Credit cycle identification: A Markov-switching application

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

The influence of use additives on nitrous oxide emission during swine slurry composting.

use of additives (Mg/P and nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide - DCD), on nitrous oxide emission during swine slurry composting. The experiment was run in duplicate; the gas was monitored for 30 days in different treatments (control, DCD, Mg/P and DCD + Mg/P). Nitrous oxide emissions rate (mg of N2O-N.day-1) and the accumulated emissions were calculated to compare the treatments. Results has shown that emissions of N-N2O were reduced by approximately 70, 46 and 96% through the additions of DCD, MgCl2.6H2O + H3PO4 and both additives, respectively, compared to the control. Keywords Composting; swine slurry; additives; nitrous

Avatars and the «Imitation Game» – can machines smile?

Considering Alan Turing’s challenge in «Computing Machinery and Intelligence» (1950) – can machines play the «imitation game»? – it is proposed that the requirements of the Turing test are already implicitly being used for checking the credibility of virtual characters and avatars. Like characters, Avatars aim to visually express emotions (the exterior signs of the existence of feeling) and its creators have to resort to emotion codes. Traditional arts have profusely contributed for this field and, together with the science of anatomy, shaped the grounds for current Facial Action Coding System (FACS) and their databases. However, FACS researchers have to improve their «instruction tables» so that the machines will be able, in a near future, to be programmed to carry out the operation of recognizing human expressions (face and body) and classify them adequately. For the moment, the reproductions have to resort to the copy of real life expressions, and the presente smile of avatars comes from mirroring their human users.

Human activity recognition with accelerometry: novel time and frequency features

Human Activity Recognition systems require objective and reliable methods that can be used in the daily routine and must offer consistent results according with the performed activities. These systems are under development and offer objective and personalized support for several applications such as the healthcare area. This thesis aims to create a framework for human activities recognition based on accelerometry signals. Some new features and techniques inspired in the audio recognition methodology are introduced in this work, namely Log Scale Power Bandwidth and the Markov Models application. The Forward Feature Selection was adopted as the feature selection algorithm in order to improve the clustering performances and limit the computational demands. This method selects the most suitable set of features for activities recognition in accelerometry from a 423th dimensional feature vector. Several Machine Learning algorithms were applied to the used accelerometry databases – FCHA and PAMAP databases - and these showed promising results in activities recognition. The developed algorithm set constitutes a mighty contribution for the development of reliable evaluation methods of movement disorders for diagnosis and treatment applications.

Personal advisors for business professionals: improving communication skills with online corpora

The business sphere is a multilingual world where foreign language communication skills are crucial in international relations. It makes employers look for business professionals who have a high level of linguistic competences. Language proficiency increases the chances of negotiation among partners. There are mainly two obstacles that make barriers in formal communication in a foreign language: lack of knowledge of specific linguistic structures or terminology and frequent transitions from one language to another. This paper contributes to the quest for quick access to a wide range of English, Spanish and Russian online databases that provide authentic language samples. Their application may improve communication skills and facilitate preparation for business discourse.

Testes genéticos de venda direta ao consumidor : questões ético-legais no mercado português

RESUMO - As descobertas realizadas na área da genética levaram ao desenvolvimento de aplicações práticas, entre as quais se destacam os testes genéticos, cujas aplicações em saúde tiveram um impacto considerável na prática clínica. Uma das consequências deste desenvolvimento foi o nascimento de um novo mercado na área da saúde, o mercado dos Testes Genéticos de Venda Direta ao Consumidor (TGVDC). Este mercado está associado a questões do foro ético e legal muito específicas e importantes. Através da realização do presente trabalho de projeto pretende-se analisar e discutir as principais questões éticas e legais suscitadas pelos TGVDC, com maior enfoque no mercado português e na aplicação do enquadramento ético-legal em vigor em Portugal. No que toca à metodologia, no âmbito do presente trabalho de projeto, realizou-se uma análise da literatura científica e ético-legal do tema em estudo. Posteriormente realizou-se uma entrevista exploratória, a uma personalidade de reconhecido mérito na área da genética humana, a fim de compreender quais as principais questões suscitadas pelo mercado de TGVDC. Seguidamente realizou-se um mapeamento das entidades que operam no mercado de TGVDC, seguido de um inquérito a essas mesmas entidades, a fim de avaliar as características do serviço oferecido em Portugal e a aplicação do regime normativo ético-legal em vigor. Verificou-se, como era expectável, que o mercado português de TGVDC apresenta reduzida dimensão quando comparado com outros mercados a nível internacional, designadamente o mercado norte-americano que é, claramente, o mais desenvolvido nesta área. Os resultados obtidos apontaram ainda, no que toca à realidade portuguesa, para a pertinência de questões discutidas na literatura analisada. Em suma, apesar das limitações inerentes à realização de um projeto pioneiro e ambicioso num curto espaço de tempo, as conclusões deste trabalho permitem extrair conclusões importantes acerca do mercado português de TGVDC, sob a perspetiva ético-legal, bem como efetuar recomendações importantes para futuros estudos nesta área.

Transactions in dynamic reactive environments

Most of today’s systems, especially when related to the Web or to multi-agent systems, are not standalone or independent, but are part of a greater ecosystem, where they need to interact with other entities, react to complex changes in the environment, and act both over its own knowledge base and on the external environment itself. Moreover, these systems are clearly not static, but are constantly evolving due to the execution of self updates or external actions. Whenever actions and updates are possible, the need to ensure properties regarding the outcome of performing such actions emerges. Originally purposed in the context of databases, transactions solve this problem by guaranteeing atomicity, consistency, isolation and durability of a special set of actions. However, current transaction solutions fail to guarantee such properties in dynamic environments, since they cannot combine transaction execution with reactive features, or with the execution of actions over domains that the system does not completely control (thus making rolling back a non-viable proposition). In this thesis, we investigate what and how transaction properties can be ensured over these dynamic environments. To achieve this goal, we provide logic-based solutions, based on Transaction Logic, to precisely model and execute transactions in such environments, and where knowledge bases can be defined by arbitrary logic theories.

Co-infection Trypanosoma cruzi/HIV: systematic review (1980 - 2010)

INTRODUCTION: The co-infection Trypanosoma cruzi/HIV has been described as a clinical event of great relevance. The objective of this study wasto describe clinical and epidemiological aspects published in literature. METHODS: It is a systematic review of a descriptive nature from the databases Medline, Lilacs, SciELO, Scopus, from 1980 to 2010. RESULTS: There were 83 articles (2.8 articles/year) with a total of 291 cases. The co-infection was described in 1980 and this situation has become the defining AIDS clinical event in Brazil. This is the country with the highest number of publication (51.8%) followed by Argentina (27.7%). The majority of cases are amongst adult men (65.3%) native or from endemic regions with serological diagnosis in the chronic stage (97.9%) and indeterminate form (50.8%). Both diseases follow the normal course, but in 41% the reactivation of the Chagas disease occurs. The most severe form is the meningoencephalitis, with 100% of mortality without specific and early treatment of the T. cruzi. The medication of choice was the benznidazole on doses and duration normally used for the acute phase. The high parasitemia detected by direct or indirect quantitative methods indicated reactivation and its elevation is the most important predictive factor. The lower survival rate was related to the reactivation of the Chagas disease and the natural complications of both diseases. The role of the antiretroviral treatment on the co-infection cannot yet be defined by the knowledge currently existent. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the relevance of this clinical event there are still gaps to be filled.

Human immunodeficiency virus/Leishmania infantum in the first foci of urban American visceral leishmaniasis: clinical presentation from 1994 to 2010

INTRODUCTION:Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection with Leishmania infantum or Leishmania donovani, the agents of visceral leishmaniasis (or kala-azar), has become a fatal public health problem in the tropics where kala-azar is endemic.METHODS:The clinical presentation of patients with HIV and L. infantum coinfection is described using two unique databases that together produce the largest case series of patients with kala-azar infected with HIV in South America. First, a retrospective study paired the list of all patients with kala-azar from 1994 to 2004 with another of all patients with HIV/AIDS from the reference hospital for both diseases in the City of Teresina, State of Piauí, Brazil. Beginning in 2005 through to 2010 this information was prospectively collected at the moment of hospitalization.RESULTS:During the study, 256 admissions related to 224 patients with HIV/L. infantum coinfection were registered and most of them were males between 20-40 years of age. Most of the 224 patients were males between 20-40 years of age. HIV contraction was principally sexual. The most common symptoms and signs were pallor, fever, asthenia and hepatosplenomegaly. 16.8% of the cohort died. The primary risk factors associated to death were kidney or respiratory failure, somnolence, hemorrhagic manifestations and a syndrome of systemic inflammation. The diagnosis of HIV and kala-azar was made simultaneously in 124 patients.CONCLUSIONS:The urban association between HIV and kala-azar coinfection in South America is worrisome due to difficulty in establishing the diagnosis and higher mortality among the coinfected then those with either disease independently. HIV/L. infantum coinfection exhibits some singular characteristics and due to its higher mortality it requires immediate assistance to patients and greater research on appropriate combination therapy.

Determination of germ tube, phospholipase, and proteinase production by bloodstream isolates of Candida albicans

Introduction Candida albicans is a commensal and opportunistic agent that causes infection in immunocompromised individuals. Several attributes contribute to the virulence and pathogenicity of this yeast, including the production of germ tubes (GTs) and extracellular hydrolytic enzymes, particularly phospholipase and proteinase. This study aimed to investigate GT production and phospholipase and proteinase activities in bloodstream isolates of C. albicans. Methods One hundred fifty-three C. albicans isolates were obtained from blood samples and analyzed for GT, phospholipase, and proteinase production. The assays were performed in duplicate in egg yolk medium containing bovine serum albumin and human serum. Results Detectable amounts of proteinase were produced by 97% of the isolates, and 78% of the isolates produced phospholipase. GTs were produced by 95% of the isolates. A majority of the isolates exhibited low levels of phospholipase production and high levels of proteinase production. Conclusions Bloodstream isolates of C. albicans produce virulence factors such as GT and hydrolytic enzymes that enable them to cause infection under favorable conditions.

Treatment of American tegumentary leishmaniasis in special populations: a summary of evidence

We aimed to assess and synthesize the information available in the literature regarding the treatment of American tegumentary leishmaniasis in special populations. We searched MEDLINE (via PubMed), EMBASE, LILACS, SciELO, Scopus, Cochrane Library and mRCT databases to identify clinical trials and observational studies that assessed the pharmacological treatment of the following groups of patients: pregnant women, nursing mothers, children, the elderly, individuals with chronic diseases and individuals with suppressed immune systems. The quality of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) approach. The available evidence suggests that the treatments of choice for each population or disease entity are as follows: nursing mothers and children (meglumine antimoniate or pentamidine), patients with renal disease (amphotericin B or miltefosine), patients with heart disease (amphotericin B, miltefosine or pentamidine), immunosuppressed patients (liposomal amphotericin), the elderly (meglumine antimoniate), pregnant women (amphotericin B) and patients with liver disease (no evidence available). The quality of evidence is low or very low for all groups. Accurate controlled studies are required to fill in the gaps in evidence for treatment in special populations. Post-marketing surveillance programs could also collect relevant information to guide treatment decision-making.

Sobrecarga no cuidar e suas repercussões nos cuidadores de pacientes em fim de vida : Revisão sistemática da literatura

Cuidar de um familiar com doença avançada e/ou em fim de vida pode representar uma grande sobrecarga emocional, física e financeira que afeta a qualidade de vida dos cuidadores. O presente estudo teve como objetivo realizar uma revisão sistemática da literatura sobre a sobrecarga no cuidar, os fatores relacionados e suas consequências nos cuidadores de pacientes com câncer avançado em fim de vida ou em cuidados paliativos. Foi realizada uma busca de artigos científicos publicados nas bases de dados EBSCO, Web of Knowledge e Bireme, desde os primeiros registros nas respectivas bases de dados sobre o tema até março de 2014. Dos 582 artigos encontrados, apenas 27 foram selecionados. A maioria dos artigos afirma que os cuidadores familiares estão sobrecarregados. Em alguns estudos, a sobrecarga no cuidar aparece associada a características do paciente e da sua doença; em outros, a um pior estado de saúde do cuidador, a uma maior sintomatologia psicopatológica (ansiedade, depressão, distress emocional) e também ao desenvolvimento de complicações no luto. Porém, a esperança, o apoio social, a capacidade do cuidador de atribuir um significado à experiência de cuidar e se sentir confortável com as tarefas de cuidar foram associados a menores níveis de sobrecarga.

Exploring Literary Landscapes: From Texts to Spatiotemporal Analysis through Collaborative Work and GIS

This article argues that the study of literary representations of landscapes can be aided and enriched by the application of digital geographic technologies. As an example, the article focuses on the methods and preliminary findings of LITESCAPE.PT—Atlas of Literary Landscapes of Mainland Portugal, an on-going project that aims to study literary representations of mainland Portugal and to explore their connections with social and environmental realities both in the past and in the present. LITESCAPE.PT integrates traditional reading practices and ‘distant reading’ approaches, along with collaborative work, relational databases, and geographic information systems (GIS) in order to classify and analyse excerpts from 350 works of Portuguese literature according to a set of ecological, socioeconomic, temporal and cultural themes. As we argue herein this combination of qualitative and quantitative methods—itself a response to the difficulty of obtaining external funding—can lead to (a) increased productivity, (b) the pursuit of new research goals, and (c) the creation of new knowledge about natural and cultural history. As proof of concept, the article presents two initial outcomes of the LITESCAPE.PT project: a case study documenting the evolving literary geography of Lisbon and a case study exploring the representation of wolves in Portuguese literature.

Injuries caused by aquatic animals in Brazil: an analysis of the data present in the information system for notifiable diseases

AbstractINTRODUCTION:We present a review of injuries in humans caused by aquatic animals in Brazil using the Information System for Notifiable Diseases [ Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (SINAN)] database.METHODS:A descriptive and retrospective epidemiological study was conducted from 2007 to 2013.RESULTS:A total of 4,118 accidents were recorded. Of these accidents, 88.7% (3,651) were caused by venomous species, and 11.3% (467) were caused by poisonous, traumatic or unidentified aquatic animals. Most of the events were injuries by stingrays (69%) and jellyfish (13.1%). The North region was responsible for the majority of reports (66.2%), with a significant emphasis on accidents caused by freshwater stingrays (92.2% or 2,317 cases). In the South region, the region with the second highest number of records (15.7%), jellyfish caused the majority of accidents (83.7% or 452 cases). The Northeastern region, with 12.5% of the records, was notable because almost all accidents were caused by toadfish (95.6% or 174 cases).CONCLUSIONS:Although a comparison of different databases has not been performed, the data presented in this study, compared to local and regional surveys, raises the hypothesis of underreporting of accidents. As the SINAN is the official system for the notification of accidents by venomous animals in Brazil, it is imperative that its operation be reviewed and improved, given that effective measures to prevent accidents by venomous animals depend on a reliable database and the ability to accurately report the true conditions.

Integrative literature review of the reported uses of serological tests in leprosy management

Abstract: An integrative literature review was conducted to synthesize available publications regarding the potential use of serological tests in leprosy programs. We searched the databases Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde, Índice Bibliográfico Espanhol em Ciências da Saúde, Acervo da Biblioteca da Organização Pan-Americana da Saúde, Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, Hanseníase, National Library of Medicine, Scopus, Ovid, Cinahl, and Web of Science for articles investigating the use of serological tests for antibodies against phenolic glycolipid-I (PGL-I), ML0405, ML2331, leprosy IDRI diagnostic-1 (LID-1), and natural disaccharide octyl-leprosy IDRI diagnostic-1 (NDO-LID). From an initial pool of 3.514 articles, 40 full-length articles fulfilled our inclusion criteria. Based on these papers, we concluded that these antibodies can be used to assist in diagnosing leprosy, detecting neuritis, monitoring therapeutic efficacy, and monitoring household contacts or at-risk populations in leprosy-endemic areas. Thus, available data suggest that serological tests could contribute substantially to leprosy management.