The recognition of fragility functions as a fundamental tool in seismic risk assessment has led to the development of more and more complex and elaborate procedures for their computation. Although vulnerability functions have been traditionally produced using observed damage and loss data, more recent studies propose the employment of analytical methodologies as a way to overcome the frequent lack of post-earthquake data. The variation of the structural modelling approaches on the estimation of building capacity has been the target of many studies in the past, however, its influence in the resulting vulnerability model, impact in loss estimations or propagation of the uncertainty to the seismic risk calculations has so far been the object of restricted scrutiny. Hence, in this paper, an extensive study of static and dynamic procedures for estimating the nonlinear response of buildings has been carried out in order to evaluate the impact of the chosen methodology on the resulting vulnerability and risk outputs. Moreover, the computational effort and numerical stability provided by each approach were evaluated and conclusions were obtained regarding which one offers the optimal balance between accuracy and complexity.

A general approach to the problem of simultaneous computation of the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) of two sequences of length N, which may be real, imaginary, conjugated symmetric or conjugated anti-symmetric, using a single N-point DFT of a complex sequence is presented. The framework developed is applied to the simultaneous computation of two DFTs, one DFT and one inverse DFT (IDFT) or two IDFTs for real N-point sequences.

Water from the cup filler of dental chair units (CFDC) was observed to contain sphingomonads, environmental mycobacteria and methylobacteria, among other minor bacteria. Some of the bacteria detected are recognized opportunistic pathogens. Some of these, tended to persist over time.

Water from the cup filler of dental chair units (CFDC) was observed to contain sphingomonads, environmental mycobacteria and methylobacteria, among other minor bacteria. Some of the bacteria detected are recognized opportunistic pathogens. Some of these, tended to persist over time.

This literature review identifies some remote learning practices and summarizes some of the most relevant advances in education research during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is based on the study of literature on topics such as: education in emergency situations; equity in access to education; distance learning; hybrid teaching; quality teaching and learning mediated by technology. It mainly focuses on the review of studies carried out in the scope of basic and secondary education and aims to outline a clear perspective of the learning contexts experienced during the pandemic. Although remote learning has never been experienced on such a large scale before, it has become possible to identify some good practices considering emerging literature, comments in academic media, information published in specialized journals, government documents and relevant organizations. The study's main findings indicate that: successful remote teaching requires access to well-designed technology and learning environments; it is essential that teachers receive adequate support and professional training; the health and well-being of the educational community must be a priority and health literacy must be included in the curricula; there is a need for plans for physical and social re-engagement and for differentiated learning methods and strategies when returning to classrooms; school-community-family relations are strengthened in this context and can appear as an opportunity that should be seized. Thus, it is expected that schools and educational agents can reflect on their responses and on how they can be better prepared for present and future situations.

Enquadramento: A hepatite C é uma doença infeciosa que afeta o fígado, causada pelo vírus da hepatite C (VHC) e transmitida principalmente por contacto com sangue contaminado [1]. Em 2014, a Agência Europeia do Medicamento (EMA) autorizou o uso do sofosbuvir (Sovaldi®), o primeiro antiviral de ação direta (AAD) para o tratamento da hepatite C, em toda a União Europeia [2]. Em Portugal, esse medicamento foi disponibilizado em 2015, juntamente com outras opções terapêuticas, totalizando nove medicamentos ou combinações terapêuticas [3,4]. Estes tratamentos são gratuitos para todos os pacientes, altamente tolerados e altamente eficazes, alcançando taxas de sucesso próximas a 100% quando usados sozinhos ou em combinação com outros antivirais. Objetivos: Avaliar o impacto financeiro no tratamento da hepatite C no Sistema Nacional de Saúde. Métodos: Revisão narrativa da literatura. Resultados: Nos últimos anos, a negociação entre o governo e o titular de AIM resultou numa redução significativa dos preços destes medicamentos. O preço negociado do Sovaldi® 400 mg foi de 14.544,91 € para todas as embalagens adquiridas pelos hospitais do SNS. Já o preço do Harvoni® foi negociado para 16.318,29 €, valor que ainda assim fica muito aquém dos valores pagos noutros países, como o Egito ou a Índia [5]. Conclusão: A importância da colaboração entre as entidades públicas e as empresas farmacêuticas é fundamental para garantir que os medicamentos sejam acessíveis e adequados para os pacientes que deles necessitam. Até setembro de 2022, tinham sido iniciados um total de 30.309 tratamentos de Hepatite C em Portugal, com uma estimativa de 62.869 anos de vida ganhos, tendo-se poupado 271,4 milhões de euros em custos de tratamento das consequências da evolução da hepatite C.

Background: Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder that affects nearly 1% of the world population[1]. It ranks among the top 10 global causes of disability, highlighting its significant impact on individuals and society [1]. However, a noteworthy concern arises due to the substantial risk associated with these medications—antipsychotic-induced metabolic syndrome[2]. Metabolic syndrome poses serious health complications, necessitating a comprehensive understanding of its prevalence, underlying mechanisms, and potential therapeutic approaches(3). Objectives: Evaluate the risk of metabolic effects when using antipsychotics. Methodology: This study was conducted by obtaining information from literature through a search of the PubMed dataset using the following keywords: Antipsychotics, Metabolic disturbances, Schizophrenia. Results: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients treated with antipsychotics varies from 37%-63%[2]. The prevalence of obesity (BMI above 30 kg/m²) in individuals with schizophrenia varies between 42%-60%[2]. Weight gain is a well-known side effect of antipsychotic medications in patients with schizophrenia, affecting 15%-72% patients(4). Among first-generation antipsychotics, low potency such as chlorpromazine and thioridazine, are associated with a greater risk of weight gain compared to those of high potency, such as haloperidol[2]. Second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) have different probabilities of causing weight gain with clozapine and olanzapine have the highest risk. Quetiapine, risperidone and paliperidone, an intermediate risk. Aripiprazole the lowest risk[2]. Additionally, non-pharmacological interventions, including aerobic exercise and dietary counselling, have shown efficacy in managing antipsychotic-induced metabolic syndrome[5]. Conclusion: The analysis indicates that, overall, SGAs pose a higher risk of metabolic disturbances compared to first-generation antipsychotics. Categorizing SGAs based on their weight gain potential underscores the significance of this variability. Clozapine and olanzapine emerge as the highest risk, followed by quetiapine, risperidone, and paliperidone, while aripiprazole is associated with the lowest risk of weight gain. Mental health professionals should encourage healthy lifestyle practices, including diet and physical activity programs.

This paper presents a case study conducted with students of primary school analyzing the collaborative activities in a Do-It-Yourself community created on Edmodo. The study technical development is positioned in the interpretive and qualitative paradigm using the analytical content of the discussions and the created artifacts. The results show the group’s level of cooperation and the influence of some tools and working methods, making clear the need for further studies on this type of communities in these age groups, particularly on to the influence of e-moderator.

Natural leather is a product made from animal skin which is treated through chemical procedure to preserve it. It is used in the manufacture of clothing, bags, furniture, automobile material, among others. Because of its capital value in industry, it is important to ensure its quality. Traditional inspection by human experts is expensive, time-consuming, and subjective to human errors. Consequently, automatic leather inspection has become an essential part of any production system as it rejects nonconformities, ensures product quality, reduces operating costs, and shortens production cycle times. This paper presents an artificial intelligent model using computer vision for the autonomous inspection of natural leather. Due to its good results in similar problems, the YOLO algorithm was chosen. More specifically, a comparison of the Small, Medium, Large, and Extra-Large models of YOLOv5 in leather defect detection was performed. We used images of leather with and without defects from the MVTec Anomaly Detection dataset. After training, the models were analyzed and compared based on some performance metrics. All models showed a great ability to detect defects in the dataset used.

Industrial systems monitor and control is, in the majority of the cases, implemented using real-time acquisition systems. Since the real-world is analog, there is a growing demand for faster, high resolution, real-time and reliable acquisition systems at very low cost. This paper presents an embedded system designed to tackle the previously listed requirements, thus being able to be used in most of today’s industrial systems requiring real-time data acquisition. The prototype developed, requires the co-design of hardware and software, the main difference and the main advantage offered is the added features and functionalities offered by the hardware platform used, such as USB connection (with the required real-time throughput), mass storage capability, database support and Ethernet connection. These features are supported by a Linux OS (uClinux). The embedded system developed is capable of acquiring eight analog channels simultaneously at 250kps for each channel with a 16-bit resolution, taking full advantage of the analog to digital converter (MAX11046). In order to do so several tailored drivers were programmed and added to the Linux kernel. Such a system can be used in many applications requiring real-time acquisition systems (medical, automotive, space exploration, etc).