Digital-domain self-calibration technique for video-rate pipeline A/D converters using Gaussian white noise

Electronics Letters Vol.38, nº 19

New simple digital self-calibration technique for pipeline ADCs using the internal thermal noise

IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, pp. 232 – 235, Seattle, EUA

Study of materials, technique and conservation treatment of Sinfonia Heroica by Dordio Gomes

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Conservação e Restauro

The materials, technique, conservation treatment and after-care of interior de um convento

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Conservação e Restauro, especialização em pintura sobre tela

Homogneous time resolved fluorescence: a new technique for detection and quantifications of infliximab in autoimmune patients

RESUMO:As terapias biológicas revolucionaram o tratamento das doenças autoimunes nos últimos anos. Tipicamente têm como alvos mediadores importantes no mecanismo das doenças. Os antagonistas do fator de necrose tumoral-α (TNF-α) são um grupo de agentes biológicos muito prescrito, pois estão indicados no tratamento de doenças imuno-mediadas comuns, tais como artrite reumatoide, artrite idiopática juvenil, artrite psoriática, espondilite anquilosante, doença de Crohn e colite ulcerosa. Com o uso frequente de inibidores do TNF-α, tem-se tornado evidente que estes agentes têm um potencial imunogénico importante, que pode comprometer o prognóstico a longo prazo dos doentes cronicamente tratados. A produção de anticorpos anti-fármaco parece causar falência terapêutica secundária em muitos doentes. Um dos efeitos dos anticorpos anti-fármaco é o aumento da eliminação do fármaco. A eliminação do fármaco, por sua vez, varia entre indivíduos, refletindo diferentes perfis farmacocinéticos. A determinação dos níveis séricos mínimos do agente anti-TNF-α é assim muito informativa e pode auxiliar nas decisões terapêuticas. Contudo, os testes imunológicos para determinar as concentrações séricas do fármaco não estão facilmente disponíveis na prática clínica. De forma a investigar uma nova técnica potencialmente fidedigna e prática para a deteção e quantificação dos agentes biológicos anti-TNF-α, foi testada a técnica por HTRF (homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer) para a determinação de concentrações séricas de infliximab. Apesar de apresentar algumas limitações relacionadas com as condições de leitura da fluorescência, esta técnica provou obter resultados próximos das concentrações obtidas por ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) bridging. Adicionalmente, tem a vantagem de ser de execução muito mais fácil e rápida. Deste modo, a técnica por HTRF poderá ser otimizada e tornar-se uma valiosa ferramenta laboratorial para orientar as decisões terapêuticas em doentes autoimunes com falência da terapêutica anti-TNF-α.--------- ABSTRACT: Biologic therapies revolutionized the treatment of autoimmune diseases in the last years. Typically, they target important disease mediators. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) antagonists constitute a very prescribed group of biologic agents as they are indicated for the treatment of common immune-mediated diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. With the increasing use of TNF-α inhibitors it has been noticed that they have an important immunogenic potential that can compromise long-term outcomes in chronically treated patients. The production of anti-drug antibodies seems to cause secondary therapeutic failure in many patients. One of the effects of anti-drug antibodies is the enhancement of drug clearance. Drug clearance, in turn, varies among individuals, reflecting different pharmacokinetic profiles. Determination of serum anti-TNF-α drug trough levels is though very informative and could support treatment decisions. However, immunologic assays to determine drug serum concentrations are not readily available in clinical practice. In order to investigate a potentially reliable and practical new technique for detection and quantification of anti-TNF-α biologic agents, homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (HTRF) technique was tested for determination of serum infliximab concentrations. Although presenting some limitations related with fluorescence reading conditions, this technique proved to give results close to the concentrations obtained by the widely used bridging enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In addition, it has the advantage of being much easier and faster to perform. Thus, HTRF technique can be optimized and become a valuable laboratorial tool to guide treatment decisions in autoimmune patients with anti-TNF-α therapy failure.

Treatment of a nineteenth century male portrait in oil including the characterisation of materials, technique and a study of the lead soap aggregation in the paint composite

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Conservação e Restauro

Implementing the SC-FDMA transmission technique using the GNURadio platform

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores, pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

A built-in self-test technique for high speed analog-to-digital converters

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - PhD grant (SFRH/BD/62568/2009)

Investing beyond the core: The case of Soares da Costa

This study aims to analyze how Grupo Soares da Costa, a diversified group centered on construction, behaved in terms of strategy to the current crisis. More specifically, it purposes to understand why Soares da Costa was forced to abandon its strategic plan “Ambições Renovadas”, which was about diversification and internationalization, to decide to focus on it core business. This study uses a SWOT analysis, the examination of the strategic plans and annual reports and the conclusions of two interviews that were carried out. Being the construction sector such a traditional and significant sector to the Portuguese economy, it is important to understand what a company can do to overcome such circumstances. To deal with all the negative circumstances, Soares da Costa should give priority to projects that require low levels of initial capital and diversify geographically to markets with similar characteristics of Angola and Mozambique, where Soares da Costa already excels.

An analog model for global macro investing

This study proposes a systematic model that is able to fit the Global Macro Investing universe. The Analog Model tests the possibility of capturing the likelihood of an optimal investment allocation based on similarity across different periods in history. Instead of observing Macroeconomic data, the model uses financial markets’ variables to classify unknown short-term regimes. This methodology is particularly relevant considering that asset classes and investment strategies react differently to specific macro environment shifts.

Corporate impact investing:

This paper sets out the case for the use of impact investing as part of companies’ CSR strategy, demonstrated by the term “corporate impact investing” or “corporate impact venturing”. After an indirect analysis of global practices in corporate impact investment, it considers whether companies are interested in employing this innovative practice in their CSR strategy and how they could be incentivized to do so through direct research methods, with a focus on Europe. A survey answered by 116 company representatives reveals that companies are interested in impact investing yet the majority was not initially aware of its existence; therefore if the right incentives are put into place a new paradigm for CSR may arise