Citações nos artigos publicados na 'Revista Portuguesa de Clínica Geral': análise da década 2000-2009

Objectivos: Analisar as citações dos artigos publicados na Revista Portuguesa de Clínica Geral (RPCG) desde 2000, quando passou a ser disponibilizada online gratuitamente, aumentando a divulgação dos conteúdos da revista e alterando o seu impacto na comunidade científica. Tipo de Estudo: Observacional, transversal e descritivo. Local: Publicação online da RPCG. População: Citações publicadas entre 2000 e 2009. Métodos: Análise de citações dos artigos publicados na RPCG entre 2000 e 2009, contabilizando o total de citações, sua tipologia, os periódicos internacionais e nacionais mais citados e identificando as bases de dados mais citadas. Resultados: Aumento do número de citações a partir de 2006. Os artigos das revistas científicas foram o documento privilegiado para a divulgação de resultados científicos com 66,27%. A RPCG foi a revista mais citada. Três das revistas mais citadas constam da lista das 20 mais citadas quando analisado o factor de impacto. As revistas mais citadas não são de acesso livre e são assinadas por muitas bibliotecas portuguesas da área da saúde. Das citações das bases de dados, 83,3% são feitas a partir de 2005. Conclusões: Os autores dos artigos privilegiaram os artigos científicos para a divulgação dos resultados da investigação, em detrimento de comunicações em congressos ou em livros. Nas revistas mais citadas são identificados três títulos (New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet e JAMA) posicionados no ranking de análise do factor de impacto junto da comunidade científica. O presente estudo aponta também uma clara preferência dos autores pela citação da própria RPCG, a que não será alheio o seu acesso online, e para uma crescente procura de bases de dados de conteúdos temáticos bem definidos: revisão sistemática e medicina baseada na evidência.

Mapping atmospheric pollutants emissions in European countries

In this paper we present a methodology which enables the graphical representation, in a bi-dimensional Euclidean space, of atmospheric pollutants emissions in European countries. This approach relies on the use of Multidimensional Unfolding (MDU), an exploratory multivariate data analysis technique. This technique illustrates both the relationships between the emitted gases and the gases and their geographical origins. The main contribution of this work concerns the evaluation of MDU solutions. We use simulated data to define thresholds for the model fitting measures, allowing the MDU output quality evaluation. The quality assessment of the model adjustment is thus carried out as a step before interpretation of the gas types and geographical origins results. The MDU maps analysis generates useful insights, with an immediate substantive result and enables the formulation of hypotheses for further analysis and modeling.

As duas margens do rio: contrastes urbanos e regulação da violência na escola

o objeto deste artigo é analisar as respostas da escola ao fenômeno da violência em meio escolar e qual a influência das características dos contextos urbanos nesse processo. A identificação de escolas situadas em contextos urbanos fortemente degradados e com elevada conflitualidade e desigualdade social, mas que apresentavam níveis reduzidos de violência no seu interior e, inversamente, escolas com uma frequência elevada de ocorrências que se situavam em contextos urbanos mais estruturados e maioritariamente de classe média, levou- nos a questionar as concepções largamente aceitas e difundidas sobre o aparente contágio de conflitualidade em escolas situadas em meios sociais desfavorecidos. As evidências encontradas na análise dessa relação entre as escolas e o contexto social local permitiram- nos refutar o determinismo das características do meio social sobre as escolas, bem como a consequente incapacidade dessas na regulação e prevenção da violência. o centramento da pesquisa na dimensão organizacional, em concreto nas estratégias definidas e desenvolvidas pelas escolas no combate ao problema da violência, permitiu-nos compreender e demonstrar que as orientações, as práticas e os processos organizacionais têm um papel decisivo na pacificação dos quotidianos escolares.

Besnoitia besnoiti protein disulfide isomerase (BbPDI): molecular characterization, expression and in silico modelling

Besnoitia besnoiti is an apicomplexan parasite responsible for bovine besnoitiosis, a disease with a high prevalence in tropical and subtropical regions and re-emerging in Europe. Despite the great economical losses associated with besnoitiosis, this disease has been underestimated and poorly studied, and neither an effective therapy nor an efficacious vaccine is available. Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is an essential enzyme for the acquisition of the correct three-dimensional structure of proteins. Current evidence suggests that in Neosporacaninum and Toxoplasmagondii, which are closely related to B. besnoiti, PDI play an important role in host cell invasion, is a relevant target for the host immune response, and represents a promising drug target and/or vaccine candidate. In this work, we present the nucleotide sequence of the B. besnoiti PDI gene. BbPDI belongs to the thioredoxin-like superfamily (cluster 00388) and is included in the PDI_a family (cluster defined cd02961) and the PDI_a_PDI_a'_c subfamily (cd02995). A 3D theoretical model was built by comparative homology using Swiss-Model server, using as a template the crystallographic deduced model of Tapasin-ERp57 (PDB code 3F8U chain C). Analysis of the phylogenetic tree for PDI within the phylum apicomplexa reinforces the close relationship among B. besnoiti, N. caninum and T. gondii. When subjected to a PDI-assay based on the polymerisation of reduced insulin, recombinant BbPDI expressed in E. coli exhibited enzymatic activity, which was inhibited by bacitracin. Antiserum directed against recombinant BbPDI reacted with PDI in Western blots and by immunofluorescence with B. besnoiti tachyzoites and bradyzoites.

Q192R polymorphism of the paraoxonase-1 gene as a risk factor for obesity in Portuguese women

Introduction - Obesity became a major public health problem as a result of its increasing prevalence worldwide. Paraoxonase-1 (PON1) is an esterase able to protect membranes and lipoproteins from oxidative modifications. At the PON1 gene, several polymorphisms in the promoter and coding regions have been identified. The aims of this study were i) to assess PON1 L55M and Q192R polymorphisms as a risk factor for obesity in women; ii) to compare PON1 activity according to the expression of each allele in L55M and Q192R polymorphisms; iii) to compare PON1 activity between obese and normal-weight women. Materials and methods - We studied 75 healthy (35.9±8.2 years) and 81 obese women (34.3±8.2 years). Inclusion criteria for obese subjects were body mass index ≥30 kg/m2 and absence of inflammatory/neoplasic conditions or kidney/hepatic dysfunction. The two PON1 polymorphisms were assessed by real-time PCR with TaqMan probes. PON1 enzymatic activity was assessed by spectrophotometric methods, using paraoxon as a substrate. Results - No significant differences were found for PON1 activity between normal and obese women. Nevertheless, PON1 activity was greater (P<0.01) for the RR genotype (in Q192R polymorphism) and for the LL genotype (in L55M polymorphism). The frequency of allele R of Q192R polymorphism was significantly higher in obese women (P<0.05) and was associated with an increased risk of obesity (odds ratio=2.0 – 95% confidence interval (1.04; 3.87)). Conclusion - 55M and Q192R polymorphisms influence PON1 activity. The allele R of the Q192R polymorphism is associated with an increased risk for development of obesity among Portuguese Caucasian premenopausal women.

A survey in Portuguese X-ray fluoroscopy equipment: dose rates and image quality

X-ray fluoroscopy is essential in both diagnosis and medical intervention, although it may contribute to significant radiation doses to patients that have to be optimised and justified. Therefore, it is crucial to the patient to be exposed to the lowest achievable dose without compromising the image quality. The purpose of this study was to perform an analysis of the quality control measurements, particularly dose rates, contrast and spatial resolution of Portuguese fluoroscopy equipment and also to provide a contribution to the establishment of reference levels for the equipment performance parameters. Measurements carried out between 2007 and 2013 on 143 fluoroscopy equipment distributed by 34 nationwide health units were analysed. The measurements suggest that image quality and dose rates of Portuguese equipment are congruent with other studies, and in general, they are as per the Portuguese law. However, there is still a possibility of improvements intending optimisation at a national level.

José Saramago e os jornais: os anos de 1968 a 1975

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Comunicação Social como parte dos requisitos para obtenção de grau de mestre em Jornalismo.

Evidence for non-coaxiality of ferrimagnetic and paramagnetic fabrics, developed during magma flow and cooling in a thick mafic dyke

A detailed analysis of fabrics of the chilled margin of a thick dolerite dyke (Foum Zguid dyke, Southern Morocco) was performed in order to better understand the development of sub-fabrics during dyke emplacement and cooling. AMS data were complemented with measurements of paramagnetic and ferrimagnetic fabrics (measured with high field torque magnetometer), neutron texture and microstructural analyses. The ferrimagnetic and AMS fabrics are similar, indicating that the ferrimagnetic minerals dominate the AMS signal. The paramagnetic fabric is different from the previous ones. Based on the crystallization timing of the different mineralogical phases, the paramagnetic fabric appears related to the upward flow, while the ferrimagnetic fabric rather reflects the late-stage of dyke emplacement and cooling stresses. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Paired indices for clustering evaluation correction for agreement by chance

In the present paper we focus on the performance of clustering algorithms using indices of paired agreement to measure the accordance between clusters and an a priori known structure. We specifically propose a method to correct all indices considered for agreement by chance - the adjusted indices are meant to provide a realistic measure of clustering performance. The proposed method enables the correction of virtually any index - overcoming previous limitations known in the literature - and provides very precise results. We use simulated datasets under diverse scenarios and discuss the pertinence of our proposal which is particularly relevant when poorly separated clusters are considered. Finally we compare the performance of EM and KMeans algorithms, within each of the simulated scenarios and generally conclude that EM generally yields best results.

Laser-induced diffusion decomposition in Fe-V thin-film alloys

We investigate the origin of ferromagnetism induced in thin-film (similar to 20 nm) Fe-V alloys by their irradiation with subpicosecond laser pulses. We find with Rutherford backscattering that the magnetic modifications follow a thermally stimulated process of diffusion decomposition, with formation of a-few-nm-thick Fe enriched layer inside the film. Surprisingly, similar transformations in the samples were also found after their long-time (similar to 10(3) s) thermal annealing. However, the laser action provides much higher diffusion coefficients (similar to 4 orders of magnitude) than those obtained under standard heat treatments. We get a hint that this ultrafast diffusion decomposition occurs in the metallic glassy state achievable in laser-quenched samples. This vitrification is thought to be a prerequisite for the laser-induced onset of ferromagnetism that we observe. 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Parallel method for sparse semisupervised hyperspectral unmixing

Parallel hyperspectral unmixing problem is considered in this paper. A semisupervised approach is developed under the linear mixture model, where the abundance's physical constraints are taken into account. The proposed approach relies on the increasing availability of spectral libraries of materials measured on the ground instead of resorting to endmember extraction methods. Since Libraries are potentially very large and hyperspectral datasets are of high dimensionality a parallel implementation in a pixel-by-pixel fashion is derived to properly exploits the graphics processing units (GPU) architecture at low level, thus taking full advantage of the computational power of GPUs. Experimental results obtained for real hyperspectral datasets reveal significant speedup factors, up to 164 times, with regards to optimized serial implementation.