Still Exists Space for Conservative Treatment in Complex Fracture of Humeral Shaft?

As fraturas da diáfise do úmero representam cerca de 1 a 3% de todas as fraturas, e cerca de 20% das fraturas umerais. A maioria das fraturas da diáfise do úmero, nomeadamente as oblíquas longas e as cominutivas, pode ser tratada conservadoramente, porém a tendência atual vai no sentido do tratamento cirúrgico, mesmo nas fraturas que se obtinham bons resultados com o tratamento não cirúrgico. O presente trabalho descreve o bom resultado diante de um tratamento conservador numa fratura diafisária complexa do úmero, demonstrando ainda existir espaço para o tratamento não cirúrgico, e discute a importância da relação médico-doente diante diversas opções terapêuticas.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Omega-3 fatty acids for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease

Background. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are defined as conditions involving decreased blood flow to the heart that can lead to heart attacks, stroke or other disorders. CVDs are a common cause of death in low- and middle-income countries. In South Africa (SA) in particular, CVD is the leading cause of death after HIV/AIDS, responsible for 1 in 6 deaths. CVD risk factors include unhealthy diets, hypertension, obesity, high cholesterol levels and diabetes. Omega-3 fatty acids may have a protective role in the risk of developing heart disease.Objectives. To evaluate the consequences of an increased intake of fish and plant-based omega-3 fatty acids on the risk of CVD mortality and events.Methods. The inclusion criteria for this review were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) lasting at least 12 months, which investigated men and women aged ≥18 years. These participants had to be at any risk of CVD while receiving dietary supplements and an advised diet to promote the intake of omega-3. This diet included oily fish, fish oils and seeds rich in omega-3. Comparisons with the interventions included the participants’ usual diet, no advice, no supplements, placebo or lower-dose omega-3. The review evaluated the effectiveness of these interventions on primary (e.g. CVD deaths and events), secondary (e.g. major adverse cerebrovascular or CVD events, body weight and other adiposity measures, and lipids) and tertiary (e.g. blood pressure and side-effects) outcomes.Results. Evidence from this review indicates that increasing the intake of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (LCn3) or alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) probably has little or no effect on all-cause CVD or coronary heart disease mortality. Evidence was of moderate certainty, except for all-cause mortality, where there was a high certainty.Conclusions. According to moderate- to high-certainty evidence, short-chain fatty acids and LCn3 have little or no effect on mortality or cardiovascular health. However, omega-3 ALA slightly reduces the risk of CVD events and arrhythmias

Strategic communication and barriers to strategy implementation

This research work's core objective is to categorise and understand the barriers to strategic implementation, focusing, then, through an inquiry, in the most voted of them, to make a deeper analysis on one of the variables. To that end, this document begins with a literature review and begins to identify the importance that strategic communication has in the process of propagating a given individual idea or, in the terms that interests us most, within of an organization - whether ascending or descending, horizontal or vertical. In the organizational arena, business and communication are two inseparable issues.Then it is explained more deeply in what barriers to strategic implementation consists, in its variances of application and how it is immersed in the multiple possibilities that can cause the collapse of the plans orchestrated by the companies. In the end, as a theoretical complement, a questionnaire was designed for a relatively large number of people who were confronted with the topics under discussion throughout this article.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Economic valuation of life cycle environmental impacts of construction products - A critical analysis

The aim of this paper is to identify existing methods for economic valuation or monetisation of life cycle environmental impacts and to assess its applicability in the broad European context. Although environmental awareness is more and more important in several industrial sectors, including the construction sector, easy to understand data are still missing for professionals to assess and manage impacts related to the whole life cycle of a building. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is one of the most commonly accepted methodologies to calculate potential life cycle environmental impacts of a product or service. However, the results of such method, even when published in an Environmental Product Declaration, meant for business to business communication, are not always comparable or easily understandable by non-practitioners. Economic valuation or monetisation of LCA results is a weighting step that can make it easier for non-practitioners to use LCA results to support decision-making. From the several monetisation methods analysed, it is discussed the one that is most suitable for use when LCA results already exist. It is concluded that further work is needed to improve such weighting methods or develop a common one that can be representative at a broader geographical level (for instance, Europe-wide).This work was supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia [grant number PD/BD/127850/2016] under the Doctoral Program EcoCoRe - Eco-Construction and Rehabilitation. Support from CERIS and Instituto Superior Técnico is also acknowledged

Using stochastic space-time models to map extreme precipitation in southern Portugal

The topographic characteristics and spatial climatic diversity are significant in the South of continental Portugal where the rainfall regime is typically Mediterranean. Direct sequential cosimulation is proposed for mapping an extreme precipitation index in southern Portugal using elevation as auxiliary information. The analysed index (R5D) can be considered a flood indicator because it provides a measure of medium-term precipitation total. The methodology accounts for local data variability and incorporates space-time models that allow capturing long-term trends of extreme precipitation, and local changes in the relationship between elevation and extreme precipitation through time. Annual gridded datasets of the flood indicator are produced from 1940 to 1999 on 800 m×800 m grids by using the space-time relationship between elevation and the index. Uncertainty evaluations of the proposed scenarios are also produced for each year. The results indicate that the relationship between elevation and extreme precipitation varies locally and has decreased through time over the study region. In wetter years the flood indicator exhibits the highest values in mountainous regions of the South, while in drier years the spatial pattern of extreme precipitation has much less variability over the study region. The uncertainty of extreme precipitation estimates also varies in time and space, and in earlier decades is strongly dependent on the density of the monitoring stations network. The produced maps will be useful in regional and local studies related to climate change, desertification, land and water resources management, hydrological modelling, and flood mitigation planning

Nitric oxide release from antimicrobial peptide hydrogels for wound healing

Nitric oxide (NO) is an endogenously produced molecule that has been implicated in several wound healing mechanisms. Its topical delivery may improve healing in acute or chronic wounds. In this study an antimicrobial peptide was synthesized which self-assembled upon a pH shift, forming a hydrogel. The peptide was chemically functionalized to incorporate a NO-donor moiety on lysine residues. The extent of the reaction was measured by ninhydrin assay and the NO release rate was quantified via the Griess reaction method. The resulting compound was evaluated for its antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, and its effect on collagen production by fibroblasts was assessed. Time-kill curves point to an initial increase in bactericidal activity of the functionalized peptide, and collagen production by human dermal fibroblasts when incubated with the NO-functionalized peptide showed a dose-dependent increase in the presence of the NO donor within a range of 0–20 µM.This work was financed by FEDER (Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional) funds via COMPETE 2020 (Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Portugal 2020), and by Portuguese funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/ Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior) in the framework of the projects “Institute for Research and Innovation in Health Sciences” (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007274) and PTDC/QUI-QFI/29914/2017, as well through the grant SFRH/BD/84914/2012. Thanks to FCT also for supporting Research Unit LAQV-REQUIMTE through the project UID/QUI/5006/2013

Modelação da furação de laminados por elementos finitos

Furação de estruturas em compósitos de matriz poliméricaO recurso ao Método de Elementos Finitos (MEF) para a simulação e estudo da maquinagem tem vindo a merecer um interesse crescente. Neste trabalho comparam-se os resultados experimentais obtidos usando diferentes brocas helicoidais com uma simulação numérica da furação usando elementos sólidos tridimensionais do software ABAQUS® Explicit. Os resultados obtidos mostram a aplicabilidade do modelo, nomeadamente no que respeita à variação do principal parâmetro de corte no processo de furação – o avanço – e da geometria da ferramenta. O desenvolvimento das forças axiais durante a furação está directamente relacionado com a selecção dos parâmetros de corte e geometria de ferramenta e contribui para a existência de danos na placa. Assim, a minimização destas forças permite reduzir o risco de delaminação. Os resultados relativos à força para o início da delaminação são comparados com modelos analíticos já conhecidos. Os resultados numéricos apresentam uma concordância apreciável com os obtidos experimentalmente