Comparative Study of Social Skills and Socio-Demographic Variables of Teachers

Assuming a teacher as a professional acting on an essentially relational activity and assuming that the quality of the acted interactions reflects in the development of social skills of the students, this study aimed to recognize the teachers’ repertoire of social skills through comparing the socio-demographical variables. We compared variables such as level of education in what the teacher acts, gender, school classification and level of expertise. The study included 264 teachers. We applied the inventário de habilidades sociais (DEL PRETTE; DEL PRETTE, 2001b). The main results of this study suggest that there are significant differences especially regarding to his/her school classification. This means that public and private systems have their own and dissimilar exigencies. It was identified that the most of teachers has good repertoire of social skills and that they would serve as standards for the behavior of the students

Reactive Distillation Applied to Biodiesel Production by Esterification: Simulation Studies

Reactive distillation is an operation that combines chemical reaction and separation in a single equipment, presenting various technical and economic benefits. In this chapter, an introduction to the reactive distillation process applied to the biodiesel industry was developed and complemented by case studies regarding the production of biodiesel through esterification a low-cost acid feedstock (corn distillers oil) and valorization of by-products (glycerol) through ketalization. The kinetic parameters of both reactions were estimated with an algorithm that performs the minimization of the quadratic differences between experimental and calculated data through a Nelder-Mead simplex method. A 4th order Runge Kutta method was employed to integrate the conversion or concentration equations used to describe the kinetics of the reactions in a batch reactor. Both processes were simulated in the commercial software Aspen Plus with the estimated kinetic parameters. The results obtained are promising and indicate that the productivity of both processes can be improved with the application of reactive distillation technologies. The simulated esterification process with an optimized column resulted in a fatty acids conversion increase of 84% in comparison to the values lower than 50% obtained in the experimental tests. Solketal production through ketalization also achieved a high glycerol conversion superior to 98%

Uso de práticas integrativas e complementares como recurso para diminuição dos níveis de ansiedade e estresse em alunos do curso de Fonoaudiologia / Use of integrative and complementary practices as a resource to reduce levels of anxiety and stress in Speech Therapy students

Atualmente observa-se um número elevado de queixas de doenças psíquicas no meio acadêmico universitário. O presente estudo relata a experiência de um trabalho realizado nas dependências do Departamento de Morfologia da Universidade Federal da Paraíba onde se buscou analisar a eficácia do uso de práticas integrativas e complementares como recurso para diminuição dos níveis de ansiedade e estresse dos alunos que cursaram o componente curricular Anatomia Aplicada à Fonoaudiologia I, por meio da auriculoterapia. De acordo com o cronograma da disciplina, foram realizadas sessões com duração de 4 a 8 minutos para cada aluno, nos pontos correspondentes as áreas shenmen, ansiedade e relaxante muscular, já que estes apresentam efeitos tranquilizantes e sedativos. No dia da avaliação, os monitores conduziam um momento de relaxamento previamente à entrada dos alunos nos laboratórios para a realização das provas. Foi realizada a comparação e análise das médias das notas que os discentes obtiveram nos semestres onde houve intervenção e naqueles que não foi realizado esse tipo de prática. Os relatos obtidos foram de um relaxamento muscular intenso, com episódios de sono nas primeiras vinte e quatro horas após a aplicação e em seguida, aumento do bem-estar, bem como, aumento da autoconfiança, não só em relação às provas de Anatomia, mas no contexto e desempenho da aprendizagem em geral. Observou-se resultado positivo nas notas da disciplina de Anatomia. A saúde mental dos discentes tem sido um assunto em pauta recente, assim, se faz necessário pensar em estratégias viáveis para amenizar questões de estresse e ansiedade no âmbito universitário. A qualidade de vida e o bem-estar subjetivo culminam em um aumento da produtividade, melhorando não só o aspecto psíquico do indivíduo, mas também a ocupação a qual ele desempenha

Desafios para a implementação de processos de planificação em regiões de saúde

OBJETIVO: Reconhecer elementos que facilitaram ou dificultaram as etapas do processo de implementação do Planifica SUS. MÉTODOS: Foi realizado um estudo de casos múltiplos em 4 regiões de saúde pré-selecionadas - Belo Jardim (PE), Fronteira Oeste (RS), Sul-Mato-Grossense (MT), Valença (BA), utilizando como condições traçadoras a hipertensão arterial sistêmica e atenção materno infantil. Foi realizada observação participante na Comissão Intergestora Regional (CIR), bem como entrevistas em profundidade nas quatro regiões estudadas com informantes-chave da gestão estadual e municipal e com profissionais dos serviços da atenção primária à saúde e atenção ambulatorial especializada envolvidos no projeto. Construiu-se três dimensões de análise: política, técnico operacional e contexto. RESULTADOS: N a d imensão p olítica, fi cou e videnciado q ue, d e a lguma f orma, a s r egiões identificaram no projeto uma oportunidade de articulação entre estados e municípios e uma aposta política importante para a construção de redes e linhas de cuidado, mas ainda com muitos caminhos a percorrer para enfrentar as barreiras identificadas nas disputas em jogo na construção do SUS. Na dimensão técnico operacional, é importante considerar que foi estimulada uma cultura de planejamento local na APS, além de favorecer o uso de ferramentas tradicionais, no sentido de organizá-la e qualificá-la, como a organização dos cadastros, agenda e demanda. No entanto, os processos formativos e indutores da planificação centralizados nem sempre respondem às necessidades singulares dos territórios e podem produzir barreiras à implementação. CONCLUSÃO: Cabe considerar o papel do gestor estadual na aposta relacionada ao projeto, tanto no nível central quanto no nível regional e o efeito de processos de mobilização da atenção primária à saúde e amplificação de sua potência, mas ainda com muitos caminhos a percorrer para enfrentar as barreiras identificadas nas disputas em jogo na construção do SUS

Basin-wide variation in tree hydraulic safety margins predicts the carbon balance of Amazon forests

Funding: Data collection was largely funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) project TREMOR (NE/N004655/1) to D.G., E.G. and O.P., with further funds from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES, finance code 001) to J.V.T. and a University of Leeds Climate Research Bursary Fund to J.V.T. D.G., E.G. and O.P. acknowledge further support from a NERC-funded consortium award (ARBOLES, NE/S011811/1). This paper is an outcome of J.V.T.’s doctoral thesis, which was sponsored by CAPES (GDE 99999.001293/2015-00). J.V.T. was previously supported by the NERC-funded ARBOLES project (NE/S011811/1) and is supported at present by the Swedish Research Council Vetenskapsrådet (grant no. 2019-03758 to R.M.). E.G., O.P. and D.G. acknowledge support from NERC-funded BIORED grant (NE/N012542/1). O.P. acknowledges support from an ERC Advanced Grant and a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. R.S.O. was supported by a CNPq productivity scholarship, the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP-Microsoft 11/52072-0) and the US Department of Energy, project GoAmazon (FAPESP 2013/50531-2). M.M. acknowledges support from MINECO FUN2FUN (CGL2013-46808-R) and DRESS (CGL2017-89149-C2-1-R). C.S.-M., F.B.V. and P.R.L.B. were financed by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES, finance code 001). C.S.-M. received a scholarship from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq 140353/2017-8) and CAPES (science without borders 88881.135316/2016-01). Y.M. acknowledges the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and ERC Advanced Investigator Grant (GEM-TRAITS, 321131) for supporting the Global Ecosystems Monitoring (GEM) network (gem.tropicalforests.ox.ac.uk), within which some of the field sites (KEN, TAM and ALP) are nested. The authors thank Brazil–USA Collaborative Research GoAmazon DOE-FAPESP-FAPEAM (FAPESP 2013/50533-5 to L.A.) and National Science Foundation (award DEB-1753973 to L. Alves). They thank Serrapilheira Serra-1709-18983 (to M.H.) and CNPq-PELD/POPA-441443/2016-8 (to L.G.) (P.I. Albertina Lima). They thank all the colleagues and grants mentioned elsewhere [8,36] that established, identified and measured the Amazon forest plots in the RAINFOR network analysed here. The authors particularly thank J. Lyod, S. Almeida, F. Brown, B. Vicenti, N. Silva and L. Alves. This work is an outcome approved Research Project no. 19 from ForestPlots.net, a collaborative initiative developed at the University of Leeds that unites researchers and the monitoring of their permanent plots from the world’s tropical forests [61]. The authros thank A. Levesley, K. Melgaço Ladvocat and G. Pickavance for ForestPlots.net management. They thank Y. Wang and J. Baker, respectively, for their help with the map and with the climatic data. The authors acknowledge the invaluable help of M. Brum for kindly providing the comparison of vulnerability curves based on PAD and on PLC shown in this manuscript. They thank J. Martinez-Vilalta for his comments on an early version of this manuscript. The authors also thank V. Hilares and the Asociación para la Investigación y Desarrollo Integral (AIDER, Puerto Maldonado, Peru); V. Saldaña and Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana (IIAP) for local field campaign support in Peru; E. Chavez and Noel Kempff Natural History Museum for local field campaign support in Bolivia; ICMBio, INPA/NAPPA/LBA COOMFLONA (Cooperativa mista da Flona Tapajós) and T. I. Bragança-Marituba for the research support.Tropical forests face increasing climate risk1,2, yet our ability to predict their response to climate change is limited by poor understanding of their resistance to water stress. Although xylem embolism resistance thresholds (for example, Ψ50) and hydraulic safety margins (for example, HSM50) are important predictors of drought-induced mortality risk3-5, little is known about how these vary across Earth's largest tropical forest. Here, we present a pan-Amazon, fully standardized hydraulic traits dataset and use it to assess regional variation in drought sensitivity and hydraulic trait ability to predict species distributions and long-term forest biomass accumulation. Parameters Ψ50 and HSM50 vary markedly across the Amazon and are related to average long-term rainfall characteristics. Both Ψ50 and HSM50 influence the biogeographical distribution of Amazon tree species. However, HSM50 was the only significant predictor of observed decadal-scale changes in forest biomass. Old-growth forests with wide HSM50 are gaining more biomass than are low HSM50 forests. We propose that this may be associated with a growth-mortality trade-off whereby trees in forests consisting of fast-growing species take greater hydraulic risks and face greater mortality risk. Moreover, in regions of more pronounced climatic change, we find evidence that forests are losing biomass, suggesting that species in these regions may be operating beyond their hydraulic limits. Continued climate change is likely to further reduce HSM50 in the Amazon6,7, with strong implications for the Amazon carbon sink.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Total Urgency and Frequency Score (TUFS) as a Measure of Urgency and Frequency in OAB and storage LUTS

The term lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) encompasses a range of urinary symptoms, including storage symptoms (e.g. overactive bladder [OAB]) as well as voiding and post-micturition symptoms. Although treatment of male LUTS tends to focus on voiding symptoms, patients typically find storage symptoms the most bothersome. The core storage symptom is urgency, which drives the other main storage symptoms of increased daytime frequency, nocturia and incontinence. Although several validated questionnaires have been widely used to study urgency, few measure the two important storage parameters, urgency and frequency, in a single assessment. The total urgency and frequency score (TUFS) is a new validated tool that captures both variables and is derived from the Patient Perception of Intensity of Urgency Scale, which has been validated in patients with OAB and LUTS. The TUFS was first validated in OAB in the phase IIa BLOSSOM study, which was designed to assess the efficacy and safety of mirabegron, a beta(3)-adrenoceptor agonist, in 260 patients. The responsiveness of the TUFS to treatment has been confirmed in a further three large-scale randomized controlled trials of solifenacin in patients with OAB or LUTS. Changes in TUFS from baseline to end of treatment were consistent with changes in micturition diary variables in all four studies. Furthermore, the TUFS was significantly correlated with several health-related quality-of-life variables in the phase III NEPTUNE study. Thus, the TUFS appears to be useful for assessing improvements in major storage symptoms (urgency and frequency) in clinical trials