BioRePortAP, an electronic clinical record coupled with a database : an example of its use in a single

Aims: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the treatment of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists in the Rheumatology Department of Hospital de Santa Maria using the BioRePortAP. Methods: The Portuguese Society of Rheumatology (SPR) developed an electronic medical chart coupled with a database for the follow up of PsA patients, the BioRePortAP, which was launched in May 2009. This evaluation was based on all the PsA patients that were on active treatment with TNF antagonists in September 2009 and were registered in the BioRePortAP. All the previous data on these patients were introduced in BioRePortAP using the prospective paper based follow up protocol that this Department was using since 1999. Only patients with more than 9 months of treatment were analyzed. Results: Forty-two patients with PsA, actively treated with anti-TNF agents in September 2009, for at least 9 months, were analyzed in BioRePortAP. Twenty-three patients were male (55%) and nineteen were female (45%). The average age of these patients was 49.8±10.9 years old, the average disease duration was of 10.7±5.6 years and the mean duration of biological therapy was of 37.8±27.8 months. For the 81% of patients with peripheral joint disease there was a mean reduction of more than 80% in the swollen and tender joint counts, and almost 50% in the health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) value. In the 19% of the patients with axial involvement the reduction of BASDAI and BASFI was not statistically significative. On top of that, PASI score suffered a reduction of 64%. Fourteen patients (33.3%) had to switch their TNF antagonist treatment. 58.8% of the switches were due to adverse effects and 41.2% due to therapy failure. Regarding the 56 adverse reactions registered, only one was a severe reaction. The remaining adverse reactions were not severe and 67% of them were due to infections. Discussion: The results of this first report of the use of the BioRePortAP in clinical practice confirm the efficacy and safety of TNF antagonist treatment in PsA. The results shown here elucidate the potential applications of BioRePortAP as a tool for efficacy and safety assessment of PsA patients treated with biotechnological drugs

Assessment of physical vulnerability of buildings and analysis of landslide risk at the municipal scale: application to the Loures municipality, Portugal

This study offers a semi-quantitative assessment of the physical vulnerability of buildings to landslides in a Portuguese municipality (Loures), as well as the quantitative landslide risk analysis computed as the product of the landslide hazard by the vulnerability and the economic value of the buildings. The hazard was assessed by combining the spatiotemporal probability and the frequency–magnitude relationship of the landslides. The physical vulnerability assessment was based on an inquiry of a pool of European landslide experts and a sub-pool of landslide experts who know the study area, and the answers’ variability was assessed with standard deviation. The average vulnerability of the basic geographic entities was compared by changing the map unit and applying the vulnerability to all the buildings of a test site, the inventory of which was listed on the field. The economic value was calculated using an adaptation of the Portuguese Tax Services approach, and the risk was computed for different landslide magnitudes and different spatiotemporal probabilities. As a rule, the vulnerability values given by the sub-pool of experts who know the study area are higher than those given by the European experts, namely for the high-magnitude landslides. The obtained vulnerabilities vary from 0.2 to 1 as a function of the structural building types and the landslide magnitude, and are maximal for 10 and 20m landslide depths. However, the highest risk was found for the landslides that are 3m deep, because these landslides combine a relatively high frequency in the Loures municipality with a substantial potential damage.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Redução de compostos fenólicos de resíduos de lagares de azeite utilizando culturas de Coriolus versicolor

In this study, C. versicolor cultures were performed during 20 days with different RLA (olive mill wastes)subtracts, 50%, 75% and 100%. During this assay, samples were collected in regular time intervals, cell growth were evaluated and broth decolorization was observed. The organic matter and total phenolic compounds level in the culture broth showed a decrease in all RLA ratios. 50% and 75% RLA presented high total phenolic removal, 85% and 90% respectively. In the end of the assay, toxicological evaluation of the culture broth was performed against Artemia salina. These results showed a toxicological decrease of these residues after biological treatment with C. Versicolor

Calcifying odontogenic cyst : a 26-year retrospective clinicopathological analysis and immunohistochemical study

Background: To identify the prevalence and clinicopathological profile of calcifying odontogenic cysts (COC) stored at an oral pathology service, and to analyze the immunoexpression of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and cyclin D1 (CD1) in these cysts. Material and Methods: After a retrospective analysis (1990-2016) carried out to identify cases of COC, a sample of 12 cases was selected for immunohistochemical analysis of COX-2 and CD1 by the immunoperoxidase technique. Protein expression was evaluated semiquantitatively by attributing a score of 0 to 3 (0 = no staining; 1 = 1-25%; 2 = 26-50%, and 3 = >51% immunopositive cells). Results: Twenty cases of COC were diagnosed over the study period. These cysts were more common in the posterior mandible and in men (male-to-female ratio of 1.2:1), with a mean age of 29.9 years. Among the 12 cases analyzed, immunoexpression of COX-2 was observed only in the inflammatory infiltrate in 50% of the cysts (n = 6). Protein CD1 was detected (score 1) in 66.6% of cases (n = 8), and COX-2 was negative in 50% (n = 6). Conclusions: The prevalence of COC among all odontogenic cysts was 3.5%, representing an uncommon lesion. Immunohistochemical analysis suggested that COX-2 does not participate in lesion progression. The cell proliferation index of COC was low, as demonstrated by the expression of CD1, suggesting a proliferative profile compatible with more indolent lesion

Polyoxometalate/laccase-mediated oxidative polymerization of catechol for textile dyeing

The synergistic effect between polyoxometalates (POMs), namely K5[SiW11VVO40]·11H2O and H5[PMo10 VV2O40]·13H2O and laccase from ascomycete Myceliophthora thermophila has been employed for the first time in oxidative polymerization of catechol. Such a laccase-mediator system allowed the formation of a relatively high molecular weight polycatechol as confirmed by size exclusion chromatography and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) (3990 Da when using K5[SiW11VVO40]·11H2O and 3600 Da with H5[PMo10VV 2O40]·13H2O). The synthesized polymers were applied as dyes for the dyeing of flax fabrics. The color intensity of flax fabrics colored with polymer solutions was evaluated by diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry via k/s measurements (+10% of fixation ratio). A new synthetic process allowed a dyeing polymer, provided upon flax coloration, better color fixation and color resistance when compared to that obtained by conventional synthesis with laccase solely or with addition of organic mediator (1-hydroxybenzotriazole)

2-Hydroxychalcone−β-cyclodextrin conjugate with pH-modulated photoresponsive binding properties

Stimuli-responsive supramolecular receptors are important building blocks for the construction of self-assembled functional materials. We report the design and synthesis of a pH- and light-responsive 2-hydroxychalcone−β-cyclodextrin conjugate (1-Ct) and its characterization by spectroscopic and computational methods. 1-Ct follows the typical reaction network of trans-chalcone-flavylium photoswitches. Upon light irradiation, 1-Ct can be photochemically converted into the cis-chalcone/hemiketal forms (1-Cc/1-B) under neutral pH conditions or to the flavylium cation (1-AH+) at acidic pH values. This stimuli-responsive β-cyclodextrin host, 1-Ct, was found to form stronger intramolecular self-inclusion complexes (Kintra = 14) than 1-AH+ (Kintra = 3) and weaker than 1-Cc/1-B (overall Kintra = 179), allowing control over their stability and binding properties by combinations of pH and light stimuli.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. UIDB/50006/2020Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia| Ref. UIDP/50006/2020Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. UIDB/04326/202

New insights on the roles of bacteria and protozoa in activated-sludge processes

Wastewater treatment is one of the most important biotechnological processes in the world. Nevertheless, the highly complex microbial communities in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are barely understood, remaining, most of the time, as a “black box”. Even though many microbiological methods are available to study the activated-sludge communities, many recent questions on the role of a significant number of microorganisms are kept unanswered. The current model and design concepts of activated-sludge consider bacteria as the sole active biomass. The activities of all other microbial community members (protozoa, metazoa, phages, etc.) are hidden in a simple decay process responsible for the reduction of active biomass and there is an assumed difficulty in establishing the way of how the interactions between the bacterial and the eukaryotic populations can affect the performance of the treatment system. PROTOFILWW project (PTDC/AMB/68393/2006) aimed at the study of 37 WWTP during 2 years, allowing for the identification of the little metazoa, protozoa and filamentous bacteria in 296 samples and enabling the correlation of these communities with physical-chemical and operational parameters. Furthermore, several studies on related subjects were and are being carried on to enlighten the roles of the different organisms in the depurating process, on how they interact with each other and on methods to identify certain filamentous and floc-forming bacteria with relevant functions in these artificial ecosystems. Simultaneously, a web-based platform was conceived to ensure the dissemination of knowledge and the communication of results between the project team and the WWTP technicians and managers

Recorte circular de cenas computacionais aplicado na separação de íris humana

O reconhecimento de padrões da íris humana é um processo não invasivo e que permite a extracção de características individuais. A localização e separação da íris do restante da imagem é fundamental para o bom desempenho dos métodos desenvolvidos nesta área. O isolamento da íris costuma ser um processo que exige a varredura da imagem e a comparação da localização de cada um de seus pixels. Como esta possui formato arredondado, o recorte de cenas computacionais, com janela de corte circular, pode ser aplicado nas imagens de íris para fazer este isolamento. No entanto, encontrar os limites de uma janela de visualização é um processo exigente computacionalmente, principalmente para estruturas de dados do tipo bitmap, que devem ser processadas pixel a pixel. Na tentativa de reduzir o processamento para tornar viável a aplicação na separação de íris, este trabalho usa os conceitos de hashing e a equação da circunferência para definir os pontos da imagem original bitmap pertencentes a uma área de visualização circular, sem a necessidade de percorrer todos os pixels da mesma. Apresenta-se o resultado da aplicação deste método para a separação da íris humana em imagens bitmap, sem a necessidade de comparar a localização de todos os seus pixels