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The COVID-19 pandemic, brought with a number of problems in different sectors, one of the most affected was the education sector, especially in engineering programs, since these have a practical nature and need laboratories to consolidate meaningful learning. In many cases, the virtualization generated some anomalous behavior in the academic indicators that could be used for the analysis of the successes and errors that could lay the foundations for a modern education in engineering careers. The main objective of this research is to analyze the average academic performance per course of a mechanical-electrical engineering program, for which some data was taken from 2018 to 2021. To explain the behavior of the curves, a qualitative survey was applied to 357 students. Three academic indicators are used in the study: grades average, "not pass” rate, desertion rate. The results of the analysis showed that in the first period of the year 2020 (starting period of confinement) they presented very different parameters from those already known in previous years, which could be based on three main causes. The first was due to the full-time dedication of the students to carry out their academic activities, the second is based on the proper technology, resources and strategies adopted by the university and finally, the economic aid from the Peruvian government. © 2023 by the authors.
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In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are faced with the need to develop intercultural health education strategies from the perspective of health promotion, as a collective empowerment tool to confront the pandemic and for protection and comprehensive health care for indigenous peoples. This chapter describes the alternative educational and pedagogical strategies for conducting a collaborative training course with indigenous empowerment through gathering the knowledge of traditional medicine in communities and creating viable and consensual alternatives for addressing their health problems and solutions. In 2020-2021, a training course in mental health was conducted exclusively to mitigate the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 on indigenous populations in the Brazilian Amazon. It was possible to rethink pedagogical practices, technological tools, the student's culture, the curriculum, and the social environment. This sensitivity demonstrates respect for different cultures, ethnicities, and languages, highlighting intercultural dialogue. The completion of the course evidenced the construction of unpublished knowledge about COVID-19 in promoting self-care and autonomy of indigenous people for decision-making based on healthy choices, which protect life in indigenous villages in the Amazon. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022. All rights reserved.
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The text starts from a phenomenological diagnosis: that every pandemic emergency (such as that of covid, for example) is the fatal symptom of a state of crisis motivated in the same onto - logical entrails of rationality as it takes shape in our Western culture. The task of thought is not to destroy reason, but to safeguard it in the face of the ever-imminent danger of irrationalism. Thus, every form of obscurantism emerges as a decadent figure with a symptomatic backdrop to the crisis of reason itself;crisis that was installed by the distinction of principle between cul-ture and nature so well prefigured by Marx and deepened by Merleau-Ponty. The text examines this neuralgic point and ends by highlighting the essential character and therefore political inalienably this phenomenon.
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Background. Several studies and cohorts with adult populations with rheumatic diseases (RD) were performed since pandemic outbreak. RD patients were more susceptible to infections and may develop severe forms of COVID-19, since they present immunosuppressive mechanisms inherent to the disease itself and to its treatment. Healthy children and adolescents seem to be less infected and present milder diseases. However, juvenile dermatomyositis patiets and immunosuppressed children have not been extensively studied. The objectives of the study are to evaluate asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in pediatric RD patients, to identify the risk factors related to contagion and to describe demographics and the profile of COVID-19 in juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) patients followed. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in March 2021, including 77 pediatric RD patients followed at a Brazilian tertiary hospital and 45 healthy controls. Data was obtained through a questionnaire applied to outpatients during the month of March 2021, before the vaccine, and contained demographic data, symptoms compatible with COVID-19 over the past year, and contact with people with confirmed COVID-19. Patients' medical records were reviewed to access data regarding disease and current medications. A qualitative immunochromatographic SARS-CoV-2 test was performed in all participants. All patients who were using rituximab or intravenous human immunoglobulin, or had symptoms of COVID-19, were excluded. Results. Patients' group included 11 (14.3%) JDM patients, 31 (40.2%) JIA, 25 (32.4%) JSLE, six patients with vasculitis, two with SS, one MCTD and one with autoinflammatory syndrome. Patients and controls were similar in terms of female gender (70.1% vs. 57.8%, p=0.173), median age (14 vs. 13 years, p=0.269) and SARS-CoV-2 serology positivity (22% vs. 15.5%, p=0.481). 80.5% of rheumatic patients were in use of immunosuppressive drugs, 27.3% of them using corticosteroids, 33.3% in high doses, and 7.8% on immunobiologicals. No statistical differences were found between positive (n=17) and negative serology (n=60) patients regarding demographic/socioeconomic data, contact with people with confirmed COVID-19, use and number of immunosuppressive drugs, use and dose of corticosteroids, use of hydroxychloroquine and immunobiological drugs (p>0.05). Regarding the profile of JDM patients, 6/11 (54%) were female, the median age was 13 years (range 9-17) and 3/11 (27%) presented COVID-19 serology positivity. 2/11 were in immunosuppressive treatment, however none of them were in use of glucocorticoids and biologic agents. Conclusions. Pediatric JDM and other rheumatic diseases patients were infected at the same rate as healthy ones. Neither the underlying pathology nor its treatment seemed to interfere with the contagion risk.
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BACKGROUND AND AIM: Burnout Syndrome (BS) is an illness that became more noticeable due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in result of the increased demand of healthcare systems. The objective of this study is to investigate BS in the participating Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICU). METHOD(S): This is a cross-sectional observational study, in which the same survey was sent in 2020 and 2021 to the same population. It included questions about demographic data and the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey, that comprises three sub scales: Depersonalizaition (DP), Emotional Exhaustion (EE) and Personal Accomplishment (PA). The questionnaire was electronically sent to the healthcare workers caring for children in the PICU of participating hospitals. The units had both patients with COVID-19 and other illnesses. There was an overall response rate of 28% in both years analyzed. The answers were analyzed by interpreting the answers to the MBI-HSS and possible relations to dependent and independent variables. Also, simple and multiple linear regression models were assembled to compare the mean scores between the categories of the independent variables of interest. RESULT(S): In the year 2020 there was a majority of participants with low DP, moderate PA and low EE. In the following year, there was an increase in PA levels, which were now mainly high, and both of the other two sub scales remained the same. CONCLUSION(S): Although the second wave of COVID presented historically, with a higher number of cases in general, the healthcare workers showed some overall improvement regarding their burnout syndrome levels.
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Background: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on methotrexate have reduced vaccine responses. Temporary discontinuation has improved immuno-genicity of anti-infuenza vaccine, but this strategy has not been evaluated in anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Objectives: To evaluate the effect on immunogenicity and safety of 2-week methotrexate (MTX) discontinuation after each dose of the Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine versus MTX maintenance in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Methods: This was a single-center, prospective, randomized, investigator-blinded, intervention study (#NCT04754698, CoronavRheum), including adult RA patients (stable CDAI≤10, prednisone ≤7.5mg/day), randomized (1:1) to withdraw MTX (MTX-hold) for 2 weeks after each vaccine dose or maintain MTX (MTX-maintain), evaluated at D0, D28 and D69. Co-primary outcomes were anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG seroconversion(SC) and neutralizing antibody (NAb) positivity at D69. Secondary outcomes were geometric mean titers (GMT) and fare rates. For immunogenicity analyses, we excluded patients with baseline positive IgG/NAb, and, for safety reasons, those who fared at D28 (CDAI>10) and did not withdraw MTX twice. Results: Randomization included 138 patients with 9 exclusions (5 COVID-19, 4 protocol violations). Safety evaluation included 60 (MTX-hold) and 69 (MTX-maintain) patients. Further exclusions: 27 patients [13 (21.7%) vs. 14 (20.3%), p=0.848] with positive baseline IgG/NAb and 10 patients (21.3%) in MTX-hold with CDAI>10 at D28. At D69, MTX-hold (n=37) had a higher rate of seroconversion than MTX-maintain (n=55) group [29 (78.4%) vs 30 (54.5%), p=0.019], with parallel augmentation in GMT [34.2 (25.2-46.4) vs 16.8 (11.9-23.6), p=0.006]. No differences were observed for NAb positivity [23 (62.2%) vs 27 (49.1%), p=0.217]. At D28 fare, rates were comparable in both groups (CDAI, p=0.122;DAS28-CRP, p=0.576), whereas CDAI>10 was more frequent in MTX-hold at D69 (p=0.024). Conclusion: We provide novel data that 2-week MTX withdrawal after each Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine dose improves anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG response. The increased fare rates after second MTX withdrawal may be attributed to the short-term interval between vaccine doses. This strategy requires close surveillance and shared decision making due to the possibility of fares.
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Objective: to assess mental health issues in pediatric nurses during coronavirus pandemic in 2019. Method: cross-sectional study was conducted with pediatric nurses at the Instituto da Criança e do Adolescente based on online self-rated survey about clinical practice and mental health impact during COVID-19 pandemic. Validated self-reported scales for anxiety, depression and burnout were used for assessing these professionals. Results: 107/298 (36%) nurses answered, 90% were female, median age was 41(23-64) years, 68% worked with adolescents, 66% in frontline. Burnout, anxiety and moderate/severe depression occurred in 65%, 72% and 74%, respectively. Lack of standardized treatment protocol for nurses (27%vs.10%, p=0.049), moderate/severe depression (74% vs. 16%, p=0.002) and burnout (82% vs. 58%, p=0.01) were significantly higher in pediatric nurses with anxiety compared to those without. Pediatric nurses that worked with adolescents compared to those that did not showed higher frequency of burnout in the former group (77% vs. 32%, p=0.0001). Multivariable analysis revealed that adequate quarantine adherence increased the presence of anxiety in 4.6 times [OR4.6(CI 1.1-20.2), p=0.04]. Conclusion: most pediatric nurses who had worked in the frontline of COVID-19 were under precarious conditions, working with reduced team, and with an expressive changes in their monthly income. Current anxiety was a relevant issue, burnout was also an important mental condition for these professionals, reinforcing culture of good teamwork, collaboration practices and psychological/psychiatric approach. © 2022 Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem.
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The main goal of this literature review is to discuss the emerging trends, challenges and opportunities in the field of medical imaging education in Europe due to the Covid-19 pandemic scenario that forced the remodeling of the teaching and learning process. A bibliographic search was carried out in the main databases and from resources available in scientific and professional associations in Europe. Exclusion criteria included articles without contributions on distance learning or active learning. Education and training in medical imaging field had to readapt and the usual opportunities for medical imaging and radiotherapy (MIR) students to learn in person in the classroom, lab and clinical settings, had to be quickly transformed into distance learning opportunities. Thus, online education became a pedagogical shift from traditional method to the modern approach of teaching and learning from classroom to Zoom, from personal to virtual and from seminars to webinars, leading to the emergence of innovative teaching models. Moreover, student-centered strategies such as flipped classroom and game-based learning have been recently applied in health professions education with positive and very promising results. In conclusion, due to the pandemic crisis, MIR educators and students find themselves in the situation where they felt compelled to embrace the digital academic experience, allowing the progressive innovation of e-learning. In this context, game-based learning appears to be effective for improving knowledge, skills, attitudes and satisfaction and should be considered as a potential systematic tool in the field of medical imaging education. Therefore, preparedness of radiographers depends on the application of effective training and education methodologies that allows excellent clinical performance and maintaining high quality and safety standards, both through undergraduate course and continuous professional development. © 2022 by the authors
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This paper assesses how increased use of alternative fuels (ethanol and electricity) contributes to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of light-duty vehicles in Rio Janeiro state (RJ), Brazil, a region of a developing country - most such analysis focus at the aggregate country level. Using an energy systems model (OSeMOSYS), we analyze scenarios that consider an improvement in the quality of the ethanol (in gCO2eq/MJ) consumed in RJ due to the development of the RenovaBio program, greater uptake of electric vehicles, carbon pricing, and a combination of these policies. We also analyze a scenario with the new RenovaBio targets, which the Brazilian government scaled down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that electric vehicles are the most cost-effective policy to reduce CO2emissions (by 1.9%) when no carbon pricing is considered. When it is, however, CO2emissions are reduced the most (between 47% and 56%), regardless of the vehicle technology being used, but it is the costlier policy (between 5.4% and 15.3%). In scenarios with carbon pricing, flex-fuel vehicles switch to ethanol, an important result for a region where this technology already dominates the vehicle fleet. Greater uptake of electric vehicles leads to lower overall transportation costs (by 2.5%), but when a CO2price is considered, because the electricity system still relies on fossil fuels, the reduction in CO2emissions is compromised. In such a setting, increased ethanol quality reduces carbon emissions more than electric vehicle adoption (by 16%). The RenovaBio targets' reduction due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, jeopardizes this result. Such findings convey important evidence to policymakers and the research community: decarbonization of transportation in a region of a developing country, where economic resources are scarcer, can start before electric vehicles become affordable by increasing and maintaining continued access to lower-carbon fuels. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.. All rights reserved.
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The dimensions of the COVID-19 effect and its implications for business are still poorly understood. To understand aspects related to this new scenario, this research aimed to analyze the reflections of the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the volume of disclosure of relevant facts related to the projections of publicly traded companies in Brazil, Bolsa, Balacao (B3). The Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) database was used, identifying 1,712 relevant facts (FR) disclosed between 01/01/2020 and 07/31/2020, in addition to 1,421 FR for the same period in 2019. Excluding the canceled and inactive, 2,882 (1,582 in 2020 and 1,300 in 2019) relevant facts were read and analyzed to identify the existence of content about projections. The final sample comprised, respectively in 2019 and 2020, 81 and 163 relevant facts, from 48 and 95 companies, which mentioned one of the terms: "forecast," "projection", "estimate", and/or "guidance". Compared to the same period, there was an increase of approximately 33% in the disclosure of relevant facts in 2020, emphasizing those related to the suspension of projections of activities and forecasts of results. The financial and transport sectors were the ones that most disclosed facts in the period, albeit in a non-timely manner. This research contributes to the reflection and evaluation of improvements in the forecasting process of accounting information, with the observance of managers' behavior and timing in reporting relevant facts that may impact users' decision-making.
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This article is the result of a partnership between Brazilian and Mozambican researchers who dialogue to think about the role of Geography in understanding the present processes related to the crisis engendered by the spreading spread of the Coronavirus. In this sense, it is essential to reflect on the dynamics in progress, analyzing the spatial dissemination of the epidemic and the country's social and health structure, so that we can understand the limits and possibilities of this territory which, in the face of the uneven global economy, has accumulated experiences of dealing with complex health problems. The methodology used refers to the analysis of documentary sources from the Ministry of Health and WHO and references from international news, in comparison with information from researchers in Mozambique. Thus, analyzing current health policies in the face of socioeconomic challenges, in the context of COVID-19, is the main contribution of this article.
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In late 2019, a new infectious disease (COVID-19) was identified in Wuhan, China, which has now turned into a global pandemic. Countries around the world have implemented some type of blockade to lessen their infection and mitigate it. The blockade due to COVID-19 has drastic effects on the social and economic fronts. However, recent data released by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), European Space Agency (ESA), Copernicus Sentinel-5P Tropomi Instrument and Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) indicate that the pollution in some of the epicenters of COVID-19, such as Wuhan, Italy, Spain, USA, and Brazil, reduced by up to 30%. This study compiled the environmental data released by these centers and discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on environmental pollution.