Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2020-08"
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- Education, spatial disparities in schooling and black-white interracial marriagePublication . Gevrek, Zahide Eylem; Gevrek, DenizThis study investigates the observed positive relationship between educational attainment and likelihood of black-white interracial marriages. Different from the previous studies that focus only on the role of individual education levels in interracial marriages, this study contributes to the literature by examining the impact of the spatial variations in relative black/white educational distributions in marriage markets. The first contribution of this study is to provide an answer to the low black-white intermarriage rate puzzle by suggesting that as black and white educational differences in general between lessen and as individual educational attainment increase black-white interracial marriages may not become more common. The relative importance of three mechanisms through which education may affect intermarriage probability is examined: (1) racial adaptability effect, (2) enclave effect, and (3) educational dissimilarity effect. Using the U.S. Census Data, this study's second contribution is the finding that the enclave and the educational dissimilarity effects are more important than the racial adaptability effect in explaining intermarriage probability of black males. Our results suggest that rising black individual educational attainments may not always result in an increased intermarriage likelihood. Differences in the black and white education distributions have a significant impact on the black/white interracial marriage probability.
- The role of health preconditions on COVID-19 deaths in Portugal: evidence from surveillance data of the first 20293 infection casesPublication . Nogueira, Paulo Jorge; Nobre, Miguel de Araújo; Costa, Andreia; Ribeiro, Ruy M.; Furtado, Cristina; Nicolau, Leonor Bacelar; Camarinha, Catarina; Luís, Márcia; Abrantes, Ricardo; Carneiro, António VazBackground: It is essential to study the effect of potential co-factors on the risk of death in patients infected by COVID-19. The identification of risk factors is important to allow more efficient public health and health services strategic interventions with a significant impact on deaths by COVID-19. This study aimed to identify factors associated with COVID-19 deaths in Portugal. Methods: A national dataset with the first 20,293 patients infected with COVID-19 between 1 January and 21 April 2020 was analyzed. The primary outcome measure was mortality by COVID-19, measured (registered and confirmed) by Medical Doctors serving as health delegates on the daily death registry. A logistic regression model using a generalized linear model was used for estimating Odds Ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for each potential risk indicator. Results: A total of 502 infected patients died of COVID-19. The risk factors for increased odds of death by COVID-19 were: sex (male: OR = 1.47, ref = female), age ((56-60) years, OR = 6.01; (61-65) years, OR = 10.5; (66-70) years, OR = 20.4; (71-75) years, OR = 34; (76-80) years, OR = 50.9; (81-85) years, OR = 70.7; (86-90) years, OR = 83.2; (91-95) years, OR = 91.8; (96-104) years, OR = 140.2, ref = (0-55)), Cardiac disease (OR = 2.86), Kidney disorder (OR = 2.95), and Neuromuscular disorder (OR = 1.58), while condition (None (absence of precondition); OR = 0.49) was associated with a reduced chance of dying after adjusting for other variables of interest. Conclusions: Besides age and sex, preconditions justify the risk difference in mortality by COVID-19.
- Relação entre presenteísmo e a violência no local de trabalho: revisão integrativaPublication . Fernandes, Ana SáIntrodução: O conceito de comparecer no local de trabalho, mas estar mentalmente ausente durante o turno de trabalho representa um impacto negativo para o profissional e para a instituição. Objetivo do estudo: Identificar a relação entre o presenteismo e a violência no local de trabalho. Metodologia: A revisão integrativa decorreu em janeiro de 2019 em 3 bases de dados: PubMed®, Medline® e b-ON®. Foi desenvolvida uma es¬tratégia de pesquisa adequada para identificar os estudos relevantes que se enquadrassem nos critérios de inclusão e ficaram incluídos 7 artigos para estudo e posterior análise dos dados. Apresentação e interpretação dos resultados: Inferiu-se que o presenteísmo estava relacionado com um elevado risco de deterioração da saúde e bem-estar havendo uma predisposição a longo prazo para dar origem ao absenteísmo. Conclusão: O presenteísmo está presente no quotidiano do local de trabalho. A sua avaliação é subjetiva e pouco visível sendo difícil de quantificar, no entanto, apresenta elevados custos indiretos associados.
- A palavra e a voz: Quando Amália (não) cantou JunqueiroPublication . Pereira, Henrique Manuel
- The effect of mobile text messages and a novel floss holder on gingival health: a randomized control trialPublication . Araújo, Mário Rui; Alvarez, Maria João; Godinho, Cristina A.Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of using mobile text messages and a novel floss holder as compared to finger flossing or the novel floss holder alone, on the psychological, behavioral, and clinical parameters of patients with gingivitis.Methods: A total 165 adults were assessed for eligibility and 144 met the criteria for randomization into three groups: Finger Floss (FF, n=43), Novel Floss Holder (NFH, n= 40), and Novel Floss Holder plus Text Messages (NFH+TM, n= 61) following a dental hygiene consultation appointment. Gingival bleeding points were measured on probing (BOMP) at baseline and four months later by a calibrated dental hygienist, blinded to the experimental groups. Participants also self-reported their oral hygiene behaviors, and indicated psychological determinants of behavior change prior to the dental hygiene consultation and at four months. Descriptive statistics and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare groups over time.Results: Two subjects dropped out of the study making the total number of participants 142. At the four month follow-up, the NFH group and the NFH+TM groups demonstrated significantly higher levels of self-reported flossing, action self-efficacy, intention, action planning, and action control. The NFH+TM group showed lower levels of bleeding and higher levels of oral hygiene and recovery self-efficacy than the other groups, in addition to higher levels of maintenance self-efficacy as compared to the FF group.Conclusions: The use of a novel floss holder, NFH, was shown to improve the behavioral and psychological determinants of periodontal health four months after introduction of the device. However the clinical measures of BOMP only improved significantly when used in conjunction with text messages (NFH+TM). The use of a consciousness awareness technique,TMs, in combination with a novel device, may help patients to reach therapeutic objectives and contribute to the management of periodontal pathologies such as gingivitis.
- Author Correction: Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017 (Nature Medicine, (2020), 26, 5, (750-759), 10.1038/s41591-020-0807-6)Publication . LBD Double Burden of Malnutrition Collaborators; Fernandes, João C.An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
- Nomophobia and lifestyle: smartphone use and its relationship to psychopathologiesPublication . Gonçalves, Soraia; Dias, Paulo; Correia, Ana PaulaIn the last decade, smartphone use increased exponentially among the population mainly among adolescents and young adults. Today, people are constantly clinging to the smartphone in many situations of their life, even though this activity can have physical and psychological negative consequences. Through the popularization of smartphones, a new dependency was born, nomophobia, defined as the fear of being away from one's smartphone. This study analyzes the propensity of young adults (18–24 years old) towards nomophobia and lifestyle. A sample of 495 participants showed a positive and moderate correlation between nomophobia and psychopathological symptoms. Interpersonal sensitivity, obsession-compulsion, and the number of hours of smartphone use per day were identified as strong predictors of nomophobia. Results show that smartphone use, and feelings of personal inadequacy and inferiority are relevant when explaining nomophobia.
- Conhecimento e atitudes dos profissionais de saúde sobre as diretivas antecipadas de vontadePublication . Barreto, Ana Lúcia Fernandes; Capelas, Manuel Luís VilaIntrodução: Cada pessoa, tendo como base o princípio da autonomia e o respeito pela sua dignidade, é livre para decidir sobre os cuidados que deseja ou não receber. Quando o doente não consegue manifestar a sua preferência ou tomar decisões, pode recorrer a instruções dadas anteriormente, designadas por Diretivas Antecipadas de Vontade. Estas instruções facilitam a deliberação e permitem exercer o direito à autonomia, liberdade dentro dos limites previstos na Lei e o respeito pelos seus valores e preferências, quando não tiver capacidade de decidir. Objetivo: Avaliar o conhecimento e identificar as atitudes dos profissionais de saúde sobre as Diretivas Antecipadas de Vontade. Material e Métodos: Estudo descritivo, observacional e transversal com uma abordagem quantitativa, através de um questionário a 503 participantes. Processamento de dados com recurso à estatística descritiva. Resultados: A maioria da nossa amostra é do sexo feminino, enfermeiros e com licenciatura como formação académica. Metade têm formação em Cuidados Paliativos e Bioética. Na generalidade os participantes possuem um conhecimento adequado sobre aspetos legais, definição, documentos necessários e aplicação das Diretivas Antecipadas de Vontade. Têm atitudes positivas no momento da aplicação prática e diante de cenários complexos da execução destas instruções. Conclusões: Em virtude dos resultados obtidos, chegou-se à conclusão de que, não obstante existir um conhecimento generalizado sobre as Diretivas Antecipadas de Vontade, verificou-se reduzido conhecimento sobre: alguns pontos da Lei nº 25/2012 de 16 de julho; a expressão “limitação do esforço terapêutico”; o local onde são inscritas as Diretivas Antecipadas de Vontade e quem pode aceder a essas. Constatou-se haver insegurança na divulgação de informação sobre a situação clínica do doente e as Diretivas Antecipadas de Vontade pelos profissionais de saúde. Os resultados relevam adicionalmente a necessidade de se investir no conhecimento dos profissionais de saúde, podendo-se para tal recorrer a formação.
- The role of a nutritionist in a bakery, pastry & chocolate b2b companyPublication . Moreira, Catarina Oliveira; Galli, Federica; Pimenta, AnaThis thesis was written in the format of an internship report. Thus it describes the most relevant activities carried out during the time the trainee spent as a nutrition intern in Puratos Group – headquarter office (Brussels, Belgium). The internship was carried out under the EIT RIS Fellowship and lasted five months. The trainee joined the Health & Well-Being (H&WB) team, and her primary function was to develop the new building block (BB) of the H&WB department: gut health. First, a literature review was carried out regarding the benefits of sourdough (SD) consumption on the gut health of the host. According to the latest scientific evidence, one of the main benefits of SD consumption is the low postprandial glycemic index (GI) compared with yeast-based wheat bread consumption. However, SD is only one bread ingredient that can have both a direct and indirect effect on gut health. Other important players are fibers. For this reason, another literature and market search was carried out to assess the fiber threshold tolerance by the consumer. The data collected showed how several variables (regarding both consumers, markets, and products type) play a significant role in consumers' tolerance to this ingredient, making it impossible to define concrete formulation guidelines. Minor tasks undertake during the five months internship are also described in this work. The list of these tasks include: • the elaboration of learning materials such as "dietary trends" accompanied by the creation of concrete dietary tips (example: definition of the ideal the lunch box, composition); • the participation into the development of new products and/or new product pilot tests production (example the use of Rapidojet® machine for preparing gluten-free bread); • calculations of nutritional values of finished products designed by Puratos’ Technical Adviser as a tool to showcase Puratos products to the general public; • assisting other business units with specific literature review, namely the work on the impact of chocolate on cardiovascular health, where it was observed that moderate consumption of chocolate could contribute to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
- Novel method for prevention of periprosthetic joint infections : chitosan and hydroxyapatite composite in paste formPublication . Lobo, André Alves Moreno Sampaio; Pinto, Ana Rita da Costa; Pintado, Maria Manuela EstevezPeriprosthetic joint infections are one of the leading challenges in the orthopedic field today. This specific type of infection surrounds bone’s prosthesis and the tissues adjacent to it, occurring mainly when a total joint arthroplasty is performed. When successful, this joint replacement provides pain relief and restores function and independence to the body, improving the patients’ quality of life. The full dynamic of these infections is still unclear, but as the number of joint arthroplasties keeps rising due to the aging population, so does the incidence of infections. The selection of materials to interact with hard tissues, such as bone, must possess two essential characteristics for the proper healing of the tissue surrounding the material, which are osteoconduction and osteoinduction. Osteoconduction is the ability of bone to grow on a surface, in this case, the material’s surface. Osteoinduction is the process of inducing new bone formation, also known as osteogenesis, by the mobilization of immature and undifferentiated cells, differentiating them into pre-osteoblasts. Currently, calcium phosphate ceramics, such as hydroxyapatite (HAp), are promising substitutes for large orthopedic defects’ remodeling and regeneration. This biomaterial presents osteoconductive and osteoinductive properties. However, pure HAp is a material that can be limited by its brittleness, low fracture toughness, bad tensile strength and poor wear resistance. A lot of effort has been put into modifying HAp with the use of polymers in order to enhance its clinical applications. The polymer used in this work was chitosan, which possesses an intrinsic antimicrobial nature, it is biodegradable and biocompatible, and it can be molded into all sorts of structures. This biocomposite was tested in L929 fibroblast cells in other to assess the toxicity of the material. Besides that, the paste was tested in a pre-osteoblastic cell line (MC3T3) by several techniques, to determine the differentiation, proliferation, and calcium production of the cells when in contact with the biocomposite. This work presents a new biocomposite that should have the appropriate characteristics, not only to promote faster regeneration of the bone defect, but also to reduce the incidence rate of periprosthetic joint infections, through the antimicrobial properties of chitosan.