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- Bioactive Electrospun Fibers of Poly(ε-Caprolactone) Incorporating α-Tocopherol for Food Packaging ApplicationsPublication . Dumitriu, Raluca P.; Stoleru, Elena; Mitchell, Geoffrey R.; Vasile, Cornelia; Brebu, MihaiAntioxidant activity is an important feature for food contact materials such as packaging, aiming to preserve freshness and retard food spoilage. Common bioactive agents are highly susceptible to various forms of degradation; therefore, protection is required to maintain functionality and bioavailability. Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), a biodegradable GRAS labeled polymer, was used in this study for encapsulation of α-tocopherol antioxidant, a major component of vitamin E, in the form of electrospun fibers. Rheological properties of the fiber forming solutions, which determine the electrospinning behavior, were correlated with the properties of electrospun fibers, e.g., morphology and surface properties. Interactions through hydrogen bonds were evidenced between the two components. These have strong effect on structuration of macromolecular chains, especially at low α-tocopherol amounts, decreasing viscosity and elastic modulus. Intra-molecular interactions in PCL strengthen at high α-tocopherol amounts due to decreased solvation, allowing good structural recovery after cease of mechanical stress. Morphologically homogeneous electrospun fibers were obtained, with ~6 µm average diameter. The obtained fibers were highly hydrophobic, with fast release in 95% ethanol as alternative simulant for fatty foods. This induced good in vitro antioxidant activity and significant in vivo reduction of microbial growth on cheese, as determined by respirometry. Therefore, the electrospun fibers from PCL entrapping α-tocopherol as bioactive agent showed potential use in food packaging materials.
- Climate control of terrestrial carbon exchange across biomes and continentsPublication . Yi, Chuixiang; Ricciuto, Daniel; Li, Runze; Wolbeck, John; Xu, Xiyan; Nilsson, Mats; Aires, Luis; Albertson, John D.; Ammann, Christof; Arain, M. Altaf; Araujo, Alessandro C. de; Aubinet, Marc; Aurela, Mika; Barcza, Zoltán; Barr, Alan; Berbigier, Paul; Beringer, Jason; Bernhofer, Christian; Black, Andrew T.; Bolstad, Paul V.; Bosveld, Fred C.; Broadmeadow, Mark S. J.; Buchmann, Nina; Burns, Sean P.; Cellier, Pierre; Chen, Jingming; Chen, Jiquan; Ciais, Philippe; Clement, Robert; Cook, Bruce D.; Curtis, Peter S.; Dail, D. Bryan; Dellwik, Ebba; Delpierre, Nicolas; Desai, Ankur R.; Dore, Sabina; Dragoni, Danilo; Drake, Bert G.; Dufrêne, Eric; Dunn, Allison; Elbers, Jan; Eugster, Werner; Falk, Matthias; Feigenwinter, Christian; Flanagan, Lawrence B.; Foken, Thomas; Frank, John; Fuhrer, Juerg; Gianelle, Damiano; Goldstein, Allen; Goulden, Mike; Granier, Andre; Grünwald, Thomas; Gu, Lianhong; Guo, Haiqiang; Hammerle, Albin; Han, Shijie; Hanan, Niall P.; Haszpra, László; Heinesch, Bernard; Helfter, Carole; Hendriks, Dimmie; Hutley, Lindsay B.; Ibrom, Andreas; Jacobs, Cor; Johansson, Torbjörn; Jongen, Marjan; Katul, Gabriel; Kiely, Gerard; Klumpp, Katja; Knohl, Alexander; Kolb, Thomas; Kutsch, Werner L.; Lafleur, Peter; Laurila, Tuomas; Leuning, Ray; Lindroth, Anders; Liu, Heping; Loubet, Benjamin; Manca, Giovanni; Marek, Michal; Margolis, Hank A.; Martin, Timothy A.; Massman, William J.; Matamala, Roser; Matteucci, Giorgio; McCaughey, Harry; Merbold, Lutz; Meyers, Tilden; Migliavacca, Mirco; Miglietta, Franco; Misson, Laurent; Mölder, Meelis; Moncrieff, John; Monson, Russell K.; Montagnani, Leonardo; Montes-Helu, Mario; Moors, Eddy; Moureaux, Christine; Mukelabai, Mukufute M.; Munger, J. William; Myklebust, May; Nagy, Zoltán; Noormets, Asko; Oechel, Walter; Oren, Ram; Pallardy, Stephen G.; Paw U, Kyaw Tha; Pereira, João S.; Pilegaard, Kim; Pintér, Krisztina; Pio, Casimiro; Pita, Gabriel; Powell, Thomas L.; Rambal, Serge; Randerson, James T.; von Randow, Celso; Rebmann, Corinna; Rinne, Janne; Rossi, Federica; Roulet, Nigel; Ryel, Ronald J.; Sagerfors, Jorgen; Saigusa, Nobuko; Sanz, María José; Mugnozza, Giuseppe-Scarascia; Schmid, Hans Peter; Seufert, Guenther; Siqueira, Mario; Soussana, Jean-François; Starr, Gregory; Sutton, Mark A.; Tenhunen, John; Tuba, Zoltán; Tuovinen, Juha-Pekka; Valentini, Riccardo; Vogel, Christoph S.; Wang, Jingxin; Wang, Shaoqiang; Wang, Weiguo; Welp, Lisa R.; Wen, Xuefa; Wharton, Sonia; Wilkinson, Matthew; Williams, Christopher A.; Wohlfahrt, Georg; Yamamoto, Susumu; Yu, Guirui; Zampedri, Roberto; Zhao, Bin; Zhao, XinquanUnderstanding the relationships between climate and carbon exchange by terrestrial ecosystems is critical to predict future levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide because of the potential accelerating effects of positive climate-carbon cycle feedbacks. However, directly observed relationships between climate and terrestrial CO2exchange with the atmosphere across biomes and continents are lacking. Here we present data describing the relationships between net ecosystem exchange of carbon (NEE) and climate factors as measured using the eddy covariance method at 125 unique sites in various ecosystems over six continents with a total of 559 site-years. We find that NEE observed at eddy covariance sites is (1) a strong function of mean annual temperature at mid- and high-latitudes, (2) a strong function of dryness at mid- and low-latitudes, and (3) a function of both temperature and dryness around the mid-latitudinal belt (45°N). The sensitivity of NEE to mean annual temperature breaks down at ∼16 ®C (a threshold value of mean annual temperature), above which no further increase of CO,.2uptake with temperature was observed and dryness influence overrules temperature influence.
- Commingled and disarticulated human remains related to 1755 Lisbon earthquake: Height estimation from incomplete and complete femoral bonesPublication . Matos, Sofia; Flamino, Carolina Barroso; Borges, Guilherme; Francisco, Inês; Tropa, Madalena; Cruz, Tiago; Bento, Beatriz; Santos, Rui; Pereira, Cristiana PalmelaIntroduction: In Forensic Medicine, the estimation of the stature often has a crucial role in the reconstruction phase of disjointed populations. The femur, being the longest bone in the human body, is usually the most reliable source in height estimation. However, in these populations, intact femurs are hardly ever found, making it necessary to use femur fragments for the same purpose. Aim: This investigation aims to estimate the stature of the catastrophic population concerning the earthquake that occurred in Lisbon, in 1755. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 8 whole femurs and 21 fragments, which were measured and weighted. These measurements were applied in a regression formula, obtained from the gathered research, in order to estimate the stature of the population. Results: The results showed that, for the whole femur, the corresponding height varies between 147.96 cm and 168.82 cm. For the fragments, the obtained estimates vary between 151.96 cm and 174.96 cm. Conclusion: The methods used proved to be reliable in estimating the length of the femur, as well as in deducting the height of individuals through this bone, allowing the study of these parameter's evolution in generations.
- Dermoscopic skin lesion image segmentation based on Local Binary Pattern Clustering: Comparative studyPublication . Pereira, Pedro M. M.; Fonseca-Pinto, Rui; Paiva, Rui Pedro; Assuncao, Pedro A. A.; Tavora, Luis M. N.; Thomaz, Lucas A.; Faria, Sergio M. M.Accurate skin lesion segmentation is important for identification and classification through computational methods. However, when performed by dermatologists, the results of clinical segmentation are affected by a certain margin of inaccuracy (which exists since dermatologist do not delineate lesions for segmentation but for extraction) and also significant inter- and intra-individual variability, such segmentation is not sufficiently accurate for segmentation studies. This work addresses these limitations to enable detailed analysis of lesions’ geometry along with extraction of non-linear characteristics of region-of-interest border lines. A comprehensive review of 39 segmentation methods is carried out and a contribution to improve dermoscopic image segmentation is presented to determine the regions-of-interest of skin lesions, through accurate border lines with fine geometric details. This approach resorts to Local Binary Patterns and k-means clustering for precise identification of lesions boundaries, particularly the melanocytic. A comparative evaluation study is carried out using three different datasets and reviewed algorithms are grouped according to their approach. Results show that algorithms from the same group tend to perform similarly. Nevertheless, their performance does not depend uniquely on the algorithm itself but also on the underlying dataset characteristics. Throughout several evaluations, the proposed Local Binary Patterns method presents, consistently, better average performance than the current state-of-the-art techniques across the three different datasets without the need of training or supervised learning steps. Overall, apart from presenting a new segmentation method capable of outperforming the current state-of-the-art, this paper provides insightful information about the behaviour and performance of different image segmentation algorithms.
- Lichen planus and its therapeutic management: a retrospective studyPublication . Rebelo, Mariana Rodrigues; Pereira, Cristina Palmela; Santos, Rui Sousa; Soares-de-Almeida, Luís; Filipe, PauloObjectives: To study the epidemiological distribution of the disease lichen planus and its therapeutic management. Methods: A total of 174 patients with a lichen planus diagnosis between 2008 and 2017 at a Portuguese public hospital were included in this retrospective study. The following data were collected from clinical records: gender, age, topographic distribution of lesions, prescribed therapy (active substance, route, and scheme of administration), mean duration of illness, and episodes of cure and relapse. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM® SPSS® Statistics software, version 25. Results: In this population, lichen planus affected both genders with the same probability (p=0.820), and was more prevalent in the 4th-5th decades of age. The lesions appeared in the skin (75.9% of the patients), mucous membranes (5.2%), or both (19.0%). The most prescribed drugs were corticosteroids, followed by antihistamines and immunosuppressants. Topical corticosteroids were the most common ones, namely clobetasol propionate (37.4%). Within the systemic corticosteroids, prednisolone was the most prescribed drug (12.3%). The average duration of lesions and symptoms was approximately 6.5 months. For the relapsing population (12%), the mean period of symptoms’ remission was 513 days. Conclusions: The epidemiological parameters of lichen planus in these Portuguese patients bear similarities with other described populations. No evidence-based therapeutic has proven to be effective for lichen planus treatment, but topical corticosteroids continue to be the first-line therapy for this pathology.
- Microsoft's Your Phone environment from a digital forensic perspectivePublication . Domingues, Patricio; Andrade, Luis Miguel; Frade, MiguelYour Phone is a Microsoft dual mobile/desktop application that links a Windows 10 environment to a smartphone. The Android version provides the smartphone's user with the ability to control the mobile device from Windows 10, allowing to place/receive calls, send/receive text messages such as SMS, MMS and RCS, access up to the last 2000 photos/screenshots of the device and to receive notifications from applications, all through the Windows 10 Your Phone application and, if configured to do so, within Windows 10 notification center. This work analyzes the Your Phone environment, that is, Your Phone Companion for Android and Your Phone for Windows 10. The paper studies the digital forensic artifacts that can be found in a post mortem analysis, focusing on the SQLite3 databases used by both the Android and Windows 10 applications. We also compare the examined version with a previous version of Your Phone, showing that Your Phone newest functionalities bring new valuable artifacts for forensic examiners. The study shows that Your Phone data left on a Windows 10 device can be useful to access a copy of messages, photos, and document interactions, especially when the Android device is inaccessible or even physically unavailable. To ease the task for digital forensic examiners, we have updated our open-source YPA software that collects and analyzes Your Phone data from a Windows 10 system. YPA runs as a module within the digital forensic Autopsy software.
- Osteometric and osteomorphological sex estimation from the Os Coxa in an archaelogical population related to the 1755 earthquake of LisbonPublication . Flamino, Carolina Barroso; Oliveira, Daniel; Ferreira, Leonor; Martins, Matilde; Santos, Renata; Laureano, Rita; Nunes, Tânia; Bento, Beatriz; Santos, Rui; Pereira, Cristiana PalmelaIntroduction: The ability to determine sex from unknown skeletal remains vital, and methods to do it on various bones of the human skeleton have been researched extensively. The present work consists in the analysis of coxal bones belonging to the victims of the 1755 Lisbon's Earthquake. Aims: This project aims the characterization of the population whose skeletal remains were found in the Cloister's South Wing of Academia das Ciencias de Lisboa in 2004. Materials and Methods: In order to achieve the final objective, six measurements were taken, in anatomic position, and seven indices were calculated. Furthermore, morphological characteristics were observed through four different methods. These procedures were applied to a total number of 129 coxal bones. Results: From measurements and indices, the best results found were 16 females and 5 males, but the overall results were not reliable, since there was no consensus between the different measurements and so the majority of the coxal bone were classified as ambiguous. However, the Phenice's Method in the study of the coxal morphology showed to be very specific-through this procedure 18 females and 9 males were estimated. Conclusions: It was noticed that the measurements and the calculation of indices are less reliable than the morphological observations. Moreover, Phenice's Method seemed to be the most precise, once it evaluates three parameters simultaneously, instead of just one, allowing to obtain more accurate results for sexual discrimination.
- Profiling IT Security and Interoperability in Brazilian Health Organisations From a Business PerspectivePublication . Rijo, Rui; Martinho, Ricardo; Oliveira, Adicinéia Aparecida; Alves, Domingos; Reis, Zilma Silveira Nogueira; Santos-Pereira, Cátia; Correia, Manuel E.; Antunes, Luís Filipe; Cruz-Correia, Ricardo JoãoThe proliferation of electronic health (e-Health) initiatives in Brazil over the last 2 decades has resulted in a considerable fragmentation within health information technology (IT), with a strong political interference. The problem regarding this issue became twofold: 1) there are considerable flaws regarding interoperability and security involving patient data; and 2) it is difficult even for an experienced company to enter the Brazilian health IT market. In this article, the authors aim to assess the current state of IT interoperability and security in hospitals in Brazil and evaluate the best business strategy for an IT company to enter this difficult but very promising health IT market. A face-to-face questionnaire was conducted among 11 hospital units to assess their current status regarding IT interoperability and security aspects. Global Brazilian socio-economic data was also collected, and helped to not only identify areas of investment regarding health IT security and interoperability, but also to derive a business strategy, composed out of recommendations listed in the paper.
- The reference method influence on the sensitivity of the Clostridium difficile enzyme immunoassays: A meta analysisPublication . Martins, João Paulo; Felgueiras, Miguel; Santos, RuiThe use of enzyme immunoassays to screen for toxins A and B produced by Clostridium difficile is a common procedure in algorithms designed for its detection. Moreover, the absence of a unique test capable of providing reliable results at low cost motivates a great discussion about which algorithm is the best. Thus, several studies have evaluated the performance of these enzyme immunoassays. However, all fail to provide sufficient explanations for the different behaviours observed in different studies that evaluate the same index test against a common reference method. Our main goal was to find out which factors affect the sensitivity of these assays, since the specificity is very close to 1. In this research, we verified that sensitivity increases with the prevalence rate and with the proportion of reported cases of onset diarrhea. Therefore, its use is advisable for high prevalence rates (e.g. in an epidemic setting). As far as reference methods are concerned, nucleic acid amplification tests can be used as a reference method, with a performance similar to the well-accepted toxigenic culture. The method chosen for toxigenicity screening in a toxigenic culture also seems to affect the evaluation performance of tests and should be better studied in the future.
- The role of beliefs, expectations and values in decision-making favoring climate change adaptation - Implications for communications with European forest professionalsPublication . Blennow, K.; Persson, J.; Gonçalves, Luísa M.S.; Borys, A.; Dutcă, I.; Hynynen, J.; Janeczko, E.; Lyubenova, M.; Merganič, J.; Merganičová, K.; Peltoniemi, M.; Petr, M.; Reboredo, F.; Vacchiano, G.; Reyer, C. P. O.Beliefs, expectations and values are often assumed to drive decisions about climate change adaptation. We tested hypotheses based on this assumption using survey responses from 508 European forest professionals in ten countries. We used the survey results to identify communication needs and the decision strategies at play, and to develop guidelines on adequate communications about climate change adaptation. We observed polarization in the positive and negative values associated with climate change impacts accepted by survey respondents. We identified a mechanism creating the polarization that we call the 'blocked belief' effect. We found that polarized values did not correlate with decisions about climate change adaptation. Strong belief in the local impacts of climate change on the forest was, however, a prerequisite of decision-making favoring adaptation. Decision-making in favor of adaptation to climate change also correlated with net values of expected specific impacts on the forest and generally increased with the absolute value of these in the absence of 'tipping point' behavior. Tipping point behavior occurs when adaptation is not pursued in spite of the strongly negative or positive net value of expected climate change impacts. We observed negative and positive tipping point behavior, mainly in SW Europe and N-NE Europe, respectively. In addition we found that advice on effective adaptation may inhibit adaptation when the receiver is aware of effective adaptation measures unless it is balanced with information explaining how climate change leads to negative impacts. Forest professionals with weak expectations of impacts require communications on climate change and its impacts on forests before any advice on adaptation measures can be effective. We develop evidence-based guidelines on communications using a new methodology which includes Bayesian machine learning modeling of the equivalent of an expected utility function for the adaptation decision problem.