Produção textual de adolescentes acerca da saúde sexual e reprodutiva: subsídios para atuação de enfermagem

Trata-se de um estudo exploratório-descritivo, com abordagem qualitativa, que teve por objetivo analisar as mensagens, acerca da promoção da saúde sexual e reprodutiva, produzidas por adolescentes de escolas públicas e particulares da cidade do Rio Grande, num concurso de redação e música promovido pelo Grupo Gestor Municipal (GGM) do Projeto Saúde e Prevenção nas Escolas (SPE), nos anos de 2007 e 2008. Após autorização pelo GGM para realização deste estudo, foram disponibilizadas para reprodução, via xérox, as 29 redações e as três letras de músicas inscritas nos concursos. Para o tratamento dos dados utilizou-se a técnica de análise de conteúdo na modalidade temática. Participaram 35 adolescentes, sendo 25 moças e dez rapazes, com idades entre onze e dezessete anos. Quanto à escolaridade, dois frequentavam a quinta série; doze a sexta, doze a sétima e nove a oitava. Apreendeu-se que, em sua produção textual, os(as) adolescentes revelaram as vulnerabilidades e fortalezas referentes à saúde sexual e reprodutiva. Entre os inúmeros fatores que aumentam a vulnerabilidade individual, social e programática, discorreram sobre a carência de informações, a dificuldade para transformar o conhecimento em prática, a sensação de imunidade, a violência familiar, a conduta repressora de pais e mães, as mensagens de cunho sexual veiculadas pela mídia, a necessidade de serem aceitos(as) pelo grupo, preconceitos, e falta de ações governamentais direcionadas a adolescentes. No que se refere às fortalezas, sabem que a informação é uma importante aliada para a promoção da saúde sexual e reprodutiva citando, entre as fontes acessíveis, os serviços públicos de saúde, a família e a escola. Demonstraram conhecimento acerca da alarmante propagação da epidemia da AIDS entre jovens, conhecendo os sinais e sintomas das DSTs mais comuns e as formas de prevenção. As moças enfatizaram a necessidade de compartilhar a responsabilidade preventiva com os rapazes, bem como de amor próprio e respeito mútuo. O acesso aos serviços de saúde também foi apresentado como indispensável ao adolescer saudável. Os(as) jovens demonstraram conhecimento sobre drogas seus efeitos e consequências. Referem-se à adolescência como um período gostoso, repleto de dúvidas, mas também cheio de potencialidades. Assim, os mesmos componentes apresentados como desencadeadores de vulnerabilidade podem torná-los(as) fortes e capazes de superar os desafios comuns a essa etapa da vida. Para que tal superação ocorra, é necessário que tenham acesso à informação e a problematizem; que sejam capazes de incorporá-las ao cotidiano, adotando práticas protegidas e protetoras; que haja diálogo, despido de tabus, censuras e preconceitos no ambiente familiar; que as escolas adotem de forma transversalizada temáticas referentes à saúde sexual e reprodutiva; que os serviços de saúde tenham infraestrutura para assegurar os direitos contidos no Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente; entre outras estratégias fortalecedoras.

Seed and vegetative propagation methods for the rare Florida native species Chionanthus pygmaeus (pygmy fringetree)

Chionanthus pygmaeus Small (pygmy fringetree) (Oleaceae) is an endemic and rare Florida species, which has an attractive, small habit giving it great potential for use in managed landscapes. Members of the genus Chionanthus are difficult to propagate via cuttings and possess complex seed dormancies that are not well understood. Conservation of pygmy fringetree and its potential for commercial propagation for use in managed landscapes is contingent on a better understanding of its complex seed dormancy and enhancement of its propagation. I conducted two experiments to assess sexual and asexual propagation methods for pygmy fringetree. The first experiment was conducted to determine what factors are involved in overcoming seed dormancy. Various scarification treatments, which mimicked conditions seeds are exposed to in the wild, were investigated to determine their effects on germination of 20-year-old seeds originally collected from the species’ native range. Treatments included endocarp removal, sulfuric acid, boiling-water, and smoke-water treatments. Prior to treatment initiation, seed viability was estimated to be 12%. Treated seeds went through two cold- and two warm-stratification periods of 4°C and 25°C, respectively, in a dark growth chamber. After 180 days, none of the treatments induced early germination. Seeds were then tested for viability, which was 11%. Seed dormancy of the species is apparently complex, allowing some of the seeds to retain some degree of viability, but without dormancy requirements satisfied. The second experiment was conducted to assess if pygmy fringetree could be successfully propagated via hardwood or root cuttings if the appropriate combination of environmental conditions and hormones were applied. Hardwood and root cuttings were treated with either 1000 ppm IBA talc, 8000 ppm IBA talc, or inert talc. All cuttings were placed on a mist bench in a greenhouse for 9 weeks. Hardwood cuttings were supplemented with bottom heat at 24 °C. No treatments were successful in inducing adventitious root formation. I conclude that pygmy fringetree seeds possess complex dormancy that was not able to be overcome by the treatments utilized. However, this result is confounded by the age of the seeds used in the experiment. I also conclude that vegetative propagation of pygmy fringetree is highly dependent on the time of year cuttings are harvested. Further research of both seed and asexual propagation methods need to be explored before pygmy fringetree can be propagated on a commercial scale.

Sexual selection in a tropical fruit fly : role of a plant derived chemical in mate choice

The specific mechanisms by which selective pressures affect individuals are often difficult to resolve. In tephritid fruit flies, males respond strongly and positively to certain plant derived chemicals. Sexual selection by female choice has been hypothesized as the mechanism driving this behaviour in certain species, as females preferentially mate with males that have fed on these chemicals. This hypothesis is, to date, based on studies of only very few species and its generality is largely untested. We tested the hypothesis on different spatial scales (small cage and seminatural field-cage) using the monophagous fruit fly, Bactrocera cacuminata. This species is known to respond to methyl eugenol (ME), a chemical found in many plant species and one upon which previous studies have focused. Contrary to expectation, no obvious female choice was apparent in selecting ME-fed males over unfed males as measured by the number of matings achieved over time, copulation duration, or time of copulation initiation. However, the number of matings achieved by ME-fed males was significantly greater than unfed males 16 and 32 days after exposure to ME in small cages (but not in a field-cage). This delayed advantage suggests that ME may not influence the pheromone system of B. cacuminata but may have other consequences, acting on some other fitness consequence (e.g., enhancement of physiology or survival) of male exposure to these chemicals. We discuss the ecological and evolutionary implications of our findings to explore alternate hypotheses to explain the patterns of response of dacine fruit flies to specific plant-derived chemicals.

Predication and propagation : a method for analyzing evaluative meanings in technology policy

In this article I outline and demonstrate a synthesis of the methods developed by Lemke (1998) and Martin (2000) for analyzing evaluations in English. I demonstrate the synthesis using examples from a 1.3-million-word technology policy corpus drawn from institutions at the local, state, national, and supranational levels. Lemke's (1998) critical model is organized around the broad 'evaluative dimensions' that are deployed to evaluate propositions and proposals in English. Martin's (2000) model is organized with a more overtly systemic-functional orientation around the concept of 'encoded feeling'. In applying both these models at different times, whilst recognizing their individual usefulness and complementarity, I found specific limitations that led me to work towards a synthesis of the two approaches. I also argue for the need to consider genre, media, and institutional aspects more explicitly when claiming intertextual and heteroglossic relations as the basis for inferred evaluations. A basic assertion made in this article is that the perceived Desirability of a process, person, circumstance, or thing is identical to its 'value'. But the Desirability of anything is a socially and thus historically conditioned attribution that requires significant amounts of institutional inculcation of other 'types' of value-appropriateness, importance, beauty, power, and so on. I therefore propose a method informed by critical discourse analysis (CDA) that sees evaluation as happening on at least four interdependent levels of abstraction.