From the challenge of assessing autonomy to the instruments used in practice: A scoping review.

Autonomy is one of the essential components to live a quality life. Monitoring this autonomy is, in effect, essential, to allow the nurses to conceive, implement and evaluate interventions aimed at its promotion or even maintenance. For this reason, this scoping review aims to map the evidence to identify and analyze the instruments used to assess the person's autonomy, which emerges from scientific production. Methods: Scoping review based on the recommended principles by the Joanna Briggs Institute. The research was realized in the databases: Scopus (excluding MEDLINE), CINAHL complete (via EBSCO, Excluding MEDLINE), and MEDLINE (via PubMed). Two independent reviewers evaluated the articles' pertinence for the study's investigation, the extraction, and synthesis of articles. Results: After the analysis, according to the inclusion criteria established, 34 articles were selected, allude to 7 different instruments to assess autonomy. Conclusions: The need for further development at this level is highlighted, namely through the construction and validation of more comprehensive instruments, integrating the different components of the concept of autonomy.

Concept of older person autonomy: phenomenological study of the opinion of specialist nurses.

Background: The concept of autonomy is composed of several components, making it a multidimensional concept. This includes cognitive ability, intellectual ability, emotional intelligence, social situation, and physical ability skills. This study aimed to describe the experiences attributed to the meaning of the concept of autonomy, by specialist nurses. Methods: A descriptive phenomenological study was carried out, according to the Giorgi method. Eighteen nurses were recruited at a hospital in Portugal. Data were collected through individual interviews. Results: The 18 specialist nurses work on average as nurses for 16years and are specialist nurses; for an average of 5.9years, most are specialist nurses in rehabilitation nursing. From the data analysis, six themes emerged: ability to do, ability to resolve, decision ability, cognitive ability, social integration, and emotional intelligence. Conclusions: Most professionals perceive the concept as the ability to perform activities of daily living and the ability to make decisions, especially concerning informed consent. It is necessary to raise awareness of the breadth of this concept since the quality of life and dignity of the elderly person depends on autonomy.

Aspectos epistemológicos de la nueva investigación en Enfermería: colaborativa, transdisciplinaria y translacional / Epistemological aspects of the new nursing research: a collaborative, transdisciplinary and translational approach

Para el desarrollo de este estudio se ha partido del objetivo de presentar aspectos epistemológicos sobre la nueva investigación en enfermería: colaborativa, transdisciplinaria y translacional. Estudio descriptivo, exploratorio de abordaje cualitativo, realizado en Brasil y Portugal. Se adoptó como estrategia de colecta de los datos la entrevista semiestructurada con enfermeros investigadores de ambos países, con experiencia en investigación científica y título de doctorado o postdoctorado. La selección de los participantes ocurrió por medio de la técnica snowball y el criterio de saturación de los datos por repetición de informaciones limitó la investigación a 17 participantes. Se procedió al análisis del contenido de las entrevistas. Surgieron tres premisas: la necesidad del desarrollo de investigaciones colaborativas, transdiciplinarias y translacionales. La Enfermería está pasando por un momento de transición entre la investigación tradicional y la ‘nueva investigación’, tal vez de modo distraído, todavía poco consistente

This study is aimed at presenting the epistemological aspects of the new nursing research, from a collaborative, transdisciplinary and translational perspective. A descriptive and exploratory study witha qualitative approach, held in Brazil and Portugal. The data collection included semi-structured interviews with nurse researchers from both countries, selected through the snowball technique. The criterion of data saturation by repetition of information limited research with 17 participants. We proceeded to the analysis of the content of the interviews. From this analysis emerged three premises: the need for research with a collaborative, transdisciplinary and translational approach. Nursingis going through a time of transition between traditional research and the 'new search', perhaps a bit vague, but still inconsistent

Translation, Cross-cultural Adaptation, and Clinimetric Testing of Instruments Used to Assess Patients With Ankle Sprain in the Brazilian Population.

Study Design Clinical measurement study. Background Ankle sprain is a common condition. Therefore, translated, culturally adapted, and clinimetrically tested instruments for measuring the ankle are needed. Objectives To translate and cross-culturally adapt the Sports Athlete Foot and Ankle Score (SAFAS) and the global rating of change (GROC) into Brazilian Portuguese. This study also aimed to test the measurement properties of the SAFAS, the GROC, and the existing Brazilian-Portuguese versions of the numeric pain-rating scale (NPRS) and the ankle-hindfoot scale of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) in a group with ankle sprain. Methods The SAFAS and GROC instruments were cross-culturally adapted into Brazilian Portuguese and pretested in this population (n = 18). The measurement properties of the SAFAS, GROC, NPRS, and AOFAS (internal consistency, ceiling and floor effects, construct validity, reproducibility, and responsiveness) were tested in a test-retest design in patients with ankle sprain at baseline (n = 63) and at follow-up periods of 48 to 72 hours (n = 53) and 4 weeks (n = 43) after baseline. Results The SAFAS, GROC, NPRS, and AOFAS yielded considerable internal consistency (Cronbach alpha ranging from .76 to .97), moderate reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient model 2,1 ranging from 0.59 to 0.80), and dubious agreement (percentage of the standard error of measurement ranging from 13% to 22.43%). The highest correlations on construct validity were observed among the 4 SAFAS subscales (Pearson r = 0.75 to 0.86, P<.01), but statistically significant values appeared in the intercorrelation of instruments. There were no observed floor or ceiling effects in any of the instruments. All of their scores of change showed moderate correlation with the GROC (r = -0.48 to 0.30, P<.05) and could be classified as responsive. Conclusion The Brazilian-Portuguese versions of the SAFAS, GROC, NPRS, and AOFAS had acceptable measurement properties in high-performing athletes. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2016;46(12):1042-1050. Epub 8 Nov 2016. doi:10.2519/jospt.2016.6218.

[Scale of conflict in health care decision-making: an instrument adapted and validated for the Portuguese language]. / Escala de conflito em tomadas de decisão em saúde: instrumento adaptado e validado para língua portuguesa.

The different options available to patients in the health environment now are implicated in increasingly difficult processes of decision-making, and may trigger conflict about them. This study had as its purpose, to develop an instrument that enabled us to know about this variable. Therefore, we decided to effect a transcultural adaptation and evaluation of psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Decisional Conflict Scale, which seeks information about decision-making and the factors that influence the choices made. The sample consisted of 521 nursing students, with a focus on decision-making regarding the flu syndrome. The results obtained on the reliability tests showed good internal consistency for all items (Cronbach a=0.94). The psychometric study allowed us to affirm that the Portuguese version of the Decisional Conflict Scale, which we call Scale of Conflicts in Decision-Making in Health (ECTDS), was a reliable and valid instrument.

Functional stability of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells.

Significant evidence demonstrates that CD4(+) regulatory T cells (T(reg)) expressing the Forkhead box P3 (Foxp3) transcription factor are a distinct lineage of CD4(+) T cells that are essential for maintaining self-tolerance and modulating immunity to various nonself-antigens under changing inflammatory settings. Stable Foxp3 expression ensures T(reg) function in a variety of inflammatory contexts. However, the model of T(reg) cells as a stable, long-lived lineage is controversial. Whereas some studies have observed long-lived T(reg) function, recent studies suggest that T(reg) cells adapt to microenvironmental changes and consequently manifest functional plasticity by reprogramming into inflammatory T cells. Here, we review the evidence addressing the functional stability or plasticity of Foxp3(+) T(reg) cells and the implications for immune homeostasis and disease.

Inflammation-driven reprogramming of CD4+ Foxp3+ regulatory T cells into pathogenic Th1/Th17 T effectors is abrogated by mTOR inhibition in vivo.

While natural CD4(+)Foxp3(+) regulatory T (nT(REG)) cells have long been viewed as a stable and distinct lineage that is committed to suppressive functions in vivo, recent evidence supporting this notion remains highly controversial. We sought to determine whether Foxp3 expression and the nT(REG) cell phenotype are stable in vivo and modulated by the inflammatory microenvironment. Here, we show that Foxp3(+) nT(REG) cells from thymic or peripheral lymphoid organs reveal extensive functional plasticity in vivo. We show that nT(REG) cells readily lose Foxp3 expression, destabilizing their phenotype, in turn, enabling them to reprogram into Th1 and Th17 effector cells. nT(REG) cell reprogramming is a characteristic of the entire Foxp3(+) nT(REG) population and the stable Foxp3(NEG) T(REG) cell phenotype is associated with a methylated foxp3 promoter. The extent of nT(REG) cell reprogramming is modulated by the presence of effector T cell-mediated signals, and occurs independently of variation in IL-2 production in vivo. Moreover, the gut microenvironment or parasitic infection favours the reprogramming of Foxp3(+) T(REG) cells into effector T cells and promotes host immunity. IL-17 is predominantly produced by reprogrammed Foxp3(+) nT(REG) cells, and precedes Foxp3 down-regulation, a process accentuated in mesenteric sites. Lastly, mTOR inhibition with the immunosuppressive drug, rapamycin, stabilizes Foxp3 expression in T(REG) cells and strongly inhibits IL-17 but not RORγt expression in reprogrammed Foxp3(-) T(REG) cells. Overall, inflammatory signals modulate mTOR signalling and influence the stability of the Foxp3(+) nT(REG) cell phenotype.

Critical and multiple roles for the CD3epsilon intracytoplasmic tail in double negative to double positive thymocyte differentiation.

The preTCR is associated with signal-transducing CD3gamma, delta, epsilon, and zeta polypeptides. It is generally agreed that CD3 chains play redundant roles in the receptor-mediated signal transduction. In the present study, we show that the intracytoplasmic (IC) domain of CD3epsilon is essential for early thymocyte maturation. We demonstrate that the IC domain-deleted CD3epsilon fails to restore the double negative (DN) to double positive (DP) thymocyte development in CD3epsilon-deficient mice. Additional experiments show that the membrane proximal basic amino acid rich sequence in the IC domain of CD3epsilon is sufficient for the DN to DP differentiation, whereas the proline rich sequence is required for efficient proliferation. This is probably due to impaired ligand independent recruitment of Nck to the proline rich sequence motif of CD3epsilon within the context of the preTCR. The data presented in this study elucidates mechanistic basis for the preTCR-induced proliferation of the DN thymocytes and have identified distinct roles for individual motifs of CD3epsilon in the preTCR-mediated differentiation and proliferation. These data provide the first genetic and phenotypic evidence for requirement of the IC domain of a CD3 chain in thymocyte development.