Novel LTCC-potentiometric microfluidic device for biparametric analysis of organic compounds carrying plastic antibodies as ionophores: Application to sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim

Monitoring organic environmental contaminants is of crucial importance to ensure public health. This requires simple, portable and robust devices to carry out on-site analysis. For this purpose, a low-temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) microfluidic potentiometric device (LTCC/μPOT) was developed for the first time for an organic compound: sulfamethoxazole (SMX). Sensory materials relied on newly designed plastic antibodies. Sol–gel, self-assembling monolayer and molecular-imprinting techniques were merged for this purpose. Silica beads were amine-modified and linked to SMX via glutaraldehyde modification. Condensation polymerization was conducted around SMX to fill the vacant spaces. SMX was removed after, leaving behind imprinted sites of complementary shape. The obtained particles were used as ionophores in plasticized PVC membranes. The most suitable membrane composition was selected in steady-state assays. Its suitability to flow analysis was verified in flow-injection studies with regular tubular electrodes. The LTCC/μPOT device integrated a bidimensional mixer, an embedded reference electrode based on Ag/AgCl and an Ag-based contact screen-printed under a micromachined cavity of 600 μm depth. The sensing membranes were deposited over this contact and acted as indicating electrodes. Under optimum conditions, the SMX sensor displayed slopes of about −58.7 mV/decade in a range from 12.7 to 250 μg/mL, providing a detection limit of 3.85 μg/mL and a sampling throughput of 36 samples/h with a reagent consumption of 3.3 mL per sample. The system was adjusted later to multiple analyte detection by including a second potentiometric cell on the LTCC/μPOT device. No additional reference electrode was required. This concept was applied to Trimethoprim (TMP), always administered concomitantly with sulphonamide drugs, and tested in fish-farming waters. The biparametric microanalyzer displayed Nernstian behaviour, with average slopes −54.7 (SMX) and +57.8 (TMP) mV/decade. To demonstrate the microanalyzer capabilities for real applications, it was successfully applied to single and simultaneous determination of SMX and TMP in aquaculture waters.

Dynamic Analysis and Pattern Visualization of Forest Fires

This paper analyses forest fires in the perspective of dynamical systems. Forest fires exhibit complex correlations in size, space and time, revealing features often present in complex systems, such as the absence of a characteristic length-scale, or the emergence of long range correlations and persistent memory. This study addresses a public domain forest fires catalogue, containing information of events for Portugal, during the period from 1980 up to 2012. The data is analysed in an annual basis, modelling the occurrences as sequences of Dirac impulses with amplitude proportional to the burnt area. First, we consider mutual information to correlate annual patterns. We use visualization trees, generated by hierarchical clustering algorithms, in order to compare and to extract relationships among the data. Second, we adopt the Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) visualization tool. MDS generates maps where each object corresponds to a point. Objects that are perceived to be similar to each other are placed on the map forming clusters. The results are analysed in order to extract relationships among the data and to identify forest fire patterns.

Dynamical Analysis and Visualization of Tornadoes Time Series

In this paper we analyze the behavior of tornado time-series in the U.S. from the perspective of dynamical systems. A tornado is a violently rotating column of air extending from a cumulonimbus cloud down to the ground. Such phenomena reveal features that are well described by power law functions and unveil characteristics found in systems with long range memory effects. Tornado time series are viewed as the output of a complex system and are interpreted as a manifestation of its dynamics. Tornadoes are modeled as sequences of Dirac impulses with amplitude proportional to the events size. First, a collection of time series involving 64 years is analyzed in the frequency domain by means of the Fourier transform. The amplitude spectra are approximated by power law functions and their parameters are read as an underlying signature of the system dynamics. Second, it is adopted the concept of circular time and the collective behavior of tornadoes analyzed. Clustering techniques are then adopted to identify and visualize the emerging patterns.

Automated Synthesis Procedure of RF Discrete Tuning Differential Capacitance Circuits

The paper presents a RFDSCA automated synthesis procedure. This algorithm determines several RFDSCA circuits from the top-level system specifications all with the same maximum performance. The genetic synthesis tool optimizes a fitness function proportional to the RFDSCA quality factor and uses the epsiv-concept and maximin sorting scheme to achieve a set of solutions well distributed along a non-dominated front. To confirm the results of the algorithm, three RFDSCAs were simulated in SpectreRF and one of them was implemented and tested. The design used a 0.25 mum BiCMOS process. All the results (synthesized, simulated and measured) are very close, which indicate that the genetic synthesis method is a very useful tool to design optimum performance RFDSCAs.

A potentiometric magnetic immunoassay for rapid detection of Salmonella typhimurium

Potentiometric detection with homemade polymeric membrane microelectrodes was coupled to a magnetic sandwich immunoassay for Salmonella typhimurium determination. Cadmium and sodium ion selective electrodes were used respectively as indicator and pseudo-reference electrodes and were prepared in pipette tips to allow potentiometric measurements in microliter sample volumes. In the proposed method, the concentration of S. typhimurium was proportional to the amount of cadmium released upon dissolution of a CdS nanoparticle labeled to the secondary detection antibody. The limit of detection was 2 cells per 100 μL. The immunomagnetic assay with potentiometric detection is suitable for sensitive and rapid (average total time per assay of 75 minutes) detection of S. typhimurium in milk samples. The proposed method is easy to perform, safe, sensitive, and low cost and has potential for in situ analysis.

Prognostic Value of a New Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing Parameter in Chronic Heart Failure: Oxygen Uptake Efficiency at Peak Exercise - Comparison with Oxygen Uptake Efficiency Slope

INTRODUCTION: A growing body of evidence shows the prognostic value of oxygen uptake efficiency slope (OUES), a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) parameter derived from the logarithmic relationship between O(2) consumption (VO(2)) and minute ventilation (VE) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prognostic value of a new CPET parameter - peak oxygen uptake efficiency (POUE) - and to compare it with OUES in patients with CHF. METHODS: We prospectively studied 206 consecutive patients with stable CHF due to dilated cardiomyopathy - 153 male, aged 53.3±13.0 years, 35.4% of ischemic etiology, left ventricular ejection fraction 27.7±8.0%, 81.1% in sinus rhythm, 97.1% receiving ACE-Is or ARBs, 78.2% beta-blockers and 60.2% spironolactone - who performed a first maximal symptom-limited treadmill CPET, using the modified Bruce protocol. In 33% of patients an cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) or cardiac resynchronization therapy device (CRT-D) was implanted during follow-up. Peak VO(2), percentage of predicted peak VO(2), VE/VCO(2) slope, OUES and POUE were analyzed. OUES was calculated using the formula VO(2) (l/min) = OUES (log(10)VE) + b. POUE was calculated as pVO(2) (l/min) / log(10)peakVE (l/min). Correlation coefficients between the studied parameters were obtained. The prognosis of each variable adjusted for age was evaluated through Cox proportional hazard models and R2 percent (R2%) and V index (V6) were used as measures of the predictive accuracy of events of each of these variables. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves from logistic regression models were used to determine the cut-offs for OUES and POUE. RESULTS: pVO(2): 20.5±5.9; percentage of predicted peak VO(2): 68.6±18.2; VE/VCO(2) slope: 30.6±8.3; OUES: 1.85±0.61; POUE: 0.88±0.27. During a mean follow-up of 33.1±14.8 months, 45 (21.8%) patients died, 10 (4.9%) underwent urgent heart transplantation and in three patients (1.5%) a left ventricular assist device was implanted. All variables proved to be independent predictors of this combined event; however, VE/VCO2 slope was most strongly associated with events (HR 11.14). In this population, POUE was associated with a higher risk of events than OUES (HR 9.61 vs. 7.01), and was also a better predictor of events (R2: 28.91 vs. 22.37). CONCLUSION: POUE was more strongly associated with death, urgent heart transplantation and implantation of a left ventricular assist device and proved to be a better predictor of events than OUES. These results suggest that this new parameter can increase the prognostic value of CPET in patients with CHF.

Potential of biologically active plant oils to control mosquito larvae (Culex pipiens, Diptera: Culicidae) from an egyptian locality

The insecticidal effect of six commercially available plant oils was tested against 4th larval instars of Culex pipiens. Larvae were originally collected from Meit El-Attar, Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt, and then reared in the laboratory until F1 generation. The LC50 values were 32.42, 47.17, 71.37, 83.36, 86.06, and 152.94 ppm for fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-grecum), earth almond (Cyperus esculentus), mustard (Brassica compestris), olibanum (Boswellia serrata), rocket (Eruca sativa), and parsley (Carum ptroselinum), respectively. The tested oils altered some biological aspects of C. pipiens, for instance, developmental periods, pupation rates, and adult emergences. The lowest concentrations of olibanum and fenugreek oils caused remarkable prolongation of larval and pupal durations. Data also showed that the increase of concentrations was directly proportional to reduction in pupation rates and adult emergences. Remarkable decrease in pupation rate was achieved by mustard oil at 1000 ppm. Adult emergence was suppressed by earth almond and fenugreek oils at 25 ppm. In addition, the tested plant oils exhibited various morphological abnormalities on larvae, pupae, and adult stages. Consequently, fenugreek was the most potent oil and the major cause of malformation of both larval and pupal stages. Potency of the applied plant oils provided an excellent potential for controlling C. pipiens.

Sectorization: measures and an electromagnetism based approach

Sectorization means dividing a set of basic units into sectors or parts, a procedure that occurs in several contexts, such as political, health and school districting, social networks and sales territory or airspace assignment, to achieve some goal or to facilitate an activity. This presentation will focus on three main issues: Measures, a new approach to sectorization problems and an application in waste collection. When designing or comparing sectors different characteristics are usually taken into account. Some are commonly used, and they are related to the concepts of contiguity, equilibrium and compactness. These fundamental characteristics will be addressed, by defining new generic measures and by proposing a new measure, desirability, connected with the idea of preference. A new approach to sectorization inspired in Coulomb’s Law, which establishes a relation of force between electrically charged points, will be proposed. A charged point represents a small region with specific characteristics/values creating relations of attraction/repulsion with the others (two by two), proportional to the charges and inversely proportional to their distance. Finally, a real case about sectorization and vehicle routing in solid waste collection will be mentioned.

Protective and risk factors for toxocariasis in children from two different social classes of Brazil

The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of Toxocara spp. antibodies in children from two different socioeconomic classes in the Presidente Prudente municipality, São Paulo State, Brazil, and the protective and risk factors associated with toxocariasis. One hundred and twenty-six middle-class (MC) and 126 disadvantaged children (DC) were included in this study. Anti-Toxocara ELISA test was performed in order to evaluate seroprevalence. A survey was applied to the children's guardians/parents in order to analyze the protective and risk factors. The overall prevalence was 11.1%, and of 9.5% (12/126) and 12.7% (16/126) for MC and DC subgroups, respectively. Toxocara seropositivity was inversely proportional to the family income. A high household income was considered a protective factor for toxocariasis in the total population and in both MC and DC subgroups. Being a girl was considered a protective factor for the total population and for both subgroups. Whilst being an owner of cat was a risk factor for children belonging to the total and for both MC and DC subgroups, having dog was considered as a risk factor for only the MC. Epidemiologic protective/factor risks can be distinct depending on the strata of the same population. Thus, it is relevant to evaluate these factors independently for different socioeconomic classes in order to design future investigations and programs for preventing the infection of human beings by Toxocara spp. and other geohelminths.

Modeling in-Hospital Patient Survival During the First 28 Days After Intensive Care Unit Admission: a Prognostic Model for Clinical Trials in General Critically Ill Patients

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to develop a model for estimating patient 28-day in-hospital mortality using 2 different statistical approaches. DESIGN: The study was designed to develop an outcome prediction model for 28-day in-hospital mortality using (a) logistic regression with random effects and (b) a multilevel Cox proportional hazards model. SETTING: The study involved 305 intensive care units (ICUs) from the basic Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) 3 cohort. PATIENTS AND PARTICIPANTS: Patients (n = 17138) were from the SAPS 3 database with follow-up data pertaining to the first 28 days in hospital after ICU admission. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The database was divided randomly into 5 roughly equal-sized parts (at the ICU level). It was thus possible to run the model-building procedure 5 times, each time taking four fifths of the sample as a development set and the remaining fifth as the validation set. At 28 days after ICU admission, 19.98% of the patients were still in the hospital. Because of the different sampling space and outcome variables, both models presented a better fit in this sample than did the SAPS 3 admission score calibrated to vital status at hospital discharge, both on the general population and in major subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: Both statistical methods can be used to model the 28-day in-hospital mortality better than the SAPS 3 admission model. However, because the logistic regression approach is specifically designed to forecast 28-day mortality, and given the high uncertainty associated with the assumption of the proportionality of risks in the Cox model, the logistic regression approach proved to be superior.

Integrating wind generation in the distribution network

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Energias Renováveis – Conversão Eléctrica e Utilização Sustentáveis

Safety and Effectiveness of the Genous Endothelial Progenitor Cell-Capture Stent: Follow-Up to 5 Years

AIMS: To evaluate the long-term clinical outcomes following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with the Genous stent in an unselected population. METHODS: All patients admitted to a single center who underwent PCI using the GS exclusively, between May 2006 and May 2012, were enrolled, and a clinical follow-up of up to 60 months was carried out. The primary endpoint of major adverse cardiac event (MACE) rate was defined as the composite of cardiac death, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and target lesion revascularization (TLR). RESULTS: Of the 450 patients included (75.1% male; 65.5 ± 11.7 years), 28.4% were diabetic and acute coronary syndrome was the reason for PCI in 76.4%. Angioplasty was performed in 524 lesions using 597 Genous stents, with angiographic success in 97.1%. At a median of 36 months of follow-up (range, 1-75 months), MACE, AMI, TLR, stent restenosis (SR), and stent thrombosis (ST) rates were 15.6%, 8.4%, 4.4%, 3.8%, and 2.2%, respectively. Between 12 and 24 months, the TLR, SR, and ST rates practically stabilized, up to 60 months. Bifurcation lesions were independently associated with MACE, TLR, and SR. CONCLUSION: This is the first study reporting clinical results with the Genous stent up to 60 months. The Genous stent was safe and effective in the long-term, in an unselected population.

Desenvolvimento de uma framework de argumentação Para apoio à tomada de decisão ubíqua

Os Sistemas de Apoio à Tomada de Decisão em Grupo (SADG) surgiram com o objetivo de apoiar um conjunto de decisores no processo de tomada de decisão. Uma das abordagens mais comuns na literatura para a implementação dos SADG é a utilização de Sistemas Multi-Agente (SMA). Os SMA permitem refletir com maior transparência o contexto real, tanto na representação que cada agente faz do decisor que representa como no formato de comunicação utilizado. Com o crescimento das organizações, atualmente vive-se uma viragem no conceito de tomada de decisão. Cada vez mais, devido a questões como: o estilo de vida, os mercados globais e o tipo de tecnologias disponíveis, faz sentido falar de decisão ubíqua. Isto significa que o decisor deverá poder utilizar o sistema a partir de qualquer local, a qualquer altura e através dos mais variados tipos de dispositivos eletrónicos tais como tablets, smartphones, etc. Neste trabalho é proposto um novo modelo de argumentação, adaptado ao contexto da tomada de decisão ubíqua para ser utilizado por um SMA na resolução de problemas multi-critério. É assumido que cada agente poderá utilizar um estilo de comportamento que afeta o modo como esse agente interage com outros agentes em situações de conflito. Sendo assim, pretende-se estudar o impacto da utilização de estilos de comportamento ao longo do processo da tomada de decisão e perceber se os agentes modelados com estilos de comportamento conseguem atingir o consenso mais facilmente quando comparados com agentes que não apresentam nenhum estilo de comportamento. Pretende-se ainda estudar se o número de argumentos trocados entre os agentes é proporcional ao nível de consenso final após o processo de tomada de decisão. De forma a poder estudar as hipóteses de investigação desenvolveu-se um protótipo de um SADG, utilizando um SMA. Desenvolveu-se ainda uma framework de argumentação que foi adaptada ao protótipo desenvolvido. Os resultados obtidos permitiram validar as hipóteses definidas neste trabalho tendo-se concluído que os agentes modelados com estilos de comportamento conseguem na maioria das vezes atingir um consenso mais facilmente comparado com agentes que não apresentam nenhum estilo de comportamento e que o número de argumentos trocados entre os agentes durante o processo de tomada de decisão não é proporcional ao nível de consenso final.

Overexpression and purification of Treponema pallidum rubredoxin; kinetic evidence for a superoxide-mediated electron transfer with the superoxide reductase neelaredoxin

J Biol Inorg Chem (2004) 9: 839–849 DOI 10.1007/s00775-004-0584-6

CO2 Concentration in Day Care Centres is Related to Wheezing in Attending Children

Poor ventilation at day care centres (DCCs) was already reported, although its effects on attending children are not clear. This study aimed to evaluate the association between wheezing in children and indoor CO2 (a ventilation surrogate marker) in DCC and to identify behaviours and building characteristics potentially related to CO2. In phase I, 45 DCCs from Lisbon and Oporto (Portugal) were selected through a proportional stratified random sampling. In phase II, 3 months later, 19 DCCs were further reassessed after cluster analysis for the greatest difference comparison. In both phases, children’s respiratory health was assessed by ISAAC-derived questionnaires. Indoor CO2 concentrations and building characteristics of the DCC were evaluated in both phases, using complementary methods. Mixed effect models were used to analyze the data. In phase I, which included 3,186 children (mean age 3.1±1.5 years), indoor CO2 concentration in the DCC rooms was associated with reported wheezing in the past 12months (27.5 %) (adjusted odds ratio (OR) for each increase of 200 ppm 1.04, 95 % CI 1:01 to 1:07). In phase II, the association in the subsample of 1,196 children seen in 19 out of the initial 45 DCCs was not significant (adjusted OR 1.02, 95 % CI 0.96 to 1.08). Indoor CO2 concentration was inversely associated with the practices of opening Windows and internal doors and with higher wind velocity. A positive trend was observed between CO2 and prevalence of reported asthma (4.7 %). Conclusion: Improved ventilation is needed to achieve a healthier indoor environment in DCC.