Public investment in basic education and economic growth

The main objective of this paper was to visualize the relation between government spending on basic education and the human capital accumulation process, observing the impacts of this spending on individual investments in higher education, and on economic growth. It is used an overlapping-generations model where the government tax the adult generation and spent it in basic education of the next generations. It was demonstrated that the magnitude of the marginal effect of government spending in basic education on growth crucially depends on public budget constrains. The paper explains why some countries with a lot of public investment in basic education growth at low rates. In that sense if a country has only a lot of public investment in basic education without investment in higher education it may growth at low rates because the taxation can cause distortions in the agents incentives to invest in higher education.

Navegando nas ondas dos saberes do ser: uma conversa com a sexualidade à luz da corporeidade.

This study aimed to provide a continuing education towards raising teachers for reflection and effective sexual education within the school environment as a possible route of self-education and training of teachers of elementary school. More specifically aim to facilitate through the Continuing Education to discuss the knowledge of the body and knowledge of human sexuality, presenting them as core knowledge in the integral formation of individuals and promote discussion of a Human-centered education Teaching in a vocational training and human .In this sense, we dialogue with the human teaching preconized by Arroyo (2002, 2004) along with the humanization (hominization) of the individuals through education, under Freire´s perspective of the being more (2003) as well as his ideas, Pineau´s (2003) and Josso´s (2004) about the educational practice understanding as a way to build up the autonomy of the individuals who we intend to educate. We defend the inclusion of the body as an essential learning element according to the principles of corporeity presented by Assman (2001), whose comprehension is that every learning experience has a corporal inscription. Furthermore, the knowledge about human sexuality cannot be excluded from this process since the sexuality is inherent of individuals and is constructed and reconstructed during their existence. Our view of the world and of man is supported by the knowledge of the complexity (Morim, 2004) trying to surpass the mechanist view that sees them through the duality view, fragmenting them. For the discussion and construction of knowledge that search for the confluence of these knowledges about the being and the educational practice, aiming at the individual integral formation starting from the process of self-formation/self-knowledge, we´ve directed our research-action-formation having as compass the theoretical-methodological postulate of the research-action (Barbier, 2002; Morin, 2004; Thiollent, 2004) because it makes the participation of all the involved people in the process of resolution or surpassing of problem solving possible. We´ve used the continuing formation as a way of access for data collection, applying a questionnaire with open questions for the ones involved in the research. Based on the findings it´s been possible to infer that for the teaching formation it is necessary the inclusion of the Human sexuality and corporeity theme, so that the teacher can surpass the biological view of sexuality and also the expansion of the mechanist view of the body. To do so, we suggest that the teaching formation happens supported by the teaching capacitation and formation according to Maturana (2004), bringing teaching knowledges (Tardiff, 2002), which contribute effectively for the responsibility to educate people for life.

Waveshapes of continuing currents and properties of M-components in natural positive cloud-to-ground lightning

This work analyses the waveshapes of continuing currents and parameters of M-components in positive cloud-to-ground (CG) flashes through high-speed GPS synchronized videos. The dataset is composed of only long continuing currents (with duration longer than 40 ms) and was selected from more than 800 flashes recorded in Sao Jose dos Campos (45.864 degrees W, 23.215 degrees S) and Uruguaiana (29.806 degrees W, 57.005 degrees S) in Southeast and South of Brazil, respectively, during 2003 to 2007 summers. The videos are compared with data obtained by the Brazilian Lightning Location System (BrasilDAT) in order to determine the polarity of each flash and select only positive cases. There are only two studies of waveshapes of continuing currents in the literature. One is based on direct current measurements of triggered lightning, in which four different types of waveshapes were observed; and the other is based on measurements of luminosity variations in high-speed videos of CG negative lightning, in which besides the four types above mentioned two additional types were observed. The present work is an extension of the latter, using the same method but now applied to obtain the waveshapes of positive CG lightning. As far as the authors know, this is the first report on M-components in positive continuing currents. We also have used the luminosity-versus-time graphs to observe their occurrence and measure some parameters (duration, elapsed time and time between two successive M-components), whose statistics are presented and compared in detail to the data for negative flashes. We have plotted a histogram of the M-components elapsed time over the total duration of the continuing current for positive flashes, which presented an exponential decay (correlation coefficient: 0.83), similar to what has been observed for negative flashes. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of oral hygiene education and motivation on removable partial denture wearers: longitudinal study

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of two different preventive oral hygiene education and motivation programmes on the plaque and gingival index, as well as denture hygiene of patients provided with removable partial denture (RPD) during a 12-month follow-up.A total of 53 partially edentulous patients were recruited for this study. The presence or absence of plaque and gingival bleeding by gentle probing was scored on all tooth surfaces at the preliminary visit. The plaque and gingival indexes were measured using the Loe index. Following treatment, the patients were randomly divided into three groups. In Control Group I, subjects were instructed to continue their personal oral hygiene routine. In Group II, participants were given verbal instructions and a self-educational manual on oral hygiene without illustrations. In Group III, oral hygiene guidance was delivered using a combination of verbal instructions and a self-teaching manual. To evaluate the effect of the different modes of instruction, the presence or absence of plaque and gingival bleeding was scored on all tooth surfaces (day zero examination) and re-examined 7, 15 and 30 days, 3, 6 and 12 months following RPD placement. The state of denture hygiene was evaluated 7, 15 and 30 days and 3, 6 and 12 months following rehabilitation. Parametric statistics was applied to dental plaque and gingival indexes. For accumulation of plaque and calculus on the RPD, non-parametric statistic was applied.The frequency of plaque found during the preliminary visit was higher than that found in the other periods. With regard to gingival index, significant difference was found between the preliminary visit examination and other periods. There was a significant difference in the plaque accumulation on the denture surface between groups I and III.The different methods of oral hygiene instruction used in this study indicate that the type of education was not of significant importance.

Inequalities in access to education and healthcare

The burden of disease is borne by those who suffer as patients but also by society at large, including health service providers. That burden is felt most severely in parts of the world where there is no infrastructure, or foreseeable prospects of any, to change the status quo without external support. Poverty, disease and inequality pervade all the activities of daily living in low-income regions and are inextricably linked. External interventions may not be the most appropriate way to impact on this positively in all circumstances, but targeted programmes to build social capital, within and by countries, are more likely to be sustainable. By these means, basic oral healthcare, underpinned by the primary healthcare approach, can be delivered to more equitably address needs and demands. Education is fundamental to building knowledge-based economies but is often lacking in such regions even at primary and secondary level. Provision of private education at tertiary level may also introduce its own inequities. Access to distance learning and community-based practice opens opportunities and is more likely to encourage graduates to work in similar areas. Recruitment of faculty from minority groups provides role models for students from similar backgrounds but all faculty staff must be involved in supporting and mentoring students from marginalized groups to ensure their retention. The developed world has to act responsibly in two crucial areas: first, not to exacerbate the shortage of skilled educators and healthcare workers in emerging economies by recruiting their staff; second, they must offer educational opportunities at an economic rate. Governments need to lead on developing initiatives to attract, support and retain a competent workforce.

Mathematics education and democracy

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between mathematics education and the notions of education for all/democracy. In order to proceed with our analysis, we present Marx's concept of commodity and Jean Baudrillard's concept of sign value as a theoretical reference in the discussion of how knowledge has become a universal need in today's society and ideology. After, we engage in showing mathematics education's historical and epistemological grip to this ideology. We claim that mathematics education appears in the time period that English becomes an international language and the notion of international seems to be a key constructor in the constitution of that ideology. Here, we draw from Derrida's famous saying that there is nothing beyond the text. We conclude that a critique to modern society and education has been developed from an idealistic concept of democracy. © FIZ Karlsruhe 2009.

Education and changing production patterns with social equity

Includes bibliography

Education and income distribution in urban Brazil, 1976-1996

Includes bibliography

Education and the labor market in Latin America: confronting globalization

Includes bibliography

The participation of youth in the development process of Latin America: problems and policies regarding labour force insertion, education and employment opportunities

Includes bibliography

Education and culture: a political perspective: hypotheses on the importance of education for development

Includes bibliography