Characterization of middle-ear condition of Oporto daycare children up-to 3 years-old: A cross sectional study

Objective The aim of this study was to determine tympanometric values of children who attend Oporto daycare centers and further analyze any relations with host and environmental factors. Methods Cross sectional study in a randomly selected sample of 117 daycare children up-to 3-years old from Oporto. Tympanometric measures were collected. Results Children presented in left ear (LE) a mean peak pressure (PP) of −156.53 daPa and a mean compliance of 0.16 cm3. Right ear (RE) revealed a PP of −145.61 daPa and a compliance of 0.19 cm3. Normal tympanograms (type A) had a lower frequency than abnormal tympanograms (type B and type C). There was a positive association between age and compliance (LE: p = 0.016; RE: p = 0.013) and between the presence of rhinorrhea and PP (LE: p = 0.002; RE: p < 0.05). Abnormal tympanograms were more frequent in Spring (RE: p = 0.009), in younger children (LE: p = 0.03) and in children that had rhinorrhea (LE: p = 0.002; RE: p = 0.044). Healthy children had a mean PP of −125.19 daPa and a mean compliance of 0.21 cm3 in LE and a mean PP of −144.27 daPa and a mean compliance of 0.22 cm3 in RE. Conclusion Tympanometric measures presented in this paper may be applicable to Oporto daycare children up-to 3 years-old. Most of daycare children revealed abnormal tympanograms. Age, rhinorrhea and season influenced children's middle-ear condition.

Efeitos imediatos da oscilação extra-torácica de alta frequência "THE VESTr", em pacientes críticos submetidos a ventilação mecânica

A retenção de secreções é um problema comum em pacientes sedados e ventilados invasivamente, estas são ponto de partida para o aparecimento de infecções, pneumonia nosocomial e agravamento geral do estado clínico do paciente. Apesar de estudos comprovarem a eficácia da fisioterapia respiratória convencional nestes doentes, outros demonstraram que é cara, operador dependente, de eficácia variada e por vezes causar desconforto e dor. Vários estudos que comprovaram a segurança e eficácia da Alta Frequência Oscilatória Extra Torácica serviram de base para a realização do estudo onde se avaliou os efeitos fisiológicos imediatos da aplicação da técnica e diferenças a médio e longo prazo na comparação entre dois grupos. O VestR força o ar para dentro e para fora dos pulmões aumentando a interacção fluxo/secreções reduzindo a sua viscosidade, ao libertar e mobilizar as secreções, estas são mais facilmente aspiradas, reduzindo o risco de infecção pulmonar. Dez pacientes que cumpriram critérios de inclusão entraram no estudo. Durante dois dias foi aplicado num dos grupos o VestR durante dez minutos, três vezes por dia. Foram registados os parâmetros ventilatórios, cardíacos e de oxigenação para avaliar efeitos fisiológicos imediatos. Para comparação de grupos foram efectuados registos durante as 48h dos parâmetros referidos anteriormente. No período de follow up foram registados os dias de internamento hospitalar na unidade de cuidados intensivos e os dias de ventilação mecânica invasiva. Pelo reduzido tamanho amostral foi usada a estatística descritiva para a análise dos dados. Não foram encontradas diferenças significativas entre os dois grupos, apesar de haver uma tendência de melhoria dos parâmetros fisiológicos imediatos durante a aplicação da técnica. Concluímos que, com a limitação do tamanho amostral, os efeitos positivos imediatos da aplicação da HFCWO neste grupo podem-se revelar um bom indício para a realização de estudos futuros, com tamanhos amostrais superiores e melhor controlados, que comprovem que é uma técnica mais vantajosa e eficaz para o tratamento dos doentes críticos.

Modelação do transporte e dispersão atmosférica de poluentes produzidos por uma refinaria: estudo de caso

Mestrado em Engenharia Química.Ramo Tecnologias de Protecção Ambiental

PPO Reaction Scale-up

O óxido de polifenileno com a marca comercial PPO® é uma das resinas principais produzidas na SABIC IP e o ingrediente principal do plástico de engenharia com a marca registada, Noryl®. A equipa de tecnologia de processo de PPO® desenvolve uma série de novos produtos em reactores de pequena escala, tanto em Selkirk como em Bergen op Zoom. Para se efectuar uma transição rápida da escala laboratorial para a fábrica, é necessário um conhecimento completo do reactor. O objectivo deste projecto consiste em esboçar linhas gerais para o scale-up de novos produtos de PPO1, do laboratório para a escala industrial, baseado no estudo de um tipo de PPO, PPO 803. Este estudo pode ser dividido em duas fases. Numa primeira fase, as receitas e os perfis da reacção são comparados, de onde se retiram as primeiras conclusões. Posteriormente, com base nestas conclusões, é realizado um planeamento experimental. O estudo inicial sugeriu que a receita, a temperatura inicial do reactor e a velocidade do agitador poderiam influenciar o tempo da reacção bem como a queda da velocidade intrínseca do polímero (IV drop). As reacções experimentais mostraram que a receita é o principal factor que influencia, tanto o tempo de reacção, como a queda de viscosidade intrínseca. O tempo de reacção será tanto maior quanto menor a agitação devido à má dispersão do oxigénio na mistura. O uso de temperaturas iniciais elevadas conduz a uma queda maior da viscosidade intrínseca devido à desactivação do catalisador. O método experimental utilizado no laboratório de Bergen op Zoom é um bom exemplo, simulador, do procedimento utilizado na fábrica.

Transtextualidade na tradução de "Der mann im fahrstuhl / The mann in the elevator"

In an age where Babel has turned into transcultural communication, an interlingual approach – i.e. in English and in French – to the translating process from German to Portuguese appeared pertinent. Aiming at a refinement of the translating competence, this process consists in contrasting different linguistic and literary strategies through an intercultural and multi-etymological perspective. Thus, we settled upon Heiner Müller‘s play Der Auftrag. Erinnerung an eine Revolution (1980), on which the composer Heiner Goebbels has based himself to textually and musically dramatize an excerpt, Der Mann im Farhstuhl / The Man in the Elevator. A transcription of such excerpt in its source language, German, as well as its translation into English (Carl Weber, 1984, Performing Arts Publications, New York) and French (Jean Jourdheuil, Heinz Schwarzinger, Editions Minuit, Paris) can be found in the booklet that accompanies the CD – edited in 1988 by ECD (München: Records GmbH). It should be emphasized that such a creation allows a framing of Müller‘s text into a musical scenography and, therefore, encourages an intersemiotic contrast. This experience enabled us to come up with a unique imagery of Müller‘s piece of writing, by means of its dramatic and musical conversion and, simultaneously, lead us to stretch our textual consciousness to a multitude of intra-, extra- and interlinguistic elements.

Soil remediation time to achieve clean-up goals I: influence of soil water content

The current models are not simple enough to allow a quick estimation of the remediation time. This work reports the development of an easy and relatively rapid procedure for the forecasting of the remediation time using vapour extraction. Sandy soils contaminated with cyclohexane and prepared with different water contents were studied. The remediation times estimated through the mathematical fitting of experimental results were compared with those of real soils. The main objectives were: (i) to predict, through a simple mathematical fitting, the remediation time of soils with water contents different from those used in the experiments; (ii) to analyse the influence of soil water content on the: (ii1) remediation time; (ii2) remediation efficiency; and (ii3) distribution of contaminants in the different phases present into the soil matrix after the remediation process. For sandy soils with negligible contents of clay and natural organic matter, artificially contaminated with cyclohexane before vapour extraction, it was concluded that (i) if the soil water content belonged to the range considered in the experiments with the prepared soils, then the remediation time of real soils of similar characteristics could be successfully predicted, with relative differences not higher than 10%, through a simple mathematical fitting of experimental results; (ii) increasing soil water content from 0% to 6% had the following consequences: (ii1) increased remediation time (1.8–4.9 h, respectively); (ii2) decreased remediation efficiency (99–97%, respectively); and (ii3) decreased the amount of contaminant adsorbed onto the soil and in the non-aqueous liquid phase, thus increasing the amount of contaminant in the aqueous and gaseous phases.

Soil remediation time to achieve clean-up goals II: influence of natural organic matter and water contents

This work reports a relatively rapid procedure for the forecasting of the remediation time (RT) of sandy soils contaminated with cyclohexane using vapour extraction. The RT estimated through the mathematical fitting of experimental results was compared with that of real soils. The main objectives were: (i) to predict the RT of soils with natural organic matter (NOM) and water contents different from those used in experiments; and (ii) to analyse the time and efficiency of remediation, and the distribution of contaminants into the soil matrix after the remediation process, according to the soil contents of: (ii1) NOM; and (ii2) water. For sandy soils with negligible clay contents, artificially contaminated with cyclohexane before vapour extraction, it was concluded that: (i) if the NOM and water contents belonged to the range of the prepared soils, the RT of real soils could be predicted with relative differences not higher than 12%; (ii1) the increase of NOM content from 0% to 7.5% increased the RT (1.8–13 h) and decreased the remediation efficiency (RE) (99–90%) and (ii2) the increase of soil water content from 0% to 6% increased the RT (1.8–4.9 h) and decreased the RE (99–97%). NOM increases the monolayer capacity leading to a higher sorption into the solid phase. Increasing of soil water content reduces the mass transfer coefficient between phases. Concluding, NOM and water contents influence negatively the remediation process, turning it less efficient and more time consuming, and consequently more expensive.

Frequency of TERT promoter mutations in human cancers

Reactivation of telomerase has been implicated in human tumorigenesis, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here we report the presence of recurrent somatic mutations in the TERT promoter in cancers of the central nervous system (43%), bladder (59%), thyroid (follicular cell-derived, 10%) and skin (melanoma, 29%). In thyroid cancers, the presence of TERT promoter mutations (when occurring together with BRAF mutations) is significantly associated with higher TERT mRNA expression, and in glioblastoma we find a trend for increased telomerase expression in cases harbouring TERT promoter mutations. Both in thyroid cancers and glioblastoma, TERT promoter mutations are significantly associated with older age of the patients. Our results show that TERT promoter mutations are relatively frequent in specific types of human cancers, where they lead to enhanced expression of telomerase.

Mismatch negativity in childhood temporal lobe epilepsy: a proposed paradigm for testing central auditory processing

Background: Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a neurological disorder that directly affects cortical areas responsible for auditory processing. The resulting abnormalities can be assessed using event-related potentials (ERP), which have high temporal resolution. However, little is known about TLE in terms of dysfunction of early sensory memory encoding or possible correlations between EEGs, linguistic deficits, and seizures. Mismatch negativity (MMN) is an ERP component – elicited by introducing a deviant stimulus while the subject is attending to a repetitive behavioural task – which reflects pre-attentive sensory memory function and reflects neuronal auditory discrimination and perceptional accuracy. Hypothesis: We propose an MMN protocol for future clinical application and research based on the hypothesis that children with TLE may have abnormal MMN for speech and non-speech stimuli. The MMN can be elicited with a passive auditory oddball paradigm, and the abnormalities might be associated with the location and frequency of epileptic seizures. Significance: The suggested protocol might contribute to a better understanding of the neuropsychophysiological basis of MMN. We suggest that in TLE central sound representation may be decreased for speech and non-speech stimuli. Discussion: MMN arises from a difference to speech and non-speech stimuli across electrode sites. TLE in childhood might be a good model for studying topographic and functional auditory processing and its neurodevelopment, pointing to MMN as a possible clinical tool for prognosis, evaluation, follow-up, and rehabilitation for TLE.

Biocomplementation of SVE to achieve clean-up goals in soils contaminated with toluene and xylene

Soil vapor extraction (SVE) and bioremediation (BR) are two of the most common soil remediation technologies. Their application is widespread; however, both present limitations, namely related to the efficiencies of SVE on organic soils and to the remediation times of some BR processes. This work aimed to study the combination of these two technologies in order to verify the achievement of the legal clean-up goals in soil remediation projects involving seven different simulated soils separately contaminated with toluene and xylene. The remediations consisted of the application of SVE followed by biostimulation. The results show that the combination of these two technologies is effective and manages to achieve the clean-up goals imposed by the Spanish Legislation. Under the experimental conditions used in this work, SVE is sufficient for the remediation of soils, contaminated separately with toluene and xylene, with organic matter contents (OMC) below 4 %. In soils with higher OMC, the use of BR, as a complementary technology, and when the concentration of contaminant in the gas phase of the soil reaches values near 1 mg/L, allows the achievement of the clean-up goals. The OMC was a key parameter because it hindered SVE due to adsorption phenomena but enhanced the BR process because it acted as a microorganism and nutrient source.

Caracterização molecular da resistência a antimicrobianos em Escherichia coli produtoras de β-lactamases de espectro alargado isoladas em cães e estudo da partilha de clones bacterianos entre animais de companhia e coabitantes humanos

A pressão seletiva originada pelo uso excessivo de antimicrobianos na medicina humana e veterinária tem contribuído para a emergência de estirpes bacterianas multirresistentes, sendo os estudos mais escassos relativamente à sua presença nos animais de companhia. Porque os animais e os seus proprietários partilham o mesmo espaço habitacional, apresentando comportamentos de contacto próximo, existe uma hipótese elevada de transferência microbiana inter-espécie. Ante esta possibilidade é importante escrutinar o papel dos animais de companhia enquanto reservatórios de estirpes e de genes de resistência, bem como a sua envolvência na disseminação de estirpes bacterianas multirresistentes. Importa também, investigar o papel das superfícies e objetos domésticos partilhados por ambos, como potenciadores deste fenómeno. O objetivo deste trabalho foi, identificar o filogrupo e fazer a caracterização molecular dos genes que conferem resistência aos β-lactâmicos e às quinolonas, em quarenta isolados de Escherichia coli produtoras de β-lactamases de espectro alargado (ESBL), obtidas em zaragatoas fecais de cães consultados no Hospital Veterinário do ICBAS-UP. Complementarmente pretendeu-se inferir sobre a partilha de clones de Escherichia coli e Enterococcus spp. com elevadas resistências, em cinco agregados familiares (humanos e seus animais de companhia) assim como avaliar a potencial disseminação de estirpes multirresistentes no ambiente doméstico. Previamente foram recolhidas zaragatoas de fezes, pelo e mucosa oral dos animais e em alguns casos, dos seus proprietários, e ainda do ambiente doméstico. As zaragatoas foram processadas e as estirpes isoladas com base em meios seletivos. Foram realizados testes de suscetibilidade antimicrobiana de modo a estabelecer o fenótipo de resistência de cada isolado. O DNA foi extraído por varias metodologias e técnicas de PCR foram utilizadas para caracterização de filogrupos (Escherichia coli) e identificação da espécie (Enterococcus spp.). A avaliação da proximidade filogenética entre isolados foi efetuada por ERIC PCR e PFGE. No conjunto de quarenta isolados produtores de ESBL e/ou resistentes a quinolonas verificou-se que 47,5% pertenciam ao filogrupo A, havendo uma menor prevalência do filogrupo D (25,0%), B1 (17,5%), e B2 (10,0%).A frequência de resistência nestes isolados é factualmente elevada, sendo reveladora de uma elevada pressão seletiva. Com exceção de dois isolados, os fenótipos foram justificados pela presença de β-lactamases. A frequência da presença de genes foi: 47% blaTEM, 34% blaSHV, 24% blaOXA , 18% blaCTX-M-15, 8% blaCTX-M-2, 3% blaCTX-M-9. Nos isolados resistentes às quinolonas verificou-se maioritariamente a presença de mutações nos genes cromossomais gyrA e parC, e em alguns casos a presença de um determinante de resistência mediado por plasmídeo – qnrS. Nos cinco “agregados familiares” (humanos e animais) estudados foi observada uma partilha frequente de clones de E. coli e Enterococcus faecalis com múltiplas resistências, isolados em fezes e mucosa oral de cães e gatos e fezes e mãos dos respetivos proprietários, evidenciando-se assim uma possível transferência direta entre coabitantes (agregados A, C, D, E). Ficou também comprovado com percentagens de similaridade genotípica superiores a 94% que essa disseminação também ocorre para o ambiente doméstico, envolvendo objetos dos animais e de uso comum (agregados A, E). Os resultados obtidos reforçam a necessidade de um uso prudente dos antimicrobianos, pois elevados padrões de resistências terão um impacto não só na qualidade de vida dos animais mas também na saúde humana. Adicionalmente importa sensibilizar os proprietários para a necessidade de uma maior vigilância relativamente às formas de interação com os animais, bem como para a adoção de medidas higiénicas cautelares após essa mesma interação.

Enhanced Race-to-halt: a leakage-aware energy management approach for dynamic priority systems

With progressing CMOS technology miniaturization, the leakage power consumption starts to dominate the dynamic power consumption. The recent technology trends have equipped the modern embedded processors with the several sleep states and reduced their overhead (energy/time) of the sleep transition. The dynamic voltage frequency scaling (DVFS) potential to save energy is diminishing due to efficient (low overhead) sleep states and increased static (leakage) power consumption. The state-of-the-art research on static power reduction at system level is based on assumptions that cannot easily be integrated into practical systems. We propose a novel enhanced race-to-halt approach (ERTH) to reduce the overall system energy consumption. The exhaustive simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach showing an improvement of up to 8 % over an existing work.

A sensor classification strategy for robotic manipulators

In practice the robotic manipulators present some degree of unwanted vibrations. The advent of lightweight arm manipulators, mainly in the aerospace industry, where weight is an important issue, leads to the problem of intense vibrations. On the other hand, robots interacting with the environment often generate impacts that propagate through the mechanical structure and produce also vibrations. In order to analyze these phenomena a robot signal acquisition system was developed. The manipulator motion produces vibrations, either from the structural modes or from endeffector impacts. The instrumentation system acquires signals from several sensors that capture the joint positions, mass accelerations, forces and moments, and electrical currents in the motors. Afterwards, an analysis package, running off-line, reads the data recorded by the acquisition system and extracts the signal characteristics. Due to the multiplicity of sensors, the data obtained can be redundant because the same type of information may be seen by two or more sensors. Because of the price of the sensors, this aspect can be considered in order to reduce the cost of the system. On the other hand, the placement of the sensors is an important issue in order to obtain the suitable signals of the vibration phenomenon. Moreover, the study of these issues can help in the design optimization of the acquisition system. In this line of thought a sensor classification scheme is presented. Several authors have addressed the subject of the sensor classification scheme. White (White, 1987) presents a flexible and comprehensive categorizing scheme that is useful for describing and comparing sensors. The author organizes the sensors according to several aspects: measurands, technological aspects, detection means, conversion phenomena, sensor materials and fields of application. Michahelles and Schiele (Michahelles & Schiele, 2003) systematize the use of sensor technology. They identified several dimensions of sensing that represent the sensing goals for physical interaction. A conceptual framework is introduced that allows categorizing existing sensors and evaluates their utility in various applications. This framework not only guides application designers for choosing meaningful sensor subsets, but also can inspire new systems and leads to the evaluation of existing applications. Today’s technology offers a wide variety of sensors. In order to use all the data from the diversity of sensors a framework of integration is needed. Sensor fusion, fuzzy logic, and neural networks are often mentioned when dealing with problem of combing information from several sensors to get a more general picture of a given situation. The study of data fusion has been receiving considerable attention (Esteban et al., 2005; Luo & Kay, 1990). A survey of the state of the art in sensor fusion for robotics can be found in (Hackett & Shah, 1990). Henderson and Shilcrat (Henderson & Shilcrat, 1984) introduced the concept of logic sensor that defines an abstract specification of the sensors to integrate in a multisensor system. The recent developments of micro electro mechanical sensors (MEMS) with unwired communication capabilities allow a sensor network with interesting capacity. This technology was applied in several applications (Arampatzis & Manesis, 2005), including robotics. Cheekiralla and Engels (Cheekiralla & Engels, 2005) propose a classification of the unwired sensor networks according to its functionalities and properties. This paper presents a development of a sensor classification scheme based on the frequency spectrum of the signals and on a statistical metrics. Bearing these ideas in mind, this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 describes briefly the robotic system enhanced with the instrumentation setup. Section 3 presents the experimental results. Finally, section 4 draws the main conclusions and points out future work.

Automated design of microwave discrete tuning differential capacitance circuits in Si-integrated technologies

A genetic algorithm used to design radio-frequency binary-weighted differential switched capacitor arrays (RFDSCAs) is presented in this article. The algorithm provides a set of circuits all having the same maximum performance. This article also describes the design, implementation, and measurements results of a 0.25 lm BiCMOS 3-bit RFDSCA. The experimental results show that the circuit presents the expected performance up to 40 GHz. The similarity between the evolutionary solutions, circuit simulations, and measured results indicates that the genetic synthesis method is a very useful tool for designing optimum performance RFDSCAs.