Impact of worksite health-promotion programs in hospital admission costs and medical leaves in a sample of brazilian companies

Programas de saúde e bem-estar têm sido adotados por empresas como forma de melhorar a saúde de empregados, e muitos estudos descrevem retornos econômicos positivos sobre os investimentos envolvidos. Entretanto, estudos mais recentes com metodologia melhor têm demonstrado retornos menores. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar se características de programas de saúde e bem-estar agem como preditores de custos de internação hospitalar (em Reais correntes) e da proporção de funcionários que têm licença médica, entre Abril de 2014 e Maio de 2015, em uma amostra não-aleatória de empresas no Brasil, através de parceria com uma empresa gestora de ‘big data’ para saúde. Um questionário sobre características de programas de saúde no ambiente de trabalho foi respondida por seis grandes empresas brasileiras. Dados retirados destes seis questionários (presença e idade de programa de saúde, suas características – inclusão de atividades de screening, educação sobre saúde, ligação com outros programas da empresa, integração do programa à estrutura da empresa, e ambientes de trabalho voltado para a saúde – e a adoção de incentivos financeiros para aderência de funcionários ao programa), bem como dados individuais de idade, gênero e categoria de plano de saúde de cada empregado , foram usados para construir um banco de dados com mais de 76.000 indivíduos. Através de um modelo de regressão múltipla e seleção ‘stepwise’ de variáveis, a idade do empregado foi positivamente associada e a idade do programa de saúde e a categoria ‘premium’ de plano de saúde do funcionário foram negativamente associadas aos custos de internação hospitalar (como esperado). Inesperadamente, a inclusão de programas de screening e iniciativas de educação de saúde nos programas de saúde e bem-estar nas empresas foram identificados como preditores positivos significativos para custos de admissão hospitalar. Para evitar a inclusão errônea de licenças-maternidade, apenas os dados de licença médica de pacientes do sexo masculino foram analisados (dados disponíveis apenas para duas entre as companhias incluídas, com um total de 18.957 pacientes do sexo masculino). Analisando estes dados através de um teste Z para comparação de proporções, a empresa com programa de saúde que inclui atividades voltadas a cessação de hábitos ruins (como tabagismo e etilismo), controle de diabetes e hipertensão, e que adota incentivos financeiros para a aderência de funcionários ao programa tem menor proporção de empregados com licençca médica no período analisado, quando comparada com a outra empresa que não tem estas características (também conforme esperado). Entretanto, a companhia com menor proporção de funcionários com licença médica também foi aquela que adota programa de screening entre as atividades de seu programa de saúde. Potenciais fontes de ameaça à validade interna e externa destes resultados são discutidas, bem como possíveis explicações para a associação entre programas de screening e educação médica a piores indicadores de saúde nesta amostra de companhias são discutidas. Novos estudos com melhor desenho, com amostras maiores e randômicas são necessários para validar estes resultados e possivelmente melhorar a validade interna e externa destes resultados.

Assessing the maturity levei of an organization in its adoption of collaboration technologies

Nowadays there are many information technologies that can make a significant difference to support collaborative efforts in the workspace. The role of IT is to support group collaboration by empowering team members with the right capabilities. One way to assess capabilities is through a maturity model. This paper proposes a first version of the Collaboration-Technology Maturity model (CTMM), aiming to serve as a strategic instrument for IT managers to control and manage the adoption of Collaboration Technologies (CITs) among their organizations. Our contribution is both theoretical and practical as we propose a descriptive maturity model. Nevertheless, it is also an application method and assessment instruments. We also completed an empirical evaluation by conducting 89 assessments at Latin American companies of all sizes and industries. This extensive field exercise allowed us to not only evaluate the usefulness of the model and instruments but also investigate CIT adoption patterns in Latin America in an attempt to collect historical data to further evolve CTMM into a comparative model. Responses were used to provide conclusions on CIT adoption in Latin America with respect to three specific backgrounds: the country of origin (region), size (in number of employees) and industry type. The implications of our findings are discussed for practitioners and researchers.

Atuação das equipes da atenção primária na identificação precoce do câncer infanto-juvenil

Identificar o conhecimento de profissionais da atenção primária sobre a identificação precoce do câncer infanto-juvenil e descrever o desempenho das equipes de saúde antes da realização de treinamentos para identificação precoce do câncer infanto-juvenil. Método: Os dados foram obtidos por um questionário e grupo focal com 30 profissionais de uma Unidade de Saúde da Família, e analisados por temas geradores. Resultados: Os profissionais possuem conhecimentos sobre a identificação do câncer infanto-juvenil, e, demandam conhecer mais sobre os sinais e sintomas para identificação precoce, e a prestação de uma assistência sistematizada. Conclusão: Torna-se fundamental estimular a qualificação dos profissionais da atenção primária para a identificação precoce e o fortalecimento de uma rede de assistência que proporcione atendimento integral e a redução no retardo do diagnóstico de câncer infanto-juvenil

Fatores influenciadores da implementação de ações de gestão de segurança da informação :um estudo com executivos e gerentes de tecnologia da informação das empresas do Rio Grande do Norte

Information is one of the most valuable organization s assets, mainly on a global and highly competitive world. On this scenery there are two antagonists forces: on one side, organizations struggle for keeping protected its information, specially those considered as strategic, on the other side, the invaders, leaded by innumerous reasons - such as hobby, challenge or one single protest with the intention of capturing and corrupting the information of other organizations. This thesis presents the descriptive results of one research that had as its main objective to identify which variables influence the Executives´ and CIOs´ perceptions toward Information Security. In addition, the research also identified the profile of Rio Grande do Norte s organizations and its Executives/CIOs concerning Information Security, computed the level of agreement of the respondents according to NBR ISO/IEC 17799 (Information technology Code of practice for information security management) on its dimension Access Control. The research was based on a model, which took into account the following variables: origin of the organization s capital, sector of production, number of PCs networked, number of employees with rights to network, number of attacks suffered by the organizations, respondent´s positions, education level, literacy on Information Technology and specific training on network. In the goal´s point of view, the research was classified as exploratory and descriptive, and, in relation of the approach, quantitative. One questionnaire was applied on 33 Executives and CIOs of the 50 Rio Grande do Norte s organizations that collected the highest taxes of ICMS - Imposto sobre Circulação de Mercadorias on 2000. After the data collecting, cluster analysis and chi-square statistical tools were used for data analysis. The research made clear that the Executives and CIOs of Rio Grande do Norte s organizations have low level of agreement concerning the rules of the NBR ISO/IEC 17799. It also made evident that the Executives and CIOs have its perception toward Information Security influenced by the number of PCs networked and by the number of attacks suffered by the organizations

A percepção da fiscalização dos contratos de mão de obra terceirizada pelos agentes envolvidos nesse processo no âmbito da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte: uma análise sob o modelo do principal-agente

Outsourcing has emerged as one of the new ways of guiding the work. For its advantages and be consistent with the paradigms of managerial reform, outsourcing also started to be used in the Public Administration. However, taking into account the particularities of the latter, some issues are relevant when outsourcing concluded with the State. Gains notoriety, for example, the step of monitoring these contracts, to the extent that, from this activity, we can avoid the negative effects of outsourcing like the fact that the state will pay for labor and wage liens that are obligation of the company providing the services. This study aims to understand the perception that this process is under the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, from the point of view of different stakeholders, also explaining the motivations that these agents have to perform the supervisory process. As a theoretical basis was used the Agency Theory, which reinforces the supervisory activities as a necessary means to minimize moral hazard and adverse selection, seeking to understand not only the different motivations tax contracts to properly perform their duties, but also analyze other phenomena arising from this contractual relationship. To achieve the proposed objectives, were taken a literature review and a presentation of how to organize the management and oversight of contracts in UFRN. The methodological procedures included questionnaires and interviews with those involved in the process. After analyzing the results obtained in the survey instruments , and also based on the laws, regulations and instructions governing the procurement process within the UFRN, it was concluded that the process of overseeing the outsourcing of labor contracts in UFRN is not fully institutionalized, some points should be strengthened in order to have the consolidation of this process, highlighting the need for training of UFRN servers that act as tax, the knowledge that the contractual penalties are applied effectively, the need that there is a supervisor of tax of contractors and also the realization of the rotation system of outsourced employees

Projetos políticos pedagógicos dos cursos de Odontologia do RN : formação profissional e a perspectiva da atenção à terceira idade

Brazil has been undergoing major demographic change.According to IBGE, the next 20 years the country's elderly population may reach over 30 million people. This tariff provides specifics regarding the process of health / disease. It is essential that higher education institutions are committed to this demand in view of the integrated training of health needs of society. The aim of this study is to analyze the Pedagogical Political Projects (PPP) of courses in dentistry in Rio Grande do Norte (RN), according to the national curriculum guidelines (DCNS) and training from the perspective of health care for the elderly. This is an exploratory study with a qualitative approach: with records and interviews. The study subjects were an Assistant Professor in the development of PPPs for each institution. The scenario in this study were dental training institutions in the newborns. Initially, the analysis of the PPP was by using the Alceste 4.9 software. The interpretation of the contents of interviews with teachers was done through content analysis of Bardin (2010). The PPPs are based on the DCNS, meet the characteristics of regional and seek a generalist, but still strongly directed to technical and scientific aspects of professional practice. Efforts and institutional approaches, involving teachers and students of the courses are being mobilized for training with more articulated network of health services. However, the emphasis on content pertaining to the health care of the elderly, is still limited when compared to those targeted content inherent in children and adolescents in all three curricular structures. It is reasonable to conclude that the historical, political, scientific, cultural and social, present in society, influence the formation of the dental professional RN. The greater participation of society in the process of vocational training in dentistry is needed. This can be done from the involvement of universities with health councils, bodies representing the dental profession and other segments of civil society in order to induce changes that generate ideas and educational practices integrative and interdisciplinary, with emphasis on continuing education for teachers, servants, employees and students. Containing conduct this process inherent flexibility of curriculum, teaching-service integration and coordination abilities and professional skills that are essential to understanding the human being and its complexities

Does bench model fidelity interfere in the acquisition of suture skills by novice medical students?

OBJETIVO: Embora vários modelos de bancada inanimados tenham sido descritos para o treinamento de habilidades de sutura, até o momento, não existe um método ideal para esse ensino e aprendizagem durante a formação médica. O objetivo foi avaliar se a fidelidade dos modelos de bancada interfere na aquisição de habilidades de sutura em estudantes de medicina iniciantes na prática cirúrgica. MÉTODOS: 36 estudantes de medicina sem exposição prévia a habilidades cirúrgicas foram randomizados em três grupos (n = 12): treinamento de suturas baseado em materiais didáticos (controle); treinamento de suturas em modelo de baixa-fidelidade (modelo de bancada de etileno vinil acetato); ou treinamento de suturas em modelo de alta-fidelidade (modelo de bancada de pele de pata de porco). Foram aplicados pré e pós-testes (realização de pontos simples e pontos subdérmicos invertidos em língua de boi). Três ferramentas (Global Rating Scale com avaliação cega, tamanho do efeito e autopercepção da confiança baseada em uma escala de Likert) foram utilizadas para mensurar todas as performances de sutura. RESULTADOS: A análise após o treinamento demonstrou que os estudantes que treinaram nos modelos tiveram um melhor (p < 0.0000) desempenho na avaliação pela Global Rating Scale, quando comparados com o controle, independente da fidelidade do modelo. A magnitude do efeito (treinamento) foi considerada grande (> 0.80) em todas as mensurações. Após o treinamento os alunos sentiram-se mais confiantes (p < 0.0000) para executarem os dois tipos de suturas. CONCLUSÃO: A aquisição de habilidades de suturas no modelo de baixa fidelidade foi semelhante à prática no modelo de alta fidelidade, sendo que a melhora no desempenho dos participantes que treinaram nesses dois modelos foi superior à aprendizagem baseada em materiais didáticos.

Electromyographic activity of shoulder muscles during exercises performed with oscillatory and non-oscillatory poles

CONTEXTUALIZAÇÃO: A dor e a disfunção no complexo articular do ombro é comumente encontrada na prática fisioterapêutica. Essas anormalidades musculoesqueléticas estão relacionadas à instabilidade e inadequado funcionamento cinemático, que dependem da integridade dos tecidos musculares. Assim, no sentido de prevenir e reabilitar esses sintomas, o uso da haste oscilatória vem sendo implantado para melhorar os resultados de técnicas cinesioterapêuticas. OBJETIVOS: Analisar a atividade eletromiográfica (EMG) dos músculos que estabilizam a articulação do ombro durante a realização de exercícios com haste oscilatória e haste não-oscilatória. MÉTODOS: Participaram do estudo 12 voluntárias com idade de 20,4±1,9 anos. Os dados EMG foram coletados nos músculos trapézio superior (TrS), trapézio inferior (TrI) e deltoide médio (DM) durante três diferentes exercícios realizados com haste oscilatória e haste não-oscilatória. O sinal EMG foi analisado no domínio do tempo pelo cálculo do Root Mean Square (RMS). Os valores de RMS foram normalizados pelo valor de pico obtido em todas as tentativas por cada músculo. A análise estatística foi feita com os testes ANOVA para medidas repetidas e post-hoc de Bonferroni. RESULTADOS: A atividade EMG dos músculos TrS, TrI e DM foi significativamente maior nos exercícios com haste oscilatória do que com haste não-oscilatória (todos p<0,001). Não foram significativas as diferenças na ativação desses músculos entre os exercícios. CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados do presente estudo indicaram que a haste oscilatória requisitou maior atividade EMG dos músculos do ombro e, assim, pode ser um instrumento útil no treinamento desses músculos.

Feather mites of Brazil (Acari: Astigmata: Analgoidea and Pterolichoidea)

We present a checklist of feather mites known from native birds in Brazil. The list was compiled from a survey of Brazilian records published in indexing databases (e.g. Zoological Records) and from the available literature. To date, 185 nominal species representing 21 families have been recorded from Brazilian birds. Associations with 15 bird orders were found: Anseriformes, Apodiformes, Caprimulgiformes, Ciconiiformes, Columbiformes, Cuculiformes, Falconiformes, Galliformes, Gruiformes, Opisthocomiformes, Passeriformes, Piciformes, Psittaciformes, Tinamiformes and Trogoniformes. These birds sum to 218 species, which represent only 12.4% of all bird species occurring in Brazil. The feather mite fauna of several species-rich and important bird orders in Brazil remain unexplored, including Cathartiformes, Charadriiformes, Coraciiformes, Galbuliformes and Strigiformes. We estimate that between 900 and 5300 feather mite species are expected to occur on Brazilian birds, which is at least five times greater than current records. The training of researchers with expertise in the taxonomy of this group of mites should be stimulated so that there is a compatible number of taxonomists to discover and describe the almost unexplored feather mite fauna in Brazil.

Estimation of the volumetric oxygen tranfer coefficient (KLa) from the gas balance and using a neural network technique

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

Prediction of occurrences of diverse chemical classes in the Asteraceae through artificial neural networks

The training and the application of a neural network system for the prediction of occurrences of secondary metabolites belonging to diverse chemical classes in the Asteraceae is described. From a database containing about 604 genera and 28,000 occurrences of secondary metabolites in the plant family, information was collected encompassing nine chemical classes and their respective occurrences for training of a multi-layer net using the back-propagation algorithm. The net supplied as output the presence or absence of the chemical classes as well as the number of compounds isolated from each taxon. The results provided by the net from the presence or absence of a chemical class showed a 89% hit rate; by excluding triterpenes from the analysis, only 5% of the genera studied exhibited errors greater than 10%. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

The initial formation of teachers in scholastic cartography: a report on a research experience

This paper is derived from the PhD research entitled "The initial training of Geography teacher in school cartography: a reflective analysis", developed by the program of Post-graduation in Geography of UNESP, campus of Rio Claro. The research is in the final phase, focused on data analysis and final writing of thesis. In this context, it may be stated that the research orientates in the problematic focused at the understanding of how the recent knowledge produced by the school cartography unfolds in the practices of Geography licentiate students. However, at this time, we will discuss about issues related to the research by the theoretical and practical point of view.

Investigations into the use of the finite element method and artificial neural networks in the non-destructive analysis of metallic tubes

This work presents an investigation into the use of the finite element method and artificial neural networks in the identification of defects in industrial plants metallic tubes, due to the aggressive actions of the fluids contained by them, and/or atmospheric agents. The methodology used in this study consists of simulating a very large number of defects in a metallic tube, using the finite element method. Both variations in width and height of the defects are considered. Then, the obtained results are used to generate a set of vectors for the training of a perceptron multilayer artificial neural network. Finally, the obtained neural network is used to classify a group of new defects, simulated by the finite element method, but that do not belong to the original dataset. The reached results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach, and encourage future works on this subject.

Education and knowledge: basic pillars of changing production patterns with social equity

Includes bibliography

Labour markets, worker protection and lifelong learning in a global economy: experiences and perspectives of Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes bibliography