A New Electronic Approach for the Surgical Safety Checklist

To improve surgical safety, and to reduce the mortality and surgical complications incidence, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed the Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC). The SSC is a support of information that aids health professionals to reduce the number of complications, induction of anaesthesia, period before skin incision and period before leaving the operating room (OR). The SSC was tested in several countries of the world and their results shown that after introduction of the SSC the incidence of patient complication lowered from 11.0% to 7.0% (P<0.001), the rate of death declined from 1.5% to 0.8% (P = 0.003) and the nurses recognized that patients identity was more often con rmed (81.6% to 94.2%, P<0.01) in many institutions. Recently the SSC was also implemented in Portuguese hospitals, which led us to its study in the real clinical environment. An observational study was performed: several health professionals were observed and interviewed, to understand the functioning of the SSC in an OR, during the clinical routine. The objective of this study was to understand the current use of the SSC, and how it may be improved in terms of usability, taking advantage of the technological advancements such as mobile applications. During two days were observed 14 surgeries, only 2 surgeries met the requirements for the three phases of the SSC, as de ned by the WHO. Of the remaining 12 observed surgeries, 9 surgeries completed the last phase at the correct time. It was also observed that only in 2 surgeries all the phases of the SSC were read aloud to the team and that, in 7 surgeries, several items were read aloud and answered but no one was checking the SSC, only after the end of the phase. The observational study results disclose that several health professionals do not meet with rules of the WHO manual. This study demonstrates that it is urgent to change the mindset of health professionals, and that di erent features in the SSC may be useful to make it more easy to use. With the results of the observational study, a SSC application proposal was developed with new functionalities to improve and aid the health professional in its use. In this application the user can chose between a SSC already created to a speci c surgery or to create a new SSC, adding and adapting some questions from the WHO standard. To create a new SSC, the application is connected to an online questionnaire builder (JotForm). The choice for this online questionnaire builder went through three essential characteristics: number of types of questions, mainly checkbox, radio button and text; the possibility of to create sections inside sections and the API. In addition, in this proposal the improvements are focused in forcing the user to focus in the work ow of the SSC and to save the input timestamps and any actions made by them. Therefore, the following features was implemented to achieve that goal: display one item of the SSC at a time; display the stage where the SSC is; do not allow going back to the previous step; do not allow going forward to the next item if the current is not lled; do not allow going forward to the next item if the time it took to ll the item was too short and log any action made by the user.

Feasibility of Focal Transcranial DC Polarization with Simultaneous EEG Recording: Preliminary Assessment in Healthy Subjects and Human Epilepsy

We aimed to investigate the feasibility of an experimental system for simultaneous transcranial DC stimulation(tDCS) and EEG recording in human epilepsy. We report tolerability of this system in a cross-over controlled trial with 15 healthy subjects and preliminary effects of its use, testing repeated tDCS sessions, in two patients with drug-refractory Continuous Spike-Wave Discharges During Slow Sleep (CSWS). Our system combining continuous recording of the EEG with tDCS allows detailed evaluation of the interictal activity during the entire process. Stimulation with 1 mA was well‐tolerated in both healthy volunteers and patients with refractory epilepsy. The large reduction in interictal epileptiform EEG discharges in the two subjects with epilepsy supports further investigation of tDCS using this combined method of stimulation and monitoring in epilepsy. Continuous monitoring of epileptic activity throughout tDCS improves safety and allows detailed evaluation of epileptic activity changes induced by tDCS in patients.

E.D.I.: electronic data interchange

O presente trabalho tem como tema a Troca Electrónica de Dados (Electronic Data Interchange – EDI) transferência de dados estruturados, respeitando mensagens normalizadas estabelecidas, computador a computador, por meios electrónicos. Trocas entre computadores refere-se a trocas entre aplicações informáticas: por exemplo o sistema de encomendas envia ordens ao sistema central de controlo da produção, o qual então fará o envio da respectiva factura. O EDI aberto faz a troca electrónica de dados entre parceiros autónomos que se associaram para fazerem trocas de dados estruturados que são destinados a serem processados por programas de aplicações.

Electronic books

Este documento de trabalho visa apresentar o conceito de electronic book e discutir questões relacionadas com este novo género de publicação e sua aceitação pelo mercado, as vantagens, alguns desafios e principais dificuldades enfrentadas pelos produtores. Com o desenvolvimento das novas tecnologias, emergem novas expectativas em relação às potencialidades do ambiente digital ao que se verifica no meio impresso: custos reduzidos, facilitando a replicação de cópias e a quase livre e imediata distribuição de cópias no mundo inteiro através da Internet.

Enhancing Agent Mediated Electronic Markets with Ontology Matching Services and Social Network Support

Os Mercados Eletrónicos atingiram uma complexidade e nível de sofisticação tão elevados, que tornaram inadequados os modelos de software convencionais. Estes mercados são caracterizados por serem abertos, dinâmicos e competitivos, e constituídos por várias entidades independentes e heterogéneas. Tais entidades desempenham os seus papéis de forma autónoma, seguindo os seus objetivos, reagindo às ocorrências do ambiente em que se inserem e interagindo umas com as outras. Esta realidade levou a que existisse por parte da comunidade científica um especial interesse no estudo da negociação automática executada por agentes de software [Zhang et al., 2011]. No entanto, a diversidade dos atores envolvidos pode levar à existência de diferentes conceptualizações das suas necessidades e capacidades dando origem a incompatibilidades semânticas, que podem prejudicar a negociação e impedir a ocorrência de transações que satisfaçam as partes envolvidas. Os novos mercados devem, assim, possuir mecanismos que lhes permitam exibir novas capacidades, nomeadamente a capacidade de auxiliar na comunicação entre os diferentes agentes. Pelo que, é defendido neste trabalho que os mercados devem oferecer serviços de ontologias que permitam facilitar a interoperabilidade entre os agentes. No entanto, os humanos tendem a ser relutantes em aceitar a conceptualização de outros, a não ser que sejam convencidos de que poderão conseguir um bom negócio. Neste contexto, a aplicação e exploração de relações capturadas em redes sociais pode resultar no estabelecimento de relações de confiança entre vendedores e consumidores, e ao mesmo tempo, conduzir a um aumento da eficiência da negociação e consequentemente na satisfação das partes envolvidas. O sistema AEMOS é uma plataforma de comércio eletrónico baseada em agentes que inclui serviços de ontologias, mais especificamente, serviços de alinhamento de ontologias, incluindo a recomendação de possíveis alinhamentos entre as ontologias dos parceiros de negociação. Este sistema inclui também uma componente baseada numa rede social, que é construída aplicando técnicas de análise de redes socias sobre informação recolhida pelo mercado, e que permite melhorar a recomendação de alinhamentos e auxiliar os agentes na sua escolha. Neste trabalho são apresentados o desenvolvimento e implementação do sistema AEMOS, mais concretamente: • É proposto um novo modelo para comércio eletrónico baseado em agentes que disponibiliza serviços de ontologias; • Adicionalmente propõem-se o uso de redes sociais emergentes para captar e explorar informação sobre relações entre os diferentes parceiros de negócio; • É definida e implementada uma componente de serviços de ontologias que é capaz de: • o Sugerir alinhamentos entre ontologias para pares de agentes; • o Traduzir mensagens escritas de acordo com uma ontologia em mensagens escritas de acordo com outra, utilizando alinhamentos previamente aprovados; • o Melhorar os seus próprios serviços recorrendo às funcionalidades disponibilizadas pela componente de redes sociais; • É definida e implementada uma componente de redes sociais que: • o É capaz de construir e gerir um grafo de relações de proximidade entre agentes, e de relações de adequação de alinhamentos a agentes, tendo em conta os perfis, comportamento e interação dos agentes, bem como a cobertura e utilização dos alinhamentos; • o Explora e adapta técnicas e algoritmos de análise de redes sociais às várias fases dos processos do mercado eletrónico. A implementação e experimentação do modelo proposto demonstra como a colaboração entre os diferentes agentes pode ser vantajosa na melhoria do desempenho do sistema e como a inclusão e combinação de serviços de ontologias e redes sociais se reflete na eficiência da negociação de transações e na dinâmica do mercado como um todo.

The impact of online brand community on electronic word-of-mouth communications

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Development of ion jelly thin films for electrochemical devices

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Química Sustentável

electronic payments in mozambique: A Baseline on their adoption in Maputo and Matola

This study analyses the access and use of financial services by small business owners in the cities of Mozambique, as an important tool for boosting economic growth and diminishing inequality. It correlates owners’ and business characteristics with the probability of adopting Points-of-Sale (POS), Mobile Banking and Mobile Money in everyday transactions. The main findings highlight that what mostly affects the use of POS is the size of business and the volume of transactions (positively correlated with POS adoption), while using mobile phone technologies for payments predominantly depends on the owner’s age and whether he/she is a frequent cellphone user. Moreover, to increase the use of electronic means of payment it is necessary to increase financial literacy and improve the banking services.

Comparison of the fluorescent polarization (TDx) and the enzymatic competitive (EMIT 2000) immune assays for the measurement of cyclosporin A blood concentration

Evaluation of Cyclosporin A (CyA) blood concentration is imperative in solid organ transplantation in order to achieve maximal immunosuppression with the least side effects. We compared the results of whole blood concentrations of CyA in 50 blood samples simultaneously evaluated by the fluorescent polarization immune assay (TDx) and the enzymatic competitive immune assay (EMIT 2000). There was a strong correlation between both kits for any range of CyA blood concentration (R=0.99, p<0.001). The within-run and between-days coefficient of variation were less than 4% for both assays. The cost for each CyA measurement was 50% lower for the EMIT assay when compared to the TDx assay. We concluded that the EMIT is as accurate as the TDx in measuring CyA blood concentration and has the advantage of a lower cost, as well as the possibility of widespread access to the EMIT methodology in contrast to the TDx equipment, allowing the laboratory to perform several routines within a working day.

Vancomycin monitoring in term newborns: comparison of peak and trough serum concentrations determined by high performance liquid chromatography and fluorescence polarization immunoassay

INTRODUCTION: Peak and trough serum concentrations of vancomycin were determined in term newborn infants with confirmed or suspected Staphylococcus sp sepsis by high performance liquid chromatography and flourescence polarization immunoassay. OBJECTIVE: To statistically compare the results of the high performance liquid chromatography and flourescence polarization immunoassay techniques for measuring serum vancomycin concentrations. METHODS: Eighteen peak and 20 trough serum samples were assayed for vancomycin concentrations using high performance liquid chromatography and flourescence polarization immunoassay from October 1995 to October 1997. RESULTS: The linear correlation coefficients for high performance liquid chromatography and flourescence polarization immunoassay were 0.27 (peak, P = 0.110) and 0.26 (trough, P = 0.1045) respectively, which were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: There was wide variation in serum vancomycin concentrations determined by high performance liquid chromatography as compared with those determined by flourescence polarization immunoassay. There was no recognizable pattern in the variability; in an apparently random fashion, the high performance liquid chromatography measurement was sometimes substantially higher than the flourescence polarization immunoassay measurement, and at other times it was substantially lower.

Xenogeneic M2-polarization of Macrophages by undifferentiated and differentiated adipose tissue-derived stem cells

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are considered to be â â immunologically privileged.â â In a previous work when human adipose tissue-derived stem cells (hASCs) subcutaneously implanted in mice we did not identify an adverse host response1. Recently, it was shown that tissue regeneration could benefit from the polarization of M2 macrophages subpopulations 2. In this study we hypothesised that undifferentiated hASCs and derived osteoblasts and chondrocytes are able to switch murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (mBMMÃ s) into M2 phenotype, aiding tissue regeneration. Murine BMMÃ s were plated in direct contact with undifferentiated and osteo or chondro-differentiated hASCs for 4 h, 10 h, 24 h and 72 h. The cytokine profile was analysed by qRT-PCR and the surface markers were detected by flow cytometry. The direct interaction of both cell types was observed by time lapse microscopy. The results showed that mBMMÃ s polarized after contacting tissue culture polystyrene. This M2 phenotype was maintained along the experiment in direct contact with both undifferentiated and osteo or chondro-differentiated hASCs. This was confirmed by the expression of IL-1, IL-10, IL-4, TNF-a and IFN-g (genetic profile) and surface markers (CD206 + + , CD336 + + , MHC II + and CD86 + + ) detection. These data suggest the potential of hASCs in contemporary xenogenic tissue engineering and regenerative medicine strategies, as well as host immune system modulation in autoimmune diseases. 

A novel approach for honey pollen profile assessment using an electronic tongue and chemometric tools

Nowadays the main honey producing countries require accurate labeling of honey before commercialization, including floral classification. Traditionally, this classification is made by melissopalynology analysis, an accurate but time-consuming task requiring laborious sample pre-treatment and high-skilled technicians. In this work the potential use of a potentiometric electronic tongue for pollinic assessment is evaluated, using monofloral and polyfloral honeys. The results showed that after splitting honeys according to color (white, amber and dark), the novel methodology enabled quantifying the relative percentage of the main pollens (Castanea sp., Echium sp., Erica sp., Eucaliptus sp., Lavandula sp., Prunus sp., Rubus sp. and Trifolium sp.). Multiple linear regression models were established for each type of pollen, based on the best sensors sub-sets selected using the simulated annealing algorithm. To minimize the overfitting risk, a repeated K-fold cross-validation procedure was implemented, ensuring that at least 10-20% of the honeys were used for internal validation. With this approach, a minimum average determination coefficient of 0.91 ± 0.15 was obtained. Also, the proposed technique enabled the correct classification of 92% and 100% of monofloral and polyfloral honeys, respectively. The quite satisfactory performance of the novel procedure for quantifying the relative pollen frequency may envisage its applicability for honey labeling and geographical origin identification. Nevertheless, this approach is not a full alternative to the traditional melissopalynologic analysis; it may be seen as a practical complementary tool for preliminary honey floral classification, leaving only problematic cases for pollinic evaluation.

Measurement of the transverse polarization of Λ and Λ ¯ hyperons produced in proton-proton collisions at s =7TeV using the ATLAS detector

The transverse polarization of Λ and Λ¯ hyperons produced in proton--proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is measured. The analysis uses 760 μb−1 of minimum bias data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in the year 2010. The measured transverse polarization averaged over Feynman xF from 5×10−5 to 0.01 and transverse momentum pT from 0.8 to 15 GeV is −0.010±0.005(stat)±0.004(syst) for Λ and 0.002±0.006(stat)±0.004(syst) for Λ¯. It is also measured as a function of xF and pT, but no significant dependence on these variables is observed. Prior to this measurement, the polarization was measured at fixed-target experiments with center-of-mass energies up to about 40 GeV. The ATLAS results are compatible with the extrapolation of a fit from previous measurements to the xF range covered by this mesurement.

Electronic transport across linear defects in graphene

We investigate the low-energy electronic transport across grain boundaries in graphene ribbons and infinite flakes. Using the recursive Green’s function method, we calculate the electronic transmission across different types of grain boundaries in graphene ribbons. We show results for the charge density distribution and the current flow along the ribbon. We study linear defects at various angles with the ribbon direction, as well as overlaps of two monolayer ribbon domains forming a bilayer region. For a class of extended defect lines with periodicity 3, an analytic approach is developed to study transport in infinite flakes. This class of extended grain boundaries is particularly interesting, since the K and K0 Dirac points are superposed.

Terahertz response of patterned epitaxial graphene

We study the interaction between polarized terahertz (THz) radiation and micro-structured large-area graphene in transmission geometry. In order to efficiently couple the radiation into the two-dimensional material, a lateral periodic patterning of a closed graphene sheet by intercalation doping into stripes is chosen. We observe unequal transmittance of the radiation polarized parallel and perpendicular to the stripes. The relative contrast, partly enhanced by Fabry-Perot oscillations reaches 20 %. The effect even increases up to 50 % when removing graphene stripes in analogy to a wire grid polarizer. The polarization dependence is analyzed in a large frequency range from < 80 GHz to 3 THz, including the plasmon-polariton resonance. The results are in excellent agreement with theoretical calculations based on the electronic energy spectrum of graphene and the electrodynamics of the patterned structure