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The number of children requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) has increased with the advancement of medical care. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of PMV worldwide, document demographic and clinical characteristics of children requiring PMV in paediatric intensive care units (PICUs), and to understand variation in clinical practice and health-care burden.

Background:A cancer diagnosis has a significant impact on a person's life, both physically and emotionally. However, the oncology patients’ QoL (QoL) at different stages of the disease has been under investigated.Aim:To assess and compare the QoL in three groups of oncology patients.Methods:A comparative study was carried out in an outpatient care service at a public hospital in the state of São Paulo. Data collection involved the use of the Palliative Performance Scale and the McGill QoL Questionnaire.Results:Most participants were women, Catholic and living with a partner. The Palliative Performance Scale revealed a predominance of stable patients (score: ≥70 points). Overall, palliative care patients had lower QoL scores compared to the other groups (p<0.01).Conclusion:QoL was worse among palliative care patients. Advanced age, being in palliative care, and have a low-income were negatively associated with a patient's QoL.

Background:The palliative care provided to cancer patients should also contemplate the psychological and spiritual dimensions of care.Aims:This study aimed to compare religiosity and spiritual/religious coping (SRC) of cancer patients in palliative care with a group of healthy volunteers and determine whether sociodemographic characteristics affected this association.Methods:This was a case-control study conducted with 86 patients living with cancer from an outpatient palliative care clinic of the São Paulo State University (UNESP) medical school, Botucatu, Brazil and 86 healthy volunteers. The brief Spiritual/Religious Coping Scale (SRCOPE) and the Duke University Religion (DUREL) Index were used as a brief measure of ‘religiosity’.Results:All 172 participants reported to be religious and, overall, made very little use of SRC strategies. DUREL scores were negatively associated with religious practice (P<0.01) and positive SRC (P<0.01). Age was associated with non-organisational religious activities and intrinsic religiosity (P<0.01); and income was associated with intrinsic religiosity (P<0.04). Positive SRC was negatively associated with the palliative group (P=0.03) and DUREL index (P<0.01). Negative SRC was positively associated with the palliative group (P=0.04) and negatively associated with education level (P=0.03) and practice of religion (P<0.01).Conclusion:All participants reported to be religious; however, their use of SRC strategies was very low. Positive religious coping was the most prevalent score. Negative religious coping was more common in the palliative care group compared to healthy volunteers. There is an association between religious coping and religiosity in palliative cancer care patients.

Purpose: There are countless challenges concerning the process of interest mediation. Regarding territorial planning, the participation of different stakeholders is essential. In this sense, Geodesign is a method that supports decision-making based on geocollaboration and co-creation, using geospatial data and tools. The purpose of this study was to use the method to support the co-creation of environmental projects and policies climate-oriented for the Iron Quadrangle region, Brazil. Design/methodology/approach: The Brazilian platform of Geodesign, GISColab, was used to support the activity. The experiment involved undergraduate and graduate students in Urban Planning and in Geography and technicians that work with planning subjects. Social isolation measures imposed by the pandemic resulted in an adaptation of the dynamic, which was held entirely online. Findings: The study group proposed 28 designs, in which the most discussed topics were landscape (43%), climate (25%) and risk (25%). This may be associated with the fact that the workshop was conducted in consideration of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the environmental crisis, but it might also suggest the group’s prior concern with such issues. Other SDGs were contemplated, with the productive sector as the most negatively impacted by proposals. This situation reinforces the importance of incorporating different actors (a term used for participants in the Geodesign method, referring to representatives from groups of the society) into planning processes. Geodesign was easily accepted and assimilated by participants. Originality/value: The proposed methodology proved to be positive for this type of study and GISColab, the Brazilian Geodesign platform, was easily adapted to the characteristics and demands of the experience.

Theoretically, ocean waves contain enough mechanical energy to supply the entire world’s demand and, as of late, are seen as a promising source of renewable energy. To this end, several different technologies of Wave Energy Converters (WEC) have been developed such as Oscillating Water Column (OWC) devices. OWCs are characterized by a chamber in which water oscillates inside and out in a movement similar to that of a piston. This movement directs air to a chimney where a turbine is attached to convert mechanical energy. The analysis conducted was based on the Constructive Design Method, in which a numerical study was carried out to obtain the geometric configuration that maximized the conversion of wave energy into mechanical energy. Three degrees of freedom were used: the ratio of height to length of the hydropneumatic chamber (H1/L), the ratio of the height of the chimney to its diameter (H2/d) and the ratio of the width of the hydropneumatic chamber to the width of the wave tank (W/Z). A Design of Experiments (DoE) technique coupled with Central Composite Design (CCD) allowed the simulation of different combinations of degrees of freedom. This allowed the construction of Response Surfaces and correlations for the efficiency of the system depending on the degrees of freedom (width and height of the chamber), as well as the optimization of the system based on the Response Surfaces.

Health-related quality of life assesses how diseases affect the daily life of people; there are several generic instruments for this assessment in dermatology. Skindex was created in 1996; it is a multidimensional instrument, aiming to encompass some psychological and social aspects not yet addressed by other questionnaires. Among its versions (Skindex-29, 16, and 17), Skindex-17 had not been validated in Brazil.

Ineffective management of pastures still constitutes the main problem in the Brazilian livestock industry, in which recovery of soil fertility is a determinant for soil restoration. In this context and in combination with the adoption of sustainable technologies, the use of plant-growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) may represent an alternative to the use of chemical fertilisers that would reduce costs and environmental impacts. In this study, morphogenetic and structural characteristics were evaluated in three Urochloa (syn. Brachiaria) varieties. Urochloa is a genus that is present in the most degraded pastures in Brazil. The three varieties were inoculated with five PGPB (Azospirillum brasilense Ab-V5 and Ab-V6, Pseudomonas fluorescens CCTB 03 and ET76, and Pantoea ananatis AMG521) and treated with different doses of nitrogen (N) fertiliser (0, 50 and 100 kg N ha-1) in pots filled with sandy soil under greenhouse conditions. In general, for Marandu grass U. brizantha cvv. BRS Paiaguás and Xaraés, the best performances for leaf and stem elongation rates and number of basal tillers were obtained with strains CCTB 03 and AMG521. For U. ruziziensis, the best performance in the duration and rate of renewal of leaves and leaf senescence was observed with strains AMG521, Ab-V5 and Ab-V6. This result indicated the specificity of the effects of bacterial strains on different genotypes of Urochloa. Differences in the interactions between PGPB and N fertilisation were also verified. In U. brizantha, interaction effects were additive, whereas in U. ruziziensis, they were competitive. The results indicate the feasibility of inoculation of Urochloa with elite strains of PGPB that positively affect the production of forage biomass and allow reductions in N fertiliser usage.

Background: Melasma has a major impact on quality of life. MELASQoL is the only validated specific psychometric instrument to evaluate melasma QoL.

The advance of technology and the availability of high-resolution and accurate systems have permitted the development of new methods for studies in forests. Terrestrial laser scanners have been consolidated as one of the most effective technologies for geospatial data acquisition since the last decade. They have offered the possibility of mapping tridimensionally with high positional accuracy a great number of targets, including forests. However, it is quite difficult to find methodological approaches for acquisition of forest data involving these type of systems. Thus, based on a mid and long range laser scanner with an electromagnetic spectrum ranging into the mid-infrared, 1535nm, different distances and radiometric resolutions were tested in order to establish a method of acquisition of intensity data in forest targets. After processing, data were analyzed with a clustering algorithm to test the possibility of identifying different elements. Trunk, branches and leaves as well as an edge effect were satisfactorily grouped. Besides defining a method for acquisition of intensity, it opens good perspectives in terms of integrating the classification obtained by the clustering technique with the point cloud. Future studies can contribute to develop a method for quantifying the volume of forest elements and, consequently, estimate biomass.

The improvement of acoustic performance construction systems is crucial. The flaws found during the design of a building are often related to the lack of data that characterize the materials used. Floor slab systems are one of the materials that influence acoustic performance, out of which composite slabs made of ribs and hollow bricks show up as common alternatives. The acoustic performance of this specific material is not entirely known, considering the multitude of coatings that can be added. Therefore, this study compared measurements on impact sound pressure level for one-way rib and hollow brick slabs using multiple coatings and gypsum ceiling, besides the 120 mm thick solid concrete refence slab. The coatings included the use of a concrete cover (50 mm); concrete cover (50 mm) + resilient layer (10 mm) + screed (40 mm); concrete cover (50 mm) + resilient layer (10 mm) + screed (40 mm) + gypsum board ceiling with thickness of 12.5 mm and plenum of 150 mm; concrete cover (50 mm) + screed (40 mm) + the above-mentioned gypsum ceiling; and concrete cover (50 mm) + screed (40 mm). The tests were performed in a vertical acoustic resonant chamber built according to ISO 10140-5:2010. The results showed that the use of gypsum ceiling along with resilient layer under the mortar screed reduced the weighted impact sound pressure level by 41 dB, compared to other samples.

•Tambacu farming is not a good option for cage systems.•Pure pacu has better performance and better body traits than tambacu hybrid in cage.•Nutritional requirements change according to genetic composition in Serraslamidae.

The aim of this study was to analyze scientific production concerning the validation and cultural adaptation of quality of life evaluation instruments for patients with melasma and to offer a critical reflection on these methods. A literature review was performed based on a search of the Web of Science, Bireme, PubMed, Elsevier Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. All published articles from indexed periodicals in these electronic databases up to December 2015 were included. Eight articles were identified, of which only one (12.5%) referred to the development and validation of a specific instrument for evaluation of the quality of life of melasma patients. An additional six articles (75%) referred to transcultural adjustment and validation of the same instrument in other languages, and another (12.5%) article reported the development of a generic instrument for evaluation of quality of life in patients with pigment disorders. This review revealed only one specific instrument developed and validated in different cultures. Despite being widely used, this instrument did not follow the classic construction steps for psychometric instruments, which paves the way for future studies to develop novel instruments.

Argyrophilic grain disease (AGD) is a frequent late-onset, 4-repeat tauopathy reported in Caucasians with high educational attainment. Little is known about AGD in non-Caucasians or in those with low educational attainment. We describe AGD demographics, clinical, and neuropathological features in a multiethnic cohort of 983 subjects ≥50 years of age from Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil. Clinical data were collected through semistructured interviews with an informant and included in the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly, the Clinical Dementia Rating, and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Neuropathologic assessment relied on internationally accepted criteria. AGD was frequent (15.2%) and was the only neuropathological diagnosis in 8.9% of all cases (mean, 78.9 ± 9.4 years); it rarely occurred as an isolated neuropathological finding. AGD was associated with older age, lower socioeconomic status (SES), and appetite disorders. This is the first study of demographic, clinical, and neuropathological aspects of AGD in different ethnicities and subjects from all socioeconomic strata. The results suggest that prospective studies of AGD patients include levels of hormones related to appetite control as possible antemortem markers. Moreover, understanding the mechanisms behind higher susceptibility to AGD of low SES subjects may disclose novel environmental risk factors for AGD and other neurodegenerative diseases.