Caracterização e prognóstico a curto prazo dos utilizadores da via verde do AVC no Norte de Portugal.

Mestrado Integrado em MedicinaMaster Degree in Medicin

Eficácia e tolerância da azitromicina versus claritromicina no tratamento das infecções do tracto respiratório inferior

ABSTRACTSeventy one patients were enrolled to an opened, comparative and randomized study to evalute the safety and efficacy of azitbromycin administered during 3 days versus clarithromycin during 10 days in the out treatment of lower respiratory tract infections. Azithromycin was given 500mg once daily and clarithromycin 250mg twice daily. A total of 51 patients (25 to azithromycin and 26 to clarythromycin) were eligible for efficacy assessment. Mean age was 42.3years (19-25), 29 (57%) patients were male and diagnosis were the following:40 (78%) exacerbations of COPD and 11 (22%) pneumonia. Both groups were similar in terms obasic details. Clinical success or improvement on final evaluation was noted in 92% of patients in the azithromycin group and in 85% in the claritbromycin group. There were no clinical failures on the azithromycin group and there were 3 on the clarithromycin group (on one of these patients there was a superinfection with E. coil). Safety was assessed in all patients randomized to the treatment groups (71 patients; 40 received azitbromycin and 31 received clarythromycin). One azitbromycin treated patient with lung cancer died with fulminating haemoptysis on the second day of treatment which was norelated to the study drug. Adverse events were reported in 3 patients all treated with clarythromycin. Regarding laboratory values there was an hematologic change related with infection resolution (leucocytes and neutrophils reduction and limphocytes increase) and there was no significant chemistry changes. Thirteen patients (8 of azithromycin group and 5 of clarithromycin group) showed laboratory abnormalities with no attributable clinical significance. In conclusion, Ibis study showed a high effectiveness of both azithromycin and clarithromycin in the treatment of lower respiratory tract infections. The study was inconclusive about the superiority of one drug over the other.REV PORT PNEUMOL 1999; V (2): 216-22

Fossil fuel and the global energy transition: regulation and standardisation as panacea for a more sustainable world energy order / O combustível fóssil e a transição energética global: regulação e normalização como panaceia para uma ordem energética mundial mais sustentável

The transition from fossil fuels to more sustainable sources of energy has become a topical issue that is likely to remain in the front burner of stakeholders as governments and businesses gradually move towards low-carbon economies. This move has been partly accelerated by the need to combat climate change and greenhouse gases (GHG). The move towards more sustainable energy sources has led to an upsurge in the number of international mechanisms such as the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change (COP 15) (and a plethora of regional and domestic initiatives). Regulations and standardisation have been identified as strategic tools that can play critical roles in the drive towards energy transition. Regulation in this context refers to laws or other form of instruments with legal backing and having cohesiveness, while Standardisation entails the voluntary process of developing technical specifications based on consensus among stakeholders. The focus of this paper is how these two strategic tools interact and how they can be used to, enhance creativity, and further accelerate the drive towards energy transition and therefore more sustainable sources of energy.

Análise da Legislação Existente e Considerações sobre a Regulação de Recursos Hídricos Referente ao Gás Não Convencional / Existing Legislation Analysis and Considerations on Water Resources Regulation concerning Unconventional Gas

A atividade de exploração e produção de gás não convencional demanda disponibilidade hídrica. A legislação federal sobre recursos hídricos no Brasil apresenta uma série de regras para o uso da água, seja pela prioridade, seja pela outorga e cobrança. No âmbito estadual, a questão hídrica também é tutelada e possui legislação própria. Ademais, especificamente, a Resolução ANP 21/2014 estabelece que a água deve ser preferencialmente de fontes inadequadas ao consumo humano. O objetivo desse artigo, portanto, é analisar a estruturação da legislação de recursos hídricos no país relativamente ao uso para a produção de gás não convencional, com possibilidade de construção de propostas para conciliação da atividade e da obediência aos parâmetros ambientais. A metodologia é qualitativa e analítica com uso de método de revisão da literatura, por meio de análise comparativa da legislação brasileira e dos estados de Texas e Oklahoma, para servir como parâmetro de aplicação. Como resultado, aponta-se que a definição dos contornos da regulação do uso de recursos hídricos na produção de gás não convencional deve abrigar gestão de risco e de planejamento adequado a subsidiar o licenciamento dessa atividade

Radon and material radiopurity assessment for the NEXT double beta decay experiment

The Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon TPC (NEXT), intended to investigate the neutrinoless double beta decay using a high-pressure xenon gas TPC filled with Xe enriched in 136Xe at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory in Spain, requires ultra-low background conditions demanding an exhaustive control of material radiopurity and environmental radon levels. An extensive material screening process is underway for several years based mainly on gamma-ray spectroscopy using ultra-low background germanium detectors in Canfranc but also on mass spectrometry techniques like GDMS and ICPMS. Components from shielding, pressure vessel, electroluminescence and high voltage elements and energy and tracking readout planes have been analyzed, helping in the final design of the experiment and in the construction of the background model. The latest measurements carried out will be presented and the implication on NEXT of their results will be discussed. The commissioning of the NEW detector, as a first step towards NEXT, has started in Canfranc; in-situ measurements of airborne radon levels were taken there to optimize the system for radon mitigation and will be shown too.Comment: Proceedings of the Low Radioactivity Techniques 2015 workshop (LRT2015), Seattle, March 201

NEXT-100 Technical Design Report (TDR). Executive Summary

In this Technical Design Report (TDR) we describe the NEXT-100 detector that will search for neutrinoless double beta decay (bbonu) in Xe-136 at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (LSC), in Spain. The document formalizes the design presented in our Conceptual Design Report (CDR): an electroluminescence time projection chamber, with separate readout planes for calorimetry and tracking, located, respectively, behind cathode and anode. The detector is designed to hold a maximum of about 150 kg of xenon at 15 bar, or 100 kg at 10 bar. This option builds in the capability to increase the total isotope mass by 50% while keeping the operating pressure at a manageable level. The readout plane performing the energy measurement is composed of Hamamatsu R11410-10 photomultipliers, specially designed for operation in low-background, xenon-based detectors. Each individual PMT will be isolated from the gas by an individual, pressure resistant enclosure and will be coupled to the sensitive volume through a sapphire window. The tracking plane consists in an array of Hamamatsu S10362-11-050P MPPCs used as tracking pixels. They will be arranged in square boards holding 64 sensors (8 times8) with a 1-cm pitch. The inner walls of the TPC, the sapphire windows and the boards holding the MPPCs will be coated with tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB), a wavelength shifter, to improve the light collection.Comment: 32 pages, 22 figures, 5 table