Voice and speech characteristics and vocal hygiene in novice and professional voice broadcast journalists

Knowledge of differences in voice and speech characteristics between novice and professional broadcasters is essential for effective education of broadcast journalism students. Because newsreaders rely on optimal voice production, information pertaining to vocal hygiene is also important. The first aim of this study was to compare the voice and speech characteristics of professional newsreaders, student newsreaders and control participants. The second aim was to compare the awareness and use of vocal hygiene across these groups. Professional radio newsreaders, broadcast journalism students and two matched control groups were included in the study. Each participant recorded a news bulletin and completed a questionnaire on vocal hygiene. Data analysis of the recording included objective analysis and perceptual ratings by a panel of three judges. Significant student-professional differences were found. Compared to both the students and the control groups, the professional newsreaders had greater variation in speaking fundamental frequency, a faster rate of speech, fewer pronunciation errors and higher perceptual ratings on vocal quality, emphasis, continuity, phrasing and style of newsreading. Female professional newsreaders had a higher speaking fundamental frequency than both their control participants and the student newsreaders. Comparison of vocal hygiene awareness revealed few significant differences between any of the groups.

Organisational and professional commitments: the influence in nurses´organizational citizenship behaviours

The way an employee behaves in his work can be influenced by the organisational and professional commitment. Nurses are professionals who are guided by organisational and professional goals and values. Among nurses, professional commitment may be an important antecedent of organisational citizenship behaviours. The study shows how organisational and professional commitment is related with nurses’ organisational citizenship behaviours. Data from a sample of 420 nurses working in two hospitals --- the Hospital of St. Marcos, Braga and the Hospital Centre of Alto Ave, Guimarães and Fafe units were collected. The main findings are as follows: (a) organisational commitment and professional commitment contribute to the explanation of nurses’ organisational citizenship behaviours, (b) affective organisational commitment, continuance organisational commitment --- personal sacrifice, affective professional commitment and continuance professional commitment explain 28.6% of variance of organisational citizenship behaviours. © 2013 Instituto Politécnico do Cávado e do Ave (IPCA). Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Family expectation, social adjustment and gender differences in a sample of schizophrenic patients

A case series to study factors related to family expectation regarding schizophrenic patients was conducted in an out-patient setting in the city of S. Paulo, Brazil. Patients diagnosed as presenting schizophrenia by the ICD 9th Edition and having had the disease for more than four years were included in the study. Family Expectation was measured by the difference between the Katz Adjustment Scale (R2 and R3) scores based on the relative's expectation and the socially expected activities of the patient (Discrepancy Score), and social adjustment was given by the DSM-III-R Global Assessment Scale (GAS) . Outcome assessments were made independently, and 44 patients comprised the sample (25 males and 19 females). The Discrepancy mean score was twice as high for males as for females (p < 0.02), and there was an inverse relationship between the discrepancy score and social adjustment (r =-0.46, p < 0.001). Moreover, sex and social adjustment exerted independent effects on the discrepancy score when age, age at onset and number of psychiatric admissions were controlled by means of a multiple regression technique. There was an interaction between sex and social adjustment, the inverse relationship between social adjustment and discrepancy score being more pronounced for males. These findings are discussed in the light of the potential association between the family environment, gender and social adjustment of schizophrenic patients, and the need for further research, i.e. ethnographic accounts of interactions between patient and relatives sharing households particularly in less developed countries.

Gestão de carreiras dos profissionais de saúde

Com a reforma da Administração Pública, implementada de forma mais integrada e abrangente pelo Governo socialista de José Sócrates (XVII Governo Constitucional), foi iniciada a reformulação das carreiras dos profissionais de saúde, nomeadamente a carreira médica e a carreira de enfermagem, continuando-se a aguardar a reformulação das carreiras dos técnicos superiores de saúde e dos técnicos de diagnóstico e terapêutica. As inúmeras mudanças que decorrem destas reformulações têm criado por sua vez um clima de receio e expectativa junto dos profissionais de saúde, o que aliado a um período de contingência e recessão económica, tem causado uma certa instabilidade. Embora fosse de reconhecimento geral que a anterior forma como se geria as carreiras dos profissionais de saúde, utilizando como critérios de progressão mecanismos automatizados com foco na antiguidade, não fosse a mais correcta, uma vez que não cumpria princípios de justiça e meritocracia, são agora levantadas inúmeras dúvidas com estas reformulações. A questão principal é se efectivamente virão dar resposta à necessidade de uma maior flexibilidade na evolução profissional, mais adequada aos contributos de cada colaborador, potenciando o desenvolvimento de competências. Concluiu-se então que as reformulações efectuadas nas carreiras dos profissionais de saúde não incentivam totalmente o desenvolvimento de competências ao longo da carreira, mas permitem de alguma forma uma maior flexibilidade na evolução profissional; possibilitando que esta se desenvolva de acordo com os contributos de cada colaborador, apesar de grandes entraves na aplicação à prática. A verdade é que não se conseguem atingir resultados somente através de resoluções por decreto, falta a transformação deste sistema meritocrático, existente no plano formal, numa prática social meritocrática. Para isso em todas as reformulações que ocorram deve-se, primeiro de tudo, sensibilizar os colaboradores para essa necessidade, informar e esclarecer dúvidas, ouvir as suas sugestões e incluí-los no processo de mudança. Só dessa forma se irá conseguir a sua aceitação, o seu apoio e implementar efectivamente novas práticas. Nesse sentido, espera-se que este trabalho contribua para um maior conhecimento acerca da gestão de carreiras, gestão de competências, avaliação de desempenho e meritocracia, bem como das alterações legislativas que têm vindo a ocorrer, sensibilizando para a necessidade de se efectuarem realmente reformulações nas carreiras dos profissionais de saúde, mas também promovendo o desenvolvimento de uma atitude pró-activa para que estas sejam mais meritocráticas.

Influence of reconstruction parameters during filtered backprojection and ordered-subset expectation maximization in the measurement of the left-ventricular volumes and function during gated SPECT

A crucial method for investigating patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) is the calculation of the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). It is, consequently, imperative to precisely estimate the value of LVEF--a process that can be done with myocardial perfusion scintigraphy. Therefore, the present study aimed to establish and compare the estimation performance of the quantitative parameters of the reconstruction methods filtered backprojection (FBP) and ordered-subset expectation maximization (OSEM). Methods: A beating-heart phantom with known values of end-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume, and LVEF was used. Quantitative gated SPECT/quantitative perfusion SPECT software was used to obtain these quantitative parameters in a semiautomatic mode. The Butterworth filter was used in FBP, with the cutoff frequencies between 0.2 and 0.8 cycles per pixel combined with the orders of 5, 10, 15, and 20. Sixty-three reconstructions were performed using 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 16 OSEM subsets, combined with several iterations: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 32, and 64. Results: With FBP, the values of end-diastolic, end-systolic, and the stroke volumes rise as the cutoff frequency increases, whereas the value of LVEF diminishes. This same pattern is verified with the OSEM reconstruction. However, with OSEM there is a more precise estimation of the quantitative parameters, especially with the combinations 2 iterations × 10 subsets and 2 iterations × 12 subsets. Conclusion: The OSEM reconstruction presents better estimations of the quantitative parameters than does FBP. This study recommends the use of 2 iterations with 10 or 12 subsets for OSEM and a cutoff frequency of 0.5 cycles per pixel with the orders 5, 10, or 15 for FBP as the best estimations for the left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction quantification in myocardial perfusion scintigraphy.

Peculiarities of the professional education and qualification appraisal of assistants of pharmacists in Lithuania

Following the alterations and additions to the pharmaceutical law of Lithuanian Republic the pharmaceutical activity in Lithuanian pharmacies is carried out by pharmacy specialists – pharmacists and pharmacy assistants (pharmacy technicians). The ability of pharmacy specialists to adapt, to improve and to develop their competencies is one of the success preconditions for Lithuanian health care pharmacy sector. Work aim: to investigate the changes among the specialists employed in pharmacies and pharmacy sector as well as to highlight the necessity to develop the qualification of pharmacy assistants (pharmacy technicians) according to the modern pharmaceutical legal basis in Lithuania. In 2008–2011 the research in Lithuanian pharmacy sector was performed which identified the changes in the numbers of pharmacies and their staff: the number of pharmacies decreased, while the number of pharmacists increased and the number of the assistants of pharmacists (pharmacy technicians) decreased. The decrease in the number of the assistants of pharmacists (pharmacy technicians) and the danger of their extinction in the future has been identified. The qualification appraisal for pharmacy assistants (pharmacy technicians) is implemented through the leveling studies at the Pharmacy technique department at the Health care faculty of Kauno Kolegija University of applied sciences and pharmacy study programme at the faculty of Pharmacy of Medical Academy at Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. 75 % of respondents use their own money to pay for the qualification appraisal, and 25 % of respondents get financial support for the qualification appraisal activities from the pharmacy managers.

Accounting logic and new professional in healthcare: a case study

The central place hospitals occupy in health systems transforms them into prime target of healthcare reforms. This study aims to identify current trends in organizational structure change in public hospitals and explore the role of accounting in attempts to develop controls over professionals within public hospitals. The analytical framework we proposed crosses the concept of “new professionalism” (Evetts, 2010), with the concept of “accounting logic” for controlling professionals (Broadbent and Laughlin, 1995). Looking for a more holistic overview, we developed a qualitative and exploratory study. The data were collected trough semi-structured interviews with doctors of a clinical hospital unit. Content analysis suggests that, although we cannot say that there is a complete and generalized integration of accounting information in the clinical decisions, important improvement has been made in that area. Despite the extensive literature developed on this topic, there is any empirical studies of authors are aware that allow us to realize how real doctors in reals day-to-day work integrated these trends of change in theirs clinical decisions.

Inter-professional partnership: a case study

O estudo caso apresentado neste artigo aborda a colaboração entre profissionais de múltiplas áreas disciplinares. Este estudo descreve como foi realizada a parceria entre a equipa de enfermagem e a equipa de psicologia clinica nas visitas domiciliárias com familias em risco. Igualmente, discute as dificuldades enfrentadas quando os profissionais não partilhavam os mesmos modelos de praticas colaborativas.

Professional and community satisfaction with the Brazilian family health strategy

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the strengths and limitations of the Family Health Strategy from the perspective of health care professionals and the community. METHODS: Between June-August 2009, in the city of Vespasiano, Minas Gerais State, Southeastern Brazil, a questionnaire was used to evaluate the Family Health Strategy (ESF) with 77 healthcare professionals and 293 caregivers of children under five. Health care professional training, community access to health care, communication with patients and delivery of health education and pediatric care were the main points of interest in the evaluation. Logistic regression analysis was used to obtain odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals as well as to assess the statistical significance of the variables studied. RESULTS: The majority of health care professionals reported their program training was insufficient in quantity, content and method of delivery. Caregivers and professionals identified similar weaknesses (services not accessible to the community, lack of healthcare professionals, poor training for professionals) and strengths (community health worker-patient communications, provision of educational information, and pediatric care). Recommendations for improvement included: more doctors and specialists, more and better training, and scheduling improvements. Caregiver satisfaction with the ESF was found to be related to perceived benefits such as community health agent household visits (OR 5.8, 95%CI 2.8;12.1), good professional-patient relationships (OR 4.8, 95%CI 2.5;9.3), and family-focused health (OR 4.1, 95%CI 1.6;10.2); and perceived problems such as lack of personnel (OR 0.3, 95%CI 0.2;0.6), difficulty with access (OR 0.2, 95%CI 0.1;0.4), and poor quality of care (OR 0.3, 95%CI 0.1;0.6). Overall, 62% of caregivers reported being generally satisfied with the ESF services. CONCLUSIONS: Identifying the limitations and strengths of the Family Health Strategy from the healthcare professional and caregiver perspective may serve to advance primary community healthcare in Brazil.

Professional situation of prosthetics and orthotics recent graduates in ESTeSL

The career of prosthetics and orthotics in Portugal have a recent formative path: need to investigate the employability and employment of the graduates in Prosthetic and Orthotics (P&O) in ESTeSL between the academic years of 2004/05 and 2012/13; approaching to socio-demographic data and also academic and professional path. The questionnaire was applied to the P&O professional population graduated in ESTeSL. The results had been important to observe the future perspectives trends for the profession.

Asthenopic symptoms and binocular vision of professional users of optical microscope

Desde 1935 que tem sido demonstrada a relação entre a execução de um trabalho de perto prolongado e o aparecimento de queixas visuais astenópicas. Anomalias da VB encontram-se significativamente aumentadas ao fim de um dia de trabalho com fixação de perto. Diminuição significativa da amplitude de acomodação e convergência depois de quatro dias a realizar uma atividade de perto. Objectivo geral: avaliar o estado da visão binocular dos profissionais de Anatomia Patológica utilizadores de microscópio ótico. Objectivos específicos: identificar as queixas astenópicas mais frequentes dos profissionais durante o trabalho com o microscópio ótico; comparar o estado da VB no início e no final de uma semana de trabalho; correlacionar o estado da VB com as queixas astenópicas sentidas pelos profissionais; correlacionar as queixas astenópicas com as horas e o número de anos de trabalho com o microscópio.

Using the TRAILER tool for managing informal learning in academic and professional contexts: the learner perspective

Informal Learning plays an important role in everyone's life and yet we often are unaware of it. The need to keep track of the knowledge acquired through informal learning is increasing as its sources become increasingly diverse. This paper presents a study on a tool developed to help keeping track of learners' informal learning, both within academic and professional contexts, This tool, developed within the European Commission funded TRAILER project, will further integrate the improvements suggested by users during the piloting phase. The two studied contexts were similar regarding the importance and perception of Informal Learning, but differed concerning tool usage. The overall idea of managing one's informal learning was well accepted and welcomed, which validated the emerging need for a tool with this purpose.

Collaborative environment to support a professional community

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores