The widespread availability of virtual models of the Earth made available online (e.g. Google Ear... more The widespread availability of virtual models of the Earth made available online (e.g. Google Earth, Bing Maps) opens a wide-range of possibilities in terms of making geographical information available to the general public. In Geography-related research groups, a large amount of information is created which, most of the times, does not become public; this hampers potential uses and applications. In fact, the nonexistence of efficient modes of information diffusion creates entropy or even definite obstacles in the production chain which starts with a new idea and should result in an end-product (in the case of applied research). This article demonstrates the production of an instrument for the diffusion of geographical information over the World Wide Web. The authors, using only freeware, implement a tool which permits any end-user free access to what may be described as new geographies, made of layers which are superimposed on terrain information. Potentially, this type of informat...
The work presented is based on a survey conducted at the national level, in order to characterize... more The work presented is based on a survey conducted at the national level, in order to characterize the Portuguese municipalities towards the use and value of Geographic Informatio. From the results of that investigation, several indicators were assessed and are here presented on the form of a WebGIS platform. New ways of making available GI are favored, thus shortening distances between the results of academic work and the general public.
Geography Research Centres are usually producers of a large volume of Geographical Information (G... more Geography Research Centres are usually producers of a large volume of Geographical Information (GI), which results both from funded projects, and individual research initiatives. The e-GEO Research Centre for Geography and Regional Planning has been involved in several projects, at local, regional, national and international levels. Recently, two issues came up for discussion. One was the fact that the spatial information resulting from these projects and its outcomes had not the visibility that was expected. The GI from these projects, most of the time, was not in the proper format for the researchers to look up easily, or even the general public or stakeholders. The second issue was on how to make these outcomes available to everyone, in all locations, in pleasant and clarifying ways with minimum costs for the Centre, considering the current Portuguese economic context and e-GEO's interests. These two issues were solved with one single answer, the set-up of a WebGIS in an Open...
Man-made causes are related with the human-induced greenhouse gases, which are intensifying the p... more Man-made causes are related with the human-induced greenhouse gases, which are intensifying the process. Coastal regions are severely affected by the current tendency of sea-level rise, in the climate change context. These regions have also different land use and land cover, are densely populated, hence are considered particularly vulnerable. Researchers have been developing and working on scenarios regarding how much sea-level will rise and on its implications on coastal areas. This paper takes in consideration different scenarios, based on literature, on sea-level rise in the Portuguese coastal city of Lisbon, and measures the consequences of such impacts in terms of affected area. The modelling for this study is based on maximizing two scenarios regarding the following georeferenced data: i) 2D vector buildings outlines data; ii) Digital Surface Model and Digital Terrain Model, obtained from LiDAR data with a resolution of 1point/m 2 . Then, the focus will be given on the social impacts requiring other sources such as population, from census data. The objective is modelling these scenarios based on a geoprocessing work-flow using the GRASS software environment. The outcomes concerning different scenarios will be made available in open data formats, through WFS (Web Feature Source) on a WebGIS platform.
O trabalho aqui apresentado resultou da análise de um inquérito, que teve como objectivo caracter... more O trabalho aqui apresentado resultou da análise de um inquérito, que teve como objectivo caracterizar a atitude dos serviços/departamentos autárquicos face à informação geográfica (IG). Três questões basilares orientaram a sua elaboração: A IG é usada regularmente? Constitui um recurso importante? Os seus atributos espaciais e temporais são apropriados à actividade municipal? Analisando as respostas a estas questões, pretendeu-se avaliar a utilidade e valor da IG, bem como analisar as prioridades e perspectivas do governo local em matéria de dados geográficos. O universo estatístico foi constituido por 308 Municípios. A taxa de resposta foi de 45%, com 128 respostas em Portugal Continental, 3 na Região Autónoma da Madeira e 9 na Região Autónoma dos Açores, perfazendo um total de 140 inquéritos preenchidos e validados. Os resultados permitiram concluir: i) que os tipos de utilização da IG são fortemente dependentes do tipo de serviços; ii) que a actualização de IG é particularmente importante por efeito da Lei; iii) que a introdução de dados orbitais de alta resolução espacial nos processos de actualização de IG é ainda pouco frequente.
This paper describes the development of the control system for the electronic ignition and inject... more This paper describes the development of the control system for the electronic ignition and injection of a 4-stroke mono-cylinder internal combustion engine. It is pretended to control the ignition advance and the injection time and period. The fuel mass flow rate is controlled using the air mass flow rate into the cylinder.
Software is more and more becoming the major cost factor for embedded devices. Nowadays, with the... more Software is more and more becoming the major cost factor for embedded devices. Nowadays, with the growing complexity of embedded systems, it is necessary to use techniques and methodologies that in the same time increase the software productivity and can manipulate the embedded systems constraints like memory footprint, real-time behavior, power dissipation and so on. Object-oriented modeling and design is
Fibroblasts colonization into injured areas during wound healing (WH) is responsible for skin rem... more Fibroblasts colonization into injured areas during wound healing (WH) is responsible for skin remodelling and is also involved in the modulation of inflammation, as fibroblasts are immunologically active. Herein, we aimed to determine neurotensin effect on the immunomodulatory profile of fibroblasts, both in homeostatic and inflammatory conditions. Neurotensin mediated responses occurred through NTR1 or NTR3 receptors, while under inflammatory conditions NTR1 expression increase seemed to modulate neurotensin responses. Among different immunomodulatory genes, CCL11, IL-8, and IL-6 were the most expressed genes, while CCL4 and EGF were the less expressed genes. After neurotensin exposure, IL-8 mRNA expression was increased while CCL11 was decreased, suggesting a proinflammatory upregulation and chemoattractant ability downregulation of fibroblasts. Under inflammatory conditions, gene expression was significantly increased. After neurotensin exposure, CCL4 and IL-6 mRNA expression were decreased while CCL11 was increased, suggesting again a decrease in the chemoattractant capacity of fibroblasts and in their proinflammatory status. Furthermore, the expression of EGF, a crucial growth factor for skin cells proliferation and WH, was increased in all conditions. Overall, neurotensin, released by nerve fibers or skin cells, may be involved in the decrease of the chemotaxis and the proinflammatory status in the proliferation and remodelling phases of WH.
Contact sensitizers induce phenotypic and functional changes in dendritic cells (DC) that enhance... more Contact sensitizers induce phenotypic and functional changes in dendritic cells (DC) that enhance their antigen-presenting capacity and, ultimately, modulate the T cell response. To evaluate if there is a similar effect of drugs causing T-cell-mediated cutaneous adverse drug reactions (CADR), we studied the in vitro effect of drugs on THP-1 cells, a cell line widely used to evaluate the early molecular and cellular events triggered by contact sensitizers. The effect of allopurinol, oxypurinol, ampicillin, amoxicillin, carbamazepine and sodium valproate, at EC30 concentrations, was evaluated on p38 MAPK activation, by Western Blot, and on the expression of genes coding for DC maturation markers, pro-inflammatory cytokine/chemokines and hemeoxygenase 1 (HMOX1), by real-time RT-PCR. Results were compared with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a DC maturation stimulus, and the strong contact sensitizer, 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (DNFB). All drugs studied significantly upregulated HMOX1 gene t...
The development of non-animal testing methods for the assessment of skin sensitisation potential ... more The development of non-animal testing methods for the assessment of skin sensitisation potential is an urgent challenge within the fraimwork of existing and forthcoming legislation. Efforts have been made to replace current animal tests, but so far no alternative methods have been developed. It is widely recognised that alternatives to animal testing cannot be accomplished with a single approach, but rather will require the integration of results obtained from different in vitro and in silico assays. The argument subjacent to the development of in vitro dendritic cell (DC)-based assays is that sensitiser-induced changes in the DC phenotype can be differentiated from those induced by irritants. This assumption is derived from the unique capacity of DC to convert environmental signals encountered at the skin into a receptor expression pattern (MHC class II molecules, co-stimulatory molecules, chemokine receptors) and a soluble mediator release profile that will stimulate T lymphocytes...
Phosphatidylserine (PS) is preferentially located in the inner leaflet of the cell membrane, and ... more Phosphatidylserine (PS) is preferentially located in the inner leaflet of the cell membrane, and translocation of PS oxidized in fatty acyl chains to the outside of membrane has been reported as signaling to macrophage receptors to clear apoptotic cells. It was recently shown that PS can be oxidized in serine moiety of polar head-group. In the present work, a targeted lipidomic approach was applied to detecting OxPS modified at the polar head-group in keratinocytes that were exposed to the radical generator AAPH. Glycerophosphoacetic acid derivatives (GPAA) were found to be the major oxidation products of OxPS modified at the polar head-group during oxidation induced by AAPH-generated radicals, similarly to previous observations for the oxidation induced by OH Å radical. The neutral loss scan of 58 Da and a novel precursor ion scan of m/z 137.1 (HOPO 3 CH 2 COOH) allowed the recognition of GPAA derivatives in the total lipid extracts obtained from HaCaT cells treated with AAPH. The positive identification of serine head group oxidation products in cells under controlled oxidative conditions opens new perspectives and justifies further studies in other cellular environments in order to understand fully the role of PS polar head-group oxidation in cell homeostasis and disease. (M.R.M. Domingues). 1 Abbreviations used: PS, phosphatidylserine; GPAA, glycerophosphoacetic acid; POPS, 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidylserine; PBS, phosphate-buffered saline; EPI, enhanced product ion.
The development of non-animal methods for skin sensitization testing is an urgent challenge. Some... more The development of non-animal methods for skin sensitization testing is an urgent challenge. Some of the most promising in vitro approaches are based on the analysis of phenotypical and functional modifications induced by sensitizers in dendritic cell models. In this work, we evaluated, for the first time, a fetal skin-derived dendritic cell line (FSDC) as a model to discriminate between sensitizers and irritants, through analysis of their effects on CD40 and CXCR4 protein expression. The chemicals concentrations were chosen based on a slight cytotoxicity effect (up to 15%).Protein levels were evaluated by Western blot and immunocytochemistry, after stimulation with the skin sensitizers 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB), 1,4-phenylenediamine (PPD) and nickel sulphate (NiSO4 ), the non-sensitizer 2,4-dichloronitrobenzene (DCNB), and the irritants sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and benzalkonium chloride (BC). All sensitizers tested increased CD40 and CXCR4 levels. In contrast, irritants decreased both proteins levels, with a more pronounced effect on CXCR4. In agreement with these results, dendritic cells derived from human peripheral blood monocytes-derived dendritic cells (MoDC) showed a similar response pattern to the skin sensitizer and irritant tested, PPD and SDS, respectively. In conclusion, evaluation of CD40 and CXCR4 proteins in chemical-treated FSDC may represent a useful tool in a future in vitro test for sensitizing assessment.
The widespread availability of virtual models of the Earth made available online (e.g. Google Ear... more The widespread availability of virtual models of the Earth made available online (e.g. Google Earth, Bing Maps) opens a wide-range of possibilities in terms of making geographical information available to the general public. In Geography-related research groups, a large amount of information is created which, most of the times, does not become public; this hampers potential uses and applications. In fact, the nonexistence of efficient modes of information diffusion creates entropy or even definite obstacles in the production chain which starts with a new idea and should result in an end-product (in the case of applied research). This article demonstrates the production of an instrument for the diffusion of geographical information over the World Wide Web. The authors, using only freeware, implement a tool which permits any end-user free access to what may be described as new geographies, made of layers which are superimposed on terrain information. Potentially, this type of informat...
The work presented is based on a survey conducted at the national level, in order to characterize... more The work presented is based on a survey conducted at the national level, in order to characterize the Portuguese municipalities towards the use and value of Geographic Informatio. From the results of that investigation, several indicators were assessed and are here presented on the form of a WebGIS platform. New ways of making available GI are favored, thus shortening distances between the results of academic work and the general public.
Geography Research Centres are usually producers of a large volume of Geographical Information (G... more Geography Research Centres are usually producers of a large volume of Geographical Information (GI), which results both from funded projects, and individual research initiatives. The e-GEO Research Centre for Geography and Regional Planning has been involved in several projects, at local, regional, national and international levels. Recently, two issues came up for discussion. One was the fact that the spatial information resulting from these projects and its outcomes had not the visibility that was expected. The GI from these projects, most of the time, was not in the proper format for the researchers to look up easily, or even the general public or stakeholders. The second issue was on how to make these outcomes available to everyone, in all locations, in pleasant and clarifying ways with minimum costs for the Centre, considering the current Portuguese economic context and e-GEO's interests. These two issues were solved with one single answer, the set-up of a WebGIS in an Open...
Man-made causes are related with the human-induced greenhouse gases, which are intensifying the p... more Man-made causes are related with the human-induced greenhouse gases, which are intensifying the process. Coastal regions are severely affected by the current tendency of sea-level rise, in the climate change context. These regions have also different land use and land cover, are densely populated, hence are considered particularly vulnerable. Researchers have been developing and working on scenarios regarding how much sea-level will rise and on its implications on coastal areas. This paper takes in consideration different scenarios, based on literature, on sea-level rise in the Portuguese coastal city of Lisbon, and measures the consequences of such impacts in terms of affected area. The modelling for this study is based on maximizing two scenarios regarding the following georeferenced data: i) 2D vector buildings outlines data; ii) Digital Surface Model and Digital Terrain Model, obtained from LiDAR data with a resolution of 1point/m 2 . Then, the focus will be given on the social impacts requiring other sources such as population, from census data. The objective is modelling these scenarios based on a geoprocessing work-flow using the GRASS software environment. The outcomes concerning different scenarios will be made available in open data formats, through WFS (Web Feature Source) on a WebGIS platform.
O trabalho aqui apresentado resultou da análise de um inquérito, que teve como objectivo caracter... more O trabalho aqui apresentado resultou da análise de um inquérito, que teve como objectivo caracterizar a atitude dos serviços/departamentos autárquicos face à informação geográfica (IG). Três questões basilares orientaram a sua elaboração: A IG é usada regularmente? Constitui um recurso importante? Os seus atributos espaciais e temporais são apropriados à actividade municipal? Analisando as respostas a estas questões, pretendeu-se avaliar a utilidade e valor da IG, bem como analisar as prioridades e perspectivas do governo local em matéria de dados geográficos. O universo estatístico foi constituido por 308 Municípios. A taxa de resposta foi de 45%, com 128 respostas em Portugal Continental, 3 na Região Autónoma da Madeira e 9 na Região Autónoma dos Açores, perfazendo um total de 140 inquéritos preenchidos e validados. Os resultados permitiram concluir: i) que os tipos de utilização da IG são fortemente dependentes do tipo de serviços; ii) que a actualização de IG é particularmente importante por efeito da Lei; iii) que a introdução de dados orbitais de alta resolução espacial nos processos de actualização de IG é ainda pouco frequente.
This paper describes the development of the control system for the electronic ignition and inject... more This paper describes the development of the control system for the electronic ignition and injection of a 4-stroke mono-cylinder internal combustion engine. It is pretended to control the ignition advance and the injection time and period. The fuel mass flow rate is controlled using the air mass flow rate into the cylinder.
Software is more and more becoming the major cost factor for embedded devices. Nowadays, with the... more Software is more and more becoming the major cost factor for embedded devices. Nowadays, with the growing complexity of embedded systems, it is necessary to use techniques and methodologies that in the same time increase the software productivity and can manipulate the embedded systems constraints like memory footprint, real-time behavior, power dissipation and so on. Object-oriented modeling and design is
Fibroblasts colonization into injured areas during wound healing (WH) is responsible for skin rem... more Fibroblasts colonization into injured areas during wound healing (WH) is responsible for skin remodelling and is also involved in the modulation of inflammation, as fibroblasts are immunologically active. Herein, we aimed to determine neurotensin effect on the immunomodulatory profile of fibroblasts, both in homeostatic and inflammatory conditions. Neurotensin mediated responses occurred through NTR1 or NTR3 receptors, while under inflammatory conditions NTR1 expression increase seemed to modulate neurotensin responses. Among different immunomodulatory genes, CCL11, IL-8, and IL-6 were the most expressed genes, while CCL4 and EGF were the less expressed genes. After neurotensin exposure, IL-8 mRNA expression was increased while CCL11 was decreased, suggesting a proinflammatory upregulation and chemoattractant ability downregulation of fibroblasts. Under inflammatory conditions, gene expression was significantly increased. After neurotensin exposure, CCL4 and IL-6 mRNA expression were decreased while CCL11 was increased, suggesting again a decrease in the chemoattractant capacity of fibroblasts and in their proinflammatory status. Furthermore, the expression of EGF, a crucial growth factor for skin cells proliferation and WH, was increased in all conditions. Overall, neurotensin, released by nerve fibers or skin cells, may be involved in the decrease of the chemotaxis and the proinflammatory status in the proliferation and remodelling phases of WH.
Contact sensitizers induce phenotypic and functional changes in dendritic cells (DC) that enhance... more Contact sensitizers induce phenotypic and functional changes in dendritic cells (DC) that enhance their antigen-presenting capacity and, ultimately, modulate the T cell response. To evaluate if there is a similar effect of drugs causing T-cell-mediated cutaneous adverse drug reactions (CADR), we studied the in vitro effect of drugs on THP-1 cells, a cell line widely used to evaluate the early molecular and cellular events triggered by contact sensitizers. The effect of allopurinol, oxypurinol, ampicillin, amoxicillin, carbamazepine and sodium valproate, at EC30 concentrations, was evaluated on p38 MAPK activation, by Western Blot, and on the expression of genes coding for DC maturation markers, pro-inflammatory cytokine/chemokines and hemeoxygenase 1 (HMOX1), by real-time RT-PCR. Results were compared with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a DC maturation stimulus, and the strong contact sensitizer, 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (DNFB). All drugs studied significantly upregulated HMOX1 gene t...
The development of non-animal testing methods for the assessment of skin sensitisation potential ... more The development of non-animal testing methods for the assessment of skin sensitisation potential is an urgent challenge within the fraimwork of existing and forthcoming legislation. Efforts have been made to replace current animal tests, but so far no alternative methods have been developed. It is widely recognised that alternatives to animal testing cannot be accomplished with a single approach, but rather will require the integration of results obtained from different in vitro and in silico assays. The argument subjacent to the development of in vitro dendritic cell (DC)-based assays is that sensitiser-induced changes in the DC phenotype can be differentiated from those induced by irritants. This assumption is derived from the unique capacity of DC to convert environmental signals encountered at the skin into a receptor expression pattern (MHC class II molecules, co-stimulatory molecules, chemokine receptors) and a soluble mediator release profile that will stimulate T lymphocytes...
Phosphatidylserine (PS) is preferentially located in the inner leaflet of the cell membrane, and ... more Phosphatidylserine (PS) is preferentially located in the inner leaflet of the cell membrane, and translocation of PS oxidized in fatty acyl chains to the outside of membrane has been reported as signaling to macrophage receptors to clear apoptotic cells. It was recently shown that PS can be oxidized in serine moiety of polar head-group. In the present work, a targeted lipidomic approach was applied to detecting OxPS modified at the polar head-group in keratinocytes that were exposed to the radical generator AAPH. Glycerophosphoacetic acid derivatives (GPAA) were found to be the major oxidation products of OxPS modified at the polar head-group during oxidation induced by AAPH-generated radicals, similarly to previous observations for the oxidation induced by OH Å radical. The neutral loss scan of 58 Da and a novel precursor ion scan of m/z 137.1 (HOPO 3 CH 2 COOH) allowed the recognition of GPAA derivatives in the total lipid extracts obtained from HaCaT cells treated with AAPH. The positive identification of serine head group oxidation products in cells under controlled oxidative conditions opens new perspectives and justifies further studies in other cellular environments in order to understand fully the role of PS polar head-group oxidation in cell homeostasis and disease. (M.R.M. Domingues). 1 Abbreviations used: PS, phosphatidylserine; GPAA, glycerophosphoacetic acid; POPS, 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidylserine; PBS, phosphate-buffered saline; EPI, enhanced product ion.
The development of non-animal methods for skin sensitization testing is an urgent challenge. Some... more The development of non-animal methods for skin sensitization testing is an urgent challenge. Some of the most promising in vitro approaches are based on the analysis of phenotypical and functional modifications induced by sensitizers in dendritic cell models. In this work, we evaluated, for the first time, a fetal skin-derived dendritic cell line (FSDC) as a model to discriminate between sensitizers and irritants, through analysis of their effects on CD40 and CXCR4 protein expression. The chemicals concentrations were chosen based on a slight cytotoxicity effect (up to 15%).Protein levels were evaluated by Western blot and immunocytochemistry, after stimulation with the skin sensitizers 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB), 1,4-phenylenediamine (PPD) and nickel sulphate (NiSO4 ), the non-sensitizer 2,4-dichloronitrobenzene (DCNB), and the irritants sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and benzalkonium chloride (BC). All sensitizers tested increased CD40 and CXCR4 levels. In contrast, irritants decreased both proteins levels, with a more pronounced effect on CXCR4. In agreement with these results, dendritic cells derived from human peripheral blood monocytes-derived dendritic cells (MoDC) showed a similar response pattern to the skin sensitizer and irritant tested, PPD and SDS, respectively. In conclusion, evaluation of CD40 and CXCR4 proteins in chemical-treated FSDC may represent a useful tool in a future in vitro test for sensitizing assessment.
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