Inspeção e diagnóstico de edifícios recentes: estudo de um caso real

Trabalho de Projeto para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Civil na Área de Especialização em Edificações

The contribution of cellblock – histogel – in bronchial washing samples

Introduction: The cellblock is a technique that enables the pathologist to study the morphological detail of residual samples and can be used when it is necessary to perform additional diagnostic techniques. Objective: Demonstrate the processing of bronchial washings in liquid based cytology to cellblock using HistoGel in residual samples, evaluating the morphology and preservation of cytological material. Methods: There were used 40 residual samples from bronchial washings in liquid based cytology, after determination of the clinical diagnosis, being made subsequently 40 cellblocks using HistoGel. For each cellblock there was made one histological section for analysis of cell morphology, which was subsequently stained with the routine histological staining. After microscope observation, the morphology was evaluated by 3 experts in the field of pathology, based on the parameters: Cellularity, Preservation and Background. Results: The average final score of 3 evaluators, on a scale of 0 to 100, in assessing the morphology of the 40 samples was 55.6. From the 40 histological sections, 5 of them were considered not viable for evaluation. Conclusions: The results obtained indicate median quality maintenance of morphology. However, it is noted that in only 5 cases it was not possible to determine an evaluation, knowing from the outset that these are residual samples with a very scant cellularity. Thus, it is possible to say that the processing of bronchial washings to cellblock using HistoGel contributes to a concentration of the cytological material, allowing its evaluation and subsequent diagnosis. Additional diagnostic techniques are shown equally viable in these cellblocks.

STIR, SPIR and SPAIR techniques in magnetic resonance of the breast: a comparative study

The amount of fat is a component that complicates the clinical evaluation and the differential diagnostic between benign and malign lesions in the breast MRI examinations. To overcome this problem, an effective erasing of the fat signal over the images acquisition process, is essentials. This study aims to compare three fat suppression techniques (STIR, SPIR, SPAIR) in the MR images of the breast and to evaluate the best image quality regarding its clinical usefulness. To mimic breast women, a breast phantom was constructed. First the exterior contour and, in second time, its content which was selected based on 7 samples with different components. Finally it was undergone to a MRI breast protocol with the three different fat saturation techniques. The examinations were performed on a 1.5 T MRI system (Philips®). A group of 5 experts evaluated 9 sequences, 3 of each with fat suppression techniques, in which the frequency offset and TI (Inversion Time) were the variables changed. This qualitative image analysis was performed according 4 parameters (saturation uniformity, saturation efficacy, detail of the anatomical structures and differentiation between the fibroglandular and adipose tissue), using a five-point Likert scale. The statistics analysis showed that anyone of the fat suppression techniques demonstrated significant differences compared to the others with (p > 0.05) and regarding each parameter independently. By Fleiss’ kappa coefficient there was a good agreement among observers P(e) = 0.68. When comparing STIR, SPIR and SPAIR techniques it was confirmed that all of them have advantages in the study of the breast MRI. For the studied parameters, the results through the Friedman Test showed that there are similar advantages applying anyone of these techniques.

Molecular mobility, composition and structure analysis in glycerol plasticised chitosan films

This study was developed with the purpose to investigate the effect of polysaccharide/plasticiser concentration on the microstructure and molecular dynamics of polymeric film systems, using transmission electron microscope imaging (TEM) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. Experiments were carried out in chitosan/glycerol films prepared with solutions of different composition. The films obtained after drying and equilibration were characterised in terms of composition, thickness and water activity. Results show that glycerol quantities used in film forming solutions were responsible for films composition; while polymer/total plasticiser ratio in the solution determined the thickness (and thus structure) of the films. These results were confirmed by TEM. NMR allowed understanding the films molecular rearrangement. Two different behaviours for the two components analysed, water and glycerol were observed: the first is predominantly moving free in the matrix, while glycerol is mainly bounded to the chitosan chain. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.