Accommodating Maternal Age in CRIB Scale: Quantifying the Effect on the Classification

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves are a well-accepted measure of accuracy of diagnostic tests using in continuous or ordinal markers. Based on the notion of using a threshold to classify subjects as positive (diseased) or negative (no diseased), a ROC curve is a plot of the true positive fraction (TPF) versus the false positive fraction (FPF) for all possible cut points. Thus, it describes the whole range of possible operating characteristic for the test and hence its inherent capacity for distinguish between two status. The clinical severity scale CRIB - Clinical Risk Index for Babies, emerged in 1993 to predict the mortality of newborn at less than 32 weeks of gestation and very low birth weight (< 1500gr) [4]. In previous work of Braga [3] this index was reported as showing a good performance in assessing risk of death for babies with very low birth weight (less than 1500 g weight). However, in some situations, the performance of the diagnostic test, the ROC curve itself and the Area Under the Curve(AUC) can be strongly influenced by the presence of covariates, whether continuous or categorical [5], [32], [33]. The World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health, defined as "late pregnancy" that thus occurs in women over 35 years. In this work, using the conditional ROC curve, we analyze the effect of one covariate, maternal age, on the ROC curve that representing the diagnostic test performance. We chose two age status, less than 35 years old and equal or greater than 35 years old, to verify the effects on the discriminating power of CRIB scale, in the process classification using R and STATA software.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Representaciones sobre clima creativo: una perspectiva de alumnos y profesores de educación primaria en escuelas públicas y privadas de Portugal

A criatividade é assumida como conceito relevante no contexto educativo. Este estudo analisou diferenças nas representações em professores de escolas públicas e privadas sobre condições favoráveis e desfavoráveis à criatividade no seu ambiente de trabalho, assim como nas representações de clima criativo em sala de aula pelos alunos desses tipos de escola. Participaram 202 alunos portugueses dos 3º e 4º anos do ensino básico e 72 professores. Os dados dos alunos foram recolhidos por meio da Escala sobre o Clima para a Criatividade em Sala de Aula e usou-se, para os professores, o Questionário Indicadores de Clima para a Criatividade no Ambiente de Trabalho. Os resultados revelam, para os alunos, diferenças significativas em alguns fatores, apresentando o ensino público valores superiores. Em relação aos professores, emergiram diferenças significativas em dois fatores, havendo superioridade do ensino privado nas condições favoráveis à criatividade e do ensino público nos bloqueios a esta.Creativity is assumed as a relevant concept in education. This study analyses differences in the representations of favorable and unfavorable conditions for creativity in the workplace by teachers from Portuguese public and private schools, and differences in representations of creative climate in the classroom of the 3rd and 4th grades of basic school, as well as 72 teachers. Data was collected through Scale Environment for Creativity in the Classroom in the case of students; in the case of teachers, we utilized the Questionnaire Indicators of Climate for Creativity in the Workplace. For the students, results show significant differences in several dimensions, presenting public schools higher values. In the case of teachers, emerged significant differences considering favorable conditions for creativity (higher values from private schools) and obstructions to creativity (higher values from public schools).La creatividad es asumida como un concepto relevante en el contexto educativo. Este estudio examinó diferencias en las representaciones en profesores de escuelas públicas y privadas sobre condiciones favorables y desfavorables a la creatividad en su ambiente de trabajo, así como en las representaciones de clima creativo en el aula por los alumnos de esos tipos de escuela. Participaron 202 alumnos portugueses del 3 º y 4 º año de enseñanza primaria y 72 profesores. Los datos de los estudiantes fueron recogidos a través de la Escala sobre el Clima de Creatividad en el Aula y se utilizó para los profesores el Cuestionario de Indicadores del Clima para la Creatividad en el Ambiente de Trabajo. Los resultados muestran, para los alumnos, diferencias significativas en algunos factores, presentando la enseñanza pública valores más altos. En los profesores, surgieron diferencias significativas en los dos factores, habiendo superioridad de la enseñanza privada en las condiciones favorables a la creatividad y de la enseñanza pública en los bloqueos a ésta.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Feature selection optimization of risk factors for coronary heart disease

Cardiovascular disease is a worldwide problem and is the main cause of mortality when coronary heart disease leads to a heart attack. Hence, it is important to evaluate how to prevent this disease considering the symptoms description and physical examinations.This study points out the application and comparison of different performance measures for the classification of heart disease. Firstly, a feedforward neural network was applied to classify heart disease risk, using the well-known Framingham database. Feature selection optimization was performed to identify the most important variables to take into consideration, minimizing the Type II error and maximizing the accuracy. In addition, a multi-objective optimization algorithm was carried out to simultaneously optimize both performance measures. A set of non-dominated solutions representing the trade-offs between objectives were obtained, and gender, age, systolic blood pressure, and glucose level emerged as the principal factors to take into consideration to predict heart disease. The results obtained are promising and show the importance of considering more than one criterion to identify the most important variables.This work has been supported by FCT -Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020

Retrospective evaluation of implant-supported overdenture treatments: prosthetic complications

Objectives: The objectives of this work are to determine the prevalence of prosthetic complications in implant-supported overdentures, and to compare the maintenance needs of retentive bar-clip and independent abutment systems.Methods: Thirty-seven patients, with 43 implant-supported overdentures (23 maxillary and 20 mandibular) with different retention systems (bar-clip and independent abutments), were clinically evaluated. The total number of maintenance visits and their causes were taken from the clinical file of patients and were evaluated retrospectively. Statistical analysis was done with IBM (R) SPSS (R) vs.22.0 software, considering alpha = 0.05 and using Fisher exact test, Mann-Whitney test and Spearman correlation.Results: Treatments with implant-supported overdentures present a high frequency of prosthetic complications: substitution of retainers (79.1%), overdenture repair or rebasing (53.5%), gingival hyperplasia (34.9%), tightening or fractured screws (20.9%), replacement of the prosthesis (16.3%), changing of retentive system (9.3%) and infrastructure fracture (4.7%). There are significant associations with bar system for gingival hyperplasia and for replacing clips, and with location in the maxilla for replacement of prosthesis and retainers. There are no differences between retentive systems for the number of annual visits.Conclusions: Prosthetic long-term evaluation of treatment with implant overdentures can provide useful guidance to the dentist in the selection of the number of supporting implants, the retentive system and the design of the removable prosthesis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Basolateral Amygdala γ-Aminobutyric Acidergic System in Health and Disease

The brain comprises an excitatory/inhibitory neuronal network that maintains a finely tuned balance of activity critical for normal functioning. Excitatory activity in the basolateral amygdala (BLA), a brain region that plays a central role in emotion and motivational processing, is tightly regulated by a relatively small population of g-aminobutyric acid (GABA) inhibitory neurons. Disruption in GABAergic inhibition in the BLA can occur when there is a loss of local GABAergic interneurons, an alteration in GABAA receptor activation, or a dysregulation of mechanisms that modulate BLA GABAergic inhibition. Disruptions in GABAergic control of the BLA emerge during development, in aging populations, or after trauma, ultimately resulting in hyperexcitability. BLA hyperexcitability manifests behaviorally as an increase in anxiety, emotional dysregulation, or development of seizure activity. This Review discusses the anatomy, development, and physiology of the GABAergic system in the BLA and circuits that modulate GABAergic inhibition, including the dopaminergic, serotonergic, noradrenergic, and cholinergic systems. We highlight how alterations in various neurotransmitter receptors, including the acid-sensing ion channel 1a, cannabinoid receptor 1, and glutamate receptor subtypes, expressed on BLA interneurons, modulate GABAergic transmission and how defects of these systems affect inhibitory tonus within the BLA. Finally, we discuss alterations in the BLA GABAergic system in neurodevelopmental (autism/fragile X syndrome) and neurodegenerative (Alzheimer’s disease) diseases and after the development of epilepsy, anxiety, and traumatic brain injury. A more complete understanding of the intrinsic excitatory/inhibitory circuit balance of the amygdala and how imbalances in inhibitory control contribute to excessive BLA excitability will guide the development of novel therapeutic approaches in neuropsychiatric diseases

Public opinion on renewable energy technologies : the Portuguese case

Renewable energy technologies are part of the solution to meet future increasing demand of electricity and decommissioning of power plants in the European Union. Public opinion surveys indicate general support of these technologies, but particular projects face local opposition, a phenomenon known in the literature as the NIMBY (Not In My BackYard) hypothesis. In this study, the public opinion on renewable energy technologies was analyzed by means of a survey implemented in Portugal. The survey addresses four technologies: hydro, wind, biomass and solar power. The study has three main purposes: firstly, to recognize if the people acknowledges the existence of these technologies, secondly, to study the validity of the NIMBY hypothesis in Portugal while realizing in which technology it is more pronounced, and thirdly to perceive the levels of acceptance of each technology, under Sustainable Development aspects (Economy, Ecology and Society). The results suggest that acknowledgement of technology decreases with age, increases with educational degree and is greater in males. There is a generally positive attitude towards new projects of all technologies, and this tendency is more pronounced for solar power. Solar power plants are regarded by the Portuguese public as the most desirable technology in terms of economic and environmental aspects, while hydro power is perceived as the RES technology that can contribute the most to local residents’ welfare.This work was financed by: the QREN – Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors, the European Union – European Regional Development Fund and National Funds- Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under Project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-011377 and Project Pest-OE/EME/UI0252/2011

Modelling perception and attitudes towards renewable energy technologies

While renewable energy technologies (RET) increase their share in power generation systems worldwide, some questions remain open, namely those concerning the opinion of the populations on new projects of these technologies. Given the long period of planning and large capital sums required by RET and, in some cases, the fact of being subsidized, it is desirable for decision-makers to acknowledge the public opinion and at least perceive if the opinions are rooted on biased perceptions. In this paper we propose a methodology for public perception and awareness assessment, involving an initial phase of data collection by means of a survey, followed by a phase of regression models construction resulting in predictive models of expected perceptions and attitudes towards RET. The models were translated in a free and easy to use computational Excel application and its usefulness was demonstrated for the case of four electricity RET in Portugal: hydro, wind, biomass and solar. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Efficacy and cytotoxicity of binary mixtures as root canal filling solvents

Objectives: This study reports the efficacy of two solvent mixtures on the dissolution of gutta-percha and AH Plus sealer, together with the cytotoxicity. Methods: Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), orange oil, tetrachloroethylene, MEK/tetrachloroethylene (1:1), MEK/orange oil (1:1), and chloroform (control) were tested. Twelve groups (n = 15) of standardized stainless-steel molds filled with softened gutta-percha cones and twelve (n = 15) filled with AH Plus were immersed in the corresponding mixture or individual solvent, in an ultrasonic bath, for either 2 or 5 min. The effect of the solvents was assessed qualitatively by a topographical analysis (scanning electron microscopy) and chemical analysis (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), and quantitatively by a weight loss and viscoelastic property (dynamic mechanical analysis) evaluation. The cytotoxicity was assessed on MG63 human osteoblastic cells. Results: The mixtures did not show the formation of new compounds. Both presented significantly higher efficacies compared to their individual solvents, suggesting a synergistic effect. Their dissolution efficacy was similar to that of chloroform, showing high cytocompatibility. Conclusions: The proposed strategy, incorporating ultrasound agitation and profiting from the synergy of adequate solvents, might enhance root canal cleanliness allowing a single-step procedure to dissolve gutta-percha and the sealer remnants, while assuring cytocompatibility with the periapical tissues.This article was supported by National Funds through FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia,I.P.-V., within CINTESIS, R & D Unit (reference UIDB/4255/2020)