Digital Availability of Product Information for Collaborative Engineering of Spacecraft

In this paper, we introduce a system to collect product information from manufacturers and make it available in tools that are used for concurrent design of spacecraft. The planning of a spacecraft needs experts from different disciplines, like propulsion, power, and thermal. Since these different disciplines rely on each other there is a high need for communication between them, which is often realized by a Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) process and corresponding tools. We show by comparison that the product information provided by manufacturers often does not match the information needed by MBSE tools on a syntactic or semantic level. The information from manufacturers is also currently not available in machine-readable formats. Afterwards, we present a prototype of a system that makes product information from manufacturers directly available in MBSE tools, in a machine-readable way.Comment: accepted at CDVE201

Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis in the Occipital Condyle: A Case Study and a Brief Review of the Literature

We present a case study of a 5-year-old patient, who presented with left-sided torticollis. Due to persistence of problems, a CT and an MRI were made showing a single osteolytic lesion centred on right occipital condyle. After an open biopsy, histology confirmed it to be Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH). Torticollis or restricted range of motion is a presenting feature in 76% of children with LCH with cervical involvement. There remains much debate on the best treatment strategy. The clinical and radiological outcomes of the case study presented on this article support the treatment of LCH with chemotherapy in cases with solitary involvement of the occipital condyle.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Serological response to a single dose of a SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine

The delays in the production and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines and the growing number of fatal infections across the globe raised the question whether it would be more advantageous to vaccinate a larger group of individuals with one dose instead of a smaller one with two doses. Through a group of vaccinated healthcare workers, we describe the qualitative and quantitative serological response to a single dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine. We found that, before the second dose inoculation, 95.3 % (182/191) already had anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG and, half of them, antibodies concentrations against RBD (the key target of neutralizing antibodies) that reached maximum values for the used evaluation immunoassay. In order to improve the execution of vaccination programs, further studies are needed to assess whether there are individuals for whom a single dose of mRNA vaccine or a delay in the inoculation of the second dose, produce a sufficient immune response. Additionally, follow-up studies will help in understanding post-vaccination immunity, how long it lasts and how it relates to infection and reinfection.This work was supported by FCT Special Support Research4Covid (Project 186)

Ulcerated Papules and nodules in an infant

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Terapêutica Endoscópica do Volvo Sigmoideu numa População Debilitada. Qual a Relevância?

Background: Colonic volvulus, mainly from the sigmoid, is a relatively common cause of intestinal obstruction, particularly in the elderly and in patients with debilitating conditions. The high morbi-mortality of emergency surgery places the endoscopic approach as the first-line treatment for the resolution of this acute obstructive condition. Objectives: To assess the importance of endoscopic treatment for the resolution of colonic volvulus in a debilitated population. Method: This is a retrospective analysis of emergency lower gastrointestinal endoscopies in patients with colonic volvulus as diagnosis, performed over a 9-year period (2009-2018), as well as population characterization and follow-up after the first exam. Results: We performed 88 procedures in 52 patients (56.4% males, median age 83 years, range 33-94). Endoscopic resolution was effective in 86.4% (76/88) of the exams, without procedure complications. Eighty-one percent of patients presented with volvulus recurrence, 50% of which occurred during the 3 months after the initial procedure. Twenty-one were submitted to surgery, 12 of which were emergency procedures after endoscopic failure as the primary treatment (5 of which had mucosal necrosis at endoscopy). There was no mortality in elective surgery. In the emergency plus necrosis group, mortality was 60% (3/5) and 14.3% (1/7) in the emergency without necrosis group. Conclusions: Despite the high recurrence of volvulus after endoscopic treatment, it seems to be an adequate and low-risk first-line therapy for sigmoid volvulus in debilitated patients, allowing improvement of surgical conditions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 interferon gamma release assay in BNT162b2 vaccinated healthcare workers

To predict protective immunity to SARS-CoV-2, cellular immunity seems to be more sensitive than humoral immunity. Through an Interferon-Gamma (IFN-γ) Release Assay (IGRA), we show that, despite a marked decrease in total antibodies, 94.3% of 123 healthcare workers have a positive cellular response 6 months after inoculation with the 2nd dose of BNT162b2 vaccine. Despite the qualitative relationship found, we did not observe a quantitative correlation between IFN-γ and IgG levels against SARS-CoV-2. Using stimulated whole blood from a subset of participants, we confirmed the specific T-cell response to SARS-CoV-2 by dosing elevated levels of the IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α. Through a 20-month follow-up, we found that none of the infected participants had severe COVID-19 and that the first positive cases were only 12 months after the 2nd dose inoculation. Future studies are needed to understand if IGRA-SARS-CoV-2 can be a powerful diagnostic tool to predict future COVID-19 severe disease, guiding vaccination policies. © 2024 Ramos et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.This research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) (http://www.fct.pt) Special Support Research4Covid, grant number 186. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Conjunctival Kaposi's Sarcoma. An Unusual AIDS Presentation

O sarcoma de Kaposi ocular isolado surge em 0,3% a 5% dos doentes com SIDA, mas, em doentes com tumor disseminado, esta incidência aumenta para 15% a 20%. Apresentamos um caso de sarcoma de Kaposi epidémico, mucocutâneo, cuja primeira manifestação foi ocular. O tratamento inicial consistiu na administração quinzenal de daunorrubicina lipossómica e de anti-retrovíricos. Sob terapêutica houve progressão da doença, tendo sido a sua regressão conseguida, apenas, com um esquema alternativo de quimioterapia associada a cidofovir. Aproveitamos para rever esta entidade, em particular as formas oculares, e discutir a utilização de cidofovir no tratamento do sarcoma de Kaposi associado ao vírus herpes humano tipo 8

Switching Biologics in Severe Pediatric Psoriasis: a Retrospective Analysis

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Brain MRI in the Decision for Liver Transplantation in Pediatric Neurological Wilson's Disease

Background Neurological Wilson's disease (WD) presentation in the pediatric population is rare, and liver transplantation (LT) in these patients remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to assess the role of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in predicting reversion of brain lesions and neurological outcomes in pediatric WD patients after LT. Methods Patients with confirmed WD (Leipzig score ≥4), disease onset in pediatric age (<18 years), neurological involvement, and submitted to LT were selected. Clinical records and pre- and post-LT brain MRI were evaluated. Results Six patients met the pre-defined inclusion criteria, one of whom died shortly after LT and was excluded. The indication for LT was end-stage liver disease in two patients and neurological worsening despite optimized treatment in three patients. After LT, the neurological picture progressively improved in all patients. Pre-LT brain MRI showed T1-weighted hyperintensities in four patients, which quickly resolved afterward. T2-weighted hyperintensities were observed in four patients before LT, completely resolving in one patient, stabilizing in two, and improving in one after LT. A direct correlation could not be found between clinical and neuroradiological improvement. Progressive clinical improvement was observed even in patients with irreversible brain MRI changes. Conversely, some patients with normal MRI had only slight neurological improvement. Conclusions The pattern of T2-weighted hyperintensities after LT was unpredictable and did not correlate with neurological outcomes, suggesting that these changes may not entail irreversible clinical damage. Therefore, brain MRI does not seem to have prognostic value for assessing clinical response to LT