Psychometric evaluation of the SF-36 (v.2) questionnaire in a probability sample of Brazilian households: results of the survey Pesquisa Dimensões Sociais das Desigualdades (PDSD), Brazil, 2008

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Brazil, despite the growing use of SF-36 in different research environments, most of the psychometric evaluation of the translated questionnaire was from studies with samples of patients. The purpose of this paper is to examine if the Brazilian version of SF-36 satisfies scaling assumptions, reliability and validity required for valid interpretation of the SF-36 summated ratings scales in the general population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>12,423 individuals and their spouses living in 8,048 households were selected from a stratified sample of all permanent households along the country to be interviewed using the Brazilian SF-36 (version 2). Psychometric tests were performed to evaluate the scaling assumptions based on IQOLA methodology.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Data quality was satisfactory with questionnaire completion rate of 100%. The ordering of the item means within scales clustered as hypothesized. All item-scale correlations exceeded the suggested criteria for reliability with success rate of 100% and low floor and ceiling effects. All scales reached the criteria for group comparison and factor analysis identified two principal components that jointly accounted for 67.5% of the total variance. Role emotional and vitality were strongly correlated with physical and mental components, respectively, while social functioning was moderately correlated with both components. Role physical and mental health scales were, respectively, the most valid measures of the physical and mental health component. In the comparisons between groups that differed by the presence or absence of depression, subjects who reported having the disease had lower mean scores in all scales and mental health scale discriminated best between the two groups. Among those healthy and with one, two or three and more chronic illness, the average scores were inverted related to the number of diseases. Body pain, general health and vitality were the most discriminating scales between healthy and diseased groups. Higher scores were associated with individuals of male sex, age below 40 years old and high schooling.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The Brazilian version of SF-36 performed well and the findings suggested that it is a reliable and valid measure of health related quality of life among the general population as well as a promising measure for research on health inequalities in Brazil.</p

Using the “U-Multirank” to Compare the Performances of Brazilian Universities with Latin American Countries in Academic and Industry Products

The present research makes comparisons of the performances of Brazilian Universities in terms of academic and industry related production, based in the “U-Multirank”, in the years 2017 to 2020. These comparisons are made with other Latin American countries listed in this ranking. Academic production is measured by indicators related to the number of papers published and citations received by Brazilian Universities, while Industry related products performance is based in the number of patents obtained and citations that Brazilian publications received in patents. This analysis is made for the average performances of all Brazilian universities listed in the “U-Multirank”, which is an academic multidimensional ranking implemented in Europe in 2014. It is based in five Dimensions, which are composed by 35 Indicators, with some of them related to pure academic productions and some others related to researches that are applied to industry. The results show that the performances of Brazilian universities are better in terms of academic products and below average in industry related products, such as the number of patents. It is also noted improvements in those numbers, a tendency that needs to be verified in the future. In Latin America, Chile has the best performances in all the Indicators related to Industrial products

UMA INVESTIGAÇÃO SOBRE O PAPEL MOTIVADOR DO TUTOR DE ACORDO COM A VISÃO DOS ALUNOS DOS CURSOS DE CAPACITAÇÃO DO MINISTÉRIO DA SAÚDE.

A motivação é um dos elementos essenciais para uma aprendizagem eficiente e de qualidade. Um aluno motivado aprende melhor, uma vez que todo aluno é motivado pelo êxito ou inibido pelo fracasso. No ensino a distância a motivação dos alunos é o centro das atenções no processo educacional, uma vez que se tem o reconhecimento de que a aprendizagem é um processo pessoal, sistemático e reflexivo e que depende do despertar do aluno para suas potencialidades, que pode ser sozinho ou com ajuda do tutor. O presente estudo relata uma pesquisa realizada com os três cursos de capacitação a distância, do quarto módulo, oferecidos aos funcionários do Ministério da Saúde em parceria com a Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina – UFSC, sendo que esta parceria existe desde 2007 para os cursos de capacitação. Os cursos são oferecidos em módulos de quarenta e cinco e de sessenta horas. Este estudo tem com o objetivo investigar a postura motivadora do tutor na visão dos alunos que estão finalizando os cursos do quarto módulo de capacitação. Trata-se de um estudo de caso, com uma pesquisa bibliográfica e descritiva, tendo uma abordagem quantitativa. Este estuda destaca que os alunos sentem-se motivados a continuar perseverantes nos cursos de capacitação em estudo-aprendizagem através de uma comunicação clara e contínua, uma vez que a dificuldade com o uso das tecnologias de informação e comunicação (internet, AVEA) são os maiores fatores de dificuldade do aluno do Mistério da Saúde

Adubação NPK, calagem e diagnose foliar do amendoim

Le but de ce travail a été d'etudier la réponse de l'arachide à l'application isalée et combinée de N, P, K et Ca. A cet effet un essai de jumure minérale, du type factoriel 2³ avec N-P-K, en parcelle divisée, a été réalisé. La moitié de chaque parcelle a reçu du calcaire dolomitique. Les résultats obtenus ont permis de tirer les conclusions suivantes: 1) le chaulage a augmenté la production; 2) le potassium a exercé une action positive sur la teneur en azote, phosphore et potassium des feuilles; 3) une forte corrélation a été trouvée entre teneur des feuilles en potassium et production.Com o objetivo de estudar a resposta do amendoim à aplicações isoladas e combinadas de N, de P, de K e Ca, realizou-se um ensaio fatorial 2³ para N P K, com aplicação do calcáreo em metade de cada parcela. O experimento foi conduzido no Município de Bariri, Estado de São Paulo. Apenas a calagem aumentou a produção significativamente. O potássio exerceu efeito positivo nas concentrações de nitrogênio, de fósforo e de potássio das fôlhas, embora a sua concentração não tenha aumentado significativamente em todos os tratamentos. A correlação entre teor de K nas fôlhas e a produção foi positiva e altamente significativa

Statin short-term inhibition of insulin sensitivity and secretion during acute phase of ST-elevation myocardial infarction

Hyperglycemia during myocardial infarction (MI) has a strong and direct association with mortality. In stable patients and experimental models, statins favor the elevation of glycaemia. The present study investigated whether short-course treatment with statins during MI can influence glucose homeostasis and thus the clinical outcome. In this prospective study, euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp (EHC) was performed at second (D2) and sixth (D6) day after MI in patients randomized to simvastatin (S)10 or 80 mg/day during hospitalization (n = 27). In addition, patients (n = 550) were treated without (WS) or with simvastatin (S) at 20, 40 or 80 mg/day had HOMA2S on admission (D1) and fifth (D5) day after MI. According to EHC, insulin sensitivity increased by 20 +/- 60% in S10 and decreased by -6 +/- 28% in S80 (p = 0.025). Consistently, the changes in HOMA2S between D1 and D5 were 40 +/- 145% (WS), 22 +/- 117% (S20), 16 +/- 61% (S40) and -2% +/- 88% (S80) (p = 0.001). In conclusion, statin during the acute phase of MI reduces insulin sensitivity in a dose-dependent manner.9CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQ301465/2017-

Detailed energy analysis of a sheet-metal-forming press from electrical measurements

This paper presents a methodology that allows for the detection of the state of a sheet-metal-forming press, the parts being produced, their cadence, and the energy demand for each unit produced. For this purpose, only electrical measurements are used. The proposed analysis is conducted at the level of the press subsystems: main motor, transfer module, cushion, and auxiliary systems, and is intended to count, classify, and monitor the production of pressed parts. The power data are collected every 20 ms and show cyclic behavior, which is the basis for the presented methodology. A neural network (NN) based on heuristic rules is developed to estimate the press states. Then, the production period is determined from the power data using a least squares method to obtain normalized harmonic coefficients. These are the basis for a second NN dedicated to identifying the parts in production. The global error in estimating the parts being produced is under 1%. The resulting information could be handy in determining relevant information regarding the press behavior, such as energy per part, which is necessary in order to evaluate the energy performance of the press under different production conditions.Xunta de Galicia | Ref. IN854A 2020/0