Innovation through virtual communities of practice: motivations and constraints in the knowledge-creation process

This paper appears in International Journal of Projectics. Vol 4(1), pp. 39-49

Cities and emerging networks of learning communities

In the 21st century the majority of people live in urban settings and studies show a trend to the increase of this phenomenon. Globalisation and the concentration of multinational and clusters of firms in certain places are attracting people who seek employment and a better living. Many of those agglomerations are situated in developing countries, representing serious challenges both for public and private sectors. Programmes and initiatives in different countries are taking place and best practices are being exchanged globally. The objective is to transform these urban places into sustainable learning cities/regions where citizens can live with quality. The complexity of urban places, sometimes megacities, opened a new field of research. This paper argues that in order to understand the dynamics of such a complex phenomenon, a multidisciplinary, systemic approach is needed and the creation of learning cities and regions calls for the contribution of a multitude of fields of knowledge, ranging from economy to urbanism, educational science, sociology, environmental psychology and others.

Portuguese entrepreneurial women – fostering learning communities

This article repports findings on a project - DONA EMPRESA - that the Portuguese Association of Women Entrepreneurs has been promoting for four years now. The project aims at supporting unemployed women, having a business idea, to create their own employment. So far about one hundred enterprises have been created in the scope of this project, their surviving rate being very high after one year of business running.

Virtual Communities of Practice: Design and Development of Support Platforms and Participation Fostering

Mestrado em Engenharia Informática - Área de Especialização em Sistemas Gráficos e Multimédia

Influence of temperature on development of Schistosoma mansoni female cercariae in Biomphalaria glabrata

In these experiments the ratio of male to female S. mansoni larvae in D. glabrata from Belo Horizonte and Ribeirão das Neves Minas Gerais, Brazil, either reared in laboratoty or collected in the field, varied from 1:1 to 1:1.3 or 1.4:1. Cercariae of LE strain of Schistosoma mansoni, shed by 39 snails maintained at 25±0.5ºC were used to infect mice on a weekly basis. Subsequent perfusion resulted in 76.6% male and 23.4% female worms. The cercariac produced by 32 infected snails maintained at 27+0.5°C were inoculated into mice and produced 43.4% male and 56.6% female worms (p<0.05). Cercariae eliminated by snails collected in Barreiro and Ressaca, Belo Horizonte, during hot months, produced 45.7 to 47.7% male and 52.3 to 54.3% female worms. A lower number of cercariae shed by snails collected in Gorduras, Belo Horizonte, at 20+3.0°C, produced 51.6% male and 48.4% female worms. Thus, in this region the infection of vertebrate hosts with S. mansoni cercariae would be more severe in the summer due to the higher level of parasites and the number of eggs.

Domestic vectors of Chagas' disease in three rural communities of Nicaragua

A triatomine survey was conducted in three rural settlements of Nicaragua (Santa Rosa, Quebrada Honda and Poneloya) where Chagas' disease is endemic, to determine rates of house infestation, evaluate the housing condition and to asess the performance of the María sensor box in detection of domestic vectors. A total of 184 households were selected and vectors were sought by the methods of timed manual capture and by sensor boxes. The sole vectors species found in this study was Triatoma dimidiata. Of the examined bugs 50, 60 and 33%, in the respective communities, were infected with T. cruzi. The rates of house infestation as determined by manual capture and sensor boxes were respectively, 48.3% and 54.2% in Santa Rosa, 29.8% and 51.2% in Quebrada Honda and in Poneloya 3.8 and 5.9% with significant difference between the methods in Quebrada Honda. When compared with the manual capture, the Maria sensor box detected vectors in 71.4% of positive houses in two of the communities but also was able to detect bugs in 39.3% and 41.1% of houses where manual capture had been negative. Housing condition was evaluated according to three structural parameters, in this way, in the first community 79.2% of houses were classified as bad, 20.8% as regular; in the second one 42.5% were bad and 57.5% regular, whereas in the third 62.5% of the houses were regular. Rates of infestation did not differ greatly between the different housing conditions. Our results show that the sensor box is as efficient as manual capture and could be implemented in our country.

Prospective study of enteropathogens in two communities of Misiones, Argentina

Children under five years of age, from two communities of different socio-economic strata (97 from Zaiman and 55 from Las Dolores) were examined epidemiologically during 2 years, by means of quarterly visits of the working team, who carried out the collection of faecal samples. During the study, one or more enteropathogens were identified in 73.9% of samples in children from Zaiman and in 58.3% of the samples from Las Dolores, being associated to diarrhoea in 70.5% and to asymptomatic infections in 65.7%. The number of diarrheic episodes was higher in Zaiman (15.45%) than in Las Dolores (12.35%), being more frequent in the spring-summer seasons. In Zaiman, the bacterial enteropathogen proportion was relevantly higher (p< 0.005) in children with diarrhoea, whereas the presence of parasites was more frequent in asymptomatic children (p< 0.01). Rotavirus had an even distribution within diarrheic and asymptomatic children. In Las Dolores, no relevant differences were found in the detection of enteroparasites between diarrheic and asymptomatic children. Mixed infections were detected; enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC)-rotavirus and ETEC-parasites being the most frequent ones. ETEC was involved in 85% of these infections. These data, together with the high enteropathogen carriage, suggest an elevated level of environmental contamination. The latter plays an important role in diarrheic diseases, and added to the most extreme poverty, it affects children's lives.

Sex Determination and Female Reproductive Development in the Genus Schistosoma: A Review

Parasites of the genus Schistosoma were among the first metazoans to develop separate sexes, which is chromosomally determined in the fertilized egg. Despite the occurrence of specific sex chromosomes, the females of most Schistosomatidae species do not complete their somatic development and reach no sexual maturity without the presence of males. Indeed, the most controversial and at the same time most fascinating aspect about the sexual development of Schistosoma females lies on discover the nature of the stimulus produced by males that triggers and controls this process. Although the nature of the stimulus (physical or chemical) is a source of controversy, there is agreement that mating is a necessary requirement for maturation to occur and for migration of the female to a definitive final site of residence in the vascular system of the vertebrate host. It has also been proposed that the stimulus is not species-specific and, in some cases, not even genus-specific. Despite a vast literature on the subject, the process or processes underlying the meeting of males and females in the circulatory system have not been determined and as yet no consensus exists about the nature of the stimulus that triggers and maintains female development. In the studies about their role, Schistosoma males have been considered, at times pejoratively, the brother, the muscles or even the liver of females. Indeed, it still remains to be determined whether the stimulus responsible for female maturation involves the transfer of hormones, nutrients, neuromediators, mere tactile stimulation or a combination of chemotactic and thigmotactic factors

QUESTIONNAIRES IN THE SCREENING FOR Schistosoma mansoni INFECTION: A STUDY OF SOCIO DEMOGRAPHIC AND WATER CONTACT VARIABLES IN FOUR COMMUNITIES IN BRAZIL

The use of questionnaires has been recommended for identifying, at a lower cost, individuals at risk for schistosomiasis. In this study, validity of information obtained by questionnaire in the screening for Schistosoma mansoni infection was assessed in four communities in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Explanatory variables were water contact activities, sociodemographic characteristics and previous treatment for schistosomiasis. From 677, 1474, 766 and 3290 individuals eligible for stool examination in the communities, 89 to 97% participated in the study. The estimated probability of individuals to be infected, if they have all characteristics identified as independently associated with S.mansoni infection, varied from 15% in Canabrava, to 42% in Belo Horizonte, 48% in Comercinho and 80% in São José do Acácio. Our results do not support the hypothesis that a same questionnaire on risk factors could be used in screening for S.mansoni infection in different communities.

Prevalence of human herpesvirus 8 antibodies in the population of Belém, Pará, Brazil

Serum samples from 497 children and adults inhabiting two neighbourhoods (Guamá and Terra Firme) in Belém, Pará, North Brazil were screened for the presence of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) antibody using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. An overall 16.3% prevalence was found for these urban communities. Taken both genders together, prevalence rates of HHV-8 antibody increase gradually, across age-groups, ranging from 12.0% to 33.3%. When seroprevalence is analysed by gender, similar rates are found for female (18.4%) and male (14.0%) individuals. In the former gender group, seroprevalence rates increased from 10.3%, in children £ 10 years of age, to 30.0% in adults 41-50 years of age. Conversely, among male subjects, the prevalence of HHV-8 antibodies decreased from 13.3% in children/young adults aged £ 10 to 20 years of age to 6.1% in adults aged 21-30 years. From the 31-40 year-old group male onwards, seropositivity rates increased gradually, ranging from 8.3% to 66.7%. A significant difference in seropositivity rates was noted when comparing 21-30 age groups for female and male subjects: 23.3% and 6.1%, respectively (P = 0.03). Geometric mean optical densities were found to increase slightly from the lower to the higher age-groups. Our data suggest that transmission of HHV-8 occurs frequently in the general urban population of Belém, and that prevalence of antibody seems to increase with age.

Prevalence of IgG varicella zoster virus antibodies in the Kuikuro and Kaiabi indigenous communities in Xingu National Park, Brazil, before varicella vaccination

The purpose of the study was to estimate the prevalence of IgG antibodies against varicella zoster virus (VZV) in the two most populated indigenous ethnic groups from Xingu Indigenous National Park, in Brazil, prior to the introduction of vaccination against the disease, and to determine the positive and the negative predictive values of a history of varicella infection. In 2001, 589 inhabitants of two Kuikuro villages and three Kaiabi villages were evaluated and provided information concerning previous varicella infection. An indirect immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect IgG anti-VZV antibodies was performed in 224 blood samples - volunteer selection had no interference of anamnesis. IgG prevalence was 80.8% (95% Confidence Interval: 76% - 86%). The seroepidemiology of varicella in Xingu National Park prior to varicella vaccine introduction was comparable to the Brazilian national seroprevalence described in the literature, and so were the positive (98%) and the negative predictive value (41%) of the referred history.

Tungiasis

Tungiasis is a neglected parasitic skin disease caused by the permanent penetration of the female sand flea (also called jigger flea) Tunga penetrans into the skin of its host. After penetration, most commonly on the feet, the flea undergoes an impressing hypertrophy, and some days later the abdominal segments of the flea have enlarged up to the size of about 1 cm. The flea infestation is associated with poverty and occurs in many resource-poor communities in the Caribbean, South America and Africa. In this review, a historical overview on tungiasis is given. The natural history, pathology, epidemiology, diagnosis, therapy and control of the parasitic skin disease are discussed. It is concluded that tungiasis is an important parasitosis causing considerable morbidity in affected populations. Future studies are needed to increase the knowledge on the biology, pathophysiology, epidemiology, therapy and control of the ectoparasite.

Ambivalent Islam: the identity construction of Muslims under Portuguese colonial rule

This article wishes to contribute to the study of the historical processes that have been spotting Muslim populations as favourite targets for political analysis and governance. Focusing on the Portuguese archives, civil as well as military, the article tries to uncover the most conspicuous identity representations (mainly negative or ambivalent) that members of Portuguese colonial apparatus built around Muslim communities living in African colonies, particularly in Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. The paper shows how these culturally and politically constructed images were related to the more general strategies by which Portuguese imagined their own national identity, both as ‘European’ and as ‘coloniser’ or ‘imperial people’. The basic assumption of this article is that policies enforced in a context of inter-ethnic and religious competition are better understood when linked to the identity strategies inherent to them. These are conceived as strategic constructions aimed at the preservation, the protection and the imaginary expansion of the subject, who looks for groups to be included in and out-groups to reject, exclude, aggress or eliminate. We think that most of the inter-ethnic relationships and conflicts, as well as the very experience of ethnicity, are born from this identity matrix.