Leadership of portuguese community schools in the East Coast of the United States and the public policies of education: a multiple case studies

The Portuguese community schools of the United States located in the areas of larger Portuguese population concentration are social organizations that come materializing throughout decades the designs of the educative policies of the Portuguese government in relation to the expansion and preservation of the language, the culture and the history of Portugal. These designs of the educative policies are enrolled in the Constitution of the Republic (1976), in the Basic Law of Educative System (1986) and, over all, in the successive legislative norms (Decree-laws and ordinances) of the successive governments. Portuguese community schools in the United States are structuralized in analogous way to schools of the Portuguese geographic space. For this qualitative study (multiple case), four directors of Portuguese schools of the East Coast of the United States were interviewed; two schools are in the state of Rhode Island and the other two are in the state of Massachusetts. Also, it was administered the questionnaire on practices of leadership “Leadership Practices Inventory” (LPI) of Kouzes and Posner (2002) to collect additional data about practices of leadership on the directors of the schools. The LPI evaluates practices of leadership classifying them in five domains: (a) Model the way; (b) Inspire a shared vision; (c) Challenge the process; (d) Enable others to act; and, (e) Encourage the heart. Results of this qualitative research indicate that the Portuguese Government has not had an educative policy stimulant, coherent and consistent of support, incentive, maintenance and diffusion of the Portuguese language and culture and the directors of the studied schools they have a proactive and serving leadership style in conducting the management of Portuguese community schools. The five practices of leadership are highly practiced by the directors of the studied schools above all the practices “Enable others to act” and “Encourage the heart”.

Use of near-infrared Raman spectroscopy to detect IgG and IgM antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii in serum samples of domestic cats

Near-infrared Raman spectroscopy (NIRS) is a particularly promising technique that is being used in recent years for many biomedical applications. Optical spectroscopy has gained increasing prominence as a tool for quantitative analysis of biological samples, clinical diagnostic, concentration measurements of blood metabolites and therapeutic drugs, and analysis of the chemical composition of human tissues. Toxoplasmosis is an important zoonosis in public health, and domestic cats are the most important transmitters of the disease. This disease can be detected by several serological tests, which usually have a high cost and require a long time. The goal of this work was to investigate a new method to diagnosis Toxoplasma gondii infections using NIRS. In order to confirm antibody detection, 24 cat blood scrum samples were analyzed by the Raman spectra, from which 23 presented positive serology to toxoplasmosis and one was a reference negative serum. Characteristic Raman peaks allowed differentiation between negative and positive sera, confirming the possibility of antibody detection by Raman spectroscopy. These results give the first evidence that this technique can be useful to quantify antibodies in cat sera.

Use of Poisson spatiotemporal regression models for the Brazilian Amazon Forest: malaria count data

INTRODUÇÃO: A malaria é uma doença endêmica na região da Amazônia Brasileira, e a detecção de possíveis fatores de risco pode ser de grande interesse às autoridades em saúde pública. O objetivo deste artigo é investigar a associação entre variáveis ambientais e os registros anuais de malária na região amazônica usando métodos bayesianos espaço-temporais. MÉTODOS: Utilizaram-se modelos de regressão espaço-temporais de Poisson para analisar os dados anuais de contagem de casos de malária entre os anos de 1999 a 2008, considerando a presença de alguns fatores como a taxa de desflorestamento. em uma abordagem bayesiana, as inferências foram obtidas por métodos Monte Carlo em cadeias de Markov (MCMC) que simularam amostras para a distribuição conjunta a posteriori de interesse. A discriminação de diferentes modelos também foi discutida. RESULTADOS: O modelo aqui proposto sugeriu que a taxa de desflorestamento, o número de habitants por km² e o índice de desenvolvimento humano (IDH) são importantes para a predição de casos de malária. CONCLUSÕES: É possível concluir que o desenvolvimento humano, o crescimento populacional, o desflorestamento e as alterações ecológicas associadas a estes fatores estão associados ao aumento do risco de malária. Pode-se ainda concluir que o uso de modelos de regressão de Poisson que capturam o efeito temporal e espacial em um enfoque bayesiano é uma boa estratégia para modelar dados de contagem de malária.

The Rechtslehre doctrine and Kant's philosophy of history

The text is divided in two phases. In the first phase, consisting of three parts, the main concepts of Kant's Doctrine of Right are considered in a comprehensive approach related to: the issue of the relations between natural right and positive right, problem closely connected to that of the relations between natural state and civil state, private right and public right; to the doctrine of property and its connection with political right. on treating the right in its several types, we intend to appoint the practical reasoning as a background of the Doctrine. In the second phase, concerning its last section, the consideration on the presence of the practical reasoning into the right is placed before some specificities of Kant's phylosophy of history, with the intent of establishing the possible relation between Rechtslehre and that philosophy.

Comparing the Teaching-Learning Process With and Without the Use of Computerized Technological Resources

Computerized technological resources have become essential in education, particularly for teaching topics that require the performance of specific tasks. These resources can effectively help the execution of such tasks and the teaching-learning process itself. After the development of a Web site on the topic of nursing staff scheduling, this study aimed at comparing the development of students involved in the teaching-learning process of the previously mentioned topic, with and without the use of computer technology. Two random groups of undergraduate nursing students from a public university in São Paulo state, Brazil, were organized: a case group (used the Web site) and a control group (did not use the Web site). Data were collected from 2003 to 2005 after approval by the Research Ethics Committee. Results showed no significant difference in motivation or knowledge acquisition. A similar performance for the two groups was also verified. Other aspects observed were difficulty in doing the nursing staff scheduling exercise and the students' acknowledgment of the topic's importance for their training and professional lives; easy access was considered to be a positive aspect for maintaining the Web site.

Health surveys and use of maternal and child health care services in three municipalities within the São Paulo metropolitan area

Objectives. To describe the changes in the use of maternal and child health care services by residents of three municipalities-Embu, Itapecerica da Serra, and Taboao da Serra-in the São Paulo metropolitan area, 12 years after the implementation of the Unified Health System (SUS) in Brazil, and to analyze the potential of population-based health care surveys as sources of data to evaluate these changes.Methods. Two population-based, cross-sectional surveys were carried out in 1990 and 2002 in municipalities located within the São Paulo metropolitan area. For children under 1 year of age, the two periods were compared in terms of outpatient services utilization and hospital admission; for the mothers, the periods were compared in terms of prenatal care and deliveries. In both surveys, stratified and multiple-stage conglomerate sampling was employed, with standardization of interview questions.Results. The most important changes observed were regarding the location of services used for prenatal care, deliveries, and hospitalization of children less than 1 year of age. There was a significant increase in the use of services in the surrounding region or hometown, and decrease in the utilization of services in the city of São Paulo (in 1990, 80% of deliveries and almost all admissions for children less than 1 year versus 32% and 46%, respectively, in 2002). The use of primary care units and 24-hour walk-in clinics also increased. All these changes reflect care provided by public resources. In the private sector, there was a decrease in direct payments and payments through company-paid health insurance and an increase in payments through self-paid health insurance.Conclusions. The major changes observed in the second survey occurred simultaneous to the changes that resulted from the implementation of the SUS. Population-based health surveys are adequate for analyzing and comparing the utilization of health care services at different times.

Use of oocyte transfer in a commercial breeding program for mares with reproductive abnormalities

In some mares with lesions of the reproductive tract, embryo collection and survival rates are low or collection of embryos is not feasible. For these mares, oocyte transfer has been proposed as a method to induce pregnancies. In this report, a method for oocyte transfer in mares and results of oocyte transfer performed over 2 breeding seasons, using mares with long histories of subfertility and various reproductive lesions, are described.Human chorionic gonadotropin or an implant containing a gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog was used to initiate follicular and oocyte maturation. Oocytes were collected by means of transvaginal ultrasound-guided follicular aspiration. Following follicular aspiration, cumulus oocyte complexes were evaluated for cumulus expansion and signs of atresia; immature oocytes were cultured in vitro to allow maturation. The recipient's ovary and uterine tube (oviduct) were exposed through a flank laparotomy with the horse standing, and the oocyte was slowly deposited within the oviduct. Oocyte transfer was attempted in 38 mares between 9 and 30 years old during 2 successive breeding seasons. All mares had a history of reproductive failure while in breeding and embryo transfer programs. Twenty pregnancies were induced. Fourteen of the pregnant mares delivered live foals. Results suggest that oocyte transfer can be a successful method for inducing pregnancy in subfertile mares in a commercial setting..

Use of corticosteroid therapy on the modulation of uterine inflammatory response in mares after artificial insemination with frozen semen

In order to modulate uterine inflammatory response and evaluate the effect of corticosteroid therapy on fertility, 90 cycles of 45 mares were used for artificial insemination with frozen semen, using three different protocols: G1 - inseminated with frozen semen (800 x 10(6) viable spermatozoa pre-freezing) + 20 mL of seminal plasma; G2 - inseminated with frozen semen (800 x 10(6) viable spermatozoa pre-freezing) + corticosteroid therapy; G3 - inseminated with frozen semen (800 x 10(6) viable spermatozoa pre-freezing) + 20 mL of seminal plasma + corticosteroid therapy. Corticosteroid therapy consisted on one administration of prednisolone acetate (0.1 mg/Kg - Predef (R)) when mares presented 35mm follicles and uterine edema, concomitantly with the unique dose of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), then repeated each 12 hours until ovulation. on first fertility trial, with normal mares, there was no difference between control and treated groups (p>0.05), using seminal plasma associated with corticosteroid therapy (40 vs. 38%, respectively) or corticosteroid therapy alone (40 vs. 45% respectively). The second fertility trial, performed with mares with previous history of post-insemination endometritis, demonstrated a significant increase of pregnancy rate when mares were submitted to corticosteroid therapy (0.0 vs. 64.5%, respectively; p<0.05). Corticosteroid therapy was shown to be safe, with no physical or reproductive alterations on treated mares, demonstrating to be an adequate option to those animals with history of post-breeding or post-insemination endometritis. Further clinical research is necessary to confirm these results and contribute to the establishment of preventive therapy for cases of post-insemination endometritis.

Use of crude, FML and rK39 antigens in ELISA to detect anti-Leishmania spp. antibodies in Felis catus

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

The use of calcium hydroxide and mineral trioxide aggregate on apexification of a replanted tooth: a case report

To report the outcome of the endodontic treatment of a reimplanted central maxillary incisor with open apex after 8 years and 7 months of follow-up.This case report presents the treatment of a right central maxillary incisor of an 8-year old white male patient with history of traumatic avulsion and immediate replantation. The endodontic therapy consisted of periodical changes of calcium hydroxide dressing and a definitive root canal filling with mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA). The treatment was successful without pathologies up to 7 years of follow-up. After the institution of orthodontic treatment a localized and late root resorption was noticed at the last radiographic examination (8 years and 7 months postoperative follow-up). Moreover, the use of MTA promoted a mild crown grey discoloration.

Activity and habitat use of two species of stingrays (Myliobatiformes: Potamotrygonidae) in the upper Paraná River basin, Southeastern Brazil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Taxonomic diversity, niche width and similarity in the use of plant resources by bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) in a cerrado area

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

Use of Aspiration Method for Collecting Brain Samples for Rabies Diagnosis in Small Wild Animals

P>In developing countries such as Brazil, where canine rabies is still a considerable problem, samples from wildlife species are infrequently collected and submitted for screening for rabies. A collaborative study was established involving environmental biologists and veterinarians for rabies epidemiological research in a specific ecological area located at the São Paulo State, Brazil. The wild animals' brains are required to be collected without skull damage because the skull's measurements are important in the identification of the captured animal species. For this purpose, samples from bats and small mammals were collected using an aspiration method by inserting a plastic pipette into the brain through the magnum foramen. While there is a progressive increase in the use of the plastic pipette technique in various studies undertaken, it is also appreciated that this method could foster collaborative research between wildlife scientists and rabies epidemiologists thus improving rabies surveillance.

Reflections on the use of labour market indicators in designing policies with a gender-based approach

Includes bibliography

The use of key indicators to assess Latin America’s long-term economic performance

Through the astute analysis of official statistics, we can gather a more complete picture of the economic performance of a given country, and understand more fully what have been its drivers, leading to a more effective use of national resources and a more efficient design of policy options. However, the myriad of information and numerical data across the system of macroeconomic statistics can be challenging to interpret in a straightforward manner. In order to synthetically assess economic performance across countries in Latin America we propose the use of a composite indicator, which builds upon the methodology of Khramov and Lee (2013) and incorporates key indicators from each of the pillars of macroeconomic statistics: the System of National Accounts, the Balance of Payments Statistics, Monetary and Financial Statistics and Public Finance Statistics. Through a composite examination of key statistical indicators in each country across their long-term trends, we can more fully understand the underlying macroeconomic dynamics.