9,220 research outputs found
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Impact of the Health Gym Program on hospital admissions for stroke in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil
This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the Health Gym Program (HGP) on hospital admissions for stroke in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. This policy impact evaluation used a quasi-experimental approach consisting of a difference-in-differences estimator, weighted by propensity score matching to deal with potential confounding variables. The study comprised socioeconomic, demographic, and epidemiological data from official Brazilian databases from 2010 to 2019. The treatment group was composed of the 134 municipalities that implemented the HGP since 2011. The 51 municipalities that did not were allocated to the comparison group. The nearest neighbor algorithm (N5) was used to pair treatment and comparison group municipalities and create the weights to evaluate the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) in the difference-in-differences estimator. In 2010, 2,771 people were hospitalized for stroke (0.51% of all hospitalizations) and in 2019, 11,542 (2%). Municipalities that implemented the HGP had 18.37% fewer hospitalizations than their counterparts in the comparison group. The program’s impact in reducing hospitalization rates was incrementally greater among men (ATT: -0.1932) and those aged 71 to 80 years (ATT: -0.1911). All results were statistically significant at the 5% level. The HGP reduced hospitalization for stroke in several population groups, but primarily in those whose underlying prevalence of stroke is highest, reinforcing the importance of public investments in health promotion policies designed to encourage lifestyle changes.Resumo: O estudo teve como objetivo avaliar o impacto do Programa Academia da Saúde (PAS) nas internações hospitalares por acidente vascular cerebral (AVC) no Estado de Pernambuco, Brasil. Esta avaliação
de impacto das políticas utilizou uma abordagem quase-experimental que consiste em um estimador de diferença-em-diferenças, ponderado
pelo pareamento por escore de propensão para lidar com possíveis fatores de confusão. O estudo foi composto por dados socioeconômicos, demográficos e epidemiológicos de bases de dados oficiais brasileiras entre os anos de 2010 e 2019. O grupo de tratamento foi composto pelos 134 municípios que implantaram o PAS a partir de 2011, e os 51
municípios que não implantaram foram alocados no grupo de comparação. O algoritmo do vizinho mais próximo (N5) foi utilizado para emparelhar
os municípios tratados e comparar aos municípios do grupo controle, criando os pesos que foram utilizados para avaliar o efeito médio do tratamento sobre o tratado (ATT) no estimador de diferença-
-em-diferenças. Houve 2.771 internações por AVC em 2010 (0,51% de todas as internações) e 11.542 (2%) em 2019. Os municípios que implementaram o PAS tiveram 18,37% menos internações em comparação
com seus homólogos no grupo de comparação. O impacto do programa na redução das taxas de internação foi maior entre os homens (ATT: -0,1932) e naqueles com idade entre 71 e 80 anos (ATT: -0,1911). Todos os resultados foram estatisticamente significativos em um nível de 5%. O
PAS reduziu a hospitalização por AVC em vários grupos populacionais, mas principalmente naqueles em que a prevalência subjacente de AVC é mais alta, reforçando a importância dos investimentos públicos em políticas de promoção da saúde destinadas a estimular mudanças nos estilos de vida.
Avaliação de Programas e Projetos de Saúde;
Doença Crônica; Promoção da Saúde; Pontuação
de Propensão; Acidente Vascular CerebralResumen: El objetivo de este trabajo es evaluar el impacto del Programa Academia de la Salud (PAS) en los ingresos hospitalarios por accidente cerebrovascular (ACV) en el estado de Pernambuco, Brasil. Esta evaluación del impacto de la política utilizó un enfoque cuasi-experimental que consiste en un estimador de diferencias en diferencias, ponderado por el emparejamiento de puntuación de propensión para hacer frente a posibles factores de confusión. El estudio incluyó datos socioeconómicos, demográficos y epidemiológicos de bases de datos oficiales brasileñas de 2010 a 2019. El grupo de tratamiento se compuso de los 134 municipios que implementaron el PAS a partir de 2011 y los 51 municipios que no lo hicieron se asignaron al grupo de comparación. Se utilizó el algoritmo del vecino más próximo (N5) para emparejar los municipios tratados y los del grupo de comparación y crear las ponderaciones que se emplearon para evaluar el efecto medio del tratamiento sobre los tratados (ATT) en el estimador de diferencias en diferencias. Hubo 2.771 hospitalizaciones por ACV en 2010 (0,51% de todas las hospitalizaciones) y 11.542 (2%) en 2019. Los municipios que aplicaron el PAS tuvieron un 18,37% menos de hospitalizaciones en comparación con sus homólogos del grupo de comparación. El impacto del programa en la reducción de las tasas de hospitalización fue gradualmente mayor entre los hombres (ATT: -0,1932) y entre las personas de 71 a 80 años (ATT: -0,1911). Todos los resultados fueron estadísticamente significativos al nivel del 5%. El PAS redujo la hospitalización por ACV en varios grupos de población, pero principalmente en aquellos en los que la prevalencia subyacente de ACV es mayor, lo que refuerza la importancia de las inversiones públicas en políticas de promoción de la salud diseñadas para impulsar cambios en los estilos de vida.
Evaluación de Programas y Proyectos de Salud;
Enfermedad Crónica; Promoción de la Salud;
Puntaje de Propensión; Accidente CerebrovascularPernambuco State Foundation for the Support of Science and Technology (FACEPE), and the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq)
Exploration of the Eucalyptus globulus gene pool
The first Europeans to discover Eucalyptus
globulus were French explorers in 1792. Its seed
was rapidly spread throughout the world in the
19th century and this was the species by which
much of the world first knew the genus.
However, it was in the industrial forests of the
20th century that this species, once considered
the ‘Prince of Eucalypts’, achieved greatest
prominence due to its fast growth and superior
pulp qualities. Formal breeding first commenced
in 1966 in Portugal and in the late 1980’s large
base population trials from open-pollinated seed
collections from native stands were established
in many countries. These trials have provided
unprecedented insights into the quantitative
genetic control of numerous traits of economic
and ecological importance and how this variation
is spatially distributed in the native range of the
species. However with large, fully pedigreed
breeding populations becoming available for
quantitative analysis and the rapidly expanding
knowledge of DNA sequence variation, we are
now at the threshold of a new understanding of
this important eucalypt gene pool. Indications of
the significance of non-additive genetic effects
are becoming available. The E. globulus
chloroplast genome has now been sequenced
and several genome maps have been published.
Studies of the variation in nuclear microsatellites
and the lignin biosynthesis gene CCR confirm
the complex, spatially structured nature of the
native gene pool. Strong spatial structuring of
the chloroplast genome has provided a tool for
tracking seed migration and the geographic
origin of exotic landraces. Highly divergent
lineages of chloroplast DNA have been
discovered and studies of the hypervariable JLA+
region argue that some components of the E.
globulus gene pool have been assimilated from
other species following hybridisation
Photosynthesis by six portuguese maize cultivars during drought stress and recovery
Photosynthesis, chlorophyll fluorescence and leaf water parameters were measured in six Portuguese maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars during and following a period of drought stress. The leaf relative water content (RWC) responded differently among cultivars but, except for cultivar PB369, recovered close to initial values after watering was restored.
Photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance decreased with drought but more slowly in cultivars PB269 and PB260 than in cultivars AD3R, PB64, PB304 and PB369. Water use efficiency (WUE) decreased during the water stress treatment although with cultivar PB260 the decrease was marked only when the RWC fell below 40%. Recovery of WUE was seen with all cultivars except PB369. The maximum quantum efficiency of photosystem II, the
photochemical quenching coefficient, the electron transport rate in PSII and the estimated functional plastoquinone pool
tended to decrease with drought, while the non -photochemical quenching coefficient increased. The parameters estimated from chlorophyll fluorescence did not recover in PB369, during re - watering. The results show that PB260 and PB269 were the most tolerant and PB369 was the least tolerant cultivars to water stress. The variation found amongst
the cultivars tested suggests the existence of valuable genetic resources for crop improvement in relation to drought tolerance
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A new interpretation of total column BrO during Arctic spring
Emission of bromine from sea-salt aerosol, frost flowers, ice leads, and snow results in the nearly complete removal of surface ozone during Arctic spring. Regions of enhanced total column BrO observed by satellites have traditionally been associated with these emissions. However, airborne measurements of BrO and O3 within the convective boundary layer (CBL) during the ARCTAS and ARCPAC field campaigns at times bear little relation to enhanced column BrO. We show that the locations of numerous satellite BrO "hotspots" during Arctic spring are consistent with observations of total column ozone and tropopause height, suggesting a stratospheric origin to these regions of elevated BrO. Tropospheric enhancements of BrO large enough to affect the column abundance are also observed, with important contributions originating from above the CBL. Closure of the budget for total column BrO, albeit with significant uncertainty, is achieved by summing observed tropospheric partial columns with calculated stratospheric partial columns provided that natural, short-lived biogenic bromocarbons supply between 5 and 10 ppt of bromine to the Arctic lowermost stratosphere. Proper understanding of bromine and its effects on atmospheric composition requires accurate treatment of geographic variations in column BrO originating from both the stratosphere and troposphere. Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union
An assessment of the integration between corporate social responsibility practices and management systems in Brazil aiming at sustainability in enterprises
The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is associated with the idea that every organization should integrate environmental, economic and social issues as part of their organizational philosophy. In companies with a higher degree of development in terms of CSR, sustainable practices are integrated into management systems. When focusing on Latin America, this integration may be at its first steps, but there is a vacuum in the literature in this field. Based on this reality, this paper aims to evaluate the integration between CSR practices and management systems in companies in Brazil based on experts’ perceptions. Employing a conceptual model covering how stakeholder demands are incorporated in organizational practices using a continuous improvement approach, we performed a survey with experts in the area. Results revealed opportunities for improvements in all CSR practices evaluated, most of which were considered by the experts to have been implemented only superficially. In a comparative analysis, two practices stood out in relation to the others: reporting of CSR results to stakeholders and evaluation of the performance of CSR activities using pre-established indicators. Practices associated with planning of CSR activities are the most superficially implemented, adversely affecting CSR performance. The authors believe that the findings of this study could be useful for business managers and academics as guidance towards improved CSR efforts
Gravitational waves: search results, data analysis and parameter estimation
The Amaldi 10 Parallel Session C2 on gravitational wave (GW) search results, data analysis and parameter estimation included three lively sessions of lectures by 13 presenters, and 34 posters. The talks and posters covered a huge range of material, including results and analysis techniques for ground-based GW detectors, targeting anticipated signals from different astrophysical sources: compact binary inspiral, merger and ringdown; GW bursts from intermediate mass binary black hole mergers, cosmic string cusps, core-collapse supernovae, and other unmodeled sources; continuous waves from spinning neutron stars; and a stochastic GW background. There was considerable emphasis on Bayesian techniques for estimating the parameters of coalescing compact binary systems from the gravitational waveforms extracted from the data from the advanced detector network. This included methods to distinguish deviations of the signals from what is expected in the context of General Relativity
Implementation of cleaner production: A ten-year retrospective on benefits and difficulties found
leaner production is a fast-growing area with numerous important developments seen over the years,which have led to substantial improvements, both in technological, process and organization terms. Yet there is a paucity of literature organizing the body of knowledge on the benefits and difficulties seen inthis field. Thus, following a systematic literature review protocol, this paper provides a ten-year state-of-the-art analysis on the benefits and difficulties faced in the implementation of cleaner productionstrategies, and outlines some means via which they may be addressed. Main results point out thatcompanies and governments have been able to successfully reap both tangible and intangible benefits after Cleaner Production implementation as its appeal to attract customers and reap reputation gain increases, for example. However, the results also show a series of difficulties that remain and hinders the widespread advancement of this methodology
The nuclear envelope protein, LAP1B, is a novel protein phosphatase 1 substrate
Protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) binding proteins are quintessential regulators, determining substrate specificity and defining subcellular localization and activity of the latter. Here, we describe a novel PP1 binding protein, the nuclear membrane protein lamina associated polypeptide 1B (LAP1B), which interacts with the DYT1 dystonia protein torsinA. The PP1 binding domain in LAP1B was here identified as the REVRF motif at amino acids 55-59. The LAP1B:PP1 complex can be immunoprecipitated from cells in culture and rat cortex and the complex was further validated by yeast co-transformations and blot overlay assays. PP1, which is enriched in the nucleus, binds to the N-terminal nuclear domain of LAP1B, as shown by immunocolocalization and domain specific binding studies. PP1 dephosphorylates LAP1B, confirming the physiological relevance of this interaction. These findings place PP1 at a key position to participate in the pathogenesis of DYT1 dystonia and related nuclear envelope-based diseases.publishe
Neocucullanus neocucullanus Travassos, Artigas et Pereira, 1928 (Nematoda: Cucullanidae) from the Characidae fish, Brycon hilarii Valenciennes, 1850, from Brazil
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