Vascular surgery department adjustments in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic

© 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the Society for Vascular Surgery.In Portugal, a state of emergency was declared on March 18 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Every nonessential business and activity was ceased, and home confinement was required for everyone not involved in essential activities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Catches in ghost-fishing octopus and fish traps in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean (Algarve, Portugal)

Ghost fishing is the term used to describe the continued capture of fish and other living organisms after a fisherman has lost all control over the gear. Traps may be lost for a variety of reasons including theft, vandalism, abandonment, interactions with other gear, fouling on the bottom (i.e., traps and ropes are caught on rocky substrate), bad weather, and human error (Laist, 1995). Annual trap loss can be as high as 20% to 50% of fished traps in some fisheries (Al-Masroori et al., 2004). Because lost traps can continue to fish for long periods, albeit with decreasing efficiency over time (e.g., Smolowitz, 1978; Breen, 1987, 1990; Guillory, 1993), ghost fishing is a concern in fisheries worldwide

Stacked Denoising Autoencoders and Transfer Learning for Immunogold Particles Detection and Recognition

In this paper we present a system for the detection of immunogold particles and a Transfer Learning (TL) framework for the recognition of these immunogold particles. Immunogold particles are part of a high-magnification method for the selective localization of biological molecules at the subcellular level only visible through Electron Microscopy. The number of immunogold particles in the cell walls allows the assessment of the differences in their compositions providing a tool to analise the quality of different plants. For its quantization one requires a laborious manual labeling (or annotation) of images containing hundreds of particles. The system that is proposed in this paper can leverage significantly the burden of this manual task. For particle detection we use a LoG filter coupled with a SDA. In order to improve the recognition, we also study the applicability of TL settings for immunogold recognition. TL reuses the learning model of a source problem on other datasets (target problems) containing particles of different sizes. The proposed system was developed to solve a particular problem on maize cells, namely to determine the composition of cell wall ingrowths in endosperm transfer cells. This novel dataset as well as the code for reproducing our experiments is made publicly available. We determined that the LoG detector alone attained more than 84\% of accuracy with the F-measure. Developing immunogold recognition with TL also provided superior performance when compared with the baseline models augmenting the accuracy rates by 10\%

First records of Fistularia petimba and Diodon eydouxii, for the Azores, with notes on the occurrence of three additional species

Two new records of fishes from the Azores are reported: Fistularia petimba and Diodon eydouxii. The occurrence of Centracanthus cirrus, Decapterus macarellus and Priacanthus arenatus in Azorean waters is confirmed

Adaptação e validação intercultural da versão portuguesa do Physical Therapy Outpatient Satisfaction Survey

ABSTRACT - The aim of this study was to adapt and validate the Physical Therapy Outpatient Satisfaction Survey (PTOPS) for the Portuguese culture. This version was obtained by a forward/ backward translation, consensus panels, and pre-test. The Portuguese PTOPS was administered to 76 physical therapy outpatients in 10 health services. The content analysis (panels of experts and lay people) and the factor analysis resulted in a reduction of the original 34 items to 28 items that validly identify 3 constructs. The reliability was acceptable for both internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.73) and reproducibility (ICC between 0.84 and 0.87), which represent acceptable levels of validity and reliability.RESUMO - Foi objetivo deste estudo adaptar e validar para a cultura portuguesa o Physical Therapy Outpatient Satisfaction Survey (PTOPS). Esta versão resultou do processo de tradução, retroversão, painéis de consenso e pré teste. A PTOPS foi administrada a 76 doentes ambulatórios de fisioterapia, em 10 instituições de saúde. Da análise de conteúdo (painéis de peritos e gente comum) e da análise fatorial resultou uma redução dos 34 itens da versão original para 28 itens, que identificam validamente 3 constructos. A fiabilidade foi aceitável quer na coerência interna (α de Cronbach = 0,73), quer na reprodutibilidade (ICC entre 0,84 e 0,87). Evidenciando níveis aceitáveis de validade e fiabilidade.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Experimental software engineering in educational context

Empirical studies are important in software engineering to evaluate new tools, techniques, methods and technologies in a structured way before they are introduced in the industrial (real) software process. Within this PhD thesis we will develop a framework of a consistent process for involving students as subjects of empirical studies of software engineering. In concrete, our experiences with software development teams composed of students will analyze how RUP (Rational Unified Process) processes can be compliant with the CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration), namely in the context of MLs (maturity levels) 2 and 3. Additionally, we will also analyze the influence of project management tools to improve the process maturity of the teams. Our final goal of carrying out empirical studies with students is to understand its validity when compared with the corresponding studies in real industrial settings

Architectural element points: estimating software development effort by analysis of logical architectures

Empirical studies are important in software engineering to evaluate new tools, techniques, methods and technologies. In object-oriented analysis, use case models describe the functional requirements of a software system, so they can be the basis for software measurement and sizing. The purpose of this study is to develop a new metric called Architectural Element Points (AEPoint) that enables to calculate the effort required to develop a software solution, using the 4-Step Rule Set (4SRS) method. This paper describes a case study with 60 undergraduate students grouped in four teams that developed a software system (Web application) for a real customer. In this study, we used the AEPoint metric to estimate the resources needed to develop a software system. The results of the AEPoint and Use Case Points (UCP) metrics and the real software development effort are compared, conclusions drawn and recommendations are proposed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The role of statins in atherosclerotic peripheral arterial disease

© 2011 Sociedade Portuguesa de Cardiologia. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L. Todos os direitos reservados.The use of statins for secondary prevention in patients with peripheral (extracoronary) arterial disease is not widespread. Their possible use has only relatively recently been studied and data in the literature are sometimes controversial or are not disclosed. The aim of this paper is to review the recent literature and to discuss possible reasons for using statins in patients with extracoronary atherosclerotic arterial involvement, focusing on the areas in which they have been investigated. The main conclusions are that statins should be prescribed with the objective of reducing coronary and cerebrovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with carotid disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm and lower limb occlusive disease. There is sufficient evidence to suggest a reduction in the perioperative risk of vascular surgery when statins are used, and in patients with carotid stenosis they also appear to reduce perioperative risk in endarterectomy. Nevertheless, there are insufficient data to recommend the use of statins to control post-endarterectomy restenosis. In patients with intermittent claudication, statins improve walking distance and may be used for this purpose. Finally, there is insufficient evidence to recommend statins to prevent restenosis in lower limb revascularization procedures, to control progression of abdominal aortic aneurysms, or to reduce the severity of renal artery stenosis or renal dysfunction.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio