Free Floating Thrombus in Right Atrium and Pulmonary Thromboembolism

Os autores descrevem um caso de um doente com uma neoplasia da bexiga inoperável, internado por um quadro de síncope e hipotensão arterial. Na avaliação do doente é efectuado um ecocardiograma que mostra a existência de um trombo livre ao nível das cavidades direitas e dilatação das mesmas que levou à hipótese diagnóstica de embolia pulmonar. Perante a existência de uma neoplasia com hemorragia recente, algumas dúvidas terapêuticas surgiram, tendo sido iniciado heparina. Devido a agravamento da situação, com hipertensão pulmonar grave e presença de volumosos trombos ao nível de ambos os ramos da artéria pulmonar visualizados por ecocardiografia transesofágica, o doente acabou por ser submetido a trombólise, embora com algumas alterações ao esquema habitualmente realizado. O doente melhorou, sendo o ecocardiograma final normal

A technical note on the phase transformation in furnace container material after a periodic thermo-chemical treatment

The aim of this work is to investigate the metallurgical changes in the wall of cylindrical containers, fabricated by welding from AISI 310 steel, used in the thermal and chemical treatment of spindle chains for the automotive industry, for an in-service period of over 1000 h. In order to identify the phases originated during this in-service period, several etchants were used in the structural study, together with X-ray diffraction and 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy analysis. The metallographic technique demonstrates some limitations in the complete identification of the phases produced in the wall of the containers. The structure of the wall of the containers, after the referred to working period, is composed of an austenitic matrix, whose grain size is about 212 and 238 [mu]m, near the internal and external faces of the wall, respectively. These show numerous precipitates inside the grains and at the grain boundaries. The density of the precipitates decreases from the internal to the external surface. The precipitates are nitrides (Cr, Mo)12 (Fe,Ni)8-x N4-z near the internal surface, and carbides (Cr, Fe, Mo)23C6 on the other zones of the wall.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TGJ-4502Y49-G/1/4e6ae31d16e053b40c961bebbfda1e0

Fatigue behaviour of AA6082-T6 MIG welded butt joints improved by friction stir processing

Friction Stir Processing (FSP) was based on the principles of Friction Stir Welding (FSW), a solid-state joining process originally developed for aluminium alloys. It is an emerging metalworking technique which can provide localized modification and control of microstructures in near-surface layers of processed metallic components. In this research, FSP appears as an alternative to traditional methods for fatigue strength improvement of weld joints, such as re-melting, hammering and blasting. This technique was applied on Metal Inert Gas (MIG) butt welds with and without reinforcement, performed on AA6082-T6 alloy plates. The potential benefits of post-processing MIG welds by FSP were studied using microstructure analysis, hardness measurement, tensile strength, residual stress measurement, and fatigue testing. Fatigue tests were carried out under constant amplitude loading with the stress ratio R set to 0. Friction stir processing of MIG welds does not change the hardness and mechanical strength of the weld substantially, but the fatigue strength was increased, due to the geometry modification in the weld toe, reduction of weld defects and grain refinement of the microstructure

Retrieval of nearshore bathymetry from Landsat 8 images: a tool for coastal monitoring in shallow waters

Nearshore bathymetry is likely to be the coastal variable that most limits the investigation of coastal processes and the accuracy of numerical models in coastal areas, as acquiring medium spatial resolution data in the nearshore is highly demanding and costly. As such, the ability to derive bathymetry using remote sensing techniques is a topic of increasing interest in coastalmonitoring and research. This contribution focuses on the application of the linear transform algorithm to obtain satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB) maps of the nearshore, at medium resolution (30 m), from freely available and easily accessible Landsat 8 imagery. The algorithm was tuned with available bathymetric Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data for a 60-km-long nearshore stretch of a highly complex coastal system that includes barrier islands, exposed sandy beaches, and tidal inlets (Ria Formosa, Portugal). A comparison of the retrieved depths is presented, enabling the configuration of nearshore profiles and extracted isobaths to be explored and compared with traditional topographic/bathymetric techniques (e.g., high- and medium-resolution LiDAR data and survey-grade echo-sounding combined with high-precision positioning systems). The results demonstrate that the linear algorithm is efficient for retrieving bathymetry frommulti-spectral satellite data for shallowwater depths (0 to 12 m), showing amean bias of−0.2m, a median difference of −0.1 m, and a root mean square error of 0.89 m. Accuracy is shown to be depth dependent, an inherent limitation of passive optical detection systems. Accuracy further decreases in areas where turbidity is likely to be higher, such as locations adjacent to tidal inlets. The SDB maps provide reliable estimations of the shoreline position and of nearshore isobaths for different cases along the complex coastline analysed. The use of freely available satellite imagery proved to be a quick and reliable method for acquiring updated mediumresolution, high-frequency (days and weeks), low-cost bathymetric information for large areas and depths of up to 12 m in clear waters without wave breaking, allowing almost constant monitoring of the submerged beach and the shoreface.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

ARPES Study of the Metal-Insulator Transition in Bismuth Cobaltates

We present an angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) study of a Mott-Hubbard-type bismuth cobaltate system across a metal-insulator transition. By varying the amount of Pb substitution, and by doping with Sr or Ba cation, a range of insulating to metallic properties is obtained. We observe a systematic change in the spectral weight of the coherent and incoherent parts, accompanied by an energy shift of the incoherent part. The band dispersion also shows the emergence of a weakly dispersing state at the Fermi energy with increasing conductivity. These changes correspond with the changes in the temperature-dependent resistivity behavior. We address the nature of the coherent-incoherent parts in relation to the peak-dip-hump feature seen in cuprates superconductors

Estudio experimental y numérico de uniones con angulares ejecutadas con perfiles europeos

In this paper, four specimens with different thickness of top and seat angle with double web angle connections are experimentally tested and numerically modeled. The model has been solved by means of Abaqus® finite element package. Moment rotation curves obtained from the experiments are compared with those obtained from FE models and good agreement is observed. These results validate this numerical modeling in order to use it in future studies on angle connections.En este artículo se presenta el ensayo experimental y el modelo numérico de cuatro uniones de estructura metálica realizadas con casquillos angulares de diferentes espesores. El problema se ha resuelto mediante el programa comercial de elementos finitos Abaqus®. Las curvas experimentales momento-rotación obtenidas concuerdan razonablemente con los resultados de los modelos propuestos, de modo que con este trabajo se ha establecido una base numérica sólida para estudios posteriores

Mapping wine tourism: A systematic literature review

This research makes an overview of the current scientific state of the art about Wine Tourism (WT). For this purpose, a systematic review of literature (Loureiro et al., 2020; Tranfield et al., 2003) was conducted to map wine tourism. The systematic analysis uses the main research articles published in the most relevant journals since 1997 (the first indexed studies were published in this year). The current study explored the objective/goals, methodologies, theories, constructs, moderators, mediators, antecedents, consequences, main conclusions and gaps, as well other relevant aspects of the research. A total of 2039 papers were collected from Web of Science (WoS) and 2178 papers were extracted from Scopus. First, duplications were removed, second for quality assessment, we matched each paper with the Academic Journal Guide 2018 from the Chartered Association of Business Schools (ABS) ranking so that only papers featuring in ABS 4, ABS3 and ABS2 were considered, 366 resulted Through abstract reading 234 papers were excluded. Additionally, from the initial literature review we found several papers being often cited, but not included in the selected 132 papers neither above ABS1. Most of those papers (30) with significant citations were from wine sector journals and, therefore, were included in the systematic review, which end up with a total of 162 papers to analyze (figure 1). From 1997 to 2010, a total of 44 articles were published in the following journals: Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Recreation Research, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, International Journal of Tourism Research, International Journal of Wine Business Research, Journal of Wine Research. Such studies were responsible for 57% of the articles published. From 2011 onwards the articles published more than doubled the previous period. From the 118 articles published after 2011, 58% were published on the following journals: Current Issues in Tourism; International Journal of Wine Business Research, Tourism Analysis, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, International Journal of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, Tourism Recreation Research, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, Tourism Planning and Development. Wine tourism sector has been studied using 38 different theories identified in the articles analyzed. Only 9 theories (51.9% of the total cited theories) are cited more than on time. The main theories cited in the papers include Servicescape (Bitner, 1992; Williams, 2021), Consumer behaviour (Loureiro et al., 2021; Schiffman et al., 2001), Experience economy (Pine and Gilmore, 1998; Vo Thanh and Kirova, 2018) Destination choice (Loureiro, 2020; Wu and Liang, 2020) and Theory of planned behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1988, 2020; Sussman and Gifford, 2019). The articles published during the period of analysis on this topic are mostly based on empirical findings (92%), while 8% the articles analyzed are theoretical, and 16.1% are qualitative. The most common used data collection technique is the survey method. The systematic literature analysis also identified the principal constructs used in this research area. The most frequent antecedents of Loyalty are Involvement (12%) immediately followed by Experience (11%). Some other constructs observed are Perceived value (6%), Motivation (6%), Destination image (5%), Satisfaction (4%), Authenticity (3%), Quality (2%), Trust (2%), Service (2%) and Personal Attributes (2%). These 11 constructs represent a concentration of 55% within the antecedent’s constructs. Within the mediators and moderators, the most frequent used constructs we observe being mentioned in the literature were Satisfaction (13.7%), Involvement (12.3%), Winescape (8.2%), Intention to revisit (5.5%), Loyalty (4.1%), Motivation (4.1%) and Quality (4.1%). These 7 constructs are responsible for 52.1% of the total mediators and moderators mentioned in the literature. The consequents most observed are Intention to revisit (14.3%), Loyalty (11.4%), Intention to visit (8.6%), Intention to buy wine (7.1%), willingness to recommend (7.1%) and Satisfaction (7.1%). The 6 most frequent consequent constructs are accountable for 55.7% of the total constructs. This research is innovative and valuable once identifies and analyzes the main theories and constructs studied in wine tourism field since 1997 to actuality, being helpful in guiding scholars to new streams of research, allowing the progress in wine tourism knowledge. From a managerial perspective it’s very valuable to wine tourism and marketing managers, as provides important insights related with constructs that have a direct impact in wineries strategy and business. With the findings of this systematic literature review we were able to present a framework to show the main constructs and relationships used to study WT, present literature gaps and point out avenues for future research, in addition to providing businesses some guidelines on best practices.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The role of antimicrobial stress on Pseudomonas aeruginosa colony morphology diversity, tolerance and virulence

In natural environments, as well as in infections, bacteria faced several stresses like starvation, heat exposure, antimicrobials and host defense after entry in human body. The ability to quickly adapt to a new environment is critical to bacteria and the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. One of the strategies adopted by bacteria is a high frequency of phenotype switching by a mechanism called phase variation. A sign of these bacterial changes is the altered colony morphology on solid media. Several colony morphologies have been isolated from clinical strains, being the best-studied the small colony variants, the rugose small colony variants and the mucoid phenotype. It was aimed to study the prevalence and diversity of colony morphologies from planktonic and sessile P. aeruginosa (Pa) ATCC, chemically stressed, and to compare with the ones developed by a P. aeruginosa isolated from a medical device (Pa I). Pa is one of the most important opportunistic pathogen commonly found in clinical arena being often responsible for acute and chronic infections. Planktonic and sessile Pa and Pa I were in vitro stressed by continuous exposure to benzalkonium chloride (BZK) and peroxide hydrogen and by attack with the same products. The stressed bacteria were collected, serial diluted and plated onto TSA to inspect colony morphology variants. Each predominant bacterial morphology was harvested and reserved for further phenotypic and motility characterization. The results demonstrated that cells coming from biofilm and planktonic growth of Pa, regardless they were stressed or not or the type of stress implemented, develop colonies mostly with the same morphotype, type II, characterized by big and regular colony circumference, with small and dark center and wrinkled surface. This colony type showed to have a good ability to form biofilms, although the colonies from the stressed cultures developed biofilms with higher biomass accumulated. The Pa I gave rise to high diversity of colony morphotypes, being 3 of them more prevalent and cataloged as type XVII, XXIII, XXVIII. The types XVII and XXVIII are characterized by regular colony circumferences with craters in the center. However their superficial area presented different colors. Type XXIII has irregular colony shape with craters in the center. These 3 morphotypes showed similar biofilm formation ability between them but lower than type II. Nonetheless the phenotypic differences found between the several morphotypes, all of them generated biofilms with identical tolerance to antimicrobials (BZK and the fluoroquinolone antibiotic ciprofloxacin-CIP). However, the cells resulting from the planktonic growth of Pa I morphotypes demonstrated two-fold tolerance to BZK and CIP than their Pa counterparts. Regarding bacteria motility, results highlighted that all Pa I morphotypes had impaired swimming motilities compared to type II. This result seems to indicate that the capacity of adhesion or invasion of Pa I morphotypes to, respectively, surfaces or tissues was compromised, which may interfere with their virulence. Although, the latter is not sustained by the susceptibility patterns, emphasizing the ambiguous relationship between virulence and antimicrobial resistance. The morphologies described are not similar with previous reports and the colony morphologies more prevalent seemed to be less virulent than typical ones. Among the various colony morphologies detected, no Pa I morphotype match with Pa type. So, it can be concluded that phase variation is an adaptive strategy of bacteria to respond to fluctuating environment leading to mixed populations where the chances for survival is higher. The generation of varied bacterial phenotypes may be the sum of previous and successive adaptations suffer by Pa I as an attempt to adjust to adverse habitats.IBB-CEB and FCT, for the financial support (Project PTDC/SAUESA/64609/2006; PhD Grant SFRH/BD/31065/2006