Validation and reliability analysis of the Portuguese language version of Needs of Parents Questionnaire

OBJETIVO: Descrever os procedimentos para a validação e análise de precisão da versão em português do Needs of Parents Questionnaire em contexto de hospitalização pediátrica em Portugal. MÉTODOS: Estudo descritivo com base em procedimentos para adaptação cultural e linguística de instrumentos de medição em saúde. A validação foi efetuada em uma amostra de 870 acompanhantes de crianças hospitalizadas em serviços de pediatria de quatro hospitais de Portugal, com idades compreendidas entre 2 dias de vida e 18 anos. A validade de conteúdo foi garantida por dois testes de compreensão realizados separadamente com pais de crianças hospitalizadas e com profissionais de saúde. A confiabilidade da versão em português foi avaliada através do teste de reprodutibilidade e determinação da coerência interna. RESULTADOS: Os resultados dos testes de compreensão e de coerência interna, obtidos pelo coeficiente alfa de Cronbach, são idênticos aos do autor original e satisfatórios para três subescalas, o que nos permite afirmar que o questionário tem propriedades psicométricas adequadas para a medição das necessidades dos pais. O questionário foi bem recebido pelos pais das crianças, que valorizam todas as necessidades, destacando a necessidade de confiar nos cuidados de saúde que são prestados à criança quando não estão presentes, a necessidade de ser confiável e as necessidades de informação. CONCLUSÕES: O questionário mostrou ser um instrumento de medição válido e preciso na avaliação das necessidades dos pais durante a hospitalização das crianças. A versão em português do Needs of Parents Questionnaire se encontra validada.OBJECTIVE: To describe the procedures followed for the validation and reliability analysis of the Portuguese version of the Needs of Parents Questionnaire in the context of pediatric hospitalization in Portugal. METHODS: This is a descriptive study based on procedures for the cultural and linguistic adaptation of health measurement tools. The validation was performed on a sample of 870 parents of hospitalized children in pediatrics departments from four hospitals in Portugal, with ages ranging from 2 days to 18 years. Content validity was assured by two cognitive debriefing meetings, separately organized with parents and staff. The reliability of the Portuguese version was assessed through reproducibility tests and internal consistency computation. RESULTS: Using Cronbach's alpha, results from the cognitive debriefing and internal consistency scores were similar to those obtained by the authors of the original version and good for the three subscales, allowing us to state that the questionnaire has the adequate psychometric properties to measure parents' needs. It was well accepted by parents, who valued all needs, especially the need to trust the care provided to their child when they are not present, as well as the need to be trusted and the need for information. CONCLUSIONS: The questionnaire proved to be a valid and reliable measurement instrument to assess the needs of parents during their pediatric hospitalizations. The Portuguese version of the Needs of Parents Questionnaire has been validated

A Methodology for Measuring the Air Infiltration Rates into Refrigerated Compartments

This work focuses on the development of a methodology for measuring the air infiltration rates into refrigerated compartments based on the tracer gas technique. To this end an experimental apparatus was designed and constructed. The apparatus is comprised of a device to supply the tracer gas uniformly into the zone, a device to ensure a uniform concentration both in the vertical and horizontal directions, a device to collect the air samples and a gas analyzer to measure the gas concentration according to the infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy technique. Tests were carried out with three distinct refrigerators, with the compressor on and off, using both the concentration decay and constant concentration measurement techniques. A high level of repeatability in the air infiltration rate measurements has been found, with deviations always lower than 5%. It was also noted that the two measurement techniques provide practically the same results. Furthermore, it was observed that the air infiltration rate is approximately five times higher when the compressor is turned on due to the higher pressure difference created by the higher temperature difference. Adsorption tests were also carried out indicating that the adsorption of the tracer gas by the refrigerator materials and gasket is insignificant when compared to the concentration variations caused by air infiltration. Manufacturing deviations were also simulated and it was found that they greatly increase the air infiltration rate through the gasket. The developed technique is reliable and practical and can become a useful tool for the design and analysis of household refrigerators

Monozygotic twins discordant for Goldenhar syndrome

OBJECTIVE: To report on a pair of monozygotic female twins discordant for Goldenhar syndrome. DESCRIPTION: The affected twin was a girl, who was delivered by caesarean section at 35 weeks' gestation. Her birth weight was 2,170 g, length 42.5 cm, head circumference 30 cm and her Apgar scores were 3/7. After birth the child developed severe respiratory distress and had to be moved to the neonatal intensive care unit (ICU). The other twin was a girl, born weighing 3,200 g with a length of 49 cm, head circumference of 34 cm and Apgar scores of 8/10. She was transferred to the mother-baby unit soon after birth and was discharged two days later. There was no consanguinity between the twins' parents, who were young and healthy at the time of their conception. The affected child's dysmorphic features included left hemifacial microsomia, severe micrognathia, abnormal ears, bilateral preauricular tags and epibulbar dermoid in the right eye. She developed obstructive apnea due to micrognathia and required tracheostomy. Abdominal and cranial ultrasound findings were normal, as was an ophthalmological assessment. Spine x-ray showed hemivertebra at T9 and T10. An echocardiogram showed Tetralogy of Fallot. GTG-banded karyotyping was performed on peripheral blood cells and revealed 46,XX. Zygosity testing established the pair of twins to be monozygotic with a probability greater than 99:1. COMMENT: Goldenhar syndrome was diagnosed in one of the twins described here. There are several reports of twins discordant for this disorder and therefore non-genetic factors may also play an important role, for instance vascular disruption during morphogenesis.OBJETIVO: Relatar um par de gêmeas monozigóticas, no qual uma das crianças é afetada pela síndrome de Goldenhar, enquanto a outra é saudável. DESCRIÇÃO: Paciente do sexo feminino, filha de pais sadios, jovens e não consangüíneos. A propósita nasceu de parto cesáreo pré-termo com Capurro somático de 35 semanas e 2 dias, pesando 2.170 g, com 42,5 cm de comprimento, perímetro cefálico de 30 cm e Apgar 3/7. Ao nascimento, a criança evoluiu com desconforto respiratório grave, sendo transferida para unidade de tratamento intensivo neonatal. A outra gemelar nasceu com 3.200 g, 49 cm de comprimento, 34 cm de perímetro cefálico e Apgar 8/10. Foi transferida junto com a mãe para o alojamento conjunto da maternidade e recebeu alta com 2 dias de vida. A criança afetada apresentava hipoplasia facial esquerda, micrognatia importante, displasia de pavilhão auricular e apêndices pré-auriculares bilaterais e dermóide epibulbar à direita. Evoluiu com apnéia obstrutiva, em conseqüência da micrognatia, e necessitou de traqueostomia. As ultra-sonografias de crânio e abdome foram normais, a radiografia de coluna total mostrou hemivértebra em T9/T10, o ecocardiograma detectou tetralogia de Fallot, e o cariótipo realizado a partir de linfócitos de sangue periférico com bandeamento GTG foi 46,XX. A avaliação oftalmológica foi normal. O exame molecular provou tratar-se de gêmeas monozigóticas com 99,99% de probabilidade. COMENTÁRIO: A clínica e os exames complementares levaram ao diagnóstico de síndrome de Goldenhar. Existem relatos de gemelares afetados por essa condição com expressividade variável, o que corrobora a hipótese de que a etiologia não é puramente genética, mas resultado de um processo de disrupção vascular no período de morfogênese.Centro Universitário Barão de Mauá Faculdade de MedicinaHospital Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Ribeirão PretoUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP)UNIFESPSciEL

Aptasensor for the detection of Moraxella catarrhalis adhesin UspA2

Innovative point-of-care (PoC) diagnostic platforms are desirable to surpass the deficiencies of conventional laboratory diagnostic methods for bacterial infections and to tackle the growing antimicrobial resistance crisis. In this study, a workflow was implemented, comprising the identification of new aptamers with high affinity for the ubiquitous surface protein A2 (UspA2) of the bacterial pathogen Moraxella catarrhalis and the development of an electrochemical biosensor functionalized with the best-performing aptamer as a bioreceptor to detect UspA2. After cell-systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (cell-SELEX) was performed, next-generation sequencing was used to sequence the final aptamer pool. The most frequent aptamer sequences were further evaluated using bioinformatic tools. The two most promising aptamer candidates, Apt1 and Apt1_RC (Apt1 reverse complement), had Kd values of 214.4 and 3.4 nM, respectively. Finally, a simple and label-free electrochemical biosensor was functionalized with Apt1_RC. The aptasensor surface modifications were confirmed by impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The ability to detect UspA2 was evaluated by square wave voltammetry, exhibiting a linear detection range of 4.0 × 104–7.0 × 107 CFU mL−1, a square correlation coefficient superior to 0.99 and a limit of detection of 4.0 × 104 CFU mL−1 at pH 5.0. The workflow described has the potential to be part of a sensitive PoC diagnostic platform to detect and quantify M. catarrhalis from biological samples.The study received financial support from the ViBrANT project, which received funding from the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Sklowdowska Curie, grant agreement no. 765042. In addition, the authors acknowledge the financial support from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2020 unit and of LABBELS—Associate Laboratory in Biotechnology, Bioengineering and Microelectromechanical Systems, LA/P/0029/2020. D.L. and A.S. received additional funding from the Research Council of Norway (grant 294605, Center for Digital Life). L.D.R.M. acknowledges funding from the FCT through the Scientific Employment Stimulus Program (2021.00221.CEECIND).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Electrochemical aptasensor for the detection of the key virulence factor YadA of Yersinia enterocolitica

New point-of-care (POC) diagnosis of bacterial infections are imperative to overcome the deficiencies of conventional methods, such as culture and molecular methods. In this study, we identified new aptamers that bind to the virulence factor Yersinia adhesin A (YadA) of Yersinia enterocolitica using cell-systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (cell-SELEX). Escherichia coli expressing YadA on the cell surface was used as a target cell. After eight cycles of selection, the final aptamer pool was sequenced by high throughput sequencing using the Illumina Novaseq platform. The sequencing data, analyzed using the Geneious software, was aligned, filtered and demultiplexed to obtain the key nucleotides possibly involved in the target binding. The most promising aptamer candidate, Apt1, bound specifically to YadA with a dissociation constant (Kd) of 11 nM. Apt1 was used to develop a simple electrochemical biosensor with a two-step, label-free design towards the detection of YadA. The sensor surface modifications and its ability to bind successfully and stably to YadA were confirmed by cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy and square wave voltammetry. The biosensor enabled the detection of YadA in a linear range between 7.0 × 104 and 7.0 × 107 CFU mL−1 and showed a square correlation coefficient >0.99. The standard deviation and the limit of detection was ~2.5% and 7.0 × 104 CFU mL−1, respectively. Overall, the results suggest that this novel biosensor incorporating Apt1 can potentially be used as a sensitive POC detection system to aid the diagnosis of Y. enterocolitica infections. Furthermore, this simple yet innovative approach could be replicated to select aptamers for other (bacterial) targets and to develop the corresponding biosensors for their detection.This research is affiliated with the VibrANT project that received funding from the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Sklowdowska-Curie Grant, agreement no 765042. In addition, the authors acknowledge the financial support from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2020 unit and of LABBELS—Associate Laboratory in Biotechnology, Bioengineering and Microelectromechnaical Systems, LA/P/0029/2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impactos ambientais do manejo agroecológico da caatinga no Rio Grande do Norte.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os impactos ambientais do manejo agroecológico da caatinga, em unidades de produção familiar no Rio Grande do Norte, pelo método Ambitec de produção animal - dimensão ambiental, desenvolvido pela Embrapa Meio Ambiente. Foram avaliadas sete unidades de produção familiar, em quatro projetos de assentamentos de reforma agrária do Município de Apodi, RN. Os dados para o levantamento foram obtidos por meio de questionários aplicados aos representantes das unidades produtivas familiares, que atribuíram, a cada variável estudada, um valor que representou a alteração proporcionada pela implementação da tecnologia. Após a inserção dos coeficientes de alteração de cada variável dos indicadores por unidade de produção, o coeficiente de impacto foi automaticamente calculado por meio da planilha Ambitec. O manejo agroecológico da caatinga resultou num impacto ambiental positivo, e suas maiores contribuições foram relacionadas aos efeitos positivos dos seguintes indicadores: capacidade produtiva do solo, uso de insumos materiais, qualidade do produto e diminuição da emissão de poluentes à atmosfera. Dois indicadores geraram efeitos negativos: o uso de energia e o uso de recursos naturais. Pela superioridade dos benefícios gerados, o manejo agroecológico da caatinga é uma inovação tecnológica geradora de impactos ambientais positivos