Development and use of a multiplex real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay for detection and differentiation of Porcine circovirus-2 genotypes 2a and 2b in an epidemiological survey.

By the end of 2004, the Canadian swine population had experienced a severe 2 increase in the incidence of Porcine circovirus-associated disease (PCVAD), a problem that was 3 associated with the emergence of a new Porcine circovirus-2 genotype (PCV-2b), previously 4 unrecovered in North America. Thus it became important to develop a diagnostic tool that could 5 differentiate between the old and new circulating genotypes (PCV-2a and -2b, respectively). 6 Consequently, a multiplex real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (mrtqPCR) assay that 7 could sensitively and specifically identify and differentiate PCV-2 genotypes was developed. A 8 retrospective epidemiological survey that used the mrtqPCR assay was performed to determine if 9 cofactors could affect the risk of PCVAD. From 121 PCV-2–positive cases gathered for this 10 study, 4.13%, 92.56% and 3.31% were positive for PCV-2a, PCV-2b, and both genotypes, 11 respectively. In a data analysis using univariate logistic regressions, PCVAD compatible 12 (PCVAD/c) score was significantly associated with the presence of Porcine reproductive and 13 respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), PRRSV viral load, PCV-2 viral load, and PCV-2 14 immunohistochemistry (IHC) results. Polytomous logistic regression analysis revealed that 15 PCVAD/c score was affected by PCV-2 viral load (P = 0.0161) and IHC (P = 0.0128), but not by 16 the PRRSV variables (P > 0.9); suggesting that mrtqPCR in tissue is a reliable alternative to IHC. 17 Logistic regression analyses revealed that PCV-2 increased the odds ratio of isolating 2 major 18 swine pathogens of the respiratory tract, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae and Streptococcus 19 suis serotypes 1/2, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7, which are serotypes commonly associated with clinical 20 diseases.

An Analysis of Work Related Stress Factor in Selected Industries in Kerala ,India

Occupational stress is becoming a major issue in both corporate and social agenda .In industrialized countries, there have been quite dramatic changes in the conditions at work, during the last decade ,caused by economic, social and technical development. As a consequence, the people today at work are exposed to high quantitative and qualitative demands as well as hard competition caused by global economy. A recent report says that ailments due to work related stress is likely to cost India’s exchequer around 72000 crores between 2009 and 2015. Though India is a fast developing country, it is yet to create facilities to mitigate the adverse effects of work stress, more over only little efforts have been made to assess the work related stress.In the absence of well defined standards to assess the work related stress in India, an attempt is made in this direction to develop the factors for the evaluation of work stress. Accordingly, with the help of existing literature and in consultation with the safety experts, seven factors for the evaluation of work stress is developed. An instrument ( Questionnaire) was developed using these seven factors for the evaluation of work stress .The validity , and unidimensionality of the questionnaire was ensured by confirmatory factor analysis. The reliability of the questionnaire was ensured before administration. While analyzing the relation ship between the variables, it is noted that no relationship exists between them, and hence the above factors are treated as independent factors/ variables for the purpose of research .Initially five profit making manufacturing industries, under public sector in the state of Kerala, were selected for the study. The influence of factors responsible for work stress is analyzed in these industries. These industries were classified in to two types, namely chemical and heavy engineering ,based on the product manufactured and work environment and the analysis is further carried out for these two categories.The variation of work stress with different age , designation and experience of the employees are analyzed by means of one-way ANOVA. Further three different type of modelling of work stress, namely factor modelling, structural equation modelling and multinomial logistic regression modelling was done to analyze the association of factors responsible for work stress. All these models are found equally good in predicting the work stress.The present study indicates that work stress exists among the employees in public sector industries in Kerala. Employees belonging to age group 40-45yrs and experience groups 15-20yrs had relatively higher work demand ,low job control, and low support at work. Low job control was noted among lower designation levels, particularly at the worker level in these industries. Hence the instrument developed using the seven factors namely demand, control, manager support, peer support, relationship, role and change can be effectively used for the evaluation of work stress in industries.

Estudio de asociación entre genotipo de DAT1 y transtorno por déficit de atención / hiperactividad

Introducción: El TDAH tiene un componente genético importante; el gen de transportador de Dopamina (DAT1) se ha asociado con susceptibilidad al TDAH y con sus endofenotipos. El VNTR de 40pb en la región 3’UTR aumenta la expresión del DAT1. En Colombia no hay ningún estudio previo que indique evidencia de la asociación genética entre TDAH y el gen DAT1. Objetivo: Determinar asociación entre el VNTR del DAT1 y el fenotipo y/o endofenotipos del TDAH. Métodos: Se seleccionaron 73 pacientes con TDAH y 75 controles, se valoró en los casos inteligencia y funciones ejecutivas. Mediante (PCR) se amplificó el VNTR DAT1. Se establecieron estadísticos genético poblacionales, análisis de asociación y de regresión logística entre las pruebas neuropsicológicas y genotipo. Resultado: El polimorfismo del DAT1 no mostró asociación con TDAH, ni con alteraciones en las funciones ejecutivas. El genotipo 10/10 del VNTR DAT1 se encontró asociado con el índice de velocidad de procesamiento (p <0,05). En el subgrupo hiperactividad hubo asociación con algunas subpruebas de flexibilidad cognitiva, número de respuestas correctas, total de errores, número de respuestas perseverativas (p ≤ 0.01). En el subgrupo mixto se asoció con índice de comprensión verbal (p <0,05). Conclusiones: No hubo asociación entre el polimorfismo VNTR (DAT1) y el fenotipo de TDAH. Se encontraron asociaciones entre genotipo y algunos test de flexibilidad cognitiva e índice de comprensión verbal. Se establecieron los estadísticos genético poblacionales de este polimorfismo para la población analizada, el cual corresponde al primer reporte de una muestra de nuestro país.

Emotional characteristics of psychology students: a study based on the formative research perspective

In the formative research scheme, the author built a psychological scale, with the purpose of analyzing psychological characteristics of the School of Psychology students. The instrument showed a high reliability coefficient (α=0,86), the exploratory factorial analysis found five variables which allowed to predict some aspects of sex and career level through a logistic regression; the ALSCAL showed two emotional dimensions. The author recommends to improve the instrument and to continue its application in the School. It is also necessary to develop qualitative research to acquire new data about the topic of the research.

Desórdenes músculo-esqueléticos en los trabajadores asistenciales y administrativos de un hospital en Sogamoso, Boyacá, en el 2013

Objetivo: Establecer la relación de las condiciones de trabajo y salud con los desórdenes músculo-esqueléticos (DME) en los trabajadores asistenciales y administrativos de un hospital en Sogamoso, Boyacá, en el 2013. Metodología: Se llevó a cabo un estudio descriptivo con una muestra de 90 trabajadores, correspondiente al 22%, de 405 incluyendo médicos, jefes de enfermería, auxiliar de enfermería, auxiliares administrativos y profesionales administrativos. Se aplicó una encuesta para determinar las condiciones de trabajo y salud y para el análisis de los síntomas de desorden músculo esquelético, junto con la toma de estatura y peso para calcular el índice de masa corporal. En el análisis de las variables cuantitativas se utilizó medidas de tendencia central y dispersión; para las variables cualitativas se calculó frecuencias absolutas y porcentajes. Se realizó pruebas de asociación Chi cuadrado y se estimó las medidas OR crudas y ajustadas por medio de un modelo de regresión binaria logística, con sus respectivos intervalos de confianza. Resultados: La población estuvo conformada por 78 mujeres (86.7%) y 12 hombres (13.3%), con edades entre 24 y 56 años. Los cargos más representativos fueron el Auxiliar Administrativo y el Auxiliar de Enfermería con el 35.6% (32) y 38.9% (35) respectivamente. Los síntomas de DME más frecuentes se ubicaron en la espalda y en mano afectando al 58.9% (53) y 45.6% (41) respectivamente. Según el 93.3% de los participantes, el factor de riesgo biomecánico que tiene alta influencia en los DME es la realización de movimientos repetidos. Se encontró para los Médicos un Odds Ratio (OR) 4.2; de DME, mientras que para los Auxiliares Administrativos tienen un OR 2.9 y presentan mayor posibilidad de padecer DME que un Auxiliar de Enfermería.

Nurses' research utilization two years after graduation : a national survey ofassociated individual, organizational, and educational factors

Background. Nurses' research utilization (RU) as part of evidence-based practice is strongly emphasized in today's nursing education and clinical practice. The primary aim of RU is to provide high-quality nursing care to patients. Data on newly graduated nurses' RU are scarce, but a predominance of low use has been reported in recent studies. Factors associated with nurses' RU have previously been identified among individual and organizational/contextual factors, but there is a lack of knowledge about how these factors, including educational ones, interact with each other and with RU, particularly in nurses during the first years after graduation. The purpose of this study was therefore to identify factors that predict the probability for low RU among registered nurses two years after graduation. Methods. Data were collected as part of the LANE study (Longitudinal Analysis of Nursing Education), a Swedish national survey of nursing students and registered nurses. Data on nurses' instrumental, conceptual, and persuasive RU were collected two years after graduation (2007, n = 845), together with data on work contextual factors. Data on individual and educational factors were collected in the first year (2002) and last term of education (2004). Guided by an analytic schedule, bivariate analyses, followed by logistic regression modeling, were applied. Results. Of the variables associated with RU in the bivariate analyses, six were found to be significantly related to low RU in the final logistic regression model: work in the psychiatric setting, role ambiguity, sufficient staffing, low work challenge, being male, and low student activity. Conclusions. A number of factors associated with nurses' low extent of RU two years postgraduation were found, most of them potentially modifiable. These findings illustrate the multitude of factors related to low RU extent and take their interrelationships into account. This knowledge might serve as useful input in planning future studies aiming to improve nurses', specifically newly graduated nurses', RU.

Family circumstance and adolescent dietary behaviours

The available information on the contribution of family circumstance to adolescent dietary behaviours is inconsistent. Indicators of family circumstance may impact adolescent behaviours by influencing their daily home environment. This study examined cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between indicators of family circumstance and (i) breakfast skipping and (ii) consumption of snack food, fast food, fruits and vegetables among adolescents. Dietary behaviour was assessed using a web-based survey completed by 1884 adolescents from years 7 and 9 of secondary schools in Victoria, Australia, at baseline and 2 years later. Five indicators of family circumstance (parental marital status, maternal education, maternal employment status, number of brothers and number of sisters) were assessed with a questionnaire completed by parents at baseline only. Logistic regression was used to examine cross-sectional associations between indicators of family circumstance and dietary behaviours. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine associations between indicators of family circumstance and 2-year change in dietary behaviours. Individual indicators of family circumstance were differentially associated with adolescent dietary behaviours. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations differed for adolescent boys and girls highlighting the importance of assessing specific dietary behaviours and food types individually by gender. This study highlights the complexity of the relationships between family circumstance and adolescent dietary behaviours. Future research needs to assess the efficacy of strategies promoting maternal nutritional knowledge on the dietary behaviours of adolescents.

Correlates of screening mammography for Italian and Anglo-Australian women

The first aim of the research was to determine the applicability of certain variables from the Health Belief Model (HBM), the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), the risk dimensions from the Psychometric Paradigm, the Common-Sense Model of Illness Representations and the Locus of Control to Italian women’s beliefs and behaviours in relation to screening mammography. These models have predominantly been derived and evaluated with English-speaking persons. The study used quantitative and qualitative methods to enable explanation of research-driven and participant-driven issues. The second aim was to include Italian women in health behaviour research and to contrast the Italian sample with the Anglo-Australian sample to determine if differences exist in relation to their beliefs. In Australia many studies in health behaviour research do not include women whose first language is not English. The third aim was to evaluate the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria’s (ACCV) Community Language Program (CLP) by: (a) identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the program as seen by the participants; and (b) assessing the impact of the program on women’s knowledge and beliefs about breast cancer, early detection of breast cancer, self-reported and intended breast screening behaviours. The CLP is an information service that uses women’s first language to convey information to women whose first language is not English. The CLP was designed to increase knowledge about breast and cervical cancer. The research used a pre-test-intervention-post-test design with 174 Italian-born and 138 Anglo-Australian women aged 40 years and over. Interviews for the Italian sample were conducted in Italian. The intervention was an information session that related to breast health and screening mammography. Demographic variables were collected in the Pre-Test only. Qualitative open-ended questions that related specifically to the information session were collected in the Post-Test phase of the study. Direct logistic regression was used with the participants’ beliefs and behaviours to identify the relevant variables for language (Italian speaking and English-speaking), attendance to an information session, mammography screening and breast self-examination (BSE) behaviour. Pre- and Post-Test comparisons were conducted using chi-square tests for the non-parametric data and paired sample t-tests for the parametric data. Differences were found between the Italian and Anglo-Australian women in relation to their beliefs about breast cancer screening. The Italian women were: (1) more likely to state that medical experts understood the causes of breast cancer; (2) more likely to feel that they had less control over their personal risk of getting breast cancer; (3) more likely to be upset and frightened by thinking about breast cancer; (4) less likely to perceive breast cancer as serious; (4) more likely to only do what their doctor told them to do; and (5) less likely to agree that there were times when a person has cancer and they don’t know it. A pattern emerged for the Italian and Anglo-Australian women from the logistic regression analyses. The Italian women were much more likely to comply with medical authority and advice. The Anglo-Australian women were more likely to feel that they had some control over their health. Specifically, the risk variable ‘dread’ was more applicable to the Italian women’s behaviour and internal locus of control variable was more relevant to the Anglo-Australian women. The qualitative responses also differed for the two samples. The Italian women’s comments were more general, less specific, and more limited than that of the Anglo-Australian women. The Italian women talked about learning how to do BSE whereas the Anglo-Australian women said that attending the session had reminded them to do BSE more regularly. The key findings and contributions of the present research were numerous. The focus on one cultural group ensured comprehensive analyses, as did the inclusion of an adequate sample size to enable the use of multivariate statistics. Separating the Italian and Anglo-Australian samples in the analyses provided theoretical implications that would have been overlooked if the two groups were combined. The use of both qualitative and quantitative data capitalised on the strengths of both techniques. The inclusion of an Anglo-Australian group highlighted key theoretical findings, differences between the two groups and unique contributions made by both samples during the collection of the qualitative data. The use of a pre-test-intervention-post-test design emphasised the reticence of the Italian sample to participate and talk about breast cancer and confirmed and validated the consistency of the responses across the two interviews for both samples. The inclusion of non-cued responses allowed the researcher to identify the key salient issues relevant to the two groups. The limitations of the present research were the lack of many women who were not screening and reliance on self-report responses, although few differences were observed between the Pre- and Post-Test comparisons. The theoretical contribution of the HBM and the TRA variables was minimal in relation to screening mammography or attendance at the CLP. The applicability of these health behaviour theories may be less relevant for women today as they clearly knew the benefits of and the seriousness of breast cancer screening. The present research identified the applicability of the risk variables to the Italian women and the relevance of the locus of control variables to the Anglo-Australian women. Thus, clear cultural differences occurred between the two groups. The inclusion of the illness representations was advantageous as the responses highlighted ideas and personal theories salient to the women not identified by the HBM. The use of the illness representations and the qualitative responses further confirmed the relevance of the risk variables to the Italian women and the locus of control variables to the Anglo-Australian women. Attendance at the CLP did not influence the women to attend for mammography screening. Behavioural changes did not occur between the Pre- and Post-Test interviews. Small incremental changes as defined by the TTM and the stages of change may have occurred. Key practical implications for the CLP were identified. Improving the recruitment methods to gain a higher proportion of women who do not screen is imperative for the CLP promoters. The majority of the Italian and Anglo-Australian women who attended the information sessions were women who screen. The fact that Italian women do not like talking or thinking about cancer presents a challenge to promoters of the CLP. The key theoretical finding that Italian women dread breast cancer but comply with their doctor provides clear strategies to improve attendance at mammography screening. In addition, the inclusion of lay health advisors may be one way of increasing attendance to the CLP by including Italian women already attending screening and likely to have attended a CLP session. The present research identified the key finding that improving Anglo-Australian attendance at an information session is related to debunking the myth surrounding familial risk of breast cancer and encouraging the Anglo-Australian women to take more control of their health. Improving attendance for Italian women is related to reducing the fear and dread of breast cancer and building on the compliance pattern with medical authority. Therefore, providing an information session in the target language is insufficient to attract non-screeners to the session and then to screen for breast cancer. Suggestions for future research in relation to screening mammography were to include variables from more than one theory or model, namely the risk, locus of control and illness representations. The inclusion of non-cued responses to identify salient beliefs is advantageous. In addition, it is imperative to describe the profile of the cultural sample in detail, include detailed descriptions of the translation process and be aware of the tendency of Italian women to acquiesce with medical authority.

A brief review of recent research trends on applications of computational and statistical techniques in financial and business intelligence

Artificial neural networks and statistical techniques like decision trees, discriminant analysis, logistic regression and survival analysis play a crucial role in Business Intelligence. These predictive analytical tools exploit patterns found in historical data to make predictions about future events. In this paper we have shown some recent developments of a few of these techniques in financial and business intelligence applications like fraud detection, bankruptcy prediction and credit rating scoring.

Associations between fruit and vegetable intake, leisure-time physical activity, sitting time and self-rated health among older adults : cross-sectional data from the WELL study

Background
Lifestyle behaviours, such as healthy diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviour, are key elements of healthy ageing and important modifiable risk factors in the prevention of chronic diseases. Little is known about the relationship between these behaviours in older adults. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake, leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and sitting time (ST), and their association with self-rated health in older adults.

Methods
This cross-sectional study comprised 3,644 older adults (48% men) aged 55-65 years, who participated in the Wellbeing, Eating and Exercise for a Long Life ("WELL") study. Respondents completed a postal survey about their health and their eating and physical activity behaviours in 2010 (38% response rate). Spearman's coefficient (rho) was used to evaluate the relationship between F&V intake, LTPA and ST. Their individual and shared associations with self-rated health were examined using ordinal logistic regression models, stratified by sex and adjusted for confounders (BMI, smoking, long-term illness and socio-demographic characteristics).

Results
The correlations between F&V intake, LTPA and ST were low. F&V intake and LTPA were positively associated with self-rated health. Each additional serving of F&V or MET-hour of LTPA were associated with approximately 10% higher likelihood of reporting health as good or better among women and men. The association between ST and self-rated health was not significant in the multivariate analysis. A significant interaction was found (ST*F&V intake). The effect of F&V intake on self-rated health increased with increasing ST in women, whereas the effect decreased with increasing ST in men.

Conclusion
This study contributes to the scarce literature related to lifestyle behaviours and their association with health indicators among older adults. The findings suggest that a modest increase in F&V intake, or LTPA could have a marked effect on the health of older adults. Further research is needed to fully understand the correlates and determinants of lifestyle behaviours, particularly sitting time, in this age group.

Public sector residential aged care: identifying novel associations between quality indicators and other demographic and health-related factors

Objective : To explore associations among quality indicators (QI; e.g. pressure ulcers, falls and/or fractures, physical restraint, use of multiple medications, unplanned weight loss) of the Victorian Public Sector Residential Aged Care Services (VPSRACS) with other demographic and health-related factors.

Methods : Data for 380 residents over a 3-month period were extracted retrospectively from client databases at four VPSRAC facilities.

Results : Four significant logistic regression models were developed. The strongest models related to falls and polypharmacy. Significant associations for these models included the following: (1) residents with a higher body mass index were 6% less likely (95% confidence interval (CI) 1%–11%) to fall, whereas high levels of cognitive impairment increased the risk of falling by 8% (95% CI 2%–14%); (2) being ambulant with a gait aid more than doubled the risk of falling compared with non-ambulant residents (95% CI 19%–546%); and (3) higher cognitive impairment was associated with a 6% (95% CI 1%–11%) reduction in the likelihood of polypharmacy.

Conclusions : Identification of significant relationships between the VPSRACS QI and other demographic and health-related factors is a preliminary step towards a more in-depth understanding of the factors that influence the QI and predict adverse events.

Probabilidade de financiamento por cartões de crédito híbridos

Esta pesquisa tem o objetivo de identificar as variáveis e sua influência na propensão à aquisição de crédito pessoal, propondo um modelo estatístico de propensão ao financiamento por cartões de crédito híbridos para maximização de contratação de crédito e otimização dos esforços de marketing. O estudo descritivo pode gerar insights para a compreensão da expansão do crédito ao consumo, sobretudo num contexto de escassez de opções de financiamento e limitação no canal de distribuição. Foram usados dados de uma base de clientes de uma instituição financeira com variáveis sócio demográficas e transacionai, e o modelo matemático foi seguido da validação de sua capacidade preditiva.

Valor prognóstico das cinéticas da procalcitonina e da proteína C reativa na pneumonia associada à ventilação mecânica

Introdução A pneumonia hospitalar é a principal causa de morte dentre as infecções hospitalares. A prevalência de pneumonia hospitalar em Unidades de Tratamento Intensivo (UTI) varia de 10 a 65%, com taxas de mortalidade que podem variar de 24 a 76%. A pneumonia associada à ventilação mecânica (PAV) é um determinante de mortalidade independente em pacientes submetidos à ventilação mecânica. A adequação do tratamento empírico precoce parece ser fundamental no prognóstico. Os critérios atualmente estabelecidos para avaliar adequação do tratamento empírico utilizam parâmetros clínicos, escores de gravidade e, principalmente, a sensibilidade do germe causador da infecção aos antibióticos administrados. Estes resultados balizam a necessidade de possíveis modificações no esquema antimicrobiano. A possibilidade de utilizar a Procalcitonina (PCT), a Proteína-C Reativa (CRP) e o escore SOFA (Avaliação de Falência de Órgãos Relacionada a Sepse), como indicadores de resposta do paciente, comparando seu status no dia do início do tratamento antimicrobiano (D0) com a evolução destes indicadores no quarto dia de tratamento (D4) abre a possibilidade de comparar o paciente com ele próprio, independente da exuberância da expressão da resposta inflamatória que ele possa desenvolver. Os resultados desta cinética entre D0 e D4 podem ser preditivos de gravidade de infecção, de eficiência antimicrobiana, e possivelmente de sobrevivência ou mortalidade hospitalar nos pacientes com suspeita de PAV. Objetivos Determinar e comparar o valor prognóstico de sobrevivência da cinética da PCT, da CRP, dos escores clínicos CPIS (Escore Clínico de Infecção Pulmonar) e SOFA, e do APACHE II (Avaliação da Fisiologia Aguda e da Saúde Crônica) na PAV entre o diagnóstico e o quarto dia de tratamento, quando a adequação do tratamento é avaliada. Pacientes e Métodos Realizamos um estudo de coorte prospectivo observacional que avaliou 75 pacientes internados no Centro de Tratamento Intensivo clínico-cirúrgico de adultos do Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre que desenvolveram PAV no período de outubro de 2003 a agosto de 2005. Os pacientes com suspeita clínica de PAV que se adequaram aos critérios de inclusão e exclusão do estudo foram os candidatos a participar. Os familiares ou representantes dos pacientes receberam esclarecimentos por escrito acerca dos exames a serem realizados, bem como dos objetivos gerais da pesquisa. Os que aceitaram participar do estudo assinaram o termo de Consentimento Informado. O projeto foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa do Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre. No dia do diagnóstico de PAV foram coletados aspirado traqueal quantitativo, hemoculturas e sangue para a realização de dosagens de PCT, CRP, hemograma, plaquetas, creatinina, bilirrubinas, gasometria arterial e radiografia de tórax, com o objetivo de calcular o CPIS e o escore SOFA. No terceiro dia de tratamento foram novamente coletados aspirados traqueais quantitativos e os demais exames para o cálculo do CPIS. No quarto dia foi coletado sangue para dosagens de PCT, CRP e para os demais exames necessários para o cálculo do SOFA. Os pacientes foram acompanhados por 28 dias após o diagnóstico de PAV, quando foram considerados sobreviventes. Todos os pacientes que morreram antes do vigésimo oitavo dia foram considerados não-sobreviventes. Resultados Os níveis de PCT foram mais baixos nos sobreviventes em D0 (p=0.003) e em D4 (p=0.001). Os níveis de CRP não foram diferentes em sobreviventes e nãosobreviventes em D0 (p=0.77) e em D4 (p=0.14). O CPIS não pode diferenciar sobreviventes de não-sobrevientes em D0 (p=0.32) e em D3 (p=0.45). ΔCPIS decrescente não foi correlacionado a sobrevivência (p=0.59), o mesmo ocorrendo com CPIS <6 em D3 (p=0.79). Pacientes que morreram antes de D4 não puderam ter sua cinética calculada e foram considerados casos perdidos. Variáveis incluídas no modelo de regressão logística univariável para sobrevivência foram idade, APACHE II, ΔSOFA decrescente, ΔPCT decrescente e ΔCRP decrescente. Sobrevivência foi diretamente correlacionada a ΔPCT decrescente com RC = 5.67 (1.78;18.03) p = 0.003, ΔCRP com RC = 3.78 (1.24;11.50) p = 0.02, ΔSOFA decrescente com RC = 3.08 (1.02;9.26) p = 0.05 e escore APACHE II com RC = 0.92 (0.86;0.99) p = 0.02. O modelo de regressão logística multivariável para sobrevivência incluiu todas as variáveis participantes da análise univariável. Somente ΔPCT decrescente com RC = 4.43 (1.08;18.18) p = 0.04 e ΔCRP com RC = 7.40 (1.58;34.73) p = 0.01 permaneceram significativos. A avaliação da cinética dos marcadores inflamatórios e a associação com sobrevida no estudo mostraram que: - Em 95,1% dos sobreviventes houve queda dos níveis de PCT ou de CRP. - Em 61% dos sobreviventes ambos os níveis de PCT e de CRP caíram. Apenas 4,9% dos sobreviventes tiveram níveis de PCT e CRP crescentes. Com relação aos não-sobreviventes, 78.9% tiveram pelo menos um dos dois marcadores ou ambos com níveis crescentes. Conclusão As cinéticas da PCT e da CRP, obtidas pelas dosagens de seus níveis no dia do diagnóstico e no 4º dia de tratamento, podem predizer sobrevivência em pacientes com PAV. A queda dos níveis de pelo menos um destes marcadores ou de ambos indica maior chance de sobrevivência.

O processo de satisfação do consumidor: uma análise do mercado corporativo de comunicação móvel celular.

O presente trabalho tem o propósito de analisar o processo de fidelização do consumidor corporativo no mercado de comunicação móvel celular. Serão investigadas as práticas comerciais da operadora de telefonia móvel celular Vivo, sob a ótica das teorias propostas. Para que esta análise ocorra será realizada uma pesquisa quantitativa com 120 empresas, divididas entre clientes e ex-clientes, entrevistas em profundidade com 08 empresas, também dividas entre clientes e ex-clientes e entrevistas em profundidade com os executivos responsáveis pela arquitetura das estratégias comerciais. Baseado no resultado da pesquisa, das entrevistas e da análise das teorias propostas, este estudo pretende apontar as práticas de marketing que podem gerar lealdade nos clientes empresariais de pequeno e médio porte no mercado de telefonia móvel celular.

Smartphones e profissionais: amigos e inimigos

A utilização de artefatos de Tecnologias da Informação Móveis e Sem Fio (TIMS) traz consigo alguns paradoxos tecnológicos associados, já identificados na literatura. O aumento do uso de TIMS e suas evoluções acabam por permitir novos tipos de uso e interação junto aos usuários. Tendo como base teorias sobre a existência de paradoxos associados ao uso de equipamentos tecnológicos, mormente TIMS, este estudo buscou aprofundar a relação entre smartphones e profissionais. A partir da coleta de dados por meio de questionário estruturado, esta pesquisa utilizou a análise quantitativa e teve como objetivo determinar a presença e medir a intensidade dos paradoxos tecnológicos, identificados na literatura, quando do uso profissional de smartphones. Outro ponto observado no presente trabalho foi a associação estatística entre esses paradoxos tecnológicos e, ainda, a identificação de fatores que poderiam impactar a percepção desses paradoxos associados ao uso do smartphone pelos profissionais que os utilizam. A análise dos dados permitiu verificar quais dos quatorze paradoxos tecnológicos apresentados por Mick e Fournier (1998), Jarvenpaa e Lang (2005) e Mazmanian et al. (2006) foram percebidos por mais respondentes, com destaque para o paradoxo de autonomia e vício, que foi vivenciado por mais de 85% daqueles que responderam à pesquisa. Usando como base o percentual de respondentes que percebem os paradoxos tecnológicos e considerando suas intensidades, esta dissertação também apresenta um ranking das forças dos paradoxos, determinado pela taxa relativa da força dos paradoxos. Esse ranking traz nas primeiras posições as seguintes ambiguidades: autonomia / vício, engajamento / desengajamento e liberdade / escravidão, respectivamente. Outro apontamento dessa pesquisa foi que nenhum dos paradoxos analisados é estatisticamente independente. Por fim, a realização de uma regressão logística ordinal levou à conclusão que apenas dois dos paradoxos em questão sofrem impacto das variáveis independentes observadas.