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A carbonatação e a penetração de iões cloreto apresentam-se como os principais agentes de deterioração responsáveis pela corrosão das armaduras das estruturas de betão armado. Neste contexto, este artigo busca analisar as concepções de desenvolvimento e aplicação dos parâmetros abordados pelos modelos da Especificação LNEC E–465 (2007), Possan (2010) e Andrade (2001). Diante o estudo realizado, os resultados apontam para uma ampla variedade de factores contemplados, porém ainda possibilidade para melhorias e aperfeiçoamento diante a comparação entre os modelos analisados para, assim, potencializar o desenvolvimento do ciclo de vida das estruturas.

In this paper we study the $$\kappa $$ -word problem for the pseudovariety $$\mathbf{LG}$$ of local groups, where $$\kappa $$ is the canonical signature consisting of the multiplication and the pseudoinversion. We solve this problem by transforming each arbitrary $$\kappa $$ -term $$\alpha $$ into another one $$\alpha ^*$$ called the $$\mathbf{LG}$$ -canonical form of $$\alpha $$ and by showing that different canonical forms have different interpretations over $$\mathbf{LG}$$ . The procedure of construction of these canonical forms consists in applying reductions determined by a set $$\Sigma $$ of $$\kappa $$ -identities. As a consequence, $$\Sigma $$ is a basis of $$\kappa $$ -identities for the $$\kappa $$ -variety generated by $$\mathbf{LG}$$ .

Given a regular language L, we effectively construct a unary semigroup that recognizes the topological closure of L in the free unary semigroup relative to the variety of unary semigroups generated by the pseudovariety 𝖱 {\mathsf{R}} of all finite ℛ {\mathcal{R}} -trivial semigroups. In particular, we obtain a new effective solution of the separation problem of regular languages by 𝖱 {\mathsf{R}} -languages.

OBJETIVO: Descrever as principais manifestações orais em pacientes com COVID-19. MÉTODO: Trata-se de uma revisão integrativa realizada nas bases de dados do BVS e do MEDLINE/Pubmed, em que foram incluídos artigos científicos em Espanhol e Inglês até o período de setembro de 2020. RESULTADOS: As principais manifestações relacionadas ao COVID-19 foram: infecções fúngicas, infecção recorrente do vírus herpes simplex (HSV-1), ulcerações orais inespecíficas, erupções fixas de medicamentos, disgeusia, xerostomia ligada à diminuição do fluxo salivar e gengivite - como resultado do comprometimento do sistema imunológico e/ou mucosa oral suscetível. CONCLUSÃO: Ressalta-se a importância de um minucioso exame clínico pelo cirurgião-dentista para diagnóstico e tratamento dessas alterações orais.

A cavidade oral apresenta uma grande diversidade de microrganismos. A microbiota bucal encontra-se normalmente em harmonia com o hospedeiro, porém, em condições anormais tem o potencial de gerar infecções bucais e sistêmicas graves. O presente estudo teve como objetivo verificar a importância da microbiota oral no processo saúde-doença. Foi realizada uma revisão de literatura, por meio de pesquisa nas bases de dados: LILACS, BBO, Scientific Electronic Library Online (Scielo) e Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS), tendo como critérios de inclusão: artigos científicos que tratassem sobre a temática, publicados entre 2000 e 2018 em português, inglês e espanhol. Os resultados demonstraram que a microbiota oral sofre influência da temperatura, pH, presença de oxigênio, disponibilidade de nutrientes e os mecanismos de defesa do hospedeiro. Ao ocorrer desregulações desses parâmetros a microbiota é alterada, o que desencadeia a colonização por patógenos. As infecções sistêmicas (cardiopatias e infecções respiratórias) correlacionadas apresentam relações diretas e bidirecionais, onde o desfecho quase sempre é o óbito. Entretanto, observa-se a necessidade de pesquisas mais detalhadas para esclarecer esta real influência.

Introducao: A Leucoplasia Oral (LO) e a mais frequente desordem potencialmente maligna da cavidade bucal, que expoe uma intima correlacao com o carcinoma de celulas escamosas. Objetivo: Revisar a literatura indicando os aspectos de interesse dos cirurgioes-dentistas sobre as caracteristicas clinicas, histopatologicas e manejo clinico da leucoplasia, ressaltando a importância do seu diagnostico precoce. Metodologia: Realizou-se um estudo bibliometrico, mediante pesquisa nas bases de dados: Portal academico do CAPES, Scielo, Biblioteca Virtual em Saude (BVS) e PUBMED, em que foram incluidos artigos cientificos em portugues, espanhol e ingles, no periodo de 2000 a 2019. Resultados: Foram encontrados 693 artigos, sendo que, apos analise dos criterios de elegibilidade, foram selecionados 33 artigos. A etiologia da LO permanece incerta. Apresenta-se frequentemente em regiao de mucosa jugal e lingua. Dificuldades sao estabelecidas no diagnostico pela semelhanca com outras lesoes orais brancas. O exame histopatologico e o padrao-ouro para diagnostico e para avaliar o seu potencial de transformacao maligna. Conclusao: Os profissionais devem ter conhecimento sobre a LO devido a semelhanca que compartilha com outras lesoes brancas, por seu potencial de malignizacao e o seu impacto na qualidade de vida do paciente. Palavras-chave: Câncer Oral. Leucoplasia Oral. Diagnostico Precoce. ABSTRACT Introduction: Leukoplakia is the most frequent potentially malignant disorder of the oral cavity, in which it exhibits an intimate correlation with squamous epithelial carcinoma. Objective: Review the literature indicating the aspects of interest of dental surgeons about the clinical, histopathological and clinical management of LO, emphasizing the importance of early diagnosis. Methodology: A review of the literature was carried out by searching the databases: CAPES, SciELO, Virtual Health Library (VHL) and PubMED. Where the inclusion criteria were: scientific articles in portuguese, spanish and english, from 2000-2019. Results: We found 693 articles, and after analyzing the exclusion criteria, 33 articles were identified for review. The etiology of LO remains uncertain. It often presents in the region of the jugal mucosa and tongue. Difficulties are established in the diagnosis by resemblance to other white oral lesions. Histopathological examination is the gold standard for diagnosis and for assessing its potential for malignant transformation. Conclusion: It is corroborated that the dentist should be aware of the LO due to the similarity he shares with other white lesions, its potential for malignancy and its impact on the patient's quality of life. Keywords: Oral cancer. Oral Leukoplakia. Early Diagnosis.

Increasingly, hospitals are collecting huge amounts of data through new storage methods. These data can be use to extract hidden knowledge, which can be crucial to estimate the length of stay of admitted patients in order to improve the management of hospital resources. Hence, this article portrays the performance analysis of different data mining techniques through the application of learning algorithms in order to predict patients’ length of stay when admitted to an Intensive Care Unit. The data used in this study contains about 60,000 records and 28 features with personal and medical information. A full analysis of the results obtained with different Machine Learning algorithms showed that the model trained with the Gradient Boosted Trees algorithm and using only the features that were strongly correlated to the patient’s length of stay, achieved the best performance with 99,19% of accuracy. In this sense, an accurate understanding of the factors associated with the length of stay in intensive care units was achieved.

The word problems for \(\omega \)-terms over the pseudovariety of aperiodic semigroups with commuting idempotents and over the pseudovariety generated by finite aperiodic inverse semigroups are studied. The two problems have different solutions, thus showing that the two pseudovarieties are distinct, a result proven by Higgins and Margolis.

Resumo: Este trabalho analisa o comportamento do verbo deixar no português brasileiro utilizando dados de fala espontânea extraídos do corpus C-ORAL-BRASIL I (RASO; MELLO, 2012). Em vista da multifuncionalidade desse verbo, relatada em outros estudos (cf. TRAVAGLIA, 2017[2007]; PINTO, 2008), procurou-se observar suas ocorrências, de modo a verificar se sua distribuição, na fala espontânea, é equivalente àquela constatada nos estudos supracitados, que registraram uma maior produtividade desse item como verbo gramatical. No bojo dessa discussão, realizou-se uma análise acústica da construção [deixa eu] em comparação com a forma de terceira pessoa do presente do indicativo, a fim de mensurar o grau de redução da construção e verificar se ela é mais reduzida tanto do ponto de vista paradigmático em relação à forma [deixa], conforme depreende-se do estudo de Bybee et al. (2016), como também do ponto de vista sintagmático, isto é, em relação às suas palavras contíguas, o que permitiria atestar efetivamente o seu grau de redução comparado à forma [deixa]. A pesquisa revelou que há mais usos do verbo com função discursiva, manifestados pela construção [deixa eu], seguidos da função gramatical e da função lexical. Não obstante, considerou-se que a função gramatical não está enraizada no verbo, mas na construção de que ele participa, o que permite assumir que ele passa por um processo de construcionalização. A análise acústica, por sua vez, revelou que a construção [deixa eu] é do ponto de vista sintagmático mais reduzida do que a forma [deixa], o que evidencia que ela se encontra num estágio mais avançado de mudança, caracterizado por sua função de marcador discursivo. Palavras-chave: construcionalização; discursivização; deixar; redução especial; análise acústica. Abstract: This paper analyzes the behavior of the verb deixar in Brazilian Portuguese using spontaneous speech data extracted from the C-ORAL-BRASIL I (RASO;MELLO, 2012) corpus. Considering the multifunctionality of this verb, reported in other studies (cf. PINTO, 2008; TRAVAGLIA, 2017), we sought to observe its occurrences, in order to verify whether its distribution, in spontaneous speech, is equivalent to that found in aforementioned studies, which reported greater productivity of this item as a grammatical verb. In the midst of this discussion, an acoustic analysis of the construction [deixa eu] was carried out in comparison with the third-person form of the present tense, in order to measure the degree of reduction of the construction and verify if it is more reduced from a paradigmatic point of view in relation to [deixa], as can be inferred by Bybee et al. (2016)’s study, and also from a syntagmatic point of view, i.e., in relation to its contiguous words, which would allow to effectively attest its degree of reduction compared to [deixa]. This research revealed that there are more uses of the verb with a discursive function, attested by the construction [deixa eu], followed by the grammatical function and the lexical function. Nevertheless, it was considered that the grammatical function is not rooted in the verb, but in the construction which it participates, which allow us to assume that it goes through a constructionalization process. The acoustic analysis, in turn, revealed that the construction [deixa eu] is, from a syntagmatic point of view, smaller than the form [deixa], which shows that it is at a more advanced stage of change, characterized by its function as a discourse marker.Keywords: constructionalization; discursivization; deixar; special reduction; acoustic analysis.

Background and purpose: Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer mostly due to its high metastatic propensity and therapeutic resistance in advanced stages. The frequent inactivation of the p53 tumour suppressor protein in melanomagenesis may predict promising outcomes for p53 activators in melanoma therapy. Herein, we aimed to investigate the anti-tumour potential of the p53-activating agent tryptophanol-derived oxazoloisoindolinone SLMP53-2 against melanoma. Experimental Approach: 2D/3D cell cultures and xenograft mouse models were used to unveil the anti-tumour activity and the underlying molecular mechanism of SLMP53-2 in melanoma. Key results: SLMP53-2 inhibited the growth of human melanoma cells in a p53-dependent manner through induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Notably, SLMP53-2 induced p53 stabilization by disruption of the p53-MDM2 interaction, with subsequent enhancement of p53 transcriptional activity. It also promoted the expression of p53-regulated microRNAs (miRNAs), including the tumour suppressors miR-145 and miR-23a. Moreover, it displayed anti-invasive and anti-migratory properties in melanoma cells, by inhibiting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), angiogenesis and extracellular lactate production. Importantly, SLMP53-2 did not induce resistance in melanoma cells. In addition, it synergised with vemurafenib, dacarbazine and cisplatin, and re-sensitized vemurafenib-resistant melanoma cells. SLMP53-2 also exhibited antitumor activity in human melanoma xenograft mouse models by repressing cell proliferation and EMT, while stimulating cell death. Conclusions and implications: This work discloses the p53-activating agent SLMP53-2 with promising therapeutic potential in advanced melanoma, either as a single agent or in combination therapy. By targeting p53, SLMP53-2 may counteract major features of melanoma aggressiveness, particularly metastasis and therapeutic resistance.

BACKGROUND: Varicose veins affect nearly 30% of the world’s population. This condition is a social problem and needs interventions to improve quality of life and reduce risks. Recently, new and less invasive methods for varicose vein treatment have emerged. There is a need to define the best treatment options and to reduce the risks and costs. Since there are cosmetic implications, treatments for which effectiveness remains unproven present risks to consumers and higher costs for stakeholders. These risks and costs justify conducting an overview of systematic reviews to summarize the evidence. DESIGN AND SETTING: Overview of systematic reviews within the Discipline of Evidence-Based Health, at Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). METHODS: Systematic reviews on clinical or surgical treatments for varicose veins were included, with no restrictions on language or publication date. RESULTS: 51 reviews fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Outcomes and comparators were described, and a narrative review was conducted. Overall, there was no evidence that compression stockings should be recommended for patients as the initial treatment or after surgical interventions. There was low to moderate evidence that minimally invasive therapies (endovenous laser therapy, radiofrequency ablation or foam sclerotherapy) are as safe and effective as conventional surgery (ligation and stripping). Among these systematic reviews, only 18 were judged to present high quality. CONCLUSIONS: There was evidence of low to moderate quality that minimally invasive treatments, including foam sclerotherapy, laser and radiofrequency therapy are comparable to conventional surgery, regarding effectiveness and safety for treatment of varicose veins.

The interest on salt marsh recovery and habitat restoration started to be associated with rapid changes in erosion and accretion rates endangering the human communities that live in the borderline salt marsh (Boorman et al., 2002; Doody, 2013). Lowlying areas left by successive embankments and land reclamation over centuries fail in the absorption of wave energy and in the capacity to accommodate flooding. These aspects started to be valued in a context of climate change, particularly rising sea levels, and these concerns, in the first phase, have led to the construction of breakwater structures (Elliot et al., 2007; Doody, 2013). Nevertheless, these hard measures started to degrade and sustainability issues arose whenever breakwaters and groins needed repairing or reconstruction (Esteves, 2013). info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This paper deals with the reducibility property of semidirect products of the form [Formula: see text] relatively to graph equation systems, where D denotes the pseudovariety of definite semigroups. We show that if the pseudovariety [Formula: see text] is reducible with respect to the canonical signature [Formula: see text] consisting of the multiplication and the [Formula: see text]-power, then [Formula: see text] is also reducible with respect to [Formula: see text].

Drug-Eluting Stents (DES) are the mainstay of coronary artery disease treatment. Although DES design iterations have reduced MACE in the first year after PCI, beyond 1-year, a persistent 2-3% annualized event rate without plateau is observed. The DynamX™ Novolimus-Eluting Coronary Bioadaptor

We review the conservation status and threats to the endemic vascular flora of the Cape Verde islands, mostly based on the past two decades of collecting, literature review and herbarium specimens. The application of IUCN Red List criteria and categories using RAMAS software reveals that 78% of the endemic plants are threatened (29.3% Critically Endangered, 41.3% Endangered, 7.6% Vulnerable). Most of these endemics have a limited geographical range, and half of them have Areas of Occupancy and Extents of Occurrence of

Review The flora and vegetation of the archipelago of Cabo Verde is dominated by Macaronesian, Mediterranean, and particularly by African tropical elements, resulting from its southernmost location, when compared to the other islands of the Macaronesia (i.e., Azores, Madeira, Selvagens, and Canary Islands). Very likely, such a geographical position entailed higher susceptibility to extreme climatic fluctuations, namely those associated with the West African Monsoon oscillations. These fluctuations led to a continuous aridification, which is a clear trend shown by most recent studies based on continental shelf cores. Promoting important environmental shifts, such climatic fluctuations are accepted as determinant to explain the current spatial distribution patterns of taxa, as well as the composition of the plant communities. In this paper, we present a comprehensive characterization of the main plant communities in Cabo Verde, and we discuss the role of the climatic and topoclimatic diversity in shaping the vegetation composition and distribution of this archipelago. Our study reveals a strong variation in the diversity of plant communities across elevation gradients and distinct patterns of richness among plant communities. Moreover, we present an overview of the biogeographical relationships of the Cabo Verde flora and vegetation with the other Macaronesian Islands and northwestern Africa. We discuss how the distribution of plant communities and genetic patterns found among most of the endemic lineages can be related to Africa’s ongoing aridification, exploring the impacts of a process that marks northern Africa from the Late Miocene until the present info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Given two finite words $u$ and $v$ of equal length, define the \emph{overlap gap between $u$ and $v$}, denoted $og(u,v)$, as the least integer $m$ for which there exist words $x$ and $x'$ of length $m$ such that $xu=vx'$ or $ux=x'v$. Informally, the overlap gap measures the outside parts of the greatest overlap of the given words. For a left-infinite word $\lambda$ and a right-infinite word $\rho$, let $og_{\lambda,\rho}$ be the function defined, for each non-negative integer $n$, by $og_{\lambda,\rho}(n)=og(\lambda_n,\rho_n)$, where $\lambda_n$ and $\rho_n$ are, respectively, the suffix of $\lambda$ and the prefix of $\rho$ of length $n$. Also, denote by $OG_{\lambda,\rho}$ the image of the function $og_{\lambda,\rho}$. In this paper, we show that $OG_{\lambda,\rho}$ is a finite set if and only if $\lambda$ and $\rho$ are ultimately periodic infinite words of the form $\lambda=u^{-\infty}w_1=\cdots uuuw_1$ and $\rho=w_2u^\infty=w_2uuu\cdots$ for some finite words $u$, $w_1$ and $w_2$.

La littérature rabbinique et le Coran croient en l’existence de deux mondes : le monde présent et le monde futur (ʿolam ha-ze/ʿolam ha-ba en hébreu, dunyā/āḫira en arabe : deux couples de mots sans relation linguistique). Les études sur l’eschatologie rabbinique ont toujours reconnu l’importance de ce thème. À l’inverse, il a été relativement négligé dans le champ des études coraniques et nécessite encore de nouvelles recherches. Nous avons comparé trois types de textes dans les deux corpus : ceux qui ne mentionnent que le monde présent ou futur et ceux qui traitent simultanément des deux mondes. À première vue, le Coran montre plus d’affinités avec les apocalypses juives ou la littérature chrétienne (particulièrement syriaque). Cependant, la comparaison souligne également quelques corrélations significatives avec les données rabbiniques, comme l’usage fréquent du couple « monde présent/monde futur » et plusieurs aspects de la doctrine de la rétribution. Finalement, notre analyse confirme que l’Arabie pré-islamique se caractérisait par une importante diversité et complexité religieuses, à l’intérieur du judaïsme et en dehors de lui.

We present a bioclimatological diagnosis of mainland Portugal, namely the thermotype and ombrotype maps following Rivas-Martinez's worldwide bioclimatic classification system. In order to obtain this diagnosis, we produced maps of bioclimatological indices using, as base data, geostatistical interpolations of air temperature and precipitation. We performed uncertainty propagation obtaining uncertainty measures for the produced maps: mean absolute errors and root mean squared errors. For the non-linear indices, besides the usual approximation using Taylor expansion, we devised error formulae, for which we showed that the propagated uncertainties are upper bounds on the true uncertainty measures. We compared the obtained uncertainty measures to those reported on a previously published work, which used a different methodological framework to obtain the same diagnosis. Although the approach we used here implies a great number of interpolations and subsequent calculation steps, it permitted the use of a large amount of data relative to precipitation. An F-test showed that the estimated mean squared errors for the maps of ombrothermic indices were significantly lower than those produced by the former methodological framework.

A Design of Experiments was adopted to assess the optimal conditions for methane production from the macroalgae Sargassum sp. co-digested with glycerol (Gly) and waste frying oil (WFO). Three variables were tested:% total solids of algae (%TSSargassumsp.), co-substrate concentration (gGly/WFO L-1); and, co-substrate type (Gly or WFO). The Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) of Sargassum sp. was 181±1 L CH4 kg-1 COD. The co-digestion with Gly and WFO increased the BMP by 56% and 46%, respectively. The methane production rate (k), showed similar behaviour as the BMP, increasing 38% and 19% with Gly and WFO, respectively. The higher BMP (283±18 L CH4 kg-1 COD) and k (65.9±2.1 L CH4 kg-1 COD d-1) was obtained in the assay with 0.5% TS and 3.0 gGly L-1. Co-digestion with glycerol or WFO is a promising process to enhance the BMP from the macroalgae Sargassum sp., The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) and European Social Fund (ESF, POPH-QREN) through the grant given to JoseCarlos Costa (SFRH/BDP/48962/2008), and through the project FCOMP-01-0124FEDER-027914 (PTDC/AAG-TEC/3048/2012), financed by FEDER through COMPETE -Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade; and FCT Strategic Project PEst-OE/EQB/LA0023/2013, the FCT Project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 and the Project "BioEnv - Biotechnology and Bioengineering for a sustainable world'', REF. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000048, co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2 - O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER.

English. The genetic analysis through the nuclear ribosomal DNA of some Iberian and NW Morocco populations of Genista ancistrocarpa Spach and G. anglica L. has validated the separation of these two sister taxa as two distinct genetic entities, strengthening the already described morphological differentiation. The studied populations neatly show the G. ancistrocarpa as a coastal taxon with occidental Iberian and NW Morocco distribution, contrary to the G. anglica. The distribution areas of the two species appear to be distinct and with an important biogeographical significance. The coastal clade is determined by populations of G. ancistrocarpa, and outlines a biogeographic region that seems to depart genetically from the remaining peninsular populations, also in several molecular analyses of other plants and animals by many authors, supporting the idea of a distinct evolution from the Miocene onwards, when the installation of dry and hot conditions has pushed the moisture-dependent populations of G. ancistracarpa toward the westernmost sectors of Iberia and Morocco with an atlantic influence.Portugués. A análise genética de ADN nuclear ribossomal, levada a cabo em algumas populações peninsulares e do NW de Marrocos de Genista ancistrocarpa e de G. anglica, permitiu validar estes dois taxa irmãos como entidades genéticas distintas, reforçando, desta forma, a sua diferenciação morfológica. As análises permitem definir a G. ancistrocarpa como um taxon litoral com distribuição oeste ibérica e NW de África, por oposição à G. anglica. As áreas de distribuição das duas espécies parecem ser distintas e com importante significado biogeográfico. O clado litoral definido pelas populações de G. ancistrocarpa define um território biogeográfico, que parece destacarse geneticamente das restantes populações peninsulares, em diversas plantas e animais analisados geneticamente por vários autores, reforçando a ideia de uma evolução distinta a partir do Mioceno médio, quando a instalação de um clima seco e quente empurrou e isolou uma parte da população da higrófila G. ancistrocarpa para ocidente, onde podiam receber uma influência atlântica.

The worldwide incidence and prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) are increasing. DM has a high social and economic burden due to its complications and associated disorders. Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is closely related to DM. More than 85% of patients with DM will develop PAD in their lifetime, and between 10 and 25% of patients with DM will have a foot ulcer. In such cases, it is important to determine for each patient whether it is necessary and feasible to revascularise the affected limb as well as the optimal technique. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) is designed to restore blood flow through the vessel lumen by various devices including balloons, drug-coated balloons, bare stents, drug-eluting stents and endovascular atherectomes. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effects of PTA in the treatment of lower limb arterial ulcers in diabetic patients. We will search randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs in the following databases (e.g., MEDLINE via PubMed, EMBASE, Lilacs, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ibecs, CINAHL, AMED, World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, ClinicalTrials.gov , and OpenGrey). Our search strategy will use the following free-text terms and controlled vocabulary (e.g., Emtree, MeSH) for ‘foot ulcer’, ‘leg ulcer’, ‘diabetic foot’, ‘Peripheral Arterial Disease’, ‘Diabetes Complications’, ‘Peripheral Vascular Diseases’, ‘critical limb ischemia’, ‘below the knee ulcer’, ‘angioplasty’, ‘stents’, ‘stenting’, and ‘endovascular procedures’. There will be no limits on date or language of publication. Two authors will, independently, select studies and assess the data from them. Risks of bias (RoB) of included studies will be evaluated using the Cochrane’s RoB tool. If possible, we will perform and report structured summaries of the included studies and meta-analyses. Results are not available as this is a protocol for a systematic review, and we are currently in the phase of building a sensitive search strategy. While there are several available endovascular techniques for revascularisation, it is unclear which technique has better outcomes for ulcers below the knee in diabetic patients. A systematic review is required to validate and demonstrate these techniques and their outcomes to allow an evidence-based clinical decision. PROSPERO CRD42017065171

The following biogeographic units for the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands have been established according to the conceptual geobotanical proposals of Rivas-Martinez et al. (Parte I. Itinera Geobotanica 17:5–436, 2007; Parte II. Itinera Geobotanica 18 (1):5–424, 2011a; Glob Geobot 1(1):1–634, 2011b; Int J Geobot Res 1(1):21–40, 2011c and Int J Geobot Res 4(1):1–64, 2014): one kingdom (Holartic), two regions (Eurosiberian, Mediterranean), eight provinces, 16 subprovinces, 49 sectors and 264 districts. The potential natural vegetation: climatophilous, climato-temporihygrophilous, xerophilous, hygrophilous sigmetum or geopermasigmetum (series and geopermaseries) are shown for each province and sector. We also point out some of their specific features. Biogeographic maps up to district level are shown.

A design of experiments was applied to evaluate different strategies to enhance the methane yield of macroalgae Gracilaria vermiculophylla. Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) of G. vermiculophylla after physical pre-treatment (washing and maceration) reached 481 ± 9 L CH4 kg−1 VS, corresponding to a methane yield of 79 ± 2%. No significant effects were achieved in the BMP after thermochemical pre-treatment, although the seaweeds solubilisation increased up to 44%. Co-digestion with glycerol or sewage sludge has proved to be effective for increasing the methane production. Addition of 2% glycerol (w:w) increased the BMP by 18%, achieving almost complete methanation of the substrate (96 ± 3%). Co-digestion of seaweed and secondary sludge (15:85%, TS/TS) increased the BMP by 25% (605 ± 4 L CH4 kg−1 VS) compared to the seaweed individual digestion., The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) and European Social Fund (ESF, POPH-QREN) through the grant given to Jose Carlos Costa (SFRH/BDP/48962/2008), and through the projects: FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027914 (PTDC/AAG-TEC/3048/2012), financed by FEDER through COMPETE - Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade; and FCT Strategic Project PEst- OE/EQB/LA0023/2013, the FCT Project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 and the Project "BioEnv Biotechnology and Bioengineering for a sustainable world'', REF. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000048, co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON. 2 - O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER. We would like to thank Dr. Rui Pereira (Algaplus), for providing the seaweed samples.

Midaortic syndrome is a rare vascular anomaly characterized by coarctation of the descending thoracic and abdominal aorta. Down syndrome is associated with multiple congenital cardiac malformations but is rarely associated with developmental vascular anomalies. Midaortic syndrome may result in severe renovascular hypertension that requires early intervention to prevent life-threatening complications. We report a child with Down syndrome who presented with occlusion of the aorta and was treated with aortic bypass. More than 4 years after the procedure, the patient's renal function remains normal, and there is no evidence of recurrent hypertension. Long-term follow-up is important to assess the benefits of surgical repair.

Quantitative image analysis techniques have gained an undeniable role in several fields of research during the last decade. In the field of biological wastewater treatment (WWT) processes, several computer applications have been developed for monitoring microbial entities, either as individual cells or in different types of aggregates. New descriptors have been defined that are more reliable, objective, and useful than the subjective and time-consuming parameters classically used to monitor biological WWT processes. Examples of this application include the objective prediction of filamentous bulking, known to be one of the most problematic phenomena occurring in activated sludge technology. It also demonstrated its usefulness in classifying protozoa and metazoa populations. In high-rate anaerobic processes, based on granular sludge, aggregation times and fragmentation phenomena could be detected during critical events, e.g., toxic and organic overloads. Currently, the major efforts and needs are in the development of quantitative image analysis techniques focusing on its application coupled with stained samples, either by classical or fluorescent-based techniques. The use of quantitative morphological parameters in process control and online applications is also being investigated. This work reviews the major advances of quantitative image analysis applied to biological WWT processes., The authors acknowledge the financial support to the project PTDC/EBB-EBI/103147/2008 and the grant SFRH/BPD/48962/2008 provided by Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (Portugal).

Motivated by the need for validation methodologies for embedded systems we propose a method for embedded software testing that can be integrated with existing hardware methods. Existing coverage-directed validation methods guarantee the execution of a certain percentage of the program code under test. Yet they do not generally verify whether the statements executed have any influence on the program's output. In the proposed method, a program statement is considered covered not simply for belonging to the executed path, but only if its execution has influence in some observable output. The paths are generated by searching the longest path in terms of the number of statements in the path. Given that not all paths are valid, we check their feasibility using a method based on Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP). Variable aliasing is accounted for by representing variables by their memory addresses when building this MILP problem. In this manner, for feasible paths, we obtain immediately the input values that allow the execution of the path. Using these inputs, we determine the statements actually observed. We repeat this process until a user-specified level of coverage has been achieved. In the generation of each new path, the statement coverage obtained so far and the feasibility of previous paths is taken into account. We present results that demonstrate the effectiveness of this methodology.

Due to their position of interface between the sea and land, the flora and vegetation of coastal beaches and dunes, occupy ecologically extreme, sensitive, unique and valuable habitats. The occurrence of a large number of endemic taxa and specific plant associations endowed with key ecological services and adapted to a stressful and harsh environmental gradient, gives them a high interest for nature conservation and an important role in sustainable territorial planning. However, such ecosystems are vulnerable to the disruption caused by several anthropogenic sources. Among other global threat factors, the inevitable sea rise caused by climate change and, at a local scale, the non-negligible implications of trampling caused by disorderly coastal touristic exploitation, growing construction pressure in the littoral, and a seasonal population boom in late spring and in summer, plus all derivate forms of pollution, are threat factors to their integrity. Therefore, a correct planning of the touristic economic activities requires the understanding of the vegetation composition and spatial distribution patterns, intrinsically determined by their biogeographic context in the Euro-Siberian or Mediterranean Regions. This comprehensive work, based on a broad phytogeographic study, brings together disperse information on plant communities of the Portuguese sandy coasts (beaches and dunes), by analysing floristic compositions, chorology and ecological characteristics, and matching them with the “Nature 2000” network habitats. Resilience and vulnerability are also studied. In a nature conservation perspective, a positive balance (and a sustainable co-existence) between the preservation of natural values and human development in the Portuguese coast, will benefit with the integration of this knowledge in coastal planning and management activities.

About the hygrophilous woodlands and edges of Portuguese Divisory Palavras-chave. Sabugueiro, Olmo, Salici purpureae-Populetea nigrae, Rubus vigoi, Sintra. Key words. Elder, Elm, Salici purpureae-Populetea nigrae, Rubus vigoi, Sintra.

Biochemical methane potential of four species of Ulva and Gracilaria genus was assessed in batch assays at mesophilic temperature. The results indicate a higher specific methane production (per volatile solids) for one of the Ulva sp. compared with other macroalgae and for tests running with 2.5% of total solids (196 ± 9 L CH4 kg−1 VS). Considering that macroalgae can potentially be a post treatment of municipal wastewater for nutrients removal, co-digestion of macroalgae with waste activated sludge (WAS) was assessed. The co-digestion of macroalgae (15%) with WAS (85%) is feasible at a rate of methane production 26% higher than WAS alone without decreasing the overall biodegradability of the substrate (42–45% methane yield). The use of anoxic marine sediment as inoculum had no positive effect on the methane production in batch assays. The limiting step of the overall anaerobic digestion process was the hydrolysis., The authors acknowledge the financial support of the "Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia" through the grant given to Jose Carlos Costa (SFRH/BDP/48962/2008) and Ana Nobre (SFRH/BPD/64582/2009).

Strategies are proposed for the anaerobic treatment of lipid and phenolic-rich effluents, specifically the raw olive mill wastewater (OMW). Two reactors were operated under OMW influent concentrations from 5 to 48 g COD L-1 and Hydraulic Retention Time between 10 and 5 days. An intermittent feeding was applied whenever the reactors showed a severe decay in the methane yield. This strategy improved the mineralization of oleate and palmitate, which were the main accumulated Long Chain Fatty Acids (LCFA), and also promoted the removal of resilient phenolic compounds, reaching remarkable removal efficiencies of 60% and 81% for two parallel reactors at the end of a feed-less period. A maximum biogas production of 1.4 m3 m-3 d-1 at an Organic Loading Rate of 4.8 kg COD m-3 d-1 was obtained. Patterns of individual LCFA oxidation during the OMW anaerobic digestion are presented and discussed for the first time. The supplementation of a nitrogen source boosted immediately the methane yield from 21 and 18 to 76 and 93% in both reactors. The typical problems of sludge flotation and washout during the anaerobic treatment of this oily wastewater were overcome by biomass retention, according to the Inverted Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (IASB) reactor concepts. This work demonstrates that it is possible to avoid a previous detoxification step by implementing adequate operational strategies to the anaerobic treatment of OMW., The authors acknowledge the financial support of the “Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia”, FCT/MCTES, through the project PTDC/ENR/69755/2006 and also through the grants given to Marta Gonçalves SFRH/BD/40746/2007 and José Carlos Costa SFRH/BDP/ 48962 /2008. The authors thank Tânia Ferreira for the help in LCFA analysis and Ana Cavaleiro for her scientific support.

Amputations result in a variety of limitations that have emotional consequences for patients. The aim of the present study was evaluate non-psychotic disorders and their associated factors in a sample of people with lower limb amputations. A cross-sectional study was conducted that assessed the association of sociodemographic and clinical variables in relation to psychiatric disorders evaluated through the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) for patients undergoing lower limb amputation. The association between the outcome of the SRQ-20 and the other variables was assessed with the chi-square and Student’s t test; to explore the magnitude of association adjusted for covariates, a logistic regression model was developed. One hundred-thirty eight (138) patients were interviewed, and a prevalence of 43% (60/138) was observed for patients with mental disorders assessed with the SRQ-20 questionnaire. We also observed that male patients (p = 0.017) and those who were married (p = 0.035) had a lower rate of psychological problems; those who were not considered independent (p = 0.036) and those with a greater number of morbid conditions (p = 0.036) showed a higher positivity in relation to psychological morbidity (p = 0.003). Logistic regression analysis showed that only the associated chronic diseases (p = 0.0328) and lack of independence (p = 0.0197) remained significant. Given the high prevalence of mental disorders related to the number of associated morbid conditions and to the situation of dependency among lower limb amputees, the psychological and social assessment of these people is recommended, in addition to encouraging their self-care and the return to their activities.

Phytosociological novelties of the Northeast Alentejo (Portugal) Palavras chave. Stauracanthus lusitanicus, Sedum marianum, matos, Ulici argentei-Cistion ladaniferi, Cicendion. Key words. Stauracanthus lusitanicus, Sedum marianum, scrubland, Ulici argentei-Cistion ladaniferi, Cicendion.

This work aims at selecting a suitable strategy to accelerate the start-up of the anaerobic treatment of olive mill wastewater (OMW) and to enhance the biogas production. Two anaerobic sludges were tested in toxicity and biodegradability batch experiments: biomass acclimated to oleate (BAO) and biomass non-acclimated (BNA). The results showed that the resistance to OMW toxicity was higher for the BAO than for the BNA. In the presence of OMW, the BNA was inhibited at all concentrations tested, whereas for the BAO no inhibition occurred at 5 and 10 g COD L �1 . In fact, even at 25 g COD L �1 both substrates (acetate þOMW) were degraded. The biodegradation rate of OMW was higher in batch vials with the acclimated sludge. The results demonstrate that the use of an acclimated microbial consortium to LCFA compounds is a promising strategy to accelerate the start-up of the digestion process, and to improve the overall anaerobic treatment of a real oily wastewater such as OMW with simultaneous bioenergy production (biogas).

At first sight, the question of evil is regarded in the Guide for the Perplexed in a paradoxical manner. Thus, in Guide I, 2, Maimonides examines the notions of good and evil as subjective evaluations possessing neither the rigour not the exactness of the notions of true and false. However, the question of evil occupies an essential place in the Guide , as various modern authors have shown. This question is important to Maimonides because he is, in this respect, the heir of the rabbinic tradition and his conception of evil is largely based on an interaction with the Talmudic and Midrasic texts. Therefore, we would like to review thirty-nine rabbinic ‘quotes’ which appear in chapters 8 to 24 in the third part of the Guide and deal with the origin of evil, the meaning of suffering and the evil inclination. Maimonides reappropriates the midrasim that are susceptible of being in agreement with his rationalist positions and also quotes some rabbinic traditions that are too close to mu tazilism, undoubtedly aware of the more profound resemblance that exists between the rabbinic and mu tazilite doctrines of evil and retribution.

Safety concerns with 1st generation of bioabsorbable vascular scaffolds(BRS) have prompted the development of next generation of these devices, focused on thinner struts and faster resorption time. Recently developed, the MeRes100 (Meril Life Sciences) is a sirolimus-eluting (1.25 mg/mm2) BRS, which

Percutaneous mitral balloon valvuloplasty (PMBV) still remains as the preferred treatment for patients with severe symptomatic rheumatic mitral stenosis and suitable anatomy. This study sought to access the immediate and very long-term outcomes after successful PMBV. This is a single-center