The intricacies of developing a work readiness programme for South African Business degree students

[EN] Global research studies have shown that student perceive their academic qualifications as having a declining role in shaping their employment outcomes. While academic credentials are still seen as a significant dimension of their employability, students increasingly see the need to add value to them in order to gain an advantage in the labour market. To mitigate these concerns, a work readiness programme was developed to educate students about professional behaviour, dress etiquete and ethics necessary for the work place. It is against this backdrop that undergraduate in the Economics and Management Sciences were invited to participate in a pilot study to develop a work readiness programme. About eighty six business degree students participated voluntarily and attended several workshop by human resources industry experts such as HR talent managers, consultants and directors. Students who successfully completed the programme by doing an online assessment were automatically registered on a database to find short term employment in a business where they practice the graduate attributes for the world of work. The major challenges encountered while developing this programme were as follows: convincing employers to provide short term work placements and modify the programme several times for both students and employers.Dos Reis, K. (2019). The intricacies of developing a work readiness programme for South African Business degree students. En HEAD'19. 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 853-860. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD19.2019.9464OCS85386

Business Education Learners in the Further Education and Training Phase: Towards the Development of a South African Readiness Model to Strengthen Learners’ Academic Performance

African and coloured students continue to perform poorly both at public schools and institutions of higher learning. There are two main reasons for their weak performance – a lack of literacy and numeracy skills, and being under-prepared. This article reports on two findings of a study that was conducted at two high schools in the Western Cape Province. The one high school was a quintile 1, and the other a quintile 4 school. The study aimed to implement intervention strategies over a threeyear period for Grade 10 to 12 learners in  the business-related subjects, Accounting, Business Studies, and Economics. The objective was to develop a readiness model that public schools in South African could use to overcome the challenges so that learners could be equipped with a strong foundation intheir primary schooling. The study was situated within a critical education science paradigm and used a critical participatory action research design. Two groups of 30 learners formed the main research participants. Interventions strategies were implemented with the learners when they were in Grade 10 in 2017, in Grade 11 in 2018, and in Grade 12 in 2019. The results show that both groups oflearners did not have an adequate rating of 50% and more subject content knowledge and skills when they arrived in Grade 10 in 2017 in all three subjects, and they did not manage to obtain a 50% or more rating in the three subjects in their final examinations at the end of Grade 12 in 2019. Based on the four key principles of the readiness model, recommendations are proposed that would assist publicschools to develop and support the learners during the early childhood and foundation phase so that a solid foundation in literacy and numeracy skills could be laid. Keywords: academic performance; high school; learners; readiness mode

Are school-based mentors adequately equipped to fulfil their roles? A case study in learning to teach accountancy

This article reports on a study that explored how school-based teachers fulfilled their roles as mentors in response to challenges faced by pre-service teachers while learning to teach accounting. Pre-service teachers in their final year at a University of Technology in South Africa and practising teachers from six high schools participated in the study. Pre-service teachers e-mailed reflection journals on a weekly basis over a period of four months to the first author who is a teacher educator. Unstructured interviews were carried out with each pre-service teacher and their respective mentors. The results indicated that not all mentors assisted the pre-service teachers according to the expectations of their roles. Despite mentoring having the potential to enhance the preparation of pre-service teachers, in the cases studied it did not always yield positive results. It became clear that the cumulative nature of the accounting discipline requires a different type of mentoring from other disciplines. In fact, numerous factors revealed in the study influenced the failure and success of mentoring pre-service teachers. Many of these factors are ones over which the university has no control

EVALUATION OF SYMPTOMS IN ONCOLOGICAL PATIENTS ADMITTED TO AN EXCLUSIVE PALLIATIVE CARE UNIT

Objetivo: avaliar os sintomas em pacientes oncológicos internados em uma Unidade de Cuidados Paliativos exclusivos.Método: estudo quantitativo prospectivo de 30 pacientes oncológicos em fim de vida, internados em unidade especializada do Distrito Federal, Brasil. Coletaram-se dados entre novembro de 2018 e maio de 2019, em dois momentos: na internação e após 72 horas. Utilizaram-se duas escalas validadas para avaliação dos sintomas e funcionalidade e o teste de Wilcoxon pareado para avaliação do escore nos dois momentos.Resultados: em 30 indivíduos, evidenciou-se piora da funcionalidade, porém não significativa (p=0,564). Quanto ao manejo dos sintomas, a mediana foi significativamente menor para dor (p=0,032) e maior para cansaço (p=0,020) e sonolência (p=0,012).Conclusão: o estudo sugere que os cuidados paliativos podem ter papel fundamental no manejo da dor em pacientes oncológicos, colaborando com a melhora da qualidade de vida, além de contribuir para a atuação do enfermeiro.Objective: to assess symptoms in cancer patients admitted to an exclusive Palliative Care Unit.Method: Prospective quantitative study of 30 advanced cancer patients admitted to a specialized unit in Distrito Federal, Brazil. Data were collected between November 2018 and May 2019, in two moments: on admission and 72 hours after admission. Two validated scales were used to assess symptoms and functionality, and paired Wilcoxon test was used to assess the score at both moments.Results: Functionality worsened in thirty (30) individuals, but not significantly (p = 0.564). As for the management of symptoms, the median was significantly lower for pain (p = 0.032) and higher for tiredness (p = 0.020) and drowsiness (p = 0.012).Conclusion: The study suggests that palliative care is crucial in the management of pain in cancer patients, improving quality of life, in addition to enhancing the role played by nurses in the delivery of this care.Objetivo: analizar síntomas en pacientes oncológicos internados en una Unidad de Cuidados Paliativos exclusivos.Método: estudio cuantitativo prospectivo de 30 pacientes oncológicos en final de su vida, internados en unidad especializada de Distrito Federal, Brasil. Se obtuvieron los datos entre noviembre de 2018 y mayo de 2019, en dos momentos: en la internación y tras 72 horas. Se utilizaron dos escalas validadas para evaluación de los síntomas y funcionalidad, así como test de Wilcoxon pareado para evaluación del score en los dos momentos.Resultados: en 30 individuos, se evidenció empeoramiento de la funcionalidad, sinembargo no fue significativa (p=0,564). Acerca del manejo de los síntomas, el promedio fue significativamente menor para dolor (p=0,032) y mayor para hastío (p=0,020) y somnolencia (p=0,012).Conclusión: el estudio sugiere que los cuidados paliativos pueden tener papel fundamental en el manejo del dolor en pacientes oncológicos, ayudando con el mejoramiento de la cualidad de vida, además de contribuir para la actuación del enfermero

Nutrition in menopausal women : a narrative review

Among the various aspects of health promotion and lifestyle adaptation to the postmenopausal period, nutritional habits are essential because they concern all women, can be modified, and impact both longevity and quality of life. In this narrative review, we discuss the current evidence on the association between dietary patterns and clinical endpoints in postmenopausal women, such as body composition, bone mass, and risk markers for cardiovascular disease. Current evidence suggests that low-fat, plant-based diets are associated with beneficial effects on body composition, but further studies are needed to confirm these results in postmenopausal women. The Mediterranean diet pattern along with other healthy habits may help the primary prevention of bone, metabolic, and cardiovascular diseases in the postmenopausal period. It consists on the use of healthy foods that have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and is associated with a small but significant decrease in blood pressure, reduction of fat mass, and improvement in cholesterol levels. These effects remain to be evaluated over a longer period of time, with the assessment of hard outcomes such as bone fractures, diabetes, and coronary ischemia

Prevalence and characteristics of polycystic ovary syndrome in brazilian women : protocol for a nation-wide case-control study

Introduction Brazil is a large country, with a population of mixed ethnic background and broad variation in dietary and physical activity traits across its five main regions. Because data on Brazilian women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are still scarce, a nation-wide collaborative study was designed to determine the prevalence of metabolic and reproductive abnormalities and the presence of anxiety and depression in Brazilian women with PCOS. In addition, the study aims at describing how these characteristics are distributed across PCOS phenotypes and at detecting associations with regional demographic and lifestyle aspects, genetic variants, and epigenetic markers. Methods and analysis The Brazilian PCOS study is being conducted in the outpatient clinics of eight university hospitals within the public healthcare network (Unified Health System) across the country. Additional centres will be included following completion of the research ethics approval process. The sample includes women with PCOS according to Rotterdam criteria at inclusion in the study and a control group of healthy women matched by age, socioeconomic status and geographical region. Data will be collected in each centre and incorporated into a unified cloud database. Clinical, demographic, socioeconomic, psychological, metabolic, epigenetic and genotypic variables will be evaluated. The data resulting from this study will be useful to guide specific public strategies for primary and secondary prevention of metabolic and reproductive comorbidities in the PCOS population of Brazil

Comparison of the whole slide imaging and conventional light microscopy in the grading of oral epithelial dysplasia:a multi-institutional study

Whole Slide Imaging (WSI) is an alternative method to light microscopy (LM). However, few studies have compared the diagnostic agreement between WSI and LM, especially to grade oral epithelial dysplasia (OED). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the variability in grading OED by the World Health Organization grading system, using WSI and conventional LM, and to investigate whether the access to clinical information, and psychologic or physical states of the pathologists could interfere with the diagnosis. eleven experienced pathologists from seven Brazilian universities independently evaluated twenty-five OED cases. The analyses were performed in duplicate for each method, with an interval of at least 30 days, and the time consumed in each analysis was measured. Physical and psychologic states were evaluated by blood pressure levels, heart rate and two questionnaires: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Perceived Stress Scale. Clinical information was provided after the second evaluation using WSI and the pathologist could change their diagnostic decision or not. LM showed a higher inter-examiner agreement (k=0.53) than WSI (k=0.45) and a smaller time consumed by the pathologists (mean of 65.53 seconds compared to 91.02 seconds in WSI). In the first analysis using conventional microscopy, there was a positive correlation between kappa values and anxiety (r=0.47, p=0.02), and stress (r=0.64, p<0.01), and an inverse correlation with heart rate (r=-0.48, p=0.02). In the digital analysis, there was also a positive correlation between kappa values and anxiety (r=0.75, p<0.001). After clinical information was given, there was a slight change in 11.3% of the cases, and a great discrepancy in 1.1% of the cases, mainly increasing the OED grade. both microscopy systems had similar results, although LM had slightly higher kappa values, and WSI was more time consuming

Cesarean sections : who wants them and under what circumstances?

O Brasil apresenta altos índices de cesáreas. Este estudo investigou a existência de uma "cultura de cesárea", ou preferência por este tipo de parto, através de uma amostra de 909 puérperas (454 vaginais e 455 cesáreos) em duas maternidades do Município do Rio de Janeiro, onde entrevistas e revisão de prontuários foram realizados entre setembro de 1998 e março de 1999. Perguntou-se às mulheres se queriam que seu parto fosse cesáreo e a maioria absoluta (75,5%) respondeu "não", as razões principais sendo: "recuperação mais difícil e lenta no parto cesáreo" (39,2%) e "dor e sofrimento maior depois da cesárea" (26,8%). Apenas 17% das mulheres solicitaram cesárea e, destas, cerca de 75% o fizeram durante o trabalho de parto/parto. Análise mostrou que quanto maior o intervalo de tempo entre a admissão no hospital e o parto, mais freqüente é a solicitação. A maioria das mulheres, nas maternidades estudadas, não quer e não pede cesárea; ou seja, não existe uma cultura feminina que valorize a cesárea como preferência. Além do desejo da laqueadura, as circunstâncias concretas da assistência no pré-parto/parto parecem influenciar no pedido da mulher. _______________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTBrazil has extremely high cesarean rates. Among related factors, it has been suggested that a "culture of cesarean childbirth" (or a preference for this type of delivery) exists among Brazilian women. Our study investigates this notion. Data were collected from September 1998 to March 1999 in two maternity hospitals in Rio de Janeiro Interviews were conducted and hospital records analyzed for a random representative sample of 909 women who had just given birth (454 vaginal deliveries and 455 cesareans). In the interviews, when asked if they had wanted to have a cesarean, 75.5% replied in the negative, thus indicating that these women cannot be considered as adhering to a "culture of cesarean sections" The main complaints against cesareans were: slower and more difficult recovery (39.2%) and greater pain and suffering (26.8%). However, 17% of the sample had at some point requested a cesarean, 75% of whom during labor. Analysis revealed that the request for a cesarean section is directly proportional to time between admission to the hospital and delivery. This suggests that (in addition to being the usual means of access to tubal ligation) the actual circumstances of birthing are important factors in Brazilian women s requests for cesarean sections

Toward Autism-Friendly Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Exploring Autistic Individuals' Experiences of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scans in the United Kingdom, a Cross-Sectional Survey

BACKGROUND: Autistic individuals might undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination for clinical concerns or research. Increased sensory stimulation, lack of appropriate environmental adjustments, or lack of streamlined communication in the MRI suite may pose challenges to autistic patients and render MRI scans inaccessible. This study aimed at (i) exploring the MRI scan experiences of autistic adults in the United Kingdom; (ii) identifying barriers and enablers toward successful and safe MRI examinations; (iii) assessing autistic individuals' satisfaction with MRI service; and (iv) informing future recommendations for practice improvement. METHODS: We distributed an online survey to the autistic community on social media, using snowball sampling. Inclusion criteria were: being older than 16, have an autism diagnosis or self-diagnosis, self-reported capacity to consent, and having had an MRI scan in the United Kingdom. We used descriptive statistics for demographics, inferential statistics for group comparisons/correlations, and content analysis for qualitative data. RESULTS: We received 112 responses. A total of 29.6% of the respondents reported not being sent any information before the scan. Most participants (68%) confirmed that radiographers provided detailed information on the day of the examination, but only 17.1% reported that radiographers offered some reasonable environmental adjustments. Only 23.2% of them confirmed they disclosed their autistic identity when booking MRI scanning. We found that quality of communication, physical environment, patient emotions, staff training, and confounding societal factors impacted their MRI experiences. Autistic individuals rated their overall MRI experience as neutral and reported high levels of claustrophobia (44.8%). CONCLUSION: This study highlighted a lack of effective communication and coordination of care, either between health care services or between patients and radiographers, and lack of reasonable adjustments as vital for more accessible and person-centered MRI scanning for autistic individuals. Enablers of successful scans included effective communication, adjusted MRI environment, scans tailored to individuals' needs/preferences, and well-trained staff