Uma experiência de simulação empresarial para o desenvolvimento de competências profissionais

Business simulators are formative and educative tools that allow us to transmit contents and foster skills and competencies in business management. In English they are known as business games, which at the same time are belong to the category of serious games. The aim of this study is to analyze the potential of a business simulator, not just as a formative tool to promote learning, but also to develop skills and abilities. In this sense, the methodology used is based on the analysis of a concrete successful experience in the use of a simulator for formation as a dynamizing element and a catalyst for working on competencies in an e-learning setting. The paper will detail how these competencies can be worked on in each of the decision making stages of the business simulator “Fórmula i”. The user has to manage a formula 1 motor-racing team, trying to obtain the best sporting results possible by making a series of strategic and operative decisions. Finally, through a self-designed econometric regression model, the results obtained in the first implementation are analyzed to evaluate the influence of this methodology on the evaluation of competencies management for human resources in companies.Los simuladores empresariales permiten transmitir contenidos, potenciar habilidades y competencias en gestión empresarial como herramientas formativas y educativas. En inglés son conocidos bajo el nombre de business games, los que a su vez son una modalidad deserious games. El propósito de este trabajo es analizar la potencialidad de un simulador empresarial como herramienta no solo formativa para promover el aprendizaje, sino también para potenciar capacidades y habilidades. En este sentido, la metodología utilizada se fundamenta en el análisis de una experiencia concreta de éxito en el uso de este simulador para el ámbito formativo como elemento dinamizador y catalizador para trabajar competencias en el entorno e-learning. En este análisis se detallará cómo se pueden trabajar dichas competencias en cada una de las fases de toma de decisiones del simulador empresarial llamado “Fórmula i”. El usuario debe gestionar una escudería de Fórmula 1 tratando de obtener los mejores resultados deportivos posibles a partir de una serie de decisiones tanto estratégicas como operativas. Finalmente, a través de un modelo econométrico de regresión de elaboración propia, se analizan los resultados obtenidos en su primera puesta en práctica para evaluar la influencia de esta metodología en la evaluación de la gestión de competencias de los recursos humanos en la empresa. Os simuladores empresariais permitem transmitir conteúdos, potenciar habilidades e competências em gestão empresarial como ferramentas formativas e educativas. Em inglês são conhecidos baixo o nome de business games, os que por sua vez são uma modalidade de serious games. O propósito deste trabalho é analisar a potencialidade de um simulador empresarial como ferramenta, não só formativa para promover o aprendizado, mas também para potenciar capacidades e habilidades. Em este sentido, a metodologia utilizada se fundamenta na análise de uma experiência concreta de sucesso no uso deste simulador para o âmbito formativo como elemento dinamizador e catalizador para trabalhar competências no entorno e-learning. Nele se detalhará como se podem trabalhar ditas competências em cada uma das fases de tomada de decisões do simulador empresarial chamado “Fórmula i”. O usuário deve gerir uma escuderia de Fórmula 1 tentando de obter os melhores resultados esportivos possíveis a partir de uma série de decisões tanto estratégicas quanto operativas. Finalmente, através de um modelo econométrico de regressão de elaboração própria, se analisam os resultados obtidos na sua primeira posta em prática para avaliar a influência desta metodologia na avaliação da gestão de competências dos recursos humanos na empresa

Sustainable development goals in public administrations: Enabling conditions in local governments

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a challenge that many public administrations face in promoting sustainable growth. Local governments, as the governmental tier closest to citizens, should deliberate upon strategies and actions attuned to achieving SDGs for the benefit of their communities. Through a comparative analysis of Italian and Spanish local governments, this research investigates the conditions that can support the achievement of SDGs. The results depict the political and financial levers that can stimulate politicians and policymakers in designing appropriate strategies and action plans towards the achievement of SDGs, while opening the path for further research that can support public administrations in their efforts at achieving sustainable growth

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Desempeño docente y su influencia en el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes de la Unidad Educativa “Diez de Agosto”

The present article aims to determine the relationship between the teaching performance and the academic performance of the students of the Educational Unit “Diez de Agosto”, in the year 2022. The type of investigation carried out is descriptive correlational, the population was shaped by them students in the academic year 2022 - 2023 enrolled in the academic period 2022 – 2023 of the Educational Unit “Diez de Agosto”. It allowed to carry out an analysis of the relationship that exists between the teaching performance and the academic performance in concordance with the influence that it can have. Its purpose was to know the difficulties of the students in the academic performance and the development of their competitiveness, demonstrating through the performance of the teacher, which indicates that the teachers are unaware of methodologies that allow the improvement of their performance as a teacher, causing an inadequate development in the apprenticeship of its students. The study has a quantitative focus, with descriptive, correlational research. The object population is 1420 students from the 1st to 6th courses of the Educational Unit “Diez de Agosto”. if applied to the sample probabilistic sample of simple random, by means of the formula of finite population-, the study was carried out with a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of 5%; A sample of 285 students was obtained, extracted through proportional stratified probabilistic sampling. If I apply a structured questionnaire to retrieve the information on the teaching performance variable, with twenty and six (26) items with Likert answer alternatives; and for the academic performance variable, the qualification averages were used. The analysis of the information was carried out using descriptive statistics, as a function of the operationalization of the variables and the inferential statistics; as a conclusion we have that there is a relationship between the teaching performance and the academic performance of the students of the Educational Unit “Diez de Agosto” of Montalvo in the year 2022; This result has been verified by assuming the alternate hypothesis and rejecting the null hypothesis.El presente artículo tuvo como objetivo determinar la relación entre el desempeño docente y el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes de la Unidad Educativa “Diez de Agosto”, en el año 2022. El tipo de investigación empleada es descriptivo correlacional, la población estuvo conformada por los alumnos en el año lectivo 2022 - 2023 matriculados en el periodo lectivo 2022 – 2023 de la Unidad Educativa “Diez de Agosto”. Permitió hacer un análisis de la relación que existe en el desempeño docente y el rendimiento académico en concordancia con la influencia que pueda tener. Su finalidad fue conocer las dificultades de los estudiantes en el rendimiento académico y el desarrollo de sus competitividades, demostrándose mediante el desempeño del docente, lo que indica que los docentes desconocen de metodologías que permitan el mejoramiento de su desempeño como docente, ocasionándole un desenvolvimiento inadecuado en el aprendizaje de sus estudiantes. El estudio tiene un enfoque cuantitativo, con investigación descriptiva, correlacional. La población de objeto son los estudiantes de 1ero a 6to curso de la Unidad Educativa “Diez de Agosto”, que es de 1420 estudiantes; se aplicó para la muestra muestreo probabilístico de aleatorio simple, mediante la fórmula de población finita-, el estudio se realiza con un nivel de confianza del 95% y un margen de error del 5%; se obtuvo una muestra de 285 estudiantes, extraída mediante muestreo probabilístico estratificado proporcional. Se aplico un cuestionario estructurado para recabar la información de la variable desempeño docente, con veinte y seis (26) ítems con alternativas de respuesta Likert; y para la variable rendimiento académico, se utilizó los promedios de calificaciones. El análisis de la información se realizó utilizando la estadística descriptiva, en función de la operacionalización de las variables y la estadística inferencial; como conclusión tenemos que existe relación entre el desempeño docente y rendimiento académico de los estudiantes de la Unidad Educativa “Diez de Agosto” de Montalvo en el año 2022; este resultado ha sido verificado al asumir la hipótesis alterna y rechazar la hipótesis nula

Structural Analysis of Carbon Fiber 3D-Printed Ribs for Small Wind Turbine Blades

This work provides a structural analysis of small-scale 3D-printed wind turbine ribs subjected to compression. The ribs were manufactured according to NACA 23015 and NACA 633618 geometries, with polylactic acid (PLA) and polylactic acid with carbon fiber additives (CF-PLA). In addition, holes were manufactured into the sample bodies by either 3D printing or drilling for being compared with solid samples. The compression testing was performed by following the ASTM 695D standard, whereas the beginning and propagation of delamination were assessed with the ASTM 5528 standard. Experimental results revealed that 3D-printed built-in holes provided higher compression strength, hence higher structural efficiency, than the drilled samples. Significant improvement by adding carbon fiber additives into the PLA resin system in comparison to raw PLA was detected for at least one of the studied airfoil profiles. NACA geometries also represented a key parameter for avoiding stress concentration areas, as the FEM modeling supported. However, in damaged areas, fracture mechanisms were observed such as bead-bridging, which is a key parameter in reinforcing and consolidating the specimen bodies. Working in better interphase bonding and different additives between beads and layers is highly suggested for future studies

Clinical manifestations of intermediate allele carriers in Huntington disease

Objective: There is controversy about the clinical consequences of intermediate alleles (IAs) in Huntington disease (HD). The main objective of this study was to establish the clinical manifestations of IA carriers for a prospective, international, European HD registry. Methods: We assessed a cohort of participants at risk with <36 CAG repeats of the huntingtin (HTT) gene. Outcome measures were the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) motor, cognitive, and behavior domains, Total Functional Capacity (TFC), and quality of life (Short Form-36 [SF-36]). This cohort was subdivided into IA carriers (27-35 CAG) and controls (<27 CAG) and younger vs older participants. IA carriers and controls were compared for sociodemographic, environmental, and outcome measures. We used regression analysis to estimate the association of age and CAG repeats on the UHDRS scores. Results: Of 12,190 participants, 657 (5.38%) with <36 CAG repeats were identified: 76 IA carriers (11.56%) and 581 controls (88.44%). After correcting for multiple comparisons, at baseline, we found no significant differences between IA carriers and controls for total UHDRS motor, SF-36, behavioral, cognitive, or TFC scores. However, older participants with IAs had higher chorea scores compared to controls (p 0.001). Linear regression analysis showed that aging was the most contributing factor to increased UHDRS motor scores (p 0.002). On the other hand, 1-year follow-up data analysis showed IA carriers had greater cognitive decline compared to controls (p 0.002). Conclusions: Although aging worsened the UHDRS scores independently of the genetic status, IAs might confer a late-onset abnormal motor and cognitive phenotype. These results might have important implications for genetic counseling. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01590589

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P &lt; 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)

Clinical and genetic characteristics of late-onset Huntington's disease

Background: The frequency of late-onset Huntington's disease (&gt;59 years) is assumed to be low and the clinical course milder. However, previous literature on late-onset disease is scarce and inconclusive. Objective: Our aim is to study clinical characteristics of late-onset compared to common-onset HD patients in a large cohort of HD patients from the Registry database. Methods: Participants with late- and common-onset (30–50 years)were compared for first clinical symptoms, disease progression, CAG repeat size and family history. Participants with a missing CAG repeat size, a repeat size of ≤35 or a UHDRS motor score of ≤5 were excluded. Results: Of 6007 eligible participants, 687 had late-onset (11.4%) and 3216 (53.5%) common-onset HD. Late-onset (n = 577) had significantly more gait and balance problems as first symptom compared to common-onset (n = 2408) (P &lt;.001). Overall motor and cognitive performance (P &lt;.001) were worse, however only disease motor progression was slower (coefficient, −0.58; SE 0.16; P &lt;.001) compared to the common-onset group. Repeat size was significantly lower in the late-onset (n = 40.8; SD 1.6) compared to common-onset (n = 44.4; SD 2.8) (P &lt;.001). Fewer late-onset patients (n = 451) had a positive family history compared to common-onset (n = 2940) (P &lt;.001). Conclusions: Late-onset patients present more frequently with gait and balance problems as first symptom, and disease progression is not milder compared to common-onset HD patients apart from motor progression. The family history is likely to be negative, which might make diagnosing HD more difficult in this population. However, the balance and gait problems might be helpful in diagnosing HD in elderly patients