INTERNAL FACTORS THAT FAVOR THE ADOPTION OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION DEFINED BY INFORMATION SYSTEMS: A STUDY OF THE ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD

Research into the adoption of technological innovations often evaluates the features that users engage with when using these innovations (Leal & Albertin, 2015; Perez, 2006; Perez & Zwicker, 2010). In this research, we identified the internal factors affecting the adoption of a technological innovation, as defined by information systems (IS) in healthcare, the electronic health record, and evaluated the results of adoption for individuals and groups using this system.We opted for a study in a hospital in Porto Alegre-Rio Grande do Sul, with mother and child specialties. Quantitative techniques were selected, questionnaires with users of the electronic health record, physicians, administrators, nurses, and technicians. We used a multivariate statistical technique of structural equation modeling, using the statistical software SmartPLS® . The survey results indicated that some internal variables to the health sector, such as communication, the participatory process and the form of decision for innovation can contribute effectively to the adoption of technological innovations. The proposed model also served to evaluate the results achieved with the adoption of this IS, which is realized through the following: the introduction of new processes; improvement of the existing ones; easier access to patient information, and creating new solutions for customers. Before the system, these were not possible to implement

O livro didático na educação infantil: reflexão versus repetição na resolução de problemas matemáticos

O artigo analisa livros didáticos de matemática utilizados em salas de educação infantil, especificamente o tópico de resolução de problemas de estrutura aditiva. Foram examinadas doze coleções de livros, a partir de quatro eixos: a forma de introdução aos conceitos de adição e subtração; os tipos de problemas propostos; a utilização das ilustrações nos enunciados dos problemas; e o tipo de registro solicitado às crianças. Constatou-se que os livros didáticos analisados apresentam uma pequena variedade em relação à estrutura dos problemas. Assim, problemas envolvendo adição se limitam às estruturas de combinação e transformação e a maioria dos problemas de subtração restringe-se à estrutura de transformação. Em relação às ilustrações, observou-se que este recurso é bastante utilizado para fornecer os dados no enunciado do problema. Notaram-se, ainda, vários casos em que a própria ilustração fornece a resposta. Quanto ao tipo de registro, evidenciou-se que este se limita, geralmente, à solicitação da escrita dos dados e da resposta do problema em espaços previamente determinados. Freqüentemente é indicado o sinal da operação esperada para a solução do problema. Conclui-se que os livros didáticos de pré-escola analisados pretendem trabalhar com resolução de problemas, no entanto, as situações propostas são repetitivas e não estimulam o desenvolvimento e o confronto de estratégias diversas por parte das crianças.The article discusses the issue of mathematics textbooks used in child education analyzing specifically textbooks that deal with problem solving. Twelve series of textbooks were examined, and the analysis was developed around four pivotal aspects: the form of introduction to the concepts of addition and subtraction, the types of problems proposed, the use of illustrations in the description of the problem, and the type of record asked from children. It has been found that the textbooks examined display little variety with respect to the structure of problems. Thus, problems involving addition are limited to structures of combination and transformation, and the majority of subtraction problems are restricted to the structure of transformation. It has been observed that illustrations are often employed to supply the data related to the problem. In many cases, it has been noted that the illustration itself furnishes the answer to the problem. As to the types of record requested from children, it was clear that they are usually limited to writing the data supplied and the answer in predetermined spaces. Frequently the sign of the operation "expected" to solve the problem is indicated. The study concludes that the pre-school textbooks analyzed intend to work with the issue of problem solving but the situations proposed are repetitive and do not stimulate children to develop and contrast different strategies of solution

Insulin glycation by methylglyoxal results in native-like aggregation and inhibition of fibril formation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood glucose homeostasis and is a central protein in a medical condition termed insulin injection amyloidosis. It is intimately associated with glycaemia and is vulnerable to glycation by glucose and other highly reactive carbonyls like methylglyoxal, especially in diabetic conditions. Protein glycation is involved in structure and stability changes that impair protein functionality, and is associated with several human diseases, such as diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Familiar Amyloidotic Polyneuropathy. In the present work, methylglyoxal was investigated for their effects on the structure, stability and fibril formation of insulin.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Methylglyoxal was found to induce the formation of insulin native-like aggregates and reduce protein fibrillation by blocking the formation of the seeding <it>nuclei</it>. Equilibrium-unfolding experiments using chaotropic agents showed that glycated insulin has a small conformational stability and a weaker dependence on denaturant concentration (smaller m-value). Our observations suggest that methylglyoxal modification of insulin leads to a less compact and less stable structure that may be associated to an increased protein dynamics.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We propose that higher dynamics in glycated insulin could prevent the formation of the rigid cross-β core structure found in amyloid fibrils, thereby contributing to the reduction in the ability to form fibrils and to the population of different aggregation pathways like the formation of native-like aggregates.</p

Dopamine- and tyramine-based derivatives of triazenes. Activation by tyrosinase and implications for prodrug design

We report the synthesis of triazene derivatives, and their evaluation as substrates for tyrosinase. The conversion of prodrugs to the ortho-quinone was confirmed by LC-MS

Comparison of inverse planning systems based on biological or physical factors: Pinnacle®, Corvus® and Monaco®

Radiotherapy (RT) is one of the most important approaches in the treatment of cancer and its performance can be improved in three different ways: through the optimization of the dose distribution, by the use of different irradiation techniques or through the study of radiobiological initiatives. The first is purely physical because is related to the physical dose distributiuon. The others are purely radiobiological because they increase the differential effect between the tumour and the health tissues. The Treatment Planning Systems (TPS) are used in RT to create dose distributions with the purpose to maximize the tumoral control and minimize the complications in the healthy tissues. The inverse planning uses dose optimization techniques that satisfy the criteria specified by the user, regarding the target and the organs at risk (OAR’s). The dose optimization is possible through the analysis of dose-volume histograms (DVH) and with the use of computed tomography, magnetic resonance and other digital image techniques

The impact of sugar-related claims on perceived healthfulness, caloric value and expected taste of food products

Food packaging usually includes multiple cues, including claims about nutrients that may modulate how the consumer perceives (and behaves towards) the product. In the current work, we systematically examined how different types of claims about sugar influenced the perception of food product categories (i.e., yogurts, ice creams, cookies, and breakfast cereals). In two experiments (combined n = 406), participants were asked to evaluate the perceived healthfulness, caloric value, and expected taste of products with (vs. without) sugar-related claims. Specifically, the claims were on the sugar content (“0% sugar”, “sugar-free”, “no added sugars”, “low sugar” - Experiment 1) or on the type of sugars or sweeteners of natural origin (“sucrose”, “cane sugar”, “honey” and “stevia” - Experiment 2). Experiment 1 revealed that all products with sugar-related claims were rated as healthier, less caloric, and less tasty than the regular alternatives. Still, products with the “low sugar” claim were perceived as the least healthy, most caloric, and tastiest. In Experiment 2, we observed that products with “stevia” claim were rated as healthier, less caloric, and less tasty than regular products. In both experiments, the frequency of consumption of products with sugar-related claims was positively associated with the general perception of these products, the influence of nutritional information on consumption decisions, attention to sugar intake, and interest in nutrition. Overall, our results show that sugar-related claims may influence consumer's perceptions about food products, but the direction of that influence depends on the type of claim and evaluative dimension.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Tratamento radiocirúrgico de metástases cerebrais: a relação da histologia, localização cerebral e sintomas

Objetivo – Caracterizar clínica e estatisticamente os doentes com metástases cerebrais submetidos a radiocirurgia. Metodologia – Análise retrospetiva dos doentes com metástases cerebrais submetidos a radiocirurgia com Linac no Hospital do Meixoeiro, sendo a informação analisada no SPSS, versão 18. Resultados – Avaliaram‑se 116 doentes com metástases cerebrais. As localizações primárias de pulmão (54,30%) e mama (21,60%) predominaram. Destacaram‑se como sintomas mais frequentes: cefaleias, fraqueza motora, hemiparesia, paresia e tonturas. Confirma‑se a existência de correlação entre os sintomas decorrentes da presença de metástase e a sua localização cerebral, evidenciando a sua importância no diagnóstico precoce das metástases. O lobo frontal foi a localização cerebral predominante. Discussão e Considerações Finais – Verifica‑se que tendencialmente não existe correlação entre a localização primária e a localização cerebral da metástase. O número de metástases tratadas não sugere ter influência no tempo de sobrevida após o seu diagnóstico. A realização de cirurgia e/ou administração de radioterapia holocraniana previamente à radiocirurgia não apresentou prolongamento de sobrevida em comparação com os doentes não submetidos a tratamento prévio. ABSTRACT: Objective – To characterize clinically and statistically patients with brain metastases who underwent radiosurgery. Methodology – Retrospective analysis of patients with brain metastases that underwent linear accelerator‑based radiosurgery in Hospital do Meixoeiro, and the information analyzed in SPSS version 18. Results – Were evaluated 116 patients with brain metastases. Primary tumors of lung (54.30%) and breast (21.60%) were predominant. Symptoms that stood out as common: headache, motor deficit, hemiparesis, paresis and dizziness. It was confirmed the existence of a correlation between the symptoms arising from the presence of metastasis and its brain location, showing its importance in early diagnosis of metastases. The frontal lobe and the parietal lobe represented the most affected locations by brain metastases. Discussion of results and Concluding Remarks – It verified that tends to be no correlation between the primary location of the tumor and the location of brain metastasis. The number of treated metastases didn’t suggest influence on survival after their diagnosis. The realization of surgery and/or administration of whole‑brain irradiation therapy prior to radiosurgery, showed no prolongation of survival compared with patients that were not submitted to previous treatment

Parylene C as a Multipurpose Material for Electronics and Microfluidics

Funding Information: This work was financed by national funds from FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., in the scope of the projects LA/P/0037/2020, UIDP/50025/2020 and UIDB/50025/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute of Nanostructures, Nanomodelling and Nanofabrication—i3N. Furthermore, the work received funding from FCT in the scope of projects UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences—UCIBIO and the project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy—i4HB. This work also received funding from the European Community’s H2020 program under grant agreements 716510 (ERC-2016-StG TREND), 787410 (ERC-2019-AdG DIGISMART) and 952169 (SYNERGY, H2020-WIDESPREAD-2020-5, CSA), 101008701 (EMERGE, H2020-INFRAIA-2018-2020). B. J. Coelho acknowledges FCT for the attribution of grant SFRH/BD/132904/2017 and grant COVID/BD/152453/2022. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.Poly(p-xylylene) derivatives, widely known as Parylenes, have been considerably adopted by the scientific community for several applications, ranging from simple passive coatings to active device components. Here, we explore the thermal, structural, and electrical properties of Parylene C, and further present a variety of electronic devices featuring this polymer: transistors, capacitors, and digital microfluidic (DMF) devices. We evaluate transistors produced with Parylene C as a dielectric, substrate, and encapsulation layer, either semitransparent or fully transparent. Such transistors exhibit steep transfer curves and subthreshold slopes of 0.26 V/dec, negligible gate leak currents, and fair mobilities. Furthermore, we characterize MIM (metal–insulator–metal) structures with Parylene C as a dielectric and demonstrate the functionality of the polymer deposited in single and double layers under temperature and AC signal stimuli, mimicking the DMF stimuli. Applying temperature generally leads to a decrease in the capacitance of the dielectric layer, whereas applying an AC signal leads to an increase in said capacitance for double-layered Parylene C only. By applying the two stimuli, the capacitance seems to suffer from a balanced influence of both the separated stimuli. Lastly, we demonstrate that DMF devices with double-layered Parylene C allow for faster droplet motion and enable long nucleic acid amplification reactions.publishersversionpublishe

A Metabolic Signature to Monitor Endothelial Cell Differentiation, Activation, and Vascular Organization

Funding: The institutions are funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (FCT/MCTES, Portugal) through national funds to iNOVA4Health (UIDB/04462/2020 and UIDP/04462/2020), MOSTMICRO-ITQB (UIDB/04612/2020 and UIDP/04612/2020), and the Associated Laboratory LS4FUTURE (LA/P/0087/2020). Filipa Lopes-Coelho’s fellowship was funded by FCT (PD/BD/128337/2017). Luis G. Gonçalves was financed by an FCT contract according to DL57/2016 (SFRH/BPD/111100/2015). This work benefited from access to CERMAX, ITQB NOVA, Oeiras, Portugal, with equipment funded by FCT, project AAC 01/SAICT/2016.The formation of new blood vessels is an important step in the morphogenesis and organization of tissues and organs; hence, the success of regenerative medicine procedures is highly dependent on angiogenesis control. Despite the biotechnological advances, tissue engineering is still a challenge. Regarding vascular network formation, the regulators are well known, yet the identification of markers is pivotal in order to improve the monitoring of the differentiation and proliferation of endothelial cells, as well as the establishment of a vascular network supporting tissue viability for an efficacious implantation. The metabolic profile accompanies the physiological stages of cells involved in angiogenesis, being a fruitful hub of biomarkers, whose levels can be easily retrieved. Through NMR spectroscopy, we identified branched amino acids, acetate, and formate as central biomarkers of monocyte-to-endothelial-cell differentiation and endothelial cell proliferation. This study reinforces the successful differentiation process of monocytes into endothelial cells, allowing self-to-self transplantation of patient-derived vascular networks, which is an important step in tissue engineering, since monocytes are easily isolated and autologous transplantation reduces the immune rejection events.publishersversionpublishe