Report of the Sixteenth Meeting of Specialized Agencies and Other Bodies of the United Nations System on the Advancement of Women in Latin America and the Caribbean

Spanish document available at the Library

Report of the Nineteenth Meeting of Specialized agencies and other Bodies of the United Nations System on the Advancement of Women in Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

Assessing Paternity in Japanese Quails (Coturnix Japonica) Using Microsatellite Markers - Inferences for Its Mating System and Reproductive Success

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A new closed-vessel conductively heated digestion system: fostering plant analysis by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy

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

Measuring Knowledge Management: A Strategic Approach to Library Information Services

In the study of theoretical trends in Administration, the management of information follows the development of theories of Administration; constant-adaptations are suffered. Information Science area understands and concerns itself with the changes wrought in these endeavour of the knowledge society as new forms of communication and integration. The libraries interact in ways that maximize access to information and facilitate the improvement on their structural environment as strategic approach for your services. The research aims at identifying the requirements and specifications of an information system for knowledge management in the public’s library environment and proposes to achieve a pre-defined structure for the implementation of administration management. The research is conducted with public’s library of the metropolitan region of the North’s Portugal. Portugal libraries are institutions that operate in the social process of their communities reflecting the society and its organic sphere of informational performance. These libraries have developed the organizational theories to make a framework easily for effective management practices and have been using their produced knowledge in the optimization of their actions. In the improvement of systems, theoretical administrative trends become management decisions and result in the ultimate success of the organization. In order to achieve its objectives the study verified an economy based on knowledge management, and its production emphasizes the human capital that permeates the condition of the information in support for the development of communities.

A novel automated alternating current biosusceptometry method to characterization of controlled-release magnetic floating tablets of metronidazole

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

Implications of the Adoption of BISAC for Classifying Library Collections

We analysed the written statements of libraries that have adopted the bookstore model for coherence or lack of coherence with common public library guidelines. We used a text-based Foucauldian genealogical discourse analysis to investigate the written statements used by libraries that have adopted BISAC and other aspects of the bookstore model. Libraries adopting bookstore models such as BISAC should consider the potential consequences of adopting a commercial model for a public entity. This paper has practical implications for libraries considering adopting any aspect of the bookstore model, but especially the BISAC system, as it examines the potential benefits and drawbacks of the bookstore model popular in some libraries with respect to the purposes and goals of public libraries. BISAC application in libraries seems to be part of a trend of applying commercial practices, values and terminology in libraries, perhaps not with the purpose of replacing libraries with bookstores, but with the aim for both systems to converge into a new kind of commercial entity and context. The influence of one kind of system over the other does not seem to be totally reciprocal, since the application of library practices, values and standards in bookstores has not had the same effects and resonance as has occurred in the opposite direction.

Comparative clinical sample preparation of DNA and RNA viral nucleic acids for a commercial deep sequencing system (Illumina MiSeq (R))

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

Cardiac dysfunction induced by obesity es not related to beta-adrenergic system impairment at the receptor-signalling pathway

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

Automated peritoneal dialysis is associated with better survival rates compared to continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis: a propensity score matching analysis

The impact of peritoneal dialysis modality on patient survival and peritonitis rates is not fully understood, and no large-scale randomized clinical trial (RCT) is available. In the absence of a RCT, the use of an advanced matching procedure to reduce selection bias in large cohort studies may be the best approach. The aim of this study is to compare automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) according to peritonitis risk, technique failure and patient survival in a large nation-wide PD cohort. This is a prospective cohort study that included all incident PD patients with at least 90 days of PD recruited in the BRAZPD study. All patients who were treated exclusively with either APD or CAPD were matched for 15 different covariates using a propensity score calculated with the nearest neighbor method. Clinical outcomes analyzed were overall mortality, technique failure and time to first peritonitis. For all analysis we also adjusted the curves for the presence of competing risks with the Fine and Gray analysis. After the matching procedure, 2,890 patients were included in the analysis (1,445 in each group). Baseline characteristics were similar for all covariates including: age, diabetes, BMI, Center-experience, coronary artery disease, cancer, literacy, hypertension, race, previous HD, gender, pre-dialysis care, family income, peripheral artery disease and year of starting PD. Mortality rate was higher in CAPD patients (SHR1.44 CI95%1.21-1.71) compared to APD, but no difference was observed for technique failure (SHR0.83 CI95%0.69-1.02) nor for time till the first peritonitis episode (SHR0.96 CI95%0.93-1.11). In the first large PD cohort study with groups balanced for several covariates using propensity score matching, PD modality was not associated with differences in neither time to first peritonitis nor in technique failure. Nevertheless, patient survival was significantly better in APD patients.

Academic Library Websites in Bangalore City, India: An Evaluative Study

This study evaluates the content and quality of academic library websites. An evaluation checklist is used as a tool for evaluation of academic library websites. The checklist is divided into five main parts followed by Rating Table. The quantitative pointing system (ten point scale) and five point rating scales are used to evaluate and rank the websites. The study reveals that very few (16 percent) websites provide information about the date of last updating. Similarly very few (20 percent) websites provide links to other web reference sites and a moderate number (40 percent) have feedback forms for comments. On the other side, a good number of websites (76 percent) are efficient in loading images, icons, and graphics, and a large number (80 percent) have incorporated a web OPAC. The study is limited to the evaluation of websites of five academic libraries located in Bangalore, India.

Prevalence and Predictors of Potential Drug-Drug Interactions in the Elderly: A Cross-Sectional Study in the Brazilian Primary Public Health System

Purpose. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of clinically important potential drug-drug interactions (DDIs) in elderly patients attending the public primary health care system in Brazil. The secondary objective was to investigate possible predictors of potential DDIs. Methods. A cross-sectional study was carried out in 5 Brazilian cities located in the Ourinhos Micro-region, Sao Paulo State, between November 2010 and April 2011. The selected sample was divided according to the presence (exposed) or absence (unexposed) of one or more potential DDIs (defined as the presence of a minimum 5-day overlap in supply of an interacting drug pair). Data were collected from medical prescriptions and patients' medical records. Potential DDIs (rated major or moderate) were identified using 4 DDI-checker programs. Logistic regression analysis was used to study potential DDI predictors. Results. The prevalence of clinically important potential DDIs found during the study period was 47.4%. Female sex (OR = 2.49 [95% CI 2.29-2.75]), diagnosis of = 3 diseases (OR = 6.43 [95% CI 3.25-12.44]), and diagnosis of hypertension (OR = 1.68 [95% CI 1.23-2.41]) were associated with potential DDIs. The adjusted OR increased from 0.90 [95% CI 0.82-1.03] in patients aged 60 - 64 years to 4.03 [95% CI 3.79 - 4.28] in those aged 75 years or older. Drug therapy regimens involving = 2 prescribers (OR = 1.39 [95% CI 1.17-1.67]), = 3 drugs (OR = 3.21 [95% CI 2.78-3.59]), = 2 ATC codes (OR = 1.19 [95% CI 1.12-1.29]), = 2 drugs acting on cytochrome P450 (OR = 2.24 [95% CI 2.07-2.46]), and ATC codes B (OR = 1.89 [95% CI 1.05-2.08]) and C (OR = 4.01 [95% CI 3.55-4.57]) were associated with potential DDIs. Conclusion. Special care should be taken with the prescription and therapeutic follow-up of patients who present characteristics identified as predictors. Knowledge of potential DDI predictors could aid in developing preventive practices and policies that allow public health services to better manage this situation.

Tokamak TCABR: Acquisition system, data analysis, and remote participation using MDSplus

Each plasma physics laboratory has a proprietary scheme to control and data acquisition system. Usually, it is different from one laboratory to another. It means that each laboratory has its own way to control the experiment and retrieving data from the database. Fusion research relies to a great extent on international collaboration and this private system makes it difficult to follow the work remotely. The TCABR data analysis and acquisition system has been upgraded to support a joint research programme using remote participation technologies. The choice of MDSplus (Model Driven System plus) is proved by the fact that it is widely utilized, and the scientists from different institutions may use the same system in different experiments in different tokamaks without the need to know how each system treats its acquisition system and data analysis. Another important point is the fact that the MDSplus has a library system that allows communication between different types of language (JAVA, Fortran, C, C++, Python) and programs such as MATLAB, IDL, OCTAVE. In the case of tokamak TCABR interfaces (object of this paper) between the system already in use and MDSplus were developed, instead of using the MDSplus at all stages, from the control, and data acquisition to the data analysis. This was done in the way to preserve a complex system already in operation and otherwise it would take a long time to migrate. This implementation also allows add new components using the MDSplus fully at all stages. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dissecting Phaseolus vulgaris Innate Immune System against Colletotrichum lindemuthianum Infection

Background: The genus Colletotrichum is one of the most economically important plant pathogens, causing anthracnose on a wide range of crops including common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Crop yield can be dramatically decreased depending on the plant cultivar used and the environmental conditions. This study aimed to identify potential genetic components of the bean immune system to provide environmentally friendly control measures against this fungus. Methodology and Principal Findings: As the common bean is not amenable to reverse genetics to explore functionality and its genome is not fully curated, we used putative Arabidopsis orthologs of bean expressed sequence tag (EST) to perform bioinformatic analysis and experimental validation of gene expression to identify common bean genes regulated during the incompatible interaction with C. lindemuthianum. Similar to model pathosystems, Gene Ontology (GO) analysis indicated that hormone biosynthesis and signaling in common beans seem to be modulated by fungus infection. For instance, cytokinin and ethylene responses were up-regulated and jasmonic acid, gibberellin, and abscisic acid responses were down-regulated, indicating that these hormones may play a central role in this pathosystem. Importantly, we have identified putative bean gene orthologs of Arabidopsis genes involved in the plant immune system. Based on experimental validation of gene expression, we propose that hypersensitive reaction as part of effector-triggered immunity may operate, at least in part, by down-regulating genes, such as FLS2-like and MKK5-like, putative orthologs of the Arabidopsis genes involved in pathogen perception and downstream signaling. Conclusions/Significance: We have identified specific bean genes and uncovered metabolic processes and pathways that may be involved in the immune response against pathogens. Our transcriptome database is a rich resource for mining novel defense-related genes, which enabled us to develop a model of the molecular components of the bean innate immune system regulated upon pathogen attack.

Towards automated first-order abduction: the cut-based approach

Traditional abduction imposes as a precondition the restriction that the background information may not derive the goal data. In first-order logic such precondition is, in general, undecidable. To avoid such problem, we present a first-order cut-based abduction method, which has KE-tableaux as its underlying inference system. This inference system allows for the automation of non-analytic proofs in a tableau setting, which permits a generalization of traditional abduction that avoids the undecidable precondition problem. After demonstrating the correctness of the method, we show how this method can be dynamically iterated in a process that leads to the construction of non-analytic first-order proofs and, in some terminating cases, to refutations as well.