Student stress and quality of education

Today, managers are increasingly interested in knowing how the work in organizations aftects employees' health. Less common is the interest in stress erupting in the academic community - among students, faculty and administrators. The authors present a reflection paper focused on student stress. In this paper, they first examine McLean 's model of context, vulnerability and stressors. This model provides the framework for the student surveys and for the entire paper. Based on the students surveys, an assessment is made of how asma" group of students are coping with stress. The paper fina"y suggests what can be done by students, faculty, and administrators to insta" and/or improve social support systems that might reduce the harmful eftects of stress on students and thus impact the quality of education.

Higher education of tourism in Spain and its adaptation to the European higher education area

The international tourism system has deeply undergone structural changes in the last decades which not remain outside the subsystem higher education in tourism, especially in the European case. This article has two objectives: firstly, describes the European higher education area and the objectives, skills and subjects taught in the main Spanish universities that offer higher education in tourism. On the other hand, in the light of knowledge that researchers' descriptive models, provide experience of the implementation of European credit and thorough a deeply review of the literature on the topic higher education in tourism, to propose strategies that will enable other tourism higher education systems approach to the European reality. These policy proposals are aimed at agents and elements from higher education in tourism subsystem and they specifically include: the institutions providing education in tourism, the curriculum, the teaching methods, teachers and students.

What factors of satisfaction and motivation are affecting the development of the academic career in Portuguese higher education institutions?

An important constituent group and a key resource of higher education institutions (HEIs) is the faculty or academic staff. The centrality of the faculty role makes it a primary sculptor of institutional culture and has implications for the quality of the institution and therefore has a major role in achieving the objectives of the institution. Demand for academic staff in higher education has been increasing and may be expected to continue to increase. Moreover the performance of academic staff as teachers and researchers determines much of the student satisfaction and has an impact on student learning. There are many factors that serve to undermine the commitment of academics to their institutions and careers. Job satisfaction is important in revitalizing staff motivation and in keeping their enthusiasm alive. Well motivated academic staff can, with appropriate support, build a national and international reputation for themselves and the institution in the professional areas, in research and in publishing. This paper aims to identify the issues and their impacts on academic staff job satisfaction and motivation within Portuguese higher education institutions reporting an ongoing study financed by the European Union through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.

Health education: the role and functions of the specialist and the generalist

Education for health is a process in which all public health and medical care personnel are involved. People learn both formally (planned learning experiences) and informally (unplanned learning experiences). Since the patient, the client, the consummer and the community expect public health and medical care personnel to assist them with health and disease issues and problems, the response of the professional "educates" the customer whether the professional intends to educate or not. Therefore, it is incumbent on all public health and medical care professionals to understand their educational functions and their role in health education. It is also important that the role of the specialist in education be clear. The specialist, as to all other specialists, has an in-depth knowledge of his area of expertise, i.e., the teaching/learning process; s/he may function as a consultant to others to enhance the educational potential of their role or s/he may work with a team or with communities or groups of patients. Specific competencies and knowledge are required of the health education specialist; and there is a body of learning and social change theory which provides a frame of reference for planning, implementing and evaluating educational programs. Working with others to enhance their potential to learn and to make informed decisions about health/disease issues is the hallmark of the health education specialist.

Policies for decentralization and development of health education

How the policy of action and professional standards have influenced the development and decentralization of health education is discussed. It is concluded that a review of policies both of developing as well as of developed countries could help to put some observations into a perspective that is closer to the Brazilian reality.

The ecology of Triatoma sordida in natural environments in two different regions of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil

A study was undertaken about T. sordida in the natural environment in two different regions of the state of Minas Gerais: Itapagipe (Triângulo), an area of cerrado modified by the formation of fields of pasture and agriculture, and Mato Verde (north) an area of transition between caatinga and cerrado with profound deforestation in the last years due to the expansion of cotton cultivation. In both regions the principal ecotopes identified were hollow trees and the bark of live or dead trees, where the occurrence of a food source is not frequent. In this environment, the triatomines utilize various food sources; opposums appear to represent an important source of infection. In the north of Minas, a greater concentration of reservoirs and vectors was observed than in the Triángulo which could explain the higher level of infection of the triatomines in the north. Close attention to the process of domiciliation of T. sordida in the north of Minas is recommended where an extensive intervention by man in the natural environment has occurred and where a rise in the population of triatomines in the peridomestic environment has been observed in recent years.

ASPECTS OF THE ECOLOGY OF PHLEBOTOMINES (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) IN AN AREA OF CUTANEOUS LEISHMANIASIS OCCURRENCE, MUNICIPALITY OF ANGRA DOS REIS, COAST OF RIO DE JANEIRO STATE, BRAZIL

Over a complete two-year period, phlebotomine specimens were caught in an area of cutaneous leishmaniasis occurrence in the municipality of Angra dos Reis. A manual suction tube was used to catch phlebotomines on house walls, and also light traps in domestic and peridomestic settings and in the forest. This yielded 14,170 specimens of 13 species: two in the genus Brumptomyia and eleven in the genus Lutzomyia. L. intermedia predominantly in domestic and peridomestic settings, with little presence in the forest, with the same trend being found in relation to L. migonei, thus proving that these species have adapted to the human environment. L. fischeri appeared to be eclectic regarding location, but was seen to be proportionally more endophilic. L. intermedia and L. migonei were more numerous in peridomestic settings, throughout the year, while L. fischeri was more numerous in domestic settings except in March, April, May and September. From the prevalence of L. intermedia, its proven anthropophily and findings of this species naturally infected with Leishmania(Viannia) braziliensis, it can be incriminated as the main vector for this agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the study area, especially in the peridomestic environment. L. fischeri may be a coadjuvant in carrying the parasite.

Ecology of Phlebotomine sandflies (Diptera, Psychodidae) in Brazilian Atlantic Forest

The phlebotomine sandfly fauna of a primary forest reserve at Morretes (eastern Paraná State) was studied, using CDC-like light traps, one night per month, at canopy and ground level, between April 1995 and March 1996. A total of 3,106 insects were collected, identified as belonging to nine species. Lutzomyia ayrozai and Lu.geniculata were predominant, seven other species also being present. Monthly mean temperature, rainfall and the temperature of the collection night significantly influenced the numbers of Lu. ayrozai while the two first factors influenced the numbers of Lu. geniculata, besides the collected quantities of females of the two species. The influence of the factors on Lu. ayrozai numbers was more immediate than in those of Lu. geniculata. Numbers of both species and of the females of Lu. geniculata collected in different seasons, but not at the different heights, varied significantly. Differences between the behaviour of Lu. ayrozai in Morretes and in other regions could be attributed to environmental differences and/or to regional variations in the species, which could constitute species complexes. Hourly variations of collections were different in the species and seasons.