Subunits of the chaperonin CCT are associated with Tetrahymena microtubule structures and are involved in cilia biogenesis

The cytosolic chaperonin CCT is a heterooligomeric complex of about 900 kDa that mediates the folding of cytoskeletal proteins. We observed by indirect immunofluorescence that the Tetrahymena TpCCTalpha, TpCCTdelta, TpCCTepsilon, and TpCCTeta-subunits colocalize with tubulin in cilia, basal bodies, oral apparatus, and contractile vacuole pores. TpCCT-subunits localization was affected during reciliation. These findings combined with atomic force microscopy measurements in reciliating cells indicate that these proteins play a role during cilia biogenesis related to microtubule nucleation, tubulin transport, and/or axoneme assembly. The TpCCT-subunits were also found to be associated with cortex and cytoplasmic microtubules suggesting that they can act as microtubule-associated proteins. The TpCCTdelta being the only subunit found associated with the macronuclear envelope indicates that it has functions outside of the 900 kDa complex. Tetrahymena cytoplasm contains granular/globular-structures of TpCCT-subunits in close association with microtubule arrays. Studies of reciliation and with cycloheximide suggest that these structures may be sites of translation and folding. Combined biochemical techniques revealed that reciliation affects the oligomeric state of TpCCT-subunits being tubulin preferentially associated with smaller CCT oligomeric species in early stages of reciliation. Collectively, these findings indicate that the oligomeric state of CCT-subunits reflects the translation capacity of the cell and microtubules integrity.

Análise de ciclo de vida de duas soluções de ETICS

Dissertação de natureza científica para obtenção do grau de mestre em Engenharia Civil

Automatic diagnosis of liver steatosis by ultrasound using autoregressive tissue characterization

Liver steatosis is mainly a textural abnormality of the hepatic parenchyma due to fat accumulation on the hepatic vesicles. Today, the assessment is subjectively performed by visual inspection. Here a classifier based on features extracted from ultrasound (US) images is described for the automatic diagnostic of this phatology. The proposed algorithm estimates the original ultrasound radio-frequency (RF) envelope signal from which the noiseless anatomic information and the textural information encoded in the speckle noise is extracted. The features characterizing the textural information are the coefficients of the first order autoregressive model that describes the speckle field. A binary Bayesian classifier was implemented and the Bayes factor was calculated. The classification has revealed an overall accuracy of 100%. The Bayes factor could be helpful in the graphical display of the quantitative results for diagnosis purposes.

Projecto de verificação do comportamento térmico de um edifício de habitação: análise e comparação de resultados obtidos com recurso a duas ferramentas de cálculo

O trabalho de projecto desenvolvido tem por objectivo a análise dos resultados obtidos na verificação térmica de edifícios aquando da utilização de programas de cálculo automático. Para o efeito, foram escolhidos dois edifícios unifamiliares com características distintas, tentando que fossem abrangidas o máximo de situações diferentes. Neste projecto foram avaliados sobretudo dois aspectos: quantificação das áreas e desenvolvimentos dos elementos da envolvente dos edifícios em estudo e cálculo dos coeficientes de transmissão térmica superficial e linear dos elementos construtivos. Com base neste trabalho, pode-se promover uma melhoria dos programas de cálculo automático no mercado, de modo a assegurar uma maior qualidade dos projectos de edifícios e consequente reflexo na qualidade da construção civil futura. Por último, apresentam-se as conclusões e possibilidades de desenvolvimento de trabalhos futuros.