University of Coimbra

About: University of Coimbra is a education organization based out in Coimbra, Portugal. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 14318 authors who have published 43067 publications receiving 994733 citations. The organization is also known as: UC & Universidade dos Estudos Gerais.

Parallel-plate metamaterials for cloaking structures

Abstract: In this work, we assess theoretically the physical response of metamaterial composite structures that emulate the behavior of negative-permittivity materials in certain relevant setups. The metamaterials under analysis consist of metallic parallel-plate implants embedded in a dielectric host in a two-dimensional geometry. Simple design rules and formulas are presented, fully considering the effect and consequences of excitation of higher-order diffraction modes at the metamaterial-dielectric interface. Following the ideas of transparency and cloaking developed by us [Al\`u and Engheta, Phys. Rev. E 72, 016623 (2005)], we demonstrate, analytically and numerically, that it is possible in this way to design metamaterial cloaks that significantly reduce the total scattering cross section of a given two-dimensional dielectric obstacle in some frequency band. This effect, which may be realized in a feasible way, may find interesting applications in electromagnetic cloaking, total scattering cross section reduction, and noninvasive probing.

Improving the well-being of elderly patients via community pharmacy-based provision of pharmaceutical care: a multicentre study in seven European countries.

Abstract: Objective: This study aimed to measure the outcomes of a harmonised, structured pharmaceutical care programme provided to elderly patients: (greater than or equal to 65 years of age) by community pharmacists in a multicentre international study performed in 7 European countries. Design and setting: The study was a randomised, controlled. longitudinal, clinical trial with repeated measures performed over an Is-month period. A total of 104 intervention and 86 control pharmacy sites participated in the research and 1290 intervention patients and 1164 control patients were recruited into the study. Main outcome measures and results: A general decline in health-related quality of lift: over time was observed in the pooled data; however, significant improvements were achieved in patients involved in the pharmaceutical care programme in some countries. Intervention patients reported better control of their medical conditions as a result of the study and cost savings associated with pharmaceutical care provision were observed in most countries. The new structured service was well accepted by intervention patients and patient satisfaction with the services improved during the study. The pharmacists involved in providing pharmaceutical care had a positive opinion on the new approach, as did the majority of general practitioners surveyed. The positive effects appear to have been achieved via social and psychosocial aspects of the intervention, such as the increased support provided by community pharmacists, rather than via biomedical mechanisms. Conclusions: This study is the first large-scale, multicentre study to investigate the effects of pharmaceutical care provision by community pharmacists to elderly patients. Future research methodology and implementation will be informed by the experience gained from this challenging trial.