CASE REPORT: HEPATIC FAILURE IN A MARE DUE TO HEPATOTOXIC PLANTS PASTURE IN THE SOUTHERN OF PORTUGAL

Compromise of hepatic function in horses is probably more frequent than commonly described, mainly due to the great regenerative capacity of the liver that precludes clinical sings until 75% of liver parenchyma is affected. Despite exposure to hepatotoxic plants is the most common cause of chronic hepatic failure there are no reports in Portugal concerning this pathology in horses. Pepa a 4 year old mare, undetermined breed, presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the University of Évora with signs of intermittent abdominal pain and weight loss for one week. According to the owner, during the last year, 5 horses and 3 cows had died with similar clinical signs at the same pasture. Before death the horses showed anorexia, icterus and neurological deficit. Upon presentation Pepa had a rectal temperature of 39ºC, a heart rate of 62 and a respiratory rate of 24. The mare presented mucosal congestion, oral erosions, slightly reduce gastrointestinal motility and dermatitis in the forelimb fetlock. Rectal palpation was physiological and passage of a nasogastric tube showed no gastric reflux. Serum biochemistry profile revealed high values for alkaline phosfatase (AP), gamaglutamyl transferase (GGT), aspartate amino transaminase (AST) and total bilirubin. The complete blood count was within physiological limits. After vesical catheterization urinalysis revealed bilirubinuria and hemoglobinuria. Abdominal ultrasonographic exam showed hepatic hiperecogenicity. Coagulation profile revealed an elevated protrobim time (PTT) so we decided to wait for 3 days until liver biopsy. Meanwhile the mare was kept in stall, without light exposure, feeding only roughage. We started intravenous 5% glucose fluids, supplementation with branched-chain amino acids and extra-label enrofloxacin (5mg/kg BW, sid, IV). During this period Pepa showed intermittent neurological signs with head pressing and compulsive walking. Ultrasonographic guided liver biopsy was performed in the standing mare sedated with detomidine and butorfanol and under local anaesthesia. Histopathologic exam revealed hepatic megalocytosis, globular cytoplasmic invaginations within the nuclei, hydropic degeneration, intracellular biliar granular accumulation and fibroplasia that lead to the diagnostic of pyrrolizidine alkaloid toxicosis. The treatment was kept as described earlier except the enrofloxacin administration that was discontinued after 10 days of treatment. After one month at the Veterinary Hospital Pepa was send home and it was recommended to be feed with beet pulp and sorghum, kept at stall. Although the prognosis is usually guarded, especially when there are extensive megalocytosis and fibrosis as in this case, we decided to continue supportative care and, nowadays, 4 months after left our Hospital, Pepa presents no clinical signs and liver probes are within physiological values

Mobile augmented reality techniques for emergency response

FCT/MCTES PEstUID/CEC/04516/2019In an emergency situation, each response agent must act quickly and accurately. The support of a mobile device that can provide an appropriate insight of the surroundings and that allows users to exchange information with the other members of the emergency teams, can prevent harm and even save many lives. This paper presents a mobile application that integrates a georeferenced system with augmented reality techniques, in order to serve the needs of the operatives in emergency situations. The work intends to introduce solutions which optimize the performance with which the user takes advantage of the mobile application, such as the organization of the data flow that is displayed and the augmentation of the surrounding area. User studies were conducted with members of the National Navy. The results were positive although there are still some aspects that should be improved.publishersversionpublishe

ARCAA: a framework to analyse the artefact ecology in computer music performance

This paper presents ARCAA (Actors, Role, Context, Activity, Artefacts), a framework that supports designers in understanding the artefact ecology in the music performance scenario, in particular, allowing to frame the role of the different actors. The ARCAA framework is the result of the combination of two different areas of HCI: artefact ecology concept, and design framework for digital musical instruments. The model borrows three categories from MINUET an established design framework and rethinks them from an ecological perspective. In ARCAA, these three categories are used as three lenses to connect each human actor to her artefact ecology. Finally, the framework allows comparing how the various artefacts create connections among the different people involved. The second part of the paper describes a case study that shows a practical adoption of the framework

Avaliação do desempenho produtivo de um bando de perus na cria em produção intensiva

Orientação : Sofia Van HartenO maneio é uma prioridade na avicultura moderna, sendo um meio importante para a prevenção de problemas. Neste processo deve-se analisar e adequar fatores interativos que influenciam os perus, e que resultam da perceção e experiência humana dos animais e seu ambiente, de modo a influenciar positivamente a saúde, o bem-estar e o desempenho dos animais. O maneio combinado com a biossegurança, e atentando ao bem-estar das aves, leva à otimização da produção a nível económico, ambiental e animal. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a performance de um bando de perus na 1ª fase, tendo sido avaliados vários parâmetros (taxa de mortalidade, taxa de viabilidade, ganho médio diário, índice de conversão, pesos médios corporais, consumo médio de ração, índice de eficiência produtiva, fator de eficiência produtiva europeu e gasto médio de ração). Obtiveram-se valores perto do padrão nas fêmeas contrariamente aos machos. Estes apresentaram valores alterados, abaixo da média, nomeadamente no ganho médio diário, índice de conversão, pesos médios corporais e consumo médio de ração. Uma possível explicação deste facto pode estar relacionada com os fatores ambientais a que estavam sujeitos (densidade populacional elevada que levou à degradação da cama, do ambiente e à diminuição da performance dos animais).Management is one of the priorities in modern aviculture as a mean to prevent problems. Regarding this issue, interactive factors which have an influence on turkeys and which result of human perception and experience of the animals and their environment, should be analyzed and suited in a way to influence positively animal’s health, welfare and performance. The aim of this work was to evaluate the performance of a turkey flock in the 1st phase of production, evaluating several parameters (mortality rate, viability rate, average daily gain, conversion rate, average weights, average feed consumption, productivity efficiency rate, European productivity efficiency factor and average feed cost). The hens’ values were near standard, unlike the males. These presented different values, below standard, namely average daily gain, conversion rate, average weight and average feed consumption. One possible explanation for this fact may be related to the environmental factors that they were exposed to (high population density leading to litter degradation, environmental degradation and animal performance’s decrease)

Arsenite oxidase in complex with antimonite and arsenite oxyanions - insights into the catalytic mechanism

Arsenic contamination of groundwater is among one of the biggest health threats affecting millions of people in the world. There is an urgent need for efficient arsenic biosensors where the use of arsenic metabolizing enzymes can be explored. In this work we have solved the crystal structures of four complexes of arsenite oxidase (Aio) obtained in complex with arsenic and antimony oxyanions and the structures determined correspond to intermediate states of the enzymatic mechanism. These structural data were complemented with DFT calculations providing a unique view of the molybdenum active site at different time points that, together with mutagenesis data, enabled to clarify the enzymatic mechanism and the molecular determinants for the oxidation of As(III) to the less toxic As(V) species

Actas da 2ª Conferência Nacional em Interacção Pessoa-Máquina

Actas da 2ª Conferência Nacional em Interacção Pessoa-Máquina, Braga, 16-18 Outubro de 2006Depois do sucesso da primeira edição, organizada em Julho de 2004 na Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, organizou-se em 2006 a Interacç˜ão 2006 – 2a. Conferência Nacional em Interacç˜ao Pessoa-Máquina – numa iniciativa conjunta do Grupo Português de Computação Gráfica e do Departamento de Informática/Centro de Ciências da Computação da Universidade do Minho. Tal como na sua primeira edição˜ a Interacção 2006 visou promover um ponto de encontro da comunidade interessada na Interacção Pessoa-Máquina em Portugal. Reunindo investigadores, docentes e profissionais, permitiu a divulgação de trabalhos e a troca de experiências entre as comunidades académica e industrial