Chronic gastritis and Helicobacter pylori in digestive form of Chagas' disease

Patients with the digestive form of Chagas'disease frequently present chronic gastritis. As the microorganism Helicobacter pylori is now accepted as the most common cause of human chronic gastritis, the present work was undertaken to verify a possible relationship between the presence of this bacterium and inflammatory changes of antral mucosa in chagasic patients. Seventeen chagasics, with megaesophagus and or megacolon were studied. Fragments from two different regions of antral mucosa were obtained by endoscopy, fixed in 4% neutral formaldehyde and embedded in paraffin. The sections were stained by haematoxylin and eosin for histology analysis, and by carbolfuchsin for H. pylori identification. H. pylori was found in 16 (94.1%) chagasic patients, all of them presenting chronic gastritis. Superficial gastritis was seen in 9 (52.9%) while atrophic gastritis was present in 8 (47.1%) patients. H. pylori was present on gastric mucosa of 8 (100%) patients with atrophic gastritis and of 8 (88.8%) patients with superficial gastritis. We concluded that the microorganism H. pylori should be considered a possible factor connected with the etiopathogenesis of chronic superficial and atrophic gastritis frequently observed in patients with the digestive form of Chagas' disease.

Characterization of the non-apparent clinical form in the initial phase of schistosomiasis mansoni

In this paper the history of 115 recruits that had bathed simultaneously in streams contaminated with Schistosoma mansoni, during military maneuvers, is reported. Thirty four of the infected patients presented the initial phase of the infection diagnosed through epidemiologic, clinical and laboratorial parameters. Three out of the 34 patients did not reveal the clinical picture of the infection, thus being considered representatives of the non-apparent form of the disease. Differences between the intensity of blood eosinophilia, the area of immediate cutaneous reaction and the number of Schistosoma eggs eliminated in the stools proved not to be statistically significant (p>0.05) when the non-apparent and acute cases of schistosomiasis were compared. These cases actually may be considered evidences of the non-apparent form hitherto merely taken for granted in the literature.

Road drivers performance appraisal using a MCDA method: a case study in the road transport company

Performance evaluation increasingly assumes a more important role in any organizational environment. In the transport area, the drivers are the company’s image and for this reason it is important to develop and increase their performance and commitment to the company goals. This evaluation can be used to motivate driver to improve their performance and to discover training needs. This work aims to create a performance appraisal evaluation model of the drivers based on the multi-criteria decision aid methodology. The MMASSI (Multicriteria Methodology to Support Selection of Information Systems) methodology was adapted by using a template supporting the evaluation according to the freight transportation company in study. The evaluation process involved all drivers (collaborators being evaluated), their supervisors and the company management. The final output is a ranking of the drivers, based on their performance, for each one of the scenarios used.

Search of intravascular hemolysis in patients with the cutaneous form of loxoscelism

Haptoglobin assay, a highly sensitive method to detect intravascular hemolysis was carried out in the sera of 19 patients referred to Hospital Vital Brazil with the cutaneous form of loxoscelism in order to investigate the occurrence of mild intravascular hemolysis. Data from this series did not show decreased levels haptoglobin, ruling out intravascular hemolysis in these patients with cutaneous form of loxoscelism.

A comunicação empresarial nos mercados internacionais através de feiras exposições

Dissertação de Mestrado Apresentada ao Instituto de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Empreendedorismo e Internacionalização, sob orientação do Mestre Adalmiro Álvaro Malheiro de Castro Andrade Pereira

Lean and quality management integration: improvement program implementation in a service company

Lean Thinking is an important pillar in the success of any program of continuous improvement process. Its tools are useful means in the analysis, control and organization of important data for correct decision making in organizations. This project had as main objective the design of a program of quality improvement in Eurico Ferreira, S.A., based on the evaluation of customer satisfaction and the implementation of 5S. Subsequently, we have selected which business area of the company to address. After the selection, there was an initial diagnostic procedure, identifying the various points of improvement to which some tools of Lean Thinking have been applied, in particular Value Stream Mapping and 5S methodology. With the first, we were able to map the current state of the process in which all stakeholders were represented as well as the flow of materials and information throughout the process. The 5S methodology allowed to act on the wastage, identifying and implementing various process improvements.

Aplicação da metodologia Kaizen em gestão de armazém de peças

Mestrado em Engenharia Mecânica - Especialização em Gestão Industrial

MCDA applied to performance appraisal of short-haul truck drivers: a case study in a portuguese trucking company

Performance appraisal increasingly assumes a more important role in any organizational environment. In the trucking industry, drivers are the company's image and for this reason it is important to develop and increase their performance and commitment to the company's goals. This paper aims to create a performance appraisal model for trucking drivers, based on a multi-criteria decision aid methodology. The PROMETHEE and MMASSI methodologies were adapted using the criteria used for performance appraisal by the trucking company studied. The appraisal involved all the truck drivers, their supervisors and the company's Managing Director. The final output is a ranking of the drivers, based on their performance, for each one of the scenarios used. The results are to be used as a decision-making tool to allocate drivers to the domestic haul service.

Peptic disease and Helicobacter pylori are highly prevalent in patients with the indeterminate form of chagas’ disease: report of 21 cases

Given that chagasic patients in the indeterminate form of this disease, can have abnormal motility of the digestive tract and immunologic abnormalities, we decided to assess the frequency of peptic disease and Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection in these individuals. Twenty-one individuals, 13 males and 8 females, mean age 37.6 ± 11.1 years, were examined. Biopsies of the duodenum, antrum, lesser and greater gastric curvature and esophagus were performed. The endoscopic findings were of chronic gastritis in 20 (95.2%) patients, duodenal ulcer in 3 (14.3%), gastric and duodenal ulcer in 3 (14.3%), gastric ulcer alone in 1 (4.8%), esophagitis in 5 (23.8%), and duodenitis in 5 (23.8%). The diagnosis of infection by the Hp was done by the urease test and histologic examination. Hp infection was found in 20 (95.2%) individuals: in 20 out of them in the antrum, in 17 in the lesser curvature, and in 17 in the greater curvature. Hp was not found in the esophagus and duodenum. The only individual with no evidence of infection by Hp was also the only one with normal endoscopic and histologic examinations. The histologic examinations confirmed the diagnoses of gastric ulcer as peptic, chronic gastritis in 20 patients, duodenitis in 14, and esophagitis in 9. In this series the patients had a high frequency of peptic disease, which was closely associated with Hp infection

Periodontal aspects of the juvenile form of paracoccidioidomycosis

Three cases of the juvenile form of paracoccidioidomycosis are reported. Emphasis has been given to the oral manifestations, particularly the periodontal involvement. The main periodontal findings were: generalized and progressive alveolar bone destruction leading to gingival recession with exposure of the tooth roots, and spontaneous tooth losses. The gingival mucosa was predominantly smooth, erithematous and slightly swollen. These aspects, although rare, may be the earliest signs of the disease and sometimes its only manifestation.

Implementação de um processo industrial de coloração de granito

O presente estágio foi desenvolvido na Britafiel. Um dos projectos em que a Empresa se encontra envolvida é o STOCO, pretendendo implementar à escala industrial um processo de coloração de pedra granítica natural para fins decorativos. Foi neste projecto que se enquadrou o estágio. O tema do estágio centra-se no processo de coloração de granito tendo como principal foco a implementação de um processo industrial de produção de granito colorido. O projecto STOCO nasce da necessidade de complementar a actividade da empresa com produtos de maior valor acrescentado para valorização da matéria-prima de base, o granito. STOCO, resultante de Stone Color, é o nome dado ao projecto e ao novo produto que é granito colorido, sob a forma de brita. Pretende-se obter um produto amigo do ambiente e com boas características: manter a textura natural da pedra granítica e assegurar uma boa resistência a factores agressivos. Estudos prévios de qualidade e de toxicidade mostraram que o produto STOCO desenvolvido até então apresenta um bom comportamento face a agressões climatéricas e que não compromete a vida das espécies usadas nos testes (peixes). Em relação aos lixiviados e resíduos da pedra colorida STOCO, estes não apresentaram qualquer problema ambiental, sendo considerado um produto amigo do ambiente. À data de início do presente trabalho estava em funcionamento um equipamento protótipo de produção de granito colorido (100 kg/partida), sendo a instalação e o arranque da unidade industrial (3 ton/h) concretizados no início de 2014, já no decorrer deste trabalho. Os objectivos cumpridos no âmbito deste trabalho foram então a implementação de uma linha industrial de produção de brita colorida, avaliação técnica do processo e do custo industrial de produção associado às matérias-primas. Neste relatório é descrito o processo inicial adoptado e apresentam-se as alterações efectuadas para melhoria do processo produtivo. Resolveram-se problemas como: definição e instalação de equipamentos complementares para a entrada e a saída da brita no equipamento industrial; pó excessivo na brita; cheiro intenso a gás e elevado ruído; adequação do sistema de pintura; e secagem incompleta da brita. Alguns destes problemas não foram totalmente resolvidos, mas sim minimizados. O equipamento industrial necessita ainda de alterações em diversas áreas, que foram identificadas e para as quais são feitas sugestões de melhoria. Conseguiu-se ainda fazer alguns testes para uma possível substituição de alguns constituintes da tinta. Os componentes que entram na composição base da tinta aquosa, são de modo simplificado: ligante, pigmento, solvente e aditivos. Os constituintes que mais encarecem a tinta, e consequentemente o processo em causa, são o ligante e o pigmento. Os estudos efectuados precisam de ser aprofundados, na tentativa de melhorar o processo minimizando os custos de produção. Formalizaram-se os procedimentos escritos de produção STOCO tanto para o protótipo como para o processo industrial e elaborou-se uma ficha técnica de produto para a brita colorida STOCO.

Psychometric Properties of the Portuguese Version of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory Short Form Among Divorced Adults

The aim of this study was to develop and validate a Portuguese version of the Short Form of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI-SF). Using an online convenience sample of Portuguese divorced adults (N = 482), we confirmed the oblique five-factor structure of the PTGI-SF by confirmatory factor analysis. The results demonstrated the measurement invariance across divorce initiator status groups. Total score and factors of PTGI-SF showed good internal consistency, with the exception of the New Possibilities factor, which revealed an acceptable reliability. The Portuguese PTGI-SF showed a satisfactory convergent validity. In terms of discriminant validity, posttraumatic growth assessed by the Portuguese PTGI-SF was a distinct factor from posttraumatic psychological adjustment. These preliminary findings suggest the cultural adaptation and also psychometric properties of the present Portuguese PTGI-SF to measure posttraumatic growth after personal crisis.

Comparative morphometry and morphology of Anopheles aconitus Form B and C eggs under scanning electron microscope

Comparative morphometric and morphological studies of eggs under scanning electron microscope (SEM) were undertaken in the three strains of two karyotypic forms of Anopheles aconitus, i.e., Form B (Chiang Mai and Phet Buri strains) and Form C (Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son strains). Morphometric examination revealed the intraspecific variation with respect to the float width [36.77 ± 2.30 µm (Form C: Chiang Mai strain) = 38.49 ± 2.78 µm (Form B: Chiang Mai strain) = 39.06 ± 2.37 µm (Form B: Phet Buri strain) > 32.40 ± 3.52 µm (Form C: Mae Hong Son strain)] and number of posterior tubercles on deck [2.40 ± 0.52 (Form B: Phet Buri strain) = 2.70 ± 0.82 (Form B: Chiang Mai strain) < 3.10 ± 0.32 (Form C: Chiang Mai strain) = 3.20 ± 0.42 (Form C: Mae Hong Son strain)], whereas the surface topography of eggs among the three strains of two karyotypic forms were morphologically similar.

Crystallization and crystallographic analysis of the apo form of the orange protein (ORP) from desulfovibrio gigas

Acta Crystallographica Section F Structural Biology and Crystallization Communications Volume 65, Part 8

BIWiki - Using a Business Intelligence Wiki to Form a Virtual Community of Practice for Portuguese Master's Students

Web 2.0 software in general and wikis in particular have been receiving growing attention as they constitute new and powerful tools, capable of supporting information sharing, creation of knowledge and a wide range of collaborative processes and learning activities. This paper introduces briefly some of the new opportunities made possible by Web 2.0 or the social Internet, focusing on those offered by the use of wikis as learning spaces. A wiki allows documents to be created, edited and shared on a group basis; it has a very easy and efficient markup language, using a simple Web browser. One of the most important characteristics of wiki technology is the ease with which pages are created and edited. The facility for wiki content to be edited by its users means that its pages and structure form a dynamic entity, in permanent evolution, where users can insert new ideas, supplement previously existing information and correct errors and typos in a document at any time, up to the agreed final version. This paper explores wikis as a collaborative learning and knowledge-building space and its potential for supporting Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoPs). In the academic years (2007/8 and 2008/9), students of the Business Intelligence module at the Master's programme of studies on Knowledge Management and Business Intelligence at Instituto Superior de Estatistica e Gestao de Informacao of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal, have been actively involved in the creation of BIWiki - a wiki for Business Intelligence in the Portuguese language. Based on usage patterns and feedback from students participating in this experience, some conclusions are drawn regarding the potential of this technology to support the emergence of VCoPs; some provisional suggestions will be made regarding the use of wikis to support information sharing, knowledge creation and transfer and collaborative learning in Higher Education.