Evaluation of biochemical and redox parameters in rats fed with corn grown in soil amended with urban sewage sludge

The increased production of urban sewage sludge requires alternative methods for final disposal. A very promising choice is the use of sewage sludge as a fertilizer in agriculture, since it is rich in organic matter, macro and micronutrients. However, urban sewage sludge may contain toxic substances that may cause deleterious effects on the biota, water and soil, and consequently on humans. There is a lack of studies evaluating how safe the consumption of food cultivated in soils containing urban sewage sludge is. Thus, the aim of this paper was to evaluate biochemical and redox parameters in rats fed with corn produced in a soil treated with urban sewage sludge for a long term. For these experiments, maize plants were grown in soil amended with sewage sludge (rates of 5, 10 and 20. t/ha) or not (control). Four different diets were prepared with the corn grains produced in the field experiment, and rats were fed with these diets for 1, 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks. Biochemical parameters (glucose, total cholesterol and fractions, triglycerides, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase) as well the redox state biomarkers such as reduced glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase, glutathione peroxidase and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) were assessed. Our results show no differences in the biomarkers over 1 or 2 weeks. However, at 4 weeks BuChE activity was inhibited in rats fed with corn grown in soil amended with sewage sludge (5, 10 and 20. t/ha), while MDA levels increased. Furthermore, prolonged exposure to corn cultivated in the highest amount per hectare of sewage sludge (8 and 12 weeks) was associated with an increase in MDA levels and a decrease in GSH levels, respectively. Our findings add new evidence of the risks of consuming food grown with urban sewage sludge. However, considering that the amount and type of toxic substances present in urban sewage sludge varies considerably among different sampling areas, further studies are needed to evaluate sludge samples collected from different sources and/or undergoing different types of treatment. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.

The reasons of the nursing staff to notify adverse events

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

Evaluation of the identification protocol for newborns in a private hospital

This exploratory-descriptive quantitative study aimed to evaluate the protocol for identifying newborns admitted to the Neonatal Intensive and Semi-intensive Therapy Unit of a private hospital. The case series was made up of 540 observation opportunities, selected by simple random probability sampling. The data was collected between May and August 2010 according to a form and analyzed by descriptive statistic. The protocol's general performance had a conformity index of 82.2%. There were three stages to the protocol: identification components, the identification wristbands' condition and the number of identification wristbands. The highest percentage of conformity (93%) was attributed to the second stage and the lowest (89.3%) to the third, presenting a statistically significant difference of p=0.046. In the group of 'special' neonates, 88.5% conformity was achieved. These results will make it possible to restructure the protocol for identifying newborns and to establish care and managerial goals so as to improve the quality of care and the patients' safety.

Evaluation of the vulnerability of families assisted in Primary Care in Brazil

Objective: to characterize the profiles of families in the area covered by a Primary Health Center and to identify those in a vulnerable situation. Method: this is an epidemiological, observational, cross-sectional and quantitative study. 320 home visits were made, defined by a random sample of the areas covered by the Urban Center 1 in the city of Sao Sebastiao, in Brazil's Federal District. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection, elaborated based on the Family Development Index (FDI). Results: there was a predominance of young families, women, and low levels of schooling. The FDI permitted the identification of families in situations of "high" and "very high" vulnerability. The most critical dimensions were: "access to knowledge" and "access to work". Conclusion: the study indicated the importance of greater investments in the areas of education, work and income, and highlighted the need for the use of a wider concept of vulnerability by the health services.

EVALUATION OF MICROBIAL GROWTH ON SINGLE-USE VITRECTOMY PROBES REPROCESSED IN HEALTHCARE PRACTICE

The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbial growth on single-use vitrectomy probes reprocessed in healthcare practice. We investigated nine vitrectomy probes that had been reused and reprocessed using different methods. The samples were sectioned, individually, in portions of 3.5 cm, totaling 979 sampling units (extensions, connectors and vitrectomy cutters), which were inoculated in culture medium and incubated at 37 C for 14 days. The results showed microbial growth on 57 (5.8%) sample units, 25 of which had been sterilized using ethylene oxide, 16 by hydrogen peroxide plasma, and 16 by low-temperature steam and formaldehyde. Seventeen microbial species were identified. The most prevalent were: Micrococcus spp., coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas spp., and Bacillus subtilis. The reuse of single-use vitrectomy probes was shown to be unsafe, therefore this practice is not recommended.

Evaluation of Pain and Accuracy Diagnostic in Hospitalized Children

PURPOSE: Acute pain occurs in over 50% of hospitalized children. The accuracy of this diagnosis has been underexplored in the literature, as has the role of training to implement pain assessment. This study analyzed the accuracy of acute pain diagnoses after the implementation of a systematic evaluation of pain (study intervention). METHOD: The sample was divided into: pre- and postintervention. The Nursing Diagnosis Accuracy Scale, which scores accuracy as null, low, moderate, or high, was used. RESULTS: In the postimplementation, acute pain was diagnosed more often. However, accuracy only improved in the moderate category. CONCLUSION: Diagnosis of acute pain increased in the postimplementation period, but accuracy did not. IMPLICATIONS: The development of strategies for improvement of diagnostic accuracy is warranted.

Increasing the career choice readiness of young adolescents: an evaluation study

A career workshop that applies models of the Cognitive Information Processing Approach (Sampson, Reardon, Peterson, & Lenz, 2004) and incorporates critical ingredients (Brown and Ryan Krane, 2000) to promote the career choice readiness of young adolescents was developed and evaluated with 334 Swiss students in seventh grade applying a Solomon four group design with a three-month follow-up. Participants significantly increased their performance in terms of career decidedness, career planning, career exploration, and vocational identity. Implications for evaluation research and counselling practice are presented.

More volunteers in football clubs. An evaluation of a method to increase the number of volunteers

An increasing number of clubs experience difficulties in recruiting and retaining sufficient numbers of volunteers to manage and staff their clubs (Lamprecht, Fischer, & Stamm, 2012). In order to facilitate volunteer recruitment, sport clubs need a specific strategy to recruit and retain volunteers for both formal positions and ad hoc tasks. Therefore, the intervention “More Volunteers in Football Clubs” was designed and its impact was evaluated in detail. The question this evaluation research wants to address is: Can football clubs recruit and retain volunteers successfully by implementing the intervention “More Volunteers in Football Clubs”? The designed intervention is based on the different expectations and needs of volunteers, as well as non-profit human resource management and organisational development management, with a strong emphasis on club-specific counseling and support. Task forces of the twelve participating football clubs attended four workshops in which they received tailor made counseling to reach the desired number of volunteers. The intervention has been implemented and its effectiveness tested in cooperation with the Swiss Football Federation with twelve Swiss football clubs following a pretest, intervention, posttest design Data have been gathered and analysed using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Outcome measurements are: volunteer rate, number of recruited volunteers, number of filled volunteer positions and volunteer satisfaction. Four months after the intervention all clubs that completed the proposed intervention were successful in recruiting the desired number of volunteers. Further, all participating clubs found the intervention helpful and would recommend other clubs to participate as well. With the development of this practical intervention a solution for football clubs is provided to overcome the difficulties in recruiting and retaining sufficient numbers of volunteers. Lamprecht, M., Fischer, A., & Stamm, H.-P. (2012). Sportvereine in der Schweiz. Strukturen, Leistungen, Herausforderungen. Zürich, Switzerland: Seismo.

Avaliação de boas práticas em saúde mental na atenção psicossocial

A partir do redirecionamento do modelo assistencial no Brasil emerge a necessidade de discussão da reinvenção de práticas alinhadas com o cenário de transformações. As práticas agora devem se desenvolver no sentido de superar o isolamento das grades, dos muros e das chaves, do apagamento do sujeito, da supressão de sintomas e das personalidades dos sujeitos em sofrimento psíquico. Diante disso, é que este estudo tem como objetivos avaliar boas práticas em saúde mental na atenção psicossocial no contexto de um município da região Sul do Brasil. Para tanto, organizou-se como uma pesquisa avaliativa construtivista, com enfoque responsivo, a medida que desenvolve um consenso critico entre os grupos de interesse. Está baseada na Avaliação de Quarta Geração, proposta por Guba e Lincoln (2011), que emerge como opção metodológica e se articula com o referencial teórico das \"Boas Práticas em Saúde Mental Comunitária\", proposto por Thornicroft e Tansella (2010). Este é apresentado de modo a identificar boas práticas na saúde mental, com base na articulação de 3 eixos indispensáveis e indissociáveis: a ética, como princípio fundamental que deverá orientar o planejamento, a assistência e a avaliação dos serviços. A evidência deve embasar as intervenções e serviços. E a experiência como uma evidência do que vem sendo produzido nas experiências locais e regionais de organização da rede de serviços. Como resultado do processo as práticas de Acolhimento, Projeto Terapêutico Singular e Transferência de Cuidados emergiram para discussão. O Acolhimento torna-se concreto nas ações da Porta Aberta, e significa escuta qualificada no momento em que a necessidade emerge, além de representar a oferta de atenção de qualidade baseada no processo relacional que fortalece o estabelecimento de vínculos e a construção de projetos de vida. O Projeto Terapêutico Singular apresenta-se como uma boa prática, a medida que é capaz de dar resposta singularizada e individualizada às necessidades do sujeito, de modo a oportunizar como resultado uma pessoa capaz de andar na vida. É definido de forma compartilhada entre equipe, usuário e família, segundo os objetivos terapêuticos para cada sujeito, e utiliza o técnico de referência, as mini equipes, as oficinas terapêuticas, os grupos terapêuticos, as assembleias, enfim, ofertas e propostas que permitem ao sujeito retomar o envolvimento com os espaços da cidade, no caminho da produção de vida. Com relação à Transferência de Cuidados, esta possibilita ao sujeito que vive o processo não só circular em uma rede de serviços, mas, acima de tudo, buscar, com suporte dela, sua emancipação. Para tanto, investe em práticas que estimulem a autonomia dos sujeitos, por meio de instrumentos como o Acompanhamento Terapêutico, Grupo de Apoio à Alta, espaços de decisões e discussões, estímulo à busca e resolução de problemas, atividades de reconhecimento dos espaços da cidade, transporte, cultura e lazer. Além disso, investe nas ações com a Atenção Básica, a partir do Apoio Matricial com processos de formação continuada com as equipes, e mapeamento da situação da saúde mental nos territórios. Ao final deste estudo, é possível concluir que o modelo de atenção psicossocial demonstrou potencialidade de produzir boas práticas na atenção à saúde mental, e que estas tem transformado a vida dos sujeitos em sofrimento psíquico, bem como tem auxiliado no processo de reconquista de espaços sociais

Evaluation management : a sourcebook of readings /

Mode of access: Internet.

Evaluation forum /

"A review journal for employment and training professionals focusing on policy analysis and evaluation research in education, occupational training, work and welfare, and economic development."

Respecting and fulfilling the right of post-primary pupils to consent to participate in trials and evaluative research: A discussion paper

This paper provides an introduction to issues surrounding the participation rights of young people in research and the implications of their growing involvement in research as well as providing a discourse on the ethical implications related to consent. The unique contribution of this paper is that it considers children’s rights in respect to the increasing opportunities for young people to take part in evaluation research. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to acknowledge the growing involvement for young people in research and the implications of ensuring that their rights of participation are respected. Secondly we will consider the children’s rights legislation and our obligations as researchers to implement this. Finally we will explore consent as an issue in its own right as well as the practicalities of accessing participants. This paper will postulate that any research about young people should involve and prioritise at all stages of the research process; including participation in decision-making. We conclude by identifying five key principles, which we believe can help to facilitate the fulfilment of post-primary pupils’ ability to consent to participate in trials and evaluative research.

Juliane Lamprecht: Rekonstruktiv-responsive Evaluation in der Praxis, Neue Perspektiven dokumentarischer Evaluationsforschung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2012 [Rezension]

Rezension von: Juliane Lamprecht: Rekonstruktiv-responsive Evaluation in der Praxis, Neue Perspektiven dokumentarischer Evaluationsforschung, Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2012 (305 S.; ISBN 978-3-5311-7985-8)

Relations among Topic Knowledge, Individual Interest, and Relational Reasoning, and Critical Thinking in Maternity Nursing

Critical thinking in learners is a goal of educators and professional organizations in nursing as well as other professions. However, few studies in nursing have examined the role of the important individual difference factors topic knowledge, individual interest, and general relational reasoning strategies in predicting critical thinking. In addition, most previous studies have used domain-general, standardized measures, with inconsistent results. Moreover, few studies have investigated critical thinking across multiple levels of experience. The major purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which topic knowledge, individual interest, and relational reasoning predict critical thinking in maternity nurses. For this study, 182 maternity nurses were recruited from national nursing listservs explicitly chosen to capture multiple levels of experience from prelicensure to very experienced nurses. The three independent measures included a domain-specific Topic Knowledge Assessment (TKA), consisting of 24 short-answer questions, a Professed and Engaged Interest Measure (PEIM), with 20 questions indicating level of interest and engagement in maternity nursing topics and activities, and the Test of Relational Reasoning (TORR), a graphical selected response measure with 32 items organized in scales corresponding to four forms of relational reasoning: analogy, anomaly, antithesis, and antinomy. The dependent measure was the Critical Thinking Task in Maternity Nursing (CT2MN), composed of a clinical case study providing cues with follow-up questions relating to nursing care. These questions align with the cognitive processes identified in a commonly-used definition of critical thinking in nursing. Reliable coding schemes for the measures were developed for this study. Key findings included a significant correlation between topic knowledge and individual interest. Further, the three individual difference factors explained a significant proportion of the variance in critical thinking with a large effect size. While topic knowledge was the strongest predictor of critical thinking performance, individual interest had a moderate significant effect, and relational reasoning had a small but significant effect. The findings suggest that these individual difference factors should be included in future studies of critical thinking in nursing. Implications for nursing education, research, and practice are discussed.