Perceptions of Amazonian deforestation in the British and Brazilian media

The Amazon rainforest stretches across more than six million square kilometers and nine countries. Of the original forest area it is thought that 18 per cent has been cleared, mainly for farming purposes. In Brazil, the main drivers of deforestation are beef ranching and soya production that together occupy more than 75 per cent of newly deforested land. The situation in the Amazon illustrates a fundamental dilemma facing environmentalists around the world: how to reconcile economic development with biodiversity conservation. In this paper the representation of this dilemma in the British and Brazilian news media is assessed. The results indicate that there were far more articles referring to deforestation in the Brazilian press (816 Brazilian to 29 UK) but that many of these make no mention of what factors are responsible for deforestation. The patterns of representation of the proximate (direct) causes of Amazonian deforestation were very similar in the two countries, with soya and beef cattle ranching commanding the most press attention. The ultimate (indirect) causes of deforestation, however, are treated very differently, with the Brazilian media seemingly far more aware of the role of economic development needs than the UK press. Interestingly, the role of international demand for soya, beef, and forest products in driving deforestation was highlighted primarily in the UK press. These findings are critically discussed in the context of media influence on public understandings of Amazonian deforestation.

Book review of Consciousness by Christopher Hill

Christopher S. Hill advances a theory of conscious experience that employs the idea of representation to unify and explain a wide range of subjective phenomena, including emotions and pain. The theory shows the relevance of philosophical thought in a multidisciplinary view of the mind.

Permanent vascular access in patients with end-stage renal disease, Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To assess factors associated with the establishment of permanent vascular access for patients with end-stage renal disease. METHODS: Cross-sectional study conducted in a nationally representative sample of Brazilian end-stage renal disease patients in dialysis and transplant centers during 2007. The sample comprised only patients who received hemodialysis as a primary therapy modality and reported the type of vascular access for their primary hemodialysis treatment (N=2,276). Data were from the TRS Project - "Economic and Epidemiologic Evaluation of Modalities of Renal Replacement Therapy in Brazil". Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to assess factors associated with the establishment of permanent vascular access in these patients. RESULTS: About 30% of the patients studied had an arteriovenous vascular access. The following factors were associated with a lower likelihood of having an arteriovenous vascular access as a primary type of access: time of hemodialysis start since the diagnosis of chronic renal failure < 1 year; shorter dialysis therapy; having no private health insurance; living in the central-western, northeastern and southeastern regions of Brazil; and living in the northern region plus having no private health insurance. In the final model there was found a positive association between the outcome and pre-dialysis care and no were association with socioeconomic and comorbidity variables. CONCLUSIONS: The study results showed that the focus should on pre-dialysis care to increase the establishment of an arteriovenous vascular access before starting hemodialysis in Brazil.

A formação do Químico

Training of highly qualified personnel is the most transversal axis among those identified in the document "Mobilizing Axes in Chemistry", published by SBQ, in 2002, which demands to deep the discussions, initiated in the symposium "The Chemist's Education", whose main objective was to discuss the repercussions of that training in the teaching and in the industrial section. After the publication of an initial paper, a couple of meetings and workshops held in Rio de Janeiro, in December 2003, involving the national chemist community, discussed the "The role of the graduate degrees in the Chemist's Education" and "The Chemist's Education", and confirmed the need to invest in the formation of qualified human resources in profusion and in all levels. Actions to be taken were delineated. Presently, the graduate programs in Chemistry are showing expressive results. However, although these professionals are mostly absorbed by the academy (the absorption of the industry is less significant), only a few programs give special attention to the didactical and pedagogical training. The regional decentralization is actually a tendency in most programs, but the interaction academy-economic activities is still a challenge. It is necessary to establish with the industrial section, the highly qualified professional's profile in Chemistry that the industry can absorb. The undergraduation is growing in number and quality, however still excessively concentrated in the Southeast area. The national "Curricula Guidelines" for Chemistry Courses, through its flexible approach, propitiate the integral, interdisciplinary (non compartmentalized) and critical-reflexive training of the professionals as citizens and as entrepreneurs. However, deficiencies are still recognized. The evaluation system of undergraduate courses has been able to identify the most fragile modalities of courses and other indicators. It was also verified that Brazilian chemistry industry absorbs minimally the highly qualified professionals, which is attributed to the fact that the Federal Council of Chemistry is vertically organized and does not recognize the graduate degrees as professional qualification. In the conclusion, it stands out, among other aspects, the importance of the effective implantation of the national curricula guidelines, bringing out courses whose didactical and pedagogical projects may offer a solid formation in Chemistry, but comprehensive and general enough to enable the Chemistry professionals to develop varied skills.

A graduação em química: um novo químico para uma nova era

The discussions sponsored by the Brazilian Chemical Society, over the past five years, intending to produce a chemistry agenda with perspectives and needs for the next decade for the country, have involved the national chemistry community and several related sectors of Brazilian society. Chemistry education has been the theme throughout these discussions. It is known that the low level of basic and secondary education and the recent increase in high school courses and institutions adversely affect the quality of undergraduate teaching. The recent national "Curriculum Guidelines" for Chemistry Courses, through their flexible approach, encourage the integral, interdisciplinary (non compartmentalized) and critical-reflexive training of professionals as citizens and as entrepreneurs. However, deficiencies are still recognized. The system of undergraduate course evaluation has identified the most fragile modalities of the courses and other indicators. Also, it has been verified that the Brazilian chemistry industry absorbs only minimally the highly qualified professionals, which is attributed to the fact that the Federal Council of Chemistry is vertically organized and does not recognize the graduate degrees as professional qualifications. In conclusion, the importance of the effective implantation of the national curriculum guidelines is apparent, among other aspects, highlighting courses whose didactical and pedagogical projects may offer a solid formation in Chemistry. However, at the same time the guidelines are comprehensive and general enough to enable the chemistry professionals to develop varied skills.

Keynes e o conceito de capital: reflexões epistemológicas a respeito das premissas sraffianas da teoria geral

Keynes and the concept of capital: some epistemological observations in regard to the Sraffian premises of the General Theory. This article aims to examine the conception of the nature of capital used by Keynes in the General Theory, to show to what extent this concept is similar to Sraffa's conception, and to highlight the implications related to this concept, in terms of structural instability. So I will study the mechanisms that explain the investment decision in an environment with strong uncertainty, the modalities of aggregation of different generations of capital and the instability of equilibrium. The convergence between the keynesian and the Sraffian approaches comes from this common conception of capital. Finally, i will examine the implications in regard to the structure of the aggregate models.

Solvability of mental health care in the Family Health Strategy: social representation of professionals and users

Objective To aprehend the social representations about the solvability in mental health care with users of the Family Health Strategy and professionals of family health teams and of the Center for Psychosocial Care. Method A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews for data collection, and the Alceste software for analysis. This software uses the Hierarchical Descending Classification based on the examination of lexical roots, considering the words as units and providing context in the corpus. Results The representations emerge in two opposing poles: the users require satisfaction with care and the professionals realize the need for improvement of health actions. Although the matricial support in mental health and the home visits are developed, the barriers related to investment in health, continuing education and organization of care persist. Conclusion The different representations enable improvements in customer service, solvability of care and aggregate knowledge and practices in the expanded perspective of health needs in the family, social and therapeutic context.


Social representation of domestic violence against women among Nursing Technicians and Community Agents

OBJECTIVE To analyze the social representations of the Nursing Technicians and Community Health Agents about domestic violence against women. METHOD A qualitative study carried out in the city of Rio Grande, RS, in which evocations and interviews were collected between July and November 2013. For the treatment of data were used the EVOC 2005 software and the context analysis. RESULT It is a structured representation, in which the central nucleus contains conceptual, imaging and attitudinal elements, namely: abuse, aggression, physical aggression, cowardice and lack of respect. Such terms were present in the context of the interviews. The professionals acknowledged that violence is not limited to physical aspects and were judgemental about the acts of the aggressor. CONCLUSION This knowledge may enable the problematization of the studied phenomenon with the team, and facilitate the search for prevention and intervention strategies for victims, offenders and managers of health services.

Social representation of Alzheimer's disease for family caregivers: stressful and rewarding

Abstract OBJECTIVE To understand the content of Social Representation (SR) of family caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients. METHOD Interviews were conducted with 26 caregivers and analyzed by the ALCESTE software. RESULTS The SR content was structured in two thematic axes called Daily Life and Care and Medical and Emotional Concepts and Outcomes. The first axis creates images related to the routine of interaction with the sick person, and contains a description of care procedures, experiences, and practices applied every day. The second is composed of subjective and conceptual aspects that make up the social representation of Alzheimer's disease, with meanings related to the emotional, medical, and biological contexts. CONCLUSION Due to the importance of topics related to patients' dependence and the personal and emotional consequences of the disease, overload is the main content of the SR of Alzheimer's disease for caregivers, and the understanding of these SR by health professionals should support the planning of interventions addressing this group of individuals.

Graduating 4th year radiology residents' perception of optimal imaging modalities for neoplasm and trauma: a pilot study from four U.S. universities

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to assess 4th year radiology residents' perception of the optimal imaging modality to investigate neoplasm and trauma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-seven 4th year radiology residents from four residency programs were surveyed. They were asked about the best imaging modality to evaluate the brain and spine, lungs, abdomen, and the musculoskeletal system. Imaging modalities available were MRI, CT, ultrasound, PET, and X-ray. All findings were compared to the ACR appropriateness criteria. RESULTS: MRI was chosen as the best imaging modality to evaluate brain, spine, abdominal, and musculoskeletal neoplasm in 96.3%, 100%, 70.4%, and 63% of residents, respectively. CT was chosen by 88.9% to evaluate neoplasm of the lung. Optimal imaging modality to evaluate trauma was CT for brain injuries (100%), spine (92.6%), lung (96.3%), abdomen (92.6%), and major musculoskeletal trauma (74.1%); MRI was chosen for sports injury (96.3%). There was agreement with ACR appropriateness criteria. CONCLUSION: Residents' perception of the best imaging modalities for neoplasm and trauma concurred with the appropriateness criteria by the ACR.

Modalities for soil preparation and gypsum application in ultisol: stem productivity of sugarcane

The study was conducted in an area of expansion of sugarcane at Vale do Paraná factory in Suzanápolis city - São Paulo (SP), in Brazil, in the northwestern region of the State of São Paulo. It was used the sugarcane variety RB92-5345, 1.5m of spacing between rows, in an Ultisol. The study aimed to evaluate the productivity of sugarcane and first ratoon and some soil chemical attributes in function of soil tillage and application or not of gypsum. The experimental design was randomized blocks with six treatments, in a factorial 3x2 and six replicates, the main treatments were soil tillage with three equipments, moldboard plow, chisel plow, and heavy harrow, and two secondary treatments with application of 1 t ha-1of gypsum and no gypsum. After each harvest of cane, the soil was characterized as to its fertility indicators in layers of 0.0-0.15; 0.15-0.30 and 0.30-0.45m. Differences in values of soil chemical attributes due to the methods of preparation occurred in the sugarcane did not last until the harvest of the 1st ratoon cane, and also did not influence the crop productivity. The gypsum application resulted in higher values ​​of total recoverable sugar (TRS) and the productivity of tons of stems per hectare (TSH) to sugarcane and 1st ratoon cane, respectively, confirming the initial hypothesis.

Developmental norms for eight instruments used in the neuropsychological assessment of children: studies in Brazil

Norms for a battery of instruments, including Denckla's and Garfield's tests of Motor Persistence, Benton's Right-Left Discrimination, two recall modalities (Immediate and Delayed) of the Bender Test, Wechsler's Digit Span, the Color Span Test and the Human Figure Drawing Test, were developed for the neuropsychological assessment of children in the greater Rio de Janeiro area. Additionally, the behavior of each child was assessed with the Composite Teacher Rating Scale (Brito GNO and Pinto RCA (1991) Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 13: 417-418). A total of 398 children (199 boys and 199 girls balanced for age) with a mean age of 9.3 years (SD = 2.8), who were attending a public school in Niterói, were the subjects of this study. Gender and age had significant effects on performance which depended on the instrument. Nonachievers performed worse than achievers in most neuropsychological tests. Comparison of our data to the available counterparts in the United States revealed that American children outperformed Brazilian children on the Right-Left Discrimination, Forward Digit Span, Color Span and Human Figure Drawing Tests. Further analysis showed that the neurobehavioral data consist of different factorial dimensions, including Human Body Representation, Motor Persistence of the Legs, Orbito-Orobuccal Motor Persistence, Attention-Memory, Visuospatial Memory, Neuropsychomotor Speed, Hyperactivity-Inattention, and Anxiety-Negative Socialization. We conclude that gender and age should be taken into account when using the normative data for most of the instruments studied in the present report. Furthermore, we stress the need for major changes in the Brazilian public school system in order to foster the development of secondary cognitive abilities in our children