Intra-hospital mortality for community-acquired pneumonia in mainland Portugal between 2000 and 2009

Introduction: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains a common and serious infection with wide variability in intra-hospital mortality. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of adult patients admitted with CAP in mainland Portugal between the years 2000 and 2009. Results: The intra-hospital mortality rate was 20.4% with deaths in all age groups. The average age of deceased patients was 79.8 years, significantly higher than surviving patients with 71.3 years. Patients aged 50 or more presented a relative risk of death 4.4 times the risk of patients under this age group. Likewise, in patients aged 65 or more the risk of death was 3.2 times the risk of patients <65 years. Men died more at a younger age than women, the men who died were, on average, 4 years younger than women, 78.1 vs 82.1 years old. Relative risk of death in men was 17% higher than women after adjustment for year of admission and age. Conclusion: CAP remains an important cause of hospital mortality in all age groups.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Super Typhoon Bopha and the Mayo River Debris-Flow Disaster, Mindanao, Philippines, December 2012

Category 5 (C5) Super Typhoon Bopha, the world’s worst storm of 2012, formed abnormally close to the West Pacific Equator, and Bopha’s Mindanao landfall has the record equatorial proximity for C5 storms. Bopha generated a debris flow that buried 500 ha of New Bataan municipality and killed 566 people. New Bataan, established in 1968, had never experienced super typhoons and debris flows. We describe the respective histories of New Bataan and Super Typhoon Bopha; debris flows; and how population growth and unwise settlement practices contribute to Philippine “natural” disasters. The historical record of Mindanao tropical cyclones yields clues regarding how climate change may be exacerbating near-equatorial vulnerability to typhoons. Existing models of future typhoon behavior do not apply well to Mindanao because they evaluate only the tropical cyclones that occur during the main June–October typhoon season, and most Mindanao tropical cyclones occur in the off season. The models also ignore tropical depressions, the most frequent—and commonly lethal—Mindanao cyclones. Including these in annual tallies of Mindanao cyclones up to early 2018 reveals a pronounced and accelerating increase since 1990. Mindanao is susceptible to other natural hazards, including other consequences of climate change and volcanic activity

HIV-1-Transmitted Drug Resistance and Transmission Clusters in Newly Diagnosed Patients in Portugal Between 2014 and 2019

Objective: To describe and analyze transmitted drug resistance (TDR) between 2014 and 2019 in newly infected patients with HIV-1 in Portugal and to characterize its transmission networks. Methods: Clinical, socioepidemiological, and risk behavior data were collected from 820 newly diagnosed patients in Portugal between September 2014 and December 2019. The sequences obtained from drug resistance testing were used for subtyping, TDR determination, and transmission cluster (TC) analyses. Results: In Portugal, the overall prevalence of TDR between 2014 and 2019 was 11.0%. TDR presented a decreasing trend from 16.7% in 2014 to 9.2% in 2016 (p for-trend = 0.114). Multivariate analysis indicated that TDR was significantly associated with transmission route (MSM presented a lower probability of presenting TDR when compared to heterosexual contact) and with subtype (subtype C presented significantly more TDR when compared to subtype B). TC analysis corroborated that the heterosexual risk group presented a higher proportion of TDR in TCs when compared to MSMs. Among subtype A1, TDR reached 16.6% in heterosexuals, followed by 14.2% in patients infected with subtype B and 9.4% in patients infected with subtype G. Conclusion: Our molecular epidemiology approach indicates that the HIV-1 epidemic in Portugal is changing among risk group populations, with heterosexuals showing increasing levels of HIV-1 transmission and TDR. Prevention measures for this subpopulation should be reinforced.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Consensus document for the prevention of respiratory infections in adults

Infectious diseases are one of the principle causes of morbidity, mortality and drain on health resources worldwide. In recent years there has been an increase in the impact of respiratory infections, particularly in the Portuguese population. It is for this reason that the Portuguese Respiratory Society has presented a series of recommendations for the prevention of respiratory infections in adults. These recommendations include both general measures and vaccinations for flu and pneumococcal pneumonia. Resumo: As infeções respiratórias são uma das principais causas de morbilidade, mortalidade e consumo de recursos de saúde a nível global. Nos últimos anos tem-se assistido a um crescente impacto das infeções respiratórias, nomeadamente na população portuguesa. Assim, a Sociedade Portuguesa de Pneumologia apresenta um conjunto de recomendações para a prevenção das infeções respiratórias no adulto. Estas recomendações englobam medidas gerais e de vacinação antigripal e antipneumocócica. Keywords: Prevention, Respiratory infections, Pneumonia, Flu vaccination, Pneumococcal vaccination, Palavras-chave: Prevenção, Infeções respiratórias, Pneumonia, Vacina da gripe, Vacina pneumocócic

Piezoelectric beta-PVDF polymer films as fluid acoustic microagitator

The main objective of this paper is to describe a fluidic acoustic microagitation system based on a Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride) polymer. This system benefits from the high piezoelectric properties presented by the beta-phase of the polymer (beta-PVDF) converting an electrical signal into acoustics vibrations. These vibrations can be used in microfluid systems to enhance fluids mixture and reaction. Experimental results regarding the influence of the area and thickness of the piezoelectric beta-PVDF polymer on the velocity of reaction of some biological fluids are presented. Moreover, the incorporation of the beta-PVDF underneath microfluidic structures of a lab-on-a-chip with an automatic electronic control is referred.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - PTDC/BIO/70017/2006 and POCI/CTM/59425/2004

A lab-on-a-chip for clinical analysis with acoustic microagitation based on piezoelectric poly (Vinylidene Fluoride)

This paper reports on the incorporation and validation of a microagitation system based on a piezoelectric polymer, Poly(vinylidene fluoride) in its beta phase, β-PVDF, in a fullyintegrated disposable lab-on-a-chip for point-of-care testing and monitoring of biochemical parameters in biological fluids. The lab-on-a-chip concept offers a novel approach for clinical analyses, especially in biological fluids analyses, due to its portability, ensuring that the analysis can be performed at any location with quick results. Its microagitation system performance was successfully demonstrated by quantitative measurements of uric acid in human urine, thought other molecules or biological fluids can be also measured. The optimization tests prove that it is possible to use lower frequencies than resonance with no major changes in the mixing process. The effect of area and location within the lab-on-a-chip of the microagitation system was also considered.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (grants PTDC/BIO/70017/2006 and PTDC/CTM/69362/2006)

Electroactive β-PVDF polymer as fluidic acoustic mixer for lab-on-a-chip applications

This study aims to the incorporation and validation of the use of a piezoelectric polymer Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride) in its beta-phase, beta-PVDF, in a fully-integrated disposable lab-on-a-chip for point-of-care testing and monitoring of biochemical parameters in biological fluids. With the deposition of the polymer underneath the microfluidics structures, acoustic microagitation can be obtained through electrical actuation, which leads to the enhancement of mixing and reaction time without moving parts.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - PTDC/BIO/70017/200

Acoustic thermoagitation based on piezoelectric β-PVDF polymer films potential evaluation in lab-on-a-chip applications

This paper describes a lab-on-a-chip device with acoustic thermoagitation based on a piezoelectric β-PVDF polymer. The device is used for testing and monitoring biochemical parameters in biological fluids using optical absorption spectrophotometry. Experimental results regarding the influence of the electrical signal amplitude and frequency applied for the generation of acoustic thermoagitation is presented. The individual contribution of the heating and the microagitation provided by the actuation of the piezoelectric film for the fluids mixture was determined. The paper is completed with a study of the β-PVDF degradation with transparent conductive electrodes, ITO and AZO, when placed in contact with uric acid fluids. The final goal of using this technique is the improvement of mixing and reaction time without interfering with biochemical reactions and analytical measurements.Portuguese Science Foundation (grants PTDC/BIO/70017/2006, PTDC/CTM/69362/2006)

Lab-on-a-chip with β-PVDF based acoustic microagitation

A fully-integrated lab-on-a-chip device for testing and monitoring biochemical parameters is described. The major innovation of this microdevice is the application of acoustic microagitation based on a β-PVDF piezoelectric polymer. The system parameters were optimized for an effective and rapid mixing.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - PTDC/BIO/70017/2006, PTDC/CTM/69362/200