Roteiros e rotas portuguesas do oriente nos séculos XVI e XVII

Tese de doutoramento, História (História dos Descobrimentos e da Expansão), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Letras, 2016

Some aspects of history of Indian mathematics in 18th and early 19th century

This thesis is an attempt to throw light on the works of some Indian Mathematicians who wrote in Arabic or persian In the Introductory Chapter on outline of general history of Mathematics during the eighteenth Bnd nineteenth century has been sketched. During that period there were two streams of Mathematical activity. On one side many eminent scholers, who wrote in Sanskrit, .he l d the field as before without being much influenced by other sources. On the other side there were scholars whose writings were based on Arabic and Persian text but who occasionally drew upon other sources also.

Mental health of internally displaced preschool children: a cross-sectional study conducted in Bogotá, Colombia

A causa de los conflictos armados, como el de Colombia, se han desplazado por la fuerza a millones de personas, entre ellas una importante parte de la población infantil. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar la salud mental de los niños desplazados internos en edad preescolar en Bogotá Colombia, e identificar los determinantes de la salud mental en estos niños. Métodos: Estudio transversal realizado entre 279 niños que asisten a cuatro jardines infantiles en un barrio marginal de Bogotá. La salud mental infantil se evaluó con el instrumento validado de Comportamiento Infantil (CBCL) 1,5-5 años, aplicados a padres y cuidadores. Se realizo un análisis univariado y multivariado de regresión logística para evaluar la asociación entre el desplazamiento y la salud mental de los niños y para identificar las relaciones con la salud mental en los niños desplazados. Resultados: los Niños desplazados (n = 90) se identificaron con más frecuencia sobre los puntos de corte límite para las escalas CBCL que los no desplazados (n = 189) (por ejemplo, problemas totales 46,7 vs 22,8%;p \ 0,001). La asociación entre el desplazamiento y la presencia de problemas CBCL totales se mantuvo después del ajuste por factores socio-demográficos (OR Ajustado 3.3 del 95%: 1,5; 6,9). Donde la salud mental del cuidador explica en parte la asociación. En los niños desplazados, la salud mental del cuidador (p \ 0,01) y el funcionamiento familiar (p \ 0,01) se asociaron independientemente con la salud mental de los niños. La exposición a eventos traumáticos y el apoyo social también se asociaron con la salud mental del niño, sin embargo, las asociaciones no fueron independientes. Conclusión: En este barrio marginal de Bogotá, los niños en edad preescolar registrados como desplazados internos presentan peor salud mental que los no desplazados. El funcionamiento familiar y la salud mental del cuidador fueron fuerte e independientemente asociados con la salud mental de los niños y niñas desplazados.

Sugammadex versus neostigmina en la reversión de la relajación neuromuscular en neurocirugía. Experimento clínico. Reporte preliminar

Existen grupos quirúrgicos específicos donde es mandatorio el uso de relajantes neuromusculares no despolarizantes, como es el caso de los pacientes llevados a procedimiento de neurocirugía; debido a sus características particulares el rocuronio es una buena alternativa para este tipo de procedimientos, ya sea en bolos o en infusión. Sin embargo la relajación residual y los efectos adversos de los medicamentos para revertir la relajación neuromuscular deben tenerse en cuenta en este grupo de pacientes en particular. El presente trabajo busca comparar la reversión de la relajación de infusiones de rocuronio, con Neostigmina mas Atropina vs la reversión con Sugammadex en pacientes llevados a manejo quirúrgico de lesiones supratentoriales por parte del servicio de neurocirugía de la Fundación Cardioinfantil, evaluando complicaciones durante la administración de los medicamentos y 24 horas posoperatorias, así como los tiempos para extubación y salida de salas de cirugía. Estudio con características de experimento prospectivo, aleatorizado, ciego, controlado. En este documento se realiza un reporte preliminar descriptivo de 14 pacientes reclutados hasta la actualidad.

Cantabria, tras las huellas de una cultura.

El objetivo es realizar una semana lúdico-cultural, para acercar a los alumnos a la realidad geográfica, humana y cultural de Cantabria. Con ello se pretende: 1.- Acercar a los alumnos a la realidad de Cantabria animándoles a que disfruten con sus raices, tradiciones, cultura y belleza. 2.- Conocer las características principales de nuestra Comunidad Autónoma. 3.- Recuperar juegos y tradiciones populares de nuestra región, aprender sus normas y practicarlos. 4.- Estimular al alumno a interesarse por su propio medio y a comprometerse a participar en tareas colectivas. 5.- Conocer las raices culturales que caracterizan la identidad de nuestra región y valorar su importancia. 6.- Sensibilizarse ante la importancia del patrimonio cultural y comprometerse en su conservación. El desarrollo del proyecto está agrupado en torno a tres ejes: búsqueda de información y elaboración de un pequeño proyecto sobre alguna de las comarcas de Cantabria (a cada nivel se le asignará una y despues se pondrán en común o se expondrán los trabajos realizados), juegos y deportes tradicionales de Cantabria (los alumnos tendrán la oportunidad de conocer y practicar un buen número de juegos y deportes autóctonos en dos tipos de actividades) y por último, otras actividades culturales. Este proyecto busca la interacción entre los alumnos de infantil y primaria, la participación activa de los alumnos, estableciendo una vinculación lúdico-afectiva con el conocimiento de Cantabria y el mejor conocimiento entre alumnos participando en actividades que pongan en juego muy distintas capacidades..

Easter eggs.'huevos de Pascua'.

Un grupo de profesoras de distintos centros y localidades enseñan el idioma inglés a sus alumnos a través del acercamiento de la cultura y las costumbres inglesas. Para ello ponen en marcha una serie de actividades relacionadas con la festividad del Easter (Pascua), en la que también participan otras áreas curriculares, ofreciendo con ello un enfoque interdisciplinar. Igualmente, se hacen tareas al aire libre donde participa el profesor de Educación Física y se llevan a cabo actividades individuales y en grupo.

Los ateneos obreros y la formación profesional en Cataluña.

Monográfico con el título: De la educación popular al aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida. Resumen basado en el de la publicación

Assessment of the food control system in the State of Kuwait

National food control systems are a key element in the protection of consumers from unsafe foods and from other fraudulent practices. International guidance is available and provides a framework for enhancing national systems. However, it is recognized that before reaching decisions on the necessary improvements to a national system, an analysis is required of the current state of key elements in the present system. This paper provides such an analysis for the State of Kuwait. The fragmented nature of the food control system is described. Four key elements of the Kuwaiti system are analyzed: the legal framework, the administrative structures, the enforcement activity and the provision of education and training. It is noted that the country has a dependence on imported foods and that the present national food control system is largely based on an historic approach to food sampling at the point of import and is unsustainable. The paper recommends a more coordinated approach to food safety control in Kuwait with a significant increase in the use of risk analysis methods to target enforcement.

Causal evidence for a privileged working memory state in early visual cortex

Emerging evidence suggests that items held in working memory(WM)might not all be in the same representational state. One item might be privileged over others, making it more accessible and thereby recalled with greater precision. Here, using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), we provide causal evidence in human participants that items inWMare differentially susceptible to disruptive TMS, depending on their state, determined either by task relevance or serial position. Across two experiments, we applied TMS to area MT during the WM retention of two motion directions. In Experiment 1, we used an “incidental cue” to bring one of the two targets into a privileged state. In Experiment 2, we presented the targets sequentially so that the last item was in a privileged state by virtue of recency. In both experiments, recall precision of motion direction was differentially affected by TMS, depending on the state of the memory target at the time of disruption. Privileged items were recalled with less precision, whereas nonprivileged items were recalled with higher precision. Thus, only the privileged item was susceptible to disruptive TMS over MT�. By contrast, precision of the nonprivileged item improved either directly because of facilitation by TMS or indirectly through reduced interference from the privileged item. Our results provide a unique line of evidence, as revealed by TMS over a posterior sensory brain region, for at least two different states of item representation in WM.

Flexibility of representational states in working memory

The relationship between working memory (WM) and attention is a highly interdependent one, with evidence that attention determines the state in which items in WM are retained. Through focusing of attention, an item might be held in a more prioritized state, commonly termed as the focus of attention (FOA). The remaining items, although still retrievable, are considered to be in a different representational state. One means to bring an item into the FOA is to use retrospective cues (‘retro-cues’) which direct attention to one of the objects retained in WM. Alternatively, an item can enter a privileged state once attention is directed towards it through bottom-up influences (e.g. recency effect) or by performing an action on one of the retained items (‘incidental’ cueing). In all these cases, the item in the FOA is recalled with better accuracy compared to the other items in WM. Far less is known about the nature of the other items in WM and whether they can be flexibly manipulated in and out of the FOA. We present data from three types of experiments as well as transcranial magnetic stimulation to early visual cortex to manipulate the item inside FOA. Taken together, our results suggest that the context in which items are retained in WM matters. When an item remains behaviourally relevant, despite not being inside the FOA, re-focusing attention upon it can increase its recall precision. This suggests that a non-FOA item can be held in a state in which it can be later retrieved. However, if an item is rendered behaviourally unimportant because it is very unlikely to be probed, it cannot be brought back into the FOA, nor recalled with high precision. Under such conditions, some information appears to be irretrievably lost from WM. These findings, obtained from several different methods, demonstrate quite considerable flexibility with which items in WM can be represented depending upon context. They have important consequences for emerging state-dependent models of WM.

Mechanism of allosteric regulation of transglutaminase 2 by GTP

Allosteric regulation is a fundamental mechanism of biological control. Here, we investigated the allosteric mechanism by which GTP inhibits cross-linking activity of transglutaminase 2 (TG2), a multifunctional protein, with postulated roles in receptor signaling, extracellular matrix assembly, and apoptosis. Our findings indicate that at least two components are involved in functionally coupling the allosteric site and active center of TG2, namely (i) GTP binding to mask a conformationally destabilizing switch residue, Arg-579, and to facilitate interdomain interactions that promote adoption of a compact, catalytically inactive conformation and (ii) stabilization of the inactive conformation by an uncommon H bond between a cysteine (Cys-277, an active center residue) and a tyrosine (Tyr-516, a residue located on a loop of the p-barrel 1 domain that harborst he GTP-bindings ite). Although not essential for GTP-mediated inhibition of cross-linking, this H bond enhances the rate of formation of the inactive conformer.

Angiotensin I-converting enzyme transition state stabilization by HIS1089 : evidence for a catalytic mechanism distinct from other gluzincin metalloproteinases

Angiotensin (Ang) I-converting enzyme (ACE) is a member of the gluzincin family of zinc metalloproteinases that contains two homologous catalytic domains. Both the N- and C-terminal domains are peptidyl-dipeptidases that catalyze Ang II formation and bradykinin degradation. Multiple sequence alignment was used to predict His¹⁰⁸⁹ as the catalytic residue in human ACE C-domain that, by analogy with the prototypical gluzincin, thermolysin, stabilizes the scissile carbonyl bond through a hydrogen bond during transition state binding. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to change His¹⁰⁸⁹ to Ala or Leu. At pH 7.5, with Ang I as substrate, k_cat/K_m values for these Ala and Leu mutants were 430 and 4,000-fold lower, respectively, compared with wild-type enzyme and were mainly due to a decrease in catalytic rate (k_cat) with minor effects on ground state substrate binding (K_m). A 120,000-fold decrease in the binding of lisinopril, a proposed transition state mimic, was also observed with the His¹⁰⁸⁹ --> Ala mutation. ACE C-domain-dependent cleavage of AcAFAA showed a pH optimum of 8.2. H1089A has a pH optimum of 5.5 with no pH dependence of its catalytic activity in the range 6.5-10.5, indicating that the His¹⁰⁸⁹ side chain allows ACE to function as an alkaline peptidyl-dipeptidase. Since transition state mutants of other gluzincins show pH optima shifts toward the alkaline, this effect of His¹⁰⁸⁹ on the ACE pH optimum and its ability to influence transition state binding of the sulfhydryl inhibitor captopril indicate that the catalytic mechanism of ACE is distinct from that of other gluzincins.

Evolutionary specialization of a tryptophan indole group for transition-state stabilization by eukaryotic transglutaminases

Covalent posttranslational protein modifications by eukaryotic transglutaminases proceed by a kinetic pathway of acylation and deacylation. Ammonia is released as the acylenzyme is formed, whereas the cross-linked product is released later in the deacylation step. Superposition of the active sites of transglutaminase type 2 (TG2) and the structurally related cysteine protease, papain, indicates that in the formation of tetrahedral intermediates, the backbone nitrogen of the catalytic Cys-277 and the N_Ɛ1 nitrogen of Trp-241 of TG2 could contribute to transition-state stabilization. The importance of this Trp-241 side chain was demonstrated by examining the kinetics of dansylcadaverine incorporation into a model peptide. Although substitution of the Trp-241 side chain with Ala or Gly had only a small effect on the Michaelis constant K_m (1.5-fold increase), it caused a >300-fold lowering of the catalytic rate constant k_cat. The wild-type and mutant TG2-catalyzed release of ammonia showed kinetics similar to the kinetics for the formation of cross-linked product, indicating that transitionstate stabilization in the acylation step was rate-limiting. In papain, a Gln residue is at the position of TG2-Trp-241. The conservation of Trp-241 in all eukaryotic transglutaminases and the finding that W241Q-TG2 had a much lower k_cat than wild-type enzyme suggest evolutionary specialization in the use of the indole group. This notion is further supported by the observation that transitionstate- stabilizing side chains of Tyr and His that operate in some serine and metalloproteases only partially substituted for Trp.