Atividade antibacteriana de óleo essencial de orégano (Origanum vulgare): ações in vitro e in situ para preservação de alimento

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Coordenação gestual na produção de encontros consonantais em crianças com desenvolvimento de linguagem típico e atípico

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

Escala de significado do dinheiro: desenvolvimento e validação

A carência de instrumentos de mensuração confiáveis tem atrasado o desenvolvimento da pesquisa psicológica sobre dinheiro e fenômenos relacionados. O objetivo deste trabalho foi desenvolver e validar uma Escala de Significado do Dinheiro. Para desenvolver a escala, dados preliminares foram coletados com amostra heterogênea de 61 sujeitos e organizados através de procedimento incluindo análises de conteúdo, combinatória, semântica e de juízes. A compreensão teórica baseou-se em referencial das ciências sociais, resultando em um modelo hipotético com 10 fatores. A escala foi validada em amostra heterogênea com 1.464 sujeitos de todas as regiões brasileiras. Os resultados apontaram uma estrutura multifatorial ortogonal, confirmada separadamente para homens e mulheres, e constituída por 9 componentes: os alpha de Cronbach variaram entre 0,70 e 0,88 para 6 componentes; os demais foram 0,66, 0,67 e 0,57. Comparada aos estudos anteriores, esta escala apresenta avanços e abre novas possibilidades para pesquisas psicológicas em temas relacionados a dinheiro.

Coordenação gestual na produção de encontros consonantais em crianças com desenvolvimento de linguagem típico e atípico

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

Construção e Evidências Psicométricas de uma Escala de Avaliação da Percepção Visual

Este estudo teve como objetivo construir e conhecer os parâmetros psicométricos de um instrumento para análise da percepção visual de adultos. Para a construção da escala participaram 295 adultos saudáveis, sem déficits cognitivos ou perceptivo-visuais. Nesta etapa foi formulada uma escala tetrafatorial constituída por 20 itens que avaliam quatro dimensões referentes à percepção visual: constância da forma, figurafundo, posição e relação espacial. Para obter evidências de validade foi utilizada uma amostra de 183 voluntários com boa saúde física e mental e acuidade visual normal ou corrigida. Os dados obtidos relatam a existência de concordância interjuízes, adequação semântica e significância no teste-reteste do instrumento. Os coeficientes de fidedignidade variaram de 0,84 a 0,93. Os quatro fatores esperados foram encontrados, cada um contendo 5 itens, e juntos explicaram 57,52% da variância do constructo. O instrumento apresentou parâmetros psicométricos adequados, o que pode justificar sua utilidade em pesquisas básicas e na prática clínica.

TRANSLATION AND CULTURAL ADAPTATION OF THE GLOBAL APPRAISAL OF INDIVIDUAL NEEDS - INITIAL

The objective of this study was to perform the translation on and cultural adaptation of the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs - Initial instrument, and calculate its content validity index. This is a methodological study designed for the cultural adaptation of the instrument. The instrument was translated into Portuguese in two versions that originated the synthesis of the translations, which were then submitted to the evaluation of four judges, experts in the field of alcohol and other drugs. After the suggested changes were made, the instrument was back-translated and resubmitted to the judges and authors of the original instrument, resulting in the final version of the instrument, Avaliacao Global das Necessidades Individuais - Inicial. The content validity index of the instrument was 0.91, considered valid according to the literature. The instrument Avaliacao Global das Necessidades Individuais - Inicial was culturally adapted to the Portuguese language spoken in Brazil; however, it was not submitted to tests with the target population, which suggests further studies should be performed to test its reliability and validity.

Children and teenagers working in artistic labor: Brazilian situation and international examples

This descriptive study about children and adolescents artistic labor verifies the applicable legislation, in Brazil, regarding the participation of children and adolescents in the entertainment industry and in advertising campaigns, as well as the judicial processes about the theme known by the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice up to October, 2010. The results permit to conclude that, due to the lack of specific regulation and general rule of child labor prohibition, the restrictions that tend to protect the health and security of children and adolescents that act in the artistic niche (television, advertising, fashion, movies etc.) have been, in Brazil, at subjective criteria of the judges and, in many cases, in the hands of producers themselves. Brief considerations on how other countries regulate the theme are also presented (the USA, Portugal and Argentina).

Pacta sunt servanda versus the social role of contracts: the case of Brazilian agriculture contracts

This study explores the instability created by contradictory court decisions related with contract breaches. Forward marketing contracts represent an important source of resources to finance Brazilian agriculture, however a large number of contract breaches were observed during a period of marked increase in soy prices. The study analyzed 161 judicial appeal decisions and a survey was carried with 70 farmers. The results show the difference of judges' interpretation and the existence of second order effects. The effects of court decisions were more requirements of guarantees and the reduction in the number of contracts. Those soybean farmers who did not breach their contracts have also been negatively affected by the strategic reactions of trading and processing companies. The concept of "social function of the contract" introduced in Brazilian civil code led to a higher degree of instability in contracts, raising transaction costs and motivating private economic sanctions.

Using selected scenes from Brazilian films to teach about substance use disorders, within medical education

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES: Themes like alcohol and drug abuse, relationship difficulties, psychoses, autism and personality dissociation disorders have been widely used in films. Psychiatry and psychiatric conditions in various cultural settings are increasingly taught using films. Many articles on cinema and psychiatry have been published but none have presented any methodology on how to select material. Here, the authors look at the portrayal of abusive use of alcohol and drugs during the Brazilian cinema revival period (1994 to 2008). DESIGN AND SETTING: Qualitative study at two universities in the state of São Paulo. METHODS: Scenes were selected from films available at rental stores and were analyzed using a specifically designed protocol. We assessed how realistic these scenes were and their applicability for teaching. One author selected 70 scenes from 50 films (graded for realism and teaching applicability > 8). These were then rated by another two judges. Rating differences among the three judges were assessed using nonparametric tests (P < 0.001). Scenes with high scores (> 8) were defined as "quality scenes". RESULTS: Thirty-nine scenes from 27 films were identified as "quality scenes". Alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, hallucinogens and inhalants were included in these. Signs and symptoms of intoxication, abusive/harmful use and dependence were shown. CONCLUSIONS: We have produced rich teaching material for discussing psychopathology relating to alcohol and drug use that can be used both at undergraduate and at postgraduate level. Moreover, it could be seen that certain drug use behavioral patterns are deeply rooted in some Brazilian films and groups.

Aspetti processuali del Regolamento n. 1/2003/Ce

The recent reform in European antitrust enforcement is embodied in Regolation n. 1/2003/ Ce and related Communications. Since 2004 when it came into force, some crytical assessments can already be made. The work starts from some technical analysis of the reform, under a procedural perspective, to assess the proceedings’ real impact on parties’ rights and to criticize its limits. Decentralisation has brought about more complicacies, since community procedural systems are not harmonized, neither in their administrative rules, nor in their civil proceedings, which are all involved in the European antitrust network. Therefore, antitrust proceedings end un as being more jurisdictional in their effects than in their guarentees, which is a flaw to be mended by legislators. National laws shoud be harmonized, community law should be clarified and the system should turn more honestly towards a rationalized jurisdiction-cented mechanism. Otherwise, parties defense rights and the overall efficiency are put into doubt. Italy is a good exemple of how many colmlicacies can outburst from national procedures and national decentralised application. An uncertain pattern of judicial control, together with unclear relationships among the institutions to cooperate in the antitrust network can produce more problems than they aim to solve. As to the private enforcement, Regulation n.1 does not even attempt to give precise regulation to this underdeveloped sector. A continual comparison with U.S. system has brought the Commission to become aware both of the risks and of the advanteges of an increased civil antitrust litigation in fronto of national judges. In order to substain a larger development of this parallel and, presently, difficult way of judicial compensation, it is presently ongoing a consultation among states to find suitable incentives to make private enforcement more appealing and effective. The solution to this lack of private litigation is not to be sought in Regulation n. 1 which calls into action national legislators and proceedures to implement further improvements. As a conclusion, Regulation n. 1 is the outpost of an ambitious community design to create an efficient control mechanism over antitrust violations. It focuses on Commission proceedings, powers and sanctions in order to establish deterrence, then it highlights civil litigation perspectives and it involves directly states into antitrust application. It seems that more could be done to technically shape administrative proceedings in a more jurisdictionally oriented form, then to clarify respective roles and coordination mecanisms in order to prevent difficulties easy to forsee. Some of jurisprudential suggestions have been accepted, but much more is left to be done in the future to improve european antitrust enforcement system.

L'utilizzabilità degli atti nella fase investigativa. La prova per le indagini preliminari

The doctorate’s theme of research - Abstract My doctorate’s theme of research is about the Investigation in the Italian criminal proceedings. The Italian Code of criminal procedure of 1988 is the fruit of a new ideology that marks a departure from Italy’s prior inquisitorial tradition. According to criminal procedure Code of 1988, an accusatorial system separates the investigation and trial stages and the judge’s decision is based only on evidence collected in oral form in his presence in a public trial containing adversarial dynamics. The Italian Code of 1988 created a separation between criminal investigations and trial. Investigations are conducted by Public Prosecutor: he conducts the investigation phase in order to deem whether to file a formal charge against the defendant or to dismiss the case and the investigative evidence collected should serve only for this purpose. According to so called “inutilizzabilità fisiologica”’s rule, the evidence collected during investigations by prosecutor is not usable during trial by the judge: the results of the investigative efforts displayed by the parties should be kept outside of court. If the proceedings go on to trial, the case shall be deemed with only evidence collected in front of the judge. To create the separation of the trial phase from the investigation stage, there is the double-dossier system. During the investigations, evidence are collected in an investigation dossier. The trial judge will never see the investigation dossier and the trial judge’s decision is based on a new dossier, the trial dossier, with the evidence collected during the trial. The issue of my research is about the investigation, the so called “inutilizzabilità fisiologica”’s rule and also the exclusionary rules that concern the investigative phase and the decisions pronounced during the investigations (for example, the decisions concerning pre-trial confinement). 2 In fact, the exclusionary rule system (so called “inutilizzabilità patologica”) provides that evidence cannot be used in Italian criminal proceedings if it was the result of illegal inquiry.

Le politiche giudiziarie inglesi degli anni 2000: mutamento di paradigma e rafforzamento dell'incisività politica dei giudici

The Ph.D. dissertation analyses the reasons for which political actors (governments, legislatures and political parties) decide consciously to give away a source of power by increasing the political significance of the courts. It focuses on a single case of particular significance: the passage of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 in the United Kingdom. This Act has deeply changed the governance and the organization of the English judicial system, has provided a much clearer separation of powers and a stronger independence of the judiciary from the executive and the legislative. What’s more, this strengthening of the judicial independence has been decided in a period in which the political role of the English judges was evidently increasing. I argue that the reform can be interpreted as a «paradigm shift» (Hall 1993), that has changed the way in which the judicial power is considered. The most diffused conceptions in the sub-system of the English judicial policies are shifted, and a new paradigm has become dominant. The new paradigm includes: (i) stronger separation of powers, (ii) collective (as well as individual) conception of the independence of the judiciary, (iii) reduction of the political accountability of the judges, (iv) formalization of the guarantees of judicial independence, (v) principle-driven (instead of pragmatic) approach to the reforms, and (vi) transformation of a non-codified constitution in a codified one. Judicialization through political decisions represent an important, but not fully explored, field of research. The literature, in particular, has focused on factors unable to explain the English case: the competitiveness of the party system (Ramseyer 1994), the political uncertainty at the time of constitutional design (Ginsburg 2003), the cultural divisions within the polity (Hirschl 2004), federal institutions and division of powers (Shapiro 2002). All these contributes link the decision to enhance the political relevance of the judges to some kind of diffusion of political power. In the contemporary England, characterized by a relative high concentration of power in the government, the reasons for such a reform should be located elsewhere. I argue that the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 can be interpreted as a result of three different kinds of reasons: (i) the social and demographical transformations of the English judiciary, which have made inefficient most of the precedent mechanism of governance, (ii) the role played by the judges in the policy process and (iii) the cognitive and normative influences originated from the European context, as a consequence of the membership of the United Kingdom to the European Union and the Council of Europe. My thesis is that only a full analysis of all these three aspects can explain the decision to reform the judicial system and the content of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. Only the cultural influences come from the European legal complex, above all, can explain the paradigm shift previously described.

La diagnosi genetica preimpianto: argomenti favorevoli e contrari alla sua legittimità

Questa tesi ricostruisce la storia della giurisprudenza italiana che ha riguardato la legittimità o meno dell’impiego della diagnosi genetica preimpianto nell’ambito della procreazione medicalmente assistita, dall’emanazione della legge 40 del 2004 a tutt’oggi. Ed in particolare questa tesi si prefigge due obiettivi: uno, individuare ed illustrare le tipologie di argomenti utilizzati dal giurista-interprete per giudicare della legittimità o meno della pratica della diagnosi preimpianto degli embrioni prodotti, mediante le tecniche relative alla procreazione assistita; l’altro obiettivo, mostrare sia lo scontro fra i differenti argomenti, sia le ragioni per le quali prevalgono gli argomenti usati per legittimare la pratica della diagnosi preimpianto. Per raggiungere questi obiettivi, e per mostrare in maniera fenomenologica come avviene l’interpretazione giuridica in materia di diagnosi preimpianto, si è fatto principalmente riferimento alla visione che ha della detta interpretazione la prospettiva ermeneutica (concepita originariamente sul piano teoretico, quale ermeneutica filosofica, da H.G. Gadamer; divulgata ed approfondita sul piano giusfilosofico e della teoria dell’interpretazione giudica in Italia, fra gli altri, da F. Viola e G. Zaccaria). Così, in considerazione dei vari argomenti utilizzati per valutare la legittimità o meno della pratica della diagnosi preimpianto, i motivi per i quali in ultimo il giurista-interprete per giudicare ragionevolmente, deve ritenere legittima la pratica della diagnosi preimpianto sono i seguenti. I principi superiori dell’ordinamento e talune direttive giuridiche fondamentali dell’ordinamento, elaborate della giurisprudenza, le quali costituiscono la concretizzazione di detti principi e di una serie di disposizioni normative fondamentali per disciplinare il fenomeno procreativo, depongono per la legittimità della diagnosi preimpianto. Le tipologie degli argomenti impiegati per avallare la legittimità della diagnosi preimpianto attengono al tradizionale repertorio argomentativo a cui attinge il giurista, mentre la stessa cosa non si può dire per gli argomenti usati per negare la legittimità della diagnosi. Talune tipologie di argomenti utilizzate per negare la legittimità della diagnosi preimpianto costituiscono delle fallacie logiche, per esempio l’argomento del pendio scivoloso, e soprattutto le tipologie degli argomenti utilizzati per sostenere la legittimità della diagnosi preimpianto sono per lo più caratterizzate dalla ragionevolezza ed applicate per lo più opportunamente. Poi, si può osservare che: determinati argomenti, associati dal giurista-interprete ai principi i quali depongono per l’illegittimità della diagnosi preimpianto, facendo leva sulla categoria della possibilità, ed equiparando attualità e possibilità, privilegiano l’immaginazione alla realtà e portano a risultati interpretativi non razionalmente fondati; mentre gli argomenti associati dal giurista-interprete ai principi i quali depongono per la legittimità della diagnosi preimpianto, facendo leva sulla categoria della attualità, e tenendo ben distinte attualità e possibilità, privilegiano l’osservazione della realtà e portano a risultati razionalmente fondati.

La nutrizione-idratazione artificiale è terapia? All'interfaccia tra scienza, diritto e bioetica, il fine vita in Italia, secondo una prospettiva di comunicazione della scienza post-accademica e Science&Technologies Studies (STS)

The question “artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH) is therapy or not?” is one of the key point of end-of-life issues in Italy, since it was (and it is also nowadays) a strategic and crucial point of the Italian Bioethics discussion about the last phases of human life: determining if ANH is therapy implies the possibility of being included in the list of treatments that could be mentioned for refusal within the living will document. But who is entitled to decide and judge if ANH is a therapy or not? Scientists? The Legislator? Judges? Patients? This issue at first sight seems just a matter of science, but at stake there is more than a scientific definition. According to several scholars, we are in the era of post-academic Science, in which Science broaden discussion, production, negotation and decision to other social groups that are not just the scientific communities. In this process, called co-production, on one hand scientific knowledge derives from the interaction between scientists and society at large. On the other hand, science is functional to co-production of social order. The continuous negotation on which science has to be used in social decisions is just the evidence of the mirroring negotation for different way to structure and interpret society. Thus, in the interaction between Science and Law, deciding what kind of Science could be suitable for a specific kind of Law, envisages a well defined idea of society behind this choice. I have analysed both the legislative path (still in progress) in the living will act production in Italy and Eluana Englaro’s judicial case (that somehow collapsed in the living will act negotiation), using official documents (hearings, texts of the official conference, committees comments and ruling texts) and interviewing key actors in the two processes from the science communication point of view (who talks in the name of science? Who defines what is a therapy? And how do they do?), finding support on the theoretical framework of the Science&Technologies Studies (S&TS).

Quantifying the Economics of Medical Malpractice - A View from a Civil Law Perspective

Life is full of uncertainties. Legal rules should have a clear intention, motivation and purpose in order to diminish daily uncertainties. However, practice shows that their consequences are complex and hard to predict. For instance, tort law has the general objectives of deterring future negligent behavior and compensating the victims of someone else's negligence. Achieving these goals are particularly difficult in medical malpractice cases. To start with, when patients search for medical care they are typically sick in the first place. In case harm materializes during the treatment, it might be very hard to assess if it was due to substandard medical care or to the patient's poor health conditions. Moreover, the practice of medicine has a positive externality on the society, meaning that the design of legal rules is crucial: for instance, it should not result in physicians avoiding practicing their activity just because they are afraid of being sued even when they acted according to the standard level of care. The empirical literature on medical malpractice has been developing substantially in the past two decades, with the American case being the most studied one. Evidence from civil law tradition countries is more difficult to find. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the empirical literature on medical malpractice, using two civil law countries as a case-study: Spain and Italy. The goal of this thesis is to investigate, in the first place, some of the consequences of having two separate sub-systems (administrative and civil) coexisting within the same legal system, which is common in civil law tradition countries with a public national health system (such as Spain, France and Portugal). When this holds, different procedures might apply depending on the type of hospital where the injury took place (essentially whether it is a public hospital or a private hospital). Therefore, a patient injured in a public hospital should file a claim in administrative courts while a patient suffering an identical medical accident should file a claim in civil courts. A natural question that the reader might pose is why should both administrative and civil courts decide medical malpractice cases? Moreover, can this specialization of courts influence how judges decide medical malpractice cases? In the past few years, there was a general concern with patient safety, which is currently on the agenda of several national governments. Some initiatives have been taken at the international level, with the aim of preventing harm to patients during treatment and care. A negligently injured patient might present a claim against the health care provider with the aim of being compensated for the economic loss and for pain and suffering. In several European countries, health care is mainly provided by a public national health system, which means that if a patient harmed in a public hospital succeeds in a claim against the hospital, public expenditures increase because the State takes part in the litigation process. This poses a problem in a context of increasing national health expenditures and public debt. In Italy, with the aim of increasing patient safety, some regions implemented a monitoring system on medical malpractice claims. However, if properly implemented, this reform shall also allow for a reduction in medical malpractice insurance costs. This thesis is organized as follows. Chapter 1 provides a review of the empirical literature on medical malpractice, where studies on outcomes and merit of claims, costs and defensive medicine are presented. Chapter 2 presents an empirical analysis of medical malpractice claims arriving to the Spanish Supreme Court. The focus is on reversal rates for civil and administrative decisions. Administrative decisions appealed by the plaintiff have the highest reversal rates. The results show a bias in lower administrative courts, which tend to focus on the State side. We provide a detailed explanation for these results, which can rely on the organization of administrative judges career. Chapter 3 assesses predictors of compensation in medical malpractice cases appealed to the Spanish Supreme Court and investigates the amount of damages attributed to patients. The results show horizontal equity between administrative and civil decisions (controlling for observable case characteristics) and vertical inequity (patients suffering more severe injuries tend to receive higher payouts). In order to execute these analyses, a database of medical malpractice decisions appealed to the Administrative and Civil Chambers of the Spanish Supreme Court from 2006 until 2009 (designated by the Spanish Supreme Court Medical Malpractice Dataset (SSCMMD)) has been created. A description of how the SSCMMD was built and of the Spanish legal system is presented as well. Chapter 4 includes an empirical investigation of the effect of a monitoring system for medical malpractice claims on insurance premiums. In Italy, some regions adopted this policy in different years, while others did not. The study uses data on insurance premiums from Italian public hospitals for the years 2001-2008. This is a significant difference as most of the studies use the insurance company as unit of analysis. Although insurance premiums have risen from 2001 to 2008, the increase was lower for regions adopting a monitoring system for medical claims. Possible implications of this system are also provided. Finally, Chapter 5 discusses the main findings, describes possible future research and concludes.