Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2021-05-29"
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- Influence of middle ear tumours on the biomechanical behaviour of the chorda tympaniPublication . Mendonça, Leonor; Santos, Carla F.; Gentil, Fernanda; Parente, Marco; Areias, Bruno; Jorge, Renato NatalChronic otitis media may lead to the development of a cholesteatoma, a benign middle ear tumour. If this occurs, the chorda tympani nerve, a facial nerve branch that crosses the middle ear, may be compromised. The influence of cholesteatoma development near chorda tympani nerve was studied, in order to assess the consequences of this mass in terms of possible facial paralysis. To do so, an ear model based on the finite element method was used. The chorda tympani nerve was originally discretized and assembled in the model. Two different sized tumours were created so cholesteatoma growth could be simulated. The pressure in this nerve were assessed in two moments - when the tumour first interacts with it, pushing it down, and when the tumour compresses it against the incus. Moreover, the effect of applying pressure directly on the nerve was also evaluated, so tumour geometry did not interfere in the analysis. The obtained stress allowed to infer on the consequences regarding taste disturbance and facial paralysis, although some studies report that when pressure fades away, it is possible to fully recover. The von Mises stress was higher when the chorda tympani nerve was pushed against the incus by the large tumour, in the contact area between the nerve and the ossicle.
- Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in type 2 diabetes mellitus: the emerging therapeutic approachPublication . Gomes, Andreia ; Coelho, Pedro; Soares, Raquel ; Costa, RaquelThe umbilical cord has been proved to be an easy-access, reliable, and useful source of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) for clinical applications due to its primitive, immunomodulatory, non-immunogenic, secretory and paracrine, migratory, proliferative, and multipotent properties. This set of characteristics has recently attracted great research interest in the fields of nanotechnology and regenerative medicine and cellular therapy. Accumulating evidence supports a pronounced therapeutic potential of MSC in many different pathologies, from hematology to immunology, wound-healing, tissue regeneration, and oncology. Diabetes mellitus, branded the epidemic of the century, is considered a chronic metabolic disorder, representing a major burden for health system sustainability and an important public health challenge to modern societies. The available treatments for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) still rely mainly on combinations of oral antidiabetic agents with lifestyle and nutritional adjustments. Despite the continuous development of novel and better hypoglycemic drugs, their efficacy is limited in the installment and progression of silent T2DM complications. T2DM comorbidities and mortality rates still make it a serious, common, costly, and long-term manageable disease. Recently, experimental models, preclinical observations, and clinical studies have provided some insights and preliminary promising results using umbilical cord MSCs to treat and manage diabetes. This review focuses on the latest research and applications of human-derived umbilical cord MSC in the treatment and management of T2DM, exploring and systematizing the key effects of both umbilical cord MSC and its factor-rich secretome accordingly with the major complications associated to T2DM.
- A expressão vocal da emoção na canção de língua portuguesa - aspetos formais e parâmetros expressivosPublication . Rosado, Ana Miriam Pais; Salgado, António Gabriel Castro CorreiaEste projeto artístico investiga os parâmetros formais e expressivos que numa determinada performance vocal se tornam indicadores expressivos do conteúdo emocional que se pretende transmitir e indaga como o cantor/performer poderá tornar-se consciente das suas expressões vocais ao apropriar-se desses indicadores expressivos para comunicar conteúdos emotivos com o público. A partir de um determinado repertório vocal artístico e lírico, nomeadamente a canção de língua portuguesa, foi testada a capacidade expressiva do cantor e analisada a comunicação nos seus aspetos performativos e também nas diferentes vertentes formais e expressivas da performance apresentada. De um ponto de vista prático, o processo de reconhecimento acústico de um determinado conteúdo emocional requer um software e hardware específicos, e informação tecnológica para lidar com os padrões complexos das diferentes expressões acústicas usadas para comunicar um determinado conteúdo emocional em performances artísticas, realizadas em tempo real. O recurso à combinação de uma análise quantitativa dos indicadores expressivos da performance apresentada com uma análise qualitativa relativa à leitura que o público fez da expressividade vocal utilizada pelo cantor/performer, permitiu algumas conclusões sobre os níveis de precisão e correspondência entre performer e público no estudo agora realizado.