University of Minho

About: University of Minho is a education organization based out in Braga, Portugal. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Population. The organization has 10585 authors who have published 34736 publications receiving 732436 citations. The organization is also known as: Universidade do Minho & UMinho.

Preschool Psychopathology Reported by Parents in 23 Societies: Testing the Seven-Syndrome Model of the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1.5-5

Abstract: Dr. Ivanovo receives research and salary support from the Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families, which publishes the Child Behavior Checklist [CBCL]. Dr. Achenbach is President of the Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families, and receives remuneration. Dr. Rescorla receives remuneration from the Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families. Dr. Harder previously held a University of Vermont Postdoctoral Fellowship funding by the Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families. Drs. Bjarnadottir, Gudmundsson, Leung, Verhulst, and Mr. Gudmundsson, receive research support from the sole of the CBCL. Dr. Bilenberg has received honoraria from Eli Lilly and Co., Novartis, Neuroscience, and Janseen Cilag. He has received research support from the Danish Research Foundation, the Lundbeck Foundation, Hermansens Mindelegat, and Mods Clausen Fond. Dr. Rapes has received research support from the Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences. Dr. Jusiene has received research support from the Lithuanian Science and Studies Foundation. Drs. Ang, Capron, Dias, Dobrean, Doepfner, Duyme, Erol, Esmaeili, Ezpeleta, Frigerio, Goncalves, Jung, Kim, Liu, Oh, Plueck, Pomo limo, Shahini, Silva, Simsek, Souronder, Valverde, Van Leeuwen, and Zubrick, Ms. De Paw, Ms. Kristensen, Mr. Lecannelier, Ms. Montirosso, Ms. Jetishi, Ms. Woo, and Ms. Wu report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

A hitchhiker's guide to behavioral analysis in laboratory rodents

Abstract: Genes and environment are both essential and interdependent determinants of behavioral responses. Behavioral genetics focuses on the role of genes on behavior. In this article, we aim to provide a succinct, but comprehensive, overview of the different means through which behavioral analysis may be performed in rodents. We give general recommendations for planning and performing behavioral experiments in rats and mice, followed by brief descriptions of experimental paradigms most commonly used for the analysis of reflexes, sensory function, motor function and exploratory, social, emotional and cognitive behavior. We end with a discussion of some of the shortcomings of current concepts of genetic determinism and argue that the genetic basis of behavior should be analyzed in the context of environmental factors.

Waste lipids to energy: how to optimize methane production from long‐chain fatty acids (LCFA)

Abstract: The position of high-rate anaerobic technology (HR-AnWT) in the wastewater treatment and bioenergy market can be enhanced if the range of suitable substrates is expanded. Analyzing existing technologies, applications and problems, it is clear that, until now, wastewaters with high lipids content are not effectively treated by HR-AnWT. Nevertheless, waste lipids are ideal potential substrates for biogas production, since theoretically more methane can be produced, when compared with proteins or carbohydrates. In this minireview, the classical problems of lipids methanization in anaerobic processes are discussed and new concepts to enhance lipids degradation are presented. Reactors operation, feeding strategies and prospects of technological developments for wastewater treatment are discussed. Long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) degradation is accomplished by syntrophic communities of anaerobic bacteria and methanogenic archaea. For optimal performance these syntrophic communities need to be clustered in compact aggregates, which is often difficult to achieve with wastewaters that contain fats and lipids. Driving the methane production from lipids/LCFA at industrial scale without risk of overloading and inhibition is still a challenge that has the potential for filling a gap in the existing processes and technologies for biological methane production associated to waste and wastewater treatment.

Engineered Endolysin-Based “Artilysins” To Combat Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Pathogens

Abstract: The global threat to public health posed by emerging multidrug-resistant bacteria in the past few years necessitates the development of novel approaches to combat bacterial infections. Endolysins encoded by bacterial viruses (or phages) repre- sent one promising avenue of investigation. These enzyme-based antibacterials efficiently kill Gram-positive bacteria upon con- tact by specific cell wall hydrolysis. However, a major hurdle in their exploitation as antibacterials against Gram-negative patho- gens is the impermeable lipopolysaccharide layer surrounding their cell wall. Therefore, we developed and optimized an approach to engineer these enzymes as outer membrane-penetrating endolysins (Artilysins), rendering them highly bactericidal against Gram-negative pathogens, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii. Artilysins combining a polycationic nonapeptide and a modular endolysin are able to kill these (multidrug-resistant) strains in vitro with a4t o 5l og reduction within 30 min. We show that the activity of Artilysins can be further enhanced by the presence of a linker of increasing length between the peptide and endolysin or by a combination of both polycationic and hydrophobic/amphipathic peptides. Time-lapse microscopy confirmed the mode of action of polycationic Artilysins, showing that they pass the outer membrane to degrade the peptidoglycan with subsequent cell lysis. Artilysins are effective in vitro (human keratinocytes) and in vivo (Caeno- rhabditis elegans). IMPORTANCE Bacterial resistance to most commonly used antibiotics is a major challenge of the 21st century. Infections that can- not be treated byfirst-line antibiotics lead to increasing morbidity and mortality, while millions of dollars are spent each year by health care systems in trying to control antibiotic-resistant bacteria and to prevent cross-transmission of resistance. Endoly- sins—enzymes derived from bacterial viruses—represent a completely novel, promising class of antibacterials based on cell wall hydrolysis. Specifically, they are active against Gram-positive species, which lack a protective outer membrane and which have a low probability of resistance development. We modified endolysins by protein engineering to create Artilysins that are able to pass the outer membrane and become active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii, two of the most hazardous drug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens.

MRBrainS challenge: online evaluation framework for brain image segmentation in 3T MRI scans

Abstract: Many methods have been proposed for tissue segmentation in brain MRI scans. The multitude of methods proposed complicates the choice of one method above others. We have therefore established the MRBrainS online evaluation framework for evaluating (semi)automatic algorithms that segment gray matter (GM), white matter (WM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) on 3T brain MRI scans of elderly subjects (65-80 y). Participants apply their algorithms to the provided data, after which their results are evaluated and ranked. Full manual segmentations of GM, WM, and CSF are available for all scans and used as the reference standard. Five datasets are provided for training and fifteen for testing. The evaluated methods are ranked based on their overall performance to segment GM, WM, and CSF and evaluated using three evaluation metrics (Dice, H95, and AVD) and the results are published on the MRBrainS13 website. We present the results of eleven segmentation algorithms that participated in the MRBrainS13 challenge workshop at MICCAI, where the framework was launched, and three commonly used freeware packages: FreeSurfer, FSL, and SPM. The MRBrainS evaluation framework provides an objective and direct comparison of all evaluated algorithms and can aid in selecting the best performing method for the segmentation goal at hand.