Plataforma de modelação e controlo para impressoras 3D

Mestrado em Engenharia de Computadores e Telemática3D printers are becoming cheaper and widely used in various market segments as architecture, industrial design, automotive and aerospace engineering, providing an easy and cheaper way to produce parts and mockups. Although applications for controlling 3D printers exist, they are still poor in graphical design and difficult to use or understand due the advanced knowledge required. Most 3D printing applications allow importing and rendering a model with a 3D engine, and printing it with advanced configurations. Taking this into consideration it is intended to design and evaluate an application that presents common and advanced funcionalities through a simple, stable and easy to use user interface. An application (BEESOFT) was designed and developed taking the above objectives into consideration. It enhances the way users interact with the BEETHEFIRST printer, by providing an integrated environment where each user can, in a coordinated way, use the functionalities to quickly print. The simple user interface, the guided and self-explanatory wizards to help configure quickly the 3D printer and the robustness, error control and stability of the user interface, 3D engine and the communication protocol, distinguishes it from the other applications. This new application was evaluated using an usability testing plan and a heuristic evaluation analysis. Results confirm BEESOFT is an easy to use application that allows users with differents degrees of expertise to easily print a 3D model, but they also revealed some usability problems in the 3D canvas when modeling. The positive reaction and the results show BEESOFT simple, user spoken language and functional user interface with optimized printing profiles can be used in any sector of industry, education, etc.As impressoras 3D estão cada vez mais baratas sendo usadas em variados nichos de mercado como na arquitectura, design industrial, engenharia automóvel e aeroespacial, fornecendo uma forma fácil e barata de produzir partes e maquetes. Embora já existam aplicações de controlo de impressoras 3D, apresentam uma interface pobre e são difíceis de usar ou perceber devido ao conhecimento necessário. A maior parte das impressoras 3D permitem importar e processar um modelo 3D e imprimir com recurso a configurações avançadas. Tendo isto em consideração pretende-se desenvolver e avaliar uma aplicação constituida por funcionalidades básicas e avançadas com uma interface de utilizador estável e simples de usar. A aplicação (BEESOFT) foi projectada e desenvolvida tendo em consideração os objectivos acima referidos. E potencia o modo como os utilizadores interagem com a impressora BEETHEFIRST, fornecendo um ambiente integrado onde cada utilizador pode, de forma orientada, usar as funcionalidades para rapidamente imprimir. A interface de utilizador simples de usar, os assistentes e auto-explicativos para ajudar a configurar rapidamente a impressora 3D, a robustez, o controlo de erros, a estabilidade da interface de utilizador, o motor 3D e o protocolo de comunicação, destacam esta aplicação de outras existentes. Esta nova aplicação foi avaliada através de um plano de testes de usabilidade e de uma análise de avaliação heurística. Os resultados confirmam que o BEESOFT é uma aplicaçao fácil de usar e que permite aos utilizadores, com variados níveis de experiência, imprimir facilmente um modelo 3D, mas também reveleram alguns problemas de usabilidade no motor 3D aquando de operações de modelação. A reacção positiva e os resultados mostraram que a interface de utilizador do BEESOFT é simples, funcional, com uma linguagem acessível e com perfis de impressão optimizados, possibilitando o seu uso em qualquer sector da indústria, educação, etc

Post-anaesthesia pulmonary complications after use of muscle relaxants (POPULAR): a multicentre, prospective observational study

Background Results from retrospective studies suggest that use of neuromuscular blocking agents during general anaesthesia might be linked to postoperative pulmonary complications. We therefore aimed to assess whether the use of neuromuscular blocking agents is associated with postoperative pulmonary complications. Methods We did a multicentre, prospective observational cohort study. Patients were recruited from 211 hospitals in 28 European countries. We included patients (aged ≥18 years) who received general anaesthesia for any in-hospital procedure except cardiac surgery. Patient characteristics, surgical and anaesthetic details, and chart review at discharge were prospectively collected over 2 weeks. Additionally, each patient underwent postoperative physical examination within 3 days of surgery to check for adverse pulmonary events. The study outcome was the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications from the end of surgery up to postoperative day 28. Logistic regression analyses were adjusted for surgical factors and patients’ preoperative physical status, providing adjusted odds ratios (ORadj) and adjusted absolute risk reduction (ARRadj). This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01865513. Findings Between June 16, 2014, and April 29, 2015, data from 22803 patients were collected. The use of neuromuscular blocking agents was associated with an increased incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications in patients who had undergone general anaesthesia (1658 [7·6%] of 21694); ORadj 1·86, 95% CI 1·53–2·26; ARRadj –4·4%, 95% CI –5·5 to –3·2). Only 2·3% of high-risk surgical patients and those with adverse respiratory profiles were anaesthetised without neuromuscular blocking agents. The use of neuromuscular monitoring (ORadj 1·31, 95% CI 1·15–1·49; ARRadj –2·6%, 95% CI –3·9 to –1·4) and the administration of reversal agents (1·23, 1·07–1·41; –1·9%, –3·2 to –0·7) were not associated with a decreased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Neither the choice of sugammadex instead of neostigmine for reversal (ORadj 1·03, 95% CI 0·85–1·25; ARRadj –0·3%, 95% CI –2·4 to 1·5) nor extubation at a train-of-four ratio of 0·9 or more (1·03, 0·82–1·31; –0·4%, –3·5 to 2·2) was associated with better pulmonary outcomes. Interpretation We showed that the use of neuromuscular blocking drugs in general anaesthesia is associated with an increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Anaesthetists must balance the potential benefits of neuromuscular blockade against the increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications