Surfaces contamination with 5-Fluorouracil in two Portuguese hospitals

Background - The use of antineoplastic drugs in cancer therapy is increasing due to their action in cancer cells. Carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic effects. Some studies demonstrated that nurses and pharmacy personnel involved in preparation or administration are exposed to antineoplastic drugs. Aim: assess 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) contamination on the surfaces of two Portuguese Hospitals (preparation and administration units). 5-FU is one of the most frequently antineoplastic agent used in Portuguese Hospitals and can be easily absorbed through the skin. This drug can be used as an marker of surfaces contamination and exposure and have been extensively discussed in other studies.

Blistering of W-Ta composites at different irradiation energies

Pure tungsten and tantalum plates and tungsten-tantalum composites produced via mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering were bombarded with He+ and D+ energetic ion beams and deuterium plasmas. The aim of this experiment is to study the effects caused by individual helium and deuterium exposures and to evidence that the modifications induced in the composites at different irradiation energies could be followed by irradiating the pristine constituent elements under the same experimental conditions, which is relevant considering the development of tailored composites for fusion applications. Higher D retentions, especially in tungsten, and superficial blistering are observed in both components after helium exposure. The blistering is magnified in the tantalum phase of composites due to its higher ductility and to water vapour production under deuterium irradiation. At lower irradiation energies the induced effects are minor. After plasma exposure, the presence of tantalum does not increase the D content in the composites. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nanohybrid materials as transducer surfaces for electrochemical sensing applications

A nanohybrid electrochemical transducer surface was developed using carbon and gold nanomaterials. The strategy relayed on casting multiwalled carbon nanotubes or carbon nanofibers onto a screen-printed carbon electrode surface, followed by in situ generation of gold nanoparticles by electrochemical deposition of ionic gold, in a reproducible manner. These transducers, so fabricated, were characterized using both electrochemical and microscopic techniques. Biofunctionality was evaluated using the streptavidin-biotin interaction system as the biological reaction model. These platforms allow to achieve low detection limits (in the order of pmoles), are reproducible and stable at least for a month after their preparation, being a perfect candidate to be used as transducer of different sensor devices.

James W. Carey as critical theorist of the information age

This paper suggests that the thought of the North-American critical theorist James W. Carey provides a relevant perspective on communication and technology. Having as background American social pragmatism and progressive thinkers of the beginning of the 20th century (as Dewey, Mead, Cooley, and Park), Carey built a perspective that brought together the political economy of Harold A. Innis, the social criticism of David Riesman and Charles W. Mills and incorporated Marxist topics such as commodification and sociocultural domination. The main goal of this paper is to explore the connection established by Carey between modern technological communication and what he called the “transmissive model”, a model which not only reduces the symbolic process of communication to instrumentalization and to information delivery, but also politically converges with capitalism as well as power, control and expansionist goals. Conceiving communication as a process that creates symbolic and cultural systems, in which and through which social life takes place, Carey gives equal emphasis to the incorporation processes of communication.If symbolic forms and culture are ways of conditioning action, they are also influenced by technological and economic materializations of symbolic systems, and by other conditioning structures. In Carey’s view, communication is never a disembodied force; rather, it is a set of practices in which co-exist conceptions, techniques and social relations. These practices configure reality or, alternatively, can refute, transform and celebrate it. Exhibiting sensitiveness favourable to the historical understanding of communication, media and information technologies, one of the issues Carey explored most was the history of the telegraph as an harbinger of the Internet, of its problems and contradictions. For Carey, Internet was seen as the contemporary heir of the communications revolution triggered by the prototype of transmission technologies, namely the telegraph in the 19th century. In the telegraph Carey saw the prototype of many subsequent commercial empires based on science and technology, a pioneer model for complex business management; an example of conflict of interest for the control over patents; an inducer of changes both in language and in structures of knowledge; and a promoter of a futurist and utopian thought of information technologies. After a brief approach to Carey’s communication theory, this paper focuses on his seminal essay "Technology and ideology. The case of the telegraph", bearing in mind the prospect of the communication revolution introduced by Internet. We maintain that this essay has seminal relevance for critically studying the information society. Our reading of it highlights the reach, as well as the problems, of an approach which conceives the innovation of the telegraph as a metaphor for all innovations, announcing the modern stage of history and determining to this day the major lines of development in modern communication systems.

The telegraph as an omen of the future in James W. Carey's vision

In the history of modern communication, after the development of the printing press, the telegraph unleashed a revolution in communications. Today, Internet is in many ways its heir. Reflections on the telegraph may open up perspectives concerning tendencies, possibilities and pitfalls of the Internet. The telegraph has been well explored in important literature on communication and media which tends to emphasize the history of this technology, its social context and institutional meaning [e.g. Robert L. Thompson, 1947, Tom Standage, 2007 [1998]. James W. Carey, the North- American critical cultural studies' mentor, in his essay "Technology and Ideology. The Case of the Telegraph" (2009 [1983]), suggests a distinctive approach. In the telegraph, Carey sees the prototype of many subsequent commercial empires based on science and technology, a pioneer model for complex business management; an example of interest struggle for the patents control; an inductor of changes both in language and in structures of knowledge; and a promoter of a futurist and utopian thought of information technologies. Having in mind a revolution in communications promoted by the Internet, this paper revisits this seminal essay to explore its great attainment, as well as the problems of this kind of approach which conceives the innovation of the telegraph as a metaphor for all the innovations announcing the modern stage of history and determining still today the major lines of development in modern communication systems.

A abordagem cultural da Comunicação de James W. Carey

A perspectiva cultural ou ritual de James W. Carey, expoente dos estudos culturais críticos nos EUA, para pensar a Comunicação, os media e o Jornalismo permanece praticamente desconhecida na língua portuguesa. Carey integra um conjunto de teóricos que, a partir da década de 1960, na Europa e nos EUA, procuraram caminhos alternativos à tradição de investigação norte-americana dominante, centrada nos efeitos, funções e usos dos mass media . Este artigo incide no ensaio fundador da sua proposta A cultural approach of communication (1975), embora não se confine ao mesmo. Três questões fundamentais são abordadas: Comunicação, Comunicação e modernidade e a visão cultural ou ritual da Comunicação. A hermenêutica crítica é a metodologia utilizada. Procura-se ir além das respostas de Carey ao seu contexto, destacando a sua contribuição para um entendimento da Comunicação como um ritual participatório no qual e através do qual os seres humanos geram, mantêm e transformam a cultura em que vivem.

Self-mated tribological systems based on multilayer micro/nanocrystalline CVD diamond coatings

The tribological response of multilayer micro/nanocrystalline diamond coatings grown by the hot filament CVD technique is investigated. These multigrade systems were tailored to comprise a starting microcrystalline diamond (MCD) layer with high adhesion to a silicon nitride (Si3N4) ceramic substrate, and a top nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) layer with reduced surface roughness. Tribological tests were carried out with a reciprocating sliding configuration without lubrication. Such composite coatings exhibit a superior critical load before delamination (130–200 N), when compared to the mono- (60–100 N) and bilayer coatings (110 N), considering ∼10 µm thick films. Regarding the friction behaviour, a short-lived initial high friction coefficient was followed by low friction regimes (friction coefficients between 0.02 and 0.09) as a result of the polished surfaces tailored by the tribological solicitation. Very mild to mild wear regimes (wear coefficient values between 4.1×10−8 and 7.7×10−7 mm3 N−1 m−1) governed the wear performance of the self-mated multilayer coatings when subjected to high-load short-term tests (60–200 N; 2 h; 86 m) and medium-load endurance tests (60 N; 16 h; 691 m).

Carbon surfaces for the oxidative quantification of pravastatin: glassy-carbon vs. screen-printed carbon electrodes

The electrooxidative behavior of pravastatin (PRV) in aqueous media was studied by square-wave voltammetry at a glassycarbon electrode (GCE) and at a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE). Maximum peak current intensities in a pH 5.0 buffer were obtained at +1.3 V vs. AgCl/Ag and +1.0 V vs. Ag for the GCE and SPCE surface respectively. Validation of the developed methodologies revealed good performance characteristics and confirmed their applicability to the quantification of PRV in pharmaceutical products, without significant sample pretreatment. A comparative analysis between the two electrode types showed that SPCEs are preferred as an electrode surface because of their higher sensitivity and the elimination of the need to clean the electrode’s surface for its renewal, which frequently is, if not always, the rate-limiting step in voltammetric analysis.

Logarithmically proportional objective function for planar surfaces recognition in 3D point cloud

3D laser scanning is becoming a standard technology to generate building models of a facility's as-is condition. Since most constructions are constructed upon planar surfaces, recognition of them paves the way for automation of generating building models. This paper introduces a new logarithmically proportional objective function that can be used in both heuristic and metaheuristic (MH) algorithms to discover planar surfaces in a point cloud without exploiting any prior knowledge about those surfaces. It can also adopt itself to the structural density of a scanned construction. In this paper, a metaheuristic method, genetic algorithm (GA), is used to test this introduced objective function on a synthetic point cloud. The results obtained show the proposed method is capable to find all plane configurations of planar surfaces (with a wide variety of sizes) in the point cloud with a minor distance to the actual configurations. © 2014 IEEE.

Geodynamics of the eastern sector of the Arrábida chain (W Portugal)

N.º4, p.263-267

Recent advances in vacum sciences and applications

Recent advances in vacuum sciences and applications are reviewed. Novel optical interferometer cavity devices enable pressure measurements with ppm accuracy. The innovative dynamic vacuum standard allows for pressure measurements with temporal resolution of 2 ms. Vacuum issues in the construction of huge ultra-high vacuum devices worldwide are reviewed. Recent advances in surface science and thin films include new phenomena observed in electron transport near solid surfaces as well as novel results on the properties of carbon nanomaterials. Precise techniques for surface and thin-film characterization have been applied in the conservation technology of cultural heritage objects and recent advances in the characterization of biointerfaces are presented. The combination of various vacuum and atmospheric-pressure techniques enables an insight into the complex phenomena of protein and other biomolecule conformations on solid surfaces. Studying these phenomena at solid-liquid interfaces is regarded as the main issue in the development of alternative techniques for drug delivery, tissue engineering and thus the development of innovative techniques for curing cancer and cardiovascular diseases. A review on recent advances in plasma medicine is presented as well as novel hypotheses on cell apoptosis upon treatment with gaseous plasma. Finally, recent advances in plasma nanoscience are illustrated with several examples and a roadmap for future activities is presented.

Growth of the [110] oriented TiO2 nanorods on ITO substrates by sputtering technique for dye-sensitized solar cells

TiO2 films have been deposited on ITO substrates by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. It has been found that the sputtering pressure is a very important parameter for the structure of the deposited TiO2 films. When the pressure is lower than 1 Pa, the deposited has a dense structure and shows a preferred orientation along the [101] direction. However, the nanorod structure has been obtained as the sputtering pressure is higher than 1 Pa. These nanorods structure TiO2 film shows a preferred orientation along the [110] direction. The x-ray diffraction and the Raman scattering measurements show both the dense and the nanostructure TiO2 films have only an anatase phase, no other phase has been obtained. The results of the SEM show that these TiO2 nanorods are perpendicular to the ITO substrate. The TEM measurement shows that the nanorods have a very rough surface. The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have been assembled using these TiO2 nanorod films prepared at different sputtering pressures as photoelectrode. And the effect of the sputtering pressure on the properties of the photoelectric conversion of the DSSCs has been studied.

Avaliação do teste de imunofluorescência indireta para diagnóstico da filariose bancroftiana usando a microfilária de W. bancrofti como antígeno, em Recife-PE, Brasil

Analisou-se o teste de imunofluorescência indireta com microfilárias de W. bancrofti tratadas pela papaína, como antígeno, amplamente utilizado em Recife para o imunodiagnóstico da filariose linfática. Foram testados soros de 50 pacientes portadores das diversas formas clínicas da doença, incluindo microfilaremia assintomática, eosinofilia pulmonar tropical, elefantíase de membros inferiores, linfagite aguda e quilúria. Para o grupo controle, foram selecionados 50 indivíduos vivendo pelo menos há 5 anos em área endêmica, sem nenhuma evidencia clínica e/ou laboratorial da doença, constituindo os chamados endêmicos normais. A sensibilidade e especificidade do teste, segundo diferentes pontos de corte, mostraram a impossibilidade de diferenciação entre o grupo controle e o grupo sabidamente infectado. Também não foi possível estabelecer correlação entre os títulos encontrados e as diferentes formas clínicas. Foi considerada a existência de reações cruzadas relacionadas a helmintíases intestinais, porém nenhuma relação direta foi encontrada.

Contribuição para a análise tectono-sedimentar do Fosso de Aljezur (SW de Portugal)

The Aljezur "graben" is a crucial piece in understanding the Caenozoic evolution of the SW atlantic portuguese edge. Detailed study of the sedimentary filling and bordering accidents allows the identification of several evolution steps since the Miocene. The graben is bordered by accidents that dislocate geomorphologic surfaces (Littoral Platform to the W, Interior Platform to the E), and also Neogene sedimentary units. The sedimentary filling is composed by conglomerates and sands grading into clays and bioclastic limestones (Burdigalian to Serravalian), upon which lie unconformably fine reddish sands, sometimes with abundant micas. Genetic and geometric relationships between these sands, those in higher surfaces outside the "graben" and the main bordering faults, are discussed. As a conclusion, the reconstruction of the tectono-sedimentary evolution is attempted, integrating it in a "pull-apart" context associated with the Messejana-fault system and it's reactivation by the differently orientated alpine compressions.