Content Validation of the Operational Definitions of the Nursing Diagnoses of Activity Intolerance, Excess Fluid Volume, and Decreased Cardiac Output in Patients With Heart Failure

Objectives To consensually validate the operational definitions of the nursing diagnoses activity intolerance, excessive fluid volume, and decreased cardiac output in patients with decompensated heart failure. Method Consensual validation was performed in two stages: analogy by similarity of defining characteristics, and development of operational definitions and validation with experts. Results A total of 38 defining characteristics were found. Operational definitions were developed and content-validated. One hundred percent of agreement was achieved among the seven experts after five rounds. Ascites was added in the nursing diagnosis excessive fluid volume. Conclusion The consensual validation improves interpretation of human response, grounding the selection of nursing interventions and contributing to improved nursing outcomes. Implications for Practice Support the assessment of patients with decompensated heart failure. Objetivos Realizar a validacAo consensual das definicoes operacionais dos diagnosticos de enfermagem Intolerancia a atividade, Volume de liquidos excessivo e Debito cardiaco diminuido em pacientes com insuficiencia cardiaca descompensada. Metodo ValidacAo consensual em duas etapas: Analogia de semelhanca das caracteristicas definidoras e desenvolvimento de definicoes operacionais e validacAo com expertst. Resultados Foram encontradas 38 caracteristicas definidoras para os diagnosticos de enfermagem. Suas definicoes operacionais foram desenvolvidas e seu conteudo validado. Os resultados mostram que houve 100% de concordancia entre os sete experts apos cinco rodada. As definicoes operacionais foram classificadas com base no nivel de concordanica. Ascite foi acrescentada ao diagnostico Volume de liquidos excessivo. ConclusAo A validacAo consensual melhora a interpretacAo das respostas humanas, embasando a selecAo de intervencoes de enfermagem e contribuindo para melhorar os resultados. Implicacoes Para A Pratica Apoio a avaliacAo dos pacientes com insuficiencia cardiaca descompensada.

Picosecond nonlinearity of GeO2-Bi2O3-PbO-TiO2 glasses at 532 and 1,064 nm

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Lumped element modeling of operational structures by inverting the mobility models

This paper is concerned with what a source precisely sees when it drives a receiver such as a continuous structural object. An equivalent lumped element system consisting of masses, springs and dampers is developed to visually represent the operational structural dynamics of a single-input structure at the driving point. The development is solely based on the mobility model of the driving point response. The mobility model is mathematically inverted to give the impedance model that is suitable for lumped element modeling. The two types of structures studied are unconstrained inertial objects and constrained resilient objects. The lumped element systems presented suggest a new view to dynamics that a single-input flexible structure in operation can be decomposed into the two subsystems: a base system of single degree of freedom (or of a mass for an inertial object) whose mass is in contact with the source and an appendage system consisting of a series of oscillators each of which is attached to the base mass. The driving point response is a result of the coupling between the two subsystems. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Production and characterization of Tm3+/Yb3+ codoped pedestal-type PbO-GeO2 waveguides

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A brief look at the least-squares approach as a classifier applied to restricted-vocabulary speech recognition

In this letter, a speech recognition algorithm based on the least-squares method is presented. Particularly, the intention is to exemplify how such a traditional numerical technique can be applied to solve a signal processing problem that is usually treated by using more elaborated formulations.

Zero-valent iron mediated degradation of ciprofloxacin - Assessment of adsorption, operational parameters and degradation products

The zero-valent iron (ZVI) mediated degradation of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin (CIP) was studied under oxic condition. Operational parameters such as ZVI concentration and initial pH value were evaluated. Increase of the ZVI concentration from 1 to 5 g L−1 resulted in a sharp increase of the observed pseudo-first order rate constant of CIP degradation, reaching a plateau at around 10 g L−1. The contribution of adsorption to the overall removal of CIP and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was evaluated after a procedure of acidification to pH 2.5 with sulfuric acid and sonication for 2 min. Adsorption increased as pH increased, while degradation decreased, showing that adsorption is not important for degradation. Contribution of adsorption was much more important for DOC removal than for CIP. Degradation of CIP resulted in partial defluorination since the fluoride measured corresponded to 34% of the theoretical value after 120 min of reaction. Analysis by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry showed the presence of products of hydroxylation on both piperazine and quinolonic rings generating fluorinated and defluorinated compounds as well as a product of the piperazine ring cleavage.

Adaptação transcultural Brasil-Portugal da escala Brief Cope para estudantes do ensino superior

The aim of this study was to adapt the BriefCOPE Inventory for Portuguese-speaking university students. We evaluate the Portuguese BriefCOPE psychometrics qualities and estimated the BriefCOPE factorial invariance in Brazil and Portugal. The data collected from a sample of 1573 students of both nationalities did confirm the 14-factor structure of the BriefCOPE and showed both factorial, convergent and discriminant related validities. However, the factor model did not show invariance across countries indicating that the use of the Portuguese version of the BriefCOPE cannot be bailed for comparisons of scores of inter-countries' student coping.

Teaching medical students about dementia: a brief review

Underdeveloped nations have the largest absolute number of the world's elderly population. Approximately 10.7% of the Brazilian population comprises aged individuals. Aging populations are associated with a higher incidence of chronic degenerative diseases such as dementia. Demented individuals place a high burden of care on healthcare systems and family members. General practitioners should be able to diagnose the most common elderly diseases such as dementia since they act as gatekeepers to specialized care. In Brazil, many medical students work as general practitioners upon graduating. The present study shows some scenarios of medical schools worldwide, including Brazilian, regarding teaching on dementia.

Green Manufacturing: Relationship between Adoption of Green Operational Practices and Green Performance of Brazilian ISO 9001-Certified Firms

The present work aims at analyzing how the adoption of a proactive environmental management via green operational practices (GOPs) correlates to the Green Performance (GrP) of a given set of ISO 9001-certified firms in Brazil. To this end, we elaborated a conceptual framework about environmental management, GOPs, and GrP Such theoretical foundation supported the development of empirical research through quantitative analysis. For the analysis, 75 questionnaires were collected from ISO 9001 certified companies. Data was analyzed by with statistical tools such as descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results demonstrate that the adoption of GOPs, in fact, exerts a positive impact on the GrP of the firms. This work contributes to a better understanding of green manufacturing in Brazil's industrial sector

Characteristics of PbO-BiO1.5-GaO1.5 glasses melted in SnO2 crucibles

PbO-BiO 1.5-GaO 1.5-based glasses are good candidates for optical applications, because of some of their interesting characteristics, such as high refraction indices and high transmission in the ultraviolet (UV), visible (VIS), and infrared (IR) regions. A limited stage in the processing of these glasses is the corrosion that is caused by the melt in all currently used conventional crucibles, such as noble metals (platinum or gold) and Al 2O 3. The absorption of crucible material by the glass composition may reduce the transmission level, the cutoff in the UV-VIS, and IR regions, and the thermal stability. In this study, a SnO 2 crucible has been tested for PbO-BiO 1.5-GaO 1.5 molten glass. Optical and thermal analyses show, in some cases, advantages over the use of platinum and Al 2O 3 crucibles. A visible cutoff value of 474 nm has been measured, and a longer melting time (850°C for 4 h) results in a significant reduction of the O-H absorption band at 3.2 μm.

Operational and environmental assessment on the use of charcoal in iron ore sinter production

A study was carried out into the use of charcoal as a supplementary fuel in the iron-ore sintering process. The primary fuel was coke breeze and anthracite with 0, 10, 25, 50 and 100% replacement of the energy input with charcoal to produce sinter. This was achieved by considering the carbon content of each fuel and its corresponding participation on fuel blending, in order to have the same carbon input in each test run. An extensive analysis of the environmental impact was carried out regarding the atmospheric pollutants characterization (dust, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, total hydrocarbons, and dioxins and furans). Experimental results indicate that fuel blending where 50% of the heat input was provided by charcoal may be comparable with those using 100% coke, under normal sintering conditions, and may result in a 50% reduction on greenhouse gas emission. It was also observed that while dust, methane and hydrocarbons emissions increased, the total dioxins and furans, expressed as polychlorinated dibenzodioxins/furans, decreased approximately 50% when compared with operation with 100% coke.

Análise do potencial do sensor OLI (Operational Land Imager) a bordo do Landsat-8 em estimar a concentração de sólidos totais em suspensão no reservatório de Barra Bonita

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Evaluation of operational SSM/I ice-concentration algorithms

The United States National Ice Center (NIC) provides weekly ice analyses of the Arctic and Antarctic using information from ice reconnaissance, ship reports and high-resolution satellite imagery. In cloud-covered areas and regions lacking imagery, the higher-resolution sources are augmented by ice concentrations derived from Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSMII) passive-microwave imagery. However, the SSMII-derived ice concentrations are limited by low resolution and uncertainties in thin-ice regions. Ongoing research at NIC is attempting to improve the utility of these SSMII products for operational sea-ice analyses. The refinements of operational algorithms may also aid future scientific studies. Here we discuss an evaluation of the standard operational ice-concentration algorithm, Cal/Val, with a possible alternative, a modified NASA Team algorithm. The modified algorithm compares favorably with CallVal and is a substantial improvement over the standard NASA Team algorithm in thin-ice regions that are of particular interest to operational activities.

Traumatic memories: bridging the gap between functional neuroimaging and psychotherapy

Objective: Neuroimaging studies have highlighted important issues related to structural and functional brain changes found in sufferers of psychological trauma that may influence their ability to synthesize, categorize, and integrate traumatic memories. Methods: Literature review and critical analysis and synthesis. Results: Traumatic memories are diagnostic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the dual representation theory posits separate memory systems subserving vivid re-experiencing (non-hippocampally dependent) versus declarative autobiographical memories of trauma (hippocampally dependent). But the psychopathological signs of trauma are not static over time, nor is the expression of traumatic memories. Multiple memory systems are activated simultaneously and in parallel on various occasions. Neural circuitry interaction is a crucial aspect in the development of a psychotherapeutic approach that may favour an integrative translation of the sensory fragments of the traumatic memory into a declarative memory system. Conclusion: The relationship between neuroimaging findings and psychological approaches is discussed for greater efficacy in the treatment of psychologically traumatized patients.

PbO-GeO2 rare earth doped glasses with silver nanoparticles as materials for IR laser triggers

We have shown the possibility of operation by the piezooptical response of PbO-GeO2 glasses doped with rare earth ions and silver nanoparticles by illumination of double frequency CO2 nanosecond laser. Substantial influence of thermoannealing on the output photoinduced elastooptical susceptibilities was established. The effect is very sensitive to temperature and to the corresponding tensor components. The effect of thermoannealing leads to enhanced long-range ordering with the occurrence of corresponding trapping levels within the forbidden gaps. The discovered effects may be used for creation of low-temperature IR laser triggers.