The web has been, in the last decades, the place where information retrieval achieved its maximum importance, given its ubiquity and the sheer volume of information. However, its exponential growth made the retrieval task increasingly hard, relying in its effectiveness on idiosyncratic and somewhat biased ranking algorithms. To deal with this problem, a “new” web, called the Semantic Web (SW), was proposed, bringing along concepts like “Web of Data” and “Linked Data,” although the definitions and connections among these concepts are often unclear. Based on a qualitative approach built over a literature review, a definition of SW is presented, discussing the related concepts sometimes used as synonyms. It concludes that the SW is a comprehensive and ambitious construct that includes the great purpose of making the web a global database. It also follows the specifications developed and/or associated with its operationalization and the necessary procedures for the connection of data in an open format on the web. The goals of this comprehensive SW are the union of two outcomes still tenuously connected: the virtually unlimited possibility of connections between data—the web domain—with the potentiality of the automated inference of “intelligent” systems—the semantic component.

Introduction: Impairments in executive functions are common in neurogenetic disorders such as Huntington’s disease (HD) and are thought to significantly influence the patient’s functional status. Reliable tools with higher ecological validity that can assess and predict the impact of executive dysfunction in daily-life performance are needed. This study aimed to develop and validate a novel non-immersive virtual reality task (“EcoKitchen”) created with the purpose of capturing cognitive and functional changes shown by HD carriers without clinical manifestations of the disease (Premanifest HD), in a more realistic setting. Materials and Methods: We designed a virtual reality task with three blocks of increasing executive load. The performance of three groups (Controls, CTRL; Premanifest HD individuals, HP; Early Manifest HD patients, HD) was compared in four main components of the study protocol: the EcoKitchen; a subjective (self-report) measure – “The Adults and Older Adults Functional Assessment Inventory (IAFAI)”; the “Behavioural Assessment of Dysexecutive Syndrome battery (BADS)”; and a conventional neuropsychological test battery. We also examined statistical associations between EcoKitchen and the other executive, functional and clinical measures used. Results: The HD group showed deficits in all the assessment methods used. In contrast, the HP group was only found to be impaired in the EcoKitchen task, particularly in the most cognitively demanding blocks, where they showed a higher number of errors compared to the CTRL group. Statistically significant correlations were identified between the EcoKitchen, measures of the other assessment tools, and HD clinical features. Discussion: The EcoKitchen task, developed as an ecological executive function assessment tool, was found to be sensitive to early deficits in this domain. Critically, in premanifest HD individuals, it identifies dysfunction prior to symptom onset. Further it adds a potential tool for diagnosis and management of the patients’ real-life problems.

ResumoA garantia de preservação digital a longo prazo só será possível com a adoção efetiva de padrões ou esquemas de metadados, pois são eles que determinarão a descrição, a representação, a consistência e a persistência do recurso/objeto digital no ambiente informacional, além de definir a interoperabilidade entre sistemas. A adoção de metadados para preservação apoia a administração dos processos relativos ao arquivamento e à manutenção do acesso à informação digital a longo prazo, com garantias de autenticidade, de integridade e de confiabilidade. Neste cenário, foi objetivo do trabalho identificar e descrever padrões ou esquemas de metadados que poderiam ser considerados por instituições que estão desenvolvendo seus repositórios institucionais, para que possam contemplar a preservação digital. Para tanto, foi desenvolvida pesquisa bibliográfica e sistematização e análise de conteúdo. Foram selecionados e analisados os seguintes esquemas e padrões de metadados: DUBLIN CORE, MODS, EAD, ANSI/NISO Z39.87, METS e o PREMIS. A análise dos resultados indica que os metadados descritivos e técnicos do DC, MODS, EAD e ANSI/NISO Z39.87 ou MIX, possuem um papel mais direcionado a amparar o METS e o PREMIS, tanto na descoberta e no registro dos aspectos técnicos do objeto digital, como na comprovação de sua procedência, autenticidade, contexto e integridade. Englobando metadados descritivos, estruturais, administrativos e de preservação do PREMIS, o METS pode gerir os objetos digitais atuando como um Pacote de Submissão de Informação (PSI), Pacote de Arquivamento de Informação (PAI) ou Pacote de Disseminação de Informação (PDI) num Sistema Aberto de Arquivamento de Informação (SAAI). Palavras-chave Ciência da Informação; Informação e tecnologia; Metadados de preservação; Padrões de metadados; Preservação digital Metadata standards as a technological resource to guarantee digital preservation AbstractThe guarantee of long-term digital preservation will only be possible with the effective implementation of metadata standards or schemas, because these will determine the description, representation, consistency and persistence of the digital resource/object in information environments, as well as defining interoperability between systems. The adoption of metadata for preservation supports the management of processes for the archiving and maintenance of access to digital information in the long term, guaranteeing authenticity, integrity and reliability. In this scenario, the aim of this study was to identify and describe metadata standards or schemas that could be considered by institutions that are developing their institutional repositories, so that digital preservation might be addressed. To that end, a literature review, and its systematization and content analysis were carried out. The following metadata standards and schemas were selected and analyzed: DUBLIN CORE (DC), MODS, EAD, ANSI/NISO Z39.87, METS and PREMIS. The results indicate that the descriptive and technical metadata DC, MODS, EAD and ANSI/NISO Z39.87 or MIX...

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Tuberculosis (TB) is a transmissible disease listed as one of the 10 leading causes of death worldwide (10 million infected in 2019). A swift and precise diagnosis is essential to forestall its transmission, for which the discovery of effective diagnostic biomarkers is crucial. In this study, we aimed to discover molecular biomarkers for the early diagnosis of tuberculosis. Two independent cohorts comprising 29 and 34 subjects were assayed by proteomics, and 49 were included for metabolomic analysis. All subjects were arranged into three experimental groups—healthy controls (controls), latent TB infection (LTBI), and TB patients. LC-MS/MS blood serum protein and metabolite levels were submitted to univariate, multivariate, and ROC analysis. From the 149 proteins quantified in the discovery set, 25 were found to be differentially abundant between controls and TB patients. The AUC, specificity, and sensitivity, determined by ROC statistical analysis of the model composed of four of these proteins considering both proteomic sets, were 0.96, 93%, and 91%, respectively. The five metabolites (9-methyluric acid, indole-3-lactic acid, trans-3-indoleacrylic acid, hexanoylglycine, and N-acetyl-L-leucine) that better discriminate the control and TB patient groups (VIP > 1.75) from a total of 92 metabolites quantified in both ionization modes were submitted to ROC analysis. An AUC = 1 was determined, with all samples being correctly assigned to the respective experimental group. An integrated ROC analysis enrolling one protein and four metabolites was also performed for the common control and TB patients in the proteomic and metabolomic groups. This combined signature correctly assigned the 12 controls and 12 patients used only for prediction (AUC = 1, specificity = 100%, and sensitivity = 100%). This multiomics approach revealed a biomarker signature for tuberculosis diagnosis that could be potentially used for developing a point-of-care diagnosis clinical test.

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BackgroundExecutive dysfunction is one of the major causes of everyday impairments found in Huntington’s disease (HD). Reliable tools to assess and predict the impact of executive dysfunction on the patient’s activities of daily living are lacking. AimsThis study aims to get a comprehensive picture of the real-life executive deficits shown by HD patients resorting to a novel virtual reality task – “EcoKitchen”.MethodsParticipants were assigned to one of three groups (controls, premanifest HD and early manifest HD) and performed a virtual reality task with an increasing executive load that simulates daily-life like routines usually done in a kitchen setting (“EcoKitchen”). Timing and error variables were extracted from the participants’ performance. ResultsThe preliminary results indicate that both premanifest HD and manifest HD participants showed statistically significant differences in the timing and error variables considered in the “EcoKitchen”, when compared to controls. The clinical groups showed an overall slower cognitive and motor performance, and a higher number of attention errors. Furthermore, in the computerised tasks with higher executive demands, the performance of both clinical groups deteriorated and slowed down. ConclusionsThe more ecological assessment task created to evaluate the executive functioning of HD patients seems to be sensitive to early deficits in this domain. Importantly, the timing and error variables included in the computerised task can potentially identify subtle changes in the executive functioning of premanifest individuals and differentiate them from controls even with small sample sizes.

partilhar com outros Professores e Amigos deste Departamento as aulas da cadeira de Metodologia da Investigação do 5º ano da Licenciatura de Arquitectura. Um agradecimento particular à Dra Sayuri Goda, minha ex-aluna e estagiária, pela sua inestimável colaboração no tratamento técnico dos documentos da Biblioteca deste Departamento, assim como pela sua amizade. A todos os Colegas da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra, em particular às Prof.ª Doutoras Maria Manuel Borges, Maria José Azevedo Santos e ao Prof. Doutor Hans-Richard Jahneke de quem recebi no decurso deste trabalho as maiores e mais sinceras manifestações de apoio e amizade. Às Prof. Doutoras Marta de la Mano e Manuela Moro Cabero pelo apoio e ânimo que sempre me expressaram, enquanto professoras e amigas. Aos Prof. Doutores Paulo Varela Gomes e Vítor Murtinho, meus Amigos de sempre, pela troca de impressões, sérias e jocosas, as quais, na maioria das vezes, me abriram e perspectivaram novos caminhos nesta investigação. À Dra. Sílvia Damas pela dedicação e paciência na formatação deste trabalho, nomeadamente no tratamento gráfico das suas imagens. Aos meus alunos da FLUC e do DARQ/UC que me incutiram o gosto por ensinar e investigar, e a quem dedico também este trabalho.A todos aqueles que ao longo deste período privaram mais de perto comigo, em especial os Colegas e Amigos, pelo apoio e ânimo: Graça