Vulvar Tuberculosis-A Rare Manifestation of the Disease

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. According to data from the World Health Organization, this disease remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Although it most commonly affects the lungs, tuberculosis can compromise any organ. The present study reports a rare case of vulvar tuberculosis in a postmenopausal woman with a history of asymptomatic pulmonary and pleural tuberculosis, with no prior documented contact with the bacillus. Diagnosis was based on vulvar lesion biopsies, with histological findings suggestive of infection and isolation of M. tuberculosis by microbiological culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) essays. The lesions reverted to normal after tuberculostatic therapy.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Deliriumin the ICU setting ‐ a subjective and theoretical survey before the implementation of the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU in an unit

Background and Goal of Study: The current definition of delirium comprises acute change or fluctuation in mental status and inattention, accompanied by either altered level of consciousness or disorganized thinking. It is a frequent condition in the ICU and it is associated with longer hospital stay, increase in mortality at 6 months and long-term cognitive impairment, but remains under diagnosed. The Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU) has been validated and implemented in many ICUs and its use is recommended by the Society of Critical Care Medicine. It is our purpose to evaluate the individual perspective and the objective knowledge of our staf f about delirium before the implementation of the CAM-ICU. Materials and Methods: Anonymous survey to our ICU clinical staf f which contained subjective and ‘true or false’ questions. Data was analised with the sof tware SPSS version 17.0. The Wilcoxon test was used to compare autoperception of knowledge about delirium and the content of answers regarding its definiton. Results: Forty two questionnaires were returned (participation rate of 73%), 11 from physicians and 31 from nurses. Overall, 61,9% of inquiries think they can give a definition for delirium in the ICU and 50% claim to be able to evaluate delirium. 28,6% of the respondents - 63,6% of the physicians and 16,1% of the nurses - know the CAM-ICU. From these only a quarter has received education on this method, 75% think it’s easy to apply and 66% don’t see its use as an increase in the daily workload. We found a high rate of wrong and ‘I don’t know’ answers to questions about operationalization, diagnosis and outcome. The subjects’ auto-perception on their knowledge about delirium [Likert scale] was compared to their ability to answer questions related to its definiton - ‘attention deficit is essencial for diagnosis’ [true], Wilcoxon test Z=-4,699 (p< 0,001); ‘disorganized thinking is essential for diagnosis’ [false], Wilcoxon test Z=-4,437 (p< 0,001). Conclusions: The respondents’ auto perception of knowledge about delirium doesn’t translate in the ability of giving an appropriate definition and making an adequate evaluation. Most of the inquiries don’t know the CAM-ICU, but those who do believe it’s easy to apply and its use won’t increase the workload. We performed educational sessions about delirium and the CAM-ICU in our unit to encourage our clinical staf f to deal properly with this hazardous condition

Assembly of lightweight sandwich panels through joining by forming

This paper is focused on the assembly of lightweight sandwich panels built upon the patented ‘Opencell’ structure concept. The objective is to investigate the possibility of joining the connection members of the core to the adjoining skin sheet by plastic deformation at ambient temperature, instead of welding or adhesive bonding. The methodology draws from earlier developments of the authors in joining by forming using the mortise-and-tenon concept to experimentation and finite element modelling of the assembly process in unit cells that are representative of the sandwich panels. It is shown that replacing welding by joining by forming allows fabricating sandwich panels from sheet materials that are difficult or impossible to weld while preventing thermal cycles that are responsible for causing metallurgical changes, distortions, and residual stresses. Replacing adhesive bonding by joining by forming circumvents the need of surface preparation, time for the adhesive to cure and environmental compliance, among other requirementsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Adding Value to Tannery Fleshings Part I – Oils and Protein Hydrolysates – Production and Application

The tanning industry generates a high quantity of solid wastes. Therefore, there is a need to create valorization [added value] options for these wastes. The present work had as its main objective creating added value by production of fat and hydrolyzed protein. To this end, fleshings were treated by hydrolysis with regard to the influence of various factors. The best result was found for a temperature of 60°C, 4 hours of hydrolysis, 2% of enzyme and 100% of water, with a fat extraction yield of 93%. The fat obtained through the hydrolysis process was used to produce sulphated oils. The protein hydrolysate was concentrated to about 40% of solids content and used to prepare co-products of protein hydrolysate and glutaraldehyde. Sulphated oils were applied in leather fatliquoring and the different protein hydrolysates were tested in leather retannage. The leather samples obtained were evaluated by physical-mechanical tests and the results were compared to those obtained through a standard process. The results were very satisfactory and, in some cases better than the specified standard. The process of adding value to this waste results in a double advantage for the leather industry, reducing the environmental impact and allowing production of alternative products for leather fatliquoring and retannage.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

StemMapper: a curated gene expression database for stem cell lineage analysis.

Transcriptomic data have become a fundamental resource for stem cell (SC) biologists as well as for a wider research audience studying SC-related processes such as aging, embryonic development and prevalent diseases including cancer, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases. Access and analysis of the growing amount of freely available transcriptomics datasets for SCs, however, are not trivial tasks. Here, we present StemMapper, a manually curated gene expression database and comprehensive resource for SC research, built on integrated data for different lineages of human and mouse SCs. It is based on careful selection, standardized processing and stringent quality control of relevant transcriptomics datasets to minimize artefacts, and includes currently over 960 transcriptomes covering a broad range of SC types. Each of the integrated datasets was individually inspected and manually curated. StemMapper's user-friendly interface enables fast querying, comparison, and interactive visualization of quality-controlled SC gene expression data in a comprehensive manner. A proof-of-principle analysis discovering novel putative astrocyte/neural SC lineage markers exemplifies the utility of the integrated data resource. We believe that StemMapper can open the way for new insights and advances in SC research by greatly simplifying the access and analysis of SC transcriptomic data. StemMapper is freely accessible at http://stemmapper.sysbiolab.eu

Use of rating systems in the process towards sustainable construction

Since the large scale industrialization occurred, the profit oriented human activity has led to a constantly growing environmental degradation. Nowadays, that the actual severity of the problem in hand is impossible to ignore and the spectrum of the future consequences emerges in its full extent, several actions towards the adaptation of sustainability principles in the most problematic sectors of human activity are undertaken. One of these sectors is building sector, incorporating the production, transport, use and replacement of building materials, the use of the building itself (energy consumption for lighting, ventilation, heating and cooling, water consumption etc), the reuse of the building or its materials, the demolition of the building and the disposal of the demolition products. The energy consumed in operating buildings serves as indication of the building sector’s contribution to the total environmental aggravation induced by human activity. According to (OECD, 2003), in the European OECD countries, the building sector consumes the highest amount of energy (40%) in comparison to the transport (22%) and industry sectors (38%). Given the fact that the afore-mentioned quantities include the energy amounts consumed only for the operation of the building, while other processes – unbreakably bonded to construction – such as manufacture and transport of building materials, are not cocalculated, an estimation regarding the impact of the building sector on the environment can be drawn.COST, European Science Foundatio

A self-clinching fastener for hidden lap joints

This paper presents a new self-clinching fastener to connect two sheets (or plates), made from similar or dissimilar materials, placed over one another by means of a mechanical form-closed joint that is hidden inside the sheets. The development of the fastener, the definition of its main design variables and the identification of its workability limits are carried out by means of a combined experimental and numerical simulation work based on finite elements. It is shown that self-clinching by pressing the two overlapped sheets against each other to displace material around the annular groove of the fastener shank and create undercuts in both sheets requires an appropriate choice of the design variables. Wrong values of the design variables resulting in lack or excess of material displaced by plastic flow gives rise to inappropriate lap joints that cannot be used in production. The new proposed fastener allows, for the first time ever, joining by forming with the use of auxiliary elements that are harder than the sheet materials to fabricate invisible joints with no material protrusions in applications requiring minimum installation spaceinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Anthropometry for children's clothing: difficulties and limitations

Children's wear lacks an anthropometric study to better fit clothes on the body of the child, providing greater comfort for users. Initially, this thesis project in fashion design intended to measure Portuguese children between the ages of 2 to 10 years, enrolled in primary schools in the region of Minho in Portugal. During the data gathering, held in the months of June, July, October and November 2016, about 600 children were scanned and measured using a 3D body scanner. The purpose of this paper is to report the difficulties and limitations experienced during data collection of the anthropometric study and the adjustments that were needed, as well as discuss some of the data collected.This work is supported by FEDER funds through the Competitive Factors Operational Program (COMPETE) POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007136 and by national funds through Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the project UID/CTM/000264.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

FSH dose and strategy of administration during ovarian stimulation alter the gene expression profile in ovine cumulus-oocyte complexes.

Ovarian stimulation is an important tool to increase the number of oocytes obtained by laparoscopy for the in vitro production of embryos (IVP). In sheep, different concentrations of FSH administered in single dose (SD) or multiple doses (MD) have been adopted. In parallel, the oocyte quality is fundamental for IVP success, so strategies to produce more competent oocytes have been evaluated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the gene expression profile of BCB+ COC from different hormonal protocols of ovarian stimulation in Santa Inês ewes. To achieve that, a cross-over design was used, where 12 pluriparous ewes had their follicular wave synchronized (Balaro et al., Domest Anim Endocrinol, 54: 10-14, 2016). At 80 h after progestogen implant removal, all ewes received a new vaginal sponge and it started the stimulation by administration of: 80 (Group 1 - 80-SD) or 120 (Group 2 - 120-SD) mg FSH (Folltropin-V®, Bioniche Animal Health, Ontario, Canada) and 300 IU of eCG both in single dose, or 80 (Group 3 - 80-MD) or 120 (Group 4 - 120-MD) in decreasing doses (50/30/20%) every 12 h. The COCs were recovered by laparoscopy and classified morphologically in grade I / II (homogeneous ooplasm and more than 3 cumulus cells layers), III (homogeneous ooplasm and less than 3 cumulus cells layers or partially denuded) and IV (heterogeneous ooplasm or degenerate). For inference of the development competence GI, II and III COCs were stained with bright cresyl blue (BCB) and classified into: BCB+ (competent) and BCB- (non-competent). These variables were compared by ANOVA followed by Tukey test. The abundance of mRNA that encodes proteins associated with steroidogenesis (STAR, FSHr, LHr and ER?), oocyte quality (MATER, BMP15, GDF9 and ZAR1) and apoptosis (BAX and Bcl-2) was assessed by real-time qPCR normalized with GAPDH in BCB+ COCs. The abundance of gene transcripts associated with steroidogenesis was down-regulated (P <0.05) with increasing FSH concentration, when administration was performed in a single dose (80-SD and 120-SD). On the other hand, when the administration was performed in MD, only the LHr was down-regulated (80-MD and 120-MD). In the 80-MD group, FSHr and Er? were down-regulated (P <0.05) in comparison with 80-SD. For genes related with oocyte quality, 80-MD showed up-regulation (P <0.05) to MATER (when compared to 80-SD), ZAR1 and MATER (compared to 120-SD). Nonetheless, apoptosis genes were not affected. These data demonstrate that the FSH dose and strategy of administration affect the gene expression profile in ovine COCs. Subsequent studies are necessary to assess the effect of this change on maturation rate and developmental competence.Proceedings of the 31st Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Embryo Technology Society (SBTE), Cabo de Santo Agostinho, PE, Brazil, August 17 to 19, 2017