Review question / Objective: Nurses could have inconsistent practice during the Nursing Bedside Handover (NBH) implementation (Clari et al., 2021; Malfait et al., 2019; Whitty et al., 2017). During almost two decades, this inconsistency... more
Review question / Objective: Nurses could have inconsistent practice during the Nursing Bedside Handover (NBH) implementation (Clari et al., 2021; Malfait et al., 2019; Whitty et al., 2017). During almost two decades, this inconsistency in nurses' practices has been explained by the strategy of implementation followed at the wards and the resistance behaviors of nurses (Burston et al., 2015; Evans et al., 2012; Kassean & Jagoo, 2005; Malfait et al., 2020; Sand-Jecklin & Sherman, 2013, 2014). Recently, this explanation has come to consider the possibility of nurses' practices be a practice individualized, flexible, and adaptive (McCloskey et al., 2019; Schirm et al., 2018; Tobiano et al., 2018). Based on these supplementary explanations, we formulated the following review question: - What are the factors perceived by nurses that influence inconsistency of practice during NBH? The purpose of this synthesis of the qualitative evidence is to review and synthesize nurses’ percept...
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Studies related to the competencies of clinical nurse leaders as an advanced practice demonstrate that they are an asset to health organizations. However, it is pertinent to use an instrument to measure the self-efficacy of clinical nurse... more
Studies related to the competencies of clinical nurse leaders as an advanced practice demonstrate that they are an asset to health organizations. However, it is pertinent to use an instrument to measure the self-efficacy of clinical nurse leaders in Portugal to facilitate managers’ decision-making. In this study, we aimed to translate, adapt, and validate the Clinical Nurse Leader Self-Efficacy Scale for the Portuguese cultural context. This is a quantitative, observational, and descriptive cross-sectional study. The sample of this study was non-probabilistic and intentional, consisting of 329 nurses responsible for shift and specialist nurses. The translation and validation process followed the internationally recognized guidelines on the psychometric properties of measurement instruments. The factor analysis explained 62.1% of the variance and had a seven-dimensional structure. The seven factors were: Patient-Centred Care; Unit Management; Clinical Leadership; Strategic Leadership...
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The use of instruments designed to assess the nursing practice environment is crucial to improve the quality of nursing care, to anticipate problems and difficulties that may arise in organizations, and allow nurse managers to implement... more
The use of instruments designed to assess the nursing practice environment is crucial to improve the quality of nursing care, to anticipate problems and difficulties that may arise in organizations, and allow nurse managers to implement changes and improvements in key areas. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Nursing Work Index—Revised Portuguese version (NWI-R-PT) scale. A quantitative, observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional study was conducted. Methods: The sample consisted of 767 nurses from 4 public Portuguese hospitals. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis techniques were used to test the distinct structural models. The scale’s accuracy was evaluated through internal consistency, using Cronbach’s alpha. Results: NWI-R-PT internal consistency was 0.91. The NWI-R-PT model with six factors, namely “Management Support,” “Professional Development,” “Fundamentals of Nursing,” “Nurse–Physician Relationship,” “Endowments,” and “Organ...
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Research Interests: Psychology and Nursing
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Bolsista do programa de Recursos Humanos em Direito do Petróleo, Gás natural e Biocombustíveis (PRH ANP/MCT N° 36) 1 INTRODUÇÃO Com o advento do processo de globalização, a tendência atual é a de os países se unirem em blocos econômicos... more
Bolsista do programa de Recursos Humanos em Direito do Petróleo, Gás natural e Biocombustíveis (PRH ANP/MCT N° 36) 1 INTRODUÇÃO Com o advento do processo de globalização, a tendência atual é a de os países se unirem em blocos econômicos para que, dessa forma, haja o fortalecimento mútuo. Nesse contexto integracionista, à medida que esse modelo se desenvolve, dando origem a blocos como MERCOSUL ou a União Européia, faz-se mister que dentro do bloco seja criado um sistema de solução de controvérsias, marcado pelo pacifismo de suas decisões. Nesse estudo, tentaremos mostrar, em linhas gerais, o funcionamento do sistema de solução de controvérsias do MERCOSUL, sendo o escopo precípuo do trabalho a sua análise sob a ótica da necessidade do bom funcionamento desse sistema e de sua operacionalização diante de questões que envolvam energia, uma vez que a tendência observada no âmbito Sul-Americano é que, além de sua integração econômica, haja ainda a integração energética, propiciando a sua...
AuSynthAR is a digital instrument based on Augmented Reality (AR), which allows sound synthesis modules to create simple sound networks. It only requires a mobile device, a set of tokens, a sound output device and, optionally, a MIDI... more
AuSynthAR is a digital instrument based on Augmented Reality (AR), which allows sound synthesis modules to create simple sound networks. It only requires a mobile device, a set of tokens, a sound output device and, optionally, a MIDI controller, which makes it an affordable instrument. An application running on the device generates the sounds and the graphical augmentations over the tokens.
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The abilities of Augmented Reality to overlay learning materials with contextual dynamic information and of software simulations to allow rapid and safe exploration of complex engineering concepts have already been established as... more
The abilities of Augmented Reality to overlay learning materials with contextual dynamic information and of software simulations to allow rapid and safe exploration of complex engineering concepts have already been established as beneficial in education. Access to both technologies in the classroom has been rather limited due to costs and hardware requirements. With the intention to bring these two technologies closer to engineering students, we created Virtual Circuits: a low-cost simulator app of electrical circuits designed for the classroom and autonomous study. Virtual Circuits requires only a smart-phone and a set of plastic tokens and, with the help of Augmented Reality and a simulation engine, it allows electrical engineering students to quickly explore complex concepts in their field. In this article we present the Virtual Circuits app and the results of our first field test in a real electrical engineering classroom at our university. The collected feedback from students was overwhelmingly positive hinting at tangible educational benefits and improvements in future versions of our app.
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With the raising of environmental concerns regarding pollution, interest in monitoring air quality is increasing. However, air pollution data is mostly originated from a limited number of government-owned sensors, which can only capture a... more
With the raising of environmental concerns regarding pollution, interest in monitoring air quality is increasing. However, air pollution data is mostly originated from a limited number of government-owned sensors, which can only capture a small fraction of reality. Improving air quality coverage in-volves reducing the cost of sensors and making data widely available to the public. To this end, the NanoSen-AQM project proposes the usage of low-cost nano-sensors as the basis for an air quality monitoring platform, capa-ble of collecting, aggregating, processing, storing, and displaying air quality data. Being an end-to-end system, the platform allows sensor owners to manage their sensors, as well as define calibration functions, that can im-prove data reliability. The public can visualize sensor data in a map, define specific clusters (groups of sensors) as favorites and set alerts in the event of bad air quality in certain sensors. The NanoSen-AQM platform provides easy access to air...
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This paper proposes a decentralized method for controlling a swarm of autonomous agents represented as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to accomplish a set of tasks cooperatively. The task commissioning is carried out by a Fuzzy... more
This paper proposes a decentralized method for controlling a swarm of autonomous agents represented as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to accomplish a set of tasks cooperatively. The task commissioning is carried out by a Fuzzy Logic-based task allocation strategy, and the movement behavior is based on the internal state of the agent as well as the external data from its neighbors through local communications. The solution was modified from a centralized strategy developed in a previous work in order to be enhanced, so the proposed distributed strategy was tested considering the same experiments, configurations and conditions applied to the centralized approach in a simulated environment. To test the strategy, the planned activity to be performed was planting seeds, in a field composed by a grid of points that represents the places to be sown. Completion times and collision avoidance attempts were measured to test the effectiveness, as well as to perform a comparison between the distributed and centralized methods. Important improvements were found considering the size of agents in a swarm.
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The European Commission aims to develop a more sustainable environment for research infrastructures ecosystem, and to ensure that the benefits and impacts are widely perceived by research communities and led to research excellence. This... more
The European Commission aims to develop a more sustainable environment for research infrastructures ecosystem, and to ensure that the benefits and impacts are widely perceived by research communities and led to research excellence. This vision is reflected in a range of international and European documents. Recent work conducted by the OECD and the European Commission, particularly by ESFRI and e-IRG, have stated the need to make structural changes in the EU framework for research infrastructures (RIs). In line with this strategic vision, DARIAH intends to establish itself as a sustainable research infrastructure. DESIR (DARIAH ERIC Sustainability Refined) work package 6 TRUST contributes to DARIAH’s long-term sustainability by measuring acceptance and impact of DARIAH in new cross-disciplinary DARIAH communities and core groups. This was the base to define the theoretical and methodological framework that supported the research here presented. Therefore, this report focuses on the ...
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Studies related to the work environment in primary health care are scarce in the literature. The present study aimed to validate the psychometric properties of the Practice Environment Scale of Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI) in primary... more
Studies related to the work environment in primary health care are scarce in the literature. The present study aimed to validate the psychometric properties of the Practice Environment Scale of Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI) in primary health care (PHC) and to evaluate its construct validity through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses in a sample of Portuguese nurses. A quantitative, cross-sectional, and validation study design was implemented. Methods: The sample consisted of 1059 nurses from the PHC units of all 55 health center groups (HCGs) in mainland Portugal, 15 health centers in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, and 6 health centers in the Autonomous Region of the Azores. The study tested different structural models using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis techniques. The reliability of the scale was tested by determining Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Results: The internal consistency of the PES-NWI was 0.91. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were...
Research Interests: Nursing, Primary Health Care, Medicine, Multidisciplinary, Work Environment, and 9 moreQuality of Care, Environmental public health, Community health nursing, Confirmatory factor analysis, Construct Validity, Exploratory Factor Analysis, Psychometric Properties, Health Facility Environment, and Validation study
The interest in the quality of air is likely to increase, as the public concern for health and environmental issues is on the rise. So far, most data available comes from a small numbers of government-owned sensors, lacking a wide... more
The interest in the quality of air is likely to increase, as the public concern for health and environmental issues is on the rise. So far, most data available comes from a small numbers of government-owned sensors, lacking a wide coverage of the entire reality. Improving the amount of data available thus involves reducing the cost of sensors and make their readings accessible to the public. The NanoSen-AQM project aims to do precisely that. Create and use vast numbers of low-cost nano-sensors, to make their data accessible for the public. To achieve such an ambitious goal, the project will use state-of-the-art techniques from Machine Learning and mobile and web development frameworks. As a result, the NanoSen-AQM platform should provide free access to the public and low-cost of entry for sensor owners willing to share their data.
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The Portuguese Rheumatology Society (SPR) embraced quality as a major goal and launched, in early 2015, a program to aim for excellence in global clinical care: Rheuma SPACE - Standard Practice Aiming Clinical Excellence. Evaluating daily... more
The Portuguese Rheumatology Society (SPR) embraced quality as a major goal and launched, in early 2015, a program to aim for excellence in global clinical care: Rheuma SPACE - Standard Practice Aiming Clinical Excellence. Evaluating daily reality is the first step in a quality development timeline, ultimately contributing for health gains. Herein we describe the results of the evaluation of the quality indicators defined for this project and the improvement strategies identified. The Rheuma SPACE project included three phases: 1) establishing a set of quality indicators and an excellence quality model; 2) assessment of the current care at Rheumatology departments concerning the defined quality indicators in the scope of the excellence model; and 3) elaboration of global and customized reports for each participating Rheumatology department, resulting in the identification of improvement opportunities. Ten Rheumatology departments, countrywide, including larger and smaller institution...
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Domestic violence is an important public health problem due to its magnitude, frequency and repercussions for the health of individuals, families, groups and communities. It is a multifactorial phenomenon defined by the World Health... more
Domestic violence is an important public health problem due to its magnitude, frequency and repercussions for the health of individuals, families, groups and communities. It is a multifactorial phenomenon defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) (Taft et al., 2012) Introduction (Nurses play an important role in health teams, both in recognizing the situation of violence and in responding to the provision of care to victims and their families, for which Leadership is an extraordinarily necessary and required skill for nurses to influence their teams to provide nursing care that responds to users' expectations (Amestoy et al., 2014); Goals Identify the scientific evidence on the intervention of the case manager nurse in the promotion of the prevention of Domestic Violence; Methods Integrative Literature Review of studies indexed in the MEDLINE databases (PubMed / Medline), CINAHL, Cochrane, and in other databases of the EBSCOHost platform (LILACS, SCOPUS and Web of Science),...
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There is untapped potential in having a computer work as a colleague with the video game level designer as a source of creative stimuli, instead of simply working as his slave. This paper presents 3Buddy, a co-creative level design tool... more
There is untapped potential in having a computer work as a colleague with the video game level designer as a source of creative stimuli, instead of simply working as his slave. This paper presents 3Buddy, a co-creative level design tool exploring this digital peer paradigm, aimed at fostering creativity by allowing human and computer to work together in the context of level design, and describes a case study of the approach to produce content using the Legend of Grimrock 2 level editor. Suggestions are generated and iteratively evolved by multiple inter-communicating genetic algorithms guiding three different domains: innovation (exploring new directions), guidelines (respecting specific design goals) and convergence (focusing on current co-proposal). The interface allows the designer to orient the tool behaviour in the space defined by these dimensions. This paper details the inner workings of the system and presents an exploratory study showing, on the one hand, how the tool was u...
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This paper proposes a granular synthesis technique constrained to musical harmony theory that uses fuzzy logic to playback small portions of sound called grains. The algorithm distributes the grains in a two-dimensional space according to... more
This paper proposes a granular synthesis technique constrained to musical harmony theory that uses fuzzy logic to playback small portions of sound called grains. The algorithm distributes the grains in a two-dimensional space according to a musical structure shaped by a chord progression. Grains are playback in a timed sequence adjusted to a rhythmical pattern sorted by a fuzzy logic method that considers the energy and frequency of each grain across a defined harmonic environment. Tests regarding the distribution of grains and the generated sounds are performed to compare the effects of different keynotes in the musical structure, as well as considering the sound sources from where the grains were originally taken.
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OBJETIVO: Avaliar a associação entre o estado de controle da asma e a qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em pacientes com asma moderada ou grave. MÉTODOS: Estudo descritivo observacional com 59 pacientes portadores de asma moderada ou... more
OBJETIVO: Avaliar a associação entre o estado de controle da asma e a qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em pacientes com asma moderada ou grave. MÉTODOS: Estudo descritivo observacional com 59 pacientes portadores de asma moderada ou grave, acompanhados no Ambulatório de Asma do Hospital Universitário Walter Cantídio da Universidade Federal do Ceará, em Fortaleza (CE). Os pacientes foram avaliados quanto a dados sociodemográficos, clínicos e espirométricos. O estado de controle da asma foi avaliado através do asthma control test (ACT) e a qualidade de vida através do Saint George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). RESULTADOS: A média de idade dos pacientes foi de 55,0 ± 12,4 anos, e 76,3% eram do sexo feminino. Foram observadas correlações negativas significantes entre os escores do ACT e todos os escores do SGRQ: total (r = -0,72); sintomas (r = -0,78); atividade (r = -0,67); e impactos (r = -0,68). A análise de regressão múltipla mostrou que o escore do SGRQ total teve co...
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O presente artigo discorre acerca do impacto ambiental do mercúrio em lâmpadas fluorescentes descartadas no Instituto Federal de Sergipe. Desse modo, criou-se um modelo matemático para calcular a quantidade de mercúrio exposto ao ambiente... more
O presente artigo discorre acerca do impacto ambiental do mercúrio em lâmpadas fluorescentes descartadas no Instituto Federal de Sergipe. Desse modo, criou-se um modelo matemático para calcular a quantidade de mercúrio exposto ao ambiente proveniente de lâmpadas fluorescentes em desuso no Instituto Federal de Sergipe, Campus Lagarto, e seu impacto ambiental. Os resultados indicam que os 50.000 mg (50 g) iniciais de mercúrio contemplam sua totalidade de decomposição a partir do primeiro ano após o descarte. Sendo o limite de tolerância biológica de 0,000033 g de mercúrio por grama de creatina urinária, o mercúrio descartado no Instituto Federal de Sergipe não é somente suficiente para contaminação interna, como a expande também para uma área abrangente de contaminação externa. Observaram-se, através de questionários, que o Município de Lagarto, Estado de Sergipe, não possui pontos de coleta, indispensáveis para o cumprimento da logística reversa das lâmpadas e, por esta causa, os 1.8...
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ABSTRACT
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ABSTRACT
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BACKGROUND Switching between biologic therapies is a recommended strategy for Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) patients that show an insufficient response or adverse events. Although the choice of the subsequent biologic may be dependent on many... more
BACKGROUND Switching between biologic therapies is a recommended strategy for Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) patients that show an insufficient response or adverse events. Although the choice of the subsequent biologic may be dependent on many factors, assessing the quality of the switch decision is of utmost relevance. OBJECTIVES To develop and validate two outcomes measurement tools (for patients with peripheral and axial PsA phenotypes) that address the quality of treatment decisions in PsA regarding the switch of biologic therapies in clinical practice. METHODS A Task Force and an Expert Panel were specifically assembled for this purpose. The Psoriatic Arthritis Switch Quality Assessment tool (PASQAL) development comprised a modified-Delphi method in a four-step procedure: 1) literature search and experts' opinion collection about quality indicators for PsA management; 2) Delphi design to address the development of the measurement tool; 3) three Delphi questionnaire rounds; 4) fi...