Tentativa de orquidectomia parcial: a propósito de um caso clínico

Introduc¸ão: Até ao fim dos anos 80 defendia-se que qualquer nódulo testicular suspeito devia ser excisado com orquidectomia radical. No entanto, com o aumento do diagnóstico incidental de massas testiculares, a maior acuidade dos exames extemporâneos e a evidência das vantagens potenciais da orquidectomia parcial, questionou-se se seria necessário sacrificar, sempre, todo o testículo, mesmo na presenc¸a de um testículo contralateral normal. Caso clínico: Apresentamos o caso de um doente de 23 anos, com o diagnóstico de um nódulo testicular com 7,5 mm, não palpável, assintomático e marcadores tumorais negativos. Foi submetido a orquidectomia parcial guiada por ecografia e exame extemporâneo, no entanto, por suspeita anatomopatológica de provável tumor de células germinativas, optou-se pela totalizac¸ão da orquidectomia. O resultado histológico final foi de tumor de células de Leydig. Tendo em conta a elevada probabilidade de lesões testiculares não palpáveis e de pequenas dimensões serem benignas (até 80%), os efeitos da orquidectomia radical na espermatogénese, func¸ão endócrina e estética e que não devem ser ignorados, a orquidectomia parcial é um procedimento que, embora não seja um procedimento padrão, pode ser equacionado como primeira abordagem em casos selecionados e em centros de referência especializados.

Safety and Effectiveness of the Genous™ Endothelial Progenitor Cell-Capture Stent in the First Year Following ST-Elevation Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Single Center Experience and Review of the Literature

PURPOSE: The Genous™ stent (GS) is designed to accelerate endothelization, which is potentially useful in the pro-thrombotic environment of ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI). We aimed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the GS in the first year following primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and to compare our results with the few previously published studies. METHODS AND MATERIALS: All patients admitted to a single center due to STEMI that underwent primary PCI using exclusively GS, between May 2006 and January 2012, were enrolled. The primary study endpoints were major adverse cardiac events (MACEs), defined as the composite of cardiac death, acute myocardial infarction and target vessel revascularization, at one and 12months. RESULTS: In the cohort of 109 patients (73.4% male, 59 ±12years), 24.8% were diabetic. PCI was performed in 116 lesions with angiographic success in 99.1%, using 148 GS with median diameter of 3.00mm (2.50-4.00) and median length of 15mm (9-33). Cumulative MACEs were 2.8% at one month and 6.4% at 12months. Three stent thromboses (2.8%), all subacute, and one stent restenosis (0.9%) occurred. These accounted for the four target vessel revascularizations (3.7%). At 12months, 33.9% of patients were not on dual antiplatelet therapy. CONCLUSIONS: GS was safe and effective in the first year following primary PCI in STEMI, with an apparently safer profile comparing with the previously published data. SUMMARY: We report the safety and effectiveness of the Genous™ stent (GS) in the first year following primary percutaneous coronary intervention in ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction. A comprehensive review of the few studies that have been published on this subject was included and some suggest a less safe profile of the GS. Our results and the critical review included may add information and reinforce the safety and effectiveness of the GS in ST-elevation in acute myocardial infarction.

Influência dos equipamentos de aquecimento, arrefecimento e AQS na certificação energética de edifícios

Na União Europeia os sectores dos transportes e da indústria são ambos grandes consumidores de energia, mas são os edifícios residenciais e de serviços onde o consumo energético é maior, e em 2005, segundo a EnerBuilding, representavam cerca de 17% dos consumos de energia primária em termos nacionais. A energia gasta com a iluminação, o aquecimento, o arrefecimento e AQS das habitações, locais de trabalho e locais de lazer é superior à consumida pelos sectores dos transportes e da indústria. As habitações representam dois terços do consumo total de energia dos edifícios europeus, o qual aumenta todos os anos com a melhoria da qualidade de vida, traduzindo-se numa maior utilização dos sistemas de climatização. Neste sentido, e de acordo com o decreto-lei que transpõe para a legislação portuguesa a diretiva comunitária relativa ao desempenho energético dos edifícios, todos os Estados da União Europeia devem ter um sistema de certificação energética para informar o cidadão sobre a qualidade térmica dos edifícios, aquando da construção, da venda ou do arrendamento. Assim, entrou em vigor em Portugal, desde 1 de Janeiro de 2009, a obrigatoriedade de apresentação de um certificado de eficiência energética, no ato de compra, venda ou aluguer de edifícios novos e existentes. A certificação energética permite assim aos futuros utilizadores dos edifícios obter informação sobre os potenciais consumos de energia, no caso dos novos edifícios ou no caso de edifícios existentes sujeitos a grandes intervenções de reabilitação, dos seus consumos reais ou aferidos para padrões de utilização típicos, passando o consumo energético a integrar um conjunto dos aspetos importantes para a caracterização de qualquer edifício. Em edifícios de serviços, o certificado energético assegura aos utentes do edifício ou da fração que este reúne condições para garantir a eficiência energética e a adequada qualidade do ar interior. Uma vez que passamos 80% do nosso tempo em edifícios, e que isto se reflete num consumo cada vez mais elevado do sector residencial e dos serviços no consumo total energético do país, este trabalho pretende fazer a comparação dos vários equipamentos de aquecimento, de arrefecimento e de AQS e qual a influência dos mesmos na certificação energética de edifícios, e consequentemente na eficiência dos mesmos, sendo que a eficiência e a certificação energética de um edifício deve ser um aspeto relevante a levar em consideração no momento do planeamento ou da construção, bem como na aquisição de uma nova habitação. Um projeto concebido de modo a tirar proveito das condições climáticas, da orientação solar, dos ventos dominantes e utilizadas técnicas construtivas e os materiais adequados, é possível reduzir os gastos energéticos com a iluminação ou os sistemas de climatização.

Pipelined analog-to-digital conversion using current-mode reference shifting

Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores

RESOLUTION OF CUTANEOUS LEISHMANIASIS AFTER ACUTE ECZEMA DUE TO INTRALESIONAL MEGLUMINE ANTIMONIATE

We report a case of a 42 year-old female, who came to a leishmaniasis reference center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, presenting a cutaneous leishmaniasis lesion in the right forearm. Treatment with low-dose intramuscular meglumine antimoniate (MA) (5 mg Sb5+/kg/day) was initiated, with improvement after 28 days, although with the development of generalized eczema. After 87 days, the lesion worsened. Patient refused treatment with amphotericin B. MA was then infiltrated in the lesion, in two sessions, resulting in local eczema, with bullae formation; however, twenty days after, both the ulcer and eczema receded. Intralesional administration of MA should be used carefully when previous cutaneous hypersensitivity is detected.

Alcohol Septal Ablation in Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Four Years of Experience at a Reference Center

INTRODUCTION: We describe our center's initial experience with alcohol septal ablation (ASA) for the treatment of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The procedure, its indications, results and clinical outcomes will be addressed, as will its current position compared to surgical myectomy. OBJECTIVE: To assess the results of ASA in all patients treated in the first four years of activity at our center. METHODS: We retrospectively studied all consecutive and unselected patients treated by ASA between January 2009 and February 2013. RESULTS: In the first four years of experience 40 patients were treated in our center. In three patients (7.5%) the intervention was repeated. Procedural success was 84%. Minor complications occurred in 7.5%. Two patients received a permanent pacemaker for atrioventricular block (6% of those without previous pacemaker). The major complication rate was 5%. There were no in-hospital deaths; during clinical follow-up (22 ± 14 months) cardiovascular mortality was 2.5% and overall mortality was 5%. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The results presented reflect the initial experience of our center with ASA. The success rate was high and in line with published results, but with room to improve with better patient selection. ASA was shown to be safe, with a low complication rate and no procedure-related mortality. Our experience confirms ASA as a percutaneous alternative to myectomy for the treatment of symptomatic patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy refractory to medical treatment.

Birt-Hogg-Dubé Syndrome

A 45-year-old woman with a history of renal carcinoma was observed for facial, cervical and truncal flesh-colored papules. Relatives had similar skin findings and a brother had repeated episodes of pneumothorax. The computerized tomography scan revealed multiple cysts on both lungs. A skin biopsy revealed a perifollicular fibroma. The clinical diagnosis of Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome (BHDS) was corroborated by identification of a novel frameshift c.573delGAinsT (p.G191fsX31) mutation in heterozygosity on exon 6 of the folliculin gene. The presence of multiple and typical benign hair follicle tumors highlights the role of the dermatologist in the diagnosis of this rare genodermatosis that is associated with an increased risk of renal cell cancer and pulmonary cysts, warranting personal and familial follow-up and counseling.

Relational navigation and archiving of multimedia information for contemporary dance

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática

SIXTEEN YEARS OF PITYRIASIS VERSICOLOR IN METROPOLITAN AREA OF PORTO ALEGRE, SOUTHERN BRAZIL

SUMMARY Pityriasis versicolor is the most common of the diseases caused by Malasseziayeasts. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of pityriasis versicolor and its etiological aspects in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre, Brazil. A retrospective crosssectional study with data from patients of a reference hospital from 1996 to 2011 was performed. Collected data included: date, age, gender, ethnicity, anatomical region of lesion and the direct mycological examination results. Among the positive results in the direct mycological examination, 5.8% (2,239) were positive for pityriasis versicolor. The angular coefficient (B) was -0.3%/year, showing a decrease over the years. The disease was more prevalent in men (7.1% of men versus 5.1% of women that underwent the direct mycological examination); younger age (median 31 years old); "pardo" and black people (3.7% more than expected in the sample); trunk (73.44% of the affected anatomic sites). Lesions in rare sites (groin, genitals, legs, feet and hands) were also observed in this study. In conclusion, due to the decrease in the prevalence of pityriasis versicolor, long-term epidemiological studies in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre, Brazil, are needed to continue the monitoring of this disease.

Noção de Obra no Contrato de Empreitada: Contributos da Doutrina e da Jurisprudência

Dissertação de Mestrado em Solicitaria

FIRST CASE OF HUMAN INFECTION BY Bertiella studeri (Blanchard, 1891) Stunkard,1940 (Cestoda; Anoplocephalidae) IN BRAZIL

SUMMARY Cestodes of the Bertiella genus are parasites of non-human primates found in Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. Species Bertiella studeri and Bertiella mucronatacould, accidentally, infect human beings. The infection occurs from ingestion of mites from the Oribatida order containing cysticercoid larvae of the parasite. The objective of this report is to register the first case of human infection by Bertiella studeri in Brazil. Proglottids of the parasite, found in the stool sample of a two-and-a-half-year-old child, were fixed, stained and microscopically observed to evaluate its morphological characteristics. Eggs obtained from the proglottids were also studied. The gravid proglottids examined matched the description of the genus Bertiella. The eggs presented a round shape, with the average diameter of 43.7 µm, clearly showing the typical pyriform apparatus of B. studeri. The authors concluded that the child was infected with Bertiella studeri,based on Stunkard's (1940) description of the species. This is the fifth case of human Bertiellosis described in Brazil through morphometric analysis of the parasite, the third in Minas Gerais State and the first diagnosed case of Bertiella studeriin Brazil.

Torpedo Maculopathy with an Anisometropic Amblyopia in a 5-Year-Old Caucasian Girl: Case Report

The aim of this study is to report a clinical case of asymptomatic female Caucasian children with torpedo maculopathy. A 5-year-old girl was referred to our clinic for routine evaluation. The ophthalmic examination revealed best-corrected visual acuity of 20/20 in both eyes, without any changes in the biomicroscopy. Fundus examination showed normal findings in one eye, whereas in the contralateral eye it disclosed, in the temporal sector of the macular region, a whitish, atrophic, oval chorioretinal lesion with clearly defined margins. Posterior evaluations documented the stability of the lesion. Torpedo maculopathy diagnosis is based on its characteristic shape and peculiar location. The differential diagnosis has to be established versus choroidal lesions (melanoma and nevus), congenital or iatrogenic hyperplasia of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and particularly versus the congenital pigmented lesions associated with Gardner's syndrome.

The use of long acting sulfonamides, alone or with pyrimethamine, in malaria (with special reference to sulformetoxine)

Review of the early literature as well as more recent results show that sulfonamides possess a distinct antimalarial activity. However, when give alone, their action is less marked and slower than that of the antimalarials commonly used in the treatment of the acute attack. Combinations with pyrimethamine provide better results, even in cases of pyrimethamine and chloroquine resistance. This warrants further investigations in an attempt to develop a therapeutic agent suitable for the treatment of such resistant cases. It may also be possible with an appropriate combination of pyrimethamine with a sulfonamide to achieve a satisfactory method for suppressive treatment both in areas with and without pyrimethamine resistance. Three main points must still be carefully studied: 1) the risk of developing malaria resistance against one or both of the components of the combination. 2) The risk of developing bacterial resistance to sulfonamides if these substances are used on a large scale in too low doses. It seems indeed that antimalarial effect with the combination of sufonamides + pyrimethamine can be obtained with doses of sulfonamides which are below those usually employed in bacterial diseases. Since the range of the ratios providing potentiation is rather large, only ratios of the combination sulfonamides: pyrimethamine should be chosen in which an antfbacterial sulfonamidemia is guaranteed. 3) It goes without sayinq that, although both pyrimethamine and modem sulfonamides, when given by themselves, have proved tc possess a large margin of safety, long term administration of their combination should be careful studied from the point of view of possible side effects. Substantial evidence has already been produced to show that the long acting sulfonamide Fanasil (Ro 4-4393) given once or once weekly possesses marked schizonticidal activity against P. falciparum. Although its action is slower than that of 4-aminoquinolines, it may be useful as a second choice drug in semi-immune subjects for the therapy of falciparum malaria. Preliminary results show that, when combined with pyrimethamine, Fanasil is highly effective in suppressing fever and asexual parasitemia due to P. falciparum. Single doses of 1 g Fanasil together with 50 mg pyrimethamine seem to be adequate for the treatment of acute falciparum malaria in semi-immune patients. The onset of action of the combination is much more rapid than that of the single components. Weekly doses of 500 mg Fanasil and 25 mg pyrimeihamine appear to provide satisfactory suppressive effects against P. falciparum at least in East Africa. This combination is active on strains which do not respond satisfactorily to the standard doses of pyrimethamine and/or chloroquine and seems to have a satisfactory sporontocidal effect. Preliminary results indicate that Fanasil alone cannot be recommended for use against the other human malaria parasites. The combination with pyrimethamine appears to be much more effective. East African strains of P. malariae seem to respond better to the combination than do Malayan strains of P. vivax but further trials are required before definite assessment can be made. Fanasil by itself has no gametocytoddal or sporontocidal action but seems to potentiate the effect of pyrimethamine at least on sporogony of P. falciparum.

Transplante hepático sequencial com preservação da veia cava inferior (técnica de "Duplo Piggyback") : uma técnica original

RESUMO:Desde a declaração de Bethesda em 1983, a transplantação hepática é considerada um processo válido e aceite na prática clínica para muitos doentes com doença hepática terminal, relativamente aos quais não houvesse outra alternativa terapêutica. Em 1991, por proposta de Holmgren, professor de genética, o cirurgião sueco Bo Ericzon realizou em Huntingdon (Estocolmo) o primeiro transplante hepático num doente PAF (Polineuropatia Amilloidótica Familiar), esperando que a substituição do fígado pudesse frenar a evolução da doença. Nesta doença hereditária autossómica dominante, o fígado, apesar de estrutural e funcionalmente normal, produz uma proteína anormal (TTR Met30) responsável pela doença. A partir de então, a transplantação hepática passou a ser a única terapêutica eficaz para estes doentes. Portugal é o país do mundo com mais doentes PAF, tendo sido o médico neurologista português Corino de Andrade quem, em 1951, identificou e descreveu este tipo particular de polineuropatia hereditária, também conhecida por doença de Andrade. Com o início da transplantação hepática programada em Setembro de 1992, o primeiro doente transplantado hepático em Portugal, no Hospital Curry Cabral, foi um doente PAF. Desde logo se percebeu que a competição nas listas de espera em Portugal, entre doentes hepáticos crónicos e doentes PAF viria a ser um problema clínico e ético difícil de compatibilizar. Em 1995, Linhares Furtado, em Coimbra, realizou o primeiro transplante dum fígado dum doente PAF num doente com doença hepática metastática, ficando este tipo de transplante conhecido como transplante sequencial ou “em dominó”. Fê-lo no pressuposto de que o fígado PAF, funcional e estruturalmente normal, apesar de produzir a proteína mutada causadora da doença neurológica, pudesse garantir ao receptor um período razoável de vida livre de sintomas, tal como acontece na história natural desta doença congénita, cujas manifestações clínicas apenas se observam na idade adulta. A técnica cirúrgica mais adequada para transplantar o doente PAF é a técnica de “piggyback”, na qual a hepatectomia é feita mantendo a veia cava do doente, podendo o transplante ser feito sem recorrer a bypass extracorporal. Antes de 2001, para fazerem o transplante sequencial, os diferentes centros alteraram a técnica de hepatectomia no doente PAF, ressecando a cava com o fígado conforme a técnica clássica, recorrendo ao bypass extracorporal. No nosso centro imaginámos e concebemos uma técnica original, com recurso a enxertos venosos, que permitisse ao doente PAF submeter-se à mesma técnica de hepatectomia no transplante, quer ele viesse a ser ou não dador. Essa técnica, por nós utilizada pela primeira vez a nível mundial em 2001, ficou conhecida por Transplante Sequencial em Duplo Piggyback. Este trabalho teve como objectivo procurar saber se a técnica por nós imaginada, concebida e utilizada era reprodutível, se não prejudicava o doente PAF dador e se oferecia ao receptor hepático as mesmas garantias do fígado de cadáver. A nossa série de transplantes realizados em doentes PAF é a maior a nível mundial, assim como o é o número de transplantes sequenciais de fígado. Recorrendo à nossa base de dados desde Setembro de 1992 até Novembro de 2008 procedeu-se à verificação das hipóteses anteriormente enunciadas. Com base na experiência por nós introduzida, a técnica foi reproduzida com êxito em vários centros internacionais de referência, que por si provaram a sua reprodutibilidade. Este sucesso encontra-se publicado por diversos grupos de transplantação hepática a nível mundial. Observámos na nossa série que a sobrevivência dos doentes PAF que foram dadores é ligeiramente superior àqueles que o não foram, embora sem atingir significância estatística. Contudo, quando se analisaram, apenas, estes doentes após a introdução do transplante sequencial no nosso centro, observa-se que existe uma melhor sobrevida nos doentes PAF dadores (sobrevida aos 5 anos de 87% versus 71%, p=0,047).Relativamente aos receptores observámos que existe um benefício a curto prazo em termos de morbi-mortalidade (menor hemorragia peri-operatória) e a longo prazo alguns grupos de doentes apresentaram diferenças de sobrevida, embora sem atingir significância estatística, facto este que pode estar relacionado com a dimensão das amostras parcelares analisadas. Estes grupos são os doentes com cirrose a vírus da hepatite C e os doentes com doença hepática maligna primitiva dentro dos critérios de Milão. Fora do âmbito deste trabalho ficou um aspecto relevante que é a recidiva da doença PAF nos receptores de fígado sequencial e o seu impacto no longo prazo. Em conclusão, o presente trabalho permite afirmar que a técnica por nós introduzida pela primeira vez a nível mundial é exequível e reprodutível e é segura para os doentes dadores de fígado PAF, que não vêem a sua técnica cirúrgica alterada pelo facto de o serem. Os receptores não são, por sua vez, prejudicados por receberem um fígado PAF, havendo mesmo benefícios no pós-operatório imediato e, eventualmente, alguns grupos específicos de doentes podem mesmo ser beneficiados.---------ABSTRACT: Ever since Bethesda statement in 1983, Liver Transplantation has been accepted as a clinical therapeutic procedure for many patients with advanced hepatic failure Holmgren, professor of genetics, suggested that one could expect that transplanting a new liver could lead to improve progressive neurological symptoms of Familial Amyloidotic Polyneuropathy (PAF). Bo Ericzon, the transplant surgeon at Huddinge Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, did in 1991 the first Liver Transplant on a FAP patient. FAP is an inherited autosomal dominant neurologic disease in which the liver, otherwise structural an functionally normal, produces more than 90% of an abnormal protein (TTR Met30) whose deposits are responsible for symptoms. Liver Transplantation is currently the only efficient therapy available for FAP patients. Portugal is the country in the world where FAP is most prevalent. The Portuguese neurologist Corino de Andrade was the first to recognize in 1951 this particular form of inherited polyneuropathy, which is also known by the name of Andrade disease. Liver Transplantation started as a program in Portugal in September 1992. The first patient transplanted in Lisbon, Hospital Curry Cabral, was a FAP patient. From the beginning we did realize that competition among waiting lists of FAP and Hepatic patients would come to be a complex problem we had to deal with, on clinical and ethical grounds. There was one possible way-out. FAP livers could be of some utility themselves as liver grafts. Anatomically and functionally normal, except for the inherited abnormal trace, those livers could possibly be transplanted in selected hepatic patients. Nevertheless the FAP liver carried with it the ability to produce the mutant TTR protein. One could expect, considering the natural history of the disease that several decades would lapse before the recipient could suffer symptomatic neurologic disease, if at all. In Coimbra, Portugal, Linhares Furtado performed in 1995 the first transplant of a FAP liver to a patient with metastatic malignant disease, as a sequential or “domino” transplant. FAP Liver Transplant patients, because of some dysautonomic labiality and unexpected reactions when they are subjected to surgery, take special advantage when piggyback technique is used for hepatectomy. This technique leaves the vena cava of the patient undisturbed, so that return of blood to the heart is affected minimally, so that veno-venous extracorporeal bypass will not be necessary. The advantages of piggyback technique could not be afforded to FAP patients who became donors for sequential liver transplantation, before we did introduce our liver reconstruction technique in 2001. The hepatectomy took the vena cava together with the liver, which is the classical technique, and the use of extracorporeal veno-venous bypass was of necessity in most cases. The reconstruction technique we developed in our center and used for the first time in the world in 2001 consists in applying venous grafts to the supra-hepatic ostia of piggyback resected FAP livers so that the organ could be grafted to a hepatic patient whose liver was itself resected with preservation of the vena cava. This is the double piggyback sequential transplant of the liver. It is the objective of this thesis to evaluate the results of this technique that we did introduce, first of all that it is reliable and reproducible, secondly that the FAP donor is not subjected to any additional harm during the procedure, and finally that the recipient has the same prospects of a successful transplant as if the liver was collected from a cadaver donor. Our series of liver transplantation on FAP patients and sequential liver transplants represent both the largest experience in the world. To achieve the analysis of the questions mentioned above, we did refer to our data-base from September 1992 to November 2008. The reconstructive technique that we did introduce is feasible: it could be done with success in every case ion our series. It is also reproducible. It has been adopted by many international centers of reference that did mention it in their own publications. We do refer to our data-base in what concerns the safety for the FAP donor.Five years survival of FAP transplanted patients that have been donors (n=190) has been slightly superior to those who were not (n=77), with no statistical significance. However, if we consider five year survival of FAP transplanted patients after the beginning of sequential transplant program in our center, survival is better among those patients whose liver was used as a transplant (87% survival versus 71%, p=0.047). In what concerns recipients of FAP livers: Some short-term benefit of less perioperative morbi-mortality mainly less hemorrhage. In some groups of particular pathologies, there is a strong suggestion of better survival, however the scarcity of numbers make the differences not statistically significant. Patients with cirrhosis HVC (83% versus73%) and patients with primitive hepatic cancer within Milan criteria (survival of 70% versus 58%) are good examples. There is one relevant problem we left beyond discussion in the present work: this is the long-term impact of possible recurrence of FAP symptoms among recipients of sequential transplants. In Conclusion: The reconstruction technique that we did develop and introduce is consistently workable and reproducible. It is safe for FAP donors with the advantage that removal of vena cava can be avoided. Hepatic patients transplanted with those livers suffer no disadvantages and have the benefit of less hemorrhage. There is also a suggestion that survival could be better in cirrhosis HVC and primary liver cancer patients.

Reference-free high-speed cmos pipeline analog-to-digital converters

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia of Universidade Nova de Lisboa