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- Creativity, innovation and collaborative organizationsPublication . Cardoso de Sousa, Fernando; Pellissier, René; Monteiro, Ileana PardalThis article intends to make a contribution to the clarification of the concepts of creativity and innovation using a multilevel approach of individual, group and organization, in order to show that these may be better integrated within collaborative organizations. Trying to maintain the principle of the primacy of the individual (creativity) over the business (innovation), we stressed the cognitive and emotional processes (when speaking of creativity) and power and communi- cation (when it comes to innovation). Following on a description of group processes that try to combine creativity and innovation, we address the measurement of innovation, concluding with the need to avoid classifying an organization as innovative or non-innovative. The latter judgment should be left to the market itself. At the organizational level, we gave primacy to the concept of "organizational innovation", as it is within this framework that the best fusion between creativity and innovation may be achieved. Finally, we address collaboration in business as connecting people, ideas, and resources that would not normally interact with each The International Journal of Organizational Innovation Vol 5 Num 1 Summer 2012 2 other. These decentralized organizations operate in such a way that makes it possible to abolish or, at least mitigate, the role of power. We believe that this will ultimately define the future of successful organizations
- Representação proporcional: um problema de otimização inteiraPublication . Fernandes, SusanaO atual programa de MACS inclui nos seus conteúdos programáticos métodos de representação proporcional. No entanto, a maioria dos professores de matemática não teve qualquer formação nesta área. Neste documento evidencia-se que os métodos dos divisores resolvem problemas de otimização inteira e sugere-se que estes sejam introduzidos nos cursos de (ensino em) matemática, em disciplinas da área da investigação operacional.
- Representação proporcional: um problema de otimização inteiraPublication . Fernandes, SusanaA representação proporcional é uma aplicação da teoria da divisão proporcional no caso discreto, que por sua vez se inclui na teoria da partilha equilibrada. As aplicações mais famosas de representação proporcional referem-se a eleições parlamentares. Seja (V) o número total de votos válidos de uma eleição, que se distribuem por (N) listas eleitorais, sendo (vi) o número de votos na lista eleitoral (i). Seja (M) o número total de mandatos a distribuir pelas listas eleitorais, de acordo com a sua proporção de votos (vi/V). A quota de mandatos no parlamento da lista eleitoral i será (qi=Mvi/V), que em geral não é um número inteiro. Temos uma solução admissível para o problema ao determinar o número de mandatos mi a atribuir a cada lista i, sendo os mi inteiros não negativos tais que a sua soma totalize M. Qual será a forma mais justa de distribuir os M mandatos pelas N listas eleitorais, de acordo com a proporção de votos obtida por cada lista? O ideal será ter o número de mandatos atribuídos a cada lista eleitoral o mais perto possível da sua quota, o que poderá ser traduzido por minimizar a soma das diferenças absolutas entre mis e qis. Poderemos pensar que o número de eleitores que cada mandato representa deveria ser igual para todas as listas, e igual à representatividade de cada mandato pensada na definição do número de mandatos no parlamento. Ou, analogamente poderemos pensar na desejável igualdade da proporção de mandatos por cada eleitor. Uma vez que o número de mandatos atribuídos a cada lista eleitoral não será exatamente igual à sua quota de mandatos, existirão listas favorecidas e listas desfavorecidas relativamente à sua quota. Poderemos pensar em minimizar o número de votos por mandato da lista mais desfavorecida, ou minimizar a proporção de mandatos por cada eleitor da lista mais favorecida. Nesta comunicação falaremos de alguns métodos tradicionais para a representação proporcional (Hamilton, Jefferson = D’Hondt , Adams, Webster = Sainte-Laguë, Huntington-Hill) e apresentaremos como as soluções dadas por estes métodos correspondem à otimização de uma função objectivo diferente, consequência de conceções distintas de traduzir matematicamente o que é mais justo.
- Performance assessment in primary health care: a systematic review of the literature and a new research agendaPublication . Kalinichenko, Olena; Amado, Carla; Santos, Sérgio Pereira dosThe aim of this research is to carry out a systematic review of the studies devoted to the performance assessment of primary health care providers. Focusing on the peculiarities of performance evaluation in the public sector, we examine performance measurement categories, dimensions and techniques in order to provide a holistic picture of the main developments and opportunities in the referred domain and to identify future research directions.
- The importance of friction in mountain wave drag amplification by scorer parameter resonancePublication . Teixeira, M. A. C.; Argaín, José Luís Almaguer; Miranda, P. M. A.A mechanism for amplification of mountain waves, and their associated drag, by parametric resonance is investigated using linear theory and numerical simulations. This mechanism, which is active when the Scorer parameter oscillates with height, was recently classified by previous authors as intrinsically nonlinear. Here it is shown that, if friction is included in the simplest possible form as a Rayleigh damping, and the solution to the TaylorGoldstein equation is expanded in a power series of the amplitude of the Scorer parameter oscillation, linear theory can replicate the resonant amplification produced by numerical simulations with some accuracy. The drag is significantly altered by resonance in the vicinity of n/l0 = 2, where l0 is the unperturbed value of the Scorer parameter and n is the wave number of its oscillation. Depending on the phase of this oscillation, the drag may be substantially amplified or attenuated relative to its non-resonant value, displaying either single maxima or minima, or double extrema near n/l0 = 2. Both non-hydrostatic effects and friction tend to reduce the magnitude of the drag extrema. However, in exactly inviscid conditions, the single drag maximum and minimum are suppressed. As in the atmosphere friction is often small but non-zero outside the boundary layer, modelling of the drag amplification mechanism addressed here should be quite sensitive to the type of turbulence closure employed in numerical models, or to computational dissipation in nominally inviscid simulations. Copyright (c) 2012 Royal Meteorological Society
- Structure, tissue distribution and estrogen regulation of splice variants of the sea bream estrogen receptor alpha genePublication . Pinto, Patricia IS; Teodósio, H. R.; Socorro, S.; Power, Deborah; Canario, Adelino V. M.Estrogen actions are mainly mediated by specific nuclear estrogen receptors (ERs), for which different genes and a diversity of transcript variants have been identified, mainly in mammals. In this study, we investigated the presence of ER splice variants in the teleost fish gilthead sea bream (Sparus auratus), by comparison with the genomic organization of the related species Takifugu rubripes. Two exon2-deleted ERα transcript variants were isolated from liver cDNA of estradiol-treated fish. The ΔE2 variant lacks ERα exon 2, generating a premature termination codon and a putative C-terminal truncated receptor, while the ΔE2,3* variant contains an in-frame deletion of exon 2 and part of exon 3 and codes for a putative ERα protein variant lacking most of the DNA-binding domain. Both variants were expressed at very low levels in several female and male sea bream tissues, and their expression was highly inducible in liver by estradiol-17β treatment with a strong positive correlation with the typical wild-type (wt) ERα response in this tissue. These findings identify novel estrogen responsive splice variants of fish ERα, and provide the basis for future studies to investigate possible modulation of wt-ER actions by splice variants.
- Ensinando métodos de representação proporcionalPublication . Fernandes, SusanaO atual programa da disciplina Matemática Aplicada a Ciências Sociais (MACS) do ensino secundário inclui, sob o tema da teoria da partilha equilibrada, a representação proporcional, que é uma aplicação da teoria da divisão proporcional no caso discreto. O que é a representação proporcional? Nos Estados Unidos da América cada estado recebe um número de lugares no parlamento - “house of representatives” – proporcional à sua população, segundo o último censo realizado. Em inúmeros países da Europa, como é o caso de Portugal, cada lista eleitoral recebe um número de mandatos no parlamento proporcional ao número de votos obtidos nas eleições. Mais concretamente, em Portugal o número total de lugares no parlamento é distribuído pelos distritos do país (círculos eleitorais) de forma proporcional às respetivas populações, de acordo com o último censo; depois, em cada eleição, cada lista eleitoral elege em cada círculo eleitoral um número de deputados proporcional ao número de votos aí obtidos. Na disciplina MACS são abordados alguns métodos de representação proporcional de origem norte-americana (Hamilton, Jefferson, Adams, Webster, Huntington-Hill), pelo seu interesse histórico, e os dois métodos de origem europeia mais usados atualmente (D’Hondt e Sainte-Laguë). O método de Hamilton foi há muito abandonado por estar sujeito aos paradoxos do Alabama, da População e dos Novos Estados. Nesta comunicação serão expostas as características do método de Hamilton que tornam possível a ocorrência destes paradoxos. Clarificaremos como o conhecimento destas caraterísticas permite ao professor construir exercícios que confrontem os alunos com a existência destes paradoxos. Todos os restantes métodos de representação proporcional abordados são métodos de divisores modificados, que não estão sujeitos aos paradoxos. Os métodos norte americanos determinam de uma só vez a distribuição dos lugares no parlamento pelos estados, necessitando de algumas iterações até acertar no número total de lugares a distribuir. Os métodos europeus vão distribuindo um a um os lugares do parlamento pelas listas eleitorais. Na verdade o método de Jefferson e o método de D’Hondt são formas computacionais distintas do mesmo método. O mesmo sucede com os métodos de Webster e de Sainte-Laguë. Nesta comunicação será apresentada a construção de exercícios que confrontam os alunos com estes fatos.
- Cytochrome 1A1 and 1B1 gene diversity in the Zanzibar islandsPublication . Cavaco, I.; Piedade, R.; Msellem, M. I.; Bjorkman, A.; Gil, José PedroAmodiaquine (AQ) is a 4-aminoquinoline widely used in the treatment of malaria as part of the artemisinin combination therapy (ACT). AQ is metabolised towards its main metabolite desethylamodiaquine mainly by cytochrome P450 2C8 (CYP2C8). CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 play a minor role in the metabolism but they seem to be significantly involved in the formation of the short-lived quinine-imine. To complete the genetic variation picture of the main genes involved in AQ metabolism in the Zanzibar population, previously characterised for CYP2C8, we analysed in this study CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 main genetic polymorphisms. The results obtained show a low frequency of the CYP1A1*2B/C allele (2.4%) and a high frequency of CYP1B1*6 (approximately 42%) followed by CYP1B1*2 (approximately 27%) in Zanzibar islands. Genotype data for CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 show a low incidence of fast metabolisers, revealing a relatively safe genetic background in Zanzibars population regarding the appearance of adverse effects.
- Human Mob1 proteins are required for cytokinesis by controlling microtubule stabilityPublication . Florindo, Claudia; Perdigao, Joana; Fesquet, Didier; Schiebel, Elmar; Pines, Jonathon; Tavares, Alvaro A.The completion of cytokinesis requires abscission of the midbody, a microtubule-rich cytoplasmic bridge that connects the daughter cells before their final separation. Although it has been established that both the midbody structure and membrane fusion are essential for abscission, the biochemical machinery and the cellular processes of abscission remain ill-defined. Here we report that human Mob1A and Mob1B proteins are involved in the regulation of abscission of the intercellular bridge. The Mob family is a group of highly conserved proteins in eukaryotes, described as binding partners as well as co-activators of protein kinases of the Ndr family, and as members of the Hippo pathway. We show that depletion of Mob1A and Mob1B by RNAi causes abscission failure as a consequence of hyper-stabilization of microtubules in the midbody region. Interestingly, depleting Mob1 also increases cell motility after cytokinesis, and induces prolonged centriole separation in G1 phase. In contrast, centrosomes fail to split when either Mob1A or Mob1B is overexpressed. Our findings indicate that human Mob1 proteins are involved in the regulation of microtubule stability at the midbody. We conclude that Mob1A and Mob1B are needed for cell abscission and centriole re-joining after telophase and cytokinesis.
- pfmdr1 amplification is related to increased Plasmodium falciparum In Vitro sensitivity to the Bisquinoline PiperaquinePublication . Veiga, M. I.; Ferreira, P. E.; Malmberg, M.; Jornhagen, L.; Bjorkman, A.; Nosten, F.; Gil, J. P.The 4-aminoquinoline bisquinoline piperaquine is an important partner drug in one of the presently recommended artemisinin combination therapies. Recent clinical trials have confirmed its high efficacy in combination with dihydroartemisinin. Resistance to piperaquine alone has, however, been documented. Amplification in copy number of the Plasmodium falciparum multidrug resistance locus on chromosome 5, containing the pfmdr1 gene, has been shown to confer resistance to structurally unrelated antimalarials. Through the determination of the 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC(50)s) and IC(90)s for piperaquine and chloroquine in a set of 46 adapted P. falciparum cultures originating from the Thai-Burmese border, we have characterized the regions around the pfmdr1 gene and identified a significant association between the presence of pfmdr1 duplications and enhanced sensitivity to piperaquine (P = 0.005 for IC50 and P = 0.002 for IC90) and chloroquine, reaching statistical significance at IC(90)s (P = 0.026). These results substantiate the potential importance of pfmdr1 copy number amplifications in the efficacy of the combination therapy piperaquine-dihydroartemisinin. It supports the rational use of 4-aminoquinolines and artemisinin-based compounds, as they independently select for mutually incompatible combinations of mutations.