Membranas de poli(vinilpiridina)/cloreto de cobalto: obtenção e avaliação das propriedades térmicas e de condução protônica

TCC (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências Físicas e Matemáticas, Curso de Química.O trabalho consiste no preparo de membranas formadas pelo sistema poli(vinilpiridina) e cloreto de cobalto hexahidratado. As membranas foram preparadas e caracterizadas por espectroscopia na região do infravermelho, termogravimetria, calorimetria exploratória diferencial, testes de absorção de água e condutividades elétrica e protônica. Os espectros na região do infravermelho indicam uma significativa interação polímero/metal através dos átomos de nitrogênio dos anéis de piridina com o íon Co2+. Os valores de Tg obtidos pela análise de calorimetria exploratória diferencial indicam que a mobilidade da cadeia dos polímeros apresenta comportamentos distintos com relação à posição do nitrogênio no anel piridínico. As curvas termogravimétricas mostraram que as membranas apresentam estabilidade até a temperatura da ordem de 300 °C. A retenção de águ a pelas membranas P4VP/CoCl2 foi significativa, chegando em alguns casos a 25% em peso, ao contrário das membranas P2VP/CoCl2, que se dissolveram durante o processo de absorção. Os resultados de condutividade elétrica e protônica, da ordem de 10-9 S cm-1 e 10-5 S cm-1, respectivamente, destacam a potencialidade do uso dessas membranas em células a combustível

The impact of non-monetary factors on the primary care utilization in Portugal. Finite mixture models applied to on-site and truncated samples

In the Portuguese National Health Service (NHS) patients have to pay a co-payment of 2€ to visit a GP in the health centres. Therefore, the monetary price associated to each visit is low and, with a high probability, is not a factor that affects the utilization of consultations in health centres. On the other hand, in any health system in which the monetary cost to consume medical care is very low other kind of costs can emerge as determinants of medical care utilization. The Portuguese NHS suffers from several time-related inefficiencies and so, the non-monetary form of co-payment is a non negligible reality. With data in our database we have concluded that the average waiting time to visit a GP is approximately 9 days. Moreover, the average waiting time in the waiting room for a consultation is approximately 1 hour. Therefore, this study aims at analysing the impact of non-monetary factors on the utilization of public GPs. This study can be useful for policy making, as well as for econometric reasons. In the other hand, sometimes the empirical researcher faces non-random samples. So, modelling based on the assumption that we have a simple random sample can be inappropriate and misleading. In this research we face this same situation. Our data resulted from the application of two endogenous sampling schemes: a sample collected on-site and a truncated sample. Therefore each sampling scheme generates a selected sample. Thus, to make valid inference, adequate econometric modelling has to be used. To model our dependent variable, number of visits, and to take into account the unobserved heterogeneity, we relied on a semi-parametric specification through the use of finite mixture models. The data were obtained from the Europep questionnaire, a standardized questionnaire designed to measure primary patient satisfaction in European countries

Evolution of land use environmental impact of eucalyptus globulus in the context of life cycle assessment

Introduction: The eucalyptus globulus forest area in Continental Portugal has shown a systematic increase over the last 50 years. In 20015 it was the species with the highest forest land occupation representing 26.2% of the total Portuguese forest area. Although between 2005 and 2015 the occupation of the soil by eucalyptus globulus had grown about 7.5%, the existing volume increased slightly 0.2%. The wildfires had a strong impact on this with a total burnt area of 1.1 million hectares during this period. Objective: Due to its economic value (national leader in exports of high added value) and social (contributes to the generation of thousands of jobs) this study aims to assess the evolution of the environmental impact of eucalyptus globulus on the land use between 2005 and 2015. Methods: The life cycle assessment methodology is followed and the ILCD 2011 Midpoint+ method available in the SimaPro software was chosen to assess the land use environmental impact. Results: Land use impact category of 1 m3 of eucalyptus globulus trees, standing, in forest, was 21832 Kg C deficit in 2005 and 23430 Kg c deficit in 2015 that means an increased about 7.3% during this period. Conclusion: Transformation to forest road (from natural forest) is the process that most contributes for the land use impact with approximately 78%. Forest occupation is the second most important process representing about 19.5% of the total impact category and forest road occupation represents only 3%.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Commentary: Quantitative home-based assessment of Parkinson’s symptoms: The SENSE-PARK feasibility and usability study

"Healthcare professionals and pharmaceutical companies invest a great amount of time and effort in continuously creating electronic health solutions. These technology system developments may represent a step forward in care as ultimately it is not possible to manage what cannot be evaluated. Yet, the use of future generations of technology depends on their specific design, fabrication, distribution, and, most importantly, patients adopting these new technologies as life companions. Data management and the use of artificial intelligence appear as new technological challenges. The overload, sharing and handling of information give rise to new legal, social, and ethical discussions in a field where there is a lack of universal criteria for data ownership, privacy and sharing. Future technological progress requires much cooperation between multidisciplinary teams including sufficient sharing and benchmarking within open access frameworks"info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Conhecimento sobre o VIH, perceção de risco para o VIH e comportamento sexual de jovens mulheres portuguesas

ABSTRACT - Background: Young women make up most cases of HIV infection in Portugal (e.g., 26% in 2012), but their sexual behaviour, ability to recognize sexually transmitted disease (STD) risk in partners, and knowledge and practice of safe sex are underresearched. Methods: We studied these issues in a group of 177 women from Northern Portugal, together with their social, educational, and religious background. The women filled out several self-report questionnaires developed in the USA that have been adapted and validated for use in Portugal. They assess HIV knowledge, risk perception, and sexual risk behaviour. Results: We documented good knowledge about HIV transmission and prevention, although there are still some myths; 79.9% of the women knew that condoms prevent HIV transmission, but only 46% of them declared to use them regularly. Thus, knowledge does not imply adequate preventive behaviour. Women lacking higher education had poorer knowledge of HIV biology and of partner HIV risk. Despite being aware of HIV cases in their communities, most women deemed themselves at little risk, especially those lacking higher education, with many arguing that monogamy protects them, and, importantly, many preferring to ignore their partners’ current and past behaviour when assessing their exposure. Conclusion: These results point to important intervention targets for campaigns to curb STD infections among young women.RESUMO - Antecedentes: As mulheres jovens constituem a maioria das infeções por VIH em Portugal (por exemplo, 26% em 2012), mas o seu comportamento sexual, a capacidade de reconhecer o risco de IST em parceiros e o conhecimento e a prática de sexo seguro são pouco investigados. Métodos: Estudaram-se essas questões num grupo de 177 mulheres do Norte de Portugal, juntamente com seus antecedentes sociais, educacionais e religiosos. As mulheres em estudo preencheram vários questionários de auto relato desenvolvidos nos Estados Unidos da América e que foram adaptados e validados para uso em Portugal. Foi avaliado o conhecimento sobre o VIH, a perceção de risco e o comportamento sexual de risco. Resultados: Documentaram- se bons conhecimentos sobre a transmissão e a prevenção do VIH, embora haja alguns mitos; 79,9% das mulheres sabem que os preservativos impedem a transmissão do VIH, mas apenas 46% declara usá-los regularmente. O conhecimento não implica o comportamento preventivo adequado. As mulheres que não possuíam escolaridade de nível superior tinham um conhecimento mais pobre no que se refere à biologia do VIH e ao risco de VIH no parceiro. Apesar de estarem cientes dos casos de VIH em suas comunidades, a maioria das mulheres considerou-se com pouco risco, especialmente aquelas que não possuem ensino superior, argumentando que a monogamia as protege e, principalmente, muitas preferem ignorar o comportamento atual e passado de seus parceiros ao avaliar a sua exposição. Conclusão: Os resultados identificam importantes alvos de intervenção para as campanhas de prevenção de ISTs na população feminina.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Referral to rehabilitation in Parkinson's disease: who, when and to what end?

© The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License.The current state of evidence in non-pharmacological treatments amounts to an impending paradigm shift in neurology where physicians should be alerted that some rehabilitation interventions are already supported in current therapeutic guidelines. This manuscript aims to overview the best scientific data supporting referral to rehabilitation services in order to help physicians make the best use of the existing evidence for non-pharmacological treatments in the different stages of Parkinson's disease.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Commentary: A systematic review of the characteristics and validity of monitoring technologies to assess Parkinson’s disease

"Technologies may have implications for improving clinical diagnosis and prognosis, and for the development of therapeutic interventions, specific biomarkers, and preventive strategies. Given the amount of existing and ever-growing quantitative assessments using technology in PD, clinicians, patients and researchers are faced with the challenge of deciding which assessment tool to use in the laboratory, clinic and home environment. In order to facilitate this decision-making a systematic review was done to identify and classify the available monitoring technologies for individuals with PD over the last 2 decades. This is a commentary on the systematic review which adds on discussion on some controversial issues in the area. It tackles some of current open-to-discussion topics in the technology field, such as: which definitions to use, the heterogeneity of the clinimetric properties among technologies, standardization of a validation process, how to group different measuring technologies, and the need to conduct further studies on existing technologies before developing new ones. The strength of this comprehensive, timely and useful review is the detailed and robust approach taken by authors to classify technologies as listed, suggested, or recommended for the assessment of individuals with PD."info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Digital Complex Correlator for a C-band Polarimetry survey

The international Galactic Emission Mapping project aims to map and characterize the polarization field of the Milky Way. In Portugal it will cartograph the C-band sky polarized emission of the Northern Hemisphere and provide templates for map calibration and foreground control of microwave space probes like ESA Planck Surveyor mission. The receiver system is equipped with a novel receiver with a full digital back-end using an Altera Field Programmable Gate Array, having a very favorable cost/performance relation. This new digital backend comprises a base-band complex cross-correlator outputting the four Stokes parameters of the incoming polarized radiation. In this document we describe the design and implementation of the complex correlator using COTS components and a processing FPGA, detailing the method applied in the several algorithm stages and suitable for large sky area surveys.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures; submitted to Experimental Astronomy, Springe

Characterization of insulin-loaded alginate nanoparticles produced by ionotropic pre-gelation through DSC and FTIR studies

Insulin-loaded nanoparticles were prepared by ionotropic pre-gelation of alginate with calcium chloride followed by complexation between alginate and chitosan. The influence of the pH and stoichiometry relationship between polyelectrolytes providing individual particles with a nano-scale size was assessed by photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Insulin-polyelectrolyte interactions at varying pH and polyelectrolytes stoichiometry were assessed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) studies. Individual and smaller sizing nanoparticles, around 800 nm, were obtained at pH 4.7 with an alginate:chitosan mass ratio of 6:1. Thermograms of insulin-loaded nanoparticles originated shifts on same unloaded nanoparticle peaks and suggested polyelectrolytes-protein interactions at pH around 4.5-5.0. FTIR spectra of insulin-loaded nanoparticles showed amide absorption bands characteristic of protein spectra and revealed the formation of new chemical entities.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TFD-4JKYTNH-1/1/f2878177436b8ca802aa251efe948a9

THERMALLY MODIFIED PINE BOARDS - AN ENVIRONMENTAL COMPARISON OF PORTUGUESE AND SPANISH CASE STUDIES

Thermal modification is a well-known process to improve some of the most important wood properties by using heat in a low oxygen environment. The main changes are the reduc-tion of equilibrium moisture content, increased dimensional stability and increased resistance against fungi [1]. As no chemical compounds or other extraneous constituents are added to wood in the process, it has a potential of being a green building material. At the moment, there are only two companies in Portugal [2] and one company in Spain producing modified wood by heat treatment [3]. The main aim of this study is to compare the environmental profile of thermally modified pine boards produced by a Portuguese and a Spanish company using the Life Cycle Assess-ment (LCA) methodology described in ISO 14040 [4] and ISO 14044 [5] standards and Product Category Rules for preparing an environmental product declaration (EPD) for Construction Products and Construction Services [6]. For an EPD that covers a “cradle to gate” the declared unit is applicable instead of func-tional unit and in this case is 1 m3 of thermally modified pine boards. The system boundary for the product system is represented in a simplified way in Fig.1. Fig. 1 The system boundaries of the study As the sawing and planning processes of the product system delivers the products (pine boards) and co-products (wood residues – bark, sawdust and chips), that can be used as raw material for other product system, the environmental burdens of this process are allocated to product and co-products based in its economic value. The datasets for the products and processes included in the system boundaries are compa-nies’ data and are related to the year 2014. The thermo-treatment used was Thermo I (intense treatment) to allow treated pine boards to be used in exterior decks or cladding. The inventory analysis and, subsequently, the impact analysis have been performed using the LCA software SimaPro 8.1.0.60 [7] and associated databases and methods. The method chosen for impact assessment was EPD-2013 V1.01 [8]. The impact categories considered were: acidification (AC), eutrophication (EU), global warming (GWP 100a), photochemical oxidation (PO), ozone layer depletion (ODP) and abiotic depletion (AD). Fig. 2 shows the result of comparative environmental profiles of the thermally modified pine boards produced by the companies in this study. Figure 1: Comparative profiles of the thermally modified pine boards. Acronyms: AC (acidification); EU (eu-trophication), GWP 100a (global warming), PO (photochemical oxidation), ODP (ozone layer depletion) and AD (abiotic depletion) The contribution of Portuguese and Spanish treated boards to climate change (CC), is al-most equal. The Spanish treated boards are better than Portuguese for acidification (65%), eutrophication (52%), ozone layer depletion (87%) and abiotic depletion (61%) and the oppo-site is true for photochemical oxidant formation (66%).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio