Terminology and knowledge engineering conference. New frontiers in the constructive symbiosis of terminology and knowledge engineering

To meet the increasing demands of the complex inter-organizational processes and the demand for continuous innovation and internationalization, it is evident that new forms of organisation are being adopted, fostering more intensive collaboration processes and sharing of resources, in what can be called collaborative networks (Camarinha-Matos, 2006:03). Information and knowledge are crucial resources in collaborative networks, being their management fundamental processes to optimize. Knowledge organisation and collaboration systems are thus important instruments for the success of collaborative networks of organisations having been researched in the last decade in the areas of computer science, information science, management sciences, terminology and linguistics. Nevertheless, research in this area didn’t give much attention to multilingual contexts of collaboration, which pose specific and challenging problems. It is then clear that access to and representation of knowledge will happen more and more on a multilingual setting which implies the overcoming of difficulties inherent to the presence of multiple languages, through the use of processes like localization of ontologies. Although localization, like other processes that involve multilingualism, is a rather well-developed practice and its methodologies and tools fruitfully employed by the language industry in the development and adaptation of multilingual content, it has not yet been sufficiently explored as an element of support to the development of knowledge representations - in particular ontologies - expressed in more than one language. Multilingual knowledge representation is then an open research area calling for cross-contributions from knowledge engineering, terminology, ontology engineering, cognitive sciences, computational linguistics, natural language processing, and management sciences. This workshop joined researchers interested in multilingual knowledge representation, in a multidisciplinary environment to debate the possibilities of cross-fertilization between knowledge engineering, terminology, ontology engineering, cognitive sciences, computational linguistics, natural language processing, and management sciences applied to contexts where multilingualism continuously creates new and demanding challenges to current knowledge representation methods and techniques. In this workshop six papers dealing with different approaches to multilingual knowledge representation are presented, most of them describing tools, approaches and results obtained in the development of ongoing projects. In the first case, Andrés Domínguez Burgos, Koen Kerremansa and Rita Temmerman present a software module that is part of a workbench for terminological and ontological mining, Termontospider, a wiki crawler that aims at optimally traverse Wikipedia in search of domainspecific texts for extracting terminological and ontological information. The crawler is part of a tool suite for automatically developing multilingual termontological databases, i.e. ontologicallyunderpinned multilingual terminological databases. In this paper the authors describe the basic principles behind the crawler and summarized the research setting in which the tool is currently tested. In the second paper, Fumiko Kano presents a work comparing four feature-based similarity measures derived from cognitive sciences. The purpose of the comparative analysis presented by the author is to verify the potentially most effective model that can be applied for mapping independent ontologies in a culturally influenced domain. For that, datasets based on standardized pre-defined feature dimensions and values, which are obtainable from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) have been used for the comparative analysis of the similarity measures. The purpose of the comparison is to verify the similarity measures based on the objectively developed datasets. According to the author the results demonstrate that the Bayesian Model of Generalization provides for the most effective cognitive model for identifying the most similar corresponding concepts existing for a targeted socio-cultural community. In another presentation, Thierry Declerck, Hans-Ulrich Krieger and Dagmar Gromann present an ongoing work and propose an approach to automatic extraction of information from multilingual financial Web resources, to provide candidate terms for building ontology elements or instances of ontology concepts. The authors present a complementary approach to the direct localization/translation of ontology labels, by acquiring terminologies through the access and harvesting of multilingual Web presences of structured information providers in the field of finance, leading to both the detection of candidate terms in various multilingual sources in the financial domain that can be used not only as labels of ontology classes and properties but also for the possible generation of (multilingual) domain ontologies themselves. In the next paper, Manuel Silva, António Lucas Soares and Rute Costa claim that despite the availability of tools, resources and techniques aimed at the construction of ontological artifacts, developing a shared conceptualization of a given reality still raises questions about the principles and methods that support the initial phases of conceptualization. These questions become, according to the authors, more complex when the conceptualization occurs in a multilingual setting. To tackle these issues the authors present a collaborative platform – conceptME - where terminological and knowledge representation processes support domain experts throughout a conceptualization framework, allowing the inclusion of multilingual data as a way to promote knowledge sharing and enhance conceptualization and support a multilingual ontology specification. In another presentation Frieda Steurs and Hendrik J. Kockaert present us TermWise, a large project dealing with legal terminology and phraseology for the Belgian public services, i.e. the translation office of the ministry of justice, a project which aims at developing an advanced tool including expert knowledge in the algorithms that extract specialized language from textual data (legal documents) and whose outcome is a knowledge database including Dutch/French equivalents for legal concepts, enriched with the phraseology related to the terms under discussion. Finally, Deborah Grbac, Luca Losito, Andrea Sada and Paolo Sirito report on the preliminary results of a pilot project currently ongoing at UCSC Central Library, where they propose to adapt to subject librarians, employed in large and multilingual Academic Institutions, the model used by translators working within European Union Institutions. The authors are using User Experience (UX) Analysis in order to provide subject librarians with a visual support, by means of “ontology tables” depicting conceptual linking and connections of words with concepts presented according to their semantic and linguistic meaning. The organizers hope that the selection of papers presented here will be of interest to a broad audience, and will be a starting point for further discussion and cooperation.

Utilização de tecnologias de apoio à comunicação com crianças com multideficiência

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Educação Especial – ramo de Problemas de Cognição e Multideficiência

A comprehensive high-throughput FTIR spectroscopy-based method for evaluating the transfection event: estimating the transfection efficiency and extracting associated metabolic responses

Reporter genes are routinely used in every laboratory for molecular and cellular biology for studying heterologous gene expression and general cellular biological mechanisms, such as transfection processes. Although well characterized and broadly implemented, reporter genes present serious limitations, either by involving time-consuming procedures or by presenting possible side effects on the expression of the heterologous gene or even in the general cellular metabolism. Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) spectroscopy was evaluated to simultaneously analyze in a rapid (minutes) and high-throughput mode (using 96-wells microplates), the transfection efficiency, and the effect of the transfection process on the host cell biochemical composition and metabolism. Semi-adherent HEK and adherent AGS cell lines, transfected with the plasmid pVAX-GFP using Lipofectamine, were used as model systems. Good partial least squares (PLS) models were built to estimate the transfection efficiency, either considering each cell line independently (R 2 ≥ 0.92; RMSECV ≤ 2 %) or simultaneously considering both cell lines (R 2 = 0.90; RMSECV = 2 %). Additionally, the effect of the transfection process on the HEK cell biochemical and metabolic features could be evaluated directly from the FT-IR spectra. Due to the high sensitivity of the technique, it was also possible to discriminate the effect of the transfection process from the transfection reagent on KEK cells, e.g., by the analysis of spectral biomarkers and biochemical and metabolic features. The present results are far beyond what any reporter gene assay or other specific probe can offer for these purposes.

Mitochondria are the main source and one of the targets of Pb (lead)-induced oxidative stress in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a useful model organism for studying lead (Pb) toxicity. Yeast cells of a laboratory S. cerevisiae strain (WT strain) were incubated with Pb concentrations up to 1,000 μmol/l for 3 h. Cells exposed to Pb lost proliferation capacity without damage to the cell membrane, and they accumulated intracellular superoxide anion (O2 .−) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The involvement of the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by Pb was evaluated. For this purpose, an isogenic derivative ρ0 strain, lacking mitochondrial DNA, was used. The ρ0 strain, without respiratory competence, displayed a lower intracellular ROS accumulation and a higher resistance to Pb compared to the WT strain. The kinetic study of ROS generation in yeast cells exposed to Pb showed that the production of O2 .− precedes the accumulation of H2O2, which is compatible with the leakage of electrons from the mitochondrial ETC. Yeast cells exposed to Pb displayed mutations at the mitochondrial DNA level. This is most likely a consequence of oxidative stress. In conclusion, mitochondria are an important source of Pb-induced ROS and, simultaneously, one of the targets of its toxicity.

Spectral invariants of periodic nonautonomous discrete dynamical systems

For an interval map, the poles of the Artin-Mazur zeta function provide topological invariants which are closely connected to topological entropy. It is known that for a time-periodic nonautonomous dynamical system F with period p, the p-th power [zeta(F) (z)](p) of its zeta function is meromorphic in the unit disk. Unlike in the autonomous case, where the zeta function zeta(f)(z) only has poles in the unit disk, in the p-periodic nonautonomous case [zeta(F)(z)](p) may have zeros. In this paper we introduce the concept of spectral invariants of p-periodic nonautonomous discrete dynamical systems and study the role played by the zeros of [zeta(F)(z)](p) in this context. As we will see, these zeros play an important role in the spectral classification of these systems.

Development of Schistosoma mansoni in Biomphalaria tenagophila, Biomphalaria straminea and Biomphalaria glabrata

A comparative study of the development of Schistosoma mansoni during the intra-molluscan phase was made by means of histological sections of Biomphalaria tenagophila, B. straminea and B. glabrata from Brazil. Two hundred snails of each species were individually exposed to 50 miracidia of the S. mansoni, AL line. No larvae were observed in the snails fixed 72 h after exposure. In specimens shedding cercariae, 31 days after exposure tissue reactions encapsulating the larvae were seen in B. tenagophila and B. straminea, in the head-foot, mantle collar and renal ducts. No tissue reactions occurred in the digestive glands of these two species. In B. glabrata the presence of numerous sporocysts and cercariae without tissue reactions was observed in the digestive gland, and other organs. The levels of infection of the snails and the average numbers of cercariae shed per day were 32.6% and 79±90 respectively for B. tenagophila, 11.3% and 112±100 for B. straminea and 75.3% and 432±436 for B. glabrata. The lower levels of infection and average numbers of cercariae shed by B. tenagophila and B. straminea are thus related to their more potent internal defense systems.

Síndrome de apneia hipopneia obstrutiva do sono e óxido nítrico : que relação ?

RESUMO: A síndrome de apneia hipopneia obstrutiva do sono (SAHOS), pela sua prevalência e consequências clínicas, nomeadamente as de natureza cardiovascular, é actualmente considerada um problema de saúde pública. A patogénese da doença cardiovascular na SAHOS não está ainda completamente estabelecida, mas parece ser multifactorial, envolvendo diversos mecanismos que incluem a hiperactividade do sistema nervoso simpático, a disfunção endotelial, a activação selectiva de vias inflamatórias, o stress oxidativo vascular e a disfunção metabólica. A terapêutica com CPAP diminui grandemente o risco de eventos cardiovasculares fatais e não fatais. O CPAP está inequivocamente indicado para o tratamento da SAHOS grave, no entanto, não é consensual a sua utilização nos doentes com SAHOS ligeira/moderada sem hipersonolência diurna associada. Tendo em conta este facto, é fundamental que as indicações terapêuticas do CPAP nestes doentes tenham uma relação custo-eficácia favorável. Assim, dado o posicionamento do estado da arte relativamente ao estudo da disfunção endotelial e da activação do sistema nervoso simpático estar centrada maioritariamente nos doentes com SAHOS grave, desenvolvemos este estudo com o objectivo de comparar os níveis plasmáticos de nitratos, os níveis de catecolaminas urinárias e os valores de pressão arterial nos doentes com SAHOS ligeira/moderada e grave e avaliar a resposta destes parâmetros ao tratamento com CPAP durante um mês. Realizámos um estudo prospectivo, incidindo sobre uma população de 67 doentes do sexo masculino com o diagnóstico de SAHOS (36 com SAHOS ligeira/moderada e 31com SAHOS grave). O protocolo consistia em 3 visitas: antes da terapêutica com CPAP (visita 1), uma semana após CPAP (visita 2) e um mês após CPAP (visita 3). Nas visitas 1 e 3, eram submetidos a três colheitas de sangue às 11 pm, 4 am e 7 am para doseamento dos nitratos plasmáticos e na visita 2 apenas às 7 am. Nas visitas 1 e 3 era também efectuada uma colheita de urina de 24 horas para o doseamento das catecolaminas urinárias e eram submetidos a uma monitorização ambulatória da pressão arterial de 24 horas (MAPA). Foi ainda estudado um grupo controlo de 30 indivíduos do sexo masculino não fumadores sem patologia conhecida e sem evidência de SAHOS. Antes da terapêutica com CPAP, verificou-se uma diminuição significativa dos níveis de nitratos ao longo da noite quer nos doentes com SAHOS ligeira/moderada, quer nos doentes com SAHOS grave. No entanto, esta redução diferia nos 2 grupos de doentes, sendo significativamente superior nos doentes com SAHOS grave (27,6±20,1% vs 16,5±18,5%; p<0,05). Após um mês de tratamento com CPAP, verificou-se um aumento significativo dos valores de nitratos plasmáticos apenas nos doentes com SAHOS grave, mantendo-se os níveis de nitratos elevados ao longo da noite, já não existindo o decréscimo desses valores ao longo da mesma. Os valores de noradrenalina basais eram significativamente superiores nos doentes com SAHOS grave comparativamente com os doentes com SAHOS ligeira/moderada (73,9±30,1μg/24h vs 48,5±19,91μg/24h; p<0,05). Após um mês de terapêutica com CPAP, apenas se verificou uma redução significativa nos valores da noradrenalina nos doentes com SAHOS grave (73,9±30,1μg/24h para 55,4±21,8 μg/24h; p<0,05). Os doentes com SAHOS grave apresentaram valores de pressão arterial mais elevados do que os doentes com SAHOS ligeira/moderada, nomeadamente no que diz respeito aos valores de pressão arterial média, sistólica média de 24 horas, diurna e nocturna e diastólica média de 24 horas, diurna e nocturna. Após um mês de terapêutica com CPAP, verificou-se uma redução significativa dos valores tensionais apenas nos doentescom SAHOS grave, para a pressão média (-2,32+5,0; p=0,005), para a sistólica média de 24 horas (-4,0+7,9mmHg; p=0,009), para a pressão sistólica diurna (-4,3+8,8mmHg; p=0,01), para a pressão sistólica nocturna (-5,1+9,0mmHg; p=0,005), para a pressão diastólica média de 24 horas (-2,7+5,8mmHg; p=0,016), para a pressão diastólica diurna (-3,2+6,3mmHg; p=0,009) e para a pressão diastólica nocturna (-2,5+7,0mmHg; p=0,04). Os níveis tensionais dos doentes com SAHOS grave após CPAP atingiram valores semelhantes aos dos doentes com SAHOS ligeira/moderada, relativamente a todos os parâmetros avaliados no MAPA. Este estudo demonstrou que antes do tratamento com CPAP, existe uma redução dos níveis de nitratos ao longo da noite não só nos doentes com SAHOS grave mas também nos doentes com SAHOS ligeira/moderada. No entanto, a terapêutica com CPAP leva a um aumento significativo dos valores de nitratos plasmáticos apenas nos doentes com SAHOS grave, mantendo-se os níveis de nitratos elevados ao longo da noite, já não existindo o decréscimo desses valores ao longo da mesma. O tratamento com CPAP durante um mês, apenas reduz os níveis de noradrenalina urinária e os valores de pressão arterial nos doentes com SAHOS grave.------------ ABSTRACT: In severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) reduced circulating nitrate, increased levels of urinary norepinephrine (U-NE) and changes in systemic blood pressure (BP) have been described and are reverted by Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP). However, the consequences of mild/moderate OSA on these parameters and the CPAP effect upon them are not well known. We aimed to: 1) compare the levels of plasma nitrate (NOx) and U-NE of mild/moderate and severe male OSA patients 2) compare BP in these patient groups; and 3) determine whether CPAP improves sympathetic dysfunction, nitrate deficiency and BP in these patients. This prospective study was carried out in 67 consecutive OSA patients (36 mild/moderate and 31 severe patients) and NOx (11 pm, 4 am, 7 am), 24-h U-NE and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring were obtained before and after 4 weeks of CPAP. Baseline: NOx levels showed a significant decrease (p<0.001) during the night in both groups of patients. The U-NE and BP were significantly higher in the severe group. Post CPAP: After one month of CPAP, there was a significant increase of NOx, a reduction of U-NE and BP only in severe patients. This study shows that in contrast to severe OSA patients, those with mild/moderate OSA, which have lower values of BP and U-NE at baseline, do not benefit from a 4 weeks CPAP treatment as measured by plasma nitrate, 24-h U-NE levels and BP.

Melhoria/simplificação ergonómica de linhas de montagem

Hoje em dia, com os avanços constantes na indústria, novas áreas começam cada vez mais a ser foco de atenção por parte das organizações. Motivados pela procura de melhores condições para os seus colaboradores e por todos os benefícios que este tipo de intervenção oferece, tanto a curto, como principalmente a médio e longo prazo, a Grohe Portugal, mais especificamente o seu departamento de montagem, achou relevante potenciar a aplicação da Ergonomia nos seus postos de trabalho. Posto isto, esta dissertação pretende apresentar o trabalho desenvolvido junto da organização que teve como objetivo projetar e executar uma linha de montagem que tivesse em consideração os seguintes aspetos: • Ergonomia; • Automatização ou semi-automatização de operações; • Simplificação de aspetos operacionais; • Sistemas de abastecimento mais robustos e de fácil uso; • Simplificação de setups; • Definição de dimensões normalizadas para futuros projetos. As soluções encontradas tiveram como objetivo primordial satisfazer o maior número possível de colaboradores, sendo que para tal foram utilizados dados referentes a antropometria da população Portuguesa. Para a realização e conclusão deste projeto, o trabalho foi decomposto em varias etapas, de entre as quais se destacam: • Analise e estudo dos métodos de montagem; • Levantamento de todos os componentes e operações que constituem o processo de fabrico das diversas famílias onde foram implementados novos projetos; • Definição e uniformização da estrutura das novas linhas de montagem; • Estudo e definição da disposição dos componentes na nova linha, bem como da sua forma de abastecimento; • Projeto da linha de montagem em 3D com recurso ao software SolidWorks (DassaultSystemes, 2014); • Montagem final da linha, bem como o acompanhamento da sua fase de arranque. Durante o estagio foi ainda pensado e implementado um projeto paralelo com vista a constante manutenção e melhoria do departamento de montagem cujo objetivo, através de “plant walks”, e detetar de entre outras, situações de falta de identificação de componentes ou equipamentos, degradação de ferramentas, fugas ou derrames nas linhas, etc. O balanco final do trabalho foi bastante positivo, tendo-se alcançado melhorias em alguns índices de qualidade, tempos de abastecimento e condições ergonómicas dos postos de trabalho que sofreram intervenção, tendo essas melhorias resultado numa avaliação positiva por parte dos colaboradores que integram essas mesmas linhas.

Expression of cyclooxygenase enzymes and prostaglandin E2 receptors in inflammatory airway diseases

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Genética Molecular e Biomedicina

ZoomAzores project: implementation of a WebGIS for Nature and Adventure Tourism.

Dissertação apresentada como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Estatística e Gestão de Informação

Critical Velocity obtained using Simplified Models of the Railway Track: Viability and Applicability

Increased demands on the capacity of the railway network gave rise to new issues related to the dynamic response of railway tracks subjected to moving vehicles. Thus, it becomes important to evaluate the applicability of traditionally used simplified models which have a closed form solution. Regarding simplified models, transversal vibrations of a beam on a visco-elastic foundation subjected to a moving load are considered. Governing equations are obtained by Hamilton’s principle. Shear distortion, rotary inertia and effect of axial force are accounted for. The load is introduced as a time varying force moving at a constant velocity. Transversal vibrations induced by the load are solved by the normal-mode analysis. Reflected waves at the extremities of the full beam are avoided by introduction of semi-infinite elements. Firstly, the critical velocity obtained from this model is compared with results of an undamped Euler- Bernoulli formulation with zero axial force. Secondly, a finite element model in ABAQUS is examined. The new contribution lies in the introduction of semi- infinite elements and in the first step to a systematic comparison, which have not been published so fa

The effect of method, standard and sample components on the total antioxidant capacity of commercial waters assessed by optical conventional assays

The total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of 28 flavoured water samples was assessed by ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and total reactive antioxidant potential (TRAP) methods. It was observed that flavoured waters had higher antioxidant activity than the corresponding natural ones. The observed differences were attributed to flavours, juice and vitamins. Generally, higher TAC contents were obtained on lemon waters and lower values on guava and raspberry flavoured waters. Lower and higher TACs were obtained by TRAP and ORAC method, respectively. Statistical analysis suggested that vitamins and flavours increased the antioxidant content of the commercial waters.

Alterations in lipid transfer to High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) and activity of paraoxonase-1 in HIV+ patients

HIV+ patients often develop alterations of the plasma lipids that may implicate in development of premature coronary artery disease. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) has an important role in preventing atherogenesis and the aim of this study was to investigate aspects of HDL function in HIV+ patients. HIV+ patients (n = 48) and healthy control subjects (n = 45) of both sexes with similar age were studied. Twenty-five were not being treated with antiretroviral agents, 13 were under reverse transcriptase inhibitor nucleosidic and non-nucleosidic (NRTI+NNRTI) and 10 were under NRTI + protease inhibitors (NRTI+PI) treatment. Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) activity and the transfer of free and esterified cholesterol, tryglicerides and phospholipids from a lipidic nanoemulsion to HDL were analyzed. In comparison with healthy controls, HIV+ patients presented low PON-1 activity and diminished transfer of free cholesterol and tryglicerides. In contrast, phospholipid transfer was increased in those patients, whereas the transfer of cholesteryl esters was unchanged. NRTI+NNRTI increases the transfer of cholesteryl esters and triglycerides but in NRTI+PI there was no difference in respect to non-treated HIV+ patients. HDL from HIV+ patients has smaller antioxidant properties, as shown by lower PON-1 activity, and the transfer of lipids to this lipoprotein fraction is also altered, suggesting that HDL function is defective in those patients.

Crystal structure of the zinc-, cobalt-, and iron-containing adenylate kinase from Desulfovibrio gigas: a novel metal-containing adenylate kinase from Gram-negative bacteria

J Biol Inorg Chem (2011) 16:51–61 DOI 10.1007/s00775-010-0700-8

PERFORMANCE OF CONVENTIONAL PCRs BASED ON PRIMERS DIRECTED TO NUCLEAR AND MITOCHONDRIAL GENES FOR THE DETECTION AND IDENTIFICATION OF Leishmania spp.

In visceral leishmaniasis, the detection of the agent is of paramount importance to identify reservoirs of infection. Here, we evaluated the diagnostic attributes of PCRs based on primers directed to cytochrome-B (cytB), cytochrome-oxidase-subunit II (coxII), cytochrome-C (cytC), and the minicircle-kDNA. Although PCRs directed to cytB, coxII, cytC were able to detect different species of Leishmania, and the nucleotide sequence of their amplicons allowed the unequivocal differentiation of species, the analytical and diagnostic sensitivity of these PCRs were much lower than the analytical and diagnostic sensitivity of the kDNA-PCR. Among the 73 seropositive animals, the asymptomatic dogs had spleen and bone marrow samples collected and tested; only two animals were positive by PCRs based on cytB, coxII, and cytC, whereas 18 were positive by the kDNA-PCR. Considering the kDNA-PCR results, six dogs had positive spleen and bone marrow samples, eight dogs had positive bone marrow results but negative results in spleen samples and, in four dogs, the reverse situation occurred. We concluded that PCRs based on cytB, coxII, and cytC can be useful tools to identify Leishmania species when used in combination with automated sequencing. The discordance between the results of the kDNA-PCR in bone marrow and spleen samples may indicate that conventional PCR lacks sensitivity for the detection of infected dogs. Thus, primers based on the kDNA should be preferred for the screening of infected dogs.