ABSTRACT
The Agile approach is focused on individuals and customer satisfaction, based on the dynamic and streamlined work of a team that is capable of adapting, and adapting the project to changing scenarios and demands. However, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Agile teams accustomed to in-person communication have encountered the challenges of working from home. The main objective of this research is to analyze the challenges generated by the pandemic context, and the consequent social distance, for the development of software projects that use Agile approaches within a large state-owned company and identify the effect it had on the course and results of the projects. The research was qualitative in nature and had two exploratory diagnostic stages. The findings indicate that there were no negative impacts of relevance on project deliveries. On the one hand, results indicated losses in socialization, in spontaneous exchanges of knowledge, and in interaction among teams, as well as a demand for greater engagement of professionals. Additionally, limitations were revealed for more complex discussions and knowledge management. The study highlights solutions that were found and/or suggested for many challenges, contributing to the literature on best practices for the Agile approach, and is focused on the unprecedented context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings can contribute to other companies with a similar profile that work with Agile projects, besides contributing to building a dialogue between the academic and business environments. © 2023 Brazilian Institute for Information in Science and Technology. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
A foreign body can be intentionally or accidentally ingested. Timing of endoscopy relies on foreign body shape and size, location in gastrointestinal tract, patient's clinical conditions, occurrence of symptoms or onset of complications. In this short case, we present a middle age woman, who accidentally swallowed a portion of a nasopharyngeal swab half-broken during a diagnostic test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was promptly performed to prevent the swab from crossing the pylorus leading to serious complications and, therefore, risk of surgical intervention. The broken nasopharyngeal swab was detected in the gastric body, and immediately removed with a foreign body forceps. Our hospital performs many nasopharyngeal swabs and to our knowledge, this is only the second reported swab ingestion during SARS-CoV-2 test.Copyright © 2021 The Gastroenterological Society of Taiwan, The Digestive Endoscopy Society of Taiwan and Taiwan Association for the Study of the Liver.
ABSTRACT
Upon the emergence of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic (CP), football referees were forced to cope with the interruption of leagues and experience quarantines, with a potential threat to their physical and psychological well-being. This study examined referees' perceptions of the CP change-event, particularly the effects on refereeing engagement and performance, in part to facilitate more effective support. For this study, an online inventory was circulated during January–February 2021 to 198 referees and assistants from Israel and Portugal, asking them to reflect on the CP in the context of their careers, and the potential effects on their refereeing engagement and performance. The results indicated that the CP was perceived as a moderate change-event in terms of significance, severity, and coping, although many participants did consider it as significant. The participants indicated just a minor reduction in their refereeing quality between the 2019–2020 and the 2020–2021 seasons. The main areas affected were training on a grass field, decision-making training, and financial status. Still, refereeing instruction (conducted mainly online) improved. The behavioural effects were more forceful among the non-professional referees, suggesting that Referee Associations must pay closer attention to support these populations. The participants' motivation, refereeing identity, and self-efficacy were actually improved. Finally, the absence of the crowd in matches allowed the referees to be more aware of their actions and better communicate with players and coaches, which related to better performance. These findings further emphasize the social aspect of football refereeing and the importance of having upright management and communication skills. © 2022 International Society of Sport Psychology.
ABSTRACT
It’s not clear if and how social distancing measures to control COVID-19 transmission may result in more occurrences of child and adolescent abuse perpetrated by their parents. Information often comes from indirect estimates and media reports. More evidence is needed from multiple sources, particularly from the potential victims. The aim of this study was to compare the proportion of violence perpetrated on adolescents by their parents before, during and after the COVID-19 lockdown in Portugal. Three different samples with adolescents aged 12–18 years were collected before (n = 1444), during (n = 1427) and after (n = 794) the lockdown and compared to verify variations concerning parental violence behaviors. Higher rates of aggressive parental behavior were found, but results showed that adolescents reported a reduction of psychological, physical, and sexual violence perpetrated by their parents during and after the COVID-19 lockdown. Implications and future research needs are discussed. © 2022 Associacao Portuguesa de Psicologia. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
A foreign body can be intentionally or accidentally ingested. Timing of endoscopy relies on foreign body shape and size, location in gastrointestinal tract, patient's clinical conditions, occurrence of symptoms or onset of complications. In this short case, we present a middle age woman, who accidentally swallowed a portion of a nasopharyngeal swab half-broken during a diagnostic test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was promptly performed to prevent the swab from crossing the pylorus leading to serious complications and, therefore, risk of surgical intervention. The broken nasopharyngeal swab was detected in the gastric body, and immediately removed with a foreign body forceps. Our hospital performs many nasopharyngeal swabs and to our knowledge, this is only the second reported swab ingestion during SARS-CoV-2 test.
ABSTRACT
Introduction ?The Coronavirus has spread to almost every country in the world, causing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The coronavirus stands out among the other infections especially by it's high contagious power and important effects on the respiratory system. The COVID-19 has differents ways of presentation and these are influenced by the patient's previous nutricional status, correlated with the patient's lifestyle and comorbities. Objective ?this survey seeks to analyze the nutritional status and the prevalence of obesity in patients hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2. Methods: this is a descriptive, prospective and cross-sectional study type, which 41 patients affected by COVID-19 were interviewed. Patient's weight and height were used to assess the BMI, and nutritional risk assessment was performed using the Nutritional Risk Screening tool (NRS 2002). For the analysis, Absolute (AF) and Relative Frequency (RF), the mean and the standard deviation were calculated. Results ?It was observerd that 78% of the participants had a high nutritional risk, while only 22% had a low nutritional risk. Besides that, 34% showed overweight and 41.4% showed obesity. Conclusion ?the existence of a high prevalence of increased nutritional risk was evidenced, in addition to the high frequency of overweight in patients affected by SARS-CoV-2.
ABSTRACT
Objective: We aimed to describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) in Portugal. Design: This is an observational retrospective study. Demographic and clinical data were col-lected. Respiratory failure treated with invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) and death during ICU stay were the main outcomes evaluated. Setting: This study was conducted in the Infectious Diseases ICU of Centro Hospitalar e Uni-versitário de São João, in Porto, Portugal, be-tween March 11 and August 17, 2020. Patients and participants: All consecutive patients with confirmed Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infec-tion, admitted to the ICU during the study peri-od were enrolled, and 62 patients were included. Measurements and results: The median age was 71 years (IQR, 54-78) and 39 (62.9%) were male. Thirty-four (54.8%) patients received. IMV in contrast to 28 (45.2%) who were not intubated and the median lowest PaO2/FiO2 was 86 (IQR, 70-113) in IMV and 150 (94-257) in non-IMV patients. Several patients with severe hypoxemic COVID-19 were treated without IMV, especially with high flow nasal cannu-la (HFNC). Overall mortality was 21.8% and older age, male sex, active cancer, lower lym-phocyte count, higher aspartate aminotransfer-ase (AST) level, and higher creatinine level at admission, hematologic dysfunction, and renal dysfunction during ICU stay were all associated with fatal outcome. Mortality was lower than observed in other series of critically ill patients, although comparisons are limited by different ICU admission criteria, management practices, and duration of follow-up. Conclusions: This study provides data regard-ing the characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 critically ill patients that can be used to op-timize ICU preparedness in the future. © 2021, The Indonesian Foundation of Critical Care Medicine. All rights reserved.