Peritoneal and hepatic hydatid disease causing major bile duct destruction

Echinococcosis is endemic in Mediterranean regions and is found primarily in the liver. Biliary fistula is a common complication, but major biliary duct involvement is very rare, and occurs in 0.47% of patients with hepatic hydatid disease. Cyst rupture causing secondary peritoneal hydatidosis is a rare but serious complication. We report the case of a 27-year-old man with multiple peritoneal and hepatic hydatid cysts. The patient came to our attention with cholestatic jaundice. Imaging exams showed numerous peritoneal cysts and massive hydatid disease of the liver, which involved the hepatic confluence, with destruction of the right hepatic duct and fistula formation to the left hepatic duct. The patient was treated with pre-operative albendazole therapy and radical surgery, which consisted of resection of all peritoneal cysts and extended right hepatectomy with biliary reconstruction. No recurrence was seen on CT investigations on the 12th month following surgery. Radical surgical approach remains the treatment of choice

The use of bio-based additives (lignin, starch and cellulose) in thermoplastic polyuretane formulations to enhance the biodegradability of footwear components

Thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) are one of the most widely used polymeric materials. They can be used in an extensive range of applications, including automotive, footwear, interior design, adhesives, coatings, textile and biomedical. In what concerns the footwear sector, it is estimated that TPU based components represent about 60% of the whole European production of footwear components [1]. On the other hand, the use of a wide variety of additives in TPU formulations (e.g. pigments, coatings and fillers) limits the possibility of recycling. In such scenario, biodegradable polymers could offer an excellent solution to the environment hazard posed by the conventional materials [2]. Therefore, given the widespread use of TPUs and associated waste management problems, it makes sense to invest on the development of more biodegradable and environmental compatible solutions. For this purpose, the incorporation of bio-based and biodegradable additives is being studied in the last years [2-4]. The incorporation of a biodegradable compound, even at a low content in a TPU formulation, can promote biodegradation. It will constitute a preferential site for microorganisms’ attack thus favouring biodegradation initiation and progression. In this work, a base TPU used in the footwear industry was modified by compounding with three biobased additives (lignin, starch and cellulose). Biodegradability of the resulting materials was evaluated in agar plate tests against the fungi Aspergillus niger ATCC16404, the gram negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC9027 and an association of both (consortium). In a second phase soil tests have been also performed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Screening of different microorganisms for their biodegradation capacity regarding polyester-based thermoplastic polyurethanes

and bio-based solutions in shoe manufacturing, including the use of biodegradable materials. As a first step towards the proposal of such solutions, in this work different microorganisms were screened for their intrinsic capacity to degrade a base TPU. The biodegradability was tested using the agar plate method against different bacteria, fungi and a consortium of both. The most promising results, corresponding to higher weight-loss percentages of the TPU sample, were obtained using the consortium of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Aspergillus niger. These best conditions were thereafter applied to TPU samples compounded with biobased additives.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Development of a prototype to access biodegradability of TPU shoe soles under controlled conditions

In the last years, the increasing problems posed by waste management have stimulated the interest in developing more sustainable and bio-based solutions for the footwear industry, including the use of biodegradable materials. As part of the NEWALK project, the objective of this work consisted in optimizing and implementing a respirometry system prototype. Besides evaluating different variables, two different approaches for measuring the evolved CO2 were assayed. Compared to manual titration, the use of conductivity offers the advantage of an automatic continuous monitoring.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Photonic superdiffusive motion in resonance line radiation trapping - partial frequency redistribution effects

The relation between the jump length probability distribution function and the spectral line profile in resonance atomic radiation trapping is considered for Partial Frequency Redistribution (PFR) between absorbed and reemitted radiation. The single line Opacity Distribution Function [M.N. Berberan-Santos et.al. J.Chem.Phys. 125, 174308 (2006)] is generalized for PFR and used to discuss several possible redistribution mechanisms (pure Doppler broadening, combined natural and Doppler broadening and combined Doppler, natural and collisional broadening). It is shown that there are two coexisting scales with a different behavior: the small scale is controlled by the intricate PFR details while the large scale is essentially given by the atom rest frame redistribution asymptotic. The pure Doppler and combined natural, Doppler and collisional broadening are characterized by both small and large scale superdiffusive Levy flight behaviors while the combined natural and Doppler case has an anomalous small scale behavior but a diffusive large scale asymptotic. The common practice of assuming complete redistribution in core radiation and frequency coherence in the wings of the spectral distribution is incompatible with the breakdown of superdiffusion in combined natural and Doppler broadening conditions

Practical computational toolkits for dendrimers and dendrons structure design

Dendrimers and dendrons offer an excellent platform for developing novel drug delivery systems and medicines. The rational design and further development of these repetitively branched systems are restricted by difficulties in scalable synthesis and structural determination, which can be overcome by judicious use of molecular modelling and molecular simulations. A major difficulty to utilise in silico studies to design dendrimers lies in the laborious generation of their structures. Current modelling tools utilise automated assembly of simpler dendrimers or the inefficient manual assembly of monomer precursors to generate more complicated dendrimer structures. Herein we describe two novel graphical user interface (GUI) toolkits written in Python that provide an improved degree of automation for rapid assembly of dendrimers and generation of their 2D and 3D structures. Our first toolkit uses the RDkit library, SMILES nomenclature of monomers and SMARTS reaction nomenclature to generate SMILES and mol files of dendrimers without 3D coordinates. These files are used for simple graphical representations and storing their structures in databases. The second toolkit assembles complex topology dendrimers from monomers to construct 3D dendrimer structures to be used as starting points for simulation using existing and widely available software and force fields. Both tools were validated for ease-of-use to prototype dendrimer structure and the second toolkit was especially relevant for dendrimers of high complexity and size.Peer reviewe

On the origin of the A1g_{1g} and B1g_{1g} electronic Raman scattering peaks in the superconducting state of YBa2_{2}Cu3_{3}O7−δ_{7-\delta}

The electronic Raman scattering has been investigated in optimally oxygen doped YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{7-\delta}$ single crystals as well as in crystals with non-magnetic, Zn, and magnetic, Ni, impurities. We found that the intensity of the A$_{1g}$ peak is impurity independent and their energy to $T_{c}$ ratio is almost constant ($2\Delta/k_{B}T_{c}\sim5$). Moreover, the signal at the B$_{1g}$ channel is completely smeared out when non-magnetic Zn impurities are present. These results are qualitatively interpreted in terms of the Zeyher and Greco's theory that relates the electronic Raman scattering in the A$_{1g}$ and B$_{1g}$ channels to \textit{d}-CDW and superconducting order parameters fluctuations, respectively.Comment: Submited to Phys. Rev. Let

Regional Income Convergence in Portugal (1991-2002)

Our research aims to address the problem of inequality in income distribution from a different perspective than the usual. We intend to verify if geography influences the pattern of inequality, that is, if the standard of living varies from region to region and if, in the process of growth, spatial units in Portugal have been converging in terms of most relevant variables, such as income. We search the answers to these questions by introducing the treatment of convergence between smaller territorial units, the municipalities as individuals. We intend to evaluate convergence or divergence in income growth and test empirically the theoretical hypothesis that β-convergence, although necessary, is not a sufficient condition for σ-convergence. To study convergence, we use information about GDP and wages for NUTS III regions, and wages for municipalities. We observe spatial dependence between municipalities, so we estimate spatial econometric models to test convergence. With regard to conditional convergence between municipalities, the model most appropriate is the one which includes in the explanatory variables the weight of primary sector employment, leading us to conclude that this variable distinguishes the "steady state" of the small economies. Variables like the activity rate and percentage of active population with higher education also reveal highly significant on the growth of wages, reflecting the different contexts of the labor market at regional level

Informações geoespaciais para a gestão dos recursos naturais do Corredor de Nacala - Moçambique.

O projeto Embrapa-Moçambique foi baseado nas similaridades edafoclimáticas existentes entre as savanas moçambicanas e o Cerrado brasileiro e objetiva o levantamento e o mapeamento das potencialidades dos recursos naturais de Moçambique. Neste estudo, organizaram-se bases de dados geográficos existentes do Corredor de Nacala, levantaram-se aspectos da legislação ambiental moçambicana, e realizou-se o mapeamento de florestas em distritos específicos deste corredor para a visualização da gestão de recursos naturais. Como resultados já alcançados, destacam-se a geração da base de dados geográficos on-line, a análise preliminar da integração da legislação ambiental em ambiente de sistemas de informação geográfica e o levantamento do uso e da ocupação dos distritos de Mandimba, Cuamba, Malema e Ribaué