Teaching the Rational Use of Medicines to medical students: a qualitative research

Background: Prescribing is a complex and challenging task that must be part of a logical deductive process based on accurate and objective information and not an automated action, without critical thinking or a response to commercial pressure. The objectives of this study were 1) develop and implement a discipline based on the WHO's Guide to Good Prescribing; 2) evaluate the course acceptance by students; 3) assess the impact that the Rational Use of Medicines (RUM) knowledge had on the students habits of prescribing medication in the University Hospital.Methods: In 2003, the RUM principal, based in the WHO's Guide to Good Prescribing, was included in the official curriculum of the Botucatu School of Medicine, Brazil, to be taught over a total of 24 hours to students in the 4th year. We analyzed the students' feedback forms about content and teaching methodology filled out immediately after the end of the discipline from 2003 to 2010. In 2010, the use of RUM by past students in their medical practice was assessed through a qualitative approach by a questionnaire with closed-ended rank scaling questions distributed at random and a single semistructured interview for content analysis.Results: The discipline teaches future prescribers to use a logical deductive process, based on accurate and objective information, to adopt strict criteria (efficacy, safety, convenience and cost) on selecting drugs and to write a complete prescription. At the end of it, most students considered the discipline very good due to the opportunity to reflect on different actions involved in the prescribing process and liked the teaching methodology. However, former students report that although they are aware of the RUM concepts they cannot regularly use this knowledge in their daily practice because they are not stimulated or even allowed to do so by neither older residents nor senior medical staff.Conclusions: This discipline is useful to teach RUM to medical students who become aware of the importance of this subject, but the assimilation of the RUM principles in the institution seems to be a long-term process which requires the involvement of a greater number of the academic members.

Human breast tumor slices as an alternative approach to cell lines to individualize research for each patient

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Biomagnetic Methods: Technologies Applied to Pharmaceutical Research

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Analysis of floristic composition and structure as an aid to monitoring protected areas of dense rain forest in southeastern Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

A new tuning fork with different vibration frequencies as an aid to bronchopulmonary hygiene physiotherapy

Background: The main function of the mucociliary system is the removal of particles or substances that are potentially harmful to the respiratory tract. The tuning fork therapeutic for the purpose of bronchial hygiene has still not been described in the literature. The optimal vibration frequency to mobilize secretions is widely debated and varies between 3 and 25 Hz. It is expected that a tuning fork is able to generate vibrations in the thorax, facilitating bronchial hygiene. The aim of the present study is to develop tuning forks with different frequencies, for use in bronchopulmonary hygiene therapy. Methods: The first tuning fork was made with a fixed frequency of 25 Hz and it was recorded in the Brazilian institution of patent registration. This device generated a frequency of 25 Hz and had a weight of 521 g, with dimensions of 600 mm in total length. The device is characterized by a bottom end containing a transducer with a diameter of 62 mm and a thickness of 5/16 mm (8''), a rod removable 148 mm, fork length of 362 mm and an extension at the upper end of sinuous shape bilaterally.The tuning forks must be applied at an angle of 90° directly on the chest wall of the patient after pulmonary auscultation for location of secretions. The tuning fork is activated by squeezing the tips of the extensions together and releasing them in a sudden movement. Results: This study shows the result of the development of others three tuning forks of different dimensions to generate different frequencies. Each equipment reaches a fixed frequency preset of 12, 15 and 20 Hz measured by digital oscilloscope. Conclusions: The tuning fork models developed in this study generated different frequencies proposed by the scientific literature as effective in the mobilization of pulmonary secretions.

Pesquisas sobre a febre amarela (1881-1903): uma reflexão visando contribuir para o ensino de ciências

O presente artigo focaliza episódios históricos relacionados à pesquisa médica acerca da febre amarela (1881-1903), buscando discutir (a) a influência que os fatores econômicos, sociais e políticos exercem sobre a pesquisa científica; (b) o caráter coletivo, controvertido e não-linear do processo de produção de conhecimentos na ciência; (c) a natureza arbitrária dos conhecimentos científicos, no sentido de que representam formas de ver, e não são perenes ou elaborados apenas sobre bases racionais; (d) o papel pouco cabal desempenhado pelas demonstrações experimentais, que não se mostram irrefutáveis; e (e) o papel desempenhado pelos paradigmas, que conduzem não apenas a caminhos frutíferos, mas também a becos sem saída. O intuito é proporcionar subsídios que sejam úteis tanto aos pesquisadores como aos professores que atuam na área do Ensino de Ciências.

Análiseda percolação de água em barragem de terra pelo método da eletrorresistividade

Interventions in nature made by man are very common since the beginnings of human history, especially in the case regarding the storage of water. The construction of dams have been and still are fundamental in maintaining human life due to the vital importance that water plays. The size of these structures vary according to need, such as water catchment, fish-farming or electricity generation. Embankment dams are the most common type of these structures. Can be defined as dams natural material obtained from loan chambers located near the dam site. This type of barrier may be divided into earth dams and rockfill dams. The study area covers an earth dam located in Cordeirópolis (SP) and is essentially composed of diabases altered soil of the Serra Geral Formation of the Paraná Basin. With the aid of geophysics, more specifically of the Electrical Resistivity method, the aim is to check any water infiltration zones in the dam's body. Given the risks associated with water seepage in earth dams, that may generate breakdown structures, erosion, and consequently accidents and / or harmful factors in the nearby areas. One of the main structural problems married by water infiltration is the possible generation of pipes that could jeopardize the dam structure. This work aims to contribute towards the evaluation of the effectiveness of using an indirect technique of research and monitoring in aid to direct research techniques such as piezometers and drive stakes. The results are presented in the form of 2D and 3D geophysical models, the analysis shows a low resistivity zone with typical values of the presence of humidity originating upstream of the dam and downstream bottleneck trend, that are the basis for interpretation by percolation or not water in the dam

Prevalência de reagentes ao teste de tuberculinização no rebanho bovino leiteiro da região de São Carlos - SP

Tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease readily transmitted between animals and humans, is an great threat to public and animal health a like and has been declared an international emergency. According to the WHO, animal TB is a source of much concern, especially in the poorer countries where there is little awareness of the problem. Thus, improvements in veterinary health are essential, with regard to infection by Mycobacterium bovis, particularly in areas where the public is at risk. The prevalence of infected animals in Brazil is about 1%, whereas, in the dairy cattle region of São Carlos, the average proportion of positive tests was found to be 3. 1% from 1987 to 1996. The current research was carried out to investigate the prevalence, in the region, of dairy cattle reacting positively to the tuberculin test, from 1997 to the first half of 2001. The results were obtained by searching through the data collected by the Federal Inspection Authority, and they indicated an average prevalence of 1.3% over the period, similar to the official national average. It was concluded that bovine TB continues to be present in the region, posing a potential threat of infection to the human population.

Use of algorithms for semi-automatic quantification of pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema

Obtaining a semi-automatic quantification of pathologies found in the lung, through images of high resolution computed tomography (HRCT), is of great importance to aid in medical diagnosis. Paraccocidioidomycosis (PCM) is a systemic disease that affects the lung and even after effective treatment leaves sequels such as pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema. It is very important to the area of tropical diseases that the lung injury be quantified more accurately. In this stud, we propose the development of algorithms in computational environment Matlab® able to objectively quantify lung diseases such as fibrosis and emphysema. The program consists in selecting the region of interest (ROI), and through the use of density masks and filters, obtaining the lesion area quantification in relation to the healthy area of the lung. The proposed method was tested on 15 exams of HRCT of patients with confirmed PCM. To prove the validity and effectiveness of the method, we used a virtual phantom, also developed in this research. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.

A relação com os saberes da educação física: os pontos de vista dos alunos jovens em relação à disciplina educação física em uma escola pública federal

Pós-graduação em Educação - FCT

A formação de professores de física na visão de formandos e recém formados: um estudo na Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora

Pós-graduação em Educação - FCT

A inclusão de alunos com deficiência em cursos presenciais de graduação da Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora

Pós-graduação em Educação - FCT

Representação e persistência para acesso a Recursos Informacionais Digitais gerados dinamicamente em sítios oficiais do Governo Federal

Pós-graduação em Ciência da Informação - FFC

Um curso de matemática básica através da resolução de problemas para alunos ingressantes da Universidade Federal do Pampa - campus Alegrete

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)