Surgical correction of scoliosis: Numerical analysis and optimization of the procedure

A previously developed model is used to numerically simulate real clinical cases of the surgical correction of scoliosis. This model consists of one-dimensional finite elements with spatial deformation in which (i) the column is represented by its axis; (ii) the vertebrae are assumed to be rigid; and (iii) the deformability of the column is concentrated in springs that connect the successive rigid elements. The metallic rods used for the surgical correction are modeled by beam elements with linear elastic behavior. To obtain the forces at the connections between the metallic rods and the vertebrae geometrically, non-linear finite element analyses are performed. The tightening sequence determines the magnitude of the forces applied to the patient column, and it is desirable to keep those forces as small as possible. In this study, a Genetic Algorithm optimization is applied to this model in order to determine the sequence that minimizes the corrective forces applied during the surgery. This amounts to find the optimal permutation of integers 1, ... , n, n being the number of vertebrae involved. As such, we are faced with a combinatorial optimization problem isomorph to the Traveling Salesman Problem. The fitness evaluation requires one computing intensive Finite Element Analysis per candidate solution and, thus, a parallel implementation of the Genetic Algorithm is developed.

Automatic assignment of absolute configuration from 1D NMR data

Opposite enantiomers exhibit different NMR properties in the presence of an external common chiral element, and a chiral molecule exhibits different NMR properties in the presence of external enantiomeric chiral elements. Automatic prediction of such differences, and comparison with experimental values, leads to the assignment of the absolute configuration. Here two cases are reported, one using a dataset of 80 chiral secondary alcohols esterified with (R)-MTPA and the corresponding 1H NMR chemical shifts and the other with 94 13C NMR chemical shifts of chiral secondary alcohols in two enantiomeric chiral solvents. For the first application, counterpropagation neural networks were trained to predict the sign of the difference between chemical shifts of opposite stereoisomers. The neural networks were trained to process the chirality code of the alcohol as the input, and to give the NMR property as the output. In the second application, similar neural networks were employed, but the property to predict was the difference of chemical shifts in the two enantiomeric solvents. For independent test sets of 20 objects, 100% correct predictions were obtained in both applications concerning the sign of the chemical shifts differences. Additionally, with the second dataset, the difference of chemical shifts in the two enantiomeric solvents was quantitatively predicted, yielding r2 0.936 for the test set between the predicted and experimental values.

Avaliação do risco associado a movimentos verticais de navios em manobra no porto da Praia da Vitória

O risco associado a um navio em manobra pode ser avaliado pela probabilidade do movimento vertical de um ponto do navio ultrapassar um determinado limiar pré-definido. Essa excedência pode originar danos tanto no próprio navio como nas estruturas portuárias envolventes. Este trabalho surge no seguimento de um estudo efectuado no Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (LNEC), no qual foi desenvolvido um conjunto de ferramentas de avaliação da função resposta do navio quando sujeito à agitação marítima e, partindo dessas ferramentas, foi obtido um procedimento para determinação do espectro dos movimentos verticais de um ponto de um navio parado sujeito àquele estado de agitação (Rodrigues, 2010). No presente estudo, estendeu-se esse procedimento de modo a avaliar a influência da velocidade de avanço do navio no espectro dos movimentos verticais do mesmo. O percurso de entrada do “N/M Fernão Gomes” no porto da Praia da Vitória foi o caso de estudo considerado. A agitação marítima incidente no navio cobriu o período de Janeiro de 2009 a Dezembro de 2010 e foi obtida com base no modelo previsão de escala regional (WAVEWATCH III) e posteriormente transferida para o interior do porto com o recurso a modelos numéricos de propagação de ondas (SWAN e DREAMS). Foi também assumido que a altura do movimento vertical do navio segue uma distribuição de Rayleigh, a qual possibilita a determinação da altura significativa desse movimento vertical, bem como a implementação de um procedimento para determinar a probabilidade de a altura do movimento vertical do navio não exceder um limiar pré-definido e consequentemente mostrar, através da análise dos resultados, a influência da velocidade de avanço do navio. Da análise dos resultados concluiu-se que a velocidade tem uma influência significativa nos resultados. No final avaliou-se a contribuição dos resultados anteriormente determinados, para a análise do risco associado aos movimentos verticais do navio quando em manobra no porto em estudo.

Psychological impact of diagnostic exams

Introduction: Anxiety is a common problem in primary care and specialty medical settings. Treating an anxious patient takes more time and adds stress to staff. Unrecognized anxiety may lead to exam repetition, and impedance of exam performance. Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the anxiety levels of patients who are to undergo diagnostic exams related to cancer diagnostic: PET/CT and mammography. Methods: Two hundred and thirty two patients who undergo PET/CT and one hundred thirteen women who undergo mammography filled out one questionnaire after the procedure to determine their concerns, expectations and perceptions of anxiety. Results: Our results show that the main causes of anxiety in patients who are having a PET/CT is the fear of the procedure itself and fear of the results. Patients who suffered from greater anxiety were those who were scanned during the initial stage of an oncological disease. On the other hand, the diagnostic is the main cause of anxiety in women who are requiring a mammography. 28% of the women reported having experienced pain or intense pain. Conclusions: The performance of diagnostic exams related to cancer diagnostic like a PET/CT and a mammography are important and statistically generators of anxiety. Patients are often poorly informed and present with a range of anxieties that may ultimately affect examination quality. These results provide expertise that can be used in the development of future training programs to integrate post-graduate courses of health professionals.