Avaliação ecocardiográfica da influência do jejum na resposta a um aumento reversível da pré-carga

Mestrado em Tecnologia de Diagnóstico e Intervenção Cardiovascular - Ramo de especialização: Ultrassonografia Cardiovascular

Formaldehyde: exposure and genotoxicity assessments and potential health effects

Worldwide formaldehyde is manipulated with diverse usage properties, since industrial purposes to health laboratory objectives, representing the economic importance of this chemical agent. Therefore, many people are exposed to formaldehyde environmentally and/or occupationally. Considering the latter, there was recommended occupational exposure limits based on threshold mechanisms, limit values and indoor guidelines. Formaldehyde is classified by the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC) as carcinogenic to humans (group 1), since a wide range of epidemiological studies in occupational exposure settings have suggested possible links between the concentration and duration of exposure and elevated risks of nasopharyngeal cancer, and others cancers, and more recently, with leukemia. Although there are different classifications, such as U.S. EPA that classified formaldehyde as a B1 compound, probable human carcinogen under the conditions of unusually high or prolonged exposure, on basis of limited evidence in humans but with sufficient evidence in animals. Formaldehyde genotoxicity is well-known, being a direct-acting genotoxic compound positively associated for almost all genetic endpoints evaluated in bacteria, yeast, fungi, plants, insects, nematodes, and cultured mammalian cells. There are many human biomonitoring studies that associate formaldehyde occupational exposure to genomic instability, and consequently possible health effects. Besides the link with cancer, also other pathologies and symptoms are associated with formaldehyde exposure, namely respiratory disorders such as asthma, and allergic contact dermatitis. Nowadays, there are efforts to reduce formaldehyde exposure, namely indoor. Europe and United States developed more strict regulation regarding formaldehyde emissions from materials containing this agent. Despite the regulations and restrictions, formaldehyde still continues to be difficult to eliminate or substitute, being biomonitoring an important tool to control possible future health effects.

A relevância e utilidade das demonstrações financeiras : a perceção dos gestores das PME

Mestrado em Contabilidade e Gestão das Instituições Financeiras

Climatology of the Iberia coastal low-level wind jet: weather research forecasting model high-resolution results

Coastal low-level jets (CLLJ) are a low-tropospheric wind feature driven by the pressure gradient produced by a sharp contrast between high temperatures over land and lower temperatures over the sea. This contrast between the cold ocean and the warm land in the summer is intensified by the impact of the coastal parallel winds on the ocean generating upwelling currents, sharpening the temperature gradient close to the coast and giving rise to strong baroclinic structures at the coast. During summertime, the Iberian Peninsula is often under the effect of the Azores High and of a thermal low pressure system inland, leading to a seasonal wind, in the west coast, called the Nortada (northerly wind). This study presents a regional climatology of the CLLJ off the west coast of the Iberian Peninsula, based on a 9km resolution downscaling dataset, produced using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale model, forced by 19 years of ERA-Interim reanalysis (1989-2007). The simulation results show that the jet hourly frequency of occurrence in the summer is above 30% and decreases to about 10% during spring and autumn. The monthly frequencies of occurrence can reach higher values, around 40% in summer months, and reveal large inter-annual variability in all three seasons. In the summer, at a daily base, the CLLJ is present in almost 70% of the days. The CLLJ wind direction is mostly from north-northeasterly and occurs more persistently in three areas where the interaction of the jet flow with local capes and headlands is more pronounced. The coastal jets in this area occur at heights between 300 and 400 m, and its speed has a mean around 15 m/s, reaching maximum speeds of 25 m/s.

Human biomonitoring: biomarkers, susceptibility, and nutrigenetics

The methods of molecular biology applied in epidemiological research lead us to the realm of molecular epidemiology, where there is immense potential for the establishment of associations between cancer and exposure to risk factors in lifestyle, profession, or pollution. Human biomonitoring consists, on the one hand, in research and identification of hazardous environmental conditions and, on the other hand, in the assessment of cancer risk following exposure to such conditions. Since carcinogenesis is a lengthy process, the biomarkers used to recognize biological abnormalities are selected and developed in the realm of molecular epidemiology. Such biomarkers are quantifiable and allow for the recognition of progression from normal to abnormal biological conditions at the molecular level. They can be categorized in biomarkers of exposure, effect, and genetic susceptibility. Genotoxicity biomarkers are a particular subset of effect biomarkers and are used to assess genomic instability caused by environmental or occupational exposure, being considered useful carcinogenesis predictors.

Hierarchical wrinkling on elastometric Janus spheres

Hierarchical wrinkling on elastomeric Janus spheres is permanently imprinted by swelling, for different lengths of time, followed by drying the particles in an appropriate solvent. First-order buckling with a spatial periodicity (lambda(11)) of the order of a few microns and hierarchical structures comprising of 2nd order buckling with a spatial periodicity (lambda(12)) of the order of hundreds of nanometers have been obtained. The 2nd order buckling features result from a Grinfeld surface instability due to the diffusion of the solvent and the presence of sol molecules.

Relatório de estágio

Resumo I (Prática Pedagógica) - O Estágio do Ensino Especializado realizado no presente ano lectivo foi elaborado na Academia de Música de Lisboa em três turmas. Vários foram os desafios encontrados no decorrer do ano lectivo, como por exemplo a instabilidade das turmas, a falta do quadro na sala em algumas aulas e a pouca experiência anterior na área de docência. A realização deste estágio permitiu experimentar actividades e estratégias aprendidas nas disciplinas do mestrado e estimulou uma atitude de reflexão regular sobre as escolhas pedagógicas elaboradas e sobre a resposta dos alunos. Também o feedback dos professores da Unidade Curricular de Didáctica do Ensino Especializado foi essencial na consciencialização de aspectos que teriam que ser mudados na minha abordagem do ensino: fazer actividades mais formativas e menos avaliativas, dar mais feedback, não avançar para outro nível enquanto uma tarefa ainda não estiver consolidada, não modificar as instruções tão rapidamente, ter cuidado com a apresentação visual das células rítmicas e pensar em soluções para quando os alunos estão cansados. Foi também importante reflectir sobre os planos de aula realizados ao longo do ano e sobre o que não seria realizado da mesma forma, nomeadamente na introdução de células rítmicas, introdução de funções harmónicas e cadências. Durante este ano foi feito um esforço para melhorar estes aspectos, no entanto ainda não foi possível implementar todas as mudanças. De qualquer modo, esta reflexão é um bom ponto de partida para o planeamento do próximo ano e um exemplo da atitude que deve acompanhar-me durante toda a minha actividade enquanto docente.

Federação Portuguesa de Basquetebol: proposta de comunicação estratégica para o basquetebol em Portugal

Trabalho de projeto apresentado à Escola Superior de Comunicação Social como parte dos requisitos para obtenção de grau de mestre em Gestão Estratégica das Relações Públicas.