Orientador: Marcio de Moraes / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Odontologia de Piracicaba / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-04T00:42:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MauretteO¿Brien_PaulEdward_M.pdf: 2138527 bytes, checksum: 184b6be2a89636c5de2b0ea675777d7a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004 / Resumo: O propósito deste estudo foi avaliar retrospectivamente os casos de queratocistos odontogênicos (QO) tratados pela Área de Cirurgia Buco-Maxilo-Facial da Faculdade de Odontologia de Piracicaba da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (FOP-Unicamp), entre os anos 1995 e 2004. Foram avaliadas as características clínicas, histológicas e a eficácia do protocolo de tratamento em 28 pacientes com diagnóstico histológico de queratocisto odontogênico. Observou-se maior prevalência em mulheres (67,9%) de cor branca (57,1%), com idade média de 30 anos. A maioria das lesões estavam localizadas na região de ângulo e ramo mandibular (53,3%) e tinham padrão histológico paraqueratinizado (70%). Do total dos 28 pacientes, 13 (46,4%) apresentavam dente incluso envolvido na lesão. Inicialmente todos os pacientes foram submetidos a biópsia e tratados principalmente por descompressão e posterior curetagem da lesão remanescente (67,85%). O tempo médio de descompressão foi de 9,27 meses. Houve recorrência em 4 pacientes (14,3%), os quais tinham sido tratados com descompressão e curetagem (2 casos) ou unicamente com descompressão (2 casos). Todos os casos de recorrência foram tratados por meio de enucleação e curetagem associado a ostectomia periférica da cavidade óssea remanescente. O tempo médio de proservação de todos os pacientes da amostra foi de 24 meses, (mais ou menos 9,74). De acordo com os resultados podemos concluir que, dentro das características da amostra atendida, os pacientes são em sua maioria, mulheres adultas de cor branca, tratadas principalmente por meio de descompressão da lesão e apresentando taxas de recorrência similares à relatadas na literatura, demonstrando que o tratamento conservador do queratocisto odontogênico por meio do protocolo utilizado mostrou-se eficaz, de baixa morbidade e com índices de recorrências dentro da média relatada na literatura. No entanto, é necessário a contínua proservação buscando os resultados em longo prazo / Abstract: The aim of our study was to retrospectively evaluate all odontogenic keratocysts (OKC) cases treated in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of Piracicaba Dental School at Campinas State University in Sao Paulo, Brazil between 1995 and 2004. This study evaluated clinical and histological characteristics of 28 patients all diagnosed with OKC by histopathology analysis and compared the data with that published in the literature. OKC was more prevalent in white (57.1%) and young (average age 30 years) females (67.9%). Most of the lesions (53.3%) occurred in the angle of the mandible and mandibular ramus. The most common histological pattern of OKC was parakeratinazed (70%) and 13 (46.4%) out of 28 patients presented impacted teeth associated with the lesion. Initial biopsy was performed in all patients and all cases were treated according to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Protocol, which consists mainly of decompression followed by curettage of the remaining lesion. The mean time for decompression was 9.27 months. Recurrence occurred in 4 patients (14.3%), who were initially treated with decompression and curettage (2 cases), or with decompression only (2 cases). All recurrent cases were submitted to enucleation and curettage of the remaining bone cavity. The average follow-up time for the 28 cases was 24 months (more or less 9,74). According to these results, we can conclude that adult white females treated for OKC with decompression, present similar recurrence rates to those reported in the literature. This Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery¿s treatment protocol for OKC offers a conservative and effective option with low morbidity and similar recurrence rates to those reported in the literature. However, a long term follow-up is necessary to confirm these conclusions / Mestrado / Cirurgia e Traumatologia Buco-Maxilo-Faciais / Mestre em Clínica Odontológica

In order to survive in today’s business world it is necessary to win contracts. If companies fail to do this then their existence is threatened. Therefore, the manner in which companies conduct their contract winning activities become of paramount importance. Much focus in software engineering research and academic literature centres around the post-contract winning activities, such as project planning, costing and scheduling. The emphasis on the contract winning process, though not neglected, is quite small in comparison. There exists a need for more research in this interesting area and this thesis aims to partly address this need. Consequently, the main focus of this research is the contract winning process. The approach used to investigate this area consisted of a theoretical study followed by an empirical study, where eight small development companies were interviewed. The findings show that a uniform formal process does not exist for winning and negotiating contracts. As a result of these findings, from both the theoretical and empirical studies, a contract winning process model for small development companies was formulated. The proposed model consists of five sequential stages with recommended activities for each stage. The model is intended for small software engineering development companies but because the model is generic it could also be used by non-software companies.

Abstract The proportion of single-parent families has increased in the last few decades world-wide, mostly due to high divorce rates. Also in Finland growing numbers of children spend part of their childhood in single-parent families. The aim of this study was to investigate in a longitudinal perspective, the possible long-term effects of the childhood family structure on psychological, physical and criminal outcomes of an offspring during adulthood. A large, prospectively collected general population birth cohort (n= 11 017), the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort, was used as a study population. This database provided the information on childhood family structure of cohort members with additional information of sociodemographic factors of the family and of the child. Information concerning physical and psychiatric illnesses were gathered from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register (FHDR). Death certificates and the information from national crime registers were also obtained. Females with a single-parent family background were more commonly hospital-treated (61.3 % vs. 56.7 %) for any physical condition than females with a two-parent family background. For males such difference in overall physical illness was not found. Both females and males from single-parent families had more commonly been hospital-treated for some diagnoses in the ICD-category of "injury and poisoning" than had other cohort members. Furthermore, females from single-parent families had also more commonly been treated due to pregnancy-related conditions such as induced abortions. During the follow-up time (16 to 28 years of age) 117 (90 males, 27 females) cohort members had died. Males with single-parent family background exhibited an increased mortality risk, especially due to suicides (OR=2.5, 95% CI 1.1-5.8, adjusted for psychiatric hospital diagnosis, parental social class). Criminality was more common among both males and females from single-parent families compared with other cohort members. The results showed that the risk of violent offending and recidivism was increased up to 8-fold if the cohort male member had been born and raised in a single-mother family over most of his childhood. Parental divorce also doubled the risk for both violent and recidivistic offending. Non-violent offences among males were associated only with parental death and divorce. Furthermore, drunk driving was more common among both males and females with single-parent background. Males who were born into single-mother families were at the highest risk of drunk driving offences in adulthood (OR=2.4, 95% CI 1.4-4.2, adjusted for maternal age, psychiatric hospital diagnosis, parental social class). In this study it was shown that young adults with single-parent families in childhood experienced a more stressful pathway from late adolescence to adulthood. However, most of the offspring of single-parent families did well during the follow-up time. Strategies to promote the well-being of children and adolescents in single-parent families are of prime importance for preventive health care.

Magister Public Health - MPH / Background: Even though there have been marked increases in the number of patients accessing HIV care and treatment in sub-Saharan Africa, challenges in patient retention remain. Most health systems in sub-Saharan Africa routinely report on loss to follow up of patients, but only a limited number of factors associated with loss to follow up are measured. In Kenya there is limited research on loss to follow up in HIV care and treatment programs. This study reports on rates of loss to follow up and factors associated with loss to follow up at the New NyanzaProvincial General Hospital (NNPGH) in Kisumu, Kenya. Methods: A retrospective cohort study of 4,740 adult patients that was registered for HIV and AIDS care and treatment between 2003 and 2008 was conducted. Data was analysed using SAS 9.2 and STATA 10. Cox proportional hazard ratio was calculated to describe the association between risk factors and loss to follow up. Results of the total 4740 patients, 64.6% were female, males [median age of 36 (IQR 30-44) years vs. 32 (IQR 26-39) years for females] were older than females, more males (68.3%) were married, more females (6.2%) had no education and 68% of all patients enrolled had been lost to follow up over 6 years. Risk for lost to follow up was greater amongst males (Adjusted Hazard Ratio (AHR) =1.12; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.02-1.22); younger patients(15-30 vs. >40 years: AHR=1.37, 95%CI = 1.23 – 1.53; and 31-40 vs. >40 years: AHR=1.15, 95%CI=1.03-1.28); those who were unemployed (AHR=1.14, 95%CI=1.05-1.25); and having advanced HIV disease (WHO stage 4 vs. WHO stage 1: AHR=1.53, 95%CI=1.29-1.81). Patients on ART (AHR=0.64, 95%CI=0.52-0.78) at enrollment were less likely to be lost to follow-up compared to those in HIV care. Conclusion: More attention is needed in developing retention strategies for patients with much focus on patients on care. Targeted intervention is required to improve retention amongst males, unemployed patients, patients with advanced HIV disease and younger patients. Additionally, targeted follow up in the community for patients on care is required.

The review of the literature reveals the historical nature of Vocational Education programs and how they relate to the importance of Virginia Tech's two-year post-secondary Agricultural Technology Program. The literature review also provides a historical review of information regarding Virginia Tech's Agricultural Technology program, brief histories of other post-secondary land-grant two-year agricultural programs, vocational education philosophers, and two-year program evaluations. The purpose of this study was to perform an evaluation of past performance of the two-year Agricultural Technology Program at Virginia Tech as perceived by the two-year program graduates. The study focused on two points, a) the graduate's opinions with regards toward the improvement of the program on behalf of the students, and b) the strength and weaknesses of the program in order to determine what the program has accomplished and where it should be headed. Five research questions guided this study: 1. How pleased were the graduates with the education they received through the Agricultural Technology Program? 2. What is the salary range of the graduate's first job after graduation and what is their present salary range? 3. What were the strengths and weaknesses of the program as perceived from the graduates? 4. What are the Agricultural Technology graduates current occupations? 5.What recommendations do the graduates have for the improvement of the Agricultural Technology Program? A survey instrument was used as the research method for the collection of the data. A pilot study was performed to test the survey instrument. Three rounds of survey instruments were sent to increase the possible response rate. A non-respondents study was performed to determine if there was a difference between the respondents and non-respondents of the survey instrument. Frequencies, mean, median, mode, and standard deviation were used in the analysis of the data. The population consists of all of those that graduated from the two-year Agricultural Technology Program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University from the date of the programs first graduation class (1989) to the fall semester of 1998. Because there was such a small number of subjects within the population, to prevent sampling error, and to be able to prevent any deviation of assumptions between the sample and the population the whole population was mailed an evaluation instrument. All three of the mailings yielded a total 215 received survey instruments for a 62% response rate from an N of 343. This left a total of 128 or 37% non-respondents. A reliability test was run in SPSS using the Cronbach Alpha method, also know as Alpha coefficient, the Standard Item Alpha = .7661. The major conclusions of the study were that the Agricultural Technology Program graduates were pleased with the overall education that was received at Virginia Tech, the mean salary for the graduates first job was between $18,000 and $23,999, the mean of the graduates current job is between $24,000 and $29,999, the major strengths to the program were the mandatory internship requirement, the hands-on courses, and the advisors for the program, the weaknesses of the program are issues with the transferability of credit hours to the four-year program, additional computer and technology courses and information are needed, and a lack of available elective course offerings. Just over 78% of the program graduates are employed within the field of agriculture and 16% have gone back to farm ownership or to work on the family farm. Some of the major recommendations that were made by the program graduates were to offer additional courses and options, add more emphasis to computers and technology, additional job placement services, and to allow students to take more four-year courses. Based on the findings recommendations were made about further studies for the addition of courses, faculty, program options, more emphasis of technology in courses, curriculum development, job placement, and credit hour transferability. Specific recommendations were made for an external review to be performed of the Agricultural Technology Program, a formal review of curriculum, additional courses in computers and technology, and further research to be performed with regards to policy change in transferability of credit hours to the four-year program, addition of courses offered as electives, and for students to take courses provided by the four-year program. / Ph. D.

Les travaux décrits dans cette thèse de doctorat visent à traiter les futures architectures de fourniture de services mobiles basés sur le cloud, à travers l'évolution des infrastructures réseau partant de Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) au Mobile Edge Computing (MEC). Nous nous sommes essentiellement concentrés sur le concept Follow Me Cloud (FMC) comme une nouvelle stratégie de fourniture de services pour une meilleure expérience utilisateur et une utilisation efficace des ressources. Cela permet aux services basés sur le cloud de "suivre" leurs utilisateurs mobiles au cours de leurs déplacements à travers les technologies de réseau d'accès, tout en fournissant le service basé sur le cloud via le point de service le plus optimal au sein de l'infrastructure cloud. Plusieurs contributions sont proposées dans cette thèse, avec des évaluations à la fois en analyse théorique et en simulation scientifique.Premièrement, nous avons proposé une architecture alternative FMC qui permet: (i) d'ouvrir la conception FMC sur les technologies d'accès réseau mobile non-3GPP (ii) d'assurer l'interopérabilité entre différents domaines PMIPv6 permettant au MN une itinérance inter-domaines PMIPv6 avec une mobilité IP transparente ainsi qu'une continuité de session de service.(iii) d'offrir une architecture sans tunnel dans les situations d'itinérance de MN, en évitant ainsi toute surcharge supplémentaire liée aux tunnels dans la gestion de la mobilité. Le schéma proposé exploite la technologie SDN/OpenFlow et le protocole de gestion de la mobilité PMIPv6 en les intégrant dans un unique framework permettant de réaliser la vision FMC.Deuxièmement, pour aborder les problèmes d'évolutivité et de résilience dans les architectures SDN/OpenFlow centralisées de plan de contrôle, nous avons introduit une nouvelle conception d'un contrôleur SDN élastique et distribué adapté pour MCC et plus particulièrement pour les systèmes de gestion FMC. Nous avons illustré comment le nouveau schéma de plan de contrôle est distribué sur une architecture hiérarchique à deux niveaux, un premier niveau avec un seul contrôleur SDN global et un second niveau avec plusieurs contrôleurs SDN locaux. Ensuite, nous avons présenté les éléments constitutifs de notre nouvel framework de plan contrôle, le calcul de l'indicateur de performance (KPI) du système, et nous avons fixé l'objectif clé de notre conception visant à maintenir la valeur KPI du système dans une fenêtre de seuil prédéfinie. Enfin, nous avons démontré comment cet objectif est atteint en adaptant dynamiquement le nombre et l'emplacement des contrôleurs SDN locaux en utilisant la technologie NFV pour provisionner les contrôleurs SDN en tant que instances VNF (fonction réseau virtuelle) dans le cloud.Troisièmement, nous avons introduit le concept FMeC, exploitant les capacités offertes par la combinaison des architectures MEC et FMC dans le but de satisfaire aux exigences des systèmes automobiles 5G. Nous avons commencé par définir les éléments clés du concept FMeC permettant de fournir la technologie FMC en bordure des réseaux mobiles. Ensuite, nous avons présenté une projection de notre solution FMeC sur un cas d'utilisation de conduite automatisée intégrant l'industrie automobile aux infrastructures Telecom en vue de la vision automobile 5G future. Avec une focalisation sur les types de communications V2I/N, nous avons présenté la conception de notre architecture FMeC basée sur les technologies SDN/OpenFlow et les entités de l'infrastructure MEC dont les ressources sont mises en commun pour fournir un cloud de bordure fédéré. Enfin, nous avons présenté notre framework sensible à la mobilité pour le placement des services dans le cloud de bordure, ce dernier est fondé sur un ensemble d'algorithmes de base qui permettent d'atteindre les exigences de QoS de la conduite automatisée en termes de latence ultra-courte au sein du réseau 5G. / This Ph.D. thesis aims to deal with the future delivery architectures of mobile cloud-based services, through network infrastructures evolving from Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) to Mobile Edge Computing (MEC). We mainly focused on Follow Me Cloud (FMC) concept as a new service delivery strategy for improved user experience and efficient resource utilization. That enables cloud-based services to follow their mobile users during their movement across access network technologies and by delivering the cloud-service via the optimal service point inside the cloud infrastructure. Several contributions are proposed in this thesis and evaluated in both theoretical analysis and scientific simulation.First, we proposed an alternative FMC architecture that allows: (i) to open the FMC design on non-3GPP mobile network access technologies (ii) to provide interoperability among different PMIPv6 domains permitting MNs inter-PMIPv6 domain roaming with seamless IP mobility and service session continuity (iii) to offer a tunnel-free architecture in MNs roaming situation, avoiding any additional overhead associated with tunneling in mobility management. This proposed scheme leverage SDN/OpenFlow technology and PMIPv6 mobility management protocol by integrating them within a framework permitting to realize the FMC vision.Second, to address the scalability and resiliency concerns in centralized SDN/OpenFlow control plane architecture, we introduced a new design of an elastic distributed SDN controller tailored for Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) and more notably for Follow Me Cloud (FMC) management systems. We illustrated how the new control plane scheme is distributed on two-level hierarchical architecture, a first level with a single global SDN controller and a second level with several local SDN controllers. Then, we presented the building blocks of our novel control plane framework, the system Key Performance Indicator (KPI) computation and set the key objective of our design aiming to keep the system KPI value within a predefined threshold window. Last, we proved how this goal is achieved by adapting the number of local SDN controllers and their locations in an elastic manner and deploying them as VNF instances on the cloud thanks to NFV technology.Third, we introduced FMeC concept, leveraging the intertwining of MEC and FMC architectures with the aim of sustaining requirements of the 5G automotive systems. We began by defining FMeC key concept elements permitting to provide FMC technology at the edge of mobile networks. Then, we presented an automated driving use case projection of our FMeC solution integrating automotive with Telco infrastructures towards the future 5G automotive vision. Focusing on the V2I/N communications types, we introduced our FMeC design architecture based on SDN/OpenFlow technologies and MEC infrastructure entities whose resources are pooled together to provide a federated edge clouds. Finally, we presented our mobility-aware framework for edge-cloud service placement based on a set of basic algorithms that permit achieving the automated driving QoS requirements in terms of ultra-short latency within 5G network.

The global commitment by governments throughout the world to scaling up access to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) in response to the crisis imposed by the HIV epidemic has resulted in a large number of people living with Human Immune-deficiency Virus (HIV) worldwide. According to statistics provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), there were approximately 35 million people living with HIV (PLWHIV) in 2012.1This large number of PLWHIV observed in recent years reflects the life-prolonging benefit effects of ART. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH) / MSc / Unrestricted

RTCs play an increasingly significant role in the continuum of treatment of emotionally disturbed adolescents. However, outcome research in this area has lagged behind the growth of treatment centers. More specifically, there has been very little investigation of the relative efficacy of the many different aspects of residential treatment, which are referred to as mechanisms of change in other research. The present study attempts to develop a phenomenological understanding of RTC patients' experience of all of the interventions that make up residential treatment. Results suggest that patients view social support, non-therapist staff members, family involvement and family therapy, as most prominent in their change process. Patient articulations indicate that they are able to understand a great deal about the importance of multi-modal treatment, and the importance of receiving a broad range of treatment interventions. Limited four year follow-up data is also included.

Ensuring adequate and timely follow-up is one of the essential parts of providing good patient care in a primary care setting. If the next visit is not scheduled prior to a patient leaving the clinic, it often results in them being “lost to follow-up.” This results in inadequate care, delays in treatment, and increased burden of disease. Using the currently available scheduling mechanism in our EHR is a tedious and time-consuming process that makes it difficult to arrange for follow up visits prior to the patient arriving at the checkout window after they leave the exam room. This often resulted in no appointment being scheduled at all or one much later than the provider intended. Our proposed solution to this problem was to replace the electronic scheduling mechanism with small paper “follow-up cards” that patients are given to take to the checkout desk with them. We implemented this new process in our clinic for a 3-month period and evaluated resident satisfaction with follow-up and checkout procedures before and after the change. We found that residents preferred using the card system because they felt it improved their workflow in clinic and improved efficiency of scheduling follow up visits. Given the positive reviews, it was decided to implement the follow up cards as a permanent mechanism for scheduling appointments in our clinic until a more efficient electronic system can be arranged.

<p>OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this systematic review was to illustrate the various definitions authors of methodology articles have offered for intention to treat (ITT) in relation to loss to follow up (LTFU).</p> <p> METHODS: We searched MEDLINE® for publications appearing between 1950 to 2008. Eligible papers devoted at least one paragraph to ITT and two other paragraphs to either ITT or LTFU. Investigators independently extracted relevant information from each eligible article. Discrepancies between data extractors were adjudicated. Data was extracted and variables used during data extraction were analyzed using the Landis and Koch guidelines kappa values.</p> <p> RESULTS: The MEDLINE® search yielded 1007 articles. One-hundred and ten articles underwent full text screening yielding 66 articles. All kappa's were substantial to near perfect agreement (>0.74). Of the 66 articles, five (8%) did not define ITT, 25 (41%) mentioned LTFU but did not discuss its relationship with ITT, 36 (59%) commented on LTFU in the context of ITT. These 36 articles segregated into three distinctive definitions for ITT: "full-follow-up required" (mentioned 58%), "ITT and LTFU are separate issues" (mentioned 17%), and "ITI involves specific strategy for LTFU" (mentioned 78%). Of the 36 articles, 17 (47%) had multiple definitions for ITT. The most frequent strategies mentioned for handling LTFU were last outcome carried forward (50%), sensitivity analysis (50%), and use of available data to impute (46%). Most articles (81%) specifically excluded complete case analysis under ITI.</p> <p> CONCLUSION : The most striking finding of our systematic review is that there is no meaningful consensus on the definition of ITI. This review, considered alongside previous reviews of RCTs, demonstrates that simply stating a study employed ITT is useless at best and misleading and dangerous at worst. It is the recommendation of this thesis that trialists replace the term ITI with a clear statements about analytic strategies applied to participants who were followed and with those not followed.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)