Towards a life-event oriented G2C e-service provision: the NoBLE Framework

One of the primary features of modern government-to-citizen (G2C) service provision is the ability to offer a citizen-centric view of the e-government portal. Life-event approach is one of the most widely adopted paradigms supporting the idea of solving a complex event in a citizen’s life through a single service provision. Several studies have used this approach to design e-government portals. However, they were limited in terms of use and scalability. There were no mechanisms that show how to specify a life-event for structuring public e-services, or how to systematically match life-events with these services taking into consideration the citizen needs. We introduce the NOrm-Based Life-Event (NoBLE) framework for G2C e-service provision with a set of mechanisms as a guide for designing active life-event oriented e-government portals.

Measuring life balance through discrepancy theories and subjective well-being

The concept of life balance implies that there is some optimal time allocation between the various forms o(human activity we engage in each day. So life balance can be measured by the size of the discrepancy between how we should and how we do allocate our time.
If someone chooses to spend all of their discretionary time writing poetry, is this a balanced life? Many people would say no. They would judge such a life to be imbalanced because life is full of competing demands, and writing poetry all day means that other aspects of life are neglected.
But is this just an imposed value judgment, or does the concept of a balanced life have deeper meaning? The answer must lie with whatever we use to measure the outcome. Any conclusion that balance is better than imbalance must be based on empirical evidence. So, what should be measured?

Evaluating the feasibility, effectiveness and acceptability of an active play intervention for disadvantaged preschool children : a pilot study

Australian children from disadvantaged families are at increased risk of delays in acquiring fundamental movement skills, with physical inactivity and increased risk of the potential consequences of obesity. The aims of this pilot study were to: 1) assess the fundamental movement skills of disadvantaged children; 2) evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of adapting an existing parenting and child development program to incorporate additional weekly play activities (the intervention); and 3) examine the acceptability of the intervention. Children aged 1.5-5 years were assessed pre-intervention (n = 26) and postintervention (n = 16) over a period of 22 weeks using the gross motor component of the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales - 2nd Edition (PDMS-2) (Folio & Fewell, 2000). Parents completed a demographic and environmental survey and those implementing the intervention were interviewed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. Pre-intervention the children from disadvantaged families had locomotion, object manipulation and Gross Motor Quotient (GMQ) scores significantly below the norm-referenced standards of the PDMS-2 (p < 0.05). The intervention was associated with improvements in the locomotion (8.35 to 9.5; p = 0.009), and object manipulation (8.6 to 9.6; p = 0.04) subtest scores and the GMQ scores (92.6 to 99.3; p < 0.01). The intervention was deemed feasible and acceptable by those implementing the program. Low levels of physical activity in disadvantaged communities may be related to delayed acquisition of fundamental movement skills in childhood. This pilot study raises the possibility of correcting this deficit in early childhood, and improving the potential for all children to lead an active life.

Neurose visceral: estudo de um distúrbio urbano

O enfoque fenomenológico de Alonso Fernandes foi a base deste estudo. O autor tenta provar que houve uma evolução qualitativa na forma de descarga da tensão excessiva, um desembocar somático da angústia. Melhor definindo, nos dias de hoje, não há mais lugar para a histeria demonstrativa, teatral, necessitando palco para bem resultar. A vida atual, impessoal, ativa e materialista tornou obsoleto o mecanismo transformador da angústia reprimida em símbolo corporal. O endeusamento do jovem, a falta de espaço, o nível de aspiração muito elevado e o estresse em alta doses torna compreensível que seja sobre este mesmo corpo que ele lance todo o excesso de tensão e angústia que é ensejado pela vida urbana. O presente estudo indaga a existência de uma patologia especifica para os indivíduos que reagem desta forma. Para tal verificação usou-se 3 grupos de 30 indivíduos subdivididos em: doentes de "fundo nervoso", doentes "orgânicos" e sadios. Dois tipos de instrumento foram aplicados com o objetivo de estudar o perfil de personalidade da amostra: O Inventário de Personalidade MHPI e um questionário que abrangesse o tipo de vida, costumes, hábitos, renda, escolaridade, etc do grupo em estudo. A hipótese básica é que não há uma patologia mental específica nos pacientes com doenças de "fundo nervoso" e que fatores tais como a exiguidade do espaço vital, o nível de aspiração, a preocupação com a autoimagem e o nível de estresse influenciam predominantemente a personalidade dos sujeitos pertencentes ao grupo das doenças psicossomáticas. Comprovou-se com boa margem de certeza a ideia de que a fuga para o corpo não é um quadro patológico delimitado mas sim um mecanismo de defesa, uma ajuda ao indivíduo obrigado a sobreviver as pressões de nossos dias. Além disto, a existência de respostas relativas a um nível de aspiração exagerado no grupo de doentes de "fundo nervoso" comprova ser tal variável uma das grandes vertentes propiciadoras da escolha da via somática como forma de descarga da angústia.

Estilo de vida e vulnerabilidade social dos adolescentes no Bairro de Felipe Camarão, Natal/RN, 2005

Este estudo descreve o estilo de vida e vulnerabilidade dos adolescentes do bairro Felipe Camarão em Natal-RN, a fim de compreender seus comportamentos, conforme vulnerabilidades identificadas. Foram aplicados 145 questionários semi-estruturados entre os adolescentes de 12 a 18 anos, no período de janeiro, a abril de 2005. O estilo de vida descrito, conforme os dados colhidos, informa que 92,4% sabem da importância de se alimentar bem, 86,9% têm sono preservado; 76,5% têm boa relação com seus pais. Porém, 86,9% afirmaram não haver área de lazer/diversão no bairro, enquanto os 31,0% não responderam sobre higiene corporal; 41,4% consomem drogas lícitas (maioria álcool), enquanto 37,9%, as ilícitas (maioria cola); 51,7% dizem que não conversam sobre sexo, enquanto 30,3% conversam com suas mães; 38,0% estão sexualmente ativos, iniciados entre 13 a 16 anos. Os comportamentos de alguns adolescentes estudados indicam um estilo de vida saudável, enquanto outros demonstram justamente o contrário, através de práticas como: pouca participação no lazer, por falta de opção; consumo de drogas lícitas e ilícitas; a falta de diálogo com os pais sobre sexo; relacionamento sexual precoce, somados às condições econômicas e sociais desfavorecidas que os expõem à adoção de um estilo de vida que implica em vulnerabilidade

Práticas institucionais/discursivas acerca dos cuidados com os bebês prematuros e/ou de baixo peso: o programa canguru

The Kangaroo Program was implemented in Brazil in 2000 through the Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde SUS) sustained with a humanized rethoric of health care assistance. This program adopts the skin-to-skin contact contributing to the mother-infant bond, breastfeeding and promoting security in mother s care. The users of SUS are encouraged to live in the maternity ward to follow the baby health improvement. However, it was verified in previous observations that mothers participation in the Kangaroo Program has been done through an imposed practice. Therefore, this study intended to understand the texts that permeate the kangaroo practice. This research was developed through two studies: 1) an historic exploration of motherhood concept and an analysis of how the motherhood is presented in the official document that orients the program; 2) an analysis of institutional dynamic of Kangaroo Program, emphasizing the study about the health workers everyday practice, the mothers view about their life in the maternity wards, and the attendance practice. It is highlighted that the relation between this two studies allowed the comprehension abouthow the official discourses can influence the health workers behaviors and how their viewpoint and position can shape the everyday work in a public health program. This research, supported by Institutional Ethnography, considers that people s practices and experiences are socially organized and shaped by broad social forces. The discourse method was used in the documental analysis and in the analysis of qualitative data from empiric research. The research showed that the kangaroo program has been an excellent way to save resources and to improve some baby s biologic and psychological aspects. However, this program has failed to consider the social, economic and cultural complexity of mothers and the structural limitation of the health care system. The official document uses the economic and medical approach, following the hegemonic biomedical model and the life style of the people that don t use the public health system. Consequently, the program has not been successful because it is planned without people participation. On the other hand, it was verified that although some professionals are committed with their work, the mainly does not consider mothers participation as an active process, using the institutional power as a social control to keep mothers uninformed about the possibility to leave the maternity wards. As a result, the research also showed that mothers perceive the program as mandatory and not as option that can improve pleasure moments. It is, therefore, necessary to consider the complex social determinants of health that can increase mothers participation in the Kangaroo Program. Bringing these issues into debate can be a reflective exercise on citizenship and governance, allowing spaces for the improvement of public health programs

Health-related behavior and quality of life among the elderly: a population-based study

OBJETIVO: Analisar a associação de comportamentos saudáveis com a qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde em idosos. MÉTODOS: Estudo transversal de base populacional que envolveu 1.958 idosos residentes em quatro áreas do estado de São Paulo, em 2001/2002. A qualidade de vida foi aferida com o uso do instrumento Medical Outcomes Study SF-36-Item Short Form Health Survey. As oito escalas e os dois componentes do instrumento constituíram as variáveis dependentes e as independentes foram atividade física, freqüência semanal de ingestão de bebida alcoólica e hábito de fumar. Modelos de regressão linear múltipla foram usados para controlar o efeito de sexo, idade, escolaridade, trabalho, área de residência e número de doenças crônicas. RESULTADOS: Atividade física foi positivamente associada com as oito escalas do SF-36. As maiores associações foram encontradas em aspectos físicos (β = 11,9), capacidade funcional (β = 11,3) e no componente físico. Idosos que ingeriam bebida alcoólica pelo menos uma vez por semana apresentaram melhor qualidade de vida do que os que não ingeriam. Comparados com os que nunca fumaram, os fumantes tiveram pior qualidade de vida no componente mental (β = -2,4). CONCLUSÕES: Os resultados apresentam que praticar atividade física, consumir bebida alcoólica moderadamente e não fumar são fatores positivamente associados a uma melhor qualidade de vida em idosos.

Treinamento com pesos, modelo de programa sistematizado para a terceira idade

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

Caracterização de parâmetros de exercício físico e qualidade de vida na terceira idade no município de Taquaritinga

Pós-graduação em Alimentos e Nutrição - FCFAR

Ambiente percebido e sua associação com a atividade física total no lazer em adultos residentes no município de Rio Claro, SP

Introduction: Given the repercussion of the important role of physical activity in the prevention of sickness and non-communicable diseases / loss, many works have been done in order to understand the association of sociodemographic characteristics with sedentarism. The elements which influence the physical activity practice are countless. Besides the intrapersonal element, environment elements (social environment, cultural environment, public politics, information environment, natural environment etc.) are also important in the life style. Yet, the way that the person understands the environment can be considered in the planning of the strategies to change the sedentary behavior. Objective: Verify the association of the environment perception with the practice of physical activity (FA) at leisure time in adults living in Rio Claro – SP. Methodology: The sample consists of 470 adults, all residente in rio Claro-SP, aged ≥ 18 years old. The chosen participants answered to the questionnaires: Neighborhood Environmental Walkability Scale (NEWS), International Physical Activity (IPAQ) and to a specific questionnaire with personal data (age, sex, educational level, economical level, weight, height and marital status). The analysis of the connection between the variables was done through the Logistic Regression with Confidence Interval of 95%, using the software SPSS 17.0. Those who reached the recommendation of 10 minutes or more of physical activity in leisure time for week were classified as active, and those who did not reach the recommendation were classified as underactive. Results: The proportion of subjects who practiced physical activity in leisure time was 38,7%, and the male subjects, as well as those classified as better social level showed higher chances to practice at least 10 minutes weekly of physical activity during leisure. Still, walking the dog, soccer fields and gardens near the house (less than 10 walking minutes), were...

Polymorphic toxin systems: Comprehensive characterization of trafficking modes, processing, mechanisms of action, immunity and ecology using comparative genomics

Background: Proteinaceous toxins are observed across all levels of inter-organismal and intra-genomic conflicts. These include recently discovered prokaryotic polymorphic toxin systems implicated in intra-specific conflicts. They are characterized by a remarkable diversity of C-terminal toxin domains generated by recombination with standalone toxin-coding cassettes. Prior analysis revealed a striking diversity of nuclease and deaminase domains among the toxin modules. We systematically investigated polymorphic toxin systems using comparative genomics, sequence and structure analysis. Results: Polymorphic toxin systems are distributed across all major bacterial lineages and are delivered by at least eight distinct secretory systems. In addition to type-II, these include type-V, VI, VII (ESX), and the poorly characterized "Photorhabdus virulence cassettes (PVC)", PrsW-dependent and MuF phage-capsid-like systems. We present evidence that trafficking of these toxins is often accompanied by autoproteolytic processing catalyzed by HINT, ZU5, PrsW, caspase-like, papain-like, and a novel metallopeptidase associated with the PVC system. We identified over 150 distinct toxin domains in these systems. These span an extraordinary catalytic spectrum to include 23 distinct clades of peptidases, numerous previously unrecognized versions of nucleases and deaminases, ADP-ribosyltransferases, ADP ribosyl cyclases, RelA/SpoT-like nucleotidyltransferases, glycosyltranferases and other enzymes predicted to modify lipids and carbohydrates, and a pore-forming toxin domain. Several of these toxin domains are shared with host-directed effectors of pathogenic bacteria. Over 90 families of immunity proteins might neutralize anywhere between a single to at least 27 distinct types of toxin domains. In some organisms multiple tandem immunity genes or immunity protein domains are organized into polyimmunity loci or polyimmunity proteins. Gene-neighborhood-analysis of polymorphic toxin systems predicts the presence of novel trafficking-related components, and also the organizational logic that allows toxin diversification through recombination. Domain architecture and protein-length analysis revealed that these toxins might be deployed as secreted factors, through directed injection, or via inter-cellular contact facilitated by filamentous structures formed by RHS/YD, filamentous hemagglutinin and other repeats. Phyletic pattern and life-style analysis indicate that polymorphic toxins and polyimmunity loci participate in cooperative behavior and facultative 'cheating' in several ecosystems such as the human oral cavity and soil. Multiple domains from these systems have also been repeatedly transferred to eukaryotes and their viruses, such as the nucleo-cytoplasmic large DNA viruses. Conclusions: Along with a comprehensive inventory of toxins and immunity proteins, we present several testable predictions regarding active sites and catalytic mechanisms of toxins, their processing and trafficking and their role in intra-specific and inter-specific interactions between bacteria. These systems provide insights regarding the emergence of key systems at different points in eukaryotic evolution, such as ADP ribosylation, interaction of myosin VI with cargo proteins, mediation of apoptosis, hyphal heteroincompatibility, hedgehog signaling, arthropod toxins, cell-cell interaction molecules like teneurins and different signaling messengers.

Current Changes in the Lifestyle and Mental Health of Teenagers

The group studied 1,253 students from various types of schools chosen randomly from those in Prague and Budejovice in order to evaluate the life styles, prevailing value standards, attitudes and behavioural patterns of Czech adolescents. The respondents (including 614 men and 639 women with an average age of 16.4 years) completed questionnaires containing standard scales focusing on feelings about social life, conservative and authoritarian tendencies, levels of self-esteem, general health, eating attitudes and behaviour The adolescents showed a relatively high level of conformity with authoritarian, conservative tendencies and with a dictate of power, rigid conventionality, ethnocentrism and low inner tolerance of differences, their scores being higher than those found in Western European countries. These tendencies were stronger among students outside Prague and those attending vocational schools. As the level of education rose, the sense of fatality and social determination decreased, indicating a higher share of responsibility for events in the surrounding world. When changes of life style were considered, adolescents can be expected to adapt more easily to more risky, socially attractive and manifest models of attitudes and behaviour. On the one hand, adolescents were often involved in sports, and young women in particular often showed a extreme concern and care for their own bodies. On the other hand, one quarter of respondents smoked, one fifth reported serious problems with alcohol and one quarter had already had some experience with drugs. One third of young men and one quarter of young women reported regular consumption of alcohol, and 6.5 percent of men and 3.6 percent of women regularly smoked marihuana or hashish. For the majority of adolescents, life conditions and conformity seem to be more important than the sense of active choice and responsibility for one's own life.

Impact of a modified dietary plan on the health related quality of life of minority participants in the Women's Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) Study

Advances in medical technology, in genetics, and in clinical research have led to early detection of cancer, precise diagnosis, and effective treatment modalities. Decline in cancer incidence and mortality due to cancer has led to increased number of long-term survivors. However, the ethnic minority population has not experienced this decline and still continues to carry a disparate proportion of the cancer burden. Majority of the clinical research including survivorship studies have recruited and continue to recruit a convenient sample of middle- to upper-class Caucasian survivors. Thus, minorities are underrepresented in cancer research in terms of both clinical studies and in health related quality of life (HRQOL) studies. ^ Life style and diet have been associated with increased risk of breast cancer. High vegetable low fat diet has been shown to reduce recurrence of breast cancer and early death. The Women's Healthy Eating and Living Study is an ongoing multi-site randomized controlled trial that is evaluating the high-vegetable low fat diet in reducing the recurrence of breast cancer and early death. The purpose of this dissertation was to (1) compare the impact of the modified diet on the HRQOL during the first 12-month period on specific Minorities and matched Caucasians; (2) identify predictors that significantly impact the HRQOL of the study participants; and (3) using the structural equation modeling assess the impact of nutrition on the HRQOL of the intervention group participants. Findings suggest that there are no significant differences in change in HRQOL between Minorities and Caucasians; between Minorities in the intervention group and those in the comparison group; and between women in the intervention group and those in the comparison group. Minority indicator variable and Intervention/Comparison group indicator variable were not found to be good predictors of HRQOL. Although the structural equation models suggested viable representation of the relationship between the antecedent variables, the mediating variables and the two outcome variables, the impact of nutrition was not statistically significant to be included in the model. This dissertation, by analyzing the HRQOL of minorities in the WHEL Study, attempted to add to the knowledge base specific to minority cancer survivors. ^

Respiration rate of Themisto libellula determined experimentally

Daily ingestion rates of the pelagic hyperiid amphipod Themisto libellula were studied in the marginal ice zone of the Arctic Fram Strait by feeding experiments, respiration measurements and an allometric approach based on body mass. Amphipods were collected by stratified multiple opening/closing net hauls and Rectangular Midwater Trawl (RMT 8) in August 2000 during the expedition ARK XVI/2 of R/V "Polarstern". T. libellula occurred with abundances of 0.043 and 0.015 ind/m**3 in the upper 30 m of the water column at two RMT 8 stations. Based on respiration data, the daily ingestion necessary to cover metabolic energy demands measured 1.9±0.6% of body carbon per day. Actual prey consumption during feeding experiments with Calanus copepodids as prey was very similar and accounted for 1.9±1.5%/day, indicating that feeding on Calanus can meet the energy demands of T. libellula. In general, experimental results were slightly lower than the maximum potential ingestion (2%/day for an individual of median body dry mass of 32 mg) estimated by an allometric equation based on body mass, but feeding experiments showed a strong variability. Reduced metabolism and low ingestion rates of T. libellula are consistent with low ambient temperature, large body size, slow growth and long life span of this polar species. The effect of the active pelagic life style of T. libellula on metabolism and ingestion rate is discussed in comparison to the sympagic (i.e. ice-associated) amphipod Gammarus wilkitzkii of similar body size living in the same environment. In relation to the mesozooplankton biomass in the investigation area, the predation impact by T. libellula was low. However, high-Arctic conditions also limit the secondary production of principal prey species, such as Calanus glacialis and Calanus hyperboreus, so that even low predation rates may affect the growth of prey populations.

Extending the human life span : social policy and social ethics /

"NSF/RA 770123."