Surveillance of influenza A H1N1 2009 among school children during 2009 and 2010 in São Paulo, Brazil

INTRODUCTION: Influenza A H1N1 2009 is associated with a high morbidity rate among children around the world, including Brazil. This survey was conducted on samples of symptomatic children (< 12 years) to investigate the influenza virus as the etiological agent of respiratory infections in a day care school in a health facility during the first and second pandemic wave of H1N1 (2009-2010) in São Paulo, Brazil. METHODS: Influenza infections were determined by real-time PCR in 34% (47/137) of children with a median age of 5 years (8 months - 12 years), from June to October 2009 and in 16% (14/85) of those with median age of 6 years (1-12 years), from March to November 2010. RESULTS: In general, most positive cases (64%) occurred in children aged 5-12 years, this age group was significantly the most affected (39.8%, p = 0.001, OR = 8.3, CI 95% 1.9-36.9). Wheezing was reported by 31% (19/61) and dyspnea by 23% (14/61) of the studied patients. An outbreak of influenza H1N1 with an attack rate of 35.7% among children (median age 6 years) was documented in April 2010, before the vaccination campaign against the pandemic virus was extended for children up to 5 years in Brazil. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, the study reinforces the recommendation to immunize school children to reduce the incidence of the disease.

Comparateive analysis: Public and private school management systems

The Portuguese educational system has counted, for many years, with the co-existence of both public and private schools. In fact, the country’s growth and development led, in the past, to an increasing demand for free of charge public education that could only be matched through the creation of “publicly-subsidized and privately owned and managed schools”. Still, the demographic evolution of Portugal recently generated a decrease on the demand for public educational services. This situation has raised doubts about the true contribution of this type of school for the public education system. This paper aims at answering this question by isolating the impact of different property and management schemes on the performance of students, resorting to cross-section data on 9th grade students from 2010. The results corroborate the well known result on the relevance of the family socio-economic background for students’ performance, but do also sustain the existence of a significant positive impact of private ownership and management schemes on the overall performance of students. These results suggest that there might be gains associated with the expansion of such schemes within the public education system.

A+ grandparents at school

Facing an aging society, where there is a large gap between generations and where the elderly are neglected, the Portuguese Red Cross – Delegation of Vila Nova de Gaia – created the project A+: grandparents at school, which encourages intergenerational work. After observing the positive results of the pilot project, the A+ team decided that the project has the potential to be scaled at a national level to enable it to contribute to the integration of the older people in the society, as well as for positive changes of individuals with regard to the elderly. This work project proposes a method to determine whether A+ can be scaled and what is the most efficient way to do it, establishing a process of scale that can be used by every non-profit organization

Recommendations for Nova School of Business and Economics to target yhe Colombian market

The growing connotation Internationalization has worldwide, alongside the economic, political and socio-environmental changes, is empowering a progressively global education economy. Therefore, this Work Project aims to help Nova SBE to understand the decision making process of the Colombian tertiary education students, as this market constitutes an enriching opportunity to meet both business and educative objectives. In order to do so, a qualitative research was conducted to comprehend the rationale behind Colombian students to study abroad. The study points out that the reputation of a HE institution and the Portuguese culture are the key attributes to pursue a degree in Portugal.

The effect of secular trends in the classroom furniture mismatch: support for continuous update of school furniture standards

In order to create safer schools, the Chilean authorities published a Standard regarding school furniture dimensions. The aims of this study are twofold: to verify the existence of positive secular trend within the Chilean student population and to evaluate the potential mismatch between the anthropometric characteristics and the school furniture dimensions defined by the mentioned standard. The sample consists of 3078 subjects. Eight anthropometric measures were gathered, together with six furniture dimensions from the mentioned standard. There is an average increase for some dimensions within the Chilean student population over the past two decades. Accordingly, almost 18% of the students will find the seat height to be too high. Seat depth will be considered as being too shallow for 42.8% of the students. It can be concluded that the Chilean student population has increased in stature, which supports the need to revise and update the data from the mentioned Standard. Practitioner Summary: Positive secular trend resulted in high levels of mismatch if furniture is selected according to the current Chilean Standard which uses data collected more than 20 years ago. This study shows that school furniture standards need to be updated over time.

Equations for defining the mismatch between students and school furniture: A systematic review

The present study reviews the scientific literature that describes the criteria equations for defining the mismatch between students and school furniture. This mismatch may negatively affect students' performance and comfort. Seventeen studies met the criteria of this review and twenty-one equations to test six furniture dimensions were identified. There was substantial mismatch between the relative heights of chairs and tables. Some systematic errors have been found during the application of the different equations, such as the assumption that students are sitting on chairs with a proper seat height. Only one study considered the cumulative fit. Finally, some equations are based on contradictory criteria and need to develop and evaluate new equations for these cases. Relevance to industry: Ultimately, the present work is a contribution toward improving the evaluation of school furniture and could be used to design ergonomic-oriented classroom furniture.

Analysis and selection of indicators for a sustainability assessment method for school buildings based on SBTool ‐ PT

Nowadays, the sustainability of buildings has an extreme importance. This concept goes towards the European aims of the Program Horizon 2020, which concerns about the reduction of the environmental impacts through such aspects as the energy efficiency and renewable technologies, among others. Sustainability is an extremely broad concept but, in this work, it is intended to include the concept of sustainability in buildings. Within the concept that aims the integration of environmental, social and economic levels towards the preservation of the planet and the integrity of the users, there are, currently, several types of tools of environmental certification that are applicable to the construction industry (LEED, BREEAM, DGNB, SBTool, among others). Within this context, it is highlighted the tool SBTool (Sustainable Building Tool) that is employed in several countries and can be subject to review in institutions of basic education, which are the base for the formation of the critical masses and for the development of a country. The main aim of this research is to select indicators that can be used in a methodology for sustainability assessment (SBTool) of school buildings in Portugal and in Brazil. In order to achieve it, it will also be analyzed other methodologies that already incorporate parameters directly related with the schools environment, such as BREEAM or LEED.

The importance of the category of consciousness and education for sustainability in methodologies for eco‐efficiency in school buildings

This document reports the importance of the category of consciousness and education for sustainability in the school environment. Education in school has a potential to make the benefits of the building construction visible for society and media, showing to the students, parents and communities how sustainability in built environment could improve the people life in economic, social and environment aspects. Thus, this paper addresses the main events related to sustainability, such as the Stockholm Conference, the Brundtland report, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and Agenda 21, until reaching the necessity of the elaboration of Methodologies for environmental assessment of building, and later, the development of the specific methodologies according to the buildings. It is also described some examples of sustainability in schools in Germany, Finland and Italy and what kind of sustainable systems those countries are currently using.

School governance and academic excellence: the representations of distinguished students in an annual award of excellence

Within a research project on «academic excellence in the state school», this paper is a contribution to the sociological reflection on the cultural and organisational characteristics of the school and its relationship with the academic success of students. The data we present stem from a case study underway at a secondary school in the north of Portugal, referring to the universe of students that since 2003 have distinguished themselves for achieving grades equal to or greater than 18 (on a scale of 0 to 20) and have thus been included in the school’s Framework of Excellence. From a contextual approach to this educational practice, we focused on the cultural characteristics of the school/subject as analytical support for the study of school and non-school dimensions in their mutual connections. To this end, we used the information from document analysis and data collected from a questionnaire survey administered to more than two-thirds of the students included in the above-mentioned Framework of Excellence. Subsequently, we will use the data from this survey to understand the extent to which academic excellence is perceived as an indivisible social construction of the school’s political and organisational matrix, particularly in terms of the educational and teaching guidelines adopted by the management body. We will conclude by questioning the meaning of the school’s management policies regarding the emphasis on educational outcomes, with particular focus on the representations of excellent students in the processes of school leadership, teaching organisation, school merit and justice.

School health promotion and teacher professional identity

PURPOSE – Health and education are inextricably linked. Health promotion sits somewhat uncomfortably within schools, often remaining a marginal aspect of teachers’ work. The purpose of this paper is to examine the compatibility of an HP-initiative with teacher professional identity. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH – A qualitative research design was adopted consisting of semi-structured interviews. In total, 49 teachers in two school districts in the Auvergne region in central France were interviewed in depth post having completed three years’ involvement in a health promoting schools initiative called “Learning to Live Better Together” (“Apprendre a Mieux Vivre Ensemble”). FINDINGS – Teachers in the study had a broad conceptualisation of their role in health promotion. In keeping with international trends, there was more success at classroom than at whole school level. While generally teachers can be reluctant to engage with health promotion, the teachers in this study identified having little difficulty in understanding their professional identity as health promoters and identified strong compatibility with the HP-initiative. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS – Teachers generally viewed professional development in health promotion in a positive light when its underlying values were commensurate with their own and when the context was seen as compatible with the school mission. The promotion of health in schools needs to be sensitive to professional identity and be tailored specifically to blend more successfully with current teacher identity and practice. ORIGINALITY/VALUE – The promotion of health in schools needs to be sensitive to professional identity and be tailored specifically to blend more successfully with current teacher identity and practice.

Girls out of school. State, culture and education in poor rural Lao People's Democratic Republic

Tese de Doutoramento em Sociologia

“It’s a complicated situation”. Harm in everyday experiences with technology. A qualitative study with school-aged children

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências da Educação (Especialidade de Tecnologia Educativa)

All different or all the same? Exploring the diversity of professional practices in Portuguese school psychology

"Published online: 29 March 2016"

Demographic characteristics of the population undergoing cine coronary angiography at the Instituto do Coração of the Medical School of USP from 1986 to 1995

OBJECTIVE: To obtain information about the profile and behavior of a population with ischemic heart disease undergoing cine coronary angiography and to determine disease severity. METHODS: Retrospective study assessing patients hospitalized at InCor from 1986 to 1995, in which the variables age, sex, and number of major coronary arteries with obstruction degree > 40% were analyzed. RESULTS: We studied 18,221 patients and observed a significant increase in the number of females (22.8% to 25.2%, P=0.001) and an increase in age (57.1±29.3 to 60.4±10.7 years, P=0.0001). A significant increase in the incidence of multivessel disease was observed, which was more frequent among males (69.2% and 64.5%) and among the older patients (59.8±9.8 and 56.8±10.7 years, P=0.0001). A reduction in the incidence of single-vessel disease was also observed (66.2% vs 69.2% and 33.8% vs 30.5%, respectively, P<0.0001). CONCLUSION: A change in the profile of the population studied was observed as follows: patients undergoing cine coronary angiography at InCor were older, had a greater number of impaired major coronary arteries, and the number of females affected increased, leading to indices suggestive of a poorer prognosis.

Relationship between estimation and real motor performance in school-age children

The relationship between estimated and real motor competences was analyzed for several tasks. Participants were 303 children (160 boys and 143 girls), which had between 6 and 10 years of age (M=8.63, SD=1.16). None of the children presented developmental difficulties or learning disabilities, and all attended age-appropriate classes. Children were divided into three groups according to their age: group 1 (N= 102; age range: 6.48-8.01 years); group 2 (N= 101; age range: 8.02-9.22 years); and group 3 (N=100; age range: 9.24-10.93 years). Children were asked to predict their maximum distance for a locomotor, a manipulative, and a balance task, prior to performing those tasks. Children’s estimations were compared with their real performance to determine their accuracy. Children had, in general, a tendency to overestimate their performance (standing long jump: 56.11%, kicking: 63.37%, throwing: 73.60%, and Walking Backwards (WB) on a balance beam: 45.21%), and older children tended to be more accurate, except for the manipulative tasks. Furthermore, the relationship between estimation and real performance in children with different levels of motor coordination (Köperkoordinationstest für Kinder, KTK) was analyzed. The 75 children with the highest score comprised the Highest Motor Coordination (HMC) group, and the 78 children with the lowest score were placed in the Lowest Motor Coordination (LMC) group. There was a tendency for LMC and HMC children to overestimate their skills at all tasks, except for the HMC group at the WB task. Children with the HMC level tended to be more accurate when predicting their motor performance; however, differences in absolute percent error were only significant for the throwing and WB tasks. In conclusion, children display a tendency to overestimate their performance independently of their motor coordination level and task. This fact may be determinant to the development of their motor competences, since they are more likely to engage and persist in motor tasks, but it might also increase the occurrence of unintended injuries.