55 Biomedical and Biopharmaceutical Research J o r n a l d e I n v e s t i g a ç ã o B i o m é d i c a e B i o f a r m a c ê u t i c aComputer Tomography Scanners in Portugal (1990-2011) Equipamentos de Tomografia Computorizada em Portugal (1990-2011 ResumoO recurso à Tomografia Computorizada (TC) tem aumentado anualmente desde a sua introdução na medicina em 1972. A evolução tecnológica permitiu que se assumisse atualmente como uma das modalidades de imagem mais importantes na medicina atual. Tal evidência está manifesta na crescente procura e no aumento do número de equipamentos instalados em Portugal e no mundo. Esta revisão compila os dados nacionais mais recentes, de publicações estatísticas oficiais, sobre o número de equipamentos de TC instalados em Portugal, e compara-os com os dados disponíveis em publicações internacionais. Concluiu-se que o número de equipamentos de TC instalados em Portugal superou a média da EU 27 em 61,5 % e a média da OCDE em 78,2 % e, que em 2011 existiam 203 equipamentos de TC instalados em meio hospitalar em Portugal, aos quais correspondia 19,23 equipamentos por milhão de habitante.

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<p>New urban developments are changing the traditional footbridges by contemplating (i) the new cyclic functionality of these structures, (ii) the wood and other light structural materials and, in many cases, (iii) the introduction of aesthetics. Previous studies were made on pedestrian footbridges composed by a simple supported beam with uniform distributed characteristics. The main objective of these past projects was to pass pedestrians across, safe and comfortably, with minimal cost of construction, without much aesthetics.</p><p>Nowadays, footbridges appeal to the best architects and engineering consortiums and each new one is viewed as entering in an aesthetic contest. The objective now is similar as referred before but, besides adding the cycling vehicles, they should look into aesthetics and to the environmental context. They span larger distances making use of more adequate materials. However, the dynamic characteristics might be a problem due to proximity of frequencies of the structure with the rhythm of the stepping of crossing. This is the objective of this paper to understand if more complex geometries and different materials pose problems. After looking into several cases in Portugal and Spain and, describing their main geometric and mechanical characteristics, the most important frequencies of vibration and amplitude of oscillation for various loadings were analyzed. Caution should be exercised to not excite resonance conditions. A case study of one of these structures is analysed in detail for deterministic conditions. Cycling is not a problem.</p>

Background Informed consent is essential in current medical practice and should be a global standard to be sought at all instances when doctors interact with patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate compliance to the guidelines of the Portuguese health entity regarding the correct filling process of informed consent. Methods A prospective observational survey was conducted upon arrival of the patient at the operating room of a tertiary teaching hospital center in Portugal, in march 2021, to verify the presence of informed consent in the clinical process. A sample of 202 clinical files was randomly collected. Results Only 47% of the patients had the informed consent document in the clinic process and only 45% of the total clinical files had the informed consent signed by the patient. Merely 21.8% of the informed consents respected all the items recommended by the guidelines of the Portugal health entity. Most of the surgical informed consent (SIC) had only basic information and only a lower percentage had reports about the surgical procedure, information regarding the treatment, possible consequences of a missed treatment or complications and possible treatment alternatives. Those results didn’t conform to the standard regulations of the Portuguese health guidelines regarding SIC. Conclusion Even though improvements in SIC were attained in recent years, our study suggests that the implementation of SIC is still suboptimal in surgical practice. It is important to raise awareness for the obtention of SIC by the healthcare team, because complete information before an invasive procedure is an ethical requirement.