A new empirical system for rock slope stability analysis in exploitation stage

An empirical system was developed to obtain a quality index for rock slopes in road infrastructures, named Slope Quality Index (SQI), and it was applied to a set of real slopes.The SQI is supported in nine factors affecting slope stability that contemplate the evaluation of different parameters. Consequently, each factor is classified by the degree of importance and influence by assigned weights. These weights were established through a statistical analysis of replies to a survey that was distributed to several experienced professionals in the field. The proposed SQI varies between1 and 5, corresponding to slopes in very good and very bad condition state, respectively. Besides the advantage linked to a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of slopes, theSQI also allows identifying the most critical factors on the slope stability, which is a fundamental issue for an efficient management of the slope network in the road infrastructure, namely in the planning of conservation and maintenance operations.

Development of a new 3D OpenFOAM® solver to model the cooling stage in profile extrusion

[Excerpt] The advantages resulting from the use of numerical modelling tools to support the design of processing equipment are almost consensual. The design of calibration systems in profile extrusion is not an exception . H owever , the complex geome tries and heat exchange phenomena involved in this process require the use of numerical solvers able to model the heat exchange in more than one domain ( calibrator and polymer), the compatibilization of the heat transfer at the profile - calibrator interface and with the ability to deal with complex geometries. The combination of all these features is usually hard to find in commercial software. Moreover , the dimension of the meshes required to ob tain accurate results, result in computational times prohibitive for industrial application. (...)

Biochemical and physical surface functionalization of polycaprolactone as a key mediator of osteogenic differentiation and vascularized tissue morphogenesis

Tese de Doutoramento em Engenharia de Tecidos, Medicina Regenerativa e Células Estaminais.

Dynamic modelling and analysis of hydraulic forces in radial blood pumps

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Biomedical Engineering Biomaterials, Biomechanics and Rehabilitation

A spectrophotometry based blood typing device

Blood typing is a crucial step before any blood transfusion. However, sometimes in emergency situations there is no time to determine the blood of the patient beforehand. In this cases, O negative blood type is administered, which has a lesser incompatibility risk to the patient. Nowadays, the “gold standard” blood typing devices cannot be used in emergency situations due to their high response time (about 30 minutes). This paper reports a blood typing device that determines the ABO and Rh human phenotypes. This device is fast (response time – 5 min), low-cost, and portable. Characteristics that make it suitable to be used in emergency situations, contributing to a higher efficiency and quality in healthcare.

Assessment of prognosis in patients with stage II colon cancer

Assessment of prognosis of patients with stage II colon cancer.

An epidemiological study determining blood pressure in a Portuguese cohort: the Guimaraes/Vizela study

Surveying the evolution of blood pressure (BP) levels and hypertension (HTN) prevalence is important. A stringent strategy was utilized in a population cohort study. The BP was measured at two visits at least 3 months apart, and the results were analyzed using the following two methods: the Surveillance method (three BP measurements were performed in one visit, and the results were compared with those published previously for the identical method) and the Clinical method (three measurements per visit for two visits, and the concordant results in both visits were used to determine the BP classification). A total of 2542 subjects completed the evaluation. Using the Clinical method, an average systolic/diastolic BP value of 129.8/76.8?mm?Hg was obtained, and the prevalence of HTN was 31.6%. Of the hypertensive patients, 74.3% were aware of his/her condition; 69.1% were treated and 40.8% of those treated had adequate BP control. A total of 24.7% of subjects changed his/her BP classification between visits, and 13.7% misreported HTN. Using the Surveillance method, we determined that the average global SBP has been maintained, with HTN prevalence increasing in this region, drifting from reported trends nationally and worldwide. There has been improvement in the proportion of treated and controlled subjects; however, the Surveillance method overestimated the HTN prevalence and underestimated the proportion of treated and controlled subjects. The BP levels were higher than observed worldwide in high-cardiovascular (CV) risk countries as well as higher than the minimum risk exposure level for developing CV disease.

Real-time monitoring of progression towards renal failure in primary care patients

First published online: December 16, 2014.

Stage at presentation of breast cancer in Luanda, Angola - a retrospective study

Background: It is expected that, by 2020, 15 million new cases of cancer will occur every year in the world, one million of them in Africa. Knowledge of cancer trends in African countries is far from adequate, and improvements in cancer prevention efforts are urgently needed. The aim of this study was to characterize breast cancer clinically and pathologically at presentation in Luanda, Angola; we additionally provide quality information that will be useful for breast cancer care planning in the country. Methods: Data on breast cancer cases were retrieved from the Angolan Institute of Cancer Control, from 2006 to 2014. For women diagnosed in 2009 (5-years of follow-up), demographic, clinical and pathological information, at presentation, was collected, namely age at diagnosis, parity, methods used for pathological diagnoses, tumor pathological characteristics, stage of disease and treatment. Descriptive statistics were performed. Results: The median age of women diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 was 47 years old (range 25–89). The most frequent clinical presentation was breast swelling with axillary lymph nodes metastasis (44.9 %), followed by a mass larger than 5 cm (14.2 %) and lump (12.9 %). Invasive ductal carcinoma was the main histologic type (81.8 %). Only 10.1 % of cancer cases had a well differentiated histological grade. Cancers were diagnosed mostly at advanced stages (66.7 % in stage III and 11.1 % in stage IV). Discussion: In this study, breast cancer was diagnosed at a very advanced stage. Although it reports data from a single cancer center in Luanda, Angola it reinforces the need for early diagnosis and increasing awareness. According to the main challenges related to breast cancer diagnosis and treatment herein presented, we propose a realistic framework that would allow for the implementation of a breast cancer care program, built under a strong network based on cooperation, teaching, audit, good practices and the organization of health services. Conclusion: Angola needs urgently a program for early diagnosis of breast cancer.

Promising blood-derived biomarkers for estimation of the postmortem interval

A precise estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI) is one of the most important topics in forensic pathology. However, the PMI estimation is based mainly on the visual observation of cadaverous pheno- mena (e.g. algor, livor and rigor mortis) and on alternative methods such as thanatochemistry that remain relatively imprecise. The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the kinetic alterations of several bio- chemical parameters (i.e. proteins, enzymes, substrates, electrolytes and lipids) during putrefaction of human blood. For this purpose, we performed kinetic biochemical analysis during a 264 hour period. The results showed a significant linear correlation between total and direct bilirubin, urea, uric acid, transferrin, immunoglobulin M (IgM), creatine kinase (CK), aspartate transaminase (AST), calcium and iron with the time of blood putrefaction. These parameters allowed us to develop two mathematical models that may have predictive values and become important complementary tools of traditional methods to achieve a more accurate PMI estimation

Perspetivas de casais e de diretores de biobancos face à criopreservação do sangue do cordão umbilical em Portugal

Dissertação de mestrado em Crime, Diferença e Desigualdade

Real-Time decision support using data mining to predict blood pressure critical events in intensive medicine patients

Patient blood pressure is an important vital signal to the physicians take a decision and to better understand the patient condition. In Intensive Care Units is possible monitoring the blood pressure due the fact of the patient being in continuous monitoring through bedside monitors and the use of sensors. The intensivist only have access to vital signs values when they look to the monitor or consult the values hourly collected. Most important is the sequence of the values collected, i.e., a set of highest or lowest values can signify a critical event and bring future complications to a patient as is Hypotension or Hypertension. This complications can leverage a set of dangerous diseases and side-effects. The main goal of this work is to predict the probability of a patient has a blood pressure critical event in the next hours by combining a set of patient data collected in real-time and using Data Mining classification techniques. As output the models indicate the probability (%) of a patient has a Blood Pressure Critical Event in the next hour. The achieved results showed to be very promising, presenting sensitivity around of 95%.

Determination of the importance of iron acquisition for Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm survival in human blood

Dissertação de mestrado em Bioengenharia