Erros de comunicação entre Protésicos e Médicos Dentistas

Este trabalho consiste numa revisão de literatura sobre os erros de comunicação entre dois grupos de profissionais, cujos trabalhos na área da Medicina Dentária se complementam: o Médico Dentista (MD) e o Técnico de Prótese Dentária (TPD). A comunicação entre estes dois grupos é o um fator muito importante e deve existir uma boa sinergia para que o trabalho seja executado com o maior rigor e qualidade possível. Esta pressupõe aspetos funcionais, biomecânicos, estruturais e estéticos, da reabilitação a realizar, potenciando deste modo a máxima de qualquer tratamento médico: a satisfação do paciente. O objetivo que se propõe é expor os erros decorrentes de falhas de comunicação e alertar os MD e TPD para a mudança do nível de colaboração. É também objetivo desmistificar a postura dos MD em relação à Prótese Dentária. O culminar deste trabalho de equipa traduz-se na promoção da Saúde Oral e melhor qualidade de vida dos pacientes. As falhas na comunicação são o principal entrave ao sucesso da reabilitação protética, pois impedem a conjugação dos conhecimentos científicos e técnicos de ambos os profissionais perpetuando erros ao longo das etapas de fabrico. Com base numa pesquisa relacionada com a comunicação entre MD e TPD, utilizando-se as palavras-chave “dentist technician relationship”, “dentist technician communication”, “dentist technician survey”, “dental fixed architecture” e “dental technicians fabrication”, através dos motores de busca Pubmed, Scielo e Science Direct, foi realizada uma revisão de literatura com o intuito de avaliar a comunicação entre TPD e MD. Procurou-se caracterizar que tipos de erros que podem ser cometidos, bem como formas para melhorar a comunicação. Após a revisão, constatou-se que existe uma grande deficiência a nível de comunicação entre MD e TPD e que tal facto induz a que um trabalho perca em termos de qualidade. Também se verificou que os erros cometidos são a nível académico e profissional, proporcionando a que o trabalho final resulte na insatisfação do paciente, bem como dos profissionais envolvidos.

COLLABORATIVE TESTING ACROSS SHARED SOFTWARE COMPONENTS

Large component-based systems are often built from many of the same components. As individual component-based software systems are developed, tested and maintained, these shared components are repeatedly manipulated. As a result there are often significant overlaps and synergies across and among the different test efforts of different component-based systems. However, in practice, testers of different systems rarely collaborate, taking a test-all-by-yourself approach. As a result, redundant effort is spent testing common components, and important information that could be used to improve testing quality is lost. The goal of this research is to demonstrate that, if done properly, testers of shared software components can save effort by avoiding redundant work, and can improve the test effectiveness for each component as well as for each component-based software system by using information obtained when testing across multiple components. To achieve this goal I have developed collaborative testing techniques and tools for developers and testers of component-based systems with shared components, applied the techniques to subject systems, and evaluated the cost and effectiveness of applying the techniques. The dissertation research is organized in three parts. First, I investigated current testing practices for component-based software systems to find the testing overlap and synergy we conjectured exists. Second, I designed and implemented infrastructure and related tools to facilitate communication and data sharing between testers. Third, I designed two testing processes to implement different collaborative testing algorithms and applied them to large actively developed software systems. This dissertation has shown the benefits of collaborative testing across component developers who share their components. With collaborative testing, researchers can design algorithms and tools to support collaboration processes, achieve better efficiency in testing configurations, and discover inter-component compatibility faults within a minimal time window after they are introduced.

The impacts of environmental and anthropogenic stressors on largemouth bass: an integration of field and laboratory studies

Several environmental stressors can impact the physiology and survival of fishes. Fish experience natural fluctuations in temperature and dissolved oxygen, but variations in these parameters due to anthropogenic sources are typically greater in magnitude and duration. Changes in temperature and oxygen of anthropogenic origins may therefore have larger negative impacts on fish than those occurring during natural events. Physiological parameters are sensitive indicators of the impacts of stressors by providing insight into the manner in which fish are disturbed by the stressor. Fish may display cumulative physiological responses to successive stressors, but the concept of synergy among multiple thermal stressors is poorly understood. Further, some fish species can be subjected to competitive angling events, which expose fish to an array of additional stressors that can increase mortality. The impacts of these events may change over seasons as fish display seasonal changes in behavior and physiology. Latitudinal origin may also affect the physiological response and mortality of fish exposed to common environmental stressors as individual populations are adapted to local environmental conditions. This thesis focuses on addressing these potential impacts on physiological parameters and mortality of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and provides implications for management and conservation. Largemouth bass were relatively robust to abrupt changes in temperature and oxygen, but were perturbed from physiological homeostasis during large (12°C) temperature shocks and low (< 4 mg O2/L) levels of dissolved oxygen. Cumulative physiological impacts of multiple cold shocks were only slightly greater than the disturbances sustained during a single cold shock, suggesting largemouth bass are able to tolerate successive thermal stressors. Largemouth bass exhibited seasonal changes in physiological parameters but the responses of fish to angling tournaments were relatively similar across seasons when compared with seasonal controls. Mortality was low during angling tournaments held during four seasons and no apparent seasonal trends were observed. Lastly, largemouth bass from two latitudinally separated populations exhibited differences in their physiological responses to acute cold stressors and overwinter mortality, characterized by greater mortality and physiological disturbances of southern fish than northern fish. Knowledge gained from this study can be used to make management and conservation decisions regarding a host of environmental factors and provides insight into the mechanisms by which fish species can persist over large latitudinal ranges.

Acompanhando o processo criativo de João Mota

Relatório de Estágio submetido à Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Teatro – especialização em Encenação

Hybrid materials for biomedical applications

The increased longevity of humans and the demand for a better quality of life have led to a continuous search for new implant materials. Scientific development coupled with a growing multidisciplinarity between materials science and life sciences has given rise to new approaches such as regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. The search for a material with mechanical properties close to those of human bone produced a new family of hybrid materials that take advantage of the synergy between inorganic silica (SiO4) domains, based on sol-gel bioactive glass compositions, and organic polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS ((CH3)2.SiO2)n, domains. Several studies have shown that hybrid materials based on the system PDMS-SiO2 constitute a promising group of biomaterials with several potential applications from bone tissue regeneration to brain tissue recovery, passing by bioactive coatings and drug delivery systems. The objective of the present work was to prepare hybrid materials for biomedical applications based on the PDMS-SiO2 system and to achieve a better understanding of the relationship among the sol-gel processing conditions, the chemical structures, the microstructure and the macroscopic properties. For that, different characterization techniques were used: Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, liquid and solid state nuclear magnetic resonance techniques, X-ray diffraction, small-angle X-ray scattering, smallangle neutron scattering, surface area analysis by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Surface roughness and wettability were analyzed by 3D optical profilometry and by contact angle measurements respectively. Bioactivity was evaluated in vitro by immersion of the materials in Kokubos’s simulated body fluid and posterior surface analysis by different techniques as well as supernatant liquid analysis by inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy. Biocompatibility was assessed using MG63 osteoblastic cells. PDMS-SiO2-CaO materials were first prepared using nitrate as a calcium source. To avoid the presence of nitrate residues in the final product due to its potential toxicity, a heat-treatment step (above 400 °C) is required. In order to enhance the thermal stability of the materials subjected to high temperatures titanium was added to the hybrid system, and a material containing calcium, with no traces of nitrate and the preservation of a significant amount of methyl groups was successfully obtained. The difficulty in eliminating all nitrates from bulk PDMS-SiO2-CaO samples obtained by sol-gel synthesis and subsequent heat-treatment created a new goal which was the search for alternative sources of calcium. New calcium sources were evaluated in order to substitute the nitrate and calcium acetate was chosen due to its good solubility in water. Preparation solgel protocols were tested and homogeneous monolithic samples were obtained. Besides their ability to improve the bioactivity, titanium and zirconium influence the structural and microstructural features of the SiO2-TiO2 and SiO2-ZrO2 binary systems, and also of the PDMS-TiO2 and PDMS-ZrO2 systems. Detailed studies with different sol-gel conditions allowed the understanding of the roles of titanium and zirconium as additives in the PDMS-SiO2 system. It was concluded that titanium and zirconium influence the kinetics of the sol-gel process due to their different alkoxide reactivity leading to hybrid xerogels with dissimilar characteristics and morphologies. Titanium isopropoxide, less reactive than zirconium propoxide, was chosen as source of titanium, used as an additive to the system PDMS-SiO2-CaO. Two different sol-gel preparation routes were followed, using the same base composition and calcium acetate as calcium source. Different microstructures with high hydrophobicit were obtained and both proved to be biocompatible after tested with MG63 osteoblastic cells. Finally, the role of strontium (typically known in bioglasses to promote bone formation and reduce bone resorption) was studied in the PDMS-SiO2-CaOTiO2 hybrid system. A biocompatible material, tested with MG63 osteoblastic cells, was obtained with the ability to release strontium within the values reported as suitable for bone tissue regeneration.

Synergiczne formowanie kompetencji infotechnicznych

Integracja metod tradycyjnych z podejściem innowacyjnym w edukacji wywołuje zjawisko synergii, zwiększające efektywność. Obok asymilacji i akomodacji wiedzy niezbędne są procesy konstruowania i waloryzacji. W formowaniu kompetencji programistycznych szczególną rolę odgrywa podejście responsywne (tj. interakcja uwrażliwiona na potrzeby uczącego się), a w fazie realizacyjnej - immersja (tj. całkowite zanurzenie się ucznia w czynnościach koncepcyjnych i twórczych).

Is Australia ready for triple gene herbicide stack technology?

Integration of multiple herbicide-resistant genes (trait stacking) into crop plants would allow over the top application of herbicides that are otherwise fatal to crops. The US has just approved Bollgard II® XtendFlex™ cotton which has dicamba, glyphosate and glufosinate resistance traits stacked. The pace of glyphosate resistance evolution is expected to be slowed by this technology. In addition, over the top application of two more herbicides may help to manage hard to kill weeds in cotton such as flax leaf fleabane and milk thistle. However, there are some issues that need to be considered prior to the adoption of this technology. Wherever herbicide tolerant technology is adopted, volunteer crops can emerge as a weed problem, as can herbicide resistant weeds. For cotton, seed movement is the most likely way for resistant traits to move around. Management of multiple stack volunteers may add additional complexity to volunteer management in cotton fields and along roadsides. This paper attempts to evaluate the pros and cons of trait stacking technology by analysing the available literature in other crop growing regions across the world. The efficacy of dicamba and glufosinate on common weeds of the Australian cotton system, herbicide resistance evolution, synergy and antagonisms due to herbicide mixtures, drift hazards and the evolution of herbicide resistance to glyphosate, glufosinate and dicamba were analysed based on the available literature.

Towards participatory political theology: democratic consolidation in Southeastern Europe and the role of Eastern Christianity in the process

This thesis defends the position that the Eastern Orthodoxy has the potential to develop, on the basis of its core concepts and doctrines, a new political theology that is participatory, personalist and universalist. This participatory political theology, as I name it, endorses modern democracy and the values of civic engagement. It enhances the process of democracy-building and consolidation in the SEE countries through cultivating the ethos of participation and concern with the common good among and the recognition of the dignity and freedom of the person. This political-theological model is developed while analyzing critically the traditional models of church-state relations (the symphonia model corresponding to the medieval empire and the Christian nation model corresponding to the nation-state) as being instrumentalized to serve the political goals of non-democratic regimes. The participatory political-theological model is seen as corresponding to the conditions of the constitutional democratic state. The research is justified by the fact the Eastern Orthodoxy has been a dominant religiouscultural force in the European South East for centuries, thus playing a significant role in the process of creation of the medieval and modern statehood of the SEE countries. The analysis employs comparative constitutional perspectives on democratic transition and consolidation in the SEE region with the theoretical approaches of political theology and Eastern Orthodox theology. The conceptual basis for the political-theological synthesis is found in the concept and doctrines of the Eastern Orthodoxy (theosis and synergy, ecclesia and Eucharist, conciliarity and catholicity, economy and eschatology) which emphasize the participatory, personalist and communal dimensions of the Orthodox faith and practice. The paradigms of revealing the political-theological potential of these concepts are the Eucharistic ecclesiology and the concept of divine-human communion as defining the body of Orthodox theology. The thesis argues that with its ethos of openness and engagement the participatory political theology presupposes political systems that are democratic, inclusive, and participatory, respecting the rights and the dignity of the person. The political theology developed here calls for a transformation and change of democratic systems towards better realization of their personalist and participatory commitments. In the context of the SEE countries the participatory political theology addresses the challenges posed by alternative authoritarian political theologies practiced in neighboring regions.

High glucose mediates prooxidant and antioxidant enzyme activities in coronary endothelial cells

Objective: Excess levels of free radicals such as nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide anion (O2-)are associated with the pathogenesis of endothelial cell dysfunction in diabetes mellitus. This study was designed to investigate the underlying causes of oxidative stress in coronary microvascular endothelial cells (CMEC) exposed to hyperglycaemia. Methods: CMEC were cultured under normal (5.5 mmol/L) or high glucose (22 mmol/L)concentrations for 7 days. The activity and expression (protein level) of eNOS, iNOS, NAD(P)H oxidase and antioxidant enzymes, namely, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and glutahione peroxidase (GPx) were investigated by specific activity assays and Western analyses,respectively while the effects of hyperglycaemia on nitrite and O2 - generation were investigated by Griess reaction and cytochrome C reduction assay, respectively. Results: Hyperglycaemia did not alter eNOS or iNOS protein expressions and overall nitrite generation, an index of NO production. However, it significantly reduced the levels of intracellular antioxidant glutathione by 50% (p<0.05) and increased the protein expressions and/or activities of p22-phox, a membrane-bound component of pro-oxidant NAD(P)H oxidase and antioxidant enzymes (p<0.05). Free radical-scavengers, namely, Tiron and MPG (0.1-1 mol/L) reduced hyperglycaemia-induced antioxidant enzyme activity and increased glutathione and nitrite generation to the levels observed in CMEC cultured in normoglycaemic medium (p<0.01). The differences in enzyme activity and expressions were independent of the increased osmolarity generated by high glucose levels as investigated by using equimolar concentrations of mannitol in parallel experiments. Conclusions: These results suggest that hyperglycaemia-induced oxidative stress may arise in CMEC as a result of enhanced prooxidant enzyme activity and diminished generation of 3 antioxidant glutathione. By increasing the antioxidant enzyme capacity CMEC may protect themselves against free radical-induced cell damage in diabetic conditions. The definitive version is available at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com

Wspomagana fitoekstrakcja metali śladowych: Cu, Cd, Zn, Pb

Wydział Biologii

Local Field Potentials in the Gustatory Cortex Carry Taste Information

It has been recently shownthat localfield potentials (LFPs)fromthe auditory and visual cortices carry information about sensory stimuli, but whether this is a universal property of sensory cortices remains to be determined. Moreover, little is known about the temporal dynamics of sensory information contained in LFPs following stimulus onset. Here we investigated the time course of the amount of stimulus information in LFPs and spikes from the gustatory cortex of awake rats subjected to tastants and water delivery on the tongue. We found that the phase and amplitude of multiple LFP frequencies carry information about stimuli, which have specific time courses after stimulus delivery. The information carried by LFP phase and amplitude was independent within frequency bands, since the joint information exhibited neither synergy nor redundancy. Tastant information in LFPs was also independent and had a different time course from the information carried by spikes. These findings support the hypothesis that the brain uses different frequency channels to dynamically code for multiple features of a stimulus.

Diversity in intermediate care

This paper discusses the evolution of intermediate care and presents some interim observations from a survey of providers in England being conducted as part of a national evaluation of intermediate care. Telephone interviews covering various issues concerning the level of provision and style of delivery of intermediate care have been conducted with 70 services to date. Data from these are used to discuss the progress, range and nature of intermediate care in relation to clinician viewpoints and academic and official literature on the subject. Intermediate care ‘on the ground’ is a multiplicitous entity, with provision apparently evolving in accordance with the particularities of local need. Whilst protocols for medical involvement in intermediate care generally appear to be well established, there are some tensions concerning integration of services in a locality, care management processes and questions of flexibility and inclusiveness in relation to eligibility criteria. The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com

Human motivation and professional practice: of knights, knaves and social workers

Efforts to improve the efficiency and responsiveness of public services by harnessing the self-interest of professionals in state agencies have been widely debated in the recent literature on welfare state reform. In the context of social services, one way in which British policy-makers have sought to effect such changes has been through the "new community care" of the 1990 NHS and Community Care Act. Key to this is the concept of care management, in which the identification of needs and the provision of services are separated, purportedly with a view to improving advocacy, choice and quality for service users. This paper uses data from a wide-ranging qualitative study of access to social care for older people to examine the success of the policy in these terms, with specific reference to its attempts to harness the rational self-interest of professionals. While care management removes one potential conflict of interests by separating commissioning and provision, the responsibility of social care professionals to comply with organizational priorities conflicts with their role of advocacy for their clients, a tension rendered all the more problematic by the perceived inadequacy of funding. Moreover, the bureaucracy of the care management process itself further negates the approach's supposedly client-centred ethos. The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com

Narratives great and small: neighbourhood change, place and identity in Notting Hill

The area of Notting Hill in west London has been subject to much media coverage in recent years, which, along with substantial gentrification, has given rise to an image of the area as the epitome of fashionable London. This study investigates the views of those marginal to gentrification and mediated representation on their feelings about the local area, its image and their changing neighbourhoods. Many participants in the research resented some of the more recent changes in Notting Hill and the area's representation in the media. However, in contrast to expectations, most of the more working-class respondents involved in the research did not articulate much emotional attachment to the area. They were more concerned with what might be termed the material aspects of life in Notting Hill: convenience, facilities, safety and so on. In contrast, the more middle-class respondents frequently spoke of their regret of the changes to the area, such as the loss of independent shops, and the reduction in diversity. Paradoxically, the loss of working-class landscapes seems a relatively middle-class worry. The symbolically important landscapes described by working-class respondents were related to more immediate, material issues, in which gentrification was only a relatively minor concern. The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com

The organization, form and function of intermediate care services and systems in England: results from a national survey

This paper reports the results of a postal survey of intermediate care co-ordinators (ICCs) on the organization and delivery of intermediate care services for older people in England, conducted between November 2003 and May 2004. Questionnaires, which covered a range of issues with a variety of quantitative, ‘tick-box’ and open-ended questions, were returned by 106 respondents, representing just over 35% of primary care trusts (PCTs). We discuss the role of ICCs, the integration of local systems of intermediate care provision, and the form, function and model of delivery of services described by respondents. Using descriptive and statistical analysis of the responses, we highlight in particular the relationship between provision of admission avoidance and supported discharge, the availability of 24-hour care, and the locations in which care is provided, and relate our findings to the emerging evidence base for intermediate care, guidance on implementation from central government, and debate in the literature. Whilst the expansion and integration of intermediate care appear to be continuing apace, much provision seems concentrated in supported discharge services rather than acute admission avoidance, and particularly in residential forms of post-acute intermediate care. Supported discharge services tend to be found in residential settings, while admission avoidance provision tends to be non-residential in nature. Twenty-four hour care in non-residential settings is not available in several responding PCTs. These findings raise questions about the relationship between the implementation of intermediate care and the evidence for and aims of the policy as part of NHS modernization, and the extent to which intermediate care represents a genuinely novel approach to the care and rehabilitation of older people.