Obstetric care models in the Southern Region of Brazil and associated factors

The study sought to identify obstetric care models for low-risk pregnancies in the Southern Region of Brazil and to estimate factors associated with these models and maternal and neonatal outcomes. This is a cross-sectional, hospital-based study using data from the Birth in Brazil survey regarding puerperae and newborns. We identified 2,668 low-risk pregnant women. We carried out an exploratory analysis using the proportion of practices per hospital, among them inducing labor, presence of a companion, cesarean section and skin-to-skin contact, in order to obtain the care models we called Best Practice, Interventionist I and Interventionist II. We then carried out an inferential analysis of the associated characteristics. Results show that access to public or private funding, cultural factors and actions taken by health professional are associated with the care models. Public care had different contexts, one based on public policies and evidence-based practices; and another, that suggests the intentionality of vaginal delivery without considering humanization principles. Private care, on the other hand, is standardized and centered on the medical professional, with higher intervention levels. We conclude there is a predominance of interventionist obstetric care models in the Southern Region of Brazil, a type of care that goes against the best evidence, and that women who receive care in public hospitals have greater chances of benefiting from good practices

Study of electron-irradiated silicon thin films using transient photocurrent spectroscopy

Electron irradiation of silicon thin films creates localised states, which degrade theiropto-electronic properties. We present a series of transient photocurrent spectroscopy (TPC)measurements on electron-irradiated amorphous and microcrystalline silicon films, annealed atprogressively increasing temperatures. This has enabled localised states associated with bothdangling bonds and conduction band tails to be examined over a wide energy range.Trends inthe evolution of the DOS following electron irradiation followed by isochronal annealing stepsindicate reductions in the deep defect density,which correlate with spin density. We also find asteepening of the conduction band tail slope in amorphous silicon on annealing. Both defectdensity and tail slope may be restored close to as-prepared material values. Earlier CPM dataare re-examined, and a similar trend in the valence band tail slope is indicated. Computersimulations predict that following e-irradiation changes in deep defect density primarily controlsolar cell performance, and will tend to obscure effects related to band tails

Splanchnic metabolism of nutrients and hormones in steers fed alfalfa under conditions of increased absorption of ammonia and L-arginine supply across the portal-drained viscera

Effects of increased ammonia and/or arginine absorption on net splanchnic (portal-drained viscera [PDV] plus liver) metabolism of nonnitrogenous nutrients and hormones in cattle were examined. Six Hereford × Angus steers (501 ± 1 kg BW) prepared with vascular catheters for measurements of net flux across the splanchnic bed were fed a 75% alfalfa:25% (as-fed basis) corn and soybean meal diet (0.523 MJ of ME/[kg BW0.75.d]) every 2 h without (27.0 g of N/kg of DM) and with 20 g of urea/kg of DM (35.7 g of N/kg of DM) in a split-plot design. Net flux measurements were made immediately before and after a 72-h mesenteric vein infusion of L-arginine (15 mmol/h). There were no treatment effects onPDVor hepaticO2 consumption. Dietary urea had no effect on splanchnic metabolism of glucose or L-lactate, but arginine infusion decreased net hepatic removal of L-lactate when urea was fed (P < 0.01). Net PDV appearance of n-butyrate was increased by arginine infusion (P < 0.07), and both dietary urea (P < 0.09) and arginine infusion (P < 0.05) increased net hepatic removal of n-butyrate. Dietary urea also increased total splanchnic acetate output (P < 0.06), tended to increase arterial glucagon concentration (P < 0.11), and decreased arterial ST concentration (P < 0.03). Arginine infusion increased arterial concentration (P < 0.07) and net PDV release (P < 0.10) and tended to increase hepatic removal (P < 0.11) of insulin, as well as arterial concentration (P < 0.01) and total splanchnic output (P < 0.01) of glucagon. Despite changes in splanchnic N metabolism, increased ammonia and arginine absorption had little measurable effect on splanchnic metabolism of glucose and other nonnitrogenous components of splanchnic energy metabolism

Energy Spectra of Elemental Groups of Cosmic Rays: Update on the KASCADE Unfolding Analysis

The KASCADE experiment measures extensive air showers induced by cosmic rays in the energy range around the so-called knee. The data of KASCADE have been used in a composition analysis showing the knee at 3-5 PeV to be caused by a steepening in the light-element spectra. Since the applied unfolding analysis depends crucially on simulations of air showers, different high energy hadronic interaction models (QGSJet and SIBYLL) were used. The results have shown a strong dependence of the relative abundance of the individual mass groups on the underlying model. In this update of the analysis we apply the unfolding method with a different low energy interaction model (FLUKA instead of GHEISHA) in the simulations. While the resulting individual mass group spectra do not change significantly, the overall description of the measured data improves by using the FLUKA model. In addition data in a larger range of zenith angle are analysed. The new results are completely consistent, i.e. there is no hint to any severe problem in applying the unfolding analysis method to KASCADE data.Comment: accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic

CONTROL OF LEG STIFFNESS AND ITS EFFECT ON MECHANICAL ENERGETIC

INTRODUCTION: In normal daily activity as in sports, humans adjust their physical behavior depending on the ground surface characteristics (Farley et al., 1998; Ferris, Liang & Farley, 1999) by being able to vary their performance (Arampatzis, 1999; Sanders, 1993). A difference in surface stiffness leads to a change in leg stiffness (Farley et al., 1998; Ferris, Liang & Farley, 1999). There are published results on relationships between joint stiffness and oxygen consumption (Dalleau et al., 1998; Heise & Martin, 1993). From this research, it can be concluded that leg stiffness influences athletic performance. The relationship between leg stiffness and performance during explosive movements on a sprung surface has not been reported in the literature to date. Leg Stiffness can be influenced by stride frequency while running (Farley & Gonzalez, 1996) or hopping frequency when bouncing in place (Farley & Morgenroth, 1999). These findings support the idea that it is possible to control leg stiffness by manipulating ground contact times and to consider its effects on mechanical energetic processes during drop jumps on a sprung surface. The purpose of this study is two-fold: a. Examinations of the effect of verbal instructions, given to the subjects for the control of lower -extremity stiffness. b. Assessment of the effect of the leg stiffness on mechanical energetic processes during drop jumps on a sprung surface

The Red Sea, Coastal Landscapes, and Hominin Dispersals

This chapter provides a critical assessment of environment, landscape and resources in the Red Sea region over the past five million years in relation to archaeological evidence of hominin settlement, and of current hypotheses about the role of the region as a pathway or obstacle to population dispersals between Africa and Asia and the possible significance of coastal colonization. The discussion assesses the impact of factors such as topography and the distribution of resources on land and on the seacoast, taking account of geographical variation and changes in geology, sea levels and palaeoclimate. The merits of northern and southern routes of movement at either end of the Red Sea are compared. All the evidence indicates that there has been no land connection at the southern end since the beginning of the Pliocene period, but that short sea crossings would have been possible at lowest sea-level stands with little or no technical aids. More important than the possibilities of crossing the southern channel is the nature of the resources available in the adjacent coastal zones. There were many climatic episodes wetter than today, and during these periods water draining from the Arabian escarpment provided productive conditions for large mammals and human populations in coastal regions and eastwards into the desert. During drier episodes the coastal region would have provided important refugia both in upland areas and on the emerged shelves exposed by lowered sea level, especially in the southern sector and on both sides of the Red Sea. Marine resources may have offered an added advantage in coastal areas, but evidence for their exploitation is very limited, and their role has been over-exaggerated in hypotheses of coastal colonization