Building a knowledge and learning society in Portugal - Adult students in technological schools and higher education institutions

Chapter in Merrill, Barbara (ed.) (2009) Learning to Change? The Role of Identity and Learning Careers in Adult Education. Hamburg: Peter Lang Publishers. URL: http://www.peterlang.com/ index.cfm?vID=58279&vLang=E&vHR=1&vUR=2&vUUR=1

Biological predictors of survival in limphoma and mechanisms underlying follicular lymphoma transformaion into diffuse large B cell lymphoma (vol I e II)

RESUMO: Os biomarcadores tumorais permitem identificar os doentes com maior risco de recorr��ncia da doen��a, predizer a resposta tumoral �� terap��utica e, finalmente, definir candidatos a novos alvos terap��uticos. Novos biomarcadores s��o especialmente necess��rios na abordagem cl��nica dos linfomas. Actualmente, esses tumores s��o diagnosticados atrav��s de uma combina����o de caracter��sticas morfol��gicas, fenot��picas e moleculares, mas o progn��stico e o planeamento terap��utico est��o quase exclusivamente dependentes de caracter��sticas cl��nicas. Estes factores cl��nicos s��o, na maioria dos linfomas, insuficientes numa propor����o significativa dos doentes, em particular, aqueles com pior progn��stico. O linfoma folicular (LF) ��, globalmente, o segundo subtipo mais comum de linfoma. �� tipicamente uma doen��a indolente com uma sobrevida m��dia entre os 8 e 12 anos, mas �� geralmente fatal quando se transforma num linfoma agressivo de alto grau, habitualmente o linfoma difuso de grandes c��lulas B (LDGCB). Morfologicamente e funcionalmente, as c��lulas do LF recapitulam as c��lulas normais do centro germinativo na sua depend��ncia de sobreviv��ncia do microambiente n��o-tumoral, especialmente das c��lulas do sistema imunol��gico. Biomarcadores preditivos de transforma����o n��o existem pelo que um melhor conhecimento da biologia intr��nseca de progress��o do LF poder�� revelar novos candidatos. Nesta tese descrevo duas abordagens distintas para a descoberta de novos biomarcadores. A primeira, o estudo da express��o global de genes ('genomics') obtidos por t��cnicas de alto rendimento que analisam todo o genoma humano sequenciado, permitindo identificar novas anomalias gen��ticas que possam representar mecanismos biol��gicos importantes de transforma����o. S��o descritos novos genes e altera����es gen��micas associados �� transforma����o do LF, sendo especialmente relevantes as relacionadas com os eventos iniciais de transforma����o em LDGCB. A segunda, baseou-se em v��rias hip��teses centradas no microambiente do LF, rico em v��rios tipos de c��lulas n��omalignas. Os estudos imunoarquitectural de macr��fagos, c��lulas T regulat��rias e densidade de microvasos efectuado em biopsias de diagn��stico de doentes com LF tratados uniformemente correlacionaram-se significativamente, e independentemente dos crit��rios cl��nicos, com a evolu����o cl��nica e, mais importante, com o risco de transforma����o em LDGCB. Nesta tese, foram preferencialmente utilizadas (e optimizadas) t��cnicas que permitam o uso de amostras fixadas em parafina e formalina (FFPET). Estas s��o facilmente acess��veis a partir das biopsias de diagn��stico de rotina presentes nos arquivos de todos os departamentos de patologia, facilitando uma transi����o r��pida dos novos marcadores para a pr��tica cl��nica. Embora o FL fosse o tema principal da tese, os novos achados permitiram estender facilmente hip��teses semelhantes a outros subtipos de linfoma. Assim, s��o propostos e validados v��rios biomarcadores promissores e relacionados com o microambiente n��o tumoral, sobretudo dependentes das c��lulas do sistema imunol��gico, como contribuintes importantes para a biologia dos linfomas. Estes sugerem novas op����es para a abordagem cl��nica destas doen��as e, eventualmente, novos alvos terap��uticos.------------- ABSTRACT: Cancer biomarkers provide an opportunity to identify those patients most at risk for disease recurrence, predict which tumours will respond to different therapeutic approaches and ultimately define candidate biomarkers that may serve as targets for personalized therapy. New biomarkers are especially needed in the management of lymphoid cancers. At present, these tumours are diagnosed using a combination of morphologic, phenotypic and molecular features but prognosis and overall survival are mostly dependent on clinical characteristics. In most lymphoma types, these imprecisely assess a significant proportion of patients, in particular, those with very poor outcomes. Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the second most common lymphoma subtype worldwide. It is typically an indolent disease with current median survivals in the range of 8-12 years, but is usually fatal when it transforms into an aggressive high-grade lymphoma, characteristically Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL). Morphologically and functionally it recapitulates the normal cells of the germinal center with its survival dependency on non-malignant immune and immunerelated cells. Informative markers of transformation related to the intrinsic biology of FL progression are needed. Within this thesis two separate approaches to biomarker discovery were employed. The first was to study the global expression of genes (���genomics���) obtained using high-throughput, wholegenome-wide approaches that offered the possibility for discovery of new genetic abnormalities that might represent the important biological mechanisms of transformation. Gene signatures associated with early events of transformation were found. Another approach relied on hypothesis-driven concepts focusing upon the microenvironment, rich in several non-malignant cell types. The immunoarchitectural studies of macrophages, regulatory T cells and microvessel density on diagnostic biopsies of uniformly treated FL patients significantly predicted clinical outcome and, importantly, also informed on the risk of transformation. Techniques that enabled the use of routine formalin fixed paraffin embedded diagnostic specimens from the pathology department archives were preferentially used in this thesis with the goal of fulfilling a rapid bench-to-beside��� translation for these new findings. Although FL was the main subject of the thesis the new findings and hypotheses allowed easy transition into other lymphoma types. Several promising biomarkers were proposed and validated including the implication of several non-neoplastic immune cells as important contributors to lymphoma biology, opening new options for better treatment planning and eventually new therapeutic targets and candidate therapeutics.

���Upselling,��� a Peculiar Financial Practice : An Anthropological Contribution to the Deconstruction of a Case Study

Trabalho de Projecto apresentado para cumprimento dos requisitos necess��rios �� obten����o do grau de Mestre em Antropologia dos Direitos Humanos e Movimentos Sociais.

Friction surfacing of aluminium alloys

Disserta����o para a obten����o do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Mec��nica

Participatory mapping in the design process of a spatial data infrastructure SDI: a case study in the Biosphere Reserve Rio Platano (Honduras)

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies.

Politics, Commerce, and Colonization in Angola at the Turn of the Eighteenth Century

Disserta����o apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necess��rios �� obten����o do grau de Mestre em Hist��ria Moderna e dos Descobrimentos

Corporate social responsibility and its effect on image and reputation: The case of L���Or��al and its acquisition of The Body Shop

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA ��� School of Business and Economics

Web-assisted tobacco intervention in Portuguese : intentions to make behavioural changes and behavioural changes

ABSTRACT - The problem of how to support ���intentions to make behavioural changes��� (IBC) and ���behaviour changes��� (BC) in smoking cessation when there is a scarcity of resources is a pressing issue in public health terms. The present research focuses on the use of information and communications technologies and their role in smoking cessation. It is developed in Portugal after the ratification of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (on 8 November 2005). The prevalence of smokers over fifteen years of age within the population stood at 20.9% (30.9% for men and 11.8% for women). While the strategy of helping people to quit smoking has been emphasised at National Health Service (NHS) level, the uptake of cessation assistance has exceeded the capacity of the service. This induced the search of new theoretical and practical venues to offer alternative options to people willing to stop smoking. Among these, the National Health Plan (NHP) of Portugal (2004-2010), identifies the use of information technologies in smoking cessation. eHealth and the importance of health literacy as a means of empowering people to make behavioural changes is recurrently considered an option worth investigating. The overall objective of this research is to understand, in the Portuguese context, the use of the Internet to help people to stop smoking. Research questions consider factors that may contribute to ���intentions to make behavioural changes��� (IBC) and ���behavioural changes��� (BC) while using a Web-Assisted Tobacco Intervention Probe (WATIP). Also consideration is given to the trade-off on the use of the Web as a tool for smoking cessation: can it reach a vast number of people for a small cost (efficiency) demonstrating to work in the domain of smoking cessation (efficacy)���? In addition to the introduction, there is a second chapter in which the use of tobacco is discussed as a public health menace. The health gains achieved by stopping smoking and the means of quitting are also examined, as is the use of the Internet in smoking cessation. Then, several research issues are introduced. These include background theory and the theoretical framework for the Sense of Coherence. The research model is also discussed. A presentation of the methods, materials and of the Web-Assisted Tobacco Intervention Probe (WATIP) follows. In chapter four the results of the use of the Web-Assisted Tobacco Intervention Probe (WATIP) are presented. This study is divided into two sections. The first describes results related to quality control in relation to the Web-Assisted Tobacco Intervention Probe (WATIP) and gives an overview of its users. Of these, 3,150 answered initial eligibility questions. In the end, 1,463 met all eligibility requirements, completed intake, decided on a day to quit smoking (Dday) and declared their ���intentions to make behavioural changes��� (IBC) while a second targeted group of 650 did not decide on a Dday. With two quit attempts made before joining the platform, most of the participants had experienced past failures while wanting to stop. The smoking rate averaged 21 cigarettes per day. With a mean age of 35, of the participants 55% were males. Among several other considerations, gender and the Sense of Coherence (SOC) influenced the success of participants in their IBC and endeavour to set quit dates. The results of comparing males and females showed that, for current smokers, establishing a Dday was related to gender differences, not favouring males (OR=0.76, p<0.005). Belonging to higher Socio-economic strata (SES) was associated with the intention to consider IBC (when compared to lower SES condition) (OR=1.57, p<0.001) and higher number of school years (OR=0.70, p<0.005) favoured the decision to smoking cessation. Those who demonstrated higher confidence in their likelihood of success in stopping in the shortest time had a higher rate of setting a Dday (OR=0.51, p<0.001). There were differences between groups in IBC reflecting the high and low levels of the SOC score (OR=1.43, p=0.006), as those who considered setting a Dday had higher levels of SOC. After adjusting for all variables, stages of readiness to change and SOC were kept in the model. This is the first Arm of this research where the focus is a discussion of the system���s implications for the participants��� ���intentions to make behavioural changes��� (IBC). Moreover, a second section of this study (second Arm) offers input collected from 77 in-depth interviews with the Web-Assisted Tobacco Intervention Probe (WATIP) users. Here, ���Behaviour Change��� (BC) and the usability of the platform are explored a year after IBC was declared. A percentage of 32.9% of self-reported, 12-month quitters in continuous abstinence from smoking from Dday to the 12-month follow- up point of the use of the Web-Assisted Tobacco Intervention Probe (WATIP) has been assessed. Comparing the Sense of Coherence (SOC) scores of participants by their respective means, according to the two groups, there was a significant difference in these scores of non smokers (BC) (M=144,66, SD=22,52) and Sense of Coherence (SOC) of smokers (noBC) (M=131,51, SD=21,43) p=0.014. This WATIP strategy and its contents benefit from the strengthening of the smoker���s sense of coherence (SOC), so that the person���s progress towards a life without tobacco may be experienced as comprehensible, manageable and meaningful. In this sample the sense of coherence (SOC) effect is moderate although it is associated with the day to quit smoking (Dday). Some of the limitations of this research have to do with self-selection bias, sample size (power) and self-reporting (no biochemical validation). The enrolment of participants was therefore not representative of the smoking population. It is not possible to verify the Web-Assisted Tobacco Intervention Probe (WATIP) evaluation of external validity; consequently, the results obtained cannot be applied generalized. No participation bias is provided. Another limitation of this study is the associated limitations of interviews. Interviewees��� perception that fabricating answers could benefit them more than telling the simple truth in response to questions is a risk that is not evaluated (with no external validation like measuring participants��� carbon monoxide levels). What emerges in this analysis is the relevance of the process that leads to the establishment of the quit day (Dday) to stop using tobacco. In addition, technological issues, when tailoring is the focus, are key elements for scrutiny. The high number of dropouts of users of the web platform mandates future research that should concentrate on the matters of the user-centred design of portals. The focus on gains in health through patient-centred care needs more research, so that technology usability be considered within the context of best practices in smoking cessation.

Impairment of tangible fixed assets in the Portuguese listed companies: Disclosures

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA ��� School of Business and Economics

ANA, SA: A risk management approach

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA ��� School of Business and Economics

Food waste valorization through the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates by mixed microbial cultures

Disserta����o para obten����o do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Qu��mica e Bioqu��mica

Functional and structural studies of two enzymes: membrane bound kinase and Z-DNA/Z-RNA-binding protein

Disserta����o para obten����o do Grau de Doutor em Sistemas de Bioengenharia

Fostering virtual teams: what companies could and should be doing

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA ��� School of Business and Economics

Internationalization strategy of Origama to Brazil

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA ��� School of Business and Economics

How training evaluation can be used to potentiate employee development in an organization

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA ��� School of Business and Economics