Public-private partnerships for innovation and export development: the Irish model of development

Includes Bibliography

Socio-economic vulnerability to natural disasters in Mexico: rural poor, trade and public response

Includes bibliography

Case report: Disseminated Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in a dog

An uncommon disseminated Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection is described in a 12-year-old female dog presenting with fever, dyspnea, cough, weight loss, lymphadenopathy, melena, epistaxis, and emesis. The dog had a history of close contact with its owner, who died of pulmonary tuberculosis. Radiographic examination revealed diffuse radio-opaque images in both lung lobes, diffuse visible masses in abdominal organs, and hilar and mesenteric lymphadenopathy. Bronchial washing samples and feces were negative for acid-fast organisms. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based species identification of bronchial washing samples, feces, and urine revealed M. tuberculosis using PCR-restriction enzyme pattern analysis-PRA. Because of public health concerns, which were worsened by the physical condition of the dog, euthanasia of the animal was recommended. Rough and tough colonies suggestive of M. tuberculosis were observed after microbiological culture of lung, liver, spleen, heart, and lymph node fragments in Löwenstein-Jensen and Stonebrink media. The PRA analysis enabled diagnosis of M. tuberculosis strains isolated from organs. Copyright © 2013 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Discurso empresarial: o house-organ como instrumento ideológico nas organizações

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Quando mudar é condição para permanecer: a escola Casa Familiar Rural e as estratégias de reprodução social do campesinato na Transamazônica (Pará-Amazônia)

Neste trabalho são analisadas as relações entre escolarização (configurada na Casa Familiar Rural) e as estratégias de reprodução das organizações sociais representativas do campesinato em interface com as famílias de agricultores na Transamazônica, frente pioneira de colonização no Oeste do Pará, particularmente no município de Medicilândia. Esta escola, pensada por estes agentes sociais e coletivos em um cenário nacional e regional de publicização dos quadros que fragilizam a agricultura de base camponesa, a partir de meados da década de 1990, tem sido instrumento da luta social. As tensões no espaço social, lidas como ‘crise da base’ e ‘crise dos sistemas de produção’, teriam desenhado simultaneamente uma ‘crise de formação’ na qual as finalidades da escola foram sendo construídas por desafios sócio-econômico e políticos. Este cenário teria constituído os jovens agricultores como categoria social, investidos da expectativa coletiva de tornarem-se, sob a mediação da CFR, técnicos agrícolas e/ou dirigentes, a fim de dar continuidade ao grupo (seja dos atores, nos campos das organizações sociais/sindicais e comunitário-religiosas; seja das famílias, na sucessão agrícola e na manutenção de sua posição social). As repercussões da CFR na condição camponesa destes jovens são analisadas a partir de dados qualitativos e quantitativos, tomando-se como referência os interesses e investimentos dos agentes sociais, das famílias, bem como as inserções sócio-profissionais no campo e/ou na cidade destes jovens após a escolarização. Os resultados da CFR, considerando-se esta escola como estratégia coletiva organizada que visa transformar para conservar o campo de lutas enquanto sistema de relações objetivas do grupo social que a constitui, revelam que a mesma tem possibilitado a permanência dos jovens agricultores no campo sob diversos arranjos em que se imbricam as relações com o campesinato, com a cidade, com o conhecimento escolar/técnico, e com uma ética de trabalho e relação com a terra/natureza “ambientalizada”. No âmbito dos grupos domésticos e da coletividade camponesa (nas quais se incluem as organizações representativas do grupo estudado), a posição social destes jovens caracteriza-se por formas de distinção social visíveis nas práticas sócio-produtivas intercedidas pelo capital escolar, bem como na posição de mediadores dirigentes e técnicos.

Ambiente percebido e sua associação com a atividade física total no lazer em adultos residentes no município de Rio Claro, SP

Introduction: Given the repercussion of the important role of physical activity in the prevention of sickness and non-communicable diseases / loss, many works have been done in order to understand the association of sociodemographic characteristics with sedentarism. The elements which influence the physical activity practice are countless. Besides the intrapersonal element, environment elements (social environment, cultural environment, public politics, information environment, natural environment etc.) are also important in the life style. Yet, the way that the person understands the environment can be considered in the planning of the strategies to change the sedentary behavior. Objective: Verify the association of the environment perception with the practice of physical activity (FA) at leisure time in adults living in Rio Claro – SP. Methodology: The sample consists of 470 adults, all residente in rio Claro-SP, aged ≥ 18 years old. The chosen participants answered to the questionnaires: Neighborhood Environmental Walkability Scale (NEWS), International Physical Activity (IPAQ) and to a specific questionnaire with personal data (age, sex, educational level, economical level, weight, height and marital status). The analysis of the connection between the variables was done through the Logistic Regression with Confidence Interval of 95%, using the software SPSS 17.0. Those who reached the recommendation of 10 minutes or more of physical activity in leisure time for week were classified as active, and those who did not reach the recommendation were classified as underactive. Results: The proportion of subjects who practiced physical activity in leisure time was 38,7%, and the male subjects, as well as those classified as better social level showed higher chances to practice at least 10 minutes weekly of physical activity during leisure. Still, walking the dog, soccer fields and gardens near the house (less than 10 walking minutes), were...

Epidemiological aspects of dog bites considering biter dogs and victims

The aim of this study was to characterize dog bites using data on biter dogs and victims. An exploratory cross-sectional study was performed using 203 records of individuals who had attended in public health services in 2009 in the municipality of Araçatuba, São Paulo, Brazil, after they had been bitten by a dog. Over 70% (92/129) of the biter dogs were male and most of them (71%) received as a gift. Dog owners reported companionship as the main reason for acquiring the dog. The victims who were children were predominantly male, while the victims who were elderly were predominantly female. Most children were bitten on the head/neck, while adults were bitten on the hands/feet and lower limbs (p<0.0001). The owner of the dog was known in 83.2% of cases. However, rabies observation of the biter dog following the attack was only reported in 59.4% of cases. Situations involving aggression were related to dogs having escaped from their home (18.7%) or roaming free on the streets (17.0%). The analysis of biting dog characteristics using information obtained from dog bite victims and biting dog owners can help direct the medical treatment for dog bite victims. Moreover, concepts of responsible dog ownership can reduce the occurrence of bites.

Comunicação rural pública no Estado de São Paulo: o caso da CATI

Pós-graduação em Televisão Digital: Informação e Conhecimento - FAAC

Two-Item Sentence Comprehension by a Dog (Canis familiaris)

Syntax use by non-human animals remains a controversial issue. We present here evidence that a dog may respond to verbal requests composed of two independent terms, one referring to an object and the other to an action to be performed relative to the object. A female mongrel dog, Sofia, was initially trained to respond to action (point and fetch) and object (ball, key, stick, bottle and bear) terms which were then presented as simultaneous, combinatorial requests (e. g. ball fetch, stick point). Sofia successfully responded to object-action requests presented as single sentences, and was able to flexibly generalize her performance across different contexts. These results provide empirical evidence that dogs are able to extract the information contained in complex messages and to integrate it in directed performance, an ability which is shared with other linguistically trained animals and may represent a forerunner of syntactic functioning.

Frequency of Toxocara infection in children attended by the health public service of Maringá, south Brazil.

The lack of specific laboratorial diagnosis methods and precise symptoms makes the toxocariasis a neglected disease in Public Health Services. This study aims to determine the frequency of Toxocara spp. infection in children attended by the Health Public Service of Hospital Municipal de Maringá, South Brazil. To evaluate the association of epidemiological and clinical data, and observational and cross-section study was carried out. From 14,690 attended children/year aged from seven month to 12 years old, 450 serum samples were randomly collected from September/2004 to September/2005. A questionnaire was used to evaluate epidemiological, clinical and hematological data. An ELISA using Toxocara canis larval excretory-secretory products as antigen detected 130 (28.8%) positive sera, mainly between children from seven month to five years old (p = 0.0016). Significant correlation was observed between positive serology for Toxocara, and frequent playing in sandbox at school or daycare center (p = 0.011) and the presence of a cat at home (p = 0.056). From the families, 50% were dog owners which exposed soil backyards. Eosinophilia (p = 0.776), and signs and symptoms analyzed (fever p = 0.992, pneumonia p = 0.289, cold-like symptoms p = 0.277, cough p =0.783, gastrointestinal problems p = 0.877, migraine p = 0.979, abdominal pain p = 0.965, joint pain p = 0.686 and skin rash p = 0.105) could not be related to the presence of anti-Toxocara antibodies. Therefore, two asthmatics children showed titles of1:10,240 and accentuated eosinophilia (p = 0.0001). The authors emphasize the needs of prevention activities.

Gli affidamenti c.d. in house nell'ordinamento comunitario e nazionale con particolare riferimento al settore dei trasporti pubblici

Il presente progetto di ricerca analizza quella particolare forma di affidamento diretto dei servizi pubblici denominata in house providing e si articola in tre sezioni. Nella prima sezione viene analizzata la disciplina dei servizi pubblici locali nell’ordinamento italiano mediante un excursus normativo dai primi del 900 ad oggi; la seconda sezione è dedicata alla disciplina dell’affidamento dei servizi pubblici locali di trasporto; la terza sezione, infine, descrive l’in house providing e l’elaborazione pretoria di tale istituto operata dalla giurisprudenza comunitaria. Come noto, la pubblica amministrazione può soddisfare le sue esigenze secondo due diverse modalità: ricorrendo al libero mercato come qualsiasi altro operatore economico oppure auto-producendo i beni e i servizi di cui necessita. Infatti, nonostante il diritto comunitario imponga il rispetto del principio di tutela della concorrenza, lascia impregiudicato il potere di auto-organizzazione in capo alle pubbliche amministrazioni negli Stati membri, le quali potranno scegliere di agire “in economia” o di ricorrere alle prestazioni di operatori terzi. Con la locuzione di derivazione comunitaria in house providing si definisce quel modello organizzativo mediante il quale le pubbliche amministrazioni realizzano le attività di loro competenza attraverso i propri organismi, cioè senza ricorrere al libero mercato per procurarsi i lavori, i servizi e le forniture ad esse occorrenti o per erogare alla collettività prestazioni di pubblico servizio, in deroga ai principi comunitari sulla tutela della concorrenza stabiliti nel Trattato istitutivo della Comunità Europea, che invece imporrebbero lo svolgimento di gare ad evidenza pubblica per l'affidamento di tali servizi. Tuttavia, come chiarito dalla giurisprudenza comunitaria e nazionale, affinché la procedura di gara non sia necessaria, occorre che tra l’amministrazione e il prestatore ci sia sostanziale identità, nonostante le distinte personalità giuridiche, in modo tale da configurare il contratto tra le stesse intercorso come un atto di organizzazione interna.

The role of collective action in the provision of agri-environmental public goods: theoretical development through case studies in Italy

The thesis aims at analysing the role of collective action as a viable alternative to the traditional forms of intervention in agriculture in order to encourage the provision of agri-environmental public goods. Which are the main benefits of collective action, in terms of effectiveness and efficiency, compared to traditional market or public intervention policies? What are the drivers that encourage farmers to participate into collective action? To what extent it is possible to incorporate collective aspects into policies aimed at providing agri-environmental public goods? With the objective of addressing these research questions, the thesis is articulated in two levels: a theoretical analysis on the role of collective action in the provision of public goods and a specific investigation of two local initiative,s were an approach collective management of agro-environmental resources was successfully implemented. The first case study concerns a project named “Custodians of the Territory”, developed by the local agency in Tuscany “Comunità Montana Media Valle del Serchio”, which settled for an agreement with local farmers for a collective provision of environmental services related to the hydro-geological management of the district. The second case study is related to the territorial agri-environmental agreement experimented in Valdaso (Marche), where local farmers have adopted integrated pest management practices collectively with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of their farming practices. The analysis of these initiatives, carried out through participatory methods (Rapid Rural Appraisal), allowed developing a theoretical discussion on the role of innovative tools (such as co-production and co-management) in the provision of agri-environmental public goods. The case studies also provided some recommendations on the government intervention and policies needed to promote successful collective action for the provision of agri-environmental public goods.

Understanding Economic Biases in Representation: Income, Resources, and Policy Representation in the 110th House

This article explores the extent, and possible causes, of income-based biases in representation of citizens by members of the 110th Congress. The author finds that the preferences of wealthier citizens are modestly but significantly better reflected in the choices of their congressional representatives than are the preferences of poorer citizens. More importantly, the author shows that education, political sophistication, political engagement, ethnicity, and other sociodemographic factors can explain only a small part of this representation gap. Biases in representation across income lines appear to be driven by income alone, or at least not by politically relevant factors correlated with income.

The Blue Dog Coalition: Impact of a Single-Issue Caucus from the 104th to the 110th Congress

The Blue Dog Coalition is an informal organization of legislators within the House of Representatives that strives to influence policy on fiscal responsibility, attract the attention of the electorate, They are a group that elicits wide range of reactions covering the length of the political spectrum, but despite this, their claims of special defense of fiscal conservatism within the Democratic Party have gone relatively undocumented by the academic community.This project has integrated a party literature with a caucus literature, in the attempt of building a novel framework for research. Work on polarization, the significance of parties, the purpose and history of caucuses all have been fused in such away that the Blue Dogs have created an opportunity to test broad congressional questions on a caucus-microcosm scale. Three important questions have emerged from the many possible avenues of exploration on the topic: How does admission into the Blue Dog Coalition effect voting behavior - measured by interest, ideology, and party unityscores? How does party leadership delegate prestigious committee assignments, a traditional indicator of partisan favor and influence, towards Blue Dogs? Can we use the Blue Dog Coalition as an indicator of fiscal conservatism? To each of these questions, a number of interesting results emerged. Blue Dogs, in the 104th scored higher in conservative interest group scores, more towards the center in ideological methods, and lower in party unity Dogs began to behave closer to their Democratic counterparts. In addition, membership on these select committees rose from a very small number to greater proportional parity within the Democratic Party. Perhaps most interesting, the Blue Dog Coalition does behave as a significant, independent predictor effect on NTU scores, a variable used to demonstrate fiscal conservatism. This research has shown, first and foremost, that it is useful and practical to applyold arguments within the party literature to a smaller, caucus level of analysis that is relatively untouched by the political science field. For the Blue Dogs, specifically, we have tested the validity of their claims in an attempt to reach broader questions ofdemocratic responsibility and electoral clarity. This work, and other work I have drawn upon, has barely scratched the surface on Blue Dog Democrats and other caucuses of comparable influence and popularity, and there remains a wealth of research material onthis caucus alone to be explored by scholars in the field of congressional politics.

Mouse in the House: Deer Mouse and Sin Nombre Virus Dynamics in Montana

Sin Nombre virus is a strain of Hantavirus that causes the sometimes fatal human illness Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome. The reservoir host of SNV is the deer mouse. Deer mice are found in a wide variety of habitats including peridomestic (in and around buildings) settings. Amy provides an overview of hantaviruses and discusses the research she has been conducting on the SNV/deer mice system since 1995 (in Arizona) and 1999 (in Montana).