A hybrid MLS technique for room impulse response estimation

The measurement of room impulse response (RIR) when there are high background noise levels frequently means one must deal with very low signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). if such is the case, the measurement might yield unreliable results, even when synchronous averaging techniques are used. Furthermore, if there are non-linearities in the apparatus or system time variances, the final SNR can be severely degraded. The test signals used in RIR measurement are often disturbed by non-stationary ambient noise components. A novel approach based on the energy analysis of ambient noise - both in the time and in frequency - was considered. A modified maximum length sequence (MLS) measurement technique. referred to herein as the hybrid MLS technique, was developed for use in room acoustics. The technique consists of reducing the noise energy of the captured sequences before applying the averaging technique in order to improve the overall SNRs and frequency response accuracy. Experiments were conducted under real conditions with different types of underlying ambient noises. Results are shown and discussed. Advantages and disadvantages of the hybrid MLS technique over standard MLS technique are evaluated and discussed. Our findings show that the new technique leads to a significant increase in the overall SNR. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Fasceíte Necrosante após Mobilização e Infiltração Intrarticular do Ombro com Betametasona

Necrotizing Fasciitis is a rapidly progressive, potentially fatal infection of superficial fasciae and subcutaneous tissue, usually resulting from an inciting trauma to the skin. Medical literature refers few cases of necrotizing fasciitis related to intra-articular infiltrations, that often lead to patients death. This report describes the clinical events on a 55 year-old diabetic patient who developed upper extremity Necrotizing Fasciitis, 18 days after shoulder mobilization and intra-articular infiltration, due to Staphylococcus epidermidis. An early surgical debridement was performed and antibiotherapy was established, resulting in a successful outcome, despite the functional disability. We point out, through this case, the possibility of intra-articular injections of drugs causing Necrotizing Fasciitis, especially in risk patients

Shock Following Subcutaneous Injections of Polymethylmethacrylate

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer screening

Letter to the editorThis study was funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology – FCT (Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education) in collaboration with the Agency for Clinical Research and Biomedical Innovation (AICIB), under the scope of the project ‘Impacto da pandemia COVID-19 nos cuidados prestados a doentes oncológicos’ (Research 4 COVID 174_596850546), and national funding from FCT, under the Unidade de Investigação em Epidemiologia – Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit; info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB/04750/2020/PT). SM was also funded under the scope of the project ‘NEON-PC - Neuro-oncological complications of prostate cancer: longitudinal study of cognitive decline’ (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-032358; ref. PTDC/SAU-EPI/32358/2017), which is funded by FEDER through the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Internationalization, and national funding from FCT. The funding sources had no involvement in the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the short-term survival of patients with cancer in Northern Portugal

The COVID-19 pandemic led to potential delays in diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients, which may negatively affect the prognosis of these patients. Our study aimed to quantify the impact of COVID-19 on the short-term survival of cancer patients by comparing a period of 4 months after the outbreak began (2 March 2020) with an equal period from 2019. All cancer cases of the esophagus, stomach, colon and rectum, pancreas, lung, skin-melanoma, breast, cervix, and prostate, from the Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO-Porto) and diagnosed between 2 March and 1 July of 2019 (before COVID-19) and 2020 (after COVID-19) were identified. Information regarding sociodemographic, clinical and treatment characteristics were collected from the cancer registry database and clinical files. Vital status was assessed to 31 October of the respective years. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate crude and propensity score-adjusted hazards ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of death. During follow-up to 31 October, there were 154 (11.8%) deaths observed before COVID-19 and 131 (17.2%) after COVID-19, corresponding to crude and adjusted HRs (95% CI) of 1.51 (1.20-1.91) and 1.10 (0.86-1.40), respectively. Significantly higher adjusted hazards of death were observed for patients with Stage III cancer (HR = 2.37; 95% CI: 1.14-4.94) and those undergoing surgical treatment (HR = 3.97; 95% CI: 1.14-13.77) or receiving radiotherapy (HR = 1.96; 95% CI: 1.96-3.74), while patients who did not receive any treatment had a lower mortality hazards (HR = 0.62; 95% CI: 0.46-0.83). The higher overall short-term mortality observed during the COVID-19 pandemic largely reflects the effects of the epidemic on the case-mix of patients being diagnosed with cancer.Funding information: European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Internationalization & Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Grant/Award Number: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-032358; ref. PTDC/SAU-EPI/32358; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Grant/Award Number: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB/04750/2020/PT; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia & Agency for Clinical Research and Biomedical Innovation, Grant/Award Number: RESEARCH 4 COVID-19 174_59685054

The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in Northern Portugal

Objectives The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the availability of healthcare resources, and adjustments to cancer care have been necessary considering the risk of morbidity by COVID-19 and of cancer progression. This study aims to quantify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care of patients with cancer by comparing a period of 4 months after the outbreak began (2 March 2020) with an equal period from 2019. Methods Cancer cases of the esophagus, stomach, colon and rectum, pancreas, lung, skin-melanoma, breast, cervix, prostate, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and leukemia from the Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto, and diagnosed between 2 March and 1 July 2019 (before COVID-19) and 2020 (after COVID-19) were identified. Those with the first treatment outside the Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto were excluded. Sociodemographic, clinical and treatment characteristics were obtained from the cancer registry database and clinical files. Results The absolute number of new cancer cases decreased nearly 40% after the COVID-19 pandemic (from 1430 to 866). The largest decreases were observed for cervical (-74.3%) and prostate (-71.7%) cancers. Cases were more often diagnosed at more advanced stages in 2020 (P = 0.001), and the proportion of patients not starting any treatment until 1 July was just under 20% in 2019 and nearly 40% in 2020. The median times from symptoms onset, first medical exam and first appointment to diagnosis, and from diagnosis to first appointment, multidisciplinary tumor board meeting and first treatment were shorter after COVID-19. Conclusions There was a notable overall decrease in cancer diagnoses after COVID-19, with changes in the characteristics of incident cases. © 2022 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. All rights reserved.This study was funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology – FCT (Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education) in collaboration with the Agency for Clinical Research and Biomedical Innovation (AICIB), under the scope of the project “Impacto da pandemia COVID-19 nos cuidados prestados a doentes oncológicos” (Research 4 COVID 174_596850546), and national funding from FCT, under the Unidade de Investigação em Epidemiologia – Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit; UIDB/04750/2020). SM was funded under the scope of the project “NEON-PC - Neuro-oncological complications of prostate cancer: longitudinal study of cognitive decline” (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-032358; ref. PTDC/SAU-EPI/32358/2017), which is funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Programme Competitiveness and Internationalization, and national funding from FCT. The funding sources had no involvement in the conduct of the research or preparation of the article