A assistência mútua em matéria penal e as penas vedadas no direito brasileiro

A criminalidade transnacional é um dos males da atualidade e tem seu crescimento associado à complexidade dos processos da globalização. Quão mais interligadas estão a economia, cultura e demais comunicações dos Estados, mais vulneráveis estão às ações criminosas. Diante desta constatação a comunidade internacional escolheu o Direito Penal Internacional como um dos instrumentos destinados a fazer frente a este problema contemporâneo. O DPI, como especialização do Direito Penal, atende às exigências da comunidade internacional, por ser constituído pelo binômio criminalização e instituições de repressão e por contemplar dois distintos referenciais, quais sejam o do observador nacional que vê a projeção de seu ordenamento jurídico para fora das fronteiras territoriais e a do observador internacional que vê a projeção das normas internacionais para dentro do território dos Estados. A importância do DPI para o combate ao crime se faz pela pluralidade de espécies de cooperação (administrativa e jurídica) e de formas, que vão desde as mais clássicas como a extradição, a carta rogatória e a homologação da sentença estrangeira às mais modernas como a transferência de presos e a assistência mútua. As formas mais clássicas da cooperação têm se mostrado pouco eficazes e muito burocráticas para alcançar os resultados pretendidos, principalmente pelas barreiras jurídicas impostas pelos Estados, A assistência mútua vai ao encontro das expectativas internacionais, por simplificar a tramitação dos pedidos, em razão da tramitação dos mesmos por Autoridades Centrais e não por vias diplomáticas, por reduzir as barreiras jurídicas, pois há a possibilidade de mitigação do princípio da identidade, a redução dos motivos de recusa e a desnecessidade de submeter ao crivo do Superior Tribunal de Justiça pedidos que notoriamente dispensam juízo de delibação. Embora a assistência mútua traga muitas vantagens para facilitar a persecução penal, o desprendimento às formalidades e às barreiras jurídicas não pode significar desapego às garantias materiais e processuais das pessoas que são os destinatários da ação estatal persecutória, em especial à garantia de não ter contra si aplicadas penas vedadas constitucionalmente (art. 5, XLVII da CF/88). Neste sentido torna-se necessário reconhecer a existência de uma obrigação de não fazer e não cooperar por parte dos Estados que possa ser invocada para obstar atos de cooperação que possam contribuir para a aplicação das penas vedadas.

Regulação financeira sistêmica no Brasil: desafios e propostas de aprimoramento institucional

A presente dissertação versa sobre o estudo da regulação financeira sistêmica brasileira e está dividida em quatro capítulos. No primeiro capítulo, descreve-se a essência das atividades financeiras e narra-se a trajetória histórica que deu ensejo à criação de Bancos Centrais e o surgimento da regulação bancária no mundo. Em seguida, discorre-se sobre o processo de expansão do sistema financeiro e sua internacionalização face à globalização financeira dos mercados. Após a exposição de razões políticas, comportamentais, econômicas e técnicas consideradas determinantes para a consumação da última crise financeira mundial (caso subprime), demonstra-se que uma regulação financeira sistêmica adequada constitui um processo complexo, dinâmico e contínuo de gestão pública com vistas a evitar ou atenuar os efeitos de crises sistêmicas. Nesse sentido, são expostos os motivos por que o Brasil enfrentou bem tal crise, através da apresentação da evolução dos processos regulatórios domésticos nos últimos anos. No segundo capítulo, utilizado o marco político-filosófico de John Rawls, sustenta-se a ideia de que a estabilidade financeira sustentável ao longo do tempo é uma questão de justiça básica que deve influenciar o desenho político-institucional em sociedades democráticas constitucionais. Nesse sentido, afirma-se a possibilidade de geração de um consenso sobreposto, segundo o ideal de razão pública, quanto à necessidade de estabelecimento de instituições, relativamente descoladas dos ciclos político-eleitorais e dotadas de especialização técnica, responsáveis pelo planejamento e acompanhamento público e transparente da sustentabilidade da execução da política monetária e da regulação financeira sistêmica propriamente dita no longo prazo. Adicionalmente, em razão da globalização financeira dos mercados, discorre-se sobre os limites e possibilidades do ideal de razão pública nos organismos financeiros internacionais (redes globais de governo), instituídos para definir padrões de regulação financeira sistêmica, e são feitos comentários acerca da existência de um Direito Administrativo Global. No terceiro capítulo, defende-se a ideia de razão prática regulatória como a diretriz adequada de atuação sustentável do Estado na economia com foco em resultados, a fim de estimular o progresso nos processos regulatórios, mediante o uso do better regulation como paradigma de análise de custos e benefícios. Após, expõe-se a noção de juridicidade administrativa como a mais compatível com a Constituição, além de defender-se a legitimidade democrática e o poder normativo das agências reguladoras financeiras. Por fim, com fundamento nas características do desenho institucional da estrutura regulatória brasileira, são formuladas propostas de aprimoramento institucional. No último capítulo, são feitos comentários sobre as vantagens, limites e riscos de judicialização dos processos regulatórios financeiros em democracias constitucionais, o que motiva a construção de parâmetros institucionais e materiais de atuação judicial, posteriormente analisados em precedentes importantes julgados no Brasil nos últimos anos.

Elongation Factor ELL (Eleven-Nineteen Lysine-rich Leukemia) Acts as a Transcription Factor for Direct Thrombospondin-1 Regulation

The eleven-nineteen lysine-rich leukemia (ELL) gene undergoes translocation and fuses in-frame to the multiple lineage leukemia gene in a substantial proportion of patients suffering from acute forms of leukemia. Studies show that ELL indirectly modulates transcription by serving as a regulator for transcriptional elongation as well as for p53, U19/Eaf2, and steroid receptor activities. Our in vitro and in vivo data demonstrate that ELL could also serve as a transcriptional factor to directly induce transcription of the thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) gene. Experiments using ELL deletion mutants established that full-length ELL is required for the TSP-1 up-regulation and that the trans-activation domain likely resides in the carboxyl terminus. Moreover, the DNA binding domain may localize to the first 45 amino acids of ELL. Not surprisingly, multiple lineage leukemia-ELL, which lacks these amino acids, did not induce expression from the TSP-1 promoter. In addition, the ELL core-response element appears to localize in the -1426 to -1418 region of the TSP-1 promoter. Finally, studies using zebrafish confirmed that ELL regulates TSP-1 mRNA expression in vivo, and ELL could inhibit zebrafish vasculogenesis, at least in part, through up-regulating TSP-1. Given the importance of TSP-1 as an anti-angiogenic protein, our findings may have important ramifications for better understanding cancer.

The utility of survey and administrative data to generate information for research and outcomes-based oral health services development

The aim of this research, which focused on the Irish adult population, was to generate information for policymakers by applying statistical analyses and current technologies to oral health administrative and survey databases. Objectives included identifying socio-demographic influences on oral health and utilisation of dental services, comparing epidemiologically-estimated dental treatment need with treatment provided, and investigating the potential of a dental administrative database to provide information on utilisation of services and the volume and types of treatment provided over time. Information was extracted from the claims databases for the Dental Treatment Benefit Scheme (DTBS) for employed adults and the Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) for less-well-off adults, the National Surveys of Adult Oral Health, and the 2007 Survey of Lifestyle Attitudes and Nutrition in Ireland. Factors associated with utilisation and retention of natural teeth were analysed using count data models and logistic regression. The chi-square test and the student’s t-test were used to compare epidemiologically-estimated need in a representative sample of adults with treatment provided. Differences were found in dental care utilisation and tooth retention by Socio-Economic Status. An analysis of the five-year utilisation behaviour of a 2003 cohort of DTBS dental attendees revealed that age and being female were positively associated with visiting annually and number of treatments. Number of adults using the DTBS increased, and mean number of treatments per patient decreased, between 1997 and 2008. As a percentage of overall treatments, restorations, dentures, and extractions decreased, while prophylaxis increased. Differences were found between epidemiologically-estimated treatment need and treatment provided for those using the DTBS and DTSS. This research confirms the utility of survey and administrative data to generate knowledge for policymakers. Public administrative databases have not been designed for research purposes, but they have the potential to provide a wealth of knowledge on treatments provided and utilisation patterns.

The ways in which new public management ideas impact upon the administrative culture of 'street-level' bureaucrats and professionals working within Irish social policy

The conventional meaning of culture is ‘widely shared and strongly held values’ of a particular group or society (Bradley and Parker, 2006: 89). Culture is not a rigid concept; it can be influenced or altered by new ideas or forces. This research examines the ways in which one set of ideas in particular, that is, those associated with New Public Management, have impacted upon the administrative culture of 'street-level' bureaucrats and professionals within Irish social policy. Lipsky (1980: 3) defined 'street-level' bureaucrats as ‘public service workers who interact directly with citizens in the course of their jobs, and who have substantial discretion in the execution of their work’. Utilising the Competing Values Framework (CVF) in the analysis of eighty three semi-structured interviews with 'street-level' bureaucrats and professionals, an evaluation is made as to the impact of NPM ideas on both visible and invisible aspects of administrative culture. Overall, the influence of NPM is confined to superficial aspects of administrative culture such as; increased flexibility in working hours and to some degree job contracts; increased time commitment; and a customer service focus. However, the extent of these changes varies depending on policy sector and occupational group. Aspects of consensual and hierarchical cultures remain firmly in place. These coincide with features of developmental and market cultures. Contrary to the view that members of hierarchical and consensual culture would pose resistance to change, this research clearly illustrates that a very large appetite for change exists in the attitudes of 'street-level' bureaucrats and professionals within Irish social policy, with many of them suggesting changes that correspond to NPM ideas. This study demonstrates the relevance of employing the CVF model as it is clear that administrative culture is very much a dynamic system of competing and co-existing cultures.

Monstrative acts and becoming-monster: on identity, bodies, and the feminine other

Using two examples of literary monsters, the Creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), and Grendel’s Mother in Beowulf, this thesis demonstrates the bearing fictional identities have on “real” bodies, through an examination of two further literary texts, David Henry Hwang’s play, M. Butterfly (1986) and J. M. Coetzee’s novel, Disgrace (1999). Western definitions of Being have historically divided body and mind, favouring the mind as formative of subjective experience and denigrating the body as secondary and impure. This thesis demonstrates that this mind/body binary is symptomatic of the masculine ontological imperative to disown the body and its effects on Being, simultaneously ridding itself of the feminine it believes is its irrational opposite. Using recent feminist reviews of the canon, which emphasise the body’s importance to ontology and demonstrate the conceptual association between the feminine and the corporeal, this thesis links performative identity practices to theories of monstrosity, explaining how fictional qualities adhere to monstrous bodies by proposing a new theoretical category, the “monstrative.” The monstrative is a performative force that makes the Other into a living sign of Otherness; however, unlike earlier theories of Othering, the monstrative accounts for the Other’s being other to herself. This thesis also attempts to read the misrepresented body of the Other as a possible site for more empowered identity performances, where the monstrous “I” is interpreted as a potentially positive model for identity practice, through the conceptualisation of identity as a process of Becoming rather than Being. The transferal from a noun to a verb not only emphasises the performativity of identity, but also suggests fluidity and multiplicity in identity practice, which always already indicates a monstrosity at work. Thus, while monstrative acts constitute bodies as monstrous, Becoming-monster is an empathetic response to the Other’s monstrosity.

The accuracy and completeness for receipt of colorectal cancer care using Veterans Health Administration administrative data.

BACKGROUND: The National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the American Society of Clinical Oncology have established guidelines for the treatment and surveillance of colorectal cancer (CRC), respectively. Considering these guidelines, an accurate and efficient method is needed to measure receipt of care. METHODS: The accuracy and completeness of Veterans Health Administration (VA) administrative data were assessed by comparing them with data manually abstracted during the Colorectal Cancer Care Collaborative (C4) quality improvement initiative for 618 patients with stage I-III CRC. RESULTS: The VA administrative data contained gender, marital, and birth information for all patients but race information was missing for 62.1% of patients. The percent agreement for demographic variables ranged from 98.1-100%. The kappa statistic for receipt of treatments ranged from 0.21 to 0.60 and there was a 96.9% agreement for the date of surgical resection. The percentage of post-diagnosis surveillance events in C4 also in VA administrative data were 76.0% for colonoscopy, 84.6% for physician visit, and 26.3% for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) test. CONCLUSIONS: VA administrative data are accurate and complete for non-race demographic variables, receipt of CRC treatment, colonoscopy, and physician visits; but alternative data sources may be necessary to capture patient race and receipt of CEA tests.

GeneGrid: Architecture, Implementation and Application

The emergence of Grid computing technology has opened up an unprecedented opportunity for biologists to share and access data, resources and tools in an integrated environment leading to a greater chance of knowledge discovery. GeneGrid is a Grid computing framework that seamlessly integrates a myriad of heterogeneous resources spanning multiple administrative domains and locations. It provides scientists an integrated environment for the streamlined access of a number of bioinformatics programs and databases through a simple and intuitive interface. It acts as a virtual bioinformatics laboratory by allowing scientists to create, execute and manage workflows that represent bioinformatics experiments. A number of cooperating Grid services interact in an orchestrated manner to provide this functionality. This paper gives insight into the details of the architecture, components and implementation of GeneGrid.

The interleukin 1beta gene promoter polymorphism (-511) acts as a risk factor for psychosis in Alzheimer's dementia

The explanation for why some patients develop psychotic change in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is unclear. "Psychosis-modifier genes" may act in the setting of neurodegeneration to produce AD plus psychosis in a similar way to how genetic modulation during neurodevelopment leads to schizophrenia. Because there is increasing interest in the common disruption of cytokine pathways seen in both AD and schizophrenia, we tested the association between the functional interleukin-1beta -511 promoter polymorphism with delusions and hallucinations in AD. Significant associations between psychotic symptoms and the CC genotype (p = 0.001 - p = 0.043) and C allele (p = 0.014 vs p = 0.048) were found, thus confirming the previously noted increased risk in schizophrenia.

Exporting Europeanisation to the Wider Europe: the Twinning Excercise and Administrative Reform in the Candidate Countries and Beyond

This article looks at the EU's efforts to assist administrative reform in Eastern Europe, with particular attention to the twinning exercise, conceptually linked to Europeanization. The article argues that much of the debate on Europeanization has focused predominantly on the way in which existing member states are being transformed as a result of their participation in EU structures. Yet the political importance attached to EU membership by the accession applicants, as well as EU's determination to ensure compliance with the acquis communautaire prior to entry, indicates that Europeanization is not only confined to existing EU member states, but can be exported outside the geographical borders of the EU. Against this background the article argues that extending the scope of the Europeanization thesis beyond existing members can not only help us understand better the process of transformation in Eastern Europe and the ongoing accession negotiations, but can also contribute towards the refinement of the term's rather blurred conceptual content.