Púrpura. Manifestação de Amiloidose Sistémica Primária

Primary Systemic Amyloidosis (AL) is the most frequent form of systemic amyloidosis and its morbilility is associated with immunoglobulin light chains deposition in vital organs. The mucocutaneous manifestations occur in about 30-40% of the cases and are important in diagnostic suspicion, once they appear in early stages of disease. We report a 71-years-old female patient, with disseminated purpura and cutaneous fragility with 6 months of evolution, accompanied by recent complaints of dysphagy. The first laboratory evaluation didn't show any alterations. The histological and immunohistochemical study of subcutaneous abdominal fat and skin biopsy showed lambda type amyloid protein. In the systemic work-up, we highlight a proteinúria > 1g/24h with Bence Jones proteins and the presence of monoclonal immunoglobulin light chain (lambda type) in serum immunoelectrophoresis. With the diagnosis of primary systemic amyloidosis, treatment with prednisolone and melphalan was started

A blockchain and gamification approach for smart parking

City parking is increasingly complex and available parking spaces are scarce. Being able to identify a space to park their cars can lead many drivers to drive around the intended parking area several times, increasing traffic density and pollution. In this research we propose a collaborative blockchain solution with gamification for parking. Users collaborate to report free spaces and receive free parking minutes for their service to the community. In parallel, this approach can be used to collect beacon information from the parked vehicles and create a low-cost collaborative approach for managing a parking control process platform Blockchain that can handle this distributed process and the gamification platform increases users’ participation.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Data-driven disaster management in a smart city

Disasters, both natural and man-made, are extreme and complex events with consequences that translate into a loss of life and/or destruction of properties. The advances in IT and Big Data analysis represent an opportunity for the development of resilient environments once the application of analytical methods allows extracting information from a significant amount of data, optimizing the decision-making processes. This research aims to apply the CRISP-DM methodology to extract information about incidents that occurred in the city of Lisbon with emphasis on occurrences that affected buildings, constituting a tool to assist in the management of the city. Through this research, it was verified that there are temporal and spatial patterns of occurrences that affected the city of Lisbon, with some types of occurrences having a higher incidence in certain periods of the year, such as floods and collapses that occur when there are high levels of precipitation. On the other hand, it was verified that the downtown area of the city is the area most affected by occurrences. Finally, machine learning models were applied to the data and the predictive model Random Forest obtained the best result with an accuracy of 58%.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Development of image analysis methods to evaluate barley / malt grain size

It is known that the barley / malt grain size is an important factor regarding the uniformity of malting process and hence the brewery process. For that purpose an image processing and analysis system was built for the evaluation of grain / malt size, on the ImageJ public domain platform. A programme was developed for the barley / malt images treatment and determination of several morphological parameters as well as the grain size distribution. The results showed that for the Prestige and Scarlett barley varieties good correlations could be obtained between the standard weight distribution and the proposed image analysis method. For the Esterel malt and barley as well as for the Nevada barley reasonable to good correlations were also obtained upon the introduction of a density correction factor

Importance of Complex Additional Stenosis After Primary Angioplasty for Acute Myocardial Infarction in Medium-Term Prognosis

Introdução: Existe alguma controvérsia respeitante ao tipo de revascularização a efectuar no contexto de angioplastia (PCI) primária no enfarte agudo do miocárdio (EAM). A presença de lesões coronárias adicionais, particularmente complexas, poderá ter impacto no prognóstico. Objectivos: Avaliar o prognóstico a médio-prazo (1 ano) face à presença de lesões adicionais complexas após PCI primária. População e Métodos: Estudaram-se retrospectivamente 138 doentes consecutivos admitidos na nossa Unidade por EAM com elevação do segmento ST e submetidos a PCI primária. Os doentes foram seguidos por um período de 1 ano e divididos em 2 grupos: sem lesões adicionais complexas (n=69, 61 ± 14 anos, 62% sexo masculino) e com lesões adicionais complexas (n=69, 65 ± 13 anos, 73% sexo masculino, p=NS). Avaliaram-se as características demográficas, factores de risco para doença coronária, história prévia cardíaca, e presença de sinais de insuficiência cardíaca na admissão. Foram também avaliadas características angiográficas, medicação efectuada e resultado da PCI. Avaliou-se o impacto das variáveis na ocorrência combinada de morte/re-enfarte/revascularização miocárdica ao primeiro ano. Resultados: A taxa de sucesso angiográfico foi de 96,4%. O grupo com idade igual ou superior a 75 anos representa 24% da população e 4,3% apresentaram-se em classe Killip IV. A localização anterior foi ligeiramente superior no grupo sem lesões adicionais complexas (60% vs. 44%, p=0,06), a inferior no grupo com lesões adicionais complexas (26% vs. 42%, p=0,07). A doença de 1 vaso foi mais prevalente no grupo sem lesões adicionais complexas como esperado (86% vs. 11%, p<0,001). A utilização de stent foi mais frequente no grupo sem lesões adicionais complexas (96% vs. 86%, p=0,08). Não houve diferenças nas restantes variáveis. A taxa de morte/re-enfarte/revascularização foi superior no grupo com lesões adicionais complexas (13% vs. 32%, p=0,014). Até aos 13 dias de seguimento, ocorreram 67% dos eventos. Na análise univariada, os factores predizentes de eventos foram a classe Killip 2, fluxo TIMI < 3 no vaso relacionado com enfarte após PCI, a não utilização de antagonistas da glicoproteína IIb/IIIa, bloqueadores beta e estatinas, doença multivaso e presença de lesões adicionais complexas (Log-rank, p=0,003). Na análise multivariável, os factores predizentes independentes de prognóstico a 1 ano foram a classe Killip 2 (Odds ratio 0,28%; IC 95% 0,08-0,93, p=0,037) e a presença de lesões adicionais complexas (OR 0,32; IC 95% 0,12-0,84, p=0,020). Conclusões: A presença de lesões adicionais complexas após PCI primária tem um pior prognóstico ao primeiro ano, sugerindo a necessidade de intervenção para a sua estabilização, particularmente nos primeiros 30 dias após enfarte

Die Optimierung von Poly(Dimethylsiloxan) für biomedizinische Anwendungen durch oberflächeninitiierte Atom-Transferradikal-Polymerisation

Project BIOSURFA ref. PTDC/SAU-BEB/73498/200

Refuerzo sismico de muros de mamposteria con entramado de madera

After the 1755 earthquake that destroyed Lisbon, an innovative anti-seismic structural system was developed consisting of a timber skeleton, that included timber framed masonry walls. After more than 250 years these structures need rehabilitation to face the present demands. The research presented in this paper aimed at experimentally characterizing the cyclic behaviour of timber framed walls reinforced with three different methods, namely: (i) elastic-plastic dampers on diagonal braces, (ii) reinforcement of timber connections with steel plates, (iii) application of a reinforced rendering. The elastic-plastic damper showed an unsymmetrical behaviour and some difficulties to implement in practice. The strengthening with reinforced render led to an initial stiffness increase but showed a limited deformation capacity. The walls with reinforcing steel plates at the timber connections showed the best behaviour in terms of strength, stiffness and energy dissipation.Después del terremoto de 1755 que destruyó Lisboa, un sistema estructural antisísmico muy innovador fue desarrollado. El sistema consistió en un esqueleto de madera, que incluyó la construcción de muros de mampostería con un entramado de madera. Transcurridos más de 250 años, estas estructuras necesitan rehabilitación para poder hacer frente a los requisitos estructurales actuales. La investigación presentada en este trabajo tiene como objetivo caracterizar experimentalmente el comportamiento cíclico de los muros con entramado de madera reforzados con tres métodos diferentes: (i) amortiguadores elasto-plásticos, (ii) refuerzo de las conexiones de madera con placas de acero, (iii) aplicación de un mortero reforzado. El amortiguador elasto-plástico mostró un comportamiento asimétrico y algunas dificultades para aplicarlo en la práctica. El refuerzo con mortero reforzado condujo a un aumento de la rigidez inicial, pero reveló una capacidad de deformación limitada. Los muros con placas de refuerzo de acero en las conexiones de madera mostraron el mejor comportamiento en términos de resistencia, rigidez y disipación de la energía

Evaluación de las dimensiones de la personalidad depresiva en el PID-5 y de la sintomatología depresiva en una muestra comunitaria

The alternative model for the classification of personality disorders presented in the DSM-5 is based on the hypothesis of continuity between normal personality and personality disorders. The main objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between depressive symptomatology and the domains and facets of the PID-5, especially the Depressivity facet. A convenience sample of the general population (N = 453) was used. Participants responded to the PID-5 and the CES-D. In a multiple regression model including all the PID-5 facets, only Depressivity and Anhedonia had a significant individual effect on predicting the CES-D score. Correlation analysis suggested that Depressivity and Anhedonia could be considered as defining the depressive traits of personality disorders and supported the continuity between these disorders and depressive symptomatology. A Taxometric Analysis with the Depressivity facet and CES-D score as indicators supported the dimensional nature of depressivity in a broad sense (depressive traits/ depressive symptomatology).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio