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Multidrug resistance (MDR), a phenomenon with impact in Human Health and in Agro-Food and Environmental Biotechnology, often results from the activation of drug efflux pumps, many times controlled at the transcriptional level. The complex transcriptional control of these genes has been on the focus of our research, guided by the information gathered in the YEASTRACT database. In this paper, the approach...
Imaging the ocular fundus, namely the retina, to detect and/or monitor changes over time from the healthy condition is of fundamental importance to assess onset and disease progression and is a valuable tool to understand the basic mechanisms of ocular diseases. Current trends point to the need for less or non-invasive approaches, to the need for detailed (higher spatial and temporal resolution) imaging...
Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) bacteria are serious opportunistic pathogens, especially in immunocompromised and cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. The first epidemiological survey of Bcc bacteria involved in pulmonary infections among the CF population under surveillance at the major Portuguese CF Treatment Center at Santa Maria Hospital was published in 2000. Based on a collection of clinical isolates...
The aim of this work was the development of a two-electrode electrocardiogram acquisition system with dynamic interference rejection. The developed system is capable of measuring the electrocardiogram using only two electrodes due to its capacity to cancel the differential voltage from the 50 Hz interference signal. This capacity is given by a PLL circuit that generates a signal in phase opposition...
Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is evaluated as a tool to monitor two bacterial processes: strain discrimination and drug inactivation studies with the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori and the plasmid production process based on high-density cultures of recombinant Escherichia coli. Results show, that after evaluation of different incubation conditions of H.pylori with the drug...
The analysis of heart rate variability is nowadays a common method for noninvasive evaluation of the autonomic nervous system integrity. In this work we developed an integrated and modular system — FisioSinal — capable of clinical and laboratorial evaluation of the behavior of autonomic nervous system using cardiovascular signals in humans and animal models. The computational tools that were included...
This study aims to develop a wound dressing for exudate management, consisting of nano-bioabsorbent composite. Wound dressings are used to protect the wound from contamination or infection and to remove any exudate generated during the healing process. It is intended to develop composite nanofibers through electrospinning technique due this method can be further developed for mass production of one-by-one...
This study aims to develop bioelectromanetic wound dressings to accelerate the healing of chronic wounds such as pressure ulcers. For this purpose the authors will carry out three different methods: nanolayered structures with metallic oxide elements, coated nanofiber bandages with metallic oxide elements and finally, bandages produced with knit structures integrating metallic yarns. The key concept...
One of the major focuses in experimental hematology is the in vitro manipulation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and progenitors with the goal of generating clinically relevant cell numbers from the limited number of cells present in available samples for multiple settings including bone marrow transplantation, somatic cell gene therapy and production of mature blood cell types. The goal of ex-vivo...
The kinetics of Glucose oxidase (GOD) and Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) on a transparent Ion Jelly biopolymer has been investigated using a colorimetric assay of H2O2 with phenol-4-sulfonic acid and 4-aminoantipyrine, as color-generating precursors. The activity of GOD and HRP on the Ion Jelly biopolymer solid disk formed in the bottom of the well ELISA plate showed to be respectively 16 times and...
Burkholderia cepacia complex bacteria are opportunistic pathogens, causing severe lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients. Many clinical isolates produce the exopolysaccharide cepacian, believed to be an infection persistence determinant. Little is known about cepacian biosynthesis regulation, but our studies showed the importance of post-translational mechanisms mediated by tyrosine phosphorylation,...
Nanomedicine is an emerging new field combining nanotechnology and medicine. Silica nanoparticles are chemical and biologically inert, optically transparent and can be doped with imaging agents and/or functionalized to promote its conjugation with different therapeutic molecules. Silica nanoparticles can be engineered to improve diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of diseases. A combination of diagnosis...
Cells stem cells (CSCs) have been identified in several types of malignancies and referred as the responsible for driving tumor growth and resistance to chemotherapy. Previous studies have identified CSCs in a human osteosarcoma cell line that is relatively resistant to doxorubicin. We aimed to identify the mechanisms underlying this resistant phenotype and to assess the functional alterations occurring...
Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a genetic disorder characterized by increased predisposition for tumor development and cognitive deficits. In this work, we used maps of grey matter density obtained from Magnetic Resonance (MR) brain structural scans to distinguish between NF1 patients and healthy controls with a multivariate pattern analysis technique, Support Vector Machines. Up to 83% of all participants...
The NanoLab research laboratory based in Instituto Superior Técnico is strongly involved in the development, processing and characterization of biomaterials. The associated BioMater teaching laboratory will enable undergraduate and graduate students to acquire a hands-on experience in the field. Research lines in biomaterials development and biological materials characterization are described.
Multidrug resistance (MDR) is frequently mediated by the action of drug-efflux pumps, which are able to catalyze the active expulsion of several unrelated cytotoxic compounds out of the cell or their intracellular partitioning. A group of transporters involved in MDR belongs to the major facilitator superfamily (MFS) which, based on protein topology, phylogeny and function, divides into two families:...
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging has established itself as the most powerful technique available today to measure brain activity induced by a perceptual or cognitive state. The inverse problem is considered in this study; given the measured brain activity, our goal is to predict the perceptual state. Machine Learning algorithms were used to address this problem in this work. Multi-subject fMRI...
We developed a methodology to perform an economic evaluation of the Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) MRI technology in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease. The evaluation was designed to inform about the potential of this new technology in generating benefits while controlling costs. After surveying all relevant literature and data, we set up a decision model based on a Markov cycle tree and applied...
This work concerns the noise present in BOLD-fMRI (Blood-Oxygen-Level-Dependent: functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, a technique that evaluates the levels of oxygen in the blood vessels of the brain. It is known that there is a temporal correlation present in the BOLD-fMRI's noise signal, complicating the estimation of the active regions of the brain due to an external stimulus. Using SPM-GLM methods...
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