Caracteriza����o da amostra portuguesa da ��rea da sa��de na Web of Science

Introdu����o: A produ����o e o uso da literatura cient��fica s��o analisados, quantificados e interpretados pela bibliometria, ci��ncia utilizada para estudos m��tricos da informa����o publicada e que estuda as quest��es relacionadas com a comunica����o cient��fica e a atividade cient��fica. Objetivo: O estudo apresentado �� uma an��lise bibliom��trica da produ����o cient��fica portuguesa da ��rea da sa��de indexada na Web of Science. M��todos: Analisa-se a produ����o referente ao per��odo entre 1992 e final de 2011. A an��lise da produ����o cient��fica centrou-se nas seguintes vari��veis: categorias de classifica����o da Web of Science, tipologia de documentos indexados, t��tulos de revistas, distribui����o por anos de publica����o, afilia����o institucional, idiomas, pa��ses de origem dos autores com quem foram estabelecidas rela����es de parceria cient��fica e quem facultou os financiamentos �� investiga����o cient��fica. Resultados: Foram contabilizados 34.208 trabalhos. Destes, o artigo �� a forma mais utilizada pelos autores portugueses para a divulga����o dos resultados de investiga����o (58,5%). A d��cada mais recente �� contemplada com 75,4% dos registos. A maioria da produ����o com visibilidade internacional �� oriunda de universidades e de centros de investiga����o hospitalar; institutos, laborat��rios da ind��stria farmac��utica e universidades estrangeiras t��m valores residuais. A colabora����o com outros investigadores internacionais destaca-se no caso da Europa (73,2%). O financiamento da investiga����o cient��fica �� suportado basicamente pela Funda����o para a Ci��ncia e Tecnologia (59,5%), seguida da Comiss��o Europeia (17,8%). O ingl��s �� o idioma mais usado para a divulga����o dos resultados de investiga����o nacional na ��rea da sa��de (97,8%). Conclus��es: O uso de bases de dados ou de plataformas cient��ficas para estudos bibliom��tricos �� um processo moroso e dif��cil. O total de trabalhos em an��lise foi sempre o mesmo mas, em algumas vari��veis, os valores n��o coincidem, quer porque alguns dos registos foram classificados em mais do que uma categoria tem��tica, quer pelos trabalhos multidisciplinares oriundos das mesmas institui����es, quer pelos trabalhos de colabora����o internacional. Tamb��m no presente estudo os artigos s��o o ve��culo privilegiado para a divulga����o dos resultados cient��ficos. Apontamento final: deve encorajar-se a utiliza����o de outras plataformas cient��ficas e de outras bases de dados para uma mais completa recupera����o da produ����o cient��fica nacional na ��rea da sa��de. Introduction: The production and the use of the scientific literature are analyzed, quantified and interpreted by bibliometry. Bibliometry is the science used in published information metric studies and studies the questions of scientific communication and the scientific production. Aim of the study: This study presents a bibliometric analysis of the indexed Web of Science Portuguese scientific production in the health field. Methods: We analyzed the production from 1992 to the end of 2011. This analysis focused in several variables: general categories areas of Web of Science, indexed document types, source titles, publication years, group/corporate authors, languages, identification of the countries with scientific partnerships and identification of the funding agencies for scientific research. Results: We found 34.208 works. From this, the article is the most common channel for disseminating the research results (58.5%). The most recent decade has 75.4% of the total of records. Most of the production with international visibility becomes from universities and hospital research centers; institutes, pharmaceutical labs or foreign universities have residual values. Collaborating with other international researchers is very common, particularly with Europe (73.2%). In general, the Funda����o para a Ci��ncia e Tecnologia supports the scientific research (59.5%), followed by the European Commission (17.8%). The language commonly used for disseminating the research results in health is the English (97.8%). Conclusions: Using databases or scientific platforms for bibliometric studies is a hard and difficult process. The total of works analyzed was always the same but, with some variables, the numbers does not coincide: a) some of the registries were classified in several categories; b) some of the multidisciplinary works were from the same institution; c) the large number of international partnership. In this study, articles are the privileged way for disseminating the scientific results. A last thought: the use of other scientific platforms and databases should be encouraged for a more complete retrieval of the national research production in health.

Caracteriza����o da amostra portuguesa da ��rea da sa��de na Web of Science

Introdu����o: A produ����o e o uso da literatura cient��fica s��o analisados, quantificados e interpretados pela bibliometria, ci��ncia utilizada para estudos m��tricos da informa����o publicada e que estuda as quest��es relacionadas com a comunica����o cient��fica e a atividade cient��fica. Objetivo: O estudo apresentado �� uma an��lise bibliom��trica da produ����o cient��fica portuguesa da ��rea da sa��de indexada na Web of Science. M��todos: Analisa-se a produ����o referente ao per��odo entre 1992 e final de 2011. A an��lise da produ����o cient��fica centrou-se nas seguintes vari��veis: categorias de classifica����o da Web of Science, tipologia de documentos indexados, t��tulos de revistas, distribui����o por anos de publica����o, afilia����o institucional, idiomas, pa��ses de origem dos autores com quem foram estabelecidas rela����es de parceria cient��fica e quem facultou os financiamentos �� investiga����o cient��fica. Resultados: Foram contabilizados 34.208 trabalhos. Destes, o artigo �� a forma mais utilizada pelos autores portugueses para a divulga����o dos resultados de investiga����o (58,5%). A d��cada mais recente �� contemplada com 75,4% dos registos. A maioria da produ����o com visibilidade internacional �� oriunda de universidades e de centros de investiga����o hospitalar; institutos, laborat��rios da ind��stria farmac��utica e universidades estrangeiras t��m valores residuais. A colabora����o com outros investigadores internacionais destaca-se no caso da Europa (73,2%). O financiamento da investiga����o cient��fica �� suportado basicamente pela Funda����o para a Ci��ncia e Tecnologia (59,5%), seguida da Comiss��o Europeia (17,8%). O ingl��s �� o idioma mais usado para a divulga����o dos resultados de investiga����o nacional na ��rea da sa��de (97,8%). Conclus��es: O uso de bases de dados ou de plataformas cient��ficas para estudos bibliom��tricos �� um processo moroso e dif��cil. O total de trabalhos em an��lise foi sempre o mesmo mas, em algumas vari��veis, os valores n��o coincidem, quer porque alguns dos registos foram classificados em mais do que uma categoria tem��tica, quer pelos trabalhos multidisciplinares oriundos das mesmas institui����es, quer pelos trabalhos de colabora����o internacional. Tamb��m no presente estudo os artigos s��o o ve��culo privilegiado para a divulga����o dos resultados cient��ficos. Apontamento final: deve encorajar-se a utiliza����o de outras plataformas cient��ficas e de outras bases de dados para uma mais completa recupera����o da produ����o cient��fica nacional na ��rea da sa��de. Introduction: The production and the use of the scientific literature are analyzed, quantified and interpreted by bibliometry. Bibliometry is the science used in published information metric studies and studies the questions of scientific communication and the scientific production. Aim of the study: This study presents a bibliometric analysis of the indexed Web of Science Portuguese scientific production in the health field. Methods: We analyzed the production from 1992 to the end of 2011. This analysis focused in several variables: general categories areas of Web of Science, indexed document types, source titles, publication years, group/corporate authors, languages, identification of the countries with scientific partnerships and identification of the funding agencies for scientific research. Results: We found 34.208 works. From this, the article is the most common channel for disseminating the research results (58.5%). The most recent decade has 75.4% of the total of records. Most of the production with international visibility becomes from universities and hospital research centers; institutes, pharmaceutical labs or foreign universities have residual values. Collaborating with other international researchers is very common, particularly with Europe (73.2%). In general, the Funda����o para a Ci��ncia e Tecnologia supports the scientific research (59.5%), followed by the European Commission (17.8%). The language commonly used for disseminating the research results in health is the English (97.8%). Conclusions: Using databases or scientific platforms for bibliometric studies is a hard and difficult process. The total of works analyzed was always the same but, with some variables, the numbers does not coincide: a) some of the registries were classified in several categories; b) some of the multidisciplinary works were from the same institution; c) the large number of international partnership. In this study, articles are the privileged way for disseminating the scientific results. A last thought: the use of other scientific platforms and databases should be encouraged for a more complete retrieval of the national research production in health.

Evaluation of the respiratory motion effect in small animal PET images with GATE Monte Carlo simulations

The rapid growth in genetics and molecular biology combined with the development of techniques for genetically engineering small animals has led to increased interest in in vivo small animal imaging. Small animal imaging has been applied frequently to the imaging of small animals (mice and rats), which are ubiquitous in modeling human diseases and testing treatments. The use of PET in small animals allows the use of subjects as their own control, reducing the interanimal variability. This allows performing longitudinal studies on the same animal and improves the accuracy of biological models. However, small animal PET still suffers from several limitations. The amounts of radiotracers needed, limited scanner sensitivity, image resolution and image quantification issues, all could clearly benefit from additional research. Because nuclear medicine imaging deals with radioactive decay, the emission of radiation energy through photons and particles alongside with the detection of these quanta and particles in different materials make Monte Carlo method an important simulation tool in both nuclear medicine research and clinical practice. In order to optimize the quantitative use of PET in clinical practice, data- and image-processing methods are also a field of intense interest and development. The evaluation of such methods often relies on the use of simulated data and images since these offer control of the ground truth. Monte Carlo simulations are widely used for PET simulation since they take into account all the random processes involved in PET imaging, from the emission of the positron to the detection of the photons by the detectors. Simulation techniques have become an importance and indispensable complement to a wide range of problems that could not be addressed by experimental or analytical approaches.

A checkpointing-enabled and resource-aware Java Virtual Machine for efficient and robust e-Science applications in grid environments

Object-oriented programming languages presently are the dominant paradigm of application development (e. g., Java,. NET). Lately, increasingly more Java applications have long (or very long) execution times and manipulate large amounts of data/information, gaining relevance in fields related with e-Science (with Grid and Cloud computing). Significant examples include Chemistry, Computational Biology and Bio-informatics, with many available Java-based APIs (e. g., Neobio). Often, when the execution of such an application is terminated abruptly because of a failure (regardless of the cause being a hardware of software fault, lack of available resources, etc.), all of its work already performed is simply lost, and when the application is later re-initiated, it has to restart all its work from scratch, wasting resources and time, while also being prone to another failure and may delay its completion with no deadline guarantees. Our proposed solution to address these issues is through incorporating mechanisms for checkpointing and migration in a JVM. These make applications more robust and flexible by being able to move to other nodes, without any intervention from the programmer. This article provides a solution to Java applications with long execution times, by extending a JVM (Jikes research virtual machine) with such mechanisms. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Structural and optical studies of Au doped titanium oxide films

Thin films of TiO2 were doped with Au by ion implantation and in situ during the deposition. The films were grown by reactive magnetron sputtering and deposited in silicon and glass substrates at a temperature around 150 degrees C. The undoped films were implanted with Au fiuences in the range of 5 x 10(15) Au/cm(2)-1 x 10(17) Au/cm(2) with a energy of 150 keV. At a fluence of 5 x 10(16) Au/cm(2) the formation of Au nanoclusters in the films is observed during the implantation at room temperature. The clustering process starts to occur during the implantation where XRD estimates the presence of 3-5 nm precipitates. After annealing in a reducing atmosphere, the small precipitates coalesce into larger ones following an Ostwald ripening mechanism. In situ XRD studies reveal that Au atoms start to coalesce at 350 degrees C, reaching the precipitates dimensions larger than 40 nm at 600 degrees C. Annealing above 700 degrees C promotes drastic changes in the Au profile of in situ doped films with the formation of two Au rich regions at the interface and surface respectively. The optical properties reveal the presence of a broad band centered at 550 nm related to the plasmon resonance of gold particles visible in AFM maps. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Viabilidade econ��mica da implementa����o de um reactor nuclear para a produ����o de energia el��ctrica em Portugal

O presente trabalho tem como objectivo avaliar economicamente e determinar a viabilidade da implementa����o de um reactor nuclear para produ����o de energia el��ctrica. Faz-se uma abordagem a aspectos da energia nuclear no mundo e em particular a energia nuclear na uni��o europeia, faz-se uma an��lise sobre a estrutura do sector nuclear em Espanha e o futuro da energia no mundo. �� realizada uma an��lise sobre a energia nuclear em Portugal, s��o abordados aspectos como o planeamento energ��tico, a localiza����o da central nuclear, os recursos nacionais e internacionais, a inspec����o e regula����o nuclear e o impacto industrial. Por fim, faz-se uma an��lise sobre o mix energ��tico portugu��s. Faz-se uma descri����o do ciclo de combust��vel, isto ��, um estudo a todas as fases pela qual o combust��vel nuclear passa desde a sua extrac����o, passando pela produ����o de energia e processamento dos res��duos. S��o descritos os principais componentes de uma central nuclear e o seu princ��pio de funcionamento. S��o analisados em detalhe os principais componentes de um reactor PWR (Objecto de estudo deste trabalho) e faz-se uma breve descri����o de alguns modelos de reactores nucleares. �� feita uma breve abordagem aos principais acidentes nucleares que ocorreram, e descrita a escala de ocorr��ncias nucleares e as v��rias fases de desmantelamento de uma central. S��o apresentados os principais custos da central nuclear. Tamb��m �� apresentado um estudo de viabilidade econ��mica analisando tr��s cen��rios diferentes e �� apresentada uma an��lise de sensibilidade do VAL em fun����o de algumas vari��veis que t��m grande influ��ncia na avalia����o econ��mica. S��o apresentadas as principais conclus��es.

Mass spectrometry improvement on an high current ion implanter

The development of accurate mass spectrometry, enabling the identification of all the ions extracted from the ion source in a high current implanter is described. The spectrometry system uses two signals (x-y graphic), one proportional to the magnetic field (x-axes), taken from the high-voltage potential with an optic fiber system, and the other proportional to the beam current intensity (y-axes), taken from a beam-stop. The ion beam mass register in a mass spectrum of all the elements magnetically analyzed with the same radius and defined by a pair of analyzing slits as a function of their beam intensity is presented. The developed system uses a PC to control the displaying of the extracted beam mass spectrum, and also recording of all data acquired for posterior analysis. The operator uses a LabView code that enables the interfacing between an I/O board and the ion implanter. The experimental results from an ion implantation experiment are shown. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comment on R. Woodroffe et al. Perspective in Ecology "To Fence or Not to Fence" (4 April 2014, Science, 344: 46-48)

Fences must be used with care in biodiversity conservation to avoid unintended consequences.

Perspectives and progress of ecology and conservation science in the Azores: the possible contribution of Artificial Intelligence

EPIA 2013 - XVI Portuguese Conference on Artificial Intelligence Angra do Hero��smo, Azores, Portugal, 9 ��� 12 September.

Synthesis of meeting and recommendations from the Net-Biome round table discussion on "motivated" science on biodiversity management and use in support of overseas sutainable development

Net-Biome Final Meeting (Paris, 15 & 16 February, 2012).

Agentes fitoqu��micos como radio-sensibilizadores na terap��utica em medicina nuclear

Mestrado em Medicina Nuclear. ��rea de especializa����o: Radiofarm��cia.

Monte Carlo simulation of the basic features of the GE Millennium MG single photon emission computed tomography gamma camera

Objective - To describe and validate the simulation of the basic features of GE Millennium MG gamma camera using the GATE Monte Carlo platform. Material and methods - Crystal size and thickness, parallel-hole collimation and a realistic energy acquisition window were simulated in the GATE platform. GATE results were compared to experimental data in the following imaging conditions: a point source of 99mTc at different positions during static imaging and tomographic acquisitions using two different energy windows. The accuracy between the events expected and detected by simulation was obtained with the Mann���Whitney���Wilcoxon test. Comparisons were made regarding the measurement of sensitivity and spatial resolution, static and tomographic. Simulated and experimental spatial resolutions for tomographic data were compared with the Kruskal���Wallis test to assess simulation accuracy for this parameter. Results - There was good agreement between simulated and experimental data. The number of decays expected when compared with the number of decays registered, showed small deviation (���0.007%). The sensitivity comparisons between static acquisitions for different distances from source to collimator (1, 5, 10, 20, 30cm) with energy windows of 126���154 keV and 130���158 keV showed differences of 4.4%, 5.5%, 4.2%, 5.5%, 4.5% and 5.4%, 6.3%, 6.3%, 5.8%, 5.3%, respectively. For the tomographic acquisitions, the mean differences were 7.5% and 9.8% for the energy window 126���154 keV and 130���158 keV. Comparison of simulated and experimental spatial resolutions for tomographic data showed no statistically significant differences with 95% confidence interval. Conclusions - Adequate simulation of the system basic features using GATE Monte Carlo simulation platform was achieved and validated.

Actualities on Nuclear Medicine Applications in Sports Medicine

Aims: This paper aims to address some of the main possible applications of actual Nuclear Medicine Imaging techniques and methodologies in the specific context of Sports Medicine, namely in two critical systems: musculoskeletal and cardiovascular. Discussion: At the musculoskeletal level, bone scintigraphy techniques proved to be a mean of diagnosis of functional orientation and high sensibility compared with other morphological imaging techniques in the detection and temporal evaluation of pathological situations, for instance allowing the acquisition of information of great relevance in athletes with stress fractures. On the other hand, infection/inflammation studies might be of an important added value to characterize specific situations, early diagnose of potential critical issues ��� so giving opportunity to precise, complete and fast solutions ��� while allowing the evaluation and eventual optimization of training programs. At cardiovascular system level, Nuclear Medicine had proved to be crucial in differential diagnosis between cardiac hypertrophy secondary to physical activity (the so called "athlete's heart") and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, in the diagnosis and prognosis of changes in cardiac function in athletes, as well as in direct - and non-invasive - in vivo visualization of sympathetic cardiac innervation, something that seems to take more and more importance nowadays, namely in order to try to avoid sudden death episodes at intense physical effort. Also the clinical application of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) has becoming more and more widely recognized as promising. Conclusions: It has been concluded that Nuclear Medicine can become an important application in Sports Medicine. Its well established capabilities to early detection of processes involving functional properties allied to its high sensibility and the actual technical possibilities (namely those related with hybrid imaging, that allows to add information provided by high resolution morphological imaging techniques, such as CT and/or MRI) make it a powerful diagnostic tool, claiming to be used on an each day higher range of clinical applications related with all levels of sport activities. Since the improvements at equipment characteristics and detection levels allows the use of smaller and smaller doses, so minimizing radiation exposure it is believed by the authors that the increase of the use of NM tools in the Sports Medicine area should be considered.

Image upsampling algorithms applied on Nuclear Medicine: comparision of hqnx and nxSaI algorithms families with two interpolation algorithms - nearest neighbour and bicubic interpolation

Introduction: Image resizing is a normal feature incorporated into the Nuclear Medicine digital imaging. Upsampling is done by manufacturers to adequately fit more the acquired images on the display screen and it is applied when there is a need to increase - or decrease - the total number of pixels. This paper pretends to compare the ���hqnx��� and the ���nxSaI��� magnification algorithms with two interpolation algorithms ��� ���nearest neighbor��� and ���bicubic interpolation��� ��� in the image upsampling operations. Material and Methods: Three distinct Nuclear Medicine images were enlarged 2 and 4 times with the different digital image resizing algorithms (nearest neighbor, bicubic interpolation nxSaI and hqnx). To evaluate the pixel���s changes between the different output images, 3D whole image plot profiles and surface plots were used as an addition to the visual approach in the 4x upsampled images. Results: In the 2x enlarged images the visual differences were not so noteworthy. Although, it was clearly noticed that bicubic interpolation presented the best results. In the 4x enlarged images the differences were significant, with the bicubic interpolated images presenting the best results. Hqnx resized images presented better quality than 4xSaI and nearest neighbor interpolated images, however, its intense ���halo effect��� affects greatly the definition and boundaries of the image contents. Conclusion: The hqnx and the nxSaI algorithms were designed for images with clear edges and so its use in Nuclear Medicine images is obviously inadequate. Bicubic interpolation seems, from the algorithms studied, the most suitable and its each day wider applications seem to show it, being assumed as a multi-image type efficient algorithm.