Evaluative instruments of patients' knowledge about systemic arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus: A scoping review.

AIM: To map out the evaluative instruments used by nurses to measure the knowledge of patients affected by hypertension and diabetes. BACKGROUND: The construction of evaluative instruments has gained more and more space in Brazil, in nursing, evaluative instruments of knowledge are very relevant, they make it possible to diagnose the knowledge of patients in an area and analyze its evolution over time. DESIGN: Scoping review. METHODS: This is a scope review, guided by the recommendations of the Joanna Briggs Institute. To conduct the research, a structured question was created based on the Population strategy (nurses), Concept (instruments for measuring patients' knowledge) and Context (Systemic Arterial Hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus). RESULTS: Data analysis occurred with the synthesis of selected studies. Out of 1746 articles found in the searched databases, after removing duplication, 1244 articles remained. After reading the abstracts and titles, 955 articles were not included. After reading 289 articles in their entirety, 21 articles were included because they met the established inclusion criteria. We highlight the development of questionnaires with a peer review process and application for validation in the population, knowledge evaluation via previously constructed and internationally validated questionnaires, and cross-cultural adaptation of evaluative questionnaires for different Title Page (with Author Details) realities of the proposal. CONCLUSIONS: The evidences elucidated that the knowledge measurement questionnaires are valid and constitute a relevant mechanism for evaluating users of health services.

A Structure-based Data Set of Protein-Peptide Affinities and its Nonredundant Benchmark: Potential Applications in Computational Peptidology.

BACKGROUND: Peptides play crucial roles in diverse cellular functions and participate in many biological processes by interacting with a variety of proteins, which have also been exploited as a promising class of therapeutic agents to target druggable proteins over the past decades. Understanding the intrinsic association between the structure and affinity ofprotein-peptide interactions (PpIs) should be considerably valuable for the computational peptidology area, such as guiding protein-peptide docking calculations, developing protein-peptide affinity scoring functions, and designing peptide ligands for specific protein receptors. OBJECTIVE: We attempted to create a data source for relating PpI structure to affinity. METHODS: By exhaustively surveying the whole protein data bank (PDB) database as well as the ontologically enriched literature information, we manually curated a structure-based data set of protein-peptide affinities, PpI[S/A]DS, which assembled over 350 PpI complex samples with both the experimentally measured structure and affinity data. The data set was further reduced to a nonredundant benchmark consisting of 102 culled samples, PpI[S/A]BM, which only selected those of structurally reliable, functionally diverse and evolutionarily nonhomologous. RESULTS: The collected structures were resolved at a high-resolution level with either X-ray crystallography or solution NMR, while the deposited affinities were characterized by dissociation constant, i.e. Kd value, which is a direct biophysical measure of the intermolecular interaction strength between protein and peptide, ranging from subnanomolar to millimolar levels. The PpI samples in the set/benchmark were arbitrarily classified into α-helix, partial α-helix, ß-sheet formed through binding, ß-strand formed through self-folding, mixed, and other irregular ones, totally resulting in six classes according to the secondary structure of their peptide ligands. In addition, we also categorized these PpIs in terms of their biological function and binding behavior. CONCLUSION: The PpI[S/A]DS set and PpI[S/A]BM benchmark can be considered a valuable data source in the computational peptidology community, aiming to relate the affinity to structure for PpIs.

Crystal structure of benzyl N'-[(1E,4E)-1,5-bis-(4-meth-oxy-phen-yl)penta-1,4-dien-3-yl-idene]hydrazine-1-carbodi-thio-ate.

In the title hydrazinecarbodi-thio-ate derivative, C27H26N2O2S2, the asymmetric unit is comprised of four mol-ecules (Z = 8 and Z' = 4). The 4-meth-oxy-phenyl rings are slightly twisted away from their attached olefinic double bonds [torsion angles = 5.9 (4)-19.6 (4)°]. The azomethine double bond has an s-trans configuration relative to one of the C=C bonds and an s-cis configuration relative to the other [C=C-C= N = 147.4 (6)-175.7 (2) and 15.3 (3)-37.4 (7)°, respectively]. The torsion angles between the azomethine C=N double bond and hydrazine-1-carbodi-thio-ate moiety indicate only small deviations from planarity, with torsion angles ranging from 0.9 (3) to 6.9 (3)° and from 174.9 (3) to 179.7 (2)°, respectively. The benzyl ring and the methyl-enesulfanyl moiety are almost perpendicular to each other, as indicated by their torsion angles [range 93.7 (3)-114.6 (2)°]. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked by C-H⋯O, N-H⋯S and C-H⋯π(ring) hydrogen-bonding inter-actions into a three-dimensional network. Structural details of related benzyl hydrazine-1-carbodi-thio-ate are surveyed and compared with those of the title compound.

Crystal structure of (E)-3-(2-hy-droxy-4-methyl-phen-yl)-1-(2,4,6-tri-meth-oxy-phen-yl)prop-2-en-1-one.

The title chalcone derivative, C19H20O5, adopts a trans configuration with respect to the olefinic C=C double bond. The 2-hy-droxy-4-methyl-phenyl ring is coplanar with the attached enone bridge [torsion angle = -179.96 (14)°], where this plane is nearly perpendicular to the 2,4,6-tri-meth-oxy-phenyl ring [dihedral angle = 75.81 (8)°]. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked into chains propagating along [010] by an O-H⋯O hydrogen bond. These chains are further connected into centrosymmetric dimer chains via weak C-H⋯O inter-actions. The conformations of related chalcone derivatives are surveyed and all of these structures adopt a skeleton with two almost orthogonal aromatic rings.

Caracterização do gênero, da raça e da idade de uma população de 7. 780 cães da Região Central do Rio Grande do Sul submetidos à necropsia ao longo de cinco décadas (1964-2013) / Characterization of gender, breed and age in a population of 7. 780 dogs submitted for necropsy over five decades (1964-2013) in central Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Devido à ausência de um banco de dados demográficos da população canina que habita a Região Central do Rio Grande do Sul (RS) e à necessidade em se estabelecer uma "população controle" para a melhor interpretação da prevalência das doenças diagnosticadas pelo Laboratório de Patologia Veterinária (LPV-UFSM) da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), este estudo objetivou realizar uma análise das características relacionadas à raça, ao gênero e à idade dos cães necropsiados neste serviço de diagnóstico ao longo de 50 anos (1964-2013). Para isto, os laudos de necropsias de cães, realizadas entre 1964 e 2013, foram revisados, e deles foram retiradas informações referentes ao gênero, à idade e às raças de todos os cães oriundos dos municípios que compõem a Região Central do RS. Ao todo, 7.780 cães foram necropsiados; desses, 469 (6%) na primeira década (1964-1973), 1.133 (14,6%) na segunda década (1974-1983), 1.334 (17,1%) na terceira década (1984-1993), 1.705 (22%) na quarta década (1994-2003) e 3.139 (40,3%) na quinta década (2004-2013). Do total de cães com gênero informado nos laudos, 52,6% eram machos e 47,4% eram fêmeas. A mediana da idade de morte foi de três anos. Dos cães cuja raça foi informada nos laudos, 59,8% eram de raça definida (RD) e 40,2% não tinham raça definida (SRD). As raças de porte grande ou gigante mais frequentes foram: Pastor Alemão (17,2%), Boxer (6,9%), Rottweiler (5,3%), Fila Brasileiro (4,6%), Pointer Inglês (3,9%), Collie Pelo Longo (3,7%) Dobermann (3,7%) e Labrador Retriever (2,1%). As raças de porte pequeno ou médio mais frequentes foram: Poodle (8,9%), Dachshund (6,3%), Pinscher Miniatura (5,6%), Cocker Spaniel Inglês (4,5%), Pequinês (3,4%), Yorkshire Terrier (3,3%) e Terrier Brasileiro (2,8%). Houve um aumento na proporção de fêmeas e um crescimento na mediana referente à idade de morte ao longo das cinco décadas avaliadas. Apesar de não ter havido um aumento relevante na proporção de cães de RD em comparação com os SRD, observaram-se algumas mudanças na ocorrência de diferentes raças ao longo do tempo, incluindo principalmente uma dramática diminuição na percentagem de Pequinês, Terrier Brasileiro, Pointer Inglês e Pastor Alemão, e um aumento marcado na percentagem de Poodle, Dachshund, Rottweiler e Labrador Retriever. Os resultados aqui apresentados servirão como um subsídio comparativo para futuros estudos retrospectivos sobre prevalência de doenças em cães da Região Central do RS, auxiliando para uma mais correta compreensão e interpretação dos resultados encontrados nesses levantamentos de dados.(AU)

Based on the lack of demographic database on the canine population living in the midland region of Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, and on the need for a "control population" in the accomplishment of several prevalence-based studies of different diseases diagnosed at the Laboratório de Patologia Veterinária (LPV) of the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), the objective of this study was to describe the breed, gender and age characteristics of the population of dogs necropsied in this diagnostic service over 50 years (1964-2013). The protocols of necropsies performed on dogs and recorded in the LPV-UFSM between 1964 and 2013 were reviewed, and information related to gender, age and breed from dogs from all the districts within the Central Region of RS were separated. A total of 7,780 dogs were necropsied, among which 469 (6%) were registered in the first decade (1964-1973), 1,133 (14.6%) in the second decade (1974-1983), 1,334 (17.1%) in the third decade (1984-1993), 1,705 (22%) in the fourth decade (1994-2003) and 3,139 (40.3%) in the fifth decade (2004-2013). Of dogs whose gender was reported in the protocols, 52.6% were males and 47.4% were females. The median age of death was 3 years. Of dogs whose breed was reported in the protocols, 59.8% were purebred and 40.2% were mixed breed. The most common large and giant breed dogs were German Shepherd Dog (17.2%), Boxer (6.9%), Rottweiler (5.3%), Fila Brasileiro (4.6%), English Pointer (3.9%), Collie Rough (3.7%), Dobermann (3.7%), and Labrador Retriever (2.1%). The most common small and medium breed dogs were Poodle (8.9%), Dachshund (6.3%), Miniature Pinscher (5.6%), English Cocker Spaniel (4.5%), Pekingese (3.4%), Yorkshire Terrier (3.3%), and Brazilian Terrier (2.8%). The percentage of females and the median age of death showed an increase during the five decades of this study. Although there has been a significant increase in the proportion of pure breed dogs compared to mongrels, we observed some changes in the occurrence of different breeds over time, including a significant decrease in the frequency of the Pekingese, Brazilian Terrier, English Pointer, and German Shepherd Dog, and significant increase in the frequency of the Poodle, Dachshund, and Labrador Retriever. The results presented here will serve as an allowance for future comparative studies of disease prevalence in dogs of Central Region of RS, helping to a more correct understanding and interpretation of results from these data surveys.(AU)

The modeling of medical expenditure data from a longitudinal survey using the generalized method of moments (GMM) approach.

Medical expenditure data analysis has recently become an important problem in biostatistics. These data typically have a number of features making their analysis rather difficult. Commonly, they are heavily right-skewed, contain a large percentage of zeros, and often exhibit large numbers of missing observations because of death and/or the lack of follow-up. They are also commonly obtained from records that are linked to large longitudinal data surveys. In this manuscript, we suggest a novel approach to modeling these data through the use of generalized method of moments estimation procedure combined with appropriate weights that account for both dropout due to death and the probability of being sampled from among the National Long Term Care Survey (NLTCS) subjects. This approach seems particularly appropriate because of the large number of subjects relative to the length of observation period (in months). We also use a simulation study to compare our proposed approach with and without the use of weights. The proposed model is applied to medical expenditure data obtained from the 2004-2005 NLTCS-linked Medicare database. The results suggest that the amount of medical expenditures incurred is strongly associated with higher number of activities of daily living (ADL) disabilities and self-reports of unmet need for help with ADL disabilities. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Informal care motivations and intergenerational transfers in European countries.

This work sets out to analyze the motivations adult children may have to provide informal care, considering the monetary transfers they receive from their parents. Traditional motivations, such as altruism and exchange, are matched against more recent social bond theories. Our findings indicate that informal caregivers receive less frequent and less generous transfers than non-caregivers; that is, caregivers are more prone to suppress their self-interested motivations in order to prioritize the well being of another person. Additionally, long-term public care benefits increase both the probability of receiving a transfer and its amount, with this effect being more intense for both the poorest and richest households. Our findings suggest that if long-term care benefits are intended to increase the recipients' welfare and represent a higher fraction of total income for the poorest households, the effectiveness of these long-term care policies may be diluted.