Pleural sarcomatoid mesothelioma: a rare type of malignant mesothelioma

Malignant pleural mesothelioma is the most common primary tumor of the pleura and carries a poor prognosis. CT remains the method of choice to diagnosis, staging and follow-up this pathology although MR imaging and PET/CT with fluorodeoxyglucose have emerged as complementary studies. We present a case of pleural sarcomatoid mesothelioma, the rarest type of mesothelioma, with focus in thoracic CT findings and anatomopathological correlation that helped to reach the final diagnosis

Mucinous carcinomatosis: A rare association between an ovarian tumor and an E-GIST

Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) and extragastrointestinal stromal tumors (E-GISTs) are both rare entities. Most of the time, PMP is associated with an appendiceal tumor. An ovarian mucinous tumor can mimic appendiceal metastases. E-GIST is a mesenchymal tumor that can arise from the omentum, retroperitoneum, mesentery, or pleura. We present a case of an 87-year-old woman with mucinous carcinomatosis and acute intestinal occlusion submitted to an emergency laparotomy. She has found to have a borderline mucinous tumor of the ovary from the intestinal type with several lesions of pseudomyxoma peritonei and an E-GIST from the epiploons retrocavity (intermediated risk). In the literature, no relation was found between these two rare tumors. E-GIST was an incidental finding in the context of a mucinous carcinomatosis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Love.Dist@nce: Ensino à distância como forma de equidade no acesso ao ensino superior. Resultados preliminares de um projeto em curso

O Ensino Superior (ES) tem assistido a um crescimento surpreendente em todo o mundo nas últimas décadas. Contudo, verificam-se grandes assimetrias no que respeita ao acesso, com uma taxa bruta de matrícula de 68% na Europa, 23% no Sul da Ásia e 9% na África Subsaariana. Além disso, verifica-se que países/regiões específicos apresentam acentuadas desigualdades de oportunidades, pelo que muitos definiram metas para aumentar a parcela da população com ES e/ou ampliar o acesso ao ES para indivíduos que estão sub-representados devido ao status socioeconómico, raça, etnia, religião, idade, sexo, deficiência ou origem geográfica. Paralelamente, o acesso à internet tem vindo a mas sificar-se e provar o seu potencial como forma de democratização no acesso à informação. Neste sentido o projeto Love.Dist@nce foi criado para responder às necessidades da Geórgia e de Israel, com o contributo de parceiros Europeus (Portugal, Espanha e Roménia).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Enterocutaneous fistula: a novel video-assisted approach

Video-assisted anal fistula treatment (VAAFT) is a novel minimally invasive and sphincter-saving technique to treat complex anal fistulas described by Meinero in 2006. An enterocutaneous fistula is an abnormal communication between the bowel and the skin. Most cases are secondary to surgical complications, and managing this condition is a true challenge for surgeons. Postoperative fistulas account for 75-85% of all enterocutaneous fistulas. The aim of paper was to devise a minimally invasive technique to treat enterocutaneous fistulas. We used the same principles of VAAFT applied to other conditions, combining endoluminal vision of the tract with colonoscopy to identify the internal opening. We present a case of a 78-year-old woman who was subjected to a total colectomy for cecum and sigmoid synchronous adenocarcinoma. The postoperative course was complicated with an enterocutaneous fistula, treated with conservative measures, which recurred during follow-up. We performed video-assisted fistula treatment using a fistuloscope combined with a colonoscope. Once we identified the fistula tract, we performed cleansing and destruction of the tract, applied synthetic cyanoacrylate and sealed the internal opening with clips through an endoluminal approach. The patient was discharged 5 days later without complications. Two months later the wound was completely healed without evidence of recurrence. This procedure represents an alternative treatment for enterocutaneous fistula using a minimally invasive technique, especially in selected patients not able to undergo major surgery.(undefined)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A rede GÉANT e as tendências de desenvolvimento das novas redes de comunicação em fibra óptica

Trabalho realizado sob orientação do Prof. António Brandão Moniz para a disciplina “Factores Sociais da Inovação” do Mestrado Engenharia Informática realizado na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal).O conteúdo deste paper centra-se na apresentação da última geração de redes de comunicação em fibra óptica. São introduzidos os conceitos principais relacionados com a fibra óptica e, de seguida, será apresentado o caso de estudo utilizado: a rede europeia de partilha de dados científicos, de nome GÉANT. Serão mostrados os seus componentes, estrutura e funcionalidade, assim como os impactos benéficos que trouxe, desde os tecnológicos aos sociais. Por fim, ainda fazemos uma pequena comparação com outras redes do género a uma escala global, assim como contextualizamos o GÉANT em Portugal, desde os seus parceiros à topologia da rede utilizada. O leitor no final ficará com uma ideia geral da tecnologia de fibra óptica, assim como os benefícios que a mesma trás à tão importante rede europeia GÉANT

Using artificial intelligence for pattern recognition in a sports context

Optimizing athlete’s performance is one of the most important and challenging aspects of coaching. Physiological and positional data, often acquired using wearable devices, have been useful to identify patterns, thus leading to a better understanding of the game and, consequently, providing the opportunity to improve the athletic performance. Even though there is a panoply of research in pattern recognition, there is a gap when it comes to non-controlled environments, as during sports training and competition. This research paper combines the use of physiological and positional data as sequential features of different artificial intelligence approaches for action recognition in a real match context, adopting futsal as its case study. The traditional artificial neural networks (ANN) is compared with a deep learning method, Long Short-Term Memory Network, and also with the Dynamic Bayesian Mixture Model, which is an ensemble classification method. The methods were used to process all data sequences, which allowed to determine, based on the balance between precision and recall, that Dynamic Bayesian Mixture Model presents a superior performance, with an F1 score of 80.54% against the 33.31% achieved by the Long Short-Term Memory Network and 14.74% achieved by ANN.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Resistance of Rice Varieties to \u3ci\u3eSitophilus oryzae\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Abstract Rice, Oryza sativa L. (Poaceae), is one of the world’s most important food crops. Among the insects that damage rice grains, the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is the most important species. The objective of this study was to identify rice varieties with resistance to S. oryzae as measured by grain feeding damage and S. oryzae reproduction. The rice varieties evaluated were obtained from the germplasm bank of the National Center of Research Rice and Beans, Embrapa, Brazil. The experimental design was completely randomized with 3 replications and 22 treatments (varieties). The varieties Bonança, Esmeralda, and Rio Verde had the antibiosis and/or antixenosis type of resistance, providing high rates of mortality, low rates of adult emergence, and low rates of grain consumption by S. oryzae. The varieties Pepita and Progresso were susceptible, with a high rate of S. oryzae adult emergence and grain consumption. The presence or absence of a fissure in the grain was a major morphological characteristic determining susceptibility or resistance to S. oryzae in rice varieties. Resumo O arroz (Oryza sativa L.; Poaceae) é uma das culturas alimentares mais importantes do mundo. Entre os insetos que danificam os grãos de arroz, o gorgulho do arroz Sitophylus oryzae L. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) é a espécia mais importante. O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar variedades de arroz com resistência a S. oryzae. As variedades de arroz avaliadas foram obtidas do banco de germoplasma do Centro Nacional de Pesquisas em Arroz e Feijão, EMBRAPA, Brasil. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado com 3 repetições e 22 tratamentos (variedades). As variedades Bonança, Esmeralda e Rio Verde apresentaram resistência do tipo antibiose e/ou antixenose, tendo altas taxas de mortalidade, baixas taxas de emergência de adultos e baixo consumo de grãos por S. oryzae. As variedades Pepita e Progresso são suscetíveis com alta emergência de adultos e consumo de grãos por S. oryzae. A presença ou ausência de fissuras no grão é uma importante característica morfológica para determinar a susceptibilidade ou resistência a S. oryzae em variedades de arroz

Working Length Determination Using Cone-Beam Computed Tomography, Periapical Radiography and Electronic Apex Locator in Teeth with Apical Periodontitis: A Clinical Study

Introduction: The purpose of this clinical study was to compare the accuracy of working length (WL) determination using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), conventional periapical radiographies and electronic apex locator. Methods and Materials: This study was conducted during root canal treatment of 19 patients with a total of 30 single-rooted teeth diagnosed with apical periodontitis. After taking the initial parallel periapical radiographies, the initial file was advanced into the canal until the WL was detected by the apex locator. Subsequently, the WL was measured and WL radiographies were taken with the file set in the canal. Afterwards, CBCT images were acquired. These three measurements were tabulated and compared and the data were analyzed using the Friedman test. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: The mean values for WL determination by electronic apex locator, periapical radiograph and CBCT images were 22.25, 22.43 and 22.65, respectively which was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Conclusion: Working length determination using CBCT images was precise when compared to radiographic method and electronic apex locator.Keywords: Apical Foramen; Cone-Beam Computed Tomography; Dental Radiography; Electronic Apex Locator; Tooth Ape

On the nature of the (de)coupling of the magnetostructural transition in Er5_5Si4_4

In this report, a successful thermodynamical model was employed to understand the structural transition in Er$_5$Si$_4$, able to explain the decoupling of the magnetic and structural transition. This was achieved by the DFT calculations which were used to determine the energy differences at 0 K, using a LSDA+U approximation. It was found that the M structure as the stable phase at low temperatures as verified experimentally with a $\Delta F_0 = -$0.262 eV. Finally, it was achieved a variation of Seebeck coefficient ($\sim$ 6 $\mu$V) at the structural transition which allow to conclude that the electronic entropy variation is negligible in the transition.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Early Inflammatory Biomarkers as Predictive Factors for Freedom from Infection after Colorectal Cancer Surgery: A Prospective Cohort Study

Different biomarkers are useful in diagnosing infections. The aim of this work was to clarify the relation between different inflammatory biomarkers (white blood cell [WBC] count, C-reactive protein [CRP], procalcitonin [PCT], and C-reactive protein-to-albumin ratio [CAR]) and early infectious complications after colorectal surgery.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio