The new automated daily mortality surveillance system

The experience reported in an earlier Eurosurveillance issue on a fast method to evaluate the impact of the 2003 heatwave on mortality in Portugal, generated a daily mortality surveillance system (VDM) that has been operating ever since jointly with the Portuguese Heat Health Watch Warning System. This work describes the VDM system and how it evolved to become an automated system operating year-round, and shows briefly its potential using mortality data from January 2006 to June 2009 collected by the system itself. The new system has important advantages such as: rapid information acquisition, completeness (the entire population is included), lightness (very little information is exchanged, date of death, age, sex, place of death registration). It allows rapid detection of impacts (within five days) and allows a quick preliminary quantification of impacts that usually took several years to be done. These characteristics make this system a powerful tool for public health action. The VDM system also represents an example of inter-institutional cooperation, bringing together organisations from two different ministries, Health and Justice, aiming at improving knowledge about the mortality in the population

Clinicians’ perceptions of Norwegian women’s experiences of infertility diseases

Background: Norway has one of the best health systems in the world. However, it has a low birth rate, which decreased by 21.2% between 2009 and 2018, and one of the highest rates of infertility prevalence. The aim of this study is to understand how Norwegian doctors perceive female infertility diseases, namely those that are more difficult to diagnose and to treat, and that are more common in their practice. Method: Descriptive qualitative study was conducted with gynecologists and general practitioners. The sample resulted from the establishment of five criteria and on the doctors’ acceptance to participate in this study. Our sample comprised thirteen highly qualified and experienced doctors. Qualitative content analysis was the method chosen to analyze the collected data. Results: Clinical diseases (polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis and vulvodynia) and consequences of these diseases were the pinpointed themes. These led to a set of sub-themes: the main symptoms and the treatment of the diseases, from the perspective of both women and doctors (stigmatization, disturbances in women’s daily life, diagnostic delay, and governmental support). Conclusions: The three most relevant disorders mentioned were polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis and vulvodynia. These diseases cause several impacts on the lives of women, because they feel stigmatized and limited in their daily life and sexuality, and the diagnosis of these diseases takes too much time. Governments should better redistribute the financing of women’s health and allocate resources to specialized centers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Tuned liquid dampers simulation for earthquake response control of buildings

This paper is focused on the study of an earthquake protection system, the Tuned Liquid Damper (TLD), which can, if adequately designed, reduce earthquake demands on buildings. This positive effect is accomplished taking into account the oscillation of the free surface of a fluid inside a tank (sloshing). The behaviour of an isolated Tuned Liquid Damper, subjected to a sinusoidal excitation at its base, with different displacement amplitudes, was studied by finite element analysis. The efficiency of the TLD in improving the seismic response of an existing building, representative of modern architecture buildings in southern European countries was also evaluated based on linear dynamic analyses

Elemental and topographic characterization of LDPE based copolymeric films obtained by gamma irradiation

The preparation of PE-g-HEMA (polyethylene-grafted-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) films by 60Co gamma irradiation has been optimized to produce a new material suitable for bioapplications.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TJN-4PKFGWY-1/1/ce67dece44bee190c7fdab19460ed6d

Heart Failure a Malignant Disease- Insights from the REFERENCE Study

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Criação de um núcleo para a pesquisa e descrição dos serviços oferecidos na área de Bioinformática estrutural.

Instalação e oferta de ferramentas.Computacionais sting millennium suite. (SMS) através da interface web. Criação de novos algoritmos e programas. Para análise estrutural das proteínas. Oferta de banco de dados públicos. Estabelecimento de um ambiente para.Pesquisa e oferta de serviços na área. De bioinformática. Formação de recursos humanos. Organização de cursos e congresso. Projetos em colaboração.bitstream/CNPTIA/9951/1/doc25.pdfAcesso em: 29 maio 2008

Cálculo de área acessível por solvente utilizando SURFV - definição de interface intramolecular pelo SMS.

Definição de superfície acessível por solvente. Cálculo de AS. Utilização de SURFV para cálculo da área da AS e identificação de interface. Discussão e trabalhos futuros.bitstream/CNPTIA/9895/1/comuntec36.pdfAcesso em: 30 maio 2008

Bladder Cancer New Biomarkers in Liquid Biopsies

Bladder cancer is one of the most common neoplasia in men in the developed countries. Diagnosis and surveillance are made by bladder examination through cystoscopy making this one of the most expensive on cost/patient. After tumor removal, clinical staging is important for prognosis and treatment decision as non-muscle invasive (Ta and T1) and invasive (T2+) are treated in a completely different way. Today no noninvasive method has enough sensitivity to substitute cystoscopy or histological examination for tumor clinical staging. Our aim is to identify and quantify in urine, proteins that can detect and classify bladder tumors. A biomarker study was conducted using urine samples from: individuals with bladder cancer; individuals with other genitourinary disorders and individuals without urological diseases. Several proteins were found to successfully help in the discrimination of the bladder cancer stages Ta, T1 and T2+. Two biomarkerpanels were developed, one capable of detecting bladder cancer presence and other able to distinguish Ta, T1 and T2+. Our results show a significant difference between urinary proteome in patients with different bladder cancer stages. This may allow through liquid biopsies predict patient’s cancer stage. A validation study is on progress to attest this biomarker panel’s accuracy.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio