Cultural Diversity, Social Cohesion, Religion: Core Values and Educational Policies in Four European Nations

In my doctoral thesis I evaluate strategies designed to cope with the multicultural nature of four European nations: Great Britain, The Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark. I also analyse and clarify the question of the place of religion in present-day Europe. The empirical material analysed in the study consists of politicians’ statements and policy documents dealing with immigration policy and religious and values education in the four countries. In addition, I analyse statements issued by the Council of Europe regarding religious education, along with all cases relevant to religious education brought before the United Nations Human Rights Committee or the European Court of Human Rights. The theoretical framework is formed by the scholarly debate – among philosophers, sociologists and scholars of religion in education – concerning the question of a just society. Special emphasis is given to philosophical theories that are in favour of granting special group rights to religious minorities in the name of equal treatment. With regard to the question of the appropriate place of religion, I apply Kim Knott’s methodological model for locating religion in secular contexts, and Émile Durkheim’s theory as to the significance of religion and collective sentiments in uniting adherents or members of a group into a single moral community. The study shows that even when the positive side of immigration, as a potential force for the enrichment of the public culture, is acknowledged, there is anxiety as to the successful integration of immigrants. The premises and goals of immigration policies have also been questioned. One central problem is the incommensurability between the values upheld by Western liberal democracies and certain religious traditions, above all those of Islam. Great Britain, The Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark have tightened control over their citizens’ ethical attitudes and want to regulate these as well. In coping with cultural diversity, the significance of education, especially religious education, plays a significant role; as future citizens, pupils are expected to internalise the society’s core values as well as gaining an understanding of different cultures and ways of life. It is also worth noting that both the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights have recently expressed the view that one important goal of religious education is to enable pupils to be critical and autonomous with regard to different religions and moral positions. The study shows that religion is not seen as purely a personal matter. Religion is closely linked to individual and national identity, and religious traditions thus have a place in the public domain. It should be noted, however, that a religious tradition – more precisely, an interpretation of religious tradition – qualifies as a legitimate partner in the democratic decision-making process only if it shares similar values with Western European nations.

O uso da agulha de 16G na core biopsy guiada por ultrassonografia em lesões mamárias

OBJETIVO: O objetivo deste estudo foi desenvolver um padrão de avaliação diagnóstica pela Core biopsy com agulha de 16G em lesões mamárias. Utilizando critérios ecográficos padronizados e relacionando os resultados ao tamanho das lesões investigadas e avaliando o número ideal de fragmentos a serem colhidos. MÉTODOS: Estudo prospectivo de maio de 2004 a setembro de 2005 em 79 pacientes com lesões incluídas nas categorias 2, 3, 4 e 5, segundo Bi-RADS® US, realizando Core Biopsy com agulha de 16G, retirando-se cinco fragmentos numerados e colocados individualmente em frascos com formol a 10%. RESULTADOS: De 84 biópsias realizadas houve 81 diagnósticos conclusivos (96%), com 43 malignos (51%) e 38 benignos (45%). A eficácia da Core biopsy aumenta com o número de amostras colhidas: com uma amostra é de 95,24%,duas amostras 96,93%; três amostras 98,8%; quatro amostras 98,81%; cinco amostras 100%. CONCLUSÃO: A retirada de três fragmentos foi suficiente para um resultado satisfatório.

Percutaneous core biopsy of palpable breast lesions: accuracy of frozen section histopathological exam in the diagnosis of breast cancer

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the accuracy of frozen section histopathology from fragments of tissue obtained by percutaneous core needle biopsy of palpable tumors in the diagnosis of breast cancer. METHODS: a cohort study was performed on 57 patients with palpable tumors and suspected breast cancer undergoing percutaneous thick needle core biopsy. The fragments were analyzed by the same pathologist. RESULTS: frozen section diagnosed 16 benign cases (28.6%) and 40 malignant (71.4%), whereas paraffin showed that 15 were benign (26.8%) and 41 malignant (73.2%). Histopathological examinations were concordant in 55 cases and there was one false-negative (6.2%). Statistics rates were: negative predictive value of 93.8%, positive predictive value of 100%, no false-positive (0%), one false negative (6.2%), specificity of 100%, sensitivity of 97 6%; observed agreement = 98.2%; expected agreement = 59.9%, Kappa = 0.955 [ 95% CI = 0.925-0.974, p < 0.01 ]. CONCLUSIONS: frozen section histopathological findings showed excellent correlation with the findings by the technique in paraffin in the fragments of palpable breast tumors obtained by thick needle percutaneous core biopsy (98.2% accuracy). Therefore, in these patients, it was possible to anticipate the diagnosis, staging and the breast cancer treatment planning.

Exploration and Design of Power-Efficient Networked Many-Core Systems

Multiprocessing is a promising solution to meet the requirements of near future applications. To get full benefit from parallel processing, a manycore system needs efficient, on-chip communication architecture. Networkon- Chip (NoC) is a general purpose communication concept that offers highthroughput, reduced power consumption, and keeps complexity in check by a regular composition of basic building blocks. This thesis presents power efficient communication approaches for networked many-core systems. We address a range of issues being important for designing power-efficient manycore systems at two different levels: the network-level and the router-level. From the network-level point of view, exploiting state-of-the-art concepts such as Globally Asynchronous Locally Synchronous (GALS), Voltage/ Frequency Island (VFI), and 3D Networks-on-Chip approaches may be a solution to the excessive power consumption demanded by today’s and future many-core systems. To this end, a low-cost 3D NoC architecture, based on high-speed GALS-based vertical channels, is proposed to mitigate high peak temperatures, power densities, and area footprints of vertical interconnects in 3D ICs. To further exploit the beneficial feature of a negligible inter-layer distance of 3D ICs, we propose a novel hybridization scheme for inter-layer communication. In addition, an efficient adaptive routing algorithm is presented which enables congestion-aware and reliable communication for the hybridized NoC architecture. An integrated monitoring and management platform on top of this architecture is also developed in order to implement more scalable power optimization techniques. From the router-level perspective, four design styles for implementing power-efficient reconfigurable interfaces in VFI-based NoC systems are proposed. To enhance the utilization of virtual channel buffers and to manage their power consumption, a partial virtual channel sharing method for NoC routers is devised and implemented. Extensive experiments with synthetic and real benchmarks show significant power savings and mitigated hotspots with similar performance compared to latest NoC architectures. The thesis concludes that careful codesigned elements from different network levels enable considerable power savings for many-core systems.

Grau de subestimação histopatológica por core biopsy de lesões não palpáveis da mama

OBJETIVO: Determinar o grau de subestimação de core biopsy, guiada por imagem, de lesões impalpáveis da mama subsequentemente submetidas à exérese cirúrgica. MÉTODOS: Foram revisados retrospectivamente 352 casos com biópsias de fragmento que foram submetidos à cirurgia entre fevereiro de 2000 e dezembro de 2005, cujo laudo histopatológico estava registrado no sistema interno de informação. Os resultados foram comparados com os da cirurgia e a taxa de subestimação foi calculada dividindo-se o número de carcinoma in situ e/ou invasivo à cirurgia pelo número de lesões de alto risco ou carcinoma in situ que foram submetidas à cirurgia. O grau de concordância entre os resultados foi obtido pelo percentual de concordância e pelo coeficiente kappa de Cohen. A associação das variáveis estudadas com a subestimação do diagnóstico foi verificada pelos testes do c2 exato de Fisher, ANOVA e Mann-Whitney U. O risco de subestimação foi medido por meio do risco relativo acompanhado dos respectivos intervalos com 95% de confiança (IC95%). RESULTADOS: Core biopsy foi inconclusiva em 15,6%. O laudo histopatológico foi benigno em 26,4%, sugestivo de lesão de alto risco em 12,8% e maligno em 45,2%. A concordância entre a core biopsy e a cirurgia foi de 82,1% (kappa=0,75). A taxa de falso negativo foi de 5,4% e a lesão foi completamente removida em 3,4%. A taxa de subestimação foi de 9,1% e esteve associada com BI-RADS® categoria 5 (p=0,01), microcalcificações (p < 0,001) e estereotaxia (p= 0,002). Todos os casos subestimados apresentavam diâmetro menor que 20 mm e em todos foram retirados pelo menos cinco fragmentos. A taxa de subestimação para lesões de alto risco foi de 31,1%, 41,2%, para hiperplasia ductal atípica, 31,2% para lesões papilíferas, 16,7% para tumor filóides e 41,9% para carcinoma ductal in situ. CONCLUSÕES: Core biopsy guiada por imagem é um procedimento confiável, contudo permanece a recomendação de ressecção cirúrgica de lesões de alto risco detectadas à biópsia de fragmento já que não foi possível estabelecer características clínicas, imaginológicas, do procedimento e patológicas que pudessem predizer subestimação e evitar a cirurgia. Amostras representativas da lesão são mais importantes que o número de fragmentos.

Cardiorespiratory responses during and after water exercise in pregnant and non-pregnant women

PURPOSE: to compare the blood pressure and oxygen consumption (VO2) responses between pregnant and non-pregnant women, during cycle ergometer exercise on land and in water. METHODS: ten pregnant (27 to 29 weeks of gestation) and ten non-pregnant women were enrolled. Two cardiopulmonary tests were performed on a cycle ergometer (water and land) at the heart rate corresponding to VO2, over a period of 30 minutes each. Exercise measurements consisted of recording blood pressure every five minutes, and heart rate and VO2 every 20 seconds. Two-way ANOVA was used and α=0.05 (SPSS 17.0). RESULTS: there was no difference in cardiovascular responses between pregnant and non-pregnant women during the exercise. The Pregnant Group demonstrated significant differences in systolic (131.6±8.2; 142.6±11.3 mmHg), diastolic (64.8±5.9; 74.5±5.3 mmHg), and mean blood pressure (87.0±4.1; 97.2±5.7 mmHg), during water and land exercise, respectively. The Non-pregnant women Group also had a significantly lower systolic (130.5±8.4; 135.9±8.7 mmHg), diastolic (67.4±5.7; 69.0±10.1 mmHg), and mean blood pressure (88.4±4.8; 91.3±7.8 mmHg) during water exercise compared to the land one. There were no significant differences in VO2 values between water and land exercises or between pregnant and non-pregnant women. After the first five-minute recovery period, both blood pressure and VO2 were similar to pre-exercise values. CONCLUSIONS: for pregnant women with 27 to 29 weeks of gestation, water exercise at the heart rate corresponding to VO2 is physiologically appropriate. These women also present a lower blood pressure response to exercise in water than on land.

Fetal heart rate responses during maternal resistance exercise: a pilot study

PURPOSE: To determine fetal heart rate (FHR) responses to maternal resistance exercise for the upper and lower body at two different volumes, and after 25 minutes post-exercise.METHODS: Ten pregnant women (22-24 weeks gestation, 25.2±4.4 years of age, 69.8±9.5 kg, 161.6±5.2 cm tall) performed, at 22-24, 28-32 and 34-36 weeks, the following experimental sessions: Session 1 was a familiarization with the equipment and the determination of one estimated maximum repetition. For sessions 2, 3, 4 and 5,FHR was determined during the execution of resistance exercise on bilateral leg extension and pec-deck fly machines, with 1 and 3 sets of 15 repetitions; 50% of the weight load and an estimated repetition maximum. FHR was assessed with a portable digital cardiotocograph. Results were analyzed using Student's ttest, ANOVA with repeated measures and Bonferroni (α=0.05; SPSS 17.0).RESULTS: FHR showed no significant differences between the exercises at 22-24 weeks (bilateral leg extension=143.8±9.4 bpm, pec-deck fly=140.2±10.2 bpm, p=0.34), 28-30 weeks (bilateral leg extension=138.4±12.2 bpm, pec-deck fly=137.6±14.0 bpm, p=0.75) and 34-36 weeks (bilateral leg extension=135.7±5.8 bpm, pec-deck fly=139.7±13.3 bpm, p=0.38), between the volumes(bilateral leg extension at 22-24 weeks: p=0.36, at 28-30 weeks: p=0.19 and at 34-36 weeks: p=0.87; pec-deck fly at 22-24 weeks: p=0.43, at 28-30 weeks: p=0.61 and at 34-36 weeks: p=0.49) and after 25 minutes post-exercise.CONCLUSION: Results of this pilot study would suggest that maternal resistance exercise is safe for the fetus.

Effectiveness of an illustrated home exercise guide on promoting urinary continence during pregnancy: a pragmatic randomized clinical trial

OBJETIVO: Avaliar a efetividade de um manual de orientação de exercícios domiciliares (MOED) para o assoalho pélvico (AP) na promoção da continência urinária em gestantes primigestas.MÉTODOS: Ensaio clínico com 87 participantes, avaliadas 6 vezes durante a gestação e divididas aleatoriamente em 3 grupos: Grupo supervisionado (Gsup), que praticou exercícios com supervisão; Grupo observado (Gobs), que praticou exercícios sem supervisão, e Grupo referência (Gref), que não praticou exercícios. Incontinência urinária (IU) (desfecho primário) e força muscular perineal (FMP) (desfecho secundário) foram avaliadas por intermédio de diário de perdas urinárias e perineometria, respectivamente. Foram utilizados o teste de Kruskal-Wallis, seguido do teste post hoc de Dunn, para variáveis contínuas, e o teste do χ2 e testes Z, com correções de Bonferroni, para proporções, com nível de significância de 5%.RESULTADOS: O Gsup e o Gobs apresentaram 6,9% de gestantes incontinentes, enquanto o Gref apresentou 96,6% de incontinentes. Quanto à FMP, o Gsup e o Gobs apresentaram valores médios de contração de 10 e 8,9 cmH2O, respectivamente, enquanto o Gref apresentou valor de 4,7 cmH2O. Ambos os resultados significantes.CONCLUSÃO: A utilização de um MOED é eficaz na promoção da continência urinária e no aumento da FMP em gestantes primigestas, independentemente de supervisão permanente.

Serodiagnosis of Babesia equi in horses submitted to exercise stress

A complement fixation test (CFT), performed in microtitre plates, based upon the use of crude antigenic preparation of Babesia equi was adapted for the detection of antibodies in serum of infected horses. The indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were also used for the immunodiagnosis of B. equi. Serum samples from 15 apparently healthy horses, previously conditioned to a high-speed equine treadmill, were taken before and after exercise. All the samples analyzed were positive for B. equi infection. There were no significant differences (P<0.01) between these 3 tests, or the condition of rest or stress. The combined use of CFT and IFAT or ELISA should be recommended in order to enable veterinary services to more efficiently prevent introduction of infected horses into disease-free areas.

Do hematologic constituents really increase due to endurance exercise in horses?

The aim of this study was to evaluate the behavior of blood constituents in a group of horses that successfully completed long endurance rides in tropical conditions. Jugular vein puncture was done to collect blood before, during and after rides. Data were analyzed using a mathematic approach, based on the hematocrit and blood volume where the percentual change in plasma volume was used to correct the values of each variable analyzed. Significance was inferred when P<0.05. The proposed mathematical model to assess blood constituents concentrations allowed the observation of a different pattern of the variables behavior, pointing out that the approach followed by the authors could be more sensitive than ones that did not take this routine. In conclusion, the method used in this study enabled to monitor the physiological processes that actually occur during endurance effort in tropical conditions.

Adaptive Routing Approaches for Networked Many-Core Systems

Through advances in technology, System-on-Chip design is moving towards integrating tens to hundreds of intellectual property blocks into a single chip. In such a many-core system, on-chip communication becomes a performance bottleneck for high performance designs. Network-on-Chip (NoC) has emerged as a viable solution for the communication challenges in highly complex chips. The NoC architecture paradigm, based on a modular packet-switched mechanism, can address many of the on-chip communication challenges such as wiring complexity, communication latency, and bandwidth. Furthermore, the combined benefits of 3D IC and NoC schemes provide the possibility of designing a high performance system in a limited chip area. The major advantages of 3D NoCs are the considerable reductions in average latency and power consumption. There are several factors degrading the performance of NoCs. In this thesis, we investigate three main performance-limiting factors: network congestion, faults, and the lack of efficient multicast support. We address these issues by the means of routing algorithms. Congestion of data packets may lead to increased network latency and power consumption. Thus, we propose three different approaches for alleviating such congestion in the network. The first approach is based on measuring the congestion information in different regions of the network, distributing the information over the network, and utilizing this information when making a routing decision. The second approach employs a learning method to dynamically find the less congested routes according to the underlying traffic. The third approach is based on a fuzzy-logic technique to perform better routing decisions when traffic information of different routes is available. Faults affect performance significantly, as then packets should take longer paths in order to be routed around the faults, which in turn increases congestion around the faulty regions. We propose four methods to tolerate faults at the link and switch level by using only the shortest paths as long as such path exists. The unique characteristic among these methods is the toleration of faults while also maintaining the performance of NoCs. To the best of our knowledge, these algorithms are the first approaches to bypassing faults prior to reaching them while avoiding unnecessary misrouting of packets. Current implementations of multicast communication result in a significant performance loss for unicast traffic. This is due to the fact that the routing rules of multicast packets limit the adaptivity of unicast packets. We present an approach in which both unicast and multicast packets can be efficiently routed within the network. While suggesting a more efficient multicast support, the proposed approach does not affect the performance of unicast routing at all. In addition, in order to reduce the overall path length of multicast packets, we present several partitioning methods along with their analytical models for latency measurement. This approach is discussed in the context of 3D mesh networks.

Low dose of dichloroacetate infusion reduces blood lactate after submaximal exercise in horses

The acute administration of an indirect activator of the enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) in human athletes causes a reduction in blood lactate level during and after exercise. A single IV dose (2.5m.kg-1) of dichloroacetate (DCA) was administered before a submaximal incremental exercise test (IET) with five velocity steps, from 5.0 m.s-1 for 1 min to 6.0, 6.5, 7.0 and 7.5m.s-1 every 30s in four untrained mares. The blood collections were done in the period after exercise, at times 1, 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20 min. Blood lactate and glucose (mM) were determined electro-enzymatically utilizing a YSI 2300 automated analyzer. There was a 15.3% decrease in mean total blood lactate determined from the values obtained at all assessment times in both trials after the exercise. There was a decrease in blood lactate 1, 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20 min after exercise for the mares that received prior DCA treatment, with respective mean values of 6.31±0.90 vs 5.81±0.50, 6.45±1.19 vs 5.58±1.06, 6.07±1.56 vs 5.26±1.12, 4.88±1.61 vs 3.95±1.00, 3.66±1.41 vs 2.86±0.75 and 2.75±0.51 vs 2.04±0.30. There was no difference in glucose concentrations. By means of linear regression analysis, V140, V160, V180 and V200 were determined (velocity at which the rate heart is 140, 160, 180, and 200 beats/minute, respectively). The velocities related to heart rate did not differ, indicating that there was no ergogenic effect, but prior administration of a relatively low dose of DCA in mares reduced lactatemia after an IET.