Comparação entre a utilização dos fios de sutura barbado e de poliglactina em cirurgia urológica laparoscópica – uma revisão sistemática

ResumoA sutura intracorporal é considerada um dos procedimentos mais difíceis e desafiantes da cirurgia laparoscópica urológica. A rafia do parênquima renal durante a refrectomia parcial e a anastomose vesico‐uretral na prostatectomia radical laparoscópica constituem passos críticos e consumidores de tempo, que requerem uma longa curva de aprendizagem. Na tentativa de otimizar esse procedimento, foi criado em março de 2009 um fio barbado unidirecional com o intuito de manter a tensão nas linhas de sutura, evitando a necessidade de o trancar com nós.Após uma breve experiência de utilização desse fio na rafia do parênquima renal durante a nefrectomia parcial laparoscópica, com sensação subjetiva de ter tornado o procedimento mais simples, rápido e eficaz, decidiu‐se realizar uma revisão sistemática da literatura que comparasse a utilização do fio de poliglactina com o fio barbado unidirecional, no sentido de averiguar o real benefício da sua utilização.A utilização do fio barbado parece simplificar a técnica da nefrorrafia durante a nefrectomia parcial laparoscópica e melhora a sua eficiência, traduzida pela redução significativa do tempo de isquemia quente e, eventualmente, das complicações perioperatórias. A sua utilização na prostatectomia radical permite a realização da anastomose vesico‐uretral de forma segura e significativamente mais rápida, com taxas de complicações pós‐operatórias no máximo equivalentes. Poderá haver uma redução global de custos com a utilização deste fio, embora análises globais mais robustas sejam ainda necessárias.AbstractThe intracorporeal suture is considered one of the most difficult and challenging procedures of the urologic laparoscopic surgery. The suture of the renal parenchyma during partial nephrectomy and the vesico‐urethral anastomosis in radical prostatectomy are critical and time consuming steps requiring a long learning curve. In an attempt to optimize these procedures, it was created on March 2009 a unidirectional self‐retaining bearded suture to maintain the tension in the suture lines even avoiding the need to run knots.After a brief experience using a barbed suture during the laparoscopic partial nephrectomy with a subjective feeling of having made the procedure simpler, faster and more effective, we decided to conduct a systematic literature review on the use of of the usual polyglactin vs. a barbed suture to ascertain the real benefit its use.Comparing to the usual polyglactin suture, the use of a barbed one appears to simplify the nephrorrhaphy technique during laparoscopic partial nephrectomy significantly reducing the warm ischemia time and possibly the perioperative complications. Its use in the laparoscopic radical prostatectomy allows performing the vesico‐urethral anastomosis safely and significantly faster with similar postoperative complication rates. There may be an overall cost reduction using this suture, although stronger global analyses are still needed

State-Space estimation for OFDM and SC-FDE Schemes with Strongly Varying Carrier Frequency Offset

Parametric algorithms for the estimation of rapidly-varying Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO) usually employ pilot symbols multiplexed with the data transmission. As the CFO variation rate increases so has to increase the density of pilot symbols transmitted, thus impairing the bandwidth efficiency. In order to reduce the number of pilot symbols used in the estimation of rapidly-varying CFO it was proposed to use a truncated Taylors series to predict the CFO, where the derivatives up to order d-1 are recursively estimated with a d-order Kalman filter (KF).We propose to compare the performance of a fourth-order KF predictor in the most popular block transmission systems: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) and Single Carrier Frequency-Domain Equalization (SC-FDE). Simulating different transmission scenarios, e.g., channel coding and spatial diversity, our results show that for static multipath fading channels the proposed receiver for the SC-FDE scheme exhibits better Bit Error Rate (BER) performance than that of OFD

Joint frequency domain equalisation and phase noise estimation for single-carrier modulations in doubly-selective channels

In this study the authors propose a novel joint detection and phase noise estimation scheme suited for severely time-dispersive channels. The authors consider single-carrier modulations combined with frequency domain equalisation schemes where the wireless transmission is impaired with phase noise. An iterative frequency-domain equaliser is assumed on the receiver side and the phase noise is estimated and compensated for after the equalisation step and within each iteration of the equaliser. In fact, by exploiting the Gaussianity of the equaliser output the authors are able to track the phase noise using stochastic recursive filtering techniques. These techniques share the same dynamic state-space (DSS) model. The observation equation corresponds to the measurement of the phase noise of a digitally-modulated signal affected by additive white Gaussian noise, and the dynamics equation corresponds to the Wiener–Lévy model for the phase noise. Supported on this DSS model the authors aim at estimating the unknown phase noise value given all observations up to the current time instant. In a Bayesian context this represents estimating recursively in time the filtering and the predictive distributions. From these distributions a minimum mean-squared error estimate of the phase noise is determined

Joint turbo equalisation and carrier synchronisation for SC-FDE schemes

In this paper we consider the use of single carrier (SC) modulations combined with frequency‐domain equalisation (FDE) in future broadband wireless systems. We propose iterative receiver structures with joint equalisation and carrier synchronisation. The proposed receivers can be regarded as modified frequency‐domain turbo equalisers where we perform a decision‐directed frequency offset estimation within each iteration of the turbo equaliser. Our performance results show that the proposed receiver structure has good bit error rate (BER), even with moderate frequency offsets and in severely time‐dispersive channels. Moreover, our receiver has a relatively low implementation complexity, due to its fast Fourier transform (FFT)‐based frequency‐domain implementatio

Longevidade e investimento: a eficiência dos métodos de valorização dos planos de pensões de benefício definido

O envelhecimento demográfico é um dos principais problemas com que os países da Europa Ocidental, os Estados Unidos e o Japão se têm deparado nas últimas décadas. Entre os estudos existentes neste domínio, alguns procuram aferir o modo como o envelhecimento afeta as decisões dos indivíduos e, consequentemente, os mercados financeiros. No entanto, a sua maioria focaliza-se na sustentabilidade dos sistemas públicos de pensões, uma vez que estes se financiam através de esquemas de repartição. Concomitantemente, têm-se desenvolvido esquemas privados de previdência, mormente fundos e planos de pensões. Este trabalho procura avaliar em que medida existe ou não neutralidade nos métodos de valorização dos planos de pensões de benefício definido, sendo colocados em confronto dois desses métodos: o método do credito unitário projetado e o método da idade normal de entrada com variação salarial. Para o efeito, recorreu-se ao caso hipotético com 20 participantes, vários cenários de envelhecimento e de taxas de juro, tendo por base as tábuas de mortalidade para Portugal no período de 2016 – 2018. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que não existe neutralidade no que concerne ao uso de ambos os métodos

Drug Abuse and Trafficking in Universities: An Emerging Social Phenomenon

According to Nova’s Policy for Self-Archiving, self-archiving of proofed chapters can be posted on the author’s website free of charge six months after publication. For Subject and Institutional Repositories, proofed chapters can be uploaded 12 months after publication. For more information, please see: https://novapublishers.com/open-access/Higher education is the environment in which the future senior managers that will guide the forthcoming of societies are wrought. Therefore, and in social terms, everything that people learn and develop in these higher education institutions has a crucial and a determinant impact. Young people acquiring skills and knowledge related to the technical and scientific fields in which they work in also end up acquiring competencies and knowledge in non-academic fields, such as anti-social behaviour or even criminal conducts. This is the case of drug use in a university context, which has been so studied in recent decades, and of drug trafficking in a university environment, widely known to all, but still little investigated in scientific terms. Therefore, and taking into consideration that universities play a social role that has a strong impact on the lives of young people and societies, this chapter is precisely dedicated to the phenomena of drug trafficking, and its use/abuse in universities. It is a serious social problem in which young students not only consume illegal drugs, but also frequently take an active part in illicit activities associated with drug trafficking, often compromising their future and causing undeniable social damage. It should be noted that the university context is a privileged target for the powerful individuals who manipulate these illegal drugs markets. It is therefore very important to pay attention and study this social problem of serious consequences. In this chapter, a comprehensive literature review and results of a study about drug trafficking and abuse in university context will be presented, in order to better understand the nature of this problem. Final considerations regarding the prevention/intervention on these phenomena are also presented.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Infeção por filovírus: vírus esquecidos que se tornaram nos mais temidos

Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Mestre no Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde Egas MonizOs filovírus pertencem à família Filoviridae da qual fazem parte três géneros distintos, Marburgvirus, Ebolavirus e Cuevavirus. No género Marburgvirus está incluída apenas uma única espécie o Marburg marburgvirus a qual é representada por dois vírus divergentes, sendo o vírus Marburg e o vírus Ravn. Do género Ebolavirus fazem parte cinco espécies, cada uma das quais representada por um vírus: Zaire ebolavirus – vírus Ébola (EBOV), Sudão ebolavirus – vírus Sudão (SUDV), Taiforest ebolavirus – vírus Tai forest (TAFV), Bundibugyo ebolavirus – vírus Bundibugyo (BDBV) e o Reston ebolavirus – vírus Reston (RESTV). O género Cuevavirus inclui apenas uma espécie, a Lloviu Cuevavirus e é designado pelo vírus Lloviu (LLOV). Deste género pouco se sabe no que respeita às propriedades biológicas e à patogenicidade, embora, até à data não são conhecidas infecções em primatas não humanos e humanos. Os vírus dos géneros Marburgvirus e Ebolavirus são os mais virulentos e mortais entre as febre hemorrágicas virais. Por esta razão, correspondem a potenciais agentes de bioterrorismo. A mortalidade resulta da supressão do sistema imunitário e de uma resposta inflamatória sistémica que causa comprometimento do sistema vascular, do sistema de coagulação, e de sistema imunológico, levando à insuficiência de múltiplos órgãos e choque. Esta monografia, tem como objectivo fornecer uma visão atual e geral dos Filovírus com ênfase na transmissão, patogénese, manifestações clínicas, medidas de prevenção e opções de tratamento, bem como as novas estratégias de tratamento

Drug abuse and trafficking in universities: an emerging social phenomenon

According to Nova’s Policy for Self-Archiving, self-archiving of proofed chapters can be posted on the author’s website free of charge six months after publication. For Subject and Institutional Repositories, proofed chapters can be uploaded 12 months after publication. For more information, please see: https://novapublishers.com/open-access/Higher education is the environment in which the future senior managers that will guide the forthcoming of societies are wrought. Therefore, and in social terms, everything that people learn and develop in these higher education institutions has a crucial and a determinant impact. Young people acquiring skills and knowledge related to the technical and scientific fields in which they work in also end up acquiring competencies and knowledge in non-academic fields, such as anti-social behaviour or even criminal conducts. This is the case of drug use in a university context, which has been so studied in recent decades, and of drug trafficking in a university environment, widely known to all, but still little investigated in scientific terms. Therefore, and taking into consideration that universities play a social role that has a strong impact on the lives of young people and societies, this chapter is precisely dedicated to the phenomena of drug trafficking, and its use/abuse in universities. It is a serious social problem in which young students not only consume illegal drugs, but also frequently take an active part in illicit activities associated with drug trafficking, often compromising their future and causing undeniable social damage. It should be noted that the university context is a privileged target for the powerful individuals who manipulate these illegal drugs markets. It is therefore very important to pay attention and study this social problem of serious consequences. In this chapter, a comprehensive literature review and results of a study about drug trafficking and abuse in university context will be presented, in order to better understand the nature of this problem. Final considerations regarding the prevention/intervention on these phenomena are also presented.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sensibilizar para a diversidade: valorizar a língua das crianças ciganas

Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1º CicloObservamos ao nosso redor, cada vez mais, uma enorme diversidade de línguas e culturas que se cruzam diariamente, fruto do mundo globalizado em que vivemos. Consequentemente, também nas escolas está patente a diversidade, sendo imprescindível a adoção de novas estratégias educativas. Assim, as abordagens plurais das línguas e culturas, nomeadamente a sensibilização à diversidade linguística, têm ganho progressivamente mais significado, sendo um contributo para a consciencialização plurilingue e metalinguística e para a promoção de atitudes positivas e de respeito pelo Outro. Em consonância com esta realidade, o principal objetivo deste estudo é compreender de que forma poderá o/a educador/a sensibilizar para a(s) língua(s) das crianças falantes de outras línguas, para além do português, particularmente das crianças ciganas, contribuindo para a sua valorização. Para tal, foi desenvolvido um projeto de intervenção-investigação, com crianças ciganas e não ciganas, intitulado Eu, Tu e o Chico, posto em prática em contexto de educação pré-escolar. Este projeto adotou uma metodologia de investigação qualitativa com características de investigação-ação, tendo sido utilizados diversos instrumentos e técnicas de recolha de dados como a observação direta, notas de campo, registos audiovisuais, fichas de identificação de letras e um jogo. Após concretizada a análise dos dados recolhidos, concluímos que através de várias atividades com o caló e o português, nomeadamente atividades de comparação entre as duas línguas, proporcionámos o re(conhecimento) do caló e a valorização da identidade linguística e cultural de todas as crianças, assim como o desenvolvimento de atitudes positivas e de abertura à diferença linguística e cultural.An ever-increasing diversity of languages and cultures surrounds us. They interact on a daily basis, a consequence of the globalized world we live in. Consequently, this diversity is present in schools, requiring the employment of new educational strategies. Thus, the approaches of languages and cultures, namely the language diversity awareness, have been becoming more and more meaningful. These approaches contribute to raising plurilingual and metalinguistic awareness and to promoting positive and respect-each-other attitudes. In consonance with this reality, the main objective of this study is to understand the ways in which a teacher may raise children’s awareness towards speakers of languages other than Portuguese, in particular gypsy children, contributing to their appreciation. To this end, a project of intervention-investigation with gypsy and non-gypsy children was developed. The project was named Eu, Tu e o Chico (in English, I, You and Chico) and was applied in the context of pre-school education. In this project, we adopted a methodology consisting of qualitative investigation, with research-action characteristics. Several instruments and data collection techniques were used, including direct observation, field notes, audiovisual recording, letter identification cards and a game. After the analysis of the collected data, we concluded that, through several activities with the caló language and Portuguese, including the contrast between both languages, we taught the children to recognize the caló language, to recognize the value of all children’s language and cultural identity, and to develop a positive attitude and be more open to cultural and language differences