First record of the Mediterranean asteroid Sclerasterias richardi (Perrier in Milne-Edwards 1882) in the Azores Archipelago (NE Atlantic Ocean)

The first occurrence of the Mediterranean fissiparous asteroid Sclerasterias richardi (Perrier in Milne-Edwards 1882) is reported from the Azores based upon dredged material off the south coast of São Miguel Island at 135 m depth. This record represents a considerable expansion of the species’ geographic range, otherwise reported with certainty only from the Mediterranean Sea. S. richardi is capable of producing long-lived planktotrophic larvae with high dispersal potential to reach remote areas such as the Azores. Alternatively, this species is also capable of reproducing asexually through fission, which could insure the maintenance of viable numbers in a stranded population. The presence of S. richardi in Azorean waters and its rarity in an otherwise thoroughly investigated area does not necessarily imply a recent arrival nor a human-mediated introduction, as the depths in consideration (80-700 m) are also the least studied in the archipelago.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Results for Channel Error Profiles for DECT

This letter presents the main statistical characterization of the underlying error process obtained in the case of the Digital European Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) radio system. By simulation of the transmission link, error sequences are generated for different channel parameters. Relevant statistics are then computed for the purpose of efficient channel coding design and evaluation

Pramlintide in the Management of Insulin-Using Patients with Type 2 and Type 1 Diabetes

In patients with diabetes, dysregulation of multiple glucoregulatory hormones results in chronic hyperglycemia and an array of associated microvascular and macrovascular complications. Optimization of glycemic control, both overall (glycosylated hemoglobin [A1C]) and in the postprandial period, may reduce the risk of long-term vascular complications. However, despite significant recent therapeutic advances, most patients with diabetes are unable to attain and/or maintain normal or near-normal glycemia with insulin therapy alone. Pramlintide, an analog of amylin, is the first in a new class of pharmaceutical agents and is indicated as an adjunct to mealtime insulin for the treatment of patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. By mimicking the actions of the naturally occurring hormone amylin, pramlintide complements insulin by regulating the appearance of glucose into the circulation after meals via three primary mechanisms of action: slowing gastric emptying, suppressing inappropriate post-meal glucagon secretion, and increasing satiety. In long-term clinical trials, adjunctive pramlintide treatment resulted in improved postprandial glucose control and significantly reduced A1C and body weight compared with insulin alone. The combination of insulin and pramlintide may provide a more physiologically balanced approach to managing diabetes

Motion Textures: Modeling, Classification, and Segmentation Using Mixed-State Markov Random Fields

published_or_final_versio

Stromal vascular fraction obtained from subcutaneous adipose tissue: ex-obese and older population as main clinical targets

Introduction Human adipose tissue contains a heterogeneous and synergistic mixture of cells called stromal vascular fraction (SVF) with highly proliferative and angiogenic properties, conferring promising applicability in the field of regenerative medicine. This study aims to investigate if age, body mass index (BMI), history of obesity and massive weight loss, and harvest site are related to SVF cell marker expression. Methods A total of 26 samples of subcutaneous adipose tissue were harvested from patients admitted to the Plastic and Reconstructive department in University Hospital Center of São João, Porto, Portugal, for body contouring surgery. The percentage of cells expressing CD31, CD34, CD45, CD73, CD90, and CD105 was assessed and compared with patient's age, BMI, history of obesity and massive weight loss (ex-obese group), and harvest site. Results In the ex-obese group, a significantly higher number of cells expressing CD90 (P = 0.002) was found. BMI, harvest site, and age appear to have no association with SVF subpopulations

Musculoskeletal disorders in nurses who provide home care

Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) have been described as the most important occupational health problem tormenting the nursing workers. This work demonstrated a preliminary analysis on the evaluation of responses to a questionnaire based on one developed by Kuorinka and colleagues. Main goal of this work is the characterisation and evaluation of the risk of WRMSDs on the home care nursing. The first results reveal that a great percentage of the respondents provide home care. The most frequent complaints are in spine and shoulders. There are no significant association between the related disorders and the home car

Musculoskeletal complaints in nurses who provide home-based healthcare

Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) have been described as the major occupational health problem affecting nurses. Main goals of this work are the characterization and evaluation of musculoskeletal complaints in nurses who work at Health Centres at the Northern Portugal and that provide home-based care. This work demonstrates an analysis of the responses to a questionnaire based on one other developed by Kuorinka and colleagues. The body areas with more complaints are the back and shoulders. There is statistically significant association only between “musculoskeletal complaints in the lumbar region” and “provide home care” (OR=4.21 (p<0.05), 95% Confidence Interval [1.4; 13.2]). Based on these results we can say that nurses who provide home-based care have a fourfold chance of having musculoskeletal complaints in the lumbar region than the others

Forecasting the risk of WRMSDs in home care nurses

Studies regarding work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) in nurses have been carried out mostly in hospitals or in other institutional contexts. Information about this theme in providing home-based care is scarce. The main goals of this work are the characterization of musculoskeletal complaints in nurses who work at the Health Centers of the northern Portugal and that provide home-based care, the identification of the main risk factors present in the homecare context and the development of statistical models to forecast the risk in the same context. The principal methodology used in this work was a questionnaire developed in electronic format which was based on the “Standardized Nordic Questionnaire” for the analysis of musculoskeletal symptoms. It were used univariate models of binary logistic regression to estimate the risk of WRMSDs present in the practice of home-based care and also to assess which risk factors that could contribute to the appearance of complaints in the lumbar region in the professionals who provide homecare. The body areas with more musculoskeletal complaints are the back and the shoulders. The nurses who provide home care have nearly triple chance of having musculoskeletal complaints in the lumbar region than their counterparts of Health Centers (OR=3.19 (p<0.05), 95% Confidence Interval [1.26; 8.08]). We obtained various statistical models for forecast the risk of having low back complaints in home care nurses. From all of them was selected the one that presented more stability and reliability. The model performance was evaluated by ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) analysis yielding a value for the area under the ROC curve of 0.889 (p<0.05). This value reveals a high discriminating power, that is, the model is able to correctly forecast the complaints in the lumbar region in 88.9% of cases