From Clinical Presentation to the Outcome: the Natural History of PML in a Portuguese Population of HIV Infected Patients

Background Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system, associated with immunosuppression states. As there are only some non-published documents concerning PML in HIV infected patients in Portugal, we pretend to characterize natural history of PML infection in a population of HIV patients. Methods We retrospectively reviewed, from 1992 to 2009, PML cases in a population of 724 HIV infected patients followed in our institution. Clinical, biological, imagery features and outcomes were characterized. Results Twenty-five (3.45%) patients were identified as having PML. The mean time between HIV and PML diagnosis was 20.4 months. PML was the presentation of HIV infection in 40% of the patients, and 92% had CD4 T cell count lower than 200/mm3. Paresis was the most common clinical presentation. No specific characteristics were found in cerebrospinal fluid and JCV DNA was positive in 3 of 7 patients. MRI revealed characteristic findings. Combined antiretroviral therapy was started or changed in 96% of the patients. Neurological condition got worse in 12 patients. From the 14 deaths, 5 were directly attributed to PML progression. Follow-up was lost in 8 patients. Conclusions PML was the presentation of HIV infection in more than 1/3 of patients, frequently associated with advanced immunocompromise. MRI sensitivity to PML is high, and JCV DNA determination in CSF was not revealed to be sensible. PML diagnosis should be taken into account in HIV patients presenting any neurological symptoms, and HIV infection should be suspected when radiological findings suggest PML lesions even in previously healthy individuals

Ocorrência de cajazeiras anãs no Município de Teresina, Piauí.

O objetivo desse trabalho foi relatar a ocorrência de cajazeiras de porte baixo surgidas em um pomar situado no município de Teresina, Estado do Piauí. Os genótipos de cajazeira anã são componentes de um pomar comercial com aproximadamente 990 plantas de cajazeiras oriundas de propagação via sementes. O pomar foi implantado em janeiro de 2001, em espaçamento de 15 x 15 m. Foram identificados nove genótipos de cajazeira com porte anão. Para a caracterização preliminar desses genótipos, fez-se a avaliação da altura de planta, diâmetro de copa, diâmetro de caule, número de ramos primários e altura do primeiro ramo, aos 10 anos de idade. Os genótipos apresentaram altura de planta variando de 2,80 a 6,10 m; diâmetro de copa entre 4,75 e 10,65 m e diâmetro de caule entre 27,06 e 50,93 cm. Os genótipos de cajazeira anã podem trazer importantes contribuições para a redução do porte da cajazeira

Distribuição do sistema radicular da mangueira sob diferentes níveis de água.

O Nordeste apresenta-se como a principal região produtora de manga no Brasil. Uma significativa parte desta produção encontra-se no Estado do Piauí, onde a microrregião de Teresina detém 30% da área plantada, tornando-se, assim, o maior e o mais importante pólo de cultivo de manga da região Meio-Norte (Nordeste Ocidental) do Brasil, e um dos principais da região Nordeste (Vasconcelos et al. 1998). O manejo da água de irrigação nessa região não tem encontrado critérios ou bases e, portanto, tem, muitas vezes, seguidas informações de outras fruteiras. Por outro lado, um manejo de água eficiente depende do conhecimento da localização da concentração do sistema radicular da planta no perfil do solo. Nos pomares em que as raízes se concentram nas camadas superficiais do solo, a freqüência e a intermitência da irrigação podem ser bastante distintas daqueles pomares, em que as raízes apresentam uma boa uniformidade de distribuição até 1,00 m ou mais de profundidade (Soares et al. 1998). Este trabalho teve por objetivo determinar os padrões de distribuição do sistema radicular da cultura da manga sob diferentes níveis de irrigação, para possibilitar um manejo mais eficiente da água de irrigação e permitir um uso mais eficiente, racional e sustentável da água nesta cultura

SMART sensor network: with Bluetooth low energy and CAN-BUS

This paper proposes a system to monitor, through the internet, the data of a logistics distribution truck. For this, it was implemented a reliable and flexible wireless sensor network with low energy consumption. The technology used for the radio system was Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Each node in the network contains one type of sensor. The sensors information together with GPS and On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) data collected by the central unit, and later transmitted to the cloud by GSM or Wi-Fi.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

A review of biomass thermal analysis, kinetics and product distribution for combustion modeling: from the micro to macro perspective

Driven by its accessibility, extensive availability, and growing environmental consciousness, solid biomass has emerged as a viable alternative to enhance the diversity of renewable energy sources for electricity generation. To understand the phenomena involved in solid biomass conversion, it is necessary not only to understand the stages of the biomass combustion process but also to understand specifically the kinetics of the reaction and the release of the volatiles. The present work presents an overview of the existing literature on several topics related to the biomass combustion process, its characterization, as well as strategies to develop simple and effective models to describe biomass conversion with a view to the future development of numerical simulation models. Since the focus of most of the investigations is the development of a numerical model, a summary and identification of the different model assumptions and problems involved in thermal analysis experiments are presented. This literature review establishes the significance and credibility of the research, providing the main concepts and assumptions with a critique on their validity. Hence, this work provides specific contributions from a multi-scale perspective which can further be extended to provide insights into the design and optimization of biomass combustion technologies, such as boilers and furnaces.This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) within the R&D Units Project Scope UIDB/00319/2020 (ALGORITMI), and R&D Units Project Scope UIDP/04077/2020 (MEtRICs)