9 documents found, page 1 of 1
Extracellular vesicles improve GABAergic transmission in Huntington's disease i...
Beatriz, Margarida; Rodrigues, Ricardo J.; Vilaça, Rita; Egas, Conceição; Pinheiro, Paulo S.; Daley, George Q.; Schlaeger, Thorsten M.; Raimundo, NunoBackground: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) carry bioactive molecules associated with various biological processes, including miRNAs. In both Huntington’s disease (HD) models and human samples, altered expression of miRNAs involved in synapse regulation was reported. Recently, the use of EV cargo to reverse phenotypic alterations in disease models with synaptopathy as the end result of the pathophysiological casca...
Macroautophagy and Mitophagy in Neurodegenerative Disorders: Focus on Therapeut...
Magalhães, João Duarte; Fão, Lígia; Vilaça, Rita; Cardoso, Sandra Morais; Rego, A. CristinaMacroautophagy, a quality control mechanism, is an evolutionarily conserved pathway of lysosomal degradation of protein aggregates, pathogens, and damaged organelles. As part of its vital homeostatic role, macroautophagy deregulation is associated with various human disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases. There are several lines of evidence that associate protein misfolding and mitochondrial dysfunctio...
Exosomes: Innocent Bystanders or Critical Culprits in Neurodegenerative Diseases
Beatriz, Margarida; Vilaça, Rita; Lopes, CarlaExtracellular vesicles (EVs) are nano-sized membrane-enclosed particles released by cells that participate in intercellular communication through the transfer of biologic material. EVs include exosomes that are small vesicles that were initially associated with the disposal of cellular garbage; however, recent findings point toward a function as natural carriers of a wide variety of genetic material and protein...
mINSPIRERS – Estudo da exequibilidade de uma aplicação móvel para medição e mel...
Jácome, Cristina; Guedes, Rui; Almeida, Rute; Teixeira, João Fonseca; Pinho, Bernardo; Vieira -Marques, Pedro; Vilaça, Rita; Fernandes, JoséA má adesão à medicação inalada é um dos principais fatores que limita a melhoria clínica nos doentes com asma. Desta forma, é fundamental o desenvolvimento de ferramentas de monitorização de adesão à medicação objetivas e de fácil disseminação e a promoção de estratégias de adesão à medicação facilmente integráveis no dia a dia dos doentes. Os smartphones e jogos em comunidade virtual podem ter um papel releva...
Ceramide signalling impinges on Sit4p and Hog1p to promote mitochondrial fissio...
Teixeira, Vitor; Medeiros, Tânia C.; Vilaça, Rita; Pereira, Andreia T.; Chaves, Susana Alexandra Rodrigues; Côrte-Real, Manuela; Moradas-Ferreira, PedroMitochondria function as the powerhouses of the cell for energy conversion through the oxidative phosphorylation process. Accumulation of dysfunctional mitochondria promotes a bioenergetic crisis and cell death by apoptosis. Yeast cells lacking Isc1p, an orthologue of mammalian neutral sphingomyelinase type 2, exhibit mitochondrial dysfunction and shortened lifespan associated with the accumulation of specific ...
A computational study on different penalty functions with DIRECT algorithm
Rocha, Ana Maria A. C.; Vilaça, RitaThe most common approach for solving constrained optimization problems is based on penalty functions, where the constrained problem is transformed into an unconstrained problem by penalizing the objective function when constraints are violated. In this paper, we analyze the implementation of penalty functions, within the DIRECT algorithm. In order to assess the applicability and performance of the proposed appr...
An adaptive penalty method for DIRECT algorithm in engineering optimization
Vilaça, Rita; Rocha, Ana Maria A. C.The most common approach for solving constrained optimization problems is based on penalty functions, where the constrained problem is transformed into a sequence of unconstrained problem by penalizing the objective function when constraints are violated. In this paper, we analyze the implementation of an adaptive penalty method, within the DIRECT algorithm, in which the constraints that are more difficult to b...
Quercetin protects Saccharomyces cerevisiae against oxidative stress by inducin...
Vilaça, Rita; Mendes, Vanda; Mendes, Marta Vaz; Carreto, Laura; Amorim, Maria Amélia; de Freitas, Victor; Moradas-Ferreira, Pedro; Mateus, NunoBackground: Quercetin is a naturally occurring flavonol with antioxidant, anticancer and anti-ageing properties. In this study we aimed to identify genes differentially expressed in yeast cells treated with quercetin and its role in oxidative stress protection. Methods: A microarray analysis was performed to characterize changes in the transcriptome and the expression of selected genes was validated by RT-qPCR....
Embedding the DIRECT algorithm in a penalty approach for solving engineering de...
Vilaça, Rita; Rocha, Ana Maria A. C.In this paper we investigate the performance of DIRECT algorithm when solving constrained engineering design problems. For this purpose, the hyperbolic penalty approach is employed and the algorithm is modified in order to preserve feasibility of solutions. The algorithm is illustrated on six well–known engineering problems with promising results. Comparisons with other global optimization solvers are reported ...