Assessing spatio-temporal hydrologic variability: a case-study in western Victoria

This research explored spatial and temporal variability in the relationships between land cover, topography, and climate on streamflows and wetland extents in western Victoria.

Stress and reproduction: central mechanisms and sex differences in non-rodent species

Despite extensive research, the mechanisms by which stress affects reproduction are unknown. Activation of stress systems could potentially influence reproduction at any level of the hypothalamo-pituitary gonadal axis. Nonetheless, the predominant impact is on the secretion of gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) from the brain and the secretion of the gonadotrophins, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), from the gonadotrophs of the anterior pituitary gland. When stress is prolonged, it is likely that secretion of the gonadotrophins will be suppressed but the effects of acute stress or repeated acute stress are not clear. Different stressors activate different pathways for varying durations, and the actions of stress vary with sex and are influenced by the predominance of particular sex steroids in the circulation. The mechanisms by which stress influences reproduction are likely to involve complex interactions between a number of central and peripheral pathways and may be different in males and females. To understand these mechanisms, it is important to determine the stress pathways that are activated by particular stressors and to establish how these pathways affect the secretion and actions of GnRH. Furthermore, there is a need to know how stress influences the feedback actions of gonadal steroids and inhibin.

Screening for diabetic retinopathy using a non-mydriatic retinal camera in rural Victoria

PURPOSE: To develop a screening programme for the early detection of diabetic retinopathy using non-mydriatic retinal photography. METHODS: A community based screening service was offered to all people with known diabetes mellitus in selected townships in the LaTrobe and Goulburn Valleys in Victoria. At the local examination centre, basic sociodemographic information was collected as well as details of previous use of eye care services for the early detection of diabetic retinopathy. The examination included visual acuity (VA), glycosylated haemoglobin level and Polaroid photographs of each fundus using a Canon CR5-45NM non-mydriatic retinal camera (Canon, Tochigiken, Japan). Dilating drops were not used. Photographs were subsequently reviewed and letters were sent to all participants (with copies to their general practitioners) with recommendations for appropriate follow up. RESULTS: A total of 1177 people with diabetes attended the screening service, which is estimated to be 40% of the total population with known diabetes in the study area. The mean age was 65 years (range 20-94 years); 559 (48%) people reported not having a dilated fundus examination within the past 2 years; 345 (29%) people had never had a dilated fundus examination. Of the 2354 eyes, 2126 (90%) of the photographs were gradable. A total of 704 people (60%) had normal VA and no evidence of diabetic retinopathy, 209 people (18%) had diabetic retinopathy, 101 people (9%) had evidence of other fundus pathology, 42 people (3%) had reduced acuity (< 6/18) in one or both eyes (with no fundus pathology evident) and 121 people (10%) had ungradable photographs in one or both eyes. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrates the usefulness of a screening programme with non-mydriatic retinal photography as an adjunct to current eye care services for the early detection of diabetic retinopathy.

Racial discrimination in Brazil: interviews with leaders of the black movement

Racism in Brazil has some specificities when compared to other countries, for, differently from, for instance, South Africa and the United States, Brazilian Constitutions, ever since the Independence (1822), have never distinguished the citizens according to race or color. Furthermore, since the mid-1900s, Afro-Brazilian cultural manifestations, such as, for example, samba and capoeira, started to be valued as a part of our “national identity”. These specificities make race relations in Brazilian society a much more complex issue. This paper is focused on selected parts of interviews that deal with the nature of racial discrimination in Brazil, extracted from interviews with leaders of the black movement produced within the scope of the project “The History of Black Movement in Brazil: organization of a collection of Oral History Interviews”, developed by CPDOC, Getulio Vargas Foundation (Rio de Janeiro). These “histories within history”, as told by our interviewees, may be transformed into images that will be able to condense a given reality, thus allowing us to evaluate the gains obtained by oral history methodology.

Equity and Efficiency in Education: motivations and targets

The recently released "Educational PAC" attempts to place basic education at the center of the social debate. We have subsidized this debate, offering a diagnosis of how different education levels can impact individuals' lives through broad and easily interpreted indicators. Initially, we analyze how much each educational level reaches the poorest population. For example, how are those in the bottom strata of income distribution benefited by childcare centers, private secondary education, public university or adult education. The next step is to quantify the return of educational actions, such as their effects on employability and an individual's wages, and even health as perceived by the individual, be that individual poor, middle class or elite. The next part of the research presents evidence of how the main characters in education, aka mothers, fathers and children, regard education. The site available with the research presents a broad, user-friendly database, which will allow interested parties to answer their own questions relative to why people do not attend school, the time spent in the educational system and returns to education, which can all be cross-sectioned with a wide array of socio-demographic attributes (gender, income, etc.) and school characteristics (is it public, are school meals offered, etc.) to find answers to: why do young adults of a certain age not attend school? Why do they miss classes? How long is the school day? Aside from the whys and hows of teaching, the research calculates the amount of time spent in school, resulting from a combination between absence rates, evasion raters and length of the school day. The study presents ranks of indicators referring to objective and subjective aspects of education, such as the discussion of the advantages and care in establishing performance based incentives that aim at guiding the states in the race for better educational indicators.

Is 'tagging' a rationale for affirmative action in education?

In this paper, we try to rationalize the existence of one of the most common affirmative action policies: educational quotas. We model a two period economy with asymmetric information and endogenous human capital formation. Individuals may be from two different groups in the population, where each group is defined by an observable and exogenous characteristic. The distribution of skills differ across groups. We introduce educational quotas into the model by letting the planner reduce the effort cost that a student from one of the groups has to endure in order to be accepted into a university. Affirmative action policies can be interpreted as a form of ``tagging" since group characteristics are used as proxies for productivity. We find that although educational quotas are usually efficient, they need not subsidize the education of the low skill group.

Discrimination in the workforce: how it impacts a business

Discrimination, in its best form, is a hard concept to fathom as an employee or ordinary citizen. In the workplace, there are times when discrimination is necessary due to extenuating circumstances that revolve around the form or act of discrimination. It could be conveyed to save a life or avoid future conflict. However, it must be clearly stated as a written law that the act is lawful. When unlawful discrimination occurs, it stages an entirely different tone, as it is mainly conducted out of malice, hatred, greed, control, or ignorance. Over the last few decades, discrimination has existed in the workplace, although Federal laws mandate that it does not occur. It does not exist in just one geographical area or is country specific, but covers a wide spectrum, linking countries together from their points of view to creating rifts amongst those who are affected and those who are not, not only from a business perspective, but social humanistic relationships as well. This thesis will use quantitative and qualitative data to support discrimination of sexual harassment, race or color, and gender issues, as well as personal experiences, and how it has and will continue to impact businesses if the acts do not cease, permanently. Leadership, from the Presidents and Heads of Countries, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), managers, lowest-ranking supervisor, and employees should make it their personal goal to ensure these issues do not continue or arise in their perspective areas of responsibilities. When employees understand that they are valued, will be taken seriously when reporting acts of discrimination, and that some form of action will be taken, performance and productivity will escalate, and morale will increase in the workplace, resulting in higher productivity and subsequently higher profit margins for the company.

Sex differences in the phenotypic expression of obsessive-compulsive disorder: an exploratory study from Brazil

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

Lack of genotoxicity induced by endogenous and synthetic female sex hormones in peripheral blood cells detected by alkaline Comet assay

The etiology of hormone-induced cancers has been considered to be a combination of genotoxic and epigenetic events. Currently, the Comet assay is widely used for detecting genotoxicity because it is relatively simple, sensitive, and capable of detecting various kinds of DNA damage. The present study evaluates the genotoxic potential of endogenous and synthetic sex hormones, as detected by the Comet assay. Blood cells were obtained from 12 nonsmoking and 12 smoking women with regular menstrual cycles and from 12 nonsmoking women taking low-dose oral contraceptives (OC). Peripheral blood samples were collected at three phases of the menstrual cycle (early follicular, mean follicular, and luteal phases), or at three different moments of oral contraceptive intake. Three blood samples were also collected from 12 healthy nonsmoking men, at the same time as oral contraceptive users. Results showed no significant difference in the level of DNA damage among the three moments of the menstrual cycle either in nonsmoking and smoking women, or between them. No significant difference in DNA damage was also observed among oral contraceptive users, nonusers, and men. Together, these data indicate lack of genotoxicity induced by the physiological level of the female sex hormones and OC as assessed by the alkaline Comet assay. In conclusion, normal fluctuation in endogenous sex hormones and use of low-doses of oral contraceptive should not interfere with Comet assay data when this technique is used for human biomonitoring.

Repetitive DNA probe linked to sex chromosomes in hybrids between Neotropical fish Leporinus macrocephalus and Leporinus elongatus (Characiformes, Anostomidae)

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

Repetitive DNA probe linked to sex chromosomes in hybrids between Neotropical fish Leporinus macrocephalus and Leporinus elongatus (Characiformes, Anostomidae)

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

Differentiation of the XY Sex Chromosomes in the Fish Hoplias malabaricus (Characiformes, Erythrinidae): Unusual Accumulation of Repetitive Sequences on the X Chromosome

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

Occurrence of ZZ/ZW sex chromosomes in Thoracocharax stellatus fish (Characiformes, Gasteropelecidae) from the Araguaia River, south America

The karyotypic and chromosomal characteristics of the hatchetfish Thoracocharax stellatus from the Araguaia River, Brazil (Araguaia-Tocantins basin) were analyzed using Giemsa, AgNO3, and CMA(3) fluorescent staining, and C-banding. The diploid chromosome number was 54 and the karyotypes of females and males were composed of six metacentrics, six submetacentrics, six subtelocentrics and 36 acrocentrics. Two impaired acrocentric chromosomes were detected in the female karyotype. C-banding showed heterochromatic blocks at several chromosomes and an entirely heterochromatic acrocentric chromosome in females that was lacking in the male karyotype. This discovery indicated a heteromorphic sex chromosome system of the ZZ/ZW type. Ag-staining and CMA(3) fluorescence revealed one major chromosome pair bearing the NORs with the presence of additional signals in some metaphases. Both heterochromatic segments associated with Ag-NORs and the W chromosome were positively stained by CMA(3). Considering the present data and previous findings it is hypothesized that the occurrence of ZW sex chromosome system is widespread in the genus Thoracocharax.