a consensus statement from the Portuguese Pulmonology Society

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging infectious disease caused by a novel SARS-CoV-2 pathogen. Its capacity for human-to-human transmission through respiratory droplets, coupled with a high-level of population mobility, has resulted in a rapid dissemination worldwide. Healthcare workers have been particularly exposed to the risk of infection and represent a significant proportion of COVID-19 cases in the worst affected regions of Europe. Like other open airway procedures or aerosol-generating procedures, bronchoscopy poses a significant risk of spreading contaminated droplets, and medical workers must adapt the procedures to ensure safety of both patients and staff. Several recommendation documents were published at the beginning of the pandemic, but as the situation evolves, our thoughts should not only focus on the present, but should also reflect on how we are going to deal with the presence of the virus in the community until there is a vaccine or specific treatment available. It is in this sense that this document aims to guide interventional pulmonology throughout this period, providing a set of recommendations on how to perform bronchoscopy or pleural procedures safely and efficiently.proofpublishe

Coating of Magnetite Nanoparticles with Fucoidan to Enhance Magnetic Hyperthermia Efficiency

Magnetic nanoparticles (NP), such as magnetite, have been the subject of research for application in the biomedical field, especially in Magnetic Hyperthermia Therapy (MHT), a promising technique for cancer therapy. NP are often coated with different compounds such as natural or synthetic polymers to protect them from oxidation and enhance their colloidal electrostatic stability while maintaining their thermal efficiency. In this work, the synthesis and characterization of magnetite nanoparticles coated with fucoidan, a biopolymer with recognized biocompatibility and antitumoral activity, is reported. The potential application of NP in MHT was evaluated through the assessment of Specific Loss Power (SLP) under an electromagnetic field amplitude of 14.7 kA m−1 and at 276 kHz. For fucoidan-coated NP, it was obtained SLP values of 100 and 156 W/g, corresponding to an Intrinsic Loss Power (ILP) of 1.7 and 2.6 nHm2kg−1, respectively. These values are, in general, higher than the ones reported in the literature for non-coated magnetite NP or coated with other polymers. Furthermore, in vitro assays showed that fucoidan and fucoidan-coated NP are biocompatible. The particle size (between ca. 6 to 12 nm), heating efficiency, and biocompatibility of fucoidan-coated magnetite NP meet the required criteria for MHT application

Estabilidade da produtividade de grãos de cultivares de milho nos Estados do Piauí e Maranhão.

Objetivando conhecer a adaptabilidade e a estabilidade, para fins de recomendação, foram avaliadas 33 cultivares de milho (22 híbridos e 11 variedades) em 13 ambientes dos Estados do Piauí e Maranhão nas safras de 2001/2002, 2002/2003 e 2003/2004. Utilizou-se o delineamento experimental em blocos ao acaso, com três repetições. Os parâmetros de adaptabilidade e estabilidade foram estimados pelo método de regressão bissegmentada. A análise de variância conjunta mostrou inconsistência no comportamento das cultivares diante das oscilações ambientais. Os híbridos mostraram melhor adaptação que as variedades, consolidando-se em alternativas importantes para os agricultores que investem em tecnologias modernas de produção. Nas condições ambientais favoráveis, sobressaíram-se os híbridos DAS 766, Pioneer 3021 e Pioneer 30 K 75. As variedades que expressaram adaptabilidade ampla, tais como, Sertanejo, Asa Branca, AL 30, AI 34 e São Francisco são importantes nos sistemas de produção dos agricultores familiares da região.bitstream/item/36037/1/Bol58.pd

Drought tolerance phenotyping in crops under contrasting target environments: procedures and practices.

Introduction. Comparing target environment characteristics for drought tolerance phenotyping. Site selection criteria. Soil characteristics for establishment of a specific site area. Main steps for a specific site selection and establishment in the field. A specific site selection and establishment case study: Sete Lagoas (Minas Gerais), Janaúba (Minas Gerais) and Teresina (Piauí), Brazil. Procedures for monitoring and controlling water stress for drought tolerance phenotyping. Irrigation scheme selection. Conventional sprinkler system. Localised irrigation system. Linear moving system. Field calibration procedures for water application and distribution. Container setupe for conventional sprinkler and linear moving irrigation systems. Calculation of the uniformity of water distribution. Procedures for the evaluation of applied water depth and distribution. Irrigation water management. Soil moisture measurements on drought tolerance field trials. Crop water requirements in localised systems. Irrigation depth. Measurement of crop water stress. Pehnotyping cereals and legumes for drought tolerance. Structure, maintenance and management of a database and modelling for drought tolerance phenothyping.bitstream/item/177192/1/Separata-00859.pd

Drought tolerance phenotyping in crops under contrasting target environments: procedures and practices.

Introduction. Comparing target environment characteristics for drought tolerance phenotyping. Site selection criteria. Soil characteristics for establishment of a specific site area. Main steps for a specific site selection and establishment in the field. A specific site selection and establishment case study: Sete Lagoas (Minas Gerais), Janaúba (Minas Gerais) and Teresina (Piauí), Brazil. Procedures for monitoring and controlling water stress for drought tolerance phenotyping. Irrigation scheme selection. Conventional sprinkler system. Localised irrigation system. Linear moving system. Field calibration procedures for water application and distribution. Container setupe for conventional sprinkler and linear moving irrigation systems. Calculation of the uniformity of water distribution. Procedures for the evaluation of applied water depth and distribution. Irrigation water management. Soil moisture measurements on drought tolerance field trials. Crop water requirements in localised systems. Irrigation depth. Measurement of crop water stress. Pehnotyping cereals and legumes for drought tolerance. Structure, maintenance and management of a database and modelling for drought tolerance phenothyping.bitstream/item/177192/1/Separata-00859.pd

Mudas de Eucaliptus urophylla sob diferentes concentrações de Cr: sintomas de toxidez e efeitos no crescimento.

Com o objetivo de avaliar os efeitos da toxidez de cromo (Cr) sobre o crescimento e desenvolvimento de mudas de Eucaliptus urophylla, foi instalado um experimento em casa-de-vegetação no Departamento de Ciência do Solo da Universidade Federal de Lavras. Foram utilizadas diferentes concentrações de Cr (0,00; 0,04; 0,08; 0,16; 0,32 e 0,64 mM) fornecido como [Cr(NO3)3.9H2O], em solução nutritiva de Clark. Após cinco semanas de exposição aos tratamentos, as plantas exibiram sintomas de toxidez traduzidos em redução no crescimento, queda de folhas, encurtamento e escurecimento de raízes e com a elevação das concentrações estas se tornavam mais finas e quebradiças. A elevação nas concentrações de Cr na solução nutritiva exerceu efeitos significativos sobre diversos parâmetros vegetativos estudados: altura e incremento em altura, diâmetro e incremento em diâmetro, produção de matéria seca nos quais mostraram redução significativa com o aumento da dose do metal pesado a partir da concentração de 0,08 mM Cr. De maneira geral, a aplicação de Cr acima de 0,08 mM reduz o crescimento de todos os órgãos da planta

Position Automaton Construction for Regular Expressions with Intersection

Positions and derivatives are two essential notions in the conversion methods from regular expressions to equivalent finite automata. Partial derivative based methods have recently been extended to regular expressions with intersection. In this paper, we present a position automaton construction for those expressions. This construction generalizes the notion of position making it compatible with intersection. The resulting automaton is homogeneous and has the partial derivative automaton as its quotient