Simetrias e suas quebras: O campo de higgs e o problema da constante cosmológica / Symmetry and their breaks: The higgs field and the cosmological constant problem

Neste trabalho foram exploradas as simetrias do modelo padrão e suas quebras espontâneas, especialmente a quebra de simetria de calibre na interação fraca e a geração de massa durante a era eletrofraca da expansão do universo. O campo escalar de Higgs é de importância fundamental nesse processo, pois durante a quebra espontânea de simetria o mesmo adquire um valor esperado não nulo no vácuo, o que é uma motivação para se estudar a relação entre o campo escalar e a densidade de energia do vácuo e a sua relação com a expansão do universo. É conhecido o fato que os valores calculados teoricamente empregando teoria quântica de campos apontam um valor discrepante de até 120 ordens de grandeza maior que medidas experimentais da expansão, o que é conhecido como Problema da Constante Cosmológica, o qual será um dos objetos de estudo neste artigo

A Novel Intraurethral Device Diagnostic Index to Classify Bladder Outlet Obstruction in Men with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms

Objectives. Using a urethral device at the fossa navicularis, bladder pressure during voiding can be estimated by a minimal invasive technique. This study purposes a new diagnostic index for patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTSs). Methods. Fifty one patients presenting with LUTSs were submitted to a conventional urodynamic and a minimal invasive study. The results obtained through the urethral device and invasive classic urodynamics were compared. The existing bladder outlet obstruction index (BOOI) equation that classifies men with LUTSs was modified to allow minimal invasive measurement of isovolumetric bladder pressure in place of detrusor pressure at maximum urine flow. Accuracy of the new equation for classifying obstruction was then tested in this group of men. Results. The modified equation identified men with obstruction with a positive predictive value of 68% and a negative predictive value of 70%, with an overall accuracy of 70%. Conclusions. The proposed equation can accurately classify over 70% of men without resorting to invasive pressure flow studies. We must now evaluate the usefulness of this classification for the surgical treatment of men with LUTSs

Tailoring swelling of alginate-gelatin hydrogel microspheres by crosslinking with calcium chloride combined with transglutaminase

lginate-based hydrogels can find uses in a wide range of applications, including in the encapsulation field. This type of hydrogels is usually ionically crosslinked using calcium sources giving rise to products with limited internal crosslinking. In this work, it is hypothesized that the combination of alginate crosslinked by calcium chloride (external crosslinking; ionic mechanism) with gelatin crosslinked by transglutaminase (internal crosslinking; enzymatic induced mechanism) can be used to tailor the swelling behavior of alginate-based hydrogel microspheres. A systematic study was conducted by covering process variables such as gelatin content, TGase concentration, and CaCl2 contact time, added by statistic tools as central composite rotatable design (CCRD), principal component analysis (PCA) and multiobjective optimization, to map their effect on the resulting water content after production (expressed as swelling ratio), and swelling properties at pH 3 and 7. Among the studied variables, particle's swelling was mostly affected by the gelatin content and transglutaminase concentration.This work was financially supported by Associate Laboratory LSRELCM (UID/EQU/50020/2019) funded by national funds through FCT/ MCTES (PIDDAC), and Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) and by CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2019) trough FEDER under Program PT2020. The authors are grateful to CAPES, CNPq and Fundação Araucária for the support and also to Ajinomoto Foods Europe S.A.S. (France) for kindly provide the transglutaminase sample used in this work. I.P. Fernandes thanks the national funding by FCT, P.I., through the institutional scientific employment program-contract for her contract.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Heat and pH stable curcumin-based hydrophylic colorants obtained by the solid dispersion technology assisted by spray-drying

Natural food colorants are on demand due to food safety concerns related with some synthetic counterparts. Health-friendly alternatives can be available from plant sources, which include curcumin extracted from Curcuma longa L. However, its industrial use is difficult to achieve due to the low water affinity, pH and thermal instability, which is particularly challenging, e.g. for baked foods. In this work, the solid dispersion technique followed by spray-drying, an emergent approach in the context of colorants, was applied to curcumin using k-carrageenan, poly(vinyl alcohol) and polyvinylpyrrolidone, as the encapsulant materials. An orthogonal central composite design with dummy-variables was applied, and principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) carried out to identify the experimental conditions leading to the most effective formulations. In general, particles with a wide range of pH and heat stability have been produced depending on the chosen encapsulant material, used formulation (curcumin, surfactant and polymer contents), and synthesis conditions (pH). Moreover, the used mathematical approach showed to be a valuable tool to support the development of tailor-made formulations directed to specific applications where pH and temperature are relevant processing parameters.This work was financially supported by Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM (UID/EQU/50020/2019) funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC), and Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal). CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2019) through FEDER under Program PT2020. Authors thank CAPES (Brazil), CNPq (Brazil) and Fundação Araucária (Brazil) for the support.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Case Study area: Leiria National Forest, Portugal

info:eu-repo/semantics/draf

Lipid composition optimization in spray congealing technique and testing with curcumin-loaded microparticles

Spray-congealing, a technique based on the fast solidification of sprayed molten lipids, is considered a novel strategy to encapsulate natural products. Among others, it is a safe, low cost, fast and reproducible technique, with rising interest for several applications (e.g. food applications). One of the key parameters for the application of this technique is the lipid solidification temperature, which can be modulated by optimizing the lipid composition. In this work, three lipid components (beeswax, carnauba wax, and medium-chain triglycerides (Miglyol 812)) were selected, and the mixture composition modelled using a simplex-centroid experimental design. Three different lipid compositions were chosen to validate the proposed model, then tested in the preparation of curcumin-loaded microparticles (1.5%, w/w). The produced microparticles were analysed in terms of colour, morphology, particle size, encapsulation efficiency and load, physicochemical, crystalline, and thermal properties. Results evidenced that microparticle's properties, including encapsulation efficiency, vary according to the used lipid mixture, supporting their tailoring role. This fact brings advantages in the design of microencapsulation systems based on spray congealing processes, broadening their applicability. Moreover, lipid composition optimisation was proved to be an important tool to precede the development of spray-congealing applications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impacto na qualidade de vida em pacientes usuários de medicação retroviral e submetidos à gluteoplastia : estudo de coorte histórica

Introduction: Since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), disease mortality has been dramatically reduced worldwide. One related side effect from the use of these drugs is gluteal lipodystrophy. The aim of this study is to assess the quality-of-life impact of correcting this deformity in HIV patients. Methods: A historical cohort study was conducted between January 2010 and December 2014 with 23 patients, assessing the quality of their lives using the Nottingham Health Profile. A statistical analysis was performed using the McNemar test for related samples. Results: There was a significant difference between preoperative and postoperative response in 19 of the 38 questions. Conclusion: We may say that gluteal reconstruction plays a role in improving quality of life for HIV patients who have been affected by antiretroviral related gluteal lipodystrophy.Introdução: Desde a introdução do tratamento do HIV com uso da terapia antirretroviral altamente ativa, a mortalidade por essa doença foi reduzida drasticamente em todo o mundo. Um dos parefeitos relacionados à utilização desses fármacos é a lipodistrofia glútea. O objetivo deste trabalho é verificar o impacto da correção dessa deformidade na qualidade de vida de pacientes com HIV. Métodos: Foi conduzido um estudo de coorte histórica com 23 pacientes submetidos à gluteoplastia com implante intramuscular, entre janeiro de 2010 e dezembro de 2014, avaliando a qualidade de vida por meio do Nottingham Health Profile. As informações foram coletadas de julho a agosto de 2015. A análise estatística foi feita utilizando-se o Related-Samples McNemar Test. Resultados: Houve diferença significativa entre o pré-operatório e pós-operatório em 19 das 38 perguntas. Conclusão: É possível afirmar que a reconstrução glútea melhora a qualidade de vida de pacientes HIV positivos acometidos por lipodistrofia glútea relacionada a antirretrovirais

Gluteal contour restoration in antiretroviral users and its quality-of-life related impacts: a historical cohort study

INTRODUCTION: Since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), disease mortality has been dramatically reduced worldwide. One related side effect from the use of these drugs is gluteal lipodystrophy. The aim of this study is to assess the quality-of-life impact of correcting this deformity in HIV patients. METHODS: A historical cohort study was conducted between January 2010 and December 2014 with 23 patients, assessing the quality of their lives using the Nottingham Health Profile. A statistical analysis was performed using the McNemar test for related samples. RESULTS: There was a significant difference between preoperative and postoperative response in 19 of the 38 questions. CONCLUSION: We may say that gluteal reconstruction plays a role in improving quality of life for HIV patients who have been affected by antiretroviral related gluteal lipodystrophy

Risk of Residual Neoplasia after a Local-Risk Resection of Colorectal Lesions by Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection: A Multinational Study

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) in colorectal lesions is demanding, and a significant rate of non-curative procedures is expected. We aimed to assess the rate of residual lesion after a piecemeal ESD resection, or after an en bloc resection but with positive horizontal margins (local-risk resection-LocRR), for colorectal benign neoplasia. A retrospective multicenter analysis of consecutive colorectal ESDs was performed. Patients with LocRR ESDs for the treatment of benign colorectal lesions with at least one follow-up endoscopy were included. A cohort of en bloc resected lesions, with negative margins, was used as the control. A total of 2255 colorectal ESDs were reviewed; 352 of the ESDs were "non-curative". Among them, 209 were LocRR: 133 high-grade dysplasia and 76 low-grade dysplasia. Ten cases were excluded due to missing data. A total of 146 consecutive curative resections were retrieved for comparison. Compared to the "curative group", LocRRs were observed in lengthier procedures, with larger lesions, and in non-granular LSTs. Recurrence was higher in the LocRR group (16/199, 8% vs. 1/146, 0.7%; p = 0.002). However, statistical significance was lost when considering only en bloc resections with positive horizontal margins (p = 0.068). In conclusion, a higher rate of residual lesion was found after a piecemeal ESD resection, but not after an en bloc resection with positive horizontal margins.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio