Síndrome de Burnout : um estudo com guias de turismo regional em Natal-RN

Burnout is a psychological syndrome triggered in response to continuous exposure to interpersonal stressors. It is considered a multifactorial construct, which is commonly characterized by three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, dehumanization, and lack of personal accomplishment.This study aimed to verify if the three characteristics of burnout (exhaustion, lack of dehumanization and personal accomplishment) are present in people working as guides Tourism in Natal - RN. It is a descriptive and quantitative study. 109 subjects were surveyed. Data collection was done through the use of questionnaires, the instrument used was the characterization of the Burnout Scale (ECB) created and validated in Brazil by Trocoli and Tamayo (2000). In order to analyze data we used descriptive statistics, analysis of core measures, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis, cluster analysis, multiple discriminant and Spearman correlation. Factor analysis identified four factors that explain 58.3% of the total variance. Those factors were named exhaustion, deception, avoidance, and dehumanization. The reliability of the instrument, as measured by Cronbach's Alpha was 0.918, which is considered excellent reliability. The 109 subjects were grouped into three cluster, which had the deception, avoidance, and dehumanization as discriminant. It is possible to conclude that the characteristics of burnout syndrome are present in the studied population where 19 people are on the high level of burnout, moderate in 32 and 56 in the light. The correlations between socio-demographic variables studied and the dimensions of burnout, were few and weak. The variable leave for health reasons in the study appeared to be related to feelings of exhaustion and avoidance behavior appeared related to younger individuals and who work only in the activity of Receptive Tourism Guide. Verification of the incidence of burnout in individuals surveyed suggest the need to adopt intervention strategies are individual, organizational and / or combined

Uma metodologia para a análise do desempenho sustentável dos postos de revenda de combustível na cidade de Natal/RN, com o uso de data envelopment analysis-DEA

The increasing use of fossil fuels in line with cities demographic explosion carries out to huge environmental impact in society. For mitigate these social impacts, regulatory requirements have positively influenced the environmental consciousness of society, as well as, the strategic behavior of businesses. Along with this environmental awareness, the regulatory organs have conquered and formulated new laws to control potentially polluting activities, mostly in the gas stations sector. Seeking for increasing market competitiveness, this sector needs to quickly respond to internal and external pressures, adapting to the new standards required in a strategic way to get the Green Badge . Gas stations have incorporated new strategies to attract and retain new customers whom present increasingly social demand. In the social dimension, these projects help the local economy by generating jobs and income distribution. In this survey, the present research aims to align the social, economic and environmental dimensions to set the sustainable performance indicators at Gas Stations sector in the city of Natal/RN. The Sustainable Balanced Scorecard (SBSC) framework was create with a set of indicators for mapping the production process of gas stations. This mapping aimed at identifying operational inefficiencies through multidimensional indicators. To carry out this research, was developed a system for evaluating the sustainability performance with application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) through a quantitative method approach to detect system s efficiency level. In order to understand the systemic complexity, sub organizational processes were analyzed by the technique Network Data Envelopment Analysis (NDEA) figuring their micro activities to identify and diagnose the real causes of overall inefficiency. The sample size comprised 33 Gas stations and the conceptual model included 15 indicators distributed in the three dimensions of sustainability: social, environmental and economic. These three dimensions were measured by means of classical models DEA-CCR input oriented. To unify performance score of individual dimensions, was designed a unique grouping index based upon two means: arithmetic and weighted. After this, another analysis was performed to measure the four perspectives of SBSC: learning and growth, internal processes, customers, and financial, unifying, by averaging the performance scores. NDEA results showed that no company was assessed with excellence in sustainability performance. Some NDEA higher efficiency Gas Stations proved to be inefficient under certain perspectives of SBSC. In the sequence, a comparative sustainable performance and assessment analyzes among the gas station was done, enabling entrepreneurs evaluate their performance in the market competitors. Diagnoses were also obtained to support the decision making of entrepreneurs in improving the management of organizational resources and promote guidelines the regulators. Finally, the average index of sustainable performance was 69.42%, representing the efforts of the environmental suitability of the Gas station. This results point out a significant awareness of this segment, but it still needs further action to enhance sustainability in the long term

A mediação do diálogo e da reflexão na prática do supervisor pedagógico no município de Jardim de Piranhas/RN

In preparation for reviewing and reflect about the pedagogical practice of teaching supervisor, noting instances of continuing education in service, dialogue-based, reflective and shared as propelling in the construction of theoretical and practical knowledge is that we propose to undertake this research. Based in our professional practice and stimulated by the desire to contribute with the education in the city of Jardim de Piranhas-RN our intention was to highlight issues which arising from practice teaching, especially those guided in the principles of a continuing, dialogic and reflexive teachers training. In that sense we are encouraged to answer the following question. How has been developed the work of teaching supervisor in the city of Jardim de Piranhas and what kind of elements should be constituted by a continuing education in school if those elements are enhanced by a reflexive action and dialogue-based? Thus, we performed studies of theoretical foundation based in Nóvoa (1995, 2001, 2003), where he emphasizes the importance of take in account the practice itself as a source for the study in the construction of a new teaching practice process, in Alarcão (1999; 2001; 2002; 2003), Schön (1995, 2000), Tardif (2003) and Perrenoud (2002), Gomes (1998), Navarro (2005) and Oliveira (2006), among others, provided the basis to discuss the role of reflection and dialogue in the school and classroom. We still emphasize the ideas of Paulo Freire (1981; 1992; 1996; 2001; 2002), which is consistent with the proposal for a reflexive action and training. For this we adopted a methodology based in the qualitative research with field note, intending to observe the strategies which emerge in the educational supervisor practice. This practice should contribute to the training of teachers. In this process we chose three dimensions that provide structure and power in their work. So, we can describe as conceptual, strategic and changeable

Dimensões didática, afetiva e formativa de docência que tecem as representações sociais entre licenciandos da UFPI

This study intends to analyze the social representation of teaching for students of first years of undergraduate courses in Education, Letters and Biology. The field of this research was the Federal University of Piaui - Campus of Picos in 2009. To reach the objective proposed above, was used the theory of social representations to the seizure of the elements which constitute such representations according to Moscovici and colleagues, considering the contribution of Abric with his Theory of Central Nucleus and Wagner with the Theory of Sociogenesis. Data were collected in two phases: first, through the Technique of Free Association of Words (TFAW) of which 100 subjects evoked representations of their teaching through the inductor terms 'to teach', 'student' and 'teacher'. For those data we used the EVOC software that promoted to detect the elements of the core and to conclude that the social representation of teaching is one of the work performed by a master / teacher who transmits, directed to an apprentice who learns, confined to the school involving the student with all his virtues to be smart, interested and dedicated, and teacher to be friend, wise bearer of knowledge and also intelligent. Then, using the Multiple Classification Procedure (MCP) only 10 subjects made ratings of 25 more evoked words in the first phase, for the analysis of data from the MPC with the use of the SPSS software we used Multidimensional Statistical Analysis (MSA) for the Free Classification we found three dimensions of Social Representation of Teaching: The Didactic, that focuses on teacher and student being superimposed, meaning the inseparability of these elements, the Affective, which presents the elements inherent in teachers with love as the strong point of this dimension, and the Formative, that is as ambiguous as ambivalent because it sees the teacher as a professional directed to help students get an education; for Directed Classification with Similarity Structure Analysis (SSA), we learn that teaching is a profession that materializes in the classroom, which is extremely true because the action happens in this teaching space, supposing a caring, loving, cheerful, capable, apt, patient, partner, responsible, dedicated, committed educator, who has wisdom and knows how to teach and help students through dialogue to there study and learning. All of it s necessary to occur the result of teaching, which is education in a disciplinary manner. The results point to a very traditional social representation of what is the role of teachers, the role of students and the role of the relationship itself between teaching and learning through the act of teaching. With this statement, we can confirm that the structure of Social Representation of Teaching for the investigated subjects reflects the sociogenetic conditions that engendered them, and that these conditions permeate their structural organization, in particular time-context in which social representation was captured

SINAES: as diferentes faces da avaliação na UFRN

This thesis entitled SINAES: the different faces of the evaluation at UFRN, aims to analyze the configuration that the national policy for assessment in higher education has taken on UFRN. We assume that in recent years there are an oscillation between the concepts of evaluation, according with the logic of public administration it has preferred an approach that presents itself as a promoter of quality, sometimes with regulatory aspects, sometimes with educational ones. The text discusses the use of the new assessment tools for higher education placing them under the new demands on state reform context in which this is to promote and measure quality based on the values of excellence and competitiveness. This movement arises from the redefinition of the role of the State that has been taking features of Evaluator State. From a historical review of government initiatives in the field of evaluation, we analyze the characteristics of assessment policies outlined over the past decades. We are based on the theoretical method that aims to examine the multiple determinants that shape a particular reality from the larger movement of totality. To identify, in this case, connections and ruptures that have emerged over the history of assessment policies aimed at higher education by checking their determinants in order to better explain the reality. To investigate the object of this study we used as instruments: the research literature and research documents, the semi-structured interviews and non-participant observation. The study revealed that there are different practices of evaluation and that before to establishment the SINAES program, the UFRN already had a culture of an institutional assessment, more participatory and democratic, opposing to the rigidity of the self-assessment in SINAES program that it was instituted by the Commission for assessment (CPA). We also noticed that the implementation of the SINAES at URFN has been performed very slowly and the breadth and complexity of the evaluation process has contributed to hinder its implementation in all dimensions provided by MEC. Although it was observed that in its operationalization the SINAES has assumed a more normative assessment and directed to establish rankings between courses and higher education schools than to establish a more qualitative assessment in this system. As regards the evaluation of the undergraduate course studied on this research and subjected to the three dimensions of evaluation proposed by SINAES (self-assessment, Evaluation of Courses and ENADE) it was not possible to verify an effective integration between the methods of assessing conducted. The results are considered separately, in only a partial view of the course evaluated the proposal what pits the SINAES as a system that involves the totality

Consciência corporal e educação física escolar: possibilidades de intervenção

The investigation about the body consciousness in school Physical Education had as main objective reporting a possibility of intervention, linking it directly to the contents of Physical Education and considering it as a crosscutting theme in this research. In this scope, we worked specifically with two contents of Physical Education - knowledge about the body and fights. During the study, we are going to discuss about teaching strategies for the themes of body awareness. To develop this work, we used the following study questions: how is treated the body consciousness in Physical Education and how it has been addressed in educational interventions? What are the difficulties found to the themes of body awareness on different issues of school Physical Education? How body awareness thematized in contents in Physical Education is received by the students and what are the attitudes demonstrated by them during the development of these lessons? Based from questions of study, we used the following methodological tools: participant observation, interviews, photographic records, debates, films, dramatizations and dynamics, which they were performed to stimulate students' critical thinking about their body and the other children s one. The research with ethnographic characteristics was conducted in two schools: one elementary school I, in Natal and one elementary school II, held in the municipality of the João Câmara, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. We developed a structure in order that the three dimensions of contents conceptual, procedural and attitudinal were experienced by students. The work is structured in five chapters. At first, we made an introduction to justify the motivations that led us to write about body awareness at school. In the second chapter, we discussed reflection about the body and its possibilities of understanding, reflecting on the body and how this awareness was being treated in physical education classes at school. In the third chapter, dealing with the body awareness and dialogue with the Physical Education, we had made a theoretical approach, from authors such as CLARO (1988), NÓBREGA (2000), ARAGÃO (2004), MELO (2006), LORENZETTO and MATTHIESEN (2008) in order to situate the body consciousness and its relationship with physical education. In the fourth chapter, we talked about body awareness thematized in physical education contents: knowledge about the body and fights. We introduced the teaching experience developed in the school and we discussed with authors such as OLIVIER (2000), DARIDO AND RANGEL (2008), among others, about how was the reflection about the body leaving of these experiences. The fifth chapter was intended to closing remarks, in which we concluded that the body awareness, treated in physical education in school by sociocultural and historical aspects, it will contribute in building a man, a body and a society. Although the body consciousness is crafted in a few moments of Physical Education, based on the practices of body awareness or alternatives; in our proposal, we pointed out another perspective to work with body awareness, bringing its elements to permeate and pass through the contents of Physical Education. At work we can see a suggestion for that these experiences are carried out by other Physical Education professionals, obviously adapting the activities according to age and educational level of students

Mecanismos sócio-genéticos da representação social de trabalho docente por grupos de licenciandos de física e de química da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte

This research aims to understand the social representations Teaching Work in groups of undergraduate students of Physics and Chemistry of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. For this, the proposal was based on the three theoretical and methodological consensus Carvalho (2012) in the explanation of socio-genetic mechanisms constituents of dynamic consensus that has functionality to your organization. It Was used to achieve this goal, the theoretical-epistemological Serge Moscovici (1978, 2003), Jodelet (2011), Wagner (1998,( 2011) and Carvalho (2012). The corpus analyzed results from a qualitative and quantitative research, developed in three stages. The first two (2) questionnaires to fifty (50) of each undergraduate course, a questionnaire and another profile for collection of free associations concerning motes inductors "Give Lesson," "Student" and "Teacher". The second step in the procedure Multiple Classifications, Roazzi (1995), aimed for another thirty (30) undergraduate students for each course, as well as Document Analysis of Educational Projects Curriculum courses in Physics and Chemistry. The data analysis of the first stage focused on descriptive statistics and frequency and average order of the words associated with motes inductors. The results from the Multiple Classification Procedure submitted to multidimensional analysis (MSA multidimensional scalogram analysis) and SSA (Similarity Structure Analysis), were interpreted by the theoretical and methodological proposal of the three consensus, supported by analysis of the rhetorical nature of justifications classifications and categorizations of words, boosted in times of application of Procedure Multiple Classification. The data revealed that the groups surveyed were the same Social Representation with specific dynamic consensual. Thinking Teaching Work for these groups it is considered in three dimensions: the BE-DO-HAVE of teaching. In the group of Physics consensus was clear semantic, which expressed a dynamic in which the interpretations of "Teaching Work" peacefully coexist on perceptions of two concepts: An identity around the "BE" "Teacher" or "BE" "Educator" and the other, how they think about professional development. The type of group consensus Chemistry pointed to a consensual logic hierarchical order in which the gradual between the elements of BE-DO-HAVE attested conflicts and disagreements about the perceptual object "Teaching Work", around what value most, whether they are the attributes of personal or professional-technical dimension of teaching, in the course of professional development. The thesis to explain the mechanisms of socio-genetic Representation Social Teaching Work by theoretical and methodological proposal was confirmed

A sistematização do conteúdo jogo nas aulas de educação física do ensino fundamental e médio

Since the enactment of LDBEN 9.9394/96, Physical Education began to be understood as a curricular component in school. Thus, we see the need for systematization of content. We observed that the physical education classes at the public schools in Natal/RN from the game content, teachers did not use the existing proposals for systematization. And it was on this reality that the study occurred, aiming to present and discuss a proposal to systematization the game content in physical education classes in elementary and secondary education. Accordingly, we departed of following question: What possibilities of systematization of the game content in school physical education classes?. The methodology used was the action research, which allowed us to structure the intervention plan for the game content, directed to a reflective didactic process. The dialogue with action research provided an opportunity to understand of the proposal of systematization, the knowledge of game content, the planning and process of teaching and learning in physical education lessons developed. We use the proposed systematization the book Educação Física Escolar e Organização Curricular , to direct and organize the lesson plans. As research technique, we use the participant observation, filming, photographic records and field diary, guiding us in the debates and discussions about the field of research. The applications of the lesson plans were carried out in three schools, all located in Natal / RN: Escola Municipal Professora Ivonete Maciel, Escola Municipal Professor Ulisses de Góis e Professor Escola Estadual Josino Macedo. The members of this study were students PIBID-EF-UFRN, teachers, supervisors and school. They made the bridge between research and action, theoretical foundation and pedagogical practice, university and school. The results were advanced for beyond the propositions submitted by the above-mentioned book. For the Elementary School 1, the proposed systematization broadened experiences and learning of knowledge of the game and of playful and body manifestations. Provided an opportunity to know and learn about game of make account, rules, popular games, cooperative games, among others. For Elementary Schools 2 and Middle education, systematized lessons allowed the practical, the incorporation of knowledge of the game and its features: such as rules, origin, meaning of the name, different denominations, among others. The students experienced and learned, popular games, pre-sport games, cooperative games, with recycled material, among others. The treatment from three dimensions of contents: procedural, conceptual and attitudinal, occurred parallel to approach the game content, and in conjunction with our interventions, not being done separately during practice, but an ongoing process during class. This new perspective of work the game, in a systematized way, with applying, description and discussion the activities, allowed elaborate a summary framework of thematizations for game content, by year of teaching

Os princípios da organização focada na estratégia: um estudo em empresas vencedoras do prêmio nacional de qualidade

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) has been used as a communication tool and strategy monitoring, helping organizations alignment, inserting a new vision with integrated use of performance indicators nonfinancial together with some financial measures. Their proper use leads to a new management style, focused on management strategies, using for this, basically three dimensions: strategy, which should be translated as the primary responsibility for the organizational agenda, the focus that should be concentrated, and the organization with the mobilization of employees. This paper deals with theoretical considerations about strategies, strategic planning, BSC and principles of the organization focused on strategy (OFE). Describes a study of four companies that won the National Quality Award - PNQ, among which, three have adopted the BSC and adopts a particular model of strategic management. The research aimed to make an analysis of the companies regarding adherence to the five principles of OFE, proposed by the BSC, seeking to answer whether the use of BSC is a prerequisite for accession to the Principles of OFE. The results showed that the BSC is a strategic management model that promotes focus and organizational alignment and is a major facilitator in the process, however, cannot be considered a prerequisite for accession to the principles of the OFE, because the four companies studied, including the one that adopt its own model of strategic management, have great levels of adherence to such principles. Making the organization focused on strategy can be considered a natural movement essential for the strategic management, which is not necessarily conditioned by the use of BSC

Desenvolvimento de um ressoador retangular de fenda com múltiplas camadas de substrato e com utilização de material PBG para sistema de comunicação sem fio

In the globalized world modern telecommunications have assumed key role within the company, causing a large increase in demand for the wireless technology of communication, which has been happening in recent years have greatly increased the number of applications using this technology. Due to this demand, new materials are developed to enable new control mechanisms and propagation of electromagnetic waves. The research to develop new technologies for wireless communication presents a multidisciplinary study that covers from the new geometries for passive antennas, active up to the development of materials for devices that improve the performance at the frequency range of operation. Recently, planar antennas have attracted interest due to their characteristics and advantages when compared with other types of antennas. In the area of mobile communications the need for antennas of this type has become increasingly used, due to intensive development, which needs to operate in multifrequency antennas and broadband. The microstrip antennas have narrow bandwidth due to the dielectric losses generated by irradiation. Another limitation is the degradation of the radiation pattern due to the generation of surface waves in the substrate. Some techniques have been developed to minimize this limitation of bandwidth, such as the study of type materials PBG - Photonic Band Gap, to form the dielectric material. This work has as main objective the development project of a slot resonator with multiple layers and use the type PBG substrate, which carried out the optimization from the numerical analysis and then designed the device initially proposed for the band electromagnetic spectrum between 3-9 GHz, which basically includes the band S to X. Was used as the dielectric material RT/Duroid 5870 and RT/Duroid 6010.LM where both are laminated ceramic-filled PTFE dielectric constants 2.33 and 10.2, respectively. Through an experimental investigation was conducted an analysis of the simulated versus measured by observing the behavior of the radiation characteristics from the height variation of the dielectric multilayer substrates. We also used the LTT method resonators structures rectangular slot with multiple layers of material photonic PBG in order to obtain the resonance frequency and the entire theory involving the electromagnetic parameters of the structure under consideration. xviii The analysis developed in this work was performed using the method LTT - Transverse Transmission Line, in the field of Fourier transform that uses a component propagating in the y direction (transverse to the real direction of propagation z), thus treating the general equations of the fields electric and magnetic and function. The PBG theory is applied to obtain the relative permittivity of the polarizations for the sep photonic composite substrates material. The results are obtained with the commercial software Ansoft HFSS, used for accurate analysis of the electromagnetic behavior of the planar device under study through the Finite Element Method (FEM). Numerical computational results are presented in graphical form in two and three dimensions, playing in the parameters of return loss, frequency of radiation and radiation diagram, radiation efficiency and surface current for the device under study, and have as substrates, photonic materials and had been simulated in an appropriate computational tool. With respect to the planar device design study are presented in the simulated and measured results that show good agreement with measurements made. These results are mainly in the identification of resonance modes and determining the characteristics of the designed device, such as resonant frequency, return loss and radiation pattern

SAMVC sistema de autoria de museus virtuais colaborativos

The use of graphical objects three-dimensional (3D) multimedia applications is gaining more space in the media. Networks with high transmission rates, computers with large processing and graphics boost and popularize such three-dimensional applications. The areas of 3D applications ranging from military applications, entertainment applications geared up for education. Within the applications related to education, we highlight the applications that create virtual copies of cultural spaces such as museums. Through this copy, you can virtually visit a museum, see other users, communicate, exchange information on works, etc. Thereby allowing the visit museums physically distant remote users. A major problem of such virtual environments is its update. By dealing with various media (text, images, sounds, and 3D models), its subsequent handling and update on a virtual environment requires staff with specialized knowledge. Speaking of museums, they hardly have people on your team with this profile. Inside the GT-MV (Grupo de Trabalho de Museus Virtuais), funded by RNP (Rede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa) propose a portal for registration, amendment and seen collaborative virtual museums of Brazil. The update, be it related to work or physical space, a system with a national scale like this, would be impossible if done only by the project team. Within this scenario, we propose the modeling and implementation of a tool that allows editing of virtual spaces in an easy and intuitive as compared with available tools. Within the context of GT-MV, we apply the SAMVC (Sistema de Autoria de Museus Virtuais Colaborativos) to museums where curators build the museum from a 3D floor plan (2D). The system, from these twodimensional information, recreates the equivalent in three dimensions. With this, through little or no training, team members from each museum may be responsible for updating the system

Propriedades críticas do modelo z(4) em sistemas bi e tridimensionais

A real space renormalization group method is used to investigate the criticality (phase diagrams, critical expoentes and universality classes) of Z(4) model in two and three dimensions. The values of the interaction parameters are chosen in such a way as to cover the complete phase diagrams of the model, which presents the following phases: (i) Paramagnetic (P); (ii) Ferromagnetic (F); (iii) Antiferromagnetic (AF); (iv) Intermediate Ferromagnetic (IF) and Intermediate Antiferromagnetic (IAF). In the hierarquical lattices, generated by renormalization the phase diagrams are exact. It is also possible to obtain approximated results for square and simple cubic lattices. In the bidimensional case a self-dual lattice is used and the resulting phase diagram reproduces all the exact results known for the square lattice. The Migdal-Kadanoff transformation is applied to the three dimensional case and the additional phases previously suggested by Ditzian et al, are not found

Propriedades magnéticas quase-estáticas de filmes ferromagnéticos amorfos de FeCuNbSiB

Today, one of the topics that attracts interest of the scientific community is the understanding of magnetic properties of magnetic systems with reduced dimensions, in particular, ferromagnetic thin films. In this case, the comprehension and control of these properties, as well as the development of routes to obtain them, are crucial issues in many aspects of current and future technologies for storage and transmission of information in the electro-electronic industry. There are several materials that exhibit soft magnetic properties, and we highlight the amorphous alloys and that ones obtained by partial crystallization, so-called nanocrystalline materials. The production of these alloys as magnetic ribbons is very common in scientific and technological area, but there are just a few works related to the production of these alloys as thin films. In this work, we studied the quasi-static magnetic properties of ferromagnetic thin films based on FeCuNbSiB in a wide range of thicknesses, from 20 to 500 nm, produced by sputtering. In particular, after the structural characterization performed via X-ray diffraction, the magnetic properties of the sets of samples were investigated using experimental magnetization curve, obtained using a vibrating sample magnetometer, as well as through theoretical curves obtained by theoretical modeling and numerical computation. The modeling process is based on the Stoner Wohlfarth model applied to three dimensions, and adds some energy terms, using as reference experimental results of magnetization. In this case, from the comparison between theoretical and experimental results and the analysis of the constant anisotropy behavior as a function of film thickness, we aim to obtain further information on the magnetization process of the samples, to identify routes for the production of thin films and develop a theoretical to films to use it, in the future, in the obtainment of the theoretical curves of some magnetic measurements, such as magnetoimpedance and magnetoresistance

Estágio menopausal e níveis hormonais no desenvolvimento muscular e funcional em mulheres de meia idade: um estudo transversal

Introduction: Hypoestrogenism is the main characteristic of female aging. It promotes significant changes in body composition, both in fat mass as in lean body mass, leading to a decrease in muscle strength and physical performance. Objective: The aim of this study was to test whether menopausal status and hormone levels are associated with muscular strength and physical performance in middle-aged women. Methods: In a cross-sectional study it was collected sociodemographic data, gynecological history, anthropometric and biochemical measures in women aged 40 to 65 years in Parnamirim-RN. The menopause status (pre, peri and post menopause) was determined by menstrual history. All women underwent three dimensions of physical performance assessment: handgrip dynamometry, gait speed and chair stands test - Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Categorical data were presented as absolute and relative frequencies. Quantitative data were showed as mean and standard deviation and the normality of distribution was verified with Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test. Biochemical measures of estradiol and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) were transformed to log10. ANOVA with Tukey post-test for comparison of variables between the groups pre, peri and post-menopausal was performed and then multiple linear regression analyzes. Results: Two hundred and seventy eight women aged 50.2 (±5.58) years composed this study, being 50 women in premenopausal status (18%), 122 in perimenopausal (43.9%), and 106 postmenopausal stage (38.1%). The groups were different in age (p=0.001), marital relationship duration (p <0.001), number of pregnancies (p=0.001) and parity (p=0.001). Differences in biochemical measures were observed among the groups: estradiol (p<0.001), FSH (p<0.001), total cholesterol (p=0.001). There were no differences in gait velocity between menopausal status. Values in mean of grip strength decreased by postmenopausal women to perimenopausal and premenopausal ones (24.5 ± 5.1, 25.6 ± 5.4, 26.9 ± 4.9 for post-stage, pre and peri menopausas, respectively, p = 0.02) and the performance of chair stands test was better in premenopausal women compared with that in peri and postmenopausal status (p = 0.02). In multiple linear regression for muscle strength, the variables that remained were: age, estradiol and somatic symptoms measured by Menopause Rating Scale-MRS (R2=0.15). While for the xiv chair-stands test the predictors were number of births and FSH values (R2=0.04). Conclusion: There is a relationship between the stages of menopause and muscle performance in measures of grip strength and sit-up test and these are influenced by the fall of estrogens levels. Data suggest that the decrease in muscle strength and physical performance already appear in the transition to menopause stage, pointing to the need for more research in this area and appropriate preventive interventions

A incorporação da saúde bucal no programa saúde da família do Rio Grande do Norte: investigando a possibilidade de conversão do modelo assistencial

The Health Family Program (HFP) was founded in the 1990s with the objective of changing the health care model through a restructuring of primary care. Oral health was officially incorporated into HFP mainly through the efforts of dental professionals, and was seen as a way to break from oral health care models based on curative, technical biological and inequity methods. Despite the fast expansion of HFP oral health teams, it is essential to ask if changes are really occurring in the oral health model of municipalities. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the incorporation of oral health teams into the Health Family Program by analyzing the factors that may interfere positively or negatively in the implementation of this strategy and consequently in the process of changing oral health care models in the National Health System in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. This evaluation involves three dimensions: access, work organization and strategies of planning. For this purpose,19 municipalities, geographically distributed according to Regional Public Health Units (RPHU), were randomly selected. The data collection instruments used were: structured interview of supervisors and dentists, structured observation, documental research and data from national health data banks. It was possible to identify critical points that may be impeding the implementation of oral health into HFP, such as, low incomes, no legal employment contract, difficulty in referring patients for high-complexity procedures, in developing intersectoral actions and program strategies such as epidemiologic diagnosis and evaluation of the new actions. The majority of municipalities showed little or no improvement in oral health care after incorporating the new model into HFP. All of them had failures in most of the aspects mentioned above. Furthermore, these municipalities are similar in other areas, such as low educational levels in children from 7 to 14 years of age, high child mortality rates and wide social inequalities. On the other hand, the five municipalities that had improved oral health, according to the categories analyzed, offered better living conditions to the population, with higher life expectancy, low infant mortality rates, per capita income among the highest in the state as well as high Human Development Index (HDI) means. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that public policies that include aspects beyond the health sector are decisive for a real change in health care models