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In order to assess and to follow up the evolution of chronic wounds, it is advisable to apply measurement scales. This procedure allows clinicians to verify the appropriateness of their activities and whether the healing process is evolving as expected. To conduct a cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric analysis of Portuguese version of RESVECH 2.0. A quantitative and correlational study was designed and, to perform the cross-cultural adaptation of RESVECH 2.0, we followed the classic sequential approach for linguistic equivalence to European Portuguese. The study occurred at a Portuguese oncology hospital and the sample encompassed 281 patients with multiple chronic wounds. RESVECH 2.0 is a practical measurement instrument, easy to use, and well accepted by nurses to know all kinds of wounds' etiologies. The reliability test revealed an acceptable internal consistency and high proportion of agreement between two raters assessing the same patient. Construct validity was considered average/good and the principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation obtained six factors corresponding to 59.5% of explained variance. When comparing the domains from RESVECH 2.0 with those from BWAT we found statistically significant correlations. The adapted version of RESVECH 2.0 scale presents a good internal consistency and is valid for the Portuguese language and culture, being useful and effective in clinical practice. • The RESVECH 2.0 scale presents a good internal consistency and high coefficients of agreement between raters. • The scale presents a good acceptability. • The scale is reliable and valid for the Portuguese language and culture, being useful and effective in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business Process Testing is the act of validating that end-to-end transactions through enterprise systems continue to work correctly as the underlying packaged applications evolve. End-to-end automatic business process validation can be a challenging task, but an important way to check that business rules continue to work properly and that problems are detected and corrected as soon as possible. This paper presents the design of a test automation platform, ETAP-Pro, to test end-to-end business processes that aims to overcome some challenges in validating business processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this investigation, high-resolution, 1×1×1-mm3 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 7 T is performed using a multichannel array head coil and a surface coil approach. Scan geometry was optimized for each coil separately to exploit the strengths of both coils. Acquisitions with the surface coil focused on partial brain coverage, while whole-brain coverage fMRI experiments were performed with the array head coil. BOLD sensitivity in the occipital lobe was found to be higher with the surface coil than with the head array, suggesting that restriction of signal detection to the area of interest may be beneficial for localized activation studies. Performing independent component analysis (ICA) decomposition of the fMRI data, we consistently detected BOLD signal changes and resting state networks. In the surface coil data, a small negative BOLD response could be detected in these resting state network areas. Also in the data acquired with the surface coil, two distinct components of the positive BOLD signal were consistently observed. These two components were tentatively assigned to tissue and venous signal changes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: The occurrence of several virulence traits (cytolysin, adhesins and hydrolytic enzymes) was investigated in a collection of 164 enterococci, including food and clinical isolates (from human and veterinary origin), as well as type and reference strains from 20 enterococcal species. Up to fifteen different cyl genotypes were found, as well as silent cyl genes. The occurrence of the cyl operon and haemolytic potential seems to be widespread in the genus. A significant association of this virulent trait with clinical isolates was found (p < 0.05). High levels of incidence were also observed for genes encoding surface adhesins (esp, efaA fs , efaA fm ), agg and gelE, irrespectively of species allocation and origin of strains. Although gelE behaves as silent in the majority of the strains, gelatinase activity predominates in clinical isolates, whereas lipase and DNase were mainly detected in food isolates pointing to their minor role as virulence determinants. No hyaluronidase activity was detected for all strains. Numerical hierarchic data analysis grouped the strains in three main clusters, two of them including a total of 50 strains with low number of virulence determinants (from 2 to 7) and the other with 114 strains with a high virulence potential (up to 12 determinants). No statistical association was found between virulence clusters and species allocation (p > 0.10), strongly suggesting that virulence determinants are a common trait in the genus Enterococcus. Clinical strains seem to be significantly associated with high virulence potential, whereas food, commensal and environmental strains harbour fewer virulence determinants (p < 0.01). A high level of relative diversity in virulence patterns was observed (Shannon''s index varies from 0.95 to 1.0 among clusters), reinforcing the strain-specific nature of the association of virulence factors. Although a low risk seems to be associated with the use of enterococci in long-established artisanal cheeses, screening of virulence traits and their cross-synergies must be performed, particularly for commercial starters, probiotic strains and products to be used by high risk population groups. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Deconvolution can remove the effects of downstream vasculature in laminar fMRI. • The spatial point spread function is independent of cortical depth and can be estimated by simulation. • The point spread function is characterised by a single peak to tail value. • Data-based estimation and simulation of the peak to tail give similar values. The specificity of gradient echo (GE)-BOLD laminar fMRI activation profiles is degraded by intracortical veins that drain blood from lower to upper cortical layers, propagating activation signal in the same direction. This work describes an approach to obtain layer specific profiles by deconvolving the measured profiles with a physiological Point Spread Function (PSF). It is shown that the PSF can be characterised by a TE-dependent peak to tail (p2t) value that is independent of cortical depth and can be estimated by simulation. An experimental estimation of individual p2t values and the sensitivity of the deconvolved profiles to variations in p2t is obtained using laminar data measured with a multi-echo 3D-FLASH sequence. These profiles are echo time dependent, but the underlying neuronal response is the same, allowing a data-based estimation of the PSF. The deconvolved profiles are highly similar to the gold-standard obtained from extremely high resolution 3D-EPI data, for a range of p2t values of 5–9, which covers both the empirically determined value (6.8) and the value obtained by simulation (6.3). -Comparison with Existing Method(s) Corrected profiles show a flatter shape across the cortex and a high level of similarity with the gold-standard, defined as a subset of profiles that are unaffected by intracortical veins. We conclude that deconvolution is a robust approach for removing the effect of signal propagation through intracortical veins. This makes it possible to obtain profiles with high laminar specificity while benefitting from the higher efficiency of GE-BOLD sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural Gas usually contains H 2 S as a major contaminant, and its presence in gas streams can lead to corrosion of equipment and pipelines. Adsorption is a commonly used technique for removing sulfur compounds from gas streams at low concentrations. The desulphurization process is very complex, requiring experimental and pilot-scale studies before the development of a full-scale adsorption column. Such studies often involve simulation and scale-up techniques. Approaches for scale-up techniques applied to the removal of H 2 S from natural gas in real conditions of transport lacks discussions in the literature. The present study aimed to perform a scale-up of experimental pilot-scale equilibrium data for the real conditions of natural gas transport through gas pipelines using numerical simulation. We evaluated the influence of operating parameters (bed length/diameter ratio, pressure, and temperature) on the removal of H 2 S from a gas stream in the range of 1.5–3.5, 50–110 bar, and 298–328 K, respectively. The predicted results match real process data providing the elaboration of a scale-up for gas transport conditions in a pipeline. The results showed that at the confidence level of 95%, only pressure was statistically significant, and the optimization of operating conditions increased the amount adsorbed in the equilibrium from 3.71 to 4.70 mol/kg. Bed saturation time was estimated for different operating flows, and the results are in agreement with data reported in the literature. • Experimental data obtained under pilot experimental allow to predict equilibrium data on higher pressures. • Optimization in the operating conditions increased from 3.71 to 4.70 mol/kg in the equilibrium. • Main resistance to mass transfer in the bed was due to the internal solid diffusion. • Zeolite 13× can be an alternative for desulphurization of gas stream under high pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fucoxanthin is considered an important marine bioactive compound with biological properties with promising effects, namely on health. A simple and efficient analytical methodology is proposed for its quantification in seaweed biomass by using vortex-assisted solid-liquid microextraction (VASLME) followed by reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) photodiode array detection (PDA) analysis. This microextraction uses reduced quantities of sample (25 mg) and solvent (300 μL of ethanol) to efficiently extract this high-valued xanthophyll, in a vortex time of 15 min. These extraction parameters were optimized performing a Central Composite Design (CCD) analysis, running 32 individual experiments. In turn, the method validation was assessed. The linearity of the method was confirmed (R 2 = 0.99998) in a concentration range from 12 to 3600 μg·g−1 dw. Also, good sensitivity and accuracy results were observed through the LOD (3.33 μg·g−1), LOQ (10.09 μg·g−1) and recovery (varied from 95 to 97%) assessments. Good precision was also verified, with intra-day variation within 2.0–3.3%, and inter-day within 1.0–3.8%. Matrix effect was also evaluated and an acceptable variation of 3.4% was found. The method applicability was confirmed by the analysis of 22 seaweed biomass samples and fucoxanthin content was found to vary from about 10 to 853 μg·g−1 dw. This method demonstrated a good performance and can be successfully implemented for a rapid, reliable and accurate screening of fucoxanthin in seaweed biomass. • Central Composite Design (CCD) to optimize fucoxanthin microextraction • HPLC-PDA validation for rapid fucoxanthin content analysis in seaweeds • Fucoxanthin variability in collected seaweeds and in seaweed beach casts [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A maxillary sinus mucocele is an infrequent but benign lesion that develops from the obstruction of a seromucous glandular duct of the maxillary sinus mucosa. This clinical entity is generally asymptomatic and self-limited. Mucoceles are described as rounded dome-shaped soft tissue masses frequently located on the floor of the maxillary sinus. In this paper, we present a case of a slightly radiopaque well defined shadow arising from the left maxillary sinus floor that produced the root resorption of the upper second left molar. After the surgical removal of the lesion through a Caldwell-Luc approach, histologic study confirmed the initial diagnosis of mucocele. This case report emphasizes the need of clinical and radiologic follow-up to detect any complications associated with these benign lesions, because, in rare occasions, they can show an aggressive growth pattern. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: The present study evaluated the fibroblast attachment and the morphologic changes of simulated cervical root resorptions after irradiation with high-power lasers and the use of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA). Study design: Standardized cavities were done on the coronal third of 40 single-rooted teeth and assigned into 4 groups according to the treatment applied: (1) untreated control, (2) use of MTA, (3) irradiation with Er:YAG laser (42mJ, 10 Hz, 10 s), and (4) irradiation with high-power diode laser (1 W, 10 s). Fragments were prepared for SEM analysis: 6 samples of each group were plated with human gingival fibroblasts and 4 samples were used for ultrastructural analysis. Results: The cells'' attachment was in decreasing order: G3 > G4 > G1> G2, with statistical differences among all groups (P < .05). The samples irradiated with Er:YAG exhibited roughness on the dentinal surface, no smear layer, and open dentinal tubules; those irradiated with diode laser exhibited a smooth surface, more smear layer, and closed dentinal tubules; and the control group showed high amount of smear layer and closed dentin tubules. Conclusions: Irradiation with Er:YAG and diode lasers caused morphologic changes on the dentinal surfaces of simulated resorptions that favored cells'' adhesion. MTA showed lower biocompatibility than irradiated groups but allowed cells'' adhesion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the disinfection degree of dentine caused by the use of diode laser after biomechanical procedures. Study design: Thirty teeth were sectioned and roots were autoclaved and incubated for 4 weeks with a suspension of Enterococcus faecalis. The specimens were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 10): G1, instrumented with rotary files, irrigated with 0.5% sodium hypochlorite and 17% EDTA-T, and then irradiated by 830-nm diode laser at 3 W; G2, the same procedures as G1 but without laser irradiation; and G3, irrigation with saline solution (control). Dentin samples of each third were collected with carbide burs and aliquots were sowed to count viable cells. Results: The disinfection degree achieved was 100% in G1 and 98.39% in G2, when compared to the control group (G3). Conclusion: Diode laser irradiation provided increased disinfection of the deep radicular dentin in the parameters and samples tested. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: To investigate the action of a red laser associated with a photosensitizer on the reduction of Enterococcus faecalis in dental root canal in vitro. Study design: Thirty prepared teeth with single canals were contaminated. The chemical group was irrigated with 0.5% NaOCl and left flooded for 30 minutes. In the laser group, a paste-based photosensitizer was maintained in the root canals for 5 minutes, and then irradiated with a laser at 685 nm using an optical fiber for an E of 1.8 J during 3 minutes. After treatment, the canal content was collected, serially diluted, and cultured to determine the number of colony-forming units. Results: Photosensitizer alone or laser alone did not have any bactericidal effect. Chemical solution reduced viable bacteria in 93.25%. Laser photosensitization resulted in a reduction of 99.2%, a significantly higher bacterial reduction than NaOCl. Conclusion: Laser photosensitization was effective for reducing E. faecalis in root canals and could be an adjunct to endodontic treatment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract The functional contribution of the lateral frontal cortex to behavior has been discussed with reference to several higher-order cognitive domains. In a separate line of research, recent studies have focused on the anatomical organization of this part of the brain. These different approaches are rarely combined. Here, we combine previous work using anatomical connectivity that identified a lateral subdivision of the human frontal pole and work that suggested a general role for rostrolateral prefrontal cortex in processing higher-order relations, irrespective of the type of information. We asked healthy human volunteers to judge the relationship between pairs of stimuli, a task previously suggested to engage the lateral frontal pole. Presenting both shape and face stimuli, we indeed observed overlapping activation of the lateral prefrontal cortex when subjects judged relations between pairs. Using resting state functional MRI, we confirmed that the activated region's whole-brain connectivity most strongly resembles that of the lateral frontal pole. Using diffusion MRI, we showed that the pattern of connections of this region with the main association fibers again is most similar to that of the lateral frontal pole, consistent with the observation that it is this anatomical region that is involved in relational processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we present K- and L- shell fluorescence yield values of the full isonuclear sequence of Fe ions, using a state-of-the-art multiconfiguration Dirac–Fock approach. These results may be of importance for spectral fitting and plasma modeling, both in laboratory and astrophysical studies, where Fe is an important benchmark element. The K-shell fluorescence yields were found to be very similar up to the removal of 14 electrons. • We have performed K- and L- fluorescence yields of the isonuclear sequence of Fe from first principles using a multiconfiguration Dirac–Fock approach. • Changes of the fluorescence yield were assessed for K- and L- shells as a function of the charge state. • L 1 subshell fluorescence yield is much more sensitive to the removal of outer electrons than the L 2,3 subshell fluorescence yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Segmented three-dimensional echo planar imaging (3D-EPI) provides higher image signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) than standard single-shot two-dimensional echo planar imaging (2D-EPI), but is more sensitive to physiological noise. The aim of this study was to compare physiological noise removal efficiency in single-shot 2D-EPI and segmented 3D-EPI acquired at 7 Tesla. Two approaches were investigated based either on physiological regressors (PR) derived from cardiac and respiratory phases, or on principal component analysis (PCA) using additional resting-state data. Results show that, prior to physiological noise removal, 2D-EPI data had higher temporal SNR (tSNR), while spatial SNR was higher in 3D-EPI. Blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) sensitivity was similar for both methods. The PR-based approach allowed characterization of relative contributions from different noise sources, confirming significant increases in physiological noise from 2D to 3D prior to correction. Both physiological noise removal approaches produced significant increases in tSNR and BOLD sensitivity, and these increases were larger for 3D-EPI, resulting in higher BOLD sensitivity in the 3D-EPI than in the 2D-EPI data. The PCA-based approach was the most effective correction method, yielding higher tSNR values for 3D-EPI than for 2D-EPI postcorrection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]