Decision-making on childhood vaccination by highly educated parents

OBJECTIVE To analyze the sociocultural aspects involved in the decision-making process of vaccination in upper-class and highly educated families.METHODS A qualitative approach based on in-depth interviews with 15 couples from the city of Sao Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, falling into three categories: vaccinators, late or selective vaccinators, and nonvaccinators. The interpretation of produced empirical material was performed through content analysis.RESULTS The study showed diverse and particular aspects surrounding the three groups’ decisions whether to vaccinate their children. The vaccinators’ decision to vaccinate their children was spontaneous and raised no questions. Most late or selective vaccinators experienced a wide range of situations that were instrumental in the decision to delay or not apply certain vaccines. The nonvaccinator’s decision-making process expressed a broader context of both criticism of hegemonic obstetric practices in Brazil and access to information transmitted via social networks and the internet. The data showed that the problematization of vaccines (culminating in the decision to not vaccinate their children) occurred in the context of humanized birth, was protagonized by women and was greatly influenced by health information from the internet.CONCLUSIONS Sociocultural aspects of the singular Brazilian context and the contemporary society were involved in the decision-making on children’s vaccination. Understanding this process can provide a real basis for a deeper reflection on health and immunization practices in Brazil in light of the new contexts and challenges of the world today.

Vulnerabilities in snakebites in Sao Paulo, Brazil

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To describe elements of vulnerability of victims of snakebite. METHODS This qualitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study had, as theoretical framework, the concept of vulnerability in individual, social, and programmatic dimensions. We interviewed 21 patients admitted into a hospital specialized in the care of accidents caused by venomous animals. The interviews were analyzed according to a discourse analysis technique. RESULTS Patients were mainly young men, living in remote countryside areas, where health services frequently have limited resources. We found social and individual conditions of vulnerability, such as precarious schooling, low professional qualification, housing without access to piped water, no sewage treated, and no regular garbage collection, and lack of knowledge on this health problem. Regarding the programmatic dimension, we found limited accessibility to the health services that could affect the prognosis and the frequency of sequelae and deaths. CONCLUSIONS Considering such vulnerabilities evoke the need to improve the program for control the Accidents by Venomous Animals and the training of health workers, we highlight the potential use of the concept of vulnerability, which may amplify the understanding and the recommendations for the practice and education related to snakebites.

Therapeutic itineraries and explanations for tuberculosis: an indigenous perspective

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To analyze explanations for tuberculosis and therapeutic itineraries of Brazilian indigenous people. METHODS Case study with a qualitative-descriptive approach. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 Munduruku indigenous, including direct observation of treatment for tuberculosis in the municipality of Jacareacanga, south-western region of the state of Para, Brazil. To identify explanations for tuberculosis and therapeutic itineraries, we performed thematic content analysis. RESULTS Traditional medicine was the first therapeutic option chosen by the indigenous. However, biomedicine was also employed, which indicates a circulation between different therapeutic contexts and health concepts among the Munduruku. The explanations provided ranged from recognition of the signs and symptoms specific to tuberculosis to the attribution of the disease to a spirit that leaves the body and wanders in the woods, returning ill into the body. Unlike the biomedical model, which links tuberculosis transmission strictly to interpersonal contact, in closed spaces without natural lighting and ventilation (preferably domestic environments), the Munduruku associate the disease to an indirect contact between people socially distant (enemies or adversaries) in public and open places. CONCLUSIONS The explanations made by the indigenous are unique and deserve the attention of those who are responsible for developing health public policies, as well as of the teams who work on the villages. To guarantee an efficient control of tuberculosis in these regions, it is necessary that the developed actions integrate biomedicine knowledge and the traditional medicine of the indigenous people, in addition to respecting and welcoming local culture manifestations.

Preservice teachers' knowledge on elementary geometry concepts

This text is based on a research, which is still in progress, whose main objective is to identify and understand what are the main difficulties of future mathematics teachers of basic education are, regarding their content knowledge in geometry in the context of the curricular unit of Geometry during their undergraduate degree. We chose a qualitative approach in the form of case study, in which data collection was done through observation, interviews, a diverse set of tasks, a diagnostic test and other documents. This paper focuses on the test given to prospective teachers at the beginning of the course. The preliminary analysis of the data points to a weak performance of preservice teachers in the test issues addressing elementary knowledge of Geometry.

A qualitative assessment of modularity in CaesarJ components based on implementations of design patterns

Tese de Mestrado em Engenharia Informática

Como incluir as crianças na avaliação diária

Relatório da Prática Profissional Supervisionada Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar

A brincadeira e o género em jardim-de-infância

Relatório da Prática Profissional Supervisionada Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar

A inserção profissional de docentes (ou ex-docentes) portadores de deficiência

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção de grau de mestre em Ciências da Educação- Especialidade Educação Especial

O controlo interno no armazém de uma empresa do setor vitivinícola da Península de Setúbal

Mestrado em Contabilidade e Análise Financeira

O envolvimento familiar na vida escolar dos alunos

Relatório Final apresentado à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção de grau de mestre em Ensino do 1º e do 2º Ciclo do Ensino Básico

Estratégia de internacionalização da Grande Porto: seleção, modos de entrada e marketing-mix na abordagem dos mercados internacionais

Dissertação apresentada ao Instituto Politécnico do Porto para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Gestão das Organizações, Ramo de Gestão de Empresas Orientada pelo Professor Doutor José Freitas Santos

The impact of national cultures on international marketing strategy and subsidiary performance of portuguese SME’s

The dynamic of the international business and its multidimensional nature requires the understanding of the complexities of different contexts dictated by cultural differences between countries. The purpose of this paper is to study, in depth howsmall and medium-sized companies develop their international marketing mix strategy in their overseas subsidiaries. We use the theoretical construct of Hofstede (1980, 1991) in the dimensions of Power Distance (PD), Uncertainty Avoidance (UA), Individualism (IND), Masculinity (MASC) and Long-Term Orientation (LTO) to assess the cross cultural differences between countries and the business practices to analyze the adaptation or standardization of the international marketing mix strategy of foreign Portuguese subsidiaries. Ourstudy uses an exploratoryand qualitative methodology. We conducted semi-structured interviews in order to achieve a good understanding ofinternational marketing mix strategy of four companies from different sectors. Our results show that the national cultural differences have great influence in the marketing strategy of the subsidiary. The business practices adjustments in the subsidiary company that proved to be necessary conditions for their performance are conducted by the products augmented offerings concerning the characteristics of the product, design and brand name in order to meet the requirements and specificities of the host country of the subsidiary.

A visão e a voz do diretor: a construção do seu projeto de Intervenção

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciências da Educação - Área de especialização em Administração Escolar

A qualitative description of soil parameters variation due to a prescribed fire in Portuguese northwestern forests using Fuzzy Boolean Nets — The case study of Cabreira mountain

In this paper we study the modifications that occurred in some forest soil properties after a prescribed fire. The research focused on the alterations of soil pH, soil moisture and soil organic matter content during a two-year span, from 2008 to 2009. The study site is located in Anjos, Vieira do Minho municipality, a forest site that has suffered from recurrent wildfires for several decades. Furze (Ulex, sp.), broom (Cytisus, sp.), gorse (Chamaespartum tridentatum) and a very few disperse adult pine (Pinus sylvestris) are the predominant vegetation type in the study area. The average height of this shrub vegetation is around 1.5 m. The prescribed fire was conducted by the National Forestry Authority (AFN) in November 2008. Fuzzy Boolean Nets (FBN) were used to evaluate the alteration in soil parameters when compared with adjacent spots where: i) no fire occurrence was registered since 1998; ii) fire occurrence was registered in 2008; and iii) vegetation pruning by mechanical cut was done in Spring six months prior to the prescribed fire event. Results suggest that in the particular case of the studied site, Anjos, the observed soil properties alterations cannot be related with the prescribed fire.

Presença das novas tecnologias nos noticiários da SIC: vantagens e problemas da virtualidade nas notícias

Relatório de estágio apresentado à Escola Superior de Comunicação Social como parte dos requisitos para obtenção de grau de mestre em Jornalismo.