A brave new world of Ambient Intelligence in the casinos of Macau: reality or fiction?

The article scrutinizes the brave new world of ambient intelligence in the casinos of the Macau, Special Administrative Region of People´s Republic of China, chiefly in regards to the (candent) issue of privacy of the casino patrons. Moreover, this scientific article provides an overview about the secondary use of big data of the casino patrons for law enforcement purposes

Official Statistics: Historical Trajectory and Contemporary Threat Related to Big Data Adoption

Official Statistics are the relevant set of information to support decisions in modern societies. This relevance is a result of a historical process summarized in this Completed Research Paper. Based on this historical trajectory, the study advances to the current features of this business called Official Statistics. Information life cycle and the Business architecture, defined by Radermacher (2020), are discussed and checked under the perspective of Big Data adoption. In sequence, the features of the Official Statistics and their operators, the National Statistics Offices, are analyzed considering the risk of a failure in the Big Data adoption process. The methodology mixed literature review with documental research. Recommendations for future studies are proposed in the end

That Should Be Left to Doctors, That's What They are There For! - Exploring the Reflexivity and Trust of Young Adults When Seeking Health Information

This paper explores the health information-seeking practices of healthy young adults and how they assess and rank sources of information through a qualitative study. The findings show that participants (a) are strongly committed to searching for information about health and lifestyle, especially via the Internet; (b) healthcare professionals were perceived as the most reliable source of health information and advice; (c) online health information, although frequently accessed and experienced as empowering, is seen as a potentially unreliable source. Findings evidence how becoming better informed about health-related topics plays a pivotal role in individuals’ lives, most notably by using the Internet. Participants were able to reflect about what it means to know about health. The construction of trust regarding health information involved a heuristic process vis-à-vis source reliability and perceived credibility that places doctors as the most trustworthy medium of medical advice and health information. We conclude that participants’ trust toward professionals suggests the preference and need for more personalized care; and it is a response to the ambiguity and uncertainty that permeates the health information landscape, particularly that which is web-based.This article draws on research conducted as part of the project “Evaluating the State of Public Knowledge on Health and Health Information in Portugal” (HMSP/IISE/SAU-ICT/0003/2009), funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) within the Harvard Medical School-Portugal Program on Translational Research and Health Information. Part of this work has been financed by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020—POCI, Portugal 2020, and by Portuguese funds through FCT/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação—project “Institute for Research and Innovation in Health Sciences” (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007274). ÁM (SFRH/BPD/88647/2012) and LA (SFRH/BD/78949/2011) are both supported by fellowships from FCT. The authors would like to thank all the participants in this study, the coordinators of the EpiTeen study, and the administrative staff of the Epidemiology department of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto. The authors would also like to thank Liliana Gil and Patrícia Ferreira (Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Portugal) for their collaboration in part of the interviews, and Rute Verdade for her help in proofreading this text. The authors are also grateful to anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions that very much improved the quality of the paper

THE PRE-EXHAUSTION METHOD SEEMS INEFFECTIVE TO INCREASE ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC ACTIVITY

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the pre-exhaustion method on the electromyographic activity (temporal and spectral domain) at different intervals of a set of resistance training. Twenty adults with little or no experience in strength training performed two sets of the seated row exercise at 70%1RM until muscular failure, in a randomized order. Surface electrodes were placed over the latissimus dorsi, teres major, biceps brachii, and posterior deltoid muscles of the dominant side. Results showed that the pre-exhaustion did not increase EMG activity of all muscle analyzed at any intervals of a set. Furthermore, the EMG median frequency decreased in teres major and posterior deltoid muscles during initial and intermediate repetitions. Results suggest that the pre-exhaustion induces more fatigue when compared to traditional training

Case Report: Pheochromocytoma and Synchronous Neuroblastoma in a Family With Hereditary Pheochromocytoma Associated With a MAX Deleterious Variant

Introduction: Pheochromocytomas are rare catecholamine-producing neuroendocrine tumours arising from chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla or extra-adrenal sympathetic paraganglia. Recent studies have indicated that up to 40% of pheochromocytomas could be attributable to an inherited germline variant in an increasing list of susceptibility genes. Germline variants of the MYC-associated factor (MAX) gene have been associated with familial pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance, a median age at onset of 33 years and an overall frequency estimated at 1.9%. We describe a deleterious MAX variant associated with hereditary pheochromocytoma in a family with four affected individuals. Case presentation: The first patient presented with bilateral pheochromocytoma in 1995; genetic testing was proposed to his oldest son, when he was diagnosed with a bilateral pheochromocytoma with a synchronous neuroblastoma. Upon the identification of the MAX variant c.97C>T, p.(Arg33Ter), in the latter individual, his two siblings and their father were tested and the same variant was identified in all of them. Both siblings were subsequently diagnosed with pheochromocytoma (one of them bilateral) and choose to remain on active surveillance before they were submitted to adrenalectomy. All the tumours secreted predominantly norepinephrine, accordingly to the typical biochemical phenotype ascribed to variants in the MAX gene. Conclusion: This case series is, to our knowledge, the one with the largest number of individuals with hereditary pheochromocytoma with a deleterious MAX variant in the same family. It is also the first case with a synchronous pheochromocytoma and neuroblastoma in carriers of a MAX deleterious variant. This report draws attention to some ill-defined features of pheochromocytoma and other malignancies associated with a MAX variant and highlights the importance of understanding the genotype-phenotype correlation in hereditary pheochromocytoma and the impact of oriented genetic testing to detect, survey and treat patients and kindreds at risk

Selection of ligand peptides with the ability to detect antibodies in enzootic bovine leukosis

Peptides present in phages were selected using phage display technology and immunoassays to find out the antigenic mimetics of immunodominant epitopes of bovine leukosis virus (BLV). The use of antigenic mimetics may result in the enhancement of the sensitivity and specificity of the serologic diagnosis of enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL), contributing directly to disease control. The selections enabled the choice of clones which can be used as potential antigens in the diagnoses of diseases. The synthetic peptide produced from the selected sequences may be considered as an alternative for antigens in the serologic diagnosis of enzootic bovine leukosis.Key words: Diagnostic, antigens, enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL), phage display

ENERGETIC AND ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF WASTE GLYCEROL COGENERATION IN BRAZIL

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Glycerol is an important by-product of biodiesel production. It is used in many industrial segments, but the increasing production of this chemical has become an issue of concern. Many studies have been done to give new applicability to this product; a promising field is the usage of glycerol for energy production. Therefore, this study evaluates the technical and economic feasibility of a new and potential proposal at the national level, the generation of electricity and heat, through a cogeneration system using glycerol. The results demonstrate the viability of this proposal, since the payback on capital invested obtained was approximately 4 years, with the possibility of reduction to 3 years when installed in regions with low infrastructure.284691698Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP