Real-time collaborative editing of OutSystems DSL models

Real-time collaborative editing systems are common nowadays, and their advantages are widely recognized. Examples of such systems include Google Docs, ShareLaTeX, among others. This thesis aims to adopt this paradigm in a software development environment. The OutSystems visual language lends itself very appropriate to this kind of collaboration, since the visual code enables a natural flow of knowledge between developers regarding the developed code. Furthermore, communication and coordination are simplified. This proposal explores the field of collaboration on a very structured and rigid model, where collaboration is made through the copy-modify-merge paradigm, in which a developer gets its own private copy from the shared repository, modifies it in isolation and later uploads his changes to be merged with modifications concurrently produced by other developers. To this end, we designed and implemented an extension to the OutSystems Platform, in order to enable real-time collaborative editing. The solution guarantees consistency among the artefacts distributed across several developers working on the same project. We believe that it is possible to achieve a much more intense collaboration over the same models with a low negative impact on the individual productivity of each developer.

Brucelose na Província do Namibe, Angola, 2012 : prevalências humana (profissionais da pecuária) e animal, factores de risco, conhecimento e práticas

RESUMO - Enquadramento: A Brucelose é uma antropozoonose prevalente no Mundo e é uma das mais negligenciadas. A sua transmissão ao ser humano é directa e indirecta, e acontece por via de contacto com animal infectado, o consumo de leite e seus derivados não pasteurizados e a não observância de uso de equipamentos de protecção individual e colectiva, entre outros factores. O conhecimento da prevalência e incidência da brucelose animal e humana no Namibe, uma província de Angola, é muito escasso sendo poucos os estudos que evidenciam esta doença no seio dos profissionais da pecuária expostos: trabalhadores de matadouros, veterinários e criadores de gado. É assim pertinente, com base em estudos científicos específicos, caracterizar esta situação. Objectivos: Caracterizar os ambientes dos profissionais (matadouro, talhos e salas municipais de abate e explorações); estimar a seroprevalência da brucelose humana em profissionais da pecuária (trabalhadores de matadouros e criadores de gado bovino) na província do Namibe, Angola em 2012; determinar a associação da presença da brucelose humana com variáveis sócio-demográficas, de conhecimento, de práticas e de características das explorações; determinar a prevalência da Brucelose em animais e em explorações; caracterizar os factores associados à presença da Brucelose em explorações bovinas; caracterizar o conhecimento e práticas sobre a Brucelose dos profissionais da pecuária e analisar a relação entre as prevalências nas explorações (infectadas versus não infectadas) e nos criadores (infectados versus não infectados). Métodos e materiais: estudos observacional e transversal seroepidemiológico em 131 trabalhadores de talhos, salas de abate e matadouro e 192 criadores amostrados aleatoriamente em toda província do Namibe. Os dados foram obtidos através da colheita de sangue e da aplicação de um questionário. Os testes laboratoriais utilizados foram o Rosa de Bengala (RBT) e a Aglutinação Lenta em Tubos (SAT). O estudo de conhecimento foi principalmente centrado na pergunta “Já ouviu falar de Brucelose” e nas questões relativas ao nível de conhecimento e práticas (indicadores baseados nas percentagens de respostas correctas ou práticas adequadas) dos factores de risco da Brucelose. Também foram investigados 1344 animais (em 192 explorações) com recurso ao método de diagnóstico laboratorial RBT para análise de soro sanguíneo e, complementarmente, foi aplicado um questionário aos respectivos criadores. Em termos de análise estatística, para além da abordagem descritiva, foram utilizados os testes de Independência do Quiquadrado, Fisher, Teste não paramétrico de Mann-Whitney, Teste de correlação de Spearman. Adicionalmente, com base em modelos de regressão logística, foram determinados odds ratio e os respectivos intervalos de confiança utilizando um nível de significância de 5%. Resultados: os ambientes dos profissionais (matadouro, talhos e salas municipais de abate e explorações) não reuniram as condições higio-sanitárias definidas internacionalmente como adequadas. Nos profissionais a infecção geral ponderada da Brucelose foi de 15.56% (IC95% : 13.61-17.50), sendo 5.34% em trabalhadores e 16.66% (IC95% : 11.39-21.93) em criadores. A significância estatística foi observada entre a seroprevalência humana e a categoria (trabalhador e criador) (p< 0.001) e o nível de instrução (p= 0.032), início de actividade (p= 0.079) e local de serviço (p= 0.055). Num contexto multivariado o factor positivamente associado à brucelose em profissionais foi a categoria profissional (OR = 3.54, IC95%: 1.57-8.30, relativo aos criadores em relação a trabalhadores). As taxas gerais aparentes de prevalência em animais e explorações foram respectivamente de 14.96% (IC 95%, 12.97-17.19) e de 40.10% (IC 95%, 32.75-47.93). Encontrou-se uma correlação positiva moderada entre o número de animais infectados por exploração com a média do número de abortos na exploração = 0.531, p< 0.001). Em média os profissionais tiveram um conhecimento global muito insuficiente (16.1%), tendo os trabalhadores apresentado valores mais elevados que os criadores (20.2% e 13.8%), diferença não estatisticamente significativa (p= 0.170). As perguntas “o leite in natura é fervido antes do consumo humano?”, “contacto com materiais fetais animais?”, “contacto com aerossóis no local de trabalho?” e “já fez alguma vez o teste de Brucelose humana?” (relacionadas com práticas) e as perguntas “já ouviu falar da Brucelose?”, “Brucelose é doença zoonótica/só animal/só humana? e “como a Brucelose se transmite aos humanos?” apresentaram níveis médios de práticas adequadas e conhecimentos correctos inferiores a 20%. Nas explorações infectadas, 39% dos criadores foram positivos (infectados) e nas não infectadas apenas 1.7%. O risco de um criador ser infectado estando numa exploração infectada foi significativamente mais elevado (OR= 36, IC95%: 8.28-157.04). Conclusões: os ambientes dos profissionais (matadouros, salas municipais de abate e talhos e explorações) propiciam o risco à brucelose. O estudo permite aferir que a Brucelose humana em profissionais da pecuária e a Brucelose animal são prevalentes na província do Namibe. Os níveis de seroprevalência detectados são elevados comparandoos com outros encontrados em algumas localidades africanas que possuem condições similares às do Namibe. Perto de duas em cada cinco (40.10%) explorações estão infectadas por esta doença. O número de abortos (média) está claramente relacionado com as explorações infectadas. O conhecimento geral dos profissionais da pecuária sobre a Brucelose é muito insuficiente, tendo os trabalhadores mostrado um maior conhecimento em relação aos criadores, mas ambos com níveis alarmantes. Os criadores infectados estão relacionados com as explorações infectadas. Há necessidade de controlar a doença e de informar e educar os profissionais sobre a brucelose, sendo fundamental que os serviços provinciais de veterinária reforcem acções de divulgação e de fiscalização.

Evaluation of laboratory markers of progression of HIV disease to death

INTRODUCTION: One of the important current problems in HIV/AIDS infection is the establishment of epidemiological and laboratorial prognostic parameters during patient follow-up. This study aimed at analyzing the evolution of laboratory tests: CD4 lymphocyte count, viral load, hemoglobin (Hb), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and the epidemiological variables sex and age as prognostic factors for survival in progression to death among AIDS patients. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted using analysis of medical records, and prospective 24-month follow-up of patients with HIV/ AIDS attended at the President Vargas Hospital Outpatient Clinic, a reference center in HIV/ AIDS attendance in the State of Maranhão, Brazil. The study analyzed patients aged 10 to 60 years old, who manifested AIDS and who were not using antiretroviral therapy or had used it for less than 5 years. The Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The sample included 100 patients - 57 were current outpatients, and 43 had died. The variables viral load (p=0.726), ALT (p=0.314), sex (p=0.687), and age (p=0.742) were analyzed, and no evidence of association between them and worst prognosis was observed. CONCLUSIONS: A significant relation was verified between low Hb levels (p=0.000) and CD4 (p=0.000) and shorter survival.

Clinical and laboratory findings in patients with dengue associated with hepatopathy

INTRODUCTION: Hepatic disorders caused by dengue infection may progress to severe manifestations, including mortality and morbidity. Cytokines are involved in it, such as the migration inhibitory factor of macrophages (MIF), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), natural killer cells (NK), B lymphocytes, and macrophages. METHODS: This study was carried out from January to April 2007 at a public hospital from the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Brazil. Sixty-eight patients were studied concerning hepatic alterations, with 56 reported having classic dengue, 6 with hemorrhagic dengue grade I, and 6 with hemorrhagic dengue grade II. RESULTS: Among the 56 with classic dengue, 83.3% had aspartate aminotransferase (AST) alterations, and 69.6% had altered alanine aminotransferase (ALT). For those with hemorrhagic dengue grade I, 100% had AST alterations, and 83.3% had altered ALT. All the patients with hemorrhagic dengue grade II had AST and ALT alterations. AST variations reached 22.0 and 907.0, with an average value of 164.6. For ALT, we found variations between 25.0 and 867.0, with an average value of 166.07. There had been statistical significance between dengue clinical shapes and hepatic function markers. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the infection was predominant in adults, females, and in those with low income and education. The liver enzymes were of larger amount in hemorrhagic dengue, but there was weak statistical evidence of the clinical manifestations and transaminases. Major signs and clinical symptoms were fever, headache, myalgia, arthralgia, weakness, severe pain behind the eyes, and rashes.

Use of Poisson spatiotemporal regression models for the Brazilian Amazon Forest: malaria count data

INTRODUCTION: Malaria is a serious problem in the Brazilian Amazon region, and the detection of possible risk factors could be of great interest for public health authorities. The objective of this article was to investigate the association between environmental variables and the yearly registers of malaria in the Amazon region using Bayesian spatiotemporal methods. METHODS: We used Poisson spatiotemporal regression models to analyze the Brazilian Amazon forest malaria count for the period from 1999 to 2008. In this study, we included some covariates that could be important in the yearly prediction of malaria, such as deforestation rate. We obtained the inferences using a Bayesian approach and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods to simulate samples for the joint posterior distribution of interest. The discrimination of different models was also discussed. RESULTS: The model proposed here suggests that deforestation rate, the number of inhabitants per km², and the human development index (HDI) are important in the prediction of malaria cases. CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to conclude that human development, population growth, deforestation, and their associated ecological alterations are conducive to increasing malaria risk. We conclude that the use of Poisson regression models that capture the spatial and temporal effects under the Bayesian paradigm is a good strategy for modeling malaria counts.

Clinical and laboratory alterations in dogs naturally infected by Leishmania chagasi

INTRODUCTION: Canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) is a zoonotic disease with different clinical manifestations. Parasitism often occurs in bone marrow, but changes have been observed in peripheral blood and serum biochemical parameters. The aim of this study was to evaluate the hematological and biochemical parameters in dogs naturally infected by Leishmania chagasi. METHODS: Eighty-five adult dogs of both sexes and various weights and ages from the Zoonosis Control Center of Fortaleza (CCZ) were used, selected by immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and considered positive with IFA titers greater than 1:40 and by visualizing amastigotes of Leishmania chagasi in smears obtained by bone marrow aspiration. The dogs (n = 85) were grouped according to clinical signs: negative (CN = 7), subclinical (CS = 10), and clinical (CC = 68). Blood samples were collected for determination of hematological and biochemical serum values. The experimental protocol was approved by the CEUA/UECE. RESULTS: The most frequent clinical signs were cachexia (77.9%), keratitis (61.8%), and lymphadenopathy (55.9%), and 86.8% of the animals showed more than one clinical sign characteristic of CVL. In CC were observed reductions in red blood cells (63%), hematocrit (72%), and hemoglobin (62%), as well as leukocytosis (33%), neutropenia (28%), thrombocytopenia (50%), uremia (45%), hyperproteinemia (53%, p<0.05), hypergammaglobulinemia (62%, p<0.01), and hypoalbuminemia (58%). CONCLUSIONS: Animals with the clinical form of the disease demonstrate hematological and biochemical changes consistent with anemia, uremia, hyperproteinemia, and hyperglobulinemia, which present themselves as strong clinical markers of visceral leishmaniasis associated with the signs previously reported.

Simplified wind turbine models for wind energy integration into power systems

This paper analyses the boundaries of simplified wind turbine models used to represent the behavior of wind turbines in order to conduct power system stability studies. Based on experimental measurements, the response of recent simplified (also known as generic) wind turbine models that are currently being developed by the International Standard IEC 61400-27 is compared to complex detailed models elaborated by wind turbine manufacturers. This International Standard, whose Technical Committee was convened in October 2009, is focused on defining generic simulation models for both wind turbines (Part 1) and wind farms (Part 2). The results of this work provide an improved understanding of the usability of generic models for conducting power system simulations.

Development of 3D in vitro models for prediction of hepatic metabolism and toxicity

The development of human cell models that recapitulate hepatic functionality allows the study of metabolic pathways involved in toxicity and disease. The increased biological relevance, cost-effectiveness and high-throughput of cell models can contribute to increase the efficiency of drug development in the pharmaceutical industry. Recapitulation of liver functionality in vitro requires the development of advanced culture strategies to mimic in vivo complexity, such as 3D culture, co-cultures or biomaterials. However, complex 3D models are typically associated with poor robustness, limited scalability and compatibility with screening methods. In this work, several strategies were used to develop highly functional and reproducible spheroid-based in vitro models of human hepatocytes and HepaRG cells using stirred culture systems. In chapter 2, the isolation of human hepatocytes from resected liver tissue was implemented and a liver tissue perfusion method was optimized towards the improvement of hepatocyte isolation and aggregation efficiency, resulting in an isolation protocol compatible with 3D culture. In chapter 3, human hepatocytes were co-cultivated with mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and the phenotype of both cell types was characterized, showing that MSC acquire a supportive stromal function and hepatocytes retain differentiated hepatic functions, stability of drug metabolism enzymes and higher viability in co-cultures. In chapter 4, a 3D alginate microencapsulation strategy for the differentiation of HepaRG cells was evaluated and compared with the standard 2D DMSO-dependent differentiation, yielding higher differentiation efficiency, comparable levels of drug metabolism activity and significantly improved biosynthetic activity. The work developed in this thesis provides novel strategies for 3D culture of human hepatic cell models, which are reproducible, scalable and compatible with screening platforms. The phenotypic and functional characterization of the in vitro systems performed contributes to the state of the art of human hepatic cell models and can be applied to the improvement of pre-clinical drug development efficiency of the process, model disease and ultimately, development of cell-based therapeutic strategies for liver failure.

Tetracycline and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole at clinical laboratory: can they help to characterize Staphylococcus aureus carrying different SCCmec types?

INTRODUCTION: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can be difficult to detect at the clinical practice. METHODS: We analyzed 140 MRSA isolates from inpatients to correlate the antimicrobial susceptibility with the SCCmec types. RESULTS: Type III (n = 63) isolates were more resistant to ciprofloxacin, clindamycin, cloramphenicol, erythromycin, gentamicin, and rifampin than type IV (n = 65) ones (p < 0.05). Moreover, type IV isolates were susceptible to tetracycline (100%) and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (98%), while type III isolates presented resistance to them. CONCLUSIONS: In regions where these SCCmec types are prevalent, the detection of specific resistant phenotypes could help to predict them, mainly when there are no technical conditions to SCCmec typing.

Predicting market direction with hidden Markov models

This paper develops the model of Bicego, Grosso, and Otranto (2008) and applies Hidden Markov Models to predict market direction. The paper draws an analogy between financial markets and speech recognition, seeking inspiration from the latter to solve common issues in quantitative investing. Whereas previous works focus mostly on very complex modifications of the original hidden markov model algorithm, the current paper provides an innovative methodology by drawing inspiration from thoroughly tested, yet simple, speech recognition methodologies. By grouping returns into sequences, Hidden Markov Models can then predict market direction the same way they are used to identify phonemes in speech recognition. The model proves highly successful in identifying market direction but fails to consistently identify whether a trend is in place. All in all, the current paper seeks to bridge the gap between speech recognition and quantitative finance and, even though the model is not fully successful, several refinements are suggested and the room for improvement is significant.

Knowledge management framework based on brain models and human physiology

The life of humans and most living beings depend on sensation and perception for the best assessment of the surrounding world. Sensorial organs acquire a variety of stimuli that are interpreted and integrated in our brain for immediate use or stored in memory for later recall. Among the reasoning aspects, a person has to decide what to do with available information. Emotions are classifiers of collected information, assigning a personal meaning to objects, events and individuals, making part of our own identity. Emotions play a decisive role in cognitive processes as reasoning, decision and memory by assigning relevance to collected information. The access to pervasive computing devices, empowered by the ability to sense and perceive the world, provides new forms of acquiring and integrating information. But prior to data assessment on its usefulness, systems must capture and ensure that data is properly managed for diverse possible goals. Portable and wearable devices are now able to gather and store information, from the environment and from our body, using cloud based services and Internet connections. Systems limitations in handling sensorial data, compared with our sensorial capabilities constitute an identified problem. Another problem is the lack of interoperability between humans and devices, as they do not properly understand human’s emotional states and human needs. Addressing those problems is a motivation for the present research work. The mission hereby assumed is to include sensorial and physiological data into a Framework that will be able to manage collected data towards human cognitive functions, supported by a new data model. By learning from selected human functional and behavioural models and reasoning over collected data, the Framework aims at providing evaluation on a person’s emotional state, for empowering human centric applications, along with the capability of storing episodic information on a person’s life with physiologic indicators on emotional states to be used by new generation applications.

Flood resilient housing recovery models: a theoretical case study in Maldives

Natural disasters are events that cause general and widespread destruction of the built environment and are becoming increasingly recurrent. They are a product of vulnerability and community exposure to natural hazards, generating a multitude of social, economic and cultural issues of which the loss of housing and the subsequent need for shelter is one of its major consequences. Nowadays, numerous factors contribute to increased vulnerability and exposure to natural disasters such as climate change with its impacts felt across the globe and which is currently seen as a worldwide threat to the built environment. The abandonment of disaster-affected areas can also push populations to regions where natural hazards are felt more severely. Although several actors in the post-disaster scenario provide for shelter needs and recovery programs, housing is often inadequate and unable to resist the effects of future natural hazards. Resilient housing is commonly not addressed due to the urgency in sheltering affected populations. However, by neglecting risks of exposure in construction, houses become vulnerable and are likely to be damaged or destroyed in future natural hazard events. That being said it becomes fundamental to include resilience criteria, when it comes to housing, which in turn will allow new houses to better withstand the passage of time and natural disasters, in the safest way possible. This master thesis is intended to provide guiding principles to take towards housing recovery after natural disasters, particularly in the form of flood resilient construction, considering floods are responsible for the largest number of natural disasters. To this purpose, the main structures that house affected populations were identified and analyzed in depth. After assessing the risks and damages that flood events can cause in housing, a methodology was proposed for flood resilient housing models, in which there were identified key criteria that housing should meet. The same methodology is based in the US Federal Emergency Management Agency requirements and recommendations in accordance to specific flood zones. Finally, a case study in Maldives – one of the most vulnerable countries to sea level rise resulting from climate change – has been analyzed in light of housing recovery in a post-disaster induced scenario. This analysis was carried out by using the proposed methodology with the intent of assessing the resilience of the newly built housing to floods in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

The performance of four molecular methods for the laboratory diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis in amniotic fluid samples

Introduction Toxoplasmosis may be life-threatening in fetuses and in immune-deficient patients. Conventional laboratory diagnosis of toxoplasmosis is based on the presence of IgM and IgG anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies; however, molecular techniques have emerged as alternative tools due to their increased sensitivity. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of 4 PCR-based methods for the laboratory diagnosis of toxoplasmosis. One hundred pregnant women who seroconverted during pregnancy were included in the study. The definition of cases was based on a 12-month follow-up of the infants. Methods Amniotic fluid samples were submitted to DNA extraction and amplification by the following 4 Toxoplasma techniques performed with parasite B1 gene primers: conventional PCR, nested-PCR, multiplex-nested-PCR, and real-time PCR. Seven parameters were analyzed, sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR) and efficiency (Ef). Results Fifty-nine of the 100 infants had toxoplasmosis; 42 (71.2%) had IgM antibodies at birth but were asymptomatic, and the remaining 17 cases had non-detectable IgM antibodies but high IgG antibody titers that were associated with retinochoroiditis in 8 (13.5%) cases, abnormal cranial ultrasound in 5 (8.5%) cases, and signs/symptoms suggestive of infection in 4 (6.8%) cases. The conventional PCR assay detected 50 cases (9 false-negatives), nested-PCR detected 58 cases (1 false-negative and 4 false-positives), multiplex-nested-PCR detected 57 cases (2 false-negatives), and real-time-PCR detected 58 cases (1 false-negative). Conclusions The real-time PCR assay was the best-performing technique based on the parameters of Se (98.3%), Sp (100%), PPV (100%), NPV (97.6%), PLR (∞), NLR (0.017), and Ef (99%).

Outbreak of laboratory-acquired Brucella abortus in Brazil: a case report

Human brucellosis is an occupational disease affecting workers in slaughterhouses, butcher shops and the milk and dairy product industry as well as individuals who work in clinical or research laboratories. We report the first outbreak of a Brucella abortus infection in a Brazilian laboratory and compare the data obtained with reports available in the literature. Exposure was a result of damage to a biological safety cabinet and failure of the unidirectional airflow ventilation system. An epidemiological investigation identified 3 seroconverted individuals, 1 of whom had clinical manifestations and laboratory results compatible with infection at the time of exposure (n=11; attack rate=9.1%).

Laboratory diagnosis of amebiasis in a sample of students from southeastern Brazil and a comparison of microscopy with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for screening of infections with Entamoeba sp.

Introduction: Epidemiological studies on amebiasis have been reassessed since Entamoeba histolytica and E. dispar were first recognized as distinct species. Because the morphological similarity of these species renders microscopic diagnosis unreliable, additional tools are required to discriminate between Entamoeba species. The objectives of our study were to compare microscopy with ELISA kit (IVD®) results, to diagnose E. histolytica infection, and to determine the prevalence of amebiasis in a sample of students from southeastern Brazil. Methods: In this study, diagnosis was based on microscopy due to its capacity for revealing potential cysts/trophozoites and on two commercial kits for antigen detection in stool samples. Results: For 1,403 samples collected from students aged 6 to 14 years who were living in Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil, microscopy underestimated the number of individuals infected with E. histolytica/E. dispar (5.7% prevalence) compared with the ELISA kit (IVD®)-based diagnoses (15.7% for E. histolytica/E. dispar). A comparison of the ELISA (IVD®) and light microscopy results returned a 20% sensitivity, 97% specificity, low positive predictive value, and high negative predictive value for microscopy. An ELISA kit (TechLab®) that was specific for E. histolytica detected a 3.1% (43/1403) prevalence for E. histolytica infection. Conclusions: The ELISA kit (IVD®) can be used as an alternative screening tool. The high prevalence of E. histolytica infection detected in this study warrants the implementation of actions directed toward health promotion and preventive measures.