4th Symposium Research Articles

Summary of the 12th Brazilian Conference on Software and the 1st Latin American School on Software Engineering

The main goal of the Brazilian Conference on Software: Practice and Theory (CBSoft) is to bring together researchers, practitioners, and students aiming at fostering the exchange of experience about the most recent research, tendencies, and theoretical and practical innovations in software. The conference is the top conference in the field of Latin America. In 2021, the conference was organized virtually by Dr. Karine Roggia, Dr. Cristiano Vasconcellos (UDESC), and Dr. Paulo Boulsfield (Univille). This year, we had more than 450 participants registered to attend CBSoft. CBSoft 2021 held four traditional Brazilian symposia: (i) 35th Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering (SBES); (ii) 25th Brazilian Symposium on Programming Languages (SBLP); (iii) 15th Brazilian Symposium on Software Components, Architectures, and Reuse (SBCARS); (iv) 6th Brazilian Symposium on Systematic Automated Software Testing (SAST).

Whole Exome Sequencing of Patients With Heritable and Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Central Taiwan.

BackgroundGenetic variants could be identified in subjects with idiopathic and heritable pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The 6th World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension (WSPH) provided a list of genes with evidence of association with PAH. However, reports using whole exome sequencing (WES) from southeastern Asian PAH cohorts were scarce.MethodsSubjects with idiopathic and heritable PAH (N = 45) from two medical centers in central Taiwan were screened for PAH related gene variants. The genomic DNA was prepared from peripheral blood lymphocytes. We performed WES for all patients enrolled in this study. All identified gene variants were validated by polymerase-chain reaction and Sanger sequencing. The clinical and hemodynamic data were compared between bone morphogenetic protein receptor type-2 (BMPR2) gene variants carriers vs. non-carriers.ResultsEight patients (8/45 = 17.8%) was identified carrying BMPR2 gene variants and 8 patients (8/45 = 17.8%) had other WSPH-listed PAH-related gene variants (1 with ACVRL1, 1 with ENG, 1 with SMAD9, 1 with SMAD1, 1 with ATP13A3 and 3 with AQP1). In addition, a total of 14 non-WSPH-listed PAH-related genetic variant sites (ABCC8, NOTCH1, NOTCH2, NOTCH3, JAG1, BMP10, GGCX, FBLN2, ABCA3 and PTGIS) were found in this PAH cohort. Subjects carrying BMPR2 gene variant (N = 8) were younger at diagnosis of PAH (30 ± 11 vs 49 ± 13 years, p = 0.001) than the non-carrier group (N = 37). BMPR2 variant carriers had a trend toward having higher mean pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) (61 ± 19 vs. 51 ± 13 mmHg, p = 0.076) than the non-carriers upon initial diagnosis. Pulmonary vascular resistance, right atrial pressure, cardiac output, as well as functional class were similar between BMPR2 variant carriers and non-carriers at initial diagnosis.ConclusionsWe identified 17.8% of patients with BMPR2 gene variants and 17.8% subjects with other 6th WSPH-listed PAH-related gene variants in a Taiwanese idiopathic and heritable PAH cohort. PAH patients carrying BMPR2 variants presented at a younger age with a trend toward having higher mean PAP at initial diagnosis.

Editorial

This special issue of University of Porto Journal of Engineering contains selected papers presented at the 4th Symposium on Engineering Physics that took place on the 28th and 29th of June 2021, in the Doctoral Congress in Engineering 2021. This symposium results from the joint organization by the Department of Engineering Physics of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) and the Physics and Astronomy Department of the Faculty of Science of the University of Porto (FCUP). Following the previous editions, the 4th Symposium on Engineering Physics (EP) has received widespread contributions from all major Portuguese research institutions involved in EP fields. The submitted works depict the current scientific trends in Engineering Physics, and include topics as varied as optical and biosensors, smart materials, optoelectronics, nanotechnology, and quantum studies. The editors wish to thank all the authors for their participation and cooperation, which made this volume possible. Finally, they would like to thank the team of FEUP library, especially Luís Miguel Costa and Palmira Seixas, for the excellent cooperation during the preparation of this issue.

Current cave monitoring practices, their variation and recommendations for future improvement in Europe: A synopsis from the 6th EuroSpeleo Protection Symposium

This manuscript summarizes the outcomes of the 6th EuroSpeleo Protection Symposium. Special emphasis was laid on presenting and discussing monitoring activities under the umbrella of the Habitats Directive (EU Council Directive 92/43/EEC) for habitat type 8310 "Caves not open to the public" and the Emerald Network. The discussions revealed a high level of variation in the currently conducted underground monitoring activities: there is no uniform definition of what kind of underground environments the "cave" habitat should cover, how often a specific cave has to be monitored, and what parameters should be measured to evaluate the conservation status. The variation in spatial dimensions in national definitions of caves further affects the number of catalogued caves in a country and the number of caves to be monitored. Not always participants are aware of the complete national monitoring process and that data sets should be freely available or easily accessible. The discussions further showed an inherent dilemma between an anticipated uniform monitoring approach with a coherent assessment methodology and, on the contrary, the uniqueness of caves and subterranean biota to be assessed – combined with profound knowledge gaps and a lack of resources. Nevertheless, some good practices for future cave monitoring activities have been identified by the participants: (1) Cave monitoring should focus on bio- and geodiversity elements alike; (2) Local communities should be involved, and formal agreements envisaged; (3) Caves must be understood as windows into the subterranean realm; (4) Touristic caves should not be excluded ad-hoc from regular monitoring; (5) New digital tools and open FAIR data infrastructures should be implemented; (6) Cave biomonitoring should focus on a large(r) biological diversity; and (7) DNA-based tools should be integrated. Finally, the importance of the 'forgotten' Recommendation No. 36 from the Bern Convention as a guiding legal European document was highlighted.

Preface

Since 2020, we have had to adapt our activities due to the CoVid-19 pandemic. The prolonged restriction of movement has hampered our scientific research activities. We long for a venue where we can share and discuss optics and photonics, thus we are glad that the Indonesian Optical Society (InOS) biannual main meeting, the 13th International Symposium on Modern Optics and Its Applications (ISMOA) had been successfully held on 2-4 August 2021 virtually through video conference. With a theme of “Photonics for Better Lives”, this symposium was organized in collaboration with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Universitas Pelita Harapan, together with Institut Teknologi Bandung and Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember as one of the International Day of Light (IDL) 2021 activities in Indonesia.The ISMOA meeting series is the flagship conference of the Indonesian Optical Society (InOS) which has been successfully organized twelve times. Since the first ISMOA held in 2001, for ten times, these meeting series have always been held at Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) in Bandung, Indonesia, wherein 2011 the Indonesian Optical Society was founded. Thereafter, to fulfil the mission of the society to disseminate the science of optics and its important contributions to the advances of science and technology in general, a rotating scheme of hosting the meeting by other universities and cities in Indonesia was started. This 13th meeting is the third time that the meeting was held outside of ITB. This 13th symposium was highlighted by 13 distinguished international scientists who delivered invited presentations on their latest research, namelyAslam BAIG (National Centre for Physics, Pakistan)Humeyra CAGLAYAN (Tampere Univ., Finland)Martijn DE STERKE (Univ. Sydney, Australia)Suganda JUTAMULIA (Omnivision Technologies, Inc., USA)Takashi KURODA (National Institute for Material Science, Japan)Laura M. LECHUGA (Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Spain)David MARPAUNG (Univ. Twente, The Netherlands)Thomas PERTSCH (Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, Germany)Jonghwa SHIN (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea)Kaoru TAMADA (Kyushu University, Japan)Nelson TANSU (Univ. Adelaide, Australia)Thomas WHITE (Australian National University, Australia)Yuanlin ZHENG (Shanghai Jiao Tong University, P. R. China)out of which, 5 are Fellows of Optica.

Approaching 100 years of sensory and consumer science: Developments and ongoing issues

With input from oral keynote and plenary presentations at the 14th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium in 2021, a historical timeline and selective summary of sensory and consumer science is presented. The development of the field is traced to the present time across three time periods: Period 1) an early period spanning from the 1940s to the 1970s focused on sensory evaluation; Period 2) the 1980s and 1990s, which saw the further development of sensory science, the growth of a connection with consumer research, and a rapid expansion of the topics that interested the field; and Period 3) from the 2000s onwards, with the emergence of new technologies and the movement beyond a dependence on liking in the study of products. Across periods, 18 topic areas were selected: 1) hedonics and food acceptance, 2) discrimination testing, 3) chemical senses, psychophysics and scaling, 4) descriptive profiling by trained assessors, 5) temporal methods, 6) sensory drivers of liking, 7) rapid methods, 8) contextual factors, 9) health, 10) the young and the elderly, 11) cross-cultural research, 12) psychographics, 13) expectations, 14) extrinsic product factors, 15) emotions, 16) “beyond liking” and sub-conscious measures, 17) wellbeing, and 18) social media and big data. Loosely, the topic areas are presented in “period chronological order” with topics starting earlier in the timeline of Sensory-Consumer Science being presented first. Throughout its existence, the field of Sensory-Consumer Science has been characterized by a combination of more basic academic research and more applied commercial research, with much of the method development pushed by the need to describe, differentiate and develop products, and then to research the effects of those products on consumers. The field has also been characterized by an emphasis on quantitative approaches. The paper concludes with a presentation of several continuing and emerging issues within Sensory-Consumer Science.

6th Symposium on Sustainable Systems

6th Symposium on Sustainable Systems

A study of correlation between prevalence of pulmonary artery hypertension with severity of bronchiectasis

Background: Pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH) dreadful complication in bronchiectasis. The 6th world symposium on pulmonary hypertension have taken mPAP of 20 mmHg as normal. Not much studies have been done based on the current cut off values, so we have incorporated values based on the new guidelines and made following observations.Methods: This study was designed as an observational cross-sectional study consisting of 27 patients, who were admitted in Pulmonary medicine department.Results: Out of 27 study subjects 15 were female’s and 12 were males. It was found that 70.3% had less than 5 segments involved and 29.6% had more than 5 segments involved. Mean value of PAH was 34.48±18.06 mmHg. Analysis showed a significant correlation (r=0.67) between number of segments involved and incidence of pulmonary hypertension.Conclusions: It is essential to evaluate the cardiac status of bronchiectasis patients at the time of diagnosis as cardiac manifestations are one of the dreadful complications.

6th Symposium on Primary Breast Cancer in Older Women.

6th Symposium on Primary Breast Cancer in Older Women.

Abstracts Presented at the 14th Annual Multidisciplinary Neuroendocrine Tumor Medical Virtual Symposium of the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society, November 4-6, 2021.

Abstracts Presented at the 14th Annual Multidisciplinary Neuroendocrine Tumor Medical Virtual Symposium of the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society, November 4-6, 2021.

Workshop summary: Consumer sensory research in Africa – The African countries profiles project

A workshop, organized by the Africa Network for Sensory Evaluation Research (ANSWER), was presented during the virtual 14th Pangborn Symposium in August 2021. The purpose of the 60 min workshop was to introduce ANSWER’s African Countries Profiles (ACP) project to the global sensory community. The long-term ACP project aims to leverage research about the sensory properties of products on the continent by highlighting opportunities and challenges when planning and conducting consumer research in African countries. A link to the open-access online “Guidelines for planning consumer testing in African countries” publication was made available to participants prior to the meeting. During the workshop a brief introduction of the ACP project and a case study featuring consumer testing in Ethiopia was presented. Workshop participants joined one of four online meeting rooms where different topics were discussed. The workshop concluded with a short feedback session in the main room and closing. The workshop provided an opportunity to identify the value and limitations/gaps of the information in the guideline document in order to optimise the ACP information and develop the discipline of Sensory and Consumer Science on the African continent.

Meeting report on 14th Jenner Glycobiology and Medicine Symposium: glycobiology in immunology, medicine, and clinical practice.

Meeting report on 14th Jenner Glycobiology and Medicine Symposium: glycobiology in immunology, medicine, and clinical practice.

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Patients Infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

It is important to recognize and treat human immunodeficiency virus-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (HIV-PAH) because of the associated morbidity and mortality. With the introduction of antiretroviral therapies (ART), improved survival has changed the focus of treatment management from immunodeficiency-related opportunistic infections to chronic cardiovascular complications, including HIV-PAH. The 2018 6th World Symposium of Pulmonary Hypertension recommended a revised definition of PAH that might result in a greater number of patients with HIV-PAH; however, the implication of this change is not yet clear. Here, we review the current literature on the diagnosis, management, and outcomes of patients with HIV-PAH.

Different Cytokine Patterns in BMPR2-Mutation-Positive Patients and Patients With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Without Mutations and Their Influence on Survival

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) covers a range of life-limiting illnesses that are characterized by increased mean pulmonary artery pressures that, if untreated, lead to right heart failure and death. This is due to remodeling of the small-to-medium sized pulmonary vessels, which obstruct blood flow. PAH can be further categorized into idiopathic PAH (without any identifiable cause, 6th World Symposium class 1.11) and heritable PAH (defined by mutations in specific genes, 6th World Symposium class 1.21), the most common affecting bone morphogenetic protein receptor type II (BMPR2).

Diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension associated with congenital heart disease. Part 2. Echocardiography

The calculated systolic, diastolic and mean pulmonary artery pressure, the ratio of the sizes of the right and left ventricles of the heart, the eccentricity index of the left ventricle, systolic excursion of the fibrous ring of the tricuspid valve, systolic movement of the myocardium at the level of the fibrous ring of the tricuspid valve and the area of the right atrium are the main echocardiographic indicators for assessing idiopathic and similar forms of pulmonary hypertension according to the current Russian, Eurasian and European guidelines for pulmonary hypertension in children and adults, as well as the recommendations of the 6th World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension. The article explores the possibilities and limitations of modern echocardiography in the diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension associated with congenital heart defects.

The investigation of 10Sc1CeSZ structure transformation and ionic conductivity

The cubic 10Sc1CeSZ (10 mol% Sc2O3–1 mol%CeO2–89 mol% ZrO2) electrolytes have been manufactured from two types of powders. The variation of microstructures was provided due to the variation of sintering temperatures from 1300 to 1550 °C. Electrical properties of the grains and grain boundaries have been examined at the temperatures of 400–700 °C. It was shown that the electrical properties of 10Sc1CeSZ electrolytes reflect the evolution of microstructure and correlate with the mechanical properties and results of structural analysis reported earlier. Electrical properties of 10Sc1CeSZ electrolytes are suggested to be critically dependent on the defect clusters association (<600 °C).Selection and peer-review are under responsibility of the scientific committee of 4th ISE Satellite Student Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry in Ukraine.

Differences in health policies for drug availability in pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension across Latin America.

Treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension in Latin America differs between countries, with regard to disease etiology, health insurance coverage, and drug availability. A group of experts from Latin America, met to share regional experiences and propose possible lines of collaboration. The available evidence, regional clinical practice data, and the global context of the proceedings of the 6th World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension, held in Nice, France, in February 2018, were analyzed. Here, we discuss some priority concepts identified that could guide transnational interaction and research strategies in Latin America: (1) despite being evidence‐based, the 6th World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension proceedings may not be applicable in Latin American countries; (2) proactive identification and diagnosis of patients in Latin America is needed; (3) education of physicians and standardization of appropriate treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension is vital; (4) our clinical experience for the treatment strategy for pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension is based on drug availability in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and México; (5) there are difficulties inherent to the consultation of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, and access to treatment; (6) the importance of data generation and research of Latin American‐specific issues related to pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension is highlighted.

Study of electrocatalytic activity of the vanadium-containing materials for the hydrogen evolution reaction

The electrocatalytic activity of low-alloy chrome-molybdenum-vanadium 12Cr1MoV steel and nickel-vanadium alloy coating for the hydrogen evolution reaction has been investigated. Nickel-vanadium alloy coating is electrodeposited from a nickel-sulfate electrolyte containing 0.1–0.3 g∙dm−3 vanadium (in terms of metal). The resulting coating contains 0.25–0.45 % vanadium. It is established that the overpotential of hydrogen evolution reaction on the cathode made of 12Cr1MoV steel and Ni-V coating is 0.05–0.1 V lower, and the exchange current value is higher than the overpotential on the qualitative steel St.20 electrode. This indicates the electrocatalytic activity of the studied materials in the hydrogen evolution reaction. Electrodes made of 12Cr1MoV steel and St.20 with Ni-V coating can be recommended as cathodes for the electrochemical hydrogen production, which will reduce the energy consumption of this process by 15 %.© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of 4th ISE Satellite Student Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry in Ukraine.

Composition, topography and electrocatalytic properties of Ni-TiO2 composite coatings

Ni-TiO2 composite coatings were electrodeposited from the Watts electrolyte under different operating conditions. Chemical and phase composition, surface topography and roughness of composite coatings were investigated by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atom force microscopy (AFM). It was found that increasing current density and temperature results in more incorporation of TiO2 into nickel. The estimated percentage of a dispersed phase in coatings reaches 12–14 wt%. Ni-TiO2 composite coatings electrodeposited under lower current density and temperature differ in surface topography, in particular, they have a globular morphology. The results of cyclic voltammetric measurements indicate that Ni-TiO2 composite coatings showed higher electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of methanol compared to the pure Ni coatings.Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of 4th ISE Satellite Student Regional Symposium on Electrochemistry in Ukraine.

Meeting report of the 4th biennial Metabolism and Cancer symposium.

The 4th International meeting Metabolism and Cancer initially programed to take place in Bordeaux (France) was held virtually on May 27-29, 2021. The three-day event was followed by around 600 participants daily from 47 countries around the world. The meeting hosted 21 speakers including selected talks and a keynote lecture from the Nobel Prize winner Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe (Oxford, UK). Presentations and discussions were divided in four scientific sessions: (a) Redox and energy metabolism (b) Redox and hypoxia (c) Metabolic profiling and epigenetic control and (d) Signalling, fuelling and metabolism in cancer and a general public session on cancer and nutrition. This report summarises the presentations and outcomes of the 4th annual Metabolism and Cancer symposium. We provide here a summary of the scientific highlights of this exciting meeting.