Antimicrobial Compounds from Eukaryotic Microalgae against Human Pathogens and Diseases in Aquaculture

The search for novel compounds of marine origin has increased in the last decades for their application in various areas such as pharmaceutical, human or animal nutrition, cosmetics or bioenergy. In this context of blue technology development, microalgae are of particular interest due to their immense biodiversity and their relatively simple growth needs. In this review, we discuss about the promising use of microalgae and microalgal compounds as sources of natural antibiotics against human pathogens but also about their potential to limit microbial infections in aquaculture. An alternative to conventional antibiotics is needed as the microbial resistance to these drugs is increasing in humans and animals. Furthermore, using natural antibiotics for livestock could meet the consumer demand to avoid chemicals in food, would support a sustainable aquaculture and present the advantage of being environmentally friendly. Using natural and renewable microalgal compounds is still in its early days, but considering the important research development and rapid improvement in culture, extraction and purification processes, the valorization of microalgae will surely extend in the future.

INVESTIGATING THE POSTWAR DECLINE OF RACE IN SCIENCE

Race as a biological category has a long and troubling history as a central ordering concept in the life and human sciences. The mid-twentieth century has been marked as the point where biological concepts of race began to disappear from science. However, biological definitions of race continue to penetrate scientific understandings and uses of racial concepts. Using the theoretical frameworks of critical race theory and science and technology studies and an in-depth case study of the discipline of immunology, this dissertation explores the appearance of a mid-century decline of concepts of biological race in science. I argue that biological concepts of race did not disappear in the middle of the twentieth century but were reconfigured into genetic language. In this dissertation I offer a periodization of biological concepts of race. Focusing on continuities and the effects of contingent events, I compare how biological concepts of race articulate with racisms in each period. The discipline of immunology serves as a case study that demonstrates how biological concepts of race did not decline in the postwar era, but were translated into the language of genetics and populations. I argue that the appearance of a decline was due to events both internal and external to the science of immunology. By framing the mid-twentieth century disappearance of race in science as the triumph of an antiracist racial project of science, it allows us to more clearly see the more recent resurgence of race in science as a recycling of older themes and tactics from the racist science projects of the past.

EGCL: an extended G-Code Language with flow control, functions and mnemonic variables

In the context of computer numerical control (CNC) and computer aided manufacturing (CAM), the capabilities of programming languages such as symbolic and intuitive programming, program portability and geometrical portfolio have special importance -- They allow to save time and to avoid errors during part programming and permit code re-usage -- Our updated literature review indicates that the current state of art presents voids in parametric programming, program portability and programming flexibility -- In response to this situation, this article presents a compiler implementation for EGCL (Extended G-code Language), a new, enriched CNC programming language which allows the use of descriptive variable names, geometrical functions and flow-control statements (if-then-else, while) -- Our compiler produces low-level generic, elementary ISO-compliant Gcode, thus allowing for flexibility in the choice of the executing CNC machine and in portability -- Our results show that readable variable names and flow control statements allow a simplified and intuitive part programming and permit re-usage of the programs -- Future work includes allowing the programmer to define own functions in terms of EGCL, in contrast to the current status of having them as library built-in functions

What can the philosophy of science contribute to the ethics of science and technology?

Nascida para permitir que seus criadores possam atender suas próprias necessidades, a técnica científica sempre desempenhou papel significativo na civilização humana. Este é o contexto em que podemos vislumbrar o advento da tecnociência moderna, que tem contribuído significativamente para o incremento do controle humano sobre a natureza. Este estudo tem por objetivo analisar, sob o enfoque da bioética, reflexões sobre como a filosofia da ciência entende a neutralidade da ciência e sua convergência com a racionalidade epistêmica, bem como relacionar essas reflexões ao processo de tomada de decisões na administração da tecnociência. O estudo levantou dúvidas sobre a capacidade do conhecimento tecnocientífico para legitimar e justificar as decisões no âmbito dos sistemas de ciência e tecnologia nacionais, sinalizando assim a necessidade de promover ligação entre a auto-regulação tecnocientífico e hetero-regulação bioética. ______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT

Beyond the human genome: microbes, metaphors and what it means to be human in an interconnected post-genomic world

Four years after the completion of the Human Genome Project, the US National Institutes for Health launched the Human Microbiome Project on 19 December 2007. Using metaphor analysis, this article investigates reporting in English-language newspapers on advances in microbiomics from 2003 onwards, when the word “microbiome” was first used. This research was said to open up a “new frontier” and was conceived as a “second human genome project”, this time focusing on the genomes of microbes that inhabit and populate humans rather than focusing on the human genome itself. The language used by scientists and by the journalists who reported on their research employed a type of metaphorical framing that was very different from the hyperbole surrounding the decipherment of the “book of life”. Whereas during the HGP genomic successes had been mainly framed as being based on a unidirectional process of reading off information from a passive genetic or genomic entity, the language employed to discuss advances in microbiomics frames genes, genomes and life in much more active and dynamic ways.

Image summarisation: human action description from static images

Dissertação de Mestrado, Processamento de Linguagem Natural e Indústrias da Língua, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Universidade do Algarve, 2014

All Is not English that Glitters: False Anglicisms in the Spanish Language of Sports

Over the past decades, many studies have dealt with Anglicisms in Spanish, not only in science and technology, but also in other areas such as business, fashion and even sports. However, in spite of the large number of works on Spanish Anglicisms in sports, these have often disregarded the distinction between Anglicisms and false Anglicisms. Given their importance as evidence of the particular relationships between languages, this article focuses on the use of false Anglicisms in the Spanish language of sports, which has not only adopted English words giving them new meanings and usage, but has also either imported items with an English appearance from other languages or created its own forms based on English patterns. Although these false Anglicisms, which have proven extremely popular in various European languages (not only Spanish), have frequently been used and disseminated, as some examples will prove, little attention has been paid to their differences with the English term or their non-English origin.

Affinity purification of recombinant human plasminogen activator from transgenic rabbit milk using a novel polyolresponsive monoclonal antibody

Purpose: To develop processes for effective isolation and purification of recombinant human plasminogen activator (rhPA) from transgenic rabbit milk. Methods: Immunoaffinity chromatography was selected and improved by a special polyol-responsive monoclonal antibody (PR-mAb). Alteplase was used as immunogen because of its similarity to rhPA in terms of structure. The PR-mAb was prepared by hybridoma technology and screened by ELISA-elution assay. Screening antibody was performed using rhPA milk in an ELISA-elution assay. The antibody clone C4-PR-mAb was selected for immunoaffinity chromatography. The rhPA was effectively bound to immobilized C4-PR-mAb on the column and was eluted with Tris buffer comprising 0.75 mol/L ammonium sulfate and 40n% propanediol (pH7.9). The rhPA was further purified by passing through Chromdex75 gel filtration column. Results: There were 12 hybridoma strains selected into the polyol-responsive mAbs screen step and three hybridoma strains were superior for producing PR-mAbs (C1, C4, C8). The rhPA can be purified from transgenic rabbit milk and maintained a higher thrombolytic activity in vitro by FAPA. Conclusion: The results demonstrate the suitability of the alternative approach used in this study. Using immunoaffinity chromatography and gel filtration column is feasible and convenient for extracting rhPA from milk, and should be useful for purifying other tPA mutants or other novel recombinant milkderived proteins.

A mobile image enhancement technology for visually impaired

In this thesis, an image enhancement application is developed for low-vision patients when they use iPhones to see images/watch videos. The thesis has two contributions. The first contribution is the new image enhancement algorithm which combines human vision features. The new image enhancement algorithm is modified from a wavelet transform based image enhancement algorithm developed by Dr. Jinshan Tang. Different from the original algorithm, the new image enhancement algorithm combines human visual feature into the algorithm and thus can make the new algorithm more effective. Experimental simulation results show that the proposed algorithm has better visual results than the algorithm without combining visual features. The second contribution of this thesis is the development of a mobile image enhancement application. In this application, users with low-vision can see clearer images on an iPhone which is installed with the application I have developed.

Assisted reproductive technology – IVF treatment in Ireland: A study of couples with successful outcomes

Human Fertility 17(3):165-9 This article describes the experiences of twelve Irish couples who had successful IVF treatment in Ireland. Irish Medical guidelines specify that IVF may only be used when no other treatment is likely to be effective. This article is based on data drawn from a longitudinal research study by Cotter (2009) which tells the stories of 34 couples who sought fertility treatment. Initially, the women assumed that they would become pregnant when they stopped using contraception. As a couple, it was the ‘right time’ for them to have a child - they were ready, socially and financially. For several months they were patient, hoping it would happen naturally. With envy and some despair they watched as their friends had babies. Infertility came as a shock to most of them. They were reluctant to talk about it to anyone, and over time their anxieties were accompanied by feelings of regret, stigma and social exclusion. They finally sought medical treatment. The latter involved a series of diagnostic treatments, which eventually culminated in IVF which offered them a final chance of having a ‘child of their own’. While IVF can be clinically assessed in terms of cycle success rates, their stories showed treatment as a series of discoveries, as an extensive range of diagnostic tests and procedures helped to reveal to them where their problems might lie. They described their treatments as a series of sequential ‘hurdles’ that they had to overcome, which further strengthened their resolve to try IVF. Much more knowledgeable at that stage, they embraced IVF as a final challenge with single minded dedication while drawing on all their psychological and biological resources to promote a successful outcome. Of the 34 couples who took part in the study, twelve got pregnant. Unfortunately, two children died shortly after birth but eighteen babies survived (see Table I). The findings suggest that health policy should raise awareness of infertility, and advise women to become aware of it just as in the past, when health policy addressed contraception. Increased public knowledge would reduce the stigma attached to the inability to have a baby. In the Irish case, infertility diagnosis should be reviewed with a view to giving eligible couples earlier access to IVF.  

A Comparison of the Effects of Classroom and Multi-User Virtual Environments on the Perceived Speaking Anxiety of Adult Post-Secondary English Language Learners

The population of English Language Learners (ELLs) globally has been increasing substantially every year. In the United States alone, adult ELLs are the fastest growing portion of learners in adult education programs (Yang, 2005). There is a significant need to improve the teaching of English to ELLs in the United States and other English-speaking dominant countries. However, for many ELLs, speaking, especially to Native English Speakers (NESs), causes considerable language anxiety, which in turn plays a vital role in hindering their language development and academic progress (Pichette, 2009; Woodrow, 2006). Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT), such as simulation activities, has long been viewed as an effective approach for second-language development. The current advances in technology and rapid emergence of Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) have provided an opportunity for educators to consider conducting simulations online for ELLs to practice speaking English to NESs. Yet to date, empirical research on the effects of MUVEs on ELLs’ language development and speaking is limited (Garcia-Ruiz, Edwards, & Aquino-Santos, 2007). This study used a true experimental treatment control group repeated measures design to compare the perceived speaking anxiety levels (as measured by an anxiety scale administered per simulation activity) of 11 ELLs (5 in the control group, 6 in the experimental group) when speaking to Native English Speakers (NESs) during 10 simulation activities. Simulations in the control group were done face-to-face, while those in the experimental group were done in the MUVE of Second Life. The results of the repeated measures ANOVA revealed after the Huynh-Feldt epsilon correction, demonstrated for both groups a significant decrease in anxiety levels over time from the first simulation to the tenth and final simulation. When comparing the two groups, the results revealed a statistically significant difference, with the experimental group demonstrating a greater anxiety reduction. These results suggests that language instructors should consider including face-to-face and MUVE simulations with ELLs paired with NESs as part of their language instruction. Future investigations should investigate the use of other multi-user virtual environments and/or measure other dimensions of the ELL/NES interactions.

A virtual agent to sustaining children's engagement in language learning

In this thesis we aimed to explore the potential of gamification - defined as “the use of game elements in non-game contexts” [30] - in increasing children's (aged 5 to 6) engagement with the task. This is mainly due to the fact that our world is living a technological era, and videogames are an example of this engagement by being able to maintain children’s (and adults) engagement for hours straight. For the purpose of limiting complexity, we only addressed the feedback element by introducing it with an anthropomorphic virtual agent (human-like aspect), because research shows that virtual agents (VA’s) can influence behavioural change [17], or even induce emotions on humans both through the use of feedback provided and their facial expressions, which can interpreted in the same way as of humans’ [2]. By pairing the VA with the gamification concept, we wanted to 1) create a VA that is likely to be well-received by children (appearance and behaviour), and 2) have the immediate feedback that games have, so we can give children an assessment of their actions in real-time, as opposed to waiting for feedback from someone (traditional teaching), and with this give students more chances to succeed [32, 43]. Our final system consisted on a virtual environment, where children formed words that corresponded to a given image. In order to measure the impact that the VA had on engagement, the system was developed in two versions: one version of the system was limited to provide a simple feedback environment, where the VA provided feedback, by responding with simple phrases (i.e. “correct” or “incorrect”); for the second version, the VA had a more complex approach where it tried to encourage children to complete the word – a motivational feedback - even when they weren’t succeeding. Lastly we conducted a field study with two groups of children, where one group tested the version with the simple feedback, and the other group tested the ‘motivational’ version of the system. We used a quantitative approach to analyze the collected data that measured the engagement, based on the number of tasks (words) completed and time spent with system. The results of the evaluation showed that the use of motivational feedback may carry a positive effect on engaging children.

Design and implementation of an enterprise application integration solution for science and research outcomes information management using guaraná technology

This document presents an Enterprise Application Integration based proposal for research outcomes and technological information management. The proposal addresses national and international science and research outcomes information management, and corresponding information systems. Information systems interoperability problems, approaches, technologies and integration tools are presented and applied to the research outcomes information management case. A business and technological perspective is provided, including the conceptual analysis and modelling, an integration solution based in a Domain-Specific Language (DSL) and the integration platform to execute the proposed solution. For illustrative purposes, the role and information system needs of a research unit is assumed as the representative case.

Adaptation of the ABCDE model from human medicine to communicate bad news to the owner of the oncologic patient in veterinary medicine

Similar to what occurs in Human Medicine, also in Veterinary Medicine, the prevalence of oncological diseases has significantly increased. The evolution of Veterinary Medicine, in last decades has brought changes in clinical paradigms, particularly concerning the relationship with the animal and also with the owner. More than any other specialty, members of the Veterinary Medical Team that work in the oncology field, are unavoidably forced to break bad news. This paper proposes the adaptation of the ABCDE model from Human Medicine to Veterinary Medicine. The adaptation of the ABCDE model for Veterinary Medicine improves communication with the owner and offers all the members of the Veterinary Medical Team better communication skills.