Thermoregulation in colonies of africanized and hybrids with Caucasian, Italian and Carniolan Apis mellifera honey bees

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Number of ovarioles in workers descendent from crossings between Africanized and Italian honeybees, Apis mellifera L.: comparison among backcrosses and ancestors colonies

Comparou-se o número de ovaríolos de operárias de abelhas Apis mellifera L. de 36 colônias de retrocruzamentos (Africanizadas e Italianas) e operárias de colônias ancestrais parentais, endocruzadas e híbridas (F1). Não houve diferença no número de ovaríolos dos ovários direito e esquerdo das operárias. As abelhas híbridas da geração F1 apresentaram de 2 a 31 ovaríolos. O número de ovaríolos nas operárias dos retrocruzamentos africanizados variou de 2 a 56 e nos retrocruzamentos italianos de 2 a 117. A grande variação no número de ovaríolos das abelhas dos retrocruzamentos deveu-se a variabilidade observada na geração parental (abelhas africanizadas: 2 - 16; italianas: 6 - 26) e no F1 (2 - 31).

Chemical process to separate iron oxides particles in pottery sample for EPR dating

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Socialists vs. fascists and communists in Italian São Paulo in the 1920s

The action of São Paulo's Italian reformist socialists at the beginning of the 20th century had a political impact on the way of considering the question of democracy both in the state of São Paulo and the whole of Brazil. In fact not only did the socialists oppose the fascist political project and the symbolic roots of its aggressive behavior, but they also faced the opposition of the theoretical proposals coming from other leftist groups. This article intends to present the main interlocutors of these socialists and understand how this theoretical dispute has developed.

A Culture of Relationships: Early Care for Italian and American Children

A culture of childhood is a shared vision – an agreed upon vision – of the needs and rights of children, including ideas about how the people of the community can collectively nurture them and at the same time be renewed by them. In other words, it is a set of values, beliefs, and practices that people have created to guide their way of nurturing young children and their families. The vision is about investing in young children and investing in the supports and relationships that children need to learn and grow, both for the reason that children carry our future and because they carry our hopes and dreams for the future. These hopes and dreams begin with birth. Sensitive, emotionally available parents create the framework for interaction with their children by responding to the baby’s cues, engaging the baby in mutual gazes, and imitating the baby. The baby, born with a primary ability to share emotions with other human beings eagerly joins the relationship dance. The intimate family circle soon widens. Providers, teachers, and directors of early childhood programs become significant figures in children’s lives—implicit or explicit partners in a "relationship dance" (Edwards & Raikes, 2002). These close relationships are believed to be critical to healthy intellectual, emotional, social, and physical development in childhood and adolescence as well. These conclusions have been documented by diverse fields of science, ranging from cognitive science to communication studies and social and personality psychology. Close relationships contribute to security and trust, promote skill development and understanding, nurture healthy physical growth, infuse developing self-understanding and self-confidence, enable self-control and emotion regulation, and strengthen emotional connections with others that contribute to prosocial motivation (Dunn, 1993; Fogel, 1993; Thompson, 1996). Furthermore, many studies showing how relationship dysfunction is linked to child abuse and neglect, aggression, criminality, and other problems involving the lack of significant human connections (Shankoff & Meisels, 2000). In extending the dance of primary relationships to new relationships, a childcare teacher can play a primary role. The teacher makes the space ready--creating a beautiful place that causes everyone to feel like dancing. Gradually, as the dance between them becomes smooth and familiar, the teacher encourages the baby to try out more complex steps and learn how to dance to new compositions, beats, and tempos. As the baby alternates dancing sometimes with one or two partners, sometimes with many, the dance itself becomes a story about who the child has been and who the child is becoming, a reciprocal self created through close relationships.

Physical and psychosocial risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders in Brazilian and Italian nurses

As part of the international CUPID investigation, we compared physical and psychosocial risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders among nurses in Brazil and Italy. Using questionnaires, we collected information on musculoskeletal disorders and potential risk factors from 751 nurses employed in public hospitals. By fitting country-specific multiple logistic regression models, we investigated the association of stressful physical activities and psychosocial characteristics with site-specific and multisite pain, and associated sickness absence. We found no clear relationship between low back pain and occupational lifting, but neck and shoulder pain were more common among nurses who reported prolonged work with the arms in an elevated position. After adjustment for potential confounding variables, pain in the low back, neck and shoulder, multisite pain, and sickness absence were all associated with somatizing tendency in both countries. Our findings support a role of somatizing tendency in predisposition to musculoskeletal disorders, acting as an important mediator of the individual response to triggering exposures, such as work-load.

Guidelines for the Brazilian ceramic sector strategic development, based on a comparison with the Italian market

Based on a structured literature review, the ceramic tiles sector of Italy (benchmark) and Brazil (2nd world producer and consumer) are compared, under four strategic factors: normative, market, technology and strategic management, in order to identify critical risks for a national strategic sector. The document aims to propose guidelines for a strategic re-planning of the Brazilian ceramic tiles sector, making the Brazilian producers aware of the national market fragility (in spite of its recent remarkable evolution) and helping the policy makers to reflect on the need of reviewing the strategic planning methods and practice, of designing new targeted programs (based on coherence between operation and business strategies), of providing improved management to strengthen the sector against unfair competition by low-cost producers, enhancing the necessary infrastructure in technology, work, marketing and quality management. The analysis is limited to the single-firing production technology. The wide-coverage strategic analysis of the Brazilian ceramic tiles sector, very little studied until now in a scientific way, emphasizes the importance of applying research methodology and may be valuable to both scholars and practitioners. Additionally, it highlights the need of investments in innovation (product design and production technology) and the fundamental role of the sector organization, identifying different dimensions. It is possible to conclude that the recent Brazilian production growth is not due to a natural strengthening because of the hit of the sector and of correct enterprises strategy, but it seems the result of a temporary and favorable economic contingency.

TL dating of pottery fragments from four archaeological sites in Taquari Valley, Brazil

Sixty-three pottery fragments from four archaeological sites, numbered RST110, RST101, RST114 and RST114, in the Taquari Valley, vicinity of the city of Lajeado, Rio Grande do Sul state, southern Brazil, have been dated by the thermoluminescence method. Some of them from RST110 and RST101 are as old as 1400-1200 years, whereas those from RST114 and RST107 are younger than 800 years. This result indicates that RST101 and RST110 were peopled earlier than RST114 and RST107. The recent dates found are 302, 295 and 146 years and they are possible, since the first German immigrants who arrived in this region encountered Tupi-Guarani Indians still living there. One interesting result refers to the glow curves of quartz grains RST110, RST101 and RST114 that differ from the glow curves of RST107 quartz grains.

PXRF and multivariate statistics analysis of pre-colonial pottery from northeast of Brazil

Portable system of energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence was used to determine the elemental composition of 68 pottery fragments from Sambaqui do Bacanga, an archeological site in Sao Luis, Maranhao, Brazil. This site was occupied from 6600 BP until 900 BP. By determining the element chemical composition of those fragments, it was possible to verify the existence of engobe in 43 pottery fragments. Obtained from two-dimensional graphs and hierarchical cluster analysis performed in fragments of stratigraphies from surface and 113-cm level, and 10 to 20, 132 and 144-cm level, it was possible to group these fragments in five distinct groups, according to their stratigraphies. The results of data grouping (two-dimensional graphics) are in agreement with hierarchical cluster analysis by Ward method. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rugby, self-efficacy and prosocial behaviour: evidence from the italian "rugby project for schools"

[EN] This study examined the effectiveness of a school-based rugby introductory training course (“Rugby Project For Schools”) in a sample of one hundred and three Italian adolescents, sixty-three attending the program (rugby group), and forty not taking part in the project (control group).

An assessment of the business value of traceability practices in the italian fishery processing industry

Traceability is often perceived by food industry executives as an additional cost of doing business, one to be avoided if possible. However, a traceability system can in fact comply the regulatory requirements, increase food safety and recall performance, improving marketing performances and, as well as, improving supply chain management. Thus, traceability affects business performances of firms in terms of costs and benefits determined by traceability practices. Costs and benefits affect factors such as, firms’ characteristics, level of traceability and ,lastly, costs and benefits perceived prior to traceability implementation. This thesis was undertaken to understand how these factors are linked to affect the outcome of costs and benefits. Analysis of the results of a plant level survey of the Italian ichthyic processing industry revealed that processors generally adopt various level of traceability while government support appears to increase the level of traceability and the expectations and actual costs and benefits. None of the firms’ characteristics, with the exception of government support, influences costs and level of traceability. Only size of firms and level of QMS certifications are linked with benefits while precision of traceability increases benefits without affecting costs. Finally, traceability practices appear due to the request from “external“ stakeholders such as government, authority and customers rather than “internal” factors (e.g. improving the firm management) while the traceability system does not provide any added value from the market in terms of price premium or market share increase.