Sweat is a potential biological fluid for the non-invasive analytical assessment of diverse molecules, including biomarkers. Notwithstanding, the sampling methodology is critical, and it must be assessed prior to using sweat for clinical diagnosis. In the current work, the analytical methodology was further developed taking into account the sampling step, in view of the identification and level variations of sweat components that have potential to be stress biomarkers using separation by liquid chromatography and detection by tandem mass spectrometry, in order to attain a screening profile of 26 molecules in just one stage. As such, the molecule identification was used as a test for the evaluation of the sampling procedures, including the location on the body, using patches for long-term sampling and vials for direct sampling, through a qualitative approach. From this evaluation it was possible to conclude that the sampling may be performed on the chest or back skin. Additionally, possible interference was evaluated. The long-term sampling with patches can be used under both rest and exercise conditions with variation of the detected molecule’s levels. The direct sampling, using vials, has the advantage of not having interferences but the disadvantage of only being effective after exercise in order to have enough sample for sweat analysis.

We compare the performance of major decision tree-based ensemble machine learning models on the task of COVID-19 death probability prediction, conditional on three risk factors: age group, sex and underlying comorbidity or disease, using the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s COVID-19 case surveillance dataset. To evaluate the impact of the three risk factors on COVID-19 death probability, we extract and analyze the conditional probability profile produced by the best performer. The results show the presence of an exponential rise in death probability from COVID-19 with the age group, with males exhibiting a higher exponential growth rate than females, an effect that is stronger when an underlying comorbidity or disease is present, which also acts as an accelerator of COVID-19 death probability rise for both male and female subjects. The results are discussed in connection to healthcare and epidemiological concerns and in the degree to which they reinforce findings coming from other studies on COVID-19.

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Resumo: Nas organizações do sector de saúde, a pesquisa sobre liderança e o seu impacto no capital psicológico e na criatividade, em qualquer tipo de contexto organizacional, é quase inexistente. Para reduzir essa lacuna, o objetivo deste texto foi identificar em que medida a percepção de uma liderança autêntica e o capital psicológico influenciam a criatividade dos profissionais de um Centro Hospitalar Português. Os dados relacionados com os conceitos de liderança, capital psicológico e criatividade foram obtidos por meio de um questionário constituído por três partes: capital psicológico positivo; liderança autêntica, e dados demográficos e funcionais, numa amostra de 61 líderes das chefias intermédias dos diversos serviços dos 22 departamentos de Centro Hospitalar, bem como de 183 colaboradores selecionados aleatoriamente pelos líderes. As respostas foram analisadas através da utilização das análises fatoriais e das equações estruturais. Os resultados obtidos confirmaram duas das três hipóteses consideradas no estudo, sugerindo a existência de uma forte relação entre a liderança autêntica e o capital psicológico, e entre este e a criatividade, não sendo explicada diretamente a criatividade pela liderança. Concluiu-se ainda que a liderança e o 48 capital psicológico têm, nas organizações de saúde, uma forte relação com a criatividade dos seus profissionais. Palavras-chave: Liderança Autêntica, Capital Psicológico e Criatividade Abstract: Research on authentic leadership and its impact on employees' psychological capital and creativity is almost non-existentIn the health sector. To reduce this gap, this paper aims to identify to what extent the perception of authentic leadership and psychological capital influence the creativity of professionals in a large Portuguese hospital. Data were collected on the key concepts of authentic leadership, psychological capital and creativity. via a three-part questionnaire focusing respectively on positive authentic leadership, psychological capital, and demographic and functional data, which was administered to a sample of 61 middle managers in the various hospital services. 22 departments and 183 randomly-selected other employees. Fatorial analysis and structural equation modelling were used to process the results. The results confirmed two of the three hypotheses considered in the study, indicating that while a strong relationship existed both between authentic leadership and psychological capital, and between the latter and creativity, authentic leadership did not directly explain creativity. Our conclusion is that, in organizations providing health services, authentic leadership and psychological capital are phenomena that are interrelated in that they influence professionals' creativity. INTRODUCÃONo início do século XXI, assiste-se a mudanças significativas a nível mundial, reflexo do desenvolvimento tecnológico e científico que impulsiona o conhecido fenómeno da globalização. Globalização de ideias e mudanças aceleradas que acarretam, constantemente, a reorganização e ...

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