Avaliação da função pulmonar em obesos mórbidos com sonolência diurna excessiva

Background: Obesity impairment to the pulmonary function related to the magnitude of adiposity and is associated with excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and snoring, among others symptoms of respiratory disorders related to sleep. It is possible that obese individuals with excessive daytime sleepiness may make changes in lung function on spirometry monitored during the day as a consequence of fragmented sleep or episodes of nocturnal hypoventilation that cause respiratory and changes that can persist throughout the day. The combination of these findings alone sleepiness observed by subjective scales with pulmonary function in obese patients is unknown. Objective: To assess the influence of EDS and snoring on pulmonary function in morbidly obese and distinguish between different anthropometric markers, the snoring and sleepiness which the best predictors of spirometric function and respiratory muscle strength and endurance of these patients. Methods: We evaluated 40 morbidly obese markers on the anthropometric, spirometric respiratory variables, maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressures (MIP and MEP) and maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV) and the measured excessive daytime sleepiness (the Epworth sleepiness scale) and snoring (snoring scale of Stanford). The data were treated when the differences between the groups of obese patients with and without sleepiness, whereas the anthropometric variables, respiratory and snoring. Pearson's correlation was performed, and multiple regression analysis assessed the predictors of pulmonary function. For this we used the software SPSS 15.0 for windows and p <0.05. Results: 39 obese patients were included (28 women), age 36.92+11.97y, body mass index (BMI) 49.3+5.1kg/m², waist-hip ratio (WHR) 0.96+0.07 and neck circumference (NC) 44.1+4.2 cm. Spirometric values and respiratory pressures were up 80% of predicted values, except for endurance (MVV <80%). Obese with EDS have lower tidal volume. Positive correlation was observed between BMI and EDS, EDS and NC and between snoring and BMI, and negative correlation between EDS and tidal volume (TV), and between snoring and snoring FVC and FEV1. In linear regression the best predictor of pulmonary function was snoring, followed by NC. NC has more obese with higher strength (MEP, p = 0.031) and endurance (MVV p = 0.018) respiratory muscle. Conclusion: Obese with EDS tend to have lower TV. In addition, snoring and NC can better predict pulmonary function in obese when compared with other anthropometric markers or EDS. Obese patients with higher NC tend to have greater capacity for overall strength of respiratory muscles, but may have low muscle endurance

Variação temporal e descrição de novas espécies de collembola (arthropoda, hexapoda) em uma área de caatinga do nordeste do Brasil

Collembola is one of the most abundant and diverse group of terrestrial arthropods, being at the base of the food chain operating in the decomposition process. They have a wide distribution in the world and can be found in practically all habitats. The knowledge of this distinctive fauna is still deficient in brazilian territory, especially in semi-arid region. The aim of this study was to investigate which climatic variables may act as predictors of species richness, abundance of individuals and compositional structure of the taxocenose of Collembola over 12 months in an area dominated by semi-arid Caatinga vegetation, northeastern Brazil and describe new species of the genus Seira found, more diverse taxon of Collembola in Brazil. Samples were collected in João Câmara, Rio Grande do Norte. Ten plots of 20 x 20 meters were established and the specimens were collected with collection effort of one hour/people using entomological aspirator. The identification and description of the species was carried out by studying the morphology and chaetotaxy. Was performed a multiple regression analysis between species richness and abundance of individuals with climatic variables. A total of 1231 individuals belonging to 15 species, 12 genera and nine families. The greatest richness and abundance of Collembola were found during the rainy season. The genus Seira was the most abundant. Rainfall explained the temporal variation in species richness and abundance of Collembola in the semi-arid region, which is consistent with the biology of these animals. The populations of Collembola showed grouped distribution. Three new species of Seira were described and illustrated and all show similarities with species already registered in the national territory

Variação temporal e descrição de novas espécies de collembola (arthropoda, hexapoda) em uma área de caatinga do nordeste do Brasil

Collembola is one of the most abundant and diverse group of terrestrial arthropods, being at the base of the food chain operating in the decomposition process. They have a wide distribution in the world and can be found in practically all habitats. The knowledge of this distinctive fauna is still deficient in brazilian territory, especially in semi-arid region. The aim of this study was to investigate which climatic variables may act as predictors of species richness, abundance of individuals and compositional structure of the taxocenose of Collembola over 12 months in an area dominated by semi-arid Caatinga vegetation, northeastern Brazil and describe new species of the genus Seira found, more diverse taxon of Collembola in Brazil. Samples were collected in João Câmara, Rio Grande do Norte. Ten plots of 20 x 20 meters were established and the specimens were collected with collection effort of one hour/people using entomological aspirator. The identification and description of the species was carried out by studying the morphology and chaetotaxy. Was performed a multiple regression analysis between species richness and abundance of individuals with climatic variables. A total of 1231 individuals belonging to 15 species, 12 genera and nine families. The greatest richness and abundance of Collembola were found during the rainy season. The genus Seira was the most abundant. Rainfall explained the temporal variation in species richness and abundance of Collembola in the semi-arid region, which is consistent with the biology of these animals. The populations of Collembola showed grouped distribution. Three new species of Seira were described and illustrated and all show similarities with species already registered in the national territory

Influência dos intermediários de distribuição de produtos turísticos no processo de decisão do meio de hospedagem pelo consumidor

This study examines the complex hotel buyer decision process in front of the tourism distribution channels. Its objective is to describe the influence level of the tourism marketing intermediaries, mainly the travel agents and tour operators, over the hotel decision process by the buyer-tourist. The data collection process was done trough a survey with three hundred brazilian tourists hosted in nineteen hotels of Natal, capital of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The data analysis was done using some multivariate statistic techniques as correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, factor analysis and multiple discriminant analysis. The research characterizes the hotel services consumers profile and his trip, and identifying the distribution channels used by them. Furthermore, the research verifies the intermediaries influence exercised over hotel buyer decision process, looking for identify causality relations between the influence level and the buyer profile. Verifies that information about hotels available on internet reduces the probability that this influence can be practiced; however it was possible identifying those consumers considers this information complementary and non-substitutes than the information from intermediaries. The characteristics of the data do not allow indentifying the factors that constraint the intermediaries influence neither identifying discriminant functions of the specific distribution channel choice by consumers. The study concludes that consumers don t agree in have been influenced by intermediaries or don t know if they have, still considering important to consult them and internet doesn t substitute their function as information source

Fatores que influenciam a intenção de compra online: aplicação de um modelo adaptado de aceitação da tecnologia para o comércio eletrônico

This research aims to understand the factors that influence intention to online purchase of consumers, and to identify between these factors those that influence the users and the nonusers of electronic commerce. Thus, it is an applied, exploratory and descriptive research, developed in a quantitative model. Data collection was done through a questionnaire administered to a sample of 194 graduate students from the Centre for Applied Social Sciences of UFRN and data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, confirmatory factorial analysis and simple and multiple linear regression analysis. The results of descriptive statistics revealed that respondents in general and users of electronic commerce have positive perceptions of ease of use, usefulness and social influence about buying online, and intend to make purchases on Internet over the next six months. As for the non-users of electronic commerce, they do not trust the Internet to transact business, have negative perceptions of risk and social influence over purchasing online, and does not intend to make purchases on Internet over the next six months. Through confirmatory factorial analysis six factors were set up: behavioral intention, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived risk, trust and social influence. Through multiple regression analysis, was observed that all these factors influence online purchase intentions of respondents in general, that only the social influence does not influence the intention to continue buying on the Internet from users of electronic commerce, and that only trust and social influence affect the intention to purchase online from non-users of electronic commerce. Through simple regression analysis, was found that trust influences perceptions of ease of use, usefulness and risk of respondents in general and users of electronic commerce, and that trust does not influence the perceptions of risk of non-users of electronic commerce. Finally, it was also found that the perceived ease of use influences perceived usefulness of the three groups. Given this scenario, it was concluded that it is extremely important that organizations that work with online sales know the factors that influence consumers purchasing intentions in order to gain space in their market

Política pública e educação digital no ensino fundamental em Natal/RN: análise de eficácia da atuação dos objetivos do Proinfo Municipal

The present work turns on the public politics of digital inclusion and of the impact of the Technologies of the Information and Communication in the formation of the citizenship. For this, it was opted for doing an analysis of effectiveness of the performance of the objectives of the Proinfo (National Program of Computer Science in the Education) municipal district of Natal-RN. As instrument of collection of data, three types of questionnaires were used. The collected data were analyzed and discussed starting from it analyzes it descriptive of averages and analyze of multiple regression. The results of the research pointed that the teachers and the students use the computer science in a restricted way. On the other hand, the digital education is not still totally contemplated in the schools beneficiaries' digital rérumé by Proinfo municipal and thus, the inefficacy of the program was verified with relationship the educational training and the students' digital inclusion

A satisfação dos clientes internos e o comprometimento organizacional: um estudo à luz do modelo ASH nas indústrias alimentícias no RN

Currently the organizations are passing for continuous cycles of changes due to necessity of survival in the work market. The administration of the future points a way to the organizations of today and tomorrow, the search of the competitiveness from loyalty and motivation of its staff. Of this form, the model of the Auditoria do Sistema Humano (ASH), developed for Spanish researchers and that now it is being applied in Brazil, contemplates a series of dimensions about Human Resources management quality in the companies and the organizational effectiveness, such as the environment where the company is inserted, the strategies, the organizational drawing, the psychological and psychosocial processes, e the reached results. In this direction, the present research analyzed the factors of job satisfaction and organizational commitment, making, also, a relation of causality between the same ones. The quantitative-descriptive research had as population the employees of twenty three nourishing industries of the State of Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil), registered in the Federacy of the Industries of the state. The collection of the data occurred for the months of October of 2005 and March of 2006, by means of the application of questionnaire of model ASH. The sample was composed for 197 employees, however it was observed presence of five outliers, that they had been excluded from the analysis of the data. To extract the dimensions of the satisfaction and the commitment and identification the factorial analysis was used, with extraction method of principal components, rotation Varimax and normalization Kaiser. The gotten dimensions had been evaluated with the calculation of the coefficient Alpha of Cronbach. The factorial analysis of the pointers of the organizational commitment and identification had extracted ten factors. Of these, four had gotten significance of the analyses inside: affective commitment, values commitment, continuance commitment and necessity commitment. The result of the analysis of the pointers of job satisfaction indicated four factors: extrinsic, motivations, relation with the friends and auto-accomplishment. To deal with the data the relation between job satisfaction and organizational commitment it was used technique of multiple regression. The correlation between commitment and satisfaction was satisfactory, detaching the affective commitment with bigger index of correlation, followed of the affective one

Avaliação da cobertura e monitoramento do branqueamento de corais nos

Coral bleaching has been increasingly the focus of research around the world since the early 1980s, when it was verified to be increasing in frequency, intensity and amount of areas affected. The phenomenon has been recorded since 1993, associated with elevation of the sea surface temperature due to El Niños and water thermal anomalies, according to most reports around the world. On the coast of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, a mass coral bleaching event was recorded in the Environmental Protection Area of Coral Reefs (APARC) during March and April 2010, when the water temperature reached 34°C for several days. About 80% of the corals in Maracajaú reef-complex exhibited partial or total bleaching. The aims of this study were to verify representativeness of coral coverage and how the bleaching dynamic has developed among different species. Coral coverage was estimated according to Reef Check Brazil protocol associated with quadrant method, and bleaching was evaluated from biweekly visual surveys in 80 colonies of Favia gravida, Porites astreoides, Siderastrea stellata and Millepora alcicornis. At the same time temperature, pH, salinity and horizontal transparency, as well as mortality and disease occurrence were monitored. Analysis of variance and Multiple Regression from the perspective of time lag concept were used to evaluate the bleaching dynamics among species and the relationship between variation of means of bleaching and variations of abiotic parameters, respectively. Species showed significant differences among themselves as to variation of means of bleaching over time, but the dynamic of variation exhibited similar patterns

Acurácia do teste de labirinto no rastreamento de déficits cognitivos em idosos

This study intended to evaluate the maze test accuracy in cognitive deficit screening in elderly with or without neuropsychological pathology. The sample included 40 healthy young (18-25 years old; mean- 21 ± 1.6), 40 healthy old (60-77 years old; mean- 67 ± 5.1) and 18 patients with probable diagnosis of Alzheimer s disease initial stage (52-90 years old; mean- 78 ± 9.2). Data analysis was made using Anova with Tukey s post hoc, multiple linear regression analysis and ROC curve analysis. According to Tukey s test Alzheimer patients spent more time (46843 ± 37926 ms) to execute the test than healthy young (5482 ± 2873 ms; p= 0.0001) and elderly (17978 ± 13700; p= 0.0001); healthy young executed test n lower time (p= 0.035). According to the regression analysis of age, education level and cognitive performance of the three groups, the cognitive performance was the predictor of the execution time. When analyzing young and elderly only age was the predictor and the cognitive performance was the only factor to influence the test of old aged healthy and patients. The ROC curve analysis indicated 72% accuracy for young and elderly and 36% for healthy and elderly patients. The maze execution time represented a better balance between sensibility (75%) and the specificity (61%) was near 13575 ms, indicating that those subjects that execute the maze in a time higher to this value may show cognitive deficit related to the executive function. According to the results it is suggested that the maze test used in this study shows a good accuracy in the cognitive deficit tracking and may discriminate age changes

Fatores da satisfação e fidelidade do cliente: um estudo no varejo de supermercado

This thesis deals with the factors affecting customer satisfaction and loyalty in the supermarket sector. It is adapted a model proposed by Johnson et al. (2001) and included the brand construct as a loyalty of construct antecedent. It is conducted a survey with a sample of 290 customers of a supermarket in Natal city, Brazil, and descriptive and multiple regression statistical analysis. The main findings are that the proposed model is confirmed with quality being the main factor affecting satisfaction, but also in this case the place marketing construct playing a key role on satisfaction. The loyalty model is also supported by this research with the brand construct appearing important for a segment of the customers. This study support the conclusion that customer satisfaction is not the sole or main factor to explain loyalty

Fatores da satisfação do cidadão com a gestão pública: um estudo sobre o orçamento participativo municipal

This thesis deals with the quality dimensions and factors affecting citizens satisfaction in the participatory budgeting process in a major city of Brazil. Participatory budgeting was introduced as a usual practice in many Brazilian cities since the 1990s. It is adapted a model proposed by Johnson et al. (2001) of customer satisfaction and loyalty antecedent factors with constructs related to governance also included, to evaluate the quality perception and satisfaction rates by citizens representatives in the participatory budgeting process. It is conducted a survey with a sample of 84 citizens representatives of the seven city regions of Natal, the capital of a Northeastern State of Brazil. It is applied descriptive and multiple regression statistical analysis. The main findings related to quality and governance constructs are that the quality factors are the main factors affecting satisfaction but also the tax construct is significative to satisfaction. More regarding it was found that for different perspective of the satisfaction there are different set of factors affecting it

Fatores da satisfação, fidelidade e recomendação em serviço de saúde: estudo em setor ambulatorial de hospital

This thesis deals with the factors affecting customer satisfaction, loyalty and recommendation in the health care sector. It is adapted a model proposed by Johnson et al. (2001) of quality and loyalty antecedent factors and it is conducted a survey with a sample of 109 customers of a hospital on the ambulatory in Natal city, a capital of a Northeastern State of Brazil. It is carried descriptive and multiple regression statistical analysis. The main findings related to satisfaction are that quality factors of doctor professionalism, clerical staff efficiency, consultancy room comfort, time to provide the medical consultancy but also hospital localization are the most significant factors affecting satisfaction. Regarding personal full loyalty, satisfaction with the hospital and affective commitment are the main factors yet for partial loyalty image and calculate commitment play the main role. For recommendation satisfaction, image and brand are the main factors. The overall model used fairly explains the satisfaction, loyalty and recommendation outcomes with varying factors regarding each final purpose, e.g. loyalty or recommendation

A influência da responsabilidade social empresarial na satisfação e fidelidade do cliente : um estudo com compradores de automóveis

This study presents an investigation of the influence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in customer s satisfaction and loyalty through a study with car s buyers, besides that, it aims to contribute to conceptual models of satisfaction and loyalty analysis by applying the model of Johnson et al. (2001), adapted for the introduction of variables of CSR and conscious consumption, in a car dealership in Natal / RN. The methodology has a descriptive quantitative approach and for the analysis results were applied statistical methods of simple and multiple linear regression analysis, descriptive analysis and exploratory analysis. The field research provided 90 valid forms. The results show that CSR affects the image of the company studied and is also one of the elements of the compound of satisfaction and loyalty. This study concludes that CSR should be considered in the strategic and marketing actions of firms

Gestão de satisfação e fidelidade do cliente na hotelaria :um estudo sobre os fatores que influenciam a satisfação e a fidelidade do turista internacional no Brasil

The objective of this thesis was studying the factors which contribute to customer s satisfaction and loyalty, focusing the Norwegian model of satisfaction and loyalty of the consumer, applied in the sector of hotel services in Natal/RN, Brazil. The theoretical research was led through the concepts of service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty, models of quality management systems, national index of customer s satisfaction and methods which evaluate the customer s satisfaction. The field research was carried through from December 1st of 2004 to 24 st, among 381 international tourists who had been housed in the hotels of Natal. The analyses of the data had been made through the descriptive statistics and analysis of multiple regression. The results had evidenced that the main precedents variables of satisfaction had been: hotel s room, staff friendliness, hotel restaurant food and price paid; these are factors which explained, in 56,0% the variation of satisfaction with hotels. In relation to the constructs which had influenced the tourist s loyalty, were founds: tourist s satisfaction, hotel image and affective commitment, which had explained 53.0% of the data variability. The complaint management resulted as a basic factor for the tourist s satisfaction and loyalty

Gestão ambiental na educação: um estudo sobre fatores que afetam o comportamento ambiental de professores do ensino médio, na cidade de Floriano-PI

The present work sets out environmental issues in educational field. The aim of this research was to investigate the factors capable to influence the environmental behavior of the teachers in High school of the public school in Floriano, state of Piaui. For this, the methodology utilized an explanatory and descriptive search like a survey; questionnaires were applied with open and close questions establishing shifts that made up the following aspects; knowledge, behavior, responsibility, participation and trait of the teachers. The statistic techniques to analyze the data were descriptive analysis and analysis of multiple regression. The results reveal that teachers care about the real surrounding problems and believe that the school must develop ambient activities to stir the consciousness, it is important to the environmental improvement of the city. However, the results point out that are developed little activities related to theme concerned, besides the level of ambient consciousness given to the students are median. It was observed that teachers have little knowledge about theme like Agenda 21 and ISO14000. After identifying some factors of environmental knowledge, it was showed recommendations. The Agenda 21 recognizes in the educational field a mean of popular consciousness; the school should develop an education according to national policy of the environmental education