Residential high-rise buildings in São Paulo: aspects related to the adequacy to the occupant`s needs

This paper analyzes the production of apartment buildings for the middle-income segment in the city of So Paulo, Brazil, from a historical perspective. Tracing the response to the occupants` needs, the focus is on family profiles and their demands, the relationship between architectural design and marketing, and satisfaction levels of current users. The paper begins with a brief historical overview of how apartment buildings have evolved over the past eight decades, highlighting the consolidation of the tripartite model. Next, it analyzes family profiles and their current needs, which would call for a redesign of domestic space. From a different angle, it shows how the real-estate market reacts to this situation, namely by introducing minor changes in the domestic space that are closely linked to major investments in marketing. This leads to a discussion on the quality of recent architectural designs in light of Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) case studies, which corroborate the tendencies previously outlined. The conclusions drawn from the POEs suggest that the market should establish a closer and deeper relationship between the assessment of the human behavior in the domestic space and the architectural quality of homes as a means of increasing satisfaction levels and improving design performance.

What needs to be done? Occupational therapy responsibilities and challenges regarding human rights

Background: Addressing human rights issues brings forth ethical and political responsibilities for occupational therapists and requires new epistemological and educational approaches. The way occupational therapists have faced these challenges has depended upon historical, cultural and social contexts. Aim and method: By means of literature review and historical analysis, this paper reflects on how occupational therapists have dealt with human matters issues and on the contemporary changes within the profession. Results and discussion: The paper portrays how Latin American occupational therapists have engaged in social transformation by choosing not to transform ethical and political problems into technical matters. Taking into account experiences and views from South Africa, Brazil and Chile, the paper outlines the importance of developing political literacy and interdisciplinary professional/postprofessional education to prepare the new generation of occupational therapists to engage in social transformation. Addressing issues of invisibility and lack of access to human rights, the paper reflects on the need of developing conceptual tools and strategies for change, and discusses the transformations being produced in contemporary occupational therapy. Conclusion: Occupational therapists and scientists need to be attentive to human rights issues. They also need to answer the call for interconnectedness in the present-day complex societies, and engage in networking and a cross-bordering dialogue. Nevertheless, although necessary and welcome, international cooperation requires a permanent exercise of cultural sensitivity, political awareness and self-awareness.

Accurate Determination of Energy Needs in Children and Adolescents With Cancer

Studies on children with cancer have suggested that energy expenditure may indeed be greater than predicted for healthy children. Nutritional assessment is important for intervention and for the prevention of complications associated with malnutrition. The present study aimed to describe the nutritional status, energy expenditure, and substrate utilization of children and adolescents with cancer compared to healthy children matched for age, sex, and body mass index. Subjects were evaluated by anthropometry, food intake pattern, and body composition analysis. Energy expenditure and substrate oxidation were measured by indirect calorimetry. Indirect calorimetry data, energy, and macronutrient intake, anthropometry, and body composition parameters showed no significant differences between groups. There was no evidence of increased energy expenditure or of a change in substrate utilization in children with cancer compared to the healthy group. The data regarding usual food consumption showed no significant differences between groups.

A Plant Needs Ants like a Dog Needs Fleas: Myrmelachista schumanni Ants Gall Many Tree Species to Create Housing

Hundreds of tropical plant species house ant colonies in specialized chambers called domatia. When, in 1873, Richard Spruce likened plant-ants to fleas and asserted that domatia are ant-created galls, he incited a debate that lasted almost a century. Although we now know that domatia are not galls and that most ant-plant interactions are mutualisms and not parasitisms, we revisit Spruce`s suggestion that ants can gall in light of our observations of the plant-ant Myrmelachista schumanni, which creates clearings in the Amazonian rain forest called ""supay-chakras,"" or ""devil`s gardens."" We observed swollen scars on the trunks of nonmyrmecophytic canopy trees surrounding supay-chakras, and within these swellings, we found networks of cavities inhabited by M. schumanni. Here, we summarize the evidence supporting the hypothesis that M. schumanni ants make these galls, and we hypothesize that the adaptive benefit of galling is to increase the amount of nesting space available to M. schumanni colonies.

Critical, issues and needs in management of primary immunodeficiency diseases in Latin America

Experts from six Latin American countries met to discuss critical issues and needs in the diagnosis and management of primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDD). The diagnosis of PIDD is generally made following referral to an immunology centre located in a major city, but many paediatricians and general practitioners are not sufficiently trained to suspect PIDD in the first place. Access to laboratory testing is generally limited, and only some screening tests are typically covered by government health programmes. Specialised diagnostic tests are generally not reimbursed. Access to treatment varies by country reflecting differences in healthcare systems and reimbursement policies. An online PIDD Registry Programme for Latin America has been available since 2009, which will provide information about PIDD epidemiology in the region. Additional collaboration across countries appears feasible in at least two areas: a laboratory network to facilitate the diagnosis of PIDD, and educational programmes to improve PIDD awareness. In total, these collaborations should make it possible to advance the diagnosis and management of PIDD in Latin America. (C) 2010 SEICAP. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.