Tecendo vivências e sentidos do câncer infantil : família, doença e redes de apoio social em Natal-RN

This paper discusses the experiences related to the treatment of children´s cancer which had children, their mothers and families as their main characters. They were mainly originated from areas in the countryside and urban poor areas in the State of Rio Grande do Norte. The non-governmental organization Grupo de Apoio à Criança com Câncer (GACC) was the privileged ethnographic location. In this setting, the mother, which was called acompanhante (companion), and the children, defined as pacientes (patients), were often sheltered in reason of therapeutic practices and the treatment undertaken by children in a nearby hospital. This study aims to focus on the therapeutic itinerary, beyond the children´s suffering, dealing with the family as a whole, since the moral values from these popular families imply the complete involvement of the family in relation to the illness and its treatment. Therefore, it is experienced as a family problem. We also intend to understand the construction of meanings to the illness, dealing with the ideological continuity in the relationships between the families and the GACC. These meanings were built in the intersection of these two spheres, which refer particularly to medical, religious and emotional explanations. Ethnographic methods were applied in this research at the entity and another social contexts, such as the family households. I also tried to retrieve the process of treatment outside the GACC, visiting the family context, when doing dense interviews or just having conversations with informants. It was found that the GACC, as a non-governmental organization, generates a negotiation of identities, which develops, then, through the family as a whole, but also through the child and especially the mother, affecting, in some way, their internal organization. Furthermore, the meanings of the experience of illness appeared to be shaped by the family sphere as well as by the logic of public health structures

Do acesso clássico à comercialização: especificidades do mercado imobiliário informal na área especial de interesse social de Mãe Luiza, Natal/ RN.

This study presents research regarding affordable housing and their effects on the spatial reconfiguration of Natal/ RN, aiming to identify the specificities of the informality of urban land. This study aims to understand how informal housing market operates housing provision for the population located in popular informal settlements, through buying and selling market and rental market of residential properties irregular / illegal. This understanding will be through the neighborhood of Mãe Luisa, Special Area of Social Interest (SASI), located between neighborhoods with a population of high purchasing power and inserted into the tourist shaft of seaside of town. The characterization of informal housing market in Mãe Luiza, from buyers, sellers and renters, will help to understand how these informal transactions operate on SASI and housing provision for public policy development and implementation of housing programs and land regularization for low-income population, adequate to dynamic and reality of housing of informal areas

São públicas as contratações do estado brasileiro? - uma experiência de contratações públicas junto à comunidade Coqueiral em Aracaju/SE.

State intervention generally demands the purchase or rental of goods and services, and such acquisitions are subject to a number of indispensable legal frameworks. In the Brazilian State, Law 8.666 of 21 June 1993 and further norms regulate the necessity of a formal process, usually licitation. Given the importance of this subject to public and private spheres, one of the prerequisites of these formal contracting rules is the openness of public acts, and society s knowledge and accompaniment. The objective of this study is to investigate society s participation in public contracting, with the aim of debating theories surrounding the state/society relationship proposed by public political thought and authors in relation to legal aspects involving licitations. The principal question of this research is: despite the possibility of society s participation being predicted in the legal frameworks which orientate licitations, why is this social control not carried out? Why does it only occupy a secondary position to both individual and collective agents? In order to test some of this study s hypotheses, field research was carried out in the Coqueiral community in Aracaju, Sergipe, in relation to public acquisitions of goods and services during the period of May to September 2009. Research involved observation visits and guided interviews with the relevant community and public sector representatives. This project s hypotheses were confirmed, as this social control is not apparent, even in areas where popular participation is a strong component in asserting ones local rights, like in the Coqueiral community.

Caracterização geológico-geofísica do meio aqüífero fissural : uma contribuição aos modelos de fluxo e armazenamento de água subterrânea

Northeastern Brazil is mainly formed by crystalline terrains (around 60% in area). Moreover, this region presents a semi-arid climate so that it is periodically subject to drought seasons. Furthermore, ground water quality extracted fromwells usually presents poor quality because of their high salinity contents. Nevertheless, ground water is still a very important source of water for human and animal consumption in this region. Well sitting in hard rocks terrains in Northeastern Brazil offers a mean success index of aboul 60%, given that a successful siting is defined by a well producing at least 0.5 m³/h. This low index reveals lack of knowledga about the true conditions of storage and percolation of ground water in crystalline rocks. Two models for structures storing and producing ground water in crystalline rocks in Northeastem Brazil have been proposed in the literature. The first model,tradnionally used for well sitting since the sixties are controlled by faults or fractures zones. This model is commonly referred, in Brazilian hydrogeological literature, as the "creek-crack" model (riacho-fenda in Portuguese). Sites appearing to present dense drainage network are preferred for water well siting - particularly at points where the drainages cross-cul each other. Field follow up work is usually based only on geological criteria. The second model is the "eluvio-alluvial through" (calha eluvio-aluvionar in Portuguese); it is also described in the literature but it is not yet incorporated in well sitting practice. This model is based on the hypothesis that reclilinear drainages can also be controlled by the folietion of the rock. Eventually, depending upon the degree of weathering, a through-shaped structure filled with sediments (alluvium and regolith) can be developed which can store and water can be produced from. Using severalfield case studies, this Thesis presents a thorough analysis ofthe two above cited models and proposes a new model. The analysis is based on an integrated methodological approach using geophysics and structural geology. Both land (Resitiviy and Ground Penetrating Radar- GPR) and aerogeophysical (magnetics and frequency domain eletromagnetics) surveys were used. Slructural analysis emphasized neolectonic aspects; in general, itwas found that fractures in the E-W direction are relatively open, as compared to fracturas inthe N-S direction, probably because E-W fractures were opened by the neotectonic stress regime in Northeastern Brazil, which is controlled by E-W compression and N-S extension. The riacho-fenda model is valid where drainages are controlled by fractures. The degree of fracturing and associated weathering dictale the hydrogeological potential of the structure. Field work in structural analogues reveals that subvertical fractures show consistent directions both in outcrop and aerophotograph scales. Geophysical surveys reveal subvertical conductive anomalies associated to the fracture network controlling the drainage; one of the borders of the conductive anomaly usually coincide wih the drainage. An aspect of particular importance to the validation of fracture control are the possible presence of relalively deep conductive anomalies wihoul continuation or propagalion to the surface. The conductive nature of lhe anomaly is due to the presence of wealhered rock and sedirnenls (alluvium and/or regolilh) storing ground waler which occur associated to the fracture network. Magnetic surveys are not very sensisnive to these structures.lf soil or covering sedirnents are resislive (> 100 Ohm.m), GPR can ba used to image precisely lhe fracture network. A major limialion of riacho-fenda model, revealed by GPR images, is associated to the fact thal subhorizontal fractures do play a very important role in connecting the fracture network, besides connect shallow recharge zones to relalively deep subvertical frecture zones. Iffractures play just a secondary control on the drainage, however, r/acho-fenda model may have a very limiled validny; in these cases, large portions oflhe drainage do nol coincide wilh frectures and mosl oflhewells localed in lhe drainage surrounding would resull dry. Usually, a secondary conlrol on lhe drainage by Ihefraclure networkcan be revealed only wilh detailed geophysical survey. The calha elClv1o-aluvlonarmodel is valid where drainages are conlrolled by folialion. The degree 01 wealhering 01 lhe lolialion planes dictales lhe hydrogeological polenlial 01 lhe slruclure. Outcrop analysis reveals Ihal lolialion and drainage direclions are parallel and Ihal no Iraclures, orfraclures wilh diflerent directions 01 lhe drainage direclion occur. Geophysical surveys reveal conduclive anomalies in a slab lorm associaled 10 lhe Ihrough 01 lhe wealhered rock and sedimenls (alluvium and/or regolith). Magnelic surveys can ofler a very good conlrol on lolialion direclion. An importanl aspect 10 validale lolialion conlrol are lhe presence 01 conductive anomalies showing shallow and deep portions area which are linked. Illhere is an exlensive soil cover, r/acho-fenda and calha eIClv1o-aluv/onar conlrols can be easily misinlerpreled in lhe absence 01 geophysical conlrol. Certainly, Ihis lacl could explain at leasl a part of lhe failure index in well sitting. The model wealhering sack (bolsllo de Intempertsmo in Portuguese) is proposed to explain cases where a very inlensive wealhering occur over lhe crystalline rock so Ihal a secondary inlerslilial porosity is crealed. The waler is Ihen stored in lhe porous of lhe regolilh in a similar mannerlo sedimentary rocks. A possible example ofthis model was delecled by using land geophysical survey where a relalivelyvery deep isolaled conduclive anomaly, in a slab form, was delected. Iflhis structure does store ground waler, certainly Ihere must be a link 01 lhe deep slructure wilh lhe surface in orderlo provide walerfeeding. This model mighl explain anomalous waler yields as greal as 50 m³/h Ihalsomelimescan occur in crystalline rocks in Northeaslern Brazil

Reavaliação de critérios estruturais na hidrogeologia de terrenos cristalinos, com ênfase na neotectônica e sensoriamento remoto

Hydrogeological prospecting in Northeast Brazil and in other crystalline terrains has been developed on the basis of structural and regional geology concepts that date back to the 50-60 decades and, as such, demand a natural re-evaluation and update. In this kind of terrain, the percolation and accumulation of ground water are controlled by fractures and other types of discontinuities, such as foliations and geological contacts that, through weathering, impart porosity and permeability to the rocks, allowing water flow and storage. Several factors should be considered in the process of locating water wells, as discussed in the literature. Among these, the kind of structures, fracture geometry (including aperture and connectivity) and their geological and chronological context. It is important to correlate fracture systems with the regional neotectonic framework. Fractures at low angle (sub parallel) with the principal stress axis (s1) are those which tend to open (actually they work as tension joints) and, in principle, would present major hydric potential; in the opposite side, fractures at high angle to s1 would behave as closed by a compressional component. Fractures diagonal to the compression and tension axes correspond to shear fractures and, due to their connectivity with second fractures, are also important in terms of hydric potential. Uplift followed by terrain denudation leads to decompression and a general tendency to open (aided by weathering processes) fractures and other rock discontinuities, at different orientations. Low angle fractures, formed in this context, are equally important to increase connectivity, collection of water and recharge of the aquifer systems. In a general way, an opening component (neotectonic or by terrain decompression) and several models to increase fracture connectivity correlate with a greater hydric potential of these structures. Together with parallel research, this thesis addresses models of ground water occurrence in crystalline terrains, either improving well established concepts like the (Riacho-Fenda model), but also stressing other possibilities, like the role of alluvium and paleo-regoliths (the Calha Elúvio-Aluvionar model) and of strongly altered, permo-porous zones placed at variable depths below the present surface, flanking several types of discontinuities, especially interconnected fracture arrays (the Bolsões de Intemperismo model). Different methodological approaches are also discussed in order to improve success rates in the location of water wells in crystalline terrains. In this methodological review, a number of case studies were selected in the eastern domain of the State of Rio Grande do Norte, involving the localities of Santa Cruz, Santo Antônio, Serrinha, Nova Cruz, Montanhas, Lagoa de Pedras and Lagoa Salgada. Besides the neotectonic analysis of brittle structures, this Thesis addresses the validation of remote sensing as a tool for ground water prospecting. Several techniques were tested in order to detect and select areas with higher potential for ground water accumulation, using Landsat 5-TM and RADARSAT images, besides conventional aerial photos. A number of filters were tested to emphasize lineaments in the images, improving their discrimination, to identify areas with higher overburden humidity, which could reflect subsurface water accumulation, as well as alluvium and other sedimentary covers that might act as recharge zones. The work started with a regional analysis with the orbital images, followed by analysis of aerial photos, up to a detailed structural study of rock exposures in the terrain. This last step involved the analysis of outcrops surrounding wells (in a ray of approximately 10 to 100 m) with distinct productivities, including dry examples. At the level required for detail, it was not possible to accomplish a statistical approach using the available well data catalogs, which lack the desired specific information. The methodology worked out in this Thesis must undergo a testing phase through location of new water wells. An increase in the success rates as desired will led to a further consolidation step with wider divulgation of the methodology to private companies and governmental agencies involved in ground water prospecting in crystalline terrains

Estruturas de acumulação de água subterrânea em rochas cristalinas: estudo geofísico e geológico de casos no Estado do Rio Grande do Norte

Geological and geophysical studies (resistivity, self potential and VLF) were undertaken in the Tararaca and Santa Rita farms, respectively close to the Santo Antônio and Santa Cruz villages, eastern Rio Grande do Norte State, NE Brazil. Their aim was to characterize water acummulation structures in crystalline rocks. Based on geological and geophysical data, two models were characterized, the fracture-stream and the eluvio-alluvial through, in part already described in the literature. In the Tararaca Farm, a water well was located in a NW-trending streamlet; surrounding outcrops display fractures with the same orientation. Apparent resistivity sections, accross the stream channel, confirm fracturing at depth. The VLF profiles systematically display an alignment of equivalent current density anomalies, coinciding with the stream. Based on such data, the classical fracture-stream model seems to be well characterized at this place. In the Santa Rita Farm, a NE-trending stream display a metric-thick eluvioregolith-alluvial cover. The outcropping bedrock do not present fractures paralell to the stream direction, although the latter coincides with the trend of the gneiss foliation, which dips to the south. Geophysical data confirm the absence of a fracture zone at this place, but delineate the borders of a through-shaped structure filled with sediments (alluvium and regolith). The southern border of this structure dips steeper compared to the northern one. This water acummulation structure corresponds to an alternative model as regards to the classical fracture-stream, being named as the eluvio-alluvial trough. Its local controls are the drainage and relief, coupled with the bedrock weathering preferentially following foliation planes, generating the asymmetry of the through

Imageamento digital de paleocavernas colapsadas com georadar

In this study, the methodological procedures involved in digital imaging of collapsed paleocaves in tufa using GPR are presented. These carbonate deposits occur in the Quixeré region, Ceará State (NE Brazil), on the western border of the Potiguar Basin. Collapsed paleocaves are exposed along a state road, which were selected to this study. We chose a portion of the called Quixeré outcrop for making a photomosaic and caring out a GPR test section to compare and parameterize the karst geometries on the geophysical line. The results were satisfactory and led to the adoption of criteria for the interpretation of others GPR sections acquired in the region of the Quixeré outcrop. Two grids of GPR lines were acquired; the first one was wider and more spaced and guided the location of the second grid, denser and located in the southern part of the outcrop. The radargrams of the second grid reveal satisfactorily the collapsed paleocaves geometries. For each grid has been developed a digital solid model of the Quixeré outcrop. The first model allows the recognition of the general distribution and location of collapsed paleocaves in tufa deposits, while the second more detailed digital model provides not only the 3D individualization of the major paleocaves, but also the estimation of their respective volumes. The digital solid models are presented here as a new frontier in the study of analog outcrops to reservoirs (for groundwater and hydrocarbon), in which the volumetric parameterization and characterization of geological bodies become essential for composing the databases, which together with petrophysical properties information, are used in more realistic computer simulations for sedimentary reservoirs.

Proposta de um sistema de avaliação de desempenho para o Restaurante Universitário da UFRN

The aim of this study was to propose a Performance Evaluation System for outsourced employees of the University Restaurant of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte to supply the lack of evaluative instruments. According to Provision of Services Contract nº050/2010 and nº055/2011 of FURN with SAFE LOCAÇÃO DE MÃO DE OBRA LTDA ME, it is the hired company to promote periodic functional performance evaluation of the outsourced employees, but this is not done. The performance evaluation process serves to evaluate if the employees are making their tasks according to the organizations’ objectives and goals, besides that helps to find service failures and capacity of employees demands, thus contributing to improve work conditions and the global performance of the organizations. To elaborate the proposal of evaluation, it was chosen an action research with the participation of all stakeholders, employees and managers from UR. On data collect, first, outsourced employees and management servers were interviewed, in order to raise existing perceptions about performance evaluation aspects. From these data and the work routine observation, a proposal of performance evaluation was elaborated, that was appreciated, criticized and adjusted by the actors involved (employees and managers) to the final formulation of the instrument. This study also presents the necessary steps to the implementation of the Performance Evaluation System. The proposed Performance Evaluation System can be applied to the FURN assuming this process, after modification of contract terms and the approval by the ADCON. It also can serve as an example to others units that works with the provision of outsourced services, enabling so the performance evaluation to be part of the management policy of all people working in FURN.

Tecendo vivências e sentidos do câncer infantil : família, doença e redes de apoio social em Natal-RN

This paper discusses the experiences related to the treatment of children´s cancer which had children, their mothers and families as their main characters. They were mainly originated from areas in the countryside and urban poor areas in the State of Rio Grande do Norte. The non-governmental organization Grupo de Apoio à Criança com Câncer (GACC) was the privileged ethnographic location. In this setting, the mother, which was called acompanhante (companion), and the children, defined as pacientes (patients), were often sheltered in reason of therapeutic practices and the treatment undertaken by children in a nearby hospital. This study aims to focus on the therapeutic itinerary, beyond the children´s suffering, dealing with the family as a whole, since the moral values from these popular families imply the complete involvement of the family in relation to the illness and its treatment. Therefore, it is experienced as a family problem. We also intend to understand the construction of meanings to the illness, dealing with the ideological continuity in the relationships between the families and the GACC. These meanings were built in the intersection of these two spheres, which refer particularly to medical, religious and emotional explanations. Ethnographic methods were applied in this research at the entity and another social contexts, such as the family households. I also tried to retrieve the process of treatment outside the GACC, visiting the family context, when doing dense interviews or just having conversations with informants. It was found that the GACC, as a non-governmental organization, generates a negotiation of identities, which develops, then, through the family as a whole, but also through the child and especially the mother, affecting, in some way, their internal organization. Furthermore, the meanings of the experience of illness appeared to be shaped by the family sphere as well as by the logic of public health structures

Do acesso clássico à comercialização: especificidades do mercado imobiliário informal na área especial de interesse social de Mãe Luiza, Natal/ RN.

This study presents research regarding affordable housing and their effects on the spatial reconfiguration of Natal/ RN, aiming to identify the specificities of the informality of urban land. This study aims to understand how informal housing market operates housing provision for the population located in popular informal settlements, through buying and selling market and rental market of residential properties irregular / illegal. This understanding will be through the neighborhood of Mãe Luisa, Special Area of Social Interest (SASI), located between neighborhoods with a population of high purchasing power and inserted into the tourist shaft of seaside of town. The characterization of informal housing market in Mãe Luiza, from buyers, sellers and renters, will help to understand how these informal transactions operate on SASI and housing provision for public policy development and implementation of housing programs and land regularization for low-income population, adequate to dynamic and reality of housing of informal areas