilizador pode dificultar a obtenção de conectividade contínua e com largura de banda invariável como seria desejável. Neste trabalho, estudamos as tecnologias de nuvem, desde suas principais aplicações, até aos desafios que actualmente enfrentam. Exploramos os mecanismos de persistência local de dados offline do Azure e do Firebase. A seguir, propusemos dois mecanismos de tolerância a falhas em computação móvel na nuvem: falha da carga da bateria e falhas na ligação à rede. E, por fim, avaliamos e comparamos os mecanismos explorados e propostos.
- Identifying an effective mobile health application for the self-management of allergic rhinitis and asthma in AustraliaPublication . Tan, Rachel; Cvetkovski, Biljana; Koshelev, Alexey; O'Hehir, Robyn; Lourenço, Olga; Bousquet, Jean; Bosnic-Anticevich, SinthiaObjective: People with allergic rhinitis (AR) often self-manage in the community pharmacy setting without consulting health care professionals and trivialize their comorbidities such as asthma. A mobile health application (mHealth app) with a self-monitoring and medication adherence system can assist with the appropriate self-management of AR and asthma. This study aimed to identify an app effective for the self-management of AR and/or asthma. Methods: MHealth apps retrieved from the Australian Apple App Store and Android Google Play Store were included in this study if they were developed for self-management of AR and/or asthma; in English language; free of charge for the full version; and accessible to users of the mHealth app. The mHealth app quality was evaluated on three domains using a two-stage process. In Stage 1, the apps were ranked along Domain 1 (Accessibility in both app stores). In Stage 2, the apps with Stage 1, maximum score were ranked along Domain 2 (alignment with theoretical principles of the self-management of AR and/or asthma) and Domain 3 (usability of the mHealth app using Mobile App Rating Scale instrument). Results: Of the 418 apps retrieved, 31 were evaluated in Stage 1 and 16 in Stage 2. The MASK-air achieved the highest mean rank and covered all self-management principles except the doctor's appointment reminder and scored a total MARS mean score of 0.91/1. Conclusions:MASK-air is ranked most highly across the assessment domains for the self-management of both AR and coexisting asthma. This mHealth app covers the majority of the self-management principles and is highly engaging.
- O impacto da sinalização astrocítica nos efeitos terapêuticos do secretoma de células mesenquimais estaminais no sistema nervoso centralPublication . Campos, Jonas de Oliveira; Salgado, António José Braga Osório Gomes; Baltazar, Graça Maria FernandesThe central nervous system (CNS) has a limited auto-regeneration capacity, which makes it challenging for the development of new therapies. Previous studies from our lab have demonstrated the applicability of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as a possible therapeutic too for CNS, in which their secretome (e.g. the secretion of trophic factors and vesicles) has been described as the most probable mechanism of their therapeutic action, due to its ability to stimulate/modulate neurogenesis. Glial cells as astrocytes are important players in neural activity and in the modulation of neurotransmission, thereby being crucial elements in neurogenesis. Thus, in the present project, we aimed to evaluate the impact of astrocytes on the effects promoted by the application of MSCs secretome as a therapeutic tool for the modulation and generation of new neurons. For this, MSCs secretome was injected into the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus of a transgenic animal model (with the SNARE complex blocked) without astrocytic transmission, and therefore with their function partially depleted. Additionally, morphological features of astrocytes were assessed. As controls wild type Black 6 mice, in which the astrocytic function has not been depleted were used. One week after secretome treatment, animals were sacrificed, and brains collected for molecular and histological analysis. Pre-frontal cortex tissue was used to perform a transgene analysis in order to divide the experimental groups in wild type (Wt), Snare high and Snare low (animals presenting different patterns of gene expression). Brains were immuno-stained for GFAP and Ki-67 and assessed under a confocal microscope for proliferations levels at the SGZ of the hippocampus, at the hilus, for counting of radial glial cells at the SGZ and for GFAP+ densities at the DG. Confocal images were also employed for morphological analysis. Results demonstrated increased levels of proliferation for Wt and Snare high animals at the SGZ when compared to Snare low when treated with secretome, furthermore, secretome increased levels of proliferating radial glial cell in Snare high animals. Morphological assessments revealed increased process hypertrophy and complexity in snare animals treated with secretome. The results could be attributed to trophic factors present in the secretome, previously shown to increase proliferation at the DG and also to alter astrocyte morphology. The impact of transgene expression is harder to explain, nevertheless, impaired exocytosis from astrocytes could have implications for the response to a proliferative stimulus given the established autocrine signaling trough this mechanism.
- Is there a resource curse phenomenon for natural gas?Publication . Pires, Patrícia Silva; Marques, António Manuel CardosoThis study focuses on the natural gas-economic growth nexus and intends to test the hypothesis of “resource course”. Panel data techniques were applied to investigate the role of natural gas in economic growth, for 25 producers of natural gas, from 1993 to 2015. Consequently, three different approaches were used and compared, in order to test the “resource curse” hypothesis, namely: production, reserves, and the rents approach. Due to the data characteristics, the Autoregressive Distributed Lag model (ARDL) proved to be the most suitable for capturing the dynamic relationship in short- and long-run effects. The Driscoll-Kray estimator with fixed effects was used, given the presence of the phenomena of heteroscedasticity, first order autocorrelation, contemporaneous correlation and cross-sectional dependence. Results suggest that natural gas consumption drives economic growth in both the short- and long- run. The presence of the resource curse phenomenon was not validated for any of the three approaches. Policymakers should realize the characteristics of natural gas as a transition source. Indeed, natural gas does not fit the pattern of dependency as is historically observed in producers’ countries for other resources, such as oil.
- Measurement of the direct rebound effect on residential electricity consumption in the European Union CountriesPublication . Mendes, Ana Rita Pinheiro de Castro; Marques, António Manuel CardosoDue to the rebound effect caused by the improvement in energy efficiency, the decrease in energy consumption may not be translated as expected. This study is the first to estimate the magnitude of direct rebound effect for the long and short run and the impact of climate change on residential electricity consumption for the European Union countries. In order analyse the direct rebound effect a panel data from 1996 to 2017 was used, and a panel ARDL model was applied. The results show that the magnitude of the direct rebound effect in the long run is 35%. The climate changes have a positive effect on the electricity consumption both in the long and short run. This study suggests that policy makers should have both the rebound effect and the climate changes in mind when formulating their energy policies.
- Malformações uterinas müllerianas e histeroscopiaPublication . Rocha, Samuel Filipe Canelas da; Meyer, Jayson WilliamAs anomalias müllerianas compreendem um conjunto de desvios do normal desenvolvimento embriológico no trato geniturinário feminino, muitas vezes associadas a complicações ginecológicas, obstétricas e de infertilidade. O estudo deste tipo de anomalias tem-se vindo a desenvolver ao longo do tempo e, com o largo espetro de apresentação, foi necessário proceder-se à criação de um sistema claro e de simples uso, que permitisse caracterizar e classificar estas anomalias de acordo com a embriologia, a anatomia e a clínica. A par do desenvolvimento na abordagem destas patologias, foram também desenvolvidos meios à sua abordagem diagnostica e terapêutica, mais adequados, menos invasivos e com melhores outcomes. Um desses meios é a histeroscopia, procedimento que será aqui abordado quanto à sua evolução, assim como à sua aplicabilidade diagnóstica e/ou terapêutica na patologia uterina no geral com particular destaque para as anomalias uterinas müllerianas. Serão descritas algumas das indicações, tecnologias, técnicas e métodos mais recentemente utilizados, de modo a expor a significativa importância no que respeita à eficácia e outcomes positivos que este procedimento permite na abordagem destas patologias.
- Comunicação Interna DigitalPublication . Pereira, Nathalia de Pinho; Gonçalves, Gisela Marques PereiraA Comunicação Interna Estratégica é o tema principal desta dissertação de mestrado. Neste contexto, refletimos sobre o papel das Relações Públicas e do profissional de RP frente à gestão estratégica da comunicação interna no ambiente digital. Desenvolve-se um estudo de caso centrado numa marca mundialmente conhecida, a McDonald’s. Como objeto empírico, selecionamos duas campanhas realizadas pela marca para homenagear as suas colaboradoras em prol do Dia Internacional da Mulher 2018, desenvolvidas no Brasil e nos Estados Unidos. O nosso objetivo é verificar, ao nível das práticas e das ferramentas, como a marca disseminou as suas estratégias de comunicação em seus suportes e canais da comunicação interna (offline e online). A partir das análises, constata-se que numa dimensão humanista, as campanhas da McDonald’s tinham os atributos necessários e estratégicos para contribuir para a difusão da cultura organizacional, da imagem e da identidade organizacional da marca. Por outro lado, na perspectiva do planejamento de comunicação integrando esta dimensão humanista, concluímos que as ações de comunicação veiculadas nos canais offline e online da McDonald’s nos Estados Unidos se complementaram, mas as veiculadas pela McDonald’s Brasil não.
- Urban mobility strategies in Portuguese District CapitalsPublication . Amaral, Luís Miguel Cardoso; Marques, António Manuel CardosoThe high use of the car in daily journeys and the lack of an effective transport network remains a problem in cities. Public transport has problems in terms of coverage in less populated cities and problems of capacity and effectiveness in the most populated cities. Mobility planning is not yet being done in a decentralized way, which encourages daily travel through a private vehicle, causing negative effects in the quality of life of citizens and the environment. Portuguese cities are not yet prepared for mobility and accessibility to all, so it is urgent to make a plan of it, promoting a more sustainable mobility. The fight against congestion is a constant challenge, so cities are taking the first steps in intelligent transport within the "smart cities" context. The existing bus fleet in Portugal has a considerably high average age, causing negative consequences for users and the environment, needing to be renewed. It is urgent to think of other types of mobility and to see the bet on electric mobility and shared systems as a future solution. The electric mobility has grown strongly in Portugal, with the placement of loading stations and the introduction of electric buses in circulation. This theoretical and practical dissertation focuses on the study of the existing transport networks in the Portuguese district capitals, analyzing its fleet of buses and everything adjacent to it. It also focuses on the study of the sustainable mobility strategies that cities have been taking.
- Faro Aerotropolis: Applying the Concept to a Medium-sized CityPublication . Carmo, João Jóia do; Silva, Jorge Miguel dos ReisAir traffic has been on a constant rise throughout the years, making it necessary to create a response to this increasing demand. One way to keep up with this growth is by implementing an Aerotropolis solution. Aerotropolis is a term that first came in 1939 by the hand of Nicholas DeSantis, with an illustration of a 200-stories high skyscraper capped by an airplane field eight city blocks long and three blocks wide. However, in 2000, Dr John Kasarda redefined this term into a new concept, which is the purpose of this work. The new concept meets the continuous growth of air travelling by making the city serve the airport, instead of the opposite traditional way. The key value of the Aerotropolis is that it offers businesses rapid connectivity on a massive scale. Keeping this in mind, the main goal of this work is to try to apply and develop an Aerotropolis at Faro International Airport. It is possible to establish the evolution of the businesses, using a GIS approach, related to the airport in the Catchment Area throughout the years, and from there determine whether an Aerotropolis in this region is conceivable. This evaluation of the Catchment Area requires data gathering from various sources, like CENSUS and INE. This data provides a useful tool to assess the possibility to adapt this airport into an Aerotropolis. Other operational Aerotropolis examples such as Amsterdam and Paris will serve as a comparison, granting a realistic scenario, more so than the general Aerotropolis schematic. The case study is Faro International Airport, which serves the Algarve region. This airport has a 60-minute travel time suggested by airport authorities for its Catchment Area. This work has its main objective to determine the possibility of an Aerotropolis in the region and its impact as a better option for the overall efficiency of the airport.