Universidade de Pernambuco

About: Universidade de Pernambuco is a education organization based out in Recife, Brazil. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 6147 authors who have published 6948 publications receiving 73648 citations.

Early epilepsy in children with Zika-related microcephaly in a cohort in Recife, Brazil: Characteristics, electroencephalographic findings, and treatment response.

Abstract: Objective To estimate the incidence of epilepsy in children with Zika-related microcephaly in the first 24 months of life; to characterize the associated clinical and electrographic findings; and to summarize the treatment responses. Methods We followed a cohort of children, born during the 2015-2016 Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic in Brazil, with congenital microcephaly and evidence of congenital ZIKV infection on neuroimaging and/or laboratory testing. Neurological assessments were performed at ≤3, 6, 12, 15, 18, 21, and 24 months of life. Serial electroencephalograms were performed over the first 24 months. Results We evaluated 91 children, of whom 48 were female. In this study sample, the cumulative incidence of epilepsy was 71.4% in the first 24 months, and the main type of seizure was infantile spasms (83.1%). The highest incidence of seizures occurred between 3 and 9 months of age, and the risk remained high until 15 months of age. The incidence of infantile spasms peaked between 4 and 7 months and was followed by an increased incidence of focal epilepsy cases after 12 months of age. Neuroimaging results were available for all children, and 100% were abnormal. Cortical abnormalities were identified in 78.4% of the 74 children evaluated by computed tomography and 100% of the 53 children evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging. Overall, only 46.1% of the 65 children with epilepsy responded to treatment. The most commonly used medication was sodium valproate with or without benzodiazepines, levetiracetam, phenobarbital, and vigabatrin. Significance Zika-related microcephaly was associated with high risk of early epilepsy. Seizures typically began after the third month of life, usually as infantile spasms, with atypical electroencephalographic abnormalities. The seizure control rate was low. The onset of seizures in the second year was less frequent and, when it occurred, presented as focal epilepsy.

The Effect of Maintenance Quality on Spare Parts Inventory for a Fleet of Assets

Abstract: This paper considers the effect of fleet size on a joint policy of maintenance and spare parts inventory when spare parts are of varying quality. We consider N identical one-component systems subject to age-based replacement, and with a single echelon periodic review spare-parts policy. The joint policy is optimised with regard to the long-run total cost per unit time, where the cost components include both replacement and inventory related costs. In particular, we are interested in the effect of spare parts quality and the size of the fleet on the variability in the demand for spare parts. Furthermore, the effects of changing lead time, different failure characteristics, and simultaneous deployment of the N systems over a finite horizon on the optimal joint policy are investigated. We develop a stochastic simulation model to investigate these effects. We find that the scale effect varies with the quality of spare parts: the poorer the quality of spare parts, the smaller the scale effect. Our approach allows the value (e.g. cost of poor quality spare parts) in spare parts provisioning for maintenance to be quantified.

Understanding how deep neural networks learn face expressions

Abstract: Deep neural networks have been used successfully for several different computer vision-related tasks, including facial expression recognition. In spite of the good results, it is still not clear why these networks achieve such good recognition rates. One way to learn more about deep neural networks is to visualise and understand what they are learning, and to do so techniques such as deconvolution could play a significant role. In this paper, we train a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Lateral Inhibition Pyramidal Neural Network (LIPNet) to learn facial expressions. Then, we use the deconvolution process to visualise the learned features of the CNN and we introduce a novel mechanism for visualising the internal representation of the LIPNet. We perform a series of experiments, training our networks with the Cohn-Kanade data set and show what kind of facial structures compose the learned emotion expression representation. Then, we use the trained networks to recognise images from the Jaffe data set and demonstrate that the learned representations are present in different face images, emphasizing the generalization aspects of these networks. We discuss the different representations that each network learns and how they differ from each other. We also discuss how each learned representation contributes to the recognition process and how they can be compared to the emotional notation Facial Action Coding System - Facs. Finally, we explain how the principles of invariance, redundancy and filtering, common for deep networks, contribute to the learned features and to the facial expression recognition task in general.

Evidence-based Physiotherapy and Functionality in Adult and Pediatric patients with COVID-19

Abstract: Introduction: The new corona virus (2019-nCoV OR HCOV-19 or CoV2), has emerged in China as the main cause of viral pneumonia (COVID-19, Coronavirus Disease-19). Objective: To provide evidence-based Physiotherapy and functionality in patients with adult and pediatric COVID-19. Methods: This is an integrative literature review using the MedLine / PubMed databases, library of Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS) and Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDRo). Results: Part of the patients with covid 19 show signs of respiratory deficiency with hypoxemia, with low severity in children. Impaired functionality is also expected. Conclusion: COVID-19 causes low pulmonary compliance and important changes in lung function with hypoxemia and cardiovascular repercussions. These changes lead to the need for Physiotherapy and the management of oxygen therapy and ventilatory support (invasive and non-invasive) for these patients.