Baked Food Ingestion in Cow’s Milk and Egg Allergy

O leite de vaca e o ovo são responsáveis pela maioria dos casos de alergia alimentar na infância. O processamento térmico dos alimentos pode alterar a sua alergenicidade e estão publicados vários estudos que investigaram a tolerância ao leite de vaca e ao ovo cozinhados em doentes com alergia ou com sensibilização aos mesmos. Da avaliação destes estudos verificou‑se que os alimentos cozinhados são tolerados pela maioria da população incluída nos mesmos e que a sua ingestão é segura, podendo melhorar a qualidade de vida dos doentes. No entanto, a influência desta ingestão na história natural da alergia alimentar e na aquisição de tolerância ao alimento cru é discutível e necessita de mais estudos. Não foram encontrados marcadores clínicos ou imunológicos fiáveis que permitam a identificação dos doentes que toleram os alimentos cozinhados, pelo que a prova de provocação oral se mantém o único método fiável para avaliar essa tolerância.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Work satisfaction within community pharmacy professionals

Work is a profession, a craft, or an activity in which man produces something central to his life. The job satisfaction is reflected simultaneously on the worker and the functioning of organizations. Workers more satisfied with their work have higher productivity levels, higher subjective well-being and well-being with life in general. Community pharmacy professionals are categorized in three professional categories: pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and technical pharmacy assistants. Work satisfaction was previously associated with gender, age, job category, years of service, remuneration, security concerning the future of the profession, relationships with colleagues and satisfaction with the professional category. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the satisfaction level of community pharmacy professionals and to identify associated factors. These professionals have revealed, in general, a level of moderated satisfaction. There were no significant differences between job satisfaction and gender, age, years of service, professional category and remuneration

Macroscopic and histopathological study of the placenta: an essential resource in litigation processes

The pathological study of the placenta is of upmost importance in cases of unexplained fetal/perinatal loss and often these carry litigation implications. Integrating pathological findings and the underlying pathophysiological processes, leading to placental lesions, is fundamental for the evaluation of poor fetal and perinatal outcomes and to distinguish from cases of true negligence

Aplicação de efluentes de suiniculturas como fertilizantes na agricultura : impacto da qualidade dos meios hídricos : um caso de estudo em Santiago do Cacém, Alentejo

A descarga nos cursos de água, de efluentes (brutos ou pré-tratados) de suiniculturas, tem provocado a deterioração da qualidade dos meios hídricos já que estes são potenciais focos de poluição, em especial no que se refere ao azoto, ao fósforo e a determinados metais pesados como é o caso do cobre e do zinco. A valorização agrícola dos efluentes pode ser de grande utilidade, em certas regiões de Portugal, como é o caso do Alentejo, devido à reduzida fertilidade da maioria dos seus solos, que resulta em parte do seu empobrecimento em matéria orgânica. No quadro de um projecto de Demonstração e Desenvolvimento Experimental no Concelho de Santiago do Cacém, apoiado pelo programa AGRO, desenvolveu-se um Sistema de Apoio à Decisão (SAD), com o qual foi possível classificar as formações aquíferas da região quanto ao seu grau de susceptibilidade à poluição, possibilitando desta forma seleccionar com mais rigor as potenciais áreas de aplicação dos efluentes. Foram escolhidas duas áreas para espalhamento de efluentes ("área experimental do Montado" - Vale de Ermida, e "área experimental dos Suínos" - Vale Madeiros) e analisada a evolução dos parâmetros físico-químicos observados

Data fusion using ultra wideband time-of-flight positioning for mobile robot applications

Self-localization of a robot is one of the most important requirements in mobile robotics. There are several approaches to providing localization data. The Ultra Wide Band Time of Flight provides position information but lacks the angle. Odometry data can be combined by using a data fusion algorithm. This paper addresses the application of data fusion algorithms based on odometry and Ultra Wide Band Time of Flight positioning using a Kalman filter that allows performing the data fusion task which outputs the position and orientation of the robot. The proposed solution, validated in a real developed platform can be applied in service and industrial robots.he authors are grateful to the Foundation for Sci- ence and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CeDRI (UIDB/05757/2020 and UIDP/05757/2020) and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2021). This work has been supported by NORTE- 01-0247-FEDER-072598 iSafety: Intelligent system for occu- pational safety and well-being in the retail sector. The authors also want to thank CEFET-RJ and FAPERJ.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Hyperglycemia and Hyperinsulinemia-Like Conditions Independently Induce Inflammatory Responses in Human Chondrocytes

To elucidate the mechanisms by which type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM2) constitutes a risk factor for the development and progression of osteoarthritis (OA), this work determined whether high glucose and/or high insulin, the hallmarks of DM2, are capable of activating the transcription factor, Nuclear Factor-κB (NF-κB), which plays a critical role in OA by inducing the expression of pro-inflammatory and catabolic genes. For this, we analyzed NF-κB activation by measuring the nuclear levels of p65 by western blot. As readouts of NF-κB activity, Interleukin-1β, Tumor Necrosis Factor-α, and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression were analyzed by real time RT-PCR and western blot. Culture of the human chondrocytic cell line, C28-I2, in high glucose (30 mM) increased nuclear NF-κB p65 levels in a time-dependent manner, relative to cells cultured in medium containing 10 mM glucose (regular culture medium). High glucose-induced NF-κB activation was inhibited by co-treatment with its specific inhibitor, Bay 11-7082, 5 µM. Culture of primary human chondrocytes under high glucose for 24 h increased IL-1β and TNF-α mRNA levels by 97% (p = 0.0066) and 85% (p = 0.0045), respectively, while iNOS mRNA and protein levels and NO production increased by 61% (p = 0.0017), 148% (p = 0.0089), and 70% (p = 0.049), respectively, relative to chondrocytes maintained in 10 mM glucose. Treatment of chondrocytic cells with 100 nM insulin was also sufficient to increase nuclear NF-κB p65 levels, independently of the glucose concentration in the culture medium. This study shows that hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia are independently sufficient to induce inflammatory responses in human chondrocytes, namely by activating NF-κB. This can be a relevant mechanism by which DM type 2 and other conditions associated with impaired glucose and insulin homeostasis, like obesity and the metabolic syndrome, contribute to the development and progression of OA.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Nonlinear effects of radio over fiber transmission in base station cooperation systems

In this paper we consider the uplink of Base Station (BS cooperation) systems, where each Mobile Terminal (MT) employs a Single-Carrier with Frequency-Domain Equalization (SC-FDE) modulation scheme. The combined signals at each BS are detected and/or separated by a Central Processing Unit (CPU) with Iterative Block Decision Feedback Equalization (IB-DFE) receivers. We consider a Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) link between the BS and the CPU, the electrical and optical conversions are performed by a Mach-Zehnder (MZ) modulator, which introduces nonlinear distortion. We design robust receivers that take advantage of the statistical characteristics of the nonlinear distortion.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Using an Artificial Neural Network Approach to Predict Machining Time

One of the most critical factors in producing plastic injection molds is the cost estimation of machining services, which significantly affects the final mold price. These services’ costs are determined according to the machining time, which is usually a long and expensive operation. If it is considered that the injection mold parts are all different, it can be understood that the correct and quick estimation of machining times is of great importance for a company’s success. This article presents a proposal to apply artificial neural networks in machining time estimation for standard injection mold parts. For this purpose, a large set of parts was considered to shape the artificial intelligence model, and machining times were calculated to collect enough data for training the neural networks. The influences of the network architecture, input data, and the variables used in the network’s training were studied to find the neural network with greatest prediction accuracy. The application of neural networks in this work proved to be a quick and efficient way to predict cutting times with a percent error of 2.52% in the best case. The present work can strongly contribute to the research in this and similar sectors, as recent research does not usually focus on the direct prediction of machining times relating to overall production cost. This tool can be used in a quick and efficient manner to obtain information on the total machining cost of mold parts, with the possibility of being applied to other industry sectorsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio