Patients- and physicians- priorities for improvement: The case of rheumatic diseases

OBJECTIVES: To compare the health priorities elected by patients with rheumatic diseases and by their attending rheumatologists. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We undertook a cross-sectional study among patients and rheumatologists in Portuguese rheumatology outpatient clinics. 75% of all Portuguese Rheumatology Departments agreed to participate. Rheumatologists from non-participating hospital departments were asked to collaborate through their private practices. All patients were eligible for inclusion except if they were under 18 years of age or had a mental disorder that would affect their participation. Data were collected through dedicated questionnaires. Patients were asked to indicate 3 priorities for improvement out of 12 health domains (Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale 2) regarding their rheumatic disease. Rheumatologists were asked similar questions focused around rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA). RESULTS: 1,868 patients and 56 rheumatologists entered the study. The most commonly selected priorities by patients with rheumatic diseases were: "Rheumatic pain" (70%), "Walking and bending" (45%), and "Hand and Finger Function" (40%). The main priority for improvement among patients with RA was "Rheumatic Pain" (69%), while rheumatologists more commonly elected "Work" (55%) as their main priority for these patients. Among patients with OA, "Rheumatic Pain" was the first priority for both patients and doctors (elected by 75%, and 55% of respondents, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed discordance between the priorities for improvement elected by patients and by their respective physicians. This was more pronounced in RA than in OA. Studying and addressing such differences may support physicians and institutions to better achieve the prime goal of incorporating and responding to patients' needs and preferences

Proteomics as a tool to develop molecular indicators of nutritional condition in farmed gilthead seabream

Gilthead seabream is the main aquaculture species produced in Portugal, as well as in the Mediterranean. However, the winter disease syndrome, a series of metabolic and immune system disorders caused by low temperatures, affects seabream culture, leading to important industrial losses, either as mortalities or growth decreases during spring. These effects can be minimized through dietary optimisation, either improving diets for the end of summer season, or feeding seabream with a fortified diet during autumn/winter. However, the development of a fortified diet for autumn/winter is hindered by the lack of tools to evaluate fish metabolic and physiological condition. Nevertheless, the recent development of new generation molecular tools provides good perspectives to supply molecular indicators of condition that would support this task

Playing the blues, the greens and the reds with cellulose-based structural colours

POCI- 01-0145-FEDER-007688 (Reference UIDB/50025/2020-2023) PTDC/CTM-BIO/6178/2014 M-ERA-NET2/0007/2016 PTDC/CTM-REF/30529/2017 EUTOPIA CA17139 Slovenian Research Agency Grant Z1-5441 P1-0099Structural vivid colours can arise from the interference of light reflected from structures exhibiting periodicity on scales in the range of visible wavelengths. This effect is observed with light reflected from cell-walls of some plants and exoskeletons of certain insects. Sometimes the colour sequence observed for these structures consists of nearly circular concentric rings that vary in colour from Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan to Blue, from the periphery to the centre, similarly to the colour scheme sequence observed for the rainbow (ROYGB). The sequence of colours has been found for solid films obtained from droplets of aqueous cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) suspensions and attributed to a "coffee ring"effect. In this work, coloured lyotropic solutions and solid films obtained from a cellulose derivative in the presence of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), which acts as a "reactive solvent", are revisited. The systems were investigated with spectroscopy, using circularly and linearly polarised light, coupled with a polarised optical microscope (POM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The lyotropic cholesteric liquid crystalline solutions were confined in capillaries to simplify 1D molecular diffusion along the capillary where an unexpected sequence of the structural colours was observed. The development and reappearance of the sequence of vivid colours seem consistent with the reaction-diffusion of the "reactive solvent"in the presence of the cellulosic chains. The strong TFA acts as an auto-catalyst for the chemical reaction between TFA and the hydroxyl groups, existing along the cellulosic chain, and diffuses to the top and bottom along the capillaries, carrying dissolved cellulosic chains. Uncovering the precise mechanism of colour sequence and evolution over time in cellulosic lyotropic solutions has important implications for future optical/sensors applications and for the understanding of the development of cellulose-based structures in nature. This journal isauthorsversionpublishe

Efeito da chuva e do manejo das plantas adventícias na incidência de ácaros predadores (Phytoseeidae) em cafeeiro orgânico.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar o efeito do manejo das plantas adventícias que nascem entre as linhas de cafeeiro orgânico, as quais podem estar servindo de refúgio para ácaros predadores da família Phytoseiidae. O experimento foi conduzido em Santo Antônio do Amparo, Estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil, com cinco tratamentos e cinco repetições em uma área de 1ha, onde foram realizados diferentes manejos das plantas adventícias: 1 - roçada alternada, 2 - capina (sem mato) em todas entre linhas, 3 - roçada em ambas entre linhas, 4 - capina/mato sem manejo e 5 - mato sem manejo. As coletas das folhas do cafeeiro foram feitas mensalmente, sendo 25 folhas em cada repetição em um total de 125 folhas por tratamento. Após a coleta as folhas foram levadas ao laboratório de Acarologia da Epamig/EcoCentro, Lavras, Minas Gerais. Os ácaros foram extraídos das folhas pelo método de lavagem e posteriormente montados em lâminas em meio de Hoyer para identificação específica. O maior número de ácaros predadores foi encontrado na época de menor precipitação pluvial, independente do método de manejo das plantas adventícias. Foram encontrados 259 ácaros adultos e 73 imaturos. Os ácaros adultos foram identificados como sendo pertencentes as seguintes espécies: Euseius concordis (Chant, 1959), a mais abundante com (58,3%), seguida de Euseius citrifolius Denmark e Muma, 1970 (30,8%), Euseius alatus DeLeon, 1966 (4,3%), Typhlodrompis mangle DeLeon, 1967 (2,4%), Neoseiulus tunus DeLeon, 1967 (DeLeon, 1967) (0,9%), Metaseiulus (Metaseiulus) Chant & McMurtry (0,5%), Phytoseius sp. Ribaga (0,5%) e Galendromus sp. Muma (0,5%)

Characterization of natural cork agglomerate functionalised by plasma treatment

This work intends to study the chemical and physical modifications of natural cork agglomerate after plasma treatment using dielectric barrier discharge (DBD). Different experimental techniques were used to evaluate the surface alterations of the substrate pre- treated with DBD plasma, namely, static and dynamic contact angle, surface energy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Plasma discharge greatly increases the wettability and surface energy of the samples. Chemical and physical analyses of the cork agglomerate confirmed considerable surface modification.The authors gratefully acknowledge the CsF – CNPq and CAPES Foundation, Brazil, for the doctoral grants 202539/2011-3 and BEX0978/12-4. We would also like to thank the Project no 2011/19280 (“COLTEC”), FCT and FEDER-COMPETE funding PEt-C/CTM/UI0264/2011

Functionalization of cork agglomerate composite with pcm microcapsules after dbd plasma treatment

This research intends to study the influence of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma treatment on the adsorption of Phase Change Materials (PCM) microcapsules applied to cork agglomerate laminated with a polymer membrane. Several experimental techniques were used to evaluate cork and membrane surface modification after plasma treatment and the influence on the microcapsules adsorption, namely, Static and Dynamic Contact Angle, Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Tensile Strength. The plasma treatment greatly increases the hydrophilicity of both materials, justifying that more microcapsules are adsorbed on this composite. Chemical and physical characterization of the cork agglomerate and polymer membrane confirmed significant surface alteration.The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from - Programme CsF–CNPq and CAPES Foundation, Brazil, for the doctoral grants 202539/2011-3 and BEX0978/12-4. The authors would also like to express their acknowledgment to FCT and FEDER-COMPETE funding, under the project PEst-C/CTM/UI0264/2011

Colourful patterns in cellulose-based liquid crystals

POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007688 UIDB/50025/2020-2023 EUTOPIA CA17139Cellulose-based thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystals can be obtained from macromolecules or colloidal particles, such as cellulose nanocrystals. Thermotropic liquid crystals are produced by the effect of temperature, while lyotropic liquid crystals occur in solution for a given range of concentration, pressure, and temperature. Cellulose liquid crystals can form chiral nematic phases characterized by Bragg-type reflections of circularly polarized light. This characteristic is related to a helical structure formed by pseudo nematic layers twisted around an optical axis. The helical structure is characterized by the values of pitch and helicity. The later can be right- (R) or left- (L) handed. Cellulose liquid crystals are well described in literature. They are a source of materials for many applications, including the production of photonic chiral materials. Although many questions remain unanswered such as the origin of helicity of cellulosic chiral structures and those related to out-ofequilibrium systems. In this paper, we are focused at the out-of-equilibrium systems obtained from lyotropic cellulose-based liquid crystals. The development of colorful patterns involving the pitch variation in space and time of self-organized cellulose cholesteric structures is revised.publishersversionpublishe

Curved dilatonic brane-worlds and the cosmological constant problem

We construct a model for dilatonic brane worlds with constant curvature on the brane, i.e. a non-zero four-dimensional cosmological constant, given in function of the dilaton coupling and the cosmological constant of the bulk. We compare this family of solutions to other known dilatonic domain wall solutions and apply a self-tunning mechanism to check the stability of our solutions under quantum fluctuations living on the brane.Comment: latex, 6 pages. (v2): considerable changes in the conclusion. (v3): added new discussion on the solutions and some references; version to appear in CQ

Semantic-Functional Communications in Cyber-Physical Systems

This paper explores the use of semantic knowledge inherent in the cyber-physical system (CPS) under study in order to minimize the use of explicit communication, which refers to the use of physical radio resources to transmit potentially informative data. It is assumed that the acquired data have a function in the system, usually related to its state estimation, which may trigger control actions. We propose that a semantic-functional approach can leverage the semantic-enabled implicit communication while guaranteeing that the system maintains functionality under the required performance. We illustrate the potential of this proposal through simulations of a swarm of drones jointly performing remote sensing in a given area. Our numerical results demonstrate that the proposed method offers the best design option regarding the ability to accomplish a previously established task -- remote sensing in the addressed case -- while minimising the use of radio resources by controlling the trade-offs that jointly determine the CPS performance and its effectiveness in the use of resources. In this sense, we establish a fundamental relationship between energy, communication, and functionality considering a given end application