Papers by Teresa Carvalho
PLOS ONE, 2016
Tuberculosis imposes high human and economic tolls, including in Europe. This study was conducted... more Tuberculosis imposes high human and economic tolls, including in Europe. This study was conducted to develop a severity assessment tool for stratifying mortality risk in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients. A derivation cohort of 681 PTB cases was retrospectively reviewed to generate a model based on multiple logistic regression analysis of prognostic variables with 6-month mortality as the outcome measure. A clinical scoring system was developed and tested against a validation cohort of 103 patients. Five risk features were selected for the prediction model: hypoxemic respiratory failure (OR 4.7, 95% CI 2.8-7.9), age ≥50 years (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.7-4.8), bilateral lung involvement (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.4-4.4), ≥1 significant comorbidity-HIV infection, diabetes mellitus, liver failure or cirrhosis, congestive heart failure and chronic respiratory disease-(OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.3-3.8), and hemoglobin <12 g/dL (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.1-3.1). A tuberculosis risk assessment tool (TReAT) was developed, stratifying patients with low (score ≤2), moderate (score 3-5) and high (score ≥6) mortality risk. The mortality associated with each group was 2.9%, 22.9% and 53.9%, respectively. The model performed equally well in the validation cohort. We provide a new, easy-to-use clinical scoring system to identify PTB patients with high-mortality risk in settings with good healthcare access, helping clinicians to decide which patients are in need of closer medical care during treatment.
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 03075079 2014 914909, Jun 4, 2014
ABSTRACT Estuaries concentrate complex and often conflicting sets of natural, economic and social... more ABSTRACT Estuaries concentrate complex and often conflicting sets of natural, economic and social resources and activities bringing multiple challenges to institutional frameworks, planning and management approaches as well as governance practices dedicated to their protection, maintenance and resilience. Portugal has recently adopted a new set of estuary plans of regulatory nature, which combine the perspective of water resources management with that of land-use management. This paper explores the conceptual specificities of estuary planning and management in Portugal and their potential role in contexts of multiple resources, users, instruments and institutions. Given the mentioned complexity and vulnerability to global change, these plans may be crucial for seeking better environmental governance and greater resilience. The paper is structured in three parts. The first one through a literature review summarises some of the main conclusions about the role and specificities of governance in estuaries. The second part presents the legal and procedural features of estuary plans in Portugal and their integration within the water resources and land-use planning systems. The third part concentrates on the specificities of the River Vouga Estuary (Ria de Aveiro), a Natura 2000 area that needs to deal with different, and potentially conflicting, socioeconomic sectors. Departing from a SWOT analysis of the main environmental, socioeconomic and institutional features, the paper argues for the relevance of an innovative planning and management instrument — capable of reducing the tensions inherent to local administrative boundaries and of contributing to a collective vision of the territory through the articulation of values, targets, instruments and means.
International Journal For Parasitology, Jan 31, 2010
The life cycle of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum involves dramatic morphological and ... more The life cycle of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum involves dramatic morphological and molecular changes required for infection of insect and mammalian hosts. Stage-specific gene expression is crucial, yet few nuclear factors, including potential epigenetic regulators, have been identified. Epigenetic mechanisms play an important role in the switched expression of members of species-specific gene families, which encode proteins exported into the cytoplasm and onto the surface of infected erythrocytes. This includes the large virulence-associated var gene family, in which monoallelic transcription of a single member and switching to other var genes leads to a display of different surface ligands with distinct antigenic and adhesive properties. Using a bio-informatic approach we identified 24 putative nuclear proteins. Tagging with sequences encoding GFP or haemagglutinin (HA) epitopes allowed for identification and localisation analysis of 12 nuclear proteins that are potential regulators of P. falciparum gene expression. These proteins specifically localise to distinct areas of the nucleus, reaching from the centre towards the nuclear envelope, giving new insights into the apicomplexan nuclear architecture. Proteins presenting a punctate distribution in the perinuclear sub-compartments are potential virulence gene regulators as silenced and active var genes reside at the nuclear periphery either clustered or in small expression sites, respectively. These analyses demonstrated an ordered compartmentalisation, indicating a complex sub-nuclear organisation that contributes to the complexity of transcriptional regulation in P. falciparum.
Biophys J, 2004
The conformational transition from the native state in water (“β-state”) to a state containing a ... more The conformational transition from the native state in water (“β-state”) to a state containing a considerable amount of α-helices (“α-state”) was studied for the protein β-lactoglobulin (BLG), from bovine milk, in several colloidal solutions containing mixed micelles or spontaneous vesicles. These aggregates were formed in the bicationic system containing the surfactant dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride (DTAC) and the lipid didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB). The β→α transition in BLG, investigated by far-ultraviolet circular dichroism spectroscopy, is induced to the same protein α-state by pure and mixed DDAB/DTAC micelles or vesicles. This implies a similar interaction mechanism of BLG with DDAB or DTAC, once the colloidal aggregates are formed. In premicelle DTAC solutions, the fraction of α-helix is lower and increases with the DTAC concentration. DDAB and DTAC also promote conformational changes in the protein tertiary structure that expose the tryptophans to a less constrained environment. These unfolding transitions were investigated by near-ultraviolet circular dichroism and steady-state fluorescence spectroscopies. In equilibrium conditions, it was found that higher DTAC (and, probably, DDAB) concentrations are needed to induce the β→α transition than to unfold the protein. β-Lactoglobulin may therefore be considered as a model for protein–surfactant and protein–lipid interactions.
Forest fires represent the main threat to sustainable forest management in Portugal. During the l... more Forest fires represent the main threat to sustainable forest management in Portugal. During the last fifty years, a massive depopulation took place at rural areas, developing a landscape more prone to fire. The expansion of forest and shrubland into former agricultural areas, as well as, the rapid regeneration of vegetation after fire in some areas, highlighted the need to implement several measures to protect forest and rural areas against fires.
Studies in Higher Education, Jun 4, 2014
Rpg Rev Pos Grad, Mar 1, 2003
Resumo: O cimento de ionômero de vidro é um material odontológico que pode ser usado para substit... more Resumo: O cimento de ionômero de vidro é um material odontológico que pode ser usado para substituir tecido ósseo, porque apresenta biocompatibilidade e induz osteogênese no processo alveolar em ratos normais. O presente trabalho teve o objetivo de avaliar o ...
European Respiratory Journal, Sep 1, 2014
Journal of Anxiety Disorders, Oct 23, 2014
Biophysical Journal, Nov 15, 2007
The b/a transition of b-lactoglobulin, a globular protein abundant in the milk of several mammals... more The b/a transition of b-lactoglobulin, a globular protein abundant in the milk of several mammals, is investigated in this work. This transition, induced by the cationic surfactant dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride (DTAC), is accompanied by partial unfolding of the protein. In this work, unfolding of bovine b-lactoglobulin in DTAC is compared with its unfolding induced by the chemical denaturant guanidine hydrochloride (GnHCl). The final protein states attained in the two media have quite different secondary structure: in DTAC the a-helical content increases, leading to the so-called a-state; in GnHCl the amount of ordered secondary-structure decreases, resulting in a random coil-rich final state (denatured, or D, state). To obtain information on both mechanistic routes, in DTAC and GnHCl, and to characterize intermediates, the kinetics of unfolding were investigated in the two media. Equilibrium and kinetic data show the partial accumulation of an on-pathway intermediate in each unfolding route: in DTAC, an intermediate (I 1 ) with mostly native secondary structure but loose tertiary structure appears between the native (b) and a-states; in GnHCl, another intermediate (I 2 ) appears between states b and D. Kinetic rate constants follow a linear Chevron-plot representation in GnHCl, but show a more complex mechanism in DTAC, which acts like a stronger binding species.
Gender, Power and Management, 2011
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Papers by Teresa Carvalho