RCAAP Repository

Fundamento: As células T foliculares reguladoras (Tfr) são células derivadas de células T reguladoras (Treg) de origem tímica, responsáveis pela regulação da reação de centro germinativo, fundamental para o desenvolvimento de respostas humorais contra antigénios estranhos. Estas células diferenciam-se através de várias etapas mediadas por células dendríticas e células B. Não obstante, doentes com Agamaglobulinémia ligada ao X (ALX), deficientes em células B, apresentam um maior número de células Tfr no sangue, o que sugere que as células B são necessárias apenas em estádios mais avançados de diferenciação. Dado que modelos animais deficientes em células B e saudáveis apresentam igual número de células Tfr, colocou-se a hipótese que o aumento de células Tfr em doentes ALX poderá dever-se ao efeito da administração de imunoglobulina intravenosa (IgIV) na expansão/diferenciação destas células. Métodos: De forma a investigar o impacto da administração de IgIV em células Tfr, estudou-se o efeito das Imunoglobulinas (Ig) na proliferação e ativação e nos números de células Tfr, tanto em condições in vivo, como in vitro. Para avaliar o impacto da administração de IgIV in vivo, colheram-se amostras de sangue de doentes ALX em três timepoints: antes do tratamento com IgIV (d1), 7 dias após o tratamento com IgIV (d7) e antes do tratamento subsequente (d28). Obtiveram-se os números de células Tfr e células T foliculares auxiliares (Tfh) e analisaram-se as células Tfr quanto aos marcadores de proliferação e ativação. Relativamente ao impacto in vitro das Ig, cocultivaram-se células Tfr e Tfh com diferentes concentrações de Ig e analisaram-se as células Tfr quanto à proliferação e marcadores de ativação. Resultados: No presente estudo, é demonstrado que a administração de IgIV resulta no aumento de células Tfr no sangue. Paradoxalmente, no mesmo grupo de doentes, verificou-se uma diminuição da proliferação e ativação das células Tfr no sangue após a administração de IgIV. Adicionalmente, células Tfr obtidas a partir de dadores saudáveis apresentaram o mesmo comportamento em cocultura com células Tfa e imunoglobulinas. Conclusão: No seu conjunto, estes resultados sugerem que a administração de imunoglobulina intravenosa a doentes com ALX pode resultar no aumento da diferenciação de células Tfr, explicando desta forma o maior número de células Tfr no sangue destes doentes, na ausência de aumento da proliferação das mesmas. Ademais, estas células mostraram uma baixa expressão de ICOS e PD-1, reforçando um modelo previamente proposto que defende que células Tfr em estádio precoce entram em circulação previamente à interação com células B, mantendo um fenótipo imaturo.

O Judo é um desporto de extrema relevância a nível nacional e internacional, sendo uma modalidade olímpica com um elevado potencial educativo que é inclusive reconhecido pela United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Contudo, não deixa de apresentar riscos no que diz respeito às lesões. A maioria das lesões no Judo surgem durante os treinos, sendo os locais mais afetados a cabeça/pescoço e as articulações, destacando-se o ombro nos homens, o cotovelo nas mulheres, e o joelho em contexto de competição. Os tipos e locais das lesões, bem como o tempo de afastamento dos treinos e competições que estas implicam, dependem assim de uma série de fatores, desde o sexo, idade e experiência dos atletas, até ao contexto em que ocorrem, nomeadamente treinos e competições. Adicionalmente é importante destacar outras lesões que ocorrem frequentemente, mas que tendem a ser desvalorizadas pelos atletas e estudos realizados referentes às lesões desta modalidade e que apresentam um potencial para evoluir para a cronicidade nomeadamente as lesões das articulações interfalângicas dos dedos, principalmente das mãos, ou para condicionar alterações permanentes da morfologia normal como o caso dos hematomas auriculares. Os hematomas auriculares, quando não tratados, podem evoluir para necrose, infeção, hipoacusia ou culminar na deformação do pavilhão auricular - orelha “couve-flor”. Posto isto, é importante conhecer não só as várias formas de tratamento para esta patologia auricular e quais aquelas que se associam a uma menor taxa de recorrência, mas também as formas de prevenção existentes e a sua eficácia.

La recherche biographique en éducation part du présupposé que la biographisation est un processus essentiel par lequel un individu donne forme et sens à son existence, interprète ses expériences et fait de sa vie une histoire qui lui donne une cohésion identitaire. Ce processus a donc un rôle fondamental dans l'élaboration de l'expérience, dans la construction de soi, dans sa formation, et dans la construction de son pouvoir d'agir. Ces éléments mettent en évidence la place centrale de l'activité biographique dans vie des personnes, d’où l’importance de la recherche biographique qui permet d’appréhender les processus de construction identitaire et de formation d’individus en constante transformation dans une société en mouvement qui fait émerger de nouvelles problématiques. La spécificité des modalités et des finalités des entretiens dans la recherche biographique, qui s’inscrivent dans un processus dialogique, invite à penser la relation qu’il induit entre les chercheurs et les personnes-sujets. Dans ce dossier thématique nous essaierons d'analyser et de problématiser cette relation en l’inscrivant dans trois dimensions interdépendantes : 1) la dimension éthique et déontologique qui, impliquant le sujet dans la recherche, exige la construction d'une relation d'information et de négociation, d'empathie, de confiance, d'honnêteté, de respect, de reconnaissance et de valorisation de l'autre dans sa singularité; 2) la dimension hétérobiographique, qui inscrit les échanges dans une interaction sociale entre, d'un côté, la personne-sujet « en position d'enquêteur de lui-même » et, de l’autre côté, « le chercheur dont l´objet propre est de créer les conditions et de comprendre le travail de l'enquêté sur lui-même » (Delory-Momberger, 2014, p. 79). La personne-sujet et le chercheur se questionnent réciproquement, ce qui fait de la recherche un espace-temps de formation construit dans la relation et dans la co-construction ; 3) la dimension d´engagement social, dans la mesure où les récits produits pendant les entretiens sont très étroitement liés à l'action des sujets, à laquelle ils donnent forme et sens, et permettent en même temps leur subjectivation. En ce sens, les entretiens constituent un potentiel transformateur et émancipateur des personnes-sujets, mais aussi du chercheur. L'analyse et la problématisation de ces trois dimensions viendra contribuer à l’approfondissement de la réflexion méthodologique menée par les chercheurs s’inscrivant dans le champ de la recherche biographique et mettre en évidence ses potentialités en termes de développement du pouvoir d’agir des sujets et de leur capacité à engager des changements sociaux. Le numéro thématique est composé par six textes rendant compte de recherches biographiques réalisées au Portugal, en France et au Brésil. Les textes concernent des recherches portant sur des objets d´étude différente, auprès d'enfants, de jeunes ou d'adultes. Ces recherches sont centrées sur l´expérience des sujets-participants, notamment, l'expérience scolaire d'élèves inscrits dans un collège de zone d'éducation prioritaire; les trajectoires biographiques de jeunes, anciens décrocheurs en situation de raccrochage scolaire; l'expérience de vie des jeunes et adultes à l'université; l'expérience de vie et le processus de formation d'adultes analphabètes, l'expérience professionnelle de formateurs des adultes et de professionnels de santé. Les textes contribuent à une réflexion sur la dimension relationnelle de la recherche biographique en éducation, les enjeux éthiques et déontologiques qui lui sont inhérents, ainsi que la compréhension et la promotion du pouvoir d'agir des sujets participants.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) are known to be present in the adult mammalian brain where they constitutively differentiate into the neuronal, astroglial, and oligodendroglial lineages, in defined processes termed n e u ro ge n e s i s , a st ro g l i o ge n e s i s a n d oligodendrogenesis, respectively (reviewed in Braun and Jessberger, 2014). During brain development, NSCs are present throughout the brain, becoming progressively restricted to defined brain regions. In the adult brain, NSCs are mainly present in areas classically known as neurogenic niches, i.e. the subventricular zone (SVZ), along the lateral walls of the lateral ventricles, and the subgranular zone, located in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus. These areas are particularly enriched with NSCs, which not only are multipotent cells but also proliferative cells with the ability to selfrenew, thus maintaining their own pool of cells. In fact, neurogenesis, astrogliogenesis and oligodendrogenesis are highly intricate processes comprising several steps, including proliferation, differentiation, migration, and functional integration of the newly formed cells in the existing circuitry, which are regulated by a plethora of factors. These newly differentiated adult-born cells have the capacity to continuously modulate brain function and plasticity, by constantly reacting to external or internal stimuli (reviewed in Braun and Jessberger, 2014).

This contribution aims to address the Chalcolithic/Bronze Age transition in southern Portugal from a socio-economic perspective. The starting point is the extensive archaeological fieldwork that took place at the Chalcolithic fortification of Porto das Carretas (Luz Territory) on the left bank of the Middle Guadiana river, integrated in multi-geographical scales. Our main goal is to arrive ‘just in time’ at the dawn of southwest Middle Bronze Age societies, trying to understand their formation. In chronological terms, the deconstruction of Chalcolithic societies began in central-southern Portugal around 2500 cal BC, coincident with the rise of the Bell Beaker phenomenon. At Chibanes (Estremadura), domestic architectures and the wall of the fortification were damaged, with no signs of any reconstruction. Other sites, such as Porto das Carretas and Monte da Tumba (Alentejo) had been rebuilt by Bell Beaker elites, showing a clear cut with the previous architectural programs. Ditched enclosures collapsed c. 2200-2000 cal BC, but the construction of the latest ditches of the enclosure systems did not extend beyond 2500-2400 cal BC. The construction of large tholos-type collective funerary monuments was replaced by individual graves, although sometimes with the reuse of the previous collective tombs. This trend to single graves reached a peak in the Early/Middle Bronze Age. The crisis of the Chalcolithic society and its collapse in the second half of the 3rd millennium cal BC allowed more unequal and hierarchical regional Bronze Age societies throughout southern Iberia, along with craft specialisation/oriented groups (socio-economic specialisation of labour) in metallurgy and textile activities (mainly linen production). At the same time, the political economy grew more differentiated, controlled by powerful chiefs of the ‘Southwest Bronze Age Culture’, or ruled by the early state of El Argar in the southeast.

The functions of astragali in Antiquity have been studied and evaluated, mainly taking stock of their contexts but also Greek and Roman iconography. Studies have chiefly approached the Levant and Eastern and Central Mediterranean islands. We now describe data referring to this type of bone in Iberia. Recurrently present in necropolises and sanctuaries of the Iron Age, astragali also appear in habitat sites of the same chronology. An analysis of contexts, gathering information on the Far West of Iberia, is important. Also, the adoption of exogenous models in ritual practices and aspects of daily life, which talus bones illustrate, must be discussed in terms of the phenomena of the nobility allowed by the Phoenician colonisation, giving historical perspectie to animal bones.

O texto visa analisar a relação entre o investigador e os sujeitos participantes, no âmbito de uma investigação biográfica, centrada no processo de formação de adultos não escolarizados. A investigação consistiu na realização de entrevistas biográficas, com oito adultos não escolarizados, em Portugal. Partiu-se do pressuposto de que os adultos não escolarizados têm saberes, adquiridos ao longo da vida, através da experiência, que podem ser explicitados e socializados, com a entrevista biográfica. A investigação permitiu compreender a importância da formação experiencial na vida dos adultos não escolarizados e do uso da entrevista biográfica para aceder aos seus percursos de vida e saberes. A relação gerada no momento da entrevista biográfica revelou-se específica e complexa, colocando a investigadora face a dificuldades e a desafios. Verificou-se que a tomada de consciência da especificidade e da complexidade da relação investigador-sujeitos participantes na entrevista biográfica são essenciais para o investigador superar as dificuldades e os desafios, assim como para assegurar a coconstrução do conhecimento científico, a partir de relações humanas significativas. Os elementos apresentados revelam a dimensão formativa da investigação biográfica para a investigadora.

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Esta Newsletter (NL) resulta de uma parceria entre o Instituto de Saúde Baseada na Evidência e a Cochrane Portugal, e tem como objectivo disponibilizar informação sobre áreas interessantes para a prática clínica, com base na melhor evidência científica. São incluídos estudos relevantes, criticamente avaliados pela sua validade, importância dos resultados e aplicabilidade prática, resumidos numa óptica de suporte à decisão. É dada prioridade a estudos de causalidade incluindo-se ainda, quando justificado, estudos qualitativos e metodológicos, assim como revisões científicas. O conteúdo da NL é da exclusiva responsabilidade do(s) seu(s) autor(es).

Acral melanomas are rare, representing 2% - 3% of all melanomas. However, the fatality rate is higher because of delayed diagnosis. They are more common on weight-bearing areas of the foot and are frequently amelanotic sometimes mimicking fungal infections, diabetic foot ulcers or even plantar warts.

O texto visa analisar a atividade profissional do educador de adultos, em Portugal, num contexto de políticas públicas de adultos pouco escolarizados, centradas no reconhecimento e na validação de adquiridos experienciais. A análise é suportada numa investigação qualitativa, realizada entre 2001 e 2009. Os dados empíricos resultaram de entrevistas semidiretivas e de entrevistas biográficas com educadores de adultos e com adultos, envolvidos neste processo. Os resultados da investigação permitem afirmar que o caráter pioneiro e a complexidade do processo de reconhecimento e validação de adquiridos experienciais originaram uma reconfiguração da atividade profissional do educador de adultos, no que respeita às suas funções.

O texto tem como objetivo analisar o potencial formativo da narrativa autobiográfica no formador de adultos. A análise resultou de uma investigação-formação-ação, filiada na hermenêutica, realizada com formadores de adultos, na condição de estudantes de mestrado, em Portugal. A investigação enquadrada no campo científico das Ciências da Educação baseou-se em dois pressupostos teóricos estruturantes: primeiro, considera-se que a educação e a formação são processos amplos e difusos, que ocorrem em todas as idades e contextos de vida e promovem uma transformação silenciosa; segundo, reconhece-se a importância de os formadores de adultos compreenderem o seu próprio processo de formação, como forma de potenciar o poder de ação e de transformação. Os formadores de adultos elaboraram uma biografia educativa centrada no percurso profissional e no processo de formação. A elaboração da narrativa biográfica mobilizou o sujeito num processo de reflexão, de rememoração, de seleção, de análise e de (re)elaboração da sua experiência, em dinâmicas de alternância entre o individual e o coletivo, a oralidade e a escrita. A análise destas narrativas biográficas permitiu compreender o poder formativo e transformador gerado pela reflexão, pela escrita de si e pela socialização da experiência. Os formadores de adultos atribuíram sentido e apropriam-se da sua experiência profissional e do seu processo de formação, o que desencadeou a autoformação. Nesse sentido, a biografia educativa apresentou um potencial transformador capaz de restituir o poder de ação e de formação dos formadores de adultos.

River ecosystems world‐wide are affected by altered flow regimes, and advanced science and practice of environmental flows have been developed to understand and reduce these impacts. But most environmental flows approaches ignore flow intermittency, which is a natural feature of 30% of the global river network length. Ignoring flow intermittency when setting environmental flows in naturally intermittent rivers might lead to deleterious ecological effects. We review evidence of the ecological effects of flow intermittency and provide guidance to incorporate intermittency (non‐flow events) into existing methods judged as suitable for application in temporary waterways. To better integrate non‐flow events into hydrological methods, we propose a suite of new indicators to be used in the range of variability approach. These indicators reflect dry periods and the unpredictable nature of temporary waterways. We develop a predictability index for protecting those species adapted to temporary conditions. For hydraulic‐habitat models, we find that mesohabitat methods are particularly effective for describing complex habitat dynamics during dry phases. We present an example of the European eel to show the relationship between discharge and non‐flow days and wet area, habitat suitability and connectivity. We find that existing holistic approaches may be applied to temporary waterways without significant structural alteration to their stepwise frameworks, but new component methods are needed to address flow‐related aspects across both flow and non‐flow periods of the flow regime. Synthesis and applications. Setting environmental flow requirements for temporary waterways requires modification and enhancement of existing approaches and methodologies, most notably the explicit consideration of non‐flow events and greater integration of specific geomorphic, hydrogeologic and hydraulic elements. Temporary waterways are among the freshwater ecosystems most vulnerable to alterations in flow regimes, and they are also under great pressure. The methodological modifications recommended in this paper will aid water managers in protecting key components of temporary flow regimes, thereby preserving their unique ecology and associated services.

We all know the story of Christopher Columbus, the Genoese explorer who set sail under the patronage of the Spanish Catholic Monarchs in 1492 to establish a direct sea route between Europe and the Far East, whence India and its highly valued spice trade could easily be reached and, thusly, allow Castile and Aragon, the predecessors of the Kingdom of Spain, to place first in the podium of the most profitable countries during the Age of Discovery, competing neck and neck with the neighboring and extraordinarily successful Portuguese Monarchy. It is equally axiomatic that on October 12th that same year, Columbus eventually came to find land after a month and a half at sea, mistaking the uncharted Caribbean islands for the Empire of Japan and, at some point, China, as described by Marco Polo, a Venetian traveler who, two centuries prior, had treaded along the Ancient Silk Road all the way to Asia and back. The aspect that is usually kept out of the record, however, is the fact that Columbus stopped at nothing to obtain every piece of gold the ground could yield, which led to a massive exchange between Europe, Africa, and future America that was bound to modify the History of Humankind in the worst possible way – forever. Throughout Part I of this expedition, we travel aboard the famous flotilla comprised of the Santa María, the Niña, and the Pinta across the Atlantic, bearing witness to just how a group of initially ninety men expected to enforce Christian law in an area where the aborigine inhabitants had already built an efficient society of their own, having been deemed, nevertheless, “irrational beasts”.

Actor Being: A Role in Mankind is an essay on Theater Arts, but not quite stricto sensu, as it may sound firsthand. Though related to the actor, who is now all the more renowned as a «performer», in detriment of a «player», the goal here is to figure out the Thespian artist's place and influence in Human race itself. Starting at the cradle of Western civilization, in Ancient Greece, where Modern knowledge has its basis set, we take the actor across a timeline of events, movements and contexts, from where he (as only men could play) is seen as an individual of extreme public life importance, not only because of his ability to speak, read and write like not so many others could, but also because of his relevance in Politics. Through the course of the Dark and Middle Ages, when Christianity takes over Europe and the Near East, profanity is associated to Theater Arts by the clergy, therefore excommunicating all forms of stage artistry, though they became so popular among the people, that the Church considered for a few moments taking Theater inside its walls, staging, for instance, liturgical dramas. Nonetheless, because of all the foulness the peasants expected from players, there was no choice but to kick them out again. Regardless of the period in time, the truth is actors were generally acclaimed by the general public as folk of the utmost interest, many dreaming about a career in the field, such as those who got a chance to work with the creator of the kind of drama still in practice up to this day, William Shakespeare. How does all this popularity meddle with society, and how does it shape the course of civilization, in order to keep it together, working as one, single force, toward peace and agreement or even disagreement, though intellectual only and, henceforth, peaceful? Also, what influence is there among actors themselves and how do they behave around each other and in the industries they are a part of? That is what this essay looks to explain, pointing out both virtues and flaws of being an actor.

Over the last millennium and a half, the very name of Hypatia of Alexandria has become synonymous with elements such as inspiration, martyrdom, and, above all, heroism, which eventually led to the transformation of her memory into what is likely one of the first, if not the main symbol of Feminism today. However, the historical context the daughter of Theon lived in, he who was the last Director of the Neoplatonic School, has a great deal more to it than the eye can see, for this was a time of turmoil and constant rioting in an urban center that had once been the capital of knowledge of the West, witness to rival forces whose beliefs, either religious or political, had to forcibly take full control of the formerly prosperous city by any means necessary, including genocidal persecution and massacre. The fact extermination continues to be used as a way of discouraging democratic opposition still today only shows us how little we have learned from the multiple victims who sacrificed their lives across the history of Humanity, which ultimately begs questions such as these: have Hypatia and other human beings died in vain? Was it ever legitimate to kill another whenever discord rose in the horizon? And what of holding on to power with the purpose of ruling a handful of equals as if they were of a lesser sort, perhaps alleging divine incumbency for doing so? It does not take a crowning, an election, a coup, or even the will to become a popular leader capable of bringing everyone together. Hypatia was but one of many whose arguments were much too logical to be refuted, and that is what rattles tyrants the most. Their only solution? Silencing, but merely temporary, for no one can smother a powerful legacy forever.

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This book is divided in three different parts: first, a national consolidation. This means that, as long as we keep turning our backs on each other and ignoring the fact we are all worthy of a dignified life as a dominant species, progress will never become achievable. Second, when everyone is able to live a life worthy of human conditions, there will come the time for Transhumanism to prevail. Most people do not realize we have been transhumanizing our bodies for decades. Third, we are already looking into outer space for the so-called exoplanets, similar to Earth in their atmospheric and geological composition, which makes it not so surprising that we may be looking at the home to someone else. Whether we will find humans or not depends entirely on the planets’ history, but what if you were told you could find dinosaurs all over again, your mirrored image of the human being you are, or both? We were born late enough to see the turn of a new millennium and thus become the Children of Tomorrow.

Legend has it the Greek goddess of springtime and rebirth, Persephone, daughter of Zeus and Demeter, was one day napped by Hades, Ruler of the Underworld, after sighting her for the first time and immediately falling in love with her, as she painted flowers by a body of water, accompanied by the Oceanids, and Artemis and Athena, her sisters. There is little agreement as to where ‘The Rape of Proserpina’ (as she became known in Ancient Rome, inspiring multiple works of art across Europe for centuries) actually took place, though one of the possibilities lies at Pergusa Lake, located in the Sicilian island of present-day Italy. That is where this story is retold, in the remnants of Magna Graecia. Generating an insurmountable fault in the lake’s ground, Hades drove his golden chariot to the surface and took Persephone by the wrist and waist, immediately submerging toward Tartarus, domain of the dead, leaving the landscape behind them intact, as if nothing had happened. Demeter took it to her hands to find her daughter, searching for an entire nine days. When the desperate mother became aware of what had happened to Persephone, she demanded Zeus’s intervention, who ordered Hades to return the lost divinity to her mother. However, and according to the Fates, those who ingest pomegranate seeds in the Underworld are bound to lay there, one month per seed. Thus began the four seasons, granted Fall and Winter were the time when Persephone had to join Hades against her will, but only in the very beginning. What happens next is the rebirth of truth.

Openness toward organizational change is central to employees’ responses to organizations’ strategic actions. This study aims to assess the validity evidence of the Openness Toward Organizational Change Scale (OTOCS) by examining the internal structure of the measure (e.g., dimensionality, reliability, measurement invariance) and its relations with other variables such as quality of work life, burnout, job satisfaction, and work engagement. A cross-sectional study was conducted using total sample of 1,175 workers, with 565 workers from Portugal and 610 from Brazil. The data provided satisfactory validity evidence based on the internal structure: the expected dimensionality was confirmed, acceptable levels of reliability were found, and measurement invariance was achieved among countries and sex. The measure also demonstrated satisfactory validity evidence based on the relations to other variables, being negatively associated with burnout and positively associated with work engagement, job satisfaction and quality of work. The OTOCS proved to be a relatively short self-report measure with satisfactory validity evidence to be used among Brazilian and Portuguese workers.