A confraria do comentário do futebol na TV: evolução dos programas televisivos feitos com adeptos dos maiores clubes portugueses

Em Portugal, os programas de televisão feitos com adeptos notáveis de três grandes clubes de futebol correspondem a um formato com menos de uma década e meia de existência: apareceram primeiro na RTP2 e, logo a seguir, na SIC. Os canais generalistas rapidamente os adoptaram como conteúdos privilegiados para atrair audiência. Hoje constituem âncoras das grelhas dos três canais temáticos de informação, rivalizando entre si nos comentadores permanentes que conseguem fixar em estúdio. Apresentados por jornalistas, estes programas criam momentos de grande polémica e, com isso, marcam, de certa forma, a agenda do campo do futebol. Neste artigo, explicamos a génese destes formatos, traçamos o seu percurso na TV portuguesa e, através de entrevistas aos seus responsáveis editoriais, analisamos a estratégia que seguem na construção do alinhamento, discutimos a distância que mantêm dos clubes que comentam e perspectivamos formas de evolução deste tipo de conteúdos televisivos. Uma linha sobressai neste trabalho: quem participa nestes programas é uma elite de comentadores que se apresentam como adeptos do Futebol Clube do Porto, do Sporting e do Benfica, mas que mais não são do que uma confraria do comentário do futebol que semanalmente contribui para a construção de um espaço público cada vez mais rarefeito em torno daquilo que se discute no futebol.

Indicadores de "Hidricidade" como ferramenta de avaliação da eficiência urbana

One of the biggest challenges for urban space planners is to conciliate the indispensable demands of life with the forms of occupation of the territory. Among these demands is water. Population growth and urban sprawl are challenging water availability. Thus, it is important to evaluate development trends to predict future scenarios, enabling guide preventive actions and decision making. It is essential to have a practical and direct tool that allows us to transmit the necessary information. The objective of this study is to present a method for evaluating the urban efficiency in the process of city expansion and the availability of water supply. To do so, the indicators will be defined, called indicators of "hidricidade". As a result, it is expected to be obtained a direct and practical tool, that is going to allow to transmit the necessary information to the harmonic urban process planning, applicable to medium size Brazilian cities, allowing decision making as a guarantee of water supply and urban sprawl.

Para cá e para lá dos muros: relações familiares na interface entre o interior e o exterior da prisão

Tese de Doutoramento em Sociologia

Mapping numbers onto space in preschool children and adults

Tese de Doutoramento em Psicologia - Especialidade em Psicologia Experimental e Ciências Cognitivas

Clinical Epidemiology of Buruli ulcer from Benin (2005-2013): effect of time-delay to diagnosis on clinical forms and severe phenotypes

Buruli Ulcer (BU) is a neglected infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans that is responsible for severe necrotizing cutaneous lesions that may be associated with bone involvement. Clinical presentations of BU lesions are classically classified as papules, nodules, plaques and edematous infiltration, ulcer or osteomyelitis. Within these different clinical forms, lesions can be further classified as severe forms based on focality (multiple lesions), lesions' size (>15 cm diameter) or WHO Category (WHO Category 3 lesions). There are studies reporting an association between delay in seeking medical care and the development of ulcerative forms of BU or osteomyelitis, but the effect of time-delay on the emergence of lesions classified as severe has not been addressed. To address both issues, and in a cohort of laboratory-confirmed BU cases, 476 patients from a medical center in Allada, Benin, were studied. In this laboratory-confirmed cohort, we validated previous observations, demonstrating that time-delay is statistically related to the clinical form of BU. Indeed, for non-ulcerated forms (nodule, edema, and plaque) the median time-delay was 32.5 days (IQR 30.0-67.5), while for ulcerated forms it was 60 days (IQR 20.0-120.0) (p = 0.009), and for bone lesions, 365 days (IQR 228.0-548.0). On the other hand, we show here that time-delay is not associated with the more severe phenotypes of BU, such as multi-focal lesions (median 90 days; IQR 56-217.5; p = 0.09), larger lesions (diameter >15 cm) (median 60 days; IQR 30-120; p = 0.92) or category 3 WHO classification (median 60 days; IQR 30-150; p = 0.20), when compared with unifocal (median 60 days; IQR 30-90), small lesions (diameter =15 cm) (median 60 days; IQR 30-90), or WHO category 1+2 lesions (median 60 days; IQR 30-90), respectively. Our results demonstrate that after an initial period of progression towards ulceration or bone involvement, BU lesions become stable regarding size and focal/multi-focal progression. Therefore, in future studies on BU epidemiology, severe clinical forms should be systematically considered as distinct phenotypes of the same disease and thus subjected to specific risk factor investigation.

Brincar de Internet: a vivência lúdica infantil em ambiente virtual

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências da Educação (Especialidade em Tecnologia Educativa)

A novel hanging spherical drop system for the generation of cellular spheroids and high throughput combinatorial drug screening

We propose a novel hanging spherical drop system for anchoring arrays of droplets of cell suspension based on the use of biomimetic superhydrophobic flat substrates, with controlled positional adhesion and minimum contact with a solid substrate. By facing down the platform, it was possible to generate independent spheroid bodies in a high throughput manner, in order to mimic in vivo tumour models on the lab-on-chip scale. To validate this system for drug screening purposes, the toxicity of the anti-cancer drug doxorubicin in cell spheroids was tested and compared to cells in 2D culture. The advantages presented by this platform, such as feasibility of the system and the ability to control the size uniformity of the spheroid, emphasize its potential to be used as a new low cost toolbox for high-throughput drug screening and in cell or tissue engineering.

Superhydrophobic surfaces as a tool for the fabrication of hierarchical spherical polymeric carriers

Hierarchical polymeric carriers with high encapsulation efficiencies are fabricated via a biocompatible strategy developed using superhydrophobic (SH) surfaces. The carries are obtained by the incorporation of cell/BSA-loaded dextran-methacrylate (DEXT-MA) microparticles into alginate (ALG) macroscopic beads. Engineered devices like these are expected to boost the development of innovative and customizable systems for biomedical and biotechnological purposes.