Hospital-acquired pneumonia is more frequent and lethal in stroke patients: A nationwide 4-year study

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A temporal analysis on patient and health service delays in pulmonary tuberculosis in Portugal: Inter and intra‑regional differences and in(equalities) between gender and age

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and treatment delays increase the period of infectiousness, making TB control difficult and increasing the fatality rates. This study aimed to determine the evolution of health care service delay (time between the patient’s first contact with the health service and the diagnosis/start of treatment) and patient delay (time between onset symptoms date and the date of first contact with health services) for Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) in Portugal between 2008 and 2017 across different regions, age groups and gender. Methods: An exploratory analysis was performed, trends of both delays were studied, and 36 months forecasts were generated. We used the permutation test to test differences between groups and the Seasonal and Trend decomposition using Loess (STL) method and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models for forecasting for both Health and Patient delays. We used data from notified PTB cases in mainland Portugal between 2008 and 2017, provided by the national surveillance system. Results: Health delays remained relatively constant while patient delays increased. Females had significantly higher health delays in some regions. Individuals older than 64 had higher health delays than younger individuals, while patient delay for working-age individuals between 15 and 64 years old, presents higher patient delay. Conclusions: Forecasts presage that the upward trend of the delays is unlikely to fall in the coming years. It is important to understand the evolution of the delays and predict how these will evolve. Our understanding of the delays behaviours will contribute to better health policies and resources allocation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Genetic variation in the social environment affects behavioral phenotypes of oxytocin receptor mutants in zebrafish

Oxytocin-like peptides have been implicated in the regulation of a wide range of social behaviors across taxa. On the other hand, the social environment, which is composed of conspecifics that may vary in their genotypes, also influences social behavior, creating the possibility for indirect genetic effects. Here, we used a zebrafish oxytocin receptor knockout line to investigate how the genotypic composition of the social environment (Gs) interacts with the oxytocin genotype of the focal individual (Gi) in the regulation of its social behavior. For this purpose, we have raised wild-type or knock-out zebrafish in either wild-type or knock-out shoals and tested different components of social behavior in adults. GixGs effects were detected in some behaviors, highlighting the need to control for GixGs effects when interpreting results of experiments using genetically modified animals, since the genotypic composition of the social environment can either rescue or promote phenotypes associated with specific genes.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Efeito da aplicação de produtos enológicos na eliminação de Aflatoxinas em vinho branco

As aflatoxinas, quimicamente definidas como difuranocumarinas, são metabolitos secundários produzidos principalmente pelas espécies Aspergillus flavus e Aspergillus parasiticus. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo estudar a ação de diferentes tipos de produtos enológicos na remoção de aflatoxinas (B1 e B2) presentes no vinho. A eficácia desses produtos na remoção das referidas micotoxinas foi avaliada utilizando vinho artificialmente contaminado com AFB1 e AFB2. O produto enológico que mostrou ser mais eficaz na remoção destas micotoxinas foi a bentonite, com percentagem de remoção de 100%. O caseinato de potássio também se mostrou eficaz, com percentagem de remoção na ordem dos 70 a 80%. Adicionalmente também se avaliou o impacto destes produtos enológicos sobre as características físico-químicas dos vinhos. Os resultados obtidos podem fornecer informações úteis para o sector vitivinícola, na seleção do produto enológico mais apropriado na remoção das aflatoxinas, reduzindo a toxicidade e melhorando simultaneamente a qualidade e segurança alimentar do vinho

Effect of the application of oenological products on fumonisin B2 (FB2) reduction/removal in contaminated red and white wines

ICFC 2017 - International Conference on Food Contaminants (Book of Abstracts)Fumonisins are mycotoxins produced by species of Fusarium, mainly F. verticillioides and F. proliferatum. Fumonisins have hepatotoxic and nephrotoxic effects in various animals and are also associated to human esophageal cancer [1] thus being classified by the IARC in Group 2 [2]. Chemically, fumonisins are characterized by a 19- or 20-carbon aminopolyhydroxyalkyl chain that is diesterified with propane-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid groups [3]. Sharing a basic structure, several related groups of fumonisins have been isolated and identified (A, B, C and P). Fumonisins B (FBs) are the major forms found in most food products. Recently they were detected in grapes, musts and wines around the world. It was established an association between Aspergillus niger and the presence of FB2 in grape must and wine. WHO has recommended a maximum tolerable daily intake of 2 mg/kg of body weight to FB1, FB2 and FB3, alone or in combination [4], therefore it is important to prevent and control its occurrence, as well other mycotoxins, in wines [5]. The main objective of this work was to evaluate the ability of different oenological products on FB2 removal of white and red wines. For this purpose, ten commercial oenological fining agents (mineral, synthetic and organic - proteins of animal and vegetable origin) were studied to remove FB2 in white and red wines artificially contaminated with FB2. In addition to the FB2 removal, the effect of these products on wine physicochemical characteristics, namely, flavonoids, non-flavonoids and total phenolic compounds were evaluated. In red wine all products showed low reduction on FB2 removal, being the highest value (30%) achieved by calcium bentonite. The results obtained by the action of these products may be considered as a pioneer approach on wine FB2 reduction/removal, with relevance for wine industry, in order to select the best fining agent to reduce toxicity and consequently to improve wine quality and safety.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

As revoltas árabes e a democracia no mundo

Desde Kant que sabemos como a natureza dos regimes importa para a segurança internacional e como os povos “republicanos” tendem a ser mais pacíficos do que aqueles que vivem sob regimes despóticos ou autoritários. Nesse sentido, pode dizer-se que o estudo das mudanças políticas e o acompanhamento da evolução dos regimes nas várias regiões do globo é crucial para a análise das tendências e das ameaças e riscos à segurança nacional, e como tal inserem-se na missão do Instituto da Defesa Nacional (IDN). Foi justamente por isso que o IDN lançou uma linha de investigação sobre este tema e que, no dia 26 de Abril de 2012, organizou um seminário internacional intitulado “As Revoltas Árabes e a Democracia no Mundo”, com painéis sobre transições democráticas, a situação no mundo árabe e a promoção da democracia. O seminário contou com a intervenção de altos funcionários, antigos responsáveis políticos e académicos especializados em processos de democratização e na análise do mundo árabe e do Médio Oriente. Alguns desses oradores deixaram-nos ou enviaram-nos contributos escritos. São precisamente esses contributos que aqui se reúnem

Evolving SPIDe Towards the Integration of Requirements Elicitation in Interaction Design

Among the various interaction (re)design processes and approaches, SPIDe is a semio-participatory methodological process inspired by communication-centered design. However, the development of computational solutions is not limited to interaction design. Requirements elicitation is also an integral part of this process. Some SPIDe studies indicated that it is also possible to raise requirements through its application due to its participatory characteristics. This article presents an investigation on the feasibility of SPIDe when applied to requirements elic itation integrated with interaction design, presenting an exploratory case study. From the perspective of different experts, we explain the strengths and needs of SPIDe in supporting requirements elicitation integrated into inter action design. Data were collected through logbooks, semi-structured interviews, and the TAM questionnaire and then analyzed through thematic analysis. The results show that the SPIDe use for requirements elicitation integrated into the interaction design is feasible. Furthermore, they indicated that possible improvements in SPIDe could ben efit the development of the computational solutions considering a single application of SPIDe to obtain data for interaction design and requirements elicitation integrated.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Patients with multiple sclerosis do not necessarily consume more alcohol or tobacco than the general population

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Abordagem Terapêutica na Perturbação de Hiperatividade com Défice de Atenção em Idade Pediátrica

A Perturbação de Hiperatividade com Défice da Atenção (PHDA) é uma Perturbação do Neurodesenvolvimento com individualidade categorial reconhecida e que interfere significativamente com o funcionamento do indivíduo. A intervenção terapêutica deve ser, necessariamente, adaptada à idade e à condição do indivíduo. Quando está indicado o tratamento farmacológico, o metilfenidato tem sido o fármaco mais utilizado. A medicação, apesar da sua eficácia e da simplicidade do seu uso, não deve ser entendida como sendo a única medida a tomar. Tem sido demonstrado que, na maioria dos casos, está aconselhada uma abordagem multimodal, associando a medicação com intervenções psicoeducativas, intervenções comportamentais e mudanças e/ou ajustamentos educacionais. As intervenções não farmacológicas potenciam e complementam os resultados, podendo permitir a construção de estratégias adaptativas que, tanto a curto, como a longo prazo, podem beneficiar o desempenho do paciente.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Use of organomolybdenum compounds for promoted hydrolysis of phosphoester bonds in aqueous media

Trabalho apresentado no 6th EuCheMs Chemistry Congress, 11-15 de setembro de 2016, Sevilha, EspanhaN/