Luis Valadares Tavares

An evaluation of the adequacy of project network generators with systematically sampled networks

This paper evaluates and compares different network generators to generate project scheduling problem instances based on indicators measuring the topological network structure. We review six topological network indicators in order to describe the detailed structure of a project network. These indicators were originally developed by [L.V. Tavares, J.A. Ferreira and J.S. Coelho, The risk of delay of a project in terms of the morphology of its network, European Journal of Operational Research 119 (1999), 510–537] and have been modified, or sometimes completely replaced, by alternative indicators to describe the network topology. The contribution of this paper is twofold. Firstly, we generate a large amount of different networks with four project network generators. Our general conclusions are that none of the network generators are able to capture the complete feasible domain of all networks. Additionally, each network generator covers its own network-specific domain and, consequently, contributes to the generation of data sets. Secondly, we perform computational results on the well-known resource-constrained project scheduling problem to prove that our indicators are reliable and have significant, predictive power to serve as complexity indicators.

Towards the Knowledge Society

This paper is about the challenge of online voting. First it illustrates why we should put effort into this subject, and it describes the security requirements which have to be achieved. Then it discusses an approach to achieve online voting step by step, and evaluates experiences gathered in pilot projects being conducted so far. Further on the German discussion on online voting is reflected, and it is emphasised that online voting is not at all only a technical challenge. More interdisciplinary research and a widespread public discussion is needed, which could be reached e.g. by a technology assessment. The last section gives a short prospect to e-democracy on the whole, and why online voting has to be embedded there.This paper reports how a SME in the Engineering Services sector was able to apply the ideas from research on enterprise wide information management to improve the coordination and control of its business processes. An established enterprise wide architecture framework regulated by essential e-business interactions and moderated by a customised portfolio of managerial issues is used to design a roadmap for the SME of future ICT implementations. The results of initial progress along the roadmap showed deliverables were validated and guided and by the three core activities of Business and IT alignment towards e-business transformation from emergent managerial issues.

Monitoring acute phase proteins in retrovirus infected cats undergoing feline interferon-ω therapy.

Objectives Recombinant feline interferon‐ω therapy is an immunomodulator currently used in the treatment of different retroviral diseases including feline immune deficiency virus and feline leukaemia virus. Although its mechanism of action remains unclear, this drug appears to potentiate the innate response. Acute phase proteins are one of the key components of innate immunity and studies describing their use as a monitoring tool for the immune system in animals undergoing interferon‐ω therapy are lacking. This study aimed to determine whether interferon‐ω therapy influences acute phase protein concentrations namely serum amyloid‐A, α‐1‐glycoprotein and C‐reactive protein. Methods A single‐arm study was performed using 16 cats, living in an animal shelter, naturally infected with retroviruses and subjected to the interferon‐ω therapy licensed protocol. Samples were collected before (D0), during (D10 and D30) and after therapy (D65). Serum amyloid‐A and C‐reactive protein were measured by specific enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay kits and α‐1‐glycoprotein by single radial immunodiffusion. Results All the acute phase proteins significantly increased in cats undergoing interferon‐ω therapy (D0/D65: P<0·05) Clinical Significance Acute phase proteins appear to be reasonable predictors of innate‐immune stimulation and may be useful in the individual monitoring of naturally retroviral infected cats undergoing interferon‐ω therapy.

The histone deacetylase inhibitor panobinostat is a potent antitumor agent in canine diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is one of the most common causes of cancer-related death in the United States and Europe. Although the outcome of NHL patients has improved over the last years with current therapies, the rate of mortality is still high. A plethora of new drugs is entering clinical development for NHL treatment; however, the approval of new treatments remains low due in part to the paucity of clinically relevant models for validation. Canine lymphoma shares remarkable similarities with its human counterpart, making the dog an excellent animal model to explore novel therapeutic molecules and approaches. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis) have emerged as a powerful new class of anti-cancer drugs for human therapy. To investigate HDACi antitumor properties on canine diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a panel of seven HDACi compounds (CI-994, panobinostat, SBHA, SAHA, scriptaid, trichostatin A and tubacin) was screened on CLBL-1 canine B-cell lymphoma cell line. Our results demonstrated that all HDACis tested exhibited dose-dependent inhibitory effects on proliferation of CLBL-1 cells, while promoting increased H3 histone acetylation. Amongst all HDACis studied, panobinostat proved to be the most promising compound and was selected for further in vitro and in vivo evaluation. Panobinostat cytotoxicity was linked to H3 histone and α-tubulin acetylation, and to apoptosis induction. Importantly, panobinostat efficiently inhibited CLBL-1 xenograft tumor growth, and strongly induced acetylation of H3 histone and apoptosis in vivo. In conclusion, these results provide new data validating HDACis and, especially, panobinostat as a novel anti-cancer therapy for veterinary applications, while contributing to comparative oncology.

Erratum to: Towards the Knowledge Society

Erratum to: J.L. Monteiro et al. (Eds.) Towards the Knowledge Society DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-35617-4