Testing AudioBrowser

We are developing AudioBrowser, a browser for visually impaired users. This paper presents a usability analysis study that was carried out on the first version of the browser. Due to the lack of availability of visually impaired users not involved with the tool's design, we had to resort to s imulate a visual impaired situation with regular sighted users. Although this may seem unrealistic we believe that this is actually a worst case scenario. The problems identified during this study are described, and proposals for the next version of the tool are put forward.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - POSI/SRI/41952/2001

Transcoding for web accessibility for the blind : semantics from structure

True accessibility requires minimizing the scanning time to find a particular piece of information. Sequentially reading web pages do not provide this type of accessibility, for instance before the user gets to the actual text content of the page it has to go through a lot of menus and headers. However if the user could navigate a web page based through semantically classified blocks then the user could jump faster to the actual content of the page, skipping all the menus and other parts of the page. We propose a transcoding engine that tackles accessibility at two distinct, yet complementary, levels: for specific known sites and general unknown sites. We present a tool for building customized scripts for known sites that turns this process in an extremely simple task, which can be performed by anyone, without any expertise. For general unknown sites, our approach relies on statistical analysis of the structural blocks that define a web page to infer a semantic for the block.(undefined

Accessibility and visually impaired users

Internet accessibility for the visually impaired community is still an open issue. Guidelines have been issued by the W3C consortium to help web designers to improve web site accessibility. However several studies show that a significant percentage of web page creators are still ignoring the proposed guidelines. Several tools are now available, general purpose, or web specific, to help visually impaired readers. But is reading a web page enough? Regular sighted users are able to scan a web page for a particular piece of information at high speeds. Shouldn't visually impaired readers have the same chance? This paper discusses some features already implemented to improve accessibility and presents a user feedback report regarding the AudioBrowser, a talking browser. Based on the user feedback the paper also suggests some avenues for future work in order to make talking browsers and screen readers compatible.The research reported in here was supported by SNRIP (The Portuguese National Secretariat of Rehabilitation and Integration for the Disabled) under program CITE 2001, and also FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) and POSI/2001 (Operational Program for the Information Society) with funds partly awarded by FEDER

NEFRECTOMIA PARCIAL – A EXPERIÊNCIA DE 10 ANOS DO HOSPITAL DE SANTO ANTÓNIO

A nefrectomia parcial (NP) é uma técnica reconhecida no tratamento de diferentes patologias renais,nomedamente na oncológica. Os autores apresentam a sua casuística dos últimos 10 anos, com avaliação dos índices de recorrência e sobrevivência

The regulator LdhR and the d-lactate dehydrogenase LdhA of Burkholderia multivorans play a role in carbon overflow and in planktonic cellular aggregates formation

This paper version is the accepted manuscript posted online 21 July 2017. It has peer-review. This publication hasn't any creative commons license associated. The deposited article version contains attached the supplementary materials within the pdf.LysR-type transcriptional regulators (LTTR) are the most commonly found regulators in Burkholderia cepacia complex, comprising opportunistic pathogens causing chronic respiratory infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Despite LTTRs being global regulators of pathogenicity in several bacteria, few have been characterized in Burkholderia Here, we showed that gene ldhR of B. multivorans encoding a LTTR is co-transcribed with ldhA encoding a d-lactate dehydrogenase, and evaluate their implication in virulence traits like exopolysaccharide (EPS) synthesis and biofilm formation. Comparison of wild-type (WT) and its isogenic ΔldhR mutant grown in medium with 2% d-glucose revealed a negative impact on EPS biosynthesis and on cells' viability in the presence of LdhR. Loss of viability in WT cells was caused by intracellular acidification as consequence of cumulative organic acids secretion including d-lactate, this last one absent from the ΔldhR mutant supernatant. Furthermore, LdhR is implicated in the formation of planktonic cellular aggregates. WT cell aggregates reached 1000 μm after 24 hours in liquid cultures; in contrast to ΔldhR mutant aggregates that never grew more than 60 μm. Overexpression of d-lactate dehydrogenase LdhA in the ΔldhR mutant partially restored formed aggregates size, suggesting a role for fermentation inside aggregates. Similar results were obtained for surface-attached biofilms, with WT cells producing more biofilm. A systematic evaluation of planktonic aggregates in Burkholderia CF clinical isolates showed aggregates in 40 out of 74. As CF patients' lung environment is microaerophilic and bacteria are found as free aggregates/biofilms, LdhR and LdhA might have central roles in adaptation to this environment.IMPORTANCE Cystic fibrosis patients often suffer from chronic respiratory infections caused by several microorganisms. Among them are the Burkholderia cepacia complex bacteria which cause progressive deterioration of lung function and, in some patients, might develop into fatal necrotizing pneumoniae with bacteremia, known as "cepacia syndrome". Burkholderia pathogenesis is multifactorial since they express several virulence factors, form biofilms, and are highly resistant to antimicrobial compounds, making their eradication from the CF patients' airways very difficult. As Burkholderia is commonly found in the CF lungs in the form of cell aggregates and biofilms, the need to investigate the mechanisms of cellular aggregation is obvious. In this study we demonstrate the importance of a d-lactate dehydrogenase and a regulator, in regulating carbon overflow, cellular aggregates and surface-attached biofilm formation. This not only enhances our understanding of Burkholderia pathogenesis, but can also lead to the development of drugs against these proteins to circumvent biofilm formation.Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (Gene Expression Unit); Programa Operacional 833 Regional de Lisboa 2020 grant: (LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-007317); Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia grants: (PTDC/QUI-BIQ/118260/2010, UID/BIO/04565/2013, SFRH/BPD/86475/2012).info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Surgical treatment of complete penile duplication

Penile duplication is a rare anomaly with an incidence of 1 in 5,500,000. It is almost associated with other malformations like double bladder, presence of the cloaca, imperforate anus, duplication of the recto sigmoid and vertebral deformities. The authors present the surgical technique to resolve a rare case of complete penile duplication in a 4 years old child, without any other malformation

Comparison of the Effects of Linear and Non-Linear Resistance Training Periodization on Morphofunctional Capacity of Subjects with Different Fitness Levels: A Systematic Review

International Journal of Exercise Science 12(4): 666-690, 2019. Resistance training (RT) is recognized as an efficient method to improve muscle strength, power, hypertrophy; all are fundamental components of functional health and quality of life. Variables of RT such as volume, intensity, density, rest interval, duration, exercise order and selection, training frequency, and periodization models (i.e. linear periodization (LP), reverse linear periodization (RLP), block periodization (BP), and nonlinear periodization (NLP): undulating periodization (UP) and weekly undulating periodization (WUP)) are manipulated to potentiate musculoskeletal adaptations. The aim of the present study was to conduct a systematic review of studies comparing different periodization models on morphofunctional capacity in adults with different levels of physical activity. Databases from Ebsco, PubMed and Web of Science were searched between January 2007 and June 2017 using the following descriptors: RT; strength training; LP; UP; daily UP; NLP. From the 4337 articles found, 11 met the inclusion criteria. The mean number of sets in each RT model was 3 ± 1 for both (LP and UP), mean repetitions used was 10 ± 5, and the mean inter-set rest interval was 2 ± 1 minutes . The mean number of exercises was 7 ± 3 with training duration ranging from 45 to 90 minutes. The number of sets, repetitions, rest interval, and load intensity were minimally detailed in 12% of articles evaluated. In conclusion, RT programs that used LP and UP presented discrepant results, which precludes a consensus at this time. Most characteristics and differences between studies reported here should be used in future experimental designs to improve our understanding about periodization models

On verbal agreement variation in European Portuguese: syntactic conditions for the 3SG/3PL alternation

In this paper we scrutinize a case of concord variation in European Portuguese (EP) concerning third plural vs. third singular verbal agreement in the co-presence of an overt plural argument, which in the standard variety agrees with the in! ected verb. " e paper is focused on the linguistic factors that correlate with singular concord in this context. Going beyond previous proposals that emphasize the correlation between agreement variation and particular morphological and phonological factors, it is shown that the incidence of non-standard singulars in EP may be straightforwardly explained within a syntactic account. " e empirical basis for this investigation is CORDIAL-SIN, a dialect corpus of EP (600,000 words). " e evidence from this corpus leads us to discuss and reconsider the role that di# erent linguistic factors play in the manifestation of non-standard singulars. It is shown that this case of third singular agreement occurs in the investigated EP varieties in correlation with particular syntactic conditions, mainly in unaccusative-like con- $gurations. Furthermore, it is suggested that this kind of agreement variation may be ultimately ascribed to lexical variation concerning the availability and feature speci$ cation of (null) expletives.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio