Optical methods provide a means of monitoring cerebral oxygenation in newborn infants at risk of brain injury. A 32-channel optical imaging system has been developed with the aim of reconstructing three-dimensional images of regional blood volume and oxygenation. Full image data sets were acquired from 14 out of 24 infants studied; successful images have been reconstructed in 8 of these infants. Regional variations in cerebral blood volume and tissue oxygen saturation are present in healthy preterm infants. In an infant with a large unilateral intraventricular haemorrhage, a corresponding region of low oxygen saturation was detected. These results suggest that optical tomography may provide an appropriate technique for investigating regional cerebral haemodynamics and oxygenation at the cotside.

This work presents a new perspective for fluorescence signal detection using specific optics on Lab-on-Chip devices. An apparatus was designed and implemented in order to assess the performance of a fluorescence technique using different detection spot configurations, using the chip itself as a waveguide for illumination. The experiments conducted investigate the influence of the dimensions - diameter and height - of the spot on the amplitude of the detection output signal. Results show that the configuration of optical interfaces must be considered in order to improve detection output, or to be able to detect less fluorophore molecules in the spot.

No abstract

Procuramos apresentar, neste trabalho, diversas aplicações dadas ao conceito de capital social abordadas na literatura cientíica. De maneira mais especíica, articulamos essa forma de capital à abordagem territorial que vem sendo desenvolvida no Brasil, a partir do Programa Territórios da Cidadania, capitaneado pelo Ministério do Desenvolvimento Agrário. O objetivo é pensar como este tipo de capital tem sido considerado dentro da perspectiva territorial de execução de políticas públicas, sobretudo para o meio rural brasileiro.