Quantifying the role of saltmarsh as a vulnerable carbon sink: A case study from Northern Portugal.

Saltmarshes play a crucial role in carbon sequestration and storage, although they are increasingly threatened by climate change-induced sea level rise (SLR). This study assessed the potential variation in Blue Carbon stocks across regional and local scales, and estimated their economic value and potential habitat loss due to SLR based on the IPCC AR6 scenarios for 2050 and 2100 in three estuarine saltmarshes in northern Portugal, the saltmarshes of the Minho, Lima and Cávado estuaries. The combined carbon stock of these saltmarshes was 38,798 ± 2880 t of organic carbon, valued at 3.

Lost and found: Patterns of marine litter accumulation on the remote Island of Santa Luzia, Cabo Verde.

Santa Luzia, an uninhabited island in the archipelago of Cabo Verde, serves as a natural laboratory and important nesting site for loggerhead turtles Carettacaretta. The island constitutes an Integral Natural Reserve and a Marine Protected Area. We assessed marine litter accumulation on sandy beaches of the island and analysed their spatial patterns using two sampling methods: at a fine scale, sand samples from 1 × 1 m squares were collected, identifying debris larger than 1 mm; at a coarse scale, drone surveys were conducted to identify visible marine debris (>25 mm) in aerial images.

Multiclass Analytical Method for Pesticide and Mycotoxin Analysis in Malt, Brewers' Spent Grain, and Beer: Development, Validation, and Application.

A multiclass analytical method to determine pesticides and mycotoxins in beer-related matrices based on the dilute and shoot approach was optimized and validated according to the European guidelines SANTE/12682/2019 and EC/401/2006. Extraction used acidified acetonitrile at 1% (v/v) acetic acid, followed by horizontal shaking homogenization, centrifugation, freeze-out step for cleanup, another centrifugation, and injection into a high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry system. Linearity, detection and quantification limits, accuracy, and measurement uncertainty were evaluated, and 201, 184, and 176 analytes were validated for malt, beer, and brewers' spent grain, respectively.

Accuracy assessment of the integration of GNSS and a MEMS IMU in a terrestrial platform.

MEMS Inertial Measurement Units are available at low cost and can replace expensive units in mobile mapping platforms which need direct georeferencing. This is done through the integration with GNSS measurements in order to achieve a continuous positioning solution and to obtain orientation angles. This paper presents the results of the assessment of the accuracy of a system that integrates GNSS and a MEMS IMU in a terrestrial platform.

Does Tramadol Have a Role in Pain Control in Palliative Care?

Background: The effectiveness of the step II of the World Health Organization analgesic ladder including tramadol has been questioned recently.

Methods: Retrospective study of patients treated with tramadol admitted as inpatients to one palliative care unit between November 1, 2009, and October 30, 2012.

Results: In the study period, 730 patients were admitted and 66 (9%) of them met the criteria for inclusion; 45 (68%) continued medication with tramadol until discharge from the unit, while 21 (32%) had to switch to an opioid for moderate to severe pain.

Sustained relief of obstructive symptoms for the remaining life of patients following placement of an expandable metal stent for malignant colorectal obstruction.

Background: self-expanding metal stents are currently being used as a definitive palliative treatment for malignant colorectal obstruction in patients with incurable disease. Few studies have followed large numbers of patients from stent placement until death, and those few have reported conflicting results in the long-term clinical outcome data.

Aims: this study evaluated the clinical effectiveness of stent placement for malignant colorectal obstruction throughout the patients lives and related factors affecting stent patency, clinical success and complications.

Sensor integration in a low cost land mobile mapping system.

Mobile mapping is a multidisciplinary technique which requires several dedicated equipment, calibration procedures that must be as rigorous as possible, time synchronization of all acquired data and software for data processing and extraction of additional information. To decrease the cost and complexity of Mobile Mapping Systems (MMS), the use of less expensive sensors and the simplification of procedures for calibration and data acquisition are mandatory features. This article refers to the use of MMS technology, focusing on the main aspects that need to be addressed to guarantee proper data acquisition and describing the way those aspects were handled in a terrestrial MMS developed at the University of Porto.

Oral intake throughout the patients' lives after palliative metallic stent placement for malignant gastroduodenal obstruction: a retrospective multicentre study.

Objectives: Patients with inoperable malignant gastric outlet obstruction (GOO) have been managed with self-expandable metal stents to improve oral intake. Recent studies have shown conflicting results on the capacity of self-expandable metal stents to restore food intake in the long term. This study evaluated the clinical effectiveness of enteral stent placement for GOO throughout the patients' lives.

HAIRIS: a method for automatic image registration through histogram-based image segmentation.

Automatic image registration is still an actual challenge in several fields. Although several methods for automatic image registration have been proposed in the last few years, it is still far from a broad use in several applications, such as in remote sensing. In this paper, a method for automatic image registration through histogram-based image segmentation (HAIRIS) is proposed.

Development of a double-layered ceramic filter for aerosol filtration at high-temperatures: the filter collection efficiency.

The performance of double-layered ceramic filters for aerosol filtration at high temperatures was evaluated in this work. The filtering structure was composed of two layers: a thin granular membrane deposited on a reticulate ceramic support of high porosity. The goal was to minimize the high pressure drop inherent of granular structures, without decreasing their high collection efficiency for small particles.