U.S. 151 Cascade to Dubuque, Dubuque County : project concept and assessment of impacts, 1994

This project concept and assessment of impacts includes information on future four-lane construction of U.S. 151 from the existing four-lane section near Cedar Rapids to Dubuque.

Emergency Management and Wildland-Urban Interface Fires in the United States of America

FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a Nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Emergency Management in the United States of America

Core capabilities are under the above mission areas as outlined in the National Preparedness Goal. Planning, Public Information and Warning, and Operational Coordination cut across all five mission areas. Without these three cross-cutting capabilities, the other capabilities might not be achieved or could be weakened. Other core capabilities are aligned under a specific mission area, based on where it had the most relevance. Core capabilities alignment: Prevention capabilities focus on things related to preventing an imminent terrorist attack; by imminent, we mean an attack that is about to happen ; Protection capabilities focus on security— making sure things, systems, and people are protected ; Mitigation capabilities focus on risk, resilience and building a culture of preparedness; Response capabilities focus on meeting a community’s immediate needs when disaster strikes and finally, recovery capabilities focus on getting communities back on their feet.

Personnel Practices in Japanese Government

This paper examines key aspects of Japanese Government personnel practices, and draws comparisons with the practices in the U.S. civil service and, as appropriate, with other U.S. models. Particular reference is made to the practices of two major agencies in Japan, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT). As appropriate, selected government businesses practices other than personnel practices are noted.

Propuesta académica para la Universidad del Rosario: Maestría en Administración Deportiva

Consiste en la propuesta de un programa de maestría para la Universidad Del Rosario en Administración Deportiva. Esto teniendo en cuenta el espacio para la profesionalización de este campo en el país

Fractura de radio distal como predictor de fractura de cadera en mayores de 65 años de un hospital universitario de alta complejidad en Bogotá

La osteoporosis es una de las condiciones patológicas en mayor crecimiento a medida que la población de tercera edad aumenta, esto se traduce en fracturas por fragilidad como lo son las fracturas de radio distal y las fracturas de cadera, actualmente no se cuentas con datos de la población a estudio que correlacione este tipo de fracturas. Es un estudio retrospectivo de casos y controles donde se obtuvo un grupo de pacientes con fractura de cadera que consultaron a un hospital universitario de alta complejidad en la ciudad de Bogotá, se evaluó la presencia de antecedente de fractura de radio distal y se comparó con un grupo control de trauma en cadera. Se obtuvo un total de 325 casos (72,5%) y 123 (25%) controles. El promedio de edad fue de 81 años, el 70% de los pacientes en ambos grupos correspondió a mujeres. No hubo diferencia en cuanto a la prevalencia de tabaquismo, hipertensión arterial o diabetes en los grupos. No se encontraron diferencias significativas en cuanto a niveles de glicemia, calcio, vitamina D. La presencia de antecedente de fractura de radio distal en grupo con fractura de cadera fue del 7,1% encontrando un OR de 3,91 IC 95%(1,17– 13,10). La presencia de fractura de radio distal como antecedente es un predictor para la fractura de cadera en pacientes mayores. Se necesitan más estudios que correlacionen otras variables que pueden influir en la asociación para fractura de cadera y radio, para así identificar una población específica que se beneficie de un tratamiento temprano.

The Survivability of Swedish Emergency Management Related Research Centers and Academic Programs : A Preliminary Sociology of Science Analysis

The Survivability of Swedish Emergency Management Related Research Centers and Academic Programs: A Preliminary Sociology of Science Analysis Despite being a relatively safe nation, Sweden has four different universities supporting four emergency management research centers and an equal and growing number of academic programs. In this paper, I discuss how these centers and programs survive within the current organizational environment. The sociology of science or the sociology of scientific knowledge perspectives should provide a theoretical guide. Yet, scholars of these perspectives have produced no research on these related topics. Thus, the population ecology model and the notion of organizational niche provide my theoretical foundation. My data come from 26 interviews from those four institutions, the gathering of documents, and observations. I found that each institution has found its own niche with little or no competition – with one exception. Three of the universities do have an international focus. Yet, their foci have minimal overlap. Finally, I suggest that key aspects of Swedish culture, including safety, and a need aid to the poor, help explain the extensive funding these centers and programs receive to survive. 

Desafios na economia do conhecimento - o caso do BNDES

Land, capital and work dictated the organizations¿ success in the industrial era. Added to these factors, the intangible assets are considered the key complement to determine business¿ sustainability in the knowledge era. The globalization creates a new dynamic in the markets and the knowledge management becomes focal point to the organizations. It becomes more common the incorporation of inter-organizational nets to improve business, in a strategy win-win where the tacit knowledge, noncodified, which is shared. More specifically, the innovation management, one of the intangible assets aspects, plays an important role in the Federal Government agenda, through the PDP and other market players. BNDES made significant progress to assist companies¿ demands in the knowledge era, among them: the adoption of the Intangible Assets BSC methodology to evaluate companies¿ credit risk and the partnership with Brightom University (UK) to train innovation management to companies¿ managers. Besides the initial steps, what are the challenges that BNDES will face from now on? In the bibliographic review, it is analyzed the competitive factors in the knowledge era, the evolution of the intangible assets concept, the consolidation of the networking as business strategy, evaluation its advantages and disadvantages, some innovation definitions and its management through the identification of the development level of the Brazilian companies¿ in this aspect. After that, it is analyzed the management tool so-called Balanced Scorecard, which is fundamental to the Intangible Assets BSC. The actions already implemented by BNDES, Sebrae and FINEP focused on the subject are identified in order to evaluate the integration level among those actions. Then, it is demonstrated the relevancy of the subject not only to BNDES, but also to society. This study faces the subject by the preparation of a diagnostic from 30 actives SMEs investments from BNDESPAR portfolio, a BNDES subsidiary, adopting the BSC methodology through questionnaire. The objective is to certify if there is enough space to elaborate an action plan focused on creating value to companies considering them intangible assets and, if it is viable, how this toll can be useful and adequate to achieve such objective. The questionnaire content, answered by the training participants in the innovation management program, is also evaluated to check the suggestions of actions to maximize the expected feedback. In the conclusion, it is verified that the tool so-called Intangible Assets BSC is adequate to the management activity of the investments in PMEs from BNDESPAR portfolio and there is enough space to adopt measures focused on creation of companies¿ value, mentioning some examples and highlighting some preliminary academicals contributions to improve the tool and also suggests other steps that BNDES can adopt to optimize the actions already implemented.

Essays in corporate risk management

This research investigates the factors that lead Latin American non-financial firms to manage risks using derivatives. The main focus is on currency risk management. With this purpose, this thesis is divided into an introduction and two main chapters, which have been written as stand-alone papers. The first paper describes the results of a survey on derivatives usage and risk management responded by the CFOs of 74 Brazilian non-financial firms listed at the São Paulo Stock Exchange (BOVESPA), and the main evidence found is: i) larger firms are more likely to use financial derivatives; ii) foreign exchange risk is the most managed with derivatives; iii) Brazilian managers are more concerned with legal and institutional aspects in using derivatives, such as the taxation and accounting treatment of these instruments, than with issues related to implementing and maintaining a risk management program using derivatives. The second paper studies the determinants of risk management with derivatives in four Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico). I investigate not only the decision of whether to use financial derivatives or not, but also the magnitude of risk management, measured by the notional value of outstanding derivatives contracts. This is the first study, to the best of my knowledge, to use derivatives holdings information in emerging markets. The use of a multi-country setting allows the analysis of institutional and economic factors, such as foreign currency indebtedness, the high volatility of exchange rates, the instability of political and institutional framework and the development of financial markets, which are issues of second-order importance in developed markets. The main contribution of the second paper is on the understanding of the relationship among currency derivatives usage, foreign debt and the sensitivity of operational earnings to currency fluctuations in Latin American countries. Unlikely previous findings for US firms, my evidence shows that derivatives held by Latin American firms are capable of producing cash flows comparable to financial expenses and investments, showing that derivatives are key instruments in their risk management strategies. It is also the first work to show strong and robust evidence that firms that benefit from local currency devaluation (e.g. exporters) have a natural currency hedge for foreign debt that allows them to bear higher levels of debt in foreign currency. This implies that firms under this revenue-cost structure require lower levels of hedging with derivatives. The findings also provide evidence that large firms are more likely to use derivatives, but the magnitude of derivatives holdings seems to be unrelated to the size of the firm, consistent with findings for US firms.

Política habitacional em zonas urbanas: o caso do conjunto habitacional Vila da Barca, em Belém

o presente estudo é o resultado da pesquisa feita durante o Mestrado em Gestão Empresarial da Escola de Administração Pública e de Empresas, da Fundação Getúlio Vargas. Este trabalho buscou compreender a produção espacial da cidade de Belém, precisamente sobre a Vila da Barca, situada às margens da Baia do Guajará, região que teve alguns de seus moradores remanejados para o Projeto de Habitação e Urbanização do local como parte da política pública habitacional da área, realizada pelo Governo Municipal em parceria com o Governo Federal. Este projeto habitacional é gerenciado pela Secretaria Municipal de Habitação - SEHAB. O objetivo principal deste estudo voltou-se para a avaliação do Projeto de Habitação da Vila da Barca no sentido de identificar como se efetivou o processo de concepção, remanejamento e reinstalação das famílias do setor analisado. Além disso, buscou-se conhecer o que foi feito em relação ao desenvolvimento desse espaço urbano. A metodologia se desenvolveu em duas fases: aplicação de questionários aos moradores e, de entrevistas aos técnicos envolvidos (Gerente de Desenvolvimento Urbano (GIDUR); Técnico Social e Engenheiro, funcionários da Caixa Econômica Federal em Belém). A pesquisa procurou demonstrar a opinião dos envolvidos no processo de efetivação dessa política pública, compreender a produção desse espaço urbano em suas diferentes dimensões e perceber os aspectos positivos e negativos do projeto, verificando alguns elementos de construção desse espaço. Como conclusão, percebe-se que é preciso construir formas atuais eficazes de exercer por parte da sociedade o controle social sobre o poder do Estado e sobre os mecanismos que controlam o mercado. Esse é o desafio maior da contemporaneidade

Análise do nível de maturidade da gestão do conhecimento na criminalística federal

Gerir o conhecimento representa uma nova responsabilidade da administração pública para que ela possa aumentar a efetividade dos serviços prestados e melhorar a sociedade a qual serve, na medida em que auxilia as organizações a enfrentar novos desafios, implantar práticas inovadoras de gestão e melhorar a qualidade dos processos, produtos e serviços públicos. Considerando que o processo de gestão do conhecimento compreende cinco etapas representadas por identificar, criar, armazenar, compartilhar e utilizar o conhecimento organizacional, o mapeamento inicial das práticas de GC já existentes na criminalística federal reveste-se de fundamental importância. Como se referem a práticas relativamente novas no contexto das organizações – notadamente nas públicas – diversos métodos de avaliação de implementação de práticas de GC foram identificados. Nesse contexto, uma vez que a perícia criminal federal apresenta-se como uma organização que pretende implementar práticas relacionadas à GC, não havendo, porém, até o momento, qualquer iniciativa institucionalizada nesse sentido, a escolha da metodologia recaiu sobre o modelo proposto pelo IPEA. Quanto à pesquisa, tendo em mente o problema e os objetivos propostos, optou-se por uma investigação descritiva, explicativa e aplicada, onde se buscou construir um amplo referencial teórico com descrição detalhada dos aspectos abordados no decorrer do estudo. Os trabalhos envolveram, ainda, pesquisa de campo, bibliográfica e estudo de caso. Os resultados permitiram concluir que a criminalística federal encontra-se em fase de iniciação em gestão do conhecimento, situação em que começa a reconhecer a importância e a necessidade de gerenciar o conhecimento originado no contexto de suas atividades e que está inserido na organização por meio de seus integrantes. Verificou-se, ainda, no decorrer da pesquisa, ações pontuais dispersas na perícia criminal federal voltadas à sistematizar as informações e conhecimentos insertos na instituição.

Efeitos do enriquecimento com nutrientes (N e P) em diferentes condições de luz sobre o crescimento do fitoplâncton em um reservatório eutrófico no semi-árido brasileiro

The increasing of pollution in aquatic ecosystems in the last decades has caused an expansion of eutrophication and loss of water quality for human consumption. The increase of frequency and intensity of cyanobacteria blooms have been recognized as a major problem connected to water quality and eutrophication. The knowledge of environmental factors controlling these blooms is a key step towards the management for recovering aquatic ecosystems from eutrophic conditions. Primary productivity in aquatic ecosystems is dependent on light and nutrients availability. In the present work we evaluated the relative importance of the concentration of major nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, and light for phytoplankton growth in the main water reservoir of Rio Grande do Norte State, named Engenheiro Armando Ribeiro Gonçalves (EARG), which is an eutrophic system, dominated by potentially toxic cyanobacteria populations. Limitation of phytoplankton growth was evaluated through bioassays using differential enrichment of nutrients (N and/or P) under two light conditions (low light and high light) and monthly monitoring of chlorophyll-a and nutrients (total nitrogen and phosphorus) concentrations, and water transparency (Secchi depth) at the pelagic region. Our results confirm that EARG reservoir is an eutrophic system with a low water quality. Results of bioassays on the growth of phytoplankton limitation (N or P) were conflicting with the results predicted by the TN:TP ratios, which indicates that these ratios were not a good indicator of algal growth limitation. Nitrogen was the limiting nutrient, considering both frequency and magnitude. Light and hidrology affected phytoplankton response to nutrient enrichment. The extreme eutrophic conditions of this reservoir, dominated by cyanobacteria blooms, demand urgent managing strategies in order to guarantee the multiple uses for this system, including water supply for human population. Although nitrogen is the limiting nutrient, an effective management program must focus on the reduction of both phosphorus and nitrogen input

A implementação do programa Gestão nota 10 no sistema municipal de educação em Mossoró/RN (2005 a 2009)

This research work is focused to show the changes in educational administration from the agreements between the Mossoró / RN and the Ayrton Senna Institute IAS, for education provision. Nowadays, the partnership policy is a constitutive element of the reform of the Brazilian State, which dropped its action on social policies and to strengthen its regulatory role, encouraging private participation in planning, preparation and implementation of public policies, new printing setting the political-social. In this context, the 10 Note Management Programme, developed by the IAS, is part of the neoliberal logic of modernization of public school systems, focusing on results and developing strategies for control and regulation of schools work and its efficiency, effectiveness and greater productivity. The 10 Note focuses on two dimensions: the management of learning and teaching in networking, in a managerial perspective to overcome the culture of failure (expressed as age-grade, dropout and repetition rates in) and implantation of culture of success (as measured in the improvement of the indices). To understanding the process, we have delimited as the object of study, the process of implementing them mentioned program in the city, which its objective is to analyze implications for the school community from the perspective of democratic management, adopting the dimensions of autonomy and participation in institutional processes as a criterion of analysis. From a methodological point of view, the survey was conducted from a literature review and documentary about educational policy developed in the country since the 1990´s, seeking to understand, in a dialectical perspective, the political dimensions of teaching, training and performance of the subjects involved in the school work. Besides the empirical observation, it was also used semi-structured interviews with a methodological tool for gathering information and opinions about the partnership and the implementation of the 10 Note Management Program in the county. The interviewee participants were ex-former education managers, coordinators, school managers, secretaries and teachers. Regarding the dimensions inside the analysis (autonomy and participation), the research led to the conclusion: that GEED, under the guidance of IAS promoted regulation of school autonomy, set up the selection process for exercising the office of school administration and system awards to schools, pupils and teachers, subject to results, there is mismatch between the managerial logic and the democratic management principles, that the ideological discourse of modernization of municipal management coexists with traditional practices, centralizing patronage, which ignores the democratic participation in the school decisions processes, the goals of the partnership were partially achieved, since that the city has improved over the approval and dropouts, although the approval of the Education Municipal Plan of the rules institutional (administrative, financial and educational) and the creation of the Councils observed that the school community participation is still limited, not being characterized as a coordinated intervention, capable of promoting the transformation and improvement its quality in the county. In the same way, the orientation of networking is a limit to the autonomy of schools, given the external definition of goals and strategies to be adopted, along with pressure exerted through the accountability of each school community for their achievements

Caracterização genética de vacas leiteiras por meio de marcadores moleculares e suas implicações na composição e qualidade do leite

The objective of this study was to identify DNA polymorphisms at the genes leptin, β-lactoglobulin and pituitary-specific transcription factor in three genetic groups of Holstein x Guzerat dairy cows and investigate the relationship between their genotypes and the composition and quality of milk of dairy cows. Samples were collected in August 2009, being 113 blood samples from lactating crossbred cows and 58 milk samples. For analysis of DNA polymorphisms blood samples were collected, analyzed later in the Genetic Laboratory affiliated to the Zootechny Institute of São Paulo and individual milk samples were collected according to standards established by the laboratory of Management Program of Northeast Dairy Herds (PROGEN), at Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE) for analysis of milk composition and quality. The characterization of genotypes was performed by PCR-RFLP, for which were designed specific primers for each studied gene and restriction enzymes Kpn2I, HaeIII and HinfI that cut the DNA of the following genes: leptin, β-lactoglobulin and a PIT, respectively. The leptin estimate genotypic frequence were CC 0.112, TT 0.225 and CT 0.661, for β-lactoglobulin were AA 0.136, AB 0.323 and BB 0.539, and for PIT were ++ 0.655, -- 0.311 and +- 0.032. The results show that the population is in Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium for leptin, β-lactoglobulin and a PIT due to excess of heterozygotes in the population, however, as these genes are associated with the milk production it is considered that the animals have genetic potential for milk production in the Brazilian semi-arid conditions. Through the characterization of the studied herd there were not found implications of the polymorphism of leptin, β-lactoglobulin and PIT in the composition and quality of milk from cows in the different genetic groups 1/2, 3/4 and 7/8 Holstein x Guzerat. Key words: β-lactoglobulin, crossbred cows, leptin, PCR-RFLP, PIT1, semi-arid.

Patient Education and Self-Care for the Management of Jaw Pain upon Awakening: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial Comparing the Effectiveness of Adding Pharmacologic Treatment with Cyclobenzaprine or Tizanidine

Aims: To compare the effectiveness of adding cyclobenzaprine, tizanidine, or placebo to patient education and a self-care management program for patients with myofascial pain and specifically presenting with jaw pain upon awakening. Methods: Forty-five patients with a diagnosis of myofascial pain based on the guidelines of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain participated in this 3-week study. The subjects were randomly assigned into one of three groups: placebo group, TZA group (tizanidine 4 mg), or CYC group (cyclobenzaprine 10 mg). Patients were evaluated for changes in pain intensity, frequency, and duration by using the modified Severity Symptoms Index and changes in sleep quality with the use of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and post-hoc or nonparametric statistical tests as appropriate. Results: All three groups had a reduction in pain symptoms and improvement of sleep quality based on a comparison of pretreatment and treatment scores. However, no significant differences among the groups were observed at the posttreatment evaluation. Conclusion: The use of tizanidine or cyclobenzaprine in addition to self-care management and patient education was not more effective than placebo for the management of patients with myofascial jaw pain upon awakening.