Objective: Myeloid neoplasms are heterogeneous diseases that are more incident in the elderly. The goals of this study were to aggregate a geriatric approach to the patient assessment, to show the impact of gender, age, hemoglobin concentration and comorbidities on the functionality of elderly with myeloid neoplasms and to better understand how the instruments of functional assessment work according to the aggressiveness of the disease. Methods: Elderly patients (≥60 years old) with myeloid neoplasms were assessed using the Karnofsky scale, Eastern Cooperative Oncologic Group scale, and basic and instru- mental activities of daily living scales. The hematopoietic cell transplantation-comorbidity index assessed the comorbidities. A mixed logistical regression model was fitted to estimate the impact of gender, age, hemoglobin concentration and the hematopoietic cell transplantation-comorbidity index on patients' functionality. Results: Eighty-two patients with a mean age of 72.8 years (range: 60-92 years) were evaluated. Eighty percent had good Karnofsky and Eastern Cooperative Oncologic Group scales and 39% were independent according to the daily living activity scales. All of the patients with poor Karnofsky and Eastern Cooperative Oncologic Group scales were classified as dependent by the daily living activity scales. The mixed logistic regression models showed that age, gender, hemoglobin concentration and the comorbidity index impacted on the daily living activity scales. Karnofsky and Eastern Cooperative Oncologic Group scales were affected by hemoglobin and the comorbidity index. The model hypothesized the hemoglobin concentration at which there was a higher risk of poor Karnofsky and Eastern Cooperative Oncologic Group scales. This hemoglobin concentration depended on comorbidities and on the aggressiveness of the myeloid neoplasm. Conclusion: The geriatric approach improved the sensitivity and specificity of the patients' assessment. Hemoglobin concentration associated to the risk of poor Karnofsky and Eastern Cooperative Oncologic Group scales depended on the comorbidity score and on the disease aggressiveness. The Karnofsky and Eastern Cooperative Oncologic Group scales had higher sensitivity in patients with more aggressive diseases.

Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins of non-imune origin. This group of proteins is distributed widely in nature and they have been found in viruses, microorganisms, plants and animals. Lectins of plants have been isolated and characterized according to their chemical, physical-chemical, structural and biological properties. Among their biological activities, we can stress its fungicidal action. It has been previously described the effect of the lectins Dviol, DRL, ConBr and LSL obtained from the seeds of leguminous plants on the growth of yeasts isolated from vaginal secretions. In the present work the experiments were carried out in microtiter plates and the results interpreted by both methods: visual observations and a microplate reader at 530nm. The lectin concentrations varied from 0.5 to 256µg/mL, and the inoculum was established between 65-70% of trammitance. All yeast samples isolated from vaginal secretion were evaluated taxonomically, where were observed macroscopic and microscopic characteristics to each species. The LSL lectin did not demonstrate any antifungal activity to any isolate studied. The other lectins DRL, ConBr and DvioL, showed antifungal potential against yeast isolated from vaginal secretion. These findings offering offer a promising field of investigation to develop new therapeutic strategies against vaginal yeast infections, collaborating to improve women's health.

A análise de entrevistas com questões abertas é frequente no cotidiano do pesquisador em Administração. Uma de suas dificuldades é a conversão dos dados da fala em categorias ou valores quantitativos para posterior tratamento estatístico. As propostas nesse sentido em geral estão baseadas em contagens de ocorrências lexicais que, por estarem fundamentadas em significações dicionarizadas (previamente estabelecidas), deixam de lado as associações semânticas feitas pelo próprio entrevistado no contexto da entrevista. O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar um instrumento de análise composto de um conjunto de procedimentos para a geração de unidades linguísticas passíveis de descrição, comparação, modelagem e inferência estatísticas: a Análise Proposicional Quantitativa (APQ). Sua principal diferença em relação a outros métodos consiste na escolha da proposição, e não do léxico, como unidade de análise. A aplicação do método é apresentada em um estudo sobre internacionalização de empresas do varejo.

The analysis of interviews with open-ended questions is a common practice amongst researchers in the field of Management. The difficulty therein is to convert the linguistic data into categories or quantitative values for subsequent statistical treatment. Proposals made to this end generally entail counting lexical occurrences which, since they are founded on previously established meanings, fail to include semantic associations made by interviews. This article aims to present an analysis tool comprising a set of techniques apt to generate linguistic units that can be statistically described, compared, modeled and inferred: the Quantitative Propositional Analysis (QPA). Its main difference from other such methods lies in the choice of a proposition - and not the lexical unit - as analysis unit. We present the application of this method through a study about the international expansion of retail firms.

El análisis de entrevistas con cuestiones abiertas es frecuente en el cotidiano del investigador en Administración. Una de sus dificultades es la conversión de lo datos de la elocución en categorías o valores cuantitativos para posterior tratamiento estadístico. Las propuestas en ese sentido, en general, están basadas en resultados de ocurrencias léxicas que, fundamentadas en significaciones previamente establecidas, dejan de lado las asociaciones semánticas hechas por el propio entrevistado en el contexto de la entrevista. El objetivo de este artículo es presentar un instrumento de análisis compuesto de un conjunto de procedimientos para la generación de unidades lingüísticas pasibles de descripción, comparación, modelo e inferencia estadísticas: el análisis proposicional cuantitativo (APC). Su principal diferencia en relación a otros métodos consiste en la elección de la proposición, y no del léxico, como unidad de análisis. La aplicación del método es presentada en un estudio sobre internacionalización de empresas al por menor.

Resumo A Fluência Verbal Semântica (FVS) requer a geração de palavras de determinada categoria, num tempo pré-fixado de 60 segundos. Objetivos: Verificar se os dados sociodemográficos e clínicos de indivíduos com demências se correlacionam com a FVS; apontar possíveis diferenças entre critérios de número de respostas, agrupamentos e dados distribuídos nos intervalos predizem resultados clínicos. Métodos: Este é um estudo retrospectivo de 49 prontuários de pacientes com demência, classificados de acordo com a escala de estadiamento de demência (Clinical Dementia Rating-CDR). Foram correlacionados os dados de educação, idade e gênero e CDR e Mini-Exame do Estado Mental (MEEM) ao número de respostas, agrupamentos e mudanças de critério (switchings) gerados, em quatro intervalos de 15 segundos. Resultados: As correlações entre número de respostas, quartis e entre número de respostas e de quartis foram baixas (r=0.407, p=0.004; r=0.484, p<0.001); porém, a correlação foi alta entre número de agrupamentos e de respostas (r=0.883, p<0.001). O número de itens gerados na SVF foi estatisticamente significante com o MMSE (p=0.01) e houve tendência à significância no CDR (p=0.06). Os resultados indicaram pouca atividade daquilo que chamamos de cluster recalling nos dois grupos. Discussão: A FVS com o critério de itens gerados pode ser considerado instrumento clínico vantajoso em relação às varreduras clássicas, em pacientes com CDR 2 e 3, pela rapidez e facilidade de aplicação.

Abstract The Semantic Verbal Fluency (SVF) test entails the generation of words from a given category within a pre-set time of 60 seconds. Objectives: To verify whether socio-demographic and clinical data of individuals with dementia correlate with the performance on the SVF test and to ascertain whether differences among the criteria of number of answers, clusters and data spread over the intervals, predict clinical results. Methods: This was a retrospective study of 49 charts of demented patients classified according to the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale. We correlated education, age and gender, as well as CDR and Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) scores with the number of answers, clustering and switching distributed over four 15-second intervals on the SVF test. Results: The correlation between number of answers and quartiles was weak (r=0.407, p=0.004; r=0.484, p<0.001) but correlation between the number of clusters and responses was strong (r=0.883, p<0.001). The number of items on the SVF was statistically significant with MMSE score (p=0.01) and there was a tendency for significance on the CDR (p=0.06). The results indicated little activity regarding what we propose to call cluster recalling in the two groups. Discussion: The SVF test, using number of items generated, was found to be more effective than classic screening tests in terms of speed and ease of application in patients with CDR 2 and 3.