Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between depressive symptoms and root caries among independent-living older persons. All community-dwelling older adults (not hospitalized and not bedridden) living in Carlos Barbosa, RS, Brazil, were invited to participate, and 785 completed the study protocol (standardized questionnaire assessing socio-demographic information and health behavior, Geriatric Depression Scale [GDS] - brief version, and oral examination [DMFT-Root index, Visible Plaque Index and stimulated salivary flow]). Out of them, 390 participants with at least one natural tooth were included in the present analysis. The outcome of interest was the ratio between the number of decayed roots and the number of roots at risk. The association between independent variables (depression and socioeconomic aspects) and the outcome was assessed using negative binomial regression models. Results: The final, fully adjusted model revealed that age (β=0.03, p=0.001), female sex (β=-0.23, p=0.08), living in a rural area (β=0.25, p=0.008), tooth brushing frequency (β=0.43, p=0.025) and stimulated salivary flow (β=-0.012, p<0.0001) were significantly associated with the presence of root caries. In addition, the interaction between male sex and the presence of depression symptoms (β=-0.99, p=0.012) was also independently and significantly associated with root caries. The interaction between male sex and depression symptoms was associated with root caries, suggesting that psychological mechanisms may be involved indirectly in the development of root caries in older adults.

Neste artigo, trazemos o acontecimento que o voto do ministro relator Carlos Ayres Britto funda pela sua enunciação, no Supremo Tribunal Federal, referente à recente (2011) questão da união homoafetiva no Brasil, tendo como corpus de análise as citações (in)diretas extraídas de afirmações de personalidades célebres (Platão, Max Scheler, Descartes, Fernando Pessoa, Nietzsche, Hegel, Jung, Caetano Veloso, Rui Barbosa, Spinoza, Sartre e Chico Xavier), postas em jogo na materialidade linguística. Discutimos os efeitos de sentido possíveis delas decorrentes, mediante a perspectiva da Análise do Discurso de orientação francesa, tendo em conta os aspectos relevantes das condições de produção do discurso, sem deixarmos de aventar os efeitos de articulação entre citações e enunciados que as circunscrevem no voto, paralelismos etc. Lançaremos, ainda, breve olhar sobre o ethos do sujeito do discurso, a partir dos efeitos de sentido das citações. Dentre outras avaliações e reflexões, concluiremos que o discurso tem como argumento maior o amor, confrontando uma FD (Formação Discursiva) prototípica do judiciário, inclusive nas menções a interdiscursos religiosos. Para nosso exercício analítico, contamos especialmente com Possenti (2009, 2002), Eni Orlandi (2009, 2006), Foucault (2010, 2009), Maingueneau (1997) e Pêcheux (2009), para que constituam nosso aporte teórico.

A identificação de outliers desempenha um papel importante na análise estatística, pois tais observações podem conter informações importantes em relação às hipóteses do estudo. Se modelos estatísticos clássicos são cegamente aplicados a dados contendo valores atípicos, os resultados podem ser enganosos e decisões equivocadas podem ser tomadas. Além disso, em situações práticas, os próprios outliers são muitas vezes os pontos especiais de interesse e sua identificação pode ser o principal objetivo da investigação. Desta forma, objetivou-se propor uma técnica de detecção de outliers multivariados, baseada em análise agrupamento e comparar essa técnica com o método de identificação de outliers via Distância de Mahalanobis. Para geração dos dados utilizou-se simulação via método de Monte Carlo e a técnica de mistura de distribuições normais multivariadas. Os resultados apresentados nas simulações mostraram que o método proposto foi superior ao método de Mahalanobis tanto para sensibilidade quanto para especificidade, ou seja, ele apresentou maior capacidade de diagnosticar corretamente os indivíduos outliers e os não outliers. Além disso, a metodologia proposta foi ilustrada com uma aplicação em dados reais provenientes da área de saúde.

Intrapopulation recurrent selection (IRS) has proven to be a promising breeding method in eucalyptus, mainly through being easier to carry out when compared to reciprocal recurrent selection (RRS). However, the recombination strategies in IRS that have not yet been compared. Thus, the purpose of this study was to verify the efficiency of different recombination methods in IRS. To do so, computer simulation was used considering different heritabilities (0.1, 0.5, 1.0), different initial allelic frequencies (0.2, 0.8) and allelic interactions without dominance and with complete dominance. The initial population consisted of 1000 individuals, which were selected at random for the beginning of cycle zero. These individuals were interbred two by two. Three selection strategies were carried out and, consequently, three recombination methods: recombine the best individuals selected within the best progenies; the best individuals phenotypically selected regardless of their genealogy; or selection in the mean value of the best progenies selected. It was observed that recombination of the best individuals regardless of their genealogy and of the best individuals within the best progenies provided for gains superior to recombination having only the mean of the progenies as reference. The average degree of dominance and the heritability of the trait should be considered at the time of choosing the method of selection followed by recombination.

This study examined the associations between psychopathy dimensions (triarchic phenotypes and classical factors), empathy domains (cognitive and affective), and interoception (interoceptive attention and accuracy) while accounting for the putative role of alexithymia. A community sample (n = 515) completed an online survey encompassing: Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (boldness, meanness, disinhibition); Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (primary and secondary psychopathy); Body Perception Questionnaire (interoceptive attention); Interoceptive Accuracy Scale; Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Hierarchical linear regression models were implemented for hypothesis-driven analyses examining the associations between psychopathy, empathy, and interoception while controlling for sex, age, and alexithymia. Exploratory path models were employed to investigate alexithymia and/or cognitive empathy as mediators between interoception and psychopathy. Our results largely confirmed the postulated empathy profiles across psychopathy dimensions, as meanness and primary psychopathy displayed a broad empathy impairment, while disinhibition and secondary psychopathy were only associated with diminished cognitive empathy. Importantly, boldness displayed a unique pattern (enhanced cognitive empathy and reduced affective empathy), further reinforcing its importance within the constellation of psychopathy traits. Contrary to our hypotheses, self-perceived interoceptive attention and accuracy were not associated with either psychopathy dimension after controlling for alexithymia. However, interoceptive accuracy and alexithymia were associated with cognitive empathy, while alexithymia was also positively related to all psychopathy dimensions (as expected), despite the unexpected strong and negative association with boldness. Exploratory analyses suggested significant indirect effects (mediation) between interoceptive accuracy and psychopathy via alexithymia and/or cognitive empathy. These mediating effects must be interpreted with caution and future studies should be designed to formally test this model.

The energy sector is evolving rapidly, namely due to the increasing importance of renewable energy sources. The connection of large amounts of wind power generation poses new challenges for the dynamic voltage stability analysis of an electric power system, which has to be studied. In this paper, the traditional Doubly-Fed Induction Generator model is employed. Based on this model, a crowbar and chopper circuit is set up to protect the turbine during the short-circuit period. The EUROSTAG software package was used for the simulation studies of the system, and numerical results were obtained. Conclusions are drawn that provide a better understanding of the influence of crowbar and chopper protection on Doubly-Fed Induction Generators (DFIG), during low voltage ride through, in a system with wind power generation.