Restless legs syndrome in subjects with a knee prosthesis: evidence that symptoms are generated in the periphery

OBJECTIVE: There are no data adressing the prevalence of restless legs syndrome in subjects who have knee prosthesis. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of subjects who underwent knee prosthesis surgery. METHOD: A total of 107 subjects (30 male, 77 female) were interviewed over the telephone regarding restless legs syndrome symptoms. If the patients exhibited symptoms of the syndrome, we conducted face-to-face interviews. Lastly, a therapeutic test with pramipexole was proposed for each subject. RESULTS: In our cohort, 7 males (23%) and 30 females (39%) had restless legs syndrome. Of these, 6 males and 23 females were submitted to face-to-face-interview. Of the males, 5 (83%) had restless legs after the knee surgeryexclusively in the operated leg- and reported no family restless legs history. One man had a prior case of bilateral restless legs syndrome, a positive family history and claimed exacerbation of symptoms in the operated leg. Among the females, 16 (69%) had restless legs prior to surgery. A total of 10 female patients reported bilateral symptoms, with fewer symptoms in the operated leg, while 6 displayed a worse outcome in the operated leg. The 7 females (31%) without restless legs prior to surgery and without a family history experienced symptoms only in the operated leg. All subjects responded favorably to the pramipexole therapeutic test. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that secondary unilateral restless legs syndrome may ensue from knee prosthesis surgery and that the symptoms are generated in the peripheral nervous system

Do ensino da filosofia da ciência no ensino secundário

Relatório da Prática de Ensino Supervisionada, Mestrado em Ensino da Filosofia, Universidade de Lisboa, 2014Este relatório surge no âmbito da leccionação de um conjunto de aulas sobre a unidade programática de Filosofia da Ciência, unidade essa pertencente ao 11º ano de escolaridade na disciplina de Filosofia. Nesse sentido o conteúdo deste relatório incide sobre um estudo e análise dos problemas filosóficos fundamentais suscitados pela actividade científica – problemas como ‘será a Ciência uma actividade objectiva?, ‘O que distingue Ciência de pseudociência?’, etc. Para além disso há espaço a uma descrição e reflexão pessoal acerca dos conteúdos e materiais que foram utilizados na leccionação. Nessas aulas foram utilizadas diversas estratégias para levar os alunos não só a adquirirem conhecimentos fundados nos conteúdos em voga, mas também para os fazer reflectir e pensar criticamente acerca dos problemas levantados pela Filosofia da Ciência e pela actividade humana em geral. Há ainda lugar a uma reflexão pessoal acerca da legitimidade da avaliação e a uma defesa de uma educação englobadora e crítica, por oposição a uma educação técnicomecanicista.This report emerges in the scope of the lecturing of a group of school classes about the programmatic unity of Philosophy of Science, unity which belongs to the 11th grade in the school subject of Philosophy. In that sense the content of this report focuses on the study and analyses of the fundamental philosophical problems raised by the scientific activity – problems such as ‘is Science an objective activity?’, ‘what distinguishes Science from pseudoscience?’, etc. Beyond this, there is space to a description and personal reflection about the contents and materials used for the lecturing’s. In these classes diverse strategies where used to make the students, not only to acquire expertise founded on the contents at stake, but also to make them reflect and think critically about the problems raised by Philosophy of Science and by the human activity in general. There is also place to a personal reflection about the legitimacy of grade evaluations and to a defense of an englobed and critical education, in opposition to a technico-mechanistic one

Avaliação colaborativa em biologia: um tempo de aula transformado em tempo de aprendizagem

O reconhecimento da importância da promoção da construção de uma visão da avaliação como um exercício ético que implica o aluno numa ação de reflexão, de interdependência positiva, de compromisso e de corresponsabilidade, e da transformação de um tempo de práticas de avaliação em tempo de aprendizagem, conduziu à idealização, conceção, implementação e avaliação de uma estratégia de intervenção pedagógica assente, fundamentalmente, em processos de auto e heteroavaliação num contexto colaborativo. A intervenção pedagógica desenvolveu-se na temática Fotossíntese da disciplina de Biologia e Geologia do 10º ano de escolaridade do Curso Científico-Humanístico de Ciências e Tecnologias. Foi concretizada no 2º período do ano letivo de 2011/2012 com uma turma de 29 alunos de uma Escola Secundária/3, localizada no distrito de Braga, na região norte de Portugal. A consecução dos processos de auto e heteroavaliação efetuou-se através da operacionalização conjunta em quatro atividades de aprendizagem, concebidas segundo uma estrutura dialógica, orientada para a resolução de um problema/situação problemática e, consequentemente, para a compreensão do respetivo conhecimento substantivo. Uma primeira avaliação do impacto educativo da estratégia de intervenção pedagógica evidencia um efeito na (re)construção das perspetivas dos alunos sobre o valor da heteroavaliação na aprendizagem. Os resultados encontrados reforçam a importância da implementação de atividades de aprendizagem focalizadas na reflexão sobre o papel da avaliação na aprendizagem

Development of a Framework for Managing Capacities and Schedules in Industrialization Projects: a case study in the automotive domain

ICOPEV2018: 4th International Conference on Production Economics and Project Evaluation | 20 Set. - 21 Set. 2018The behaviour of the current competitive markets makes project management one of the distinctive factors in companies’ success. Its practices have revealed to be crucial in deadlines accomplishment, costs reduction, quality requirements satisfaction, among other benefits. This research was developed as a case study in an automotive company with the aim of developing a framework for visual management of capacities in industrialization projects to tackle overload situations of project managers. The model developed considers industrialization project management a standard process that usually calls for a tipical set of activities, whose duration and effort are defined according to project complexity. The proposed activity scheduling process results from an adaption of Heuristic based Priority Rules, aligned with the problem specifications

Estudo do Campo Magnético Terrestre em Função dos Diferentes Materiais Geológicos da Região de Santa Maria (RS-Brasil)

The present work was prepared in Santa Maria region, southernBrazil, Rio Grande do Sul State. It presents one study to evaluate thebehavior of magnetic field in function of different geologic rocks presentin the region and their spatial behavior in function of the UniversalTransverse Mercator coordinates system (UTM). With the employ ofsoftware Statistica 7.1 were analyzed the data set of original work executedby Geological Survey of Brazil/Companhia de Pesquisas de Recursos Mineraisnamed Camaquã Project. Where were tested the relationship withsedimentary formations belonged to Depressão Central do Rio Grande doSul and/or volcanic rocks belonged to Planalto da Serra Geral at ParanáBasin border and uranium concentration. The statistics estimated were:the mean, the standard error, and the trust limits for each kind of geologicalunits. In order to compare the mean values was used the Tukey’s Test. Theresults were able to conclude that the Rio do Rasto Formation don’t showsignificant difference only in the mean contrast with the BotucatuFormation. The means of the Depósitos Aluvionares and Grupo Rosário doSul don’t show significant difference in contrast with to urban zone mean,but are different between then. The mean of Serra Geral Formation wasdifferent of the Botucatu Formation mean. Inside this context was possibleto define characteristic values from magnetic field and their trust ranges infunction to geologic units. The magnetic field when evaluated in relationto geographic coordinates using one Geographic Information Systempresented a regional gradient to north, where is located the low magneticof Earth.O presente trabalho foi realizado na região de Santa Maria no Estadodo Rio Grande do Sul, extremo Sul do Brasil. Com o objetivo deavaliar o comportamento do campo magnético total, em função dos diferentesmateriais geológicos da região e do comportamento espacial em fun-ção das coordenadas Univeral Transversa de Mercator (UTM). Foi utilizadoo suporte computacional Statistica 7.1, licenciado para o departamentode estatística da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), para analisaros dados magnetométricos, oriundos do projeto Camaquã Área 1 doServiço Geológico do Brasil/CPRM (1972) associados a distintosgrupamentos de rochas sedimentares, pertencentes à Depressão Centraldo Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Nessas formações encontram-se tambémrochas vulcânicas (básicas e ácidas) pertencentes à Formação Serra Geral.A área do estudo situa-se na borda sul da Bacia do Paraná. Dentro dessecontexto, foi possível definir-se valores característicos de média, erro padrão e intervalos de confiança, em cada uma das formações geológicas estudadas.Através do Teste de Tuckey concluiu-se que a Formação Rio doRasto não apresenta diferença significativa apenas no contraste com a mé-dia da Formação Botucatu. As médias dos Depósitos Aluvionares atuais eGrupo Rosário do Sul não diferem da média da zona urbana; porém, diferementre si. A média da Formação Serra Geral 1 b (básicas) difere da mé-dia da Formação Botucatu. Nesse contexto foi possível definir valores característicos e intervalos de confiança para o campo magnético em funçãodas formações geológicas. O comportamento da variável magnetometria,quando analisada em relação as coordenadas geográficas, apresentou umadependência espacial que mostra um gradiente regional em direção Norte,onde estava localizado o baixo magnético terrestre

GROWTH AND QUALITY OF ‘PÉROLA’ PINEAPPLE AS A FUNCTION OF LEVELS OF GIBBERELLIC ACID

Gibberellin is a plant hormone capable of enhancing the productivity of plant’s productivity rants, due to its action in plant physiology, mainly in fruit formation. In this sense, this study aimed to evaluate gibberellic acid levels and application times on the growth and quality of ‘Pérola’ pineapple. The experiment was conducted under field conditions in the municipality of Pedras de Fogo, state of Paraíba, Brazil. The treatments consisted of five levels of gibberellic acid (0.0, 1.5, 3.0, 6.0, and 12.0 mg/plant), distributed in a randomized block experimental design, with four repetitions, in which three applications were made at 50, 80, and 110 days after flower induction. The soluble solids content, fruit height, fruit diameter, and weight were evaluated. The period of application and the levels of gibberellic acid altered the responses for the variables analyzed. The level of 7.5 mg/plant of gibberellic acid promoted an increase in the weight and diameter of the fruit. The application at 110 days after floral induction induced an increase in fruit weight and a greater concentration of sugar in the fruit. Further studies on the application of gibberellic acid and periods of application in different soil and climatic conditions should be carried out to determine more consistent results with this crop.Gibberellin is a plant hormone capable of enhancing the productivity of plant’s productivity rants, due to its action in plant physiology, mainly in fruit formation. In this sense, this study aimed to evaluate gibberellic acid levels and application times on the growth and quality of ‘Pérola’ pineapple. The experiment was conducted under field conditions in the municipality of Pedras de Fogo, state of Paraíba, Brazil. The treatments consisted of five levels of gibberellic acid (0.0, 1.5, 3.0, 6.0, and 12.0 mg/plant), distributed in a randomized block experimental design, with four repetitions, in which three applications were made at 50, 80, and 110 days after flower induction. The soluble solids content, fruit height, fruit diameter, and weight were evaluated. The period of application and the levels of gibberellic acid altered the responses for the variables analyzed. The level of 7.5 mg/plant of gibberellic acid promoted an increase in the weight and diameter of the fruit. The application at 110 days after floral induction induced an increase in fruit weight and a greater concentration of sugar in the fruit. Further studies on the application of gibberellic acid and periods of application in different soil and climatic conditions should be carried out to determine more consistent results with this crop

BioRePortAP, an electronic clinical record coupled with a database : an example of its use in a single

Aims: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the treatment of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists in the Rheumatology Department of Hospital de Santa Maria using the BioRePortAP. Methods: The Portuguese Society of Rheumatology (SPR) developed an electronic medical chart coupled with a database for the follow up of PsA patients, the BioRePortAP, which was launched in May 2009. This evaluation was based on all the PsA patients that were on active treatment with TNF antagonists in September 2009 and were registered in the BioRePortAP. All the previous data on these patients were introduced in BioRePortAP using the prospective paper based follow up protocol that this Department was using since 1999. Only patients with more than 9 months of treatment were analyzed. Results: Forty-two patients with PsA, actively treated with anti-TNF agents in September 2009, for at least 9 months, were analyzed in BioRePortAP. Twenty-three patients were male (55%) and nineteen were female (45%). The average age of these patients was 49.8±10.9 years old, the average disease duration was of 10.7±5.6 years and the mean duration of biological therapy was of 37.8±27.8 months. For the 81% of patients with peripheral joint disease there was a mean reduction of more than 80% in the swollen and tender joint counts, and almost 50% in the health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) value. In the 19% of the patients with axial involvement the reduction of BASDAI and BASFI was not statistically significative. On top of that, PASI score suffered a reduction of 64%. Fourteen patients (33.3%) had to switch their TNF antagonist treatment. 58.8% of the switches were due to adverse effects and 41.2% due to therapy failure. Regarding the 56 adverse reactions registered, only one was a severe reaction. The remaining adverse reactions were not severe and 67% of them were due to infections. Discussion: The results of this first report of the use of the BioRePortAP in clinical practice confirm the efficacy and safety of TNF antagonist treatment in PsA. The results shown here elucidate the potential applications of BioRePortAP as a tool for efficacy and safety assessment of PsA patients treated with biotechnological drugs

Diagnóstico de manifestações patológicas em pavimento flexivel / Diagnosis of patologic manisfestations in flexivel pavimento

A pesquisa desenvolvida apresenta um estudo de caso de duas vias, identificadas como Secundária 2A e Secundária 2B, executadas no interior de um condomínio de galpões e áreas de armazenamento, localizado no Município do Cabo de Santo Agostinho - PE. Apesar das vias em estudo disporem pouco tempo de utilização foi identificado danos ao longo do pavimento, conduzindo assim à necessidade de conhecimento dos fatores responsáveis. O tráfego considerado no dimensionamento do projeto originalmente concebido para execução das vias foi N = 5 x 106, sendo então este tráfego considerado nas análises. Para avaliação das condições dos pavimentos foram realizados levantamentos deflectométricos com o uso de equipamento do tipo FWD e abertura de janelas de inspeção. Para cada janela de inspeção foram avaliadas as camadas de reforço do subleito, sub-base e base. A camada de revestimento asfáltico não foi avaliada por apresentar-se, em muitos pontos, bastante danificada e contaminada com o solo local. Os resultados obtidos indicam a utilização de materiais de baixa qualidade e o emprego de procedimentos de execução inadequados. Estas constatações foram feitas a partir da obtenção de dados de deflexões excessivas, camadas muito espessas, reduzidos graus de compactação, elevada umidade e solo com baixa capacidade de suporte e alta plasticidade. 

Serious games assisted by playware as a way to improve socio-emotional skills in children with autism spectrum disorder

This paper presents a project developed with the aim of promoting emotional skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The project involves a serious game and a playware object, which is a physical component that allows the user to interactively play the serious game. The playware object has six buttons, each one showing an emoji with a specific facial expression and communicates via Bluetooth with the serious game app installed in an Android device. The facial expressions used are: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and neutral/normal. They were applied to the three game activities (imitation, recognition and storytelling). The chain of tests started with an online questionnaire to validate the avatars created to represent the previously mentioned facial expressions in the game, which was followed by a usability test of the application (serious game and playware object) with six typically developing children. Finally, the three game activities were tested with six children with ASD in three/four sessions. Due to the small test group and reduced number of sessions, the primary objective was to assess if the target group accepted the application. In fact, it had a high level of approval regarding both the serious game and the playware object. had a high level of approval regarding both the serious game and the playware object.COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 and FCT –Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2013. Vinicius Silva also thanks FCT for the PhD scholarship SFRH/BD/SFRH/BD/133314/2017. The authors thank the teachers and students of the Elementary School of Gualtar (EB1/JI Gualtar) in Braga for the participation in the testsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Gas exchanges and water-use efficiency of Nopalea cochenillifera intercropped under edaphic practices

The Nopalea forage cactus (Nopalea cochenillifera) is the main xerophilic species cultivated in Brazil, highlighted as a compatible biological element with the semiarid environment. However, studies on its physiological aspects are still scarce. In this context, an experiment was performed in the Pendência Experimental Station, belonging to the State Company of Agricultural Research of Paraíba (EMEPA-PB), municipality of Soledade, state of Paraíba, Brazil, aiming to evaluate the gas exchanges and the water-use efficiency of intercropped Nopalea Cochenillifera plants in the soil under different edaphic managements. The treatments were distributed in randomized blocks, with three replications in a 2 × 5 factorial scheme, corresponding to the soil without and with mulch and five types of cultivation of Nopalea forage cactus, in monoculture and intercropped with forage watermelon, millet, sorghum, and buffelgrass. The analyzed variables were: stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, net photosynthesis rate, and internal CO2 concentration, besides the instantaneous water-use efficiency, intrinsic water-use efficiency, and instantaneous carboxylation efficiency. The use of soil mulch satisfactorily increased the photosynthetic rate of the forage cactus; this type of practice can aid in the productive development of the crop in semiarid zones, whereas the intercropping with buffelgrass and forage watermelon stimulated photosynthesis and the water-use efficiency.The Nopalea forage cactus (Nopalea cochenillifera) is the main xerophilic species cultivated in Brazil, highlighted as a compatible biological element with the semiarid environment. However, studies on its physiological aspects are still scarce. In this context, an experiment was performed in the Pendência Experimental Station, belonging to the State Company of Agricultural Research of Paraíba (EMEPA-PB), municipality of Soledade, state of Paraíba, Brazil, aiming to evaluate the gas exchanges and the water-use efficiency of intercropped Nopalea Cochenillifera plants in the soil under different edaphic managements. The treatments were distributed in randomized blocks, with three replications in a 2 × 5 factorial scheme, corresponding to the soil without and with mulch and five types of cultivation of Nopalea forage cactus, in monoculture and intercropped with forage watermelon, millet, sorghum, and buffelgrass. The analyzed variables were: stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, net photosynthesis rate, and internal CO2 concentration, besides the instantaneous water-use efficiency, intrinsic water-use efficiency, and instantaneous carboxylation efficiency. The use of soil mulch satisfactorily increased the photosynthetic rate of the forage cactus; this type of practice can aid in the productive development of the crop in semiarid zones, whereas the intercropping with buffelgrass and forage watermelon stimulated photosynthesis and the water-use efficiency