Caminhos para a universalização dos serviços de água e esgotos no Brasil: a atuação das entidades reguladoras para indução da eficiência dos prestadores de serviços

The deficit of water and sewerage services is a historic problem in Brazil. The introduction of a new regulatory framework, in 2007, presented ways intending to overcome these deficits, among them, the providers efficiency improvement. This thesis aims to analyze the regulators performance regarding its ability to induce the efficiency of the Brazilian water and sewerage services providers. To this end, an analytical approach based on a sequential explanatory strategy was used, and it consists of three steps. In the first step, the Data Envelopment Analysis ( DEA ) was used to measure the providers efficiency in 2006 and 2011. The results show that the average efficiency may be considered high; however significant inefficiencies among the 29 analyzed providers were detected. The ones in the Southeast region showed better performance level and Northeast had the lowest. The local and the private providers were more efficient on average. In 2006 and 2011 the average performance was higher among non-regulated providers. In 2006 the group regulated by local agencies had the best average performance, in 2011, the best performance was the group regulated by the consortium agencies. To analyse the second step was used the Malmquist Index, it pointed that the productivity between 2006 and 2011 dropped. The analysis through decomposing Malmquist Index showed a shift of technical efficiency frontier to a lower level, however was detected a small provider s advance towards the frontier. Only the Midwest region recorded progress in overall productivity. The deterioration in the total factor productivity was higher among regional providers but the local ones and the private agencies moved quickly to the frontier level. The providers regulated from 2007 showed less decrease on the total productivity and the results of the catch up effect were more meaningful. In the last step, the regulators standardization activity analyses noted that there are agencies that had not issued rules until 2011. The most standards topics discussed in the issued rules were the tariff adjustments and the setting of general conditions for the provision and use of services; in another hand, the least covered topics were new technologies incentive and the introduction of efficiency-inducing regulatory mechanisms and productivity gains for price reviews. Regulators created from 2007 were more active proportionately. Even with the advent of the regulatory framework and the creation of new regulatory bodies, the evidence points to a reality in which the actions of these agencies have not been ensuring that providers of water and sewage, regulated by them, has achieved better performance. The non- achievement of regulatory goals can be explained by the incipient level of performance of the Brazilian regulatory authorities, which should be strengthened because of its potential contribution to the Brazilian basic sanitation department

O tratamento odontológico sob o olhar da criança :um estudo de representações sociais

Oral health measures directed to children are characterized by the lack of policies that consider the individual and his biopsychosocial aspects. As a consequence, it can be observed that a child´s dental experience has normally been prejudged as unpleasant and threatening. Thus, this study is aimed at investigating dental treatment from the child´s viewpoint using the theory of social representations for theoretical/methodological support. This theory was selected for being able to build practical knowledge surrounding the interrelations between social actors, the phenomenon and the world around them. The investigation was performed at the Professor José Fernandes Machado State School, located in the Ponta Negra district of Natal-RN-Brazil. The participants consisted of 30 children from the public elementary school system in the 6-10 year age group, who had undergone dental treatment within the previous year or were being treated at the time of data collection. An in-depth interview and story drawing within a theme were used as collection instruments. Thematic Content Analysis (Bardin, 2002) was used to analyze the material collected in the interviews, whereas for story drawing within a theme, in addition to content analysis, the data were also analyzed by the Coutinho model (2001). The two instruments demonstrated similarity of content as well as complementarity and contained categories associated to the model for dental treatment in children, the description of the dental office environment., the perception of the image of the dentist, as well as psychological and behavioral manifestations. The results enable us to understand determinate reactions of the children in relation to dental treatment, which has been characterized by its technical-curative approach, where the motive for seeking treatment, the manner in which it is performed and the relation of the dentist with the child are all in evidence. Thus, this study intends not only to reveal the viewpoint of children faced with dental treatment, but also to contribute to a dental practice directed towards them, in this way instilling in the professionals who attend them a more concrete awareness of the needs, anxieties and feelings of these young patients

Avaliação longitudinal do impacto da saúde bucal na estratégia saúde da família em Natal

As a result of the financial incentive provided by the GM / MS 1.444, since 2000, Brazil has experienced a substantial increase in the number of oral health services at the Family Health Strategy. There is, however, evidence that these teams have produced qualitatively different experiences which do not translate necessarily into improved quality of life and health. Thus, evaluative research of great importance. This study aims to assess the impact of the Family Health Strategy in oral health in a longitudinal perspective natalense the years 2006 and 2009. This is an intervention study whose design is a community trial in parallel, nearly randomized. The sample consisted of census tracts covered by oral health teams in the Family Health and the Traditional Model (Basic Health Units and non-FHS Program of Community Health Agents and areas not covered.) The sample was determined by drawing ten census tracts to form the experimental group and ten other sectors for the control group by pairing intentional based on socio-economic and geographic. To check the net effect of the intervention was performed multivariate analysis by Poisson regression. As a result of cross-sectional analysis of year 2009, it was found that the effects of the ESF in Natal were satisfactory only for the variables of injuries and for other purposes without and with negative impact on stock coverage reclaimers. However, the longitudinal analysis revealed that the ESB / ESF improved their performance in dealing with grievances, access and coverage of the type of actions and this fact is independent of age, sex and social and economic conditions. In other employees' words are related to the presence of the Family Health Strategy in the region. However it does not say that both models under study (the Family Health Strategy Model and Traditional) are different in terms of performance and it is pertinent to reflect on the need for further development of evaluation studies that use other approaches able to clarify the dynamics of the process whose results can come to the knowledge of the actors responsible for leading the ESF and encourage them to incorporate the assessment in their routine

A educação em saúde pública na práqtica cotidiana: atuação dos cirurgiões-dentistas do PSF de Natal-RN

Considering education a support to health promotion, care integration and citizenship formation,the purpose of this research was to analyze the perception of the oral surgeons from the Family Health Program of Natal-RN over education in health as well as their performance as educators based on their activities on the program. A qualitative study was accomplished by a semi-structured interview and a Free Association of Words Test with 80 oral surgeons from the Family Health Program of Natal-RN. The instruments were analyzed through the meaning analysis and the Central Nucleus of Vergès Theory. The results showed a lack of planning in health actions so there is no standardization on the educative practices done by the oral surgeons which mostly are focused on scholars. There was an agreement among the group according to the oral surgeons´ perception about education in health that education is related to its function of recall prevention ideas to the population. Most part of the context units analyzed by the professionals´ speech show the knowledge of education in health as an inadequate behavior change instrument of the individuals. An interesting point was a quotation cited by some professionals that included actual themes such as citizenship, motivation and life quality, put inside the speech of education in health. To the oral surgeons the biggest difficulties on the development of the educative actions are due to the lack of incentive by the Municipal Health Bureau and to the detachment and lack of valorization of the themes by the population. The oral surgeons consider themselves co-responsible for the formation of a population which is able to request its health. They also mention the knowledge about the need of the community participation on the planning of the Family Health Program actions. Finally, it is notable the need for more encouragement so the oral surgeons can be more capable and have more interest in applying education in health on the perspective of a new model in health, because once capable and stimulated they can awake the population to education importance as a great transformation instrument for people searching for a fair, equalitarian and citizeness society

Best practices for the implantation of ISO 14001 norms: a study of change management in two industrial companies in the Midwest region of the state of São Paulo - Brazil

Among the difficulties found in the implementation of ISO 14001 systems, resistance to change can always be found. It is mainly a consequence of the hurry to change, loss of focus, concentration of decision making at the level of top management, arbitrary imposition of objectives and results, faulty communication, and the absence of motivational and financial incentive for change.Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to present best practices with respect to the management of organizational change due to the implementation of ISO 14001 norms in two industrial companies in the Midwest region of the State of São Paulo - Brazil. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Os profissionais de saúde diante da violência :mapeando o processo de implantaçãoda notificação na rede básica de saúde em Natal/RN

Violence is a complex and multifarious phenomenon that has convoked the government to think about strategies to face the question. This work is about one of these strategies proposed by brazilian Health Minister: the Individual notification/investigation Card - Domestic Violence, Sexual and/or others Interpersonal Violences . This instrument is a notification protocol which is been implanted in all of the country. This process is in course in Natal/RN. This work is a report of one research realized in five units of basic health care network of Natal/RN concerning this process about the implementation of the violence notification card. The study aims to cartography all the process of card implantation, discussing the used strategies, the drawn course, difficulties and possibilities as well as how the researcher intended to map subjective process involved at health professional acting at violence case and the propose to use the card. Meetings were held at each unit and a daily fieldwork report was used as research instrument. In this investigation it was observed that notifying violence involves a complexity that is not present in other kinds of notification as consequence of the phenomenon characteristic and health workers are invited to act in different perspective that knowledge and instruments of traditional health fieldwork available does not work. It was observed that the notification card, as a possible instrument of intervention, are considered important detectors from process of work at health basic care and health policies. Depending the way the instrument is used, it may incentive different discussions and manners to offer health care or in other way it can reproduce control and vigilance logics. Consequently it is necessary to consider some factors pointed out at this experience, implanting instruments like this, thinking about these limits and possibilities

Turismo, capital social e produção do espaço: uma leitura a partir do município de Natal/RN no período de 1980 a 2012

Nowadays, there is a tourism phase in the city of Natal/RN called internationalization of tourism , which shows a tourism model with a planning and an administration, based on the needs of the visitors. Such process shows that the production as well as the reproduction of the city spaces with the goal of favor tourism excludes of its composition the effective participation of local subjects. Thus, the research is a result of the perception of tourism as an activity with a meaningful power of transformation of the social and natural space taking into account the low participation of the residents in the decisions of the tourism activities in the city of Natal/RN. Despite that reality, it is possible to note Natal that civil society, starts to mobilize its citizens trying to develop collective actions to low the negative impacts caused by the bad planning as wells not efficient tourism administration, trying to put in action the right of the local population to take part in the decisions of the city activities. Having this panorama as background, this paper aims at investigating in which way the mobilizing action of the social capital in Natal has contributed to change the spatial production which is part of the process of expansion of tourism in Natal/RN? The research presents a temporal picture which starts in the year of 1980, when occurs the first effective state intervention aiming to develop tourism in the capital, taking into account an analysis of 2012. Concerning the spatial picture, the research investigates the beaches of Natal which concentrates criteria and actions such as: visitation, tourism appeal and focus of investments, highlighting the following beaches: Ponta Negra, Areia Preta, Praia dos Artistas, Praia do Meio, Praia do Forte and Redinha. This study is of a descriptive and exploratory nature concerning its goals. With respect to the treatment of its object it is a qualitative research. The data was collected through structural interviews, with open questions. Regarding the methodological choices, it was used the content analysis proposed as well as the collective discursive subject methodology. The results show that there´s not yet in Natal a meaningful social capital related to tourism, capable to change the spatial production related to the activity. It should be stressed that Natal social capital presents difficulties concerning the incentive to trust, spontaneous cooperation and the civic participation, which are the foundation for the development of an effective social capital, which makes it harder for a more expressive articulation in the reality in Natal/RN. It should be stressed, as an answer to the research questions, that tourism in Natal/RN is represented by social and spatial segregation. In other words it emphasizes mainly the action of hegemonic agents (State and market), leaving little room for the participation of society. It can be noticed that the actions related to tourism in Natal keeps the popular participation out of the way. Thus, it can be said that the social capital in Natal/RN does not yet contribute to a more fair spatial production related to the expansion of the tourism as well as the well being of the population of Natal/RN. In conclusion, it should be taken into account that this participation do exists but not in a meaningful way. In other words, it´s not enough yet to cause meaningful changes in the actions which tourism needs nowadays in Natal/RN

Avaliação econômica dos incentivos fiscais e financeiros: uma análise das empresas industriais têxteis localizadas no Rio Grande do Norte, no período de 1999 a 2003

This study has as main objective to verify the effect of the tax and financial incentives granted by the brazilian states, specially in the reduction of ICMS on the investment decision of the entities, which in the last years led to the companies to decide new projects in based on the region that presented the better infrastructure beyond lesser tributary expense. For in such was made an economic valuation of the companies with focus in the beneficiary s optics using an adaptation of the Discounted Cash Flow method to measure the impact of the tax incentives in the value of the companies, this study selected the textile industry segment located in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The results indicated that such incentives created addition in the value of the companies, however the inexistence of incentives would not be enough to a negative decision of investment in the Rio Grande do Norte. The smallest difference between the value with and without incentive observed was 8.9%, and the biggest 31.7%, and the average of value aggregation with the tax incentives represented 18.9%

Determination of the antimutagenicity of an aqueous extract of Rhizophora mangle L. (Rhizophoraceae), using in vivo and in vitro test systems

An aqueous extract of Rhizophora mangle L. bark is used as raw material in pottery making in the State of Espirito Santo, Brazil. This extract presents large quantities of tannins, compounds possessing antioxidant properties. Tannin antioxidant activity, as a plant chemical defense mechanism in the process of stabilizing free radicals, has been an incentive to studies on anti-mutagenicity. The present work aimed to evaluate possible antimutagenic activity of a R. mangle aqueous extract, using the Allium cepa test-system and micronuclear (MN) assay with blockage of cytokinesis in Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO-K1). The Allium cepa test-system indicated antimutagenic activity against the damage induced by the mutagenic agent methyl methanesulfonate. A reduction in both MN cell frequency and chromosome breaks occurred in both the pre and post-treatment protocols. The MN testing of CHO-K1 cells revealed anti-mutagenic activity of the R. mangle extract against methyl methanesulfonate and doxorubicin in pre, simultaneous and post-treatment protocols. These results suggest the presence of phyto-constituents in the extract presenting demutagenic and bio-antimutagenic activities. Since the chemical constitution of Rhizophora mangle species presents elevated tannin content, it is highly probable that these compounds are the antimutagenic promoters themselves.

Enraizamento de estacas herbáceas de nespereira (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl)

O cultivo da nespereira (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl) tem despertado interesse no Brasil, devido ao bom rendimento que proporciona aos produtores e à facilidade de comercialização. Com isso, cada vez mais se buscam métodos de propagação que preservem as características genéticas de interesse, induzam precocidade na formação da muda e no início de produção, além de baixo custo. O método de estaquia se adequa a estas características; sendo assim, o objetivo deste experimento é avaliar o efeito do tipo de estaca herbácea na produção de mudas de nespereira, num experimento conduzido na Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - FCAV/UNESP, Câmpus de Jaboticabal (SP), utilizando plantas matrizes de nespereiras, plantadas em 1977, da variedade Mizuho, pertencentes à coleção de plantas frutíferas da Universidade. Utilizaram-se estacas apicais herbáceas com e sem meristema apical, com 2 ou 4 folhas inteiras ou cortadas pela metade, num total de 6 tratamentos, 4 repetições e 12 estacas por parcela, em delineamento inteiramente casualizado. Após 120 dias do plantio das estacas em bandejas com vermiculita e mantidas sob câmara de nebulização, concluiu-se que a porcentagem de estacas vivas e a presença de calos foram significativamente maiores nas estacas apicais sem meristema e com quatro folhas inteiras, e não há efeito do tipo de estaca herbácea sobre o número de estacas enraizadas, número e comprimento médio de raízes. A presença de calos na base das estacas indica a possibilidade de estímulo natural de enraizamento que pode ser potencializada com a utilização de fitorreguladores.

Conteúdos lúdicos, expressivos e artísticos na educação formal

A prática de atividades lúdicas ou o incentivo ao fluir expressivo e artístico são propostas que permeiam a Educação, desde a Antiguidade Clássica. Atualmente, a necessidade premente de atentar para a inclusão contextualizada dessas práticas, vem sendo convalidada pelas diretrizes propostas pelos Parâmetros Curriculares tanto das disciplinas de Educação Física, como da Educação Artística. Entretanto esse espaço, ainda sutil, merece enfoque mais incisivo, por meio de estudos mais aprofundados acompanhados de práticas direcionadas que convalidem sua relevância. Assim, este estudo, de natureza qualitativa, objetivou investigar se essas variáveis estão disponíveis dentro dos conteúdos disseminados pelos professores e se possuem um espaço destinado ou não dentro da Educação formal. Para tanto, foi realizado um estudo exploratório com trinta professores voluntários, de ambos os sexos, pesquisados in loco, com consentimento livre e esclarecido, das disciplinas de Educação Física e Artística, utilizando como instrumento, para a coleta de dados, um questionário com perguntas mistas. Os dados foram analisados descritivamente, indicando que é possível notar a presença do lúdico e da arte, em ambas as disciplinas; mediando os processos de aprendizagem. Além disso, que os professores utilizam amplamente desses recursos, no entanto, nem sempre, de forma consciente e contextualizada, e que, apesar da implantação dos parâmetros curriculares desde 1998, esse espaço ainda não está consolidado.

Atenção odontológica no Programa de Saúde da Família de Campos dos Goytacazes

Durante décadas, a política de saúde bucal no Brasil foi centrada na prestação de assistência à doença, e ainda hoje grande parcela da população brasileira não tem acesso a cuidados odontológicos. Pela Portaria nº 1.444, de 28 de dezembro de 2000, o Ministério da Saúde estabelece incentivo financeiro para a reorganização da atenção à saúde bucal aos municípios. Insere-se, assim, a Odontologia no programa e, conseqüentemente, a possibilidade de ampliar e reorientar a atenção odontológica no Brasil. Dentro desse contexto, este estudo teve por objetivo avaliar a situação da equipe de saúde bucal inserida no Programa de Saúde da Família (PSF) do município de Campos dos Goytacazes - RJ, em 2002. Os resultados demonstraram algumas limitações na inclusão e funcionamento da Odontologia no PSF da cidade. A atenção odontológica deve ser inserida no PSF, atendendo aos princípios básicos do Plano de Reorganização das Ações de Saúde Bucal na Atenção Básica, proposto pelo Ministério da Saúde, e à consolidação do Sistema Único de Saúde.

Palm heart harvesting in the Brazilian Atlantic forest: changes in industry structure and the illegal trade

1. Until the late 1960s, Euterpe edulis was the most important edible palm species in the Brazilian markets. Since then, overharvesting of natural stands and the limited scope of plantations have caused the industry to shift to the multistemmed E, oleracea from the Amazon river estuary.2, As a result of the relocation of the industry, the structure of the palm harvesting industry has changed and illegal trade has continued to exploit the remaining natural stands of E, edulis.3, it is suggested that, to avoid the total harvesting of E. edulis and to achieve sustainable management of the palm heart, it will be necessary to diversify the local economy, create incentives for small land owners to improve their management practices, while keeping their competitiveness against the illegal trade, create the incentive of new sources of palm hearts and create a 'green stamping' For management palms.4, Transformation of the illegal structure of the palm heart industry is probably the only solution to avoid the total depletion of the wild stands of E. edulis.

A QUANTITATIVE APPROACH TO SUBSIDIZE THE PRECAUTIONARY MANAGEMENT of THE SMALL-SCALE FISHERIES IN ITAIPU RESERVOIR, BRAZIL

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Identificacao e mapeamento de areas de desertificacao sob clima umido no Brasil

Environmental management mistakes are now strongly affecting some areas such as the agricultural areas of the southwest of the State of Rio Grande do Sul. The sandy soils in this region are adequate for the beefcattle activity, but ignoring technical reports great incentive was given to the soybean culture. The result was a very fast degradation of the arable layer and several places are considered real small deserts. The objective of this work is the mapping of these areas as well instable areas and gathering all the technical measures which were suggest for the land reclamation. -from English summary