Classification and management of mild head trauma

Mild head trauma had been defined in patients with direct impact or deceleration effect admitted with a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 13–15. It is one of the most frequent causes of morbidity in emergency medicine. Although common, several controversies persist about its clinical management. In this paper, we describe the Brazilian guidelines for mild head trauma, based on a critical review of the relevant literature

Negotiating networks of self-employed work: strategies of minority ethnic contractors

Within the increased flexible, contracted work in cities, employment is negotiated through network arrangements characterised by multiplicity, mobility and fluidity. For black and minority ethnic group members, this network labour becomes fraught as they negotiate both their own communities, which can be complex systems of conflicting networks, as well as non-BME networks which can be exclusionary. This discussion explores the networking experiences of BME individuals who are self-employed in portfolio work arrangements in Canada. The analysis draws from a theoretical frame of ‘racialisation’ (Mirchandani and Chan, 2007) to examine the social processes of continually constructing and positioning the Other as well as the self through representations in these networks. These positions and concomitant identities enroll BME workers in particular modes of social production, which order their roles and movement in the changing dynamics of material production in networked employment

Eficiência de sistemas de aeração em cascatas no tratamento de águas residuárias do café

The issue of this work was to assess the efficiency of aeration systems in cascades for the treatment of wastewater from the processing of coffee fruits. The aeration system was installed in cascades of a level difference of 4.14 m from the ground with 23 steps (height, width and length of 0.18, 0.32 and 0.60 m, respectively.) Samples of influent and effluent, after system operating with three recirculations per day, over a period of 10 days, were analyzed. The average removal efficiency of COD was 28.9 % during the experiment, the removals of total solids, total volatile solids, total suspended solids, volatile suspended solids, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and phenolic compounds were 57.3, 71.6, 26.5, 17.2, 35.7, 62.5, 49.5 and 55 % respectively. The cascade aeration proved to be an important alternative for composition the ARC treatment systems, with a view that is effective means of low cost and relatively fast for the aerobic treatment of organic material present in those wastewaters.Para avaliar a eficiência de sistemas de aeração em cascatas no tratamento de águas residuárias do processamento dos frutos do cafeeiro (ARC), a mesma foi aplicada em cascata com 4,14 m de altura, distribuída em 23 degraus (altura, largura e comprimento de 0,18; 0,32 e 0,60 m, respectivamente). No final da cascata foi instalado um reservatório para recepção/detenção da ARC escoada, de onde, após um tempo de detenção de 3 horas e transferência para um reservatório de distribuição, era recirculada no sistema. Amostras do afluente e efluente, após sistema operar com 3 recirculações por dia, num período de 10 dias, foram coletadas e analisadas. De acordo com os resultados obtidos, pôde-se concluir que a eficiência de remoção média de DQO foi de 28,9 % durante o experimento; as remoções de sólidos totais, sólidos voláteis totais; sólidos suspensos totais, sólidos suspensos voláteis, nitrogênio, fósforo, potássio e compostos fenólicos foram de 57,3; 71,6; 26,5; 17,2; 35,7; 62,5; 49,5 e 55 %, respectivamente. A cascata de aeração mostrou ser importante alternativa para composição de sistemas de tratamento da ARC, tendo em vista que é meio efetivo de baixo custo e de relativamente rápido tratamento aeróbio do material orgânico presente nessas águas residuárias

Anaerobic co-digestion of cheese whey and the screened liquid fraction of dairy manure in a single continuously stirred tank reactor process: Limits in co-substrate ratios and organic loading rate

Mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of cheese whey and the screened liquid fraction of dairy manure was investigated with the aim of determining the treatment limits in terms of the cheese whey fraction in feed and the organic loading rate. The results of a continuous stirred tank reactor that was operated with a hydraulic retention time of 15.6 days showed that the co-digestion process was possible with a cheese whey fraction as high as 85% in the feed. The efficiency of the process was similar within the range of the 15–85% cheese whey fraction. To study the effect of the increasing loading rate, the HRT was progressively shortened with the 65% cheese whey fraction in the feed. The reactor efficiency dropped as the HRT decreased but enabled a stable operation over 8.7 days of HRT. At these operating conditions, a volumetric methane production rate of 1.37 m3 CH4 m−3 d−1 was achieved

Accurate fundamental parameters for 23 bright solar-type stars

We combine results from interferometry, asteroseismology and spectroscopy to determine accurate fundamental parameters of 23 bright solar-type stars, from spectral type F5 to K2 and luminosity classes III to V. For some stars we can use direct techniques to determine the mass, radius, luminosity and effective temperature, and we compare with indirect methods that rely on photometric calibrations or spectroscopic analyses. We use the asteroseismic information available in the literature to infer an indirect mass with an accuracy of 4-15 percent. From indirect methods we determine luminosity and radius to 3 percent. For Teff we find a slight offset of -40+-20 K between the spectroscopic method and the direct method, meaning the spectroscopic temperatures are too high. From the spectroscopic analysis we determine the detailed chemical composition for 13 elements, including Li, C and O. We find no significant offset between the spectroscopic surface gravity and the value from combining asteroseismology with radius estimates. From the spectroscopy we also determine vsini and we present a new calibration of macro- and microturbulence. From the comparison between the results from the direct and spectroscopic methods we claim that we can determine Teff, log g, and [Fe/H] with absolute accuracies of 80 K, 0.08 dex, and 0.07 dex. The indirect methods are important to obtain reliable estimates of the fundamental parameters of relatively faint stars when interferometry cannot be used. Our study is the first to compare direct and indirect methods for a large sample of stars, and we conclude that indirect methods are valid, although slight corrections may be needed.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS. Abstract abridge

Myeloid Sirtuin 2 expression does not impact long-term Mycobacterium tuberculosis control

Sirtuins (Sirts) regulate several cellular mechanisms through deacetylation of several transcription factors and enzymes. Recently, Sirt2 was shown to prevent the development of inflammatory processes and its expression favors acute Listeria monocytogenes infection. The impact of this molecule in the context of chronic infections remains unknown. We found that specific Sirt2 deletion in the myeloid lineage transiently increased Mycobacterium tuberculosis load in the lungs and liver of conditional mice. Sirt2 did not affect long-term infection since no significant differences were observed in the bacterial burden at days 60 and 120 post-infection. The initial increase in M. tuberculosis growth was not due to differences in inflammatory cell infiltrates in the lung, myeloid or CD4+ T cells. The transcription levels of IFN-?, IL-17, TNF, IL-6 and NOS2 were also not affected in the lungs by Sirt2-myeloid specific deletion. Overall, our results demonstrate that Sirt2 expression has a transitory effect in M. tuberculosis infection. Thus, modulation of Sirt2 activity in vivo is not expected to affect chronic infection with M. tuberculosis.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal and cofunded by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2–O Novo Norte), Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional (QREN), through the Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER). Project grants: PTDC/SAU-MII/101977/2008 (to AGC) and PTDC/BIA-BCM/102776/2008 (to MS). LMT was supported by FCT Grant SFRH/BPD/77399/20