A pilot randomised controlled trial investigating a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention in individuals with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH): the PATHWAYS study

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is an uncommon condition with progressive heart failure and premature death. Treatment costs up to £120,000 per patient per year, and the psychological burden of PAH is substantial. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an intervention with the potential to reduce this burden, but to date, it has not been applied to people with pulmonary hypertension. We wished to determine whether a trial of MBSR for people with PAH would be feasible. Methods: A customised gentle MBSR programme of eight sessions was developed for people with physical disability due to PAH, and they were randomised to group-based MBSR or treatment as usual. The completeness of outcome measures including Beck Anxiety Index, Beck Depression Inventory and standard physical assessment at 3 months after randomisation were recorded. Health care utilisation was measured. Attendance at the sessions and the costs involved in delivering the intervention were assessed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the acceptability of the MBSR intervention and when appropriate the reasons for trial non-participation. Results: Fifty-two patients were recruited, but only 34 were randomised due to patients finding it difficult to travel to sessions. Twenty-two completed all questionnaires and attended all clinics, both routine and additional in order to collect outcomes measures. The MSBR sessions were delivered in Bristol, Cardiff and London, costing, on average, between £2234 (Cardiff) and £4128 (London) per patient to deliver. Attendance at each session averaged between two patients in Bristol and Cardiff and three in London. For those receiving treatment as usual, clinician blinding was achievable. Interviews revealed that people who attended MBSR found it interesting and helpful in managing their symptoms and minimising the psychological component of their disease. Conclusions: We found that attendance at group MBSR was poor in people with chronic PAH within the context of a trial. Achieving better MBSR intervention attendance or use of an Internet-based programme might maximise the benefit of MBSR

Determination of nutrient salts by automatic methods both in seawater and brackish water: the phosphate blank

9 páginas, 2 tablas, 2 figurasThe main inconvenience in determining nutrients in seawater by automatic methods is simply solved: the preparation of a suitable blank which corrects the effect of the refractive index change on the recorded signal. Two procedures are proposed, one physical (a simple equation to estimate the effect) and the other chemical (removal of the dissolved phosphorus with ferric hydroxide).Support for this work came from CICYT (MAR88-0245 project) and Conselleria de Pesca de la Xunta de GaliciaPeer reviewe

Análise dos atributos dos cuidados primários em saúde utilizando os prontuários eletrônicos na cidade do Rio de Janeiro

Resumo A epidemiologia desempenha um papel estratégico neste estágio do ciclo de política, contribuindo para o estabelecimento de metas, alocação de recursos e uso de sistemas de informação. Em 2009, a Secretaria Municipal de Saúde do Rio de Janeiro iniciou uma reforma do modelo de atenção, utilizando como principal influência o conceito de Atenção Primária em Saúde. Este estudo avalia a tendência de indicadores selecionados do “pay-for-performance” que mensuram o processo de cuidado em saúde na APS da cidade. Estudo de painéis repetidos, a partir dos registros administrativos e clínicos dos prontuários eletrônicos no período de 2012 a 2016. Foram escolhidos sete indicadores que analisaram o desempenho longitudinal dentro da meta estabelecida, entre aqueles que representam acesso, longitudinalidade, coordenação do cuidado – atributos da APS, assim como outras características dos serviços como desempenho assistencial e eficiência econômica. Este estudo demonstrou que a descentralização da gestão para níveis mais próximos do usuário é potencialmente exitoso para o registro de dados clínicos, caso seja realizado um adequado monitoramento dos indicadores, auditorias clínicas frequentes e realizado periodicamente um “feedback” aos profissionais de saúde com os dados e indicadores acompanhados

Thermoelectric Limitations of Graphene Nanodevices at Ultrahigh Current Densities.

Graphene is atomically thin, possesses excellent thermal conductivity, and is able to withstand high current densities, making it attractive for many nanoscale applications such as field-effect transistors, interconnects, and thermal management layers. Enabling integration of graphene into such devices requires nanostructuring, which can have a drastic impact on the self-heating properties, in particular at high current densities. Here, we use a combination of scanning thermal microscopy, finite element thermal analysis, and operando scanning transmission electron microscopy techniques to observe prototype graphene devices in operation and gain a deeper understanding of the role of geometry and interfaces during high current density operation. We find that Peltier effects significantly influence the operational limit due to local electrical and thermal interfacial effects, causing asymmetric temperature distribution in the device. Thus, our results indicate that a proper understanding and design of graphene devices must include consideration of the surrounding materials, interfaces, and geometry. Leveraging these aspects provides opportunities for engineered extreme operation devices

Assistência pré-natal à adolescente e os atributos da Atenção Primária à Saúde

OBJECTIVE: evaluate prenatal care for adolescents in health units, in accordance with the attributes of Primary Health Care (PHC) guidelines. METHOD: quantitative study conducted with health professionals, using the Primary Care Assessment Tool-Brazil to assess the presence and extent of PHC attributes. RESULTS: for all the participating units, the attribute Access scored =6.6; the attributes Longitudinality, Coordination (integration of care), Coordination (information systems) and Integrality scored =6.6, and the Essential Score =6.6. Comparing basic units with family health units, the attribute scores were equally distributed; Accessibility scored =6.6, the others attributes scored =6.6; however, in the basic units, the Essential Score was =6.6 and, in the family health units, =6.6. CONCLUSION: expanding the coverage of family health units and the training of professionals can be considered strategies to qualify health care.OBJETIVO: evaluar la atención prenatal a las adolescentes en unidades de salud, según los atributos de la Atención Primaria a la Salud. MÉTODO: estudio de abordaje cuantitativo, realizado con profesionales de la salud, utilizando el instrumento Primary Care Assessment Tool-Brasil para analizar la presencia y extensión de los atributos vinculados a la APS en las unidades de salud. RESULTADOS: para todas las unidades participantes, el atributo Acceso obtuvo un puntaje =6,6; los atributos Longitudinalidad, Coordinación (integración de cuidados), Coordinación (sistemas de información) e Integralidad obtuvieron puntajes =6,6 y el Puntaje Esencial fue =6,6. Comparando las unidades básicas de salud y las unidades de salud de la familia, los puntajes están igualmente distribuidos: Accesibilidad =6,6 y los demás atributos con puntajes =6,6; sin embargo, el puntaje Esencial en las unidades básicas fue =6,6 y el de las unidades de salud de la familia fue =6,6. CONCLUSIÓN: la ampliación de la cobertura de las unidades de salud de la familia y la capacitación profesional pueden ser estrategias para calificar la atención a la salud.OBJETIVO: avaliar a atenção pré-natal às adolescentes em unidades de saúde, segundo os atributos da Atenção Primária à Saúde. MÉTODO: estudo de abordagem quantitativa, realizado com profissionais de saúde, utilizando-se o instrumento Primary Care Assessment Tool-Brasil, para analisar a presença e extensão dos atributos. RESULTADOS: para todas as unidades participantes, o atributo acesso obteve escore =6,6; os atributos longitudinalidade, coordenação (integração de cuidados), coordenação (sistemas de informação) e integralidade obtiveram escores =6,6 e escore essencial =6,6. Comparando-se as unidades básicas e as unidades de saúde da família, os escores estão igualmente distribuídos: acessibilidade: =6,6 e os demais atributos com escores =6,6, no entanto, o escore essencial nas unidades básicas foi =6,6 e nas unidades de saúde da família foi =6,6. CONCLUSÃO: a ampliação da cobertura das unidades de saúde da família e a capacitação profissional podem ser estratégias para qualificar a atenção à saúde

Revealed Preference Dimension via Matrix Sign Rank

Given a data-set of consumer behaviour, the Revealed Preference Graph succinctly encodes inferred relative preferences between observed outcomes as a directed graph. Not all graphs can be constructed as revealed preference graphs when the market dimension is fixed. This paper solves the open problem of determining exactly which graphs are attainable as revealed preference graphs in $d$-dimensional markets. This is achieved via an exact characterization which closely ties the feasibility of the graph to the Matrix Sign Rank of its signed adjacency matrix. The paper also shows that when the preference relations form a partially ordered set with order-dimension $k$, the graph is attainable as a revealed preference graph in a $k$-dimensional market.Comment: Submitted to WINE `1

Assessment of primary health care: health professionals’ perspective

Objective To assess primary health care attributes of access to a first contact, comprehensiveness, coordination, continuity, family guidance and community orientation. Method An evaluative, quantitative and cross-sectional study with 35 professional teams in the Family Health Program of the Alfenas region, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Data collection was done with the Primary Care Assessment Tool - Brazil, professional version. Results Results revealed a low percentage of medical experts among the participants who evaluated the attributes with high scores, with the exception of access to a first contact. Data analysis revealed needs for improvement: hours of service; forms of communication between clients and healthcare services and between clients and professionals; the mechanism of counter-referral. Conclusion It was concluded that there is a mismatch between the provision of services and the needs of the population, which compromises the quality of primary health care

Teste de Morisky-Green e Brief Medication Questionnaire para avaliar adesão a medicamentos

OBJETIVO: Analisar a confiabilidade e o desempenho da versão em português de instrumentos de avaliação da adesão ao tratamento anti-hipertensivo. MÉTODOS: Pacientes hipertensos atendidos de janeiro a setembro de 2010 em uma unidade de atenção primária em Porto Alegre, RS, foram selecionados aleatoriamente (n = 206). Na avaliação da adesão foram utilizadas versões em português do Teste de Morisky-Green (TMG) e do Brief Medication Questionnaire (BMQ). Foram analisados consistência interna, estabilidade temporal e desempenho com relação a três padrões-ouro: controle inadequado da pressão arterial (&gt; 140/90 mmHg); taxa insuficiente de retirada de medicação na farmácia da Unidade Básica de Saúde (< 80%); e a combinação de ambos. RESULTADOS: Dos pacientes avaliados, 97 utilizavam medicamentos dispensados somente pela farmácia da Unidade Básica de Saúde. Os testes apresentaram boa consistência interna: BMQ &#945; de Cronbach de 0,66 (IC95% 0,60;0,73) e o TMG 0,73 (IC95% 0,67;0,79). O desempenho do BMQ no domínio regime apresentou sensibilidade de 77%, especificidade de 58% e área sob a curva ROC de 0,70 (IC95% 0,55;0,86), e o TMG sensibilidade de 61%, especificidade de 36% e área sob a curva ROC de 0,46 (IC95% 0,30;0,62). A correlação entre o BMQ e o TMG foi de r = 0,28, p &gt; 0,001. A baixa adesão ao BMQ está associada a maiores níveis tensionais quando comparada com pacientes aderentes (148,4 [dp 20,1] vs 128,8 [dp 17,8], p < 0,001), mas não para o TMG. CONCLUSÕES: O BMQ apresentou melhor desempenho que o TMG, com maiores sensibilidade e especificidade. A avaliação da adesão pode auxiliar o clinico na discriminação entre uso inadequado da medicação e esquema terapêutico insuficiente.OBJETIVO: Analizar la confiabilidad y el desempeño de la versión en portugués de instrumentos de evaluación de la adherencia al tratamiento antihipertensivo. MÉTODOS: Pacientes hipertensos atendidos de enero a septiembre de 2010 en una unidad de atención primaria en Porto Alegre, Sur de Brasil, fueron seleccionados aleatoriamente (n=206). En la evaluación de la adherencia fueron utilizadas versiones en portugués de la Prueba de Morisky-Green (TMG) y del Brief Medication Questionnarie (BMQ). Se analizaron consistencia interna, estabilidad temporal y desempeño con relación a tres patrones-oro: control inadecuado de la presión arterial (&gt; 140/90 mmHg); tasa insuficiente de retirada de medicación en la farmacia de la Unidad Básica de Salud (< 80%) y la combinación de ambos. RESULTADOS: De los pacientes evaluados, 97 utilizaban medicamentos dispensados solamente por la farmacia de la Unidad Básica de Salud. Las pruebas presentaron buena consistencia interna: BMQ &#945; de Cronbach de 0,66 (IC95% 0,60;0,73) y el TMG 0,73 (IC95% 0,67;0,79). El desempeño del BMQ en el dominio régimen presentó sensibilidad de 77%, especificidad de 58%, y área bajo la curva ROC de 0,70 (IC95% 0,55;0,86) y el TMG sensibilidad de 61%, especificidad de 36% y área bajo la curva ROC de 0,46 (IC95% 0,30;0,62). La correlación entre el BMQ y el TMG fue de r=0,28, p&gt;0,001. La baja adherencia al BMQ está asociada a mayores niveles tensionales al compararlo con pacientes adherentes 148,4 [de 0,1] vs 128,8 [de 17,8], pOBJECTIVE: To analyze the reliability and performance of the Portuguese version of questionnaires used to evaluate adherence to hypertensive treatment. METHODS: Hypertensive patients attending a primary healthcare unit in Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil, from January to September 2010, were randomly selected (n = 206). To evaluate adherence, Portuguese versions of the Morisky-Green test (MGT) and the Brief Medication Questionnaire (BMQ) were used. The analysis considered internal consistency, temporal stability and performance compared to three gold standards, which are: inadequate control of blood pressure (BP &gt; 140/90 mmHg); insufficient rate of medication acquisition at the institution's pharmacy