Evaluation of The Medical Board Exam in Portugal

Introduction: There is a high heterogeneity in the structure of postgraduate medical training evaluation worldwide. However, in contrast to other countries, there have been no scientific studies of the final medical board examination, in Portugal. The present study aimed to evaluate the adequacy of the medical board examination including its validity as measured by its association with medical school grade average and national seriation examination. Material and Methods: Cross-sectional, observational study. We analyzed the final results on the medical board examination of 2439 physicians, across 47 specialties, who completed their training in 2016 and 2017, using measures of central tendency and variability. We assessed the association between these grades and the national exam to initiate residency, and the grade average in Medical School. Results: Measures of central tendency and variability, and consequent shape measures, revealed that the distribution of the scores of the final medical board exam is extremely negatively asymmetric and leptokurtic. A positive association was also found between the results in this exam and the score on national exam to initiate residency, and the grade average in Medical School. Conclusion: Although the medical board examination was, in general, positively associated with scores on the national exam to initiate residency, and the mean final Medical School grades, thus indicating its potential validity, our results demonstrate that this exam presents no satisfactory discriminative capacity. Therefore, there is room to improve the actual postgraduate medical examination model, including changes in its classification system and potentially consider other assessment models

Com o diabo no corpo: os terríveis papagaios do Brasil colônia

Desde a Antiguidade, papagaios, periquitos e afins (Psittacidae) fascinaram os europeus por seu vivo colorido e uma notável capacidade de interação com seres humanos. A descoberta do Novo Mundo nada faria além de acrescentar novos elementos ao tráfico de animais exóticos há muito estabelecido pelos europeus com a África e o Oriente. Sem possuir grandes mamíferos, a América tropical participaria desse comércio com o que tinha de mais atrativo, essencialmente felinos, primatas e aves - em particular os papagaios, os quais eram embarcados em bom número. Contudo, a julgar pelos documentos do Brasil colônia, esses voláteis podiam inspirar muito pouca simpatia, pois nenhum outro animal - exceto as formigas - foi tantas vezes mencionado como praga para a agricultura. Além disso, alguns psitácidas mostravam-se tão loquazes que inspiravam a séria desconfiança de serem animais demoníacos ou possessos, pois só três classes de entidades - anjos, homens e demônios - possuíam o dom da palavra. Nos dias de hoje, vários representantes dos Psittacidae ainda constituem uma ameaça para a agricultura, enquanto os indivíduos muito faladores continuam despertando a suspeita de estarem possuídos pelo demônio. Transcendendo a mera curiosidade, essa crença exemplifica o quão intrincadas podem ser as relações do homem com o chamado “mundo natural”, revelando um universo mais amplo e multifacetado do que se poderia supor a princípio. Nesse sentido, a existência de aves capazes de falar torna essa relação ainda mais complexa e evidencia que as dificuldades de estabelecer o limite entre o animal e o humano se estendem além dos primatas e envolvem as mais inusitadas espécies zoológicas.Since ancient times, parrots and their allies (Psittacidae) have fascinated Europeans by their striking colors and notable ability to interact with human beings. The discovery of the New World added new species to the international exotic animal trade, which for many centuries had brought beasts to Europe from Africa and the Orient. Lacking large mammals, tropical America participated in this trade with its most appealing species, essentially felines, primates and birds - especially parrots - which were shipped in large numbers. It should be noted, however, that at times these birds were not well liked. In fact, according to documents from colonial Brazil, only the ants rank higher than parrots as the animals most often mentioned as agricultural pests. On the other hand, some of these birds were so chatty that people suspected them to be demonic or possessed animals, since only three classes of beings - angels, men and demons - have the ability to speak. Nowadays, several Psittacidae still constitute a threat to agriculture, and the suspicion that extremely talkative birds were demon possessed has also survived. More than a joke or a mere curiosity, this belief exemplifies how intricate man’s relationships with the “natural world” may be. In this sense, the existence of birds that are able to speak adds a further twist to these relationships, demonstrating that the problem of establishing a boundary between the animal and the human does not only involve primates, but also includes some unusual zoological species

Produção e composição química de Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk em sistema silvipastoril sob diferentes espaçamentos com Eucalyptus urophylla s.t. Blake

A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) disponibilizada pela revista não corresponde.O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar o efeito do espaçamento de plantio do eucalipto em sistema silvipastoril sobre a produção e composição química da Brachiaria decumbens. Foram utilizados quatro tratamentos, referentes aos três espaçamentos de plantio do eucalipto (3x2, 6x4 e 10x4 m), mais o tratamento controle (ausência de árvores). O delineamento experimental utilizado foi em blocos completos casualizados, com quatro tratamentos, quatro blocos e duas repetições por bloco, e análise dos dados foi realizada como medidas repetidas no tempo. Constataram-se efeitos significativos de tratamento para a massa de forragem (MF) e taxa de acúmulo de massa seca (TAMS). Para a relação folha/colmo (F/C), porcentagem de proteína bruta (PB), porcentagem de fibra em detergente neutro (FDN) e porcentagem de matéria mineral (MM) não foram observados efeitos de espaçamento de plantio do eucalipto. Em conclusão, verificou-se que os espaçamentos de plantio afeta tanto a produção quanto a composição química da braquiária avaliadas até os 24 meses de crescimento do Eucalyptus urophylla cultivado em sistema silvipastoril.The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of spacing on eucalyptus in silvopastoral system under production and chemical composition of Brachiaria decumbens. Four treatments were used, which were related to the three spaces planting of eucalyptus (3x2, 6x4 and 10x4m) plus the control treatment (no tree). The experimental design was randomized complete block with four treatments, four blocks and two repetitions per block, and the analysis was made by repeated measurements. It was found effects of treatment on the forage mass yielding and dry matter accumulation rate (DMAR). There were no effect of planting spacing either or leaf/stem ratio or CP percentage, NDF percentage and mineral percentage. Planting spacing of Eucalyptus urophylla affects both production and chemical composition of Brachiaria evaluated up to the 24 months