On the nature of the (de)coupling of the magnetostructural transition in Er5_5Si4_4

In this report, a successful thermodynamical model was employed to understand the structural transition in Er$_5$Si$_4$, able to explain the decoupling of the magnetic and structural transition. This was achieved by the DFT calculations which were used to determine the energy differences at 0 K, using a LSDA+U approximation. It was found that the M structure as the stable phase at low temperatures as verified experimentally with a $\Delta F_0 = -$0.262 eV. Finally, it was achieved a variation of Seebeck coefficient ($\sim$ 6 $\mu$V) at the structural transition which allow to conclude that the electronic entropy variation is negligible in the transition.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Polymedication and its association with individual factors in Portuguese older adults: a cross-sectional study

Population aging is a reality resulting in polymedication and its harmful consequences. Therefore, determining polymedication state in Portugal and identifying its associated characteristics is vital. METHODS: Among the cross-sectional study Nutrition UP 65, information on socio-demographic data, cognitive performance, lifestyle, health, and nutritional status was collected in the Portuguese older population. Frequency of polymedication (self-reported concomitant administration of ≥5 medications and/or supplements) was calculated. Associated factors were determined. RESULTS: A total of 1317 individuals were included in the sample and the frequency of polymedication was 37.1%. Characteristics associated with higher odds of polymedication were living in an institution (OR: 1.97; CI: 1.04-3.73); being overweight (OR: 1.52; CI: 1.03–2.25) or obese (OR: 1.57; CI: 1.06–2.34); perceiving health status as reasonable (OR: 1.68; CI: 1.25–2.27) or bad/very bad (OR: 2.04; CI: 1.37–3.03); having illnesses of the circulatory system (OR: 2.91; CI: 2.14–3.94) or endocrine, metabolic, and nutritional diseases (OR: 1.79; CI: 1.38–2.31). CONCLUSIONS: A 3 to 4 out of 10 Portuguese older adults are polymedicated. Intervention in modifiable factors and the monitorization of others is an important strategy in the care of the elderly

Towards automated test and validation of SIP solutions

IP networks are currently the major communication infrastructure used by an increasing number of applications and heterogeneous services, including voice services. In this context, the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a signaling protocol widely used for controlling multimedia communication sessions such as voice or video calls over IP networks, thus performing vital functions in an extensive set of public and enter- prise solutions. However, the SIP protocol dissemination also entails some challenges, such as the complexity associated with the testing/validation processes of IMS/SIP networks. As a consequence, manual IMS/SIP testing solutions are inherently costly and time consuming tasks, being crucial to develop automated approaches in this specific area. In this perspective, this article presents an experimental approach for automated testing/validation of SIP scenarios in IMS networks. For that purpose, an automation framework is proposed allowing to replicate the configuration of SIP equipment from the pro- duction network and submit such equipment to a battery of tests in the testing network. The proposed solution allows to drastically reduce the test and validation times when compared with traditional manual approaches, also allowing to enhance testing reliability and coverage. The automation framework comprises of some freely available tools which are conveniently integrated with other specific modules implemented within the context of this work. In order to illustrate the advantages of the proposed automated framework, a real case study taken from a PT Inovação customer is presented comparing the time required to perform a manual SIP testing approach with the one time required when using the proposed auto- mated framework. The presented results clearly corroborate the advantages of using the presented framework.This work has been supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: PEstOE/EEI/UI0319/2014. This research work was developed within the collaboration of PT Inovação (http://www.ptinovacao.pt/ en/)

Combining power electronic converters and automation to simulate solar PV systems

This paper presents a solar photovoltaic panel simulator system with the ability to perform automatic tests in different condition according to manufacture parameters. This simulator is based on three buck-boost DC-DC converters controlled by a microcontroller and supported by a Programmable Logic Controller which is responsible for the automatic tests. This solution will allow to achieve fast response, like suddenly changes in the irradiation, temperature, or load. To control the power converter, it will be used a fast and robust sliding mode controller. Therefore, with the proposed system is possible to perform the I-V curve simulation of a solar PV panel, evaluate different MPPT algorithms considering different meteorological and load variation. The main advantage of this work is the possibility to evaluate and test several MPPT algorithms and understand the operation and typical operation of solar PV panels in different conditions. Several simulations and experimental results from a laboratory prototype are presented to confirm the theoretical operation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Scale Invariance in the Nonstationarity of Physiological Signals

We introduce a segmentation algorithm to probe temporal organization of heterogeneities in human heartbeat interval time series. We find that the lengths of segments with different local values of heart rates follow a power-law distribution. This scale-invariant structure is not a simple consequence of the long-range correlations present in the data. We also find that the differences in mean heart rates between consecutive segments display a common functional form, but with different parameters for healthy individuals and for patients with heart failure. This finding may provide information into the way heart rate variability is reduced in cardiac disease.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, corrected typo

Manejo de plantas daninhas na cultura de milho com os herbicidas sulfentrazone e carfentrazone-ethyl

Experiments were carried out with the objective of evaluating the weed management in com, spraying the herbicide sulfentrazone in pre-emergence conditions, alone or in combination with acetochlor and carfentrazone-ethyl herbicides in post-emergence conditions alone or in tank mix either with atrazine or nicosulfuron. The experiments were in completely randomized block design, with four replicates, in Piracicaba 1 SP, Brazil, in the experimental area of the Crop Production Department from University of São Paulo - ESALQ/USP. The weed control and the phytotoxic effects on the crop were evaluated as well as the final yield and plant height. The herbicide sulfentrazone was efficient in weed controI and selective to com crop sprayed in pre-emergence conditions at 0.15,0.30 and 0.45 kg/ha alone or when the same rates were applied in mixture with the herbicide acetochlor at 2.52 kglha; in post-emergence ofthe com crop the herbicide carfentrazone-ethyl was selective and efficient in the control ofweeds at the rates ofO.004 e 0.007 kg/ha, sprayed aIone or tank mix either with atrazine at 2.5 kg/ha, when the weeds are at the two pair of leaves growth stage; or with the herbicide nicosulfuron at the rate of 0.04 kg/ha, when the weeds are at the four pair of leaves stage. Dois experimentos foram desenvolvidos com o objetivo de avaliar o manejo de plantas daninhas na cultura de milho com o herbicida sulfentrazone aplicado em condições de pré-emergência, isolado ou em mistura com acetochlor, e do herbicida carfentrazone-ethyl aplicado em condições de pós-emergência, isolado ou em mistura com atrazine ou com nicosulfuron. Os experimentos foram conduzidos em delineamento experimental em blocos casualizados, com quatro repetições, no município de Piracicaba, SP, em área experimental do Departamento de Produção Vegetal da ESALQ/USP, durante o ano agrícola 200 1/2002. As avaliações efetuadas foram de percentagem de controle de plantas daninhas, efeitos tóxicos na cultura, produtividade de grãos e altura de plantas de milho. O herbicida sulfentrazone apresentou eficácia agronômica no controle de várias espécies de plantas daninhas em condições de pré-emergência na cultura de milho, quando aplicado nas doses de 0,15, 0,30 e 0,45 kg/ha isoladamente, ou nestas mesmas doses, em mistura com o herbicida acetochlor na dose de 2,52 kglha; o herbicida carfentrazoneethyl, em pós-emergência da cultura de milho, nas doses de 0,004 e 0,007 kg/ha foi seletivo e eficiente no controle de plantas daninhas aplicado isoladamente, ou quando estas mesmas doses forem aplicadas em mistura com atrazine na dose de 2,5 kgl ha e as plantas daninhas encontravam-se em média no estádio de pós-emergência de dois pares de folhas, ou quando estas doses de carfentrazone-ethyl foram aplicadas em mistura com o herbicida nicosulfuron na dose de 0,04 kg/ha e as plantas daninhas encontravam-se em média no estádio de quatro pares de folhas

A step forward

Funding: Authors gratefully acknowledge Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through projects UIDB/00645/2020, UIDB/04138/2020, PTDC/MED-QUI/31721/2017, UIDP/04138/2020 and Lusófona University, ULHT. Authors are also thankful to FCT/MCTES for the financial support to CESAM (UIDP/50017/2020, UIDB/50017/2020), through national funds.Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is a very rare subtype of thyroid carcinoma and one of the most lethal malignancies. Poor prognosis is mainly associated with its undifferentiated nature, inoperability, and failing to respond to the typically used therapies for thyroid cancer. Photothermal Therapy (PTT) entails using light to increase tissues’ temperature, leading to hyperthermia-mediated cell death. Tumours are more susceptible to heat as they are unable to dissipate it. By using functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) that transform light energy into heat, it is possible to target the heat to the tumour. This study aims to formulate ATC-targeted AuNPs able to convert near-infrared light into heat, for PTT of ATC. Different AuNPs were synthetized and coated. Size, morphology, and surface plasmon resonances band were determined. The optimized coated-AuNPs were then functionalized with ligands to assess ATC’s specificity. Safety, efficacy, and selectivity were assessed in vitro. The formulations were deemed safe when not irradiated (>70% cell viability) and selective for ATC. However, when irradiated, holo-transferrin-AuNPs were the most cytotoxic (22% of cell viability). The biodistribution and safety of this formulation was assessed in vivo. Overall, this novel formulation appears to be a highly promising approach to evaluate in a very near future.publishersversionpublishe