Providing Customer Value through Non-Fungible Tokens: A Preliminary Study

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are digital certificates of ownership that can be attached to any virtual or physical item. Recently, they have become increasingly popular, especially with the advent of metaverses, virtual spaces that are shared and accessible online. Many organizations are launching NFT initiatives for a variety of reasons including retaining customers, developing new revenue streams, or demonstrating that they are keeping up with the latest technological advances. When organizations launch NFT initiatives, they provide value to NFT users in various ways, depending on the NFT characteristics. This paper is a preliminary study to understand the value offered by organizations and perceived by NFT users. We examine 46 NFT initiatives from 42 companies to determine what value can be provided to users of NFTs. The goal is to provide a basis for further analysis on the values of NFTs and to support the design of Information Systems for NFTs

Viscosupplementation improves pain, function and muscle strength, but not proprioception, in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a prospective randomized trial

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of intra-articular infiltration with hyaluronic acid and dexamethasone alone and in combination in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (OA). METHOD: This prospective randomized trial evaluated 44 patients undergoing treatment for OA. Patients were selected through clinical and radiological analysis using the American College of Rheumatology criteria. We included patients aged between 50 and 70 years who presented with K-L stage p2 knee OA and normal limb alignment. Patients with a previous history of knee injury (ligamentous, meniscal or traumatic), infection, patellofemoral OA or chondroprotective drug use in the previous year were excluded. Participants were randomized into 3 groups and underwent treatment with viscosupplementation (VS, n=16), viscosupplementation plus dexamethasone (VD, n=16) or dexamethasone (DX, n=12). All patients were evaluated before and 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months after infiltration. Analysis included a physical examination, the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) questionnaire (total score and domain subscores) and an evaluation of knee extensor and flexor strength and proprioception using an isokinetic dynamometer. RESULTS: VS significantly improved the WOMAC total score and subscores for pain, stiffness and function for up to 6 months after infiltration. It also improved knee extensor and flexor strength during the same period. Proprioception was not affected by any of the treatments. CONCLUSIONS: VS alone improved pain, stiffness and function according to the WOMAC total score and subscores and improved knee extensor and flexor strength, but not proprioception, for up to six months after infiltration. These findings suggest that VS has a positive effect on quadriceps arthrogenic inhibition

Estrutura Curricular dos Cursos de Fisioterapia do Estado de Goiás: Um destaque a saúde coletiva

A formação acadêmica do fisioterapeuta no Brasil, que teve início na década de 50, evoluiu significativamente ao longo do tempo, mantendo sua estrutura curricular voltada para formação curativa e reabilitadora. O objetivo deste estudo é analisar a estrutura curricular dos cursos de Fisioterapia no estado de Goiás, dando ênfase às propostas de formação para a saúde coletiva. Foram analisadas nove das quatorze instituições que fornecem o curso de graduação em Fisioterapia no estado de Goiás, onde as disciplinas das matrizes curriculares foram distribuídas em sete áreas para análise dos dados. Foi utilizado o programa de estatística no qual foi aplicado o teste de correlação de Pearson. A amostra representou 64,28% do total de cursos de fisioterapia do estado de Goiás, onde 58% da estrutura curricular dos cursos de Fisioterapia estão vinculados à Área Profissionalizante, havendo uma discrepância significativa entre a Área Profissionalizante e a Área de Saúde Coletiva. Diante dos dados encontrados, percebe-se uma desvalorização da saúde coletiva, mostrando que a formação profissional ainda está voltada para o modelo curativo e reabilitador

Productivity and quality of cotton fiber in different planting seasons

Cotton is one of the main agricultural products produced in Brazil. With such a high demand in the market, it is necessary that the cotton cultivars present high productivity and fiber quality. In order to favor the expression of the potential of the genotypes, the cultivation must occur in climatic conditions that provide good development of the plants, being the sowing time a primordial factor for the good performance of the cotton plant. In order to establish an ideal sowing season for different cotton genotypes, the present study aimed to evaluate the best sowing season of cotton genotypes for the environment of Uberlândia (Minas Gerais State), aiming at productivity and fiber quality. The experiment was carried out in field conditions, in the 2016/2017 harvest in the experimental area located at Fazenda Capim Branco, in the city of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais State. A randomized complete block design (DBC) with four replications in a 4x7 factorial scheme was used: 4/12 sowing dates: 05/12, 19/12, 30/12, 13/01 and 7 genotypes. 5 strains of the breeding program of the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU) and 2 commercial cultivars. The evaluated characteristics were: seed cotton yield, feather yield, micronaire index, maturity index, fiber length, uniformity of length, short fibers, resistance and elongation. It was concluded that the best sowing season for a high productivity was the one performed on 12/05/16, with emphasis on the UFUJP-Z genotype. For fiber quality, UFUJP-C showed the best results at the 12/19/16 sowing season