Background and Aims The erector spinae plane (ESP) block is a recent regional anaesthetic technique that can be used to provide analgesia for a variety of surgical procedures.It consists in placement of local anaesthetic between the erector spinae muscle (ESM) and the thoracic transverse processes, blocking the dorsal and ventral rami of the thoracic and abdominal spinal nerves. It has been previously used for reconstructive breast surgery, however, to our knowledge,this is the first case in which it has been used as part of a multimodal analgesic scheme. Methods We describe a 50-year-old female, ASA II,undergoing reconstructive breast surgery with transverse rectus abdominus muscle flap under combined anaesthesia. A bilateral ESP block was performed under ultrasound guidance at the T4-T6 level in the lateral position. After visualization of the ESM and the transverse process, 20 mL of 0.5%ropivacaine were administered bilaterally, followed by induction of general anaesthesia. Surgery was completed in 4 hours and opioides were not required. Analgesia was supplemented with intravenous acetaminophen (1 g) and ceterolac (30mg). Results Postoperative pain relief was achieved with acetaminophen every eight hours. Pain levels varied between 0 and 3 in the Numeric Rating Scale. Complications were not reported. Conclusions The over all result was increased satisfaction of the patient and avoidance of opioids. Other studies are necessary to evaluate the ESP block as a valid alternative in breast surgery.

OBJECTIVES During the Middle Ages, Portugal witnessed unprecedented socioeconomic and religious changes under transitioning religious political rule. The implications of changing ruling powers for urban food systems and individual diets in medieval Portugal is poorly understood. This study aimed to elucidate the dietary impact of the Islamic and Christian conquests. MATERIALS AND METHODS Radiocarbon dating, peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS) and stable isotope analysis (δ13 C, δ15 N) of animal (n = 59) and human skeletal remains (n = 205) from Muslim and Christian burials were used to characterize the diet of a large historical sample from Portugal. A Bayesian stable isotope mixing model (BSIMM) was used to estimate the contribution of marine protein to human diet. RESULTS Early medieval (8-12th century), preconquest urban Muslim populations had mean (±1SD) values of -18.8 ± 0.4 ‰ for δ13 C 10.4 ± 1 ‰ for δ15 N, indicating a predominantly terrestrial diet, while late medieval (12-14th century) postconquest Muslim and Christian populations showed a greater reliance on marine resources with mean (±1SD) values of -17.9 ± 1.3‰ for δ13 C and 11.1 ± 1.1‰ for δ15 N. BSIMM estimation supported a significant increase in the contribution of marine resources to human diet. DISCUSSION The results provide the first biomolecular evidence for a dietary revolution that is not evidenced in contemporaneous historical accounts. We find that society transitioned from a largely agro-pastoral economy under Islamic rule to one characterized by a new focus on marine resources under later Christian rule. This economic change led to the naissance of the marine economy that went on to characterize the early-modern period in Portugal and its global expansion.

Introduction Sleep, as one of the most determining and present factors in our life, is fundamental for humans, and especially during childhood: it is indispensable for good cognitive, physical and emotional development. Objectives Designed in the scope of the Portuguese National School Health Program, the objectives of this project were to promote adequate sleep routines, raise awareness of children’s sleep deprivation and to the consequences of an abusive contact with technologies. At the end of this activity, children should be able to recognize the importance of these dimensions. Methodology The formative activity, performed by 2 school nurses, was applied to 104 children (from 3 different schools from a northern city of Portugal), with 4 (41.3 %), 5 (44.2 %) and 6 years old (14.4 %), and lasted 45 minutes. The project comprises 4 stages: the first one relates to nurses and project theme presentation; the second one is the implementation of a theatre where major issues of the project are presented, namely the importance of sleep and nap, sleep hygiene rules, consequences of sleep deprivation and the influence of technologies on sleep; the third one is the discussion of the main ideas using the song "Sleep Hour"; at the end, a questionnaire was applied to assess children knowledge about sleep hygiene habits divided into six questions with two images each, in which one corresponds to a healthy practice and the other does not. Results The percentage of correct answers ranged between 96.6 to 98.3 %, suggesting that the formative activity had a positive impact on children’s knowledge about healthy sleep hygiene habits. The 2 questions on which the rate of incorrect answers was higher relate to the fact that sleeping with parents is better than sleeping alone (6.3 %) and that watching TV before going to sleep is a better option than reading a story (4.4 %). Conclusion This intervention has given children important knowledge about healthy sleep hygiene habits, resulting in its understanding through an approach tailored to their age.

In some instances, we come across particularly interesting shards which are in a condition good enough to allow attribution based on previous research. A recent excavation at an area once part of the grounds of the ancient Convento do Carmo (Carmo Convent) recovered a large fragment that offers stylistically an immediate connection with productions of Antwerp. This paper includes the results of an analytical research of that fragment and discusses its provenance, significance and likely chronology.

The upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea xamachana (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae) has been predominantly studied to understand its interaction with the endosymbiotic dinoflagellate algae Symbiodinium. As an easily culturable and tractable cnidarian model, it is an attractive alternative to stony corals to understanding the mechanisms driving establishment and maintenance of symbiosis. Cassiopea is also unique in requiring the symbiont in order to complete its transition to the adult stage, thereby providing an excellent model to understand symbiosis-driven development and evolution. Recently, the Cassiopea research system has gained interest beyond symbiosis in fields related to embryology, climate ecology, behavior, and more. With these developments, resources including genomes, transcriptomes, and laboratory protocols are steadily increasing. This review provides an overview of the broad range of interdisciplinary research that has utilized the Cassiopea model and highlights the advantages of using the model for future research.

This paper discusses the differential diagnosis of an unusual calcified mass found in the pelvic cavity of 45+-year-old female excavated from 15th-18th century Lisbon (Portugal). The mass is relatively large, irregularly shaped, and exhibits a concave base with malformed teeth embedded within its inner surface. Considering its macroscopic and radiological characteristics, several conditions were considered in the differential diagnosis, namely eccyesis, fetus in fetu, lithopaedion, and ovarian teratoma. However, the morphological features of the specimen, such as its structure, morphology, and dimensions, are diagnostic of a teratoma. Its location and the sex of the individual are more specifically compatible with a calcified ovarian teratoma. With regional and temporal variations in the frequency of tumours, the report of new cases becomes imperative, especially from geographic regions where few cases have been identified. In fact, this appears to be the first case of ovarian teratoma detected in the Portuguese archaeological record and adds to the few palaeopathological cases described in the osteoarchaeological literature worldwide.

Throughout the Brazilian railroads, there are several historical bridges which have been in service since the late 19th century and early 20th century. Many of those require some degree of maintenance or rehabilitation. Furthermore, there is also a need to verify the response of the structure according to the type of live load. That is represented for a standard live load vehicle passing through the bridge. In order to predict the structural behavior it can be used numerical models that are calibrated from experimental results. This paper presents a case study of a wrought iron railroad bridge located in the state of Bahia, made in 1885. It is shown the modeling of the Dom Pedro II bridge, compared to the measurements from the health monitoring and the evaluation of an increase of the traffic load. From the results it can be concluded that the model can predict the structure behavior and that it is not only possible to increase the traffic load but also the current load should be reduced.

A fluência é um fenômeno que ocorre devido à movimentação de água no interior do concreto e é afetada por vários fatores que agem simultaneamente. Dentre estes fatores estão às condições do ambiente (umidade relativa do ar e temperatura) ao qual o elemento, ou corpo de prova, está submetido. Neste trabalho são feitas comparações entre resultados experimentais de fluência por secagem de corpos de prova carregados em idades diferentes e mantidos em ambiente controlado (câmara climatizada) e não controlado. Além disso, são feitas comparações entre estes resultados com os fornecidos por modelos de previsão disponíveis na literatura. A partir dos resultados pode-se notar que alterações da umidade durante o primeiro mês de ensaio apresentam maior influência nas deformações e que concretos carregados com maiores idades apresentam menores deformações por fluência. Foi observado na comparação entre modelos de previsão que o modelo do ACI e GL melhor preveem a fluência.

Veterinary science basically deals with comparative studies on some animal groups. In this sense, the veterinary field is closely related to or even dependent on the field of Biology called systematics. Nevertheless, there is a gap of knowledge between the "basic science" of systematics and the "technological field" of Veterinary. Phylogenetic systematics, also known as cladistics, the most recent paradigm in systematics, was developed by the German entomologist Willi Hennig4,5,6. More recently, several companion studies1'3’9,13 have made this approach in Biology and its underlying principles the chief field of evolutionary and comparative studies. The aim of this paper is to delineate the basic knowledge of the phylogenetic systematics and to show how this can be usefully employed in the veterinary sciences (for example, clinical procedures applied to wild animals or the knowledge on the anatomy of groups). Similar studies already exist for immunology and parasitology', as well as in a more general sense1'3.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) has been associated with immunological defects, chronic inflammatory and autoimmune conditions. Given the link between immune dysfunction and NHL, genetic variants in toll-like receptors (TLRs) have been regarded as potential predictive factors of susceptibility to NHL. Adequate anti-tumoral responses are known to depend on TLR9 function, such that the use of its synthetic ligand is being targeted as a therapeutic strategy. We investigated the association between the functional rs5743836 polymorphism in the TLR9 promoter and risk for B-cell NHL and its major subtypes in three independent case–control association studies from Portugal (1160 controls, 797 patients), Italy (468 controls, 494 patients) and the US (972 controls, 868 patients). We found that the rs5743836 polymorphism was significantly overtransmitted in both Portuguese (odds ratio (OR), 1.85; P=7.3E−9) and Italian (OR, 1.84; P=6.0E−5) and not in the US cohort of NHL patients. Moreover, the increased transcriptional activity of TLR9 in mononuclear cells from patients harboring rs5743836 further supports a functional effect of this polymorphism on NHL susceptibility in a population-dependent manner.

Creep has been pointed out as one of the main causes of non-structural cracking in concrete structures. Nevertheless, their behavior on concretes made with current materials is scarcely known. The use of real time health monitoring systems of strains in structures has been demonstrated to be a high potential inspection and maintenance techniques. The aim of this paper is to contribute for the publication of acquisition control echniques and strain results from a one month health monitoring period for Brazilian commercial concrete cylindrical specimens. For that, the equipment DataTaker and the DeTransfer software was used.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are cellular receptors that mediate recognition of microbial challenges and the subsequent inflammatory response. Genetic variations within these inflammation-associated genes may alter host-pathogen defence mechanisms affecting susceptibility towards infectious diseases. Taking into account the significance of these genes, we developed a simple and rapid method based in the bi-directional PCR amplification of specific alleles (Bi-PASA) for genotyping known sequence variants in TLR4 (Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile) and TLR9 (T-1237C) genes. This method allows genotype determination in a single reaction and is amenable to large-scale analysis. We used Bi-PASA to characterize the distribution of these polymorphisms in the Portuguese population. A total of 388 randomly selected blood donors of Portuguese origin (203 females and 185 males) were genotyped and allele frequencies were determined. Among the tested individuals, 11.1% and 10.8% were heterozygous for Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile, respectively. In what concerns the T-1237C variation in TLR9, the variant allele was present in 19.4% of the individuals tested. Besides confirming the usefulness of the Bi-PASA in polymorphism analysis, the data presented provide valuable information on TLR polymorphisms in the Portuguese population that can be used to stratify risk patients with increased susceptibility to infection.