792 research outputs found
Efficacy and safety of calcium carbonate in normophosphataemic patients with chronic kidney disease Stages 3 and 4
Background: Disordered bone and mineral metabolism are a common complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Phosphate binders are often prescribed in advanced CKD, when hyperphosphataemia develops. Little is known about the role of these drugs in earlier stages, when serum phosphorus levels are kept in the normal range by increased urinary excretion. Methods: A retrospective, controlled observational study was conducted on a cohort of 78 pre-dialysis patients. Subjects had CKD Stage 3 or 4, normal serum phosphorus levels and increased urinary fractional excretion of phosphate. Thirty-eight patients receiving calcium carbonate for 24 months were compared with 40 patients under no phosphate binders, regarding mineral metabolism parameters and vascular calcification scores. Results: Calcium carbonate decreased mean urinary fractional excretion of phosphate and median 24-h urine phosphorus, whereas no significant change was seen in the control group. Mean serum phosphorus and median serum intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) remained stable in treated patients but increased in the control group. Vascular calcification, assessed by Kauppila and Adragão scores, worsened under calcium carbonate with no significant change in the control group. Conclusions: Calcium carbonate reduced urinary phosphate excretion and prevented the rise in phosphorus and iPTH serum levels in a cohort of normophosphataemic pre-dialysis patients. However, treatment was associated with increased vascular calcification, suggesting that calcium-based phosphate binders are not a safe option for CKD patients
Conservação e caracterização de banco ativo de germoplasma de babaçu (Orbignya sp.).
O banco ativo de germoplasma de babacu (BAG) foi implantado em area experimental da Embrapa em 1985 e 1990, possui cerca de 185 acessos, com a finalidade de preservar, caracterizar e avaliar os germoplasmas provenientes de diversas áreas do território nacional e de outros países..
On the Evaluation of Energy-Efficient Deep Learning Using Stacked Autoencoders on Mobile GPUs
Over the last years, deep learning architectures have
gained attention by winning important international detection
and classification challenges. However, due to high levels of
energy consumption, the need to use low-power devices at
acceptable throughput performance is higher than ever. This
paper tries to solve this problem by introducing energy efficient
deep learning based on local training and using low-power mobile
GPU parallel architectures, all conveniently supported by the
same high-level description of the deep network. Also, it proposes
to discover the maximum dimensions that a particular type
of deep learning architecture—the stacked autoencoder—can
support by finding the hardware limitations of a representative
group of mobile GPUs and platforms.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Atomic Focusing by Quantum Fields: Entanglement Properties
The coherent manipulation of the atomic matter waves is of great interest
both in science and technology. In order to study how an atom optic device
alters the coherence of an atomic beam, we consider the quantum lens proposed
by Averbukh et al [1] to show the discrete nature of the electromagnetic field.
We extend the analysis of this quantum lens to the study of another essentially
quantum property present in the focusing process, i.e., the atom-field
entanglement, and show how the initial atomic coherence and purity are affected
by the entanglement. The dynamics of this process is obtained in closed form.
We calculate the beam quality factor and the trace of the square of the reduced
density matrix as a function of the average photon number in order to analyze
the coherence and purity of the atomic beam during the focusing process.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Low bone turnover is associated with plain X-ray vascular calcification in predialysis patients
Background Vascular calcification (VC) is a common finding in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients and predicts subsequent cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in this population. Vascular calcification is linked to disordered mineral metabolism and has been associated with bone histomorphometry changes in CKD. However, data on predialysis patients is scarce. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on a cohort of 56 CKD patients not yet on dialysis, who underwent a transiliac bone biopsy for histomorphometric evaluation after double tetracycline labeling. Patients had no previous exposure to calcium salts, vitamin D agents, steroids or bisphosphonates. Vascular calcification was assessed at the time of biopsy, using Kauppila (plain X-ray of the lateral lumbar spine) and Adragão (plain X-ray of the pelvis and hands) scores. Results Vascular calcification was seen in two-thirds of the cohort. Subjects with VC were more likely to be male and have diabetes, and had significantly higher sclerostin and osteoprotegerin circulating levels than those without VC. The histomorphometric analysis showed that bone formation rate was significantly lower in VC compared to non-VC patients. In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, bone formation rate was independently associated with the presence of VC. Conclusions Vascular calcification is highly prevalent in predialysis patients, especially in those with diabetes. The independent association between bone formation rate and VC provides evidence of an important interaction between bone and vessel in CKD. Our results suggest that low bone turnover is a non-traditional risk factor for cardiovascular disease in predialysis patients
Cupuaçuzeiro: nutrição, calagem e adubação.
O cupuaçuzeiro (Theobroma grandiflorum (Willdenow ex Sprengel) Schumann) é uma das mais promissoras fruteiras nativas para exploração racional na Amazônia, onde já existem diversas plantações comerciais consideráveis. É uma espécie que se destaca das demais nativas da região, em virtude das amplas possibilidades de mercado, dado a diversidade de aproveitamento na agroindústria, onde a polpa é utilizada para sorvetes, licores, compotas, néctares, sucos, geléias, biscoitos, e as amêndoas aproveitadas para produção de chocolate e de uma gordura fina semelhante à manteiga de cacau.bitstream/item/29502/1/CirTec43.pd
As tecnologias de videoconferência no ensino superior público português: tendências e boas práticas
Nos últimos anos, o grande desenvolvimento das infra-estruturas de banda larga que ocorreram
especialmente nas redes nacionais e internacionais de investigação permitiu um grande
desenvolvimento das tecnologias de videoconferência. A proliferação de sistemas de
videoconferência em Instituições de Ensino Superior (IES) e a sua integração nas actividades
habituais destas instituições exigem uma investigação aprofundada sobre a sua utilização e torna-se
pertinente identificar as boas práticas e as tendências de apropriação das tecnologias de
videoconferência nas dinâmicas cognitivas e sociais ao nível da formação, da investigação, da gestão
e da cooperação com o exterior.
Apresentam-se os resultados da investigação que se centrou na utilização das tecnologias de
videoconferência nas IES públicas portuguesas e, especialmente, na análise das tendências
verificadas ao nível do uso destas tecnologias e respectivas boas práticas, no ensino superior público
português.
Numa fase inicial, a investigação incluiu uma abordagem a várias IES públicas portuguesas para
analisar um conjunto de informações focadas na utilização das infra-estruturas de videoconferência
e na exploração do seu potencial. Esta abordagem realizou-se através de uma significativa recolha
de dados sobre a frequência e tipos de uso, sobre as tecnologias utilizadas e os métodos de
utilização, sobre os objectivos dessa utilização e os objectivos das interacções. Numa segunda fase
existiu uma análise da utilização das tecnologias de videoconferência no ambiente de ensino superior
com o objectivo de gerar uma compreensão aprofundada sobre os usos, as tendências e as
potencialidades destas tecnologias nas IES através da identificação de práticas e percepções dos
utilizadores dos sistemas de videoconferência. Nesta fase existiu uma abordagem a professores e
estudantes que tiveram uma profunda experiência na utilização da videoconferência.
Com esta investigação visou-se traçar o quadro geral do uso das tecnologias de videoconferências
nas IES públicas em Portugal e propor um conjunto de recomendações promotoras do uso e da
dinamização de boas práticas.Abstract - The enormous development of high-bandwidth infrastructures over the last years, which has
occurred especially in the national and international R&D networks, has harnessed the development
of the videoconference technologies. The proliferation of videoconference systems in higher
education institutions (HEI) and their integration in the everyday activities of these institutions
demand a deep research about their usage and it becomes pertinent to identify good practises and
trends in this field.
This research was focused on the usage of the videoconference technologies in the Portuguese
public higher education institutions (HEI), and especially on the trends verified on the usage of these
technologies in the Portuguese public higher education and the best practises on the usage of these
technologies.
Samuel Frazão Martins, Lídia Oliveira 226 Observatorio (OBS*) Journal, (2011)
In the initial phase, this research enclosed an approach to all of the Portuguese public higher
education institutions and they had been analysed focusing on the exploration of the
videoconference infrastructures and the exploration of their potential through a significant collection
of data about the frequency and types of usage, the technologies used and the usage methods, the
objectives of this usage and the goals of the interactions. In the second phase, there was an
analysis of the usage of the videoconference technologies in the higher education environment with
the goal of generating a deep understanding about the usages, trends and potentialities of these
technologies in the higher education institutions, through the identification of practises and
perceptions of the users of the videoconference systems. In this phase there was an approach to
teachers and students that have a deep experience on the usage of the videoconference.
With this research a set of relevant information about the use of the videoconference technologies
was obtained and will provide the possibility to create a set of trends of the usage and of these
technologies in the Portuguese Public Higher Education
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