RingDings market analysis

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Retrospective study of the occurrence of Cyclospora cayetanensis at Clinical Hospital of the University of São Paulo Medical School, SP

Cyclospora cayetanensis causes watery diarrhea in tropical countries, among travelers and after ingestion of contaminated water and food. Very little is known about its epidemiology, pathogenic aspects and reservoirs. In Brazil, its prevalence is unknown and to date there have been reports of three outbreaks. We report here a retrospective study of 5,015 stool samples from 4,869 patients attended at Clinical Hospital of the University of São Paulo Medical School, SP, Brazil between April 1996 and January 2002, with 14 cases of Cyclospora cayetanensis being detected there was a prevalence of 0.3%. Of the 14 infected patients, the mean age was 38 years and 71.4% were female. Ten patients presented symptoms; six presented levels of immunological markers and five patients were immunodeficient.

Some Notes on the Reception of Josquin and of Northern Idioms in Portuguese Music and Culture

Although Josquin is by far the best-represented foreign composer in Gonçalo de Baena's Arte novamente inventada pera aprender a tanger (Lisbon, 1540), his music is undeniably under-represented both in the extant sixteenth-century Portuguese manuscripts containing Franco-Flemish polyphony and in volumes imported from the Netherlands such as Coimbra MM 2 and VienNB 1783. Josquin’s reputation made him, along with Ockeghem, a symbol in Portuguese humanistic culture, but up to at least the late 1530s his name seems to have been much better known than his music. Nevertheless, possible allusions to specific works by Josquin can be found in early- and mid-sixteenth-century Portuguese polyphony. By the 1520s, the general technical and stylistic characteristics of his and the following generation of northerners had begun to permeate locally produced polyphony. This eventually replaced the late-fifteenth- and early-sixteenth-century pan-consonant and homorythmic style associated with the Aragonese and the so-called Spanish court repertory.

Tinea capitis among children at one suburban primary school in the City of Maputo, Mozambique

This study evaluated the prevalence of Tinea capitis among schoolchildren at one primary school and also identified the causative agents. Scalp flakes were collected from children presenting clinical signs suggestive of Tinea capitis. Dermatophytes were identified by following standard mycological procedures. This study found a clinical prevalence of Tinea capitis of 9.6% (110/1149). The dermatophytes isolated were Microsporum audouinii, Trichophyton violaceum, and Trichophyton mentagrophytes. The most prevalent causative agent in this study was Microsporum audouinii, thus confirming the findings from previous cross-sectional studies carried out in the city of Maputo.

Frequency of Blastocystis hominis and other intestinal parasites in stool samples examined at the Parasitology Laboratory of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the São Paulo State University, Araraquara

Blastocystis homins is a protozoan that causes an intestinal infection known as human blastocystosis. This infection is diagnosed by means of parasitological examination of stools and by permanent staining techniques. The present study was developed to evaluate the frequency of Blastocystis hominis infection among inhabitants of the Araraquara region, State of São Paulo, and to compare different methods for investigating this protozoan in feces samples. Evaluations on 503 stool samples were performed by means of direct fresh examination and using the techniques of Faust et al., Lutz and Rugai et al. In addition, the iron hematoxylin, trichrome and modified Kinyoun staining techniques were used. Out of the 503 samples examined, 174 (34.6%) were found to be positive for the presence of intestinal parasites. The most frequent protozoa and helminths were Entamoeba coli (14.6%) and Strongyloides stercoralis (6.7%), respectively. Blastocystis hominis was present in 23 (4.6%) fecal samples, with a predominately pasty consistency and without characterizing a condition of diarrhea. Despite the low frequency of Blastocystis hominis found in the Araraquara region, compared with other regions of Brazil, it is important to perform laboratory diagnostic tests for this protozoan. Its finding in fecal material is indicative of food and drinking water contamination. Since the transmission route for this parasite is accepted to be oral-fecal, this implies that the population needs guidance regarding hygiene and basic sanitation measures as a means for controlling health problems caused by enteroparasites.

Improving Learners’ Motivation through Feedback in English Language Teaching and Learning at Polytechnic School in Benguela, Angola

Currently, it is widely perceived among the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching professionals, that motivation is a central factor for success in language learning. This work aims to examine and raise teachers’ awareness about the role of assessment and feedback in the process of language teaching and learning at polytechnic school in Benguela to develop and/or enhance their students’ motivation for learning. Hence the paper defines and discusses the key terms and, the techniques and strategies for an effective feedback provision in the context under study. It also collects data through the use of interview and questionnaire methods, and suggests the assessment and feedback types to be implemented at polytechnic school in Benguela

WebGIS applied to improve spatial knowledge of high school students

This research seeks to design and implement a WebGIS application allowing high school students to work with information related to the disciplinary competencies of the competency-teaching model, in Mexico. This paradigm assumes knowledge to be acquired through the application of new technologies and to link it with everyday life situations of students. The WebGIS provides access to maps regarding natural risks in Mexico, e.g. volcanism, seismic activities, or hurricanes; the prototype's user interface was designed with special emphasis on scholar needs for high school students.

Popular music exhibitions in Portugal: practices of representation from 2007 to 2013

This thesis focuses on the representation of Popular Music in museums by mapping, analyzing, and characterizing its practices in Portugal at the beginning of the 21st century. Now that museums' ability to shape public discourse is acknowledged, the examination of popular music's discourses in museums is of the utmost importance for Ethnomusicology and Popular Music Studies as well as for Museum Studies. The concept of 'heritage' is at the heart of this processes. The study was designed with the aim of moving the exhibiting of popular music in museums forward through a qualitative inquiry of case studies. Data collection involved surveying pop-rock music exhibitions as a qualitative sampling of popular music exhibitions in Portugal from 2007 to 2013. Two of these exhibitions were selected as case studies: No Tempo do Gira-Discos: Um Percurso pela Produção Fonográfica Portuguesa at the Museu da Música in Lisbon in 2007 (also Faculdade de Letras, 2009), and A Magia do Vinil, a Música que Mudou a Sociedade at the Oficina da Cultura in Almada in 2008 (and several other venues, from 2009 to 2013). Two specific domains were observed: popular music exhibitions as instances of museum practice and museum professionals. The first domain encompasses analyzing the types of objects selected for exhibition; the interactive museum practices fostered by the exhibitions; the concepts and narratives used to address popular music discursively, as well as the interpretative practices they allow. The second domain, focuses museum professionals and curators of popular music exhibitions as members of a group, namely their goals, motivations and perspectives. The theoretical frameworks adopted were drawn from the fields of ethnomusicology, popular music studies, and museum studies. The written materials of the exhibitions were subjected of methods of discourse analysis methods. Semi-structured interviews with curators and museum professional were also conducted and analysed. From the museum studies perspective, the study research suggests that the practice adopted by popular music museums largely matches that of conventional museums. From the ethnomusicological and popular music studies stand point, the two case studies reveal two distinct conceptual worlds: the first exhibition, curated by an academic and an independent researcher, points to a mental configuration where popular music is explained through a framework of genres supported by different musical practices. Moreover, it is industry actors such as decision makers and gatekeepers that govern popular music, which implies that the visitors' romantic conception of the musician is to some extent dismantled; the second exhibition, curated by a record collector and specialist, is based on a more conventional process of the everyday historical speech that encodes a mismatch between “good” and “bad music���. Data generated by a survey shows that only one curator, in fact that of my first case study, has an academic background. The backgrounds of all the others are in some way similar to the curator of the second case study. Therefore, I conclude that the second case study best conveys the current practice of exhibiting Popular Music in Portugal.

Anti-Toxocara antibodies detected in children attending elementary school in Vitoria, State of Espírito Santo, Brazil: prevalence and associated factors

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of anti-Toxocara antibodies in serum from 7-year-old children attending elementary school in Vitória-ES, Brazil and to correlate these antibodies with socio-demographic factors, the presence of intestinal helminths, blood eosinophil numbers, past history of allergy or asthma, and clinical manifestations of helminth infections. METHODS: The detection of anti-Toxocara antibodies was performed using an ELISA (Cellabs Pty Ltd)on serum from 391 children who had already been examined by fecal examination and blood cell counts. Data from clinical and physical examinations were obtained for all children. RESULTS: The prevalence of anti-Toxocara antibodies was 51.6%, with no gender differences. No significant differences were observed between positive serology and the presence or absence of intestinal worms (60.3 and 51.7%, respectively; p = 0.286). The only variables significantly related to positive serology were onycophagy and the use of unfiltered water. Although eosinophilia (blood eosinophil count higher than 600/mm³) was significantly related to the presence of a positive ELISA result, this significance disappeared when we considered only children without worms or without a past history of allergy or asthma. No clinical symptoms related to Toxocara infection were observed. CONCLUSIONS: There is a high prevalence of anti-Toxocara antibodies in children attending elementary schools in Vitória, which may be partially related to cross-reactivity with intestinal helminths or to a high frequency of infection with a small number of Toxocara eggs.

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