Fluid and Electrolyte Balance During the First Week of Life and Risk of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in the Preterm Neonate

BACKGROUND: Early fluid and electrolyte imbalances may be associated with an increased risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. OBJECTIVE: We sought to establish an association between fluid and electrolyte balance in the first week of life and the risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. METHODS: Clinical charts of 205 neonates <32 weeks gestational age and/or <1,250 g birth weight (admitted to our NICU between 1997 and 2008) were analyzed. Clinical features, fluid and electrolyte balance were analyzed for the first 7 days of life using multivariate models of generalized estimation equations. A p value <0.05 was considered significant in all of the hypothesis tests. RESULTS: The prevalence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia was 22%. Lower gestational age and birth weight, male gender, less frequent use of antenatal steroids, respiratory distress syndrome, use of surfactant, patent ductus arteriosus, duration of invasive ventilation and NICU stay were significantly associated with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. The variation in serum values of potassium, phosphorus and creatinine during the first week of life also revealed an association with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Higher mean plasma calcium values were associated with spontaneous closure of the patent ductus arteriosus. The use of indomethacin to induce patent ductus arteriosus closure was significantly higher in bronchopulmonary dysplasia patients. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in renal function and tubular handling of potassium and phosphorus are present during the first week of life among preterm neonates who will develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia. The higher rate of patent ductus arteriosus and indomethacin use may influence these differences. Serum levels of calcium also appear to play a role in spontaneous ductus arteriosus closure

Scientific and technical knowledge of sugarcane cover-management USLE/RUSLE factor

Sugarcane covers 10.6 Mha of Brazilian agricultural land (13 % of all cropland), mainly in the south-central region. In tropical climate conditions, the physiological characteristics of sugarcane allow a wide range of management systems with contrasting soil erosion outcomes. Models can assess these differences and the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) based models are the most frequently used. The cover-management factor (C Factor) is the USLE input variable that represents the changes in soil cover and management. We collected, compared, and evaluated sugarcane C Factor values reported in technical and scientific literature to support modelers and soil scientists on the adequate choice of these values. We analyzed references reporting primary C Factor values and sources that applied these values or described them. We found 50 references, showing a wide value variation ranging from 0.0012 to 0.5800. Thirteen references were primary sources. We found seven primary sources for Brazilian sugarcane growing conditions, but only two papers were peer-reviewed. Sugarcane C Factor modelers frequently used C values based on a poor understanding and description of the methodological and geographical origin of these values and out of the context of the specific crop management systems of application. Therefore, the results may not be compatible with the study site conditions. The primary sources lack clarity in the description of the site–specific environmental and management conditions in which the C Factors were obtained, hindering the use of these specificities by the end user

O Marketing de Relacionamento das Instituições de Ensino Superior no Rio Grande do Sul

O presente artigo sintetiza os resultados de uma pesquisa sobre as estratégias de marketing de relacionamento adotadas por onze Instituições de Ensino Superior (IES) no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. A pesquisa foi realizada no segundo semestre do ano de 2005 e focou-se na análise das IES que tinham no mínimo 10.000 acadêmicos regularmente matriculados e mais de 15 cursos de graduação. Assim foi possível estudar 11 universidades que se enquadravam nestas características. A técnica de pesquisa utilizada foi a de multicasos. O instrumento de coleta de dados aplicado foi um questionário semi-estruturado, parte com perguntas abertas e parte com perguntas fechadas no estilo Likert, visando identificar as ferramentas de marketing adotadas na fidelização de seus públicos-alvos. Constatou-se, a partir da análise das estratégias de marketing de relacionamento inerentes ao mix de marketing (4P s) e de atributos dos componentes de relacionamento nos serviços a inconstante formalização destas técnicas nas três universidades públicas federais estudadas. No entanto, nas 8 IES privadas verificou-se a incidência positiva dessas estratégias de modo formalizado e aplicado dentro de técnicas de marketing de relacionamento. Pôde-se assim abstrair um modelo estratégico de marketing de relacionamento que colabore na gestão dessas universidades

A new competitive implementation of the electromagnetism-like algorithm for global optimization

The Electromagnetism-like (EM) algorithm is a population- based stochastic global optimization algorithm that uses an attraction- repulsion mechanism to move sample points towards the optimal. In this paper, an implementation of the EM algorithm in the Matlab en- vironment as a useful function for practitioners and for those who want to experiment a new global optimization solver is proposed. A set of benchmark problems are solved in order to evaluate the performance of the implemented method when compared with other stochastic methods available in the Matlab environment. The results con rm that our imple- mentation is a competitive alternative both in term of numerical results and performance. Finally, a case study based on a parameter estimation problem of a biology system shows that the EM implementation could be applied with promising results in the control optimization area.Acknowledgments This work has been supported by FCT (Funda¸c˜ao para a Ciˆencia e Tecnologia, Portugal) in the scope of the project PEst-UID/CEC/00319/2013

Image Geocoding as a Service

Driven by the ambition of a global geocoding solution, in this paper we present the architecture of an image geocoding service. It takes advantage of the ubiquity of cameras, that are present in almost all smartphones. It is an inexpensive sensor yet powerful, that can be used to provide precise location and orientation. This geocoding service provides an API similar to existing ones for place names and addresses, like Google Geocoding API. Instead of a text based query, images can be submitted to estimate the location and orientation of the user. Developers can use this new API, keeping almost all the existing code already used for other geocoding APIs. Behind the scenes, image features are extracted from the submitted photograph, and compared against a huge database of georeferenced models. These models were constructed using structure from motion (SFM) techniques, and heavily reduced to a representative set of all information using Synthetic Views. Our preliminary results shows that the pose estimation of the majority of the images submitted to our geocoding was successfully computed (more than 60%) with the mean positional error around 2 meters. With this service, an inexpensive outdoor/indoor location service can be provided, for example, for urban environments, where GPS fails

Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of Non Cardiac Cause in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Parenchymal lung diseases are the main cause of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN). We aimed to assess the non cardiac conditions associated to PPHN in the newborn and the survival rate over the last 15 years, at our center. A retrospective chart review of the neonates admitted for PPHN from 1996 to 2010 was performed. New therapies were introduced in 2003, and the survival rates between two periods (1996–2002 and 2003–2010) were compared. Out of 6750 newborns, 78 (1.1%) had the diagnosis of PPHN of non cardiac cause. The most prevalent causes were associated to pulmonary hypoplasia (30.7%), infection (24.3%), and aspiration syndromes (15.3%). Many other causes were identified in 33.3%. The overall survival rate was 68%. There was a significant difference on survival rates between the two periods (1996–2002 = 63.8% and 2003–2010 = 71.4%, P = 0.04). Our study showed a myriad of non cardiac aetiologies for PPHN of the newborn, most of them related to lung disease or lung hypoplasia. We observed an improvement in survival rate since 2003, which was associated to the use of new therapies

Os cinco varais do amor. amoridades, de André Salviano

Na coletânea de contos amoridades, André Salviano constrói um rico mosaico de sentimentos, todos desdobrados do amor: autoestima e insegurança; encanto e desencanto; confiança e desconfiança; desejo e indiferença; proximidade e distância...Cada um destes pares de elementos opostos entre si é um fio com o qual o autor tece curtas porém impactantes histórias, que refletem os afetos em voga nos relacionamentos contemporâneos