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Swarms of mobile wireless-connected sensors are increasingly deployed for applications such as monitoring, surveillance, and safety-critical operations. Quantifying end-to-end (e2e) delay performance guarantees in these scenarios is paramount. In this paper, we present a theoretical approach using Stochastic Network Calculus (SNC) with Moment Generating Functions (MGFs) to characterize e2e delay bounds in Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks (MWSNs). Our study focuses on a network composed of two segments: the first segment includes multiple nodes connected via a contention-based channel using the Distributed Coordination Function (DCF), while the second segment consists of a link prone to disconnections due to the mobility of nodes in the first segment. We model the first segment by calculating the expected per-packet service time in a non-saturated homogeneous contention channel and the second segment using a Discrete Time Markov Chain (DTMC). Initially, we derive a mathematical expression that correlates the offered load with the saturation status of each node’s queue in a non-saturated contention channel with homogeneous nodes. We then provide numerical e2e delay bounds for an illustrative example of a first responder network, quantifying the effects of non-saturated traffic, communication range on the head-sink link, and scheduling algorithms across different network sizes. Finally, we compare the derived e2e delay bounds with network simulations to assess their accuracy and reliability.

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This paper takes a terminological approach to the concept of high intellectual abilities, highlighting the distinctive aspects of the way it is addressed in the Portuguese educational context. It outlines the existing conceptual differentiation in the field of higher abilities, emphasizing how the main characteristics are described and including the strengths and weaknesses of current teaching and learning processes in Portugal. As we will show, educational work with these students in Portuguese schools is characterized by unequal regulation compared to other educational needs, by an imbalance of educational processes aimed at these gifted students, and by clear underdiagnosis that sometimes leads to them being ignored in the classroom, with the consequent harm that this can cause to their overall development and to their academic and professional careers. The paper emphasizes the importance of teacher training in Portugal as an aspect that could be key to reversing, as far as possible, this gap in educational processes—which currently include educational inclusion for all their students as part of the key action principles in the Portuguese educational system.

Background Tuberculosis (TB)-related stigma has been well-documented. Since the emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), different organizations have been alerted to the fact that stigma could arise again. Due to stigma’s negative effects, this qualitative study aimed to explore the stigma felt by patients by evaluating the following: COVID-19 stigma and its temporal progression through the pandemic; stigma perceived by different patients with TB before and during COVID-19 pandemic; and difference perceived by individuals who contracted both diseases. Methods A semi-structured interview was developed according to the available literature on the theme. It was performed individually in 2022 upon receiving signed informed consent. Participants were recruited with a purposive sampling approach by searching medical records. Those who currently or previously had pulmonary TB and/ or COVID-19 were included. Data were subjected to thematic analysis. Results Nine patients were interviewed, including six (66.7%) females. The median age of patients was 51±14.7 years. Four participants (44.4%) had completed high school and four (44.4%) were never smokers. Three had both TB and COVID-19. Four only had TB and two only had COVID-19. Interviews identified eight main themes: knowledge and beliefs, with several misconceptions identified; attitudes towards the disease, varying from social support to exclusion; knowledge and education, assumed as of extreme importance; internalized stigma, with self-rejection; experienced stigma, with discrimination episodes; anticipated stigma, modifying actions for avoiding stigma; perceived stigma, with judgment by others prevailed; and temporal evolution of stigma. Conclusion Individuals expressed strong stigma for both diseases. De-stigmatization of respiratory infectious diseases is crucial for limiting stigma’s negative impact.

BackgroundAlthough scleroatrophic gallbladder is a rare condition, it presents significant clinical challenges in diagnosis and management. More agreement is needed on this disorder's diagnostic criteria and optimal management approach. We will conduct a systematic review to summarise the scleroatrophic gallbladder's preoperative diagnostic criteria, including imaging modalities.MethodsA systematic review will be undertaken using the PRISMA guidelines. The protocol has been registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024503701). We will search in Medline (via PubMed), Embase, SCOPUS, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science to find original studies reporting about scleroatrophic gallbladder or synonymous. Two reviewers will independently screen the titles and abstracts following the eligibility criteria. We will include all types of studies that describe any diagnostic criteria or tools. After retrieving the full text of the selected studies, we will conduct a standardised data extraction. Finally, a narrative synthesis will be performed. The quality of the identified studies will be assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies- 2 tool.DiscussionThis systematic review will provide information on the preoperative diagnostic criteria of the scleroatrophic gallbladder and the value of imaging studies in its diagnosis. In addition, this work will aid doctors in the decision-making process for diagnosing scleroatrophic gallbladder and propose treatment approaches to this condition.Systematic review registrationThe protocol has been registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024503701).

Este artigo se divide em duas partes. Na primeira, aborda os princípios centrais do sionismo como elaboração intelectual que responde negativamente à questão judaica na Europa. Argumenta que o caráter negativo desse ideário reside na comunhão de fundamentos com o problema mesmo a que pretende responder, o antissemitismo; bem como se alinha a uma perspectiva imperialista, colonial e racista em dois sentidos, particularmente europeia. Para isso, baseia-se nas concepções de autores fundadores do ideário sionista e do sionismo político, Moses Hess e Theodor Herzl, e de autores que examinam criticamente tanto a concepção teórica como a realização política do sionismo, isto é, a colonização da Palestina e a fundação do Estado de Israel. Na segunda parte, apresento a novela Retorno a Haifa, de Ghassan Kanafani, que contribui para concretizar o sentido colonial e intrinsecamente racista do projeto sionista e sua realização prática. O texto se insere na questão da tomada de posição diante de um problema social.

A GWAS in a large case-control cohort of European ancestry identifies two genomic regions, the MHC class II gene HLA-DRB1 and an upstream locus of VRK1, that are associated with the most severe phenotype of spermatogenic failure.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is an illustration of how a physical illness can damage people’s minds. In this regard, the goal of this study was to see how different sociodemographic and behavioral factors were linked to anxiety and depression symptoms in a group of individuals living in Portugal. Methods: Between November 2020 and February 2021, a cross-sectional, snowball online study was conducted. The study’s target population was adults over the age of 18, residents of the country. For the statistical analysis, the clustering technique – K-means algorithm was applied. The chi-squared test was used to determine the relationships between clusters and sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics. Statistical analyses were conducted in R language, with a significance level of 0.05. A total of 453 participants were included. Results: The majority were female (69.8%), under the age of 40 (60.8%), with a higher education degree (75.3%), and not married (54.4%). Furthermore, the majority were from the country’s north region (66%). Cluster 1 (n = 194) was characterized by low or nonexistent levels of anxiety and depression symptoms, which means normal; cluster 2 by severe symptoms (n = 82), meaning case; and cluster 3 by mild symptoms (n = 177), which means borderline. Younger participants (p-value 0.024), female (p-value 0.041), with drinking habits (p-value 0.002), food insecurity (p-value < 0.001), food affordability exacerbation (p-value < 0.001), comorbidity (p-value < 0.001), use of anxiolytics (p-value < 0.001), insufficient household income (p-value 0.017) and income change (p-value < 0.001) were significantly associated with the anxiety-depression clusters. From the three clusters, cluster 2 was mainly represented by younger participants, with more persons stating that their household income was insufficient and that their income has changed as a result of COVID-19 and that they had the highest probability of food insecurity. Conclusion: The impacts of a crisis on mental health extend longer than the event itself. We were able to observe that younger women with insufficient household income who suffered a change in income due to COVID-19 and were classified as food insecure presented higher levels of anxiety and depression symptoms. These results highlight the presence of a social gradient where we saw that people who were less advantaged in terms of socioeconomic position presented worse mental health outcomes, stressing, in this sense, the need to bring the best public health responses for these specific groups of the population.

Despite not being designed for vehicular use, the high bandwidth offered by IEEE 802.11ad makes it an enticing proposition for opportunistic Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communication.Because it operates at a high frequency of 60 GHz, 802.11ad suffers from high attenuation. To combat this, it uses antenna directionality to improve communication range. Directionality is primarily achieved by selecting an antenna configuration, or sector, from a list of preconfigured ones.Choosing a good antenna sector is difficult in V2I environments, as the fast mobility involved affects the alignment between communicating nodes.This article describes a dataset that supports analysis of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) 802.11ad device behavior in an experimental V2I communication scenario. More specifically, the dataset summarizes the results from a set of experiments in which a mobile client drove around a stationary Access Point (AP) while downloading data from it. Information regarding the client's mobility, control frames exchanged, and achieved throughput was collected.This dataset can support realistic analysis of 802.11ad COTS equipment behaviors, such as antenna selection and communication range, in a vehicular communication scenario.

Introduction: The current worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has been having a considerable impact not only on health but also on the economy of societies, emphasizing food insecurity as a significant public health concern. Aim: The objective of this study was to characterize the scenario of food insecurity in Portugal during the COVID-19 pandemic and explore its related sociodemographic characteristics. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study, using data from an online survey, performed from November 2020 until February 2021, including 882 residents aged 18 years or older in Portugal. Data on sociodemographics and food security status were collected, the latter was evaluated using the United States Household Food Security Survey Module: Six-Item Short Form. Crude and adjusted logistic regression models were performed (covariates: education, household income perception, and the working status during the COVID-19 pandemic). The odds ratio (OR) and respective 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated. Results: Most participants were women (71.3%), with a mean age of 36.8 years (SD 11.0). Food insecurity prevalence was 6.8%. Less-educated individuals (≤12 years of schooling; OR 2.966; 95% CI 1.250–7.042), and those who were and remained unemployed since the beginning of the pandemic (OR 2.602; 95% CI 1.004–6.742) had higher odds of belonging to a food-insecure household, regardless of education, working status during the COVID-19 pandemic, and household income perception. Moreover, lower odds of belonging to a food-insecure household were observed among those reporting a comfortable household income (OR 0.007; 95% CI 0.001–0.062) than those who perceived their household income as insufficient, independently of education and the working status during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: These findings highlight the population groups that are at a greater risk of food insecurity during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Effective public health strategies should be developed aiming to address food insecurity during this crisis, especially among the higher risk groups.

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As the monitoring of carbon dioxide is an important proxy to estimate the air quality of indoor and outdoor environments, it is essential to obtain trustful data from CO2 sensors. However, the use of widely available low-cost sensors may imply lower data quality, especially regarding accuracy. This paper proposes a new approach for enhancing the accuracy of low-cost CO2 sensors using an extremely randomized trees algorithm. It also reports the results obtained from experimental data collected from sensors that were exposed to both indoor and outdoor environments. The indoor experimental set was composed of two metal oxide semiconductors (MOS) and two non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) sensors next to a reference sensor for carbon dioxide and independent sensors for air temperature and relative humidity. The outdoor experimental exposure analysis was performed using a third-party dataset which fit into our goals: the work consisted of fourteen stations using low-cost NDIR sensors geographically spread around reference stations. One calibration model was trained for each sensor unit separately, and, in the indoor experiment, it managed to reduce the mean absolute error (MAE) of NDIR sensors by up to 90%, reach very good linearity with MOS sensors in the indoor experiment (r2 value of 0.994), and reduce the MAE by up to 98% in the outdoor dataset. We have found in the outdoor dataset analysis that the exposure time of the sensor itself may be considered by the algorithm to achieve better accuracy. We also observed that even a relatively small amount of data may provide enough information to perform a useful calibration if they contain enough data variety. We conclude that the proper use of machine learning algorithms on sensor readings can be very effective to obtain higher data quality from low-cost gas sensors either indoors or outdoors, regardless of the sensor technology.

Family farming has been on the agenda worldwide. Portugal is no exception. Act No. 64/2018, published in 2018, establishes the Family Farming Statute. Its preponderance in food and in the sustainability of families and territories has been reinforced by the sustainable development paradigm. However, competitiveness constraints assigned to the production system is often seen as an obstacle. Combining the theoretical frameworks of integrated agriculture and work organizations, we offer a lean sociological perspective on family farms producing lettuce. We concluded that their production system is characterized by a set of innovative practices very close to a lean approach. However, there is room for improvements in a production system that seems to maintain a family-based workforce and traditional know-how.

Wireless sensor networks comprising nodes equipped with cameras have become common in many scenarios, providing valuable visual data for some relevant services such as localization, tracking, patterns identification and emergencies detection. In this context, algorithms and optimization approaches have been designed to perform different types of quality assessment or performance enhancement tasks, addressing challenging issues such as networking, compression, availability, reliability, security, energy efficiency and virtually any subject related to the operational challenges of those networks. However, the dynamics of coverage failures have not been properly modelled in visual sensor networks, resulting in unrealistic perceptions when optimizing or assessing quality in most visual sensing scenarios. Particularly, the Field of View of visual sensors will be affected by occlusion caused by obstacles in the monitored field, which may turn such sensors inadequate for the expected monitoring services of the considered network. Therefore, this article proposes a mathematical model to assess occlusion caused by mobile obstacles such as vehicles on a road or forklifts in an industrial plant, aiming at the selection of the visual sensor nodes that will not have their coverage significantly restricted by those obstacles. Doing so, the proposed model can be exploited by any optimization or quality assessment approach in wireless visual sensor networks, providing a preprocessing method when selecting visual nodes.

As a global threat, the COVID-19 pandemic has been an important factor in increasing death rate worldwide. As the virus spreads across international borders, it causes severe illness, death, and disruptions in our daily lives. Death and dying rituals and customs aid bereaved people in overcoming their grief. In this sense, the purpose of this study was to access thoughts and feelings of Portuguese adults and the impact of the loss in daily life during COVID-19. A structured online questionnaire was applied (snowball sampling) and qualitative data on death and mourning namely the impact of the loss in daily life, was collected. One hundred and sixty-six individuals have lost someone since the beginning of the pandemic and were included. Analysis was inspired by Braun and Clark's content analysis. Most participants were female (66.9%), the median age was of 37.3 years, and 70.5% had a high education degree. Moreover, 30.7% of the participants present anxiety symptoms and 10.2% depression symptoms. The answers of studied participants gave insights on the extent of the loss in day-to-day life and four thematic themes were found: (1) The perceived inadequacy of the funeral rituality, (2) Sadness, fear and loneliness, (3) Changes in sleeping and concentration and increased levels of anxiety and (4) Concerns regarding the pandemic situation. We found a high prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms in the study sample. Also, the changes in post mortem procedures, have shown to be of great importance in the mourning procedure of the participants.

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Background: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) have been increasingly available in Europe. Due to the high burden of HIV in key populations, these could benefit from their use. In 2016, in Portugal, an open, non-interval, prospective cohort study was established in a network of 26 community-based voluntary HIV/STI counseling and testing centers. Data collected included questions on PEP and PrEP knowledge and use. We aimed to estimate the proportion of PEP and PrEP knowledge and its use among key populations, visiting the centers between 2016 and 2019.Method and results: Individuals who self-identify as being among at least one key population for HIV, men who have sex with men (MSM), people who inject drugs (PWID), sex workers (SW), migrants, and male-to-female transgender individuals (MTF), responded to questions on PEP and PrEP knowledge and use while waiting for their test results between 2016 and 2019 (n = 12,893 for PEP; n = 10,973 for PrEP). Reported knowledge was low in all key populations for both tools: 15.7% of respondents reported knowing about PEP and 10.9% about PrEP over the course of 4 years. PEP was used by 1.8% and PrEP by 0.4% of the respondents, MSM being 88.9% of PrEP users, and 52.8% of PEP users. Multivariate logistic regression showed multiple factors associated with knowing the tools, including age, education, country of birth, gender, year of test, having a reactive HIV test in the same visit, reporting an STI or condomless sex in the last 12 months, and identifying with being MSM or SW.Conclusions: Knowledge and use of PEP and PrEP remain low among key populations in Portugal. The need remains to increase knowledge and use among those at risk for HIV infection.

Vaccines against COVID-19 approved for use in the EU/EEA have been shown to be highly effective against wild-type SARS-CoV-2. However, their effectiveness against new variants may be reduced. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19 in the prevention of symptomatic and severe disease, during pre- and post-omicron phases. Individuals who sought treatment at the emergency department of a Portuguese hospital with COVID-19-like disease and were tested for SARS-CoV-2 are the subjects of the study. Patients who received a positive result are considered cases, while those with negative results are the controls. The test-negative case–control method is one of the study designs recommended by WHO to estimate the effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19. The main advantage of this design is that it controls for the healthcare seeking bias, commonly present in traditional cohort and case–control designs. This study may have broad implications for understanding the real-world performance of the COVID-19 vaccines at the local level, which may play a key role in promoting adherence to vaccination. Moreover, this study may contribute to inform decisions regarding booster doses and variant-specific vaccine formulations leading to the control of this and future pandemics.

Every year, grapevine pruning produces huge amounts of residue, 90% of which are from vine shoots. These are a rich source of natural antioxidants, mostly phenolic compounds, which, when properly extracted, can give rise to added-value products. However, their lack of solubility in aqueous media and high susceptibility to thermal and oxidative degradation highly limit their bioavailability. Encapsulation in suitable carriers may have a positive impact on their bioavailability and bioactivity. Previous data on vine-shoot extraction have identified gallic acid (GA) and resveratrol (RSV) as the main phenolic compounds. In this work, model dry powder formulations (DPFs) of GA and RSV using hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) as carriers were developed using Supercritical CO2-Assisted Spray Drying (SASD). A 32 full factorial Design of Experiments investigated the solid and ethanol contents to ascertain process yield, particle size, span, and encapsulation efficiency. Amorphous powder yields above 60%, and encapsulation efficiencies up to 100% were achieved, representing excellent performances. SASD has proven to be an efficient encapsulation technique for these phenolic compounds, preserving their antioxidation potential after three months in storage with average EC50 values of 30.6 µg/mL for GA–DPFs and 149.4 µg/mL for RSV–DPF as assessed by the scavenging capacity of the DPPH radical.

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Drug delivery systems (DDS) often comprise biopharmaceuticals in aqueous form, making them susceptible to physical and chemical degradation, and therefore requiring low temperature storage in cold supply and distribution chains. Freeze-drying, spray-drying, and spray-freeze-drying are some of the techniques used to convert biopharmaceuticals-loaded DDS from aqueous to solid dosage forms. However, the risk exists that shear and heat stress during processing may provoke DDS damage and efficacy loss. Supercritical fluids (SCF), specifically, supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2), is a sustainable alternative to common techniques. Due to its moderately critical and tunable properties and thermodynamic behavior, scCO2 has aroused scientific and industrial interest. Therefore, this article reviews scCO2-based techniques used over the year in the production of solid biopharmaceutical dosage forms. Looking particularly at the use of scCO2 in each of its potential roles—as a solvent, co-solvent, anti-solvent, or co-solute. It ends with a comparison between the compound’s stability using supercritical CO2-assisted atomization/spray-drying and conventional drying.

BackgroundThe objective of the Global Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) is to phase out this endemic disease as a public health problem by 2020. Validation of elimination is obtained from the World Health Organization through evidence of non-transmission in countries that have already been subjected to mass drug administration (MDA) and in places adjoining these endemic areas. While three municipalities in Brazil have completed MDA, the epidemiological situation remains uncertain in nine adjoining municipalities. To determine the epidemiological status, this study was to perform a review of the literature and a school-based survey to describe the past and recent endemicity of lymphatic filariasis (LF) theses nine municipalities in Brazil.Methodology/principle findingsFor review of the literature, both formal and informal literature sources were accessed since the first reports of filariasis in the Metropolitan Region of Recife, Brazil. We conducted a school-based survey in 2016 using immunochromatographic card tests (ICTs) among schoolchildren aged 6-10 years living in nine municipalities contiguous with the endemic areas in which MDA was conducted. Our review of the literature identified eight studies involving surveys demonstrating that microfilariae had been circulating in eight of the municipalities since 1967, with a low prevalence of microfilaremia, isolated autochthonous cases, and treatment of individual cases. The school-based survey included 17,222 children in 185 urban schools in the nine areas of Brazil with uncertain endemicity. One child affected by allochthonous transmission was antigen positive based on ICT and lived in a municipality adjacent to Recife; this child's family came from Recife, but no other case was diagnosed within the family.Conclusions/significanceThe study results suggest that there is no transmission of LF in the municipalities investigated. However, these areas have population migration and socioenvironmental conditions favorable to mosquito breeding grounds; therefore, surveillance is strongly recommended in these areas.

O artigo discute os saberes pedagógicos utilizados pelos professores da educação profissional e tecnológica, no processo de sua atuação com os discentes, tomando como mediador dos saberes de uma visão científica sustentada pelos pressupostos da História da Ciência. A discussão apresentada se baseia numa revisão da literatura sobre o tema, bem como problematizações que apontam para uma revisão na compreensão da prática pedagógica do docente. Propõem-se que nesta prática ocorra a ressignificação de suas concepções sobre o processo da consolidação do conhecimento científico, para a compreensão de como os saberes pedagógicos estão sendo construídos frente às novas demandas da sociedade. Sabemos que o trabalho docente é permeado de vários saberes, como os saberes dos currículos, os saberes teóricos e mesmo os saberes pedagógicos em uma perspectiva técnica, e o docente não pode estar alheio ao processo de produção científica na promoção de diálogos sobre desafios e possibilidades desses saberes. Discutiu-se as inter-relações e ações pedagógicas da história da ciência, como orientações para práticas reflexivas e participação crítica, levando o discente a problematizar sua relação no uso das tecnologias.

The adoption of emergency alerting systems can bring countless benefits when managing urban areas, industrial plants, farms, roads and virtually any area that is subject to the occurrence of critical events, supporting in rescue operations and reducing their negative impacts. For such systems, a promising approach is to exploit scalar sensors to detect events of interest, allowing for the distributed monitoring of different variables. However, the use of cameras as visual sensors can enhance the detection of critical events, which can be employed along with scalar sensors for a more comprehensive perception of the environment. Although the particularities of visual sensing may be challenging in some scenarios, the combination of scalar and visual sensors for the early detection of emergency situations can be valuable for many scenarios, such as smart cities and industry 4.0, bringing promising results. Therefore, in this article, we extend a sensors-based emergency detection and alerting system to also exploit visual monitoring when identifying critical events. Implementation and experimental details are provided to reinforce the use of cameras as a relevant sensor unit, bringing promising results for emergencies management.

The development of efficient sensing technologies and the maturation of the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm and related protocols have considerably fostered the expansion of sensor-based monitoring applications. A great number of those applications has been developed to monitor a set of information for better perception of the environment, with some of them being dedicated to identifying emergency situations. Current IoT-based emergency systems have limitations when considering the broader scope of smart cities, exploiting one or just a few monitoring variables or even allocating high computational burden to regular sensor nodes. In this context, we propose a distributed multi-tier emergency alerting system built around a number of sensor-based event detection units, providing real-time georeferenced information about the occurrence of critical events, while taking as input a configurable number of different scalar sensors and GPS data. The proposed system could then be used to detect and to deliver emergency alarms, which are computed based on the detected events, the previously known risk level of the affected areas and temporal information. Doing so, modularized and flexible perceptions of critical events are provided, according to the particularities of each considered smart city scenario. Besides implementing the proposed system in open-source electronic platforms, we also created a real-time visualization application to dynamically display emergency alarms on a map, demonstrating a feasible and useful application of the system as a supporting service. Therefore, this innovative approach and its corresponding physical implementation can bring valuable results for smart cities, potentially supporting the development of adaptive IoT-based emergency-aware applications.

The Global Program for the Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) aims to eliminate this disease by the year 2020. However, the development of more specific and sensitive tests is important for the success of the GPELF. The present study aimed to standardise polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based systems for the diagnosis of filariasis in serum and urine. Twenty paired biological urine and serum samples from individuals already known to be positive for Wuchereria bancrofti were collected during the day. Conventional PCR and semi-nested PCR assays were optimised. The detection limit of the technique for purified W. bancrofti DNA extracted from adult worms was 10 fg for the internal systems (WbF/Wb2) and 0.1 fg by using semi-nested PCR. The specificity of the primers was confirmed experimentally by amplification of 1 ng of purified genomic DNA from other species of parasites. Evaluation of the paired urine and serum samples by the semi-nested PCR technique indicated only two of the 20 tested individuals were positive, whereas the simple internal PCR system (WbF/Wb2), which has highly promising performance, revealed that all the patients were positive using both samples. This study successfully demonstrated the possibility of using the PCR technique on urine for the diagnosis of W. bancrofti infection.

Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications enable networked devices and services to exchange information and perform actions seamlessly without the need for human intervention. They are viewed as a key enabler of the Internet of Things (IoT) and ubiquitous applications, like mobile healthcare, telemetry, or intelligent transport systems. We survey existing work on mobile M2M communications, we identify open challenges that have a direct impact on performance and resource usage efficiency, especially the impact on energy efficiency, and we review techniques to improve communications. We review the ETSI standard and application protocols, and draw considerations on the impact of their use in constrained mobile devices. Nowadays, smartphones are equipped with a wide range of embedded sensors, with varied local and wide area connectivity capabilities, and thus they offer a unique opportunity to serve as mobile gateways for other more constrained devices with local connectivity. At the same time, they can gather context data about users and environment from the embedded sensors. These capabilities may be crucial for mobile M2M applications. Finally, in this paper, we consider a scenario where smartphones are used as gateways that collect and aggregate data from sensors in a cellular network. We conclude that, in order for their use to the feasible in terms of a normal depletion time of a smartphone’s battery, it is a good advice to maximize the collection of data necessary to be transmitted from nearby sensors, and maximize the intervals between transmissions. More research is required to devise energy efficient transmission methods that enable the use of smartphones as mobile gateways.

Introduction: Polycystic ovary syndrome is the most frequent cause of anovulatory infertility and management involves a multistep approach. Laparoscopic ovarian diathermy is accepted as a second-line treatment of patients who failed to respond to clomiphene citrate. The aims of this study were to determine the efficacy of this technique at short and long-term and to perform an analysis of predictive factors of spontaneous pregnancy. Material and Methods: This retrospective study involved 76 women who underwent laparoscopic ovarian diathermy between 2004 and 2013 in a university hospital. Main outcomes were cycle regularity and pregnancy. Short-term outcomes recorded during followup in our centre were reviewed and long-term outcomes were evaluated by a telephone interview to all women whose surgery was undertaken more than three years ago. Clinical and biochemical data were analysed as predictive factors of spontaneous conception in patients without other infertility factors. Results: Menstrual cycle regularity was initially achieved in 53 (70%) women and in the long-term follow-up subgroup, 52% (12/23) had regular periods. In general, 53 (70%) women conceived and 77 pregnancies were achieved, 60% of which were spontaneous. The only prognostic factor found to be significantly associated with spontaneous conception was a shorter duration of infertility (< 3 years) (p < 0.05). Discussion: Laparoscopic ovarian diathermy showed pregnancy rates comparable to other ovulation induction treatments with the advantage of having a long lasting beneficial effect in menstrual regularity and fertility. Conclusion: Laparoscopic ovarian diathermy is a safe and effective treatment option for anovulatory infertility in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Significant advances were made in the diagnosis of filariasis in the 1990s with the emergence of three new alternative tools: ultrasound and tests to detect circulating antigen using two monoclonal antibodies, Og4C3 and AD12-ICT-card. This study aimed to identify which of these methods is the most sensitive for diagnosis of infection. A total of 256 individuals, all male and carrying microfilariae (1-15,679 MF/mL), diagnosed by nocturnal venous blood samples, were tested by all three techniques. The tests for circulating filarial antigen concurred 100% and correctly identified 246/256 (96.69%) of the positive individuals, while ultrasound detected only 186/256 (73.44%). Of the circulating antigen tests, ICT-card was the most convenient method for identification of Wuchereria bancrofti carriers. It was easy to perform, practical and quick.

Herein we present a survey of reported work covering specific applications of liquid and supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) in art conservation. CO2 has been tested and applied in a wide range of materials, as well as in various steps of a conservation / restoration operation, such as cleaning, protection and consolidation, and it has been demonstrated that CO2 has a great potential in replacing current conventional conservation processes. In this paper we will present some of the main results published in literature, concerning CO2 applications for the conservation and restoration of paper, wood, waterlogged, ethnographic materials, stone and textiles.

The aim of the work reported in this article is to provide new insights into the dynamics and instabilities of a barotropic shear layer in a rotating fluid. Above a critical value of horizontal stress, the flow within a bounded system in rotation is driven to an unstable limit, beyond which it develops chains of vortices. The number of these vortices depends not only upon the value of the stress imposed but also on the sense of the shear in some cases, highlighting discrepancies between earlier experiments. Quasi-geostrophic theory, however, predicts that there should be no qualitative differences with respect to the sign of the stress. We present laboratory experiments in cylindrical geometry, where a detached shear layer occurs tangential to the differentially rotating sections at the top and bottom of the tank. For stepped end walls, we found that the spatial organization of the flow patterns is a function of the sign of Rossby number. Furthermore, we observe a weak dependence of the azimuthal wavenumber on the sign of Rossby number.

The purpose of this study was to examine the circulating filarial antigen (CFA) detected by the monoclonal antibody (mAb) Og4C3-ELISA in paired samples of serum and hydrocele fluid from 104 men with hydrocele, living in an endemic area of Wuchereria bancrofti. Nocturnal blood specimens were filtered and examined for microfilariae (MF) and ultrasound was used in order to identify the presence of adult worms (the filaria dance sign - FDS) in the lymphatic vessels of the scrotal area. Four groups were selected according to their parasitological status: group I - 71 MF- and FDS-; group II - 21 MF+ and FDS+; group III - 10 MF- and FDS+ and group IV- 2 MF+ and FDS-. CFA was identified simultaneously (fluid and serum) in 11 (15.5%), 21 (100%), 3 (30%), and 1 (50%) in groups I, II, III, and IV, respectively. In despite of high CFA+ level (antigen Og4C3) units/ml, the Geometrical Mean (GM) = 2696) in the sera of these 36/104 paired samples, when compared to the hydrocele fluid, (GM = 1079), showed a very good correlation between the CFA level in the serum and CFA level in the fluid (r = 0.731). CFA level in the serum of the 23 microfilaremics (groups II and IV) was extremely high (GM = 4189) and was correlated with MF density (r = 0.442). These findings report for the first time the potential alternative use of the hydrocele fluid to investigate CFA using the mAb Og4C3-ELISA.

O presente trabalho tem o objetivo de avaliar os efeitos do pólen do milho transgênico, que expressa a proteína entomopatogênica Cry1Ab, sobre aspectos biológicos da traça da cera (Galleria mellonella) e com isso propor uma discussão sobre as possibilidades de afecção desse piralídeo à campo, debatendo possíveis efeitos ecológicos. Um ensaio biológico foi realizado, onde se ofertou às larvas pólen do milho transgênico, pólen do milho convencional e pólen comercial. A duração da fase larval foi afetada pela composição da dieta, sendo que as constituídas de pólen de milho convencional e transgênico apresentaram os resultados mais expressivos. A mortalidade foi superior nos indivíduos alimentados com a mistura de cera virgem e pólen transgênico, no entanto não diferiu dos demais alimentos, quando junto ao pólen transgênico, foi associado favo de Apis mellifera. A largura e comprimento das pupas provindas de lagartas alimentadas com cera virgem adicionada com pólen transgênico ou convencional foram significativamente inferiores quando comparados aos valores das mensurações realizadas nas pupas provindas de outras dietas. O pólen do milho, convencional ou transgênico, por si só é um alimento menos adequado ao desenvolvimento de G. mellonella, em relação a uma dieta composta por pólen de várias plantas.

Early diagnosis and adequate follow-up are fundamental principals for the treatment of vesicourethral reflux in children. The treatment options in these cases remain an individual choice based on multiple factors.To determine and compare the effectiveness of two different surgical techniques (endoscopic and conventional) used on vesicourethral reflux treatment.Cohort study, based on the clinical files of children and adolescents submitted to surgical treatment of vesicourethral reflux, between the 1st January of 2000 and 30th April 2006. The study included one year period of follow-up. Multiple variables with a presumable influence on the therapeutic option were analysed. In cases of surgical treatment, effectiveness and safety of the surgical technique where determined.Included 46 children and adolescents, in a total of 68 refluxive units. Thirty seven of all renal units, where submitted to endoscopic treatment: the success rate with one injection of Deflux® was 62% (IC 95% [0.46; 0.78]), increasing for 78% (IC 95% [0.65; 0.91]) when the second injection was performed. Thirty seven renal units were submitted to open surgery: Cohen procedure in 21 patients and nefrourethrectomy in two cases. Excluding the nefrourethrectomy, the classical surgery had a success rate of 97% (IC 95% [0.91; 1]). The reason between probabilities of success, considering endoscopic surgery vs. conventional surgery was 0,8 (IC 95% [0.68; 0.97]). Registered thirteen complications, most of them (85%) after conventional surgery. Discussion: The high complication rates determined for conventional surgery could justify the frequent option for endoscopic surgery in small centres, despite its lower success rates.This study confirms that this therapeutic option establishes a good commitment between prophylaxis safety and classical surgery effectiveness.

Helminths induced eosinophilia is well known. Recent studies have been demonstrating that Giardia Lamblia is also able to cause eosinophilia and suggest that children with giardiasis have a higher risk of food allergy.Newborn premature male patient, admitted to neonatology unit since birth, who presented persistent eosinophilia, associated with vomiting and abdominal distention when he ingested a not hydrolyzed milk formula. The subsequent study revealed milk allergy (grade II/III) but also of Giardia on stool. The child was treated with metronidazol with clinical improvement.This case pretends to underline the importance of person-to-person transmission as far as Giardia infection is concerned and especially among young children. We also would like to emphasize a possible relation between giardiasis and food allergy, which has occasionally been described in recent literature.