Desenvolvimento de uma escala portuguesa de atitudes face aos computadores

A constatação de que as disposições pessoais dos professores têm influência no sucesso de qualquer inovação educacional, levou alguns investigadores (Marcinkiewicz, 1944; Pelgrum e Plomp, 1993) a estudar as suas opiniões e atitudes face aos computadores

Reorganização dos ajustes posturais antecipatórios do tibial anterior e do solear no início da marcha, em pacientes com AVE, face a uma intervenção de fisioterapia baseada no conceito de Bobath

Introdução: os APA´s ocorrem imediatamente antes do movimento e preparam-no tornando-o mais harmonioso e eficiente. Os pacientes com lesão do SNC apresentam frequentemente alterações no sistema de controlo postural interferindo significativamente nas suas AVD´s, como no início da marcha. Objetivo: descrever as alterações no tempo de ativação e sequência de ativação muscular do TA e do SOL no início da marcha em pacientes com AVE, face a uma intervenção em fisioterapia. Metodologia: A avaliação realizou-se antes e após um programa de intervenção, segundo a abordagem do Conceito de Bobath, através da electromiografia, plataforma de forças e máquina fotográfica para a avaliação do tempo de ativação muscular do tibial anterior e do solear no início da marcha. Recorreu-se também à Classificação Internacional de Funcionalidade e à Fulg-Mayer Assessment of Motor Recovery after Stroke. Resultados: Obteve-se uma diminuição dos valores registados pela EMG nos tempos de ativação muscular do TA e do SOL bilateralmente, e alterações na sequência de ativação. Verificaram-se modificações nos resultados da Classificação Internacional de Funcionalidade e da Fulg-Mayer Assessment of Motor Recovery after Stroke. Conclusão: O programa de intervenção segundo o Conceito de Bobath, induziu mudanças nos tempos de ativação muscular e na sequência de ativação dos músculos TA e SOL no início da marcha em pacientes com AVE.

A política macroeconómica face à crise financeira

Dissertação de Mestrado, Gestão de Empresas (MBA), 20 de Outubro de 2015, Universidade dos Açores.

Mercado de produtos verdes : tendências de Portugal face à Europa

Dissertação de Mestrado, Ciências Económicas e Empresariais, 19 de Outubro de 2015, Universidade dos Açores.

A importância da informação contabilística multidimensional face às necessidades dos múltiplos stakeholders: estudo de caso da entidade BETA, SROC, Lda.

Mestrado em Contabilidade

A perceção do dador de sangue face à dádiva de sangue e ao estatuto do dador de sangue

Mestrado em Gestão e Avaliação de Tecnologias da Saúde

Luz ao fundo do túnel? Análise de um modelo de prevenção e intervenção face ao sobreendividamento das famílias

Na actual conjuntura económica portuguesa tem-se registado uma evolução crescente de situações de sobreendividamento ou de insolvência dos agregados familiares. Associada a esta tendência, surge a preocupação, por parte dos decisores, em encontrar formas de intervenção, mais ou menos ajustadas, face aos problemas verificados. Contudo, esta problemática exige uma actuação integrada, que contemple medidas direccionadas não apenas para a intervenção mas também para a prevenção deste tipo de situações na sociedade portuguesa. Pretendemos, com a apresentação deste modelo, propor um vasto conjunto de medidas, entre as quais se conta a educação financeira, que conduzam a uma dupla actuação face à problemática do sobreendividamento (preventiva e de tratamento), atendendo aos antecedentes, de natureza diversa, que podem estar na sua origem. Este modelo será alvo de uma reflexão e análise, com vista a identificar a pertinência da sua aplicação ao actual panorama sócio-económico português.

Fracture toughness determination of adhesive and co-cured joints in natural fibre composites

Adhesive bonding has become more efficient in the last few decades due to the adhesives developments, granting higher strength and ductility. On the other hand, natural fibre composites have recently gained interest due to the low cost and density. It is therefore essential to predict the fracture behavior of joints between these materials, to assess the feasibility of joining or repairing with adhesives. In this work, the tensile fracture toughness (Gc n) of adhesive joints between natural fibre composites is studied, by bonding with a ductile adhesive and co-curing. Conventional methods to obtain Gc n are used for the co-cured specimens, while for the adhesive within the bonded joint, the J-integral is considered. For the J-integral calculation, an optical measurement method is developed for the evaluation of the crack tip opening and adherends rotation at the crack tip during the test, supported by a Matlab sub-routine for the automated extraction of these quantities. As output of this work, an optical method that allows an easier and quicker extraction of the parameters to obtain Gc n than the available methods is proposed (by the J-integral technique), and the fracture behaviour in tension of bonded and co-cured joints in jute-reinforced natural fibre composites is also provided for the subsequent strength prediction. Additionally, for the adhesively- bonded joints, the tensile cohesive law of the adhesive is derived by the direct method.

Economic analysis of surgical treatment of hip fracture in older adults

OBJECTIVE To analyze the incremental cost-utility ratio for the surgical treatment of hip fracture in older patients.METHODS This was a retrospective cohort study of a systematic sample of patients who underwent surgery for hip fracture at a central hospital of a macro-region in the state of Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2011. A decision tree creation was analyzed considering the direct medical costs. The study followed the healthcare provider’s perspective and had a one-year time horizon. Effectiveness was measured by the time elapsed between trauma and surgery after dividing the patients into early and late surgery groups. The utility was obtained in a cross-sectional and indirect manner using the EuroQOL 5 Dimensions generic questionnaire transformed into cardinal numbers using the national regulations established by the Center for the Development and Regional Planning of the State of Minas Gerais. The sample included 110 patients, 27 of whom were allocated in the early surgery group and 83 in the late surgery group. The groups were stratified by age, gender, type of fracture, type of surgery, and anesthetic risk.RESULTS The direct medical cost presented a statistically significant increase among patients in the late surgery group (p < 0.005), mainly because of ward costs (p < 0.001). In-hospital mortality was higher in the late surgery group (7.4% versus 16.9%). The decision tree demonstrated the dominance of the early surgery strategy over the late surgery strategy: R$9,854.34 (USD4,387.17) versus R$26,754.56 (USD11,911.03) per quality-adjusted life year. The sensitivity test with extreme values proved the robustness of the results.CONCLUSIONS After controlling for confounding variables, the strategy of early surgery for hip fracture in the older adults was proven to be dominant, because it presented a lower cost and better results than late surgery.

Numerical and experimental study of tensile strength of single and double-strap repairs

Adhesive bonding as a joining or repair method has a wide application in many industries. Repairs with bonded patches are often carried out to re-establish the stiffness at critical regions or spots of corrosion and/or fatigue cracks. Single and double-strap repairs (SS and DS, respectively) are a viable option for repairing. For the SS repairs, a patch is adhesively-bonded on one of the structure faces. SS repairs are easy to execute, but the load eccentricity leads to peel peak stresses at the overlap edges. DS repairs involve the use of two patches, one on each face of the structure. These are more efficient than SS repairs, due to the doubling of the bonding area and suppression of the transverse deflection of the adherends. Shear stresses also become more uniform as a result of smaller differential straining. The experimental and Finite Element (FE) study presented here for strength prediction and design optimization of bonded repairs includes SS and DS solutions with different values of overlap length (LO). The examined values of LO include 10, 20 and 30 mm. The failure strengths of the SS and DS repairs were compared with FE results by using the Abaqus® FE software. A Cohesive Zone Model (CZM) with a triangular shape in pure tensile and shear modes, including the mixed-mode possibility for crack growth, was used to simulate fracture of the adhesive layer. A good agreement was found between the experiments and the FE simulations on the failure modes, elastic stiffness and strength of the repairs, showing the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed FE technique in predicting strength of bonded repairs. Furthermore, some optimization principles were proposed to repair structures with adhesively-bonded patches that will allow repair designers to effectively design bonded repairs.

Interlaminar fracture characterization of a carbon-epoxy composite in pure mode II

The interlaminar fracture toughness in pure mode II (GIIc) of a Carbon-Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) composite is characterized experimentally and numerically in this work, using the End-Notched Flexure (ENF) fracture characterization test. The value of GIIc was extracted by a new data reduction scheme avoiding the crack length measurement, named Compliance-Based Beam Method (CBBM). This method eliminates the crack measurement errors, which can be non-negligible, and reflect on the accuracy of the fracture energy calculations. Moreover, it accounts for the Fracture Process Zone (FPZ) effects. A numerical study using the Finite Element Method (FEM) and a triangular cohesive damage model, implemented within interface finite elements and based on the indirect use of Fracture Mechanics, was performed to evaluate the suitability of the CBBM to obtain GIIc. This was performed comparing the input values of GIIc in the numerical models with the ones resulting from the application of the CBBM to the numerical load-displacement (P-) curve. In this numerical study, the Compliance Calibration Method (CCM) was also used to extract GIIc, for comparison purposes.

Readmission of older patients after hospital discharge for hip fracture: a multilevel approach

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To identify individual and hospital characteristics associated with the risk of readmission in older inpatients for proximal femoral fracture in the period of 90 days after discharge. METHODS Deaths and readmissions were obtained by a linkage of databases of the Hospital Information System of the Unified Health System and the System of Information on Mortality of the city of Rio de Janeiro from 2008 to 2011. The population of 3,405 individuals aged 60 or older, with non-elective hospitalization for proximal femoral fracture was followed for 90 days after discharge. Cox multilevel model was used for discharge time until readmission, and the characteristics of the patients were used on the first level and the characteristics of the hospitals on the second level. RESULTS The risk of readmission was higher for men (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.37; 95%CI 1.08–1.73), individuals more than 79 years old (HR = 1.45; 95%CI 1.06–1.98), patients who were hospitalized for more than two weeks (HR = 1.33; 95%CI 1.06-1.67), and for those who underwent arthroplasty when compared with the ones who underwent osteosynthesis (HR = 0.57; 95%CI 0.41–0.79). Besides, patients admitted to state hospitals had lower risk for readmission when compared with inpatients in municipal (HR = 1.71; 95%CI 1.09–2.68) and federal hospitals (HR = 1.81; 95%CI 1.00–3.27). The random effect of the hospitals in the adjusted model remained statistically significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Hospitals have complex structures that reflect in the quality of care. Thus, we propose that future studies may include these complexities and the severity of the patients in the analysis of the data, also considering the correlation between readmission and mortality to reduce biases.