Diversity of Extended-Spectrum and Plasmid-Mediated AmpC β-Lactamases in Enterobacteriaceae Isolates from Portuguese Health Care Facilities

Daniela Jones-Dias,Vera Manageiro,Eugénia Ferreira,Deolinda Louro,Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance Program in Portugal Participants,Manuela Caniça 한국미생물학회 2014 The journal of microbiology Vol.52 No.6

A group of 124 Enterobacteriaceae isolates resistant to thirdgeneration cephalosporins, and collected in distinct healthcare facilities of different Portuguese regions was analysed. The great majority of the isolates were also resistant to fourthgeneration cephalosporins (83.9%), monobactam (96%),amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid (85.5%), and piperacillinplus tazobactam (66.9%). Overall, 84.7% (105/124) were multidrugresistant. Molecular methods enabled us to identify86.3% (107/124) extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL)producers, revealing a diversity of class A β-lactamases fromdifferent families, like TEM (TEM-1, TEM-10, TEM-24, andTEM-52), SHV (SHV-1, SHV-12, and SHV-28), CTX-M(CTX-M-1, CTX-M-9, CTX-M-14, CTX-M-15, and CTXM-32), and GES (GES-1). We have also detected class C enzymeslike plasmid-mediated AmpC β-lactamases (PMAβs,DHA-1, and CMY-2) and chromosomal AmpCs in Enterobacterand Citrobacter spp. The PMAβ genetic context mappingsuggests association with mobile elements, plasmid importationand the potential emergence of these β-lactamases. The most prevalent β-lactamase detected was CTX-M-15(66.1%) and in 41.1% of the isolates it was associated withTEM-, OXA-type β-lactamases and Aac(6)’-Ib-cr, whichmight indicate that the respective genotype has settled inour country. Indeed, CTX-M-15 was distributed amongstdistinct clinical settings of several health care facilities(93.5%) from various regions. We provide evidence of a concerningclinical situation that includes vast occurrence ofESBLs, the settling of CTX-M β-lactamases, and the reportof plasmidic and chromosomal AmpC in Portugal.

Assessing the Political Economy Factors on Trade Integration: Rules of Origin under NAFTA

( Alberto Portugal Perez ) 세종대학교 경제통합연구소(구 세종대학교 국제경제연구소) 2011 Journal of Economic Integration Vol.26 No.2

Rules of origin (RoO) are legitimate policy instruments to prevent trade deflection in a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) short of a customs union. Yet, when captured by special interest groups, RoO can restrict trade beyond what is needed to prevent trade deflection. By how much do political economy factors account for the stringency of RoO? This study quantifies the impact of both determinants, those deemed as "justifiable" on the ground of preventing trade deflection and those arising from "political economy" forces, on the restrictiveness of RoO under NAFTA. The main finding is that political economy forces, especially from the US, significantly raised the restrictiveness of the RoO. Thus stricter RoO are associated with higher production costs reducing the potential benefits of enhanced market access initially pursued by the agreement.

K-Pop Music Worldwide and Digital Marketing Role in Brazil

Patricia Portugal Marques de Carvalho Lourenco,김상용 한국마케팅학회 2016 ASIA MARKETING JOURNAL Vol.17 No.4

K-Pop is hugely promoted offline/online in East Asia, while efforts to promote it elsewhere are kept to a minimum. Whilst addressing the role of digital marketing in the promotion of K-Pop in the Brazilian music industry this study aims to demonstrate that K-pop will provide its audience with a unique and engaging experience if it thinks globally and acts locally in its marketing and communication strategies. A survey of K-Pop’s world fan base was carried out online with 1,074 fans to determine the validity of the hypothesis. The results have demonstrated the need to adapt global and intercultural strategies to local markets with increasing brand awareness through utilizing digital marketing. For example, to increase K-Pop’s popularity and market share in Brazil, it is not required to sing in Brazilian Portuguese, contrary to what might be perceived but fully singing in English would help breaking into the market dominated by domestic music as songs would have a higher probability to be included in the international soundtrack of a Brazilian telenovela and promote the K-Pop artist not only across Brazil but also give the artist exposure in all the markets the Brazilian telenovela is exported to, opening an entry door to those markets. K-Pop audience segmentation and psychographic profiling is crucial to the understanding of each market’s consumer’s preferences, likes, dislikes and their buying habits as it was proven through Brazil’s digital media, social media, digital music market and K-Pop market analysis within the global context of the study. It should be also considered that brand extensions are not standard everywhere and that there are cultures where different product categories are not directly associated with its main corporate owner which requires extensive local market knowledge to succeed. The primary and secondary data research that we conducted for this study intended to demonstrate that K-Pop can be successful in Brazil and in Latin America and increase their local and regional market share if digital marketing and communication strategies are tailored to each individual market.

Foreign Entry Strategies

MANUEL PORTUGAL FERREIRA,DAN LI(임단),JANG YONG SUK(장용석) 서울대학교 사회발전연구소 2009 Journal of Asian Sociology Vol.38 No.1

A comprehensive model of foreign entry strategies by multinational enterprises (MNEs) is developed in this paper, and a theory is proposed on how the entry strategy is likely to be determined in the interface between internal and external pressures for both conformity and legitimacy. In contrast to a selection rationale, an adaptation argument is developed, through which we enhance our understanding of the various facets of the institutional environment and the constraints MNEs encounter in their internationalization strategies.

Adaptive OSIC-SD 시스템을 통한 SD 복호기 복잡도 개선

셰를리 포루투갈(Sherlie Portugal),윤길상(Gil-sang Yoon),서창우(Chang-woo Seo),황인태(In-tae Hwang) 大韓電子工學會 2011 電子工學會論文誌-TC (Telecommunications) Vol.48 No.3

SD(Sphere Decoding)는 페이딩 환경에서 ML(Maximum Likelihood)성능을 만족하지만 채널환경이 나빠질수록 매우 복잡도가 증가하는 단점이 있다. 본 논문에서는 이러한 특징을 같은 기존 SD를 개선하고자 기존의 ML성능을 유지 시키면서 복잡도를 줄이기 위한 방안으로 부분적으로 OSIC(Ordered Successive Interference Cancellation)를 결합하는 시스템을 제안하다. 또한, SNR(신호 대 잡음비: Signal to Noise Ratio)에 따라서 복잡도 및 비트오류율(BER : Bit Error Rate)의 성능이 최적으로 동작하는 복호기를 적응적으로 사용 Adaptive OSIC-SD 알고리즘 제안한다. 모의실험 결과, 제안된 시스템의 비트오류율은 기존의 SD와 거의 비슷한 성능을 보이면서, 일정하고 더 낮은 복잡도를 보이는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. Sphere Decoding (SD) is a decoding technique able to achieve the Maximum Likelihood (ML) performance in fading environments; nevertheless, the main disadvantage of this technique is its high complexity, especially in poor channel conditions. In this paper, we present an adaptive hybrid algorithm which reduces the conventional Sphere Decoder’s complexity and keeps the ML performance. The system called Adaptive OSIC-SD modifies its operation based on Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) information and achieves an optimal performance in terms of Bit Error Rate (BER) and complexity. Through simulations, we probe that the proposed system maintains almost the same bit error rate performance of the conventional SD, and exhibits a lower, quasi-constant complexity.

Economic and Political Changes in Brazil: Facts and Perspectives

( Marcelo S. Portugal ) 한국외국어대학교 외국학종합연구센터 2003 International Area Studies Review Vol.6 No.1

AMC와 MIMO 선택 기법이 결합된 통신 시스템의 설계 및 성능 분석

셰를리(Sherlie Portugal),황인태(Intae Hwang),이정환(Jeonghwan Lee),윤길상(Gilsang Yoon),조인식(Insik Cho),서창우(Changwoo Seo) 大韓電子工學會 2010 電子工學會論文誌-TC (Telecommunications) Vol.47 No.3

본 논문은 AMC(Adaptive Modulation and Coding)와 MIMO(Multiple Input Multiple Output)를 결합하여 전송률 및 전송신뢰도 향상을 가져오는 통신 시스템을 구현한다. 또한 Precoding과 Antenna Subset Selection을 효율적으로 적용하고 MIMO 선택 기법을 결합하여, 최종적으로 AMC와 MIMO 선택 기법이 결합된 통신 시스템을 설계하고 성능을 분석한다. 모의 실험환경은 안테나 간 상관성이 존재하지 않는 주파수 비 선택적 레일리 페이딩 채널을 고려하였으며, 확산인자는 16을 적용하였다. 그 외의 여러 모의 실험 환경은 HSDPA(High Speed Downlink Packet Access) 표준에 근거하여 구성하도록 노력하였다. 본 논문에서 제안한 “AMC와 MIMO 선택 기법이 결합된 시스템”은 기존의 “AMC와 각 MIMO의 결합 시스템들”보다 높은 전송률을 보여주었으며, 열악한 채널 환경에서도 안정적인 전송률을 확보해 주었다. 제안된 시스템은 약 8㏈에서 최대 전송률을 나타내었으며, 제안된 시스템과 동일한 최대 전송률을 갖는 기존의 “AMC와 D-STTD 4×2 결합 시스템”과 비교하였을 때 약 6㏈ 정도 먼저 최대 전송률을 나타냈다. 또한 최대 전송률에 이르기 전까지 거의 모든 SNR(Signal to Noise Ratio) 구간에서 기존의 시스템보다 약 2배 정도 높은 전송률을 보였다. 구체적으로 SNR이 -6㏈인 지점에서 기존의 시스템은 약 2.5Mbps의 전송률을 나타냈으며, 제안된 시스템은 그 2배가 넘는 약 6.4Mbps의 전송률을 나타냈다. 또한 SNR이 2㏈인 지점에서는 각각 약 7.5Mbps와 15.3Mbps의 전송률을 나타내어 역시 2배에 가까운 차이가 나는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 제안된 시스템은 AMC 기법을 사용하는 주 목적인 전송률의 향상에 크게 기여하였으며, 특히 평균 전송률의 향상에 효과적임을 확인하였다. This paper proposes a combination system of Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), which improves the throughput and has a better reliability. In addition, the system includes Precoding, Antenna Subset Selection and MIMO Mode Selection scheme. Finally, we make a performance analysis of the proposed system. The principal environmental parameters for the simulation experiment consist of a frequency non-selective rayleigh fading channel and a Spreading Factor (SF) of 16. Other parameters may be included in order to fulfill the requirements of the HSDPA Standard. The proposed system has a higher throughput and more reliability than the conventional system, which does not include MIMO Mode Selection scheme, Precoding or Antenna Subset Selection. According to the simulation results, the proposed system reaches the maximum throughput at 8㏈, presenting an improvement of 6㏈ and twice higher throughput, respect to the conventional system. Specifically, at the point of -6㏈, the conventional system reaches 2.5Mbps, while the proposed system reaches 6.4Mbps at the same SNR. Also, at the point of 2㏈, each system reaches 7.5Mbps (conventional system) and 15.3Mbps (proposed system), with near twice the difference. According to the results exposed above, we can conclude that the system proposed in this paper has, as the greatest contribution, the improvement of the throughput, especially, the average throughput.

Throughput Performance Analysis of AMC Based on a New SNR Estimation Algorithm Using Preamble

Seo, Changwoo,Portugal, Sherlie,Malik, Saransh,You, Cheolwoo,Jung, Taejin,Liu, Huaping,Hwang, Intae Springer-Verlag 2013 Wireless personal communications Vol.68 No.4

Reduction of Sphere Decoding Complexity using an Adaptive SD-OSIC System

Saransh Malik,Sherlie Portugal,Changwoo Seo,Cheolsung Kim,Intae Hwang 한국통신학회 2011 한국통신학회 학술대회논문집 Vol.2011 No.6

Relationships of Body Composition and Fat Partition with Body Condition Score in Serra da Estrela Ewes

Caldeira, R.M.,Portugal, A.V. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2007 Animal Bioscience Vol.20 No.7

Twenty eight non-lactating and non-pregnant adult Serra da Estrela ewes, ranging in body condition score (BCS) from 1 to 4 were used to study the relationships between BCS, live weight (LW), body composition and fat partition. Ewes were slaughtered and their kidney knob and channel fat (KKCF), sternal fat (STF) and omental plus mesenteric fat (OMF) were separated and weighed. Left sides of carcasses as well as the respective lumbar joints were then dissected into muscle, bone and subcutaneous (SCF) and intermuscular fat (IMF). The relationship between LW and BCS was studied using data from 1,396 observations on 63 ewes from the same flock and it was found to be linear. Regression analysis was also used to describe the relationships among BCS and/or LW and weights (kg) and percentages in empty body weight (EBW) of dissected tissues. The prediction of weights and percentages in EBW of total fat (TF) and of all fat depots afforded by BCS was better than that provided by LW. Only the weight of muscle and the percentage of bone in the EBW were more efficiently predicted by LW than by BCS. IMF represented the largest fat depot with a BCS of 1 and 2, whereas SCF was the most important site of fat deposition with a BCS of 3 and 4. Allometric coefficients for each fat depot in TF suggest that the fat deposition order in ewes from this breed is: IMF, OMF, SCF and KKCF. Results demonstrate that BCS is a better predictor than LW of body reserves in this breed and that LJ is a suitable anatomical region to evaluate BCS.