Paulo Tavares

Tumors of the Foot and Ankle: A Single-institution Experience

Tumors of the foot and ankle are rare, and the particular clinicopathologic features, therapeutic approach, and outcomes in this setting are not well established. From January 2000 to December 2010, 72 patients with primary musculoskeletal tumors of the foot and ankle, both benign and malignant, were treated at a single institution. Of the 72xa0patients, 56% were female. The median age was 52 years. Of the 72 tumors, 62 (86.11%) were located in the foot and 10 were located in the ankle; 63 (87.5%) were soft tissue tumors and 9 (12.5%) were bone tumors. Overall, 56 (78%) were benign tumors and 16 (22%) were malignant tumors. The most frequent soft tissue and bone diagnosis was giant cell tumor. The median follow-up period was 49 months. The vast majority of the tumors were located in the foot. Benign tumors were dominant, outnumbering malignant tumors by more than 3 to 1. The diversity of the histologic benign types was evident, with giant cell tumor, angiomyoma, and lipoma the most frequent. Regarding the malignant tumors, a clear male predominance was present, the median age was 45 years, and the most frequent tumor was synoviosarcoma. The 9-year overall and disease-free survival rate was 65% and 40%, respectively.

The impact of electrochromic windows on the energy performance of buildings in Mediterranean climates: a case study

Abstract The process of building rehabilitation is usually strongly constrained regarding morphological changes, particularly in the cases of historic or classified buildings. Therefore, in the present chapter the emerging technology of electrochromic (EC) windows is studied, using building energy simulation to assess the effects on energy efficiency in buildings. The phenomena associated with the current state of EC device technology are described, and their potential future trends are discussed. The validation of control procedures for commercially available EC windows is carried out using the ESP-r simulator, using a case study building to be rehabilitated (Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Coimbra) through the analysis of the impact of EC technology on energy consumption and thermal comfort. The methodology designed to assess the use of EC windows begins with the calculation, through simulation for a reference case with single glazing windows, of the solar gains and the internal gains of each space, for both heating and cooling seasons, followed by the estimation of the energy savings that result from the application of EC windows. From the results it is concluded that EC windows are an effective solution to the problems associated with the control of solar gain in the east and west facades. The use of EC windows will reduce the annual energy needs, which is clearly an advantage in the cooling season. Generally, it is concluded that the use of EC windows must be defined according to the type of building, or even space, particularly depending on the occupation and the overall internal gains, on the facade characteristics, orientation, and the shading influence of neighboring buildings.

Carbon Care Action of IEEE-VPPC'14

Organizing international conferences leads to significant amounts of emitted greenhouse gases (GHGs). This is mainly due to the transport of the attendees to the conference venue. At IEEE-VPPC14, actions were taken to reduce and to compensate the conference GHG emissions as well as to raise public awareness. This paper describes these actions and presents a quantitative estimation of the GHG sources related to the conference.

Neoadjuvant Trabectedin plus Radiotherapy in High-Grade Sarcoma of the Leg: A Case Report

Here, we present the case of a 78-year-old male patient with undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma on the posteromedial surface of the right leg who experienced a long-lasting progression-free survival. Due to an underlying cardiac disease, the patient was not suitable for anthracyclines. In September 2015, he received first-line chemotherapy with trabectedin (Yondelis®) at the approved dosage and regimen – concomitant with external radiotherapy (RT). After the first 9 cycles of trabectedin plus RT given in the neoadjuvant setting, the patient underwent surgical resection. At that stage, we observed a very good pathological response with 80% of necrotic area. The patient resumed the therapy with trabectedin; however, approximately 5 months later, we observed a new nodular heterogeneous lesion with ill-defined margins in the right leg and suggestive of tumor relapse. Subsequently an above-the-knee amputation was performed, and the patient resumed his trabectedin therapy with the same dosage and regimen. In January 2018, almost 2 1/2 years after the start of trabectedin treatment and 30+ cycles of trabectedin, the patient is locoregionally and distant metastatically disease-free. Currently, the treatment with trabectedin is maintained without any significant serious toxicity. Future clinical trials are needed to gain additional insights into the role of trabectedin maintenance therapy until disease progression in the neoadjuvant setting and to identify predictive and prognostic criteria for response to trabectedin in patients with advanced sarcoma.

An innovative information and communication technology architecture to the V2G concept implementation

This paper presents a new ICT architecture that promotes the integration of electric vehicles in smart grids based on existing communication infrastructures and proprietary data acquisition modules. The implemented solution monitors continuously the electric vehicle batteries state of charge, state of health and available energy stored in the batteries, along the vehicle journey. The real-time data information is thereafter recorded in databases being accessible to the home area network aggregator, end user energy scheduler, and to the grid operator applications. According with the batteries state of charge, the energy price and the custom energy profile is then possible, in some conditions, to perform the vehicle to grid concept.

A Novel ICT Solution for Electric Vehicles Integration on Smart Grids

The integration of electric vehicles in smart grids introduces challenges due to the high involved power values and the vehicles mobility beyond the reach of the home area network. This paper presents a new ICT architecture that supports an energy management algorithm that aims to optimize the electric vehicle charging and storage capabilities accordingly with economical and technical considerations. The developed solution monitors the batteries state of charge, state of health and the available energy stored in the batteries, along the electric vehicle journey. The collected electric vehicle information is thereafter sent to databases in real-time base to achieve this mentioned purpose. The recorded data is accessible to the home area network aggregator and end user energy scheduler, and by other grid operator applications. According with the battery pack state of charge, the energy selling price and the custom energy usage profile is also possible, in some conditions, to apply the vehicle to grid concept. The energy management algorithm uses dynamic tariffs, end-users preferences and comfort requirements regarding the operation of the remaining house appliances and electric loads.