New combined CFH/MCP mutations and a rare clinical course in atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome

Atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome (aHUS) is a rare, life-threatening, chronic, genetic disease due to uncontrolled alternative pathway complement activation. In this report, we discuss the case of a heterozygous carrier of a mutation on both factor H and membrane cofactor protein, who persistently presents haemolytic anaemia without need for blood transfusions, normal platelet count, normal renal function and no signs or symptoms of organ injury due to thrombotic microangiopathy 4 years after the diagnosis of aHUS.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Alternative tissue engineering scaffolds based on starch: processing methodologies, morphology, degradation and mechanical properties

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09284931An ideal tissue engineering scaffold must be designed from a polymer with an adequate degradation rate. The processing technique must allow for the preparation of 3-D scaffolds with controlled porosity and adequate pore sizes, as well as tissue matching mechanical properties and an appropriate biological response. This communication revises recent work that has been developed in our laboratories with the aim of producing 3-D polymeric structures (from starch-based blends) with adequate properties to be used as scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications. Several processing methodologies were originally developed and optimised. Some of these methodologies were based on conventional melt-based processing routes, such as extrusion using blowing agents (BA) and compression moulding (combined with particulate leaching). Other developed technologies included solvent casting and particle leaching and an innovative in situ polymerization method. By means of using the described methodologies, it is possible to tailor the properties of the different scaffolds, namely their degradation, morphology and mechanical properties, for several applications in tissue engineering. Furthermore, the processing methodologies (including the blowing agents used in the melt-based technologies) described above do not affect the biocompatible behaviour of starch-based polymers. Therefore, scaffolds obtained from these materials by means of using one of the described methodologies may constitute an important alternative to the materials currently used in tissue engineering

Computing Different Modes on Cathodes of DC Glow and High-Pressure Arc Discharges: Time-Dependent Versus Stationary Solvers

Complex behavior can appear in the modeling of gas discharges even in apparently simple steady-state situations. Time-dependent solvers may fail to deliver essential information in such cases. One of such cases considered in this work is the 1D DC discharge. The other case is represented by multiple multidimensional solutions existing in the theory of DC discharges and describing modes of current transfer with different patterns of spots on the cathodes. It is shown that, although some of the solutions, including those describing beautiful self organized patterns, can be computed by means of a time-dependent solver, in most examples results of time-dependent modeling are at best incomplete. In most examples, numerical stability of the time dependent solver was not equivalent to physical stability.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Quenching thermal instability in the body of a thermionic arc cathode

The possibility of quenching the instability causing the appearance of spots on thermionic cathodes of high-pressure arc discharges is demonstrated by means of numerical simulations and experimentally. This possibility stems from the fact that the instability is of a thermal nature and therefore slow. While of significant interest by itself, this possibility may be exploited to prevent in real time the formation of cathode spots in arc devices.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cytocompatibility and response of osteoblastic-like cells to starch-based polymers : effect of several additives and processing conditions

This work reports on the biocompatibility evaluation of new biodegradable starch-based polymers that are under consideration for use in orthopaedic temporary applications and as tissue engineering scaffolds. It has been shown in previous works that by using these polymers it is both possible to produce polymer/hydroxyapatite (HA) composites (with or without the use of coupling agents) with mechanical properties matching those of the human bone, and to obtain 3D structures generated by solid blowing agents, that are suitable for tissue engineering applications. This study was focused on establishing the influence of several additives (ceramic fillers, blowing agents and coupling agents) and processing methods/conditions on the biocompatibility of the materials described above. The cytotoxicity of the materials was evaluated using cell culture methods, according to ISO/EN 109935 guidelines. A cell suspension of human osteosarcoma cells (HOS) was also seeded on a blend of corn starch with ethylene vinyl alcohol (SEVA-C) and on SEVA-C/HA composites, in order to have a preliminary indication on cell adhesion and proliferation on the materials surface. In general, the obtained results show that all the different materials based on SEVA-C, (which are being investigated for use in several biomedical applications), as well as all the additives (including the novel coupling agents) and different processing methods required to obtain the different properties/products, can be used without inducing a cytotoxic behaviour to the developed biomaterial

Cloudlet architecture for dashboard in cloud and ubiquitous manufacturing

The aim of this paper is to present a cloudlet architecture for dashboard in Cloud and Ubiquitous Manufacturing. In practice means that, with Cloud Computing adoption, Manufacturing requires management applications where ubiquity and effectiveness are enabled. If ubiquity and resources scalability, availability and capacity can be well supported by cloud, pragmatics instruments are required to support effectiveness. The architecture here presented shows the integration of enriched existing (cloud) services, as instances of resources, with layers of new services towards direct and synchronous communication between users. These Rich Internet Application (RIA) components, here named cloudlets, integration, follow dashboards organization patterns and will be supported by emergent web3.0 interaction technologies. In fact, the paper proposes a new Presentation Layer to be used in UMS and (that may be used) in any multi-layer cloud-based web application. (C) 2013 Authors. Published by Elsevier B. V.The authors wish to acknowledge the support of: 1) The national Foundation for Science and Technology - FCT (Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia) scholarship, reference number SFRH/BD/49540/2009, 2) The Foundation for Science and Technology - FCT, Project PTDC/EME-GIN/102143/2008, 'Ubiquitous oriented embedded systems for globally distributed factories of manufacturing enterprises', 3) EUREKA, Project E! 4177-Pro-Factory UE

Milpa: estratégia pré-Colombiana para a produção de alimentos.

bitstream/item/37364/1/panfleto-milpa.pd

Computing DC discharges in a wide range of currents with COMSOL MultiPhysics: time-dependent solvers vs. stationary solvers

The benefits of the usage of stationary over time-dependent solvers of COMSOL Multiphysics in the modelling of DC discharges are explored and demonstrated using as examples glow and high pressure arc discharges; in particular, it is investigated whether time-dependent solvers can be used for a systematic computation of different modes of these discharges. It has been found that most modes of both glow and high-pressure arc discharges cannot be computed in the whole range of their existence by a time-dependent solver. Further, time-dependent solvers are unsuitable for a computation of all the states belonging to the retrograde sections of the current-voltage characteristics of the modes, so the discharge manifests hysteresis, which, in principle, can be observed in the experiment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio