Avaliação do sono e enfermeiros nos diferentes turnos hospitalares

This study aimed to analyze the pattern characteristics of sleep and sleep quality of nurses who worked day and night shifts. This is a study with a quantitative approach, cross-sectional, descriptive. The study was conducted at the University Hospital of Rio Grande do Norte. Data were collected in full in the period from January to September 2015, through the instruments: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Sleep Diary. Subjects were interviewed according to their work shift, day or night, during the working hours of the nursing team. After being coded and tabulated, data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, in the Opinion No. 751 567. For a description of continuous variables were used position measurements (mean and median), dispersion (standard deviation) and correlation (Spearman correlation test), to a 0.05 significance level. The socio-demographic profile of the sample showed a total of n = 104 participants, distributed in: 64 on day shift and night shift 40; wherein 90.4% are female, aged between 24-45 years, corresponding to 73% of the sample. There was the presence of statistically significant differences for the variables: employment and living habits (inpatient and outpatient sector (p = 0.003), have more than one job (p = 0.002), use cordial (p = 0.021); Sleep pattern: nap time (p = 0.003), sleep latency (p = 0.013), total sleep time (p = 0.001), how it felt to wake up (p = 0.017), quality of nighttime sleep (p = 0.001) and sleep quality (p = 0.007) compared between the day shift and the night shift. It was concluded that shift work has changed the pattern and sleep quality of nurses working day and night shifts.

Avaliação do sono e enfermeiros nos diferentes turnos hospitalares

This study aimed to analyze the pattern characteristics of sleep and sleep quality of nurses who worked day and night shifts. This is a study with a quantitative approach, cross-sectional, descriptive. The study was conducted at the University Hospital of Rio Grande do Norte. Data were collected in full in the period from January to September 2015, through the instruments: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Sleep Diary. Subjects were interviewed according to their work shift, day or night, during the working hours of the nursing team. After being coded and tabulated, data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, in the Opinion No. 751 567. For a description of continuous variables were used position measurements (mean and median), dispersion (standard deviation) and correlation (Spearman correlation test), to a 0.05 significance level. The socio-demographic profile of the sample showed a total of n = 104 participants, distributed in: 64 on day shift and night shift 40; wherein 90.4% are female, aged between 24-45 years, corresponding to 73% of the sample. There was the presence of statistically significant differences for the variables: employment and living habits (inpatient and outpatient sector (p = 0.003), have more than one job (p = 0.002), use cordial (p = 0.021); Sleep pattern: nap time (p = 0.003), sleep latency (p = 0.013), total sleep time (p = 0.001), how it felt to wake up (p = 0.017), quality of nighttime sleep (p = 0.001) and sleep quality (p = 0.007) compared between the day shift and the night shift. It was concluded that shift work has changed the pattern and sleep quality of nurses working day and night shifts.

Mosaic image of the artificial light produced by Berlin on the night of September 11, 2010 observed from an altitude of 10,000 ft

Aerial observations of light pollution can fill an important gap between ground based surveys and nighttime satellite data. Terrestrially bound surveys are labor intensive and are generally limited to a small spatial extent, and while existing satellite data cover the whole world, they are limited to coarse resolution. This paper describes the production of a high resolution (1 m) mosaic image of the city of Berlin, Germany at night. The dataset is spatially analyzed to identify themajor sources of light pollution in the city based on urban land use data. An area-independent 'brightness factor' is introduced that allows direct comparison of the light emission from differently sized land use classes, and the percentage area with values above average brightness is calculated for each class. Using this methodology, lighting associated with streets has been found to be the dominant source of zenith directed light pollution (31.6%), although other land use classes have much higher average brightness. These results are compared with other urban light pollution quantification studies. The minimum resolution required for an analysis of this type is found to be near 10 m. Future applications of high resolution datasets such as this one could include: studies of the efficacy of light pollution mitigation measures, improved light pollution simulations, economic and energy use, the relationship between artificial light and ecological parameters (e.g. circadian rhythm, fitness, mate selection, species distributions, migration barriers and seasonal behavior), or the management of nightscapes. To encourage further scientific inquiry, the mosaic data is freely available at Pangaea.

Bird predation experiments in tropical agroforestry landscapes of the Napu Valley in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

We performed bird predation experiments (dummy experiments), using artificial prey and bird community data to investigate the importance of predator diversity vs. predator identity in cacao agroforestry landscapes. All sample sites were situated at the northern tip of Napu Valley in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. After an initial mapping of the study area, we selected 15 smallholder cacao plantations as sites for our exclosure experiments in March 2010. For our predation experiment, we selected 10 (out of 15) study sites and 5 cacao trees per site for the application of artificial prey for birds (dummy caterpillars made of plasticine). Our study trees (numbered from 1 to 5 per site) were randomly chosen and we kept spacing of at least two unmanipulated cacao trees between two study trees to avoid clumped distribution. To quantify both daytime/diurnal predation and night-time/nocturnal predation (e.g. birds vs. bats), we applied 7 caterpillar dummies on all study trees and controlled them for predation marks in the early morning (05:00-06:00 am), in the evening (17:00-18:00 pm) and in the early morning on the next day (completing one survey round). In total, we performed four survey rounds per study site (in June and July 2011). The caterpillar dummies were always applied in the same order and on three different parts of each cacao study tree: One 'control dummy' (located on first branching of the cacao tree); 3 'branch dummies' (located on one main branch coming from first branching; 20-25 cm between single dummies) and 3 'leaf dummies' (3 medium aged cacao trees adjacent to main branch were selected and single dummies placed in the center of each cacao leaf). The different positions were chosen to control for different foraging modes of predators (e.g. branch gleaners versus leaf gleaners). During day- and nighttime surveys, we controlled if the dummy caterpillars were still present in their original position, if they were absent and could not be relocated on the ground or if they were fallen to the ground, but could still be recorded. Eaten dummies were counted as 1 mark usually, except for those dummies, where two or more different kind of arthropods had eaten parts of the dummy (2 marks or more). Other predation marks were added to this number. For each dummy, we counted the total number of different predation marks. We focused on predation marks that could be identified with certainty (based on preliminary observations and/or literature): marks of birds, rodents and snails. Finally, we analysed the relationship of bird predation marks and bird community parameters (abundance vs. diversity), as well as effects of local and landscape management on the avian predation success.

Seawater carbonate chemistry and calcification during an experiment with a coral Porites lutea, 2004

Using living corals collected from Okinawan coral reefs, laboratory experiments were performed to investigate the relationship between coral calcification and aragonite saturation state (W) of seawater at 25?C. Calcification rate of a massive coral Porites lutea cultured in a beaker showed a linear increase with increasing Waragonite values (1.08-7.77) of seawater. The increasing trend of calcification rate (c) for W is expressed as an equation, c = aW + b (a, b: constants). When W was larger than ~4, the coral samples calcified during nighttime, indicating an evidence of dark calcification. This study strongly suggests that calcification of Porites lutea depends on W of ambient seawater. A decrease in saturation state of seawater due to increased pCO2 may decrease reef-building capacity of corals through reducing calcification rate of corals.

The synergistic effects of ocean acidification and organic metabolism on calcium carbonate (CaCO3) dissolution in coral reef sediments

Ocean acidification (OA) is expected to reduce the net ecosystem calcification (NEC) rates and overall accretion of coral reef ecosystems. However, despite the fact that sediments are the most abundant form of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in coral reef ecosystems and their dissolution may be more sensitive to OA than biogenic calcification, the impacts of OA induced sediment dissolution on coral reef NEC rates and CaCO3 accretion are poorly constrained. Carbon dioxide addition and light attenuation experiments were performed at Heron Island, Australia in an attempt to tease apart the influence of OA and organic metabolism (e.g. respiratory CO2 production) on CaCO3 dissolution. Overall, CaCO3 dissolution rates were an order of magnitude more sensitive to elevated CO2 and decreasing seawater aragonite saturation state (Omega Ar; 300-420% increase in dissolution per unit decrease in Omega Ar) than published reductions in biologically mediated calcification due to OA. Light attenuation experiments led to a 70% reduction in net primary production (NPP), which subsequently induced an increase in daytime (115%) and net diel (375%) CaCO3 dissolution rates. High CO2 and low light acted in synergy to drive a 575% increase in net diel dissolution rates. Importantly, disruptions to the balance of photosynthesis and respiration (P/R) had a significant effect on daytime CaCO3 dissolution, while average water column ?Ar was the main driver of nighttime dissolution rates. A simple model of platform-integrated dissolution rates was developed demonstrating that seasonal changes in photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) can have an important effect on platform integrated CaCO3 sediment dissolution rates. The considerable response of CaCO3 sediment dissolution to elevated CO2 means that much of the response of coral reef communities and ecosystems to OA could be due to increases in CaCO3 sediment and framework dissolution, and not decreases in biogenic calcification.

The Crisis in the UK's High Streets: can the evening and night-time economy help?

Changes in retailing over the last half century have had a detrimental effect on the UK’s local high streets. The recession of 2008-2012 exacerbated these trends leading to a high number of vacancies and neglected properties. The impact was sufficiently severe for the term ‘crisis’ to be used in connection with the British high street. In the academic and commercial reports generated by the recognition that the high street needed to adapt to changing circumstances, a view emerged that the leisure component of high street activity would gain in importance. This article reviews the relationship of the evening and nighttime economy to the high street and considers its potential in reinventing the vitality that is normally associated with these mixed-use urban corridors. The article argues that there is hope in the high street offering a different type of experience to the mainstream forms of entertainment that are consolidating in major town and city centres. It concludes by suggesting that for this to be successful, some public support is necessary.

Energy efficiency and climate policy in the management of public spaces: public lighting

Public Lightning is an important part of municipality’s nighttime landscape. Lighting can be used to enhance public safety and security while improving the aesthetic appeal of the surrounding properties but with the current global financial crisis, such lighting systems must also be sustainable. Most climate policy efforts focus on the state and international level, however national governments won’t be able to meet their international commitments without local action. In Portugal, the Public Lighting is responsible for 3% of energy consumption. The problem is that the trend is to increase (about 4-5% per year) which represents very high costs for the municipal authorities. In terms of numbers are analyzed in this thesis 45 of 278 existent in Continental Portugal what represents only 16,2 % of the counties. This where the local authorities in Portugal that had a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) that had been accepted and made available in the Covenant of Mayors website until the end of year 2013. It is important that the Covenant of Mayors will increase the local authorities awareness for energy efficiency and especially to public lighting because there is still a long way to go in terms of energy consumption reduction. In future works it would be interesting to see the payback of the EolGreen post in a real scenario due to lack of energy consumption from the grid it would allow to have a pretty high initial investment even with the maintenance that those technologies need.

Surface thermal analysis of North Brabant cities and neighbourhoods during heat waves

The urban heat island effect is often associated with large metropolises. However, in the Netherlands even small cities will be affected by the phenomenon in the future (Hove et al., 2011), due to the dispersed or mosaic urbanisation patterns in particularly the southern part of the country: the province of North Brabant. This study analyses the average night time land surface temperature (LST) of 21 North-Brabant urban areas through 22 satellite images retrieved by Modis 11A1 during the 2006 heat wave and uses Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper to map albedo and normalized difference temperature index (NDVI) values. Albedo, NDVI and imperviousness are found to play the most relevant role in the increase of nighttime LST. The surface cover cluster analysis of these three parameters reveals that the 12 “urban living environment” categories used in the region of North Brabant can actually be reduced to 7 categories, which simplifies the design guidelines to improve the surface thermal behaviour of the different neighbourhoods thus reducing the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect in existing medium size cities and future developments adjacent to those cities.

Adaptive lighting design as a holistic approach to public lighting

Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Doutor em Design, apresentada na Universidade de Lisboa - Faculdade de Arquitetura.

Factors affecting current and future treeline locations and dynamics in the Peruvian Andes

The elevational distributions of tropical treelines are thought to be determined by temperature, and are predicted to shift upslope in response to global warming. In contrast to this hypothesis, global-scale studies have shown that only half of all studied treelines are shifting upslope. Understanding how treelines will respond to climate change has important implications for global biodiversity, especially in the tropics, because tropical treelines generally represent the upper-elevation distribution limit of the hyper-diverse cloudforest ecosystem. In Chapter 1, I introduce the idea that grasslands found above tropical treelines may represent a potential grass ceiling which forest species cannot cross or invade. I use an extensive literature review to outline potential mechanisms which may be acting to stabilize treeline and prevent forest expansion into high-elevation grasslands. In Chapters 2-4, I begin to explore these potential mechanisms through the use of observational and experimental methods. In Chapter 2, I show that there are significant numbers of seedlings occurring just outside of the treeline in the open grasslands and that seed rain is unlikely to limit seedling recruitment above treeline. I also show that microclimates outside of the closed-canopy cloudforest are highly variable and that mean temperatures are likely a poor explanation of tropical treeline elevations. In Chapter 3, I show that juvenile trees maintain freezing resistances similar to adults, but nighttime radiative cooling near the ground in the open grassland results in lower cold temperatures relative to the free atmosphere, exposing seedlings of some species growing above treeline to lethal frost events. In Chapter 4, I use a large-scale seedling transplant experiment to test the effects of mean temperature, absolute low temperature and shade on transplanted seedling survival. I find that increasing mean temperature negatively affects seedling survival of two treeline species while benefiting another. In addition, low temperature extremes and the presence of shade also appear to be important factors affecting seedling survival above tropical treelines. This work demonstrates that mean temperature is a poor predictor of tropical treelines and that temperature extremes, especially low temperatures, and non-climatic variables should be included in predictions of current and future tropical treeline dynamics.^

Melatonin for cardioprotection in ST elevation myocardial infarction: Are we ready for the challenge?

Melatonin, an endocrine product of the pineal gland, is formed predominantly during the nighttime. Light has an inhibitory effect on pineal melatonin secretion. Pineal melatonin release is synchronised by this daily light-dark cycle via a multisynaptic pathway between the eyes and the pineal gland. Light stimulates the retina to modulate the activity of the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the master biological clock.1 The suprachiasmatic nucleus controls pineal melatonin synthesis and the concentrations of melatonin in the sera of healthy subjects, which reach values of 10−10 to 10−9 mol/L during the night, with much lower concentrations being present during the day. Many publications have shown that melatonin has an important role in a variety of cardiovascular pathophysiologic processes: the indoleamine has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antihypertensive, antithrombotic and antilipaemic properties.

Nocturnal surface ozone enhancement over Portugal during winter: Influence of different atmospheric conditions

our distinct nocturnal surface ozone (NSO) enhancement events were observed, with NSO concentration exceeding 80μg/m3, at multiple ozone (O3) monitoring stations (32 sites) in January, November and December between year 2000–2010, in Portugal. The reasonable explanation for the observed bimodal pattern of surface ozone with enhanced NSO concentration during nighttime has to be transport processes, as the surface ozone production ceases at nighttime. Simultaneous measurements of O3 at multiple stations during the study period in Portugal suggest that horizontal advection alone cannot explain the observed NSO enhancement. Thus, detailed analysis of the atmospheric conditions, simulated with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, were performed to evaluate the atmospheric mechanisms responsible for NSO enhancement in the region. Simulations revealed that each event occurred as a result of one or the combination of different atmospheric processes such as, passage of a cold front followed by a subsidence zone; passage of a moving surface trough, with associated strong horizontal wind speed and vertical shear; combination of vertical and horizontal transport at the synoptic scale; formation of a low level jet with associated vertical mixing below the jet stream. The study confirmed that large-scale flow pattern resulting in enhanced vertical mixing in the nocturnal boundary layer, plays a key role in the NSO enhancement events, which frequently occur over Portugal during winter months.