Abordagem da segurança, higiene e saúde na organização e gestão escolar

A escola é o centro de convergência que justifica e fundamenta os recursos alocados ao sistema educativo. Durante o normal funcionamento das escolas, as condições de segurança, salubridade dos edifícios e equipamentos devem ser previstas e mantidas para garantir a salvaguarda da saúde e bem-estar dos seus ocupantes. A responsabilidade sobre estas questões encontra-se transferida para os Órgãos de Gestão dos estabelecimentos educativos. Neste âmbito efectuou-se um estudo que objectivou caracterizar a organização e a gestão escolar, no contexto da segurança, higiene e saúde; conhecer a forma da organização e da gestão da emergência nos estabelecimentos de ensino e o grau de satisfação dos gestores escolares relativamente aspectos relacionados com a Segurança, Higiene e Saúde. Neste sentido, foi aplicado um inquérito por questionário on-line, dirigido aos directores dos agrupamentos de escolas e escolas únicas da Região Norte de Portugal. Na generalidade os resultados obtidos demonstraram que ao nível da organização e gestão da emergência é evidenciada alguma preocupação, constatando-se no entanto, que nem todas as escolas possuam delegado de segurança, algumas não possuem plano de segurança, apenas metade evidenciou a existência de projectos educativos em áreas relacionadas com a temática e não existe ainda uma participação efectiva no seio escolar por parte da comunidade. Os gestores escolares, relativamente ao grau de satisfação, referiram as condições das infra-estruturas e estado de conservação dos estabelecimentos escolares, como factores de maior descontentamento. Percepcionou-se que a gestão escolar é centrada nos problemas do quotidiano, não existindo uma planificação ou um programa legitimado de segurança, higiene e saúde a longo prazo. A análise à actuação do gestor escolar face à segurança e higiene, não pode efectuar-se alheia e separadamente do actual regime de autonomia, administração e gestão dos estabelecimentos públicos da educação pré-escolar e dos ensinos básico e secundário, porque o desempenho dos diferentes actores no processo educativo é por si condicionada. Cabe ao gestor escolar, na figura do Director(a) consagrar a segurança, higiene e saúde integradas na dinâmica escolar, promovendo um ambiente escolar mais saudável e seguro.

Fungal contamination of poultry litter: a public health problem

Although numerous studies have been conducted on microbial contaminants associated with various stages related to poultry and meat products processing, only a few reported on fungal contamination of poultry litter. The goals of this study were to (1) characterize litter fungal contamination and (2) report the incidence of keratinophilic and toxigenic fungi presence. Seven fresh and 14 aged litter samples were collected from 7 poultry farms. In addition, 27 air samples of 25 litters were also collected through impaction method, and after laboratory processing and incubation of collected samples, quantitative colony-forming units (CFU/m3) and qualitative results were obtained. Twelve different fungal species were detected in fresh litter and Penicillium was the most frequent genus found (59.9%), followed by Alternaria (17.8%), Cladosporium (7.1%), and Aspergillus (5.7%). With respect to aged litter, 19 different fungal species were detected, with Penicillium sp. the most frequently isolated (42.3%), followed by Scopulariopsis sp. (38.3%), Trichosporon sp. (8.8%), and Aspergillus sp. (5.5%). A significant positive correlation was found between litter fungal contamination (CFU/g) and air fungal contamination (CFU/m3). Litter fungal quantification and species identification have important implications in the evaluation of potential adverse health risks to exposed workers and animals. Spreading of poultry litter in agricultural fields is a potential public health concern, since keratinophilic (Scopulariopsis and Fusarium genus) as well as toxigenic fungi (Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillium genus) were isolated.

Environmental impact on the bacteriological quality of domestic water supplies in Lagos, Nigeria

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of town planning, infrastructure, sanitation and rainfall on the bacteriological quality of domestic water supplies. METHODS: Water samples obtained from deep and shallow wells, boreholes and public taps were cultured to determine the most probable number of Escherichia coli and total coliform using the multiple tube technique. Presence of enteric pathogens was detected using selective and differential media. Samples were collected during both periods of heavy and low rainfall and from municipalities that are unique with respect to infrastructure planning, town planning and sanitation. RESULTS: Contamination of treated and pipe distributed water was related with distance of the collection point from a utility station. Faults in pipelines increased the rate of contamination (p<0.5) and this occurred mostly in densely populated areas with dilapidated infrastructure. Wastewater from drains was the main source of contamination of pipe-borne water. Shallow wells were more contaminated than deep wells and boreholes and contamination was higher during period of heavy rainfall (p<0.05). E. coli and enteric pathogens were isolated from contaminated supplies. CONCLUSIONS: Poor town planning, dilapidated infrastructure and indiscriminate siting of wells and boreholes contributed to the low bacteriological quality of domestic water supplies. Rainfall accentuated the impact.

O Impacto do project finance nas empresas portuguesas no setor têxtil

Dissertação para a obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Contabilidade e Finanças Orientador: Mestre Adalmiro Álvaro Malheiro de Castro Andrade Pereira

Economia social, pilar de um novo modelo de desenvolvimento económico sustentável

Dissertação apresentada ao Instituto Superior de Contabilidade para a obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Auditoria Orientada por Dr.ª Alcina Portugal Dias

A data-mining-based methodology for transmission expansion planning

In recent decades, all over the world, competition in the electric power sector has deeply changed the way this sector’s agents play their roles. In most countries, electric process deregulation was conducted in stages, beginning with the clients of higher voltage levels and with larger electricity consumption, and later extended to all electrical consumers. The sector liberalization and the operation of competitive electricity markets were expected to lower prices and improve quality of service, leading to greater consumer satisfaction. Transmission and distribution remain noncompetitive business areas, due to the large infrastructure investments required. However, the industry has yet to clearly establish the best business model for transmission in a competitive environment. After generation, the electricity needs to be delivered to the electrical system nodes where demand requires it, taking into consideration transmission constraints and electrical losses. If the amount of power flowing through a certain line is close to or surpasses the safety limits, then cheap but distant generation might have to be replaced by more expensive closer generation to reduce the exceeded power flows. In a congested area, the optimal price of electricity rises to the marginal cost of the local generation or to the level needed to ration demand to the amount of available electricity. Even without congestion, some power will be lost in the transmission system through heat dissipation, so prices reflect that it is more expensive to supply electricity at the far end of a heavily loaded line than close to an electric power generation. Locational marginal pricing (LMP), resulting from bidding competition, represents electrical and economical values at nodes or in areas that may provide economical indicator signals to the market agents. This article proposes a data-mining-based methodology that helps characterize zonal prices in real power transmission networks. To test our methodology, we used an LMP database from the California Independent System Operator for 2009 to identify economical zones. (CAISO is a nonprofit public benefit corporation charged with operating the majority of California’s high-voltage wholesale power grid.) To group the buses into typical classes that represent a set of buses with the approximate LMP value, we used two-step and k-means clustering algorithms. By analyzing the various LMP components, our goal was to extract knowledge to support the ISO in investment and network-expansion planning.

Exposure to larva migrans syndromes in squares and public parks of cities in Chile

Between November 2001 and December 2002, 600 dog fecal samples were collected in main squares and public parks of 13 cities in Chile, from the extreme north to the extreme south of the country. The samples were processed in the laboratory by centrifugal sedimentation and the Harada-Mori methods. T. canis eggs were found in 12 cities. Detection rates ranged from 1.9 to 12.5% with an average of 5.2%. Seven percent of the samples had eggs and 9.5% had rhabditoid and/or filariform larvae of Ancylostomatidae. Strongyloides stercoralis were not found. Squares and public parks in Chile pose a potential risk of exposure to visceral, ocular, and/or cutaneous larva migrans syndromes.

The public performance : impact to music learning in conservatoire tradition

Paper presented at the Conference “The Reflective Conservatoire – 2nd International Conference: Building Connections”. Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Barbican Conference Centre, London. 28 February – 3 March 2009

Cyanobacteria toxicity: potential public health impact in South Portugal populations

Cyanobacteria are prokaryotic, plantlike organisms present in lakes, recreational waters, and reservoirs, and often dominate phytoplankton communities in warm, nutrient-enriched hard waters. A stable water column rich in certain nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, is associated with favorable environmental conditions that support development of cyanobacterial population maxima or "blooms." Under specific conditions, cyanobacteria produce toxins that are responsible for acute poisoning and death of animals and humans. The main aim of this study was to correlate the presence of cyanobacteria blooms with potential toxicity to humans as a public health issue. In Portugal, seven reservoirs located in the southern region were selected and studied between 2000 and 2008. Reservoirs were characterized by physical and chemical aspects, and identification of phytoplankton communities. In the case of cyanobacterial blooms, toxins that affected the liver, nervous system, and skin were detected, namely, Microcystis aeruginosa, Aphanizomenon spp., and Oscillatoria. These findings suggest the presence of a potential risk for public health, and indicate the need to implement mitigation measures in all studied reservoirs. These measures may involve (1) water eutrophication control to avoid blooms, (2) appropriate treatment of water for human consumption, and (3) public warnings or information to those individuals that use these reservoirs for several recreational activities.

Evaluation of pharmaceutical assistance in public primary care in Brasília, Brazil

OBJECTIVE: Pharmaceutical assistance is essential in health care and a right of citizens according to Brazilian law and drug policies. The study purpose was to evaluate aspects of pharmaceutical assistance in public primary health care. METHODS: A cross-sectional study using WHO drug indicators was carried out in Brasília in 2001. From a random sample of 15 out of 62 centers thirty exiting patients per center were interviewed. RESULTS: Only 18.7% of the patients fully understood the prescription, 56.3% could read it, 61.2% of the prescribed drugs were actually dispensed, and mean duration of pharmaceutical dispensing was 53.2 seconds. Each visit lasted on average 9.4 minutes. Of prescribed and non-dispensed drugs, 85.3% and 60.6% were on the local essential drug list (EDL) respectively. On average 83.2% of 40 essential drugs were in stock, and only two centers had a pharmacist in charge of the pharmacy. The mean number of drugs per prescription was 2.3, 85.3% of prescribed drugs were on the EDL, 73.2% were prescribed using the generic denomination, 26.4% included antibiotics and 7.5% were injectables. The most prescribed groups were: cardiovascular drugs (26.8%), anti-infective drugs (13.1%), analgesics (8.9%), anti-asthmatic drugs (5.8%), anti-diabetic drugs (5.3%), psychoactive drugs (3.7%), and combination drugs (2.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Essential drugs were only moderately available almost 30 years after the first Brazilian EDL was formulated. While physician use of essential drugs and generic names was fairly high, efficiency was impaired by the poor quality of pharmaceutical care, resulting in very low patient understanding and insufficient guarantee of supply, particularly for chronic diseases.

Two-way MANCOVA: an application to public health

The aim of this work is to use the MANCOVA model to study the influence of the phenotype of an enzyme - Acid phosphatase - and a genetic factor - Haptoglobin genotype - on two dependent variables - Activity of Acid Phosphatase (ACP1) and the Body Mass Index (BMI). Therefore it's used a general linear model, namely a multivariate analysis of covariance (Two-way MANCOVA). The covariate is the age of the subject. This covariate works as control variable for the independent factors, serving to reduce the error term in the model. The main results showed that only the ACP1 phenotype has a significant effect on the activity of ACP1 and the covariate has a significant effect in both dependent variables. The univariate analysis showed that ACP1 phenotype accounts for about 12.5% of the variability in the activity of ACP1. In respect to this covariate it can be seen that accounts for about 4.6% of the variability in the activity of ACP1 and 37.3% in the BMI.

Contradiction between the average age of retirement at the time of death and the average pension time for men and women in public employment in Portugal

The short article attempts to make some very brief reflections on the effects a lack of public policies positively discriminatory in terms of public employment retirement. In particular, the observation of the absurd contradiction between the average age of retirement at the time of death (for men and women) and the average pension time for men and women in public employment in Portugal.

Mental health research in Brazil: policies, infrastructure, financing and human resources

The objective of this descriptive study was to map mental health research in Brazil, providing an overview of infrastructure, financing and policies mental health research. As part of the Atlas-Research Project, a WHO initiative to map mental health research in selected low and middle-income countries, this study was carried out between 1998 and 2002. Data collection strategies included evaluation of governmental documents and sites and questionnaires sent to key professionals for providing information about the Brazilian mental health research infrastructure. In the year 2002, the total budget for Health Research was US$101 million, of which US$3.4 million (3.4) was available for Mental Health Research. The main funding sources for mental health research were found to be the São Paulo State Funding Agency (Fapesp, 53.2%) and the Ministry of Education (CAPES, 30.2%). The rate of doctors is 1.7 per 1,000 inhabitants, and the rate of psychiatrists is 2.7 per 100,000 inhabitants estimated 2000 census. In 2002, there were 53 postgraduate courses directed to mental health training in Brazil (43 in psychology, six in psychiatry, three in psychobiology and one in psychiatric nursing), with 1,775 students being trained in Brazil and 67 overseas. There were nine programs including psychiatry, neuropsychiatry, psychobiology and mental health, seven of them implemented in Southern states. During the five-year period, 186 students got a doctoral degree (37 per year) and 637 articles were published in Institute for Scientic Information (ISI)-indexed journals. The investment channeled towards postgraduate and human resource education programs, by means of grants and other forms of research support, has secured the country a modest but continuous insertion in the international knowledge production in the mental health area.

Performance of coastal sea-defense infrastructure at El Jadida (Morocco) against tsunami threat: lessons learned from the Japanese 11 March 2011 tsunami

This paper seeks to investigate the effectiveness of sea-defense structures in preventing/reducing the tsunami overtopping as well as evaluating the resulting tsunami impact at El Jadida, Morocco. Different tsunami wave conditions are generated by considering various earthquake scenarios of magnitudes ranging from M-w = 8.0 to M-w = 8.6. These scenarios represent the main active earthquake faults in the SW Iberia margin and are consistent with two past events that generated tsunamis along the Atlantic coast of Morocco. The behavior of incident tsunami waves when interacting with coastal infrastructures is analyzed on the basis of numerical simulations of near-shore tsunami waves' propagation. Tsunami impact at the affected site is assessed through computing inundation and current velocity using a high-resolution digital terrain model that incorporates bathymetric, topographic and coastal structures data. Results, in terms of near-shore tsunami propagation snapshots, waves' interaction with coastal barriers, and spatial distributions of flow depths and speeds, are presented and discussed in light of what was observed during the 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami. Predicted results show different levels of impact that different tsunami wave conditions could generate in the region. Existing coastal barriers around the El Jadida harbour succeeded in reflecting relatively small waves generated by some scenarios, but failed in preventing the overtopping caused by waves from others. Considering the scenario highly impacting the El Jadida coast, significant inundations are computed at the sandy beach and unprotected areas. The modeled dramatic tsunami impact in the region shows the need for additional tsunami standards not only for sea-defense structures but also for the coastal dwellings and houses to provide potential in-place evacuation.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon levels in three pelagic fish species from Atlantic Ocean: inter-specific and inter-season comparisons and assessment of potential public health risks

The concentrations of 18 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined in three commercially valuable fish species (sardine, Sardina pilchardus; chub mackerel, Scomber japonicus; and horse mackerel, Trachurus trachurus) from the Atlantic Ocean. Specimens were collected seasonally during 2007–2009. Only low molecular weight PAHs were detected, namely, naphthalene, acenaphthene, fluorene and phenanthrene. Chub mackerel (1.80–19.90 microg/kg ww) revealed to be significantly more contaminated than horse mackerel (2.73–10.0 microg/kg ww) and sardine (2.29–14.18 microg/kg ww). Inter-specific and inter-season comparisons of PAHs bioaccumulation were statistically assessed. The more relevant statistical correlations were observed between PAH amounts and total fat content (significant positive relationships, p < 0.05), and season (sardine displayed higher amounts in autumn–winter while the mackerel species showed globally the inverse behavior). The health risks by consumption of these species were assessed and shown to present no threat to public health concerning PAH intakes.